Top Chinese celebrity: Debuted from Running Man

Chapter 289 Running Man Gathering and Promotion (4k)
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The promotional efforts continue unabated; next stop: Suzhou and Hangzhou.

At 2 p.m., the air was still filled with the slight dryness of early summer. The opening day box office figures for "The Left Ear" were like a boulder thrown into a lake, creating huge ripples within the film crew.

The Left Ear's daily box office: 88.75 million! (Topped the charts!)
"I Belonged to You" box office: 76.4 million! (Following closely behind, ranking second)
The two films, like giant whales, practically devoured the entire May Day box office.

Compared to these films, the daily box office figures of other films are like faint fireflies, hovering only in the millions or even hundreds of thousands, and hardly anyone pays any attention to them.

However, the box office success cannot mask the controversy surrounding its reputation.

The two films have received polarized reviews on various platforms, with numerous criticisms.

Online film critics are already sharpening their knives, with the most incisive being "Lao Ba Talks Movies," who once reviewed Gu Qing's "Brotherhood of Blades."

The song that received the most criticism was "I Belonged to You".

Like plot logic flaws:

In Mao Shiba's marriage proposal scene, when Lizhi is in danger,
Mao Shiba's alarm device was stabbed to death by a thug with a dagger, but in reality, daggers are unlikely to cause fatal injuries.

The radio station incident involving Chen Mo and Xiao Rong was downplayed, the accidental microphone use went unpunished, and Chen Mo was directly promoted to a leadership position, which does not conform to the logic of a real workplace.

Secondly, there is the paradox of role behavior.
Intern Yaoji publicly insulted host Chen Mo on a radio program. In reality, such behavior would definitely lead to dismissal, but in the video, she continued her internship.

As a radio DJ, Chen Mo and his colleague Xiao Rong interacted through constant bickering. Their apparent conflict was actually a secret crush on each other. This setup was both childish and lacked emotional transition.

As for the actors,
Yang Yang's portrayal of Mao Shiba has been criticized as being "too handsome," which is too different from the character's setting (a slovenly appliance repairman), indicating that he is too concerned about his idol image.

Deng Chao's portrayal of Chen Mo was too exaggerated, failing to balance the contradiction between his roguishness and loneliness, and bringing his comedic style into the role.

Lao Ba summarized: "After watching it, I felt like I swallowed a Big Mac raw—it was choking, overwhelming, and uncomfortable!"

But then, his tone shifted, and his survival instinct kicked in:
"Of course, the film isn't without its merits. The theme song of the same name, sung by Gu Qing... well, it's quite nice."

This blatant act of fawning over Gu Qing reveals his obvious intention to reap the benefits of Gu Qing's fanbase, yet it's impossible to refute.
—For the vast majority of casual viewers, the only thing worth the ticket price for this movie is Gu Qing's near-perfect singing performance, which is like listening to a high-quality live single in the theater.

The saying "bad movies produce amazing songs" is truly apt.

And Lao Ba's knife is equally sharp when it comes to "The Left Ear":

It has all the melodramatic elements you'd expect from a teen movie: messy love triangles, sudden car accidents, betrayal, violence... making you wonder, "Did we really go to the same high school back then?"

"The only character in the entire movie who made my heart clench was Xu Yi, played by Gu Qing."

The author's pen was filled with regret: "What did this boy, as pure as the first snow, do wrong?"

"It was clearly the evil sown by Zhang Yang's father that made the innocent Xu Yi suffer the consequences. Zhang Yang's hatred, and Li Bala's deliberate seduction..."
They conspired to drag him from heaven to hell, ruining his future and the most important event of his life—the college entrance examination!

"And Li Er, who once looked up at Xu Yi with starry eyes, at the end of the story, you're telling me she ended up with Zhang Yang, the instigator?!"

Lao Ba's words were filled with angry accusations: "Utterly absurd! Utterly disgusting!"

"If it weren't for this disgusting ending, which allowed Li Er to be with Xu Yi, who had gone through so much hardship and struggled to climb out of the mire, I could barely give it a passing grade of 6."

But now?
This is a thoroughly clichéd teen movie! It's a waste of Gu Qing's talent!

"Youth films should be played by real teenagers! Gu Qing, at 19 or 20 years old, has that unique naivety and purity of a high school senior, which is completely natural! His image and temperament are a perfect match!"

Her acting was so natural and fluid, clearly far superior to the actors around her! What a pity! A gem wasted on such a mediocre script!

Lao Ba's film review was like a clarion call for a counterattack, accurately striking the hearts of countless "Gu family members".

"Eighth Brother! You're my mouth double!!"

"You're absolutely right! Here's another honey-glazed mini burger as a reward!"

With the help of fans' enthusiastic reposting, #HeartacheForXuYi# and #HeartacheForGuQing# quickly rose to the top of the trending topics list, becoming the hottest topics during the May Day holiday.

With virtually no competitors of similar caliber, the phenomenal success of "The Left Ear" was a foregone conclusion.

Its final box office is even expected to surpass the 7.2 million yuan record of "So Young" and become the highest-grossing Chinese youth film!
This news sent Su Youpeng, who was in the cinema lounge, on a rollercoaster of emotions, feeling both happy and depressed.

The good news is that his debut film was a box office hit, and fame and fortune are just around the corner!

If he can reach the top, his title as "China's No. 1 director of youth films" will be confirmed!

Just thinking about this prospect made Su Youpeng's lips curl up uncontrollably, almost reaching his ears.

What's frustrating is that the online criticism is equally overwhelming, especially the harsh condemnation of the plot, which feels like tiny thorns pricking my heart.
However, faced with solid box office results, this frustration was quickly overshadowed by immense joy.

After all, box office revenue is the only true measure of success!

at this time,

With a creak,
The door to the lounge was pushed open.

When Gu Qing was ushered in by staff and enthusiastic local organizers, Su Youpeng's eyes lit up, and he immediately rushed forward as if he had seen a god of wealth, his face beaming with a bright, almost fawning smile:
"Oh my! My precious koi fish is here! Come, come, come! Sit here! Are you tired? Are you thirsty?"

He greeted her warmly, as if Gu Qing were a walking gold mine.

No, even a gold bar of the same weight isn't as valuable as him!
He now firmly believed in the claim that it was a box office miracle cure!

He spent the whole night scrolling through his phone, feeling anxious and uneasy. Now, his heart has finally settled down, and he is even more impressed by Gu Qing's "mystical" box office appeal.

After politely dealing with a group of unfamiliar staff members, Gu Qing finally found a gap to sit down and catch her breath.

"Brother Youpeng, you're exaggerating!"

He smiled helplessly, "The box office success is due to your excellent directing skills, it has little to do with me."

Su Youpeng was overjoyed by the praise, but when he glanced at the prominent trending topic #HeartacheForGuQing# on his phone, he immediately sobered up and waved his hands repeatedly:

"Little Gu, don't be modest. Without your prestigious reputation, no matter how good my film is, it would be a miracle if it even made over 100 million. You are the number one contributor!"

He patted Gu Qing on the shoulder, his tone sincere yet tinged with lingering fear.

"Xu Yi, you look radiant today...tsk tsk, you're glowing."

Ma Sichun leaned closer and sized up Gu Qing.

He had smooth skin and a refreshed look in his eyes, appearing even more energetic than yesterday. This made her, who had stayed up all night, feel a pang of jealousy. "What did he and Zhao Liying do? They didn't go to a spa together, did they?"

"Have it?"

Gu Qing subconsciously touched her smooth cheeks and found that not a single pimple had appeared. She smiled happily.

"But it's you and Little Ears,"

He turned his gaze to Ma Sichun and Chen Duling, who was sitting quietly beside him. "Why do you look like wilted eggplants? Your dark circles are almost down to your chin. Did you go thieving last night?"

Hearing this,

Ma Sichun immediately rubbed her face with a worried expression: "Top star! Do you think everyone is as calm and collected as you, confident that the box office will explode?"

"I spent the whole night scrolling through the news and comments, so excited and nervous, I couldn't sleep at all!" She paused, then added a touch of smugness, "But...hehe, I'm an actress with some representative works now!"

"The box office on the first day is close to 100 million! My goodness, my aunt has been acting in movies her whole life and she's never been this popular!"

"Little Ears, are you the same?"

Gu Qing looked at Chen Duling with a hint of inquiry.

"Uh… yeah."

Like a primary school student being called on by the teacher, Chen Duling nodded quickly, her eyes darting away, not daring to meet Gu Qing's gaze. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, and she felt extremely guilty.

What is the box office information for the movie?
She didn't actually pay much attention; she mainly spent the whole night watching videos of the couple.

Ever since yesterday, that little fan said she and Gu Qing had a CP called 'Qingling' CP.

Chen Duling was curious and searched it up.

But when I looked at it, things got really messy; I couldn't stop it.

She first spent an hour registering an account.

Then I spent the whole night watching videos of the "Qingling CP" on Bilibili.

Although it's a little weird to ship yourself with someone else, those edits... are just too addictive!

With carefully selected ambiguous background music and slow-motion and close-up shots, those ordinary eye contact, closeness, or even just a casual glance from Gu Qing on Happy Camp were all given a strong sweet atmosphere and a sense of "story".

In particular, Gu Qing's several seemingly unintentional but actually considerate "care" actions, under the magnifying glass of the editing, are simply too sweet!

She was glued to her phone, watching a single video dozens of times, scrolling through related clips one after another, even seamlessly integrating scenes from the newly released film "The Left Ear" into variety show footage by content creators—a blur of reality and fiction.
She was so engrossed in watching that she couldn't keep up. The enthusiastic shouts of "I'm shipping them!", "So sweet!" and "They're a match made in heaven!" from fans in the comments section made her blush and her heart race. Before she knew it, she had stayed up all night.

As a result, whenever she sees Gu Qing in person, a thought always uncontrollably pops into her mind: "He takes such good care of me, does he like me?"

But then,

Last night, Sister Zhao's powerful and confident aura as a top-tier female star instantly brought her back to reality.

The brilliance of top-tier actresses is simply dazzling.

What can she, a newcomer and nobody, compare herself to?

Sigh, if only dating were as easy as building an airplane.

For the first time, this female science whiz realized how complicated and complicated dating could be.

Before we knew it, it was afternoon.
The production team's promotional activities proceeded smoothly: interviews with the main cast and crew, screenings of clips, and interactive games, all in a harmonious atmosphere.

Just when everyone thought the event would end uneventfully, during the audience Q&A session, a figure wearing a hooded bandit mask (only his eyes were visible) and completely covered up suddenly stood up and asked a question in a deliberately low, hoarse voice:
"Hello Gu Qing, I have a question for you!"

The appearance and voice were so abrupt that Gu Qing was stunned for a moment. Then, as if she had thought of something, she picked up the microphone and pointed at the person with an incredulous look on her face: "...Brother Chao?! How did you sneak in?"

"what?!"

Deng Chao ripped off the hood, revealing his head, which was flushed red from being stuffed and his hair was all messed up like a bird's nest. He looked utterly defeated. "Is it that obvious? My disguise was flawless!"

He scratched his messy hair in frustration.

"Pfft-hahaha!"

"My God, it's Deng Chao!"

"Doesn't he also have a movie being released at the same time? Why is he supporting The Left Ear?"

"What do you know? This is the bond between the Running Man cast!"

The entire audience erupted in a huge burst of laughter.

Hey! Don't come over and hug me yet!

Seeing Gu Qing about to leave the stage, Deng Chao quickly raised the microphone to stop him, a mischievous grin on his face. "Answer the question first. Do you think it's you playing Xu Yishuai, or Deng Chao playing Chen Moshuai?"

Gu Qing was amused by this childish question, "Of course your Chen Mo is the most handsome."

"Alright, I'll give you a chance to hug me."

Deng Chao smiled and opened his arms.

"Hahahaha!" The audience burst into laughter again.

Gu Qing then smiled and walked off the stage, gave Deng Chao a firm hug, and then pulled him onto the stage.

"The surprises aren't over yet!" Deng Chao waved triumphantly to the audience.

Immediately afterwards, from all directions of the audience, as if bamboo shoots had sprung up after a rain, several more people wearing the same strange headgear and masks stood up!
"Tianba Dongba Tua!"

Chen Chichi's signature laughter and slogan rang out first. He pulled off his hood and asked, "Little Gu, did you miss me?"

"We are a family!"

Li Chen, Wang Zhulan, and Zheng Kai also took off their masks and waved with smiles.

Finally, near the corner, a figure wearing a pink Hello Kitty mask slowly stood up.

The laughter and chatter at the scene fell eerily silent for a moment.

On stage, Gu Qing's smile froze almost imperceptibly for half a second.

Yang Ying, behind the mask, nervously pursed her lips, her palms slightly sweaty.

Even through the mask, she could clearly see the radiant figure in the center of the stage—Gu Qing.

Not long ago,
When Deng Chao suggested that everyone in the Running Man group come to support Gu Qing, he actually deliberately ignored her.

When she replied with an inexplicable "Okay," the group chat fell silent instantly. Deng Chao even messaged her privately, asking incredulously, "Baby, are you... really sure you want to come?"

She forced herself to reply, "Can't I come to support my little brother Qingqing?"

But now that she was actually there, standing under countless gazes, she felt a wave of guilt and unease.

“Little brother…” She picked up the microphone, her voice sounding muffled through the mask, with a hint of dryness that was barely perceptible.

However, she hadn't finished speaking.

Gu Qing quickly smiled a bright and warm smile that she knew all too well, stepped off the stage, and went straight to her.

He naturally extended his hand, palm up, his voice gentle and clear, without the slightest hint of anything amiss:
"Baby, it's been a long time."

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(End of this chapter)