Huayu Tianxian: This director is such a hypocrite!

Chapter 97: Screening of the Unpopular "Tales of Stone Seeking".

"Director Xu!"

"Director Ye!"

"Hahaha!"

Outside the dock hall, Ye Chong, dressed in a suit and tie, shook hands with Xu Laoguai, while Yi Fei behind him greeted Shi Nansheng.

"Director Ye, I heard you weren't feeling well yesterday?"

"It happens all the time." Ye Chong held Xu Laoguai's hand, a faint, fake smile on his face. "For us directors, suffering and exhaustion are the norm. Not everyone is as physically fit as Brother Zhang!"

"Huh? Hahahaha!"

The two were chatting and laughing when a new guest arrived. Xu Laoguai and Ye Chong greeted the guest and then turned to greet him.

Ye Chong didn't go in immediately, but stared at the life-size standee for a long time.

He had only been there for two days sightseeing, and it wasn't until he saw the nameplates in front of him that he felt a surge of excitement for the film festival.

Reputation, wealth, and career were intertwined in his mind.

The turning point in his reputation and the new peak in his career will be revealed in a week.

"Let's go, little man."

"Um.

""

Ye Chong snapped out of his daze, bent his elbow, and Yi Fei immediately hooked her arm around him.

Ye Chong leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Aren't you afraid of being photographed by the media?"

Yifei proudly tossed her head back: "What am I afraid of? If you're always hesitant and overthinking when you're in a relationship, is that really a relationship?"

Ye Chong lowered his head and remained silent until he led her into the hall.

He turned around and looked seriously at the person in front of him: "Ms. Qian, announcing a relationship has a huge impact on a celebrity!"

"I'm not afraid," Yifei said.

She frowned, her phoenix eyes filled with seriousness.

Ye Chong grabbed her hand and scratched it, then slowly shook his head.

"You still have dreams, so just bear with it for now. Besides, we can gradually get our fans to accept it and influence them subtly until one day, even if we officially announce it, they won't be surprised."

"Okay, whatever you say." Yifei blinked, a sly glint in her eyes.

Ye Chong immediately understood. This girl actually understood everything, but she only said that to avoid upsetting him.

"Director Ye! Hahaha!"

The actors from "Seven Swords" arrived. Ye Chong looked at them and suddenly frowned.

Hello.

Ye Chong shook hands with Leon Lai, Donnie Yen, and others, but when Charlie Yeung tried to shake hands with Yi Fei, Ye Chong blocked them.

"I'm sorry, Yifei isn't feeling well."

After saying that, he took Yifei's hand and left.

"Why do I have this feeling that Director Ye seems to dislike us?"

"Don't overthink it." Dawn had actually sensed it too, but he still steered the conversation away from the topic. "The screening is about to start; let's talk to Director Ye then."

The group nodded in agreement.

But to their utter surprise, they didn't even get a chance to talk.

As soon as the screening ended and after thanking the guests, Ye Chong and his companion left with Old Xu and his wife, and no one knew where they went.

Time flies, and it's January 30th.

Over the past five days, Ye Chong and Yi Fei have watched several movies.

Ye Chong went to the set of "Brokeback Mountain" alone; he didn't want to corrupt Nizi.

The two of them watched only anime together.

"Zombie Bride," produced by Laika Animation Studios, is considered one of the three major animated films (Pixar, Disney, and others).

It's an excellent company outside of DreamWorks, and unsurprisingly, it made Yifei cry.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children – I won't go into too much detail about this one. After watching it, Yifei seemed to understand something, and murmured the word "Jerusalem."

It was 7 p.m. that evening.

At the hotel entrance, on the roadside, a group of people dressed in formal attire were already there, ready to go.

Soon, three rented Bentleys slowly drove up.

Ye Chong turned around at this moment, looked at Yi Fei in a blue, sparkling diamond dress, and exclaimed, "If Heaven hadn't given birth to Liu Yi Fei, she would have suppressed all beauties for twenty years!"

Yi Fei clutched her chest with one hand and poked Ye Chong's chest with the other, "Sister was only suppressed for twenty years?"

"Those hundred years?"

"Tch!" Yifei rolled her eyes. "She's long past her prime!"

"Hey! You two!"

Chen Zhixi was urging him, so Ye Chong couldn't keep joking around and took Yi Fei's hand as they got into the car.

"What? Your earrings?"

In the back seat, as soon as he got into the car, Ye Chong's gaze was fixed on Yi Fei's ear.

Instead of her usual sparkly diamond earrings, she wore a pair of black kitten earrings.

"You gave it to me."

"A token of love?"

"Dream on!" Yifei shook her head. "This is at most a birthday present."

"Wasn't my birthday present?"

"Terrible!"

The two chatted and joked around, and soon arrived at the Palace of Shadows.

After getting out of the car, Ye Chong suddenly frowned. Chen Zhixi slowly walked up behind him and asked suspiciously, "Are there so few people at the nightclub?"

There were indeed very few people queuing in the Sala Grande screening room in front of us.

The standees and the moving screen also displayed stills composed of two halves of Duan Yihong's and Gong Li's faces, so the publicity was fine.

"Partly it's because of the nighttime screenings, and partly—it should be because the screening program has already published reviews. If nothing unexpected happens, a hit show will emerge, and the audience will be drawn away."

Chen Zhixi took out his phone and glanced at it, confirming his guess.

"That's right, ScreenDaily published reviews of several films, including Good Night and Good Luck:"

3.4, *Brokeback Mountain*: 3.2!

A score of four out of ten is very high for a film festival!

Ye Chong nodded, took a deep breath, and showed no emotion on his face.

"Let's go see if the auditorium, which seats a thousand people, can be filled."

The group walked towards the entrance.

Upon arriving at the door, Ye Chong and Gong Li stayed behind, while the rest went inside to greet the guests.

"Director Ye!"

"Hey, Director Xu, we meet again!"

Tsui Hark still came. He only had one opening film. He was supposed to leave after the first and second screenings. He stayed only to keep his promise to Ye Chong.

Old Master Xu took Ye Chong's hand, patted him on the shoulder, and sighed, "Talented people emerge in every generation. I'm getting old, I have to learn from the young people."

"Not at all. There's a saying that old ginger is spicier—"

Ye Chong chatted with him for a bit until Dante Ferretti and Hayao Miyazaki arrived together.

"Dant".

"leaf!"

Dante is an old man, but he's quite tall, while Miyazaki is much shorter, barely reaching Ye Chong's shoulder.

"Ye, the 'Your Name' movie you showed me the other day, are you planning to make it into an anime?"

"Live-action movies are so hard to make," Ye Chong chuckled, taking the old man's large hand and shaking it. "You know I own an animation company. Although it produces feature films, 2D animation is still an inescapable milestone in animation history, and you are an even greater milestone in the animation industry!"

"Where are the monuments now?" The old man shook his head, his white beard trembling. "I've retired; I don't worry about those things anymore!"

Ye Chong suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and said with a forced smile, "It's a loss for the animation industry that you're retiring. I was even thinking of sending a few people to your studio to train! Let's make this 'Your Name' a co-production."

"

"Sure," the old man's eyes lit up. "We'll get in touch when we return to China."

Ye Chong grasped the old man's large hand with his other hand: "Hahaha, it's a deal then."

"Alright, we should go in now," Dante interrupted the two.

Ye Chong nodded and walked inside to greet the two.

The screening of "The Legend of Stone Seekers" has officially begun!