Chapter 119: The Interview and the Film Premiere

At noon, Xiao Hua changed into shorts and a T-shirt, slipped on a pair of slippers, and emerged mimicking Ma Jun’s attire.

These days, on Ma Jun’s private island, all personnel had been replaced by bio-engineered robots with superpowers, including all service staff. Safe and convenient, the island had become an impregnable fortress within the main plane. Even the chefs on the island were bio-engineered robots; while perhaps less creative than human chefs, they produced food that was, if anything, even more delicious.

Ma Jun and Xiao Hua ate lunch in a gazebo outside the castle. Surrounded by beautiful scenery and accompanied by various cute or exotic animals at their feet, they enjoyed a delightful meal in a very comfortable atmosphere. As they ate, they chatted, their interaction warm and punctuated by laughter. Xiao Hua recounted her colorful experiences from over a year of travels, while Ma Jun listened intently, offering responses.

During their conversation, Ma Jun inadvertently probed Xiao Hua, hoping to resolve his lingering doubts. However, her answers and reactions were completely devoid of substance. Anything she occasionally revealed was of no value whatsoever. Despite this, Ma Jun noticed that Xiao Hua was vastly different from before.

Previously, as a system steward, Xiao Hua often gave people a sense of awkwardness when expressing emotions or engaging in conversation. In reality, those words and emotional displays were merely virtual constructs; she possessed no such things herself. Intelligent devices, even those developed to the extreme, are fundamentally different from humans because their ways of operating are strictly rational, dictated by pre-set programming—simply put, they lack genuine emotion. Yet now, although it wasn't overly obvious, Ma Jun could still sense genuine emotional nuances in her speech and mannerisms. This was a discovery Ma Jun hadn't anticipated. At the very least, Xiao Hua was now easier to handle.

After lunch and a period of rest, Ma Jun took Xiao Hua out to explore the island. They went hunting in the jungle and played sports, even taking a cruise ship out to sea. While swimming, Ma Jun provided Xiao Hua with a bikini, and the two played and splashed around, appearing quite affectionate. In reality, however, Ma Jun could sense her constant vigilance toward him. Now, he could extract no information from her at all. With that, Ma Jun had no choice but to suppress his doubts and continue to enjoy his unique life.

After spending some time enjoying life on the island with Xiao Hua, Ma Jun had to leave because the post-production for his film, *The Rise of the Rag King: Part I*, had been completed and was about to be released. Ma Jun suspected that his intended life path was to become a great star—the protagonist of this plane. Therefore, to avoid being stripped of his status as the primary protagonist, he had to fulfill his life goals. Of course, this was all speculation, but judging by Xiao Hua’s reactions, the gap between his hypothesis and reality was likely not very far.

To achieve this goal, Ma Jun put effort into the film’s promotion. Three days later, at a star-rated hotel in Yanjing, the media press conference for *The Rise of the Rag King: Part I* commenced. Apart from Ma Jun, all the major domestic and foreign actors involved in the film were present.

In the last few centuries, the overall development of Western countries had far exceeded that of China. Although the country’s overall national strength had grown significantly in recent years, many people, across both high and low social strata, still lacked a clear sense of their own positioning and their perception of the West. This joint Chinese-Western production, with an unprecedented level of investment, naturally attracted the attention of all sectors of society. There was no need for Thoroughbred Pictures to make private arrangements; many media outlets had already arrived, ready to conduct interviews.

During the interviews, the actors were paired up—one Chinese and one Western—to take the stage. Because of the financial incentives and the undeniable changes occurring within China, these foreigners were forced to marvel at the progress, and the condescending attitudes they might have held in the past were nowhere to be seen.

Ma Jun appeared alone for his final interview. He wore a well-tailored suit and had deliberately grown a layer of stubble to appear more mature and masculine. After the host asked a few routine questions with a smile, the media began their interrogation.

"Mr. Ma Jun, *The Rise of the Rag King* is a very popular IP, and as a joint Chinese-Western production with a huge investment, how does it feel to be the leading man?" a reporter asked clearly.

Ma Jun smiled. "Naturally, I feel very honored, yet also very nervous. The pressure is immense, and I had to give my all to ensure the director, the investors, and the fans were satisfied."

"Mr. Ma Jun, can you tell us, is there a secret to becoming the lead in such a production?" a female reporter followed up.

Ma Jun remained smiling. "The secret is... you must have good luck, be discovered by the investors and the director, and make global readers feel that you fit the character's design."

Soon, another reporter asked, "According to some rumors, you are actually a major shareholder of Thoroughbred Pictures and have a very mysterious background! How do you explain this?"

As soon as this was said, many reporters and guests turned to look at the reporter, eyes wide with surprise, before fixing their gaze on Ma Jun to see how he would respond. Ma Jun maintained his smile, blinked, and said, "In that case, I suppose I should use my mysterious background and power to make this reporter leave? Because this question is rather sharp. Besides, no matter how I explain it, such rumors will always exist. So..." He shrugged and spread his hands to show he didn't care.

This topic existed, but it wasn't impossible for Ma Jun to suppress it. However, in this day and age, people loved gossip about the wealthy and powerful; any rumor would be seized upon, embellished, and spread. With the rapid dissemination of information, rumors became more popular and spread even faster. If Ma Jun could cultivate the rumor of having such a mysterious background, the fans would relish it, and they would like him even more. Thoroughbred Pictures had Qi Wanying, an agent who understood the industry rules, and since they weren't solely focused on making money, they had designed detailed procedures for Ma Jun's packaging and promotion. Thus, all the questions above were orchestrated by Thoroughbred Pictures, and the subsequent press releases were also processed and adapted to ensure everything developed in his favor.

Eight days after the press conference, the film was released globally! Even with time zone differences, the gap was no more than twenty-four hours.

The premiere was held in Yanjing, and those foreigners had to fly to China to perform with humility and sincerity. The premiere also invited many domestic and foreign celebrity actors, directors, and top executives from film companies. Under such circumstances, it was basically impossible for *The Rise of the Rag King* to flop.

On that star-studded night, there should have been many special moments and dramatic scenes, but in reality, everyone met with smiles, acting as good friends, exchanging empty pleasantries and flattering one another. This grand show was merely to capture the attention of global film fans. From beginning to end, Ma Jun didn't actively seek to curry favor; on the contrary, many people came to curry favor with him.

In a harmonious atmosphere, the film screening concluded, and everyone gathered for a party to build connections. After the party, Ma Jun left with a young girl to continue "building connections," not even avoiding his assistant, Ruan Xinyue. Because Ma Jun’s identity had become even more mysterious than when they first met, the little assistant could only grumble to herself and leave by taxi.

...

*The Rise of the Rag King* indeed rose globally, crushing all competing films. Its global opening-day box office reached as high as 100 million USD! A week later, the total global box office exceeded one billion! It was astonishing, a major chapter in global film history. By the time the film left theaters, the total box office had reached 3.8 billion USD!

Along with the rise of the film came the rise of Ma Jun! Naturally, he became a red-hot superstar. Once the entire trilogy was released, Ma Jun would have completed his goal.

After finishing this busy period, Ma Jun became idle again and went to attend school at the Yanjing Film Academy. If it were any other actor, they would surely be flooded with inescapable commitments and advertising endorsements after such a sudden rise to fame. But for Ma Jun, none of that counted. He merely gave face by accepting one face-to-face interview with state media—which wasn't even exclusive, as other international media giants were present, handling countless interviews in one go. Of course, these media giants included companies under the Thoroughbred Group.

Beyond that, he accepted only two of the hottest variety shows, both for very short durations. As for endorsements, he accepted none at all, despite the mountain of offers totaling no less than one billion! During his leisurely time at the Film Academy, Ma Jun lived in a villa in the suburbs. Flying back to the island every day was a bit too extravagant, and with Xiao Hua living in a villa on the island, teasing his little assistant daily was far more interesting.