I Am A Prodigy

Chapter 256: The Miserable Chen Feng

Huo Yuanjia’s propensity to rank third in Weibo’s trending searches was a testament to its popularity.

The reason it made the trending searches was solely because someone dug up Ye Lingchen’s Las Vegas video and paired it with Huo Yuanjia’s last scene. It did not occur to anyone that the number of clicks would soar overnight along with an endless stream of comments.

[Ahhh, I just found out that Y is a real-life Huo Yuanjia!]

[Chinese Kungfu is lit! Turns out there are plenty of people who defend China’s dignity! We’re not the Sick Man of East Asia!]

[I looked up the history books and this Huo Yuanjia character really did exist!]

[Why did Huo Yuanjia die in the end? Couldn’t you have changed it a little so he doesn’t die? Huhuhu...]

[I burst into tears when I saw Huo Yuanjia collapse with a smile. He’s truly our nation’s hero!]

[The movie showed me why the Chinese wanted to become stronger! You’ll be beaten if you fall behind! You’ll be trampled if you lose your pace!]

[Y is really talented to be able to write such a good script. It’s like history is repeating itself! Foreigners are wicked and evil! (crying).]

[If I can travel through time, I’ll give my life up to stop Huo Yuanjia from drinking that cup of tea.]

...

Weibo was very lively and the number of clicks on those three trending searches continued to grow. The trending search regarding Huo Yuanjia has aroused a huge wave of interest, with hordes of people making plans to watch it in a group.

With that trade-off, I am Hero faced great challenges in the box office.

Since there were plenty who watched I am Hero before Huo Yuanjia, they noticed a sharp contrast between the two. I am Hero was the worst film in the history of terrible films. It was completely unwatchable.

There was a reverse in the original ratings. Huo Yuanjia’s low score of 7.2 had already reached 9.0, while I am Hero’s rating dropped to 7.0 within the next two days.

The comments section was filled with rants.

[Nowadays, all kinds of crappy movies are released just to make some money and rip people off!]

[Guys, don’t ever, ever watch it! I feel like vomiting after seeing Wu Han’s pretentiously stupid face!]

[This film’s initial earnings actually crushed Huo Yuanjia. Obviously, it was from brushing [1]tickets! Shameless!]

[The movie is even titled I am Hero. Hehe, stupid c*nt!]

[How dare you pull down Huo Yuanjia’s ratings. You trash! No, thank you. Here’s a star for you!]

...

Strangely, the bad reviews did not provoke Wu Han’s diehard fans into jumping out. No one even tried to defend him.

It was the fourth day since the premiere and Huo Yuanjia amassed a total of 60 million at the box office. The screening times continued to increase too, from the initial 5% to the current 25%.

I am Hero only raked in 72 million at the box office. Its screening times were also reduced to 25% of the original 35%. There was no doubt that Huo Yuanjia had already surpassed it.

It was all but certain that I am Hero would fall far behind Huo Yuanjia. Under those circumstances, Huo Yuanjia’s late surge could only be described as a force to be reckoned with. Many people even speculated that Huo Yuanjia could reach one billion in the box office!

The bleak fate of I am Hero left the entire cast and crew dumbfounded.

Chen Feng was the most anxious among them!

In the beginning, he and Yang Yue taunted Li Jing and invested in I am Hero out of spite. It was originally thought to be a profitable piece of business and he even fantasized about making a fortune. Who would have thought that its mighty reign in the box office lasted only one day before slipping down so terribly?

“Young Master Wu, Director Wu, hurry up and think of something. It can’t continue like this. We can’t even get back our capital from the box office!” Chen Feng urged bitterly.

He invested almost all his recent net worth to support I am Hero. The entire sum amounted to 30 million in working capital!

That portion of the money was originally set aside for the next film. The investment was made only because he had some spare time.

“What way is there?” Director Wu sighed. The situation was completely different from what he expected. By logic, Wu Han’s fame could not possibly have had such a low impact. Moreover, they also invited several front-line stars—like Shi Lei, for example—who was another martial arts star.

One could only say that Huo Yuanjia was simply too spectacular. A counterattack could even be completed in that kind of situation, something that was usually quite impossible to do. Public opinion and popularity began tilting toward Huo Yuanjia, while theaters were feeling optimistic about it too. I am Hero was no longer capable of reversing its fortunes.

“Director Wu, continue to buy over some popularity. Young Master Wu, upload a few microblogs for your fans to see. Buy one ticket, or two, or three! The more the better, because the money comes from the box office!” Chen Feng ordered. It was as though he could see all those currency notes flying away from him.

Impulsive! He was too impulsive!

He invested so much money just to spite Li Tai, and at the same time, he had been too optimistic about Wu Han. If he could not get back his funds, he need not think about shooting any more movies. In fact, his path as a director would suffer a great setback.

“Don’t you need money to buy over popularity? Public opinion is not with us now. Isn’t it embarrassing for us to try and do that?” Wu Han shook his head. He was already in a bad mood and he could not be expected to be all smiles with Chen Feng. “You even want my fans to brush tickets [1]? Do you think I can make such a statement? Do you even have a brain?”

Chen Feng’s face turned red but as angry as he was, he did not dare to protest.

It did not matter to Wu Han anyway since his asking price to shoot the movie was 20 million!

Many stunt doubles were used during filming, so he did nothing except stand there. It was equivalent to borrowing Wu Han’s face for 20 million!

He made that kind of money a little too easily.

Shi Lei and the other celebrities set very high prices too. With that kind of payment, the script and other considerations would be greatly reduced since the actor fees accounted for most of the investment. How could they make a good movie, then?

Countless thoughts raced through Chen Feng’s mind. In the end, he could only sigh deep down. He was a small-time director, who had no right to speak when things reached that point. All he could do was acknowledge his bad luck in silence.

According to Chen Feng ‘s investment, he could get about 10% from the box office. In other words, he could only get back his capital if I am Hero reached 300 million in the box office.

Judging by the situation, however, it remained to be seen whether I am Hero could even reach 100 million.

The entire affair would cause him to lose at least two-thirds of his money. To say that it was not a big loss was truly a gross understatement.

If he had invested in Huo Yuanjia back then, then he would be probably wake up laughing from his dream. One misstep caused him to lose everything!

At the same time, Yang Yue stood to one side in a daze. She recently read too much news about Huo Yuanjia, and whenever Huo Yuanjia was mentioned, she would naturally associate it with Li Jing.

It was an instant hit, leaving a deep impression on countless people and causing its value to hit the roof.

Numerous fans were proclaiming loudly that the glory days of Kungfu superstars were making a comeback, backing Li Jing.

Her face was locked in a little trance, and she was unwilling to accept that fact. She did not expect Li Jing to have such a dramatic change of fortune. If she was still his girlfriend, her status would certainly be on the rise too.

[1] 刷 is translated as brushing and is often used in e-commerce to boost a seller’s rating through fake orders. We have seen an earlier chapter using the same term to refer to alleged fake accounts leaving fake good reviews on Celestial Bane to boost the novel’s rating. In the same way, this is used to describe the fraudulent means by which I am Hero’s box office performance is boosted: by buying many tickets just to give the impression that the movie is well received.