A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 205 The Great Artist!

Governor of Hong Kong!
After hanging up the phone, Lin Jianlu remained stunned for a long time, unable to come back to her senses.

He was called back in the middle and filmed two sets of shots. He was serious and dedicated, and was surrounded by a group of big directors who praised and encouraged him. When they started setting up new shots, he came over to warm himself by the fire and rest, and he got into the matter again until one moment when he suddenly came back to his senses.

"Depend on!"

I have absolutely no idea how such a rumor came about.

What Wang Jing said might spark some speculation in the market, but it's unlikely to be the main reason. On the contrary, the fact that he suddenly came from the north on the eve of Hong Kong's return to China, and became an instant sensation, even though he had everything he needed—looks, songs, singing skills, etc.—and became famous openly, couldn't hide the fact that he carried a strong northern gene in him, as if he had been branded with a mark on his forehead. At such a sensitive time, he suddenly came to Hong Kong and became a sensation, and then, right after the handover, he immediately took over ATV, a television station...

Although each of these events has its own reasonable explanation and is completely logical, it is impossible to stop so many seemingly accidental circumstances from happening together!
"Holy crap..."

It might not be a good thing!
Governor of Hong Kong? What kind of ridiculous nickname is that?!
Looking back now, many things suddenly become clear—why were the Xiang family and Yong Sheng so afraid of me? Was it really because I was famous enough? Because I already owned a television station? Ultimately, I'm afraid they were afraid of this so-called "Governor of Hong Kong"!
Why did Liu Jialing so carefully ask Shi Nansheng to apologize on her behalf?

Why did Li Jiaxin, who has such an arrogant personality of "using her beauty to bully others," come to apologize so timidly?

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

Wang Jing, Shi Nansheng, and their friends must have boasted a lot about their false information. Their claim that they could get Wang Fei on the Spring Festival Gala, and that they could even arrange for her to meet with relevant leaders in the capital, and then she actually appeared on the Gala rehearsal—this kind of talk, once it got out, probably led many people to speculate…

In short, upon suddenly learning from others that he had become the "Chinese Governor of Hong Kong" in the mouths of some people in Hong Kong, Lin Jianlu thought about it and felt rather helpless, unable to defend himself!
But thinking about it again... it seems like there aren't any downsides that can be predicted?
My attitude is fine, and my superiors are satisfied with my statement, so even if they hear about it, they'll probably just laugh it off!

If the Hong Kong government hasn't heard about it, fine, but even if they have, their attitude will probably just be to laugh it off.

What else can we do?

Do we really need to come out and deny it?
Isn't it true that the more you try to deny something, the more real it seems?
Or else, should they send someone to meet with me and give me a warning?
What warning? It's just a rumor spread by a small group of people! Do I have to prove my innocence?

So... go to hell!
"Governor of Hong Kong, go ahead and say whatever you want, as long as I don't acknowledge it."

It might even have some unexpected effects...

"Ah, Deer, Brother, mud, howl!"

"Ah? Oh, haha, hello! Kim Hee-sun, right?"

The girl in front of me was pure and lovely, with a pair of big, blinking eyes as innocent and clear as a fawn's.

“Hey, my name is Kim Seok-seon! Ah, Lu, brother, may I ask you…”

"Okay, here you go!"

With a few quick signatures, the girl was overjoyed, bowing repeatedly to express her gratitude while clutching the CD. Lin Jianlu then casually tried to coax her, "Can you understand me? Oh, would you like to go to Hong Kong to film a movie?"

The girl's eyes lit up immediately; it seemed she really could understand Chinese.

She pointed to herself, her face filled with disbelief and surprise, "Me? I can go...to Hong Kong to film a movie?"

"Yes! I said it!"

Yes, the Governor of Hong Kong always keeps his word.

How could such a beautiful actress not have roles to play!
Thank goodness, after so many days, this Korean girl finally got a chance. While the three mainland girls were away, she managed to get in front of global superstar Lin Jianlu. Not only did she get an autograph, but she also received an invitation to film in a developed region like Hong Kong!
Kim Seok-sun was absolutely overjoyed!
"I do! I do!"

It seems like I've suddenly become much more fluent in Chinese.

So Lin Jianlu took the CD case from her, opened it, and wrote her phone number on the lyric booklet. "When this movie is finished and you want to go to Hong Kong, call me."

"Okay, thank you! Thank you!"

…………

Someone actually came to visit the set in the freezing cold.

Xu Qing.

Wearing a bright red down jacket, he stood out dazzlingly against the backdrop of the snow-covered mountains of the north.

As soon as she arrived, Fan Bingbing and Zhang Ziyi immediately cowered and dared not approach. The girl, however, was poised and graceful. After getting out of Lin Jianlu's arms, she went straight to Wang Zuxian and greeted her, "Hello, Miss Wang, I am Xu Qing!"

Wang Zuxian smiled and shook hands with her.

They weren't exactly enemies, since they were both good friends with Brigitte Lin. Although it was their first time meeting and they weren't familiar with each other, Hsu Ching wasn't shy, and Wang Zu-hsien was quite at ease, managing to chat for a bit.

Zhao Yanzi immediately became cheerful.

She was introduced to Lin Jianlu by Han Shanping, the director of Beijing Film Studio. Lin Qingxia was present at the time and even wanted to recognize her as her goddaughter. Although the relationship did not work out, she was always good to Zhao Yanzi. At that time, Zhao Yanzi was living in a courtyard house in the capital to take care of her pregnancy. It is said that Zhao Yanzi often went there to visit and was also somewhat familiar with Xu Qing.

Xu Qing is quite famous in mainland China, with a strong reputation. She started dating Lin Jianlu early and has extensive experience. She also held the position of "official wife" in the courtyard house for a long time. Although she couldn't compete with Chen Hong in terms of career after Chen Hong's rise, she has always had a solid foundation and is not afraid of anyone. Lin Jianlu also respects her special status.

Lin Qingxia would have to take a backseat to her.

So theoretically speaking, the entire Lin Qingxia line is naturally half a head shorter than hers.

Although in reality... neither Rosamund Kwan nor Wang Zuxian would bother with her as the so-called "official wife of the capital," their indifference did not affect the fact that many people around Lin Jianlu recognized her.

Jiang Wen and Zhang Yimou are both very familiar with her and recognize her.

The moment she arrived, Zhao Yanzi's posture immediately straightened up a bit!

"I've watched 'The Dream Factory'. Xiaogang did a really good job directing it. We found it quite interesting when we were filming it. We watched the film together last month and thought the final product was even more interesting. I think it's going to be great!"

"I'm coming here on December 24th. I'll only stay for two days and then I have to leave. Director Han and General Manager Zhang said that these days everyone is focused on publicity and even doing roadshows. I'm the leading lady, so of course I have to participate!"

"Ye Daying... is just so-so. When we were filming, Leslie Cheung and I said that this movie, 'Red Lovers,' probably wouldn't be very good. But after filming was finished, we were just doing our jobs for money. What you leaders and those who paid for it think is none of our business!"

"Filming is finished! 'Winter Without Snow' only has 21 episodes, and it's a modern life drama. When filming the rural episodes, we needed to apply some ash powder or something. But when filming the 1990s parts, we didn't even need makeup, so filming was very quick. But, hey, Chen Baoguo is a good actor, he's got some skills!"

"I still have one project in hand right now, which will be in the spring. It's another collaboration with Zhao Baogang. I've read the script, 'Never Close Your Eyes,' and I think it's pretty good. It should be good!"

"Hey, Chen Hong called me the other day and said you handpicked me to play Ren Yingying in 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer'? What's wrong? Isn't your Diao Chan beautiful? Why did you choose me? Do you also think I'm a better actress than her?"

Well, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and after the exercise, it was time for our usual bedtime chat.

Although the soundproofing in this shabby hotel was terrible, Xu Qing had to bite a piece of pillowcase in her mouth today, so she probably didn't get to shout as much as she wanted. But she still got what she wanted and was lying in bed for a long time, unable to move. She whimpered and begged Lin Jianlu to help her pull the pillow she was using to cushion her bottom out of the room—saying it was wet and sticky.

However, once she had rested, her little mouth started chattering nonstop.

"The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" is a major project that Lin Jianlu personally selected and Longxin Film & Television plans to launch next year. The collaboration on "Yongzheng Dynasty" this year went well, and Longxin Film & Television felt it was good. CCTV was also very satisfied, so they decided to collaborate on another "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" next year. Lin Jianlu also personally selected Zhang Jizhong, who has a big beard, as the producer.

Lin Jianlu personally selected most of the main characters.

Lin Jianlu couldn't remember exactly when the CCTV version of "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" was filmed in his previous life, but he was certain that he had watched it when he was a child. Later, probably during the mask-wearing period, he watched it again, so he had a deep impression of that show and could basically remember the main characters.

If you can't remember them, just fill in the names according to your own understanding.

We still invited that actor, Wei Zi, to play Yue Buqun. He played the role very well. Lin Jianlu thought that the actor who played the role was the best Yue Buqun ever. A hypocrite must first look like a gentleman in every word and deed. Only then can we talk about the word "hypocritical".

The female lead is Ren Yingying, and of course, Xu Qing.

In her past life, aside from the "shaking bar" scene and the big red stamp on her buttocks, that was the film and television work that truly left the deepest impression on Lin Jianlu. It was also the image that Lin Jianlu considered her most beautiful and best.

Lin Jianlu didn't directly designate the male lead, Linghu Chong, but instead gave three candidates.

One of them was a male classmate of Jiang Qinqin in the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy, a class of 1994. Jiang Qinqin had mentioned him many times, saying that he was very dedicated to his acting. Coincidentally, Lin Jianlu remembered his name and called him out.

Fu Dalong.

The other one is Zhou Jie, a junior colleague of Chen Hong's from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, who was signed by Chen Hong's agency.

Well, "My Fair Princess" didn't happen because of the casting issues. The hometowns of the two female leads were reversed, which meant that the hometowns of the male lead and the second male lead also had to be reversed. So Huang Lei was replaced to play the Fifth Prince. But, we still have to admit that among the current batch of mainland actors of suitable age, Zhou Jie's looks may not be the best, but his temperament and acting skills are passable and he can be used.

The last one is Zhao Yanzi's classmate, handsome enough and capable enough, Huang Xiaoming.

Let the bearded man choose from the three candidates. Then there's Dongfang Bubai. Lin Jianlu specifically chose Anita Yuen—this girl is quite well-behaved. In the past, there were many rumors about her, such as being domineering or not knowing how to behave, etc. But since meeting Lin Jianlu, she has always been very obedient and sensible in front of him. Previously, he arranged for her to act in "The Return of the Condor Heroes," a joint production between Longxin Films and Taiwanese producer Yang Peipei. The role he gave her was just Li Mochou, which was not very important and completely unworthy of her status as a Hong Kong Film Award Best New Performer upon her debut, and subsequently a two-time Hong Kong Film Award Best Actress winner. But she not only readily agreed, but even called to thank him sincerely.

Then it's worth continuing to use it.

Using her name clearly indicates that the character of Dongfang Bubai in this "Swordsman" film will follow the character and makeup design of Brigitte Lin in "Swordsman II".

She wasn't as beautiful as Brigitte Lin, but she had enough heroic spirit.

Who cares whether the character is male or female? Make it look good first. People can only imagine how the original work is written. As for the main villain, everyone can accept it. Whether he is androgynous or cunning, it doesn't matter. But when it is presented on screen, it must be aesthetically pleasing. It cannot be ugly. The audience will always be a looks-oriented person!

This is precisely the core reason why, despite being a heavily modified version of the original novel, Brigitte Lin's portrayal of Dongfang Bubai in "Swordsman II" is widely considered a classic by later generations—she was simply beautiful enough!
Moreover, Anita Yuen is just not as beautiful as Brigitte Lin, but she is not ugly at all - after all, she was a Miss Hong Kong winner, so how ugly could she be?
Anyway, that's about it.

I learned from watching short videos in my past life that Zhang Dahuzi's adaptations of Jin Yong's novels were met with overwhelming criticism when they were airing. But even twenty years later, from the perspective of someone like Lin Jianlu, a post-95s generation, it's hard to say what else is going on, but at least Zhang Dahuzi's aesthetic sense is on point.

When it comes to visual presentation, aesthetics are the primary consideration.

The story is really secondary.

If your aesthetic sense isn't up to par, the resulting videos will be truly unwatchable. So, in comparison, even when Lin Jianlu wasn't famous and needed to shoot a music video, he would save money during the recording process to hire Gu Changwei to shoot the video. Later, when he was shooting music videos for English songs, he had more money and connections, so he simply got Zhang Yimou to help him.

Now that he was going to make his own film, he thought it over and over again, but he didn't trust Sammo Hung and Stanley Tong, both of whom came from Hong Kong films and were martial arts choreographers. So he invited Zhang Yimou to co-direct.

He even hired two art directors: one was responsible for the more modern parts, and he hired the famous Hong Kong art director Cheung Suk-ping; the other was mainly responsible for the period dramas, and he hired Cao Jiuping, the top art director of Xi'an Film Studio.

The obstacle is aesthetics.

It's fine now. Zhang Yimou is good at directing large-scale scenes and has no problem shooting period dramas, which happens to be a weakness of Hong Kong directors like Sammo Hung. So on set, if it weren't for the presence of Jiang Wen, who always wanted to take the director's chair, whether consciously or unconsciously, things would be quite harmonious, and Sammo Hung had no objections.

Because when we film modern movies next, Sammo Hung will be the lead actor, with Zhang Yimou playing a supporting role.

Moreover, no matter how bad the story is, how terrible the script is, or how outdated the ideas expressed are, or how out of touch with the thinking of young people in 2025, Lao Jiang's acting skills, lines, and aesthetic sense are absolutely top-notch. With him around, it's not just a matter of guiding acting skills, but also an extra layer of assurance in terms of aesthetics.

He'll only talk nonsense if he doesn't like something.

Anyway... well, I've gone off on a tangent.

The things that Lin Jianlu decided when he returned to the capital have now been transformed into concrete matters by Chen Hong and are being steadily pushed forward. Xu Qing, on the other hand, is really petty and narrow-minded. This matter is clearly a project under Chen Hong's management. Lin Jianlu assigned it to Xu Qing, and Chen Hong did not show any objection from beginning to end. But in Xu Qing's mouth, she just had to retaliate against Chen Hong.

"You're such a busybody! Is it really that fun to argue with her?"

"Of course it's interesting! It's not interesting if there's no one to fight!"

"Hey……"

Let them fight it out, as long as they're mine.

…………

Xu Qing stayed here for two days.

She ate mutton and swallowed that stuff, and she couldn't take it for more than two days. She got a sore throat and a pimple appeared on her face. In addition, the movie "The Dream Factory" was going to be released on December 24th, and as the female lead, she flew back to participate in the promotion.

Five days later, at the end of December, the crew finished filming in the Tianshan Mountains and moved to BY City, Gansu Province.

They continued to venture deep into the mountains.

Here, at least it's not as cold as in the Tianshan Mountains. There are no more action scenes, especially group battles. The main focus is on filming Lin Jianlu's individual action scenes. In addition, the focus is on filming the emotional interaction between Lin Jianlu, the Qin general, and Wang Zuxian, the foreign princess—at least there's a cave to crawl through.

They took photos all the way up to after New Year's Day.

On January 6, 1998, the crew finally finished filming on location in Gansu Province.

The period drama is mostly finished—but there's still a part to film in some plains. According to the schedule agreed upon by the directors, and taking into account Lin Jianlu's busy schedule, this part will be filmed after the Spring Festival. Even the extras playing soldiers will be replaced by a different group.

The film crew temporarily disbanded, and Lin Jianlu immediately flew to the capital.

After resting for one night in the capital, he rushed to CCTV the next day to complete his personal Spring Festival Gala audition—he was still required to sing a solo this year, and the song, "Jiangnan," was chosen by the leaders.

This song is incredibly popular. Since the album "Nocturne" was released in August, it has quickly sold over one million copies in Taiwan and over 400,000 copies in Hong Kong. Wherever "Nocturne" is a hit, "Jiangnan" is basically the number one song on the local music charts!

In mainland China, even under immense pressure from piracy, sales have already reached over 120 million cassette tapes and 19 CDs. Last year, Lin Jianlu's "Cold to the End" dealt a heavy blow, stunning pirate cassette manufacturers. Many companies and singers followed suit, but pirates had already recovered and started exploiting loopholes in Xinhua Bookstore's advance stock. This kind of thing is hard to prevent. Now, it's said that Xinhua Bookstore's exclusive sales period for legitimate copies is only three to four days left!

In those three to four days, Nocturne sold most of its sales to date.

There's nothing we can do about it; that's just how things are.

Even though pirated copies sell better, the reach is still there. Leaving aside Hong Kong and Taiwan, in mainland China alone, at the beginning of this year, and even in the first half of the year, no one dared to say that it was more popular than "Too Softhearted". And in the second half of the year, no one dared to say that it was more popular than "Jiangnan"!
So, despite the numerous hit songs in "Nocturne," despite Lin Jianlu's English albums selling worldwide, and despite the fact that "Red Flag Fluttering," sung by Lin Jianlu, has never been officially released yet, but is featured on pirated cassette tapes in seven or eight out of ten "new song compilations," it's all for naught. This year's Spring Festival Gala will be performing "Jiangnan"—a song with an ancient Chinese style, so beautiful! It's said that even the leaders like it very much and appreciate Lin Jianlu's concept of "Chinese style," so of course they'll sing it!
After the review is over, he can take a short break for a day.

But it only lasted one day.

He didn't even have time to take his girlfriends to see the currently showing movie "The Dream Factory." He stayed home for a whole day and still felt like he hadn't had a proper rest. He only went out in the evening to visit his parents, and the next day, he joined up with his group of long, white legs and flew straight to New York.

With less than twenty days left until the Lunar New Year, Lin Jianlu is extremely busy in these short ten days. January 25th is the American Super Bowl, and Lin Jianlu has already accepted the halftime show contract. The contract includes a betting component, and in order to earn more money, he must do everything he can to boost the ratings. Therefore, flying there ten days in advance to adjust the choreography, have everyone practice together, and even personally oversee the planning and construction of the temporary stage are all essential.

Moreover, as the saying goes, "practice makes perfect," and to be honest, Lin Jianlu only practiced the kicking knife move for a few days when he was filming the music video. He mastered it and filmed it, but then he abandoned it. However, the Super Bowl organizers specifically requested that he perform the kicking knife move, which was written into the contract, so he definitely had to perform it. He had to practice for at least a period of time in advance to ensure that he would make as few mistakes as possible!
If the performance goes wrong on stage, not only will the aura of the "Eastern Kung Fu Kid" be greatly diminished, but it will also be difficult to earn high appearance fees with this gimmick in the future. It may even affect the box office performance of the upcoming films "The Myth" and "The Matrix." However, more importantly, this thing could potentially backfire and hurt him! It's a truly dangerous move!

In front of the live broadcast camera, with so many people around the world watching, the famous international superstar Lin Jianlu wielded a large knife and cut off a piece of flesh from his own arm and leg, leaving him covered in blood—well, he should just retire from the entertainment industry!

This year's Super Bowl will be held in San Diego, California, so around January 20th, Lin Jianlu will lead the team there to stay and rehearse.

After the Super Bowl on January 25th, I had to rush to Los Angeles and then fly directly to the capital. The reason for this was that the final rehearsal for the Spring Festival Gala was on the evening of January 26th, and many scenes needed to be recorded. In case of any mistakes on stage on New Year's Eve, these rehearsal footage would be used to replace them. Therefore, I couldn't miss it.

Luckily, it was a solo performance, and thankfully there were no backup dancers, so the costumes were tried on beforehand, and I went straight on stage—and the next day was January 27th, Lunar New Year's Eve!

In short, he's busy, busy, busy!

…………

"The Dream Factory" was released on December 24th, before New Year's Day. From the start, it received good reviews and performed well at the box office. Of course, Feng Xiaogang's down-to-earth comedies seem to have considerable limitations. Basically, they are more popular north of the Yangtze River. The further north you go, the more popular his films become, and the better they perform at the box office. However, they perform only moderately in the south.

But it doesn't matter. After being released for almost half a month, the box office has already reached nearly 3000 million RMB. According to Xu Qing, many people in the industry estimate that this movie is very likely to surpass "Spicy Love Soup" – and has a good chance of reaching 4000 million RMB at the box office!

Given the situation in China, it's estimated that this film will remain the "highest-grossing film of the year" for a long time to come—everyone has agreed not to fight amongst themselves, and "Spicy Love Soup" will continue to hold the title of the highest-grossing film of 1997, while "The Dream Factory" will be included in the competition for the 1998 box office rankings.

In addition, there is a movie, a Hollywood film, that has recently become popular around the New Year. It also officially landed in the Hong Kong market on New Year's Day, and it is very popular there. It is said that a lot of couples went to see it, and many girls cried their eyes out after watching it. It is called "Titanic".

It's said that it will also be imported to mainland China; it has already passed the review and obtained the screening license, and is just waiting for the release date.

Well, after a short rest in the capital for about a day and a half, and then boarding the plane, I was able to chat with Lin Xilei and Li Xiaoran. This allowed Lin Jianlu, after being "detached from the world" for over a month, to once again receive some of the various random news from the outside world—it felt a bit like suddenly getting back online and receiving information from the past month or two, or like not having watched short videos for a long time and then logging in to find only high-quality videos with millions of likes. A dazzling array of news and gossip.

Yes, it's clear that the world isn't waiting for us; it's been rushing forward at breakneck speed.

When Lin Jianlu woke up on the plane and couldn't fall back asleep, she counted on her fingers and realized that she had unknowingly traveled to this time and space for more than two years!
It truly feels like a sudden realization of profound changes.

Now, even though the Lunar New Year hasn't passed yet, I can already say that I'm twenty-two years old.

And she already has three children—if you include the one Jia Jingwen is carrying and the one Gong Li recently found out she's pregnant with, then she has five!

Five kids? I never even dared to dream of that in my entire life!

Moreover, each of the five children has a different mother...

In my past life, I was over thirty and still unmarried. Every day I taught and did live streams, and I was always exhausted. After the broadcast, I would slump on the sofa with a cup of hot water, looking at the lights of thousands of homes outside the window, and I always felt an indescribable emptiness and loneliness.

Back then, who would have thought I'd be where I am today?
He became famous throughout Asia, appeared on the Spring Festival Gala, and became famous worldwide. He's going to appear on it again this year, is currently filming a movie, and will be filming "The Matrix" next. And just around the corner, he's about to become the first Chinese artist to appear on the Super Bowl halftime show—Time magazine's main issue in America is even planning to use a candid shot from the stage as the cover of their next issue.

In other words, after becoming the first Chinese male singer to appear on the cover of Time magazine's Asian edition in 96, he is about to become the first Chinese artist to appear on the main issue of Time magazine—yes, the glory of the white world!

It doesn't matter. As long as it's recognized domestically, at least for now and for the next one or two decades, then it's a good honor!
Yes, the Super Bowl!
I'm going to get an unbeatable viewership rating and make all the money stipulated in that contract—2000 million US dollars. This isn't just about my net worth!
The key issue is that great artists are currently very short of money!

***
It's the last half-day of double points at the end of the month, brothers! If you think I've been quite diligent since I started publishing, don't save your monthly tickets, just cast them!

P.S.: The extra chapter for the beginning of next month has been handed over to the editor. As usual, you can read it after midnight. Remember to go into the chapter and vote for it there to read it. Voting for it outside the chapter won't work and you won't be able to read it!
(End of this chapter)