Entertainment from Divorce

At 6 p.m., just after Beijing's evening rush hour, the crowds outside the China World Cinema were still bustling.

Neon signs lit up one after another in the twilight, with the blue "IMAX" logo standing out particularly, casting a cool glow on the faces of pedestrians.

Xu Nuo wrapped his black trench coat tightly around himself, the collar standing up high. As he walked out of the cinema exit, he was still clutching the Interstellar movie ticket stub, warmed by his body heat.

He repeatedly rubbed the edge of the ticket stub, and the name "Cooper" became somewhat blurred.

Xu Nuo looked up at the huge poster that was three stories high outside the cinema. The rotating black hole flowed with liquid gold under the lights, as if it wanted to suck people into that deep universe. The scene of Cooper and Murphy reuniting at the end of the film was still echoing in her mind.

As the elderly Murphy's wrinkled hand stroked his cheek, the suppressed sobs in the theater seemed to still echo in his ears, and his eyes involuntarily welled up with tears.

As the director of the TV drama department at Brilliant Entertainment, Xu Nuo has been extremely busy these past two months.

I have three variety show projects going forward at the same time, and I have to keep an eye on the recording sites during the day.

Actors forgetting their lines, equipment malfunctions, guests suddenly quitting recording—all sorts of unexpected situations came one after another.

He managed to squeeze out two hours today, and he specifically chose an evening IMAX screening. He even arrived at the cinema half an hour early to avoid the crowds and quietly experience Tan Yue's hard science fiction film that has captivated the world.

After all, from the time the film was first approved to its release, he only glanced at it briefly at an internal screening and didn't even have a clear understanding of the complete plot.

As he stepped out of the cinema, the evening breeze, carrying the chill of early winter, blew over him, swirling up fallen leaves that landed at his feet.

Xu Nuo took a deep breath, letting the cool air, carrying the sweet scent of movie theater popcorn, enter her lungs, and finally felt her nerves, which had been tense for two months, relax.

He took out his phone, and there were still unread messages in the work group on the screen.

Xu Nuo opened the chat box with Tan Yue first, her fingers flying across the screen, not even bothering to consider the punctuation: "Old Tan, your Interstellar is simply amazing! From the black hole special effects to the father-daughter relationship, every part touched me! Especially the part about the five-dimensional space, Cooper searching for Murphy in countless studies, the guy next to me cried so much he was pulling out tissues, and I wasn't much better off, my eyes are still sore!"

Tan Yue replied within two minutes of the message being sent.

"It's worth it for someone as busy as you to squeeze out time to read this, and even cry while reading it. How about we grab a drink this weekend if you're free? I know you have a ton of questions to ask."

Xu Nuo leaned against a lamppost by the roadside, the glow of the lamplight casting a long shadow. He smiled and replied, "I definitely have time! But I'll have to finish up these variety shows I'm working on, and then we can talk in detail next week."

"I'm really curious about how the five-dimensional space scene was designed, and Deng Gaofei's last scene, where he suddenly burst into tears, it was absolutely amazing!"

Putting away her phone, Xu Nuo hailed a taxi.

The evening breeze ruffled the stray hairs on his forehead, revealing his full forehead. He gazed at the street scenes flashing past the car window, and the images from the movie theater resurfaced in his mind.

When Cooper piloted the Eternity through the wormhole, the light strips on the screen resembled silk soaked in tears, layer upon layer wrapping the spaceship. The visual shock made him instantly forget the fatigue of his work.

When elderly Murphy sat on his hospital bed, he said to Cooper, "Dad, it's time for you to go. Go find Brand."

He thought of his parents back in his hometown. Several times he hadn't been home for the Spring Festival because he was rushing to finish projects. His mother would say on the phone, "Your dad is always waiting for your call on the balcony," and his nose would sting with tears.

He suddenly realized that Tan Yue's greatest strength was never the dazzling special effects, but his ability to weave the most basic human emotions into a grand cosmic narrative.

Like a sugar-coated pill, with a stunning sci-fi exterior and tender family affection inside, it allows every viewer to find a reflection of themselves within it.

Half an hour later, the taxi stopped at the entrance of the residential complex downstairs from Xu Nuo's apartment building.

He paid and walked in, stepping on the dappled light cast by the streetlights. The neighborhood was quiet, with only a few windows lit up.

He opened the door to find the living room completely dark, with only the entryway sensor light casting a faint warm glow that projected his lonely shadow onto the wall.

He tossed his trench coat onto the sofa, the movie ticket stub falling out of the pocket and landing on the carpet. Just as he was about to pour himself a glass of water, his phone rang, the word "Mom" flashing prominently on the screen.

"Hello, Mom." Xu Nuo answered the phone, her voice carrying a hint of unconcealed fatigue, even the last syllable of her voice was a little hoarse.

"Xiao Nuo, are you busy today? Have you eaten yet?" The familiar voice of her mother came from the other end of the phone, full of concern, and the sound of the TV news could be heard in the background.

"I just finished work. I watched a movie at the theater and haven't eaten yet. I'm going to cook some noodles." Xu Nuo walked to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator door, and a burst of cold air rushed out. Inside, there were only a few bottles of mineral water, a bag of frozen dumplings, and half a carton of expired milk.

The vegetables he bought last time had already gone bad, but he didn't even have time to throw them away.

"Eating this again? I've told you so many times, don't always eat this kind of food, it's bad for your stomach."

The mother's tone was reproachful, but her words quickly shifted as if they were from a pre-prepared script.

"By the way, your Aunt Zhang introduced you to a teacher at an experimental primary school. She teaches Chinese. She's quiet and has a good personality. She lives in Beijing. Would you like to meet her this weekend?"

Xu Nuo paused, his knuckles turning white from the force of the grip on the refrigerator door. He sighed helplessly, leaning against the refrigerator, the cool exterior seeping through his thin shirt. "Mom, I really don't have time lately. Several variety shows are in their crucial stages, and I'm busy until the wee hours every night. I don't even have enough time to sleep. How can I have time for blind dates?"

He is thirty-five years old this year, and his mother has been urging him to get married ever since his thirtieth birthday.

Over the years, the number of blind dates he's been on could fill a football team.

The candidates included hospital nurses, law firm lawyers, school teachers, and film and television company planners, but each attempt ended in failure.

"Busy, busy, busy! All you ever do is keep busy!"

The mother's voice rose slightly, tinged with grievance and a barely perceptible sob: "You're thirty-five already, Old Wang next door's grandson is old enough to run errands, and you're still single! No matter how important a job is, can it be more important than a lifetime of happiness? Your father and I are almost seventy, and all we want is to see you settle down. Is that wrong?"

"I know, Mom, I didn't do anything wrong and I'm not blaming you."

Xu softened her tone, her fingers unconsciously picking at the refrigerator door seal.

"I also want to get married soon, but these things can't be rushed. Once I'm done with this busy period and my variety show airs, I'll definitely meet up with the girl and have a good chat, okay?"

The mother was silent for a few seconds, then her tone softened, with a hint of resigned helplessness: "Then you have to keep your word. I've already spoken to your Aunt Zhang. She's a good girl and knows you're busy with work, so she won't hold a grudge. Don't let her down."

"Don't worry, Mom, I definitely won't." Xu Nuo gave a perfunctory reply and chatted with her mother for a few more minutes.

After hanging up the phone, Xu Nuo stood at the kitchen doorway, looking at the empty living room, and suddenly felt a strange loneliness. He walked to the sofa, sat down, and casually picked up the remote to turn on the TV. The screen was showing behind-the-scenes footage of "Interstellar".

Wearing blue overalls, Tan Yue stood in the green screen studio and said to the camera: "What this movie is actually about is 'going home'. No matter how far you go or how much time has passed, home is always the warmest harbor and the strength that supports us to move forward."

Xu Nuo stared at the screen, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

Doesn't he also long for a home?

Every time he works overtime until late at night and drives home, he sees the lights on in the windows of other people's homes in the neighborhood. He hopes that someone will be waiting for him, leaving a light on in the entryway and a bowl of hot soup for him.

But over the years, he has devoted all his energy to his work.

He took out his phone and opened the "Dating Partners" group on WeChat. There were more than a dozen contacts in the group, most of whom were still in the "Let's meet another day" chat.

There was a girl who worked in planning. She had dinner with him twice last year. Later, she messaged him, "I don't think we're a good match. You're too focused on your work." He replied at the time, "Sorry, I'll wait until I'm done with this." Now, looking back, that "sorry" was too lenient.

Xu Nuo turned off the TV and went to the balcony.

As night deepened, the city lights resembled scattered diamonds on black velvet, and from the twentieth floor down, the traffic flow resembled a golden river.

He took out his cigarette case, lit a cigarette, and the smoke drifted in the evening breeze, carrying a faint smell of nicotine.

He thought of Tan Yue and Chen Ziyu, and felt envious.

"Perhaps, I really should slow down a bit," Xu Nuo said softly to the night sky. The cigarette butt burned between his fingers, and he only snapped back to reality when it burned his fingertips. He quickly stubbed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray on the balcony. The ashtray still contained cigarette butts from last week, covered with a thin layer of ash.

At nine o'clock the next morning, in the conference room of Brilliant Entertainment, sunlight streamed through the blinds, casting striped shadows on the floor.

Wearing a gray suit, Engineer Wu stood in front of the projection screen, working on a follow-up promotional plan for "Interstellar" for his team.

The latest public opinion data scrolled across the screen, with the red numbers standing out prominently.

"The hashtag #InterstellarTravel has garnered over 8 million views and more than 500 million discussions; related videos on overseas social media platforms have seen an additional 20 billion views..."

"According to feedback from the International Cultural Center, the film's popularity has rebounded significantly after the policy of extending its run in theaters was announced."

Pointing to the data charts, Mr. Wu's voice was filled with barely suppressed excitement: "Although it can't compare to the explosive period when it was first released. Back then, the daily box office exceeded 5 million, and now it's stable at around 1.2 million per day. But as a movie that has been released for a month, this level of popularity has far surpassed other films released at the same time. The second-place film, 'Winter Sonata,' only had a daily box office of 3000 million."

"Our next promotional focus will be on the 'behind-the-scenes stories,' using unreleased clips and creative details to entice viewers to watch the show a second or third time."

He clicked the mouse, and a set of photos appeared on the screen.

The first image shows the special effects team working late into the night in front of their computers, with coffee cups piled on the table and the black hole model, now in its eighteenth revision, displayed on the screen.

The second picture shows Deng Gaofei filming in the Dunhuang desert. In the 40-degree heat, he was wearing a heavy spacesuit, and sweat was dripping down the edge of his helmet. His assistant was holding a fan next to him to blow on him.

The third picture shows Tan Yue explaining a scene to an actor on set. He is holding a script and squatting on the ground, gesturing about five-dimensional space to Deng Gaofei, his eyes full of focus.

"We will release these behind-the-scenes materials in batches on domestic and international platforms, updating 3-5 pieces every week, so that the audience can see the hard work behind this film," Mr. Wu said earnestly.

Everyone in the conference room listened attentively.

The head of the publicity team, sitting in the back row, raised his hand and asked, "Mr. Wu, what specific plans do we have for overseas publicity? For example, in the European and American markets, audiences there have high expectations for science fiction films. How can we get them to watch it a second time?"

"That's a good question."

Engineer Wu pulled up the overseas promotion plan, and a world map appeared on the screen, marking key cities: "We will hold Interstellar fan meet-and-greets in major cities in North America, Europe, and Asia, such as New York, London, and Tokyo."

The day the publicity plan was announced, it quickly sparked heated discussions online both domestically and internationally.

On domestic social media platforms, topics such as #TheStoryBehindInterstellar# and #BlackHoleHasBeenRevised18Times# quickly rose to the top of the trending searches. The first three topics were all tagged with the word "hot" and their readership continued to climb.

Netizens are enthusiastically discussing the topic, and the comment section is full of anticipation:
"After watching the behind-the-scenes footage, I realized how hard the special effects team worked. They revised the black hole model eighteen times. No wonder it looks so realistic, even better than NASA's simulation!"

"I could feel the heat just watching Deng Gaofei filming in the desert. His spacesuit must have weighed dozens of kilograms! This kind of dedicated actor deserves to be famous!"

"I've already watched it three times. The director's cut is a must-see! I'm planning to take my parents with me. My dad is a space enthusiast, so he'll definitely love it!"

On overseas platforms, the reaction from movie fans was equally enthusiastic.

Xu Nuo scrolled through these comments in her office and couldn't help but laugh.

He had just finished processing the guest adjustment plan for "Star Stage," and his fingers still felt the tactile sensation of typing on the keyboard, but he first opened the chat box with Tan Yue and sent a message.

"Old Tan, your follow-up publicity is amazing! The hype is back, with three of the top fifteen trending topics on Weibo. I see a lot of people in the comments section planning to watch it three or four times, so the box office can go up again!"

Tan Yue quickly replied: "Thanks to Engineer Wu and the others, and the support of the audience."

In the late afternoon, Xu Nuo finished his work and left work two hours earlier than usual.

Instead of going straight home, he drove to a nearby flower shop.

A poster on the glass door of the flower shop reads "Today's Special: Sunflowers." The warm yellow flowers are arranged in a transparent vase, which is enough to lift your spirits.

He walked into the flower shop, and the proprietress smiled and asked, "Sir, are you buying flowers for your girlfriend? Sunflowers represent sunshine and hope, so they're very suitable."

"I'm giving this to...a friend." Xu Nuo said a little shyly, pointing to the most vibrant sunflower in the bunch, "I want this one, please wrap it up nicely for me."

The proprietress quickly wrapped the flowers, tied them into a pretty bow with a ribbon, and handed them to him, saying, "Don't worry, I guarantee the recipient will like them."

Xu Nuo accepted the flowers; the sunflower's fragrance was faint yet very soothing. (End of Chapter)