Chapter 49: The Premiere Livestream Shocks the Second-in-Command

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The filming of The Wandering Earth had wrapped.

Inside the film studio, everyone—whether they had worked on the production or helped construct the sets—burst into tears when Qian Lang rasped out the announcement that filming was complete.

They wept with their arms around one another.

Four months!

One hundred and sixty days!

At last, they had made it through!

They would never again have to wear armor weighing eighty pounds.

Never again would their entire bodies ache unbearably.

Never again would they collapse and need oxygen.

The three leads, Li Liangjie, Wu Jing, and Wu Da, cried like fools.

“We did it!”

“We really did it!”

Hoarse shouts rang out everywhere in the studio, as everyone gave vent to the misery and torment they had endured for more than a hundred days.

Compared with the previous life, funding for the production had never been a problem.

But turning the screenplay into a cinematic reality had required eight thousand storyboard frames, ten thousand props, and three thousand design blueprints.

Which one of these had not been created through everyone’s blood, sweat, and tears?

They had to announce to the entire world that Great Xia’s science-fiction cinema had taken its first step!

That evening, Qian Lang posted the news on Weibo.

All of Great Xia erupted.

A science-fiction film!

Great Xia finally had its own science-fiction blockbuster!

Movie fans were excited and thrilled, but more than anything, they felt a sense of fulfillment.

“My God, Director Qian actually pulled it off?”

Pei Duoduo, however, was completely dumbfounded.

As she stared at the Weibo post, her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

She had been the one to approve the film.

And the decision to pay no attention to it had also been hers.

A billion in investment might sound impressive, but how could anyone possibly make the ideal science-fiction blockbuster with that amount of money?

Just depicting future scenes such as underground cities and space elevators would cost more than that in special effects alone!

Unless they used animation?

But what era was this? Would anyone accept something like that?

Wouldn’t the film’s release make other countries laugh themselves sick?

“Heh. I’d better sit back and wait for the system to settle the returns.”

Pei Duoduo smiled.

The more critical the moment, the more firmly she had to hold her ground.

If her compassion suddenly overwhelmed her, fifty billion in rebates would slip away right before her eyes.

No, no!

Absolutely not!

Pei Duoduo shook her head and sighed.

She had heard about how much Qian Lang had sacrificed for the film. But for the sake of fifty billion in rebates—for the chance to take a loss—she had chosen to turn a blind eye.

Forget it.

She truly felt guilty.

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Once the system had settled the accounts, she would give Director Qian five hundred million as consolation.

Pei Duoduo chose to remain an outsider.

Fortunately, Qian Lang and the people at Galaxy Pictures did not notice any difference between having their boss around and not having her around.

Filming had wrapped, and The Wandering Earth entered postproduction.

The team was soon running off its feet.

Unlike the previous two films, this one contained a great many special-effects shots.

More than three hundred sketches alone had been made for the planetary engines.

Naturally, in the pursuit of realism, the production team had also brought in academicians from the Academy of Sciences as consultants.

More than half a month passed.

At last, The Wandering Earth was officially completed.

It was now the end of August.

While the film was undergoing review, Qian Lang decided to hold a premiere.

It was time to launch the publicity campaign in earnest.

Fine wine need not fear a deep alley, but this film had been poured over by the hard work of so many teams.

He wanted the people of Great Xia—and even audiences around the world—to share in the occasion.

Of course, with the foundation laid by his previous two films, Qian Lang had already become a brand name in his own right.

In other words, his films hardly needed publicity.

Although it was only a relatively simple premiere, it was still nothing short of a grand event for the entertainment industry.

Whether from Fragrant Island, Treasure Island, or the mainland, every actor, director, and other notable figure came to lend their support.

It was a reflection of the status enjoyed by a national treasure of a director. At the same time, was it not also a vivid demonstration of how many small flames could come together to create a blazing fire?

To Fragrant Island, Qian Lang was a hero who had descended from the heavens.

With his own strength, he had rescued the island’s film industry from years of decline.

Jackie Long was utterly devoted to Qian Lang, while the heads of the various film companies had long since begun respectfully addressing him as their leader.

As for the mainland, Qian Lang was the foremost director of the capital.

Whether awards or box-office receipts were concerned, if he claimed second place, who would dare claim first?

The Capital Film Academy treated him like their senior disciple, while Big Goose Entertainment was deeply grateful for the help he had given them in the short-film arena.

And as for Treasure Island, the fact that they had been able to bestow a hero with an award while he was still obscure had sent the prestige of the Golden Jun Awards soaring.

So everyone understood.

With only three films, Qian Lang had won the favor of all Great Xia.

The premiere did not feature any gimmicks.

It was relatively solemn.

But everyone understood. Some films could be entertaining, yet excessive entertainment in certain films amounted to blasphemy.

The Wandering Earth told a grave and dignified story concerning the fate of all humankind.

Excessive frivolity would therefore have been inappropriate.

The premiere began.

To spark global interest in the science-fiction film, the discussion and interview segment in the first half was broadcast live.

Qian Lang stood shyly onstage with the leading cast, including Wu Jing, Li Liangjie, and Wu Da.

When the host asked what had left the deepest impression on them during filming, Li Liangjie’s eyes reddened slightly.

Without thinking, he blurted out, “Like surviving a catastrophe!”

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With the passage of time, dwelling on past hardships might seem a little melodramatic, but only those who had lived through them could understand that feeling.

“You make Director Qian sound like the president of Mianbei University.”

The host had quite a sense of humor.

The whole venue erupted in laughter.

Qian Lang spread his hands.

“All I can say is that reality is just like science fiction. Even I never expected this film to turn out so perfectly!”

Indeed!

Even if the film had been recreated down to the last detail, with a finished version available to copy, the problems involved would still have been extremely real and difficult.

The first was the construction of the studio.

Of course, that could be solved as long as there was money.

Great Xia was in the midst of an era of massive infrastructure development, so they had certainly caught a favorable moment.

But the props were another matter.

Engineering vehicles, robots, and the like were still beyond what Great Xia’s current capabilities could produce.

Fortunately, the film’s special effects made up for that shortcoming.

One could say that this was the most science-fictional part of all.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let us witness humanity’s ultimate fate together!”

The first half of the premiere came to an end.

The live broadcast was cut off.

Online viewers grew frantic, scratching their heads in anticipation as the comments flooded the screen. Inside the theater, however, silence reigned.

Rows of brilliant lights gradually dimmed.

The giant screen came alive at precisely the right moment.

The familiar dragon emblem. The familiar Galaxy Pictures logo.

The image appeared...

“Oh, my heavens!”

Pei Duoduo had been happily dreaming of receiving fifty billion in rebates, but a phone call startled her so badly that she nearly jumped out of her skin.

It turned out that the live broadcast of the discussion and interview segment from the first half of The Wandering Earth’s premiere had not only caused a tremendous stir online—it had even attracted the attention of Pei Guodong, one of Great Xia’s most powerful figures.

Although he had not seen the film, still images had been shown during the interview.

Planetary engines, space elevators, quantum computers, 7G network technology...

These high-tech elements had been imagined by Qian Lang to showcase the wonders of science fiction. Yet their realism was so striking that people could not help imagining that, perhaps, this was indeed the level future technology ought to reach.

People always said that the future held infinite possibilities.

Pei Guodong keenly sensed that the film might guide the future development of Great Xia’s technology.

Perhaps, one day, they might even embark on the colonization of space.

On the planet where they currently lived, Great Xia’s technology might lag behind that of a certain superpower. But when it came to interstellar civilization, perhaps Great Xia would become the pioneer.

Human progress often required the courage to imagine and the courage to act.

That young man Qian Lang was a rare talent!

Although Galaxy Pictures was the company behind The Wandering Earth, Pei Guodong knew that his granddaughter had done little more than provide some funding. In every other respect, she had simply stood aside and watched.

The construction of the film studio and the flawless presentation of the movie had all been handled by that young director named Qian Lang.

Clearly, this young man possessed not only ideas, but also formidable ability and determination.

A talent of such caliber was certainly worth investing in.

And the best way to win him over was naturally to make him his grandson-in-law.

“Duoduo, how is your relationship with Qian Lang?”

There was a hint of gossip in Pei Guodong’s voice.

Pei Duoduo could not help frowning.

“Grandpa, if you have something to say, just say it. Could you stop beating around the bush in front of your granddaughter?”