ALL NOVEL
Chapter 150
Just as Ji Ruochu was happily playing with her friends, the promotional trailer for "Free Roaming 2" had gone viral online.
As a renowned director, Qiu Xuetong's editing skills were naturally superb.
The opening scene of the trailer showed a battered Qian Siqi, which was probably shot for the first movie when she was still a young girl, cowering in the corner.
It then transitioned into the warm scene of her martial seniors finding her as an adult and bringing Qian Siqi back to the Sect, followed by the heartwarming gathering of her reunion with her fellow disciples, all smiles.
Yet in the next second, the viewers witnessed this seemingly "weak" junior martial sister sending the tombstone of their late grandmaster flying into pieces with one slap of her palm, directly excavating the grave of their sect's founder.
"Senior brothers and sisters..."
The moment she was surrounded by her fellow disciples, the girl put on a facade of gentleness and frailty. As she looked to her martial seniors beside her, sorrow, rage and grievance intertwined in her eyes.
Then a cold narration sounded from off-screen: "Would you...still protect me?"
And the promotional trailer ended there, leaving the netizens scratching their heads frantically.
[Screams] "Protect, I will! My baby! Mommy's willing!"
"???"
"Qiu truly has something going this time around."
"So...why did the junior martial sister turn dark?"
With this question in mind, on August 20, the premiere date of "Free Roaming 2", more and more people walked into the theaters.
On this day, Ji Mochen, who had been missing for a month, rarely posted an update on his social media.
Soon after, many celebrities in the entertainment industry followed suit by booking out theaters in support.
Regarding this movie, there had been no lack of naysayers online. Later on, an absurd topic even surfaced - "Don't let the offspring of scientists be seduced by the entertainment industry".
It had to be said, the antis sure knew where to strike. In recent years, the changing dreams of children had been a constant hot topic.
The increasing pragmatism in children's aspirations, what's the underlying cause?
If everyone aimed to be celebrities, internet influencers or professional athletes as their ultimate goal, would there be any scientists left in Hua Country in the future? Were such values truly good?
Such discussions had always existed before, but they usually just petered out, mostly concluding with empty exhortations.
But now was different. Ji Ruochu, who had scored an impressive 742 in the college entrance exam, and had already won all kinds of competition gold medals during schooling - this seed player was also going to step into showbiz now?
Thus, many "patriotic" netizens concerned about the country and people emerged on the internet.
Brandishing the flag of "Don't Let Top Scorers Be Polluted By Showbiz", they started a series of boycotting behaviors targeting "Free Roaming 2".
Seeing such overwhelming criticism online, Director Qiu was extremely anxious.
Despite his age, when it came to these two "Free Roaming" films, he truly could not sit still.
Nobody knew that he had originally planned to end his directing career after shooting these two films.
Qiu, who had wanted a perfect ending to his directing life, now only hoped that the movie could be released smoothly without tarnishing his reputation in his late years.
Fortunately, Heaven still favored him.
On the day of premiere, the topic of ["Who Managed to Buy Free Roaming 2 Movie Tickets"](English) instantly topped the hot search ranking.
Soon, some netizens started complaining online that there were too few screenings.
You clearly knew it was the summer season, yet you didn't arrange more screenings?
Little did they know, the cinemas were also extremely wronged. Hadn't you all been boycotting it earlier?
Moreover, there were simply too many movies released during summer breaks to begin with. Even though they had set aside screening slots early on for "Free Roaming 2", supply still couldn't match demand.
Merely on the first day, the box office had exceeded 1 billion yuan, instantly squeezing into the top three highest first day box office.
[Gasp] It's not even the end of the day, and it already passed 1 billion RMB in box office sales?
Hmm...those who previously claimed they would boycott it, could they be practicing nepotism in private?
Talking about boycotting out loud, yet scrambling frantically for tickets in private?
From then on, regardless of the rumors surrounding this movie before, the trend of "Free Roaming 2" becoming a phenomenal blockbuster could no longer be changed.
Not to mention, apart from the original cast reprising their roles, this was currently the only movie with a female lead who did not participate in any promotions.
Despite the hard promotions from the other main casts, Ji Ruochu had not made any public appearances in the last month, and had been absent from all social media platforms.
And precisely because of this, after the incredible box office numbers on the first day got released, the fans of each main cast, who were once united, inevitably started competing for credit.
Some credited their own idol for carrying the bulk of box office sales, while others attributed it to the extensive public appeal of the "senior martial sister". Only the fans of Ji Ruochu and her father remained silent throughout.
What? You said they got intimidated?
No no no, the main reason was that the fans still did not know if their top scorer sweetheart would join showbiz in the future, so they did not dare act rashly.
Moreover, she's the female lead! The main female lead!
As fans of the lead actress, they had to have some composure!
In the beginning, when some reckless fans of other casts came over to mock and ridicule them, they rapidly typed out a long series of words in response. What they obtained in return...
Was a screenshot of the opening credits from the movie ending - the five big words of "Starring: Ji Ruochu", plus the five consecutive crazy Jianghu memes previously released by Director Qiu. And hence their opponents instantly went silent.
Of course, apart from the above, the main reason why other fans did not dare come cause trouble, was due to Ji Ruochu's acting skills.
It couldn't be helped. Even until now, topics related to her acting were still among the top three hot searches!
Speaking of which, even the earlier debate around who should take credit for carrying the box office came to a halt and disappeared, upon more and more passersby sharing their experiences of bringing their children along to see the top scorer's acting debut.
Clearly, it was obvious to everyone who was the biggest draw for box office sales.
Within just one day, outrageous rumors even started spreading that "Bringing your children to see the top scorer's movie can raise their intelligence."
Of course, all these were trivial matters. The key to this movie's fiery popularity still lied with its plotlines.
In the previous trailer, everyone had been shocked by the junior martial sister suddenly desecrating their late grandmaster's grave. Prior to the movie screening, the guesses towards her reason for turning dark were endless.
You couldn't fault them though, several netizens did touch upon some clues, causing Director Qiu's already nervous heart to thump even more anxiously.
Fortunately, despite the movie premiering, there were still no spoilers leaked, and the netizens only managed to solve all their questions after finishing the movie.
It turned out that the cause for the junior martial sister's darkness, was related to their deceased teacher, as well as their sect's creed of "making it their responsibility to save the entire world".
In the movie, only after Qian Siqi dug up their late grandmaster's grave in front of everyone did they discover that the remains that should have been laying inside the coffin had vanished.
Qian Siqi then utilized her immense inner energy cultivation to subdue several elders as well as three senior martial siblings who had been shielding her earlier. Ultimately, she uncovered the past truth before everyone.