Preview

At the film set, before anyone knew it, the sun was setting.

Director Hou, Ma Wei, and Xu Xiu had finished their scenes. The three of them gathered together to discuss what they'd learned during filming.

Director Hou spoke first:

"Lin Chuan's performance today really stunned me!"

Ma Wei nodded, still shaken, and said with a bitter smile:

"I'm even a little afraid of having him in my class now. It feels like there's nothing left I can teach him. He should be teaching me instead!"

With his hands clasped behind his back, Director Hou gazed into the distance and sighed, "The younger generation is truly formidable!"

Ma Wei made a smoking gesture too, his expression wistful.

"Yeah, the younger generation is truly formidable~"

Seeing how dejected the two of them looked, Xu Xiu almost laughed.

At the moment, Director Hou and Teacher Ma Wei were both still in costume.

Director Hou was wearing a floral shirt. He looked every bit like a greasy, lecherous Perverted Grandpa.

Teacher Ma Wei, meanwhile, was wearing a tight suit.

No matter how you looked at him, he didn't seem like an upstanding person.

And yet he was earnestly discussing such a serious topic.

Teacher Xu Xiu, who couldn't hold back a laugh to save her life, was having a miserable time trying not to crack up. Her face had turned bright red.

Their shadows stretched long beneath the setting sun.

"OK, cut!"

As Lin Chuan called cut, the day's filming finally came to an end.

The film crew members all relaxed, their expressions taking on the ease of people finally off work.

Though Happy Family was turning out well, making a movie was hard work.

With their tasks done, everyone felt a sense of relief.

Lin Chuan had noticed Director Hou, Ma Wei, and Xu Xiu gathering together earlier.

He naturally had no idea what the teachers were discussing.

Once filming wrapped, Lin Chuan stayed on set to edit the footage they'd shot over the past few days.

During that time, Senior Female Student invited Lin Chuan to go out for dinner.

She wanted to talk to him about the script.

She said she didn't think she'd fully grasped the script yet and wanted the director and screenwriter, Lin Chuan, to give her some pointers.

Lin Chuan reassured her that her understanding of the character was already excellent, more than enough for her to complete the performance.

After the time it took to drink six or seven cups of tea, Lin Chuan finally cut together a trailer.

The trailer was simple.

It was about a young man who attempted suicide but survived, only to discover by chance that he could see ghosts.

And those ghosts could possess him.

Then came the story of the young man's battle of wits with the ghosts.

Lin Chuan logged into Weibo and Bika Net and posted the trailer.

[Hello, dear viewers! I'm currently filming a new movie, Happy Family, and I've finished cutting together a trailer. If you'd like to watch it, come take a look.]

After some time for his following to grow, Lin Chuan now had more than two million fans combined on Weibo and Bika Net.

He could tell from the steady increase in his Stamina Value.

For every hundred thousand new fans, Lin Chuan's body automatically gained ten Stamina Value.

Now, after a full day of filming, Lin Chuan didn't feel tired in the slightest.

On the contrary, he was full of energy.

Anyone who didn't know better might have thought he'd been drinking Red Bull.

By the crate, at that.

After the trailer went up, lots of netizens came to watch.

At the start of the video, a young man with an ugly crying face stuffed sleeping pills into his mouth like candy.

Wee-oo, wee-oo~

An ambulance's siren sounded.

The young man was wheeled into the emergency room.

Then he spotted a smoking uncle sitting beside him.

He heard a nurse scolding, "No smoking in here!"

The young man jolted and realized the cigarette was in his own hand.

He broke down. That night, he discovered that four ghosts were following him.

There was a perverted grandpa who liked staring at nurses' butts.

Weeping Delicate Aunt.

Gluttonous Child.

And Useless Uncle, who loved smoking.

The male lead's head felt like it had swollen several sizes.

On the bus, the four ghosts piled onto the male lead's shoulders. He could barely bear their weight, but the people around him didn't notice a thing.

The ghosts joked and bickered with the young man.

They ate together, rode the bus, and teased the aunt next door who was hanging up her bedding.

Gradually, a smile appeared on the male lead's face.

At the end of the video, the man and the four ghosts sat side by side on the windowsill, happily eating a Giant Carp Candy Cake.

The trailer moved at a brisk pace, used bright colors, and featured lively, cheerful music.

The netizens' comments soon poured in:

"Is the new movie a comedy? It looks pretty funny!"

"Looks like the male lead tried to kill himself and got possessed by ghosts. He starts off resisting them, then eventually gets along with them like family."

"So this really is a 'feel-good movie' this time."

"That Perverted Grandpa looks so familiar~"

"The male lead's acting is seriously amazing."

"Hahahahaha, when I was a kid, I used to imagine I had an 'invisible friend' no one else could see. I can't believe Director Lin actually made a movie about it!"

"Excuse me, does your friend look exactly like you, and happen to be a balloon? Image attached.jpg"

"Hey, you above me, get lost!"

"Looks like such a fun movie. I can't wait! When's it coming out?"

As Lin Chuan scrolled through the viewers' comments, he couldn't help smiling.

Naturally, he was happy to see that viewers liked the trailer he'd put together.

Lin Chuan had sold the rights to Balloon alone for eight million.

The several million in box office dividends from the theaters hadn't even arrived yet.

Lin Chuan didn't have any particular desires, and several million would be more than enough for him.

Compared to financial rewards, the feeling of being supported and trusted by others was actually harder to resist.

After browsing Weibo for a while longer, Lin Chuan noticed that after he'd posted the trailer,

Wang Dong, Jiang Kui, Ren Hang, and Xiao Hei had all reposted it with promotional captions.

Their posts had gotten plenty of reposts and comments too.

Without even realizing it, he'd built himself a loyal following.

Just as he was about to log off Weibo, Lin Chuan noticed something.

The official Weibo account of Jianghai City Film Academy had reposted his trailer.

[Thumbs up, thumbs up, thumbs up! Director Lin Chuan's new movie is amazing. The trailer alone is full of surprises!]

Well, the tone was a little over the top.

The people running the school's official account were students from the school.

So it was no wonder they used the kind of tone you'd expect from a promotional account.

The official account's post was, more than anything, a sign of support from the school.

Sure enough, quite a few students from Jianghai City Film Academy had commented under the post.

"Whoa, the school's official account is promoting it too. Is Director Lin Chuan from the Director Department here at Jianghai?"

"I really like Director Lin's movies. I've been a fan since Spoon Killer Demon. I can't believe the school's Weibo account likes him too!"

"I graduated nine years ago, and this is the first time I've seen the school's official account recommend a movie!"

Perhaps to protect Lin Chuan's privacy,

the school's official account hadn't revealed that he was a second-year student in the Director Department, since Lin Chuan hadn't disclosed his identity himself.

But Lin Chuan had never intended to keep his identity secret.

So he simply replied to the school's official Weibo post.

[Haha, thanks to my alma mater for the recommendation. I'll do my best to make this movie!]

As soon as the post went up, it caught the attention of quite a few netizens:

"So Director Lin graduated from Jianghai University too?"

"So we're alumni! No wonder the school's official account reposted his trailer!"

"I remember Jianghai City Film Academy has produced quite a few directors. Director Lin is the first one the school's official account has promoted. Now that's impressive!"

Lin Chuan didn't see the netizens' comments.

By then, he'd already logged off Weibo.

Lin Chuan realized that it was already the fifteenth.

Normally, this was the day his parents sent him his living expenses.

But Lin Chuan had earned his first eight million over the summer.

So Lin Chuan opened the Loving Family Group Chat.

He sent his parents ten thousand yuan each in red envelopes.

Prosperity in Bloom and Peace Throughout the Four Seasons each replied with an emoji.

One said, "Thanks, boss! You're so generous!"

The other said, "Wishing you peace, happiness, and good health."

Imagining how happy his parents must be to receive the red envelopes, Lin Chuan felt very satisfied.

At the same time, he calculated in his head:

"If I send them twenty thousand a month, that's three hundred thousand a year. Add in the dividends from the theaters, and if I keep sending it for sixty years, I'll have given it all away."

"No, I still have to make money!"