Entertainment from Divorce

The blackout curtains in the editing room were airtight, and the heavy fabric completely blocked out the sunlight from the windows.

Only the cold light from the control panel flowed across Tan Yue's face, outlining his clear jawline and straight nose.

His fingertip hovered above the mouse, hesitating to make a move.

The screen showed the final frame of *Interstellar*. The band of light at the edge of the black hole, like crumpled gold foil, was slowly unfolding. The refraction of each ray of light had been adjusted hundreds of times, as precise as if measured with a compass. A soft footstep sounded behind me.

It was a slow, professional gait at a certain frequency; without turning around, Tan Yue knew it was Chen Ye.

"Mr. Tan, here's your pre-Qingming Longjing tea." The celadon teacup was gently placed on the corner of the table, the lid and body making a crisp "ding" sound, like a small pebble being dropped into a quiet space.

Chen Ye placed the tea tray on the low cabinet next to him, his movements as practiced as breathing, as if he had repeated this action a thousand times.

Having followed Tan Yue for so many years, she had long since figured out his habits.

When she is thinking, she must drink hot tea, and the teaware must be this celadon cup with ice crackle patterns. The patterns on the cup were specially commissioned from Jingdezhen. The water temperature must be controlled at 85 degrees Celsius. If it is too high, it will be bitter; if it is too low, it will be bland.

She can even precisely control the temperature by touch.

Tan Yue finally clicked the "Confirm" button. As he breathed a sigh of relief, his black coat slipped off the back of the chair and onto the carpet, revealing the faint muscle lines beneath his dark shirt.

"Have the technical team seal the final master tape."

He picked up the teacup, the warm sensation spreading from his fingertips to his shoulder, dispelling the stiffness from staying up all night, his fingertips rubbing against the cool cup.

"Have the technicians sent overseas for training compile a special effects technology transformation report and submit it to my office next week. It needs to be detailed, covering every step from the original parameters to the localization improvements."

"I've already followed up."

She looked down at the ground, her voice calm and even, as if reporting on an ordinary task: "Xiao Zhou said that they compared the rendering processes of three overseas teams. From lighting models to particle motion trajectories, our localized solution can improve efficiency by 30%, and it is also better in terms of hardware compatibility."

She paused, then added, "General Manager Zheng and Engineer Wu are waiting for you in the conference room. They're discussing a few details regarding the simultaneous global release, which involve the key distribution times for different time zones."

Tan Yue took a sip of tea. The tea leaves unfurled in the water, turning a tender green. The tea soup slid down his throat, carrying the unique sweetness of pre-rain Longjing tea.

The long table in the conference room was covered with all kinds of documents, the edges of which were slightly curled, marks left by countless readings.

Zheng Tong was circling on the world map with a red pen. The pen tip made a scratching sound as it glided across the paper, which was particularly clear in the quiet conference room.

"Currently, the regions confirmed for simultaneous release have covered 70%, including major cities from North America to Europe and Southeast Asia."

When Zheng Tong looked up, stray hairs fell down his forehead: "But distributors from several European countries have asked their post-production teams to participate in color grading, saying that it would better suit the aesthetics of local audiences, and they have also hinted that if we do not agree, our screen share may be affected."

Engineer Wu slowly twirled his teacup, tea stains accumulating in dark circles at the bottom, like an abstract map. "I had the legal department check the contract," he said, adjusting his glasses, the lenses reflecting the overhead light and casting a small shadow on his face. "The terms clearly state that post-production must be completed independently by our team, but we can provide technical parameters for their reference—this was something General Manager Tan insisted on adding back then, saying 'Technology can be shared, but sovereignty cannot be compromised.'"

When collaborating with foreign companies, Brilliant Entertainment will never compromise on matters of principle.

As Tan Yue walked in, he heard these words, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. The smile spread from the corner of his mouth to the depths of his eyes, making his already handsome features even more striking.

He pulled out a chair and sat down, the wooden chair making a slight sound as it scraped against the floor.

Chen Ye had already refilled his celadon cup with hot tea. The steam rose in wisps, like a thin veil, blurring his handsome features.

“Tell them that the color grading parameters can be shared, but we must do the operation ourselves.” Tan Yue tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, making a rhythmic sound.

Zheng Tong suddenly burst out laughing, the sound echoing in the conference room, carrying a sense of relief and exhilaration.

Mr. Wu smiled too, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes crinkling together. He picked up his enamel cup and took a sip of tea. The tea was a little cold, but he still drank it with satisfaction.

"Speaking of which, back then, in order to learn their special effects tracking technology, our people stayed in the computer room for three whole months. They even ate cold sandwiches for lunch. They were not willing to teach us. Many times, we secretly watched and secretly memorized, and then tried it ourselves little by little when we got back."

He looked at Tan Yue, his eyes filled with a sentiment only old friends could understand—a tacit understanding born from sharing hardships and overcoming difficulties together. "Now look what's happened. The overseas team is asking for our particle effects plugin, saying our algorithm is more efficient at handling large-scale stardust rendering."

Tan Yue ran his fingers along the edge of the photograph, his fingertips touching the rough texture of the paper—a mark left by time.

"It's not the other way around, it's equal communication."

He put the photos back into the tin box and gently closed the lid. "Have the publicity team prepare some technical comparison charts. Don't deliberately emphasize who is better or worse. Just objectively show our process from learning to independent research and development—from parameter imitation to principle innovation, from hardware dependence to independent adaptation. This is more convincing than any slogan."

Chen Ye quickly took notes, his pen tracing neat and powerful characters on the notebook.

She remembered Tan Yue saying that confidence is not about belittling others, but about honestly showing one's own growth.

When she first became a secretary, she would repeatedly check emails sent to overseas partners, fearing that a single inappropriate word might cause a misunderstanding. Now, however, she can coordinate promotional schedules in more than a dozen countries with ease and accurately convey the company's intentions in different languages. Isn't this a kind of growth?

"Domestic publicity will proceed as planned."

Tan Yue picked up his teacup, and the tea stems stood upright in the water like tiny markers. "The focus is on 'joint supervision by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' and 'independent production throughout the entire process'."

"Mr. Wu, we need to pay attention to localization in overseas markets. Send Xiao Lin, who has studied at the Southeast Asian branch, to take the lead in publicity there. He is familiar with the tastes of local audiences and knows what kind of humanistic elements they prefer to incorporate into science fiction."

Mr. Wu opened his notebook, which was filled with dense annotations, with different colored pen marks distinguishing different points. "It's all arranged. In North America, we've reached an agreement with the local distributors. They'll be responsible for offline cinema promotion, including posters and in-cinema promotions, while we'll provide the online content."

"We use an interactive star map that our team made ourselves. Viewers can scan a QR code to see which star system in the movie corresponds to which star system in reality, and can also simulate the route of interstellar travel. It's very intuitive."

“That’s a good idea.” Tan Yue nodded, his gaze falling on the globe on the corner of the table, which was covered with fine lines of latitude and longitude.

The world is divided into small, yet closely connected pieces.

“Let the visual design team who studied in North America participate in the design. They know what kind of interaction locals like, whether they value data accuracy or visual impact more.” He suddenly remembered something and looked at Chen Ye, “Have you finished compiling the overseas fan profiles I asked you to do last time? It should include detailed data for different age groups and professions.”

Chen Ye immediately pulled out a report from the folder. The report was neatly bound without a single crease.

“It’s all set. Overseas fans are more concerned about the rigor of the scientific setting, and they have a particularly enthusiastic discussion about the physical models of black holes and the time dilation effect. We can collaborate with local planetariums to hold advance screenings and invite astrophysicists to participate in post-screening discussions to answer the audience’s scientific questions.”

She placed the report in front of Tan Yue, with sticky notes on the edge of the page, highlighting key points in different colors: red for core data and blue for suggested solutions.

Tan Yue did his homework thoroughly in order to ensure the success of this film.

"This is free advertising! And it's much more persuasive than hard-sell ads."

Tan Yue flipped through the report, his fingertips pausing on the words "62% of the audience is from families," his fingertips lightly tapping the paper.

"Add a parent-child interactive activity."

When Tan Yue looked up, there was a clear smile in her eyes, a smile that showed both a precise grasp of the market and confidence in the content: "Let the overseas team refer to our 'Write a Letter to the Future' campaign in China and present it in their localized way."

"Didn't Xiao Zhang, who was sent to study marketing back then, say that foreign families really like this kind of emotional appeal? We can have the children write a postcard to their future selves ten years from now, with the theme of 'the universe and growth,' which should resonate with them."

Mr. Wu quickly jotted it down in his notebook, his pen scribbling rapidly across the paper.

"I'll have Xiao Zhang handle that right away. By the way, should we ask local KOLs to help manage the official accounts on those overseas social media platforms? They understand the local communication patterns better."

"No need." Tan Yue put down his teacup, the bottom of which made a soft sound as it hit the table, like a firm period. "Let our own team handle it."

"The young people we sent to learn new media operations last year, didn't they say they had already figured out the algorithm logic there? From content release time to keyword settings, they have a mature solution."

"Give them a chance to practice. Our overseas business will only increase in the future, and we can't always rely on outsiders."

Halfway through the meeting, Chen Ye went outside to answer a phone call. When he returned, he was holding a printed document, the paper still slightly warm from the printer.

"Mr. Tan, our overseas partners have sent a message saying their technical director wants to visit our company for technical exchange after the film's release, tentatively scheduled for a week after the premiere."

She handed over the printed document, her tone remaining calm and devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

"They also attached a list of topics they wanted to discuss, which included our black hole rendering algorithm and the technology for generating planetary surface textures."

Tan Yue took the printed document, glanced at the technical terms, and suddenly smiled.

“Tell them they’re welcome.” He placed the file on the table, tapping it lightly with his fingertips, making a rhythmic sound.

"But let's make it clear beforehand: communication is fine, we can talk about technical ideas and implementation methods, but don't try to use the core algorithm as a bargaining chip. Our technology is something our team has painstakingly developed bit by bit, not something to be used as a bargaining chip."

The entire team poured their hearts and souls into completing the post-production of "Interstellar".

Chen Ye replied "Okay" and turned to reply to the email. Her steps were still light and quick, and her high heels made a crisp sound on the floor, but it did not seem abrupt.

She knew that Tan Yue wasn't being stingy; rather, he was aware of how much effort and dedication was involved in these techniques.

Those nights spent in the editing room, the lights often stayed on until dawn.

The discarded and rewritten plans filled the trash cans; the knowledge points painstakingly gleaned from foreign materials filled notebook after notebook.

at dusk.

As the setting sun shone through the blinds, it cast long, thin patches of light on the conference room floor, their shapes slowly changing as the sun moved.

Tan Yue watched as Engineer Wu and Zheng Tong marked the final screening cities on the map. The red thumbtacks were densely packed, like sparks scattered across the map.

Suddenly, I felt that this map looked exactly like the star map in "Interstellar," with each red dot being a star about to be lit up, shining in different corners.

"That's about right." Tan Yue stood up. The tea in the celadon cup had gone cold, and a thin film had formed on the surface of the tea soup, but he didn't care.

"Have the publicity team start the pre-launch campaign tomorrow, beginning with a set of comparison posters."

"On the left is an overseas special effects image that we referenced three years ago, with obvious traces of imitation; on the right is the version we made ourselves now, which incorporates the artistic conception of Eastern aesthetics, especially the sense of layering of the light band around the black hole, which is our unique processing method."

While tidying up the files, Zheng Tong found Tan Yue's notebook on the table. The open page had simple storyboards drawn on it, with concise yet precise lines.

The small print next to it reads, "This design references the lighting techniques used by overseas teams, but incorporates the blank spaces characteristic of Eastern aesthetics. The profundity of the universe lies not in filling it, but in leaving room for the audience's imagination."

He smiled and shook his head, closed the notebook, and put it into the briefcase Chen Ye had brought, his movements gentle, as if he were cherishing a precious item.

Back in his office, Tan Yue washed the celadon cup clean, letting the water rinse the cup's walls to remove the last traces of tea, then turned it upside down on a tea tray to drain.

When Chen Ye came in to tidy up, he saw him staring intently at the global film schedule on the computer screen. The light from the screen reflected on his face, as if it were covered with tiny starlight, enveloping him in a soft halo.

"President Tan, I've brewed some new Longjing tea," Chen Ye said softly, his voice low but enough to break the silence.

Tan Yue turned around, her eyes filled with a smile, a smile even gentler than the one she had shown in the conference room, like ripples spreading across a lake in the evening breeze: "Okay, make me a cup."

When the freshly brewed hot tea was placed on the table again, Chen Ye noticed that on Tan Yue's computer screen, the countdown to the global release of "Interstellar" had begun to tick, and every second that passed was bringing them closer to that global spectacle.

The city outside the window lit up with thousands of lights, like a spilled Milky Way, dazzling and radiant. Their journey, however, had only just begun. (End of Chapter)