Chapter 183: The Pioneer of Fan Wars
On the last day of the month, Fan Bingbing's contract with Huayi Brothers expired without renewal, making headlines on major portal websites.
In fact, the media had long predicted this.
Because during this time, Huayi Brothers had already stopped all of Fan Bingbing's resources.
Even for the promotion of "haunted mansion," Fan Bingbing was nowhere to be seen.
On the first day of February, an unexpected piece of news suddenly emerged about the mysterious "kung fu king."
Huaxia Daily, Global Online News:
"Recently, the casting for the highly anticipated 'kung fu king' has gradually become clear, according to informed sources."
"One of the two 'platinum' female leads, Golden Swallow, may be played by the popular mainland actress Liu Yifei."
"The other White-Haired Demoness will be chosen from three female artists under mainland investor Huayi Brothers: Fan Wenfang, Li Bingbing, and Ruby Lin."
"It is reported that Zhang Ziyi, who is studying in the United States, is also vying for an acting opportunity in the film, and her chances are quite high."
As soon as the news was released, it caused a heated response online.
Especially Liu Yifei's fans, who were even more overjoyed.
Combined with the photos from Liu Yifei's birthday party in the United States a while ago, showing Minkoff and Li Chen chatting happily.
Even a fool could see that Golden Swallow was, in all likelihood, Liu Yifei's role.
A single casting announcement not only reignited the long-dormant fan war between Jackie Chan and Jet Li over billing order.
It also sparked a collective attack on Liu Yifei by the fans of Li Bingbing, Ruby Lin, Fan Wenfang, and Zhang Ziyi.
Since the announcement of "kung fu king" last year, the fan war over billing order between Jackie Chan and Jet Li had never stopped.
Fans of both actors compared a series of data, including the number of films since their debut, box office performance, and DVD sales.
In the end, even their nationalities were brought up.
The result was that Jackie Chan completely surpassed Jet Li in every aspect except for DVD sales, and his number of fans, both domestic and international, made Jet Li feel ashamed.
And Hollywood producers also dared not easily make a conclusion.
Now, with Liu Yifei, the fans and moviegoers of the other competing female artists would be even less considerate.
"What does Liu Yifei have? No awards, no acting skills. Besides Xiao Li Zi, what else does she have?"
"Let's not even mention Liu Yifei. What makes Huayi Brothers' three actresses comparable to our Ziyi? The three of you combined can't weigh as much as the three words 'International Zhang.'"
"Don't jump out and disgust people. My Bingbing doesn't want to be associated with your so-called International Zhang and American Liu."
"She can even stomach an old foreigner with a pockmarked face. 'Love knows no borders,' why don't you let your International Zhang learn from American Liu and change her nationality too?"
"Anyway, Xiao Li Zi doesn't care!"
"You bitches, even if Xiao Li Zi isn't picky, he wouldn't fancy your Li Lianhua!"
"'I am the lotus of the entertainment industry, emerging unstained from the mud!' Pig Xiaotian expresses his disapproval! I admit, I am stained with her!"
"What was Liu Yifei when Ruby Lin became famous with 'Princess Pearl'?"
"Yes, yes, yes, at least my fairy didn't find an old man sixteen years her senior! And she didn't go 'Oh my, you scared me, he stuck out his tongue, he has bad breath!'"
Initially, the conflict between the two sets of fans was still within a controllable range.
At least everyone was comparing data on works and personal influence that affected billing order.
Liu Yifei's fans had the advantage of sheer numbers; the other four combined weren't enough.
But Liu Yifei's weakness was that her awards couldn't compare to those few.
And the hard truth of her nationality was brought up again to rehash old news.
At this point, Liu Yifei's 'fans' also abandoned all pretense of civility.
They started dumping large amounts of negative information about Huayi Brothers' female artists.
Even Li Bingbing's 'lotus theory' from an interview in November last year was brought up.
From then on, the term "Li Lianhua" circulated widely online.
This caught Li Chen somewhat off guard.
Closely following this, news broke about Ruby Lin's private meeting with Tang Jili in Shanghai not long ago.
Li Bingbing's and Ruby Lin's fans were not to be outdone.
They hurled insults and vulgarities without mercy, even dragging Chen Jingfei into the fray.
Although Li Bingbing appealed to her fans for rationality on her blog.
She also claimed that she, Director Li, and Yifei were all good friends.
Liu Yifei's age was the most suitable for playing Golden Swallow.
She sincerely hoped that Liu Yifei could play the role of Golden Swallow.
Media reporters called Liu Yifei's management company, asking if the news about Golden Swallow was true.
The reply, naturally, was that everything was subject to the official announcement from the production company.
Liu Yifei herself indeed hoped to play Golden Swallow.
Li Xue also called Yang Siwei, repeatedly expressing her apologies.
Yang Siwei, however, just laughed it off, saying that Yifei hadn't suffered any loss anyway.
On the other side, gossip media were also contacting Li Chen through various channels, hoping to confirm if the role of Golden Swallow was a result of his efforts.
Although Yang Siwei repeatedly stated publicly that Liu Yifei's opportunity to audition was due to her own reasons and had nothing to do with Rongchen Film and Television.
While Rongchen Film and Television was a standout in China, it couldn't yet influence Hollywood producers.
These past two days, Liu Yifei had been a bit downcast.
She had merely spoken a fair word on her boyfriend's blog.
Now it had become an inescapable meme for her boyfriend and Zhang Ziyi.
As for the insults from Li Bingbing's and Ruby Lin's fans, she didn't really care that much.
Hadn't there been enough of these vulgarities in recent years?
Especially after she got together with Li Chen, it became even more uncontrollable.
She had long learned to self-digest and forget them as soon as she saw them.
Tomorrow is the Premiere of "china partner"; after attending, Li Chen will return to Haikou to spend the New Year with his parents.
Miss Liu, who had just finished bathing, had her beautiful hair pinned up, and her skin was incredibly soft and smooth.
She got into bed and leaned into Li Chen's arms.
Li Chen leaned in and kissed her cheek.
"Still moping?"
"I'll never casually use your blog again," Miss Liu said pitifully.
Li Chen held her shoulders and laughed, "Alright, it's good to correct your mistakes. You can keep posting whenever you want in the future; I'll clean up any mess you make."
Liu Yifei was delighted to hear this, she tilted her head back and wrapped her arms around Li Chen's neck.
The two kissed passionately.
After a while, Liu Yifei suddenly pushed Li Chen away, her face flushed red: "You, why did you bite me?"
Miss Liu pursed her lips, thankfully it wasn't broken.
Otherwise, how would she face people at the Premiere tomorrow?
Li Chen retorted with a smile, "How many times have you bitten me?"
Sina Entertainment News
"'china partner' premiered tonight in Beijing."
"Deng Chao, Tong Dawei, and Lu Yi, the three brothers, rose up, staging a desperate counterattack for ordinary people."
"Amidst the despondency of 'setbacks abroad, setbacks in career, setbacks in ambition,' 'girlfriends gone, brothers gone, dreams gone,' and 'failed college entrance exams, failed attempts at dating, failed teaching.'"
"They declared fiercely, 'Don't force me to succeed,' 'Don't force me to be rich,' 'Don't force me to prosper!'"
"'Don't force me' immediately became a popular phrase, with netizens scrambling to create sentences using 'Don't force me.'"
"SARS relies on me, colds rely on me, avian flu relies on me!"
Banlangen: "Don't force me to save the world!"
"Pigs can't be eaten, pigeons can't be eaten, chickens can't be eaten! Don't force me to be a vegetarian!"
When Li Chen and Liu Yifei walked onto the red carpet outside the Political Consultative Conference Auditorium together.
The media also clamored, asking Li Chen and Liu Yifei to create sentences using 'Don't force me.'
Liu Yifei today was dressed in a white fitted down jacket paired with light blue high-waisted jeans, exuding youthful vitality.
Li Chen, on the other hand, wore a simple black business jacket with dress pants, acting as her escort.
Liu Yifei smiled, looked at Li Chen, and said, "Shall I go first?"
Li Chen smiled, nodding in assent.
Liu Yifei raised her head and muttered to herself, "Let me think."
The media held up their microphones, eagerly awaiting.
Liu Yifei suddenly smiled, looking at Li Chen with a beaming face: "Don't force me to call you Xiao Li Zi!"
The media burst into laughter; who didn't know Liu Yifei's famous saying now?
When she was happy, she called him Director Li; when she was unhappy, she called him Xiao Li Zi.
Li Chen gave Miss Liu a chiding look, but Miss Liu, linking his arm, didn't care at all.
"Director Li, it's your turn!" the media laughed.
Li Chen had already thought of it, and said with a smile, "Today is the Premiere of 'china partner,' so I'll say something fitting: Don't force me not to watch 'china partner'!"