Chapter 218: Yang Siwei Dispels Doubts
Li Chen's words caught the attention of all the industry bigwigs at the table.
Even Jackie Chan was no exception; if he wasn't in China, he must be in Hollywood.
That was everyone's thought.
But it seemed that besides the conjuring, which was set to be released on Halloween, there hadn't been any news of a major project from Chiyou recently.
Ren Zhonglun deliberately changed the subject and laughed, "Sanping, I think China Film Group Corporation should award Li Chen an honorary director title."
Han Sanping rolled his eyes, "What do you mean?"
Ren Zhonglun laughed, "Without Li Chen backing you, which of the projects you invested in actually made money?"
Han Sanping's old face darkened. Only Ren Zhonglun could joke with him so freely at this table.
Everyone else, including Li Chen, couldn't laugh.
Fortunately, Fan Bingbing interjected at this moment, breaking the awkwardness.
Fan Bingbing bent over, her smile bright, "Han Dong, I'd like to toast you. Thank you for your continued care."
Jackie Chan also laughed and chimed in, "Bingbing is the first to propose a toast."
Fan Bingbing playfully chided, "Big Brother, don't tease me. It'll be your turn soon."
Han Sanping's expression softened slightly. He didn't get up, just raised his glass as a gesture.
Fan Bingbing, however, downed it in one gulp.
Then it was Li Chen's turn. Li Chen also made a gesture, and Fan Bingbing, as usual, downed it in one gulp.
After one round, Fan Bingbing had drunk at least two liang.
However, whether it was watered down or not was unknown.
Jackie Chan and Yu Dong were the most supportive, both downing their drinks in one gulp.
Fan Bingbing indeed had courage. In such a setting, daring to be the first to toast required bravery.
She started it, and the celebrities weren't fools.
One after another, they began to toast.
At Li Chen's table sat the top capital magnates of the industry.
Even Feng Xiaogang wasn't qualified to sit at that table.
The surrounding tables were all watching the situation at Li Chen's table.
Seeing Li Chen sandwiched between the bosses of China Film Group Corporation and Shanghai Film Group, they knew Li Chen's current status in the industry.
Zhou Xun laughed and said, "Director Li's scene here reminds me of an idiom."
Liu Yifei laughed, "What is it?"
"Two dragons fighting for a pearl!"
Liu Yifei smiled, "The pig from 'wild boar,' right?"
The people around them all burst into laughter.
"Xixi, only you would dare to say that about Director Li."
Zhu Yawen mentally added, "Sure enough, all the good cabbages are being eaten by pigs!"
This table was basically filled with Rongchen Film and Television artists and top-tier domestic celebrities.
Like Huang Xiaoming, Deng Chao, Sun Li, and Luo Jin.
The lowest-ranking ones were Yang Mi and Zhu Yawen.
As they chatted and laughed, someone walked over from the next table.
He nodded to a few people and walked over to Zhou Xun.
"Yifei, congratulations on the great success of the thieves."
Liu Yifei smiled politely, showing no closeness but also no arrogance.
Zhou Xun stood up and casually said, "Ah, I should go toast too. After all, I'm the big sister of our company."
Yang Siwei playfully raised her head and glanced at Zhou Xun, a half-smile on her face.
Zhou Xun's expression remained unchanged. She and Chen Kun walked towards Li Chen's table.
There wasn't a single fool at this table.
"Did he and Sister Xun make an appointment?" Yang Mi asked without hesitation.
Yang Siwei snorted, "It's futile."
Liu Yifei looked up at Yang Siwei, "You seem to know something."
"If you wanted to know, you'd certainly know more than I do," Yang Siwei replied with a smile.
Everyone at the table was shrewd and had heard the old gossip about Liu Yifei and Chen Kun.
Over the years, many people online had actually complained on behalf of Chen Kun.
They said that Li Chen was petty, simply because Chen Kun had yelled at his girlfriend a few times on the set of 'The Story of a Noble Family' back then.
And so, he gave Chen Kun a 'never hire again' order!
Li Chen had never explained, until one time Yang Siwei was genuinely curious.
She didn't believe her boss was such a petty person.
Otherwise, it would have been impossible to build such a large career.
Seeing everyone's evasive expressions, Yang Siwei smiled and said, "I know what you're thinking. I can tell you clearly, it's not the reason circulating online."
Yang Siwei, linking arms with Liu Yifei, suppressed a laugh, "The boss said that back then, Yifei's acting was so bad that let alone Chen Kun yelling at her..."
"If it were him, he'd probably yell even louder than Chen Kun."
Yang Siwei actually hadn't finished. Li Chen had also added later: Even now, Xixi's acting is still far from good; she needs time and life experience to mature.
Liu Yifei frowned slightly, "Did he really say that?"
Yang Mi also asked curiously, "Then why has Senior Brother never used him?"
Liu Yifei was also a little curious. She had always thought it was because of Chen Kun's attitude towards her back then that Li Chen acted this way.
But she had never taken it seriously, not even asking about it.
Yang Siwei lightly snorted, "It doesn't hurt to tell you."
"I pestered the boss repeatedly, and he finally revealed the truth because I annoyed him so much."
Yang Mi eagerly said, "Oh, hurry up and tell us! Why the suspense, General Manager Yang!"
Yang Siwei turned to Liu Yifei, "That year, you were chosen by the 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' crew and landed the role of Wang Yuyan."
"Many media outlets came to the 'The Story of a Noble Family' set to interview you at that time, do you remember?"
Liu Yifei nodded, "Of course I remember. I wasn't even fifteen that year."
Yang Siwei smiled, "I also asked the boss, 'You took a liking to her when Yifei wasn't even fifteen?'"
Liu Yifei's face flushed, and Huang Xiaoming and a few others laughed.
Yang Siwei laughed, "On the day of that interview, you probably didn't know, but they didn't just interview you; they also interviewed Chen Kun and Dong Jie."
Liu Yifei shook her head blankly. She really didn't know.
At that time, she was so busy filming during the day, worried about being scolded by the director.
At night, she had to stay up late studying the script and reading 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.'
She wished she could split herself in two.
All the online news was blocked by her mother, just to prevent her from being affected.
Liu Yifei quickly said, "Keep going! What did they ask?"
Yang Siwei smiled, "That's the key."
"At that time, a reporter asked Chen Kun, 'What do you think of Liu Yifei?'"
"Guess how he answered?"
Liu Yifei smoothed her hair at her temples and smiled shyly, "He probably disliked me a lot."
Yang Siwei laughed, "You're overthinking it! He didn't even know you."
Upon hearing this, several people at the table were surprised.
Yang Mi and Tang Yan exchanged glances, "No way, he filmed with Xixi for so long and didn't know her?"
Yang Siwei scoffed, "That's the strange part. 'The Story of a Noble Family' was almost finished filming."
"The male lead not knowing the female second lead? No one would believe it if you told them."
Yang Mi pressed, "Did he just say he didn't know Xixi?"
Yang Siwei shook her head, "The reporter reminded him, 'It's that Bai Xiuzhu,' and then he suddenly understood."
"'Oh, so her name is Liu Yifei. Everyone on set calls her Xixi, I didn't even know.'"
Yang Mi exaggerated, "No way, that's too fake."
"Even I, a passerby back then, knew that the South Korean actress who was replaced to play Bai Xiuzhu was named Liu Yifei."
"Not to mention Director Zhang choosing Yifei for 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils,' that was known by everyone."
"He acted for several months with his on-screen girlfriend, and he didn't know her name?"
"No wonder Senior Brother looks down on him!"
Yang Siwei nodded, "You hit the nail on the head."
"The boss just told me one thing: 'I don't use him, not because of his acting, and not because of that gossip.'"
"'It's because he's too good at acting!'"
Yang Siwei looked at the scene not far away where Zhou Xun was accompanying Chen Kun to toast the boss, "So, I said Sister Xun's doing all this in vain."