As everyone knows, the Festival slot has always been a battleground that military strategists must contend for, a fierce arena where numerous movies clash.
Long before "The Phantom Thief Alliance" was released, its promotional campaigns had already been launched with great fanfare.
Although Xiao He only had a cameo role with less than a few minutes of screen time, his traffic had been quite good these days. Meng Zetian and Mo Tun had been continuously maintaining his heat, so when the movie was officially announced, they naturally gave Xiao He some extra screen time, and when promoting across various platforms, they would also @Xiao He, with Linghui Studio's operations team coordinating the promotional efforts.
Xiao He's white-haired hacker look naturally attracted a lot of attention.
But of course, he wasn't the main focus of this movie. While he was included in promotions, he wasn't the emphasis.
Apart from Xiao He's fans being overjoyed, most viewers were drawn to the movie for its plot quality and the two main leads.
On its release day, "The Phantom Thief Alliance" lived up to expectations, steadily claiming the top spot at the box office.
One could only say that Director Zhuang truly lived up to his reputation—his title as a ten-billion-yuan box office director wasn't just empty praise. "The Phantom Thief Alliance" managed to win audience affection with its humorously funny yet suspenseful plot twists, and the bumbling thief duo who constantly caused trouble yet were remarkably reliable.
With this momentum, the Festival box office champion should undoubtedly be "The Phantom Thief Alliance."
Even after Xiao He and his parents watched it, they felt it left them wanting more, giving the film very positive reviews.
After all, the Spring Festival is all about family-friendly, funny, and relaxed atmosphere.
Mother Xiao was pleasantly surprised by her son's performance in the movie. Although he only had about one or two minutes of total screen time, the mysterious, taciturn white-haired hacker left a very deep impression. She teasingly looked her son up and down, a nostalgic smile appearing on her face.
Xiao He felt his scalp tingling under his mother's gaze, thinking he was about to get lectured again.
After all, in this movie, he had both dyed hair and tattoos—if this were in the past, his father's Seven Wolves belt would already be pulled out and ready for action.
And sure enough, Mother Xiao was also talking about Xiao He's hair dyeing:
"I remember it was after junior high graduation, right? That summer break, you insisted on copying the non-mainstream trend next door and dyeing your hair green. Your dad and I tried everything to talk you out of it, but you wouldn't listen. And then, oh dear, that hairstyle—I laugh every time I think about it."
Just talking about it made Mother Xiao laugh uncontrollably, nudging Father Xiao beside her with her elbow, while Father Xiao also showed a smile.
"I remember that too. This rascal got laughed at for a whole week, then came back begging us to take him to dye it black again. But then the hair dye faded, and your hair stayed yellow the entire summer break. When school started, to prevent the teacher from thinking you were malnourished, you had no choice but to shave it all down to a buzz cut."
Xiao He: ...Stop, stop scolding already, I'm already digging three bedrooms and a living room with my toes from embarrassment.
He still remembered that summer after junior high graduation. At that time, because Xiao He had tested into a key high school, Father and Mother Xiao decided to fulfill one of his wishes.
So the teenager, right in the midst of puberty and with a bit of chuunibyou, decisively chose the rebellious act many people had thought about—dyeing his hair!
And what's more, he actually wanted to dye this thing green!
When they heard Xiao He's request back then, Mother Xiao nearly fainted on the spot, while Father Xiao had already stood up, pulling out his Seven Wolves belt, ready to show Xiao He what "fatherly love like a mountain landslide" truly meant.
But after all the chaos at home, Mother Xiao ultimately decided to honor their earlier promise and took Xiao He to get his hair dyed, turning Xiao He's hair green.
However, Mother Xiao was also quite "scheming"—she deliberately took Xiao He around everywhere, even visiting acquaintances, completely unafraid of embarrassment.
Back then, unlike now, people generally equated dyed hair with delinquent hooligans who didn't study properly. With that hairstyle, Xiao He was basically blatantly telling everyone that he was going bad, that he'd soon be squatting on street corners collecting protection money and beating up people's kids, hehehe.
So after repeatedly enduring the "strange" looks from others, Xiao He finally couldn't take it anymore.
Well, actually, he had some regrets right after dyeing it, because green really makes you look dark!
Back then, Xiao He loved playing basketball outside, so his skin was quite tanned. Paired with that deadly green, he practically turned as black as a lump of coal.
And because Xiao He's hair was so eye-catching and dazzling, even his basketball buddies weren't too keen on playing with him—because their parents had lectured them, telling them not to hang out with Xiao He.
In the end, as expected, this whole farce concluded with Xiao He shaving his head down to a buzz cut.
Fortunately, Xiao He usually had good grades, so people's impression of him was still fairly positive. After changing his hair back, everyone saw it as him mending his ways, becoming a good, obedient student again. Many acquaintances didn't even remember this phase much.
But this embarrassing history still left its mark—the photos Mother Xiao took back then are still kept at home.
Listening to his mother reminisce about the past now, Xiao He couldn't help but wipe away bitter tears.
So sometimes it's not so great having open-minded parents—at least then, after doing something stupid, you wouldn't have embarrassing evidence kept around to be mocked with.
Ah, talking about it just brings tears.
And Xiao He's new look in "The Phantom Thief Alliance" didn't just catch the attention of his parents—it also drew notice from other viewers.
After all, this was the limited edition·Xiao He white-haired look!
Mysterious identity, powerful hacking skills, and exceptionally handsome looks—who wouldn't love it?
[Damn, I had no idea that white-haired show-off guy was actually Brother Xiao. He's seriously freaking handsome, making me want to dye my hair like that too.]
[Don't, bro, that look depends heavily on your bone structure.]
[Hahaha, "white-haired show-off guy" is just too perfect, I can't even, hahaha.]
[No, but this guy is seriously handsome. I thought the Meng Zetian era was already the peak, but the white hair takes it to a whole new level of handsome.]
[Why do you keep calling him "white hair this, white hair that"? I think he actually has a name, right?]
[Funny thing, I rewatched it today and realized this guy really didn't reveal his name or even a code name. All we know is he's ranked third on the Divine Thief Leaderboard.]
[Hahaha, well then, there's no helping it—this time he really lost his name, so we'll have to call him White-haired Bro.]
[And hasn't anyone noticed that Brother Xiao finally got a role that matches his major this time? Brother Xiao graduated in computer science, and now he's playing a hacker in the entertainment industry. How can you say he hasn't found his ideal job in domestic entertainment?]
[I'm literally dying laughing in the comments section.]
There was a lot of discussion online about Xiao He, but even more discussion about "The Phantom Thief Alliance," especially regarding the protagonists Lu Xiaokong and Shi Ji, the uncle-nephew duo who were simply two living treasures. One was super reliable, the other super unreliable, yet the reliable one always had bad luck, while the unreliable one always had maxed-out luck stats, creating situations that were both laughable and exasperating.
Especially Shi Ji—even though it was always his unreliability that caused trouble, he always managed to narrowly escape by sheer luck. Then Lu Xiaokong, who followed Shi Ji around, would have terrible luck and need Shi Ji to turn around and rescue him.
So every time, Shi Ji would complain about Lu Xiaokong being too unlucky, then sigh deeply and say his catchphrase: "Oh dear, with a nephew like you, my Shi Ji truly has unfavorable circumstances!"
Lu Xiaokong: ...Is that even how you use that phrase!