bestfiction Chapter 175 The Influence of TUTU
Chapter 175 The Influence of TUTU
on Monday.
Starlight Entertainment, Zhou Zhixiong's office.
Zhou Zhixiong was adjusting his tie in front of the mirror. Today, he was going to attend the board meeting to vote on his promotion.
In recent days, the box office of "Reign of Assassins" has continued to rise, not only standing out among martial arts films, but also reaching the peak of other film genres.
At this rate, "Reign of Assassins" even has a chance to break into the top 20 of domestic box office rankings.
This is definitely an encouraging achievement for Starlight Entertainment, which has been experiencing a continuous decline recently.
Just as Zhou Zhixiong was about to leave, there was a knock on the door.
"Enter."
The assistant pushed the door open and came in, but his expression was a little strange: "Mr. Zhou, there is something I need to report to you."
"explain."
"TUTU... is the social networking app that Lu Ran made. It has a martial arts discussion circle on it, and it's been very popular lately."
Zhou Zhixiong paused in his work of tidying his clothes, and asked somewhat casually.
"What circle?"
"It's a forum specifically for discussing martial arts films." The assistant carefully crafted her words. "There are many users there... comparing the martial arts films 'Reign of Assassins' and 'Hero'."
Zhou Zhixiong turned away dismissively: "And then? You're not going to tell me that 'Hero' is rated higher than 'Reign of Assassins,' are you? Right now, 'Reign of Assassins' has already grossed more than four times as much as 'Hero' at the box office."
"Mr. Zhou... it seems that most users in the industry are more inclined to support 'Hero' in their opinions."
The office was silent for three seconds.
Zhou Zhixiong did not get angry, nor did he even frown.
He didn't believe these assessments. In his view, since Lu Ran was the one who created the software, he could tamper with the data inside at any time.
Zhou Zhixiong asked calmly, "Do you have an account?"
"Ah...yes."
"Then register one for me too."
The assistant was taken aback for a moment, then quickly opened his phone.
Two minutes later, he handed the phone to Zhou Zhixiong.
The screen displays a newly registered TUTU account with a default avatar and a random numeric ID.
Zhou Zhixiong's luck seems to be a bit bad; he randomly got a nine-digit ID.
314159265.
"This account..." Zhou Zhixiong muttered, then randomly logged into the account.
Click into the search box and enter "Martial arts world, discussing swords over wine".
Extremely short time.
load.
enter.
Surprisingly, Zhou Zhixiong found it quite smooth.
Once you enter the circle, the pinned post is at the very top:
I think it's been underestimated—a message for audiences willing to slow down.
Likes: 12.7. Comments: 8432.
He slowly scrolled down, looking at the comments below.
"After watching it a second time, I still think the scene of Nameless's death is the most shocking scene in the whole film. The King of Qin spared his life, but he chose to die. Not for revenge, but for the sake of peace. I have never seen this kind of vision in Chinese martial arts films."
"I used to think Shen Zhiwei only made commercial films, but I was proven wrong this time. This old man is really good at hiding his true abilities."
"To be honest, I went to see it because of Lu Ran. The King of Music, the screenwriter of The Condor Heroes, the Yue Ran couple, the father of That Rabbit... but I was blown away by the movie itself. Just how many skill points does Lu Ran have left to develop?"
"Just between you and me: I think the soundtrack for 'Hero' is better than that for 'Reign of Assassins.' It's not just about volume; sometimes, the real skill lies in leaving room for interpretation."
Zhou Zhixiong's finger stopped on the screen.
There were also comments in the comment section defending "Reign of Assassins," and quite a few people liked it.
But the overall trend is still more in favor of "Hero".
He looked up and asked his assistant, "What's the daily active user count?"
"What?"
How many daily active users does this app have?
The assistant quickly checked: "The latest data...it seems to have already surpassed five million."
Zhou Zhixiong remained silent for a long time.
He handed the phone back to his assistant, picked up his tie again, and continued tying it in front of the mirror.
This time, however, my hands were shaking a little.
"Mr. Zhou?" the assistant asked tentatively, "What about the board of directors..."
"I'll participate as usual." Zhou Zhixiong's voice was devoid of emotion. "It's just a movie's reputation; box office is the only true measure of success."
He tied his bow tie, straightened his cuffs, and went out the door.
The sound of his leather shoes echoed in the corridor, steady and firm.
But when he reached the elevator, he suddenly stopped.
"That ID..."
The assistant was taken aback: "What's wrong, Mr. Zhou?"
Please help me keep it.
He was only thinking about pi, about the endless, non-repeating numbers, and about how he had been inexplicably assigned to such an account.
It was as if someone was reminding him from the shadows:
This Lu Ran always comes in a new form, and each time the situation is different, but he always stays by his side.
……
Shanghai, Shen Yuege's studio.
Lu Ran sat on the sofa, while Shen Yuege rested her head on his lap and scrolled through her phone. The screen displayed the latest trending posts from the TUTU martial arts community.
"Zhou Zhixiong registered an account?" Shen Yuege looked up, her tone filled with disbelief.
"Hmm." Lu Ran was peeling an orange, not even looking up. "His assistant registered it for him, and he got a nine-digit ID."
How did you know?
"Zhou Mingzhe added a few small features to the backend, so it's still easy to find this information." Lu Ran handed her a segment of orange. "And the initial recommended content for newly registered users can be targeted."
Shen Yuege chewed on an orange and squinted at him.
"So what did you feed Zhou Zhixiong?"
"Place an ad?" Lu Ran looked innocent. "I haven't even had a chance to place the ad yet, and he's already started searching for it. Well, that's fine, it saves me the trouble."
He paused, a wicked smile playing on his lips:
"Who knew he would search for 'martial arts world, discussing swords over wine'?"
Shen Yuege was silent for three seconds, then sat up and asked in a serious tone.
"Lu Ran".
"Um?"
"Have you considered what would happen if Zhou Zhixiong got so angry that he ended up in the hospital, and Starlight Entertainment sued you for unfair competition?"
"Don't worry." Lu Ran pulled her back onto his lap. "I didn't break the law, I didn't violate any rules, and I didn't even use Xingyao's resources."
He lowered his head and whispered in her ear:
"I simply provided the masses with a place to speak the truth and pointed out a path for them."
"A movie isn't necessarily better the more lavish it is."
As Lu Ran breathed into her ear, Shen Yuege's ears turned slightly red, but she remained silent.
Lu Ran picked up his phone and checked TUTU's backend data again.
The daily active users in the martial arts community have exceeded 500,000, and the post "The Sweeping Monk Doesn't Sweep the Floor" has been upvoted repeatedly.
A new highly-rated reply has been added to the comments section:
"I just registered on TUTU and was assigned a nine-digit ID. I envy the short number you posted."
But this is not important.
Most importantly, I've finally found my people.
It turns out I'm not the only one who thinks "Hero" has such a lasting impact.
It turns out I wasn't the only one who was still thinking about that rain after leaving the movie theater.
It turns out I wasn't the only one.
Thank you TUTU, and thank you to the original poster who wrote that movie review.
Thank you to the people who made this film.
Lu Ran put down his phone and leaned back on the sofa.
Shen Yuege looked up at him and found him smiling.
It wasn't the calculating smile he usually wore, nor the smug smile he gave after winning something.
It was a very light, soft laugh, like the lingering sweetness of Shaoxing wine.
"What are you laughing at?" she asked.
Lu Ran looked down at her, his eyes tender:
"I'm laughing at this glass of wine; finally, someone is starting to appreciate its flavor."
...