Entering the Chinese entertainment industry is like entering a deep sea

Chapter 787 Nobody knew it was lychees that had arrived.

Li Chen did not directly respond to whether he would go see the film "Yang Guifei," co-directed by Shi Qing, Zhang Yimou, and Tian Zhuangzhuang. Instead, he responded to the media with a line of poetry that left many of them momentarily speechless.

"The promotional poster for that lychee reminded me of a line of poetry: 'No one knows it's a lychee.'"

The media looked at each other in bewilderment, watching as Leonardo DiCaprio finished reciting his poem and then, hand in hand with Angela Leong, broke away from their encirclement and walked further and further away.

The remaining group of media outlets looked at each other in bewilderment.

What does Director Li mean?

"Nobody knew it was lychees that had arrived?"

"I understand, Director Li definitely won't go!" a Sina reporter suddenly said.

"What do you know! Speak up!"

"It's something that can only be understood intuitively, not explained in words!" The Sina reporter was overjoyed and immediately slipped aside to edit the manuscript; this was an exclusive.

If he doesn't act quickly, everyone might realize what's going on in a moment.

Liu Yifei, true to her reputation as Li Chen's wife, chuckled as soon as the two escaped the reporters: "You're so naughty!"

Li Chen smiled innocently: "What happened!"

"If you don't want to go, then don't go. Why make sarcastic remarks? Nobody knows that lychees are coming. You've ruined a perfectly good poem."

Li Chen was speechless: "Beautiful Miss Liu, please straighten your attitude. Whose side are you on anyway?"

Before Liu Yifei could reply, Meng Ziyi and Zhang Ruonan, who were standing at the other end of the red carpet, stepped forward and affectionately surrounded her on either side.

"Sister, boss, you're only just arriving!" Meng Ziyi said with a fawning smile.

Zhang Ruonan, clinging to Liu Yifei's arm, called out softly like a little squirrel, "Sister, brother."

Liu Yifei smiled and asked, "How does it feel to walk the red carpet for the first time?"

Zhang Ruonan thought for a moment: "Nervous, scared!"

"Learn from Sister Meng," Li Chen interjected.

Meng Ziyi immediately blushed and said, "Brother, I'm scared too, okay!"

Li Chen laughed and didn't pay any attention to Meng Ziyi's way of addressing him.

I just remembered Sister Meng's line, "I'm also very busy, I'm about to join a production team!"
"Sis, what did the media ask you just now? I noticed you didn't say a word the whole time, you were so calm!" Zhang Ruonan asked like a curious child.

She was completely overwhelmed by the media spotlight and just answered whatever people asked.

“With him around, I basically don’t need to say a word,” Liu Yifei said with a smile, glancing at her husband.

Meng Ziyi nodded obsequiously and said, "That's right, I've never seen any media outlet take advantage of you."

She knew better than anyone how their big boss had blocked the media back then.

It's fair to say that she is very familiar with everything this big boss has done since his debut.

Li Chen and his wife appeared at the CPPCC Auditorium with Rong Chen's two youngest artists.

At this moment, the CPPCC Auditorium was filled with stars, and Zhang Ruonan saw many big stars that she had only seen on television or the big screen before.

Zhou Xun, Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi, Tony Leung Ka-fai, and others.

The key point is that these big stars all seemed to be giving them a standing ovation, with some casting their gazes on their idol from a great distance.

Zhang Ruonan turned her head and secretly glanced at Li Chen, thinking to herself, "I am dazzling enough, but standing next to him, it seems that my brilliance is overshadowed."

"Director Li, Yifei."

"Director Li, Xixi."

"Mr. Li."

Meng Ziyi seemed used to people frequently greeting the big boss.

Meng Ziyi glanced at her junior sister beside her, who seemed to have entered the Grand View Garden, and chuckled softly, "Surprised? You'll get used to this kind of occasion in the future."

"Today's event is a small affair. It's such a pity you didn't come to the premiere and celebration banquet of 'Vientiane Island'. Those were truly a gathering of big shots and a star-studded event."

Zhang Ruonan's eyes sparkled as she listened to Sister Meng's incessant chatter. At the same time, she noticed a familiar middle-aged man not far ahead, smiling at the two people beside him, and then glancing at her.

"This is the new talent you signed." Wang Changtian was dressed in a clean and crisp white shirt and wore gold-rimmed glasses, giving off a somewhat suave and roguish vibe.

Li Chen nodded, glanced at Zhang Ruonan, and smiled, "Ruonan, this is Chairman Wang of Enlight Media. If anyone tries to smear you online in the future, ask him for help."

Wang Changtian was both amused and exasperated: "If you're the one who's been humiliated by the young girl, there's nothing I can do to help!"

Liu Yifei smiled and whispered to Zhang Ruonan, "Chairman Wang and Li Chen have always been pleasant partners."

"I know, sister. Hello, Chairman Wang. I'm Zhang Ruonan. Please take care of me." Zhang Ruonan's sweet smile easily made people feel close to her and liked her.

Wang Changtian chuckled and said, "Li Chen's men, do they need anyone's help?"

"You were personally signed by him, so you can do whatever you want from now on, and no one will do anything to you."

Meng Ziyi chuckled, and Zhang Ruonan glanced at her with a puzzled look.

Meng Ziyi pulled her back a step and laughed, "Walking sideways, isn't that a crab? But you're much better than a crab. Chairman Wang is right, the boss personally selected you, so everyone has to give you some leeway."

Zhang Ruonan was pleased, but still humbly replied, "Not at all."

Li Chen and Wang Changtian chatted for a few minutes, and then Liu Yifei introduced Zhang Ruonan to some senior figures in the industry.

Just as the premiere was about to begin, La Peikang from China Film Group arrived late.

After everyone was seated, La Peikang said to Li Chen, "Li Chen, La La Land has been confirmed as the representative of mainland China to compete in the Olympics. Director Han asked me to tell you."

Li Chen nodded: "Understood, Director La."

"Give me a straight answer: are you confident you can replicate the story of 'The Flowers of War'?"

La Peikang's words were very tactful. Having been in this industry for many years, he naturally had heard about how "The Flowers of War" won the Oscar.

As long as Li Chen is willing to put in the effort, he is still very confident about "La La Land".

As for the upcoming announcement of the main competition section of the Venice Film Festival, he has no worries at all.

Among domestic students, Li Chen and Zhang Yimou are undoubtedly the best in terms of being eligible for unconditional admission to the top three European universities.

Even though "A Simple Noodle Story" received a flood of negative reviews and had a score so low it was almost unwatchable after its release, it still made it into the main competition at the Berlin Film Festival.

This year's "Gone with the Bullets" received the same treatment as "A Simple Noodle Story".

This is the decorum expected of an internationally recognized master director.

"Mr. La, all I can say is that I will do my best."

La Peikang didn't dare to push him too hard and nodded, saying, "Just do your best, just do your best."

Meng Ziyi and Zhang Ruonan sat in the fourth row. The first row was offered to them, but they didn't dare to sit there.

"Look, look! I finally know what the boss just said!" Meng Ziyi suddenly pointed at her phone in surprise and showed it to Zhang Ruonan.

Zhang Ruonan stared for a moment, her mouth agape, filled with utter admiration for her idol.

"Brother is so talented!" Zhang Ruonan thought for a moment, and only this word could describe it.

Sina Entertainment News: "Li Chen's global premiere of 'Your Name' subtly mocks 'Yang Guifei'? The line 'No one knows it's lychees that have arrived' sparks online deciphering."

At the global premiere of Rongchen Pictures' animated film "Your Name," President Li Chen was confronted with a pointed question from the media: "Will you go to see 'Lady of the Dynasty: Yang Guifei' in theaters like you did with 'Monkey King: Hero Is Back'?"

"This film, starring Li Ming and Fan Bingbing, which has recently been embroiled in controversy due to its 'lychee-themed erotic poster,' has a deep connection with Li Chen. The two leads previously starred in Li Chen's first science fiction film, Passengers!"

Li Chen's line, "No one knows it's lychees that have arrived," has sparked a nationwide speculation on Weibo.

Professionals took the lead in tracing the source.

"The original poem is from Du Mu's 'Passing Huaqing Palace': 'A rider in red dust, the imperial concubine smiles; no one knows it's lychees that have arrived.' It was meant to satirize Emperor Xuanzong of Tang for wasting the people's resources and causing trouble for lychees for Yang Guifei. Li Chen deliberately omitted the first part, 'the imperial concubine smiles,' which was interpreted as a veiled criticism of the vulgar marketing tactics employed by the producers of 'Yang Guifei.'"

"Leonardo DiCaprio is a cultured man, and even more so, a ruthless one. Zhang Yimou is his contracted art director, Tian Zhuangzhuang is his teacher, and Li Ming and Fan Bingbing were the male and female leads in his film Passengers. He doesn't give anyone face!"

"Little Li is so insightful. I didn't even realize it was a lychee. I thought it was Yang Guifei's cleavage!"

"A film mogul's subtle diss: Using Tang poetry to insult someone is much more elegant than Fxxk!"

Fan Bingbing's fans flocked to Li Chen's Weibo to denounce him for being heartless and sarcastic.

Fan Bingbing hurriedly appealed to her fans to be rational on Weibo, and then frantically sent WeChat messages to Li Chen, repeatedly apologizing.

Li Chen didn't reply to her, and Fan Bingbing said bitterly, "Brother Chen is being too heartless!"

No sooner had Fan Bingbing finished speaking than the film company called her, excitedly saying, "We should really thank him. As soon as he spoke, even if it was sarcastic, the pre-sale box office for the premiere skyrocketed."

Fan Bingbing was devastated. Chen Ge and Wang Sicong were both people she couldn't afford to offend.

He didn't dare to retort at the former, and she only dared to retort a few times as well.

The production team of "Yang Guifei" was not angry at all when Li Chen mocked them, and even interacted with him on Weibo.

"Thank you for your attention, Mr. Li (smile). The accompanying picture is of Yang Guifei, with the caption 'Lychee is innocent!'"

After the premiere of "Your Name" ended, Li Chen was not worried that Zhang Yimou and Tian Zhuangzhuang would have any objections.

To put it bluntly, these two Xuanming Elders were just brought in to bolster the facade; during the publicity, there was only this director named Shiqing.

Li Chen and Liu Yifei got into the car, and the assistant handed Li Chen a tablet to review.

"Sure, sure, you're not ashamed, but proud. I hope you can still smile after the box office results are released."

He remembered that the box office of this big movie was only a little over 100 million. Apart from Fan Bingbing being beautiful from beginning to end, it seemed that everyone only remembered Ma Zhen after watching it.

However, when the film was released, everything related to Ma Zhen was censored by the authorities.

Li Chen replied to Fan Bingbing with a WeChat message: "You don't need to apologize for the fans' behavior, and I'm not targeting you."

Fan Bingbing replied with a well-behaved smiling emoji almost instantly.

The producers of "Yang Guifei" were only happy for a couple of days when Fan Bingbing stopped mentioning Zhang Yimou's name during promotions and stopped getting attention.

It turns out that the premiere of "Yang Guifei" was being held in Beijing that day.

That night, what trended on social media wasn't film reviews or word-of-mouth, but a glaringly new term: Ma Zhen!

This also added another topic of discussion to this big-budget film that has been in preparation for 6 years, with changes in directors and actors, and has been full of twists and turns along the way. It quickly topped the trending topics list and made the film's popularity soar.

Although the production company and lead actress Fan Bingbing have been trying to guide the public to view this rationally.

But the enthusiasm of the fans is growing, as if they want to find all the Apple Daily magazines they missed back then.

The discussion has strayed far from the film itself.

Various influential figures and famous commentators joined in, and Jin Xin, a stand-up comedian, made a statement even more incisive than Wang Sicong's "Carpet Star" comment: "Some actresses only have bullshit and horseshit, but no representative works." This completely broke Fan Bingbing's defenses.

This time, Fan Bingbing didn't contact Li Chen, probably because she knew it would be pointless.

How could Li Chen, given his status, possibly engage in a verbal battle with a talk show host for her sake?

So Fan Bingbing brought in Chen Lizhi. Chen Lizhi was a ruthless man; personal attacks were more effective than anything else, and Jin Xin quieted down.

However, the production of "Yang Guifei" has also stopped.

"What, cut it all off?" Fan Bingbing was taken aback.

With the film's release imminent, many viewers are likely drawn to it because of "Ma Zhen," just like with the film "Apple" back then. If that steamy scene had been cut, the box office would probably have been in jeopardy.

"That's right. All the copies must be retrieved, edited, and then redistributed; otherwise, they are not allowed to be shown."

Fan Bingbing hurriedly took out her phone, hesitated for a moment, and then called Han Sanping.

Han Sanping did accept the answer, but his words were even sharper: "Tone it down. Haven't you realized what Li Chen meant when he said 'no one knows it's lychees'?"

"Director Han, what do you mean? What does this have to do with Brother Chen?"

Han Sanping was too lazy to explain to her.

Fan Bingbing has gone too far lately. The fact that "Wu Zetian" was cut is a matter for the bureau, but her Weibo post saying "If you want to wear the crown, you must bear the weight" is clearly a direct challenge to the bureau.

The fact that "Yang Guifei" was cut was also a matter for the bureau, and Fan Bingbing even came to ask her why.

No wonder Li Chen said she would get into trouble sooner or later and told him to keep his distance from her.

They really lack self-awareness.

Fan Bingbing stood there dumbfounded for a long time, holding the phone that Han Sanping had hung up on, unable to figure out why.

But Han Sanping's words filled him with inexplicable fear: what did he mean by telling him to tone it down?

What's up with her?
The day that "Your Name" was released globally was also the day that "Lady of the Dynasty: Yang Guifei" was released nationwide.

Unexpectedly, that incident became a trending topic.

It turns out that Zhang Han had announced their secret relationship.

Liu Yifei was also puzzled. When they met in Shanghai, didn't Nazha say that she didn't like Zhang Han and that the two of them didn't end up together?

They kissed so soon after that.

Na Ya's phone rang immediately afterward, and she nervously explained, "Sister, I met him in early August last year. At first, I avoided and refused him, and we didn't communicate at all for a long time, but the Classic of Mountains and Seas..."

Liu Yifei had no interest in knowing about her relationship and interrupted with a smile, "Well, it's your freedom to date whoever you want. You don't need to explain to others. Dating isn't something shameful."

Hearing that Liu Yifei didn't blame her for hiding her relationship, Zha Da breathed a sigh of relief. However, this time, Zhang Han acted out of spite and didn't even tell her before going public.

Before she could even tell her future boss, Zhang Han launched a surprise attack.

-

On its release day, July 31, "Yang Guifei" had the same screening rate as "Your Name," both approaching 30%, thanks to the passionate scenes on horseback.

However, despite such a high number of screenings, Yang Guifei did not bring correspondingly high box office returns.

The 3.5-star rating had a more direct impact, with the occupancy rate hovering around 15%.

"2550 million? Are you kidding me?!" Fan Bingbing felt like her head was about to explode.

How can this opening day box office justify 30% of the screenings?
She realized that without Ma Zhen, there would be no box office success.

"How much is 'Your Name'?" Fan Bingbing asked reflexively.

"6500."

(End of this chapter)