After wrapping up "Starry Radiance," Xiao He discussed with Liu Rulan and decided to fly home first.
Since he had spent the Spring Festival on set and couldn't make it back last time, Xiao He planned to properly accompany his parents during this visit.
After all, barring any unexpected circumstances, Xiao He would only get busier in the coming days.
Though they complained verbally, Father and Mother Xiao were overjoyed to see him, dragging Xiao He around the neighborhood to show off everywhere they went, telling everyone about his heroic rescue incident while pulling out their phones to show people the video from that time.
Xiao He felt somewhat helpless but still humored them, getting taken out for walks every day.
While at home, Xiao He discovered his parents secretly watching his performance in "Heart of Embers" on TV, and even accidentally caught his mother quietly checking in on his super topic forum.
Watching Mother Xiao defending him against negative comments, Xiao He's eyes reddened slightly before he casually looked away, choosing not to mention what he'd seen.
Over the next few days, Xiao He took his mother to visit several nearby cities for tourism, while Father Xiao, having no vacation time, could only reluctantly continue working.
After resting for nearly half a month like this, Xiao He finally bid farewell to his parents and returned to school to prepare for his final graduation defense and commencement ceremony.
Xiao He had changed his thesis direction midway, shifting from academic research to practical application. He spent several days developing an AI-related assistive application for blind travelers, using intelligent systems to aid route planning and navigation direction, helping visually impaired people avoid road hazards and improve travel efficiency.
To avoid drawing too much attention, Xiao He kept the design relatively crude with room for improvement in various aspects, but it was enough to appease his advisor's temper.
After settling things with his advisor, Xiao He divided his time between attending acting classes arranged by Liu Rulan and waiting for his graduation defense.
However, during this period, Xiao He also received notification from the "Killing Life" production team.
Apparently the crew was preparing to start promotional activities, competing with several other films for this year's May Day box office.
This speed truly exceeded Xiao He's expectations - he had thought "Killing Life" would aim for the summer release window, never imagining it would release this quickly.
Liu Rulan also received the news and called first to inquire about Xiao He's defense schedule.
Unfortunately, Xiao He's defense was scheduled in the first batch, meaning early May.
Barring any unexpected circumstances, he would need to remain at school for his defense during the roadshow period.
"If absolutely necessary, I can ask my advisor to reschedule my defense to the final batch," Xiao He proactively suggested.
"More importantly, is your defense preparation going okay?" Liu Rulan unusually showed concern about something outside work matters. "You absolutely must graduate successfully - I'd have to do damage control if you didn't, and that would be really difficult for me."
Xiao He: "...You don't need to worry about that, Sister Liu."
His thesis and defense were currently the least of his concerns, since the elementary hacking skills provided by his cheat ability already surpassed everything he'd learned during four years of university.
Hiss... thinking about it that way felt rather pathetic.
After some consideration, Liu Rulan said: "They'll have advance screenings one week earlier. You should participate in those, but return for your formal defense during the official premiere instead of staying with the crew."
Xiao He grew puzzled: "Sister Liu, are you really that worried about me not graduating?"
Liu Rulan: "Not really. After all, I've managed child actors who won awards since elementary school - do you think I'd worry about this?"
"Mainly I've heard the character you play is absolutely despicable. I'm concerned you might get attacked if you show up at screenings. Better to minimize association between that character's face and your current appearance to avoid being typecast, which would make your life difficult."
Xiao He: "..."
Heh heh heh, thank you so much for your concern.
...
After confirming schedules with the production team, Xiao He traveled with the crew to their first promotional stop—Province C.
Rong City.
The crew selected Rong City's largest Pacific Cinema, located in the city's commercial center where culture and entertainment were both highly developed.
Those attending this advance screening were mostly well-known film critics and bloggers from Rong City.
Watching the audience members filing into the theater, Xiao He couldn't help but feel nervous for this film.
Choosing Province C, where the actual case that inspired "Killing Life" occurred, as their first advance screening location showed remarkable courage from the production team.
After all, the original incident had been truly horrifying, and with one of the perpetrators—"Zhu Third Brother"—still at large, many older locals had frightened children by saying: "Don't wander around! Be careful or Zhu Third Brother will grab you and feed you to the pigs!"
Thus most people in Province C had heard about this case.
For this reason, they would view "Killing Life" with particularly critical eyes, ready to condemn the film immediately if any problems appeared.
Without extreme confidence in the film, "Killing Life" would never have chosen this as their first stop.
"Brother Xiao, aren't you nervous?"
Liu Zehang moved closer to Xiao He, rubbing his hands nervously. "Success or failure depends on this moment."
Xiao He: "I'm alright. Are you very nervous?"
Liu Zehang smiled bitterly: "A little bit."
Recently Liu Zehang had been renegotiating his contract with his former agency Taidong Entertainment. This film's performance was crucial for him, serving as a key factor in his upcoming negotiations.
Thus Liu Zehang was probably the most nervous person among them.
Xiao He hadn't heard details about Liu Zehang's agency situation, but based on fragments from their usual conversations, he could guess how things stood. He could only pat Liu Zehang's shoulder reassuringly.
Soon, the film began.
As the familiar dragon logo swept across the large screen, the previously murmuring theater fell silent.
Bao Wei's portrayal of "Zhu Big Brother" made the first appearance—
...
Tiger Brother was a film review blogger known for his sharp tongue and critical commentary. His account "Tiger Brother's Film Reviews" boasted 15 million followers across platforms, making him quite authoritative in film criticism circles. He often attended the earliest advance screenings or premieres to provide his follower friends with the freshest possible "meals" to critique.
This time, he'd heard about the crime drama "Killing Life," filmed based on the real "Rongtou Butcher Three Brothers" case, having its advance screening in Rong City.
Director Hou Rongxuan had maintained consistently good reputation over recent years with relatively stable performance, and with veteran actors like Zhuo Jianhua and Bao Wei involved, the film's cast and configuration appeared excellent on paper.
But as a native of Rong City, Tiger Brother naturally knew about the real case that inspired the film, having researched beforehand that the "third brother" among the three perpetrators remained at large.
The previous drama that fabricated an absurd ending to pass censorship without tracking down the real culprit had received Tiger Brother's full-frontal assault, thoroughly criticizing the entire creative team from top to bottom.
Naturally, Tiger Brother had to sample this film with its "harmonious" cast but potentially problematic script.
Who knows—maybe he'd found material for tonight's critique.
Just entering the lobby, Tiger Brother found himself drawn to the promotional poster nearby.
The poster was shot in a slaughterhouse, with the three butcher brothers sitting or standing while staring coldly at the camera, while Zhuo Jianhua's character led several police officers and victims beside them.
Tiger Brother carefully examined the characters through his camera, when suddenly his gaze settled on one particular person—
"Holy shit, did they get the actual person to play this role?"