Chapter 161: Admitting Another Mistake

In the fast-paced 1990s, a film's opening day box office was enough to determine its future trajectory; while its opening week box office could very well determine its life or death.

In the past, Li Sishi was not too worried about box office performance because her previous two films were accompanied by one or more box office guarantees. Not only would Hong Kong people and film distributors from surrounding areas pay for their films just by seeing their names, but in her previous life, she also remembered that "Hero in My Heart" and "The Fake Son-in-Law" were both films that could make money.

However, "Mermaid Romance" is different—it is the type of film that is critically acclaimed but not commercially successful. When it was taken off the screens in Hong Kong, its box office was less than 4 million. If it hadn't become a huge hit in Southeast Asia later and made up for the losses, this film, which lost money in its home country, would definitely have ended the future film careers of its lead actors.

Therefore, although she felt that this movie was better than the version from her previous life, Li Sishi still felt more or less nervous when she saw the box office statistics for the first day.

"Open it and take a look. It will also let you see your current strength." Zhuang Menghua tapped the folder cover of the statistics table.

There was nothing of value in her voice, and Lu Yiting, standing beside her, calmly sipped her tea... Li Sishi took a deep breath and reached for the statistics sheet.

As she opened it, her eyes blinked slightly. When the light returned to her pupils, she could clearly see the large number of data points in bold: 1052352.00.

After confirming that she hadn't misread it, Li Sishi couldn't help but show a happy expression on her face—as a movie where she, a second-tier actress, was the highest-ranking star and the female lead, this million-dollar opening day box office was far more important to her career than her previous two movies!

Based on its current performance and popularity, if the film continues to be shown, it's almost certain that "Mermaid Romance" will gross over ten million at the Hong Kong box office by the time it leaves theaters.

Even though "Hero in My Heart" grossed over HK$36 million in Hong Kong and "The Fake Son-in-Law" grossed over HK$15 million in Hong Kong, she wasn't the main force behind the box office success of either film. Her box office record sounds impressive, but in reality, she was just a "pineapple chicken"—she relied entirely on her connections.

To truly measure an artist's "movie talent," besides their salary, one should also consider the box office performance of a film they are primarily responsible for.

Besides, due to various factors such as the differences in box office appeal between male and female artists in Hong Kong and the types of films they star in, a film starring a female artist breaking ten million is already considered a box office miracle—before Li Sishi, only...

Female action star Leung Yee-king, Xia Ying-yun who revived her career with martial arts films, DIDI, who is multi-talented in film, television, music, and hosting, and Pei Yan-sang are among the top actresses who can bring in tens of millions of yuan at the box office. Moreover, Leung Yee-king and Xia Ying-yun rely on martial arts films, which are easy to attract box office revenue, while DIDI and Pei Yan-sang have accumulated a good reputation and have unique themes.

The fact that a light-hearted fantasy romance film like "Mermaid Romance," which doesn't rely on martial arts or critical acclaim, has achieved this success not only proves Li Sishi's "film talent" but may also open up a brand new path for future Hong Kong film genres!

Seeing Li Sishi's inability to suppress her smile

Zhuang Menghua also slowly revealed a smile and softly praised, "This is a very good start. Keep up the good work."

"I will, thank you very much, Miss Zhuang." Li Sishi suppressed her joy and thanked her repeatedly.

"Next, I'll take advantage of the buzz and arrange for you to shoot another special edition album featuring you in a mermaid look." Zhuang Menghua briefly explained the upcoming plans to Li Sishi. "After shooting the special edition album, you'll go with the main cast of 'Mermaid Romance' to Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries to promote the film..."

"The film distributors there really liked the movie and called a lot of people wanting to buy it after the premiere last night." The biggest box office for Hong Kong films is in Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries. If they can attract them to buy the film, import it, and distribute it, the combined box office revenue will definitely be much higher than the domestic box office.

In particular, the main character of this film, "Mermaid Romance," is Li Sishi, who plays a "mermaid." If this film is successful, Li Sishi will become a popular film actress across the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong, which will greatly help her future film career.

That's why Zhuang Menghua specially arranged for her to go all out to promote the movie this time. As for whether to continue filming movies, release a new album, or prepare for a concert, that will be decided depending on the situation.

Although she hopes Li Sishi will become a triple threat in singing, film and television, if she cannot manage all three, then it is most important to focus on their company's main business, film.

In the days that followed, Li Sishi threw herself back into her busy work.

As the new version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" gained popularity and high viewership in the port city, various local TV stations successively extended olive branches to acquire and introduce it.

Li Sishi was even happier about this, and even the fatigue from her busy work schedule was somewhat relieved because of it: although the version she starred in had left a classic character image in the hearts of Hong Kong people, the food she ate in Hong Kong...

The benefits of playing a classic character are actually no greater than those of playing the male lead, Luo Xuan.

First, the "Qingxia" series mainly features male protagonists, and although many female characters have been portrayed in classic roles, their screen time is somewhat insufficient due to the equal distribution of roles. Second, because Luo Xuan was not favored before, while she was highly regarded, their current situation is similar to that of a poor student and a top student. A poor student who usually scores around 70 points suddenly achieves a score of 90, and people think he has made a successful comeback and are amazed. On the other hand, a top student who usually scores above 95 points consistently and improves by achieving a score of 99, and people mostly just give a word of praise and then take it for granted.

In addition, with an older version already considered a cherished memory, even if the new version tries harder, it can only be considered equally beautiful, becoming a benchmark for its respective era.

After being introduced to other regions

The situation is quite different: the 1995 version of "The New Legend of the Condor Heroes" became an unforgettable martial arts classic in the memories of this generation because of its huge ratings on local TV stations, which was then officially introduced and broadcast on satellite TV. It finally seized the opportunity of excellent dubbing quality and the development of the mainland economy.

Most importantly, even though the character and plot of "Fairy of Yunya" in "The Romantic Swordsman" are quite controversial, her character image perfectly matches the aesthetic of fairies in this era of the mainland. At that time, she will not need to compete with the old version of the white moonlight anymore, but will directly sweep across the entire Divine Continent with an impeccable attitude...

If you lay a good foundation at the beginning, the road ahead will naturally be much easier.

After filming the special edition of the mermaid album, Li Sishi and the crew of "Mermaid Romance" started from Taiwan and gradually traveled to various parts of Southeast Asia to promote the film.

Since it's during the summer holidays, traveling to Southeast Asia doesn't have to be too rushed. With the itinerary planned in advance, they can even squeeze out half a day or more to enjoy sightseeing and vacationing in a foreign land.

"Ah, if every day could be this comfortable, I wish I could relax on the beach like this for so long!" Wan Jiamei's aesthetic sense is very much in line with the style of this generation of Hong Kong people. She loves sunbathing and getting a tan. This time, she came to Singapore for promotion and had some free time, so she couldn't help but go to the beach. "It's a pity that Ah Wu is still filming and doesn't have the chance to enjoy the world with us!"

"Yes, it's really comfortable!" Le Yun, who is quite popular in Southeast Asia and is also the final boss of this movie, immediately joined the crew for a free trip.

The only thing that annoyed him was: "Why did it take so long for the pasta to go buy a drink?"

"Look, he's being entangled by a pretty girl over there." - Li Sishi

Pushing his sunglasses up over his head, he immediately saw a scene in the distance of an ice cream shop where Cheng Erjian was pulling and tugging at a beautiful bikini-clad woman with a great figure.

Aside from a sense of schadenfreude, he didn't feel any secret joy or anger at the thought that he might change his target.

Although she sensed that their relationship as fellow students had changed, she couldn't very well refuse him directly without Cheng Erjian making it clear to her.

Moreover, given her familiarity with Cheng Erjian, she undoubtedly knew his personality when playing games—he would never give up until he was completely hopeless. Therefore, she couldn't expect him to have a modern perspective on relationships. Under these circumstances, she could only wait and see, either until he ran out of enthusiasm and gave up, or until he pursued her hard and successfully moved her to change her mind.

"Are you kidding me? He's such a big guy and he can't even handle a girl. What a failure!" Le Yun glanced at Li Sishi and sighed with a double meaning.

After Cheng Erjian finally managed to escape the bikini-clad beauties and returned with several iced drinks, Le Yun asked him about what had happened earlier with great interest, making him laugh so hard that he quickly used sharing the iced drinks as an excuse to avoid her.

“Hey

"This one's for you." Cheng Erjian handed Li Sishi a blue smoothie and casually added with concern, "Although you're very... fit! But girls shouldn't drink too many cold things..."

Before Li Sishi could even respond with a speechless look, Le Yun and Wan Jiamei, standing nearby, both wore complex expressions as if they had been brutally injured by a dump truck.

What kind of adjective is that, man?!

Even if you replace "bodybuilding" with "health" or "fit"!

If you can't win over Ah May in the future, there's a 90% chance it's because of your mouth!

Seeing his serious expression, Li Sishi knew that this was really him, so she could only silently suppress her inner rage and gulp down her iced drink to avoid losing control and complaining to his face.

After spending the afternoon on the beach, the group decided to go to a nearby bar as recommended by Le Yun in the evening.

The group arrived at the entrance of this somewhat secluded bar in a lively atmosphere, and it was already dark.

But this bar, as expected of the well-traveled Le Yun who wanted to come back, was already packed with people. When their group arrived, they even had to queue to get in.

Queuing

While waiting, Li Sishi was suddenly patted on the back: "Mary, where have you been? I've been looking for you for so long..."

Li Sishi turned around with a puzzled look, only to see a "familiar face"—it was Wu Wenzu, who had mistaken her for a sculpture before.

"It's you?!" Wu Wenzu was taken aback when he saw her clearly and apologized repeatedly, "I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was immediately grabbed by a girl wearing the same T-shirt and jeans as Li Sishi, who had a distinctly ABC (American-born Chinese) style. "Joe, you really do want to betray me!"

“I don’t have Mary. I was looking for you but I mistakenly thought you were the right person…” Wu Wenzu quickly explained.

"I don't believe that you ignored me when I was around and went after other girls instead. Now that I'm not around, you can still put up with it?!" The girl named Mary immediately shouted, "I knew you were going to cheat on me with someone as handsome as you!"

"Calm down, I never had such thoughts..." Feeling the gossipy gazes of the people around him, Wu Wenzu was extremely anxious. "I wasn't ignoring you before, it's just that the girl was being harassed, so I went to help her. Please don't misunderstand..."

After much coaxing and reassurance, Wu Wenzu calmed his girlfriend, who claimed to have absolutely no sense of security. He repeatedly assured her, "I promise that no matter what happens in the future, my first priority will be to pay attention to you and protect you. I will never let you feel insecure..."

Just as Li Sishi was watching the young couple's playful banter with great interest, Cheng Erjian, who was behind her, suddenly tugged at her sleeve and whispered, "She's the one who was clinging to me on the beach..."

Upon hearing this bombshell, Li Sishi was speechless for a moment: Good heavens!

So, it turns out the thief was crying "stop thief!"

It seems that Lok Hin and Ng Man Cho, two incredibly handsome men, are indeed the two most memorable cuckolds in Hong Kong's entertainment circle...

But Luo Xuan was cheated on before because he was not famous at the time and made a mistake, so his girlfriend dumped him; but Wu Wenzu was cheated on for a reason that is really ridiculous: because his girlfriend thought he was so handsome that she was sure he would cheat on her in the future, so she decided to cheat on him first and give him a very bright green hat...

Li Sishi didn't quite understand the thought process of these ABC girls, but seeing Wu Wenzu so earnestly and sincerely swearing to coax his girlfriend, and thinking about his head that was about to turn green enough to grab a sheep... Li Sishi suddenly found herself unable to laugh.

However, she couldn't possibly tell Wu Wenzu in advance that "your girlfriend is actually crying wolf"—no, she could have Cheng Erjian, the victim who had been harassed, find an opportunity to go over and give him a heads-up.

After entering the bar, Li Sishi whispered something to Cheng Erjian, who nodded and said, "No problem. I also can't stand people who do bad things, not only deny them but also turn around and blame others!"

When Le Yun and Wan Jiamei saw Cheng Erjian suddenly walk away, they were speechless as they came over to ask him questions. They were also taken aback by this ABC girl who was crying wolf.

"How can there be people like this in the world..." Wan Jiamei glanced over and couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "Although if I had such a handsome boyfriend, I would also want to keep him hidden away from others, but this kind of behavior... I really don't know what to say..."

"The same rice feeds a hundred different kinds of people, and the world is full of wonders." Le Yun, who was used to seeing the world, was shocked by this, but not too much, so he picked up the microphone and changed the subject, "Didn't you want to learn to sing with me? Let's take this opportunity to go up to the small stage and sing a few lines."

Many singers had experience performing in bars in their early years. Le Yun is also happy to teach younger generations. Now that he has the opportunity and time, he plans to teach Wan Jiamei, who is asking him for advice.

Li Sishi waved to the two of them and then turned her attention back to Cheng Erjian: "Very good, that ABC girl named Mary is here. Get your drinks at the bar over here." Wu Wenzu was sitting alone on the sofa at that moment.

Just as Cheng Erjian had shaken hands with Wu Wenzu and sat down next to him, before Li Sishi could do anything to give Cheng Erjian a hint, she suddenly felt a deafening bang, followed by a dizzying sway in front of her.

"There are World War II bombs nearby!" A scream that seemed to come from nowhere instantly ignited panic among everyone.

Just as Li Sishi turned to run back to her own people, she was suddenly grabbed from behind and forced to run wildly towards the exit.

That unstoppable momentum and irresistible force were truly formidable.

Li Sishi struggled but couldn't break free; she was dragged away a long way through the chaotic crowd...

“Mary, don’t be afraid, we will be safe!” Wu Wenzu, who was pulling her along, said without turning his head.

Looking at the increasingly desolate and dark scenery around her, Li Sishi, who was being dragged along and was out of breath, managed to say with difficulty, "You, you calm down!"

"I, I, I'm not, I'm not your girlfriend, I don't have 'r'..."

"I... I didn't say 'r'!" Li Sishi, who felt she was about to run out of breath, almost cried when she said this.

The current situation is so bizarre and chaotic that Li Sishi can't think of a proper way to explain that she is not his girlfriend. She can only gasp for breath and repeatedly cry out, "I am not your girlfriend" and "I don't have any..." hoping that this tough guy who has once again made a mistake will turn around and look at her so that he can discover the truth.

However, the pronunciation of "r" in both English and Cantonese is so similar to "ah" that to Wu Wenzu, Li Sishi's explanation sounded more like a reply to his previous statement, telling her boyfriend that she wasn't afraid...

Upon experiencing his "girlfriend's" understanding for the first time, Wu Wenzu, who was holding her hand from the front, ran even faster: Mary was so scared that her voice changed, how could she not be afraid!

I need to take her further away to a safe place before I can properly comfort her!