Chapter 49, "The Shadow"
The entire 360-degree circular screen was divided into multiple areas. The area in front of Fang Zhuo displayed the back-row surveillance video of the 399 Star Cinema, while the large screen on the right scrolled through discussions related to prime-time movies.
On the large screen directly opposite him, a rough cut trailer for "Shadow" was playing on a loop. The video froze on the last scene, when the family of four looked at each other in tacit understanding. Just then, the audience in the theater in the video to his side entered the theater.
The entire movie theater went dark instantly, and he personally pressed the play button in the control room.
Unlike his first live stream, during this period, every rare title he earned was automatically pinned to the top of the system forum, and almost all the operators knew that someone had completely revitalized the BC35 plane, which was considered to be of demonic difficulty.
The live stream chat was exploding with new comments popping up every second.
[Haven't seen you for months, and you're already playing movies? Is this the difference between me and a pro gamer? [Donate 1 point]]
[The public opinion on the screen seems off; why is everyone saying that Brother Fang's movie is going to have a bad ending?]
[Could someone please explain what the timing of this "Founding Day" or whatever festival is? Is it equivalent to the Spring Festival or the National Day holiday on Earth?]
[Dude, you've asked the wrong person. Besides Brother Fang, there's only one other big shot in this livestream who survived from BC35, and even that was after using a life-saving card to escape.]
What does "running away" mean? That sounds awful.
Hey bro, I'm here! How come your life's suddenly gotten so good? You've even landed prime-time slots?
Let me explain: the traffic during the Spring Festival is about four to five times that of the Spring Festival on Earth. Everyone invests and markets very heavily. Many small companies leverage up before entering the market. Almost every year, some companies fail in their investments during this period and file for bankruptcy...
Dude, you didn't invest your entire fortune, did you? You're crazy! How are you going to compete head-on with those top-tier investors?
[Sounds similar to jade gambling, one cut can make you rich or poor, kind of exciting. [Donate 3 points]]
[Something's not right... How come the comments section says this movie's production time was less than half that of other movies? And the cast is all new actors and a new screenwriter?]
[This sounds like a rash, impulsive decision to rush into prime-time trading; isn't this investment strategy a bit too aggressive...?]
[I'm a little afraid to watch this. Is this big shot calling for help from us?]
[Hey boss, come work for me! I sent you an employee card via private message. Once you bind the card, you'll automatically be transferred to my world after your bankruptcy settlement. Please reply via private message qwq]
[What's with the cuteness? I'll be the first to snag this deal! Brother Fang, I've sent you an employee card and 200 points via private message. You can check your private messages to claim them~~~]
I knelt the most properly; Brother Fang, I promise I'll treat you like royalty once you arrive.
[Wait, everyone stop chatting, the movie seems to be starting soon. [Donate 1 point]]
Inside the 399 Star Cinema, it was pitch black, and the Giant Entertainment logo slowly appeared on the nearly 30-meter-long giant screen.
Clutching the gift bag under her seat nervously, Yang Yi, huddled in the last few rows of the movie theater, looked around and cautiously raised her camera a little higher so she could get a clearer picture.
Unlike most people's jobs, she is a professional film critic and online troll, and also runs a marketing account with 10,000 followers.
During this prime-time period, she was overwhelmed with orders. As long as she could come to the 399 Star offline to watch the premiere and edit a video criticizing Giant Entertainment's films, she could get several thousand yuan in commission.
Although edited videos cannot include secretly filmed footage, recording the entire storyline makes it easier for her to review it later, making her criticisms more substantial.
After watching this show, she still has to rush to see "About Love" that night and make a promotional video for the movie.
Even before entering the theater today, she had kept her camera on the whole time—Juyu also invested in this 399 Star cinema, and with so many audience members at the premiere, she was always able to carefully spot any flaws.
But after taking pictures all around, she really couldn't find anything to criticize...
Giant Entertainment thoughtfully placed gift bags under each audience seat, and the screen used was the YOUMAX giant screen, which is currently the largest and clearest in the Star Federation. What made Yang Yi smile the most was the various snacks that the organizers placed on the right side of each seat.
The mixed snack bucket contained popcorn and potato chips with the Giant Entertainment logo, and a cup of sugar-free cola was placed in the next compartment.
She finally understood why this company had so many fans online, and whether this kind of business model could really recoup ticket revenue.
As Yang Yi watched the beginning of the movie, she happily ate the free snacks. The shaky opening shot alone was enough to make her pause in her popcorn-holding hand.
On screen, the female lead, Liu Fu, looked flustered, roughly clutching a pipa and a whole stack of messy manuscripts in her arms.
That pipa looked incredibly expensive, with miniature landscape paintings vividly engraved on the tuning pegs, and delicate, exquisite court-style paintings of ladies on the soundbox below.
In the painting, four or five ladies each hold a different musical instrument, and the silhouette of the figure on the far side sways in the wind. The figures are so lifelike that they seem to leap out of the real pipa at any moment.
Not to mention the female lead, even Yang Yi in front of the screen couldn't help but be mesmerized by this exquisite pipa.
However, the camera didn't linger on this agile prop for long. The eye-catching flashback abruptly ended, and Yang Yi followed the female lead's perspective into the city, watching her nervously disguise herself as a musician in the prefect's mansion.
Having witnessed how the Bao family usually oppressed the people and wreaked havoc in the village, and watching Liu Fu gradually drag her whole family into the mansion, Yang Yi almost forgot her original purpose for coming here.
Her heart was pounding faster and faster; she could only hope that the prefect would not discover the family's infiltration.
When Liu Fu's mother, Madam Xu, was finally successfully arranged to work as a cook in the mansion, Yang Yi also breathed a sigh of relief.
She opened her palm, and a thin layer of sweat had formed on her right palm.
It wasn't until she turned on her personal computer that she realized only twenty minutes had passed since the start of the show, and the tense plot of the first half was already tightly linked.
Isn't it said online that this was written by a novice screenwriter with no experience? Is that true?
But if all the important plot points are told in the first twenty minutes, what's left to watch?
Is Giant Entertainment's strategy to put the key plot points at the beginning, giving the audience a shock as soon as they enter the theater, so that the second half can be filmed casually and people will still buy tickets?
This strategy aligns perfectly with various rumors circulating online. It's said that Juyu Entertainment finished filming a month ago, making it 99.9% likely to be a poorly executed production. They might just keep repeating the same daily life of a family in their mansion.
On the screen, Mrs. Xu was washing clothes and clearing away the overgrown weeds at the entrance of the small kitchen.
"Second Aunt, there's been so much rain this year, even the goosegrass is growing much taller than usual, it's really strange."
"That's right, I heard that the yellow grass along the riverbank has grown to waist height this year..."
Just as she had guessed, things were already entering a boring daily routine. Yang Yi quickly raised the terminal higher, intending to go back and give the second half of the plot a thorough critique.
She had already figured out how to write the script. Yang Yi put the snacks down beside her, lifted her buttocks, and planned to take advantage of this boring plot to go to the toilet.
As water droplets splashed from the clothes in Xu's hands mixed into the sink, a camera followed the droplets as they sank into the county's underground water system, with countless plant roots desperately vying to absorb the drop of water.
Their roots grow wildly, like a huge, upside-down branch, plunging deep into the soil.
This long shot pans from the roots all the way to the stems and leaves of the plant. The plant, which usually only grows to a height of ten centimeters, suddenly stretches out its long leaves. Those oversized long leaves droop down, and a low-angle shot makes the whole plant look more than ten meters tall.
But Yang Yi quickly realized that it wasn't a problem with the camera angle, but rather that the weed, which looked a bit like an oxalis, had actually grown to a height of nearly ten meters.
Wait a minute, the plot seems to be taking an unexpected turn, so she quickly sat back down and settled in.
The torrential rain that lasted all night continued, and the ambient light gradually shifted from bluish-black to warm.
The first rays of morning sunlight shone down, and the camera suddenly zoomed out from the lone weed—
The entire county seemed to be covered by green plants, with large swathes of green leaves blocking out the sun and covering the thatched roofs. The dusty roads were now densely covered with countless green and yellow vines.
The area covered by this camera is tens of thousands of square meters, including not only the front gate of the Bao Mansion, but also almost half of the capital county.
Every detail is incredibly realistic. In the lower left corner of the shot, a farmer who was going out to get water is being devoured by plants, and in the upper right corner, several children are frantically dodging the attack of flower buds in front of a thatched house. It's as if such an anomaly has really happened in real life.
When this long shot with a zoomed-out perspective appeared, the entire movie theater gasped.
Yang Yi was completely stunned.
No wonder there were so many dialogue clues beforehand, and the first ten minutes even showed a shot of children playing by the river; it turns out that it was all to set the stage for the plant mutation plot.
Most of this large-scale scene was definitely filmed on location, but how do you explain these huge plants?
Did Giant Entertainment really rent 27 Stars to film a movie? And they even built such a huge filming base?
Not only is the venue incredibly large, but the entire special effects are also perfectly seamless.
The mutation process of these plants is almost indistinguishable from the real thing, and even the dynamic effect of the flower buds attacking people is incredibly terrifying and realistic.
Yang Yi's eyes were glued to the screen, and she even forgot to eat her snacks. The plot was even more intense later on. When she saw Liu Fu lying in bed and dealing with the prefect's wife in place of the third young lady, Yang Yi panicked and clutched her chest.
Just over 100 kilometers from the capital, a sudden change occurred within the group.
The county town here is almost entirely swallowed up by a large-leaved plant with huge, bright red flower buds, making the whole county look like a ghost town.
However, this place happened to be on their only route to Beijing, and after a long struggle against plants, the team of several hundred people had been reduced to one-third of its original size.
They had been traveling for almost a month, and the servants were all exhausted, their hearts filled with unspoken anxieties.
"Everyone, listen to my command! Abandon the carriages and proceed at full speed. We are very close to the capital now; we will arrive in three days."
Standing at the county gate, the prefect gestured with his sword raised in a mock-sounding manner as he issued orders.
Everyone abandoned the carriage and left. Liu Fu, who had been hiding in the soft couch of the carriage, could no longer hide the truth that the Third Miss was no longer alive. Her identity was exposed on the spot by the Prefect's wife. As soon as she got off the carriage, she knelt down and begged the Prefect's wife for mercy.
The prefect was furious and drew his sword to kill Liu Fu immediately.
Just then, a mutated plant somehow appeared behind the old man, its petals unfolding and nectar dripping onto his shoulder like saliva.
The film even featured a holographic effect that was so expensive it could be charged per frame. The tiny teeth on the petals looked like they were stuck to Yang Yi's face, and she felt like she could even smell the cloying floral fragrance.
Wait, it doesn't seem like her imagination; she thinks she really does smell something.
Very few cinemas support scent simulation, so why didn't anyone tell her that this cinema had such advanced hardware before she came?
The flower stem bends downwards, its attack speed so fast that it will engulf the prefect's head in the next second.
"Help me! Where are the guards? Help me!"
A bolt of purple lightning suddenly struck. Liu Da held a sickle in his hand. His usually silent and dull face changed his expression very briefly, as if he had only raised his eyelids slightly. His honesty suddenly turned into a kind of coldness and numbness.
The sickle was raised high, cutting off the flower buds and also beheading the prefect.
Although the movie did not present any direct horror scenes, Yang Yi, watching from the screen, was still shocked and leaned back heavily, covering the lower half of her face with her hands.
In recent years, many movies have adopted the practice of casting veteran actors, but these veteran actors often play a decorative role, appearing briefly in the actual plot for only a few minutes before disappearing from the story.
Before the actual release of "Shadow", many people felt that Tang Zhuolin's role in the film was the same.
After all, this is a household name and a national treasure-level actor, a generational memory for many uncles and aunts. In recent years, he has rarely played major roles.
If this movie by Giant Entertainment is destined to have a bad ending, they will definitely drastically reduce Tang Zhuolin's scenes in the later stages so that they can pay less when settling the final payment.
But Yang Yi didn't expect that Tang Zhuolin not only had many scenes, but also delivered a superb acting performance in this storyline, which completely broke her stereotype of this veteran actor.
Ten years ago, Tang Zhuolin was almost a specialist in playing high-ranking officials, having played old grandfathers in fantasy dramas and princes preparing to usurp the throne in every period drama. But now, he has brought to life a silent, simple but indignant farmer, giving the film a hall-of-fame quality that can be recorded in history.
The depth of this plot suddenly increased.
She's now a little worried that Cen Yanhuai, as a newcomer, won't be able to handle the role.
The scene shifts, and this usually slovenly thug's pupils dilate suddenly when he sees the prefect's head fall to the ground, and clear blue veins suddenly appear on Liu Ji's forehead.
Liu Ji looked around and saw that the old guards were stunned, while the prefect's wife was crying loudly, calling for the guards to come over and make the mad teacher pay with his life.
Liu Da's courage lasted only a moment, and the sickle was about to slip and fall to the ground—
The next second, the roguish air he had shown shifted in his eyes, and Liu Ji's face turned pale in the lightning flash. That hooligan-like swagger slowly transformed into a ruthless, reckless intensity.
Rain streamed down his cheeks, and countless tiny blood vessels appeared in the whites of his eyes. He quickly mounted his horse, and before the other guards could react, he raised his long sword and charged forward, stabbing the wailing prefect's wife with it.
Blood rolled down the deep grooves on the surface of the long sword. The sword was so beautiful that it was like a work of art. Its blade was sharp, and it had a heavy weight that was different from other swords when it was used.
As the blade slashed to its very end, holographic effects made the cold glint of the blade's tip almost slap against the faces of every viewer.
With her nostrils filled with the earthy smell of rain-soaked soil, Yang Yi was so shocked that she dared not move, almost as if she were an observer.
Liu Ji raised his long sword high, picked up the flower buds on the ground, and shouted loudly into the rain:
"Brothers, the entire Bao family is corrupt and unjust, and they deserve to die. What difference does it make who we work for? From now on, I am the eldest son of the Bao family, and you are all my brothers. Your monthly wages will be tripled, and everyone will get a share!"
A thunderclap struck the tip of the knife, and Liu Ji's face flashed with an indescribable ruthlessness and power, making his words particularly stirring.
Upon seeing this, Yang Yi was completely speechless.
It caught it, it caught it completely.
How could this movie be so perfect? Not only are the special effects and sets so realistic that they bring tears to your eyes, but even the acting of each lead actor is worthy of an award for Best Actor and Best Actress.
Did Mr. Fang really use newcomers? The screenwriter and actors are both top-notch in the industry.
What a fantastic movie! It's clear that you need to invest without regard to cost to make a film that's this mind-blowing!
Holographic effects, which only flash for a second or two in other blockbusters, are used like they're free in this movie. Almost every key plot point is accompanied by an extremely realistic holographic effect, making Tavia Yeung so immersed in the story that she could hardly breathe.
Right after Liu Ji finished speaking, the director immediately gave a short shot of the guards below.
These men, all over fifty, had a calculating glint in their eyes as they weighed their options. Unlike the mediocre extras in other movies, each guard here was as lifelike as a real person.
Even when they went into the county town to cut down plants, the guards used different hand gestures and knife techniques. Their movements were not only nimble, but also varied.
Their level of professionalism even surpasses that of many dedicated martial arts films, where the martial arts actors' moves all seem to have been taught by the same master, possessing a meticulously designed aesthetic.
But this place is different. It's like there really is a group of old men in real life who aren't very skilled in martial arts and are incredibly bad at it. They do seem to have some basic skills in protecting the house, but they are more like shrewd people who have weighed things up.
How come this movie portrays even the ordinary characters so well...?
Yang Yi was completely convinced and had completely forgotten her original intention of going to the movie theater. She even began to regret not choosing a good seat in the middle of the theater.
I hate it! Why did I choose those corner seats in the last two rows just to avoid taking photos?
The threshold had been raised so high by the preceding plot points that Yang Yi thought she would no longer be amazed by this movie, but she was still shocked to the point of being speechless at the end.
As the caravan approached the capital, the group found several empty carriages by the roadside. The camera followed the official road, its lens trailing behind the vehicles as they left faint tracks in the hard mud.
This is still a long shot, but the perspective is pulled up even higher than the large scene in the capital county, and even covers a small part of the capital city.
Thousands of extras appeared in this massive shot at the same time. Soldiers were patrolling the outskirts of Beijing, wielding long swords and cutting down plants. Further away were tall, withered weeds, while countless civilians lined up at the main gate to have their travel permits checked.
Further in, the camera pans to the bustling buildings and streets of the capital, where trade and daily life are indistinguishable, and order has long since returned to what it was before the upheaval.
The protagonists' small carriage was squeezed into the crowd, seemingly no different from other ordinary people waiting to enter the city.
Yang Yi couldn't help but press her philtrum; she couldn't even imagine how expensive this scene, which only appeared for five or six seconds, was.
Six seconds is enough to film a low-budget movie.
If it were her taking the shot, she would want to cut to every detail of the scene from every angle, and she would also wave her arms to tell everyone exactly how much she spent.
Those six seconds alone are enough to make her a legend. The key is that "Shadow" is filled with a lot of expensive shots from beginning to end, and it flashes a holographic effect every now and then.
The final scene of the film then pulls the audience back to the carriage from this grand setting. Liu Fu's fair hand lifts the curtain, and as the various gold and jade beads hanging on the curtain sway, the audience's perspective seems to enter the carriage.
This is a very long holographic shot. Yang Yi's perspective completely overlaps with that of the female lead, and she can almost hear the slow but steady heartbeat.
Thump, thump, it was as if her own heartbeat gradually overlapped with Liu Fu's.
It was exactly noon, the sun was high overhead, and all that could be seen at everyone's feet was a blurry, indistinct shadow.
Yang Yi felt as if she had personally handed the travel permit to the officers and soldiers, and the voice seemed to echo in her ears:
“I’m sorry to trouble you, sir. My father is the prefect of Raozhou. By order of the Emperor, our family has come back to the capital from the county seat of Raozhou to report back.”
They no longer needed to pretend with trepidation; instead, they perfectly usurped the position.
The months-long plant mutation ended, and the shadows on the ground finally replaced their owners.
The screen gradually went black, and Yang Yi clutched her chest, so shocked that she could hardly breathe.
Not only her, but the audience members around her also had expressions of lingering enjoyment on their faces. More than three minutes after the movie ended, and the list of thank-you notes had already started to appear on the screen, no one in the lobby had left yet.
She then realized that the snacks on her right had been almost untouched, and she didn't even know when she had put down the terminal, so the latter half of the recording was completely unrecorded.
After watching this movie, she felt like she had wasted all the time she had watched movies in the first half of her life.
Not only is it impossible for a film of "Shadow" to surpass its quality during this release window, but it is also rare in the history of film.
She soon realized why everyone around her hadn't left, because an unexpected person walked into the movie theater—Cen Yanhuai.
This guy is handsome from every angle; he's several times more handsome in person than on screen.
A huge scream erupted in the theater, and everyone raised their devices in unison. Yang Yi also shouted excitedly, almost jumping off her chair.
Cen Yanhuai didn't stay in the cinema for long, only interacting for about ten minutes. He held a large handful of red envelopes and, under the protection of security personnel, shook hands with each of the audience members watching the premiere.
Yang Yi was so excited she could barely speak. In her haste, she grabbed two red envelopes, each containing a hundred-yuan bill.
Now she no longer doubted whether Giant Entertainment could make money. This cinema wasn't trying to recoup its ticket price at all; it was clearly a charity event orchestrated by the God of Wealth.
It was almost midnight when Yang Yi came out of the movie theater, but she still couldn't come back to her senses, her mind still replaying movie scenes and the surprising interaction she had just had.
Wow, the plot, the special effects, the acting, and the props—it's a true all-rounder. She couldn't even imagine how much President Fang had invested in it.
After stepping out of the mall and being hit by a cold wind, she barely remembered why she had come all this way.
Wait, it seems she still needs to edit some videos of the black "Shadow" when she gets back.
This was even harder to write than a college entrance exam essay. She was still carrying all the bags and packages that Juyu had given her, and even with a magnifying glass, she couldn't find any flaws in the movie.
And she was really itching to watch it again. With that in mind, Yang Yi decisively sent a message to the client:
[Boss, I'm sorry, the cinema has restricted the camera's recording function. I didn't get a picture the first time I went in. I bought a new signal jamming device. Could you please get me another ticket for the afternoon showing? I'll definitely write my article properly when I get back~~]
The client's contact person first asked her to wait, and only replied after a long time:
[This is the only one available; our boss's budget isn't very high either.]
Even if movie tickets for the 399-star cinema are now being resold online for ten times the price, the client shouldn't be hesitating like this.
What kind of client is this? They're incredibly stingy. She doubts whether she'll even get the final payment of several thousand yuan for video editing.
Never mind, let's see first.
The second viewing was still incredibly moving; the storyline is endlessly entertaining, and every time the plant mutates, it stirs her soul.
The surprise guest for the afternoon session was Tong Qinglu. Yang Yi was so happy she almost fainted, and as usual, she grabbed a 100-yuan red envelope.
I'm making money every day by watching movies.
The afternoon session ended after 6 p.m. Yang Yi lingered at the ship station, reluctant to leave Star 399, but had to go to work because the client had bought her tickets for the movie "About Love" that evening.
Goodbye, she was about to wave goodbye to the luxurious shopping mall of 399 stars, the high-end cinema with simulated scents, and the surprise interactive segment after the movie screening.
Sitting in the center of the largest cinema on the main planet, while waiting for "About Love" to start, Yang Yi couldn't muster any interest. In the end, she reluctantly picked up the terminal, patted her face, and forced herself to cheer up.
The lights in the movie theater finally went out, and she silently cheered herself up.
After all, it's a big-budget production with a star-studded cast, so the quality can't be too bad. Who knows, it might even be better than "Shadow"—
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