122: The box office on the first day was a staggering 13 million!

In the evening, Chen Le returned home.

Yang Mi walked over, "Why are you back so late?"

Yang Mi helped Chen Le take off his coat, looking at him with concern.

"Got caught up with work at the company and stayed a bit late," Chen Le explained.

"Hmm, the box office numbers for 'Hello, Mr. Tree' will be released in a few hours," Yang Mi said, very concerned about the new film's performance, still muttering about it.

"No rush, whatever it is, it's fine. We weren't counting on this film making money anyway," Chen Le said with a smile, shaking his head.

"Mi Mi, have you eaten? Should we go out for a meal?" Chen Le looked at Yang Mi and asked.

"Not yet. How about we cook ourselves? By the time we finish eating, it'll be almost midnight," Yang Mi said, glancing at the time.

"Alright then."

Soon, as the two ate, midnight arrived.

Yang Mi pulled Chen Le to the computer and clicked on the real-time box office data for 'Hello, Mr. Tree.'

The moment the page refreshed, the website lagged slightly.

Clearly, many others were also checking the new film's first-day box office data, just like them.

The next second, the webpage refreshed successfully, and the new film's first-day box office figures appeared.

When Yang Mi saw the string of numbers for the first-day box office, her mouth fell open in shock.

Even Chen Le was stunned when he saw the data.

"Over 13 million? That much?" Yang Mi said, her voice trembling slightly.

On the computer screen at that moment, the first-day box office figure of 13.5 million was prominently displayed.

Chen Le hadn't expected the first-day box office to exceed 13 million either.

After all, in his previous life, this film's box office performance had been extremely dismal.

But now, this first-day box office alone had already allowed him to recoup his investment.

Was this some of the change brought about by the butterfly effect?

This change didn't seem too bad at all.

"Am I seeing this right? Old Chen!" Yang Mi rubbed her eyes, looking at Chen Le with an expression of disbelief as she asked.

"You're not mistaken, it's 13.5 million," Chen Le replied, also looking at the screen with a complex expression.

This time, he had miscalculated. He had thought this film might perform similarly to its past life, with minimal box office returns, even with the boost from the popularity of 'lost on journey' and 'lost in thailand.'

Clearly, he had underestimated Wang Baoqiang's popularity, his own reputation, and the effectiveness of the film's marketing.

Right now, his and Wang Baoqiang's popularity was quite high. After all, 'lost in thailand' had been released during the summer season, and it was only November now, so its influence was still lingering.

Still, this was an unexpected windfall.

After all, he had previously prepared himself for a loss, never expecting to actually make money.

"Old Chen, you miscalculated this time. The new film has almost broken even," Yang Mi said, happiness evident on her face.

She wasn't just happy about making money; she was also pleased that Chen Le had finally miscalculated for once.

Before this, Chen Le had always appeared supremely confident. Who would have thought he'd be proven wrong now?

Of course, Chen Le didn't mind this being proven wrong.

"Indeed, this is a result I didn't anticipate. Now, not only have we broken even, but we might even make a bit of profit," Chen Le nodded, a smile also appearing on his face.

"Old Chen, shouldn't we celebrate this? It's an unexpected windfall, isn't it?" Yang Mi said excitedly.

"Celebrate what? Shouldn't we at least wait until the theatrical run is over before celebrating?" Chen Le said, somewhat confused.

"Old Chen, are you really that clueless, or are you just pretending?" Yang Mi narrowed her eyes, saying with a hint of indignation.

Seeing this, Chen Le reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist.

Before Yang Mi could react, she was pinned down... Meanwhile, on the other side, Wang Baoqiang was also paying attention to the first-day box office of 'Hello, Mr. Tree.'

This film was, after all, a showcase of his acting skills; he still wanted to see how much box office it could actually generate.

As long as it wasn't too dismal, just enough to cover costs and barely break even would be fine.

Chen Le had repeatedly told him not to worry about this film's box office, but as an actor, how could he not care about the box office performance of a film he starred in?

When the clock struck midnight, Wang Baoqiang opened his computer and searched for the new film's first-day box office numbers.

Upon seeing that long string of digits, he froze in place, stunned.

This data was something he hadn't expected, something no one had anticipated.

He never imagined that a small art-house film could have such box office numbers, with just the first day's earnings being enough to break even.

Seeing this data, Wang Baoqiang's mouth fell open.

This box office figure far exceeded his expectations.

Just as he was lost in thought, Zhang Songwen called him.

At that moment, Zhang Songwen, like him, was staring at the numbers on the screen in amazement.

"Baoqiang, you've seen the new film's first-day box office too, right?"

"I've seen it."

"My god, Baoqiang! I thought this film would at most break even. I never expected it to make this much!" Zhang Songwen exclaimed.

"I didn't expect it to be this much either," Wang Baoqiang said, feeling a huge wave of relief inside.

Although Brother Le kept saying it was fine if this film didn't make money, as long as it could win awards.

But if it really didn't make any money, he would feel guilty.

After all, Brother Le made this film to help him win awards.

"Now you don't have to worry. This film is not only well-made but also has decent box office," Zhang Songwen said with a laugh.

He knew Wang Baoqiang was very concerned about this new film's performance, afraid it would end up losing money.

"Hmm," Wang Baoqiang nodded.

The next day, the first-day box office data for 'Hello, Mr. Tree' made it to the trending searches.

Netizens were surprised that an art-house film could achieve such high box office numbers.

Many news outlets even speculated that this film might not only have high box office but could also potentially win awards.

For a time, Wang Baoqiang's name was also pushed into the trending searches.

People began discussing and critiquing his acting skills.

"Wang Baoqiang's acting is good, but those saying he could win Film Emperor are exaggerating, right? Is the Film Emperor title that easy to get?"

"If you've seen the film, you'd know Wang Baoqiang's acting skills are already on par with some Film Emperors. If they can win it, why can't he?"

In the following days, the daily box office numbers for 'Hello, Mr. Tree' were released.

Day one: 13.5 million, day two: 8.11 million, day three: 7.45 million.

For three consecutive days, the numbers showed a decline.

However, this was quite normal, as most viewers didn't understand the film after watching it.

The first day saw more viewers out of curiosity.

Later, when netizens saw others saying they didn't understand it, although some curious viewers still wanted to see it, most were deterred. After all, spending money to watch a film you don't understand doesn't seem worth it.

Additionally, the film itself tells a story. Those viewers who did understand it shared their thoughts and feelings online.

Once they shared their interpretations, the sense of novelty naturally faded.

It was normal for the box office to keep dropping.

After all, this isn't a comedy. For comedies, knowing the plot doesn't matter much; people watch for the funny scenes, just for a good laugh.