Chapter 129: Yang Siwei's Advice
“Li Chen, deeply immersed in ‘those years,’ blurs the lines between fiction and reality, romantically confessing his love to Liu Yifei at Capital Airport.”
“The cinnabar mole in Ke Teng’s heart, the white moonlight in Li Chen’s eyes, Liu Yifei plays both roles.”
In just one hour, Li Chen’s confession at the airport made headlines on the three major portal websites.
Even the Golden Horse Awards’ buzz had to take a backseat.
Wen Jun was filled with mixed emotions, a success and a failure, all thanks to one person.
The Golden Horse Awards indeed garnered more attention due to Li Chen’s participation.
However, contrary to expectations, the most eye-catching aspect of the Golden Horse Awards was the verbal spat between Li Chen and Zeng Zhiwei.
After only a few hours on the headlines, Li Chen personally reclaimed the top spot.
Many advertisers in China had long discovered the enormous commercial value inherent in Li Chen.
However, various brands that wanted Li Chen to endorse or shoot advertisements were repeatedly rejected.
Before Liu Yifei and Li Chen even got home, their phones started ringing non-stop.
Liu Yifei’s calls were all from classmates, close friends, and girlfriends, simply to maintain their relationships.
But how many were sincere and how many were feigned was unknown.
However, Liu Yifei didn't care; Shu Chang was her only close friend.
As for the others, for now, they were either classmates or mere acquaintances.
Li Chen’s calls were playful teasing from several industry acquaintances.
Several bigwigs in the industry, except for Han Sanping, knew everything clearly, including Wang Changtian and Cao Guowei.
Han Sanping didn't call Li Chen, but seeing Li Chen's confession, a smile still played on his lips.
In front of his daughter, he sighed, “Youth is truly wonderful!”
“Dad, I’m starting to admire him a little.”
“If you like someone, just say it openly; there’s nothing to be ashamed of. I’m disgusted by those wishy-washy couples in your industry,” Han Jianu complained.
She couldn’t stand Yang Zi and that Star Girl the most.
The two of them were constantly on shows and frequently “accidentally” met the media to flaunt their affection.
Yet, they nauseatingly claimed to be just friends, which truly made her sick.
Her father was Han Sanping, so she knew more about the industry’s dirty gossip than any paparazzi.
And those big directors, she couldn't stand a single one of them.
Hiding and sneaking around, they didn't act like real men.
Han Sanping didn’t pay attention to these things; what he cared about were the three scripts Li Chen had submitted.
They would likely be approved very soon, and what share he would get was his main concern.
He had seen too many romantic entanglements of young men and women.
He wasn't optimistic about how far Li Chen and that young girl could go.
“Yifei, now that you and the boss are openly together, no one will say anything,” Yang Siwei said with a smile.
Tang Yan linked arms with Liu Yifei: “I bet your blog is probably overflowing with comments right now.”
Liu Yifei, beaming with joy, said, “I don’t care; that was just your boss’s solo act. I didn’t agree to anything.”
Li Chen laughed heartily: “Xixi is right. Not only would you not agree, but your fans wouldn’t either.”
“I just said I like you; it doesn’t affect whether you like me or not. Let them think I’m a lovesick fool.”
Yang Siwei deeply agreed, feeling as if her boss had planned this in advance.
Yifei didn't even have time to respond before her boss pulled her into the car.
“Yifei, the boss is right. You just don’t have to respond directly, otherwise your fans will be sad.”
“My boss will probably be considered public enemy number one by your fans. There are so many people who like you; my boss is just one of them,” Yang Siwei said with a smile.
In fact, they all knew that after Li Chen’s confession,
Whether Liu Yifei admitted it or not no longer mattered, because everyone had already taken it as a given.
Unless, from today onwards, Liu Yifei and Li Chen completely cut ties and never spoke again.
Otherwise, in the eyes of entertainment reporters, their actions today were no different from an official announcement.
Although Liu Yifei didn’t admit it, she also didn’t deny it.
Yang Siwei's thoughts, however, drifted elsewhere at this moment.
The boss’s confession today would inevitably push Yifei into the spotlight.
Envy and jealousy would surely escalate proportionally.
Female stars might not dare to openly attack Yifei, but privately, underhanded tactics or small gestures would certainly not be lacking.
Which of these female stars didn't want to win over her boss?
Who didn’t know her boss’s immense power? Winning him over would be like cheating, like having a cheat code.
He completely dominated the domestic entertainment industry.
Whether it was TV dramas or movies, or even the music scene.
It could be said that he could kill gods and destroy Buddhas, utterly invincible.
Didn’t you see how he casually wrote “those years” and sidelined so many professional singer-songwriters?
What a perfect match; I hope Yifei and the boss can stay together until the end.
In the entertainment industry, her artists were considered the cleanest.
Compared to those actresses from Hong Kong who claimed to be 'Jade Girls,' they were as pure as white paper.
Every time she heard the term 'Jade Girl' from Hong Kong, she felt sick; they should be called 'Lustful Girls,' right?
Yang Siwei’s mind wandered.
Miss Liu leaned on Li Chen’s shoulder, her eyes sparkling with tears.
Happiness came too suddenly; she was completely unprepared.
But even if the road ahead was full of thorns, she was fearless.
As long as the person by her side could always stay with her, never leaving.
Upon returning home, she saw Liu's Mother.
Miss Liu smiled, detached herself from Li Chen, and immediately flew into her mother's arms: “Mom.”
Liu's Mother lovingly pinched her daughter's cheek, a face she hadn't seen in days.
“Li Chen, why did you suddenly announce it publicly? It was too sudden, wasn’t it? Just now, Old Chen asked me about it, and I was completely clueless,” Liu's Mother grumbled.
However, the smile on her face showed that she wasn’t angry.
“Auntie, it’s not a big deal. Xixi didn’t agree, did she? My unrequited love doesn’t count, haha.”
“Besides, it can’t be kept secret for long. It’s impossible for Xixi and me to be unrelated and yet I keep casting Xixi as the female lead, right? No one would believe that if I said it.”
Liu's Mother and Miss Liu secretly agreed that he had a point.
They hadn’t thought that far ahead. Their daughter wasn’t an artist under Li Chen’s company.
‘those years’ could be explained as a direct invitation, and ‘the thieves’ could be passed off as a casting choice to the public.
But in reality, rumors were already flying everywhere.
If he cast their daughter in the next play and still denied being in a relationship, he would truly be treating the public like fools.
Yang Mi was filled with envy over Liu Yifei and Tang Yan’s stunning appearance at the Golden Horse Awards.
However, the immediate priority was not envy, but another matter.
Ever since she learned about ‘so young,’
She had reread the original novel of ‘so young’ tirelessly, forgetting to eat and sleep.
She felt that she could perfectly portray the female lead, Zheng Wei.
Because her personality was so similar to Zheng Wei’s.
Zheng Wei in the novel was someone who dared to love and hate, brave and strong, domineering and willful, yet not lacking in cuteness.
As soon as Yang Siwei returned, Yang Mi immediately volunteered herself.
If Yang Mi couldn’t seize the opportunity for a production from her own company, she wouldn’t be the ‘Three Billion Sister’ from her previous life.
Last year, Tangren Media approached her about ‘Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio’.
They invited her to co-star with Hu Ge as Xiao Qian, the female lead in one of the segments of ‘Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.’
Of course, she was a hundred percent willing.
Unexpectedly, Siwei directly rejected it, saying it was the senior’s decision.
Yang Mi was very unhappy at the time and secretly cursed the senior for being old-fashioned.
Did she still need to learn acting?! Staying in school was a waste of time.
After all, any of the artists participating in ‘Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio’ were popular A-listers.
Huang Xiaoming, Hu Ge, Li Bingbing, Jimmy Lin.
She wasn't willing to give up and found her senior, hoping to gently persuade him, but there was no room for negotiation.
The senior’s single sentence scared her into silence: “If you want to participate, I can terminate our contract.”
Privately, Yang Mi couldn't help but wonder if her decision to switch to Rongchen Film and Television at the time had been too rash.
Who knew that at the end of last year, when the drama was released, it truly sank like a stone in the ocean.
So many A-list artists pieced together couldn't prop up the drama.
Besides marveling at her senior’s foresight, she admired him even more.
Yang Mi found Yang Siwei and explained her intentions.
Upon hearing this, Yang Siwei also thought it was a good idea and called Li Chen.
Unexpectedly, her boss had already planned to reserve this role for Yang Mi.
“Boss, you’re so thoughtful. Yifei, Tangtang, and Mi Mi, each one gets a female lead in a youth campus drama.”
“My admiration for you is like… hello, hello.”
Before Yang Siwei could finish speaking, Li Chen hung up the phone.
“Did I interrupt the boss’s good time again?” Yang Siwei muttered to herself.
Yang Mi had already overheard Siwei and her senior’s conversation and was smiling so wide her mouth couldn’t close.
“You heard? Happy now?”
“Mwah!” Yang Mi burst out laughing, hugging Yang Siwei and giving her a big kiss.
“Let’s go, call Tangtang, I’m treating tonight!”
Including ‘so young’ and ‘painted skin 2,’ she already had two projects this year.
Not to mention ‘so young,’ ‘painted skin 2’ would definitely go international, and just thinking about it made her happy.
Yang Mi was very satisfied and increasingly felt that switching companies was absolutely the right decision.
The whole ‘Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio’ incident had long been forgotten.
Yang Siwei was simultaneously preparing the marketing plan for ‘White Moonlight’.
And managing the announcements and endorsements for her three artists.
Especially Zhou Xun, after winning the Golden Horse Awards, was bombarded with a Hu Ge number of announcements and endorsements.
Meanwhile, Xue Xiaolu continued to tour the country with the ‘those years’ crew, doing roadshows and appearing on shows.
This stop was Magic City.
Tomorrow is the weekend, and they will be doing a roadshow at Shanghai Theatre Academy.
Even on the first day of school, the students of Shanghai Theatre Academy probably haven't gathered in such numbers.
The reason was simple: yesterday, Friday, several pieces of information on the General Administration’s filing Notice Board once again left industry insiders speechless.
A total of three film filing details.
‘painted skin 2,’ ‘so young,’ and ‘Father’s Love Is Like a Mountain 2,’ all filed by Rongchen Film and Television.
The filing results were uniformly approved for production.
It wasn’t unheard of for film and television companies to produce several films a year.
Like China Film Group Corporation, Shanghai Film Group, Huayi Brothers in mainland China, and Emperor Entertainment, Media Asia in Hong Kong, and so on.
But filing three scripts at once was absolutely a first.
Rongchen Film and Television always remained silent until it made a stunning debut.
Industry insiders almost wondered if Li Chen was an alien, his creative efficiency was simply too high.
Others struggled to find a bestselling novel, and it took several people months of adaptation to produce a good script.
Li Chen, however, was like a madman, erupting in an unreasonable, explosive manner.
News also came back from Hollywood that ‘insidious 2’ was about to start filming, another money-making beast.
The two Wang brothers, big and small, had originally thought Huayi Brothers could make a comeback this year.
Wiping away the bad taste left by Wang Jinghua’s departure and the strong rise of Rongchen Film and Television.
Because Huayi Brothers had been quite prolific this year, with as many as four films as main investors.
But yesterday’s filing information left Little Wang feeling powerless.
He felt that the gap between Huayi Brothers and Rongchen Film and Television was widening.
Whether in film or television, Rongchen Film and Television always had an edge over Huayi Brothers.
As for music, there’s no need to mention it; just thinking about music made him angry.
The albums painstakingly produced by his company for its artists.
In the end, they weren’t as popular as a single song, ‘those years.’
It hurt Little Wang deeply; even Zhou Xun was snatched away by Rongchen Film and Television.
Little Wang almost wished he could perform a curse on Li Chen behind his back.
The students of Shanghai Theatre Academy were highly enthusiastic, firstly because the ‘those years’ crew came to the school for a roadshow.
Being able to see Director Li and Liu Yifei, among others, and of course, primarily Director Li.
Secondly, there had been rumors that Director Li might hold auditions for the male and female leads of ‘so young,’ mentioned in Hong Kong, during the roadshows at various art schools.
This instantly drove not only the students of Shanghai Theatre Academy wild, but also students from several other art schools, who rushed to follow the tour like they were attending a series of events.
Upon hearing this news, Hu Ge volunteered to contact Liu Yifei to serve as a guide for the ‘those years’ crew.
In reality, it wasn't really volunteering; it was simply that his boss, Cai Yinong, had heard about the rumored casting for ‘so young’ online.
She felt that Hu Ge could perfectly portray the male lead, Chen Xiaozheng, so she had him actively contact Liu Yifei as a friend and local host.
Her intention, of course, was to target the male lead role in ‘so young.’ If she could also bring along Yuan Hong to play Lin Jing, then Cai Yinong would be even happier.
Cai Yinong herself wasn't idle; she proactively contacted Li Chen and Liu Yifei to fulfill her duties as a host.
However, that evening, only Liu Yifei arrived, but Li Chen was nowhere to be seen.
In a private room of a high-end restaurant in Magic City.
Seeing Liu Yifei and Yang Siwei appear, fully armed and wearing masks,
Cai Yinong was inevitably a little disappointed.
Hu Ge didn’t mind; he would definitely see Director Li in person at school tomorrow anyway.
“Siwei, Yifei, please sit down quickly. We’ve been waiting for you! Where’s Director Li?”
Cai Yinong and Hu Ge stood up and said with smiles.
“Yifei, Siwei,” Hu Ge also greeted the two.
Liu Yifei removed her mask, and Yang Siwei explained, “President Cai, Hu Ge, please don’t take offense.”
“Ren Dong of Shanghai Film Group kidnapped my boss. He told Yifei and me to come first, and he’ll come if he can, depending on the situation.”
Cai Yinong felt a little better. After all, Li Chen was only in Magic City for today and tomorrow.
Many people must have made appointments with him, and compared to Shanghai Film Group, she knew her place.
“President Cai, let’s not wait for him. Maybe we’ll be done, and they’ll still be in high spirits with their drinks,” Liu Yifei said with a smile.
Cai Yinong chuckled: “Alright, I’ll listen to Yifei.”
“Yifei, you can even make decisions for Director Li now. You’ll have to look after your Uncle Hu in the future,” Hu Ge teased.
Yang Siwei looked at Liu Yifei curiously: “Uncle Hu? What’s going on?”
Liu Yifei’s face flushed slightly.
“This person, the first time we met, he lied, saying he was thirty and told me to call him uncle. I believed him and fell for it.”
Cai Yinong couldn’t help but laugh.
Yang Siwei laughed heartily: “Hu Ge, let me give you a piece of advice: don’t take advantage of Yifei in front of my boss.”
“Be careful not to follow in the footsteps of that Golden Horse Awards host who wanted to be my boss’s father.”
“Ah? Hahaha,” Hu Ge couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Siwei’s advice came just in time. I forgot Yifei isn’t alone now…”
Reading between the lines, Cai Yinong, however, understood the hidden meaning in Yang Siwei’s words.
It seemed Li Chen had no intention of letting Zeng Zhiwei off the hook.
She was a smart person; with Li Chen’s current influence,
Dealing with a Zeng Zhiwei would truly be too simple.
Unless you don’t plan to develop in mainland China, otherwise, with the close relationship between Rongchen Film and Television and China Film Group Corporation,
If you have a movie you star in or co-produce,
Rongchen Film and Television can release a film in the same slot as yours,
And you’ll find yourself with no one to turn to, no matter how much you cry out for help.
