Free Web NovelChapter 311: Chapter 311: A Hit Before Filming
"Bin, thanks for all your hard work these past two days," Director Kong said to Shen Yibin after the press conference. "Let me have someone drive you home. I’ll send a car to pick you up for the shoot the day after tomorrow morning." He still had to handle the film’s initial publicity today and tomorrow, and filming wouldn’t officially begin until the day after.
"That’s alright, I’ll just drive myself back." Shen Yibin subconsciously recalled Fang Yuanshan, the person who had driven for him that day. ’I really don’t want to deal with him in private again.’
"Alright then, be careful on the road. I’m going to be very busy these next two days, so I’ll stop by your shop when I have some free time," Director Kong said, slightly apologetic. His schedule for the next two days was packed, and he really didn’t have time to visit Shen Yibin’s shop.
"Okay, we’ll have a good chat when you have time." Shen Yibin understood. Plus, Director Kong had made an excellent impression on him, so he didn’t mind this small matter. After saying his goodbyes, he drove his minivan home with Hah’Er and Maphario.
Hah’Er was fine with it, having gone on outings with Shen Yibin before. Maphario, on the other hand, was getting extremely antsy. It had been a whole day since it had tended to the plants in the shop, and it had no idea if Xia Shixuan and the others had remembered to water them on time and take good care of them.
So, the moment Shen Yibin opened the car door, Maphario frantically leaped out of Hah’Er’s pocket and scurried into the garden area in a flash. It only breathed a sigh of relief when it saw that the plants looked exactly as they had when it left. It immediately picked up its miniature watering can and began watering them, then moved on to fertilizing, catching pests, and pruning the leaves... Maphario was busy once again.
When Xia Shixuan saw Shen Yibin walk in, she rushed to his side. Without a word, she started sniffing his clothes, especially around his chest and collar. Unfortunately, after sniffing for a long time, she couldn’t detect the scent she was looking for. "No way, not even a hint of perfume? Boss, were you that unpopular with them? This doesn’t make any sense!"
"Don’t tell me you washed your clothes overnight? Let me check your neck for hickeys!" Unwilling to give up, Xia Shixuan reached out to unbutton Shen Yibin’s collar.
"What are you talking about? I didn’t come back last night because I got drunk." Shen Yibin’s heart began to race. He knew exactly what Xia Shixuan was implying. ’Thank goodness I was too drunk to do anything last night. Otherwise, she’d definitely find out and spread it to all our friends. My reputation would be toast.’
"Tsk, so boring. Hah’Er is a leading man now, and you didn’t even hook up with a couple of actresses to give us some gossip, maybe send a few pictures or short videos? What a waste!" Xia Shixuan lost interest and returned to the front desk to continue her work, looking disappointed.
Shen Yibin lazily went up to the second floor and flopped onto his lounge chair, watching Hah’Er and Maphario bustling about below. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep and didn’t wake up until it was almost time for dinner.
As usual, he personally cooked dinner for the girls. They were all thrilled. They hadn’t eaten well last night, this morning, or for lunch, and now they could finally taste Shen Yibin’s cooking again. The usual gossip was absent from the dinner table; the only sound was the rapid-fire clatter of chopsticks.
’It’s been several hours, the news should be out by now, right? Oh, yeah! Now that Hah’Er is officially in the movie, I should help Director Kong with promotion.’ After dinner, Shen Yibin settled comfortably into an armchair, took out his phone, and started scrolling through Weibo.
Sure enough, the moment he opened Weibo, he saw that "Panda Hero" was trending. He clicked on Director Kong’s Weibo page and saw that he had posted several times in a row, including many photos from the kick-off ceremony. The one of Hah’Er munching on an apple was particularly eye-catching.
Shen Yibin quickly reposted it from his own Weibo account, adding the comment: "With the great Piyao’s blessing, ’Panda Hero’ is guaranteed to be a blockbuster. Filming for Hah’Er’s movie debut has officially begun. To all our viewers, please wait patiently!"
Scrolling through his main Weibo feed, he saw that all the major entertainment media accounts had also posted the news. The articles were filled with glowing praise. It seemed Director Kong had really done his homework.
"I’m buying a ticket just to see Hah’Er! Any girls wanna go as a group?"
"I just want to know if there’s going to be merch later. I want to buy a plush Hah’Er to sleep with!" The profit-sharing contract Shen Yibin had signed with Director Kong included a cut from merchandise, so the more people like this there were, the higher Hah’Er’s earnings would be.
"I feel so bad for my poor Li. She’s been completely overshadowed by Hah’Er. I’ve been looking for a while and barely any media outlets have mentioned her!"
"Uh, you want to compete with a panda in terms of popularity? Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself? I think Hah’Er’s appearance alone will be enough for this movie to set a new overseas box office record for Chinese films. You have no idea how much foreigners love pandas!"
"As someone studying in the US, I can say that if ’Panda Hero’ gets released here, I’m definitely taking my entire class to see it!"
"I just showed the kick-off ceremony photos to my roommate. She says she’s already a Hah’Er fan!"
Over ninety percent of the comments were full of anticipation and optimism for the film. The rest were focused on ridiculing that tabloid reporter. "Sigh, what’s such an uncultured person doing working as a reporter? A Piyao eating the offerings is something we’d pray for and never get! With the great Piyao’s blessing, this movie is guaranteed to be a huge success!"
"I’ve decided to print out a photo of Hah’Er, hang it on my wall to pray to, and then go buy a lottery ticket."
"Hey guys, if I change my phone wallpaper to Hah’Er and then go play mahjong, you think I’ll get beaten to death?"
It wasn’t just the domestic media; reporters from Hollywood and Europe also posted the news on their own online platforms. When Shen Yibin logged into his Facebook account, he saw that Sylvie had also shared the news with a comment: "I hope Hah’Er can come to Europe for a promotional tour. I’ll definitely go and show my support."
This girl’s influence was nothing to scoff at; her followers numbered in the tens of millions. Her post had already garnered tens of thousands of comments. Even with Shen Yibin’s terrible foreign language skills, he could tell that these foreigners were also full of anticipation for "Panda Hero."
Both at home and abroad, "Panda Hero" had created a huge buzz, quickly becoming the hottest topic of discussion. Countless people declared that they would definitely go see the movie.
In just a few short hours, "Panda Hero" had become one of next year’s most anticipated films. For a short time, its hype even eclipsed that of the highly-acclaimed "Avengers: Infinity War." Director Kong’s movie was already a sensation before the cameras had even started rolling.
