They surrounded me right after the breakup.

The screening of "The Fortress of Shanghai" is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at Theater 1 of Jingzhou Wanguo Cinema.

Lu Chengze arrived an hour early.

He wore a dark gray suit, a black shirt, and his hair was neatly combed.

Zhao Qiming followed behind him, carrying more than a dozen film schedule documents in his arms, his face pale.

"Have you adjusted the equipment in the hall?" Lu Chengze asked.

"It's been adjusted, and the projectionist said there's no problem," Zhao Qiming replied.

"What about ticketing and check-in?"

"Everything is arranged. The assistants to the theater executives confirmed the time in advance and they will arrive on time."

Lu Chengze nodded and stepped inside.

A black cloth was stretched across the entrance to the theater, and several security guards stood on both sides.

There were only about ten people invited, all of whom were the scheduling managers of cinemas in Jingzhou and the surrounding areas.

Zhou Xinyu was the last to arrive.

He was wearing a gray jacket and had only one assistant with him. After entering the venue, he chose a seat in the back corner.

Lu Chengze saw it all but said nothing.

Zhao Qiming leaned closer to his ear: "Why is President Zhou sitting so far back?"

"Let him be," Lu Chengze said in a low voice.

"Today, I'll watch the movie, not the people."

The hall darkened.

The screen lights up, and the rough cut of "The Fortress of Shanghai" officially begins.

For the first ten minutes, no one moved.

From a city-wide perspective, the energy shield rises into the air, and the base gates open.

There were many cameras and loud music, making the whole hall feel cramped.

Zhao Qiming glanced at them furtively.

The theater executives sat upright, and no one whispered to each other.

Twenty minutes later, the story moved into its first battle.

The mechs traverse the city streets, while the protagonist shouts tactical commands from inside the cockpit.

The dialogue came one after another, and the sound effects almost made the seats vibrate.

A little color slowly returned to Lu Chengze's face.

He felt confident this time.

At the thirty-fifth minute, the camera cuts to the outer city.

A thin, bluish-gray border appeared at the edge of the green screen on the screen, wedged between the buildings and the sky.

Someone cleared their throat.

Lu Chengze didn't hear it.

He stared at the screen, his fingers slowly tapping on the armrest.

At the fortieth minute, the male lead emerged from the mecha, his bangs perfectly styled and his makeup flawless.

Behind him was a blazing fire, and his face was free of ash and sweat.

Zhou Xinyu shifted his sitting posture in the corner.

Zhao Qiming saw it and his heart skipped a beat.

At the fiftieth minute, the plot shifts to a major catastrophe.

Buildings collapsed, the ground cracked, and people ran through the ruins.

An extra tripped and fell, and the camera didn't cut off, clearly capturing the moment he knocked over a cardboard box in his panic.

Someone in the hall chuckled.

It was very light, but in the almost frozen silence of the air, it was like a needle falling to the ground.

Lu Chengze stopped.

The film is 90 minutes long.

When the lights came on, no one applauded.

Zhao Qiming stood up, intending to say a few words to lighten the mood.

"Everyone..."

Zhou Xinyu had already stood up.

He nodded towards Lu Chengze, then turned and left.

Zhao Qiming chased after him, jogging a few steps down the corridor.

"Mr. Zhou, what's the film schedule like..."

Zhou Xinyu didn't turn around, leaving only half a sentence:

"Let's look at the things on Xingyue's side first."

The door opened, then closed again.

Lu Chengze remained seated, his face turning from red to pale.

The people from the cinemas exchanged glances; some made an excuse to answer a phone call, while others looked down to reply to messages.

Lu Chengze slowly stood up.

Zhao Qiming wanted to say something, but was silenced by a look.

"Pack your things and go back to the company," Lu Chengze said.

The movie screening ended faster than expected.

Zhou Xinyu got into the car, and his assistant closed the door.

"Is President Lu no longer pursuing this?" the assistant asked.

"What are you chasing? Just take the rough cut and release the full movie. How am I supposed to schedule screenings with this attitude?" Zhou Xinyu loosened his tie.

"Are we really going to Xingyue?" The assistant glanced at the time.

"Go. I haven't looked at Jianghan's stuff yet."

"This time, Xingyue didn't even send out formal invitations; it was just a phone call from President Fang."

"That's why we have to go even more." Zhou Xinyu closed his eyes.

"They weren't trying to negotiate with us. They wanted us to see for ourselves what constitutes valuable goods."

The convoy circled the city for a short while before finally parking in the underground parking lot of Xingyue Media.

Fang Chongwen waited personally at the elevator entrance.

"Mr. Zhou, this way please. Chairman Jiang has already arrived in the screening room."

Zhou Xinyu nodded.

In the elevator, Fang Chongwen added, "We won't be showing the full movie today, just some behind-the-scenes footage. Director Jiaozi is here too."

"Behind the scenes?" Zhou Xinyu raised an eyebrow.

"Did you specifically bring us to see what happened behind the scenes?"

"Chairman Jiang said that people in the theater industry have seen too many mainstream films, but they've never seen how good films are made."

Zhou Xinyu didn't ask any more questions.

The screening room at Xingyue Media is small, with only about thirty seats.

Jiang Han sat in the first row, next to Shen Qingning and Xia Yutong.

Several theater executives sat down in the back row one after another, making a total of six, including Zhou Xinyu.

"Everyone, we won't be showing the main feature today." Jiang Han stood up, without taking the microphone.

"We'll show you some things you don't usually see in theaters."

The lights went out.

The big screen lit up, first showing a set of previously unreleased behind-the-scenes photos.

On the set of "The Wandering Earth," in a real ice field, actors wearing exoskeletons stand in front of a blower.

The camera then shifts to Xingyue Film City.

The 60-minute behind-the-scenes special begins in the preparation stage.

Concept art, models, live-action engine set construction, and weight training for actors.

Each segment includes a timestamp and a production log.

During the space scene, someone whispered, "How much energy must that have burned?"

Jianghan did not turn back.

Then, dumplings make their appearance.

He brought a four-minute clip from the movie "Nezha".

In the scene, Nezha sits alone on the rooftop, with thunder rumbling in the distance.

There are no lines in the entire segment, only background music.

After finishing, Dumpling scratched his head: "This part was cut because of pacing issues. But today, I want everyone to see what we've done."

Nobody is talking about cooperation.

Fang Chongwen turned the lights back on.

Zhou Xinyu leaned back in the seat and asked, "Can these be shown to the public in the future?"

"Okay," Jiang Han said.

"It's for the audience to see, and for our peers to see. Xingyue isn't afraid of others copying her; she's afraid that no one will take her seriously."

Zhou Xinyu nodded.

Several people from the cinema chain exchanged glances.

No one signed a contract on the spot, but everyone knew who should get the screenings.

After the event, Shen Qingning whispered in Jiang Han's ear, "President Zhou stayed for two cups of tea."

"What did he say?"

"Now you know what a movie is."

Jiang Han smiled but didn't reply.

He stood at the entrance of the screening room, watching the bigwigs of the cinema get into their cars and leave one by one.

The sky was already tinged with a dark red.

"Next, it's Lu Chengze's turn to be unable to sleep," Shen Qingning said.

Jiang Han handed her the phone.

The message Fang Chongwen sent was only one line long.

"The first day of pre-sales for 'Shanghai Fortress' has already fallen below the lower limit of the platform's estimate."

Jiang Han put away his phone and walked towards Cullinan.

"This game isn't finished yet," he said.

Back at the company, Fang Chongwen came in carrying a stack of data.

"Chairman Jiang, Zhou Xinyu just told his assistant that putting our behind-the-scenes special together with the screening of 'The Fortress of Shanghai' is the best decision he has made this year."

"Did he say anything else?" Jiang Han asked.

"They also said that when 'The Wandering Earth' is re-released, they will reserve three prime-time slots for him."

"Three days?" Shen Qingning looked up.

"He said that if Star Moon is to be re-released, all four of his cinemas will screen it in IMAX."

Jiang Han opened the drawer, took out a lighter, but didn't light it.

"You tell him that we can talk about a re-release, but not now. Let 'The Fortress of Shanghai' finish its journey first."

"You mean, the market will take action on its own without us having to intervene?" Fang Chongwen asked.

"The theaters have already seen both sides' content. Now they know who to sell the tickets to."

"I understand." Fang Chongwen turned and left.

Shen Qingning put away the documents on the table and suddenly said, "Today, when Lu Chengze left the Wanguo Cinema, he was photographed by two media outlets who were lying in wait."

"What did you photograph?"

He tripped and fell before getting on the bus.

Is it serious?

"It wasn't serious, just a little dust on my trouser leg. But the media wrote really nasty things, saying he was driven away by his own movie."

"They brought this on themselves," Jiang Han said.

"Who told them to dare show even a rough cut to theaters?"

"Zhao Qiming posted a message on his WeChat Moments tonight, saying something about doing his best." Shen Qingning handed over her phone.

I didn't watch Jianghan.

"Doing your best and doing it well are two different things. This industry never rewards hard work."

Shen Qingning put her phone away and sat down next to him.

"That's why you didn't go to the screening today."

"What would I do there? If I went, it would make it seem like I care," Jiang Han said.

"What I care about is whether people can see Xingyue's things. As for how bad other people's things are, that's none of my business."

"But your behind-the-scenes featurette makes their rough cut look like it's not even a half-finished product," Shen Qingning laughed.