A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 219 Grammys!
February 18, 1998, the 2nd day of the first lunar month.

Lin Jianlu hosted a small banquet at his villa on the hillside.

There was no public title, but those who were invited generally knew why. The number of people invited was very small; they were all close friends of Lin Chien-lu and Brigitte Lin.

Wang Jing, Ge Fuhong, Shi Nansheng, Xu Ke, Luo Dayou, Huang Zhan, Zhang Guorong, Liu Dehua, Wang Fei, and Zhang Manyu—Guan Zhilin and Wang Zuxian may also be considered close friends of Brigitte Lin, but they are clearly not guests today.

The purpose, of course, is to show off her son.

Not to mention that Brigitte Lin's pregnancy photos had already been exposed before, the key point is that her friends kept asking, and Lin Chien-lu had personally agreed. There is also a very important point: whether it was Brigitte Lin's own initiative and ambition, or Lin Chien-lu's tacit approval or even strong promotion, she has gradually begun to step into the limelight.

The title "Mrs. Lin" is not a joke.

Hong Kong may seem modern and advanced, a blend of Eastern and Western cultures, but in reality, many old customs from the feudal era are still preserved in Hong Kong. For example, the title "Mrs. Lin" does not refer to Brigitte Lin, but rather to Lin Jianlu's status and position as a representative of the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

Therefore, hosting a banquet would be tantamount to giving her a public and officially acknowledged identity.

No kidding, this drink is more effective than a marriage certificate.

Of course, it is not advisable to hold a grand celebration. After all, Lin Jianlu has kept so many lovers, which is still against public order and good morals. Even in Hong Kong, the practice of concubinage has long been abolished!
Lin Qingxia having a child out of wedlock is hardly a glamorous thing.

This explains why, as Lin Jianlu's assets have grown, his reputation has become more prominent, and his influence has increased, the media in Hong Kong have tacitly followed the rules, and no one has hyped or criticized him anymore. In Taiwan, media tycoon Qiu is also happy to help, and has basically managed to silence the media.

In private, the fact that Lin Jianlu, a big star, had three wives and four concubines was still a topic of great interest among ordinary people. Men generally envied and cursed him, while women generally retorted sarcastically, "If you become a global pop star and buy ATV, I might let you take concubines!"
Emmmmm...

Around nine o'clock in the morning, a group of mahjong players arrived first, including Shi Nansheng, Zhang Guorong, Wang Fei, and others, and Wang Jing arrived almost at the same time.

Little Lin Shunan was carried out by Wang Zuxian, surrounded by a group of uncles, aunts, godfathers, and godmothers. He wasn't shy at all, looking at this and that, and seemed to like Wang Jing the most. He grabbed Wang Jing, probably because he was chubby.

Brigitte Lin seemed exceptionally happy today, with a beaming smile on her face.

Leslie Cheung and Wong Jing hadn't seen her in a long time; she wasn't even in the newspapers anymore, and there wasn't a single recent photo of her. When they first saw her at their house, they could hardly believe it. "Wow, Qingxia, it's you..."

Leslie Cheung turned to look at Wong Jing, who was also astonished. "I think I see what she looked like when she was thirty!"

Shi Nansheng and Zhang Guorong immediately echoed in agreement.

Yes, she has indeed reversed the aging process. Lin Jianlu is the most qualified to say about this. The little bit of extra fat that used to appear on her waist, arms, and thighs, and the loose skin that would appear after losing weight, are completely gone. Saying she looks like she's back to her thirties might be a bit of an exaggeration, but if you compare photos, and say she's still living in the 1986 films "Peking Opera Blues" and "Deadly Beauty," looking almost exactly like she did in her early thirties, it's really quite accurate. Slimmer, younger, and more beautiful.

After chatting for a while, everyone gave gifts to Lin Shunan's little baby, and then they made arrangements to start a card game. Just as they were being escorted into the card room, Lin Qingxia suddenly received a phone call. She looked surprised and went out to answer the call for a while. When she came back, she whispered to Lin Jianlu, "Lin Fengjiao, we've always had a good relationship. I don't know where she got the news from, but she called to congratulate me."

"Oh."

Lin Fengjiao is a familiar name to those in the industry. In her early years, she and Brigitte Lin were known as the "Twin Lins of Taiwan." However, she has been retired from acting for many years and has retired to cook and raise Cheng Lung. She even gave birth to a son for him. Well, this son is the one Lin Jianlu received when she first entered university in her previous life. He was very happy to receive a pair of silver bracelets, so Lin Jianlu has a pretty deep impression of him.

Of course, it's highly unlikely that I'll ever be related to him in this lifetime, but my relationship with his father is alright.

Unexpectedly, not long after Lin Fengjiao made the call to Lin Qingxia, Lin Jianlu received another call from Cheng Long, "Ah Lu, are you celebrating your baby's one-month birthday? Call me! Why didn't you call me!"

"Hey, I didn't know you were in Hong Kong. Weren't you filming in America? You're back?"

"I'm back! My plane just landed the day before yesterday. Wow, this filming took so long. Someone just told me that Lin Sheng is celebrating his son's one-month birthday today, and I thought, wait a minute, Lu didn't call me! Then I realized, you didn't even know I was back!"

"Hey! It's not a full month, it's been several months already. It's just that a lot of friends have been saying they want to meet, so I'm inviting everyone over for a meal. Come on over, it's at the villa on the hillside."

"Okay! I'll be there right away!"

unexpected.

In fact, Lin Jianlu felt that although his relationship with Cheng Long was not bad, it was far from being close friends or best friends. In fact, it was just a small gathering of a few good friends. Therefore, Lin Jianlu did not invite his business partners, such as Zhuang Cheng, Hong Jinbao, and Tang Jili.

Unexpectedly, Jackie Chan has not only returned to Hong Kong, but has also taken the initiative to be so affectionate.

Well, it seems that when his movie America comes out, he wants me to go and support him. Lin Jianlu is actually very happy to help others, such as writing songs for them or arranging opportunities for them, but he doesn't dare to judge others by his own standards.

In fact, in a purely commercial society, personal relationships come later, especially for someone like Jackie Chan who has already reached such a high position. His relationships are undoubtedly filled with a large number of mutually beneficial transactions.

However, Lin Jianlu did not reject these things.

However, Lin Jianlu had just hung up the phone with Cheng Long when Maggie Cheung arrived. She was talking to Brigitte Lin and even picked up little Lin Shunan. So he went over to settle accounts with Maggie Cheung—you think you're so great just because you won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress? You didn't even come to Tianshan to see me!
Then, the phone rang again.

It turned out to be Li Lianjie.

When the call connected, the voice on the other end was similar: "Hey, A-Lu, are you celebrating your baby's one-month birthday?"

Okay, he's coming too, then let him come.

After hanging up the phone, he went over and hugged Maggie Cheung, questioning her. Maggie Cheung laughed, "Do you think I'm stupid? It's minus twenty or thirty degrees Celsius, boss! You want me to go freeze? I'll freeze to death!"

As they were talking, another phone call came in, this time from Gong Li.

"Can I go?"

…………

The original intention was just a small banquet, with a maximum of ten guests.

Everyone came to see the kids, play mahjong, have a meal and drinks together, and have a lively day to meet friends. But we never expected that the phone would keep ringing and that more than twenty people would show up in the end!

There were only four tables in the card room, not even enough room for everyone to sit.

When Cheng Long arrived, he hugged the child but didn't say he wanted to be his godfather. However, he soon spoke to Lin Jianlu alone, saying, "You're amazing. You dared to do that. I'm not bad either, but I'm not as amazing as you. If I dared to do that, my family would turn the place upside down!"

Lin Jianlu put her arm around his shoulder and laughed heartily.

Li Lianjie gave him a small golden Buddha, saying that it had been blessed by a master.

When they got together for a chat, Jackie Chan had just finished filming "Rush Hour" and Li Lianjie had just finished filming "Lethal Weapon 4," both of which would likely be released during this year's summer season. These two kings of Chinese kung fu and martial arts films could be considered to have met in Hollywood—but actually, they were practically one.

Rush Hour was produced by New Line Cinema, which was supposed to be an independent production company, but it was acquired by Turner Broadcasting Company (TBS) in 93. In 96, TBS was acquired by Time Warner.

Therefore, New Line Cinema is actually a subsidiary of Warner Bros., and its upcoming release will definitely be distributed by Warner Bros. – and Lethal Weapon 4 is simply a Warner Bros. production.

Therefore, the two films will not actually fight each other during their supposed meeting.

Even after arriving in America, they were still considered to be from the same school.

On the contrary, Lin Jianlu did not become famous through movies from the very beginning, nor did he rely on the "appreciation" of Hollywood giants like Warner Bros. He brought his own superstar traffic to feed the movies.

Therefore, Columbia Pictures invested in "The Myth" and will handle its distribution when it is released, while Warner Bros. invested in and will handle the distribution of "The Matrix".

Lin Jianlu always adopted a cooperative attitude.

In short, all three can be considered to be working in Hollywood at the moment.

Lin Jianlu holds the highest position and brings a strong global following. Jackie Chan is slightly less prominent, but he is still highly regarded and has a solo film. From the very beginning, the production team has been working hard to create a big-budget film centered around him. Li Lianjie is at the bottom, as he is just entering the Hollywood system and playing a villain who is skilled in Chinese kung fu.

Of course, being able to play an important supporting role in Hollywood is already a breakthrough for the Hong Kong film industry, a feat of transcending the established norms.

Among them, Li Lianjie's jump was the least complete.

He was still taking on Hong Kong films last year, still with Win's Entertainment, co-starring with Eric Tsang. It was last fall and winter, and Leung Wing-ki was very popular at the time. She was invited to play the female lead in a film called "King of Killers," an urban martial arts film. It was supposed to be released at the end of March or the beginning of April. It is said that Boss Xiang required him to finish filming this movie before he was allowed to leave.

While we were chatting, Gong Li arrived.

She and Brigitte Lin were very familiar with each other, having collaborated more than once. Brigitte Lin used to live in the capital, so they often visited each other. When she arrived, the two women first gave each other a big hug.

Gong Li held Lin Qingxia's arms with both hands, saying, "You're getting younger and younger, several years younger than last year."

Lin Qingxia smiled and reached out to touch her belly. "How many months? I remember he said, four months?"

Gong Li nodded, "Four months."

So Lin Qingxia said, "When the time comes, come here to prepare for childbirth. I have a full set of services here, and the maids are better at taking care of the baby during postpartum confinement, so you won't have to go through all the trouble yourself. The maids might not even trust you completely."

Gong Li nodded again and smiled, "Okay! I'll have the people here train my maids."

…………

Jackie Chan's card skills are actually terrible.

As soon as he entered the card room, everyone saw him and actually welcomed him to their table, asking to switch places with someone else. Cheng Long reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and showed it to everyone. "Hey, that's all I have. Lose it all! Or you can just take it. It'll end up in your pockets anyway."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Of the people who came today, very few would consider themselves unworthy to play cards at the same table as Cheng Long, but there were indeed too many people, and the card room was already overloaded. So Wang Fei made a fuss, "Are there any other card games? Bring another table over, let's play in the living room!"

In the end, they managed to squeeze in six tables.

Finding an opportunity, Lin Jianlu pulled Gong Li aside and spoke, "What are you trying to do? Rebel?"

She tilted her head back slightly, a half-smile playing on her lips, and said, "Jealous! But not rebellious."

"I'll get it done for you later."

"Come on, I don't want to! I just want to be a little jealous."

Faced with her behavior—not exactly domineering, yet surprisingly reasonable—Lin Jianlu chuckled, gently stroking her nose with a touch of indulgence, "If you don't discipline her for three days..."

She answered immediately, "Climbing onto the roof and tearing off the tiles!"

The next moment, it suddenly opened its mouth and bit Lin Jianlu's finger, smacked its lips, and then wrapped it around.

…………

After celebrating Lin Shunan's fourth-month birthday, Lin Jianlu took Wang Zuxian, who was still a little confused, on a chartered plane to America that evening.

After meeting up with Sylvia Chang there, we rested for a bit to adjust to the time difference, and then the annual awards season in America began with the three major music awards.

The American Music Awards was the first to have a runway show but no live broadcast. It was a very prestigious award, but theoretically it was not easily given to foreign singers. Lin Jianlu was an exception, winning three major awards: Best Male Artist, Best Album, and Best New Artist, as well as two smaller awards in different categories.

That would be considered a good start.

Although Lin Jianlu has never really cared much about awards—as the saying goes, he knows better than anyone where his songs, works, and even so-called "inspirations" come from, and he also knows that even if someone gives him an award, he's accepting it on behalf of someone else.

So before, he didn't care whether Taiwanese or Hong Kong awards selected him or not.

The awards in America are the same to him.

However, it must have been a dilemma for the American Music Awards organizers. Not awarding Lin Jianlu would be too unreasonable. Even though the American Music Awards have had de facto geographical limitations over the years, someone as popular as Lin Jianlu has profoundly influenced the entire United States and even an entire era. At this point, not awarding him would mean losing his place in the history of music during this period.

So, we had no choice but to give him the prize.

Lin Jianlu had analyzed it himself. There was no need to bring up the idea that Asians couldn't win big awards, nor was there any need to bring up the idea that a Chinese person couldn't sell records as widely in America, let alone become as popular as Michael Jackson. The information that had been gradually revealed on the internet in his previous life made Lin Jianlu firmly believe that America had this system. But why did he still become popular? Why did he still win awards?
He felt that it was probably because his rise to fame was too sudden and unexpected.

There has never been a Chinese person in America's arts and culture circles who understands Western culture so well, can write and sing in a way that suits American tastes, and can even completely lead the fashion trends of an entire era. Moreover, he became famous almost overnight without any accumulation or gradual rise to fame.

This young man from China showed no signs of inexperience from the very beginning, reaching the pinnacle right away.

So, before anyone could think or discern anything, or even react, they simply watched as a Chinese person used the American market to become the king of global trends!

However, Lin Jianlu was mentally prepared that the American arts and culture scene would gradually come to its senses and start filling in the gaps—even if there was another Chinese person who was more talented than him, it would be virtually impossible for him to become as famous as he was in America.

Of course, given this year's situation, the American arts and culture scene will likely choose to deal with it rather than simply ignore it—that's enough. They won five American Music Awards.

The Grammys that followed were an even bigger highlight—Lin Chien-lu once again attended with Wang Zu-hsien and Chang Ai-chia, and even sang "Believer" on stage, and surprisingly won three major awards and four minor awards.

Of the four major Grammy Awards—Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist—Lin Chien-Lu only missed Record of the Year, which is more often given to producers. He won all four awards: Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.

Eleven suggestions, seven successful.

This was already an unexpected surprise.

Unfortunately, it still couldn't compare to Michael Jackson's eight out of twelve attempts in 1984.

But Lin Jianlu herself was already quite content.

No joke, in his opinion, even if his second English album sells well and receives excellent reviews again, it is unlikely to win awards like it did this year.

When the nominations were first announced, Lin Jianlu felt a strange sense of order as she counted the eleven nominations. After the awards ceremony, when she counted the seven trophies she had received, she couldn't help but feel like laughing. It seemed intentional, but not deliberate. The final result was that each one was one less than Michael Jackson's crowning night.

There's no logic to this kind of thing; it's an indescribable, mysterious feeling, but it's just a feeling nonetheless.

It was widely reported throughout the United States and around the world.

Wang Zuxian suddenly became a sensation in many media outlets, especially in America—everyone speculated that she was Lin Jianlu's girlfriend.

never mind.

Next up was the bulletin board.

From an industry perspective, according to Sylvia Chang, the three major music awards in America, the American Music Awards and the Billboard Music Awards, are more market-oriented. The American Music Awards are even voted on by fans, and the Billboard Awards are purely linked to market popularity. On the other hand, the Grammys are more like a technical or industry union, focusing on technical aspects and awarding many technical prizes. In many cases, they are not entirely in sync with market popularity. Yet, surprisingly, the Grammys are the most recognized and prestigious music awards in the world.

Even musicians and singers generally value the Grammys more.

Lin Jianlu pondered to himself that this was probably similar to the box office, box office rankings, and film awards for movies—if my movies sell well, they sell well. I don't really care about any box office ranking honors you give me. Do you even need to tell me? I just sell well, I'm famous! On the other hand, film awards are often not entirely based on box office performance, which is why directors, actors, and so on are all eager to receive them.

It doesn't matter. I'll just stay in America for a bit and wait for the next bulletin board.

However, after winning the Grammy, the very next morning before he even had breakfast, he received a phone call from mainland China informing him that he would be appearing on the evening news program "Xinwen Lianbo" (the main evening news program on CCTV).

It's currently 7 PM Eastern Time in the US, which is 7 PM Beijing Time.

Furthermore, CCTV hopes that Lin Jianlu can return to the capital to record an episode of "Focus Interview".

Well, this has disrupted our plans, but it's still an honor. Neither of these programs is easy to get on. Getting ten seconds on "Xinwen Lianbo" is a huge honor, and "Focus Interview" is mainly used to expose social phenomena. Occasionally, there will be an episode with positive praise. Ordinary achievements are not enough to qualify for this program.

But...that's okay.

Let's fly back and record an episode!

You insist that you've already crushed Europe and America, won a Grammy, and are incredibly awesome, but if you appear on "Xinwen Lianbo" and get a segment on "Focus Interview," wouldn't that be a triumphant homecoming?

Show off the trophy to certain people back home!
…………

Actually, while Lin Jianlu was still fast asleep in the hotel with Wang Zuxian in her arms, things were already in an uproar on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. It's not a big deal if someone wins a Grammy or something in 20 or 30 years. Fans can just celebrate on their own. It's impossible for it to be a national phenomenon. The idea that foreign awards are more prestigious is no longer mainstream social perception.

To put it bluntly, in 20 or 30 years in China, let alone winning an international award in the music or film industry, the entire music industry, the entire film industry, and even the entire entertainment industry will be largely disliked and no longer receive much attention from mainstream society.

With entertainment options becoming increasingly diverse, it's not that there aren't talented people anymore; even if there were, they could no longer garner the same level of widespread public attention as they did in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The promotional video for "Hot and Spicy Fat" claims to be inspirational, but Lin Jianlu would have swiped away as soon as she saw it in her past life. Someone won the Venice Film Festival Best Actress award, and if someone in the Chinese entertainment industry wants to brag about it, just swipe away.

Similarly, upon seeing Chunyi's face, before the video blogger even started praising her or before she even started singing, Lin Jianlu couldn't stand it anymore and had to immediately swipe away—essentially, she had already fallen into a state of disgust and contempt for them and the entire entertainment industry. She didn't want to pay any attention to any updates at all.

On the contrary, it is a group of long-time fans, those old but still alive music and movie fans, who are still willing to pay some attention to their activities, singing voices and acting skills—their attention is probably for their own youth and memories, rather than for how much they still love and admire them.

However, it is now 1998!
In 1998, it was a different story.

At present, the moon in foreign countries still seems particularly round.

The national economy developed rapidly, people started to have money and began to have a demand for cultural consumption. As a result, despite widespread piracy, books that sold millions of copies emerged, cultural celebrities appeared, and Hong Kong stars were adored by the whole nation. Even though people watched pirated VCDs and listened to pirated tapes, their love was genuine.

There is a strong demand for cultural consumption.

However, to be fair, a century of humiliation, coupled with the fact that our economy has always been outmatched by others, has led to a backwardness in material aspects. As soon as the people began to accumulate some wealth, their first instinct was to look outward—to go abroad, to go to paradise, to prove that our own culture is not entirely without merit, and so on. They were all probably trying to integrate into advanced societies or to be recognized by them.

Once approved, one immediately achieves physical sainthood.

For example, anyone who wins one of the three major European film awards is immediately hailed as a master, or even a national director...

Grammys?
Never heard of the Grammys? What are they?
Holy crap, America's highest music award? The best in the world?

That's awesome!

No wonder, that's Lin Jianlu!
This is awesome! We need to let foreigners know that we Chinese also have good songs, and that we have people who can write and sing good songs. Look, we really have good stuff coming out, and foreigners have to admit it, right?

You have to admit, the American awards are fair. If it's good, it's good. If it's good, they'll recognize it and give it an award. That's what a developed country is like! They have confidence!
And so on.

Before the news could even spread, CCTV and People's Daily on the mainland, as well as various TV stations, newspapers, and radio stations in Hong Kong and Taiwan, all reported on it. So the awards ceremony was held in the evening Eastern Time, which happened to be morning in the capital. But no one could wait until the evening. Within a few hours, various radio and television stations broadcast breaking news, and various supplementary and special editions made the news almost universally known.

A source of pride for the Chinese people!

Musical Maestro!

Grammy King!
After conquering the global market, they have now conquered the world's most demanding judges!
The world's first Chinese person to win a Grammy Award!

After the Grammy Awards ceremony concluded, Lin Chien-lu received a multitude of accolades and titles, all within a single day and a few hours, which were bestowed upon him by the media in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

…………

There was supposed to be a drinking party that evening, but for some reason, Chen Kaige, who had been looking gloomy all day after waking up from his afternoon nap at 2:30, suddenly called and canceled the party.

Li Yu was very surprised.

She met Chen Kaige at a dinner party last spring. Li Yu was a student in the 1993 class of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. At that time, she had not yet graduated. She was brought to the capital by a teacher to look for opportunities, but unexpectedly met the famous director Chen Kaige.

She had a delicate and pretty face, and was known as "Little Brigitte Lin" when she was at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Her classmates, including Li Bingbing, said that she was born to play the role of Qiong Yao in dramas. However, what she did not expect was that a famous director fell in love with her at first sight and soon began to pursue her.

Then... Li Yu was completely absorbed in it, even though he didn't seem to have completely broken up with Ni Ping at that time.

There's simply no way to resist it!

That's the famous director Chen Kaige!

Then, before she even graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Li Yu started living with him.

After graduating, she went straight to the capital, even accompanying him to the set of "The Emperor and the Assassin," taking meticulous care of his daily needs. Although they had only known each other for less than a year, she already knew deeply that her famous director boyfriend really enjoyed drinking parties. Specifically, he loved the feeling of being fawned over by everyone around him, no matter where he appeared. And drinking parties often provided just that.

"Why...aren't you going again?"

she asked cautiously.

Chen Kaige's face remained expressionless. He simply mumbled an "Mmm" and said, "It's boring. A bunch of vulgar people. I don't want to go."

Li Yu pursed her lips, sat down next to him, opened her mouth, then opened it again, still trying to comfort him considerately, "I know you two don't get along, but it's just a few words. He won the award, so what does it have to do with us? Even if we're not proud of him..."

"Okay, shut up!"

He seemed very aggressive today.

However, after less than a year as a girlfriend, Li Yu was no stranger to this kind of rudeness. Her boyfriend was very talented, but precisely because he was so talented, he was extremely arrogant. When she went along with him, he was very charming and had the air of a genius. But when things didn't go his way, he became extremely rude.

So he dared not try to persuade her any further.

Chen Kaige seemed to have lost interest in doing anything else. He slumped onto the sofa, staring blankly into space, seemingly lost in thought. Occasionally, his eyes would appear as cold as ice, as if harboring boundless murderous intent.

Suddenly, Li Yu heard him say something like, "Damn it! How come he got it first!"

She paused, not daring to respond, much less ask.

A moment later, she heard her famous director boyfriend mutter to himself, "You fucking think you're worthy! All those Grammy judges are blind! Damn it!"

Li Yu pursed her lips, pretending not to hear.

Only occasionally, when I turn my head to look over, I can see the gloom on his face.

Suddenly, the phone rang. Without even looking at it, he answered it directly. Li Yu vaguely heard a somewhat familiar voice, "It's me!... Don't be angry with him. He's actually a really good person! He's not petty. He's probably riding high right now. It's a good opportunity to reconcile with him. Say a few nice words, and the matter will be over! He has many film companies in Hong Kong and mainland China. You're a director. If you build a good relationship with him, what harm could it do?"

Oh, probably his ex-girlfriend, Ni Ping.

The voice was so familiar; I could recognize it even through the phone's audio quality.

But he just listened without saying a word.

On the other end of the phone, Ni Ping waited a while before asking, "Kaige? What's wrong? Are you still angry with me?"

Do you like him too?

Not only Ni Ping on the other end of the phone, but even Li Yu, who was secretly listening to the call from the kitchen doorway, was startled by these words—before Ni Ping could even speak, Chen Kaige continued, "You slept with him, didn't you? That bastard just likes to steal the women I like! He's always been like that! What have I told you? I'm disgusted by him! I'm disgusted by this guy! That damn guy is just a hoodlum! Go ask around in Nanluoguxiang yourself, he's just a hoodlum! You…"

The phone suddenly went dead; the other end had hung up.

However, Li Yu, who was eavesdropping on the phone call while hiding at the kitchen door, couldn't say whether she was happy or angry at this moment; she just felt... a complicated mix of emotions.

You could hear Chen Kaige breathing heavily.

Li Yu was increasingly hesitant to go out and risk trouble—but for some reason, her worries today seemed much less intense than before. It was as if… as if… a sense of loss lingered.

In the living room, he finally calmed down.

The violent, seemingly furious breathing could no longer be heard.

But suddenly, the phone rang again. A moment later, he answered it, his voice still that calm and deep baritone, "Hey, Gangzi..."

"Brother Kai, I'm calling you not for any other reason than to offer some advice, which you might not like to hear, but I have to say it... Humility is key! Don't be so rigid! Have you heard? It's going to be on the news! I'm going to take the liberty of putting in a good word for you; maybe Brother Lu will give me some face..."

"Fuck your mother! Do you think I need you to talk to me? Feng Xiaogang, don't think I can't tell what you're talking about. He won some bullshit award, and you, you dog, get all the glory too? You want to step on me too? To curry favor with your dog master, huh? Go to hell!"

"Hey, Mr. Kai, you're really ungrateful..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Kaige hung up. After thinking it over, his chest heaving, he suddenly raised his hand and smashed the phone at the large TV in the living room!
Bang it!
Li Yu instinctively cried out in surprise.

When she came to her senses and her shock subsided, she timidly walked out of the kitchen, looked at the big director sitting alone like a tiger, and then turned to look at the TV—it wasn't broken, it was quite sturdy, but it had a crack from being hit, so it was still ruined!
She walked over cautiously, trying to offer a few words of comfort.

"Don't be angry. It's not worth getting angry over someone who's nobody..."

However, he suddenly turned his head, glaring angrily, "You like Lin Jianlu too, don't you? Lin Qingxia likes him, and you're like a mini-Lin Qingxia, so you must like him too! Go on, go on, go be his concubine!"

Li Yu was stunned for a moment, "What...what are you saying? I don't even know him!"

"I told you to get out!"

(End of this chapter)