Chapter 663: Chapter 663

He Jinxia’s face flushed red, "No need, you go out first."

Sheng Yan ignored her and simply took action.

He Jinxia closed her eyes, enduring the embarrassment within her heart. Out of sight, out of mind, yes, that’s right, she knew nothing!

As Sheng Yan helped her dress, he spoke to distract her.

"I came yesterday wanting to give you a surprise. This hotel is owned by Zhang Chen, and I am quite friendly with him. He knows that we are dating, so he gave me a spare key card to this room."

Thinking of something, he chuckled lightly, "He also prepared a candlelit dinner and red wine for us, but unfortunately, we missed the dinner and only had the wine."

He Jinxia felt so embarrassed that she reached out and pinched his waist.

Sheng Yan stopped talking and focused on dressing her. It was his first time dressing a girl, and he was not very skilled, often touching places he shouldn’t have, which made He Jinxia blush and himself sweat profusely.

He whispered in her ear and quickly entered the bathroom.

Only after the bathroom door closed, and sounds of water trickled from the bathroom, did He Jinxia open her eyes, looked down at herself, feeling annoyed, embarrassed, and angry but mostly sweet.

When feelings are intense, the saying ’act according to emotion and stop at propriety’ is nonsense, skin-to-skin contact is what truly matters.

The families had met, and they were soon to be engaged, so He Jinxia was not so conservative anymore. However, she still struggled to remove the psychological barrier under normal circumstances.

Sheng Yan accommodated her, always caring about her feelings, so he did not cross that last line.

He Jinxia silently covered her face, although it could be explained by the effects of alcohol, both she and Sheng Yan knew all too well that it was a case of letting things take their natural course, halfway pushed and halfway allowed.

Before she could sink into those rippling thoughts, her phone suddenly rang.

He Jinxia snapped back to reality and hurriedly answered.

"Jinxia, are you alright? I called you many times, and they were all hung up!" Luo You’s anxious voice came through.

He Jinxia thought about it and realized that Sheng Yan must have hung up the calls.

Only then did she have time to check the time, it was already twelve noon, and everyone had slept in quite a bit.

"Jinxia? Jinxia! Oh no, you wouldn’t really have been kidnapped like Cheng Xiaohua predicted, would you?"

He Jinxia hurriedly said, "No, Brother Luo, it got late because I was busy yesterday and slept in this morning."

Thinking it over, she added, "The calls were hung up by Sheng Yan."

Luo You was silent for a moment then quickly returned to his normal tone, "That’s good, I thought something had happened to you."

He then moved on to business, "The total box office for ’Eighteen Years Old Sky’ from yesterday has come out. Although it started at 8 PM, and there could only be two screenings, the attendance was very high. The first screening alone reached 100 million in box office, and combined, the two screenings totaled 160 million!"

Luo You’s voice was somewhat excited. This box office was way beyond his expectations, not only setting a new record for the opening of a literary film in Huaxia but also pushing that record much further!

Many in the industry believed that the success of ’Eighteen Years Old Sky’ was somewhat accidental. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ noⅴelfire.net

Firstly, the film featured a popular actress as the leading lady, which helped boost its initial momentum, with He Jinxia putting in a great deal of effort.

Secondly, this art film had won an award, and it was the first film shot by a new director that had secured such an honor.

Winning an award and debuting as a newcomer added a touch of mystery to the film, and audiences were eager to see just how stunning this newcomer director’s debut work was.

The third point was the marketing blitz.

The film had not yet been released in Huaxia, but its popularity was already heating up, and after winning awards in Berlin, it hitched a ride on the coattails of "World."

Because "World" had nearly come up empty-handed at the Berlin Film Festival, the media hesitated to report extensively on it, fearing they might offend Sheng Yan. As a result, they aimed most of their efforts at "Eighteen Years Old Sky."

This film could indeed be said to have promoted itself on the corpse of "World"!

Last month, news emerged that due to the film’s violent and bloody content, it might not be released in Huaxia, sparking a heated debate, and netizens were regretful that they could not watch this award-winning work.

Now that the film was finally released, curious netizens went to the theaters to watch it at the first opportunity.

A famous film festival indeed has the magical power to turn movies into gold.

Everyone wanted to see just how powerful a film that had conquered the judges in Berlin and won the Crystal Bear Award really was.

All these factors led to "Eighteen Years Old Sky" having a booming first day of release, kicking off with a bang, and where the box office would go from there was uncertain for all media.

Even if ticket sales declined subsequently, the opening day’s premiere results were enough for the media to boast for a while.

Luo You opened the news in the morning to find it flooded with articles about the film, with many media outlets spontaneously cheering for "Eighteen Years Old Sky"!

He Jinxia said with some regret, "At yesterday’s premiere ceremony, the crew learned about the first screening’s box office results mid-way through; it totaled 100 million in box office sales.

If we assume that the movie theaters had arranged two screenings, then the results for the second screening were not good, dropping by 40 million, which was a significant loss of audience."

Luo You raised an eyebrow, "That’s not the way to look at it. The first screening was at eight o’clock, and the second screening was at ten o’clock, which ended at midnight.

To still have 60 million in box office sales in the middle of the night, this performance is already on par with commercial films that have blockbuster potential."

He excitedly said, "And that was just the first day’s box office, driven by the audience’s anticipation, who had booked their tickets well in advance.

If the content of the film is strong, the word of mouth will continue to ferment, and the subsequent box office might even rebound, thinking of this, reaching the 3 billion milestone doesn’t seem like a dream anymore!"

He Jinxia remained rational, calmly saying, "The ideas expressed in this film are quite straightforward and not obscure; every viewer entering the cinema should be able to grasp what Duan Yu wants to convey. Still, it ultimately remains an art film, and its style may not necessarily be accepted by the audience."

Luo You suddenly sighed wistfully, "Ah, I suddenly miss the time when I first took you on,"

He Jinxia responded, "Hm?"

Luo You, "Back then, you were so good at pep talking! Every now and then, you’d say something to boost my spirits, full of passion!"

After the joke, Luo You laughed and said, "I’ve already requested leave from the crew on your behalf; you can return to the set tonight to continue filming.

I used the excuse that the box office results were good and everyone had a bit of a late night, so you couldn’t wake up early. Director Liu, after hearing about Eighteen Years Old’s premiere box office, happily granted the leave."

Originally, He Jinxia was scheduled to return to the crew the next afternoon. Fortunately, Luo You had the foresight to request leave for her in advance.

He Jinxia moved her body, feeling sore and numb; frankly, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to get up in the afternoon.

"I’ll keep an eye on the box office performance. You rest well and spend more time with your boyfriend. There’s no rush with the filming!" Luo You advised before promptly hanging up the phone.

He Jinxia felt puzzled, receiving advice from her own agent to focus on her love life. Wasn’t that a weird feeling?