Although there were only thirty viewers at the preview in the morning, the publicity effect was comparable to that of inviting three hundred people, all of whom were tap water.
Before the afternoon showtime, a line had formed in front of the cinema entrance, with everyone holding a thin, narrow ticket paper in their hands, waiting for ticket inspection to enter.
There is an electronic clock hanging right above the ticket counter. A quarter of an hour before the preview starts, an announcement will be made to inform guests to line up for ticket checking.
In the afternoon, Zhu Zhu was checking tickets at the entrance of the screening room, and Wen Jian was at the door guiding guests in and taking their seats.
When the announcement was made, the guests at the door were startled. They did not see the person who was speaking at all, but the voice was clear and loud, spoken in authentic Liangjing Mandarin, asking them to line up for ticket checking.
Chen Jingshan followed the crowd and mixed in, but he had no ticket and was stopped at the ticket gate.
It was even stranger inside than it looked from the outside. The decoration style was unlike any theater he had ever seen, and there was something weird about it everywhere.
Even though there was only a little girl named Zhu Zhu blocking the door, he didn't dare to force his way in. He turned around and prepared to leave in frustration. When he reached the entrance of the lobby, he heard the sound of swords clashing nearby, but he didn't see anyone fighting.
Chen Jingshan took two quick steps and saw the trailer playing on the large widescreen in the lounge area. His eyes widened and his face was full of disbelief.
He calmed down, tiptoed closer, stood and looked at it for a while, then carefully reached out to touch it, and found that the thing was indeed embedded in the wall.
It’s so narrow and thin, how do people get in there
Chen Jingshan couldn't figure it out.
Lu Yao was fiddling with the beverage machine and popcorn machine in the area to the right of the ticket counter.
After the preview, the cinema will officially open tomorrow, and she wants to arrange Coke and popcorn.
The caramel butter popcorn was a recipe developed by the snack bar, and it was sweeter and more delicious than the popcorn she had eaten in other movie theaters before.
And Coke, these two are considered the iconic snacks for watching movies.
The people of the Dawu Dynasty may not be used to such taste and combination, so let's sell it to them and try it out first. Anyway, the cost of Coke and popcorn is not high.
Lu Yao put Coke into the beverage machine and poured oil and corn into the preheated popcorn machine in proportion. After a few minutes, the aroma began to spread.
"Crackle, crackle—" the puffed popcorn overflowed from the bucket, and the sweet fragrance filled the lobby.
Chen Jingshan wrinkled his nose, turned around and saw Lu Yao and the popcorn machine that was still spitting out popcorn. He glared again and walked over quickly, "Are you making Bolu?"
Liang Jing also has popcorn, which is usually made by frying glutinous rice. The popped popcorn is called "Bolou", which means glutinous rice popcorn.
This doesn't look like it's fried with glutinous rice, and it smells different too, it's too fragrant and sweet.
Chen Jingshan was even more curious about the machine that kept spitting out popcorn, which was much more convenient than their usual method of frying popcorn.
Lu Yao had just noticed this man. He had been studying the advertising screen for a long time, sometimes in deep thought, sometimes confused, with a very rich expression.
"Yes, popcorn made from corn tastes really good. Eating popcorn and drinking Coke is a standard when watching a movie."
Chen Jingshan pointed at the screen not far away: "Movie? That one?"
Lu Yao nodded again, "Yes, today is the preview, and tomorrow 'Number One Under Heaven' will be officially released in the theater. I saw you were quite curious about the advertising screen just now. There are only trailers here, and the main film will be out for an hour. You can come and buy tickets tomorrow."
"How much are the tickets here?" Chen Jingshan's expression changed.
Once a pot of popcorn is ready, the machine stops working automatically.
Lu Yao pulled open the transparent partition, leaving a small gap, and instantly a sweet fragrance filled his nose. Chen Jingshan on the opposite side swallowed unconsciously, and his eyes uncontrollably stopped on the freshly-made popcorn.
"The movie 'Number One' will be screened tomorrow and tickets are 30 cents each." Lu Yao pulled out a small bucket from the side, scooped some popcorn into it, and handed it to Chen Jingshan, "Fresh-out popcorn is the most fragrant, try it."
Thirty cents
Chen Jingshan was shocked. It was so expensive. He lowered his eyes and looked at the popcorn handed to him.
The sweet smell kept coming into my nose, bringing with it a hint of heat.
He slowly reached out to take the popcorn bucket and took a deep breath. "Thank you. How much is this bucket of popcorn?"
Lu Yao: "Popcorn is two cents a bucket, and Coke is one cent a cup."
"What is Coke?" Chen Jingshan felt like he was going to be trapped in this store, filled with things he had never seen before.
Lu Yao took a cup of Coke and handed it to him, "This is Coke, a carbonated drink."
The dark brown water was in the cup with a lot of bubbles on the wall. It smelled neither like wine nor tea, but slightly sour.
Chen Jingshan glanced at Lu Yao, lowered his head and took a sip, his brows suddenly frowned.
The tip of the tongue is tingling and numb, and it tastes sweet and icy.
Chen Jingshan didn't really like the taste, but he was still surprised.
Lu Yao was also observing his reaction. He seemed not to be used to the taste of Coke.
Chen Jingshan put down the Coke, tasted a piece of popcorn, and his brows relaxed: "This popcorn is good!"
The taste is crispy, fragrant and sweet.
If you taste it carefully, you can taste a little bit of burnt aroma, mixed with the milky flavor that is rarely seen in Liangjing. It is completely different from his impression of Boluo.
Chen Jingshan took out three cents and put them on the counter, then sat down at the table in the lounge area with popcorn and Coke. He ate popcorn while watching the movie, and drank a sip of Coke when he was thirsty.
Coke and popcorn seem to go well together, especially when watching a movie. I would finish half a bucket of popcorn without realizing it and almost finish my water.
He shook the half-empty cup of Coke and turned to ask Lu Yao, "Boss, what time does this movie start tomorrow?"
There was a curfew during the Dawu Dynasty, and people were not allowed to go out after around 8 o'clock in the evening on weekdays.
The cinema currently has only one screening hall, which can only accommodate thirty people per show.
After Lu Yao calculated the time, he felt that he could only have five shows a day at most, two in the morning and three in the afternoon, so the schedule was very tight.
"Tickets are available from Chen to Xu tomorrow, and there will be about five screenings."
Chen Jingshan learned the time, stood up, picked up the remaining half bucket of popcorn and Coke and went out.
I'm coming to watch the movie early tomorrow morning. I've learned so much and it's hard to put it down without watching it to the end.
Le Han, the owner of Chunxilou, arrived late and met Chen Jingshan at the door. He glanced at what he was holding in his hand, and when he walked into the cinema he smelled a sweet fragrance. He couldn't help but walk over and saw the popcorn in the popcorn machine.
"How much is this?" Le Han, still playing with the small purple clay teapot in his hand, looked at Lu Yao calmly.
It was indeed as the rumors said, the female shopkeeper dressed strangely and was more unrestrained than foreigners.
Lu Yao just tried to make a pot of popcorn, but he didn't expect that there would be customers wanting to buy it. While packing popcorn and Coke, he secretly thought about making a menu and hiring a salesperson.
Le Han bought a bucket of popcorn and a cup of Coke, slowly checked his ticket at the door, and walked into the screening room.
A short clip of the movie has been played, in which Xiao Ye Qingzhou hides in a rice jar and watches his mother being killed.
The audience was watching nervously when a dark shadow suddenly emerged from the aisle in the dim light, and the guests sitting in that aisle were so frightened that they almost screamed.
When Le Han saw what was playing on the big screen, his eyebrows raised slightly, unable to hide his surprise.
No wonder that old fox Rong Shenghua asked him to see it himself. Such things are indeed difficult to explain clearly.
Le Han found his seat and after sitting down he noticed that there was a groove on the armrest of the chair. He tried to put the Coke cup in and it got stuck.
Is this armrest designed specifically for holding this cup
The material of the chair was also very unique, smooth and soft to the touch, and more comfortable to sit on than the cushions in the private room of his teahouse.
The cola and the purple clay teapot were placed on the armrests of the chair. Le Han freed his hands to eat popcorn. The crispy sound of the crumbs falling off was somewhat obvious in the darkness, and the burnt and sweet smell of milk filled the air.
The other audience members wanted to watch the movie, but they couldn't help but be attracted by what Le Han was eating, so they didn't pay attention to either one for a while.
The customer next to Le Han was also a regular at Chunxilou. Seeing this, he couldn't help but ask, "Boss Le, where did you buy this? It smells strange."
Le Han: "It's outside in the lobby, and it tastes really good."
He handed over the popcorn bucket. The customer reached out and grabbed a small handful. After taking a bite, he suddenly sat up straight. He wanted to get up but was reluctant to leave the movie. Finally, he leaned back and ate the remaining popcorn in small bites.
This popcorn is crispy and flaky and seasoned just right.
It is not just sweet or crispy, it smells slightly bitter, with just the right burnt aroma, tastes crispy and sweet, and has an indescribable milky flavor.
For the people of the Dawu Dynasty, this taste was truly amazing.
Lu Yao left a small half of the popcorn in the machine, and packaged the rest into small packages, making a set with a small cup of Coke.
The packaging is all illusion packaging boxes brought from the Land of Dreams, which are valid for 72 hours and will automatically disappear after three days.
Lu Yao looked around at the door and saw a few little beggars in the alley between the cinema and Rong Xi Study. He waved to them.
The oldest boy among the little beggars came over and asked, "What's the matter, shopkeeper?"
Lu Yao had just been here for a few days when he discovered that there were quite a few beggars nearby, who were always being driven away by the people around them.
Probably because Lu Yao doesn't care about them, they have been hanging around here frequently recently.
These little beggars are all orphans and they make a living by begging.
Occasionally, I would help people with small things to earn some money, such as running errands or passing messages.
Lu Yao: "Well, help me with something, the reward is a mermaid pearl."
The beggar's face, which was covered with dirt, suddenly became lively when he heard this. "What kind of work? We will definitely do it."
Lu Yao led them back to the entrance of the cinema and took out a box of packaged popcorn and cola sets. "Just spread the words I just said in the streets around Song'an Street, and then distribute these foods to passers-by."
The beggars who came with the boy had their eyes wide open, somewhat unable to believe it.
"that's all?"
Lu Yao saw a few kids glancing at the popcorn, so he gave each of them a box and said, "Eat it. Only when you know the taste will you know how to praise it."
The children were a little embarrassed. They wiped their black hands on their rag-like clothes repeatedly before taking the popcorn box.
The youngest one couldn't help it, so he took it in his hand and started eating, and then he couldn't stop.
"Brother Gouzi, this is the most delicious thing I have ever eaten!" The child's face was gray and hungry, but his eyes were shining.
The young man called Brother Gouzi was the leader. He tasted the popcorn and sealed the box as it was, stuffed the box carefully into his clothes, and took a large box of popcorn and Coke from Lu Yao.
"We will definitely get this done." Gou Zi left with a few little beggars, singing ballads loudly as he walked, with a very strange tone of voice.
What Lu Yao asked them to say was that the cinema would officially open tomorrow, and the martial arts movie "The Number One Under Heaven" would premiere, and anyone who bought a ticket would receive a free movie-watching drink and popcorn set.