I Found A Planet

On the 28th of December, after some prompting by Chen Jin, Shi Xiaotao finally rushed to Shang Hai and gave the dailies for the second movie of the “Wa-wah Robot” series to Chen Jin.

In the President’s office, Chen Jin said with some impatience, “My million dollar director, it’s almost 20X1 and your movie is barely completed. Didn’t we agree to be amazing teammates for each other?” He could swoon over her efficiency, or lack thereof. She was given the project in March and it was already December. There were ten whole months in between. In the end, she was still somewhat of an impediment.

“I’m sorry, President Chen. It was not deliberate.” Shi Xiaotao explained, “Based on the framework of the storyline that you provided, it’s virtually impossible to produce a story that is not cliche, yet exciting. Moreover, we had to do a comprehensive introduction of the Bang Bang robot’s various functions without cutting out any screen time for the Wa-wah robot. You’ve really given me a challenging issue. In order to produce a script that meets the standard, the producing team and I were kept busy for the whole month before we finally came up with a heart-warming, exciting, and comical story that is only slightly cliche… I think the storyline for this movie is better than the prequel. In addition, this movie has a duration of 118 minutes, almost 30 minutes more than its predecessor. The graphics are more sophisticated too. After all, I can’t rely on that amazing mystery team that you know. I hope that my ‘Taotao Studio’ can also produce sophisticated graphics that are comparable to that team’s. Therefore, I spent a little more time on the graphics production too. I hope you can understand.”

Shi Xiaotao gave a slight bow. She did not want to be an “incompetent teammate,” but she did not want to be guided and assisted all the way in the production of her movie. She insisted on her own ways in many areas. The title of the “million dollar director” could not be easily held by anyone. It came with a crushing pressure that caused her to become very worried about messing up this sequel. One could see from her thinner face that she had poured way more time and effort into this second movie of the “Wa-wah Robot” series.

Chen Jin nodded. “I’ll watch it first.” Moving his mouse, he played the dailies on his laptop. The movie started to play. He was engrossed within three minutes. He never stopped smiling until the end of the movie. Even the corners of his eyes were wet. There were no flaws in the production. The graphics were exquisite and the storyline was heart-warming. He put his thumb up and said, “Xiaotao, I was wrong about you. I can see that you’ve put in your best effort for this movie. I think this is much better than the prequel. The graphics’ quality is greatly enhanced. Your improvement is shocking.” Based only on the plot, one could see that the story of “Wa-Wah Robot 2 — A New Family” was very cliche.

It began like this: the family that Wa-wah was staying with bought a Bang Bang robot. Once the new robot arrived, the limelight was taken away from Wa-wah. Bang Bang could fetch drinks, wipe the tables, conduct body check-ups and tell stories. It became the new focal point of the family. Wa-wah was frequently forgotten in one corner. After mopping the floor, it would lean disinterestedly against a corner of the wall. Even if the audience were separated from the immediacy of this scene by the screen, they would still feel Wa-wah’s sense of loss and disappointment. After which, Wa-wah tried to do many things (for example, wiping the tables and fetching drinks) in the hopes of attracting their attention again. However, it overestimated what it could do and ended up with a load of criticisms instead. Wa-wah’s existence in the family became less important.

Wa-wah took the opportunity to run away from home during an “I love the environment” activity. It poured out its troubles and dejection to another cleaning robot called “Shuai.” Following which, the two robots played and had fun outside for a few days.

Unbeknownst to Wa-wah, the family searched frantically for it everywhere. The two robots were tired of playing and went home. Upon reaching home, Wa-wah found a group of gangsters attacking its family! Unfortunately, both parents were out looking for Wa-wah. Only Lan Lan and Ah Bao were left at home. These gangsters were on the run from another area where they had left behind a trail of bodies. They were more violent and vicious than kidnappers. In order to save Lan Lan and Ah Bao, Wa-wah and Bang Bang joined forces. Together, they staged a thrilling battle that would make the audience’s heart jump out of their throats.

In the midst of this intense battle, a gas irritant was ejected from Bang Bang’s nose. A miraculous effect happened, where at least three of the gangsters were unable to fight anymore. In addition, with Dad operating Bang Bang after activating the “Ultimate Control” mode, its combat ability was greatly enhanced and it put another two gangsters out of commission.

Finally, only the leader was left standing. He held a bomb in one hand and was clutching Ah Bao in the other. In his desperation, he was ready to self-destruct. Bang Bang seized the bomb at the most critical moment, and put its arms around the leader as the bomb went off with a loud boom. The tear-jerking scene had arrived. The leader of the gangsters was dead but the Bang Bang robot had also been blasted apart; it was now a pile of separate components.

Lan Lan, Ah Bao, and the rest of the family cried terribly. However, the core chip of Bang Bang robot was undamaged and it was successfully repaired after a number of days. The reunion of the family and the robots in the end was heartwarming. Wa-wah recognized its own value, and there was a new addition to this family.

“Good, very good.” Chen Jin nodded. “This movie would not only cause the audience to pity Wa-wah, but it would also allow them to gradually accept Bang Bang. All the functions of Bang Bang were introduced in the movie and even the Little Star learning machine was included as Lan Lan’s study equipment… It’s really perfect. I feel like I owe you 100 million in advertising fees. As for the box office sales, I won’t say that it’ll be better than the prequel, but five billion should be a piece of cake. After optimizing the graphics, it should be easy to rake in eight billion in global box office sales.”

“I estimate that box office sales would be around three billion. Also…” Shi Xiaotao smiled slightly. Her estimation was on the conservative side. “I think that many film critics will really give it to me now. They will certainly be less generous for my second movie. After all, I’m already a million dollar director in Z country.” She did not look happy about it; on the contrary, she looked very worried about her potential gains and losses. Fame was like that. It could bring you honor and glory, but also great pressure.

“Film critics?” Chen Jin’s eyes squinted and he said angrily, “What idiot would criticize such a good movie? Ignore those idiots. I have more than 30 million fans on Weibo. I’ll get them to argue against your naysayers. Who’s afraid of who?!” Not all of the 30 million fans were die-hard fans. But, even if only 1% of them supported him, it was enough to drown the cruel critics in their rancor and teach them a lesson about living humbly.

“Hehehe!” Shi Xiaotao pursed her lips in a smile as she instantly felt happier.

They discussed the movie’s announcement and release date in depth. The first screening of “Wa-Wah Robot 2 — A New Family” would be fixed on the 1st of February in 20X1. Although it was within the Spring Festival film schedule, it was more than ten days before the start of the Spring Festival on the 12th of February. Moreover, it was in the proper order this time. Xing Hai Technologies’ new product, the Bang Bang robot, would be launched on the 10th of February. The movie would be released before the product launch so he could use the box office sales to drive the sales volume of the Bang Bang robot.

Chen Jin requested that Shi Xiaotao leave a copy of the dailies with him. She could go back and wait for the final version. The “amazing team” would complete optimization within a week and he would send the final version to her.

“Yes, thank you, President Chen.” Shi Xiaotao left Shang Hai.

…

On the 29th, in Shang Hai City, at the Mount Hua Hospital, Li Xiao Lan received the final diagnosis in a report by a specialist. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, intermediate stage. Looking at the diagnosis on the report, Li Xiao Lan started seeing spots in her vision and nearly collapsed.

Su Yun, who had accompanied her to the hospital, quickly held her up. She started crying. “How could it be like this? How? How?”