In the entertainment industry, everyone has been reborn, but who will be their servant?

Chapter 107 The Three Kingdoms War
In this day and age, you can judge whether a song is popular just by walking around on the street. "As You Wish" has basically covered every street and alley. Whether it's popular in the media depends on whether mainstream media reports on it. After all, it's not the era of self-media yet.

"Liu Yifei's heartfelt rendition of 'As You Wish' pays tribute to the nation's struggle and heritage through song!" -- Southern Daily.

"The song 'As You Wish' is released! Liu Yifei has repeatedly polished the lyrics, singing about the patriotic sentiments passed down through generations!" -- Beijing Youth Daily.

"Qin Xuan wrote the lyrics and composed the music for Liu Yifei's 'Ru Yuan' (As You Wish), a song filled with patriotism!" -- Film News.

"Ru Yuan" tops the online streaming charts and becomes the main theme of the nationwide singing in 2008! -- Beijing News.

When Liu Yifei took the stage last night, all the major media platforms worked overtime to print the "Ruyuan" newspaper and publish reports on their official websites.

It sold out early in the morning, and headlines on major portals proclaimed: "Passing on Chinese Passion!"

For a time, it seemed like the whole world was buzzing about this song and Liu Yifei, making her incredibly famous.

This year's songs, labeled as mainstream, endorsed by CCTV, and supported by charity and disaster relief efforts, have become incredibly popular.

This is also why Qin Xuan didn't make this song the theme song for the movie and release it through other channels; that would have been a less desirable approach.

Liu Yifei has been receiving a constant stream of invitations, with various commercial events pouring in like paper. One brand offered a million yuan, including round-trip airfare and accommodation, just to have Liu Yifei appear for 5 minutes, including a 4-minute song.

Various television stations in the south, including those in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangnan, and Shanghai, extended invitations to Liu Yifei to perform on stage.

Liu Yifei refused all offers. Instead, she, her agent, and her assistant went to Sichuan and Chongqing to participate in various charity performances and raise funds for the disaster area.

Of course, countless reporters followed up with questions: "Is it true that all the copyright revenue from the song 'As You Wish' will be donated?"

"Yes, all the revenue from ringback tones, including my personal performance earnings, will be donated to charities and children's aid organizations," Liu Yifei said truthfully.

The creators of the ringtones receive more than 40% of the revenue, and Liu Yifei, as the singer, also owns some of the copyrights.

It looks very promising, but there's always something to fear. However, the current ringback tones are not what they used to be. When they first came out, they were incredibly popular and everyone was naive, paying you based on real data.

However, operators and service providers no longer publish data these days. You don't know how many ringback tones have been downloaded; you just take whatever others say.

It's not that the current market size for ringback tone services is smaller, but rather larger. However, don't even think about getting a share of the revenue from the operators.

The 40% figure is just for your viewing pleasure. Anyway, in those years, only "Mice Love Rice" and "Two Butterflies" made money and were widely reported.

Other works, such as "Ten Thousand Reasons," reportedly have 1 million downloads, but the author only earned 500 million; "Autumn Never Returns" also earned four to five million.

With hundreds of millions of downloads and two to three hundred million in revenue for these songs, the authors receive less than 2% of the earnings, not to mention the record company's share.

However, the lyricist and composer of "Welcome" only received a few hundred thousand yuan in copyright revenue.

So don't exaggerate the get-rich-quick stories of the ringtone era. You won't actually make any money from it. Otherwise, online songs wouldn't have only been popular for a short time before fading away.

If there's money to be made, who wouldn't work hard to create music? Pop songs are easy to make; you can just use templates.

There are things that shouldn't be discussed too deeply; those who understand, understand!

But appearance fees are much simpler. You just negotiate the fee with your agent, sing on stage, and get paid. It's that easy.

So after a singer's song becomes a hit, they quickly start doing gigs to monetize it, and that money comes from real performances!

As the creator, Qin Xuan couldn't possibly make an appearance, so he simply gave it away or donated it. He didn't care about the small amount of money, nor did he want to engage in any battles of wits with operators or service providers—it wasn't something he could change.

The reporter then asked, "Some people say you're putting on a show, is that true?"

"If putting on a show can provide real help to the disaster area and save the children, then the controversy is insignificant," Liu Yifei replied.

These words have won the favor of many netizens!

Liu Yifei has a high EQ when she speaks in interviews. As long as you don't ask strange questions, she speaks very gently. But if you do ask strange questions, she is very direct and doesn't pretend.

In addition to performing at the charity event, she also has a large-scale official charity performance to participate in, called "In the Name of Life".

The event was organized by the Sichuan Provincial Department of Publicity, radio stations, Phoenix TV, and other official organizations, and featured more than 300 celebrities.

The show features stars from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, including Hendrik Willem Van Loon, Chen Daoming, Feng Xiaogang, Deng Chao, Wang Leehom, Leon Lai, Andy Lau, and Richie Jen.

Of course, Liu Yifei is an outlier and doesn't belong to any of their circles. Even so, she still gets along quite well with people like Deng Chao, Xie Na, and Zhang Liangying, so she's not too isolated.

The organizers treated her with great courtesy, arranging a private lounge for her.

"I never expected to be able to sing on the same stage as you." Jane Zhang was overjoyed.

She knew all along that this song would be a hit. As a professional singer, if she didn't even have the most basic appreciation skills, she wouldn't be able to make a living.

"I didn't expect this either!" Liu Yifei exclaimed happily.

"President Xuan is so talented, I even want him to write a song for me," Zhang Liangying exclaimed.

"Then go and beg him!"

"Please beg for me!"

"I'm not going to ask for it for you."

Liu Yifei will be busy for a while. In addition to Sichuan and Chongqing, she will also participate in the "512 Caring Action for the Entertainment Industry" in Hong Kong and travel all over the country.

After all, she's now quite famous and popular, making her a sought-after figure for various events and official invitations. Besides, she needs to shoot music videos; they can't keep using the CCTV stage.

Just then, Garnier offered her a multi-million dollar endorsement deal, making her the successor to Zhang Ziyi.

They also sponsored the music video, and the order for the music video was taken by New Force. Qin Xuan told Liu Yin to just shoot a few videos to complete the task.

Liu Yifei's re-entry into the music scene has created ripples like a large rock.

After all, this song doesn't belong to the Beijing circle, the Hong Kong circle, or the Taiwan circle; it's Qin Xuan's personal creation, which makes these circles feel offended.

For example, Dao Lang's entry into the scene surprised everyone. No matter how popular you are, you won't get any awards.

Those few worthless awards, as if nobody cares about them.

To put it simply, various cultural and entertainment awards in China have been ruined by the very industry itself.

"As You Wish" has stirred up controversy, but the slander is still on its way. "Nanjing Photo Studio," having passed censorship, has seen several days of public discussion, and the slander has already begun:
"To balance resources, the Film Bureau should only approve one or two films with Nanjing as their subject matter. Does President Xuan have special privileges? The same subject matter was approved, but Lu Taro had such a hard time."

It means that Qin Xuan used connections and got approved too quickly and easily, which is unfair. They didn't even look at what Lu Taro was filming from his perspective. It's only right that he had to make dozens of changes. It's his own fault.

Even after dozens of revisions, they still manage to insert their own biases, and these people in the film and television industry still think they are right.

Lu Taro told the media, "President Xuan is not from a professional background and has no qualifications. Given the existing competition, I suggest he give up."

It means he's not qualified to film this kind of subject matter, and even if he did, he wouldn't be able to compete.

Zhang Weiping, among others, told the media: "A newcomer like him is actually going to make a film about Nanjing? When did this subject matter become so worthless that anyone can get on board?"

These words conveyed a complete disdain.

These two had previously clashed, but now they've turned their attention to Qin Xuan. After all, two are enough, but another one has barged in. Who else would they target if not you?

Zhang Yimou has a high social standing and naturally wouldn't bother to say anything, especially since he's busy with the Olympics right now.

Recently, Qin Xuan became popular through "Ru Yuan". In addition to many media outlets inviting him to talk about his original intention in creating the song, they also invited him to participate in interviews to share his thoughts.

He had no opinion whatsoever, just that it was plagiarized. He wouldn't comment on the song itself, but he was very interested in insults, so he told the media:
"Our film is made by Chinese people for Chinese people. It tells the Japanese how they bullied us back then, not that we are spineless and try to please the Japanese."

They would never allow women to save the country and its people; in their eyes, what else could women offer besides their bodies?

This was said to Ryutaro earlier, who said that his films, which were told from the perspective of the invaders, were morally flawed.

The following was directed at Zhang Weiping, which was simple: he said his movies were vulgar and low-class.

The three parties immediately started arguing, which caused quite a stir, but most people didn't pay attention.

After all, there are many trending news stories these days. The war of words between these parties was just an internal squabble, but Lu Taro accused it of being a commercial publicity stunt and a deliberate attempt to smear them.

The movie hasn't even been released yet, and people are already hurling insults at each other. Now, Qin Xuan has entered the fray, turning it into a three-way war.

Even if there's a lot of noise, it's still generating buzz for the movie.

In the past few days, news has spread to art schools such as Beijing Film Academy and Central Academy of Drama that the film was produced by Shen Ao, Wen Muye and others, and they have all approached them wanting to get involved, showing a great deal of enthusiasm.

For a time, Shen Ao, Wen Muye, Zhang Linke, Wang Chaowen, Li Miao, and others, as well as those investors who were among the first to follow Qin Xuan, became the school's celebrities and the objects of students' flattery.

That's just how realistic society is. When you're unknown, nobody cares about you, but once you become successful, everything comes your way.

Anyway, there's no need for recruitment for this movie; they submitted their resumes themselves. After all, June and July are just around the corner, and another batch of students will be graduating and entering the workforce. They're overjoyed to be able to participate in such a major production.

"Teacher, thank you for your help this time." Shen Ao and Wen Muye came specifically to thank Wang Hongwei.

"Actually, I didn't do much; it was your General Manager Xuan who resolved it himself."

Wang Hongwei waved his hand and said again, "Work hard. If this movie is made well, it will benefit your careers."

Encouraged by their teacher, Shen Ao and Wen Muye also developed great respect for him.

On May 20th, Qin Xuan led Shen Ao, Wen Muye, Wang Chaowen, Li Miao, Zhang Linke, and several others to the China Film Group building.

The current China Film Group building is located at No. 25 Xinjiekouwai Street, with ordinary tiled exterior walls, unlike the later-built glass curtain wall which is more upscale.

Shen Ao, Wen Muye, and the others arrived with a mix of trepidation and excitement, as they were about to meet the legendary leading figure in the film and television industry, Zuo Shandiao.

They would never have dared to dream of such a person before, but now President Xuan has brought them here.

Not only did they come, but they also came as a negotiating partner, which seemed to elevate their status considerably. Even so, they still felt insignificant.

"When we meet President Han later, do you think we should bow to him?" Zhang Linke asked.

"We should be more polite and humble. After all, he's a senior, a godfather in our industry, and we're the juniors," Shen Ao said to them.

“That makes sense!” the others nodded.

"Why don't you kneel down to him? Maybe then President Han will give you a second glance." Qin Xuan said jokingly.

This is an overestimation of the other party. He used to curse and swear at Zuo Shandiao behind his back, but when it came time to meet him, he chickened out.

(End of this chapter)