Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, at Xu Qingya's small villa.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains and shone onto the carpet.

The bright red cheongsam was broken into several pieces and scattered to the side.

Xu Qingya nestled in Jiang Fan's arms, several red marks imprinted on her fair shoulders.

She rolled over, one leg instinctively draped over Jiang Fan's waist, and mumbled sleepily, "What time is it..."

"It's eleven o'clock." Jiang Fan casually put his arm around her waist.

Xu Qingya opened her eyes, feeling the heat around her waist. She gritted her teeth, rolled over, and pressed herself against him.

"Again."

The two of them didn't even leave their room all day on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

None of the pots and pans in the kitchen had been touched.

When she got hungry, she ordered takeout. After eating, Xu Qingya would pester her again.

The system notification sound in Jiang Fan's mind beeps every few hours, and his lifespan value steadily increases.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

9:30 AM. A large cinema in Shanghai.

The hall was deserted as a young couple walked to the ticket gate, yawning.

"Getting up so early on the first day of the Lunar New Year just to watch a movie where you don't even recognize the lead actors?" the boy complained, rubbing his eyes.

The girl handed the movie ticket to the ticket collector: "The skit on the Spring Festival Gala last night was so funny, I want to see what this movie 'Goodbye Mr. Loser' is all about."

The two entered Hall No. 3, a small hall that could only accommodate eighty people.

There were quite a few people inside, mostly driven by curiosity, just like them.

The lights in the screening room dimmed, and the dragon logo flashed by.

On the big screen, Xia Luo disrupts Qiu Ya's wedding, and Ma Dongmei picks up a brick and hits someone.

"Ma Dongmei! Peel that Peugeot car emblem off!"

Laughter erupted in the screening room, and the boy's drowsiness vanished, causing him to sit up straight.

The plot moves quickly as Xia Luo travels back to his high school, beats up his teacher, burns his schoolbag, and becomes famous by copying songs.

"Ma Shi Yao Mei?"

"Ma Dongmei".

"What Dongmei?"

One after another, a barrage of divine burdens rained down upon them.

Laughter filled the entire screening room.

The girl held the popcorn in mid-air, not taking a single bite for a long time.

At the end of the movie, Xia Luo wakes up from his dream and clings tightly to Ma Dongmei, hanging on her whether walking, eating, or sleeping.

The screening room fell silent.

The girl leaned back in her seat, her eyes red-rimmed, and wiped the corners of her eyes with a tissue.

As the lights came on, the audience began to leave the theater.

The boy immediately took out his phone, opened the ticketing app, went to the rating page for "Goodbye Mr. Loser," and gave it five stars.

He casually clicked on the page of "Martial Arts".

The rating is only 5.2, and the comments below are all one-star reviews.

"What era are we living in that they're still making this kind of pointless, melodramatic stuff? It put me to sleep."

"Director Chen's art is too profound for us mere mortals to appreciate."

"Ye Anran had a completely expressionless face the whole time. What else can she do besides posing?"

The boy sneered and posted a comment: "Director Chen, is this the lousy movie you were talking about, made by some Tom, Dick, or Harry? I suggest you buy a ticket and learn how to tell a story."

The girl opened her WeChat Moments and posted a status update: "The funniest movie of this year's Spring Festival season, bar none! It's hilarious and touching; you'll definitely regret not seeing it!"

The same scene was playing out simultaneously in early morning screening rooms across the country.

The first batch of viewers became the most steadfast advocates, and word-of-mouth spread like wildfire across major social media platforms.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, the box office data for the first day was updated.

With an overwhelming 45% of screenings, "Martial Arts" grossed 180 million yuan on its opening day, topping the daily box office charts.

"Goodbye Mr. Loser" only had a paltry 6% of screenings, all of which were in the dreaded slots before 9 a.m. and after 11 p.m., and its opening day box office was 30 million yuan.

The atmosphere in the Xinghuo Media production team's WeChat group was extremely tense.

Shen Feng sent a message: "Brother Jiang, I'm sorry. We failed to carry the box office."

Ning Yuan quickly replied, "It's not your fault, the screening schedule is terrible. I'll take the crew on a promotional tour tomorrow, going from city to city, to see if we can beg theaters to give us more screenings."

Ma Yue: "How about we refund half of our fees? We can't let Brother Jiang lose all of our 40 million investment."

Rinko: "I don't want the payment."

In the bedroom of the small villa, Jiang Fan leaned against the headboard, looking at the messages that kept popping up on his phone screen.

Beside him, Xu Qingya was fast asleep in his arms.

Jiang Fan opened the transfer function, entered the amount: 100,000. Recipient: Shen Feng. Send.

Next were Ning Yuan, Ma Yue, Lun Zi...

A dozen or so transfers of 100,000 each were sent into the group.

The group chat fell silent instantly; no one dared to take the lead.

Jiang Fan typed with one hand: "Take them all. This is a great start. Have a good New Year. Don't look at the opening day box office, look at the attendance rate."

Shen Feng made no move, and the others dared not take the lead either.

Jiang Fan typed again: "Shen Feng, Xinghuo Media isn't short of money. Take it if we tell you to."

A few seconds later, a notification popped up on the screen to claim the reward.

Shen Feng: "Brother Jiang, even if I have to sell everything I own, I'll work for you from now on!"

Jiangcheng, a cinema in a third-tier city.

Manager Zhang sat in his office, holding a thermos, staring at the real-time data on his computer screen.

His brows were furrowed.

The screenings of "Martial Arts" occupied four of the largest theaters.

The seating chart for prime time slots at 2 PM, 3 PM, and 8 PM is a sea of ​​green.

All the seats were empty.

The occupancy rate was less than 20%.

In contrast, "Goodbye Mr. Loser" was only allocated to the smallest theater, Hall No. 5.

The shows are at 9:30 AM and 11:30 PM, and the seating charts for both shows are all in red.

Xiao Liu, the ticket seller at the front desk, pushed open the door and said, "Mr. Zhang, there are more than a dozen people crowding the lobby outside, all asking if there are any tickets for 'Goodbye Mr. Loser' this afternoon."

"Tell them there are only midnight shows." Old Zhang said without looking up.

"I told them. A few people were cursing in the lobby, saying that our cinema is out of its mind, not showing good movies but insisting on showing those hypnotic rubbish films." Xiao Liu wiped his sweat.

Old Zhang put down his thermos.

He picked up the film schedule on the table. Capital had given "Martial Arts" a distribution fee and demanded a minimum number of screenings.

Movie theaters open their doors to do business, earning real money from box office revenue and popcorn and drinks.

Showing movies in empty seats doesn't even cover the electricity costs.

Old Zhang pulled up the ticket refund data from the backend.

The refund rate for "Martial Arts" reached an astonishing 15%. Many viewers, after reading the negative reviews online, opted for a refund.

In contrast, the refund rate for "Goodbye Mr. Loser" was zero.

Old Zhang gripped the mouse and opened the backend scheduling system.

In the two empty medium-sized theaters that can hold 200 people each, we chose to watch "Goodbye Mr. Loser".

Click to save and sync to major ticketing platforms.

"Go tell the people outside that two more screenings of 'Charlotte' have been added this afternoon, and tell them to go buy tickets," Old Zhang instructed.

Xiao Liu turned and ran out.

Old Zhang leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette.

He was considering how to handle the situation if Longyao Media's distribution staff came to hold him accountable.

I've only taken two puffs of my cigarette.

boom.

Xiao Liu pushed the office door open.

"Mr. Zhang!" Xiao Liu's voice trembled as he pointed to the ticket hall outside.

"What's wrong? Is the audience causing trouble?" Old Zhang frowned.

"No. The two shows of 'Goodbye Mr. Loser' that were just scheduled..." Xiao Liu swallowed hard, "Two hundred seats, and they sold out in seconds!"

Old Zhang's hand holding the cigarette trembled, and the ash fell onto his trouser leg.

He suddenly stood up, pulled out a chair, and leaned over the computer screen.

Refresh the page.

At 3 PM, in Hall 3, the seating chart was entirely in red.

At 5 PM, in Hall 2, the seating chart was entirely in red.

This time, in just a few minutes, two hundred tickets were sold out. Not a single one remained.

In cinemas across the country, theater managers, looking at the dismal attendance of "Martial Arts" and the overwhelming demand for tickets to "Goodbye Mr. Loser," silently opened the back-end scheduling system.