Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 154 Onions and Oranges! Jiang Zhiqiang's Admiration!
"Oh? What does this mean?"

Cao Zhong was a little confused. "What does the poor performance of 'Red Cliff' have to do with me?"

Wu Baige felt envious, jealous, and unable to accept it.

He called me and said some things that were unfavorable to you, and even tried to sow discord between us, saying that because of "Eileen Chang," you and I should be in a state of hostility.

Director Cao, you understand me. After that official document last time, I figured it out myself.

He was very angry that "Red Cliff Part I" couldn't surpass the box office performance of "Nanjing Photo Studio," believing that your fans were the main force behind your criticism, saying that you had corrupted this group of viewers and were quick to make a mountain out of a molehill.
Because you gave Chairman Han more confidence, his position in the China Film Group collaboration declined, making it difficult for him to bear the pressure, hence his strong emotional state.

Jiang Zhiqiang didn't know why, but today his mouth seemed to be out of his control, and too many things that shouldn't have been said just spilled out like beans from a bamboo tube.

This is not good!
He and Wu Baige have known each other for many years and are old friends.

His actions constitute pure betrayal.

That's despicable!

Jiang Zhiqiang knew he had gone too far!

But then again,

Cao Zhong's Hollywood journey is on the verge of success. He has earned his place in Cao Zhong's team and achieved his current success through hard work and dedication.

How could someone who joined the Communist Party in 1949 be on Wu Baige's side now?

Moreover, he has already offered advice! He has done everything he could!
He insulted me first!

Jiang Zhiqiang recalled Cao Zhong's previous attacks on Ang Lee, his beating of Captain Jia, and his furious hammering of Wang Xiaoshuai, and now his relentless push in Hollywood.

I have a strong urge to become sworn brothers with Cao Zhong.

Finding a godfather is fine too; Hong Kong loves that kind of thing.

The only mismatch is their ages.

His voice was fervent and sincere, and he quickly convinced himself completely.

How can you make a good movie by hanging out with scoundrels like Wu Baige?

He's a businessman!
Over the years, he has finally managed to carve out a path for himself outside of Hong Kong's social circle.

Following Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee, he served them hand and foot, all for the sake of making money from Knife Entertainment!

Yes, he did make money! But not as much as you might imagine!

He had never seen anyone like Cao Zhong, with such a high return on such a small investment!
Moreover, Cao Zhong is also very resourceful! He's directly arranged several dramas for him!

For so many years, China has not had a director like this.

If Hollywood is forever plunged into darkness, Cao Zhong will be the only light!

At this point, Jiang Zhiqiang knew what to choose.
"In short, he saw that 'Split' was doing very well and assumed it was my achievement, so he contacted me in order to launch a counterattack against Hollywood!"

"He also said that it would take one year to prepare, two years to launch a counterattack, and three years to achieve success."

Cao Zhong couldn't hold back any longer and asked with a laugh, "Has Wu Baige gone mad?"

"what?"

Why are you always having such unrealistic dreams?!

“By the way, Director Cao,” Jiang Zhiqiang hesitated before speaking, “Split did quite well. I have an old friend who also wants to help Edko Films with something. His name is Ouyang Baoping, and he was the casting director for The Forbidden Kingdom. What do you think…”

Cao Zhong frowned, interrupting Jiang Zhiqiang, his voice suddenly turning icy: "Do you know what you're saying?"

Jiang Zhiqiang was jolted awake. Ouyang Baoping had called him several times, and he couldn't refuse, so he thought he'd ask her directly.
He does need help.
But at this moment, Jiang Zhiqiang sensed a change in Cao Zhong's emotions from his tone.

If Cao Zhong's voice had been laced with mockery earlier because of his betrayal of Wu Baige...

At this moment, however, there was an utter solemnity.

"I appreciate it if you sell Wu Baige, but if you want to sell me..."

Cao Zhong said in a short voice, "You can take a gamble, gamble on whether I can keep winning, gamble on whether I will let you go after I win."

Jiang Zhiqiang's face was bitter as he forced himself to say, "Director Cao, I don't understand."

“You’d better not understand, or have forgotten,” Cao Zhong said. “I have no one else to rely on. I can trust you once, but there won’t be a next time. Just because I’m young, do you think I haven’t seen Chen Chong’s ‘Tai-Pan’? If I remember correctly, it was Ouyang Baoping who cast me in that movie back then.”

Chen Chong's character, who glorifies opium dealers and colonizers, goes from lowly to even lower, and from even lower to extremely lowly, even falling into a downward spiral. He calls it a sacrifice for art, but he is vehemently criticized by his fellow countrymen.

You dare recommend the casting director who did the casting for this show to me?

It seems that "Eileen Chang" didn't teach you a lesson.

Cao Zhong's voice was calm and even, yet it struck Jiang Zhiqiang's loyal heart with unwavering conviction!
He instantly realized what was happening and hurriedly said...

"No, no, Director Cao, I really forgot."

At this moment, Jiang Zhiqiang's expression was complicated, and he was completely unable to move.

He genuinely wanted to follow Cao Zhong, but he never expected to touch Cao's sore spot.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Jiang Zhiqiang apologized hastily, his face filled with fear, his mind completely blank. His admiration for Cao Zhong, however, only deepened.

First, Cao Zhong's memory is so good that he can remember even the movie "Tai-Pan," which he had forgotten, as well as the casting director of the movie. How young is he!
On one hand, he was terrified by Cao Zhong's sudden change in expression; he was genuinely afraid of being kicked off the bus.

Although he didn't know why Cao Zhong wanted to find someone to build a bridgehead here, who wouldn't want to make money?
Cao Zhong's tone just now made Jiang Zhiqiang feel the fear of being stared at by a venomous snake.

"That would be for the best." Cao Zhong's voice was cold. "I understand your level of education. The people I've arranged to go there all have their own reasons."

And if you want to continue to navigate the Hollywood scene with us, go and gain more experience and broaden your understanding.

Jiang Zhiqiang repeatedly agreed, and continued to sever ties, emphasizing that...

"Director Cao, rest assured, from now on, Ouyang Baoping and I will go our separate ways."

……

Beijing.

a hotel.

Zhang Liangying entered the house fully masked and sunglasses, looking forlorn.
"I heard gossip from inside Huayi that you had a complete falling out with Huayi because you didn't sign with them after 'The Forbidden Kingdom' and instead signed with a Hollywood agency. Did Huayi really leak those negative stories?"

As a close friend of Liu Yifei, the two became friends after singing the theme song "Peerless Under Heaven" for "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and communicated frequently.

During the filming of "The Forbidden Kingdom", Jane Zhang sang the theme song "Heroes".

The two are on different tracks and rarely perform together, but they have a very good relationship in private.

"Actually, that's not entirely true, because my Hollywood agency contract is international, while my domestic agency contract is still with Red Starwood. But they do want to sign me, and I'm not sure if it's Huayi Brothers, maybe, since too many people hate me."

Liu Yifei smiled, revealing her signature gap-toothed smile. "In the past two years, my popularity has surpassed that of Zhang Ziyi by several times. Now is their best chance, but I'm used to it. Back then, they even said I was transgender. As for you, you seem quite concerned about me? Aren't you worried that Huayi will target you?"

"Ever since I sang 'As You Wish' for Director Cao, Huayi has been very protective of me," Zhang Liangying said softly. "Did you see? Yang Mi went to Hollywood."

"I saw it." Upon hearing this, Liu Yifei looked wistful. "People still have their own opportunities. When Boss Jiang approached me before, I refused. Now Boss Jiang has approached Yang Mi, and she succeeded."

But then I thought, if I had agreed to star in "Ailing" with Mr. Jiang back then, I'm afraid I'd be just like Tang Wei, vanished without a trace now.

"Envy?"

"The Forbidden Kingdom grossed $1.28 million overseas, what's there to envy?" Liu Yifei's mood remained quite stable. "I just think she's a bit lucky."

The two gossiped for a while and felt that the entertainment industry was too scary.

Tang Wei has been out of the public eye for more than half a year, and has not filmed a single movie or TV series.

There has been no follow-up news, and it's unclear whether he has retired from the entertainment industry.

It was as if the person had vanished.

"How have you been feeling lately?" Zhang Liangying asked, noticing that Liu Yifei's complexion wasn't good. "Come here and give me a hug."

So the two embraced, the four balls collided, and suddenly, Liu Yifei looked suspicious.

"What's going on? What poked me?" Liu Yifei looked at Zhang Liangying. "Why are you wearing a thimble on your chest?"

Zhang Liangying was speechless for a moment.

A moment later, because Liu Yifei kept asking questions, she lifted the lid and showed it to Liu Yifei.

Liu Yifei was completely stunned; it felt like a whole new world had opened up for her.

The two started talking about this, from Zhang Liangying's boyfriend to how Zhang Liangying could kiss while wearing this. As they talked, they both blushed.

"Stop talking about me," Zhang Liangying quickly changed the subject. "What about you? There's been a lot of online criticism of you lately. What have you been doing?"

“I read a French novel that won the Prix Goncourt, the highest literary award in France. The Goncourt award is voted on by French high school students. You know, my dad lives in France, so he brought it to me to see.”

Liu Yifei said, "At first, it looked pretty good. The author's maternal grandfather used to be the boss of CC City. It's a romance novel, just like Guo Jingming's. But as I read on, something felt off. I saw Director Cao Zhong's triple structure theory, which shifted the perspective from film art to literary works. I felt that the content of this book had a strange flavor."

"What do you mean?" Zhang Liangying was very excited when she heard Cao Zhong's name.

"It's a novel with two perspectives: one from the perspective of a Japanese man and the other from the perspective of a Chinese girl. The Japanese man is like someone who has been brainwashed and thinks that his invasion is justified. The Chinese girl's perspective is that she doesn't know he's a Japanese man at first, and then the two of them fall in love in a messy way. The Japanese man tries to force himself on the female lead, so he kills her and then commits suicide."

Zhang Liangying said indignantly, "How is this any different from 'Ailing'? 'Ailing' was seduced, but your book is even more outrageous, it's about falling in love with her."

Liu Yifei nodded.

"I found it really strange. It portrays the feelings of a naive female protagonist in a complex way, and it does depict some of the male protagonist's cruelty from the female protagonist's perspective. However, from the male protagonist's perspective, there's a very obvious suggestive element."
Because of Director Cao's previous interviews, I've also read a lot of them. He said that the Japanese were completely inhuman back then. What was that saying again? The whole country was like a madman, and all the people were like soldiers and thugs.

However, this novel clearly downplays this aspect of the plot.

Zhang Liangying suddenly said, "Then why are you still reading it? Why don't you throw this rubbish book away? According to Director Cao's triple-structure theory, isn't this award-winning French work purely creating a sense of moral depravity and glorifying the script's narrative?"

Liu Yifei nodded.

"Sometimes I really feel that the subtle influence of this culture is terrifying. When I'm reading, I sometimes even put myself in their shoes. Do you think this person is being paid?"

"Who knows? Anyway, Director Cao definitely didn't accept it." Zhang Liangying thought of the song "As You Wish" that Cao Zhong had given her, and her chest hardened for a moment, feeling a sharp pain from the ring pressing against her.

(End of this chapter)