Only then did he say slowly, “First place!”

“Really!” Madam Yue was delighted. “No lies?”

“If I lied to you, I’m a dog!”

“My son is really not bad!” Madam Yue glanced at bucket hat mother. “You actually got first place. When I go back, I’ll cook for you and reward you well.”

The mother in the bucket hat, who had just been full of big words, was now so embarrassed that she pulled her son into the car.

Yue Lanchen shook his head in fear. “Mom, thank you. It’s too tiring for you to cook personally. I won’t trouble you.”

“What’s troubling about celebrating my son? I must cook!”

Yue Lanchen: “…”

Then I must go to hell too.

He caught a glimpse of the stray dog that had just been hit by a basketball and walked over to pat it on the head.

The stray dog had been cowering a moment ago, but now it obediently lay down in front of Yue Lanchen. It was very sensible and smart.

“Mom, can I take it home?”

In the past, Madam Yue was against him raising dogs and had never agreed to it, but she was happy today, so she agreed immediately. “Bring it back! I’ll allow it!”

***

When Shi Jin learned of Yue Lanchen’s results, she was not too surprised.

“Congratulations.”

“Why aren’t you surprised?” Yue Lanchen asked.

“An unexpected joy is a surprise. Aren’t your results expected? You don’t look like someone who will get second place.”

Yue Lanchen thought about it and realized that it made sense. Not only was this sister good-looking, but she also spoke quite nicely.

Shi Jin said into the phone, “Do you want any gifts?”

“Didn’t you promise to teach me how to drive?”

“That doesn’t count. Pick another one.”

Yue Lanchen could not think of anything to ask for.

Shi Jin said, “How about this? Previously, you were the one who cooked for us. It’s rare for you to get first place this time. Shall I cook for you?”

“Thank you, thank you, Sister! But I’m not hungry! Thank you for your kindness!”

Yue Lanchen recalled the fear of being dominated by his mother’s cooking, and then he recalled what he heard about Shi Jin’s cooking. He felt that he was already full.

“Then forget it,” Shi Jin said lazily. “Wait until you think of something later.”

***

Jiang Ning was going to stay in the capital for a few days, so Shi Jin made plans with her to watch her movie.

It was the first day of the movie release.

“I’m so honored!” Jiang Ning bought milk tea and handed a cup to Shi Jin. “I’m actually lucky to be able to watch the movie with the main lead on the first day of its release! You’re so good to me.”

Shi Jin took a sip of milk tea. “No… I already watched it last night with Fu Xiuyuan.”

How else could she have come with Jiang Ning today? How could Fu Xiuyuan not be jealous?

Jiang Ning: “…Thank you. Dog food tastes good.”

Shi Jin’s Phoenix Tree and Zeng Guangzhi’s Ask the Demon were released on the same day. The screenings they received were the same.

Besides, both movies had premiered last night.

The previous publicity was actually just a signal to the public—a movie was about to be released, so everyone could support it.

The real battle only really unfolded when the movie was released.

As the audience’s sense of aesthetics and taste improved, so did their demands for movies. Publicity was only for them to hear about the existence of the movie. Allowing them to actively praise a movie, mention a movie, and allow the word of mouth to continue to ferment, that would depend on the quality of the movie itself.

The effort that they had put in outside of making the movie itself had already given up the main battlefield.

And Shi Jin… had faith in the quality of the film.

Jiang Ning was originally a chatterbox. She had come to watch movies for fun. She bought milk tea and cola and sat in the cinema with a big bucket of popcorn.

Shi Jin was prepared to deal with her chattering, so she chose a seat at the back.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Ning did not say much. Her attention was all on the movie.

She’d even forgotten to drink her milk tea and Coke and hadn’t eaten much popcorn.

When the movie ended, she grabbed Shi Jin’s arm and said, “It’s so artistic! Director Liang’s cinematography is too smooth! You’re too good-looking!”

“Thanks.” Shi Jin helped her put away a pile of uneaten snacks.

“No, I mean it. Your movie is going to be a hit.”

Shi Jin believed that her aesthetic taste was indeed not bad. However, Jiang Ning was her very good friend. It was inevitable that she would wear a filter to judge her movie.

“I’ll believe in your words,” Shi Jin said with a smile. “I hope it becomes a big hit.”

She walked out of the movie theater before she adjusted her phone from silent.

WeChat and phone calls followed.

After Shi Jin answered the calls, she looked at her WeChat messages.

Messages from all sides surrounded her.

Liang Han’s voice was especially excited. “Under the same screening conditions, our box office earnings are five times that of ‘Ask the Devil’. It’s the highest among all the movies today. The score of the scoring website is also out, 8.2 points.”

The scoring website had always been stingy. There were very few movies and television works that could get more than eight points.

However, it was precisely because the scoring mechanism was strict that fans could not evaluate it casually, so the score was quite credible.

8.2 was indeed a very good score.

“I’ve made sure of that. The managers at several of the large theaters got back to me. After that, our screening numbers will go up.”

“Excellent. Congratulations, Director Liang.”

Liang Han recalled that when he first started writing this script, he was looked down upon by everyone. When he started filming, even the actors complained because of the harsh requirements.

However, all this while, Shi Jin had never said anything bad about him. Instead, she discussed all the details with him and was very concerned about the movie.

How could he take all the credit for the success of the movie?

He smiled. “I should congratulate you, too, Shi Jin.”

After hanging up, Shi Jin looked at the comments on the various forums. There were criticisms, but most of them were mutually beneficial posts.

She smiled and touched Jiang Ning’s arm.

“I’m going to trust your judgment and that you’re not watching my movie with a filter on.”

Jiang Ning patted her chest. “Of course. I’ve seen a lot of movies. I can still tell.”

As the screening of “Phoenix Tree” increased rapidly the next day, the box office also increased, surpassing the first day’s box office.

The number of screenings for Phoenix Tree had increased. There were only so many theaters in total, so there were only so many screenings. Correspondingly, the number of movies that sold poorly had to decrease their screenings.

The first one to reduce the number of screenings was “Ask the Devil”. This movie received the same number of screenings as “Phoenix Tree” on its first day of release and only received a fifth of the other party’s box office, which meant that many spots were empty.