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

Chapter 1400 iQiyi, back to business...

"Last night, the 96th Academy Awards officially came to a close, with the Chinese-language film 'Parasite' winning multiple awards!"

"Warmest congratulations! The realistic film 'Parasite,' produced by Chen Fei and directed by Han Jianu, has won three Academy Awards: Best Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Picture, making it famous in Hollywood!"

"Congratulations to Director Chen Fei on winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes and now the Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement!"

"Parasite, the glory of Chinese-language cinema!"

"..."

On the international stage, the 96th Academy Awards ceremony officially came to a close with the awarding of the Academy's highest individual honor, the Gold Medal.

The crowd in the Dolby Theatre rose to their feet, still brimming with excitement, and headed to the victory celebration.

Meanwhile, in China, the news of "Parasite" winning an award has already ignited a frenzy!

The push notifications from major entertainment news apps were as dense as raindrops:
Parasite sweeps the Oscars, winning Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature Film, and Best Picture!

Chen Fei becomes the youngest recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in Oscar history, making history!

From Asia to the world, what made "Parasite" win the Oscars?

On social media platforms, related topics skyrocketed to the top of trending searches.

The hashtags #ParasiteOscarThreeWins#, #ChenFeiLifetimeAchievementAward#, and #HighlightMomentsOfChineseFilms# have consistently dominated the top ten of the trending topics list, with readership often reaching hundreds of millions.

The Weibo homepage was flooded with related news, and both film and television professionals and ordinary netizens were cheering for this honor!
The official account of the Film and Television Association posted: "Congratulations to Chen Fei, Han Jianu, and the 'Parasite' team! This is not only a personal victory, but also an important breakthrough for Chinese-language films on the international stage. We look forward to more excellent works reaching the world!"

Actors and directors also shared the congratulations.

Ning Hao wrote: "This is so inspiring! Director Chen has proven with his talent that good stories know no borders!"

Guo Fan remarked, "Every shot in Parasite is powerful; it truly deserves its accolades!"

Dumpling also joined in the fun amidst her busy schedule: "I hope 'Ne Zha 2' can also learn from 'Parasite' and achieve dazzling glory..."

Many netizens' comments were filled with pride:
"This live stream was so worth watching! When I saw Director Chen receive the award, I was so excited I almost smashed my phone!"

"I used to think that the Oscars were far away from us, but now I realize that good movies can really break down all barriers."

"Director Han Jia is amazing too! It's so cool for female directors to shine on the international stage!"

On short video platforms, highlights from "Parasite" and moments from the awards ceremony were repeatedly edited and shared.

Chen Fei's acceptance speech was even accompanied by subtitles, becoming a "famous scene" that countless people watched on repeat.

Even people who don't usually follow movies saw related news on their WeChat Moments and couldn't help but click on the topic to find out more.

At this moment, from professional media to public opinion, from industry insiders to the streets, the Oscar journey of "Parasite" has become a cultural event that is hotly discussed by the whole nation!

……

The dinner ended after midnight.

Chen Fei led the group back to the villa.

As soon as he entered, he pulled out the champagne he had prepared beforehand, ready for a second round of celebration.

The living room then became lively again.

At this moment, the restraint of the red carpet and the tension of the awards ceremony vanished. Everyone held their wine glasses, joking with each other, chatting about everything from their red carpet looks to the heart-pounding moments of receiving awards...

Even the usually composed Zhang Yi was given two drinks, and he laughed as he recounted how his palms were sweating profusely before going on stage.

The celebration continued into the early hours of the morning, until everyone fell asleep, exhausted and smiling.

When Chen Fei woke up again, it was already the afternoon of the next day.

Sunlight streamed into the room through the gaps in the curtains; the villa was quiet.

He walked out of the bedroom in his pajamas and suddenly heard a slight noise coming from the kitchen.

When I went over, I saw Liu Yifei cooking with Xiao Shitou.

The little guy held a small spoon in his hand and was helping his mother stir the salad in a very professional manner.

"Awake?" Liu Yifei turned around and smiled when she heard footsteps. "I asked the aunt to make something light. You can call everyone to get up and eat something."

"it is good."

Chen Fei nodded and began urging everyone to get up.

Before long, the others woke up one after another, and the dining table was soon full of people again.

"I'll take you to the airport this afternoon," Chen Fei said while peeling an egg for Xiao Shitou. "The flight back has already been arranged, and someone will pick you up when you land."

Wen Muye nodded: "Okay, I'll go back and prepare for the wedding..."

Han Jianu blushed and pinched him, but still echoed, "The wedding date is set for June. I'll go back and prepare the invitations to send to you."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately cheered that they would definitely come to the wedding banquet.

At 6 p.m., Chen Fei took everyone to Los Angeles International Airport.

After seeing the group off, he returned to the car, hugged Liu Yifei and kissed her, then patted his son's head: "Now it's just the three of us. I'll show you around."

"Yay!" Liu Yifei's eyes were full of relief. "Finally, I can rest. These past few days have been like a battle."

"Haha, your movie will be in the same state when you submit it for awards..."

Post-production on "The Room Next Door" is finished, and they're preparing to go to Venice for awards. Chen Fei will definitely accompany them.

In the following days, the family of three completely slowed down their pace.

During the day, I take my son to Ready Player One theme park, and in the evening, we stroll along Santa Monica Beach, watching the sunset paint the sea golden and listening to the waves crashing on the shore. All thoughts of awards and work are left behind...

"Actually, this is quite nice." Liu Yifei leaned back in her recliner, looking at the night view, and said softly, "No need to rush to a schedule, no need to think about work, just stay here."

Chen Fei reached out and put his arm around her, saying gently, "After we finish all our work, I'll take you to a fun place for a vacation."

Interesting place?
Liu Yifei turned her head curiously: "Where?"

"It'll be a secret for now." Chen Fei raised an eyebrow at her. "You'll find out later."

~

Meanwhile, as Chen Fei and his family of three enjoyed a rare moment of leisure in Los Angeles, a new wave was quietly rising in the domestic film market.

Time flies, and it's already the end of March. Feng Xiaogang's "Hachiko: A Dog's Tale" has officially been released!
This film, a remake of a classic IP, did a lot of marketing work before its release.

In the trailer, Feng Xiaogang plays a father who sits in the old courtyard basking in the sun with his dog. When his daughter gets married, he hands over the dowry with tears in his eyes. Finally, the scene of the dog waiting for its owner at the train station, accompanied by a tear-jerking background music, has really whetted the audience's expectations.

The publicity team also played the "emotional card" precisely, with a flood of press releases emphasizing topics such as "father-son relationship," "family bond," and "mutual attraction between humans and animals."

Meanwhile, the publicity team also invited many bloggers to watch the film in advance, and their tearful reviews flooded social media platforms.

Therefore, even though Feng Xiaogang's previous web series "Echo" was a critical flop, the pre-sale results of "Hachiko: A Dog's Tale" were still impressive.

Many viewers went to the cinema with the mindset that "a classic IP plus a tearjerker theme can't be too bad," hoping to see a heartwarming story.

However, on the opening day, when moviegoers left the theater, their expressions all changed to that of someone who had been cheated.

"No way, what is this film? All the warmth of the original is gone, and a bunch of melodramatic family conflicts have been added. Feng Xiaogang's portrayal of the father is stiff and unrealistic, lacking any human touch. How dare they call it a tearjerker? A masterpiece of the year?" "The 'father-daughter relationship' that the marketing hype is promoting is not portrayed well at all. The scene where the daughter gets married made me cringe so badly that I almost had cancer. It's just sentimental for the sake of sentimentality."

"The most crucial thing is the dog! Hachiko's role was cut in half, and he was treated like a tool dog the whole time. Where is the 'mutual support'?"

On Douban, negative reviews flooded in.

Some say Feng Xiaogang "plays himself no matter what he does," while others criticize the adaptation as "adding unnecessary details," tearing the originally pure emotional story into pieces...

On April 1st, Chen Fei, along with Liu Yifei, Liu Xiaoli, and Xiao Shitou, quietly landed in the capital.

On his way home, while browsing the news, he discovered that Feng Xiaogang's new film had only grossed a paltry 2000 million yuan at the box office.

More importantly, the Douban rating plummeted to 6.2, a stark contrast to the hype during the pre-sale period.

"It's ruined! Utterly ruined!"

Chen Fei muttered to himself, his expression rather strange.

Now, even if someone jumps out and says that Feng Xiaogang has been cursed, he'll believe it. He's incredibly unlucky; there's no one else like him.

The web series flopped, the movies he starred in flopped, and his personal box office appeal completely collapsed.

If this continues, won't we just have to retire and go home to enjoy our old age?
oh! wrong!

He still owes a mountain of debt, and he'll probably have to work until he's completely too old to move before he can finally rest.

"boom!"

In the iQiyi headquarters office, Gong Yu slammed her hand hard on the mahogany desk, her chest heaving violently. Her anger burned like a blocked chimney, making her internal organs ache.

The web series "Echo" flopped quietly, and the highly anticipated movie "Hachi: A Dog's Tale" also flopped both critically and commercially.

As a result of the chain reaction, the company's stock price was immediately pushed to the daily limit down as soon as the market opened, and the red numbers were painful to look at.

"Jingle Bell--"

The phone rang urgently, and the name "Baidu Headquarters" popped up on the screen.

Gong Yu took a deep breath and answered the phone, but before she could even speak, a barrage of angry curses came through the receiver:

"How exactly did you manage this project? Huh? iQiyi gave you the job of making movies and TV shows, not to burn money and throw it away! The stock price has plummeted! The board of directors is about to explode! Give me an explanation..."

The other party yelled for a full five minutes before hanging up. Gong Yu's hand holding the receiver was trembling, and she felt so frustrated that she wanted to throw things.

He suddenly looked up at the publicity manager standing opposite him: "Where's Feng Xiaogang?"

The publicity manager hunched his shoulders, his head almost touching his chest, and answered in a muffled voice, "Director Feng... he said he's going to film 'If You Are the One 3'."

"Filming 'If You Are the One 3'?" Gong Yu laughed out loud as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world, but her laughter was full of anger. "So what? He's just going to leave this mess of 'Hachiko' all alone? The box office has plummeted like this, and the reviews are terrible, and he's just going to pack his bags and walk away?"

The publicity manager opened his mouth, his face turning bright red, but he couldn't utter a single word.

The film's reputation completely collapsed on its first day of release, with its Douban score dropping below 6 points and audiences hurling insults.

The occupancy rate has now been halved, and the cinema's screening rate has plummeted like it's on a slide, from the initial 25% to less than 10%.

The team tried countless ways to salvage the situation, such as adding more roadshows, showing deleted scenes, and hiring internet celebrities to save the day, but the audience simply didn't buy it. The internet was full of voices warning against it and advising people to give up. It was simply beyond saving.

In this situation, what good would it do even if Feng Xiaogang came?
Seeing the publicity manager's attitude, Gong Yu's anger flared even more, but then she suddenly deflated.

He slumped into his office chair, ran his hands through his hair, and looked utterly devastated, wanting to bang his head against the wall!
In the end, I was just blind back then.

Despite knowing full well that the quality of Feng Xiaogang's works has declined in recent years, they still cling to the wishful thinking that "even a skinny camel is bigger than a horse" and invest heavily in him.

Now look what's happened, the whole company has been dragged into this mess...

"Sigh, never mind." After a long while, Gong Yu finally spoke in a hoarse voice, her tone full of helplessness, "If You Are the One 3 is the last project."

Tell him to film it well, and after this, we'll part ways completely. From now on, iQiyi and Feng Xiaogang will have absolutely nothing to do with each other!

The publicity manager nodded hurriedly and fled the office as if escaping.

The office fell silent again, with only Gong Yu's heavy breathing remaining.

He looked out at the gray sky and felt utterly powerless.

This is a really bad fall; it's likely that iQiyi won't be able to recover for a long time.

I used to think I'd watch Youku, but now I realize how ridiculous that was.

Youku is tied to Feiyue Films, but what does iQiyi have?
……

After resting for two days, Chen Fei drove to the company.

Upon entering, one sees a thick stack of documents piled on the desk, clearly representing the tasks accumulated during his absence.

I had just sat down to get ready when there was a knock on the office door.

Wang Shiliang pushed open the door and came in, his face showing some worry: "Director Chen, you're back."

"Um, is there something you need?" Chen Fei asked, looking at him curiously.

"There's something I'd like to tell you." Wang Shiliang placed the project proposal for "Detective Chinatown 1990" on the table and said with a troubled expression, "The casting for this project is almost complete, except for the role of Bai Xuanling. We've auditioned several actors, but they all seem to be lacking something. We really can't find a suitable candidate. Could you recommend a few?"

Chen Fei put down his pen and said in recollection, "Bai Xuanling? That old detective who walks the line between right and wrong, both smooth and with a touch of江湖气 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry)?"

“Yes, that’s him.” Wang Shi nodded. “The character needs to be both dignified and roguish, and at crucial moments, he also needs to show loyalty and righteousness. The actors who auditioned were either too upright or too slick, and they just didn’t have the right feel.”

Chen Fei tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, going over the details of Bai Xuanling's character in his mind.

This character is a key figure in "Detective Chinatown 1990," essentially a guide for the protagonist. Although he doesn't have many scenes, he has to carry the show with his presence.

In the previous life, this role was played by Chow Yun-fat, who perfectly captured the ambiguous nature of the character with his signature smile and eyes.

In this life, however, Feiyue Films had little collaboration or interaction with Chow Yun-fat, and Chen Fei didn't have much affection for him either...

"Who else would be suitable besides him?"

Chen Fei fell into deep thought.

To command the stage, one must possess the aura of a seasoned veteran, and have sufficient acting skills to support complex inner monologues...

Suddenly! A name popped into my mind.

"How about Jiang Wen?" Chen Fei looked up at Wang Shiliang and analyzed, "The energy he exudes is both the domineering aura of an elder brother and the warmth hidden beneath his shrewdness, which fits Bai Xuanling's character quite well."

Wang Shiliang was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up: "That's right! How come I didn't think of him?! Although Jiang Wen has reduced his output in recent years, his acting skills are still there. Just standing there, he has that sense of the era and the air of the underworld without even saying a word!"
Moreover, he has high standards for scripts; if you can get him to agree, the role is basically secured.

Chen Fei smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, you don't need to worry about it. I'll contact him."

After winning the Oscar a while ago, Jiang Wen even called to congratulate him.

The two exchanged a few words at the time.

Jiang Wen said he was still preparing for his project and hadn't even finished writing the script.

Judging by his scriptwriting speed, Chen Fei estimated that it would take another year to finish.

Thinking of this, he took out his phone, found Jiang Wen's number, and dialed it directly...

(End of this chapter)