Chapter Thirty-Two: Is Two Hundred and Eighty Thousand So Impressive?

"Um, I—oh, let me take this call." Wu Xiang sounded barely alive.

"You—you're such a scoundrel!" Huang Yi blushed, rising to her feet. Seeing Wu Xiang wheezing so heavily, she couldn't help but feel a touch of satisfaction at having exacted her revenge.

"Whoo..." Feeling reborn, Wu Xiang took a moment before pulling out his phone. Odd—Han Sanping was calling again. Why? Was he about to criticize him for the film's poor performance?

"Hello, Teacher Han."

"Xiao Wu, why did you suddenly hang up earlier? I had some business to attend to, so I finally found a moment to call you back. So, what’s up? Were you celebrating just now—overjoyed? Hahaha..."

Celebrating? Laughing? For what reason?

Wu Xiang was stunned. What on earth was there to celebrate with a first-day box office of 280,000 yuan? He didn't understand, so he asked directly, "Teacher Han, do you mean the box office isn’t 280,000?"

Wu Xiang thought he might have misheard, maybe it was 2.8 million or something, but this time Han Sanping sounded puzzled, replying, "It is 280,000. What did you think it was? How much did you expect? Do you know that the first-day box office for 'Be There or Be Square' was only a little over 400,000? You’re complaining about 280,000?"

"What?" Wu Xiang was dumbfounded. Director Feng's 'Be There or Be Square' only had just over 400,000 on its first day? This...

Wu Xiang could only manage a single "What," and then fell silent. Han Sanping continued, "Listen, Xiao Wu, you've achieved a good result, but don't get arrogant. As filmmakers, we must keep striving and reaching for new heights, so we can keep making..."

Wu Xiang finally snapped out of it. Teacher Han's words really worked, "Ah, thank you, Teacher Han. I’ll make films diligently from now on, study hard, and strive to create great work after great work."

"Hehehe..." Han Sanping chuckled. He was just joking earlier. "Alright, go celebrate. The publicity for this film wasn’t enough, and most of the focus is on the south—it's only showing in places like the Northeast. Give it time; I estimate we'll sell more copies later. Hehehe..."

"Thank you, Teacher Han, thank you so much..." Wu Xiang was overjoyed; he couldn't help himself.

After Han Sanping’s explanation, Wu Xiang finally understood. His film 'The Great Flood' had no stars, no big names, no famous director, and no publicity—just a brief mention on the movie channel. Huang Hong and Song Chunli’s roles lasted only a few minutes. For the film to achieve such results was truly remarkable.

Wu Xiang had thought it was a failure because he didn't understand the current film market. The movie market in the late nineties was bleak; only recently had it opened up, allowing foreign blockbusters to be imported. That’s how 'Titanic' took the country by storm, and people finally learned what a blockbuster was.

---

But domestic films had dismal box office returns. The domestic market was inherently small—thanks to the spread of television and rampant piracy, it was a wonder the market existed at all. Even so, audiences preferred foreign blockbusters or Hong Kong and Taiwan films; domestic movies struggled.

Take Director Feng Xiaogang's 'Be There or Be Square,' for example. This well-made New Year film was already considered a classic, and it was a fully commercialized production with heavy publicity even before its release. Its premiere in December was held in Wu Xiang’s hometown of Shencheng. Ads for it covered every bus stop in the city—Wu Xiang should remember that.

Yet even with all that, the film only broke 1 million yuan in its first two days, ultimately grossing around 43 million. If you compared that number to later years, it wouldn’t even cover the costs. But in 1999, it was the most profitable domestic blockbuster—two days, 1 million, and it broke previous records, making the newspapers!

That’s the reality of the market, though Wu Xiang hadn’t realized it yet. But since Teacher Han was so positive, this was absolutely a stellar box office performance.

"I did it! I did it! Ahahaha..." Wu Xiang was like a madman, screaming with joy.

"What did you do?" Huang Yi was confused—wasn’t he just saying he’d failed?

"Ahahaha..." Wu Xiang laughed like a lunatic, swinging from despair to elation. If he wasn’t crazy, he was close, and now he’d fallen into sheer madness!

Mwah! With a pop, Wu Xiang grabbed Huang Yi and kissed her!

"...!" The kiss wasn’t long, but its impact was immense. Huang Yi’s already flushed face turned crimson—it was as if water poured on her would instantly turn to steam.

Wu Xiang was a bit stunned after the kiss, but he felt great, really great. The moment was brief, but those lips were soft and sweet. Why not...

Mwah! He kissed her again!

Wu Xiang pulled off another sneak attack, wanting to savor those tender lips, the pearly teeth, and the petite tongue. Unfortunately, this time, Huang Yi reacted.

"You rotten bastard! Drop dead!" Huang Yi broke free from Wu Xiang’s kiss, fuming and poised to strike, but her hand lingered in the air.

"Ahahaha..." Not being a fool, Wu Xiang spun and ran off. He was delirious with joy, and honestly, in his heart, he just wanted to grab the prize and escape.

"Maniac!" Watching Wu Xiang’s distant back, Huang Yi could only blush and wipe her lips, still wet with his damn saliva.

---

"We did it! We made it! We’re going to be famous!" Wu Xiang was beside himself, but he didn’t forget to share the news with his pals, hurrying back to the cafeteria.

"What’s famous?"

"Xiangzi, what’s got into you? Are you nuts?"

Huang Huibo and the others were still eating. Seeing Wu Xiang rush in shouting like a madman, they were baffled. Was Xiangzi having a breakdown?

"Our film’s a hit! 'The Great Flood' is blowing up! First day, 280,000 at the box office, it’s a smashing success!"

Wu Xiang’s excitement burst out in his northeastern dialect.

"What? 280,000—is that really impressive?" Hao Yi asked.

Honestly, even the folks from Room 307 didn’t know what that box office meant.

"It’s huge! It’s amazing! Teacher Han said it’ll get even bigger!" Wu Xiang shouted in delight.

"Then what was with your expression just now?!" Huang Huibo chimed in.

Wu Xiang scratched his head, saying, "I didn’t know either—I thought the box office was terrible."

"Hahaha..." Not just the guys from 307—the whole cafeteria erupted in laughter at that.