021 High Box Office Analysis Summary

"Haha! Like rain after a long drought!"

After hanging up the phone, the cinema owner’s mouth cramped from smiling so wide. Who on earth was this guy? How could the movie he directed be such a massive hit? The audience was practically crying and begging for tickets, refusing even when offered compensation or refunds!

Heh!

Hearing from his cinema manager that the director was named Qian Lang, he began searching for keywords.

Good heavens! Why were there so many search results popping up?

[Qian Lang? A washed-up director or a genius?]
Nonsense! Obviously a genius! If he weren't, would the audience be acting like fools, crying and scrambling just to watch his film? Tsk, tsk, tsk. The slang used on the internet these days is truly something else.

[The Three Garbage Films of Qian Lang]
Not interested, thank you.

[The Fired Dark Horse Director, Qian Lang]
Not interested either!

[Qian Lang’s Weibo Followers Skyrocket by Millions]
Ah, the God of Wealth’s Weibo! Now, this is worth paying attention to. Must go and check in!

With great reverence, he followed Qian Lang’s account and then wrote a heartfelt private message:

"Dear Brother Lang, greetings! My name is Chen, and I am a simple, unremarkable cinema owner. I operate a few theater chains here in the capital. Over the last decade, Daxia’s film industry has been in a slump; excellent domestic films have been few and far between. To maintain box office revenue, we have been forced to increase screenings of foreign films. As a citizen of Daxia, I have felt deeply helpless watching these foreign movies rake in our money while dumping their culture upon us.

But fortunately, this phenomenon has finally changed! Your film, *Crazy Stone*, has appeared like a bolt from the blue—a dazzling star illuminating the long, dark night of Daxia cinema! Ah! Thank you! Thank you for your outstanding contribution to Daxia cinema! Thank you for giving us a sense of cultural pride! Director Qian, I hope you continue to make great films. As for theater scheduling, I will absolutely give you my strongest support. This letter is just to express my gratitude; no reply necessary."

After finishing, the cinema owner felt moved by his own words. He hadn't realized that he, a mere businessman, could possess such ideological depth! *Ahem!* Joy really does sharpen the mind. It even improved his ability to wax poetic!

Haha. Boss Chen felt calm and content, reveling in his own joy.

However, at this moment, Pei Duoduo was furrowing her brows, feeling uneasy. Things had clearly taken an unexpected turn! She had been happily immersed in her expectations, just waiting for *Crazy Stone* to fade into obscurity so she could settle her rebates with the system after the summer season ended.

But what was happening now? Why had Qian Lang suddenly become so incredibly popular online? Wasn't everyone calling him a failure just a few days ago? How much time had even passed? Why had the netizens suddenly changed their tune? Had they all developed amnesia? They were praising Qian Lang as if he were a god, saying things like, "Such a talent only exists in heaven; how often does one see this in the mortal world?"

She was speechless!

***

Truly, she was beyond speechless! What on earth had happened? Why was *Crazy Stone* so beloved by the audience? Something was wrong! Pei Duoduo felt as if she had time-traveled or missed a crucial chapter. Otherwise, how could things have developed in such a bizarre and eerie way?

*Knock, knock, knock!*

Just as she was deep in thought, a sudden, loud knocking erupted at her office door.

"Who is it?" Pei Duoduo felt a start.

"Boss Pei, it’s great news!" Outside the door, Chen Yuanyuan’s voice was trembling with excitement.

"What kind of good news?" Pei Duoduo’s voice trembled too. Her extraordinary intuition gave her a very bad feeling.

As she opened the door, Chen Yuanyuan grabbed her arm. "Boss Pei! A pie has fallen from the sky! For some reason, all the major cinemas are pushing *Crazy Stone* with all their might. Guess how much our box office is so far?"

"H-how much?" Pei Duoduo’s lips quivered.

"Over ninety million!!!"

"Ninety..." Pei Duoduo turned to stone.

Ninety million? Not nine million! This was a disaster! It had long since exceeded the ten-million budget. The movie was making a fortune! But her project was finished! Her ten-million investment had gone down the drain!

"Heh, ninety million!" Pei Duoduo gritted her teeth.

"Ahem, Boss Pei, ninety million might be a bit low, but that’s only one week of box office! With the current momentum, Director Qian predicts that by the end of the summer, *Crazy Stone* will rake in hundreds of millions! Hehe, just thinking about it makes me happy, Boss Pei!"

Chen Yuanyuan shook Pei Duoduo’s arm vigorously, while the latter stood there like a wooden statue.

"Hundreds of millions..." Pei Duoduo felt her brain go numb. The tall tales Qian Lang had spun—they had actually come true? Why was it so hard to believe? Life is unpredictable, full of twists and turns. How had everything devolved into this?

There was no marketing, right? The filming only took a rushed month, right? The post-production only lasted three days, right? And the summer season had that behemoth *Tai Chi* looming over everyone, right?

*Wuu wuu wuu.* Why, oh why? She never wanted to make money! Pei Duoduo felt like crying without tears.

By the time Chen Yuanyuan skipped out of the office, Pei Duoduo was left all alone.

"Back to zero, back to zero!" Pei Duoduo sat at her desk, numbly punching the calculator. She wished this hadn't happened. She wished everything would reset to zero! She wished...

*Ahem!* Daydreaming was useless! Was she really the type of person to be defeated so easily? The path of entrepreneurship is always filled with hardships. No one succeeds easily. There is always sunshine after the rain! She had to find the reason for this failure—no, wait, the reason for this *success*!

***

In the conference room, it was packed. Pei Duoduo sat upright at the head of the table, her delicate face filled with determination. One must rise from where they fell. She wasn't some fragile second-generation rich kid! As the big boss, she had to face even a mountain collapse with composure.

"Everyone, speak up! Regarding the reason our movie achieved such astonishing results, tell me what factors contributed to it. Then we can... ahem, then we can carry them forward!"

With Pei Duoduo’s command, the project analysis meeting began!

"I'll go!" Hao Han stood up abruptly. "I think the reason our movie succeeded can be summed up in two words!"

"Which two words?" Pei Duoduo leaned forward slightly, pulling out a small notebook to record these "success factors" so that she could avoid them in her future films!

"Lucky!" Hao Han grinned, then scratched his head and sat back down. His speech was over.

"Lucky what?" Pei Duoduo didn't quite catch it.

"He said 'lucky'," Qian Lang explained.

"Lucky?" Pei Duoduo mused, but she couldn't bring herself to write a single stroke on the paper. Luck was too ethereal. How could one control that? Sigh, that was as good as saying nothing. It offered no reference for her future projects. "Does anyone else have a different opinion?" she asked, looking at her team with encouraging eyes.

"Yes, luck!" Chen Yuanyuan stood up with a solemn expression. "We are lucky to have Boss Pei as our wise and mighty leader! We are lucky to have Director Qian as our brilliant and talented director! We are lucky to have Wang Bo, a powerhouse of acting skill! And we are lucky to have such a united and loving family sitting here!"

With three consecutive parallel phrases, the team’s eyes reddened with emotion.

"Good!" Thunderous applause broke out. Chen Yuanyuan bowed to the team and sat down. Her speech was over.

Pei Duoduo took a deep breath. *Fine.* As expected of the assistant she personally promoted, her speaking style was just like hers!

Luck again? Everyone! Could we talk about technical aspects for once? Pei Duoduo looked at her team with expectant eyes, only to find them all staring back at her with wide, blank eyes.

*Ahem*, well, it was a good thing they didn't understand. If they actually figured out the factors behind the movie’s explosive success, it would be harder for her to openly oppose it in the future!

"Director Qian, what factors do you think played a role?" Pei Duoduo asked the man himself.