Chapter 44
After breakfast, Luo Zhengzheng picked up her phone and discovered that she was trending on social media again.
The reason was that the VB she posted last night was reposted by Hunan TV for profit. They shamelessly claimed that there was a village where the whole village stopped eating in order to watch "Home and Country". They even threatened their daughter to give away spoilers or they wouldn't cook. They also seriously advised her that she still had to eat, to watch the show in peace, and that the ending would come soon. Good food was worth waiting for, and good shows were worth waiting for, etc.
Upon seeing this, Luo Zhengzheng once again marveled at how, even as a reborn person, she was occasionally impressed by their opportunistic and ruthless marketing tactics. No wonder even Gu Shi wanted to poach them.
Luo Zhengzheng had been trending on social media a few times already. It was become commonplace for her to make headlines even for posting a VB.
The comments below were quite funny .
They even wanted to peek at a show that the whole village would go hungry to watch, just to see what kind of phenomenal show it was that captivated them so much.
Even the author of Home and Country joined in the fun, asking Luo Zhengzheng on her VB post: "Where is Auntie's address? I'll mail her a few autographed copies of the novel so she can know the rest of the story right away."
A group of readers behind him laughed and scolded him for being so unethical as the original author of the show, blatantly giving away spoilers.
Some comments even asked, "Are you sure you're not just promoting your own book?"
Director Lu got up late at night and replied to him: "Get lost!"
A group of people followed behind, laughing and saying that Director Lu was getting anxious, that this man was getting anxious.
At this moment, the village chief arrived at the house carrying half a sack of purple sweet potatoes. Luo Zhengzheng invited him to sit down and poured him a cup of tea.
Yuan Mei asked him, "Fourth Uncle, what are you carrying?"
The village chief tapped his pipe, sat down in a chair, took a sip of water, and said, "Yongsheng said yesterday that Zhengzheng wanted to eat purple sweet potatoes, but didn't have any at home, so I went to the cellar and got some for her. Wanting to eat purple sweet potatoes is easy. We might not have other things to eat here, but we have plenty of sweet potatoes."
Luo Zhengzheng said happily, "Fourth Grandpa, you brought me so many purple sweet potatoes? Mom, shall we steam some to eat?"
Yuan Mei poked her head: "You just ate, how can you still eat?"
Luo Zhengzheng covered her head and looked at Chengjia: "Son, your maternal grandmother hit your mom."
Chengjia grinned and said, "Mom is greedy and got scolded by Maternal Grandmother."
Yuan Mei glared at her daughter: "Look, Jiajia isn't on your side at all."
Luo Zhengzheng got glared at by her mom, so she could only glare at her son instead.
Little Chengjia wasn't afraid at all and hid in his maternal grandmother's arms.
Gu Shi sat down next to her and said, "Tell mother-in-law that I want to eat purple sweet potatoes, and she will definitely agree to steaming them."
Luo Zhengzheng rolled her eyes at him: "Are you implying that I'm not as important to Mom as you are?"
Gu Shi glanced at her, conveying wasn't it very obvious!
The young couple was trying to figure out how to get the mom's permission to steam purple sweet potatoes now.
After finishing his tea, the village chief looked at Yuan Mei and said slowly, "I heard you aren’t properly watching the TV series and you even wanted to cheat to know the ending in advance? That's not right of you. The whole village watches that TV series that Zhengzheng filmed because they want to help the child. If you cheat, wouldn't that be a waste of their help?"
Actually, he didn't know why knowing the ending in advance meant he couldn't help Zhengzheng. If he couldn't know the ending in advance, then so be it. What difference would it make? Already at this age and still making such a fuss over a TV series that one couldn't even have a proper New Year.
"Huh?" Yuan Mei was stunned. After hearing what the village chief had said, she sat up straight and asked, "Fourth Uncle, who told you that?"
As she spoke, she glanced at her daughter, the meaning of which was self-evident: She suspected Luo Zhengzheng.
Luo Zhengzheng was truly wrongly accused. Heaven knew she only dared to vent online. How could she dare to tell the uncles, aunts, grandpas, and grandmas in the village? What secrets could there be in the village? She suspected that if she told them, they would reach her mom's ears the very next minute.
The village chief glanced at Yuan Mei, his gaze like that of a teacher looking at a naughty, unmotivated child: "Do I need to say it? It's all over the internet. Da Qiangzi told me about it when he got back. You guys are really something, making a scene over a TV series. Can’t have peace at all."
They invested so much money in the village, building schools and repairing roads, and when they asked them for a small favor, things went wrong. How could he not be furious?
Seeing that Ms. Yuan's face was getting darker and darker, Luo Zhengzheng quickly said, "Fourth Grandfather, it's really nothing. They're just captivated by the TV drama plot and want to know the ending in advance. It's understandable. I was wrong yesterday too, venting online. It's all a small matter."
The village chief looked at Yuan Mei: "You call this nothing? If nothing happened, why would Zhengzheng think of complaining online? It's rare for a child to come home, so she should be allowed to have a proper New Year. But you tossed around to the point where she could only complain online. Next time anyone complains to me that their child is unfilial and doesn't come home for the New Year, I definitely won't listen."
He had originally planned to treat Zhengzheng's husband well during the Spring Festival, to show him the unity, harmony, friendship, and diligence of the people in their village, and that he might be able to invest in their village someday. But they couldn't even handle a small matter properly, so what could he expect from them? They all kept dropping the ball.
Yuan Mei's cold gaze kept shooting at her daughter, Luo Zhengzheng, who looked at her innocently. She really didn't mean anything by it.
Would Yuan Mei believe her? Certainly not.
The village chief said a few words and went home. Once home and feeling uneasy, he thought for a moment and then broadcast over the loudspeaker: "Just watch the TV series, stop making a fuss about spoilers. What spoilers are you talking about? Just watch the TV series honestly. Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at by other villages?"
As Luo Zhengzheng listened to the radio, she felt gusts of cold air rushing towards her, but she didn't pay heed at all. She hugged little Chengjia tightly for safety, thinking to herself that her fourth grandpa was really helpful. She would definitely remember to bring him a pack of good cigarettes next time she came back.
Gu Shi looked at Luo Zhengzheng and said, "Let's just wait for your mom to steam purple sweet potatoes for you at noon."
Luo Zhengzheng said with a smile, "You doubt that bringing up yourself would work?"
Gu Shi looked at his fuming mother-in-law, who was so furious that no one could reason with her.
Finally, noon arrived, and Luo Zhengzheng asked Yuan Mei, "Mom, what are we having for lunch?"
Yuan Mei looked at her with a cold expression: "Make your own food, don't call me."
Luo Zhengzheng: "......"
Fine, she would cook for herself and make whatever she wanted to eat.
When "I Am a Robot" was released on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Chen Ze called Gu Shi early on to ask him to help promote it. Gu Shi refused outright, saying that he was only responsible for investing and that the Lunar New Year was a time to spend with his wife, children, and family, and he would not discuss business.
Luo Zhengzheng thought she could help promote it. In their hometown, there was no movie theater. Their home was not far from the county town. It only took half an hour to drive there.
She booked the entire theater and took her family to see a movie.
After watching the movie, she posted on Weibo: "Happy Lunar New Year! I went to see 'I Am a Robot' with my parents, younger brother, husband, and child today. In short, it was great. Two word -brilliant watch. Three words - extremely brilliant watch..."
She turned to Gu Shi: "Wouldn't this be considered helping with the publicity?"
Gu Shi saw her perfunctory "brilliant watch" and said, “Yes."
Luo Zhengzheng said, "You invested 200 million after all, so you can't be too indifferent. Otherwise, Chen Ze will be sad, and it will make us seem like we have a lot of money and aren't afraid of losing money."
A few minutes later, she saw many comments saying that Ms. Luo had also gone to see the movie "I Am a Robot," and since it was so good, they would go see it too.
With such a large investment, it was impossible for "I Am a Robot" to falter at the final promotional stage. Everyone on the internet knew that Director Lu's sci-fi film would be released on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Director Lu's reputation was so great that many people flocked to the cinema. When they came out of the cinema, most of them gave positive reviews, with only a very few negative ones.
Some people who were initially hesitant read the comments and decided to buy tickets, only to find that tickets for that day were sold out.
There were many good movies released on the first day of the Lunar New Year, with a few big directors competing, so the average screening rate of each movie was not very high.
Even so, "I Am a Robot" still had the highest box office today, reaching over 80 million yuan. It was a great start, and Chen Ze was so delighted that his mouth was crooked from smiling.
He arrogantly called Gu Shi: "Guess what your return rate is after investing 200 million?"
Gu Shi wasn't that bored, and said, "Congratulations, you received good news on the first day of the Lunar New Year."
Chen Ze struck while it was hot: "My movie starts filming in March after the new year. Why don't you invest some more?"
Gu Shi leaned against the headboard: "This movie only premiered today, are you so sure it will make money at the box office?"
Chen Ze rolled his eyes: "You're trying to dampen my spirits during the New Year."
Gu Shi said, "You want me to invest in another movie when one is only being released during the Lunar New Year?"
Chen Ze knew he had gotten a little carried away. The box office performance of the movie would depend on the audience's reaction: "If the movie makes money after it's finished, you must invest some more."
Gu Shi: "You're already making money, why would you need me to invest?"
Chen Ze: "A movie has a few investors, but in the end, I don't get much money. Besides, I also have two TV series waiting to be filmed. I need money everywhere."
If they could manage to get some investment from Gu Shi, they should. Otherwise, they won't be able to get any more when Luo Zhengzheng's company starts up.
Gu Shi did not give a definite answer: "We'll talk about it later."
Chen Ze: "Okay, a video company had contacted me about Luo Zhengzheng's TV series. They want to buy the video streaming rights and want to see what price you're willing to accept."
Gu Shi: "Aren’t you negotiating this?"
Chen Ze: "I'm really destined to be a workaholic. I'm still busy even during the Lunar New Year."
Gu Shi: "I'll give you a big red envelope then."
Chen Ze: "Being busy was fine. Anyway, I'm a single man, no one cares about me, and I don't need to spend time with my wife and kids."
Gu Shi: "......"
Little Chengjia really liked robot movies. He watched one and wanted to watch it a second time.
Luo Zhengzheng did not agree to take him to see it again.
He sat next to his maternal grandmother and whispered to her, "Maternal Uncle said that Dad paid for the robot movie, so support Dad."
Luo Zhengzheng, standing beside him, asked with a smile, "Oh, so Jiajia just want to support Dad, not to see the robot."
Little Chengjia sat in the chair, looking at his mom with a serious expression: "I support Dad, not because I want to see robots."
Luo Zhengzheng smilingly said, "Okay, give your New Year's red envelope to Mom. That will be considered supporting dad."
Chengjia clutched his pocket tightly: "Maternal Grandmother gave it to me, I won't give it to you."
Luo Zhengzheng: "Didn't you say you'd support Dad's movie? Then give me the money, and I'll buy you a movie ticket."
Little Chengjia looked at her, as if to confirm the truth of her words and tilted his head to ask her, "You're not lying to me?"
Luo Zhengzheng smilingly said, "I'm not lying to you."
Little Chengjia suddenly shook his head: "No."
Luo Zhengzheng asked him in surprise, "Why?"
Little Chengjia pointed to his eyes: "You smiled, you're lying to me."
Luo Zhengzheng: "......"