Entertainment: Who still wants to fall in love when there are cheats?

Chapter 191 Movie Release
Time flies, and two months have passed in a flash.

In the blink of an eye, it's already July, the day when "Night Shop" will be released in theaters.

Just like when "One Cut of the Dead" was released, Li Boda extended invitations to many celebrities and artists.

However, since this was Li Boda's first time directing, no one was sure whether he had the ability or whether the film would be well made.

If it's a good movie, even if celebrities appear to support it, they won't get a bad reputation; they might even gain favor from Li Boda.

But what if the movie doesn't turn out well? A bad movie, especially a very low-budget one, would make the stars and artists seem tasteless.

Therefore, apart from celebrities who had a particularly good relationship with Li Boda, only a few individual celebrities, such as Huang Xiaoming, came to support Li Boda.

Li Boda naturally remembered the kindness shown to Huang Xiaoming and the others, even though they were only there to attend the movie premiere. Their presence was a sign of respect for Li Boda.

Aside from a few male celebrities like Huang Xiaoming, the rest of the attendees at the film premiere were almost all female stars. Given the precedent of the previous premiere of the film "One Cut of the Dead," the female stars attending this year's premiere were dressed even more glamorously.

After all, at the last movie premiere, there were so many actresses that when reporters reported to the outside world, they released photos of all the actresses, saying things like "a hundred flowers blooming."

Take Liu Yifei, for example. Last time, she dressed very casually, so much so that in the news reports, it seemed as if many female stars had outshone her.

So this time, nobody wants to be compared to or overshadowed like Liu Yifei was last time.

They were not only beautifully made up and dressed, but also wore exquisite jewelry, making them even more stunning and glamorous when they appeared, which made the reporters even more enthusiastic in taking photos.

And then—Liu Yifei!
Wearing ordinary jeans and a simple top, with very basic makeup, she made a refreshing entrance, seemingly unconcerned about her image. Compared to other female celebrities, she appeared even more innocent and unique, which attracted extra attention from reporters.

As the celebrities arrived, audience members were gradually brought into the cinema.

Then Li Boda and other main film creators stood in front of the stage. Xu Shanzheng was dressed exceptionally neatly this time, and even wore a wig, making him look quite convincing.

Then everyone started talking about things that happened during the filming of the movie, some things that didn't happen, some things that did happen, and some things that didn't happen, exaggerating them as much as possible.

Some things that never actually happened were exaggerated and brought up as if the crew had actually experienced them.

Then Xu Shanzheng took off his wig, revealing his incredibly smart bald hairstyle, and made fun of himself, saying that he was bald at such a young age.

Xu Shanzheng doesn't care about his image at all. It can only be said that Xu Shanzheng will do anything to get ahead. Things like saving face are nothing to him. After all, face can't put food on the table.

The performances on stage heightened the emotions of the audience below.

After completing the premiere ceremony, the movie officially began playing.

At the beginning of the movie, Zhao Liying is wearing a supermarket uniform and checking the shelves.

Then the boy playing Li Junwei secretly took pictures of Zhao Liying with his phone.

This scene evoked a sense of curiosity in some of the audience, not because of the plot or the actors, but because of the cell phone in Li Junwei's hand.

The phone in Li Junwei's hand was much thinner and lighter than current phones, and had a particularly large screen, giving it a very trendy feel.

This phone was actually developed by Li Boda's "Magic Cube Technology" and was the first generation of mobile phones that was to be launched and sold soon.

Since last year, Li Boda has recruited new people and is leading them in developing mobile phones.

Because of the need to train these new talents, the development of this mobile phone is not fast, but even after so much time, a prototype of the phone has already been produced.

Li Boda personally verified and experienced it, and it is better than most mobile phones on the market, and the phone is smoother to use.

However, the phone had only been made for a short time, so Li Boda even called Li Junwei back shortly after the movie "Night Shop" was completed to reshoot the phone camera footage.

Li Boda plans to promote his mobile phone in the movie "Night Shop".

They even added a line specifically for this.

When Zhao Liying saw the phone in Li Junwei's hand, she was very surprised, saying that Li Junwei, a mere supermarket clerk, actually used such a high-end-looking phone.

Li Junwei said that his relative works at 'Magic Cube Technology' and that the phone was a newly produced prototype. He was lucky that his relative helped him get a chance to test the phone.

Then Zhao Liying expressed her envy.

This can be considered product placement. Since it's their own movie and their own phone, advertising is free, so why not? Most viewers didn't really notice, at most just wondering, "Is Magic Cube Technology planning to make phones?"
Some knowledgeable people were speechless, feeling that the movie had only just started and they were already advertising it.

However, the advertisement looks normal and doesn't seem to be forcibly inserted into the storyline, so not many people would find it offensive.

Not long after the first advertisement ended, a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties, balding and even a bit unkempt, appeared on screen.

The audience in the movie theater couldn't help but chuckle at Xu Shanxiong's behavior.

"We're here! This time, Xu Shanzheng will start saying 'It's great to be a woman,' right?" Some viewers who had seen the parody videos of "Nightclub" online couldn't help but mutter with anticipation.

Some spectators nearby, unaware of what was going on, couldn't help but ask what was happening.

Then the discussion began.

Unfortunately, the movie plot is different from the parody short video. Xu Shanzheng only came to buy a pack of cigarettes, mainly to ask if the shop owner was there and when he would pay back the money.

This plot inevitably disappointed viewers who watched the parody video and assumed the story was just a parody.

However, the scene where Xu Shanzheng summons tires and then, when Zhao Liying tries to call the boss's wife, is misunderstood as calling the police and the phone is smashed, made the audience in the movie theater burst into laughter.

As the plot progressed, more and more funny moments emerged, and the audience laughed more and more heartily. Laughter could be heard from time to time throughout the movie theater.

Hearing the laughter of the movie theater audience, Li Boda felt much more at ease.

Xu Shanzheng, who had been on tenterhooks, was relieved at this moment. After all, a low-budget comedy film is a complete failure if it doesn't make the audience laugh.

Laughter filled the movie theater almost non-stop. Li Boda and the other main creators were becoming more and more at ease. Now, all that remained was whether the box office on the first day would be high or low.

As Liu Xiaoli watched the movie on the big screen, she pondered that Li Boda might actually have some talent.

Although it's obvious that "Nightclub" is a low-budget film, and the total investment in this film may not even be as much as the salary of a single big-name star.

However, the quality of this movie is still acceptable.

Just like the female lead played by Zhao Liying, who is a supermarket clerk, Zhao Xiaoli felt that her daughter Liu Yifei would also be quite suitable for the role.

So Liu Xiaoli was thinking that she should contact Li Boda more often and ask him to cast her daughter, Liu Yifei, as the female lead in his films in the future.

In fact, if it were before, Liu Xiaoli would never have thought much of a movie like "Night Shop," even though the movie itself was quite good.

But what can you do when the investment for "Nightclub" is so small, and it's a comedy film with no high-class appeal?

However, after filming "The Forbidden Kingdom," a film co-invested by Huayi Brothers and foreign companies, Liu Yifei's situation became particularly awkward.

Originally, Huayi Brothers gave the lead role in the movie "The Forbidden Kingdom" to Liu Yifei. While this was partly due to the foreign side's choice that Liu Yifei was very suitable, it also reflected Huayi Brothers' own intentions. Huayi Brothers wanted to use this movie to bind Liu Yifei to the company, get her to sign with Huayi, and become an artist under Huayi.

However, after Liu Xiaoli obtained the resources, she changed her mind!

The main problem is that Huayi has a bad reputation in the industry. The two CEOs, Mr. and Mrs. Wang, are indiscriminate in their sexuality, and Mr. Wang is promiscuous with both men and women.

Liu Xiaoli didn't want her daughter to suffer this kind of treatment, so she immediately changed her mind.

Then, Liu Yifei faced a boycott from the Beijing film circle, led by Huayi Brothers, and the Beijing film circle would no longer choose Liu Yifei for their films.

Furthermore, the movie "The Forbidden Kingdom" flopped. This proves that Liu Yifei can't carry the box office, and besides, her acting skills are just so-so, there's not much to say about them.

Therefore, considering all three factors, it is now very difficult for Liu Yifei to get roles in mainland Chinese films.

Now, Liu Yifei can only work in the Hong Kong entertainment industry and act in Hong Kong movies.

However, people in the Hong Kong entertainment circle are more or less aware of the current situation, especially after the Chen teacher photography incident, so Liu Xiaoli also wants to find a new way out for Liu Yifei.

So Liu Xiaoli saw that Li Boda, as a director, actually made some pretty good comedy films, which is why she got the idea to try it out.

Liu Yifei had no idea what Liu Xiaoli was thinking. At that moment, she was watching a movie and laughing without a care in the world.

(End of this chapter)