This hot search title is perfect!"
In the evening, Xiao He, who had already returned to the villa and was preparing to rest, looked at the hot search title and nodded repeatedly.
He originally thought he would have to wait until Festival day, but he never expected they couldn't wait to dig their own graves first.
"Buzz—"
Coincidentally, a new message popped up on his phone.
Liu Zehang: Brother Xiao, want to go watch a movie tomorrow?
Xiao He opened the message box, feeling confused when he saw this message, but quickly understood.
Xiao He: Silent Search?
Liu Zehang: Know thy enemy and know yourself!
Xiao He: ...
Speaking of which, isn't this giving box office revenue to our opponents?!
...
The next day, although somewhat reluctant, Xiao He was still dragged out by Liu Zehang to secretly watch "Silent Search" at the cinema.
They bought tickets for a screening close to noon.
Thanks to "Silent Search" suddenly appearing in theaters, catching many people off guard, Xiao He and Liu Zehang managed to snag two tickets.
Although giving box office revenue to opponents was annoying, they were also full of doubts and curiosity about "Silent Search." After all, Xiao He and Liu Zehang had participated in the auditions for this script, they had read the script, and had some understanding of "Silent Search's" storyline.
Now that "Silent Search" was released, they needed to come see the situation.
Despite the film's surprise release, since it was weekend, there were still many people at the venue. Xiao He and Liu Zehang observed from outside and decided to enter after the movie started.
"You better keep your mask on properly." Liu Zehang muttered, "If we get discovered, who knows how awkward it would be."
It might trigger another hot search storm.
"No problem with me, I'm completely covered up." Xiao He immediately defended himself, "Even if I walk on the street now, people might not recognize me!"
He had specifically given himself psychological suggestions before going out. If he could still be discovered like this, then he shouldn't be an actor anymore.
"Ahem, the line is starting to form."
Liu Zehang cleared his throat lightly.
The two immediately started peeking from the corner.
"What are you two doing here?"
A voice came from behind, accompanied by a hand reaching out to pat Xiao He's shoulder.
"Wow!"
Xiao He and Liu Zehang both jumped in fright.
Xiao He turned his head hurriedly and met He Junhao's curious gaze.
"It's you! You really scared me to death."
If he hadn't sensed no danger, Xiao He might have almost thrown a punch.
"Whew, so it's someone Brother Xiao knows? You scared me to death, I thought we'd been discovered by fans."
Liu Zehang also rubbed his chest with lingering fear.
"Well, this is my university classmate, He Junhao, currently working as a content creator on Bilibili."
Xiao He introduced.
He Junhao nodded slightly toward Liu Zehang somewhat sheepishly: "Hello, Brother Zehang, sorry for scaring you just now."
"No problem, no problem. Actually, we met once during the preview screening."
Liu Zehang waved his hand casually.
"By the way, what are you doing here? And how did you recognize us?"
After introducing He Junhao, Xiao He continued questioning with some confusion.
"Pfft, we spent four years in university together, eating and living together. What kind of disguise is this?" He Junhao snorted disdainfully, "I'm not blind."
Strangers who had only met a few times might struggle to recognize someone from their back, but He Junhao was very familiar with Xiao He - how could he possibly not recognize him?
"Plus you two are wearing sunglasses, masks, and hats, looking all sneaky - that just confirmed my suspicions."
Xiao He/Liu Zehang: ...Well, well, that's true.
"So what are you doing here?"
"Ahem." He Junhao immediately scratched his head somewhat awkwardly, his gaze shifting, "Uh, I'm just here to look around—"
"You're not here to watch 'Silent Search' too, are you?"
Xiao He saw through the truth at a glance.
He Junhao immediately denied: "No, definitely not!"
Then he suddenly realized something, met Xiao He's gaze, and raised his hand trembling: "You, you guys aren't also—"
"Shh shh—"
In an instant, the guilty conscience squad had grown to three people.
"If you're here to watch, that's fine, but don't post about me and Brother Zehang online later."
Xiao He whispered his reminder.
"Don't worry, Brother Xiao, I didn't record any videos." He Junhao immediately raised both hands to prove his innocence, "Actually, I'm also here to help you scout the enemy. I already heard about your damaging information from Old Zhai, so I wanted to come see too. If 'Silent Search' turns out to be poor quality, then I'll find some industry friends and write some sarcastic commentary pieces mocking them."
Xiao He: "...Well, thanks for that."
"Let's go, the movie is starting to play."
Liu Zehang reminded them quietly.
"Okay, let's go—"
The three entered the theater discreetly.
Xiao He and Liu Zehang had managed to get seats at the edge, while He Junhao was quite far from them. After exchanging quiet greetings, the three each took their seats.
To be fair, the original "Silent Search" script was actually quite good in quality. Otherwise, Liu Rulan wouldn't have been interested in "Silent Search's" large production team and big budget, and tried to get Xiao He to compete for it.
So when Xiao He first started watching the movie, he thought the plot was quite good, with excellent pacing overall.
From the male lead taking his daughter to see a doctor, to the zombie virus outbreak, to the male lead getting separated from his daughter - this entire narrative segment was very tight, allowing viewers to quickly immerse themselves in the story and worry about the daughter's situation along with the male lead...
It was clear that Feng Zhengyang had genuine skill and technique that allowed him to become a famous director and stand out among numerous Hong Kong films over the years.
Even though Xiao He disliked the other party, he had to admit that the other was indeed a highly capable director.
However, around the middle part, the style began to feel subtly wrong.
The male lead wanted to find his daughter, but his lingering kindness made him decide to take the mistakenly picked-up little girl with him, searching for his daughter while escaping along the way.
On the road, they gradually encountered other survivors and formed a survival team, planning to escape the hospital together.
This included the character Zhou Lin that Xiao He had originally auditioned for.
This Zhou Lin character was now played by Chen Yulin.
But whether it was Xiao He's imagination or not, he felt that ever since the character played by Chen Yulin appeared, the entire movie's plot started becoming less enjoyable.
Originally, the Zhou Lin character in the initial script was just a somewhat kind but not completely saintly character. Although highly skilled in martial arts and willing to actively rescue people, he also had his own thoughts and ideas - not a one-dimensional character. Even when he initially joined the team, it was for the same purpose as the male lead - wanting to find the goddess he secretly admired through the team.
However, perhaps because the actress playing the goddess was someone who paid her way into the role and wanted more screen time for herself, this goddess character wasn't missing from the start but was instead following by Zhou Lin's side.
Many of Zhou Lin's original core traits were transferred to this "goddess," leaving him with only the "secret admirer" and "highly skilled in martial arts" attributes.
Thus, in this situation, this "goddess" became a pure saint who wanted Zhou Lin to rescue everyone she saw, while Zhou Lin mindlessly followed the "goddess's" commands, rescuing people without complaint or regret. What was originally a good character design was forcibly split into a combination of a saint and a simp.
Every time Xiao He saw this goddess persuading Zhou Lin to rescue someone, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.
He was just watching a movie - how did his blood pressure manage to rise from this?