As a pillar of the domestic film industry, Director Zhang and his peers could succeed, and it definitely wasn't all down to luck.

Although at the beginning they might put on airs and look down on some newcomers and new companies,

but when the box office results of "Wandering Planet" were placed before them, even if it was incredible, they had no choice but to accept that another masterpiece had been born.

So, when they went to watch and learn, they actually went with a lot of mental preparation, speculating just how outstanding the movie would be, how good it would look, how smooth the plot, and how grand the special effects.

But…

All that mental preparation, once they entered the cinema, proved to be utterly useless.

Seeing the snowflakes drifting onto their faces, the earth thrusters in one continuous shot, and the technologically advanced, flawless helm space station—all of them were shocked…

"Is this... really something a domestic film company can produce?"

Wearing a cap and hiding in the back row corner of the cinema, Director Zhang watched the stunning scene on the screen with a loss in his eyes, muttering to himself.

This caught the attention of the viewer next to him.

Director Zhang then realized, "Wandering Planet," thanks to its explosive word-of-mouth in recent days, still drew a frighteningly high attendance rate even after the holidays had ended.

Even though he was sitting in a corner at the back row, some people still noticed him because of his talking.

This scared him into quickly pulling down his cap a bit more, then avoiding eye contact with anyone else.

Fortunately, because the cinema was dark and the movie really was captivating, the audience only gave him a glance before they continued watching the film without any further care.

As the movie played on, minute by minute, many people became more and more immersed. But inside, Director Zhang felt increasingly desolate.

As an experienced director of more than twenty years, how could he not recognize the quality and achievements of this film?

"Monsters… it's simply monstrous…"

Then he thought of the release of "Medicine God" six months ago, and suddenly Director Zhang had a feeling the times had changed.

Is this the quality that domestic films can produce?

A bit too bullying, isn't it?

He couldn't help recollecting his earlier media statements, asserting that Chenlu Film Company could only make those lovey-dovey films of a smaller scale.

Now, compared with a big production like "Wandering Planet," his own fantasy, comedy, and romance films truly seemed small-scale.

He had been dealing with family and day-to-day matters, while the others were already cruising in space...

After over two hours, the movie ended, and Director Zhang did not stay to listen to how the audience praised "Wandering Planet." Instead, he pressed down his hat and quickly slipped out of the cinema.

He came downstairs and went outside.

The weather in January was a bit cool, giving Director Zhang a cold shiver.

He looked up involuntarily at the dim sky: in a blink of an eye, winter had come, and these old bones of mine are starting to feel the difficulty…

Director Zhang was just a microcosm of the attitudes of many people working in the film industry.

Many industry professionals who were originally doubtful about the success of "Wandering Planet" lost their tempers after seeing the movie themselves.

And it was only now that those who had previously sniffed something fishy realized why the theaters dared to increase the screenings for "Wandering Planet" even when its reputation wasn't great.

It wasn't because of any insider trading, nor was it because of Chen Yan's face or connections.

Simply put, anyone with eyes who saw "Wandering Planet" knew what the movie meant to the domestic audience.

Hence, these theatres, always pragmatic and influential, placed their bets on "Wandering Planet" when the situation was unclear.

In fact, before the war had even begun, everything.... had already ended.

Because they saw "Wandering Planet" for themselves, various groups mysteriously shifted from being skeptical about "Wandering Planet" to singing its praises.

And as the producer and distributor, Chenlu Film Company naturally became an object of envy in everyone's hearts once again.

One "Medicine God" had raised the bar for the domestic film market by a notch.

Everyone originally thought it was a miracle.

But at Chenlu Film Company, miracles seemed as plentiful as they were worthless. Just after "Medicine God," they promptly released another hit: "Wandering Planet."

It was as if everyone was in two different dimensions.

There was simply no comparison....

Even those in the film circle who had been unwilling to accept it were subdued, not to mention the viewing public.

After the word-of-mouth for "Wandering Planet" fermented, its box office continued to rise steadily.

And what felt even more like "destiny" was this year's New Year holiday and the following weekend were just two days apart.

Thus, after a certain drop in box office returns on January 4th and 5th, on January 6th and 7th, the box office for "Wandering Planet" once again experienced a surge.

In two days, it raked in a massive 910 million box office take, plus the previous 460 million from the two weekdays, catapulting the box office for "Wandering Planet" to a towering 22 billion.

It surpassed all non-Chenlu Film Company produced films, claiming the second spot on the domestic historical box office rankings!

And looking at the momentum of the film, it really felt like it had a shot at taking the top spot...

One piece of good news after another came, fueling the continuous climb in box office revenues for "Wandering Planet."

However, not everyone shares the same joy and sorrow.

While "Wandering Planet"'s box office soared, "The Ferryman"'s ticket sales were pitiful.

It wasn't clear whether it was due to the pressure of a blockbuster like "Wandering Planet" or merely due to its own lack of quality, but the box office for "The Ferryman" halved every day.

After seven days, it had plummeted to less than five million.

That would have been acceptable.

After all, it was competing against a masterpiece—"The Ferryman"'s performance at the box office wasn't too bad, all things considered.

But... just like its box office trend, its reputation was also sliding.

Since its release, the reputation of "The Ferryman" had been on a steady decline.

It started with a 7, then fell to 6.5 the next day, and 6 the day after. Subsequently, it plunged all the way down to 4.2.

While it stabilized there, it still wavered slightly.

This was something that Director Zhang, who had held high hopes for his film, found hard to accept.

He could understand his film not comparing to "Wandering Planet,"

but to say his movie only deserved a little more than 4 points was a deep insult!

In his 20 years of career, he had never had such a low-rated film.

And so... he couldn't help but suspect, could this be Chen Yan's doing...

When it comes to "malicious speculations," human imagination always appears to be lacking.

You only imagine others have done something because it's what you have done or wanted to do.

Thus, when falling into this vicious circle, after seeking confirmation from multiple sources, Director Zhang suspected... that the low rating for his film might indeed be due to Chen Yan deliberately rigging the scores!

This infuriated him so much that he wished he could drag Chen Yan out and confront him about why, having already won, he would still "maltreat" him like this.

And it was at this moment, as if intentionally unaware of Director Zhang's current state of mind, Xu Zhaorong called…

...

Qin Island.

Fenghua Building.

Due to the outstanding performance of "Wandering Planet," the mood throughout the group was jubilant and cheerful.

Chen Yan even rented out a cinema specifically to take the entire group to watch the film, as a treat for the company.

Having witnessed the success of the film company, the staff of the other companies felt both joy and pressure.

As a result, after watching the movie, the employees of the gaming company even took the risk of violating the company's management regulations by working overtime...

This left Chen Yan, who had never expected such an outcome, somewhat bemused and perplexed.

However, the positive side of this situation was that the release date of the new game was much earlier than planned.

Chen Yan estimated that "Wandering Planet" would have finished its theatrical run by the time of the New Year, which meant the new game could be launched globally, on all platforms.

Moreover...

Not only that, Chen Yan also unexpectedly had an interesting idea about the gaming landscape of his company while discussing this new game.

He wanted to see if he could bring it to fruition.

Once achieved, he would truly have established a strong foothold in the gaming industry...

Storing these thoughts aside for the moment, Chen Yan looked at the young girl sitting in front of him, whose feet couldn't even be seen when she looked down, "Qiao Qiao. Why do you have time to hang out with me today?"

Yu Qiao Qiao was in very high spirits and excited today.

Her smile was sweet, such that it would naturally bring joy to anyone who saw it, "Chen Yan. Let me tell you, I've just been helping Sister Yao set up branches in the surrounding provinces."

"And we have also entered into collaborations with the official representatives of those provinces."

"With the New Year coming up, we are thinking of doing some good and real deeds in these provinces to help those in need have a better New Year."

Although Yu Qiao Qiao hadn't answered his question and was rambling on about work-related minutiae, Chen Yan was propping up his chin and listening intently to her sharing.

A girl, if she likes you, can't help but want to share everything about her life with you.

And interrupting her sharing will only lead to disappointment.

So, although Chen Yan wasn't particularly interested in these topics, he still listened with great interest.

After listening to Yu Qiao Qiao's chatter, Chen Yan also shared some of his own suggestions with her.

And just like that, after their talk about the Charity Organization, Yu Qiao Qiao seemed to finally remember the purpose of her visit.

She looked at Chen Yan and then said, "Chen Yan. I remember why I came to see you."

Chen Yan looked at her and uttered, "Oh?" Then he asked, "Planning on doing something?"

Yu Qiao Qiao replied, "It's about Sister Nuan Nuan."

"Sister Nuan Nuan contacted me yesterday. She wants to talk to you about something. She would like to return to the company to work."

"Yang Nuannuan?" Upon hearing this name, Chen Yan paused for a moment.

This name, which he hadn't heard for a long time, made Chen Yan almost think he had misheard.

Especially considering the previous issues between Yang Nuannuan, himself, Yang Rou, and Zhao Qingtian, Chen Yan had very complicated feelings toward this girl.

Now, with his ambiguous relationship with Yang Rou, facing Yang Nuannuan was even more awkward for him.

So he pondered for a moment before asking, "Did she say what she wants to do at the company?"

Yu Qiao Qiao shook her head sweetly, responding, "Nope. She just said she doesn't want to work for her mom anymore, she wants to follow you."

"She also said that if I told you, you would understand."

Listening to Yu Qiao Qiao's words, Chen Yan's brow furrowed.

He was already puzzled why Yang Nuannuan's intent to return was communicated by Yu Qiao Qiao rather than Yang Rou.

Now, it seemed Yang Nuannuan no longer wished to continue her previous work, meaning she didn't want to be Yang Rou's assistant anymore, but instead wanted to follow him.

But what could she do with him?

And she said he would understand...

Thinking this, Chen Yan wondered for a moment if it might have to do with... stock trading?

After all, the only two personal matters they shared were stock trading and the Liu Bei essay.

Surely, she can't be thinking about writing Liu Bei essays for him...

Other tycoons get famous and then write biographies or memoirs.

But him, creating adult comics, Liu Bei essays…

Hmm, seems like his influence might be a bit wider, huh...

Putting away these odd thoughts, Chen Yan felt that he couldn't just make a decision on this matter on his own.

After all, Yang Nuannuan's identity was too special.

Yu Qiao Qiao's best friend, Zhao Ying's roommate, Yang Rou's daughter, Zhao Qingtian's covert agent. He had to handle this with care.

Chen Yan thought he should ask Yang Rou for her thoughts that evening.

After all, when it came to closeness, he was closer to Yang Rou than to anyone else. If he arranged something for Yang Nuannuan without Yang Rou's knowledge, it would certainly cause her discomfort...

With this in mind, Chen Yan tentatively decided to set the matter aside for now.

Afterward, Chen Yan pulled Yu Qiao Qiao aside for a chat and... indirectly inquired whether Lu Man had done anything strange to her lately.

After receiving Yu Qiao Qiao's negative response, Chen Yan breathed a sigh of relief...

Although he felt somewhat cowardly, Chen Yan was truly trying to avoid confronting the issue.

He feared that Lu Man might upset Yu Qiao Qiao and drive her away from him...

Fortunately, that problem had yet to arise, and Chen Yan felt he still had time to consider if there was a better way...

After chatting with Yu Qiao Qiao, Chen Yan escorted her downstairs.

And just as they were in the elevator, Chen Yan's phone suddenly rang.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.