Rob burst through the door first thing in the morning, iPad in hand, grinning like he'd won the lottery.
"Second-week North American drop is holding strong, and the online buzz is insane. With this kind of word-of-mouth, repeat viewings are through the roof!"
Cassius took the tablet and scrolled through the numbers.
Rotten Tomatoes: 77% Fresh, 82% Audience Score.
Metacritic: 63/100.
"Justin Lin turns a street-racing movie into a full-blown heist epic. Fast 5 is the real rebirth of the franchise."
"Ridiculous? Yes. Spectacular? Absolutely. The vault-dragging sequence is the craziest thing you'll see all year."
China's People's Daily called it "a stylish evolution of the action genre."
Beijing News praised the practical stunts and "respect for the audience's intelligence."
Douban score: 8.3 with over 1.2 million ratings.
It had cracked the Top 10 Best Action Films list and was still climbing.
"That's a damn good score for a big action movie," Cassius said.
He knew Douban didn't hand out 8+ to commercial blockbusters very often.
"And it's not just China," Rob added. "IMDb is sitting at 7.5—solid for this genre. The audience love means long-tail box office is guaranteed. Universal already extended the run by another month."
Cassius opened Weibo.
His fans were organizing group screenings across the country, handing out homemade merch—wristbands, badges, mini posters. Even people who didn't usually watch blockbusters were buying tickets after seeing him on Happy Camp.
His fans were still showing up in force.
"You're way bigger in China than Universal expected," Rob said proudly. "Especially with younger audiences. They see you as the guy who broke through in Hollywood, and you came off real and down-to-earth on the show. Huge goodwill."
After Rob left, Cassius sat alone in the living room and opened his panel.
[Acting Realm]
Level: Reputation-Building
Progress: 13%
[Core Traits]
Role Conviction: 55/100
Cultural Influence: 28/100
[Skill List]
Practical Action Performance Essence (Gold): 75%
Street Vehicle Offense & Defense Instinct (Purple): 71%
Cooper's Promise (Unique): 5%
The two new core traits were climbing fast. Role Conviction made sense—people were buying him as an action star. But Cultural Influence was rising even quicker.
He thought about everything that had happened lately.
Fast 5 exploding in China. Fans organizing screenings. Media coverage. Even People's Daily running a piece.
It wasn't just box office numbers anymore. It was becoming a cultural moment.
A actor landing a major role in a huge Hollywood franchise and killing it.
That was cultural impact.
Cassius leaned back, a small smile forming.
He wasn't just an actor anymore. He was starting to become a symbol.
His phone rang. It was Shen Man.
"Cassius, saw the box office numbers. Congratulations."
She sounded lighter than usual. "Things are moving fast here too. The station saw the Happy Camp ratings—they broke records. Leadership pulled me in and said I can put together a small team to shoot a pilot for a new variety show."
"That's great," Cassius said, genuinely happy for her. "What direction are you thinking?"
"Not fully locked yet, but I want to do a travel-and-food show that actually shows real people's lives in different places, not just celebrities eating fancy meals. I also looked up those ideas you mentioned—Running Man and Extreme Challenge. Nothing like that exists here yet. The head producer is interested."
Cassius laughed. He'd thrown those out casually, but she had actually run with them.
"Go for it. If the show gets made, I'm your first guest. Promise."
"Deal!"
After dinner, Cassius scrolled Weibo again, this time on his small account.
Late-night posts were everywhere.
At 1:30 a.m., someone wrote: "Just got out of Fast 5 IMAX. Cassius Rio chase scene had me sweating. Hands still shaking."
Picture: an empty theater lobby with the movie poster glowing on the screen.
Comments poured in: "Same! Heading for a second watch!"
"We're at a convenience store talking about the movie at 2 a.m."
"Same here! Group of us chatting from the film to his Happy Camp appearance."
At 2:20 a.m., another post: "Starving after the movie but everything's closed except McDonald's. Anyone else?"
Reply: "McDonald's was packed with people who just left the theater."
"We wanted hotpot but Haidilao was too expensive at this hour."
At 3 a.m.: "Just left Fast 5. A bunch of strangers started talking outside the theater. One guy took the high-speed train from Tianjin just to see the IMAX version and is heading back for work in the morning. This is real love."
The photo showed eight or nine young people posing together, movie ticket stubs in hand, all smiling.
Cassius stared at the picture for a long time.
He remembered being broke in L.A., scraping together bus fare to catch a late movie, then walking home in the middle of the night replaying every scene.
Now his movie was the one people were rushing out at midnight to see.
He thought about it, then texted Rob:
"Help me contact Haidilao. I want to do something for the fans."
"What kind of thing? Endorsement?"
"No. I want to treat anyone who sees Fast 5 at a midnight showing to free hotpot. Just show your ticket stub at any Haidilao between midnight and 4 a.m. for one week. One basic set per person."
Rob called back immediately. "Bro, do you know how many Haidilao locations there are in China?"
"Over a thousand. I know. But we're not covering the whole country forever—just one week, limited per store, basic set only. We can split the cost with them."
"Why would they agree?"
"Exposure. Think about the hashtags. #CassiusBuysHotpot #Fast5MidnightFeast. It'll trend hard. They get massive social media buzz, late-night traffic, and brand goodwill. Win-win."
Rob was quiet for a few seconds. "I'll crunch the numbers… but yeah, this could work."
That afternoon, Rob got the green light. Haidilao was interested.
By Thursday morning they had a deal.
The campaign would run for seven days starting Friday midnight.
Each participating store would host up to 100 tables per night, first-come, first-served.
Basic set only (hotpot broth + meat/veggies + staples + drink). Extras on the customer.
Cassius would promote it heavily on Weibo and do a short interview afterward.
Cost split: Haidilao 60%, Cassius 40%.
Cassius ran the math. With roughly 800 stores, 100 tables per night, average 3 people per table at ~80 RMB per person, it came to about 19.2 million RMB per night.
Seven nights: 134.4 million RMB total.
His share: 53.76 million RMB (~$7.8 million).
Expensive. But he could afford it. The Fast 5 backend money would more than cover it.
At 9 p.m. Thursday, Cassius posted from his main account:
"Heard a lot of you are leaving Fast 5 midnight shows hungry? Starting tomorrow at midnight through next Thursday at 4 a.m., show your same-day ticket stub at any Haidilao and get a free basic hotpot set. Limited to 100 tables per store per night—first come, first served. Details in the poster. Please be safe, eat well, and enjoy!"
Attached was a clean promotional graphic: Fast & Furious 5 × Haidilao Midnight Energy Recharge Plan.
The post exploded.
Within ten minutes, comments hit a thousand.
"??? Is this real?"
"Cassius spoiling fans again!"
"I just bought tomorrow's midnight ticket—now I know where I'm eating after!"
"How much is this costing him? Legend."
"Haidilao actually agreed? This collab is genius."
"Heading to the theater right now. Not even waiting till tomorrow."
The hashtag #CassiusBuysHotpot shot straight to Weibo's number-one trending spot.
People started calculating the cost online. "At 800 stores, this has to be tens of millions per night. He's really going all-in."
Others replied: "But he's buying loyalty and口碑. Smart marketing."
Whether fans saw it as pure generosity or genius PR, the effect was the same.
Friday at 12:10 a.m., the first feedback hit:
"Just left Fast 5. Ran straight to Haidilao. Line already has twenty tables of people holding ticket stubs. Staff said they prepared but didn't expect this many. Waiting for a table now but the vibe is electric—everyone's talking about the movie."
At 12:40 a.m.: "We're eating! Waiter said the store has already served over eighty movie tables tonight. Ingredients almost gone. Table next to us is three guys replaying the car scenes. I'm just sitting here listening."
At 1:30 a.m., someone posted a group photo: "Twelve of us from the same showing ended up at one big table. Eating hotpot, talking movies, talking about Cassius, talking life. Random strangers bonded over one film and one meal. Feels magical."
By 3 a.m., the posts were nonstop.
Some stores were running low on ingredients. Staff posted: "Exhausted but happy. So many guests thanked Cassius and Haidilao. One girl actually cried saying she never expected this after watching a movie."
Saturday midnight was even crazier.
In some cities, lines wrapped halfway around the mall.
New memes appeared: "Going to see Fast 5? The one that comes with free hotpot."
By the third day, Haidilao's official account posted numbers: "Thank you to everyone who joined the Midnight Energy Recharge Plan. Over the past two nights, participating stores served more than 120,000 Fast 5 viewers. One guest flew from Dalian to Guangzhou just for the event. Thank you, Cassius, and thank you to every movie lover."
Cassius replied with a simple fist-bump emoji.
On the fifth day, Haidilao's marketing director called. "The data is way beyond expectations. Not only are midnight numbers through the roof, daytime reservations are up 15%. Our boss wants to talk long-term partnership."
"Long-term works for me," Cassius said.
Later that night he checked his panel.
[Acting Realm]
Progress: 15%
[Cultural Influence]
42/100
He smiled.
The new "Reputation-Building" realm really did reward cultural impact as much as pure acting skill.
And he was just getting started.