306: Chapter 306: The word-of-mouth exploded!

Screening movies on university campuses has its pros and cons.

The pro is that college students are genuinely passionate and willing to react. What they say isn't official, isn't scripted, and has attitude. When passersby see it, they feel it's real, like genuine organic word-of-mouth. Unlike those in the industry who see artists every day and are full of themselves, giving only sparse applause when the creators walk in.

The con lies right there. If you've made a terrible film, some college students are truly fierce. They won't care that you're a celebrity artist at all; hand them a microphone, and they'll stand up and start roasting you immediately...

Therefore, if you don't have the goods, it's really not recommended to hold such events on university campuses; it's too easy for accidents to happen.

It's best to find a movie theater and invite some friends from the industry or the media. You know, even if these people are fed literal excrement, they will still swallow it and offer a few compliments.

This way, everyone is happy. Then hire a few photographers to capture friends complimenting the film, or make it into promotional posters—isn't that wonderful?

So, Director Du Qiyu's anxiety is understandable—he knows it's a good film, but after all, it hasn't been tested yet.

Of course, at this moment, the creators can finally breathe a sigh of relief because the reaction on-site is truly too good.

The second half of the movie builds up the emotion well enough, and it's tear-jerking; many people have a lot they want to say after watching it.

There are still some audience members immersed in the film. One second they were mourning the death of Wah Dee, and the next—holy cow, Lin Chuyan is right in front of them.

Add the fact that many students are his fans, and the cheers are even louder.

This was the situation when Lin Chuyan walked onto the stage.

The host had the creators introduce themselves one by one. When it came to Lin Chuyan, this guy thoughtfully took out the pack of tissues he had just asked Director Du Qiyu for and had a staff member pass it to a girl in the audience who was crying quite hard and had forgotten to bring tissues.

He didn't overthink it; it was purely the mindset of a creator. Seeing someone so moved by the movie he starred in, he just wanted to take care of them, not knowing that such an action was quite a foul move. Which female college student on-site could handle that?

It doesn't matter if you don't have a boyfriend; Lin Chuyan will hand you a tissue.

Director Du Qiyu mentally gave him a thumbs-up: "Great, great, he's worthy of being a top-tier star. He's so smooth. A casual act, simple yet profound, and just like that, it's a trending topic."

In the subsequent audience Q&A session, the topics were basically all centered on Lin Chuyan.

Someone asked Director Du Qiyu why he chose to collaborate with Lin Chuyan. Director Du Qiyu started by mentioning Lin Chuyan's identity from Guangdong Province, then talked about his acting, temperament, and looks... praising him in every aspect.

Someone asked Director Du Qiyu how it felt to collaborate with Lin Chuyan. Director Du Qiyu's stance was quite clear. As a Hong Konger, he didn't need to care about anything else: "I think Lin Chuyan is the best among the young generation of actors in the mainland, absolutely a presence that crushes everyone else."

This is actually one of the marketing tactics for the film. If you don't say it aggressively, how can you get on the trending list? Besides, who is he offending? He didn't mention anyone else.

But it was even more interesting when questions were asked of Lin Chuyan, after all, this person has always been straightforward, and plus the people asking were college students; both sides were playing it real.

Someone asked Lin Chuyan, "How do you view the four romance films crowded into this New Year slot? Are you worried about losing to that film by Feng Liqian?"

Questions that directly mention other artists like this aren't something anyone but college students would ask.

Lin Chuyan had a half-smile on his face and didn't avoid the question: "Their official release date was announced much later than ours, right? I didn't even know this film existed before, so there's no talk of worrying. As for after... well, after watching 'a moment of romance', I'm even less worried."

Someone else asked Lin Chuyan how he would evaluate his own acting. Lin Chuyan actually started by commenting on someone else: "Regarding this, I have to thank one person—Uncle Da taught me a lot on set. His acting in this film is award-worthy. As for myself, honestly, I didn't need to exert much acting skill in this film; just being handsome was enough..."

The amazing thing is that the audience didn't look down on him for saying that; instead, they felt that Lin Chuyan was indeed as the rumors said, quite real.

Especially since this group had just finished watching the movie, their impression of Wah Dee's handsomeness was deeply ingrained—smashing the bridal shop, street racing... damn, even getting a nosebleed was so handsome, really no one else like him.

The effect of "charming thousands of young girls" that Director Du Qiyu mentioned hasn't been seen yet, but charming the audience in front of him doesn't seem to be a problem.

After the female college students stood up, they didn't ask questions anymore; it was all confessions.

The Q&A session turned into a confession session.

"Lin Chuyan, I originally thought that Fu Weijun in 'the long season' was the peak of your handsomeness, but I was wrong. 'a moment of romance' will definitely be a box office hit. I won't just watch it; I'll bring my best friend to watch it too!"

Lin Chuyan: "Thank you, I want to thank Director Mu Sheng for making me look good."

"Lin Chuyan, I've watched every one of your films. I want to say, from Prince Xiao Ran to Xie Yu to Fu Weijun and then to Wah Dee, it's never too late to become a fan. Life is about falling in love with you at different stages."

Lin Chuyan: "Thank you, but let's skip Xie Yu. Everyone, finding a boyfriend or girlfriend is the same; you must keep your eyes open and don't fall for scum."

...

The roadshow ended, and the screening at Jiaotong University had actually already started, so everyone had to rush over without stopping.

By the time both screenings were over and they returned to the hotel that night, the word-of-mouth for 'a moment of romance' was already fermenting. Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Douban... basically, every platform had college students who had finished watching the movie unable to help but share.

"Family, who gets it? I saw a living Lin Chuyan, he's really so handsome... Also, Lin Chuyan's new movie 'a moment of romance' is super good!"

"The film producers told us not to spoil it! I can only say, in 'a moment of romance', Lin Chuyan is handsome to a new height! Investing in him is not a loss!"

"It's definitely a passionate romance! I've never seen one so passionate... In short, it's very good. My brother is truly steady this time."

"I like Uncle Da. I used to think he could only do comedy, but I didn't expect that in this one... I won't say more or it will be spoilers. The acting is extremely awesome, the kind of awesome that deserves an award."

"I've finally witnessed the chemical reaction between Director Du Qiyu and Lin Chuyan. In one word: good. In two words: can watch. In three words: Lin Chuyan is awesome!"

"Can anyone praise the female lead? I checked the Douban cast list, her name is Zhou Shiyun. Her temperament is so good, so gentle and delicate. This seems to be Lin Chuyan's first on-screen couple, eh!"

"I won't say much else. I just want to say that if 'a moment of romance' can be a box office hit, the iconic scenes in the film are definitely screen classics that will go down in film history in my eyes! Not an exaggeration at all!"

Director Du Qiyu and the other creators lived off this spiritual sustenance all night. The comments that the staff screenshotted and sent to them were read one after another.

"Nickname, it seems like the play is on..."

"Director Du Qiyu, I haven't seen a single negative review..."

The two looked at each other, both with smiles in their eyes.

The air seemed to start filling with the smell of money.