CDJMM – Volume 4 -Chapter 51 Filming in the Interstellar Era (51)

“What are you watching this National Day? ‘The Dawns Here Are Quiet’ is absolutely unmissable…”

“Chairman of the Huaxia Film Association, Cao Desheng, writes a passionate article praising ‘The Dawns Here Are Quiet’: ‘Though dawn arrives, the killing intent remains boundless—danger is closing in.’”

“Why did a powerful nation like the Soviet Union ultimately collapse? Tune in tomorrow at the same time to CCTV Science & Education Channel’s History Unveiled…”

“‘The Dawns Here Are Quiet’ shines fiercely—seven other films rescheduled their releases to avoid competing with it…”

“Experts boldly predict the film’s box office may exceed 10 billion!”

Amid overwhelming publicity, The Dawns Here Are Quiet officially premiered on National Day.

Luo Bao put his rich experience as a high-school fandom leader to good use. After entering university, he successfully ran for class monitor.

So during the National Day holiday, the newly appointed Monitor Luo organized his first class team-building activity—a group trip to watch The Dawns Here Are Quiet.

The film had long been regarded as the top seed of the National Day release slate. With intense media coverage and unanimously positive reviews from its premiere, many classmates already had strong interest in it. Thus Luo Bao’s proposal received enthusiastic support from the entire class—

Except for one person.

“You guys go ahead, I won’t join.” The white boy with deep-set eyes picked up his bottled water and stood up, preparing to leave the classroom.

“Hey! Allen! Hold up!”

Luo Bao stretched out his arm and stopped him. “Everyone’s going. You should come along too. Just treat it as a fun outing.”

Allen shrugged, responding in perfectly pronounced Chinese, “I’m not interested in historical films.”

Luo Bao instantly switched into hardcore recommendation mode: “I wasn’t into historical films either, but Director Shi Jing’s works are different! His films are grand, epic, full of humanistic care. I cried several times. They’re really, REALLY good—I swear!”

“And The Dawns Here Are Quiet is about European history. So there shouldn’t be any cultural barrier for you.”

Allen looked troubled. “But I really have no interest…”

Luo Bao: “I’ll treat you! Snacks included!”

Allen: “I suddenly feel interested. But…”

Before Luo Bao could celebrate, that “but” made his heart tighten. “But?”

“But you’ve got it wrong. Russia isn’t part of our Europe—it’s part of your Asia.” Allen said seriously, “Our history class covered this. During ancient Earth, 3/4 of Russia’s territory was in Asia, so it’s an Asian country.”

Luo Bao: “? But Moscow, the capital, is in Europe, so it should be a European country!”

The two couldn’t convince each other, so they shelved the argument, agreed to disagree, and went to watch the movie together.

To be honest, Allen had zero interest in The Dawns Here Are Quiet at first. The title sounded strange: The Dawns Here Are Quiet.

Wasn’t this supposed to be about Russian history? Why did the name sound like an art-house film?

Allen, spoiled by big-budget blockbusters, considered art films nothing but sleeping pills.

More importantly— A Chinese director making a Russian history movie? How good could that be?

He wasn’t being prejudiced; it just sounded… off. Like how it would feel if Europeans made a Chinese historical film—unlikely to be accurate.

Only people of a nation can fully understand their own people and history, and create something that truly resonates emotionally.

So Allen didn’t expect much.

When he put on the VR headset, he was still thinking, Since my classmate treated me, even if the movie’s bad, I’ll find at least a few nice things to say.

However—two hours later.

“FUCK! Wocao! Amazing! Niubi!!”

Allen’s eyes were red and swollen as he stumbled out of the theater, speaking in a chaotic mix of English and Chinese:

“Oh—my! Shi Jing is insane! The actors are insane! The Dawns Here Are Quite is INSANE! I LOVE IT!!!!”

Although he was a foreigner, the VR headset provided simultaneous translation, allowing him to understand everything easily—and thus he experienced the full “real fragrance effect”.

Luo Bao puffed out his chest proudly. “See? Told you it was good!”

Allen was whining tearfully, “Amazing! Such an outstanding Soviet film wasn’t even made by Russians—it was made by people from Hua Country! It’s truly inconceivable! Amazing!!!”

Luo Bao: “Right, right! That’s the kind of unbelievable man Shi Jing is!”

Allen: “I’m going to recommend this movie to all my friends!”

Luo Bao: “Great, great!”

Allen immediately got into action and started dialing. The moment the call connected, he impatiently switched to English: “John, I’m recommending you a movie! The Dawns Here Are Quiet! A Hua-country-made Russian historical film! It’s the must-watch movie of the year!”

“What? It’s not in theaters? Oh—right, this is a newly released movie in Hua Country, it hasn’t been released in Europe yet.” Allen anxiously looked at Luo Bao and switched to Chinese: “When will The Dawns Here Are Quiet be released in Europe?”

Luo Bao scratched his cheek, thought for a moment, and said uncertainly, “It’s already October… at the earliest, probably next year?”

“OH—NO!!!” Allen covered his face and let out a breakdown-level scream. “Why!!! Why isn’t such a great film being released in Europe simultaneously?! What are European theaters thinking?! Are they all idiots?!”

Luo Bao shrugged helplessly.

Allen took a deep breath, then pulled himself together and said to his friend on the phone, “I’m sorry, it won’t be released in Europe for now. But this movie is really amazing—it’s the kind of greatness that words can’t describe, you know? When it finally comes out, you must watch it! You’ll regret it for life if you miss it!”

That phone call was only the beginning. After that, Allen switched among English, French, Esperanto, Italian, Spanish, and more than a dozen languages to recommend the movie to his friends—before regretfully (or gleefully, depending how you see it) informing them that it wasn’t yet available in Europe. He proudly declared, “I might be the first European to see this movie!”

What responded to him were countless versions of “What the fuck” and “Son of a bitch” in different languages.

Watching from the side, Luo Bao was simultaneously amazed by Allen’s linguistic talent and suffering from holding back his laughter.

After hanging up, Allen rushed back toward the theater.

“? What are you doing?”

Allen didn’t even look back. “There were some parts I didn’t understand. I’m going to watch it again!”

“Hey! Wait for me! Let’s watch it together!”

……

On October 2nd, Zhang Yanfang woke up at seven.

If she waited a bit longer, the data company would finish calculating the first-day box office.

Even though she only appeared in the film for less than a minute as a minor character, she was still deeply anxious about The Dawns Here Are Quiet’s box office.

This was a good film—a great masterpiece. She desperately hoped the audience would like it.

But even though she had confidence in its quality, she still couldn’t avoid worrying about the box office.

History had many films that were praised but didn’t sell. She feared The Dawns Here Are Quiet would end up the same.

At eight thirty, Le Jing finally called.

Zhang Yanfang immediately asked, “How much?”

After a long one-second silence, the young man’s smiling voice sounded slowly and evenly: “Four hundred million.”

Zhang Yanfang took a deep breath, suddenly feeling dizzy from her wish coming true.

This figure was beyond imagination!

Thinking of all the hardships the young man went through, her eyes reddened. “That’s wonderful. With the audience supporting us with real money, we don’t need the Ark Award!”

……

On National Day, the entire country was going crazy over a single movie. Every street and alley echoed with two Russian songs:

“In ’17 we sang it as we stormed the Winter Palace, in ’45 we sang it as we entered Berlin. Russia stands tall, united as one. Through wind and rain, through hardships over the years. If one day the motherland calls, we will rise for her and join the sacred war…”

“The radiance of dawn illuminates your loyalty, the dawn writes the story of the motherland. Quiet is the dawn here, ah… Layers of mist coil like bandages, and the lake reflects the blood-red glow of the sky…”

Farewell of Slavianka and The Dawns Here Are Quiet—these two Soviet classics defeated all pop songs and became the annual golden hits of the country.

On spaceships, in streets, in companies, in apartments—everywhere, these two songs were being played.

Besides the movie’s influence, their widespread popularity was also because both were available for free download on music platforms.

Within three days of release, downloads reached an astonishing five million, taking the #1 and #2 hottest spots on the site.

Unlike other paid songs, The Dawns Here Are Quiet and Farewell of Slavianka were free to download and play. While this earned praise from the audience, it also sparked controversy.

A reporter interviewed Le Jing: “Many musicians believe that offering these songs for free harms copyright protection and morally pressures other paid music. What is your response to this?”

Le Jing adjusted his sleeve slowly, and with a faint, amused smile said, “I’m willing to do it. What’s it to you?”

Then he walked away, leaving the reporter dumbfounded.

Later, on a talk show, Le Jing explained seriously: “I’m not the original creator—I’m just a porter. The Dawns Here Are Quiet and Farewell of Slavianka are Soviet songs from the Ancient Earth era. Their copyright protection period has long expired, which means they are part of humanity’s shared cultural wealth and should be freely enjoyed.”

“These are Ancient Earth songs?” the host asked in surprise. “Where did you find them?”

The Zerg Queen watched the screen, gazing at the calmly speaking young man. Her smile grew sweeter as she whispered softly, “Yes… where did you learn of these songs?”

The young man looked into the camera and smiled sincerely. “I have some Zerg friends.”

The Queen’s smile widened, her voice becoming even softer and more alluring. “Friends… huh…”

“My children seem to have been led astray by humans…”