Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 249 Happy Year
"Use the nunchucks now, hee hee ha hee!"

"Use the nunchucks now, hee hee ha hee!"

On stage, a young man sang energetically, waving his arms as he moved his feet.

Meanwhile, below the stage, a group of teenage fans were cheering continuously:

"cool!"

"Holy crap!"

"Jaylen, Jaylen!"

Last month, Jay Chou released his second solo album, "Fantasy". If his debut album, "Jay", only brought him some fame, then this second album, "Fantasy", has truly made him a household name.

At this time, Xiao Zhou was truly talented. Every song on this album was a masterpiece, far superior to "Christmas Star" 20 years later.

However, what truly made him famous was his song "Nunchucks," which spread throughout the Chinese-speaking world.

Of course, the song's huge success is also thanks to lyricist Vincent Fang. The lyrics are not only cool, but the chorus line "Quickly use nunchucks, hum hum ha hee!" is so memorable that almost everyone who has heard it once, whether they like it or hate it, has it imprinted in their mind.

The rapid spread of the album was undoubtedly due to the support of Little White Bear. Little White Bear is far more powerful than Alpha, and they've given Zhou's album a full-fledged promotion in terms of publicity and distribution channels. Even F4 came out to support it, so it naturally became popular much faster and earlier than in the previous life. Now, less than a month after its release, the album has already sold over a million copies, more than double the sales of his debut album.

Now, after winning the Golden Melody Award, Jay Chou's confidence has soared. He is much more confident on stage than before, and he has even changed his style. He no longer wears a baseball cap when he comes out, and he jumps and dances with a confident smile.

He has now stepped out of the mainland and come to Hong Kong Island for promotional activities. Although communication with the fans here is not very smooth, he is not at all intimidated and responds to their enthusiasm.

After finishing his promotional activities for the day, Jay Chou had just returned to his hotel room when Wu Ke-qun knocked on the door looking for him.

"Jaylen, Jaylen, come quick!"

"What is it?"

"We're all ready to watch the game! Actually, I didn't watch it before, but the football atmosphere here in Hong Kong Island is really strong!"

As Wu Ke-qun spoke, he pulled Jay Chou outside. Upon arriving at Huang Xiaoming's room, they found all the F4 members there. Jay Chou greeted them with a smile, "Brother Xiaoming, Brother A-liang, Brother Zhenyu~"

Seeing this, Huang Xiaoming called out to him, "Come, come, you're back just in time! The match is about to start! If we can win, our Chinese team will qualify for the World Cup!"

Xiao Zhou didn't actually watch many football matches before.

Due to the influence of Japan and the United States, baseball has always been the most popular sport in Taiwan. Surprisingly, badminton is the second most popular, with basketball and volleyball ranking third and fourth respectively. As for soccer… it doesn't even crack the top ten. Therefore, Taiwan is a soccer wasteland; even during the World Cup, the number of spectators is low.

However, Hong Kong Island is different. Due to the influence of British rule in the past, football is undoubtedly the most popular sport in Hong Kong. Tonight is a crucial match for the Chinese national team in their quest to qualify for the World Cup, and even in Hong Kong, many fans are watching closely.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Upon arriving in Hong Kong, Xiao Zhou was specially invited by Huang Xiaoming and a few others to watch the game with them.

Meanwhile, night market stalls in mainland China are also extremely popular tonight. Each stall owner has managed to set up a TV on their stall and tuned it to CCTV-5's live broadcast, otherwise who would come to eat at their stall!

On the sofa, Gao Yuanyuan nervously tugged at Wu Yuchen, asking, "Brother Chen, do you think we can make it this year?"

Gao Yuanyuan is a true football fan. She joined the Beijing Guoan fan club in junior high school and even wrote a love letter to Cao Xiandong, Guoan's golden left foot at the time, in high school.

Wu Yuchen said with a smile: "The current national football team is at its strongest. They have four wins and one draw, are in first place in the standings, and are in great momentum, especially with home advantage. Moreover, having learned from the lessons of the last tournament, there shouldn't be any interference from the referees this time, and the Jinzhou tragedy won't happen again."

In the previous World Cup in 1997, the Chinese national team was also among the top teams in the group. With only a draw in the last two rounds to qualify, they were leading 2-0 against Iran but were then chased down by four goals. In the final match, they lost 2-3 to Qatar, resulting in a one-point difference that prevented them from advancing, creating the infamous Jinzhou Massacre in Chinese football history.

The loss was due to a combination of factors. Carelessness and underestimation of the opponent were one aspect, but the West Asian referee also influenced the game to help Iran, ultimately helping Iran secure a World Cup spot by a single point over China.

“I think so too!” Gao Yuanyuan said with a smile, waving a small Chinese flag that she had specially prepared, which was very cute.

Two hours later, when Hebei China Fortune won the match 1-0 against Oman, Gao Yuanyuan couldn't help but let out an excited scream. Not only her, but the shouts outside also reached Wu Yuchen's ears; the fans tonight were absolutely ecstatic.

Groups of fans gathered and cheered in the streets.

Long live Chinese football!

"China Team! Rise up!"

The commentator on TV kept shouting loudly:

"Chinese football did it! It broke out of Asia and went to the world!"

Tsk tsk tsk, Wu Yuchen looked at this scene, at these fans who were going crazy with joy, and for some reason, he thought of the match more than ten years later, "Do you think you've done right by us? Geneva, refund our money!"

I'm reminded of the programmer with indefinite sentences and the guy who supposedly attempted suicide and is going to be locked up for 15 years. With people like that around, how can Chinese football possibly improve? What we thought was the beginning of a bright future is actually its peak! A year from now, we'll be eliminated in the first round of the World Cup, coming back empty-handed. It's shameful, but it was also the expected result.

On the one hand, the opponents in the group were too strong, with Brazil and Turkey being the champions and third place finishers, respectively; on the other hand, the players who made it to the World Cup were not the best lineup at all, but rather the result of various relationships and power struggles.

Everyone knows that a player's market value skyrockets if they get to appear at the World Cup. With such huge profits, who cares about your ability or how well you play? At this point, it's all about connections and money. This trend has continued for over 20 years without changing, haha.

But just then, Wu Yuchen's phone rang again. He opened it and saw it was his manager, Karl. He answered the phone and asked:

"Karl, what's the matter?"

"Wu, just now, President Bush officially announced at the Black House that he would launch a war on terror, fight violence with violence, and send troops to Afghanistan."

Wu Yuchen was slightly taken aback. Although he knew what was going to happen, he didn't expect it to be released at this time. However, the Americans didn't care whether the Chinese national football team qualified or not.

Wu Yuchen immediately asked, "What is the current state of public opinion in the United States?"

Carl said, "Because of 9/11, there are many voices in the country supporting sending troops. But Hollywood has always been a strong advocate for peace and anti-war, so you'd better not comment on this."

Wu Yuchen nodded: "Don't worry, I know what's going on."

If you shout against war now, you'll offend many Americans who are fueled by the desire for revenge after 9/11. If you support war now, you'll be going against Hollywood. And once many people start opposing the war, it will be difficult for a public figure like you to take back your words.

Therefore, Carl specifically called to remind him, fearing that Wu Yuchen might not understand the situation in America, and that it was best not to speak out and remain silent at this time.

After hanging up the phone, Wu Yuchen pondered in his mind that the war could be swift, destroying the local government in less than two months. However, it could also be slow, as the United States was dragged into the quagmire and did not withdraw until 2021, having invested trillions of dollars in military spending.

Then he shook his head, "My hometown is still the most comforting place!"
Thinking about China, it's no exaggeration to say that this year has been a lucky one for the country. Leaving aside the fact that the US has relaxed its scrutiny and control over China due to 911/12, the series of major events this year—the successful bid for the Olympics, the national football team qualifying for the World Cup, and then, in December, China's successful accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO)—all signify China's continuous integration into the global arena. This last event, in particular, has greatly contributed to China's development.

Seeing Gao Yuanyuan still celebrating, Wu Yuchen picked her up and carried her. He had watched the game, and now it was time for him to play the ball himself.

……

For the next period of time, Wu Yuchen was busy with the post-production of "Brotherhood of Blades" and also kept an eye on some of the company's new projects.

In fact, Miracle Films has already produced quite a few shows this year, from "Black Hole," "Conquest," and "No Escape," to "Xiao Shiyi Lang," "The Emperor of Han Dynasty," and "Love Through Time," etc. "Black Hole" is already scheduled to be broadcast soon, so there aren't enough people to start new shows.

However, this time it's Zhang Dahuzi's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," with Zhang Dahuzi assembling his own filming team. Miracle Films only needs to invest. The only difference is that the cast of this version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is quite different from the previous one. The previous version was basically a failure, with the cast being the most criticized aspect, mainly the male and female leads.

Let's start with the male lead, Li Yapeng. His portrayal of Linghu Chong was passable, but his Guo Jing was a disaster. Guo Jing is supposed to be honest, simple, and wise beyond his years, but Li Yapeng's Guo Jing was overly wooden, dull, and even contrivedly foolish—in other words, it was obvious he was faking it. Many viewers even criticized Li Yapeng's Guo Jing, saying he wasn't just missing a screw, but had an extra chromosome.

Zhou Xun's portrayal of Huang Rong was quite good, but her rough voice was nowhere near as clear and melodious as Rong'er's silver bells.
Therefore, the male and female leads were completely replaced. This time, Liu Ye and Jiang Qinqin will play Guo Jing and Huang Rong respectively.

That's right, Zhang Dahuzi is definitely stirring things up. Liu Ye and Jiang Qinqin previously collaborated on "If Love Has a Destiny," and it was a great success. This time, he's bringing them back to play the classic couple, Guo Jing and Huang Rong. This is practically free publicity!
Liu Ye himself played a simple-minded and adorable character in "If Love Has a Destiny," which actually suits him quite well as Guo Jing. As for Jiang Qinqin, she hasn't played a role similar to Huang Rong before; it remains to be seen whether she can capture that clever and cute spirit.

However, Wu Yuchen wasn't too worried. He saw it as a chance for Jiang Qinqin to challenge herself and broaden her acting range. In fact, regardless of whether she played the role well or not, the moment she was cast as Huang Rong, she capitalized on the popularity and buzz surrounding the Legend of the Condor Heroes and Huang Rong, which was ultimately beneficial to her personally.

Jiang Qinqin's casting as Huang Rong was undoubtedly due in no small part to Wu Yuchen's influence. This time, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was produced by Zhang Dahuzi after leaving CCTV to work independently. The investor was Miracle Films, and Wu Yuchen, as a major financial backer, naturally had the most influence. Moreover, Jiang Qinqin is one of the most famous actresses in China, so he couldn't possibly look down on her. The project was approved as soon as it was approved, and after a round of auditions, Liu Ye was finally chosen as the male lead.

Of course, Zhang Da Hu Zi once again dragged out a bunch of actresses for a spin during the casting process, including Zhao Wei, Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun, and others, and only announced the male and female leads shortly before filming began. This is his traditional skill.

That day, Wu Yuchen received a call from Han Sanping, so he put down his work and rushed to China Film Group.

Upon meeting, Han Sanping asked with concern, "Director Wu, how's your 'Brotherhood of Blades' going? When do you plan to release it?"

Wu Yuchen said with a smile, "It's not finished yet. The special effects and background music are still being worked on. Why are you in such a hurry, Brother Han?"

Han Sanping laughed and said, "Your new movie, Director Wu, is a big-budget martial arts production. Who wouldn't want to be the first to see it!"

However, he then added, "Besides, there will be reforms next year, and only your movie, Brother Wu, can keep these guys in check!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen's eyes immediately lit up, and he leaned forward to ask, "Brother Han, is it settled?"

Han Sanping smiled and nodded, then took out two documents and pushed them in front of Wu Yuchen: "It was decided in the meeting just now that it will be released to the public next month. Take a look."

Wu Yuchen immediately took the document, which read "Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Reform of the Film Distribution and Screening Mechanism". The general idea was to resolutely promote the cinema chain system, with cinema chains as the main body, reduce the distribution levels, and allow production companies to directly supply films to cinema chains.

However, while the introduction of policies is one thing, the effectiveness of their implementation is another. The reform of cinemas will inevitably face numerous obstacles. Han Sanping's idea is to use Wu Yuchen's "Brotherhood of Blades" as a vanguard in this effort. After all, Wu Yuchen's big-budget productions are irresistible to cinemas, thus reducing the resistance encountered during the reform process.

Wu Yuchen thought for a moment and understood what Han Sanping meant, then said, "It might not be enough for the Spring Festival season, how about releasing it next summer?"

"Great, it'll be released during the summer season. China Film Group will fully cooperate with your promotional efforts!"

(End of this chapter)