"By the way, there were other stars at the cinema today, all brought in by my uncle to boost the scene, including Bai Bing!"
Xie Jiahui clearly had so past issues with Bai Bing that He Jinxia didn’t know about. Even though the two hadn’t seen each other for many years, when ntioned, He Jinxia could still feel the deep-seated hatred in Jiahui’s deliberately pronounced words.
He Jinxia couldn’t help but ask, "Do you have so other grudge against her?"
Xie Jiahui gritted her teeth, "Stealing a man, an unforgivable grudge!"
He Jinxia choked for a mont.
She looked away and said lightly, "But you haven’t gotten together with Sheng Yan, have you?"
"If it weren’t for her ddling, I would have been with him already!"
"If ’ifs’ could happen, then there wouldn’t be so many beggars in the world," He Jinxia consoled, planning to have a serious heart-to-heart with Xie Jiahui.
"I don’t care, I just can’t stand her!"
"Well, let tell you sothing, don’t get agitated, Sheng Yan and I are actually dating already, and we’re going to get engaged soon." He Jinxia said with utmost sincerity, her eyes shining with honesty.
Xie Jiahui glanced up at her, responding impatiently, "I know, and I won’t tell you that I’m already married to Sheng Yan!"
He Jinxia said earnestly, "I’m very serious."
Xie Jiahui, "I’m serious too."
Great, the plan for a heart-to-heart talk was definitively scrapped.
He Jinxia felt such frustration, helpless in the face of her love rival’s lack of intelligence.
Xie Jiahui was still lost in so fantasy, her fists clenched as she thrust them forward with fury, "Whether we are sisters or not, if we are, then help outshine Bai Bing!"
He Jinxia, "...I have always believed in being kind to others."
"Are you my sister or not!"
He Jinxia’s expression shifted slightly, "After all, the others are innocent..."
"Are you my sister or not!"
He Jinxia spoke with difficulty, "Alright, I’ll try my best."
Xie Jiahui’s eyebrows quirked, a triumphant smile flickering across her face.
Unfortunately, however splendid the plans, reality is often cruel.
The movie premiere began, and all the main cast and crew mbers entered the venue, along with the stars brought in for support. He Jinxia only managed a glimpse of Bai Bing’s dress hem before she sat down, looking straight ahead without batting an eyelid.
She and Bai Bing were seated on opposite sides, with many people in between; she didn’t even have a chance to pick a fight.
Not to ntion, premieres follow a set procedure; if it wasn’t your turn to speak, you wouldn’t get a microphone, the only exception being Director Wilson, who had a mic the whole ti. Other stars didn’t have this privilege.
This battle-hardened aging director probably feared the attending stars might cause a ruckus, hence this precautionary asure.
The premiere ceremony wasn’t long, and each star could speak for less than three minutes; so didn’t even get the chance to speak.
He Jinxia followed the script prepared in advance and was fortunate to be given a topic. Reporters asked her about her experience playing the role of "Xia Tian."
He Jinxia held her head high, chest out, with a smile and flashed her standard eight teeth, giving the answer she had earlier morized.
"The character Xia Tian was very challenging for as she is a very complex person. Ever since I got the script, I kept pondering her actions, there were many aspects I couldn’t understand on my own. Thankfully, the director spared no effort in helping with them, which allowed to gain a deeper understanding of the character."
"I think everyone harbors a Xia Tian within themselves. Sotis she’s hot-tempered, other tis kind-hearted. She’s stubborn, says one thing but ans another, does things she claims to dislike but deep down loves doing. She is a reflection of each one of us, and I believe everyone can see a bit of themselves in Xia Tian."
Reporter: "You’ve given high praise to Xia Tian; are you confident that you played the role well?"
He Jinxia playfully blinked and answered indirectly, "I trust that the audience will give us a better answer to this question."
The host promptly summarized the situation, guiding the reporter to the next question.
No sooner had this press conference ended than the first screening of "Youthful Song and Dance" began. dia journalists who’d arrived and fans who heard the news headed to the adjacent theater, imrsing in the charm of the movie, and He Jinxia and others joined them.
The film was only halfway through when He Jinxia’s face already bore a look of surprise; she had not expected to see such a version of herself in the film, one that didn’t resemble her at all.
She had thought she would be unable to refrain from finding faults as she had in the past, but perhaps it was having spent a few months in a new film crew that many of the performances in "Youthful Song and Dance" she had forgotten; viewing it this ti felt wholly unfamiliar.
Watching with the perspective of a stranger, she imrsed herself well into the film, acutely feeling Director Wilson’s directorial prowess – impressive!
It was just a simple youth musical, yet it gave off the vibe of a major action film.
He Jinxia had no doubt that Director Wilson would later transition to directing fantasy films; with his mastery over lighting and character portrayal, he had already reached the level necessary for such genres.
The market for youth films is relatively niche, with less than twenty being made a year. Director Wilson’s claim to fa is that he can turn these niche youth films into explosively popular comrcial successes.
But even explosively popular comrcial films have standards. To be called a "hit," they just need to reach a certain box office milestone, which doesn’t an a hit film is necessarily amongst the top 20 in global sales.
No matter how good youth films are, the audience is still limited; a well-crafted comrcial film can widen this gap significantly.
In Huaxia, reaching three billion in global box office marks a quality film, a standard that’s universally recognized. "Youthful Song and Dance" made a bet with its distributor, guaranteeing a box office floor of seven billion!
This was a bold wager!
Now, He Jinxia finally understood why he had the confidence to make such a bet; the film indeed had the potential to hit seven billion!
The best youth film Director Wilson had ever made was his "Virgin" project, which had reached a box office of just sixty billion. The subsequent films he directed hovered around fifty to sixty billion, with none breaking the seventy billion mark.
Setting this bet with the distributor also carried a sense of burning one’s boats.
At the end of the film, there was a mass dance scene, which they fild on the last day of shooting. Wilson was sitting next to He Jinxia and quietly turned to ask:
"Your art house film broke through Huaxia’s quality threshold last month, coming off the shelves at 3.2 billion. Do you think ’Youthful Song and Dance’ can achieve the sa success in Huaxia?"
In the dim light of the theater, despite the noise, He Jinxia clearly heard Director Wilson’s question, and it dawned on her that the director was also very nervous, not as composed as he seed on the surface.
But as a director, he could not let this anxiety show up front. The movie had just opened that day, everything was just beginning, and he couldn’t show weakness!
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