Chapter 190: Three Years as One Day

Fang Hong's indifferent demeanor and firm attitude left Zhang Hongsen utterly baffled.

He gripped the armrests on both sides, leaning his body slightly forward: "No, Xiao Fang, what exactly happened between you and General Manager Yu? You can tell me—no need to hide anything."

Hollywood has come knocking at our door, yet China's most promising film workers are stubbornly turning on each other.

What kind of mess is this?

"Ask him." Fang Hong gestured.

"Ask me what? When did I ever offend you? I don't even know." Yu Pangzi feigned ignorance.

"Really?" Fang Hong stared at him.

Yu Pangzi's eyes flickered away—this man's calm, seemingly unconcerned attitude exerted an invisible pressure on him.

This was the first time he'd ever met the Principal in person; he'd never seen him before and knew nothing about him.

"If you insist on doubting me, there's nothing I can do."

Yu Pangzi then turned to Zhang Hongsen: "Director Zhang, my position is clear: I follow superior directives. If someone insists on stirring up trouble, I'm ready to meet them head-on."

"I don't care." Fang Hong spread his hands.

This made Yu Pangzi feel uneasy.

Deep down, he was only threatening—he didn't want to fight Fang Hong, simply because he himself was also suffering.

Going public in the United States hadn't brought him any benefits; American shareholders seemed uninterested in his Chinese film company.

That meant he couldn't raise funds.

They've got the Six Majors—of course they don't care about Chinese film companies.

Zhang Hongsen was also headachy; they'd been getting along fine just earlier, and now negotiations had collapsed and conflict was brewing again—how had such a troublemaker emerged in the film circle?

But this circle had never been peaceful to begin with.

"Xiao Fang, you're making this incredibly hard for me!"

"Director Zhang's mission is to prosper the film market and ensure its healthy development. Whether or not we fight, the film market will prosper—it's an unstoppable trend. Our competition will only spur us to make better films and make the market even healthier."

Fang Hong's words held some logic, but they also clearly declared his intent to fight internally.

"Can't you just coexist peacefully?" Zhang Hongsen said.

"Once I foolishly believed that if I just made good films and avoided conflict, everything would be fine—but I was wrong. I was wrong after 'Thousand-Handed Thief.' When I returned from the Golden Horse Awards, I realized I'd made a terrible mistake."

Fang Hong spoke these words while looking directly at Yu Pangzi.

Seeing his eyes narrow slightly and his face twitch occasionally, Fang Hong confirmed it was him—and that Yu Pangzi had also participated in the public denunciations after the Golden Horse Awards.

Fang Hong didn't pause, turning to Zhang Hongsen: "I harbor goodwill, yet others see me as a demon. What do you think I should do?"

Zhang Hongsen finally understood: Yu Pangzi had once sabotaged Fang Hong and also joined in the online vilification.

He'd heard rumors about this incident, but never knew who was behind it.

"Don't make baseless accusations without evidence. None of your affairs have anything to do with me." Yu Pangzi flatly denied it.

Fang Hong indeed had no evidence; he couldn't possibly gather evidence for something like this—he couldn't drag the Film Review Committee's section heads in for confrontation.

He didn't have that kind of power!

He couldn't trace the online black hats through their internet connections and demand whether they'd been paid by Bona.

He just knew Yu Pangzi had been involved—that was enough.

Zhang Hongsen sighed helplessly and issued a direct order: "I don't care about your personal grudges. I expect you both to coexist peacefully and jointly promote the healthy development of the film industry. Next year, I want to see positive results."

He only wanted to protect the film industry; mediating grudges wasn't his job. Since mediation had failed, he'd state his demands outright.

"Fine, I'll follow the directive." Fang Hong spoke first.

After all, 2012 was just like every other year.

Yu Pangzi also nodded and pledged compliance.

After the meeting, the two walked out of the Film Bureau together; just as they were about to part, Yu Pangzi said: "We don't need to fight to the death."

He was trying to compromise, to seek cooperation.

Fang Hong had no intention of making a deal with a tiger—he ignored him entirely, got into his Porsche, and drove off.

This left Yu Pangzi humiliated; the man wouldn't even look at him properly, as if he were beneath notice.

The year 2012 arrived, and without realizing it, Fang Hong had been reborn for nearly three years.

These three years, he worked diligently every day, tirelessly—besides chasing girls, he just showed up for work and screwed bolts, doing nothing else.

Everyone else chased after countless women, slept with countless others; he alone remained unchanged, year after year, day after day.

Some called him a monk—how could a big shot still act like this? Isn't the entertainment circle all about playing with women? Why pretend to be so aloof?

If he were as morally bankrupt as those others, obsessed only with his lower half, he wouldn't deserve to survive in the entertainment circle.

He wouldn't deserve to fight others, nor to rise to higher positions—his lower half would bind his ceiling!

Any big shot without self-control would never reach a high ceiling.

This year's entertainment circle was again full of drama; someone compiled the major events of 2011.

Xie Zhi divorced; Da Mimi exploded in popularity thanks to 'Palace,' winning the White Magnolia Award for Best Popular Actress via public vote; Da S and Wang Xiaofei married; Zhang Jie and Xie Na married; Sha Yi and Hu Ke married at Peking University. Also, Liu Tianxian was nominated for the Golden Horse Awards. The buzz from 'Those Years,' 'Lost in Love 33 Days,' and 'Thousand-Handed Thief' solidified Liu Tianxian's position as a top-tier actress once again, laying a solid foundation for her film career.

She was the only new-generation actress to single-handedly carry a female-led film to high box office success.

Some analyzed her: these three films merely had her playing fixed roles within fixed images—much of their success came from strong screenplays.

Whether she could break through further would depend on her development over the next few years.

Currently, Liu Tianxian still lagged behind Guoji Zhang, Yan Zi, and Young Master Zhou, and had also fallen behind Li Bingbing and Fan Xiaopang.

Li Bingbing had ventured into Hollywood, with resources including 'Resident Evil 5' and 'Transformers 4.'

Fan Xiaopang was continuously refining his acting skills in the art-house film path, aiming for major awards and audience recognition.

This girl had ambition.

Liu Tianxian had ambition too—she turned down 'My Love from the Star' to demonstrate her determination to keep advancing in the film industry.

Women stars of this era all had pursuits, unlike newly risen stars like Da Mimi, Liu Sisi, Tangtang, and Da Baobei, who only wanted to frantically grab traffic in the domestic entertainment industry.

Secure your territory, market your persona.

This year was also the year traffic began, so it's no wonder they acted this way—the era was changing.

No one could stop the arrival of the Traffic Era.

After the New Year Slot passed, the film industry quieted down; no major films would be released in the next two or three months, as the concept of the Spring Festival Slot did not yet exist this year.

Thus, more scandals and conflicts emerged again, sparked by Liu Tianxian's renewed activity.

The first scandal of the new year was that Liu Tianxian snatched a role, acted arrogantly, and bullied the weak.

Several companies led the charge, with a few female stars assisting; Liu Sisi appeared publicly to weep and plead, making the incident explode in popularity for a time.

She claimed: in the film "Big Character," a female role was originally meant for her—everything had been agreed upon—until Liu Tianxian snatched it away.

She also claimed: Liu Tianxian acted arrogantly, using her status to deliberately bully her, a newcomer to the entertainment industry.

"."

All kinds of scandals were messy and chaotic, but the point was always that Liu Tianxian had a bad character, bullied newcomers and directors because of her fame.

For this, Director Guo Fan came out for a Sina exclusive interview to clarify: "When I was casting for 'Big Character,' Liu Tianxian was chosen from the start. Someone in the crew mistakenly thought the role was still open, so they approached Liu Sisi. This has nothing to do with Liu Tianxian, and I apologize to Miss Liu Sisi."

He spoke gently, clearly explaining the sequence of events and apologizing to Liu Sisi.

This video was clipped and spread everywhere, sparking heated discussion among Wangyi.

"The crew has already clarified—the matter has nothing to do with Liu Tianxian; she was always meant to play it."

"The crew clearly prefers Liu Tianxian. Little lions, aren't you angry?"

"Exactly. Little lions love stirring trouble—whenever they latch onto Liu Tianxian, they ignore the truth and frantically ride the trend."

"Arrogant behavior, snatching roles, lesbianism, sugar daddy."

"."

Regardless of whether anyone came forward to clarify, these people still insisted on cursing, still insisted on disgusting Liu Tianxian.

Now Liu Tianxian clearly stood in their way—her endorsement brands rose, her center stage spots increased, her popularity reached unprecedented levels; if you don't curse, you're missing out.

Cursing gains you popularity, publishing articles earns you money—why not do it?

When Liu Tianxian appeared at public events, reporters asked her about it; she replied: "The crew has already made it clear—I have no need to elaborate further."

"."

Even with clarifications, even with apologies, even as the parties involved tried to downplay it, online buzz continued to fuel the narrative.

"General Manager Cai, stop stirring this up."

Fang Hong found Cai Yinong's phone number through an intermediary and called her personally.

As Liu Tianxian said, he himself had faults in this matter, but the cursing was done, the arguing was done, the apologies were made—why cling to it so tightly?

"I don't understand what the Principal is saying," came Cai Yinong's voice over the phone.

"You know exactly what I mean, but I advise you to stop." Fang Hong said.

"Principal, you have quite the authority—are you ordering me?" Cai Yinong was displeased by the calm tone on the other end.

"I'm speaking to you politely. If you insist on interpreting it that way, I can't help it—but I can tell you, if you keep this up, I can't guarantee your 'Heaven's Trace' will air smoothly."

"Are you threatening me?"

Cai Yinong's voice rose several degrees.

That drama was their company's biggest project this year; if it couldn't air, it would be a massive blow—its funding chain would break.

The drama was still in production.

"I'm not threatening you. I'm stating a fact. You can believe I have the ability to make it happen." Fang Hong said.

"Then let's see just how great the Principal's abilities are."

Cai Yinong was a tough, unyielding woman.

If spoken to nicely, if Liu Sisi were elevated, perhaps she would back down—but to demand she stop without offering any benefit? That was too easy to ask.

(End of Chapter)