After wrapping up today's filming, Liu Rulan finally walked back to Xiao He's side and handed him a water bottle.
"Thank you."
"I've already discussed with Director Lin earlier - you'll be doing a live stream on Douyin tonight to pull in one last wave of viewers for paid subscriptions," Liu Rulan said. "We'll do the stream back at the hotel on shore. I've arranged a team to give you some light styling."
"Alright." Xiao He had no objections.
As everyone started packing up, Xiao He said goodbye to Director Ren before following Liu Rulan and Xiao Chen onto the boat back to shore.
That evening, Xiao He started the live stream right on schedule.
[I'm here, I'm here~]
[Good evening, Brother Xiao!]
[Begging for Thief Catcher Season 2, begging for Thief Catcher Season 2 - don't make me get on my knees and beg!]
[Wuwu, will I ever see fight scenes this good in domestic entertainment again? Brother Xiao, Brother Pu, you two must continue down this path of amazing action and never look back!]
Since all platforms had promoted the stream in advance, the moment Xiao He went live, fans flooded into the livestream.
The viewer count instantly skyrocketed, quickly reaching over ten thousand people.
Since all platforms had promoted the stream in advance, the moment Xiao He went live, fans flooded into the live stream room.
"Hello, hello~"
Pu Rong looked like he'd just finished filming, still wearing his costume under a leather jacket as he waved to everyone through the camera.
If Xiao He remembered correctly, Pu Rong was currently shooting a crime action film where he played an undercover police officer.
"Good evening!"
Like Xiao He, Lin Yipeng appeared to be in some hotel room based on the background. He wore a casual white t-shirt and colorful shorts with complete relaxation, making it seem less like a formal live stream and more like a video chat between good buddies.
In comparison, Xiao He - who had changed clothes and gotten some light hairstyling - turned out to be the most formally dressed among them.
Seeing these two, Xiao He sighed helplessly: "You two are making me look completely out of place here."
Pu Rong chuckled: "No choice, we got delayed today and really couldn't make time for proper makeup and styling."
Lin Yipeng outright embraced the chaos, slumping into his chair: "What's the problem? I'm the director! You guys just need to step up - don't push me to do it—"
Xiao He spread his hands: "We have to push you though! Everyone's asking about your new projects! You need to step up and get working."
Lin Yipeng squinted at the comments: "You're lying - they're all asking me when season two is coming out."
Xiao He: "It's pretty much the same thing..."
[No no, it's very different! Begging on my knees for Thief Catcher Season 2! I've already worn out the first season from watching it so much! Please look at us!]
[Hope the second season keeps the original cast! Please, please, please! I'm really craving more of this!]
[Yes yes, strongly support season two—]
Watching the booming live stream comments, Xiao He rubbed his nose.
He actually knew what everyone wanted, but with Lin Yipeng recently either traveling or disappearing mysteriously, Xiao He wasn't sure about Lin Yipeng's upcoming plans. That's why he deliberately didn't bring it up, not wanting to give false hope or affect Lin Yipeng's future filming schedule.
But Xiao He hadn't expected Lin Yipeng to actively bring up this topic himself.
"Season two, let me think—"
Lin Yipeng began stroking his chin.
This gesture undoubtedly gave fans tremendous confidence, making the live stream comments fly even faster.
[Is that a yes? Is that a yes?]
[Director Lin, I knew you were understanding, brave, generous, beloved by all, irresistible even to vehicles, the most beautiful creature in the world...]
[Upstairs commenter, did you copy-paste the wrong gender description?]
[Director Lin, just name a number - tonight the brothers will absolutely crush the box office for you, guaranteed to satisfy you.]
However, facing the fans' eagerly awaited requests, Lin Yipeng only offered a mischievous smile: "Guess?"
[???]
[? Wait, the atmosphere was building so well, and this is what you give us?]
[Okay, I understand - that means it's confirmed. Looking forward to season two hitting the theaters.]
[Looking forward to theatrical release +1. Thief Catcher 1's quality is wasted as a web movie - it should be competing in this year's summer blockbuster season.]
[Speaking of which, have any new movies been released during this year's summer season? I feel like I haven't noticed any...]
[Haven't noticed any +1. The summer season used to be so lively - why is it so quiet this year?]
[Hahaha, is it possible that it's because all the hype got stolen by Thief Catcher!]
[Ah?]
[Here's a little-known fact: thirteen theatrical films have been released during this summer season so far, but without exception, none gained any traction. Two have already been pulled from theaters, and three delayed their releases.]
[What? Our Thief Catcher is that successful?]
[Haha, haven't you all noticed? Recently the internet is filled with Thief Catcher fan creations and recommendations. Who wants to go out to watch movies in this hot weather when you can watch at home!]
[After Thief Catcher became popular, I started looking for other web movies to watch and discovered several hidden gems with great concepts and plots - completely shattered my previous stereotypes about web movies.]
[Please, do you understand the significance of being number one in Chinese web movie revenue sharing history?]
[Great news! Thief Catcher officially broke 100 million! Congratulations to Thief Catcher for officially reaching 100 million in revenue sharing!]
[Congratulations!]
[Honestly, I feel like this number is unprecedented and won't be surpassed - unless it's by Thief Catcher 2— oh wait, Thief Catcher 2 must get a theatrical release!!!]
Unfortunately, it seemed Lin Yipeng had really just been teasing everyone as a joke, as he never mentioned anything about Thief Catcher 2 again afterward. Although the comments remained enthusiastic, Xiao He and Pu Rong also tacitly avoided bringing it up themselves.
After about an hour of lively streaming, the live session finally came to a successful conclusion.
Only after ending the stream did Xiao He finally ask Liu Rulan about this year's summer movie season.
Honestly, Xiao He had been completely unaware that Thief Catcher had stolen the spotlight from summer theatrical releases, and never expected such a situation. If the comments hadn't been discussing it, he probably would have remained in the dark.
After all, the gap between these two was quite significant - one being theatrical films, the other web movies. For many years, they had coexisted without interfering with each other, almost like two completely different classes. Theatrical films promoted themselves with great fanfare, while web movies quietly released, with most ordinary people only learning about them through short videos before casually watching them there, never bothering to seek out the original films.
However, Thief Catcher did have one special quality that short video clips couldn't fully capture - the fight scenes!
From beginning to end fight sequences that would take over forty minutes even in compiled short videos - rather than watching clips, it was better to watch the original for smoother, more satisfying action.
But Xiao He still hadn't expected Thief Catcher to become this incredibly successful!
Liu Rulan glanced sideways at Xiao He: "Do you even understand what 'phenomenal' really means?"
Not just any random work could be called a "phenomenal blockbuster."