Friday.
From early morning, Zhong Qianxue was already distracted.
The first time she watched Su Yan's work was during her freshman year of college. Back then, the online broadcast of 'Rurouni Kenshin' had brought her a heart-wrenching emotional experience that she still remembers vividly.
Now, more than a year had passed since she graduated.
She had gone through the triple blows of life, work, and a breakup.
But even so, she hadn't missed a single one of Su Yan's works.
After watching '5 Centimeters per Second' last month, it took her more than half a month just to adjust her mood.
And today…
Starting from the afternoon, her thoughts were already completely focused on the movie premiering at 8 PM tonight.
At six o'clock, the company got out of work on time. After leaving the office, she ate dinner alone, took a walk until 7:30, and then arrived at the cinema where she had booked her ticket.
The moment she entered—
It was a sea of people.
Cinemas in big cities were always like this, especially now that it was the tail end of summer vacation. Many students cherished this once-every-half-year long break and flocked to theaters to watch movies.
Normally speaking, students wouldn't be particularly interested in Su Yan's emotionally devastating romance films. A fantasy blockbuster like 'Immortal Mountain' should be more their style.
But in reality, among the people lining up to buy tickets, the number choosing '5 Centimeters per Second' was actually quite high.
Though this situation was understandable.
Most moviegoers simply watched whatever the market advertised to them.
Su Yan was extremely famous, and the influence of '5 Centimeters per Second' was still lingering. Moreover, on its premiere day, 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' occupied the center display position in the lobbies of most theaters.
The film also had the highest screening allocation today—
21%.
Its two competitors had slightly less: 'Immortal Mountain' at 20%, and 'The Truth' at 17%.
This was the result of marketing strategies, promotional campaigns, and the predictions made by theater chains about market trends before release.
Everyone was optimistic about Su Yan and his new movie.
That was why 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' received such a high opening-day screening share.
And all of this would influence audience choices.
If today's seat occupancy, word-of-mouth, and box office numbers for 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' were strong, then tomorrow, theaters across the Xia Nation would adjust screening schedules again based on today's data.
As time slowly passed, Zhong Qianxue's emotions gradually rose.
Inside the theater hall, Su Yan's fans were also becoming more active, frequently checking the time on their watches.
Then, following the announcement, everyone lined up and entered the screening room.
After taking her seat, Zhong Qianxue glanced around the audience.
One-third of couples.
One-third of students.
And the remaining third were single people like her.
Nearly 70% of the seats in the theater were filled.
"What a bunch of people who just won't learn," Zhong Qianxue muttered with a smile.
As a fan of Su Yan, she was naturally happy to see so many people supporting his new movie.
But after '5 Centimeters per Second' came out last month, many couples ended up arguing after watching it.
And yet this month, so many couples still dared to come watch.
That was pure bravery.
Don't be fooled by how warm and sweet the trailer for 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' looked.
Zhong Qianxue absolutely did not believe this movie would have a happy ending.
While she was thinking about this, advertisements began playing on the cinema screen.
Some were local real estate ads.
Others were trailers for films releasing in the coming months.
Among them—
A familiar scene appeared.
A messy mountain path.
A woman wearing a kimono had fallen onto the road.
And standing before her was a man holding a long sword, his expression cold and ruthless.
Zhong Qianxue didn't recognize the man.
But the woman—
Shen Liqian.
If Shen Liqian were there, then what movie could this trailer possibly belong to?
The words 'Rurouni Kenshin' immediately surfaced in Zhong Qianxue's mind.
Her heart tightened.
Inside the theater, many Su Yan fans realized it too and instantly gasped.
["'Rurouni Kenshin'."]
["Damn, this visual quality is a hundred times better than the TV drama version!"]
["Is Shen Liqian the female lead?"]
["Awesome…"]
["Where's Kenshin?"]
"Go to hell," the man said in a low voice.
He swung his sword down without hesitation.
At that moment, the camera angle shifted—pulling upward and outward.
A man dressed in red leapt down from above.
No wires.
No special effects.
A real, continuous rolling motion shot in one take as he slipped beneath the sword and saved the woman.
The man lifted his head.
Beneath his hair was a handsome face—
And the cross-shaped scar on his cheek.
And…
For the first time, something viewers had never seen in the TV version—
Himura Kenshin's smile.
['Rurouni Kenshin' — Nationwide Release on February 6]
It was only a ten-second teaser released half a year in advance.
But it was so cool that the entire theater was stunned.
Zhong Qianxue nearly cheered out loud.
Awesome!
Himura Kenshin was truly the role that suited Su Yan the most.
It was also the beginning of her love for Su Yan's works.
But—
There was no time to think further.
The theater lights dimmed.
'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' began.
The opening scene was inside a café.
Two couples sitting at neighboring tables were observing a third couple sitting at another table and began making predictions.
Among the two couples, the man from the left table and the woman from the right table had their backs to each other.
Neither noticed the other behind them.
Both were looking at the couple at the third table.
That couple was sharing a pair of earphones, each wearing one side while listening to something.
"Those two people don't actually like music," the man said to his girlfriend.
"Music isn't mono—it's stereo. When you listen with headphones, the left and right sides are different. If you only wear one earphone, it's basically a different song."
"Just like a sandwich. If you eat the bacon and lettuce separately, is it still a sandwich? If two people eat pork cutlet rice, one eating the rice and the other eating the cutlet—can that still count as both eating pork cutlet rice?"
"Even if they want to listen to the same song, what they actually hear is different."
Behind him, the woman at the other table looked at her boyfriend and began discussing the same topic.
"Huh?"
Zhong Qianxue blinked in confusion.
There's such a theory?
Come to think of it, she had done something similar with her ex-boyfriend.
Sharing earphones—one each.
According to these two people's logic, they were actually listening to completely different songs.
And…
Why was this scene so interesting?
Even though the man and woman were explaining the issue to their own partners—
It somehow felt like their partners didn't understand at all.
Instead, it seemed like the two people sitting back-to-back understood each other perfectly.
As the scene continued, their dialogue even connected seamlessly through editing.
Zhong Qianxue couldn't help but smile.
[Why don't you two just break up with your partners and date each other already?]
The two became increasingly irritated.
In the end, they couldn't stand the third couple's misunderstanding—thinking they were enjoying the same music together when they were actually hearing different things.
Both of them stood up at the same time, intending to correct that couple's behavior.
The sound of their chairs moving simultaneously caught each other's attention.
The man and woman turned their heads.
Their eyes met.
Their expressions instantly became complicated and subtle.
Then—
Like children who had done something wrong—
They quietly sat back down and nervously continued chatting with their own partners about other topics.
These two definitely knew each other.
They were just pretending they didn't.
Zhong Qianxue blinked.
For some reason…
From the very beginning, the movie already felt a little sad.
The scene shifted to Shen Liqian's character, Hachiya Kinu.
The narration began by introducing her identity.
Along with certain laws of life that Zhong Qianxue is deeply related to.
"If toast falls to the ground, it will always land on the buttered side. That's the only thing that makes the world feel real."
Real indeed.
The narration continued, revealing more about the woman.
She was a ramen review blogger who had gained some popularity online because of her hobby.
A female college student is about to graduate and start job hunting.
A quiet girl with a gentle personality—but with a rich inner emotional world.
Polite on the surface, yet secretly complaining in her heart when a male friend suggested going to a barbecue restaurant while she was wearing a sweater.
A cute girl full of inner monologue.
Then—
That male friend met an even cuter girl midway and left her to go home alone.
She missed the last train and had no choice but to spend the night in an internet café.
Unlucky…
But Zhong Qianxue immediately felt immersed.
The perspective switched to the male protagonist.
A man with a similar personality.
Quiet on the surface, but constantly complaining internally about the absurdities around him.
Both of them adapted themselves to the people around them.
Socializing.
Life.
Job hunting.
And then—
Walking home exhausted, complaining endlessly in their minds.
Zhong Qianxue felt the same way at her own company.
In her mind, she had complained about her boss hundreds of times.
But every time she saw him, she still had to smile politely.
The two protagonists didn't know each other—
Yet their lifestyles and habits were astonishingly similar.
They even managed to miss the same exhibition on the same day.
Then one night, they both ran into the subway station from opposite sides of the street, trying to catch the last train home—
And collapsed together at the ticket gate.
By this point, Zhong Qianxue was already smiling like an aunt watching a romance drama.
Although…
This introduction of the male and female leads was actually pretty sweet.
Wasn't this the true meaning of having the same life rhythm?
Two strangers whose habits and interests were astonishingly alike.
Missing the same exhibition on the same day was one thing.
But missing the last train on the same night, too?
Of course, they weren't the only ones who missed the last train.
Another man and a woman had also missed it.
So the four strangers suggested hanging out somewhere together to pass the night until the first train the next morning.
Well…
This was definitely a difference between people from Sakura Island and those from the mainland.
Strangers could casually meet up for a meal because of something like this.
From here on, the film officially entered the main storyline.
In the original version of the movie, the four met the famous Sakura Island director Mamoru Oshii in a small bar.
The male and female leads were shocked that the other two people—who worked in related fields—didn't even recognize such a legendary figure sitting right in front of them.
But in the Xia Nation version—
Mamoru Oshii's cameo was replaced by Su Yan.
The male lead, Yamane Mugi, and the female lead, Hachiya Kinu, encountered none other than Su Yan himself in the bar.
Su Yan's cameo was very brief.
But when Su Yan appeared as "Su Yan" himself, alongside Shinozaki Ikumi—his golden partner in the television industry—
Zhong Qianxue and many people in the theater gasped softly.
[You can do that?!]
[Su—]
No wonder Su Yan had said he didn't play any character in this movie.
In this film—
He was simply himself.
Was this a little Easter egg?