Such thoughts, however, vanished the moment the movie began to play.
No one had expected Ji Ruochu's acting skills to reach a level comparable to Tan Ruo's, or even... to surpass hers by a slight margin?
Yes, by a slight margin.
The title of the movie was 'Seeking Enjoyment', which at first glance suggests a tone of "seeking pleasure and merriment".
But only those who have watched it know that it's a realistic portrayal focused on women's safety.
The film tells the dramatic life story of Hang Junning.
In her youth, coming from an affluent family, she successfully secured a job offer from a Fortune 500 company. After working for three years, Hang Junning married her college crush, He Yuanlin.
Two years later, they had a daughter named He Yuhuan, nicknamed Huanhuan.
And 'Seeking Enjoyment' seeks this very 'Huan' (meaning 'enjoyment').
The little girl, delicate and beautiful, was doted upon by both families from birth until she turned eighteen that year.
Huanhuan, while on a graduation trip with her classmates... went missing.
After that, the once happy families were torn apart by fate as they searched for Huanhuan.
Car accidents, illnesses, bankruptcies...
Loss of loved ones, career setbacks, broken homes...
In the end, except for Hang Junning, everyone had left this world.
By then, she was already over forty, but she never gave up, continuing her search alongside a few other families who had also lost their children.
One day, she received a message from a stranger with only six words: Nanyan County Guanfu Village.
She immediately called back, but only received a mechanical message that the number was switched off.
The opening scene of the movie depicts this moment, followed by a woman in her forties, plainly dressed but with graying hair, clutching her phone and rushing into the police station as if in a frenzy.
"Zhao Policeman! I have news about my daughter! I have news about my daughter!!"
After shouting those words, the middle-aged woman seemed to lose all her strength, collapsing to the ground, tears streaming down her face as she crawled forward on all fours.
At that moment, the incandescent lights hanging from the ceiling cast a soft glow on her, a light that could illuminate her path in the darkness.
It was also at that moment that netizens who had previously thought Ji Ruochu was unsuitable to play Hang Junning switched sides.
The Ji Ruochu on screen gave no indication that she was a young woman in her early twenties. From the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes to the mixture of joy and frenzy in her expression, and even her body language as a mother whose lost child had been found, everything told the audience that she was Hang Junning in that moment.
Thus, on the first day of the movie's release, Ji Ruochu successfully topped the trending searches with her new role.
The domestic box office record for opening day was once again broken.
And as more and more people flocked to the theaters, 'Seeking Enjoyment', the film adapted from a true story, received increasing attention.
"The kidnapper could be right beside you."
"They watch as you lose everything searching for your child, as your once beautiful life spirals into the abyss."
"And then... they offer their hypocritical sympathy to console you."
"Hell is empty, and all the devils are here."
...
Even many official accounts joined in promoting the film, and only then did netizens realize just how many kidnappers found pleasure in witnessing the suffering of parents who had lost their children.
Furthermore, the ending of the film included a poignant "easter egg".
One by one, the innocent faces of children appeared on the screen, accompanied by their names, home addresses, and the years they went missing.
Soon, these "easter egg" lists from the movie were circulated online, and observant viewers quickly realized that the lists were not static - they varied by location and time period.
As a result, enthusiastic netizens quickly launched a campaign to spread missing child alerts.
A month later, as 'Seeking Enjoyment' was nearing the end of its theatrical run, no one expected a piece of social news to thrust the film to new heights once again.
[Netizen confirms own childhood photo from movie easter egg, revealing they were a victim of child abduction]
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