Chapter 51: National Day, Opening Day

October 1st.
Premiere day.
Catching the nation's eye.
Today, a total of four films were released, three of which were major productions by renowned directors. Long before the premiere, media hype had already dubbed this the strongest National Day box office lineup in recent years.
Not only was there Lü Zhuofeng, one of the top three domestic directors, but also the reigning top actors of Coconut Mango, who were enjoying a massive surge in popularity, alongside the veteran international action star Cai Wenlan. It was bound to be an epic clash of titans.
During yesterday's interviews, the creative teams of *The Glorious Era*, *Flames of War*, and *Comedic Journey* all boldly declared that their only real competition came from the other two.
*No More Bets* seemed to have been intentionally or unintentionally ignored.
—
Early in the morning, the first wave of moviegoers had already arrived at the theater.
At the ticket counter.
"What should we watch?"
"Let's go with *Comedic Journey*. It's the holiday, and I don't feel like being lectured; I just want to watch something lighthearted."
"Huh? Didn't you say during Cheng Cheng's livestream that you were going to watch *No More Bets*?"
"I was just joking, did you actually take it seriously? Nobody's money falls from the sky. I was just messing with him. Who would actually go watch *No More Bets*? That would make you an idiot!"
"Hhahahaha, true, it's fun to watch for a laugh, but actually spending money on it? Forget it. *Comedic Journey* sounds good—it's a Coconut Mango film, might as well buy tickets blindly."
"Alright, I'll go buy the tickets, you go get two bottles of water. If we still have time later, we can pick one between *The Glorious Era* and *Flames of War*."
"Sounds good. Even though Lü Zhuofeng has been slipping these past few years, his movies still come with a baseline quality. It can't possibly be that bad."
—
Inside the Anti-Fan Group Chat.
"I've already bought my ticket, the 1:20 PM screening."
"Me too, I bought two, planning to go with my girlfriend. If she has any complaints, I'll dump her!"
"Bro is a real man!"
"I envy you guys. I'm stuck working overtime today, can only go support Frog Bro tonight."
"No matter how bad Frog Bro's movie is, I've gotta go buy a ticket to support him! What's the big deal about one movie ticket? Let's go!"
"Let's go!"
Looking at the messages from the anti-fans in the group, Cheng Cheng felt a touch of emotion. The anti-fans were truly reliable; when things mattered, they actually stepped up!
After sending a message in the group to express his gratitude to the anti-fans, Cheng Cheng retrieved the Luck Potion from his system inventory and selected to use it.
—
At this very moment, Yan Gou'er, Wen Lian, Li Yang, Qi Hao, Beret, and Everyone Exposed were all paying close attention to the real-time box office data of *No More Bets*.
—
The moment of destiny had arrived.
Whether they would carve out a path to survival or watch all their hopes turn to ash depended entirely on today!
—
Shang Shi was a film and television sector UP host on Bilibili. Early in the morning, he arrived at a nearby theater, waiting for admission.
However, half an hour before the screening of *The Glorious Era*, the theater staff suddenly announced an unexpected situation:
Due to a technical glitch, there was an issue with the source file of *The Glorious Era*, and it could not be played!
Curses immediately erupted throughout the venue.
Shang Shi rushed to the ticket counter and asked, "When can we watch it? I've already bought my ticket."
The ticket seller said apologetically, "Sir, at the moment, we cannot determine the exact recovery time. We sincerely apologize for this unexpected technical issue. Please rest assured that we have urgently contacted the production company and are doing everything in our power to resolve this problem so that we can resume the screening as soon as possible. At the same time, for audience members who have already purchased tickets for this screening, we will provide full refunds. As compensation for your inconvenience, the next time you come to buy a ticket, we will offer you a fifty percent discount based on the original price."
Shang Shi didn't have the patience to listen to her lengthy speech and cut straight to the chase: "What about *Flames of War*? Are there any upcoming screenings for that?"
Just as the ticket seller was about to answer, she heard a voice through her earpiece. After a moment, she said, "I'm sorry, *Flames of War* is temporarily unavailable as well."
Shang Shi continued, "Then what about *Comedic Journey*?"
Another voice came through the earpiece. The ticket seller gave a wry smile and said, "*Comedic Journey* is having issues too."
Shang Shi said with a bizarre expression, "Don't tell me the only one left is *No More Bets*!"
"Please wait a moment."
The ticket seller stepped aside and communicated with the technicians through her earpiece for a moment before returning to the counter, looking slightly pitiful. "It seems like *No More Bets* is indeed the only one left. Would you like to watch it?"
Shang Shi's lips twitched as he cursed internally:
What the absolute fuck is this?!
*The Glorious Era*, *Flames of War*, and *Comedic Journey* are all unplayable, leaving behind only the crappiest *No More Bets*—are you fucking kidding me?!
The ticket seller timidly offered, "Sir, would you like a direct refund, or perhaps you'd like to check out a nearby theater?"
Shang Shi gave up struggling: "Forget it, just give me a ticket for the earliest screening of *No More Bets*."
Watching anything was better than nothing. His original plan was to watch *The Glorious Era* first, then breeze through *Flames of War* and *Comedic Journey* to put together a National Day special, while *No More Bets* was completely optional.
Since things had turned out this way, he might as well review *No More Bets* first!
Cheng Cheng, don't blame me; you walked right into this yourself!
—
At this moment, many theaters across the country were experiencing similar situations. Of course, such theaters were few and far between—only about one or two out of every hundred, and all of them belonged to Quanzhou, the country's largest theater chain.
If the issue had occurred at Vance Pictures, people might have suspected Jiang Wang of deliberately sabotaging things, but since it was Quanzhou, no one would ever think that!
Because out of the three films, two were actually invested in by Quanzhou itself.
Who the hell would sabotage their own business?!
—
Lü Zhuofeng was hopping mad, the wrinkles on his face practically flying up:
"What is Quanzhou doing?! Call them right now; I want to see this problem solved before twelve noon!"
At the same time, the other two production companies were thrown into complete chaos, anxious as ants on a hot pan.
They couldn't understand it—Quanzhou had been in the theater business for so many years! How could they possibly make such a low-level mistake?!
Although the number of affected theaters wasn't large, the impact could not be underestimated!
Especially on the film's premiere day, every single second was crucial. This concerned not only the box office of the premiere day, but also the future trajectory of the movie, and might even affect whether they could break box office records!
However, the greatest misfortune amidst the fortune was that all three films had encountered problems simultaneously, so none of the others had gained an unfair advantage.
Wait!
This seemed like an opportunity!
Realizing this, the director of *Flames of War* called an executive he was familiar with at Quanzhou Pictures:
"President Ma, can you do me a favor and prioritize restoring the screenings for *Flames of War*? The slower you fix *The Glorious Era* and *Comedic Journey*, the better. I won't let you help for free—that little fresh meat you had your eye on before..."
—
At ten o'clock in the morning, Shang Shi and a batch of "reluctant" audience members entered the screening hall for *No More Bets*.
Finding his seat in the dark, Shang Shi sat down and waited for the commercials to end and the movie to begin.
This sudden technical glitch had completely disrupted his plan and robbed him of the prime window to upload his video and share it with his fans.
For a film and television UP host like him, time was money.
Fortunately, the gimmick that "*Flames of War*, *The Glorious Era*, and *Comedic Journey* are all unplayable, and only *No More Bets* is available" made up for it.
He had already figured out the script.
Once the video was uploaded, the bullet comments would probably be flooded with "You're so miserable, but I want to laugh so bad," "Moment of silence," "Sympathy," "Pitiful"...
However, looking at the audience around him, who held zero expectations, Shang Shi couldn't help feeling a trace of sympathy:
I'm here to review movies and get paid no matter how bad it is, what are you guys here for? Are you here to eat shit?
After sending a message in his fan group stating that he had come to watch *No More Bets*, Shang Shi turned off his phone.
A short while later, the commercials ended, and the movie began.
The theater instantly grew quiet. Regardless of whether they held any expectations for the movie, everyone was quite well-behaved, quietly waiting for the plot to unfold.
PS: Thank you to the bigwigs "Uncle Selling Ramen" and "Bookworm 20190502171756294" for rewarding 100 Qidian coins. I wish both bigwigs and all the bigwigs supporting this book immense wealth in 2024.
Additionally, Chapter 47 has been slightly revised.