Entering the Chinese entertainment industry is like entering a deep sea

Chapter 793 Coronation: Tonight, the Water City is Belongs to the Liu Family (Part 2)

A line from Li Qingzhao's poem topped the trending search list overnight and was widely recited.

In fact, even Liu Yifei, the person involved, did not know whose lyrics these were.

But that doesn't prevent her and millions of netizens from understanding this simple and easy-to-understand compliment.

Whenever Li Chen flaunts his love, someone always gets seriously hurt.

"When it comes to showing off affection, you have to look to Leonardo DiCaprio, the pioneer of the Rongchen style!"

"Brother Chao has truly inherited Leonardo DiCaprio's talent; his interactions with the Empress are anything but ordinary!"

"Look at how Leonardo DiCaprio praises Liu Yifei, and look at the way Liu Yifei looks at Leonardo DiCaprio with such a 'slippery' expression. It's a textbook example of extreme emotional manipulation."

"If Leather Pants Wang had joined Leonardo DiCaprio's tutelage earlier, he wouldn't have been constantly saying 'My Queen'! He was just fawning over Zhang Ziyi and still not being welcomed by Zhang Ziyi's family."

"If Li Chen had learned from his own family member, Little Li, he wouldn't have just liked Fan Bingbing's outfit or become a victim of Ma Zhen."

When Liu Yifei woke up the next morning, she opened her phone and found her WeChat messages full of teasing comments from her friends.

"Who wouldn't envy the love your senior has for you? I admit, I'm jealous."

"With a top screenwriter as your husband, do you live in a sweet paradise every day? Let your husband teach my Gao Shengyuan a lesson!"

Liu Yifei chuckled to herself as she ate breakfast and said to her husband, "Brother Xun wants you to teach Gao Shengyuan."

"Teach him? Teach him what?"

"Then see for yourself!" Liu Yifei pushed the phone in front of Li Chen.

Li Chen glanced at it and snorted, "If she needs to be taught how to do this, then her husband is a worrying figure."

Liu Yifei carefully considered her husband's words and thought to herself that they made sense.

"If I send this to Xun Ge, he'll get angry with you again!"

Li Chen shook his head: "I hope I misjudged him."

Liu Yifei was overjoyed by her lover's confession, but the recognition of her acting skills by media and audiences from various countries gave her an even greater sense of accomplishment.

Perhaps this is the qualitative leap brought about by playing herself. If someone else were to act opposite her, she might not be able to experience the unforgettable feeling of two people who love each other but cannot stay together in the end.

The premiere of "La La Land" was memorable in Venice, not only for its third-highest rating in the history of the festival's daily publication.

The positive reception of "La La Land" and the recognition of Liu Yifei's acting skills by mainstream media in Hollywood and Venice are even more encouraging.

China Film Report / Hollywood Daily Report / Los Angeles Times Report

"La La Land's Venice premiere ignites a global media frenzy! Liu Yifei's stunning acting transformation has earned her praise as the 'Eastern Audrey Hepburn'!"

"Last night, the musical romance epic 'La La Land,' produced by China's Rongchen Pictures, held its world premiere at the main venue of the Venice Film Festival."

"After the film ended, the audience stood up and applauded for 12 minutes, but what was even more remarkable was the performance of the female lead, Liu Yifei."

"This Chinese actress, who was once deeply loved for her 'celestial beauty' image, has now conquered the global media with her transformative acting skills, drawing collective praise from film critics in both China and the West."

"An Italian Corriere della Sera reporter tweeted: Liu Yifei's performance is like the moonlight on the canals of Venice—crystal clear yet deeply moving."

At the press conference after the premiere, director Li Chen, who is also Liu Yifei's lover and the director of Shuangjin, revealed that his wife trained in singing and dancing for 6 hours every day, and one piano scene was filmed 36 times. When the director finally yelled "cut", he found that his wife's finger was bleeding.

Han Sanping also called Li Chen, his tone unusually excited.

"I knew you never disappoint! If it weren't for my status, I definitely wouldn't have missed this opportunity!"

"Once you send your good news, I'll be in Beijing preparing a celebratory banquet for you!"

Li Chen could only say thank you and nothing else. He wanted to tease Lao Han a bit, but Lao Han was so excited that he couldn't speak.

Domestic mainstream media, RM Daily, also published a rare article: Liu Yifei uses her strength to break the prejudice of being just a pretty face.

On Douyin, the short video praising Liu Yifei's acting skills has garnered a staggering 2.8 million views.

The front-page headline of the Venice Daily: The birth of the Oriental Hepburn – the jury is already arguing over the Silver Lion.

The festival's official publication, Screenaily, gave it an even higher score of 3.9.

It is said that Liu Yifei's performance combines the agility of Judy Garland with the depth of Cate Blanchett.

Variety wrote that, following Zhang Ziyi in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," another Chinese actress in Hollywood has secured an Oscar nomination.

Li Chen also had Yang Siwei reveal to the media the untold stories behind his wife's dramatic transformation in acting skills.

In addition to intensive piano training, there was also a revolution in dialogue delivery. To eliminate the so-called "angelic voice," his wife practiced American pronunciation intensively with the script of "Friends," and even forbade the speaking of Chinese at home.

There was also blood seeping from the toes of her worn-out dance shoes from practicing.

On the night of the 5th, Tim reluctantly approached Li Chen again.

"That Weinstein guy raised the North American release price to $8000 million!"

"8000 million?" Li Chen was also somewhat shocked by the fat man's spending.

It wasn't that he had never seen money before, but rather that he hadn't expected it to be so high.

Back then, "House of Flying Daggers" only sold for HK$1 million to Sony's Columbia Pictures, which was already twice the price of "Hero".

While Li Chen and Tim were talking, Liu Yifei was also being interviewed by the official media of Venice.

When asked to evaluate her performance this time, Liu Yifei smiled without much thought and said, "Someone once told me that actors are like gondolas in Venice."

"Either go with the flow or steer your own ship. I think I've finally rowed to the distant place I wanted to go, and found the people who can walk with me."

-

The phenomenal success of "La La Land" kept Barbara awake at night with excitement.

La La Land received high scores from 38 authoritative media outlets worldwide.

It was unbelievable to him.

Markel, however, seemed to have figured something out. After seeing Barbara off, he muttered to himself, "It seems Li Chen is determined to win. My saying anything more would have been completely unnecessary."

-

On the 5th, thanks to Yang Siwei's efforts, major domestic media outlets featured La La Land on their front pages.

Fan Bingbing was deeply moved by what she saw.

"That's the difference! When I walk the red carpet, anyone can jump out and kick me a few times, but look at Brother Chen, there's not even a peep."

Li Chen wasn't there, and Mu Xiaoguang stood next to Fan Bingbing without saying a word.

He just added in his mind, "The man you found is named Li Chen, not Li Chen. Even if you found me, Mu Xiaoguang, I would be much better than your stand-in!"

-

For the next two days, the La La Land crew was much more relaxed, spending their days sightseeing and their evenings watching other films in the competition.

Fortunately, by the last day, no film had a higher rating than "La La Land," so it's fair to say that "La La Land" winning the award was well-deserved.

Unless there's a major upset, there's no explanation.

Li Chen invited Markel to his suite.

"Old Ma, I only came to Venice this time because of you."

Markel laughed and said, "Li Chen, I know, I know."

Li Chen nodded and smiled, "Of course, we Chinese filmmakers all feel that Venice is closer to us than Cannes or Berlin."

“You are also an old friend of us Chinese people. You know me. There are some things I don’t need to say, but you understand.”

"I'm a henpecked husband. If my wife wants something, even if it's a jewel in the Queen's crown, I'll find a way to get it for her."

Liu Yifei listened intently to her husband's conversation with Macol behind the bedroom door, her heart filled with tenderness.

"Hahaha, Li Chen, of course I understand you. Don't worry, I get it."

Li Chen nodded: "That's good. I was just afraid that Barbara didn't know what kind of person I, Li Chen, am."

Marcol thought to himself, "Barbara knows better than anyone that if La La Land goes home empty-handed, this will probably be his last moment of glory as president of Venice."

“Yi Mou is your man. Barbara hopes that before he leaves office, you and Yi Mou can support him just like you supported me when I left office.”

After Li Chen saw Markel off, Liu Yifei came out of the bedroom without saying a word. She simply walked slowly to Li Chen wearing a black camisole nightgown.

She buried her head in his chest, her arms tightly wrapped around Li Chen's waist, as if afraid he would fly away.

"What's wrong?" Li Chen gently stroked his wife's hair and asked softly.

"Nothing much, I just wanted to hug you!"

Li Chen smiled and remained silent, letting his wife exert herself more and more forcefully, as if trying to merge himself into her body.

After a long pause, Liu Yifei finally raised her head and said slowly, "Actually, my dream has changed a long time ago?"

"Ok?"

"I don't want to be a dazzling woman like Hepburn, and I don't care whether I win an award or not."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want you to always be by my side. With you, with Xiao Wuxia, with Mom, I don't want anything else. I already have enough."

Li Chen touched his wife's smooth, youthful face, his eyes filled with tenderness: "But I don't think it's enough. The best in the world is only for you!"

"If it's not in your hands, I'll do whatever it takes to get it for you!" Li Chen's tone changed, becoming extremely domineering.

Liu Yifei felt that her husband's embrace was the safest harbor in the world.

At that moment, she felt that nothing but a kiss could express the emotion and feelings in her heart.

That night, Liu Yifei had a dream, the same dream she had on the island of Hawaii that day.

-

The crew of "Mr. Six" arrived right on time.

Li Chen and Feng Xiaogang don't get along, while the two top young heartthrobs from the old gang are both incredibly handsome. Feng Xiaogang and Li Yifeng are as close as father and son, but unfortunately, the son lacks the father's caution, and it's only a matter of time before things go wrong.

“Let’s go to the premiere of ‘Mr. Six’? After all, we’re both Chinese,” Liu Yifei urged, pulling Li Chen’s hand.

Li Chen shook his head helplessly: "I'm doing this to give face to my wife, not to give face to Wang Zhonglei and Guan Hu!"

Li Chen didn't mention Feng Xiaogang, and Liu Yifei naturally knew that her husband and Feng Xiaogang didn't get along. She immediately nodded and said, "Yes, yes! As long as you go, you won't have to say a word! That should be fine, right?"

Wang Zhonglei called her. Chen Kexin, Wang Jiawei and others were going. If the couple didn't go, the media would inevitably say that they lacked a sense of the big picture.

She knew her husband would definitely go, but he just needed a way out, and she was that way out.

That night, the La La Land crew did not receive any calls about the unspoken rules, because Barbara and Markel were in Li Chen's suite.

Barbara herself said, "Crystal looks elegant and graceful in a cheongsam. I believe that Crystal's beauty will shine in Venice at tomorrow night's awards ceremony and amaze the world."

On September 12, Lido Island was packed with people. Some statistics show that the number of media and spectators registered for this year's Venice Film Festival was the highest in nearly ten years.

Liu Yifei, dressed in a custom-made Chinese cheongsam by designer Lawrence Xu from Rongchen Film Industry, sat inside a Rolls-Royce.

This dress, crafted using the Qing Dynasty court kesi (silk tapestry) technique, features a skirt embroidered with the starry sky pattern from "La La Land," and is adorned with 128 miniature films carved from Hetian jade at the waist, reflecting a flowing halo of light with every step.

Li Chen sat beside his wife, gently holding her hand, and said, "Are you ready? Let's conquer Venice!"

Liu Yifei chuckled, her slight nervousness dissipating at her husband's words about conquering Venice.

As the announcement came from the speakers, Li Chen got out of the car first, raised his hand to shield the car's edge, and reached out to take his wife's soft hand. Liu Yifei took a deep breath, smiled, and slowly got out of the car.

The two exchanged a glance and joined the rest of the crew. This time, Li Chen didn't fall behind his wife by half a step, but the others did.

When the cast and crew of "La La Land" reappeared on the closing red carpet.

Countless media cameras clicked their shutters like a torrential downpour.

Countless fans from both China and the local area collectively chanted Liu Yifei's name.

A foreigner from some unknown media outlet exclaimed, "So beautiful! The cheongsam is indeed more suitable for Eastern women. Crystal has given Eastern beauty a futuristic feel!"

A dramatic scene unfolded at the scene.

The "Thinking of You" team, who were originally taking photos in the center of the red carpet, voluntarily gave up their main position when they saw the Chinese team behind them.

Liu Yifei held Li Chen's hand and waved gracefully to fans and media. She would stop occasionally to cooperate with the media's photography, but she never let go of Li Chen's hand.

Five minutes later, the group headed toward the cinema.

"I had a dream last night?" Liu Yifei whispered in Li Chen's ear, linking her arm with his.

Did you dream about me?

Liu Yifei frowned and shook her head: "A dream just like that night in Hawaii?"

Li Chen opened his eyes wide, seemingly finding it hard to believe.

Only the two of them understood what this meant.

Because Xiao Wuxia was born in Hawaii.

Seeing her husband's eyes widen, Liu Yifei's beautiful eyes were filled with joy.

Last night she dreamed that a starlight fell into her womb, exactly the same dream she had in Hawaii that night.

"Wouldn't that mean Xiao Wuxia will have another younger brother? No, maybe more than one!"

Liu Yifei chuckled, "You're getting more and more absurd! How do you know she's not my sister? One little Wuxia is enough to give me a headache, if another little devil comes along, I can't handle it!"

Once inside the cinema, Chen Kexin stepped forward and said, "Director Li, we're the only ones left. I wonder if we'll be the winners tonight."

"Mr. Six" was part of the screening section, and disappeared after walking the closing red carpet.

The other domestic documentary that was shortlisted, as everyone learned last night, did not receive the phone call about the unspoken rules.

He was not present at the cinema at this time.

Li Chen nodded: "A small win doesn't count! Let's wait and see."

Li Chen estimated that there should be at least one wife's reward, otherwise Barbara would just be pooping!
Li Chen has already given the opening speech. The closing speech will be given by another former Golden Lion director.

Perhaps knowing that everyone was eagerly anticipating the awards ceremony, this person didn't launch into a lengthy speech.

The awards ceremony opened with two lifetime achievement awards, the recipients of which, in addition to the hard criteria of the awards, were also close to their death.

Following closely behind, the awards for the Future Lions and Horizons categories were announced.

Finally, it was time for the main competition.

The area outside the cinema was already packed with people, the vast majority of whom were of Asian descent, and many of them were holding up signs that read "Liu Yifei's Fan Club".

Inside the Palais des Festivals, Li Chen felt inexplicably nervous, just like before he first won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.

However, having not been to Venice for a long time, Li Chen had forgotten that there was a newcomer award, which was the first award presented.

Li Chen glanced at his wife beside him, surprised to find her more composed than he was.

She smiled sweetly at him, seemingly having truly achieved the state of mind of "if I gain it, I am fortunate; if I lose it, it is my fate."

On the contrary, Li Chen thought to himself, "Barbara, don't mess with me. If you give my wife a newcomer award, don't blame me for sending insults to your family!"

Fortunately, Barbara didn't pull any tricks, and the Best Newcomer Award was given to Abraham Attaha for "Beasts of No Nation".

Next up is the Jury Special Award, and I imagine everyone in the La La Land crew felt the same way: they hoped they wouldn't win this award.

Fortunately, the award was given to Emin Alber for "Blockade," which relieved everyone.

Everyone knows that the bigger the prize, the higher the prize.

However, this next award is still very important to the La La Land team!
The crew of "La La Land" inside the Palais des Festivals held their breath, and the area outside also fell silent.

Li Chen and Liu Xiaoli, who were standing to Liu Yifei's left and right, felt their hearts skip a beat.

At 21:17, the presenter Juliette Bino's voice, uttered in somewhat broken Chinese, rang out through the speakers and the big screen on Lido Island: "Best Actress: Liu Yifei!"

Li Chen felt his heart sink, and he was the first to stand up and applaud.

The audience erupted in applause that lasted for two minutes.

Liu Xiaoli, Hui Yinghong and others hugged Liu Yifei one by one. Only at the very end did Liu Yifei turn around, wanting to share her joy with her loved ones.

She thought of hugging him, but he couldn't help but gently extend his arm, wrap his arms around her waist, and kiss her deeply amidst even more enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

Liu Xiaoli cried while clapping. Last time, she won an award for "Dad, Let's Draw a Bow," but her daughter was the runner-up.

This time, on a bigger stage, she sincerely prayed that her daughter's efforts over the past six months would not be in vain. Now that her daughter's dream has come true, she, as a mother, couldn't help but have tears welling up in her eyes.

Kara Hui, standing to the side, also had tears welling up in her eyes.

She could understand Liu Xiaoli's behavior, because when she won the award in Berlin, some people also shed tears for her.

Liu Yifei's eyes were bright and sparkling, as if a glint of light flashed in them. Li Chen smiled and touched her cheek: "Go up quickly, we'll all be with you in the audience."

"Mmm!" Liu Yifei responded softly.

On his way to the podium, he embraced Alfonso Cuarón, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and others.

The scene gradually quieted down only after Liu Yifei stood in the center of the stage, and Li Chen and the others slowly sat down.

"Mom! Sisi is so beautiful, even more beautiful than you were when you were young!"

Liu Xiaoli glanced at her son-in-law. This was the first time he hadn't flattered her, and she felt a little uncomfortable.

Seeing his mother-in-law's surprise, Li Chen's gaze remained fixed on the stage, but he slightly turned his body and said, "Mom, this is what I really think. You won't blame me for losing to Qianqian, will you?"

Liu Xiaoli laughed and said, "You should have said what you really thought a long time ago!"

The two whispered to each other on stage. Liu Yifei, on stage, took the lion and certificate from the award presenter, calmed herself down, and then began to speak.

“When I was a child, I watched Roman Holiday with my mother and was amazed by Audrey Hepburn’s beauty and elegance. Today, receiving this award, I want to say that Eastern girls can also light up the night sky of Venice.”

"Thank you Venice for making my dream sweeter than tiramisu."

"Thank you, Mother, for your silent dedication to my dreams!"

Liu Xiaoli, sitting in the audience, was sobbing slightly, and Li Chen also felt a lump in his throat.

Liu Yifei paused and then looked at the person she 'hated' the most in the audience.

"Thank you to the man I love most, for being willing to be a bad guy for me. The best kind of bad guy!"

After saying this, Liu Yifei finally couldn't hold back her tears, and a single crystal tear gently fell to the ground, prompting another round of applause from the audience.

Chen Kexin clapped and laughed, "Director Li, Yifei really understands you the most! We all think of you as a good person!"

Li Chen didn't know what to say at that moment.

As Ms. Liu slowly walked off the stage, the two exchanged a glance, their fingers intertwined, and they both smiled, everything understood without words.

After Miss Liu took the lion, Li Chen had no further desires. He exchanged a glance with Barbara and Markel, and they all understood each other without saying a word.

You've been good to my wife, so I'll consider you, Barbara, a friend.

Little did they know, an even bigger surprise was yet to come.

At 22:03, a single sentence from jury chairman Caron brought Chen Kexin to tears.

"The winner of the Golden Lion for Best Picture is: La La Land!"

Thunderous applause erupted in the audience. Only one film in Venice's history has ever won both the top prize and the acting award: Pietà!
The crew hugged and celebrated, but Chen Kexin's eyes were misty.

"Director Li, I didn't hear you clearly. Could you please have him say it again?"

Li Chen was much calmer than Chen Kexin at this moment, and stepped forward, saying, "No need for him to tell me, I'll tell you!"

"Chen Kexin, welcome to the Golden Lion Club!"

(End of this chapter)