Monkey King: Hero Is Back made only eighteen million on its opening day.

The number was that low because Forever Young, Tiny Times 4 and Jian Bing Man had all opened around the same time. Those films were packed with stars, brought their own traffic with them without even trying, and had rich production companies behind them, so they had done their homework on marketing and distribution too.

With all that going on, Monkey King: Hero Is Back got only nine percent of the screenings on its opening day, and even if every showing had sold out the box office still wouldn't have come to much.

But Xu Ye wasn't worried. He knew perfectly well what was coming. This homegrown Chinese animated film had a solid reputation behind it, and audiences would pass the word along. Over the weeks ahead the box office would climb instead of falling, and the final total would come within a hair of a billion.

After the movie Xu Ye drove Chen Qingqing and her parents back to Red Leaf Estate. He was about to turn the car around and head home when Jiang Meilin made him stay.

Xu Ye went into the living room, sat down, and called Zhang Xinzhou, telling him to keep a close eye on how Monkey King: Hero Is Back was doing at the box office.

Zhang Xinzhou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Even if you hadn't called me I'd have been watching it anyway. The company only has the one project right now. How could I not take it seriously?"

Xu Ye thought about it and had to agree. The people at the company were bound to be more anxious about it than he was — after all, they had no idea what the film's final box office would be.

He hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. Chen Hansong was sitting beside him, making a show of looking at his own phone. Jiang Meilin had gone into the kitchen, busy with something or other. Chen Qingqing had taken Wang Yuxin upstairs — who…