Love Confession Balloon

Friday, August 4.

The second day after Balloon premiered.

Lin Chuan's Weibo inbox had exploded.

His follower count had also climbed to over five hundred thousand.

However, Lin Chuan, who was inside the recording studio, knew nothing about any of it.

Lin Chuan walked out of Old Zhou's recording studio, having finished recording the song "Love Confession Balloon."

After telling his fans on Weibo that the movie Balloon was about to premiere,

Lin Chuan had gone straight into the studio to record "Love Confession Balloon."

Although he had mastered Jay Chou's singing techniques,

"Love Confession Balloon" featured all kinds of instruments, and Lin Chuan had spent quite a while getting familiar with them.

Old Zhou, headphones on, listened to "Love Confession Balloon" one more time.

"By the Seine, coffee on the Left Bank~"

"I hold a cup in my hand, savoring your beauty~ Your lips left a mark on the rim~"

"Roses from the flower shop, whose name did I get wrong~ Love Confession Balloon, the wind blows it across the street, a smile flies through the sky~"

Old Zhou took off his headphones, tears welling in his eyes.

As someone who worked in the arts, Old Zhou had had a romantic episode of his own in Paris when he was young.

Back then, he had been a poor student. On the streets of Paris, he'd met a beautiful French woman.

They had almost gotten married.

But the woman's husband absolutely refused to agree.

And so Old Zhou's love affair abroad had quietly come to an end.

This song, "Love Confession Balloon," brought back memories of that long-buried past.

Wiping the tears from beneath his eyes, Old Zhou was still somewhat lost in his sadness.

"Mr. Lin Chuan, this song of yours is just so beautiful!

Huh? Mr. Lin?"

He looked up, only to find Lin Chuan already at the studio door, one foot out.

Hearing Old Zhou's voice, Lin Chuan turned around.

"Oh, I've got something to take care of. Just send me the song later."

Old Zhou wanted to say more, but Lin Chuan had already disappeared from view.

That morning, Lin Chuan received the master copy of "Love Confession Balloon."

He logged in to Weibo and Bika Net, ready to check his messages from netizens.

Then he found an unexpected surprise.

The hashtag "Balloon is like a plate of fresh brain" had made Weibo's trending list.

It was currently in eighth place.

Lin Chuan clicked on it.

Sure enough, the comments were full of netizens wailing in despair:

"After watching Balloon, I'm not okay at all. I thought it'd be a story about a balloon serial killer, but I never expected..."

"What a despairing world~"

"I really want to know where he got the inspiration!"

"I saw several people run out of the theater crying."

Lin Chuan found the jokey posts pretty amusing.

If they had the energy to post on Weibo, then their physical and mental health hadn't been affected.

That was a relief to Lin Chuan, and he was a little proud, too.

Getting an ordinary person to watch Balloon

was like tricking someone who thought they couldn't handle spicy food into trying hotpot in Chengdu.

It opened the door to a whole new world for ordinary people.

It even brought business to the local proctology hospitals. What a wonderful thing.

Besides, all I said on Weibo was that Balloon was a mildly scary animated movie.

Did I lie? No!

After all, adults were pretty resilient.

Thanks to Huayu Electric, Blue Star's Huaguo had a very comprehensive rating system.

Balloon was a Level 2 film, so minors couldn't even get into the theater to watch it.

Actually, it was much like certain snack-stall owners who thought their food contained additives, what people commonly called "science and technology with a ruthless touch."

Out of conscience, they chose not to sell to elementary school students, and instead set up shop outside a university. It was the same principle.

Of course, Balloon wasn't going to harm anyone's health.

After all, Balloon was only a movie.

In the eyes of college students, it might not even compare to the start of the school year.

Lin Chuan was sure there were plenty of horror fans who loved this kind of movie.

Lin Chuan posted "Love Confession Balloon" on Weibo and Bika Net.

He added the caption:

[Dear audience, we made a promotional song for Balloon called "Love Confession Balloon."

If you like it, come give it a listen!]

The post quickly received comments from netizens.

"Haha, was this song sung by Huimei?"

"Pretty good."

"I'm kind of afraid to click. What if it fits Balloon too well?"

"Hahaha, usually, people worry that a movie's soundtrack won't fit the film. Only people who've seen Balloon worry that it'll fit too well!"

"Lin Chuan, a singer held back by his directing career!"

"Love Confession Balloon" was an excellent song in its own right.

It had even made the annual hit-song charts back in the day.

On Earth, in the parallel universe of his previous life, the song had once taken the streets by storm.

And when "Love Confession Balloon" made its debut on Blue Star, it amazed a whole new batch of listeners.

"You say you're a little hard to get, hoping I'll back down because it's too hard~"

"The gift doesn't have to be the most expensive, just a fallen leaf from the Champs-Élysées~"

"Setting the scene for a romantic date, not afraid of messing it all up,

Having you means I have the whole world~"

Its fresh, carefree melody was catchy and easy to sing along to, playing on repeat on countless phones.

Not long after Lin Chuan posted on Weibo,

the hashtag "Balloon's promotional song, 'Love Confession Balloon'" also climbed to sixth place on the trending list.

It ranked one spot above "Balloon is like a plate of fresh brain," which was currently in seventh place.

Plenty of netizens who hadn't seen Balloon chimed in.

"It's so good. I've had it on repeat for half the day!"

"The intro is so catchy. It paints such a vivid picture!"

"I haven't heard such a lyrical rap in ages!"

"Anyone who's seen it, tell me—is Balloon any good? Summer vacation's almost over, and I'm planning to take my girlfriend."

"Our boss organized a team outing. We're all going to see Balloon this afternoon, and I want to know, too!"

"Why do people say Balloon is like a plate of fresh brain?"

To those who had seen Balloon,

the melody of "Love Confession Balloon" sounded completely different.

"Love Confession Balloon, the wind blows it across the street~"

"A smile flies through the sky~"

"You say you're a little hard to get, hoping I'll back down because it's too hard~"

Wasn't this the iconic scene in Balloon where a Head Balloon attacked its victim?

Once you pictured it, the eerie feeling was overwhelming.

All you could say was that Director Lin Chuan really understood dark humor.

But no one pointed it out.

Everyone tacitly chose to keep quiet.

You had to understand: the thing netizens loved doing most

was ripping up someone else's umbrella after getting rained on themselves.

When it came to doing mischief, none of them complained about the effort. One after another, they launched into promotional mode:

"Balloon is great! It's absolutely the most 'special' movie I've seen this year! Maybe even the most special one in ten years!"

"People who say Balloon is like brain probably really like eating brain, but they've forgotten not everyone enjoys it."

"I love brain. If you're brave enough to try it, you'll find it's actually pretty tasty."

"If you're a couple looking to get closer, Balloon really is a great choice!"

"Come to think of it, there is a steamy scene in Balloon. It's pretty romantic~"

"Friday team outing, a group trip to see Balloon. What kind of devil—uh, what kind of saintly boss is this? I'm so jealous!"

Egged on by these netizens, plenty of people who hadn't seen Balloon grew intensely curious about it.

One after another, they headed into the theaters.

And when they came out, they had all changed their tune.

They, too, recommended this "great movie," Balloon, to the people around them.

Balloon's theater occupancy rate had climbed to 86%, an absolutely terrifying figure.

The theaters also took the initiative to add more screenings of Balloon.

A week later, Balloon's opening-week box office numbers came in.

22.78 million!