A poster of the film. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/China Daily]

Despite facing the challenges of acting and language, Huang had some happy and unforgettable moments with a special "actor" named Blue-a stray dog the couple adopted in the film.

"I was surprised to see that a dog could be so smart to follow all the acting commands from the director … such as pretending to be weak and suffering from breathing difficulties," recalls Huang.

Yang adds: "The dog is a famous star in New Zealand and has appeared in several films and TV series. I was told that I should establish an intimate relationship with him (the dog is depicted as a key member of the family in the movie), so I always had some delicious sausages in my pocket."

By Tuesday the film had grossed around 110 million yuan ($15.7 million), outperforming Disney's epic Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker but still overshadowed by the box-office takings from Donnie Yen's final action film, Ip Man 4.