I make a thriller, it's God chasing and feeding

Chapter 389 [Things Have Come to This]

In the Western box office rankings, The Cruise Ship barely surpassed Men in Black by the end of the month and ranked fifth.

After that, the work never moved forward.

The box office data has been rising steadily every day, but the increase is extremely limited. Each time it is only a certain amount away from the previous number and there is no way to move forward.

It's like being locked up.

In fact, the data is indeed locked.

"Fifth place is already very high. If it is any higher, it will slap some people in the face."

Light and Shadow Media, conference room,
Zhang Xueming looked at other angles of the video on the projector and briefly mentioned these topics. "Regarding this matter, the person in charge of the United States has already negotiated with us privately. The reason given to the outside world is that there is a bug in the data statistics system, and it is being urgently repaired."

"Of course, the profits will definitely not be less, so you don't have to worry."

"Yes, Director Lu is also aware of this matter, and he can understand..."

The Western market is so vast that it is much more competitive and valuable than island countries like the Southern Dynasty and the Kingdom of He.

With the combination of exposure and quality, Lu Zhengyi's films can directly crush other works from these small countries in the same period and top the box office list.

But in big markets like the United States, the same formula is unlikely to work.

That can't be pushed up by exposure + quality alone, it also requires some other conditions, such as local reputation, sufficient income for the local area, social influence...

Ultimately, these conditions take time to accumulate.

Whether it is the first, second or third on the movie box office list, it takes time to accumulate, and then you have to queue up.

This time you will be first, next time it will be me, and the next time after that it will be him.

We can discuss and negotiate together and work together to stabilize the market.

Therefore, it is impossible for their works to rush in and directly take the top spot like those of other small countries.

……

……

As for the data that ordinary people pay much attention to, Lu Zhengyi doesn't care that much.

The success of the work "Ghost Ship" did not bring him much joy.

It's already a matter of course.

After becoming famous, the success of a work is as important as eating and sleeping, and if it is not achieved, he may feel a little more emotional.

However, this film has had some impact on some people.

"Director Lu, your film scared me to death."

One day, an old acquaintance came to Lu Zhengyi's house.

Liu Huiyun, an old mother, was very surprised to have such a friend, because the other party looked almost the same age as her.

An old man with gray hair.

However, although this old man looks old, his condition is much better than my own.

The white hair looked very clean, without any other color. Although the face was a little dark, it was more like the result of being exposed to the sun from walking in the sun for many years.

He looked full of energy and didn't look dull at all due to his age.

"Guide Wang, it's been a while since we last met. Let's go upstairs and chat."

Because the mother and child were watching TV in the living room, Lu Zhengyi smiled and went upstairs with her.

There is also a living room on the second floor, which also has a coffee table and sofas.

The person who came was the tour guide Wang who I hadn’t seen for a long time.

Thinking about it carefully, the last time they met was when they got married. Oh, it should be even more recently, when Dr. Xu Bingcai passed away, they met at the funeral.

But at that time, they didn't say hello.

After all, the two of them have different jobs and are of different ages. If they were not both practitioners, they would be living in completely different worlds, and there would be nothing worth interacting about between them.

Lu Zhengyi was surprised that she would visit him this time.

"I've been watching your movies."

On the second floor, Lu Zhengyi had just boiled some water and was about to make tea when he heard her say, "I watched those movies in the past, but this time, your movie..."

Tour guide Wang supported Lu Zhengyi's movie not because of the human relationships.

A big reason why they met each other back then was because of each other's movies, which made them realize that he was a special person, and thus they had intersections.

From then on, as an acquaintance of Lu Zhengyi, she would of course pay attention to every movie of Lu Zhengyi.

Although her family members were a little puzzled about her liking to watch horror movies at such an old age, it was not that difficult to accept in this era when horror and thrillers have become popular themes.

As for the previous movies, she just thought they were interesting.

Sometimes, as a practitioner, Tour Guide Wang can often see things in the film that ordinary people can't see, but this time...

"Because of……"

Lu Zhengyi hesitated, choosing his words, "Destiny?"

When the other party mentioned that he was visiting because of the movie, this was the only guess in his mind.

For a person in a high position of power, everything he does seems to have a deeper meaning.

In the eyes of other practitioners, I am often mistakenly believed to have other purposes.

Maybe I do have some small goals, but they are all incidental. I make movies just because I like it.

But because of his own strength, no one believed him even if he told the truth.

They are always more willing to believe what they think in their hearts, complicate some simple issues, and even... come up with many conspiracy theories.

The movies that I make will inevitably be interpreted by these practitioners.

"Other people who watch these films, if they are absorbed in them, may feel powerless because of the experiences of the characters in the plot, but they will soon forget about it."

"Because in everyone's mind, these things are fake, it's just a movie, it doesn't exist at all."

"They may even feel ashamed for having such thoughts about fate, predetermined future, etc. after watching a movie, and wonder if they are delusional. Oh, or as you young people would say, they are second-year students."

Tour guide Wang explained, "But for people like us, are concepts like fate and a predetermined future considered the delusions of middle school students and young people?"

"No, of course not. Although my own level is not that good, I traveled a lot in my early years and got to know many practitioners."

"Old Xu from a few years ago and Master Guanshan's uncle recently, they have never had any problems with their health, and they haven't encountered any danger themselves."

But, they just left.

According to their own words, their life span has come to an end.

But the term "lifespan" already exists, so she...

When she spoke, she looked unhappy and a little flustered.

To be honest, tour guide Wang is in very good health even now, at the age of over 70.

The young guys in the family are not even as good as her in terms of physical fitness.

To the point that sometimes, she wondered if she would never have to die and could live forever.

but now……

This film by Lu Zhengyi not only scares ordinary people, but also practitioners like them, who have come into contact with Lu Zhengyi, and the influence is even greater.

"I do not know either."

However, Lu Zhengyi did not answer this question, but shook his head and said, "I won't dwell on problems that cannot be solved."

"I made this film for no special reason, it was just because the script was wonderful and I happened to see it." "I didn't even write the script. I'm just a director, a person who turns the script from words into pictures."

When I was in my twenties, although I had gained some fame, the people around me still had a certain sense of boundaries with me, and they were quite tactful when talking to me.

Especially Taoist Master Guanshan, he always holds back when talking to me.

But as they get older, now in their 30s, they are learning more about themselves.

Either they learn from others or they learn something on their own, and they begin to let down their guard.

More and more people like to ask him questions.

They all knew that they would not laugh at or belittle their questions like others would, would not disclose their privacy, would not...

They opened their hearts and asked questions about things they didn’t understand in their lives and practice.

Ordinary people like Zhang Yuming and Yu Li would ask social questions like "rich and poor", "marriage", "competition..."

People like Taoist Master Guanshan and Tour Guide Wang would ask questions like 'Who am I?', 'Where do I come from?', 'Where am I going...' etc. These questions sound very mysterious and actually they are very mysterious.

Whether it is the social problem above or the philosophical problem below, there is no standard answer to such a question.

The two were walking on the street and saw a child crying and shouting for his mother to buy fried chicken in front of KFC.

The rich man thought, let the child eat whatever he wants, because when he was a child, his mother opposed him eating these junk foods for his health.

The poor man, however, thought that he was just like this child when he was little, crying and shouting for food, but he didn't know that his mother worked hard all day doing some handicrafts and might only earn fifty or sixty yuan, but a hamburger would cost thirteen or fourteen yuan.

In this case, no matter what the issue is, if you discuss wealth and poverty with two people, they will have different opinions.

People always ask questions that have no answers at all, and then put their hopes on people who are higher in status, more knowledgeable, and wealthier than themselves, thinking that they can become some prestigious and influential people and will definitely be able to give the answers.

But where is the answer?
Some problems are left there without anyone to solve them, and they really cannot be solved.

Although Lu Zhengyi lived a long life, he did not have an answer.

Whether it is a question from ordinary people or a question from practitioners, he cannot give an answer.

Not to mention an absolutely fair answer, there is not even a relatively fair answer.

Tour guide Wang remained silent.

She was obviously not satisfied with the other party's answer.

She wanted an answer.

At least, at least...

“Xiaoyi, Xiaoyi!”

The silence between the two didn't even last long.

Mother Liu Huiyun's reminder came from downstairs.

"have a guest."

Another guest?

Lu Zhengyi scratched his head unconsciously. He wondered if she was the same as Tour Guide Wang, who watched the movie and developed a heart for Taoism... No, it couldn't be said that she had a heart for Taoism, after all, she didn't practice Taoism.

To be more specific, it should be said that they are people with unstable mental states.

There can't be another unstable person coming here, right?

But soon, he knew who was coming.

Wang Xiaoxu, whom I had only seen during the filming of the horror cruise ship, was clattering on the stairs, and couldn't wait to go upstairs.

Since he was able to materialize, he looked no different from a human being, even holding some fruit in his hands.

"Hey, we have guests."

Wang Xiaoxu looked at Tour Guide Wang curiously. He seemed to have heard of this person...

"Guide Wang, right?"

He asked, "I heard them talking about you in the group."

"Who is this……"

Tour guide Wang looked at Lu Zhengyi.

She hadn't seen the other person for a long time and was not very clear about who was around him.

"Special effects artist, Wang Xiaoxu."

Lu Zhengyi introduced, "Since Tour Guide Wang has been following my movies, he should know that my later films have a lot more special effects."

"Oh."

Tour guide Wang nodded, thinking, "It seems..."

"By the way, I am a dead man."

Wang Xiaoxu added another sentence.

"what?"

Tour guide Wang paused, still in deep thought, "But you..."

Wang Xiaoxu sat down next to her and pointed at himself, "Yeah, dead man."

As he spoke, he placed the fruit basket in his hand on the glass table, then waved his hand, and the hand passed through like a phantom.

"But he doesn't smell."

Tour guide Wang opened his eyes wide in surprise and looked at Lu Zhengyi.

Logically, she should be able to smell some bad odor when she sees these ghosts.

"He's special. He doesn't have that kind of messy stuff." Lu Zhengyi explained, then looked at Wang Xiaoxu and asked, "So why did you come here?"

"Oh yeah, my game is about to be tested for the second time."

Wang Xiaoxu finally remembered the purpose of coming here and took out his phone. "Director Lu, do you still remember the game we made?"

“When we did our first internal test, the feedback from players was quite good.”

"So I was thinking, if you have time, you can try to participate in the second internal test. Oh, by the way, isn't An An almost old enough to play games? You can bring..."

Lu Zhengyi waved his hands helplessly, “He is only one and a half years old.”

Letting a one and a half year old play horror games, what is he talking about?
"But I thought you came here because you watched my movie."

But soon, he brought up the horror cruise ship again.

"Movie? New one?"

Wang Xiaoxu mentioned it, "I saw it, and I was also involved in the filming at the time."

"Then you don't feel anything?"

Tour guide Wang asked, "Don't you think the plot is...uncomfortable? It's very depressing, confusing, and a bit overwhelming."

She tried her best to describe her feelings.

"Have it?"

Wang Xiaoxu recalled the plot of the horror cruise ship, "Maybe, there is a little bit."

"On the set at the time, I remember Jason seemed quite emotional, talking about things like the unpredictable nature of life, as if a friend of his had suddenly died."

"But what can we do about this kind of thing? It seems useless to think so much. Now that things have come to this, we might as well play games first."

He still tried his best to recommend his game to Lu Zhengyi in an attempt to get his approval.

(End of this chapter)