As time passed, by the end of January, Jing Yu's company's promotional campaign for 'Spirited Away' had become nothing short of lavish.
Given that Jing Yu's past works had frequently returned profits of 300% or even 400%, the distribution companies working with him were willing to spend big. As distributors, they were responsible for a significant portion of the promotional expenses — otherwise, how could they justify taking a third of the revenue?
Building on that, Jing Yu personally collaborated with cinema chains to buy ad space, premium promotional slots, and even launched ticket subsidies together with the theaters.
His goal was singular: dominate the Spring Festival box office.
For Jing Yu's fans across Great Zhou, their anticipation soared to extreme heights along with the promotional push for 'Spirited Away'.
First, Jing Yu had barely appeared in any projects over the past two years — a calculated decision.
After all, acting in someone else's work wasn't as profitable as writing a few more scripts himself.
Second, his last film, 'Castle in the Sky', had broken the 5-billion-yuan mark, eventually extending its release and ending up screening for three months. It ultimately ranked fifth in Great Zhou's box office history.
That being said, the box office landscape in Great Zhou was relatively flat — 'Castle in the Sky' earned 5.1 billion and was fifth, while the all-time highest-grossing film earned only 6.03 billion. The gap was small.
Now, with Jing Yu returning to star in a film after two years — and marketing campaigns openly hinting that this movie aimed to take the top spot — fans started promoting it online a full week before release.
"February 1 — I've already bought tickets for my entire family. Don't let me down, Old Thief!"
"I even invited my girlfriend and her parents to watch. Officially, it's for the New Year; truthfully, it's to boost the box office for Old Thief."
"Absolute support. This man accompanied my entire youth, from middle school to college; I never missed a single one of his works. I booked tickets for 10 AM, 2 PM, and 8 PM. Three viewings in one day!"
"Bro, that's wild. The movie is two hours long — six hours in one day? Can your brain take it?"
"Don't underestimate Old Thief. I did the same for 'Castle in the Sky' back when it was released. And now, the music box version of its theme is still my go-to sleep music."
"Judging by the trailer, the music in 'Spirited Away' is high-quality again. Maybe we'll get another theme song on par with 'Castle in the Sky'."
"Relax. This time, Old Thief is starring, screenwriting, composing the music, and producing. The higher the 'Jing content', the better the product. When he only writes the script, the plot's great, but visuals and music are mid. But when it's a big-budget project he's hands-on with — just shout '66' at the premiere and call it a day."
"Agreed. Even when Old Thief's projects have flaws — like how 'Attack on Titan' ended too abruptly — they still never feel like failures. Just like they could've been even better."
"He's already crowned on TV. Now it's time for the movie industry. Let's make this Spring Festival his coronation. Ten years of fandom — let's go!"
By January 27, fans nationwide were spontaneously mobilizing — posting on social media, forums, and chat groups, all aiming to help 'Spirited Away' break records.
The production companies behind the other twelve Spring Festival releases were shaking in their boots.
"Jing Yu's fans are insane."
"They get this excited just to give him money in a movie theater? Meanwhile, our lead actors' fans are still complaining about the trailers being unappealing, and Jing Yu's fans are arguing about whether watching the movie four times in one day will exhaust them."
This kind of frenzy had never been seen before in Great Zhou. But to Jing Yu, it was familiar.
In his previous life, during one Spring Festival, a certain actor Zhou's film launched with a similar outpouring of fan support — people saying they watched pirated versions for years and now owed him a real ticket.
That year, Zhou's film became the box office champion in Chinese history.
Although in hindsight, that film had several flaws and didn't live up to the hype, reputation always lags, while box office is instant.
Watching his fans promote the movie so passionately online left Jing Yu a little moved.
He hadn't realized just how high his status had climbed among his followers. Even though they called him "Old Thief" nonstop, the passion was real — and powerful.
When 'Spirited Away' presales opened the next day, they exploded.
In just half a day, the first-day presale surpassed 150 million yuan.
After 24 hours, it had broken 200 million.
The Great Zhou media collectively gasped.
[As of press time, Jing Yu's new film 'Spirited Away' has reached 210 million in presale tickets — currently the top among the thirteen Spring Festival releases. Second place, the crime thriller Sinner, only managed 120 million.]
[Jing Yu fans have entered madness mode — vowing that not a single seat in their screenings will be empty. One fan claimed they'd personally buy out any empty seats to show their support.]
[After two years away from film, and following massive successes in series like Ultraman, Attack on Titan, and Gundam, can Jing Yu's return to cinema surpass the record set by his previous film?]
[After breaking a 20-year-old TV ratings record with Attack on Titan, Jing Yu's Bluestar Film & TV Co. now aims for cinema history. If Spirited Away surpasses 6.1 billion yuan, Jing Yu will undoubtedly become the one true legend of Great Zhou's entertainment industry.]
[Despite the momentum of Spirited Away, its road to victory is not guaranteed. Sinner and the romance film Scarlet Memories are both formidable contenders. One misstep, and even Jing Yu might face disaster this Spring Festival.]
[Analysts across the industry predict Spirited Away will exceed 4 billion, but many say fan power alone won't bridge the final 2-billion gap. To break the record, it must rely on raw strength, not just hype.]
[Jing Yu — who has never disappointed his fans. But is there truly an undefeated general in the world? Will Spirited Away be the film that finally topples his perfect record?]
Over the following days, media outlets across Great Zhou published article after article.
On the surface, thirteen films were released for the Spring Festival. But whether fans or journalists, they were all focused on one thing: 'Spirited Away'.
Even though it only ranked third in production cost, the fact that it was written and starring Jing Yu made it more important than any price tag.
The last few days passed quickly. Jing Yu and Cheng Lie stayed busy — Jing Yu handling promotions for the film, and Cheng Lie visiting cinema headquarters across the country to secure screening space.
And it paid off.
'Spirited Away''s screen allocation rose from 21% to 25% — a full quarter of all Spring Festival opening-day screenings.
That was already the limit.
Any higher, and Jing Yu would become a target — other companies might turn against him.
And those screening slots wouldn't come from nowhere. If other movies suffered major losses, their producers would absolutely blame 'Spirited Away', and future partnerships would be burned to the ground.
Even so, the massive presale screen share couldn't keep up with fan demand.
With three days left before Spring Festival, most prime-time tickets were already sold out. Only odd-hour screenings still had seats left.
By January 31, first-day presales for 'Spirited Away' hit 470 million yuan.
In comparison:
2nd place 'Sinner': 220 million
3rd place 'Scarlet Memories' (a romance): 170 million
(Despite both having top-tier casts and production budgets of over 330 million yuan each, they lagged far behind in presales.)
January 31 – New Year's Eve
Jing Yu returned home early in the morning by plane. After two weeks of sleeping only 4–5 hours per day, he couldn't hold out. The moment he got home, he collapsed into bed and didn't wake until evening.
When he came downstairs, he saw Yu Youqing in a pale blue dress — and a New Year's dinner already prepared on the table.
While Jing Yu and Cheng Lie had been on the road promoting, Yu Youqing and Xia Yining had stayed behind at the company handling the work he couldn't manage.
"You're up — not too late. It's seven. Perfect timing for dinner." Yu Youqing smiled as he came down.
"Ah, sorry." Jing Yu shook his head to wake up.
"Wait — you and Xia Yining didn't go back to your hometown in Lan Province. Where is she?"
"She said she didn't want to bother us two. Refused to come no matter what," Yu Youqing said helplessly.
Jing Yu paused. He didn't know how to respond.
After a long silence, he sighed and gave up the idea of calling Xia Yining to join them. It really wasn't appropriate.
"You must be hungry," Yu Youqing said.
"This whole table came from my restaurant's New Year's menu. But three dishes are homemade by me. Let's see if you can tell which ones."
"Do I even need to taste it?" Jing Yu grinned. "The fish, the boiled greens, and the shrimp — clearly your handiwork. They stick out like sore thumbs among all the premium dishes."
"Even now, you're a big-shot billionaire, but your taste in ingredients is still as basic as mine."
"Boring." Yu Youqing made a face.
"But hey — it's the New Year!" Jing Yu sighed.
"Yeah. The good news: it's New Year's. The bad news: no vacation. You'll be spending all of tomorrow promoting in theaters around Modu," she replied.
"Alright, alright. Only this year. After this, I promise — next year, and the year after, I'll stop being a workaholic and spend every holiday with you."
Jing Yu picked up his chopsticks. His stomach was rumbling, and he entered full-on food mode.
"Mmm, this is delicious!"
"This too! What even is this one?"
"Also amazing!"
Yu Youqing smiled at him warmly.
In the enormous villa, even with just the two of them, it didn't feel empty.
That night, a brilliant firework lit up the Modu sky.
Jing Yu and Yu Youqing stood together on the rooftop balcony, watching the sparks blossom above.
The cold wind blew gently. Jing Yu wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
The next morning.
Many of Jing Yu's fans woke up at 7 AM, washed up, got dressed, and changed into their favorite cosplay outfits.
One wore a massive red-muscled Titan suit.
One showed up in a Gundam-print parka.
One had dyed red hair, a toy katana at the waist, and a cross scar on his face — cosplaying as Kenshin.
One drove a panda-colored car labeled "Fujiwara Tofu Shop," looping the theater parking lot in a custom AE86 so no one would miss it.
One, weighing over 300 pounds, waddled into the theater with a jiggling belly in a skintight 'Ultraman Tiga' bodysuit and helmet.
At major theaters across Great Zhou, all kinds of fans gathered — but none stood out like Jing Yu's.
Have you seen someone dressed ridiculously?
No doubt about it — they were a Jing Yu fan.
They were all waiting for 10 AM.
Waiting for the very first screening of 'Spirited Away'.