Although An Puzhu's name sounded Korean, he was a genuine Huaguo native.
An was his surname.
The plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo were known as Huaguo's Four Gentlemen.
His parents had also hoped he would learn the virtues of bamboo: simplicity and resilience.
That was why they had named him An Puzhu.
Ordinarily, a routine copyright deal wouldn't have warranted the copyright department head's personal attention.
But Lin Chuan was different.
An Puzhu had watched Lin Chuan rise step by step, from an ordinary Bika Net Uploader to a director whose film had grossed over ten million.
In fact, An Puzhu had helped get The Spoon Killer Demon featured on Bika Net's homepage.
He had noticed the potential Lin Chuan showed in The Spoon Killer Demon and Hide-and-Seek.
He'd wanted to bring him on board early.
He hadn't expected Lin Chuan to rise so quickly.
Summer vacation wasn't even over yet.
Love Confession Balloon had taken the internet by storm. These days, all you had to do was open Weibo to see news about it.
Lin Chuan had gone from an unremarkable Bika Net user to a well-known Uploader, then to a promising director whose film had grossed over ten million in its first week.
It had taken him just over a month.
Every now and then, when An Puzhu checked his Moments, he saw friends posting their Love Confession Balloon ticket stubs.
Watching Love Confession Balloon seemed to have become a way to prove one's courage.
Its rating on review sites had even reached 8.7 at one point.
As everyone knew, horror films tended to get low scores on review sites.
For Love Confession Balloon to earn such a high score was proof of its quality.
Oh, and compared to its reputation and popularity,
Love Confession Balloon's box office was actually a little low.
But it was a hot topic!
The online exclusive rights to Love Confession Balloon had become a tempting prize.
The country's major video platforms were all eager to get their hands on it.
"Hello!"
Seeing how politely An Puzhu spoke, Lin Chuan didn't put on airs. He got straight to the point:
"I'd like to know what your company is offering."
An Puzhu smiled. "Bika Net is willing to pay five million for the exclusive domestic streaming rights to Love Confession Balloon!"
Five million?
Before discussing the deal with An Puzhu, Lin Chuan had naturally looked into the market.
Five million was about what it would cost to buy the exclusive rights to the hottest new anime of the month.
In other words, in Bika Net's eyes, Love Confession Balloon was on par with Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid.
It was already a generous offer.
Still, Lin Chuan hesitated. He had a feeling he could push the price a little higher.
An Puzhu had come to discuss the rights with Lin Chuan partly because he was a fan.
He'd been curious to see what the director behind Love Confession Balloon looked like in person.
Seeing Lin Chuan hesitate, An Puzhu took a small sip of coffee.
He smiled. "Director Lin, you look very young. You take great care of yourself."
As the head of Bika Net's copyright department, An Puzhu had dealt with plenty of directors and writers.
Since he was the buyer, he usually had the upper hand.
Even while Lin Chuan considered the offer, he had time to crack a joke.
Lin Chuan nodded. "Not bad. I wash my face every day, and I often use my roommate's body wash."
Halfway through the previous semester, Ren Hang had used up Lin Chuan's body wash.
To get back at him, Lin Chuan had started using Ren Hang's body wash every day.
Roommate?
An Puzhu picked up on the key word.
"You're still in college?" An Puzhu asked, his expression turning serious.
Lin Chuan nodded. "I'll be a sophomore when summer vacation ends."
Pfft! An Puzhu sprayed coffee all over the table.
Lin Chuan was speechless. Luckily, An Puzhu was sitting far enough away that none of it got on him.
Besides, Lin Chuan didn't understand why An Puzhu was so shocked.
Lin Chuan didn't look that old, after all!
An Puzhu was experiencing a jumble of emotions.
The moment he saw Lin Chuan, he knew he was a young director.
In An Puzhu's mind, Lin Chuan had probably graduated from college not long ago.
But Lin Chuan had just said he was about to start his sophomore year.
That was enough to shatter An Puzhu's confidence. His earlier sense of superiority vanished completely.
There was a world of difference between a director who made Love Confession Balloon before turning twenty and one who made it in his twenties.
An Puzhu made his decision at once. "Bika Net is willing to pay eight million for the exclusive online streaming rights to Love Confession Balloon.
"I just want to make a friend of you, Director Lin!"
Lin Chuan's target price had been six million. An Puzhu had gone straight to eight million, which was a bit above market value.
But Lin Chuan wasn't about to turn him down.
For some reason, Lin Chuan thought of a meme from his past life and raised his coffee cup.
"Great. Then, here's to our friendship!"
"Cheers!"
After seeing An Puzhu off, Lin Chuan welcomed another visitor who wanted to discuss rights with him.
This one was a representative from Penguin Music, there to discuss the rights to Love Confession Balloon.
First, Lin Chuan hadn't intended to make money from Love Confession Balloon. Otherwise, he wouldn't have posted it on Weibo for free.
Second, Bika Net had paid eight million for Love Confession Balloon's exclusive online streaming rights.
That gave Lin Chuan leverage.
He wasn't short of money anymore, so he naturally wasn't about to give in easily.
In the end, Lin Chuan reached an agreement with Penguin Music on a seventy-thirty revenue split.
That afternoon.
403, Building D8, Lotus Residential Area, Jianghai City.
In the living room, Lin Chuan was setting up a television.
With the eight million from Bika Net's copyright deal, plus the revenue-sharing agreement with Penguin Music,
Lin Chuan no longer had to worry about funding his next film.
He replaced all the old appliances at home with the latest models.
He'd originally wanted to get his parents a new house, but they refused, saying they'd lived in the old one for too long to want to move.
Their reason made sense.
Lin Chuan thought it over. Including his share of Love Confession Balloon's box office, he'd have nearly thirty million in income.
His next film was expected to cost five million.
If it flopped, he'd still have around twenty million left.
He'd wait until the next film came out before thinking about getting a new house.
For now, he'd focus on improving his family's quality of life.
If the film was a hit, he'd go all out and buy his parents a big villa!
Once the television was set up,
Lin Chuan sat down on the sofa and turned it on.
Jianghai City Television happened to be airing Golden Warrior, starring Ren Hang.
Golden Warrior had only recently premiered on television.
Its ratings had already topped four percent, breaking the viewership record for a tokusatsu drama.
It would probably surpass six percent sooner or later.
"Golden Warrior, combine!"
Watching Ren Hang, usually a jokester in real life, deliver such a ridiculous line with a straight face on TV,
Lin Chuan had to admit, it was pretty entertaining.
Lin Chuan noticed that terms related to Golden Warrior were also among the top ten trending topics on Weibo.
A lot of "grown-up kids" were watching Golden Warrior under the pretext of reliving their childhood.
And the actual children didn't need to be mentioned.
That morning, Lin Chuan had even seen the neighbor's child pestering his parents, refusing to let up until they bought him a Golden Warrior suit of armor.
Lin Chuan would never tell him
that there was already a Golden Warrior suit of armor in his own closet.
The director of Golden Warrior had learned that Lin Chuan was a big fan and had specially asked Ren Hang to give him one.
A month later, Love Confession Balloon left theaters.
Its total box office reached 80.79 million.
At the same time, Love Confession Balloon officially launched on Bika Net.
It even made the Bika Net homepage.
It got five million views on its first day.
Online, opinions about Love Confession Balloon were mixed.
Horror fans loved it.
Ordinary viewers who had come for Love Confession Balloon wanted nothing to do with it.
Still, the film had piqued everyone's curiosity.
They wanted to know what this movie that had become such a sensation online was actually about.
After all, people complained that Love Confession Balloon was scary, but nobody complained that its plot was bad.
Might as well pay for a premium membership and watch it on a computer, phone, or tablet.
For most movies, the viewing experience on a phone or tablet was nowhere near as good as in a theater.
Some 3D blockbusters could only deliver their awe-inspiring effect in theaters.
Without the immersive audiovisual experience or the atmosphere of a big theater,
those were Bika Net's drawbacks.
But with Love Confession Balloon, those drawbacks became advantages.
No immersive audiovisual experience?
That was exactly what I wanted. Do you know how terrifying an immersive theater experience can be?
I was worried that the Head Balloon would land right on my face!
No atmosphere?
That was great.
The theater atmosphere was so oppressive. My friend was too scared to even cry!
Soon, the first batch of victims arrived in the comments.
"That was so scary. I don't know why I kept watching, but it only hit me how terrifying it was after it ended!"
"I finally understand why people online got so scared they wet themselves watching Love Confession Balloon. But my bladder's about to burst, and now I'm afraid to go to the bathroom. What do I do?"
"Good thing I watched on my phone and tablet at the same time. I played Love Confession Balloon on the tablet and Golden Warrior on my phone! Whenever something scary came on, I just covered the tablet!"
Bika Net had not only bought the first-run streaming rights to Love Confession Balloon; it had also added the popular Golden Warrior to its site.
Quite a few viewers felt a deep sense of trust in Golden Warrior, the hero of their childhood.
They were sure their childhood hero would leap out and protect them if they were attacked.
"Haha, same here!"
"Me too!"
The comments section was full of people watching Love Confession Balloon while playing Golden Warrior at the same time.
They posted videos or pictures in the comments.
Some were watching on computers, some on phones, and some on tablets.
Quite a few people captured parts of their bedroom decor and surroundings as they filmed.
Some viewers clearly came from wealthy families, with lavishly furnished homes.
Others were from ordinary households, but their places were neat and tidy.
Some even filmed their own workstations.
The pictures made everything feel surprisingly relatable.
It felt like visiting an online friend's home through a picture and watching a horror movie together.
But it didn't take long for someone to notice something was off.
"Does anyone else think Golden Warrior looks strangely familiar?"
"Holy shit, I thought I was the only one!"
"Same here. You're not alone."
"Damn, isn't that the actor from Spoon Killer Demon?"
The moment someone said it, the viewers were stunned.
"No way. Those two roles are still pretty different."
"I remember the actor who played Spoon Killer Demon being a head taller than Golden Warrior!"
"Wait, they really do look a lot alike!"
Someone posted pictures of Spoon Killer Demon and Golden Warrior side by side in the comments.
After a careful comparison, the online sleuths cracked the case.
They were the same person!
Before you continue