Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 347: Xiao Liu "sees a doctor", Lu Kuan enters the palace
June 2007, 6, Chicago Heights Psychological Clinic.

This is the third day since Liu Yifei reported to the police station.

She paid Casey, Zhang Chunru's psychologist in 1998, to discuss a case from ten years ago with the American woman, who was over 50 years old, every day.

Cathy was helpless, but she recognized this Chinese girl who had gradually become famous in North America in the past two years.

This fight is naturally the stunning appearance of the heroic female warriors in the two "Foreign Land" films.

Her martial arts side attracted Western audiences, while her literary side on Mytube was well known to five to six million Chinese fans in North America.

Compared with her predecessors Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li, this popular mainland actress, who will be turning 8 in August, has gradually made a name for herself in North America.

After all, how many topics did that one Fox Radio show create for her?

Not everyone has the opportunity to use the world stage as a backdrop for romance.

Cathy looked at Liu Yifei who was carefully reading the case and gently advised: "Crystal, you can actually talk to your teacher Xi Kaiyuan. He will provide you with more theoretical results."

"After all, as clinicians, we are no longer able to keep up with the latest cutting-edge psychological research."

Xiao Liu looked up and smiled, "My goal is to immerse myself in this experience. There's no point in looking for him. Coming to the clinic every day is also a good way to experience it."

Amid the humming sound of the air-conditioning vent, Liu Yifei adjusted her sitting position for the third time.

She stared at a copy of a prescription from June 1998, her index finger unconsciously stroking the cracks in the leather armrest of the sofa.

"Kathy, Iris's aphasia came on suddenly, but she recovered before the December debate. Do you think these medications were a factor?"

Liu Yifei pointed to two scribbled signatures next to the drug names of alprazolam and paroxetine, one belonging to a doctor and the other to a patient.

Cathy shook her head. "Iris's drug inertia wasn't that severe in 1998. It started to gradually worsen in 2002."

"But I've gotten much better in the past few years. Apparently, trying a different lifestyle is beneficial to recovery from depression."

Xiao Liu thought about what Lu Kuan had told him, how he met Zhang Chunru, who was interviewing John Rabe's granddaughter, at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival, and how they came to collaborate on the film.

It should be said that the birth of this movie slowed down her condition.

The little girl was a little worried. What would her state be like after the movie was finished and released, having fulfilled her wish?

Cathy's narration interrupted her drifting thoughts: "Yesterday you asked me if this was a physiological disease."

"I looked through the medical records again and it seems to be long-term depression and stress."

"As you said, she had to face a sophist from a hostile force, and her anxiety exacerbated this imbalance in language function."

"Aphasia is a very common mental illness." Casey tapped his temple. "Because of tension, the sympathetic nervous system is constantly hyperactive, leading to inhibition of the language center."

Xiao Liu asked, "I looked at her notes and she cried on the first day she came to see me."

The actress needs to explore the actual situation at that time, but this question is obviously not suitable to ask Zhang Chunru.

She was still a patient after all, although as Cathy said, her mental state had improved a lot in the past two years.

"Yes, I'm deeply impressed." Casey sighed. "Generally speaking, we would keep a recording, but it's been nearly ten years and we no longer archive it."

"She wrote on a piece of paper that day, and when she woke up in the morning, she suddenly couldn't say the word 'coffee'. She could only point at the cup and cry to her husband. This is called a lexical function breakdown in psychology."

"After Iris finished her physical examination at the clinic, she burst into tears. She was worried that she would not be able to make it to the debate."

Concubine Liu Yi asked: "Why are you crying? Are you crying silently, or crying bitterly, or..."

"picture..."

Casey frowned. "It felt like the whimpering of a baby animal. It was pounding the tabletop gently while making these whimpering sounds in its throat."

Xiao Liu tried to imitate it several times and asked Cathy to point out the restoration that was closest to her memory.

The extremely dedicated actress wrote it down in her notes and prepared to go back to design the performance according to the script and then ask Lu Kuan for guidance.

It was already three o'clock in the afternoon when I came out of the clinic.

A 120-minute private session cost about $700, which is quite popular among psychologists in America.

The weather in Chicago was gloomy and there were some drizzles of rain.

Concubine Liu Yi, who had just experienced some painful memories, was obviously not in a good mood.

As soon as she went out, several Asian international students rushed out and surrounded her, and Mia stood in front of Liu Yifei.

"Crystal, could you please sign an autograph for me?"

"Can Sissi take a picture?"

"Yifei, are you here to experience life?"

Xiao Liu accepted the autographed books and photos from fans one by one.

"Wow, you still have this album?"

This was Lu Kuan's first EP recorded for Anita Mui's music company in 2002, which included songs for girls such as "Nuan Nuan", "Sakura Grass", "Ai Ya Ai Ya", and "BIG BIG World".

The name of the EP is "The First Dream".

But later she devoted herself to studying acting and started to let go of things.

Liu Yifei held a pen, and the 1998-2002 copyright logo on the edge of the CD box seemed to take her back to when she was 15 years old.

In Mei Yanfang's villa halfway up the mountain, he told himself everything about being an actor.

Five years have passed in a flash.

When time rolls over the body, the first thing to become mottled is never the memory, but the old evidence that has been patinated by time.

After signing skillfully, the Chinese female fan happily gave way to a man behind her.

"Hello?"

Xiao Liu looked at the young Chinese man in front of him in confusion. Perhaps the young man was nervous about being in close contact with his idol, as he remained silent for a long time.

He timidly glanced at the tall female bodyguard beside him and said in English with a strange accent: "Please...sign for me."

Liu Yifei's mind was still immersed in the memories brought by the old item, and she suddenly opened the autograph book.

Suddenly, a strange skull came into view, with several bloody photos pasted on it, and even the paper smelled of mold.

Xiao Liu screamed "Ah!" and threw away the autograph book in his hand. The sudden scream made Mia alert instantly, and she pressed the Asian man in front of her to the ground!
"Baga! You conscienceless woman! Why did you make a movie that slanders our Yamato people!"

The cowardly man's face flushed strangely, and his face was as ferocious as a poisonous snake, as if he wanted to cut off a piece of flesh from the lovely girl in front of him!

The fans who were about to disperse gathered together again.

"Isn't this Hayata? Kill the Japanese! Damn it!" A tall foreign student couldn't help but want to take action.

Concubine Liu Yi repeatedly stopped him: "Don't be impulsive! Don't be impulsive!"

She looked around, wondering if there were any cameras recording the scene. "Don't let them succeed."

"Our film is almost finished, and everyone will judge right and wrong at that time. Please don't give these people any excuses to cause trouble. Thank you all."

The Chinese fans and international students who shared the same hatred stopped talking after hearing this, picked up the notebook on the ground, and then they understood why Liu Yifei was frightened just now.

This small episode seems to reflect the increasingly tense public opinion situation in North America today.

On the way back to Cherokee, Mia said worriedly, "Crystal, I think you need to avoid close contact with fans recently. These people are simply crazy!"

"Okay, no problem." Liu Yifei is naturally not a saint, and she knows that the movie is the most important thing now.

He still had the last climax scene left, and nothing could go wrong that would delay the progress.

As soon as we arrived at the Hyde Park apartment, Liu Xiaoli and Zhang Chunru surrounded us.

"Sissi, I saw your accident on Twitter. Are you okay?"

The old mother anxiously touched her daughter up and down, and only felt relieved when she saw that her daughter was safe and sound and her face looked calm.

Xiao Liu forced a smile and said, "It seems Twitter is developing quite well. News is spreading so quickly."

Liu Xiaoli saw it from the official account of Liu Yifei's North American fan club. The group of international student fans who had just asked for autographs had obviously made this evil thing public.

From the blog era to the Weibo era, the speed of dissemination of various types of information has become increasingly faster.

The three of them sat down on the sofa. Zhang Chunru and Liu Xiaoli looked at each other and said solemnly, "Xixi, don't go to the psychological clinic anymore."

"why?"

"Xiaolu is in China. You can stay at home and look up information during this time. If you have any questions, you can ask me."

Zhang Chunru expressed concern, "There's been a noticeable increase in public opinion and harassers these past two weeks. It's best to be cautious."

"There's a reason for this..." Xiao Liu sighed, "I called Lu Kuan."

"Netflix's acquisition application is under review by the authorities, but Blockbuster is already controlled by Hastings, who..."

Liu Yifei said solemnly, "Lu Kuan said he must have reached some agreement with Sony Columbia. Anyway, the remaining 3,000 or 4,000 Blockbuster offline stores are renting and selling DVDs of Japanese movies and anime at a discount."

"Although it doesn't explicitly promote militarism and right-wing sentiment, it is still glorifying and whitewashing them, with the aim of eliminating the voice of our film."

Zhang Chunru nodded. "This is completely predictable. The film is about to wrap up, so why would they just let it go?"

"When The Nanjing Massacre topped the bestseller list, Newsweek editor-in-chief Maslin promised to give me several pages of excerpts."

"Then their major advertiser, Toyota, threatened to cut back on advertising for the following year, leaving me with only a very small space, which completely failed to achieve the desired publicity effect."

Liu Xiaoli sighed and looked at the two "Zhang Chunru" in front of her, one big and one small. She knew that now was the darkness before dawn and the enemy's madness was obvious to all.

Of course Xiao Liu is familiar with the plot in this movie.

In the 90s, Japan's economy ranked second in the world, and companies such as Sony and Toyota were major sponsors of American newspapers such as Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal.

They issued threats, and the newspaper owners naturally succumbed to their power.

Now Sony Columbia is using Hastings to make subtle moves, which is exactly the same as the previous one and is a common routine.

"It's okay. Lukuan will soon take control of Netflix. When our movie is released, we'll have plenty of promotional tools, including Twitter, Facebook, and Disney's media."

Concubine Liu Yi didn't know whether this was to comfort Zhang Chunru or to comfort herself.

She was also frightened today.

But she always believed that as long as the man came back from Peiping, everything would be solved.

In fact, he should have already started planning everything, right?
Such as Netflix.

In fact, the current public opinion environment is also in a chaotic state.

Not to mention the mainland, even if there are a few public intellectuals and toxic people clamoring, the Chinese people still support and love this talented director, especially in the face of such national justice.

However, in North America, the general public, who are unaware of the situation, have indeed been brainwashed by the image of a kind, self-disciplined, and resilient nation that Japan has created in the past, as well as by its popular anime.

On the other hand, Lu Kuan and actress Liu Yifei, who have already accumulated a large number of fans in North America, are filming a movie that reflects the negative image of the Japanese right wing.

The collision between the two resulted in a draw in the public opinion field.

Although many supporters of "The Sky of History" have repeatedly emphasized that this is only to clarify history and the target is only the unrepentant right-wingers.

But for the Japanese enthusiasts in North America, they are opposed to this.

One of the details of public relations is to explain this distinction to an uninformed North American audience.

Xiao Liu has the "materials" collected over the past year, and combined with the real-time footage of right-wing harassment taken by photographers such as Zhao Fei, he will give the enemy a blow from public opinion at the critical moment!

Liu Xiaoli's face was rarely stern. "Xixi, no matter what you say, don't go to the clinic again this time. Go out less and wait for Xiaolu to come back."

Xiao Liu looked at her helplessly, trying to find some excuse to get away with it, but then he looked at Zhang Chunru, who also had a determined look on her face...

She was helpless, and so was her old mother.

Liu Xiaoli almost forgot when she "lost the right to speak" to her. It seemed that she became independent and mature earlier than she thought.

But this time it's different.

In the past, it was fine when Lu Kuan was watching over her, and he would occasionally take her out of her role to calm her down.

Now he doesn't know the exact date of his return, and it is the time when the Japanese right wing is the craziest and most active.

I decided not to let her go out and take risks again.

Putting aside other things, what if the Japanese man in the Twitter video today was holding a bottle of sulfuric acid?

The old mother was terrified just thinking about it.

"Okay!" The almost twenty-year-old girl finally gave in, but not completely. "But I have a request, and you have to cooperate with me."

"what?"

Liu Yifei frowned, "I heard Tom Hanks say that when he was filming 'Cast Away', he actually stayed on the island alone for over a month to experience that loneliness and alienation."

"If you won't let me go to the clinic to experience it, then I'll have to experience it at home."

The little girl said in an unquestionable tone: "From now on until the filming of this scene begins, I won't speak. Is that okay?"

"Oh! That's up to you." Liu Xiaoli said with a smile, "Just do it under my nose."

Zhang Chunru also smiled and said, "Xixi, you still need to balance work and rest. When you feel uncomfortable, you should withdraw."

"I've reduced my antidepressant dosage to the lowest level in recent years. I've just shifted my focus to movies, and it's working."

Xiao Liu smiled with two dimples: "Yeah, I know!"

As if starting some kind of ritual, she playfully zipped her right hand across her pink lips like a zipper, thus beginning this unique life experience.
-
On June 6th, it had been nearly two weeks since Boss Lu returned to Beijing.

From the moment he landed at Beijing Capital International Airport, he was surrounded by a huge crowd of reporters, fans and supporters, which gave him a new understanding of his popularity in the mainland.

Previous titles such as great director, richest man, washing machine, etc. are already well known and are nothing more than gossip among the people after dinner.

But this time, they are actually going to spend $45 billion to acquire an American entertainment and media company!

Whether it is the gimmick of the largest overseas merger and acquisition case in the new century, or the astonishing figure of 45 billion US dollars!

What is the concept of 45 million?
Mr. Lang Xianping, who likes calculations, was a guest in Xinlang’s live broadcast room and gave everyone some simple analogies.

According to the current exchange rate, US$45 billion is roughly equivalent to RMB 338 billion.

The second phase of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which was completed and opened to traffic in 2006, cost 330 billion yuan;
In 2005, Lenovo acquired IBM's PC business, paying less than 150 billion yuan.
In June 2007, Penguin's market value was approximately 6 billion.

The Shanghai World Financial Center, which will be completed in 2008, has a total construction cost of about 80 billion yuan. This money can be used to build four more buildings and reshape the Lujiazui city skyline!

In 2007, the price of Master Kong Braised Beef Noodles was 3 yuan per barrel, which was enough for every person in the world to buy 1.7 barrels!
Of course, there are also endless fallacies and rumors from public opinion and those with red eyes.

It is better to donate an aircraft carrier than to buy a DVD company. Donating to build a Hope Primary School can bring endless benefits!
There were even rumors that the young director was taken away by the Economic Investigation Bureau as soon as he left the airport, and that he was being investigated for using the cross-border merger and acquisition case to launder money.

The evil spirits are showing their fangs and claws, making the Internet public opinion circle bizarre.

Until the official Weibo of Wenjie released a statement, it was revealed that North American Wenjie had no connection with domestic companies, and the acquisition did not involve the release of foreign exchange by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

The words were not very clear, but the implication was that patients with conjunctivitis were entering the late stage.

This guy has 45 billion in overseas assets!
No wonder there are fewer and fewer foreign media claims that Youlu’s boss has government funding. He has never taken any money from China at all!
The rumors of transferring property and laundering money are even more untenable and self-defeating.

The ups and downs of the outside world have never been able to shake the mind of this reborn person.

He instructed the Public Opinion Center to keep an eye on a few corrupt public intellectuals and prepare to "execute" them on a certain day, and devoted all his time to preparing the Olympic report.

As time approached, the more than 20 creative staff members of the Olympic Creative Team were nervous and looked serious.

They are about to face a big test before being reviewed by people all over the world.

At noon on the 16th, the creative team, who had just finished their work lunch, drank tea and took a short nap, preparing to continue brainstorming in the afternoon.

Seeing that no one was paying attention, Zhang Heping quietly called Zhang Yimou to his office.

"Yimou, have some tea. The melon slices that Gao Jun brought back from Huoshan, Anhui Province are delicious." Zhang Heping was thinking about his words in his mind.

Zhang Yimou's heart paused, as if he realized something. His face, which looked like a terracotta warrior, showed two wrinkles when he smiled, and the dark circles under his eyes were about the same width as the road Zhang Heping had just seen.

In the past two weeks, everyone has been under too much pressure and worked too hard.

"Come on, Lao Zhang, why are you being so pretentious with me? We've known each other for years, haha!"

Zhang Heping took a sip of tea and said carefully, "Yimou, there is something I need to discuss with you in advance."

"After discussion and resolution, the Olympic Organizing Committee decided that Lu Kuan would be in charge of reporting to the senior officials this time."

A moment of disappointment flashed across Lao Mouzi's face, and he sighed heavily without hesitation, then forced a smile: "Director Zhang, I will obey the organization's arrangements in all matters."

"Yimou, this is a difficult decision." Zhang Heping personally took the teapot from the small table and added some water to Laomouzi.

Even if the cup is almost full.

"You and Comrade Lu Kuan are both recognized and valued talents by the Olympic Organizing Committee and higher-ups. No matter which one of you reports, there's absolutely no fault to be found. But this choice..."

"There's only one, after all."

Zhang Yimou nodded heavily, knowing that Zhang Heping was preparing himself mentally. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, this was the first time that a report had been made to these leaders in the name of a large-scale performance.

This shows how important and precious the opportunity is.

It can be said that as long as the person who reports this time does not make any major mistakes and leaves a good impression on the leaders, he will definitely be the final candidate for the chief director of the opening ceremony.

The remaining person is naturally the director of the closing ceremony.

Zhang Heping sighed inwardly, thinking that the ideological work assigned to him by Leader Liu was not easy.

"Yimou, the organization still treats you..."

"Old Zhang!"

Lao Mouzi suddenly raised his head, the gloomy look on his face completely gone, and pretended to be angry: "You are telling me so much? I, Zhang Yimou, don't seem to be a person who knows the big picture!"

Zhang Yimou rarely touched the cigarette box on the table and started smoking with Zhang Heping.

"To be honest, I still have some regrets."

"I've been waiting for this day for seven years, ever since I became the chief director of the Olympic bid TV promotional video in 2000."

Zhang Yimou, in a rare moment of self-importance, said, "If anyone in China were to be chosen as the director of the opening ceremony, I, Zhang Yimou, would not accept the decision."

His body language showed a strong unwillingness: "No one works harder than me! No one knows better than me how to perfectly present our culture to a global audience!"

"But there is one exception, and that's Xiaolu."

"I'm sorry to let him take on the position of chief director, but I absolutely have no objection."

Zhang Yimou smiled bitterly and said, "You don't know, if it weren't for him, Anle might have suffered a huge loss this time."

Zhang Heping asked curiously, "What do you mean?"

"Xiaolu gave me suggestions and made some revisions regarding the script and the market audience." Zhang Yimou paused and said, "In fact, if I hadn't insisted on Gong Li playing the leading female role and had followed his ideas completely, perhaps the results would have been better."

Lao Mouzi sighed deeply: "Personally, he and I are brothers in the same school, and we are friends regardless of age. We have been in this team for more than a year, and we have always helped each other."

"When I was filming Curse of the Golden Flower, he was the main character. When he was filming Sky, I was in charge of the main work. We worked together very well and subdued these arrogant and powerful generals."

"In public, his vision, breadth of mind, artistic talent, and leadership are all sufficient for this position."

"Many of the special effects and program ideas in our plan, especially the drone ignition at the end that amazed the world, were his ideas."

"It can be said that in the entire second half, he alone contributed three brand new programs."

Zhang Yimou stood up, smiled, and patted Zhang Heping's arm: "Old Zhang, please tell the organization that I will fully cooperate with the work!"

"Okay!" Zhang Heping finally felt relieved: "Let's go to the meeting."

The two walked side by side towards the meeting room, and at the same time glanced at the bright red slogan in the corridor.

The interests of the motherland are above everything else.

Everyone gathered in the conference room, and when they saw Zhang Heping and the other man come in, they all sat up straight.

Only Ma Wen jokingly said, "What's going on, Director Zhang? It's so grand, it's interrupting our lunch break."

Zhang Heping looked at her helplessly. This girl was a show-off. She would even joke with Leader Liu when he came.

"Comrades, I have an announcement to make."

"After communicating with our superiors, we have decided to conduct a plan presentation at 9: AM tomorrow in the Huairen Hall of Haizi!"

The whispers in the conference room were silenced.

Zhang Heping glanced at Lu Kuan on his left, with the same dark circles under his eyes as Zhang Yimou: "Among them, the report will be given by Comrade Lu Kuan, and Comrade Yimou will assist."

shock!
At this moment, whether it was Zhang Jigang and Chen Weiya who were familiar with Zhang Yimou, or Ma Wen who was always cheerful and lively, they all turned their attention to the two parties involved.

Lu Kuan was a little stunned, but Zhang Yimou had already started applauding.

Then came Lin Ying, Shen Wei, and Liu Heng, who had come to their senses. All the team members who had previously doubted his youth but were now completely convinced gave him warm applause.

Anyone could have guessed that the person making the report should be the chief director of the opening ceremony strongly recommended by the Olympic Committee.

Come to think of it, this seems to be a matter of course.

The original plan of the Wenjie team was one step behind and failed due to the ignition of the drone at the end.

With the research progress now reported every six months, it is almost certain that there will be an ignition show that will shock the world, unprecedented and unparalleled.

In addition to the introduction of the scroll idea, the conception of creative programs for the modern Chinese part in the second half was also proposed.

Coupled with his outstanding leadership and personal charm that conquered everyone, he is indeed on par with Zhang Yimou for the position of chief director of the opening ceremony.

After the meeting, Zhang Heping found Boss Lu alone again.

Ideological work must be done, and of course it must be done comprehensively, without any resentment.

"Comrade Lu Kuan, are you excited or nervous now? Haha."

Boss Lu pursed his lips and said that it would be a lie to say that he was not excited or nervous.

In his previous life, he was just a public relations company boss who indulged in sensual pleasures. Even if he had some wealth, how could he have the opportunity to speak, give speeches, and report on his work in such an occasion?
It would definitely be beneficial to show up in front of these people and perhaps have a few words with them on some issues.

Boss Lu smiled and said, "I've already sent a message to the nanny to quickly iron my clothes. I'll take a bath, burn incense, and go to bed early to rest up."

"Haha!" Zhang Heping smiled and invited him to walk out of the Olympic Building together.

"Lu Kuan, Leader Liu specifically told me to tell you not to worry. Your plan is already very good."

"Show us the style and momentum you displayed in your speeches at the Beijing Film Academy and the University of Southern California, and let the leaders see the spirit of our Olympic team!"

. . .

The next morning, the energetic young director got up at 6 o'clock and exercised in the villa yard of Huabin Golf.

The location of the courtyard house has been bombarded by reporters and fans, so it will not be convenient to live there again in the short term.

This time when I return to China, I will only stay here for a few nights. It seems I have to find a place to stay with good security and privacy.

Ah Fei drove Boss Lu, who was dressed in a suit and tie, to the destination, changed cars at the gate and continued on their way.

After going through five security checks, I solemnly stepped into this royal garden.

As far as the eye can see, the overall structure of the building is exquisite and the layout is rigorous, revealing a simple and elegant atmosphere.

Lu Kuan followed the staff without looking around, resisting the urge to look around like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, and accepted the guard's final inspection at the door of the meeting room.

In the conference room, Zhang Heping and Zhang Yimou had already arrived, sitting upright and talking in low voices.

"Guide, your seat is here." The staff politely led Lu Kuan to his seat.

The leader had not arrived yet, so Boss Lu was still in a relatively relaxed mood. He signaled to the staff and sat next to Er Zhang first.

"Xiaolu, you are so careless. We have been here for half an hour!" Lao Mouzi looked at him in reproach and tapped his watch.

The meeting starts at 9 o'clock, but you didn't arrive until 8:!

Boss Lu jokingly whispered, "I didn't sleep all night. I just dozed off for a while at four in the morning."

Zhang Heping squinted at him and said, "You guys get nervous sometimes too? 300 billion RMB, you can just throw it away!"

"What are you talking about!" Lu Kuan curled his lips: "That money was earned from the foreign devils, why should I feel bad about giving it to them again?"

"Today's situation is different!"

He glanced around covertly: "Don't worry if you laugh at me, I was almost walking with my hands and feet tangled when I came in just now!"

Lao Mouzi was trying to hold back his laughter, and Zhang Heping's expression suddenly changed!
"Leader! You're here!"

Zhang Yimou saw an old man coming in from the corner of his eye, and the Berlin Film Award winner also became serious instantly. They both stood up and bowed slightly to the short, kind-looking leader.

"Hello, leader!", "Hello, leader!"

"Hello comrades, thank you for your hard work. It's so early."

The leader came over and shook hands with the three of them, with Boss Lu standing at the end.

"Comrade Xiaolu, you've been in the news quite a bit lately, haha."

Lao Mouzi's heart tightened when he heard the leader's words of praise: "Fortunately, it's all good news. Come, let me talk to you for a few words."

"Okay, leader."

Zhang Heping and Zhang Yimou stood there respectfully, unable to see the expression on the young director's face, but they couldn't hide the envy on their faces.

I looked at my watch and there were still nearly twenty minutes before the meeting started!
"Comrade Xiaolu, you are so young! And you have achieved so much! It makes us old comrades happy to see you."

Boss Lu was only halfway seated when he heard this and laughed, "You're flattering me. I've achieved some small success thanks to standing on the tide of the times and the support of the country and the audience."

"Well, I'm still a little hesitant and too modest!" The leader nodded and smiled, "Many of our veteran comrades are movie fans!"

"Back then, when the designer was studying in France, he would go to see French films with his fellow comrades who were studying in Europe during his work-study period."

"Including myself, who worked in geology in the 1970s, I would bring a small stool after work and sit in front of the screen with everyone else."

He touched the white hair on his forehead and sighed, "Your 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' has left a deep impression on me."

"The love and hate of ordinary people are mixed in the torrent of the times and the fate of the country, but what remains unchanged is the spirit of our nation!"

"Just like Li Ming in the movie, even though he was born in that era, he never forgot to contribute to the country and save the nation."

"We need to make more films like this! Use your global reputation and channels to showcase our outstanding national culture and spirit, and demonstrate our cultural soft power to the world!"

The road is just the right width. His face flushed, and he stood up as if inspired: "Yes! I will definitely keep working hard!"

"What are you working hard for?"

Another friendly greeting came from outside the door, and Boss Lu and the leaders around him stood up together.

Afterwards, all the participants of today's meeting arrived one after another.

The leader shook hands with everyone and repeated his previous question: "Comrade Xiaolu, what was your stance just now?"

"Leader, I was just reporting on the recent literary and artistic work."

"Oh? Yeah! You've been making quite a splash internationally lately, really attracting a lot of attention."

Boss Lu bowed modestly.

The staff member came over and whispered, "Leader, the meeting can begin."

"Okay, let's have a meeting first."

The word "first" made Lu Kuan feel a surge of emotion. If he could leverage the power of the Ministry of Commerce to help Netflix pass the review...

Just like Lenovo acquired IBM's PC division two years ago.

Even though Lenovo made two important concessions at the time, it was absolutely inseparable from the communication and contact with the Ministry of Commerce.

After all, Netflix, which is currently just a DVD rental company, is not as sensitive as IBM, right?
Everyone took their seats and the report officially began.

Leader Liu first gave a brief summary of the work of the Olympic Organizing Committee over the past year, and Zhang Heping cooperated.

This part is very short, and everyone knows what the focus of today is -

Only after the superiors agree to the current plan can we further promote the work below.

After all, there are only more than two months left until the one-year countdown to the Olympics.

"Comrade Lu Kuan will now report on the opening ceremony plan, and Comrade Zhang Yimou will provide additional information."

Boss Lu took a deep breath and walked to the projection, and began to explain the results of the creative team's hard work for more than a year, including nearly two years of bidding.

"Dear leaders, on behalf of the Olympic Opening Ceremony creative team, I would like to report on the core creative ideas and implementation framework of the Opening Ceremony plan."

"This year's opening ceremony, themed 'One World, One Dream,' will focus on three dimensions: showcasing my country's 5,000-year-old civilization, the fusion of contemporary national spirit and the Olympic spirit, and strive to convey the depth and warmth of Chinese culture in the world's languages..."

The staff clicked on the scroll interface, and the young director entered the main stage of art. He gradually calmed down his excitement and introduced the core concept familiarly.

"The core theme throughout the Olympic opening ceremony was the Chinese scroll and the unity of man and nature."

"The opening ceremony used a long scroll as the main narrative thread, combining dynamic images with physical scrolls to present the evolution of civilization from oracle bone inscriptions to modern China."

"The scroll will be created by the athletes' footprints, symbolizing the fusion of world civilizations. This design breaks away from the traditional theatrical performances of previous Olympic Games. It is the world's largest artwork and a concrete expression of the philosophical concept of 'harmony between man and nature'!"

Boss Lu's narration combines artistry and technological concepts, using the most concise and clear language accompanied by Butian Film's vivid CG.

All the leaders were fascinated by the show.

Chinese characters and movable type printing, the Silk Road and Zheng He's voyages to the West, Tai Chi and martial arts;

The smiling faces of tens of thousands of children from around the world, the beautiful and romantic five-ring dream, until the children's voices sang "Ode to the Motherland"...

"The five-star red flag flutters in the wind, and the victory song rings so loud!"

"Singing to our beloved motherland, which is now heading towards prosperity and strength..."

In such a top-notch conference room from the level to the location;

In such a romantic, aesthetic and culturally rich opening ceremony plan;
The children's clear singing voices instantly touched everyone, and the leaders couldn't help but humming in their hearts...

Eternal China, centennial Olympics, a prosperous and strong modern China is finally going to be presented to the world!
It has been such a difficult journey!

The traditional culture in the first half received unanimous praise from the leaders. It is the accumulation of our splendid civilization, which was beautifully presented through high-tech means.

But at this time, Lu Kuan on the stage knew that the real test would be in the modern part of the second half.

This is also the part that was criticized the most for its poor ending in later generations.

Therefore, he used a forward-looking technological perspective to come up with creative ideas and designs that completely replaced some modern performances of later generations!
"Dear leaders, the theme of the second half is the glorious movement of modern times, and we have designed three programs."

"The first program is called 'Thousands of Lights'..."

Boss Lu then demonstrated the retractable stage and miniature model theater, including real-time data visualization.

At the end, all the "city blocks" rise up, revealing a huge wall of smiling faces made up of extras underneath.

After learning about the technical principles, all the leaders present were amazed!
"The second program is called 'Dream of the Galaxy'."

"Recently, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that the Shenzhou VII spacecraft would be launched in 2008. This is also the origin of our idea."

The leaders listened to his description while comparing it with the CG: "First, the ground LED was combined with the wire work."

"Thousands of actors, wearing special space suits embedded with micro-LED lights, formed a galaxy formation. The lights were controlled by programs to form dynamic nebulae, rockets taking off and other patterns."

"Then the 'space capsule' device was suspended by wirework, and the gymnasts, playing the roles of astronauts, performed a suspended performance in the air, interacting with the formations on the ground."

"Then, we'll be looking down at Earth and China from an astronaut's perspective. A giant model of the Earth will rise in the center of the venue, with images of the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay route, China's newly built high-speed rail network, the Three Gorges Dam, and other iconic projects projected onto its surface!"

With the vivid display of the projected animation, the leaders present exclaimed for the first time today!
"This is good!"

"This program is fantastic, it captures both our aerospace spirit and major infrastructure projects."

There was applause in the conference room, and Boss Lu bowed slightly in greeting.

It is worth mentioning that when he was in the crew of "Curse of the Golden Flower", he only proposed the first "Thousands of Lights" while waiting for the country to announce the news of Shenzhou VII.

The achievements that modern China is proud of are indeed worth pondering in 2007.

In Boss Lu’s opinion, infrastructure and aerospace are the future trends.

So the next program is infrastructure.

"The third program, 'The Galloping Era,' will use the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei high-speed railway and the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, which are scheduled to open in 2008, as symbols to showcase China's contemporary infrastructure and global interconnection."

"A 100-meter-long mechanical skeleton of a high-speed rail carriage rises in the center of the venue. 200 actors play the passengers, and their costumes change color (simulating LED screens) to show different identities: engineers, farmers, Olympic volunteers, and foreign tourists."

"Then, giant projection screens on both sides of the carriage played the scenery from the train windows: switching from the alleys of Beijing to the Three Gorges Dam, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, Pudong, and finally settling on the Olympic venues..."

The leaders were already fascinated by what they heard.

By the time the final, unfinished version of the Phoenix Ignition Ceremony was shown, everyone was so shocked they were speechless.

"Dear leaders, this concludes the opening ceremony plan presentation by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee's creative team. Please give your instructions!"

There was silence in the conference room for two seconds, followed by rhythmic applause.

The leaders made a brief comment, then stood up and shook hands warmly and talked with several IOC staff members, fully affirming everyone's excellent work.

"The report was very successful. Thank you for your hard work, comrades. Please keep up the good work!"

"Yes!"

It was not until Lu Kuan and the other three were led to the door by the staff that a staff member hurried over.

"Director Lu Kuan, the leader asks you to stay for a moment."

(End of this chapter)