Chapter 134: I Won't Stop Until I Knock Your Underwear Clean Off (Please Subscribe)

A month passed by swiftly.

During this time, Su Mu spent his days either filming or honing his skills on set. Occasionally, he would check on the box office progress, though it seemed those around him were far more anxious. Especially Zhang Huaimou, Zheng Quan, Zhao Zhouming, and Yu Hong, who messaged him daily, eager to know Su Mu’s next move.

In truth, these few were the ones who understood Su Mu’s abilities best. After all, they had been the earliest to work with him and had benefited from it. Whether it was casting Su Mu in roles or purchasing scripts he wrote, it was always a guaranteed win.

This time, the competition between him and Lin Haoming was almost a certainty in their minds—Su Mu was likely to come out on top. Their confidence was based on their intimate knowledge of Su Mu’s talent.

If it were any other project, it might not matter so much, but box office success was tied directly to money. And when it came to money, Su Mu would never back down. If he didn’t completely outshine Lin Haoming, it wouldn’t feel like a proper victory.

So just imagine: what kind of film could possibly trample over a work by Dong Xuefei? It had to be a great script. This was something Su Mu could deliver—he had the talent to write such screenplays, as evidenced by his previous work on scripts like "Joy of Life" and "Son-in-Law."

That was why Zhang Huaimou, Zheng Quan, and the others felt that if they could invest in this project, it would be a huge payday. But if they missed the chance to get on board, they might lose sleep over it for the entire year.

…

March arrived, marking the end of the Lunar New Year film season.

The final box office results were released, surprising many: Lin Haoming’s "Love Requiem" skyrocketed in the last few weeks, ultimately surpassing the others. It became the top-grossing film of the season and shattered his previous record of 400 million yuan.

1. "Love Requiem" – 503 million yuan
2. "Chaos in Donglin" – 490 million yuan
3. "Millennium" – 270 million yuan
4. …
5. …

As expected, the top three were dominated by a few renowned directors. The remaining films barely reached tens of millions in box office receipts and attracted little attention.

The film market was inherently ruthless. With multiple releases competing simultaneously, audiences naturally made choices. Therefore, the ability to draw viewers during the same period was a crucial factor.

In the second week, the box office numbers of the top films were quite close. But ultimately, the allocation of screening times by the cinema chain gave "Love Requiem" a slight edge, pushing it over the 500 million mark.

Regardless of any behind-the-scenes maneuvering, crossing the 500 million yuan threshold was a significant achievement. The movie-going environment in the mainland had improved, leading to generally higher box office figures.

Once, tens of millions was considered impressive; now, surpassing 100 million had become commonplace.

Yet, pushing beyond that was still challenging. A 500 million yuan box office was not particularly high in the grand market context and didn’t rank among the top. But given the subject matter and production costs, it was undeniably a big win.

Meanwhile, Lin Haoming’s 500 million yuan record was a personal best, propelling him onto trending searches. His fans, who had been suppressed for months, finally had cause to celebrate.

Comments flooded in, some dredging up old grudges, others mocking:

“Lin Haoming’s 500 million! He’s set a new personal record. Someone’s probably feeling the heat…”

“I told you Haoming would come through this year. Dong Xuefei’s scripts have always been a guarantee for good reception!”

“I just want to know, what does Su Mu have to compete with ‘Love Requiem’?”

“Haha, Haoming’s box office hit 500 million. How will the Su Mu fans respond?”

“Su Mu’s good, but he entered the film market too late. Maybe in a couple of years he can surpass Lin Haoming, but this year was too rushed. I think he’s going to lose.”

“He’s supposed to be ‘undefeated in six years,’ right? I want to see how he explains this loss.”

Fans online were sharp in their words. The tension that had been held back because of Su Mu’s rising popularity now exploded all at once.

One had to admit, Lin Haoming truly delivered this time—his acting was solid. Plus, Dong Xuefei’s script was her own adaptation, with a built-in audience, ensuring a decent reputation.

This gave everyone great confidence.

Even Lin Haoming himself was now certain that Su Mu had no chance of surpassing him.

The industry was small, and this year, any script seeking a cast was common knowledge. Unknown projects didn’t warrant attention, and well-known scripts rarely matched Dong Xuefei’s quality.

Most crucially, no production team had sent Su Mu an offer so far.

Under such circumstances, how could he possibly win?

“He can’t beat you, haha,” Huang Wenshan said with a smile inside the Fengjun Entertainment office, seemingly enjoying the happiest day in months.

Lin Haoming wore a proud smile, fully accepting Huang’s words. In truth, he was even more excited inside. Breaking his box office record was every actor’s dream come true.

If he could secure a decisive victory this time, the upcoming big-budget production would have one less competitor.

“Mr. Huang, thanks to you. Luckily, you pulled some strings to get us extra screenings at the cinema chain. That’s how we broke through,” Lin Haoming said.

Huang Wenshan patted him with satisfaction: “Haoming, you did great. If you didn’t have the talent, even with my help, we wouldn’t have achieved this. Five hundred million is impressive—remember, Gu An and Wu Dongsheng didn’t reach that level.

“In recent years, only major investments with star-studded casts can achieve such high box office numbers. You’re the only notable actor in this film, which indirectly proves your box office appeal!

“Just wait: the next few years will be the real rise of your career. Keep working hard; aim to break the one billion mark!”

Lin Haoming was deeply moved, almost wanting to throw a celebration with Huang Wenshan immediately. But he forced a modest smile and said with pretended reluctance, “I thought this time I’d have some real competition from Su Mu, but with five hundred million at the box office, there’s no pressure now.

“Honestly, Su Mu is just a newcomer to the film market. He picked the wrong opponent. I hope he doesn’t lose too embarrassingly—otherwise, the netizens will say I bullied him.”

Huang Wenshan chuckled: “I bet he’s already starting to feel anxious.”

…

At this moment, Su Mu was comfortably lounging on a hotel sofa. With only a few scenes today, he finished early. He glanced at his phone, analyzing how to proceed.

Facing such a rival, he preferred to play the cards he already held. There were no reliable offers from production teams yet, and even if there were, they wouldn’t be as solid as the scripts he already possessed.

Aside from television scripts, he had four film scripts in hand: "Hello Mr. Billionaire," "Goodbye Mr. Loser," "Ip Man," and "Twelve Citizens."

The last two were obviously ill-suited for the Lunar New Year season. "Twelve Citizens," obviously, needed no further explanation. As for "Ip Man," to portray that role well, he would need to train in Wing Chun, and time-wise, it wouldn’t be as effective as the first two comedies.

Su Mu recalled that those two films were box office dark horses in their respective years, with small budgets but astronomical returns.

Both had investments around 20 to 30 million yuan.

In the first year, "Goodbye Mr. Loser" shocked everyone with a 1.4 billion yuan box office.

The following year, "Hello Mr. Billionaire" stepped up another level, soaring past 2 billion yuan.

Countless iconic lines from these films were widely shared, making them some of the most successful comedies of those years.

If Lin Haoming’s five hundred million was impressive, then "Goodbye Mr. Loser" could easily crush him, utterly dominating the box office.

It was like using a sledgehammer to kill a chicken—a 1.4 billion yuan box office was more than enough.

Of course, Su Mu had no idea that Lin Haoming was already ready to hold a victory banquet.

If he had known, perhaps they could have filmed both projects simultaneously and truly revitalized the Lunar New Year film season.

[Su Mu’s Pricing Group Chat]

Su Mu: (clears throat)

Liu Qiangxi: ?

Li Rong: ?

Su Mu: No one’s here? It’s okay, I just wrote a script out of boredom these past few days. I want to ask how to proceed if we decide to film it…

Zheng Quan: Wait!!!

Yu Hong: What’s going on?

Zhao Zhouming: Hurry! Send it over!

Zhang Huaimou: Have you settled on the theme?

Su Mu: Hmm…

PS: Wow! Thanks so much for your votes and support! Sorry for the delay—I only finished writing at 2 a.m… o(╥﹏╥)o I really appreciate your kindness. I see many monthly votes; starting tomorrow, I promise to write 10,000 words daily. If I can’t, please don’t hesitate to call me useless… By the way, I set up the group number; you should be able to join by clicking, but if you can’t see it, refresh. It’s late, so I’ll stop here… Thanks again!

(The End of This Chapter)