Chapter 161: Miss Liu, the Blog Queen
Sina Entertainment News
"Huang Qiushu speaks out for his godson!"
Under the prominent headline, Huang Qiushu directly stated that Li Chen's remarks were biased, and his godson Jay Chou, as a newcomer to film and television, had acting skills that were still commendable.
As for the Huang Xuan that Li Chen mentioned, compared to his godson, he was also just a newcomer, and a dancer at that.
So what was wrong with the producer choosing his godson?
Li Chen and the curse of the golden flower's production team's conflict should not drag his godson into it.
"Jiang Wen joked that Li Chen didn't say much, and Zhang Weiping chose Jay Chou precisely because of Jay Chou's huge fan base."
"What's the big deal? Can't people talk about it? Li Chen didn't say his acting was bad. His real father hasn't even come out, but his godfather is already anxious."
"Zhang Weiping blasted Li Chen for intentionally stepping on curse of the golden flower to stir up topic for Rongchen Film and Television's upcoming films."
"Gu Changwei frankly stated that Li Chen merely spoke a truth that everyone knew but no one dared to say."
"Lu Chuan bluntly said that the so-called blockbusters were nothing more than a hodgepodge of different styles."
Reporters connected with Jay Chou.
"Jay Chou humbly said that he was still a newcomer to the film and television industry, and Li Chen was one of the Chinese directors he admired very much."
"He would also work hard to improve his acting skills and strive to gain public recognition."
The online debate was endless.
On the first day, it was just open and honest declarations of support.
By the second day, all sorts of underhanded tactics emerged.
"Li Chen is a hypocrite, eating from his bowl while looking at the pot; he met Fan Bingbing at night during the filming of father's love is like a mountain 2."
"Liu Yifei did not attend the Premiere of father's love is like a mountain 2, which was actually because Li Chen cheated with Fan Bingbing."
"Li Chen secretly met Hollywood star Scarlett in Venice, causing Liu Yifei to break the vinegar jar."
"Li Chen had a secret rendezvous with Yang Mi in the snowy region, juggling multiple relationships."
Facing these baseless rumors, especially the yellow rumors, Yang Siwei felt somewhat disgusted.
It wasn't that she couldn't do it, but that she couldn't bear to.
How much harm could yellow rumors do to a female star? She knew it perfectly well.
She knew exactly who was behind these disgusting tactics.
These underhanded tactics were unleashed.
Netizens who didn't know the truth flocked to Liu Yifei's blog, asking about the veracity of the revelations.
Zhang Weiping's series of outrageous moves also opened the eyes of Huayi Brothers' Wang brothers.
He truly stopped at nothing.
Huayi Brothers General Manager's Office.
Wang Zhonglei's assistant, Xu Li, was asking him whether to respond to the rumors about Fan Bingbing and Li Chen.
After all, Fan Bingbing had just climbed out of the whirlpool of plastic surgery and being a mistress.
Now she was involved in the dispute between Li Chen and Liu Yifei.
Online, Fan Bingbing was also being ridiculed.
Especially by Liu Yifei's fans.
"Mr. Wang, should we speak out for Fan Bingbing?"
Wang Zhonglei glared at Xu Li in annoyance: "Did you think before you said that? Xiao Fan is an artist of our company, how can we remain indifferent?"
Xu Li muttered to himself: When did Mr. Wang become so righteous?
But then he thought again and understood.
This was a critical moment for Fan Bingbing's contract renewal.
Even if it was just for show, Mr. Wang had to show it to Fan Bingbing.
At this moment, Fan Bingbing was extremely depressed.
She hadn't eaten Tang Sanzang's meat, but instead got herself into trouble.
Xinhua News Chairman's Office.
Zhang Yimou was a bit annoyed: "Weiping, a movie is a movie. Why are you dragging in people's private lives? Is this meaningful to you?"
Zhang Weiping's face was dark: "Yi Mou, just make good movies, and leave the marketing to me."
"People are already bullying us, am I still going to be a coward? Besides, do you really think Li Chen is so clean?"
"There are countless actresses, and he chose Fan Bingbing. I don't believe he chose Fan Bingbing for her acting skills."
"He's always been promoting newcomers, so what's the deal with Fan Bingbing? Is Fan Bingbing considered a newcomer?"
"Yi Mou, we are both men. Who hasn't been young before?"
"Essentially, his choice of Fan Bingbing and my choice of Jay Chou are the same, but he did it for a woman."
Listening to Zhang Weiping's pointed words, Zhang Yimou was unhappy.
He just left a sentence: "I still think it's unnecessary to do this."
With that, he turned and left Zhang Weiping's office, regardless of what Zhang Weiping thought.
Zhang Weiping's face was gloomy.
He was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with Zhang Yimou.
The initial closeness of their collaboration had long since developed cracks.
As the saying goes, people die for wealth, and birds die for food.
A Hero made Zhang Weiping a fortune.
But Zhang Yimou, as the director, only earned a tiny fraction.
Zhang Yimou wanted both critical acclaim and box office success.
Zhang Weiping only wanted the box office.
To put it more bluntly, how could the elusive thing called reputation compare to the real money of US dollars?
The online rumors about Li Chen were inconsequential to him personally.
Ever since he signed Tang Yan, such rumors were like a woman's period, coming once a month.
Li Chen was already numb to them.
Even Liu Yifei had gotten used to them and was completely unaffected by these rumors.
In response to her fans' confusion and the soul-searching questions from curious netizens on her blog, Liu Yifei instead posted a blog post with ease.
"If the rumors are true, please provide evidence, and I'll dump him immediately!"
"If the rumors are just rumors, then shut up."
"Finally, one more thing: I've recently been practicing archery, and the imaginary enemy at the bullseye is Director Li, who has been playing games!"
A simple sentence delighted netizens and fans.
Friends in the industry also left comments one by one.
"I can already imagine the boss being shot into a hedgehog by Yifei..."
"Yifei is awesome, dump Director Li, consider me."
"Bo Ge, forget it, whether it's by age or looks, it's not your turn."
"Yawen is right, I, Guo Er, have always been infatuated."
"Yifei is domineering. If the rumors are true, I'll fire my boss directly."
"Yifei said it well. The rumors about me and my senior are old news. My senior isn't tired of them, but I am."
Li Chen's blog also had countless comments.
"Xiao Li Zi, take it easy, don't play games. Otherwise, you'll be ready to accept the baptism of ten thousand arrows piercing your heart from our immortal."
"I've already seen the scene of Xiao Li Zi juggling three boats, and Little Dragon Maiden killing two birds with one arrow."
Liu Yifei's blog post had over a million clicks in just two hours, topping Sina's headlines.
The rumors of Li Chen and Liu Yifei's relationship being in trouble instantly fell apart.
In Li Chen's villa, Li Chen was on a cross-ocean call.
Miss Liu was holding a laptop, having a blast playing on her blog.
After hanging up the phone, Miss Liu smiled and said, "Director Li, my fans and netizens are all telling me to dump you."
"They also said, why do you need evidence to dump you? Your face will lower the Appearance of future generations."
Li Chen found it amusing. He sat next to Miss Liu, put his arm around her, and said in a warm voice, "Then let's just have more sons in the future, won't that be fine?"
Miss Liu's eyes were bright, and her cheeks were slightly flushed: "Why would having sons be better?"
"Sons resemble their mothers, and daughters resemble their fathers. Don't you know that?"
"You know a lot, Xiao Li Zi!"
Li Chen said shamelessly, "Live and learn, it's all from books."
As the two were being affectionate, the housekeeper reported that guests had arrived.
Liu Yifei smiled, "It must be Hua Ge and Maggie Cheung here."
Li Chen nodded, stood up, "Let's go, let's go out and greet them."
Li Chen was hosting a dinner at home today, inviting Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung.
Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung were both visiting Li Chen's villa for the first time.
They had only one feeling: big!
They also met Shu Chang at the entrance.
Shu Chang naturally wouldn't miss such an opportunity.
She actively begged Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung to take a photo with her.
Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung left after dinner.
Li Chen arranged a car to take them back to the hotel.
Upon arriving at the hotel, Maggie Cheung and Andy Lau got out of the car, chatting and laughing.
The paparazzi waiting at the hotel immediately swarmed them.
The two were blocked at the hotel entrance, and among the several media outlets, there were one or two from Hong Kong Island.
Andy Lau seemed very happy, smiling and responding.
The reporters chattered, "Hua Zai, are you two dating?"
"Miss Maggie Cheung, the car you and Hua Zai took should be Director Li's?"
"Is there a new drama project? I heard you're going to star in Chen Kexin's The Warlords?"
"Jia Zhangke also wants you to star in his The Duel? Please respond!"
Maggie Cheung smiled but didn't speak.
She glanced at Andy Lau, who proactively stepped forward and said with a smile, "Her movements? You just need to pay attention to Yingyi Entertainment recently. Excuse me, please make way."
Once they entered the elevator, they finally had time to talk.
Maggie Cheung smiled, "Hua Zai? Li Chen seems to treat you exceptionally."
Andy Lau nodded: "I feel it too. For this project, for example, he could have completely found Xiang Sheng and Yang Sheng."
"And several times before, he didn't really need to involve my Yingyi Entertainment."
"Anyway, Li Chen is a person worth befriending."
Maggie Cheung nodded, "Yes, his personality is as outstanding as his talent."
"Although he didn't say it, I can guess that he asked me to be in this play with the intention of helping me succeed. But who can say for sure about such things?"
Andy Lau laughed heartily: "Next year in Venice, you might break the record and become the first actress in the world to win the European Triple Crown."
"I'm envious, but I can't achieve it."
Maggie Cheung returned to her room and took out the script from her bag.
Two words were clearly displayed on it: pieta.
This role was indeed a challenge for her.
Having passed the age of forty, she had never been a mother, yet she was to play one.
It had to be said that it was also a breakthrough for her.
The online war of words continued.
Yang Siwei was still a bit too naive compared to Zhang Weiping.
Or rather, Yang Siwei couldn't be as shameless as Zhang Weiping.
Back and forth, Yang Siwei could only focus on Zhang Weiping's greed for money, his betrayal of trust, and his dishonesty.
Especially the war of words with Chow Yun-fat during the filming of curse of the golden flower.
Regarding Huang Qiushu, when the host brought up the topic during a Light Media program with the cast, Li Chen only replied: "Acting is acting, and personality is personality. The two are essentially unrelated."
"Whether one is human or ghost, loyal or treacherous, time will eventually provide the answer. Let's wait and see."
This one sentence baffled the main actors and the host present at the time.
Netizens, including Hong Kong actors like Huang Qiushu, were also confused, not knowing what Li Chen meant by this sentence. Was he implying that Huang Qiushu had a bad character and lacked integrity?
Netizens in mainland China debated fiercely, demanding that Li Chen reveal more.
Netizens on Hong Kong Island, on the other hand, cursed Li Chen for making baseless accusations.
Unfortunately, they couldn't withstand the overwhelming momentum of mainland netizens.
"Chen Ge isn't making baseless accusations; Chen Ge just looks down on a Category III actor playing Inspector Wong!"
"Life is not a story, but stories happen in life. In infernal affairs, Chen Ge and Huang Sanji were at odds, and in reality, Chen Ge is still consistent!"
Huang Qiushu still had a good reputation in Hong Kong.
Many years later, when Huang Qiushu's true colors were revealed, netizens finally realized that Li Chen's words many years ago had already seen through the true nature of that 'yellow dog'.
They couldn't help but sigh that Li Chen had foresight.
The TVB acquisition battle finally ended.
Including the five buyers, including the Hantang Fund initiated by Li Chen, all backed out for only one reason: no one was willing to be the scapegoat.
Spending 10 billion to buy less than 1/3 of TVB's shares, even if you have a lot of money, you don't spend it like that.
September 28th.
Jackie Chan's rob-b-hood was released first.
The next day, Li Chen's father's love is like a mountain 2 followed closely.
At the same time, the banquet, with its plummeting reputation and the strong entry of rob-b-hood and father's love is like a mountain, saw its daily box office drop below 2 million.
Although it would definitely surpass 100 million, industry insiders predicted that the box office would struggle to break 110 million.
Even 'someone' revealed that the banquet, while seemingly popular in Venice, actually attracted many viewers but few buyers.
The transaction prices of the few European distributors were also pitifully low.
Moreover, the box office results in Italy and Canada were even more dismal.
More than half a month had passed, and the combined total from both regions hadn't even reached $500,000.
It was foreseeable that this the banquet was destined to lose money hand over fist.
In a conference room at Huayi Brothers, at the rectangular conference table, Wang Zhonglei sat in the middle.
The two sides were clearly divided.
On the left were the Li Bingbing and Li Xue sisters, plus Feng Xiaogang.
On the right sat only Fan Bingbing, her agent, and Wang Zhonglei's assistant, Xu Li.
The online revelations were equivalent to lifting the last veil of shame from the banquet.
Who leaked the information? Everyone present knew it well.
Wang Zhonglei's face was grim: "You all remember this: in the future, you can take roles in Rongchen Film and Television's films, but you don't owe Rongchen Film and Television any favors."
"We, Huayi Brothers, and him, can only be rivals, never friends."
The two Bingbings sat opposite each other, seemingly harmonious but inwardly at odds.
But at this moment, their thoughts were the same: Wang Zhonglei's words could only fool his own people.
But outsiders clearly understood that Rongchen Film and Television and Huayi Brothers were no longer on the same level.
Whether in terms of the number, quality, or box office of their films, Rongchen Film and Television completely crushed Huayi Brothers in all aspects.
The difference in profits was even more stark.
Although Huayi Brothers had many artists, not many of them truly made money for the company.
Conversely, Rongchen Film and Television, though having fewer artists, had three women, besides Zhu Yawen, who all had impressive money-making abilities.
"Xu Li, have the first-day box office results for rob-b-hood come out?"
"Yes, Mr. Wang. The first-day box office was 7.35 million."
Wang Zhonglei nodded and didn't ask about the attendance rate of father's love is like a mountain 2, because the media had already reported that the pre-sale box office for father's love is like a mountain 2 on its first day had exceeded 9 million, and this was data from three days ago.
At this very moment, Li Chen was also paying attention to the online reviews for father's love is like a mountain 2.
Li Chen was concerned about the film reviews, while Han Sanping was concerned about the attendance rate.
As for film reviews and reputation, Han Sanping seemed to have stopped paying attention to them at some point.
Of course, this was only for Li Chen's films, because Li Chen's films had never disappointed in terms of reputation.
On Douban, most of the viewers gave 4 or 5 stars.
Below 3 stars, one could tell from the wording that these people were either film critics or professional 'haters'.
Li Chen had always disregarded the comments of these people.
After all, these people accounted for less than 1% or even 1‰ of the viewing audience.
As long as the audience was satisfied, his goal was achieved.
Early the next morning, Li Chen set off for Los Angeles with two assistants.
One reason was that insidious 2 was about to be released.
The second was that he had to oversee the special effects production of the thieves.
At the same time, the first-day box office for father's love is like a mountain 2 was also freshly released: 11.55 million.
This was 450,000 less than the banquet's first-day box office of 12 million.
However, its excellent reputation was incomparable to that of the banquet.
Han Sanping was in a great mood.
He called Li Chen, but Li Chen's phone was off.
Han Sanping cursed under his breath, "This brat's phone is off again."
He then called Liu Yifei.
The assistant ran over with the phone, "Yifei, it's Han Dong's call."
Liu Yifei greeted the coach next to her, "Coach, I need to take a call."
Then she chuckled to herself, "It must be Han Dong who can't reach Li Chen."