2019 was the last gleam of glory for China's internet giants. ByteDance had yet to threaten their position, especially Goose Factory, which loomed across the country like a watchful Leviathan.
Goose Factory's interactive entertainment division held no lowly status within the company, with access to an enormous pool of resources.
But unfortunately, investment and returns in the film industry were not so directly linked. Goose Factory could only watch helplessly as Ali Pictures steadily produced one blockbuster a year, while it had no effective response.
The failure of its big-data analysis combined with film marketing models left Goose Factory's film division at a loss.
Actually, Kuala Lumpur Affairs had come about by coincidence. Before The Wandering Earth was released, they had heard through industry channels that the film was very good, so when making the final choice of director, they chose Guo Fan.
Goose Factory had expected The Wandering Earth to be a hit, but it had never imagined it would earn 4.6 billion at the box office.
Thus, after The Wandering Earth exploded in popularity, Goose Factory raised Kuala Lumpur Affairs's internal rating. After the finished film was screened internally, it was even given an S-tier score.
Chen Yuanguang's achievements were also quite an unexpected delight for Goose Factory.
Before the film's release, Goose Factory's publicity machine went into full gear. The Chinese public's admiration for academic high achievers further fueled the campaign.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Chen Yuanguang, and this is my Weibo. My science-fiction mystery novel Kuala Lumpur Affairs has been adapted into a film and will be released soon. Feel free to leave questions under my Weibo posts. Before the film comes out, I'll pick some every day to answer."
Under Goose Factory's arrangements, Chen Yuanguang's Sina Weibo account was verified and used for promotional buildup.
After major influencers reposted it, replies from netizens quickly surpassed ten thousand.
"As a research dog, what I most want to know is how you keep publishing in Nature?"
"Read more papers and think more. I don't have a better method than that."
"Scientist and writer are completely different paths. How would God of Light choose?"
"I'll probably balance both. Research will be my main focus, and I'll write in my spare time."
"I heard a Nobel Prize winner wanted you to do a PhD under him, but you turned him down. Is that true?"
Guo Wei had spread the story, since he had been present when Chen Yuanguang met with Levitt.
He had told his friends about it as a CD City rumor, and at first, no one believed him.
Only after Chen Yuanguang published his second Nature paper and Goose Factory promoted him on a massive scale did Guo Wei's friends believe it. Then their WeChat chat logs spread everywhere.
"Yes."
"Why turn down a Nobel Prize winner?"
In a public setting, Chen Yuanguang did not want to reveal his real reason. "Because I wasn't very interested in his research direction."
It was clear from the questions under the Weibo post that most people were more interested in Chen Yuanguang's research experience than in the film or his identity as a writer.
"God of Light, do you have a girlfriend?"
"Yes." Lin Jia pursed her lips, thought for a moment, then answered for him directly.
After it was verified, the Weibo account had essentially become a work account. Chen Yuanguang had barely used it before; he had registered it purely so he could browse Weibo.
So both he and Lin Jia used the account.
When Lin Jia saw that answer getting pushed to the top by likes, she instinctively answered for him. Afterward, she took a screenshot and sent it to Chen Yuanguang on WeChat.
"I answered yes for you. It'll ward off some unnecessary romantic attention."
Chen Yuanguang felt helpless when he saw it. She was even jealous over something like this. Still, after becoming famous, he really did receive plenty of spicy private messages from beautiful women in the Weibo backend. He just did not know whether they were stolen internet photos or the work of elite Photoshop skills.
"Feeling proud of yourself? Now that you're a famous person?" Lin Jia sounded somewhat displeased.
There was still some time before the movie's release, so this was essentially the warm-up period before it hit theaters.
The marketing events arranged for Chen Yuanguang had not even begun yet, while Jiang University's graduation ceremony was about to start. So Chen Yuanguang and Lin Jia both returned to River City.
He had not even given up the apartment he rented near Jiang University. He had kept it all this time.
Chen Yuanguang also wanted to find out who had left the Matrix helmet outside his door back then.
"I'm not proud. Where did you get the idea that I was thinking that?" Chen Yuanguang found it baffling.
Lin Jia's feelings were complicated. Honestly, if Chen Yuanguang had remained his original self, their relationship being more than friends would have been quite nice. Because of her father, she had never planned to marry in the first place.
But Chen Yuanguang had now risen more than one rung on the social ladder, and his limitless potential was obvious to the naked eye. Lin Jia was not sure whether Chen Yuanguang would still be willing to remain entangled with her and not marry anyone else.
Lin Jia explained, "It's not something I read from you. It's human nature.
"In modern society, fame is also a kind of social resource. Being able to command such a response, posting something on Weibo and getting thousands upon thousands of comments and likes—it must feel great, right?
"When Weibo first became popular, countless celebrities joined it because it fulfilled the need for recognition."
Chen Yuanguang thought for a moment. "I was only a little happy at first, and that happiness wasn't from achievement, but from novelty.
"I experienced many things I had never experienced before: having my work adapted, making a film, publishing in Nature, studying abroad, and so on. I was happy because my life had unlocked new achievements.
"Of course, becoming famous was also an experience, and it was not bad. Becoming a celebrity and having people respond to your every call online.
"But the thing is, I'd experienced all that before. When I updated on Qidian, I had around a hundred thousand readers and tens of thousands of paying users. It was the same kind of response. Whenever I updated, some people praised God of Light for writing well, while others cursed Light Dog for taking another leave.
"So I'd already enjoyed that feeling long ago."
Lin Jia stared steadily at Chen Yuanguang, and a smile spread over her face like an iceberg thawing. "All right. It seems I misunderstood you."
Lin Jia asked, "What do you think of the relationship between us?"
Chen Yuanguang more or less understood. Lin Jia was feeling insecure. "I think things are good as they are. In the future, we can continue like this—a relationship of friendship and cooperation."
Lin Jia asked again, "Just friends?"
Chen Yuanguang was helpless. "Sister Lin, didn't we try being together before? Wasn't it you who thought being together felt strange? Couples always break up, but friends can stay together forever, right? That's why we went back to being friends."
Lin Jia scratched her head. "That seems right. The problem is, if we're only friends, I can't stop you from having a girlfriend, but I don't want to see you have one."
Chen Yuanguang replied, "No problem. We can still maintain the kind of relationship we have now—more than friends, but not like a couple with no personal space. That's good. As for marriage, you fear it because of your family, and so do I."
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