Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 177 Concubine Liu Yi: The Road Princess

Lu Kuan returned to Peking and prepared to go to Los Angeles to decide on the final male lead.

As soon as I landed, my phone vibrated and rang as if it was possessed.

More than a hundred missed calls...

Well, Xiao Liu hit more than a dozen of them.

Yes, even though he backstabbed my boss Lu, he still has some conscience.

At this moment, Liu Yifei has turned into an online troll and is confronting black fans in different forums.

Yang Siwei and Liu Xiaoli were communicating outside to arrange her audition for "Kung Fu".

Lu Kuan’s homepage on the blog website was the hardest hit. Not only were the accounts that were maliciously insulting being banned, but taunts and normal abuse were flying everywhere.

Liu Yifei applied for a small account.

After thinking for a long time, she chose an ID called [轧路姬]. She wants to crush the scumbag Lu Kuan to death.

Clicking the mouse, I looked at the comments section under Lu Kuan’s latest blog post, which was simply disgusting.

Road Runner temporarily transforms into a road guard.

[Only Crazy for Ting]: Lu Kuan is such a beast! He made things difficult for my Tingfeng before, and now he's taking advantage of the innocent and lovely Dong Jie. I'm so angry! So sad!
Concubine Liu Yi has been with Lu Kuan for nearly two years, and now she can speak insulting words to him at any time.

【Zhaluji】Reply: Sadness can’t be covered by medical insurance. Please don’t get hurt too badly. You won’t be able to afford treatment later.
[Beijing Film Academy Big Brother]: Someone invests in a scumbag like Lu Kuan, but no one is interested in a talented graduate student like me. It's like a clown in the halls and a master among the common people! I can no longer understand this world!

[Zhaluji] replied: You can urinate on the ground, brush your face against the mirror, and your confusion will be solved!
[Looking for the Gun is Really Interesting]: Compared with Director Lu Chuan, Lu Kuan's ability and character are less than one percent!

[Zhaluji] Reply: Humanity has not developed your intelligence to less than one percent!

There were a lot of people here, and a large number of onlookers quickly responded to her.

This [Zhalu Ji] speaks so funny, very humorous and interesting, and Lu Kuan’s fans are so creative!
Liu Yifei spent an hour commenting, and her followers on her secondary account increased by several hundred.

Some people asked her if she was a fan of Lu Kuan, and some Lu haters sent her private messages and cursed her on the message board.

The internet trolls hired by Huayi were frantically posting comments on Lu Kuan's blog, the main battlefield. Seeing that Zha Lu Ji had a much higher number of likes than anyone else, and most of them were speaking well of Lu Kuan, they clicked on her comment history to see.

[Record 1]: Lu Kuan is such a pervert!
Reply: I agree! I strongly agree!

[Record 2]: Lu Kuan is so shameless, why do any actress act like a dog seeing shit when they see him!
Reply: Shameless indeed! But not Liu Yifei! The others are all similar!
The leader of the navy looked at the long list of records of her liking comments such as "Lu Kuan the pervert" and fell into deep thought.

Are they enemy or friendly forces?

Boss Lu remained calm and issued a clarification announcement in the name of Wenjie Company, announcing that he would spend 1000 million to hire the best lawyers in the country to prosecute the malicious defamers.

This is commonplace in later generations, just like Bingbing after the landslide, who sued all the big and small Vs on Weibo and collected symbolic compensation.

But in this era, ordinary people don’t even have the awareness to resort to law when they encounter injustice.

Now someone wants to take 1000 million?
Suing an online friend in 1 when the national average wage was only 4 yuan?
This was truly big news, even overshadowing the original gossip, and all major forums quickly went off topic.

Lu Kuan's fans used the 1000 million to prove their idol's innocence;
The black fans and Huayi’s water army used this 1000 million to prove Lu Kuan’s guilty conscience!
The already turbulent online world seemed to have been catalyzed by the 1000 million yuan, making it even more turbulent.

Huayi quickly launched the usual strong verbal and written criticism from the bigwigs in the Beijing circle, criticizing the character and works of this unscrupulous director from within the literary and art circle!

[Wang Shuo]: Thieves know shame, so they sneak around; robbers know guilt, so they cover their faces; swindlers know they're immoral, so they don't dare use their real names; unscrupulous businessmen know they lack conscience, so they often burn incense in temples. If someone does something bad and feels justified, even seeking revenge, then they are the root of all evil!

[Feng Xiaogang]: Some young directors have bad intentions. I heard that in addition to their problematic lifestyle, they are also accustomed to deceiving people with fortune-telling and physiognomy. They were afraid that their own films would not be able to compete with "Cell Phone" during the Lunar New Year holiday, so they arranged for people to report disturbances based on hearsay. It is simply shameful!
Pants has always been a big mouth. This time, "Cell Phone" was really criticized by Cui Yongyuan, and the two became enemies.

The latter used his connections and influence at CCTV to force him to change the script.

The host of the show became a writer, and all the backgrounds of the people related to host Cui disappeared, and the CCTV celebrity finally gave up.

However, the creative difficulties brought to Xiao Gangpao were beyond measure. The crew was waiting anxiously for the script to be revised, and all the films that had been shot before were scrapped.

Xiao Gangpao was both broke and troubled, so he naturally fired at Lu Kuan and exposed the rumors about him being a charlatan that were circulating in the circle.

Lu Chuan: A person's character is the essence of his art. Some young directors have bad behavior, and I don't think their works are particularly positive. Art should lead thought and promote positivity. We can't allow such morally corrupt directors to continue to poison audiences with films like "Fascist Teacher"!

Taro and Lu Kuan have had a long-standing grudge, from the "lifelong hatred at first sight" at Venice Film Festival to now Huayi investing in his "Kekexili".

A broken drum is beaten by everyone, and he was not reluctant to add insult to injury, adding fuel to the storm of public opinion.

In the 90s, the domestic entertainment industry was just starting out. As the main form of artistic creation, TV dramas were dominated by screenwriters and writers.

Wang Shuo, Haiyan, Yu Hua, Liu Zhenyun and others are among the best.

Together with Ye and other children from big courtyards, and absorbing people like Kuazi who came from an art background, the so-called Beijing circle gradually formed.

What is scary and hateful about this group of people is not only that they controlled the early development resources of the domestic entertainment industry, but also that they had a huge influence on various public opinion channels in the era of print media.

They can use media resources to discredit their enemies at any time, and Zhang Yimou is one of the victims.

Wang Shuo once called Lao Mouzi a stinking piece of shit, a decorator, and said he was no match for Feng Kuazi.

This time, Huayi did not invite too many prominent figures to siege Lu Kuan.

That is, the outdated big brother Wang Shuo came out to grumble a few words.

There are also Pants, whose personal interests are concerned, and Taro, who once had a feud with Lu Kuan.

If they are in the same circle, I can help you curse someone out.

But after all, there is no grudge between us, and Lu Kuan does not steal other people's business or cut off their financial resources, so there is no need to fight with real weapons.

At the same time, Mei Yanfang and Boss Lu’s friends in the circle, including Zhou Xun, Feng Yuanzheng, and Jay Chou, also expressed their support.

It is stated that Lu Kuan absolutely did not coerce or sexually abuse female cast members on the set.

They didn’t dare to say that Boss Lu had no relationship with these actresses…

After all, everyone knows what kind of person he is.

What was most shocking was that Eagle King's Huo Wenxi posted a photo on her blog, which was the Cannes trophy she won for "Thief" at Harper's Bazaar on behalf of Eagle King.

The article also briefly described the various celebrities' enthusiastic charity activities that night, specifically noting that Mr. Lu spent 288 million yuan to purchase Fang Long's costumes to support charity.

Eagle King? Isn't this Lu Kuan's oldest enemy?

Even now, the people who criticize him the most online are Nicholas Tse’s fans! This is an old grudge!

Why is it that Nicholas Tse’s agent, Eagle King’s big sister Huo Wenxi, has started to speak up for Lu Kuan?
The audience still remembers the bet between the two companies regarding "The Drummer" and "Reborn"!
This world is crazy, the mouse is the bridesmaid for the cat!
Then some curious viewers dug up last week's news that the first Bazaar Charity Night came to an end and celebrities donated more than 1000 million yuan.

Some praised him for his kindness, some said that Lu Kuan's money came from illegal sources, and some said that he was just seeking fame and reputation.

Everyone can accept the fact that Jackie Chan, who has been famous for a long time, is a wealthy man, but why should you, a young man in his early twenties, be the same?
The onlookers were having a great time watching the show.

The erotic scandal in Lu Kuan is raging, and so many celebrities have come forward to share their experiences. It’s so exciting!

Zhuang Xu from Blog.com received a call from Liu Yifei and immediately instructed to control public opinion. When he contacted Lu Kuan, the latter said not to worry about it.

"Just let them scold you like that?"

"Whatever. Just sue a few more and they'll behave themselves. Help me find the IPs that are being scorned."

Zhuang Xu asked doubtfully, "Do you know who did this?"

"Hua Yi must have hired someone to do this. They should have a backup plan. Let's wait a little longer."

Zhuang Xu knew that he was going to play a trick on someone again.

"Where are you? Haven't you returned to Peking yet?"

"I'm in Los Angeles now. I'm here to decide on the final male lead. I'll be back in a few days."

"Okay, take care of yourself. And that Liu... Never mind, I'm hanging up first."

Zhuang Xu originally wanted to say that the actress Liu Yifei called you, but you can't rush because the call can't go through.

After thinking that this bastard should know the whole thing, I didn't say anything more.

Lu Kuan had just hung up the phone in his office in Los Angeles when the phone rang again. It was Zhang Yimou's call.

This is a rare visitor.

"Director Xiaolu, there's been quite a stir lately?"

"Haha, Director Zhang, is this a compliment or a criticism?"

Zhang Yimou met Lu Kuan during the fourth audition at Beijing Film Academy and admired this junior very much. The two of them had a lot of communication because of Jiang Zhiqiang.

Mei Yanfang had previously visited Zhang Yimou's production company to discuss House of Flying Daggers, and Lu Kuan accompanied her for several days. "Don't bother with them. Wang Shuo and his group of intellectuals have nothing better to do than write articles, hold seminars, and curse people out."

"Young directors often get frustrated when they're scolded and call me."

"I tried to persuade them. How many people are there in the capital's literary and artistic circles? Three thousand? Five thousand? Are you so discouraged?"

"But you should also pay more attention to yourself. Forget three or five thousand people. Just thirty or fifty people in the literary and art world who write and criticize you endlessly could sentence you to death."

Boss Lu was speechless. Lao Mouzi, are you comforting me or scaring me?

"Director Zhang, how did you get through this?"

"Oh! I see the essence through the phenomenon!"

"Just because 1 or people are trying to challenge you, you think the sky is falling? Furthermore, these or people already have psychological problems. Are they objective? Are they forming cliques?" (Note )

In his previous life, Zhang Yimou was always criticized by the Beijing circle. He nicknamed this group of people the Capital's Literary and Art Circles and didn't bother to pay attention to them.

Lu Kuan smiled and said, "Director Zhang is really open-minded. Don't worry, I'm as young as I am, and I especially like to hold grudges!"

"This time I'll avenge you as well!"

Zhang Yimou thought he was joking and hung up the phone after a few jokes.

Lu Kuan and Emil went to the office of casting director Taylor together. This time they came to the United States to determine the final candidate for the leading role.

"I'm sorry, sir. Sean Penn meets all the requirements, but we requested that the contract include a clause prohibiting political statements during the filming and release of the film, which he refused."

Lu Kuan looked at the reply letter sent by Sean Penn's agent and was speechless.

He knew that this person was a big mouth, but for the sake of his current high cost-effectiveness, Lu Kuan had to compromise and proposed to include this "shut up clause" in the contract.

In the end, he was rejected by the bohemian American movie star.

When Sean Penn won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2004, the next year, the first thing he did was to use his influence to make comments.

He said there are too few movies like "Fahrenheit 911/" and more should be made. If there is a director willing to make a movie, he can do it without pay.

He even paid more than $5 of his own money to place an advertisement in The Washington Post, accusing Bush Jr. of suppressing anti-war speech.

I also wandered alone to Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, to ​​support the local people...

This is a family trait. His father is also a Hollywood movie star and was on the "blacklist" of the Committee on Un-American Activities in the 1940s and 1950s.

"Where's Brodie?"

"Browdy's schedule is suitable, but his salary has increased to $1200 million."

Boss Lu's mouth twitched. He just won the Oscar for Best Actor and he was already asking for a higher price. The actor's salary for "The Pianist" was only five or six million, so this was more than double.

With this money, I can add another $300 million to hire Keanu Reeves.

"Is Leonardo available?"

Taylor and Emile were both shocked by his imagination. Aren’t they looking for value for money? Why was he asking about the schedule of the top star?
"He just finished filming 'Catch Me If You Can' and I heard he'll take a year off to film Martin Scorsese's 'The Aviator'."

Boss Lu was calculating in his mind that the original budget for the male lead's salary was only about 1000 million US dollars, but it seemed that there would be no suitable candidate at this price.

This time, China Film Corporation pre-sold 400 million yuan in the mainland and participated in the profit sharing.

During the trip to Hong Kong, the distribution rights for Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia were pre-sold to Eagle King for US$600 million.

Overall, you can loosen your belt a little on your budget.

Seeing that $1000 million is no longer enough, there is not much point in looking for some quasi-first-tier or super first-tier ones. It is better to just go to the bottom.

"Please help me contact Leonardo!"

Emil exclaimed, "Lu, why don't you go to Tom Cruise instead of him? After all, he's the producer and can negotiate the price!"

Taylor also frowned: "Yeah, Leonardo DiCaprio's salary for Catch Me If You Can was also $2000 million, which is the highest salary in Hollywood, just like Tom Cruise."

Boss Lu smiled confidently, "Tom Cruise is not only an actor but also a businessman, very shrewd. As for Leonardo, I do know how to bargain with him."

Taylor had no choice but to contact Leonardo's agent and make an appointment to meet the day after tomorrow.

Lu Kuan left Emil alone in the casting office to continue the discussion, drove back to the office alone, turned on the computer and started writing the script.

A script that might be worth $500 million.

He was hiding in America, oblivious to what was happening outside, while the domestic entertainment industry was boiling like a pot that could no longer be covered.

Lawyer letters sent by Zhang Wenjie were directly delivered to some influential online rumormongers through their IP addresses, and then uploaded to the official blog.

Subsequently, the official blog of a public security bureau in a certain district of Peking published a notice of public security punishment for a person who had seriously spread malicious rumors and insults.

This is still new in this era.

This is all thanks to Blog.com's support for the official stability maintenance work during the boiling point period. The long-term cooperation has established a deep police-enterprise relationship.

Of course, Wenjie would not say that he donated patrol vehicles worth more than 400,000 yuan last month and sent high amounts of condolence money to the families of two martyrs who died in the line of duty in the city.

This is also in accordance with Boss Lu's instructions: get close to the government and stay away from politics.

Heizi was a little shocked. I just moved my mouth, but you were fucking serious!
Coupled with the clear stance taken by popular stars such as Mei Yanfang, Zhou Xun, Jay Chou, and Liu Yifei, the one-sided situation of online public opinion has come to a halt.

If Dong Jie hadn't exposed him by real name, this evil trend would have stopped long ago.

September 2003, 9, Huayi Headquarters Building.

"Brother, it's almost time, let Xu Xiyuan go?"

Wang Dajun frowned as he flipped through the blog comments: "I just feel like something's not right."

"What's the meaning."

"This blog site has always had a close relationship with Lu Kuan. His films' biggest online promotional platform is on his blog."

"Every time a film by Wenjie is released, both parties will collaborate to organize a review-giving-away-tickets campaign."

"And that Liu Yifei? Zhuo Wei's blog post about her was also quickly suppressed last time."

Wang Xiaolei was surprised and asked, "You're asking why the blog didn't control the comments this time, right?"

"Ah."

The two of them pondered for a long time and finally figured it out. Wang Xiaolei slapped his thigh.

"I had to go ahead with it, even though I had to bite the bullet. Xu Xiyuan had just finished her work, and it took a lot of effort to convince her."

"This is equivalent to reporting with real name. Let's see if she survives this time!"

Wang Dajun was much more experienced than his brother: "Besides her, go find Uncle Gu and the others, and have a few of the elders go to complain to Principal Zhang of the Beijing Film Academy."

"Just say there's a bad student at Beijing Film Academy, and demand he be expelled immediately to serve as a warning to others!"

"Great! That's a great idea, big brother! Even a thousand words from us wouldn't be as effective as one announcement from Nortel!"

On the evening of September 2003, 9, the domestic entertainment industry, which had just calmed down, was in turmoil again. A real-name reporting video by Taiwanese artist Xu Xiyuan went viral on the Internet!
The Taiwanese idol drama queen speaks out: She was once coerced and humiliated by a mainland director named Lu, and she managed to escape with all her might to preserve her innocence!

In the video, Xu Xiyuan cried to the camera, saying that a director named Lu took advantage of his power during the roadshow of "The Drummer" and forced her to drink and sleep with him, but she refused and ran away.

As the price for her desperate move, Xu Xiyuan obtained a long-term contract from Huayi.

She only needs to persuade her godfather Wang Weizhong to release the person, and Huayi will pay her a considerable amount of compensation.

Family members know their own business. Xu Xiyuan knows how obscure she is now. I guess Wang Weizhong is happy to get rid of her, right?

Crazy Beauty is a pure unknown celebrity who has risked his life to survive.

The same is true for Dong Jie. After she switched to the Hong Kong circle, her resources have been mediocre. Wang Xiaolei gave her two choices:

Signed with Huayi or Feng Xiaogang to play the supporting female role in "A World Without Thieves" which has just been launched.

Fame and fortune are attractive to people, and her sacrifice is very small. She just exposed the evil deeds of a certain director by real name. She herself was not affected by the cause and effect, and she did not worry about her pure image collapsing.

She was about to agree, but she didn't expect happiness to come so suddenly. She was shocked to hear that the boss of Eagle King valued her very much and was already talking to Zedong about buying out her contract!
When she was in the crew of "Gold Powder", the conflict between Lu Kuan and Eagle King broke out. It seems that her "speaking up for justice" was a token of her allegiance.

Dong Jie was impressed by her own decisiveness. It is a brave person to enjoy the world first!

　Note 1: Zhang Yimou’s original words from a 2008 interview with Southern People Weekly
　　
　
(End of this chapter)