"This trending topic title is great!"
That evening, Xiao He, who had returned to his villa to rest, nodded repeatedly as he looked at the headlines on the trending topics.
They originally thought they would have to wait until Qingming Festival, but to their surprise, they had already rushed to visit their own graves.
"Buzz—"
Just then, a new message popped up on my phone.
Liu Zehang: Brother Xiao, wanna go see a movie tomorrow?
Xiao He opened the message box and was a little confused when he saw the message, but he quickly realized what it meant.
Xiao He: Silent Search?
Liu Zehang: Know yourself and know your enemy!
Xiao He: ...
Seriously, isn't this basically handing over box office revenue to their rivals?!
...
The next day, despite being somewhat reluctant, Xiao He was still dragged out by Liu Zehang to secretly go to the cinema to watch "Silent Search".
They bought movie tickets for around noon.
Thanks to the unexpected release of "Silent Search" in theaters, which caught many people off guard, Xiao He and Liu Zehang were able to seize the opportunity to buy two movie tickets.
Although the act of giving away box office revenue to the competition was unpleasant, they were also full of doubts and curiosity about the drama "Silent Search". After all, Xiao He and Liu Zehang had auditioned for the script and had read it, so they had some understanding of the plot of "Silent Search".
Now that "Silent Search" is being released, they'll inevitably have to come and see how it goes.
Although the movie was a surprise screening, there were still a lot of people at the venue because it was the weekend. Xiao He and Liu Zehang looked around from the outside and decided to wait until the movie started before going in.
"Make sure you wear your mask properly," Liu Zehang muttered. "It would be so embarrassing if we got caught."
It might just become another trending topic storm.
"I'm fine, I'm completely covered up," Xiao He immediately assured himself. "Now, if I walk down the street, not many people might even recognize me!"
He gave himself a special mental pep talk before going out; if he still got caught after that, he might as well quit being an actor.
"Ahem, let's start lining up."
Liu Zehang coughed lightly.
The two immediately looked around the corner.
What are you two doing here?
A voice came from behind, and at the same time a hand reached out and patted Xiao He on the shoulder.
"Wow!"
Xiao He and Liu Zehang were both startled.
Xiao He turned his head hastily and met He Junhao's curious gaze.
"It's you! You really scared me to death."
If he hadn't been unaware of the danger, Xiao He would have almost thrown a punch.
"Phew, so it's someone Brother Xiao knows? I was so scared, I thought I'd been spotted by his fans."
Liu Zehang rubbed his chest, still feeling a bit shaken.
"Yes, this is my college classmate, He Junhao, who is currently a content creator on Bilibili."
Xiao He explained.
He Junhao nodded slightly to Liu Zehang, apologetically, "Hello, Zehang-ge, I'm sorry, I startled you just now."
"It's nothing, it's nothing. Come to think of it, 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 to ask questions with some doubt.
"Tch, we lived and ate together for four years of university. What's with this pretense?" He Junhao scoffed dismissively. "I'm not blind."
It would be difficult to recognize a stranger's back after only a few meetings, but He Junhao was very familiar with Xiao He, so how could he not recognize him?
"And the fact that you two were wearing sunglasses, masks, and hats, looking all sneaky, only confirms my suspicions."
Xiao He/Liu Zehang: ...Well, that's true.
"So what are you doing here?"
"Ahem." He Junhao scratched his head awkwardly, his gaze shifting. "Uh, I just came to take a look—"
"You wouldn't happen to be here to see 'Silent Search' too, would you?"
Xiao He saw through the truth at a glance.
He Junhao immediately denied it: "No, I didn't!"
Then he suddenly realized what was happening, met Xiao He's gaze, and shakily raised his hand: "You, you wouldn't also—"
"Pee-pee—"
In the blink of an eye, the guilty conscience squad had dwindled to three people.
"It's fine if you come to see this, but don't post me and Zehang online later."
Xiao He whispered his instructions.
"Don't worry, Brother Xiao, I didn't record any videos." He Junhao immediately raised his hands to prove his innocence. "Actually, I'm here to help you gather intelligence. I already know about your dirty secrets from Lao Zhai, so I wanted to come and see for myself. If 'Silent Search' isn't good, then I'll find some friends in the industry and write some sarcastic and sarcastic posts about them."
Xiao He: "...Well, thank you then."
"Let's go, the movie has started."
Liu Zehang whispered a reminder.
"Okay, let's go—"
The three people entered discreetly.
Xiao He and Liu Zehang were vying for seats on the edge, while He Junhao was quite far away. So, after a quiet greeting, the three of them sat down in their respective seats.
To be fair, the script for "Silent Search" is actually quite good; otherwise, Liu Rulan wouldn't have been interested in its large production team and big budget, and wouldn't have tried to get Xiao He to compete for it.
So when Xiao He first watched the beginning of the movie, he thought the plot was pretty good and the overall pacing was excellent.
From the moment the male protagonist takes his daughter to the doctor to the outbreak of the zombie virus and the separation between him and his daughter, the entire narrative is tightly paced, quickly drawing the reader into the story and making them worry about their daughter's situation alongside the male protagonist...
It's clear that Feng Zhengyang's ability to become a renowned director and stand out from the crowd of Hong Kong films all those years shows that he definitely had his own strength and skills.
Even if Xiao He disliked the other party, he had to admit that the other party was indeed an outstanding director.
However, halfway through, the style of the story started to subtly change.
The male protagonist wants to find his daughter, but the kindness he still has makes him decide to take the little girl who was switched at birth with him and search for his daughter while fleeing.
Along the way, they encountered other survivors one after another, and formed a survivor team to escape the hospital together.
This includes Zhou Lin, the role Xiao He originally auditioned for.
The role of Zhou Lin is now played by Chen Yulin.
However, whether it was just Xiao He's imagination or not, he felt that the plot of the whole movie started to become harder to watch after the character played by Chen Yulin appeared.
Originally, Zhou Lin was a kind-hearted but not entirely saintly character in the original script. Although she was highly skilled in martial arts and would take the initiative to save people, she also had her own thoughts and ideas. She was not a one-dimensional character. In fact, she joined the team at the beginning only because she had the same goal as the male lead: to find the goddess she secretly admired through the team.
However, it's unclear whether the actress playing the goddess was a big spender who wanted to increase her screen time, because the goddess never disappeared from the beginning and stayed by Zhou Lin's side.
Many of Zhou Lin's original core traits were transferred to this "goddess," leaving him only as a "secret admirer" and a "highly skilled martial artist."
So, under these circumstances, this "goddess" became a pure saint, wanting Zhou Lin to save everyone she saw, and Zhou Lin blindly followed the "goddess's" orders, saving people without complaint or regret. A perfectly good character was forcibly broken into a combination of saint and sycophant.
Every time Xiao He saw this goddess advising Zhou Lin to save people, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.
I was just watching a movie, and suddenly my blood pressure spiked.
