It's reasonable for me, a stuntman, to live a crazy life, right?

Chapter 1356 Mango: Another Mistake...

The start of filming for "Man Jiang Hong" was a grand affair.

Dong Ping went to great lengths to generate buzz, turning the opening ceremony into a mini red carpet show.

While browsing Weibo, Chen Fei discovered that a giant red backdrop had been erected at the press conference, with the gilded characters "Zhang Yimou × Shen Teng × Yi Yangqianxi" gleaming in the sunlight, making it difficult for people to open their eyes.

More than 30 media outlets were present to report on the event, and there were even drones buzzing overhead.

Most surprisingly, the press conference ended with a live stream.

Especially when everyone recited the poem "Man Jiang Hong: Writing My Thoughts", the number of people online on the platform at the same time exceeded one million!
"Goodness, anyone who didn't know better would think it was some kind of coronation ceremony."

Wang Changtian called, his voice full of suspicion.

He couldn't understand why a simple launch event had to be made so grand.
Chen Fei chuckled: "Just you wait and see, this is nothing yet. He's clearly determined to hold onto the momentum of 'premature popularity'."

Wang Changtian is currently on the phone while browsing the news.

Looking around, the hashtag #ManjianghongLivestreamOpeningExceedsOneMillionViews# has already climbed to the top of Weibo's trending topics.

The related topics are full of screenshots from netizens.

Examples include Shen Teng's heroic expression while reciting the poem "Man Jiang Hong," Yi Yangqianxi's costume photo in red robes and holding a sword, and Zhang Yimou's rare image of making a peace sign in front of the camera...

"Tsk tsk, you were right! The whole internet is talking about 'Manjianghong's reputation' right now, it's definitely a hit even before its release!"

Looking at the real-time public opinion data on the computer, Chen Fei continued, "This is just an appetizer. Next, there will be trailers, character posters, and behind-the-scenes clips of actors bantering. He will definitely release these materials one by one to keep the hype going until the movie is released."

"Why go through all this trouble? How much will this marketing cost?" Wang Changtian wondered.

"It's all for the box office. The contradiction between 'suspense' and 'comedy' has been turned into a cute contrast. Once the audience's curiosity is piqued to the limit, it will be hard for the box office not to explode."

Upon hearing this, Wang Changtian's voice suddenly came from the other end of the phone: "No wonder he even did a live broadcast; he's treating the start of filming as a promotional movie!"

"Yes."

"Is he really that confident in the quality of the film?"

"We'll find out when the time comes. Let's wait and see."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Fei tossed it onto the table, a faint smile of anticipation playing on his lips.

According to Zhang Yimou's filming schedule, barring any unforeseen circumstances, "Man Jiang Hong" will definitely be released during the Spring Festival, just like in the original timeline of the previous life.

Meanwhile, Feiyue Films' post-production work on "The Wandering Earth 2" is also geared towards the Spring Festival release.

This time, he wanted to see how "Man Jiang Hong" could still suppress "The Wandering Earth 2" without ghost screenings or the ability to steal box office revenue.

He wants to show the audience what a real blockbuster is!

Hype? Traffic generation?
Compared to top-tier blockbusters, these things are nothing but fleeting clouds, easily punctured and shattered.

Time flies by.

In the following days, as Chen Fei had predicted, announcements and trending topics about "Man Jiang Hong" continued to appear online.

Fun anecdotes from filming, outstanding acting performances, Zhang Yimou's directing skills...

It has to be said that Dong Ping has accumulated a lot of experience in hype and traffic manipulation, following the box office failure of "The Revolutionary".

However, unforeseen events can happen at any time, and misfortune can strike at any moment.

The hype surrounding "Man Jiang Hong" hadn't lasted long before the online buzz suddenly shifted to "Sisters Who Make Waves 3".

When Wang Xinling, wearing a short skirt, sang "Love You" on stage, it was like a bombshell being dropped into a calm lake!
On the night the show aired, hashtags such as #WangXinlingMemories# and #WangXinlingBoy# quickly dominated the trending topics list, and the number of views exceeded ten million in just a few hours.

The former "Sweetheart Queen" instantly became popular again, sparking a nationwide frenzy.

What's even more astonishing is that many of these usually serious and domineering CEOs, dressed in suits, have been posting screenshots of their votes for Wang Xinling on social media.

Some people even formed a support group to encourage Wang Xinling to vote.

It's worth noting that many domineering CEOs' youth belonged to the "Sweetheart Queen."

Chen Fei even saw a post on his WeChat Moments from the chairman of a listed company, who declared domineeringly: "The votes we owed Wang Xinling back then must be made up for this time!"

This short sentence garnered countless likes and sparked a wave of imitations.

However, Hunan TV was extremely worried as the popularity continued to rise.

There's no other reason than that they bet on the wrong horse again!
Looking back, they made many mistakes when betting on the show.

The previous variety shows, which were heavily invested in and featured many popular celebrities, were expected to generate significant buzz. However, after airing, they received lukewarm responses, with ratings declining and word-of-mouth falling short of expectations. Netizens criticized them for having "empty content and no originality."

Several meticulously prepared TV dramas, with carefully crafted plots and casts, were overshadowed by other shows airing at the same time, resulting in poor ratings and causing headaches for Hunan TV executives.

In the beginning, Hunan TV did not place all its hopes on Wang Xinling for "Sisters Who Make Waves 3". Instead, it focused its publicity efforts on several young female stars with high popularity and artists who returned from overseas.

Who would have thought that this "Sweetheart Queen" who had been out of the spotlight for many years would become the biggest dark horse, causing the show's popularity to surge.

What's even more infuriating is that the winner of the show had already been decided beforehand.

Normally, everything should proceed according to the script.

Unfortunately, these domineering CEOs are too overbearing. They're waving their money around to manipulate Mango Excellent Media's stock, and they're threatening, "If you dare to deliberately suppress Wang Xinling, we'll make your stock price plummet!"

If this were an ordinary fan, Mango TV definitely wouldn't have taken it seriously.

Do you really think short selling is that easy?

But these domineering CEOs really do have that ability!

Meanwhile, Dong Ping was so anxious that he was running around like an ant on a hot pan, watching his popularity being stolen by "Sisters Who Make Waves 3".

He kept urging the team to increase the marketing efforts for "Man Jiang Hong", but no matter how hard they tried, the popularity was always overshadowed by Wang Xinling's wave.

Seeing the slow growth in readership and discussion surrounding the topic of "Man Jiang Hong," he felt helpless and could only watch the opportunity for online traffic slip through his fingers.

"Let's put the publicity on hold for now. We'll continue after the hype surrounding 'Sisters Who Make Waves 3' has died down."

As he issued the order, Dong Ping began to pay attention to his opponents.

"Man Jiang Hong" has been confirmed for release during next year's Spring Festival, and there will definitely be a lot of competition then.

Therefore, we need to think of a way in advance to list out the strengths and weaknesses of our competitors before the Spring Festival season arrives, just in case.

Meanwhile, Chen Fei had already arrived at the Cannes Film Festival venue.

This year's Cannes Film Festival was quite lively.

The main competition lineup includes films from multiple countries, including France, Sweden, Brazil, Finland, South Korea, Belgium, Spain, and Italy.

The jury president is Vincent Linton, who won the Best Actor award at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in 15 for his role in "Market Law".

The judging panel included Deepika Padukone from India and Jeff Nichols from the United States.

It's clear that the age of these judging panel members is trending younger.

There are a total of 9 judges, 5 of whom are born in the 80s, and the youngest is only 36 years old.

This is extremely rare among the three major European countries.

But precisely because of this, Chen Fei's arrival immediately established his status as a "senior." Although he is only 38 years old this year, there are many people present who are much older than him.

But in terms of identity, star power, fame, and status, he is undoubtedly No. 1 at the entire film festival!

On the day of the premiere of "Parasite", when Chen Fei appeared on the red carpet with Pierre Lescourt, the president of the Cannes Film Festival, he immediately drew gasps of amazement from the entire audience!

Chen Kaige, who was with his wife and children, had his brows furrowed tightly.

Although he arrived in Cannes much earlier than the "Parasite" crew, the score in the program after the premiere of "Boyhood" was not very high.

No matter how hard he tried to persuade them, the media and the audience were not convinced.

This inevitably caused him some anxiety.

As I pondered this, the screen lit up, and the full film "Parasite" began to play.

The camera pans across the damp, moldy rented room, and Zhao Jinmai's contorted expression as she tries to use cheap Wi-Fi elicits a few soft laughs from the audience.

But as the plot progressed, the laughter gradually froze.

When the scene of the family of four huddled together, with torrential rain pouring outside and sewage mixed with garbage flooding into the house appeared, Chen Kaige suddenly heard a short gasp from his throat!
This powerful visual metaphor struck him like a heavy hammer blow against his meticulously constructed artistic fortress.

In the latter half of the film, the carnage in the darkness and the absurdity of class are all wrapped up in dark humor.

The audience held their breath at times, and at other times burst into hysterical laughter.

Chen Kaige glanced at the group of film judges in the front row. They were leaning forward, their eyes fixed on the screen, and occasionally turning to discuss the plot with their companions.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered his "Boyhood".

Those meticulously crafted long takes and philosophical dialogues appear utterly pale and powerless in the face of Parasite's surgically precise narrative.

The moment the lights came on after the show, even though there was bright light in front of him, Chen Kaige felt as if darkness was enveloping him.

A cacophony of exclamations erupted in my ears:
"This is the level of the Cannes Palme d'Or!"

"The class allegory is brilliant!"

"Director Chen's film script, written after many years, is as exquisite as ever!"

As Chen Kaige listened to these sounds, he subconsciously gripped Chen Hong's hand, only to find that her palm was equally cold.

Back at the hotel, he repeatedly looked through the ratings in the "Boyhood" magazine.

The score of 6.2 stung his eyes.

He recalled more than once the subtle criticisms that followed the premiere, such as "too academic" and "lacking emotional resonance."

The twenty-minute standing ovation that followed the end of the screening of "Parasite" still echoed in his ears!

At that moment, he slumped into the sofa, gazing at the dazzling night view of Cannes outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, and for the first time, he began to waver in his artistic beliefs that he had held for many years.

The meticulously crafted "elegance" seems to have been wrong from beginning to end.

Since "Farewell My Concubine," he seems to have been speeding down a road with no end in sight...

March 5, 27 am.

Chen Fei had been up all night with Liu Yifei, and he was originally planning to sleep in.

Unexpectedly, before he had even woken up, there was a series of knocks on the door.

After putting on his pajamas, he got out of bed, went to the door, opened it, and looked inside...

As expected, it was Han Jianu!
"What are you doing so early in the morning instead of sleeping? You're disturbing my peaceful dreams," Chen Fei questioned her bluntly, rolling his eyes at her a few times.

If this had happened in the past, Han Jianu would definitely have argued with him.

However, Miss Han was in a very good mood today and didn't care about this at all.

"I received a phone call!"

Whose phone is it?

"Cannes organizing committee! We can win an award!" Han Jianu shouted excitedly.

"Oh, I know."

Chen Fei yawned and responded, waved to her, and locked the door.

This silly girl, isn't it normal to get a phone call? It would be strange if she didn't!

Putting aside any public relations maneuvering, the mere fact that Chen Fei was both the producer and the lead actor was enough to win an award at Cannes.

Outside the door, Han Jianu stared at the door that had been closed again, slightly taken aback.

"Hey……"

She was about to continue banging on the door, but then she thought it was unnecessary.

"Hmph, fine, if you don't want to listen, I'll share it with my boyfriend."

She excitedly skipped back to her room and went off to play with Wen Muye.

The Cannes Film Festival awards ceremony officially kicked off on May 28th!

On the red carpet, Chen Fei met Chen Kaige and his wife, and also saw young actors Chen Feiyu, Liu Haoran, Zhang Xueying, and Wen Qi.

"Hello, Director Chen."

Upon seeing Chen Fei, the group hurriedly bowed and greeted him.

Chen Fei nodded slightly, greeted Chen Kaige and Chen Hong, and then led the cast of "Parasite" onto the red carpet.

"Brother Kai, do you think they received the call?"

"I definitely received it."

Hearing Chen Hong's question, Chen Kaige sighed slightly.

He had just noticed the barely concealed joy in the expressions of Han Jianu, Liu Yifei, and Zhou Xun.

This is clearly a sign that they are confident of winning the award.

As for him...

If he were younger, he would probably be heading straight to the airport by now, ready to return home.

But now that he's older, he's less impulsive, and he ultimately didn't act rashly.

Offending the Berlin Film Festival organizers is one thing, but if he also gives the Cannes organizers a hard time, outsiders will laugh at him for being ignorant.

Moreover, he was also thinking of supporting his son when conditions allowed, so he had to attend this awards ceremony to help Chen Feiyu expand his network.

At the same time, watching Chen Fei and his companions disappear into the entrance of the venue, he couldn't help but feel a little puzzled:

"I wonder what prize they'll win tonight?"

(End of this chapter)