The entertainment empire began with Liu Yifei's premarital pregnancy.

Dong Jie is one thing, since she and Lin Bufan really don't have any relationship.

But Xue Kaiqi was different. She spent the last few days with Lin Bufan, both day and night, and at one point even thought that Lin Bufan might have fallen in love with her.

However, until Liu Yifei appeared, through Lin Bufan's eyes and intimate actions, a hundred of hers could not compare to Liu Yifei's position in Lin Bufan's heart.

In the past few days, Lin Bufan has never made any intimate gestures towards her, not counting the nighttime ones.

"Director Lin, I..."

Xue Kaiqi stepped forward.

Upon seeing Xue Kaiqi approach, Liu Yifei did not speak, but instead looked at Lin Bufan with a questioning gaze.

"After you go back, go find Shi Nansheng and ask her to play the female lead in 'Overheard 2.' Just say it was me who said it!" Lin Bufan turned to look at Xue Kaiqi.

"Yes, Director Lin!"

Xue Kaiqi opened her mouth, somewhat unwilling, but she knew that this was the best outcome for her.

The first "Overheard" film has finished its theatrical run, with a total box office of 1.32 million yuan in mainland China and Hong Kong. For a Hong Kong film, this is a very good result.

As a result, Kyoto Golden Harvest's stock price has been rising throughout the film's run, now reaching HK$44.12, with a market capitalization exceeding HK$28.68 billion.

Before the film's release, Kyoto Golden Harvest's market value was only 22.82 billion.

A movie only grossed a little over 1 million at the box office, but the company's market value surged by 5.86 million.

Lin Bufan also knew that the market value could not rise after the movie's run ended, and a decline was coming. He had already instructed people to sell their shares when the market value rose, and then buy them back after the market value fell.

In this round trip, Lin Bufan could earn close to 100 million yuan.

Despite the significant increase in the company's market value, he cannot possibly keep all of that money for himself. Most importantly, he cannot sell too many shares, otherwise it would not be cashing out, but rather driving down his own company's stock price.

Earning 100 million is only possible with his traders performing extreme maneuvers.

A movie like this will definitely have a sequel, and Lin Bufan has already exchanged the script for the sequel and given it to Shi Nansheng.

Liu Yifei followed Lin Bufan into the hotel.

Just now, the look she gave Lin Bufan was a clear indication that she wanted to know the place this woman named Xue Kaiqi held in his heart.

If someone has a high status, it means they are her future sister, and her attitude will definitely be different.

Now, it's clear that Lin Bufan has no such intention, and she won't say anything more to the other party.

……

Before long, it was evening. Under the excited gazes of Liang Jiahui and the others, Lin Bufan slowly hung up the phone.

The phone call he just received was from the organizing committee of the Venice International Film Festival, telling him that he must stay to attend the closing ceremony, which is also the awards ceremony.

There's an open rule at the three major European film festivals (Venice, Berlin, and Cannes): only film crews that receive a "call to stay" from the organizing committee before the awards ceremony will receive an award. Although it's uncertain which award it is, this film has definitely won one.

Those who did not receive a call can reschedule their flights and return home.

Of course, those who leave early are usually big-name directors. If other smaller directors dare to leave, they might not only miss out on the award this time, but they might not even get one next time.

"Honey, congratulations!"

Liu Yifei looked at Lin Bufan with some excitement and gave him a kiss.

Lin Bufan is the director of the film, and whatever awards the film wins, they all symbolize honor for him.

The remaining few people were not unhappy.

After all, no one knows what awards this film will receive until the awards are announced.

The Golden Lion, the Jury Prize, and the Best Director award are irrelevant to them, but the Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Newcomer awards are all closely related to them.

The following day, at 4:30 p.m., the closing ceremony of the 64th Venice International Film Festival officially began, with media reporters taking their places first.

Because "Lust, Caution" was nominated for the main competition and Jia Zhangke's "Useless" was nominated for the Best Documentary Award in the Horizons section, many reporters from mainland China came to the event.

The main reason is for Lin Bufan. Everyone wants to see if Lin Bufan, who is rumored to have won the Oscar for Best Director due to "luck," can win the Golden Lion Award.

Not only are journalists and media paying attention, but many people inside and outside the industry are also paying attention.

The awards ceremony begins at 6 p.m. Venice time, which is midnight the following day in China.

When Lin Bufan led the "Lust, Caution" crew onto the red carpet, the flashes from the cameras were almost blinding. Compared to Liang Jiahui and others, Lin Bufan had a greater international profile.

Liang Jiahui and Dong Jie walked on either side of Lin Bufan, waving to each other with smiles on their faces.

Compared to Liang Jiahui, who remained relatively calm, Dong Jie was extremely excited.

Since entering the entertainment industry in 2000, she only won the Huabiao Award for Best Newcomer in Film in 01 for her collaboration with Zhao Benshan in "Happy Times". In addition, she won the "Top Ten" TV Art Actors Award in 03 for "The Story of a Noble Family".

These two awards are only prestigious within mainland China.

Now, she has stepped onto the world stage with "Lust, Caution". If she can win the Best Actress award and win the Best Actress title, then she will have truly reached the top in one step.

At that time, among mainland actresses, only Gong Li won the Venice Film Festival Best Actress award in 92 for her role in "The Story of Qiu Ju".

Ge You won the Best Actor award at Cannes in 94 for his role in "To Live".

Xia Yu won the Best Actor award at the Venice Film Festival that same year for his role in "In the Heat of the Sun." He was only 17 years old at the time.

Even though Xia Yu didn't have any particularly good works for many years after that, who would dare to underestimate his status in the industry?

After all, winning the Venice Film Festival Best Actor award is his greatest achievement.

Pan Yueming, Sun Yiyi, and Xue Kaiqi walked at the very back, all smiling and greeting the reporters on either side.

Although they knew very well that they were being photographed by reporters on both sides because of Lin Bufan, they didn't care. Being able to step onto the international stage was a very glorious experience for them.

While greeting the reporters on both sides, Xue Kaiqi kept her eyes fixed on Lin Bufan.

She was smart and knew what Lin Bufan meant by what he said yesterday. Reason told her that she should give up, but she was unwilling to do so.

If someone can easily give you the lead role in a top-tier movie, and you can maintain a long-term relationship with them, why would you have to worry about resources?