A perfect life begins with changing the timeline.

Just as the young couple were discussing their plans for Fanli, a phone call came in abruptly.

Upon seeing the caller, Li Muyi said to his girlfriend:

"Zhou Wei".

He then answered the phone:

"Hey, Shusuke, hello there."

"Haha, Mr. Li, are you busy right now?"

"Not busy, I'm resting at home. Shusuke, any instructions?"

"Of course not, haha. Mr. Li, are you free on the 26th? There will be a preview screening of 'Hero' in Shenzhen."

Upon hearing this, Li Mu wasn't actually very interested.

The main news value of this film lies in whether it will be nominated for an Oscar... at least for him.

He followed and reported on the start of filming for "Hero" and several press conferences. It must be admitted that the people at New Pictures know how to play the marketing game; they've managed to pull off so many tricks with just one film, linking it to comics and novels... But ultimately, for journalists familiar with the film's plot, the most valuable news right now is its box office performance and whether it will be nominated for an Oscar or even win one.

What the plot is about, how well the lead actors perform, those are things for movie fans to consider.

Whether he's really interested or not, he'll definitely go.

Then he laughed and said:

"Okay, I'll definitely be there. Shusuke, is there any news about the film's release yet?"

"December 14th. It's confirmed!"

Even Fan Bingbing was taken aback.

"Released in December? Then why are there test screenings in November?"

"Ha, Li Ji, this isn't just a preview screening. We're having a seven-day theatrical run in Shenzhen starting on the 27th. The company was worried about tickets being hard to get during those days, so we decided to hold a media preview screening a day early."

"...What's the reason?"

Li Mu was filled with surprise.

What are the people at New Picture doing?

"The Oscars stipulate that all nominated films must be released in theaters for at least seven days. So, we need to release the film for seven days as soon as possible, then take it off the screens and submit it to the Oscars so that it can be nominated for awards next April."

"Oh, I see. Haha, congratulations in advance! I'll be there on the 26th."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Li Mu hung up the phone.

Suddenly his gaze fell on his girlfriend:

Are you interested in this movie?

Fan Bingbing rolled her eyes.

"Why? I'm not going with you, wouldn't that give us away?"

"You can go see it in theaters."

"Why the rush? It'll definitely be super crowded those days, I can't be bothered to squeeze in. Isn't it releasing in December? You can come see it with me again around Christmas."

"Alright."

Li Mu agreed and picked up his cup to take a sip of water.

In that brief moment, out of nowhere, he heard his girlfriend sigh:

"Zhang Ziyi is really amazing."

"?"

Meeting her boyfriend's probing gaze, she shrugged:

"Others might make movies their whole lives and never get an Oscar. But she did, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon went straight in, and that's another film that seems poised to win. With just one effort, she's reached a ceiling that many people can never achieve in their entire lives."

"envious?"

"A little bit. Just like how I envy Sissi... Not everyone can get into an Oscar right from their debut, and not everyone can star in a masterpiece in their first film... Sigh."

Leaning back on the sofa, she felt inexplicably melancholy.

"It's true that people of the same age can have vastly different fates."

Seeing that her mood suddenly dropped, Li Mu thought for a moment and smiled:

"Don't you have me?"

"You want to switch careers and become a director, and send me to the Oscars?"

"..."

Li Mu's lips twitched.

I couldn't help but make a comment:

"You overestimate me and you overestimate yourself."

"Hehe... Hmm!?"

Just as she was about to laugh, she suddenly realized something was off about the second half of her boyfriend's sentence, and her eyebrows shot up!

But then I heard my boyfriend shake his head:

"Don't compare yourself to others. If you're always comparing yourself to those around you, you'll develop a competitive spirit and become unhappy. Didn't I teach you this before?"

"Yeah. I was just saying it offhand, but I firmly believe that I'll be no worse than them in the future."

"Of course, Mr. Chairman Fan Li, you'll be managing a company worth hundreds of billions of dollars in the future. Oscar? How much is an Oscar worth!?"

"...Your last sentence was a parody of Stalin's: 'God? How many divisions does God have?', right?"

"Oh? You knew that too?"

"I've been reading a book about Stalin recently, and I think he said this to Churchill, right?"

"Yes, but the exact words were spoken during the Tehran Conference when he and Churchill were discussing the position of the Pope. His exact words were: 'How many divisions does the Pope have?'"

"Oh~ I actually quite like Stalin. He's a pretty tough guy~"

"Then you don't know that Lenin once commented on him, saying that he was very weak."

"Stalin was soft? Then how hard was Lenin?"

"Go read a book yourself, read one about the Soviet Union."

"Okay, sure."

After silently noting this down, Xiao Fan stretched out his legs, leaned back on the sofa, and let out a long sigh of relief.

"call……"

She lay on her back, at an angle where her boyfriend couldn't see her.

The ambition in her eyes burned like a raging fire.

Burning like Stalin.

……

The 26th is a Tuesday.

Li Mu and his girlfriend went to Shenzhen together.

However, the difference was that he first took his girlfriend to the Luohu Port, and only after seeing her off did he go to the movie theater where the preview screening of "Hero" was held.

Fan Bingbing wore yoga pants for three whole days.

Furthermore, under Li Mu's guidance, she began to try wearing the pants in a different style.

She had to admit that sometimes her boyfriend's aesthetic sense really had a kind of "timeless" sophistication.

For example, wearing yoga pants with sneakers and then "not wearing socks".

This allows a small patch of skin around the ankle to show between the black yoga pants and low-top sneakers.

First of all, she is very fair-skinned.

The glimpse of white skin that was exposed... was quite the finishing touch.

Then, she paired it with a very tight-fitting sweatshirt and stuffed a height-increasing insole into her shoes... Suddenly, even though she was wearing sneakers, she walked with the feel of high heels.

It's clearly a sporty style, but with this combination, the whole person's vibe undergoes a complete transformation.

She became interested, especially since her boyfriend hadn't bought many clothes this year.

While he was attending the premiere, I decided to go shopping in Hong Kong.

It's a pity that she didn't actually wear those yoga pants out in public.

On the one hand, she has to keep it hidden, and on the other hand... even a celebrity would feel shy if she saw herself wearing yoga pants and a short-sleeved shirt, with her round buttocks when she walked...

After dropping her off in Luohu, Li Mu rushed to a cinema in Shenzhen.

Upon arrival, he saw many fellow journalists with their cameras and microphones.

I don't know if they came to see the movie because they heard rumors, or if they were there to ambush Zhang Yimou.

He ignored it and instead found Zhou Wei, who led him to a small movie theater.

Soon, at 10 o'clock, the film started playing on time.

As the sound effect of "The King commands...ten steps from the palace" played, Li Mu gripped his notebook, his eyes fixed on the screen, and began to watch from a reporter's perspective.

And the story of "Hero" is, I must admit, quite interesting.

The nameless assassin defeated numerous top assassins in order to get within ten steps of Qin Shi Huang, played by Chen Daoming, and demonstrate his "Ten Steps, One Kill" technique.

However, during this process, as he communicated with Qin Shi Huang in the palace and gradually learned about the emperor's vision of unifying the world, the assassin Nameless began to waver...

No wonder director Zhang Yimou said that this story was inspired by Fan Yuqi's beheading.

Those assassins, weren't they Fan Yuqi?

It includes some elements of Jing Ke's assassination attempt on the King of Qin...

And finally, the explosive moment when Nameless, willing to sacrifice himself for the world, had to deliver that final, decisive blow...

not bad.

At least it suits his taste.

After all, this isn't real history, but even so, the story still gave him a feeling of "being very happy" after reading it.

Zhang Yimou, his reputation is well-deserved.

As the lights came on, he let out a sigh of deep emotion.

awesome.

It's a pity that Zhang Yimou didn't give any interviews at this preview screening. Media personnel could simply leave after watching.

He saw Zhou Wei at the entrance. However, he was surrounded by several colleagues.

Seeing this, Li Mu simply said hello, told her he was going back to write a report, and praised the movie briefly before hurriedly parting ways.

Instead of leaving, he found a coffee shop, took out his laptop, and began to perform his duties.

They certainly didn't invite you to the movie for nothing.

All that's needed is to write a report praising the movie.

From Li Mu's own perspective, this movie definitely deserves praise.

Although it had logical flaws, its merits outweighed its flaws. And it suited his taste perfectly. So, with a rather subjective perspective, he sat down in the coffee shop and typed a line on his computer:

"Zhang Yimou's new film is imbued with a 'poetic' sentiment of patriotism, and his forte—visual effects—is truly remarkable..."

He spent over an hour writing this report.

After finishing writing, he drove directly back to Guangzhou and handed over the photos from his digital camera to Lin Naichen.

After reading it, Lin Naichen pointed with some surprise to the paragraph he had written: "After China joined the WTO and integrated with the world, it was like a gift, a gift from Chinese-language films to the world. It may not be the most perfect work, but it is a sincere expression. The world film industry will definitely become more colorful because of the inclusion of Chinese-language films." She then asked Li Mu:

"Such high praise? Could it be given as a gift?"

"able."

Li Mu nodded:

"It is indeed a very good movie, although it is ambiguous in its portrayal of some values. But... its merits outweigh its flaws."

Lin Naichen thought for a moment and nodded:

"Okay, then this report... won't be released until the day after tomorrow at the earliest. Tomorrow, take two newcomers to do some interviews and see what the moviegoers think after watching the premiere. We'll talk about it after that."

"OK."