Chapter 375: A “Hard-to-Understand” Program Schedule |
"Wrap." Lin Wan announced, "Director Gu said with the Spring Festival approaching, the film crew will start their New Year holiday until the eighth day of the lunar new year."
Gu Zhiyuan might be a filming maniac,
but he was also clear that forcing actors to endure cold winds and icy water in the ruins during the big New Year celebration would genuinely get him beaten up.
...
The holiday temporarily loosened the tension within the tightly-strung film crew.
Yet, the storm of public opinion outside was completely ignited on the eve of the Spring Festival by a single list.
The highly anticipated CCTV Spring Festival Gala program list was officially released to the public.
Less than ten minutes after the list leaked, the related hashtag slaughtered the trending chart.
Amidst a crowd of traffic stars' joyous group songs, spectacularly lively dance medleys, and language-based comedy sketches,
"Return."
Performer: Jiang Ci.
Program Type: Situational Drama (One-Man Show).
Program Note: No supporting actors, no backup dancers, no lines.
The entire internet was dumbfounded.
"'Return'? What kind of nostalgic 80s throwback name is this?"
"Situational drama? Performed by one person? Performing a mime on the Spring Festival Gala stage? Is this guy being pranked by the program crew?"
"Not even a single partner? Is Jiang Ci being isolated at CCTV? Who did he offend?"
"LOL, other people's idols are singing, dancing, and rapping, while Jiang Ci goes back to basics and starts performing performance art."
The online discussion quickly derailed, with mockery and confusion dominating the mainstream.
Haters caught wind and immediately charged to the frontlines of battle.
They worked overnight to produce countless promotional articles, preparing to hype the topic "Jiang Ci's resources plummet off a cliff, reduced to performing a solo mime on the Spring Festival Gala" into the stratosphere.
Just as they were sharpening their knives, ready to start a new wave of trolling, sharp-eyed netizens spotted a crucial detail.
"Wait a minute... look at the placement of this 'Return' program!"
"Holy shit! The prime-time slot at 8 PM! One of the grand finales!"
"In previous years, this time slot was always reserved for venerable senior artists or national-level song and dance troupes. This year, they actually gave it to a one-man show?"
"This level of prestige... is kinda terrifying, right?"
The planned trolling campaign came to a screeching halt halfway.
The haters ready for a frenzy were left dizzy by this sudden information, feeling like they'd punched a steel plate.
The court of public opinion reversed course once again.
Marketing accounts that were mocking "Jiang Ci's resource downgrade" one second were silently deleting their freshly edited copy the next.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ci's fans, after a brief moment of confusion, immediately straightened their backs.
"Who said our gege has no resources just because he took on a 'bad film'? See this! Official CCTV certification! A one-man show as a Spring Festival Gala grand finale! The only one in the entire domestic entertainment industry!"
"Some people are still being sour, while our Jiang Ci is already operating in the stratosphere."
"Just asking for a friend, what does it mean to perform a one-man show in the Spring Festival Gala's prime-time slot? Isn't this the official stamp of approval for peak acting skills?"
Those industry insiders who were shouting about "Jiang Ci ruining his own future" and "Spark Media is finished" also fell collectively silent.
They could question Gu Zhiyuan's directorial skills, they could predict doom for "King of Extras" box office prospects, but they could not question CCTV's authority.
For the Spring Festival Gala director's team to insert such a boldly formatted one-man show into such an important slot,
was in itself the highest recognition of an actor's professional capability.
For a time, public attention shifted from the suspicious, "bad film" ruins of "King of Extras,"
to this mysterious Spring Festival Gala debut.
Jiang Ci himself was completely unaware of the storm raging online.
He was currently squatting in the Pig Cage Tenement prop warehouse, trying to use super glue to repair the broken umbrella that had heroically sacrificed itself during the rainy night scene.
What he cared about more was whether Director Feng Gang could withstand the pressure and preserve that "original version" performance that had nearly caused his Heartbreak Value to exceed the limit.
His phone rang.
Jiang Ci put down the glue and answered the call. It was Feng Gang.
The voice on the other end carried a weariness from a major battle, but even more so, a barely suppressed excitement.
"Kid, we held firm."
Jiang Ci's fingers, holding the umbrella ribs, stopped moving.
"The station's leadership watched both the backup version and the original version." Feng Gang spoke, each character carrying immense weight,
"There was an internal argument. The official, warm-and-fuzzy version and your heart-piercing version were fiercely contested."
"In the end... it was the top leader who personally made the final decision."
Feng Gang lit a cigarette on the other end and took a deep drag.
"He only said one sentence."
"He said, this year's Spring Festival Gala has too much singing, dancing, and peaceful celebration. What's missing, is precisely your 'flavor'!"
"We're going with the original version! Won't have a single cut!"
Jiang Ci hung up the phone, released the umbrella rib, and leaned back against the prop box behind him.
Looking at the faint beam of light leaking through the warehouse roof, he silently let out a sigh of relief.
He picked up his phone, took a photo of the half-glued, even more comical-looking broken umbrella in his hand, and casually sent it to Lin Wan.
Along with a message: [The umbrella is broken, it can be fixed. If a person's heart is broken, it can only be thrown away.]
On the other side, in the Spark Media President's Office.
Lin Wan hung up the phone after coordinating with the Spring Festival Gala program crew. This was the moment she had been waiting for.
Utilizing this wave of heat, she issued new instructions to the Public Relations Department.
She opened her computer. She didn't release any actual footage from "King of Extras," nor did she post any retouched stills of the lead actors.
She uploaded one image.
A high-definition detail shot of the "Pig Cage Tenement" art set, taken by a professional cinematographer.
In the photo, the mottled wall was plastered with layer upon layer of long-expired old newspapers and rental ads,
A layer of real dust settled on the piled beer bottles in the corner. Every detail was filled with an authentic texture of having been repeatedly crushed by life.
The caption for the image contained only one sentence.
[The house is bare, but the heart blooms with flowers.]
This artistically charged set photo was tossed into the already boiling lake of public opinion.
"Damn... this pile of junk... actually looks kinda artistic?"
"These details, this texture, I'd believe it if you told me this was award-winning photography."
"An actor chosen by the Spring Festival Gala to perform a one-man show... a director who can build a set with this kind of texture out of ruins..."
"I suddenly feel like I don't understand anymore..."
"An actor being promoted like this by the Spring Festival Gala... a film crew that can make junk look this textured..."
"Is this 'King of Extras' a piece of crap, or a jar of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall buried too deep?"
Public perception, before the film had even revealed its true face, began to show subtle fluctuations.
Due to CCTV's highest-level confidentiality agreement, no one knew what Jiang Ci's "Return" actually entailed.
And because of Gu Zhiyuan's secrecy, no one was clear what kind of story "King of Extras" had been filmed as.
This double layer of mystery pushed Jiang Ci's popularity to a new peak.
Lin Wan watched the online comments shifting from mockery to curiosity, her fingertips tapping lightly on the desk.
She knew the horn for the counterattack had only just begun to sound.