They surrounded me right after the breakup.

Two days later, the preview screening of "Ne Zha" was scheduled for Friday night at 7:30 pm.

The location was chosen to be Jingzhou International Cinema.

The distribution team negotiated the screening schedule with the theaters and secured three screenings.

One IMAX theater was reserved for media and guests, while two regular theaters were reserved for audiences who won a spot in the pre-screening lottery through the ticketing platform.

This arrangement is reminiscent of dumplings.

Previews shouldn't be limited to industry insiders; ordinary viewers need to be allowed in for word-of-mouth to build up.

The distribution director felt there was a risk, but Jiaozi only said one thing: If the film can't withstand the test of ordinary viewers, then it doesn't deserve to be shown in theaters.

On Friday afternoon, Jiang Han left the company.

Lin Yaoyao was sitting in the passenger seat. She was wearing a cream-colored dress and holding popcorn in her arms.

Xia Yutong was sitting in the back seat. She had just come from the law firm and was still wearing the dark gray suit and skirt she wore during the day, with her briefcase on her lap.

When we arrived at the cinema, there was already a long queue at the entrance.

Audience members in the general admission hall scanned their electronic ticket codes at the self-service machines to collect their tickets, while some took photos of the Nezha standee with their mobile phones.

The standee depicts Nezha and Ao Bing standing side by side, and the textures of their costumes still hold up well even when magnified.

The entrance to the IMAX theater was separated by a red barrier, with a registration desk standing next to it.

The distribution company assigned two staff members to handle media check-in: one to check the list and the other to distribute information packets.

The document bag contained a brochure introducing the film, business cards of the main creative team, and a handwritten thank-you card from Jiaozi.

The words on each card are different; he wrote them by hand until 2 a.m. last night.

Dumpling stood at the entrance of the IMAX theater, wearing a dark blue jacket with the collar neatly turned up, as if it had been ironed before leaving home.

He glanced inside every now and then, and gestured to the projectionist to indicate that the subtitle synchronization had been checked.

"President Jiang, cut all the pre-screening trailers. Just show the official logo as soon as the audience sits in, so as not to waste their time."

"It's your film, you call the shots."

Dumpling nodded and turned to walk towards the screening room.

Lin Yaoyao had already found a seat in the middle of the IMAX theater, near the back.

The center of the theater, neither in front nor behind, is precisely in the optimal sound pickup area for the surround sound system.

Xia Yutong sat on her other side, her hands folded on her knees.

Lin Yaoyao leaned closer to her: "Yutong, why are you so quiet today?"

"I'm thinking about something."

"What are you thinking about?"

Xia Yutong paused for a moment: "It's about work."

She lied; what she was thinking about was the bet with Jiang Han.

If the box office reaches 40 billion, I will become my best friend's boyfriend's woman.

However, compared to the cases currently under investigation, a bet seems insignificant.

At 7:30, the lights in the screening room went out.

The deep, unfathomable silence unique to IMAX theaters pressed down, plunging the entire space into complete darkness.

The surround sound system emitted a very low hum.

Next comes the production company's logo, with Starry Night Media's logo appearing as the third one.

A deep blue background with silver star trails surrounding it, accompanied by a few seconds of string music.

The logo animation has been re-rendered specifically for the IMAX version, with every texture exceptionally clear.

The film begins with a shot of the chaotic scene at the beginning of time.

The clouds churned, lightning danced through the gaps, and the voice of the Primordial Celestial Venerable descended from the heavens, deep and majestic.

The scene descends from the clouds, passing through the magnificent brushstrokes of the landscape painting, and lands on a primordial pearl suspended in the void.

Less than three minutes into the movie, the only sound in the theater was the vibration of the speakers.

The silence was broken when Taiyi Zhenren appeared.

He rode a flying pig, speaking with a Sichuan accent, swaying precariously in the clouds.

For the first time, the entire audience burst into laughter.

The sound exploded from a corner in the back row and then quickly spread throughout the entire theater.

The demon ball was reincarnated, and Nezha was born. The people of Chentang Pass surrounded Li Jing's mansion with torches.

As the plot unfolded, Xia Yutong tightened her grip on her folded fingers.

The way Nezha turned his back to the villagers reminded her of a similar figure she had seen while flipping through case files…

The pace became even faster in the second half.

Ao Bing's identity is exposed, and the old grudges between the Dragon Clan and the Heavenly Court resurface...

Until the climax, Nezha stood alone under the heavenly tribulation, looking up at the descending thunderclouds.

He uttered that classic line that left a deep mark on the history of Chinese cinema.

"Screw fate! My destiny is in my own hands, not in the heavens. Whether I'm a demon or a god, I decide for myself!"

As the end credits rolled, no one in the theater stood up.

Everyone was waiting for the last frame to disappear, to make sure they hadn't missed anything.

The subtitles scrolled to the music section, listing lyrics and music by Jiang Han.

The first to applaud were the media personnel in the back row, and then the applause spread from the back row to the front row.

The special effects team leader flipped over the back of the chair, hugged Jiaozi, buried his face in his shoulder, and cried so hard that his shoulder was shaking.

Dumpling patted his back gently, like coaxing a child.

"Alright, the film's over." His voice was a little hoarse. "How many times have you cried? From post-production to the preview screenings, you cried every time you watched it."

"I didn't cry." The special effects team leader lifted his face off Jiaozi's shoulder. "It's just that the air conditioning in this shabby hall is too dry."

Dumpling didn't expose him; she just patted him on the back again, then stood up, turned, and walked towards Jianghan.

Only they themselves know the hardships they endured during the creative process.

The applause in the theater hadn't completely stopped.

Someone called for the director to come on stage, but Jiaozi waved her hand, indicating that it wasn't necessary.

He walked up to Jiang Han and stood still.

"President Jiang, I was watching the audience's reaction during the screening. I don't know about the real-time feedback from the regular hall, but none of the media people in the back row looked at anything outside the screen from beginning to end today."

Jiang Han said, "If your work is good enough, the audience will stay engaged. It's that simple."

When I came out of the screening room, there were still many viewers lingering in the square in front of Jingzhou International Cinema.

Some people lined up to take photos in front of the Nezha standee, while others held up their phones to film videos of the posters at the entrance of the IMAX theater.

A young woman who had just come out of the general hall stood next to the poster, speaking into her phone camera, her voice slightly high-pitched with excitement.

"I guarantee with my integrity, Nezha is absolutely worth watching!"

The preview screening ratings for Nezha on ticketing platforms have been released, with a maximum score of five stars. Currently, it shows four and a half stars, and the number of reviews is still rising rapidly.

The first popular comment consisted of only one line, followed by three exclamation marks: "Chinese animation has finally learned to tell a story!!!"

The second one is even shorter, just four words: "Dumplings are awesome!"

On the way back, Xia Yutong sat in the back seat without saying a word.

She placed her briefcase on her lap, and her phone screen went dark and didn't light up again.

The city lights outside the car window slid across her face, flickering on and off.

How exactly should I start this conversation...?