A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 71 Not Soft

It turns out that the reason Feng Xiaogang and his wife treated everyone to a meal that day was to plead for them and ask for their help.

Early on the morning of the 19th, this guy called and we chatted for a few minutes.

Lin Jianlu knew his situation. In fact, he was now in the same boat as Wang Shuo, restricted from directing by the authorities, which meant he was essentially useless. The film he co-directed with Wang Shuo was even more useless, as it was stopped halfway through and never continued.

He asked Han Shanping and Zhang Heping to act as intermediaries, but it was to no avail. The higher-ups wouldn't budge, and no matter how influential those two were, they couldn't do anything about it. This had already involved domestic public opinion.

So the current situation is that Wang Shuo can't stay in China anymore and is leaving, while Feng Xiaogang doesn't have the confidence to go abroad and has nowhere to go, feeling that he's finished.

But Lin Jianlu obviously couldn't help with this matter; she just listened to him ramble on and offered a few words of comfort.

He must have heard that Lin Jianlu, together with Beijing Film Studio and Capital Television, was planning to jointly invest in and register a film company soon. He was very enthusiastic and repeatedly said that he wanted to treat Lin to dinner that evening.

After thinking about it, I agreed.

It's nothing more than listening to him pour out his grievances and accompanying him to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

That's just how Lin Jianlu is. As long as someone is generally considered a friend, he's usually willing to help if it's within his means. If he really doesn't think it's worth it, then forget it!
For example, in the capital, Gao Xiaosong opened a music company called Wheatfield Music and invited Lin Jianlu several times, hoping that Lin Jianlu could write a song for their company's first album. Lin Jianlu was vague and never agreed.

Logically, we should agree.

First, Gao Xiaosong has a good reputation in the industry, at least for now. Second, even before Lin Jianlu debuted, Gao Xiaosong had always been very kind to Lin Jianlu and praised her everywhere.

But Lin Jianlu was really annoyed by some of the things he did later and didn't want to get too involved.

Of course, depending on the situation, he also admitted that he shouldn't completely negate the current him just because of some things that happened to him later, so he would probably still give him a piece of work as a way of repaying the favor.

Another example is that he met Lin Xi in Hong Kong.

The other party was very polite and highly praised Lin Jianlu's talent in both lyrics and music. As for the opportunity to collaborate, he remained only in lip service. He was a sensitive and perceptive person, and probably sensed that Lin Jianlu did not like him very much, so they almost never met again.

The other party was talented and accomplished, and in 1996, it was hard to say that he was a bad person. However, some of the things he did later made Lin Jianlu dislike him.

Then let's just have less contact!
Feng Xiaogang has far fewer problems; at least on matters of principle, I've never heard of him making any mistakes. And in terms of talent, he is truly talented—it's never easy to make a good comedy about everyday life. Look at those so-called comedians who came after him; I'd rather go back and look at his "Big Shot's Funeral."

…………

I went to visit Dou Wei at his home.

He invited me, and he's invited me twice already, so it's really hard to refuse again. I have no choice but to bite the bullet and go.

Sure enough, he understood some things very well. When he went today, he didn't see the girl named Gao Yuan—great, just the two of them, drinking tea and chatting. At noon, he rode his bike out and brought back a few dishes from the restaurant. Lin Jianlu was making cucumber salad in his kitchen. When he came back, there was also a side of beef tripe added to the cucumber salad. That was it.

Having a few drinks, chatting idly, listening to him talk about his musical dreams, and discussing his current struggles and anxieties about balancing art and commerce—it was a wonderful day.

As they ate and drank, the food got hot, and the two men simply took off their shirts, looking incredibly relaxed and carefree.

On the contrary, after all the wine was finished, and there was a table full of leftovers and beer bottle caps scattered on the floor, a guest suddenly arrived at his house. A middle-aged man with a stubble beard named Zhou Xiaowen.

A friend recommended Dou Wei, hoping he could revise the score for one of his films. They had already arranged a meeting by phone, and Dou Wei had agreed. This time, he came to discuss it in person. According to him, he had originally approached Zhao Jiping, and the work was finished. However, he recently felt dissatisfied with some aspects of the work. Unfortunately, Zhao Jiping had some important tasks assigned by his superiors that he couldn't handle and therefore couldn't come to the capital. So, he turned to Dou Wei on his friend's recommendation.

As soon as he mentioned Zhao Jiping, he immediately understood.

After chatting for a while, it turned out that this person was also a director from Xi'an Film Studio. Not only Zhao Jiping, but he was also very familiar with Gu Changwei, Zhang Yang, and Zhang Zien. He hadn't been seen at the previous drinking parties because he had been busy making films!

The new movie is called "The Emperor's Shadow".

Starring Jiang Wen, Ge You, and Xu Qing.

The date is already set, October 31st this year!
Old Dou was already quite drunk, but he still forced himself to listen to Zhou Xiaowen talk for a long time. In the end, he replied, "I'll go there tomorrow to hear what the original arrangement is like, and then we can talk!"

Zhou Xiaowen had nothing to say, so she let him go and chatted with Lin Jianlu for a long time.

If you want to collaborate, you're famous!
There are so many artists in China now who don't know you! You can't find another one who can compare to you anywhere in the country! The key is that we used to just play around behind closed doors, whether we became famous or not is another matter. But you, my friend, are famous all the way to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia! We had a really great chat.

Judging from his tone, he really wanted to invite us to dinner that evening, but Lin Jianlu declined, as he had already agreed to meet Feng Xiaogang. He slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "I know him! We're quite familiar with Feng Xiaogang too. When my play was in preparation, we sat together several times. Me, him, Jiang Wen, Ge You, Xu Qing, Lu Wei, and Lao Gu all got together!"
Okay, they just called Feng Xiaogang themselves.

Feng Xiaogang probably didn't want to invite too many people, but Zhou Xiaowen said he would treat them, so they agreed. Then Zhou Xiaowen immediately started making calls to invite people.

As a result, Lin Jianlu and Dou Wei drank until 3:30 pm, and it was only a little past 5 pm when they sat down at another table. Oh my, I have to admit that Xu Qing's looks and figure can even outshine her sister-in-law Jiang Wenli by half a head, and she is enough to compete with Lin Qingxia and Guan Zhilin.

No kidding, 30-year-old Jiang Wenli is still very beautiful, and looks quite tempting.

But Xu Qing is truly even better!
Upon seeing Lin Jianlu, she exclaimed with delight, "Oh my, that's really something! I've heard you love gatherings, and I was wondering why I haven't been invited to any gatherings with you in them in the past six months!"

"That's for sure! Those bastards must be afraid I'll kidnap you and hide you away!"

The whole room burst into laughter.

Xu Qing herself was laughing so hard she was doubled over.

The first time I met Jiang Wen, his deep voice was no joke, he was really manly.

He likes to pause when he speaks, and those pauses give off a unique "I'm awesome" vibe. "I was bragging the other day, saying that if I ever make a movie again, I'll definitely cast this kid in it. He's so damn handsome! It'll make an extra ten million!"

"Oh my god, you really know how to insult people! I'm only worth ten million!"

Jiang Wen laughed heartily and quickly patted his back to apologize, "I didn't mean that! I didn't mean that! What I meant was that your face is worth at least ten million, at least! At the very least! To put it more bluntly, you're worth a hundred million!"

Everyone laughed it off, and the matter was dropped.

However, many people who met him on the first day immediately realized that this kid was not to be trifled with and was not weak.

Actually, Lin Jianlu wasn't angry about the ten million, but Jiang Wen's immediate comment about "this kid" annoyed him.

He'll definitely argue if he's unhappy.

In the entertainment industry, everyone has their own opinion. Apart from a few who follow the crowd and call him "Uncle Zhan," Lin Jianlu, being so young, couldn't very well be different and call him "Old Huang" or "Brother Huang." But apart from that, no matter who it is, he has never been inferior to anyone in terms of seniority. If Jiang Wen tries to act superior, putting on the airs of an older brother, a seasoned veteran, or even a senior, he will directly retort.

Fortunately, he probably wasn't really arrogant; it was just his way of speaking. Besides, he actually has high emotional intelligence. Once we changed the subject, we started chatting, and he turned out to be an interesting person.

Once we got to know each other, we were able to have a lot of conversations.

Just as the banquet was about to begin, an old man named Guo Baochang arrived.

The old man was quite an interesting person. As he got older, he became more easygoing, but more importantly, he had a lot of stories and anecdotes to tell. This was the best thing about Lin Jianlu; he never stole the limelight from others and was happy to listen to people talk.

Even if he doesn't verify the truth of the matter, and it's likely just bragging, he's happy to listen.

Zhou Xiaowen, Lin Jianlu, Feng Xiaogang, Xu Fan, Gu Changwei, Jiang Wenli, Jiang Wen, Xu Qing, Chen Xiaoyi, and Guo Baochang made up a table of ten people, and they drank until 10:30 pm before leaving.

Lin Jianlu had lost count of how much he had drunk that day.

Before the movie ended, Guo Baochang patted Lin Jianlu on the shoulder and whispered, "I heard you two started a film company called Forbidden City Film Production. Let's arrange a time to talk about it sometime?"

"Sure, sir! But I have to go out in the next few days to get some work done! Are you in a hurry? Can I contact you in a month or two?"

"Okay! I'm not in a hurry, I'll wait for you!"

So they decided to wait for Lin Jianlu to return and then contact him.

He then grabbed the hand of the tipsy Jiang Wen and gave him a bear hug. Jiang Wen still remembered what happened at the beginning, so he wasn't completely drunk. "Brother, I'm a bit blunt and like to brag. If I said something wrong, don't take it to heart! We'll be brothers for a while, and you'll understand!"

Lin Jianlu responded with a hearty laugh and hugged him a second time.

(End of this chapter)