How popular can a movie be? Was "The Cultivator" popular enough when it was released? The box office alone grossed 8.9 billion, which was more than the total box office of all other movies in the same period combined.

A film that tells a story about a setting that is unique to China, and has actually sparked a craze for cultivating the truth around the world.

During the most popular period, large numbers of foreign fans came to China for tourism almost every day. Some came to see the stunningly beautiful landscapes in the film, while others came to make a "pilgrimage" to the ten immortal palaces in person.

During that period, entertainment media reporters were extremely happy. They only needed to report on the popularity of "The Cultivator" every day and would receive a huge readership.

At that time, a media reporter lamented: "I don't know when the next time such a phenomenal movie will appear."

"The Cultivator" has reached its peak. Its peak is so high that it is hard to imagine any other Chinese movie that can surpass it.

Who would have thought that just over a year later, "Star Wars" would come out.

The director is still Xu Man, and the producer is still Sheng Quan. They join hands and personally surpass the peak they have created.

At least "The Cultivator" will have fewer viewers due to its unique Chinese setting, but the interstellar theme can truly be said to be universal.

"Editor-in-chief, should the headline of this news be [Ticket prices for War of the Stars are being hyped up to NT$150, the film producers urge everyone to buy tickets rationally] or [The mechanical war dogs in War of the Stars actually exist, and each one is sold for NT$700,000 but still in short supply]?"

The editor thought for a moment and said, "Let's release both of them, just a little bit of time apart."

After the editor returned to her seat, the intern came over and asked, "Sister Chen, isn't the most expensive robot dog only 700,000? The guide dog series, which costs 15,000, is in short supply, right?"

"I know, but wouldn't it get more clicks if you write it this way? Just make it clear in the main text."

Sister Chen was writing down the information while saying, "But to be honest, Sheng Quan is a really good person. Look at the information. Mechanical dogs have always been expensive in the market. It is common to see ordinary mechanical dogs costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. But she actually sells one for 15,000 yuan."

The intern was also reading the information: "Didn't they say that the technology has been upgraded? The cost has dropped, so of course they can sell it at a lower price."

"You just graduated. If she hadn't told you about the cost reduction caused by technological changes, who would have known about it? Everyone sells them for hundreds of thousands of yuan each. Even if she lowers the price, she can still lower it to 150,000, 100,000, or even 60,000 or 70,000. She can definitely make a lot of money."

"You have to know that mechanical guide dogs are hard currency. We can choose not to buy them, but what about blind people? A well-trained guide dog costs two hundred thousand. Guide dogs are still living creatures and have a lifespan. They will die in a dozen or twenty years."

Sister Chen tapped the information in her hand and said, "Mechanical guide dogs are different. They have a 50-year warranty, and they are basically used until they die. Even if Sheng Quan sells them for 200,000, there will still be a lot of people scrambling to buy them. She doesn't have any big competitors in this area, so she can set the price however she wants."

"I understand." The intern suddenly realized: "She is the only one in the market. Even if she sets a high price, everyone will only buy her products. But she didn't. Instead, she lowered the price."

The more he spoke, the more he admired her: "And it's not reduced to hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, but to fifteen thousand, which is a relatively low price..."

"Oh my god, I didn't feel anything when I watched the news before, but now that I see it this way, Sheng Quan is really almost doing charity."

"Yeah, otherwise, a group of media praised her as a conscientious entrepreneur. To be honest, I thought it might be a press release she bought at that time. Now it seems that I was narrow-minded."

Those who work in the media industry all have a common problem, which is that when they see the media praising or scolding someone, their first reaction is "Is someone causing trouble?"

It is probably similar to what happens when Sheng Quan goes to Weibo to watch melons and sees a random store suddenly become popular, his first reaction is "Did they buy the popularity?" Anyway, it is a common professional problem.

But now, even an old hand like her has to admit that Sheng Quan is truly a conscientious entrepreneur.

Sister Chen made a decision immediately: "I have to praise this in the report."

The intern was still in shock. He was frantically doing mental calculations. A real guide dog costs 200,000 yuan. If Sheng Quan wanted to sell mechanical guide dogs, there would definitely be people rushing to buy them even if the price was 200,000 yuan. But if she only sold them for 15,000 yuan, then she would be giving up a net profit of 185,000 yuan per dog.

Then I looked at the sales of the mechanical dog on the official website and did the math: "...hiss! This is too good. No, I'm going to go back and buy tickets to watch "Star Wars" for the third time today, just to support Sheng Quan."

"It's a situation where you don't even make money!"

**** “It’s not like we don’t want to make money.”

Sheng Quan was very happy to receive all the praise in the news media for his pricing of mechanical guide dogs.

But when she was interviewed about this, she still wanted to make it clear: "D1's profit is indeed small, but it is not as high as the news said it might lose money. I am a businessman, not a saint, and I still have to make money."

"Even if I don't make money, the equipment and workers' salaries still cost money, so I can't lose money to run the business."

Donations of money and supplies are certainly given in response to natural disasters, but Sheng Quan is not at the point of mass-producing mechanical guide dogs and then giving them to the blind even if it means losing money.

It's like when she opened a bodyguard company, she only recruited veterans, but not every retired soldier would be recruited. Those trainees also have to learn and train a lot, and go through screening, and only if they have qualified bodyguard skills can they stay.

——"Our mechanical guide dogs are divided into different series, because we must take into account the different economic levels of users. We cannot say that only very wealthy blind people can afford them. If so, they will not be a convenient product, but a luxury product."

——"Of course, the price is different, and the performance and quality will definitely be different. We have done a lot of experiments. In order to reduce costs, the D1 series does not have the same high usability as D2 and D3, but it is definitely enough for normal life."

——"Actually, the price of 15,000 is still a bit expensive. If the monthly salary is 3,000, that's five months' salary. The R&D department is still working hard to see if we can reduce this cost a little bit..."

As soon as the show was broadcast, Sheng Quan's popularity among the public became even stronger.

There's no way, this is too honest.

She has been praised in the news every day during this period. Some people think that it is impossible for Sheng Quan to not make any money, so it is as if she is giving it away for free.

Finally, she herself came out and said that there was no need to praise her, because she did not lose money, but made some profit, and that the D1 was sold cheaply, but that cheap price was for the blind people who really needed the guide function, and as for other series containing entertainment purposes, people also admitted that she sold them at a high price.

She also said that she felt the price of fifteen thousand was still too high for ordinary people, and that she needed to develop cheaper and better guide mechanical dogs for the blind.

When Sheng Quan said this herself, those who were originally disgusted by the media's praise immediately changed their dislike and even developed a good impression of her.

[I saw some people saying that 15,000 is still expensive. 15,000 is indeed not a small amount for an average family, but you can search the price of mechanical dogs in the past, which are often 500,000 or more, and they are not as flexible and convenient as D1. Star-watching is really trying hard.]

[I am really grateful to Director Sheng. She is the only one who can achieve this kind of technology in mechanical guide dogs. She can ask for a sky-high price. My nephew became blind due to acquired reasons. When the news came out, my cousin and his wife were planning to use up all their savings to buy a mechanical guide dog for the child. In the end, the price was only 15,000. It is no exaggeration to say that all the relatives breathed a sigh of relief for them.]

[I don't know if you know, but among all the series, only D1 is sold only to Chinese people who hold blind disability certificates. Identity binding will also enter information in advance to prevent reselling. I live in country B, and someone saw that I was Chinese and asked me when D1 would be open to foreigners. Then I realized that D1 is a benefit exclusively for Chinese people.]

[Add one to the above post. I was also asked this question by a classmate. I was very surprised when I heard it. Kanxing has never promoted this point in China.]

[Fuck, it's so real! But think about it, D1 is so cheap compared to other series, even if there is profit, it must not be much. It makes sense to only supply it to local people. Woohoo, I love Mr. Sheng even more, what should I do?]

There are all kinds of discussions on the Internet, and in reality, mechanical guide dogs are being sent to every family.

In an ordinary family of three, the parents watched nervously, watching the eight-year-old

The child walked forward step by step. When she was about to reach the wall, the big dog beside her whimpered, gently bit the hem of its owner's mouth, and led her to change the way.

The child turned smoothly and successfully walked to the master bedroom.

The parents watched from the sidelines, laughing and crying: "Okay, okay, it really works!"

At the door of a house, the young man took a deep breath and said to the big dog in his hand: "Le Le, take me to Huxi Park."

The big dog barked in agreement, and took off its four mechanical legs, walking slowly in front to lead the way. Every time it had to turn a corner, it would whimper, take a few steps forward, look back to see its owner turning, and then continue forward.

The young man smelled the fragrance of the grass in the park and couldn't help but laugh while hugging the big dog.

Behind him, his friends who had been following him all the way also came forward happily, petting the big dog: "Good dog! So cool!"

In a relatively small town, an old man frowned and was unwilling to take the dog leash: "Why spend this money? I have been blind for most of my life, I am used to it, I am going to retire soon."

"Well, you can try it. It can be used for ten days. I have entered your information and the information of your home items, as well as the places you like to go. If you want to go somewhere in the future, just tell it."

"You can return it within these ten days as long as you don't damage it intentionally. You can use it for ten days first. If you still don't want it after ten days, I will return it."

The old man, whose children had passed away and who had long lost his spouse, sat at home alone and wanted to listen to some TV. He fumbled around but couldn't find the remote control.

The old man guessed that his grandson had used it when he came with him and didn't put it back in its original place, so he had no choice but to grope around for it.

"Hey, kid, where can you put a remote control?"

"Woo..." The sound of a big dog suddenly came from beside him, scaring the elderly man living alone. It took him a second to remember that this was the guide robot dog bought by his children. What a waste of money! He is so old, why does he need this?

As he was thinking, his body was suddenly rubbed by the big dog. Then he felt the dog's head coming closer and putting a remote control in his hand.

elder:"……"

He fumbled with the remote control and didn't come back to his senses for a long time.

"Hey! You! Can you hear me?"

“Woo…”

"You can really hear it. If you have ears, you can hear it. Hey! Go get me the blanket from the sofa. Do you know what a blanket is? It's long, soft, and pretty big."

"Woof!"

"Why are you still so mean to me... Hey, you actually brought the blanket. You even know this. You're pretty smart."

“Woo woo…”

"You act like a spoiled child when I praise you for being smart. How come you, a robot dog, have a temper... Okay, okay, stop rubbing against me. You'll be good if I just give you a pat on the head? You really are a dog."

Ten days later, the old man's children were talking to each other on the phone.

My brother said, "It's been ten days. Should we go ask Dad if he wants to keep the mechanical dog?"

My sister couldn't stop laughing: "Why are you asking? If dad really didn't want it, he would have called us to ask us to return it. If he didn't say it, that means he wants it."

"Oh, brother, you didn't see it. I heard from my second aunt that dad really treasures that mechanical dog. He takes it everywhere to visit relatives. He doesn't seem to like going out anymore. If my second aunt hadn't stopped him, he would have wanted to go fishing. He also said that Dahuang is so smart that he will definitely see if the fish has taken the bait. Yes, Dahuang is the name our dad gave to the dog."

There are many customers like this old man who say one thing and do another. Most of them are older blind people and do not have their own guide dogs.

After all, not to mention the economic cost of a well-trained guide dog for them, just taking care of the dog's eating, drinking, defecating and urinating is more difficult for them than for ordinary people.

The blind people's dependence on guide dogs is far greater than that on ordinary pets, which leads to many people falling into great grief and unable to get out of it when a guide dog dies.

Mechanical dogs don’t have these problems. They are mechanical products and may break down. They may need to have parts replaced or be returned to the factory for repair. But in terms of their lifespan…it’s still unclear who will send away who.

As soon as the first batch of the star-gazing mechanical guide dog series was released, people were surprised to find that there were many more blind people on the streets holding the D1 series.

No matter which country they are in, there are really many people who are blind for various reasons, but it is too dangerous for them to go out, so they don’t usually go out.

And precisely because the frequency of blind people appearing has increased, people are increasingly aware of how great an economic sacrifice Shengquan has made by lowering the selling price of d1.

Sheng Quan: No, not at all. I made a lot of money.

She has really made a lot of money recently.

The D1 series does have almost no profit after deducting the cost of labor, but the other series are not the same! Anyway, she has a point, the practical D1 is as cheap as possible, but the other series with more entertainment nature are high-priced, not only high-priced, but also limited to purchase.

This may sound counterintuitive, but the effect is significant.

The sales of the cheap d1 remain stable, and most customers will think twice before buying it. However, it can be replaced with an entertainment-oriented mechanical dog, which is sold at a very high price, but the sales are still rising rapidly.

The most expensive d5 series costs one million each, but because of purchase restrictions and the fact that customers all over the world can place orders, it is sold out in seconds almost every time it is released.

However, Sheng Quan also expressed his understanding. One of the most exciting aspects of "War for the Stars" is that Tianying used powerful special effects to show the audience a "real" future world from the very beginning.

The modern world of three thousand years ago is set fifty years after the real world. Some of the technologies we have now or will have soon are displayed vividly in the movie, almost perfectly evoking people's yearning for powerful technology.

At this time, the mechanical dog that was so powerful in the movie appeared.

The more popular the movie becomes around the world, the more sales of Star-Watching's mechanical dog series will continue to rise.

This may be the most expensive and best-selling "peripheral" in history.

Sheng Quan is making huge profits, so naturally it is impossible for everyone to think that "you're making a lot of money, Mr. Sheng, you deserve to be rich." The situation in China is not so bad, because of the "low price" of the D1 series, the people have a very good impression of stargazing.

Even those who don't have a blind person at home all admit that Sheng Quan's behavior is worthy of admiration.

However, media in other countries that have not benefited from this do not think so.

They feel that there is nothing wrong with blind people buying mechanical guide dogs. You can't stop blind people from buying them when they already have more convenient and quicker assistance products.

Their main point is: "Is it the result of the public being swayed by public opinion that they choose to buy expensive mechanical products that can only be used for entertainment because of the popularity of a movie?"

In other words, "War of the Worlds" was so popular that fans bought its peripheral products without even caring about the price.

As for Kanxing, they are just selling a pet robot dog for entertainment, but they are selling it at such a high price. Isn’t this just a money-making scam? A robot dog for the blind can be sold so cheaply in their own country, so why can a pet peripheral be sold so expensively?

About half a month after this questioning report came out, an incident occurred in country A.

A middle-aged man with an antisocial personality rushed into the school with a gun and indiscriminately shot students. When he entered a classroom to attack, the teacher's D3 pet mechanical dog blocked the fatal bullet for her.

After determining the current situation through scanning, it pounced on the criminal and pressed on him, preventing him from causing any harm to others.

The news shocked the whole country.

(End of this chapter)