Entering the Chinese entertainment industry is like entering a deep sea

Chapter 845 Flowers Bow Their Heads (End of Main Text)

Li Chen and his wife had already discussed and decided on the name for their child.

His formal name was given to him by Li Chen; it is Li Rongheng.

Her nickname was given to her by Liu Yifei; it's called Xiao Lele (Yue).

The implication is that she had this youngest son when she was crowned Queen of Venice in "La La Land".

Two days later, Liu Yifei was discharged from the hospital.

There's no need to hide this news any longer.

Li Chen called Yang Siwei, whose mouth dropped open in astonishment: "Boss, how could you keep this from me! Where are you now? I'm coming right now!"

"Family."

After hanging up the phone, Yang Siwei hurriedly arranged for people to load the prepared nutritional supplements and gifts into the car, and sped off towards the Central Villa District.

-

Summer morning light streamed through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the handmade Persian carpet in the villa's living room.

Liu Yifei, dressed in a comfortable cotton dress, leaned back on the sofa, watching her newborn son drink milk in the arms of the nanny.

Her face radiated the gentleness and tranquility unique to postpartum women.

The eldest son was playing with toys on the playmat next to him, and everything seemed warm and peaceful.

After a moment, Li Chen came downstairs and said with a smile, "After thinking it over, you actually dared to complain that I kept it from her."

Liu Yifei chuckled and said, "If I were Siwei, I would definitely blame you, the boss, for keeping it so secret."

“My due date is in the next couple of days. Siwei called you, and if I hadn’t been next to you, I would have been fooled by your tone.”

Li Chen chuckled and sat down next to his wife: "That just shows how good I am at delivering lines, which is why I can fool people."

"Shameless! Aren't you ashamed to say that in front of the Venice Film Festival Best Actress?" Liu Yifei teased, tapping her husband's nose.

"You seem to have forgotten that you, the Best Actress, are a Silver Lion, while your husband is a Golden Lion. Why should I blush?" Li Chen said with a smile, pinching his wife's chin.

Liu Yifei slumped her shoulders; the conversation was over.

If the conversation continues, they might bring out two gold branches to smear her.

"I'm not talking to you anymore, get off me, stop hugging me!" Liu Yifei shook her shoulders, pretending to be angry.

Li Chen could easily see through it, and with a laugh, he domineeringly pulled his beautiful wife into his arms.

"Tell you something."

Seeing her husband's serious expression, Liu Yifei blinked and waited for him to continue.

"The Hundred Flowers Awards have sent an invitation, and Director Han has made a phone call. If you just agree, this year's Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress is yours?"

Liu Yifei was taken aback. In fact, she had already thought of this, especially after "La La Land" won the Golden Lion and then she "unexpectedly" won the Oscar for Best Actress.

She estimated that this year's Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival would probably invite the couple even more enthusiastically than in previous years.

"Do you want to go?" Liu Yifei asked softly, holding her husband's hand.

She felt like she had asked a pointless question as soon as she said it.

"I asked you a question, and you're asking me one instead. I always listen to my wife. If you say go, I'll go with you. If I really have to choose one of the three gold medals, I'll naturally choose the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival."

“Let’s go together then.” Liu Yifei grasped her husband’s large hands with both of them.

The affair between the couple and the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival no longer needs to be proven by winning or losing over the years.

She felt that her and her husband's status was no longer that of the Golden Swallow and the Golden Palm from back then.

To put it bluntly, the two of them should now have reached the level that the husband often talks about: establishing virtue.

Li Chen nodded: "I'll listen to you."

The couple smiled at each other, both understanding each other's thoughts.

Less than half an hour later, Yang Siwei arrived in a flurry with two assistants.

Upon entering the living room, Yang Siwei shouted rapidly, "Boss!"

"You kept such a big thing a secret! If you hadn't texted me today, I would still be at the company negotiating the final terms for 'Mulan' with Disney!"

"Oh my, my dear Princess Sissi! How was it? When did you give birth? You're such a good wife, so calm and collected!"

Li Chen laughed and said, "Alright, alright, keep your voice down, the child just fell asleep."

Liu Yifei chuckled softly: "Don't blame me, your boss muted me too."

Stepping into the center of the living room, Yang Siwei instantly switched to a gentle and kind mode, bending down to examine the newborn with genuine joy in her eyes.

"Let me see, let me see. Oh my god, she looks so healthy, and the baby is so cute!"

After saying that, he looked at Liu Yifei's condition carefully, then nodded and smiled, "I really envy you. It's only been two days, but I feel like you've lost weight all of a sudden."

Yang Siwei took out an exquisite little brocade box from her handbag.

"A little gold lock for the baby, wishing him peace and health."

"I won't say thank you, you'd better hurry up! The big red envelope that Li Chen and I prepared for you is about to expire!" Liu Yifei said with a smile as she glanced at her husband.

Yang Siwei was mortified: "Sigh, with my looks, it's so hard to find someone who truly loves me."

After the three chatted for a few minutes, Yang Siwei followed Li Chen into the study.

"Boss, congratulations! This is truly a double blessing, a perfect ending."

Yang Siwei sat opposite Li Chen, picked up her teacup, and spoke solemnly.

"However, with this good news from you, we may have to make some adjustments to the promotional schedule we had set up earlier."

Li Chen nodded slightly, signaling her to continue.

This is why Li Chen chose to inform Yang Siwei at this time.

Yang Siwei is someone who can always smoothly turn any unexpected situation back on track in the shortest amount of time.

Yang Siwei spoke faster: "First of all, there's the 'Mulan' project."

"We originally planned to officially announce the director Zhang Yimou and the lead actresses Yi Fei and Gong Li together with Disney next week."

“Now that the boss’s wife has just given birth, if we announce it immediately, the focus may be diverted, and public attention will shift from the project itself to her postpartum comeback, and there may even be some pointless accusations of ‘using the child for publicity’.”

Upon hearing this, Li Chen nodded slightly: "Continue."

Yang Siwei added, "My suggestion is to keep the official announcement plan unchanged, but change the focus of our publicity."

“We can use Yifei’s ‘dedication’ and ‘warrior spirit’ in quickly throwing herself into such a large-scale project after giving birth as a positive starting point,”

"But this requires very precise operation; you can't overdo it."

"At the same time, we must prepare a complete set of contingency plans to deal with any possible negative interpretations."

"As soon as the news came out, it became clear to the outside world that you and your wife didn't bother with Wu Yifan at all. Even if your wife just yawned, she could easily steal his 'trending topic'."

Li Chen pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, the official announcement will proceed as planned. I trust you can handle it."

"Moreover, Mulan itself is a story about strength and courage, which does not conflict with Sisi's current state."

"We'll do it your way. We need to strike a balance, and the core focus should still be on the quality of the film itself and Director Zhang's fresh interpretation."

"Understood." Yang Siwei quickly jotted down the key points in his phone's memo app.

"Boss, Gong Li's expression when she learned about 'The Storm' and 'Mulan' was quite interesting," Yang Siwei said with a smile. Gong Li probably never dreamed that after playing leading roles her whole life, she would only be a supporting character in both "The Storm" and "Mulan."

Li Chen had no interest in knowing what Gong Li was thinking.

The fact that Zhang Yimou and Gong Li reunited on a Disney project after "Coming Home" is a huge topic in itself.

"The second thing is the 'Raging Wave' project. I think we can announce the entire cast at once. With Rong Chen's brand and you directing a TV series, any superstars will just be supporting actors."

"My suggestion is to announce 'The Storm' first, giving the boss's wife a buffer period, and then announce 'Mulan' after she finishes her postpartum confinement!"

Li Chen remained noncommittal: "Okay, let's not tell the celebrities about Qianqian's childbirth yet, lest her postpartum confinement turn into a New Year's celebration."

Yang Siwei smiled and said, "I understand."

-

The following day, Wu Qian should thank Li Chen, because at least after "Raging Storm" was released, the headlines, trending topics, and Douyin were all filled with heated discussions about the cast of "Raging Storm".

Sina Entertainment News

"A lineup of the century! Li Chen's 'The Storm' is officially announced, with heavyweight figures from the Chinese film industry gathering, and Han Sanping making a surprise cameo appearance."

"On June 19, 2016, Rongchen Pictures officially announced its major annual project, the anti-gang crime drama series 'Raging Wave'."

"The film will be directed by Li Chen, a two-time Palme d'Or winner, and what's even more impressive is its cast, which can be called the pinnacle of Chinese-language cinema: Gong Li, Jiang Wen, Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Zhou Xun, Wu Yanzu, Chen Daoming, Huang Bo, Liu Jialing, Lin Jiadong and other superstars have joined the cast."

"Furthermore, the production team emphasized that there are no minor characters in the film; everyone is a key figure!"

"Furthermore, Han Sanping, a godfather figure in Chinese cinema, has confirmed that he will make a cameo appearance in the important role of 'Old Huang'. This news immediately went viral online and was hailed by the media as 'the first gathering of the strongest cast in the history of Chinese cinema'!"

The announcement of "Raging Storm" was like a magnitude 8 earthquake, shaking the entire Chinese film industry.

Industry insiders exclaimed that this was no longer about 'hiring actors,' but rather 'assembling superheroes of the Chinese film industry.'

Yang Mi couldn't help but exclaim, "Senior, are you kidding me? How did you manage to get this lineup?!"

"Honey, hurry up and contact Liu Yifei to see if you can get a role! If you're too late, you might not even get a chance!" Zeng Jia quickly reminded her.

She had only seen this kind of situation in "The Founding of a Republic," but that was a movie, while "The Storm" was a TV series!

"Yes, yes, yes! I'll call right now."

When Gongli saw Han Sanping's name appear in the official lineup announcement, she immediately felt much better.

Zhang Yimou sent Gong Li a WeChat message: "I'm even thinking of switching places with Li Chen. I might as well just direct 'The Storm'!"

Gong Li chuckled: "Haven't you had enough of being slapped in the face by us 'Zhang Yimou girls' yet? Are you going to slap yourself too?"

Zhang Yimou: "!"

At this point, public opinion online was in complete turmoil.

Netizens were in a frenzy of "I've never seen anything like this before," while actors from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong staged scenes comparable to the frenzy of buying train tickets during the Spring Festival travel rush, all hoping to "get on board" in this epic cast!
The comment section under Rongchen Pictures' official Weibo post was completely turned into a scene of massive shock.

"I never imagined I'd see such a pairing in my life, Jiang Wen and Tony Leung acting together? The image in my mind is already worth 50 billion views!"

"Two Jiu'er and one Yu Zhan'ao! How the hell are we supposed to divide them?! What kind of divine combination is this, breaking down the dimensional barrier? Director Li, you are my eternal god!"

"Director Li, is this cast list real? With this lineup and their combined salaries, wouldn't it have to sell for 2000 million per episode to break even?"

"I suggest renaming the series 'The Budget Is Burning' or 'How Powerful Can an International Director's Appeal Be!'"

“Other film crews are just film crews, but Director Li Chen’s is like he’s running a TV drama republic, with all the award-winning actors and actresses here to participate in politics.”

"Among these legendary figures on the poster, besides the Dongguan hurdler and Liu Jialing, how are they ranked? Is it by the number of strokes in their surnames? If so, then I, Teacher Chen Daoming, am ranked first!"

"I suggest that the end credits be sorted alphabetically by the first letter of the pinyin, otherwise the fans will keep arguing until next year's awards season."

"Ranking? Forget about it! This TV series poster has to be round, and Third Master has to be in the center!"

"I hereby declare that, starting today, the barriers between television dramas and movies have been completely broken down by Li Chen!"

Wang Zhonglei almost vomited blood.

"How the hell did Li Chen do that?!"

“He’s flexing his muscles! He’s telling the industry that no one else can do this!” Wang Zhongjun said with a grim expression.

The official announcement of "Raging Storm" was no different from the coronation of a new king.

Although Rong Chen has always been hailed by the media as the uncrowned king.

Although the five major private enterprises didn't say anything on the surface, none of them were convinced or willing to admit it.

Huayi Brothers can also get movie stars to act in TV dramas.

But if you ask me to bring together Gong Li, Han Sanping, Jiang Wen, and other such people in a TV series, even Wang Zhongjun, a bigwig in the cultural industry, probably couldn't do that.

But Li Chen, that freak, actually did it.

"From this perspective, it seems that Wu Yifan's actions were not orchestrated by him behind the scenes, otherwise he wouldn't have needed to make an official announcement at this time."

Without mentioning the reactions of people within the industry.

Gong Yu from iQiyi was in a real bind.

Isn't this cheating?! They're just messing around because they have money. With so many plot holes in the TV series, how can it possibly be entertaining?

They might as well just surrender.

If everyone does it this way from now on, who can beat Youku!

"President Gong, this is probably unprecedented and will only happen once in a lifetime. Li Chen has probably exhausted all his connections this time."

"That's true, sigh."

Liu Yifei can keep her pregnancy a secret from others, but there are two people she can't hide it from.

One is Shu Chang, and the other is Han Jia Nu.

The former is her best friend of fourteen years, while the latter came to visit her with her father.

Meng Yu gave it to Zhou Xun, and Liu Yifei specially reserved Gao Qilan for Shu Chang.

"At least you have a conscience; you still remember me!"

"When have I ever stopped thinking about you!" Liu Yifei smiled gently. If Shu Chang's status weren't a bit lacking, she would have given Meng Yu the lead role.

"My brother is amazing! When this lineup came out, I thought it was just gossip! And my brother, it's one thing if others don't tell me about having a baby, but how could he not tell me!"

As the two were talking, Liu Yifei's phone kept vibrating.

Liu Yifei didn't even bother to look; she knew without looking that it was for "Raging Storm".

"But you've come to the right person. My brother has been incredibly devoted to you, and it's been over a decade since then! Back then, my godmother and I both thought my brother was unreliable, but it turns out he was only unreliable on the surface! Some people, you can't judge a book by its cover!"

"Yeah, that was fast, you know! I'm so glad you didn't go to Rongchen! I'm so content now, with two sons, a husband, and a best friend!"

"Why didn't you consider her your godmother!" Shu Chang laughed.

"My mother is something I was born with; you are all gifts I received later in life!"

Liu Yifei looked serene, radiating maternal warmth.

The two girls, who have known each other for over a decade, still have the same relationship as when they were on the set of "The Story of Gold".

If only life could always be like the first time we met.

(End of this chapter)