167: Chapter 167 Yang Mi and Dilraba Dilmurat dominate the center position

They hadn't walked more than a few steps before the family of six each had a tempting ice cream in their hands.

Dilraba held a massive double-scoop ice cream, stuck out her little tongue to take a lick, and then held it up to Lin Chen's mouth like she was offering a treasure, her eyes sparkling: "Hubby~ try mine, it's strawberry flavored. It's sweet and tart, super delicious!"

Lin Chen turned his head to dodge, pointing at the ice cream in his own hand: "You eat yours. My matcha one is pretty good too."

"Aiya! Just take a bite!"

Dilraba wouldn't give up. She stood on her tiptoes and tried to force the ice cream toward Lin Chen's mouth. Lin Chen laughed, dodging left and right.

Dilraba giggled and threw herself into Lin Chen's arms like a koala: "Hmph, if you won't eat mine, then I'll eat yours!"

Lin Chen casually wrapped his arm around her slender waist, pulling her tightly against him, and whispered in her ear: "I think this was your real goal all along, right?"

"Heehee~ you caught me!"

Dilraba tilted her exquisite, mixed-heritage face up. Without a hint of fuss, she took Lin Chen's hand and licked two big bites from his ice cream, leaving a bit of white cream on the corner of her mouth.

"Hmm... Hubby, this matcha flavor of yours is actually pretty good. How about we swap?"

"No swapping!"

"Hubby~ Good hubby~"

The family chatted and laughed as they strolled aimlessly along the pedestrian street.

A group of such handsome men and beautiful women walking down the street naturally drew a lot of attention.

Not to mention these five top-tier beauties from the Lin family.

With five pairs of blindingly white, straight, and slender legs on display, they were simply the most beautiful scenery on the street.

Any man with normal vision couldn't help but steal a few extra glances at their legs as they walked by.

Fortunately, the whole family was wearing large sunglasses and baseball caps, covering most of their faces.

Moreover, when passersby see such a group of handsome men and beautiful women appearing together, their first reaction is usually that they are influencers filming short videos. They might stop to look for a second, but they wouldn't immediately associate them with big celebrities.

This is also the downside of being a public figure.

It is basically impossible to stroll down the street without a care in the world like an ordinary person.

If you enjoy the flowers and applause under the spotlight, you naturally have to pay the price of having your private life intruded upon.

At 9:50, Lin Chen and his family of six had their tickets checked and walked into the cinema screening room right on time.

The VIP room in this private cinema had an excellent environment; not only were the seats leather first-class sofas, but the space was also very private.

The screening room was pitch black, and the family took over the most spacious couple's seating area in the back row.

Once here, everyone finally relaxed completely and took off their bothersome sunglasses and hats.

"Hubby, open wide~ Ah—this popcorn is so sweet."

Dilraba was holding a super-sized bucket of caramel popcorn in her arms.

She was munching away crunchily, but didn't forget to use her dainty, syrup-stained hand to grab a few pieces and feed them into Lin Chen's mouth coquettishly.

Lin Chen opened his mouth to take the popcorn, looking at her with amusement: "From the moment we got out of the car until now, your mouth hasn't stopped moving. King crab, ice cream, popcorn... is your stomach a bottomless pit?"

Dilraba was caught red-handed. She quickly swallowed the popcorn in her mouth, hugged Lin Chen's arm, and explained coquettishly:

"Aiya, today is a special occasion! It's rare to have a day off; a little indulgence is forgivable! If worse comes to worst... I'll just do two extra sets of high-intensity yoga at home to burn it off."

"I just unlocked a super high-difficulty new pose with my personal trainer a couple of days ago. It requires extreme body flexibility. When we go back to the room tonight, I'll perform it for you alone, okay?"

This little girl—she starts making suggestive comments at the drop of a hat.

To justify snacking, she was even using this kind of heart-pounding "special service" as a bargaining chip.

After speaking, fearing Lin Chen wouldn't agree, she tilted her head up and planted a loud kiss on his lips.

What else could Lin Chen say?

Facing such a fatal temptation, no normal man could refuse.

He smiled and reached out to pinch Dilraba's collagen-filled cheek: "Fine, I'll remember that. If you don't perform it properly tonight, see how I deal with you."

Yang Mi was wearing a black silk slip dress, her legs elegantly crossed, resting her chin on one hand as she sat on the other side of Lin Chen.

All day, she and Dilraba had been like two guardian deities, dead-set on occupying the two "C-positions" next to Lin Chen.

Whether in the car, at the dinner table, or now in the cinema, they wouldn't yield an inch.

This was actually an unwritten rule within the Lin family.

Previously, during the days recording "Divas Hit the Road," Tong Liya, Liu Shishi, and Guli Nazha had been glued to Lin Chen every day, enjoying the privilege of having him all to themselves.

Now that Yang Mi and Dilraba had finally caught an opportunity, they naturally had to get it back with interest.

Everyone is an adult; they value fairness and sharing the favor equally.

"This movie, 'Poison Master,' was scheduled for release in early July and is about to be pulled from theaters. I just checked the real-time box office; it barely crossed the 300 million threshold. In this year's summer season, where the competition is fierce, this performance is only mid-to-lower tier. The investors will probably lose money."

Yang Mi leaned close to Lin Chen's ear, lowering her voice as she analyzed it.

As expected, the focus of the First Wife and the silly, sweet little sister was just different.

Dilraba's mind was full of how to cling to her hubby and what to eat for dinner.

While Boss Yang, even when just watching a movie, was calculating the market trends and box office data of the entire industry in her head.

Now that Lin Chen was preparing to step in as a director to make a movie, Yang Mi, as both producer and supportive wife, was naturally more concerned than anyone else.

"The overall market for this year's summer season has surged by nearly 30% compared to the same period last year. As of now, the total national box office has already broken the 11 billion mark. There is still a full month left before the summer season ends. If it continues at this rate, it will be easy for the total summer box office to exceed 20 billion. The movie market in China—the cake is getting bigger and bigger."

Lin Chen reached back to hold Yang Mi's soft little hand, pulled it to his lips, and gently kissed the back of it: "Which movie is currently the box office champion for the summer season? How much has it made?"

Yang Mi took the opportunity to lean her head on Lin Chen's broad shoulder, enjoying this moment of intimacy: " 'Phantom Knight.' A top-tier Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster. It was released in late June and will be pulled in late July. After 40 days of release, the cumulative box office is currently 2.27 billion. It's way ahead. As long as no major dark horse appears, this film is guaranteed to be in the top five, or even top three, of the domestic annual box office."

"Then how many new films were released domestically during this year's summer season?" Lin Chen asked with some curiosity.

Yang Mi smiled mysteriously: "Hubby, you would never guess the number. Including those one-day wonder flops, as of today, forty-two movies have been crowded into the summer season! On average, almost one new movie premieres every day."

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow: "The competition is that cutthroat?"

Yang Mi nodded seriously: "The cake is only so big, and everyone wants to come in and cut a piece. It's not just our domestic major film companies fighting it out; Hollywood, Korean, and even Bollywood movies are all eyeing this fat piece of meat. The title of the world's largest box office market is no joke. Capital chases profit; naturally, the competition is fierce enough to be blood-red."

Lin Chen pondered for a moment, a flash of excitement in his eyes.

"Interesting. It seems this time we're not just competing with our domestic peers for a living, but we might even be able to take down some foreigners and win some glory for the country."

Yang Mi tilted up that exquisite, charming foxy face, opened her red lips to gently nip at Lin Chen's earlobe, her breath sweet like orchids: "Hubby, I thought you would back down after hearing about such fierce competition."

Lin Chen shrugged nonchalantly: "What's there to be afraid of? Only through competition can we filter out that industrial garbage. Good food isn't afraid of being late; if it's gold, it will shine."

"Hubby, I miss you so much..."

Yang Mi's voice suddenly became sweet and seductive. Those foxy eyes, which usually radiated the sharp spirit of a career woman, were now like a pool of spring water, gazing at Lin Chen with tender affection.

Don't look at how Boss Yang usually has an explosive career drive and is cold and domineering.

But here, in the quiet and ambiguous darkness of the screening room, pressed close against her beloved man, that suppressed desire naturally welled up uncontrollably.

She was just better at hiding and restraining herself than Dilraba.

"Be good, I'll come to your room tonight." Lin Chen promised in a low voice in her ear.

"Mm!" Yang Mi closed her eyes in satisfaction, the flush on her face looking exceptionally charming in the darkness.

The movie "Poison Master" was marketed under the banner of a crime thriller.

The main plot tells the story of a man who is a gentle, good-natured person in the eyes of his neighbors, but is secretly a serial perverted killer.

His wife happens to be a criminal police officer who discovers her husband's true colors through subtle clues, ultimately facing the choice between emotion and reason, and sacrificing her own family for the sake of justice.

Looking purely at the film's quality, it was actually passable. The lighting, soundtrack, and atmosphere were all well-executed.

Sun Honglei's acting was as steady as always, portraying that sense of a refined scumbag with a twisted psychology with deep insight.

But the biggest flaw of this film, and its most fatal poison point, was that the script's logical chain was completely broken!

Why did the male lead kill? Don't know, maybe he was just bored.

Why were the male lead's killing methods so bizarre yet left no traces? Don't know, maybe he could turn invisible.

How did the female lead pinpoint her husband through a completely trivial detail? Don't know, maybe she has superpowers.

For a suspense film marketed as brain-burning, a collapse of logic and an inability to be self-consistent is an absolutely unforgivable disaster.

This was also the root cause of the film's weak box office performance.

Of course, this big pot of blame can't be entirely placed on the screenwriter.

Film is an art of regret; the director's control, the sloppy post-production editing, or even the blind intervention of capital could all turn a good script into something unrecognizable.

In short, this film was just a popcorn movie to pass the time while sitting on the sofa with popcorn when bored.

Aside from watching the best actor show off his acting skills, there was basically no substance to it.

By the time the movie ended, it was already past midnight.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Lin Chen and his family of six did not squeeze out with the crowd.

Instead, they sat quietly in the back row, waiting until all the audience in the screening room had left, before putting on their sunglasses and masks, holding hands, and strolling slowly out of the cinema.

Actually, whether the movie was shot poorly or not didn't matter at all to the six of them.

For these five women, the point was never what movie they were watching, but the highly ritualistic process of "watching a movie with hubby."

As long as they could stay with Lin Chen, even if they were watching Teletubbies, they would watch it with relish.