"We barely talk anymore."
"We don't even argue."
"There's no emotion left."
"I don't even know how to bring up breaking up… we've been together for so long. It's like changing phones."
"I don't know which page lets you cancel the contract."
"I don't want to break up. If we cancel now, I'll regret it."
"But even so, after this wedding banquet ends today, I'll break up with her."
"...I'll break up with him."
"But precisely because it's the end… during this final stretch before we break up, I want to keep smiling."
"But precisely because it's the end… during this final stretch before we break up, I want to keep smiling."
After Hachiya Kinu and Yamane Mugi finished saying these words to the friends beside them, they both looked up toward the person they had loved for years, standing on the opposite side of the staircase.
They smiled at each other.
Just as brightly as when they first met.
Zhong Qianxue's eyes turned slightly red.
Inside the cinema, some viewers with lower tolerance for sad scenes had already started sniffling.
As the camera kept switching perspectives, even though the male and female leads were speaking to their own friends beside them, the topics of their conversations were identical.
Their friends didn't say a single word.
Yet the two of them were able to perfectly answer each other's thoughts from beginning to end.
Even at the moment of breaking up, their understanding of each other remained flawless.
After the wedding ended, the two of them went together to a nearby Ferris wheel and looked out over Tokyo's night scenery.
Just like the first day they met, they went to karaoke.
There was no conflict.
From beginning to end, they kept smiling, their eyes still filled with each other.
Then, after leaving the karaoke place, they simultaneously suggested finding somewhere to sit for a while.
They returned to the same restaurant where they had once confessed their love.
The male lead's eyes were red, his emotions barely under control.
Both of them knew what the other wanted to say.
Yamane Mugi wanted to avoid it.
But Hachiya Kinu wouldn't let him.
Zhong Qianxue didn't even dare blink as she watched the scene unfold.
A deep sadness rose in her heart.
In truth—
These two still loved each other.
But at some point, their pursuits had become different.
They understood what the other was thinking, yet could no longer agree with what the other wanted.
At the end of this conversation, Yamane Mugi tried one last time to keep Hachiya Kinu.
He proposed marriage again.
Even if they were no longer as perfectly in sync as before—
Even if they no longer shared the same understanding—
Perhaps after getting married and becoming a family, those things wouldn't matter anymore.
But at that moment, another couple arrived at the table beside them.
A couple just like they had been five years ago.
Two people who understood each other perfectly.
Looking at the other person—
Like looking at themselves.
Watching the protagonists in the film, Zhong Qianxue suddenly felt like she was seeing herself.
When Hachiya Kinu and Yamane Mugi began crying as they looked at the couple at the neighboring table—
Zhong Qianxue could no longer hold it in either.
They finally broke up.
Yamane Mugi understood that there was no saving it anymore.
The film then began showing scenes from the time after their breakup.
They laughed happily like friends.
Playing games together.
Talking once again about topics they used to enjoy.
Then the camera returned to the opening scene.
That café.
The moment when the male and female leads had both stood up to correct the couple sharing earphones, only to retreat after seeing each other.
Now—
A long time had passed since their breakup.
They didn't acknowledge each other.
But as they left the café, the shot of them standing back-to-back, smiling and waving goodbye—
Made Zhong Qianxue's vision blur with tears.
The background music began.
The once-dark cinema hall slowly lit up from the lights above.
While Zhong Qianxue was still in a daze, the ending theme started playing.
For nearly half a minute, the entire theater was silent.
People sat quietly in their seats.
No one knew what they were thinking.
It wasn't like '5 Centimeters per Second', which left people feeling devastated the moment it ended.
The ending of 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' made Zhong Qianxue feel as if her heart had been hollowed out.
She had indeed predicted the movie would be tragic.
But predicting it didn't mean she could endure it.
The story itself was simple.
Yet by shaping two such characters, the film pulled every viewer directly into their perspective.
Walking out of the theater feeling empty, Zhong Qianxue saw the cinema lobby packed with people.
Couples were smiling as they lined up alongside Su Yan fans, waiting to enter the next screening of 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet'.
"Go ahead and laugh while you can," Zhong Qianxue muttered, clenching her fist.
"You won't be laughing two hours later."
She initially planned to go straight home.
But after walking out of the lobby, she paused.
The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she felt.
So she returned to the ticket counter and bought another ticket for the next available showing of 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet'.
She wasn't going home.
Even though the film was hard to watch—
She was going to watch it a second time.
There were many details she hadn't fully understood during the first viewing.
And it wouldn't stop at just a second viewing.
Later tonight, she planned to write a review post about it on the forum.
She knew exactly what state she was in.
It had taken her half a month to recover from the story of '5 Centimeters per Second'.
And now—
She had once again fallen into another of Su Yan's films.
At midnight, August 20th ended.
The date changed to August 21st.
Soon after, major cinema chains released the box office data for the day's films.
'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' — 91 million opening-day box office.
'Immortal Mountain' — 84 million opening day.
'The Truth' — 79 million opening day.
The three films were extremely close in their box office performance.
But that night, the difference in online discussion between the three films was enormous.
'Immortal Mountain', being a visual-effects blockbuster, benefited from audiences' tolerance.
Most viewers simply wanted to watch spectacle and action.
If the story was weaker, it didn't matter much.
But 'The Truth', being a detective film, was a different matter.
Even though its box office was strong, mystery fans harshly criticized its plot.
Mystery films were notoriously difficult to write.
Any small flaw would immediately be spotted by enthusiasts.
That was why most mystery films in the Xia Nation were pseudo-mysteries—focusing more on pacing and viewing experience than strict logical storytelling.
As for 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet'—
Its situation was… complicated.
Across major websites, waves of criticism directed at Su Yan appeared again.
["Su Yan, you truly never disappoint when it comes to disappointing people."]
["Last month I took my girlfriend to watch '5 Centimeters per Second,' and she didn't react much. I thought our love was real. Tonight I proudly took her to watch 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet'… and now she's depressed."]
["This one hurts even more than '5 Centimeters per Second'. That movie was about long-distance love over many years, so I could somewhat accept the ending. But this one… what exactly is Su Yan trying to say? Even a couple like this doesn't deserve a good ending in his mind?"]
["A couple who confessed in perfect sync and even decided to break up on the same day… and they still couldn't stay together. Does this guy believe in love at all?"]
["In his TV dramas, he could at least make alternate 'What if' endings to comfort fans. Now he's completely showing his true nature. Pure emotional devastation from start to finish!"]
["Su Yan, can't you make a normal movie for once?!"]
["Honestly, there's no point complaining. Anyone going into the theater should've been mentally prepared for this kind of ending."]
["I prepared myself mentally, but I still cried my eyes out in the cinema."]
["Same here. I prepare myself for every one of Su Yan's works, but I still can't handle it!"]
["That's why there's only one Su Yan in the Xia Nation. Everyone knows he's about to emotionally destroy them again, but you still can't watch his works without crying."]
["'5 Centimeters per Second' told us time and distance can erase the most passionate love. 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' tells us that even the person who understands you the most might not be able to walk with you forever. The answer is obvious—this guy has never believed in love."]
["Of course, he doesn't believe in love. If he did, would he still be single now?"]
["After tonight, I'm sure of one thing. If I ever see Su Yan create a movie that isn't emotionally devastating, I'll eat—"]
On the fan forums, all that resentment transformed into massive amounts of emotional points flowing into Su Yan's system.
After the box office miracle of '5 Centimeters per Second' the previous month, the Xia Nation media didn't dare speak recklessly anymore.
Those fans might be angrily scolding Su Yan online right now—
But there was no doubt that they had given 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' extremely high ratings.
After all, just like when '5 Centimeters per Second' premiered—
They were cursing Su Yan, not the film itself.
Sure enough.
The next morning, the ratings for the three films were released.
'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' — 9.2
'Immortal Mountain' — 8.0
'The Truth' — 7.5
The reactions from major theater chains on Saturday were almost identical to what had happened with '5 Centimeters per Second' the previous month.
Once the data came in—
Seeing that 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' ranked first in attendance, word-of-mouth, and box office—
Increasing its screening share became the unanimous choice.
Although many media outlets had predicted this before the film's release—
Since it already had the highest screening share beforehand, the market clearly had the most confidence in Su Yan.
But the box office trend was eerily similar to what had happened with '5 Centimeters per Second' last month.
One major Xia Nation media outlet published an article at noon:
📰'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet' explodes with both word-of-mouth and box office on its opening day! The summer box office champion is almost certain. Su Yan may even claim both the first and second place in this year's summer box office rankings."
This article left many people in the Xia Nation film industry feeling extremely uncomfortable.
But the media wasn't exaggerating.
If no film during this release window managed to surpass '5 Centimeters per Second', then that movie would remain the summer box office champion.
But the funniest part was—
There actually was a film that looked capable of surpassing it.
Except that film…
It was also directed by Su Yan.
It was 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet'.
At this point—
Was there even any suspense left?
That afternoon, movie media outlets and critics across the internet began flooding the web with reports about Su Yan and 'We Made a Beautiful Bouquet'.
This was already his third film.
One or two successful films might be attributed to luck.
But three films in a row achieving both high ratings and high box office—
Now, Su Yan's reputation among Xia Nation movie fans had truly exploded.
Even the 'Rurouni Kenshin' movie, scheduled to release in six months, began rapidly gaining attention.
Large numbers of casual movie fans started searching online for information about Su Yan's previous works.