Chapter 349: Never Even Heard Of It

Now there were no other people in the guest room, just the three of them left.

What happened earlier was actually done on purpose by them—to let Fang Hong slip away, to make Lao Wang Zong back off in the face of difficulty, just to buy time like that.

This matter always needs someone to play the bad guy and someone to play the good guy.

"Wow, the way I treated Lao Wang Zong just now, my heart was thumping away. He won't take revenge on me later, will he?" Yu Xian found a seat and sat down, clutching his chest.

His mood still hadn't settled, his heart still racing fast—he couldn't tell if it was from excitement or from being thrilled.

"It's fine. Lao Wang Zong can't do anything to you. You're making your way in Hollywood, not in the country—he can't reach you. Even the films you make mostly can't get in anyway."

Liu Tianxian poured him a cup of tea, gestured for him to take a sip to ease his mood, then said: "Honghong had no choice. Things are tough for him right now too. It's not suitable to make too many enemies."

She spoke very considerately. She knew about many things and saw them clearly. Usually, whenever Fang Hong had something going on, he'd show it in front of her without hiding it in his heart, and she'd ask about it too, so she understood the situation.

Many things that even Fang Hong's core team didn't know, she knew.

Now Fang Hong's career was unstable, very prone to collapse, so he couldn't offend anyone too big—that would throw the company into turmoil.

"I scolded one of his underlings once before. I didn't expect him to come back—he really doesn't learn." Yu Xian took a sip of tea.

He was talking about the time with Ceng Maojun before, when he'd scolded Ceng Maojun once. He hadn't expected Lao Wang Zong to come back.

"Enough profit is enough to make people's hearts flutter, so they throw aside all face and insist on wanting a piece of the pie. Some people—if you don't give up profit, they'll force you. From now on, Honghong will have to face these problems and be targeted." Liu Tianxian said.

Actually, these were all things she had gone through herself, just not at the same high-end level as Fang Hong.

But the essence was the same, the logic was the same—once you've made money, people want a share; once you touch someone's interests, they want to destroy you.

"Hey, you keep calling him Honghong, Honghong—so affectionate. Truly husband and wife, heart and soul." Yu Xian teased.

"Oh, don't laugh at me. This is a normal way to address him. Not like you—Honey?" Liu Tianxian spoke amusingly, casting a playful glance at Fang Hong beside her.

During the New Year's video call, she'd heard Yu Xian call his "girlfriend" that way—sickeningly sweet.

"Honey" means "little sweetheart," meaning "darling."

The two had been talking quite seriously, but with this teasing, they couldn't help but laugh, and the atmosphere became harmonious.

"Honey is normal too—Westerners all address each other that way." Fang Hong said.

Liu Tianxian glared: "Whose side are you on?"

"Of course I'm on yours." Fang Hong pulled her closer.

Only then was Liu Tianxian satisfied, and her expression relaxed.

Yu Xian sighed inwardly, sitting here eating a mouthful of dog food.

Thinking back to those years, when he left, Liu Tianxian wasn't that fond of Fang Hong. Now the two of them not only had much better feelings, but their views were aligned too.

This made him sigh involuntarily: "Ah, once you've seen the great sea, you cannot be content with other waters; beyond the Wu Mountain clouds, no other clouds will do."

"What nonsense are you spouting? When are you leaving?" Fang Hong said.

"Holy crap, I just got back and you're already kicking me out!" Yu Xian was speechless.

"You got your award, you got to show off—why stay? Stick around for the New Year?" Fang Hong said casually.

Liu Tianxian couldn't stand it anymore and smacked him: "The guy just got back one day and you're already telling him to leave. Have you got any humanity at all?"

"There's still a lot to do over there, someone needs to go back and take charge. He can't stay long." Fang Hong said.

He'd just arranged so many production projects—how could Yu Xian not go back?

"Can't you let the guy hang out here for a couple of days? Always rushing—what kind of year-round work is that, no rest at all? How is that any different from exploitation? The labor law still says five days on, two days off." Liu Tianxian spoke with perfect logic.

"I'm not stopping him from resting—he can take compensatory leave." Fang Hong said.

"Bah, you're a bloody capitalist, no humanity." Liu Tianxian rolled her eyes at him.

"Still, Sister Fairy is good to me—not like certain people who just love to squeeze me dry." Yu Xian said with a flattering smile to Liu Tianxian.

"It's fine, stay here and play a few more days. It's just that I can't keep you company—I'm going to Zhu Yawen's wedding tomorrow, I have to leave tonight." Liu Tianxian said apologetically.

"That urgent?" Yu Xian said.

"They invited me long ago. I didn't know you'd be back in the country at this time either—I only found out recently." Liu Tianxian explained.

"It's fine, you go. I'm only staying two days anyway, there's still a lot to handle over there." Yu Xian said.

"Mm, next time you come back, I'll take you around everywhere." Liu Tianxian said.

"Sounds good!"

Yu Xian nodded. Still, Sister Fairy knew how to be considerate.

The three of them hadn't seen each other for many years. Meeting again, naturally there was a lot to say, catching up on old times like that.

But Liu Tianxian couldn't stay long—she had to fly back to Beijing that very night.

After that she still had to do Propaganda Department work for "Now You See Me," so her schedule was packed full, not much time.

Fang Hong wasn't going back to Beijing for now—he still had to attend some events here, and other matters to handle.

After the three of them finished dinner that night, Yu Xian went back—no one knew what he went to do. Fang Hong drove Liu Tianxian to the airport in a business car.

"Once you're done, come back to Beijing early." Liu Tianxian put on her hat in the car, slung her bag over her shoulder—her Assistant had already taken her luggage.

"Send me a message when you get home." Fang Hong made a phone-calling gesture.

"Mm, I'm off then."

Liu Tianxian leaned over, kissed him on the lips, then ducked and turned to get out of the car.

Just as she turned, Fang Hong patted her perky butt—it was springy.

Liu Tianxian looked back, gave him a reproachful glance: "Shameless." Fang Hong chuckled "hehe."

"Be careful on the road." Liu Tianxian urged, not blaming him, and waved after getting out.

Only after the car disappeared into the night did she walk toward the airport.

Being a celebrity is like this—filming for months, often running to events and engagements, and dealing with various interpersonal relationships.

The next day, news about the Shanghai Film Festival suddenly made the front pages of all major media outlets, with all kinds of critical/mocking news pouring out one after another.

"Xiaoming suspected of freeloading on the red carpet at a film festival, shooed away by a female host?"

Not only him, but also Yuzhou Dan, Guo Caijie, Xu Ruoxuan, Zhang Zhao and others walked the red carpet twice in succession, and Wangyi mocked that these people were just freeloading on the red carpet.

How to put this—many people had two films, and some had to walk as accompanying guests.

In addition, the male and female hosts of the film festival's red carpet were mocked by Wangyi: "Too many slip-ups," "Too gossipy!"

Of course, the greater share of complaints was about the awards.

The entire grand prize was only divided among three films—one Russian film, one Sweden film, one Hong Kong film—only Bona's "Unbeatable.

All other films were just runners-up, and Wangyi questioned whether the awards had been pre-decided.

In addition, Li Xinqiao winning Best Actress was also questioned by Wangyi as having shady dealings.

Zhazha Hui said in an interview: "I never believe in anything that comes from outside official sources. The rumors from outside this time don't matter to me—everyone wants to win an award."

Yu Nan, as a member of the jury, told the media: "There's no problem with the Best Actress award. I felt that girl's performance was especially outstanding."

"."

Regardless of outside doubts, the Shanghai International Film Festival basically has all the heat focused on it, which is why everyone loves to come and also comes to promote their films.

If you run around everywhere, coming here once basically lets people know you have a film about to be released.

High exposure, high traffic, lots of media attention—these are the characteristics of the Shanghai International Film Festival, and it can save people a lot of promotional expenses.

The media was in an uproar, yet no one reported the incident that happened between Fang Hong, Fa Ge, and Yu Pangzi at the venue—only those on site knew about it.

There were no reporters inside, only the official film crew, which means even if it was recorded, it was in the officials' hands; if they don't release it, no one will talk about it, no evidence.

Outsiders don't know either—it's limited to industry insiders passing it around, treated as an inside story unknown to the outside world.

However, when the media asked Yu Pangzi about his feelings on "Unbeatable" winning an award, he said: "Film companies still need to make some award-winning films to fill out their slate. If everyone is like Yutu, always oriented toward box office, they won't last long."

He named names directly, without the slightest concealment.

No matter how strong you are, your money wasn't given to me, and there's no room for cooperation.

Immediately after, Fa Ge also came out to attack: "Yutu Company has no substance, no heritage, stirs up trouble every day. A company like this, a boss like this—his character is questionable. I won't cooperate with them."

These people don't curse to your face; they prefer cursing at you through the media from afar.

The main thing is that when it's done from afar, there's no pressure from the Principal, so the situation is still different.

Even General Manager Da Wang, at the capital "Counterattacking Hollywood" forum, also stirred up the "Yutu threat" theory: "The film market is now facing a strong impact from Yutu. This impact will last a long time. If there are no countermeasures, I can't imagine where Yutu will lead China's films in the future."

Two bosses plus one 'highly respected' actor publicly attacking Yutu—this scene is truly rare; in the past it was always just the two bosses attacking each other.

Fa Ge's influence is still quite large, simply because he has an audience base, a national foundation—those two bosses don't have that.

This made some people develop a dislike for the Principal and Yutu, calling Yutu a "trash company, trash person" without asking any questions.

But more people were asking what was going on?

Not only this, even Enlight Media's Wang Zhangtian, at the film investment and financing forum, also told reporters: "We are indeed facing challenges from Yutu now."

For a time, Yutu seemed to have become the public enemy of the industry, with several veteran film and TV bosses appearing to stand together, looking hostile toward Yutu.

This is a very rare thing. In the past at forums, Wang Zhangtian often clashed with Yu Pangzi and Da Xiao Wang face-to-face; now it seemed the spearheads had all aimed at Yutu at once.

This is easy to understand—Yutu looks increasingly powerful and must be contained, otherwise it'll be hard to get by.

So what if the stock price is high? Without output of works, it'll eventually be brought down; right now it's just an inflated bubble.

Luckily Boss Yang didn't come; if Boss Yang had come, he would surely have joined in too.

At the "China and Overseas Film Financing Forum," Fang Hong was cornered by a group of reporters who asked him: "What are your thoughts on the remarks of being targeted by several bosses?"

"Competition is a good thing. China's films need competition, and our Yutu fears competition least. Right now Yutu is moving forward—I only hope they get a bit stronger, a bit stronger still, don't stagnate, give it some effort. That would make me very happy."

After Fang Hong's remarks were spoken at the forum, they caused quite a stir.

How much does the Principal look down on his competitors? He actually finds them too weak, telling them to get stronger, to give it some effort—otherwise they're not enough of a challenge.

That's roughly what it means—very arrogant!

Looking at the entire history of China's film development, there has never been such an arrogant person—he's the first!

What they don't know is that Fang Hong has the capital to be arrogant. In the future, the blockbuster films these film and TV companies can create will become fewer and fewer, and their creative space will grow smaller and smaller.

Because he basically copied all the later blockbusters; these film and TV companies can only create new content and test the risks.

Yet Yutu doesn't have to bear the risk—it's a guaranteed win. Even if by accident it loses once or twice, it's still a guaranteed win.

Of course, IP Movies can't be copied. For IP Movies, the content doesn't matter—slap an IP shell on it and you can write a story.

Adaptations like the Four Great Classical Novels can't be stopped either.

Then again, China doesn't really have any good IPs. Whenever a good IP appears, the sequel is bound to be terrible; even the Four Great Classical Novels will be filmed badly, so there's nothing to fear at all.

From a long-term perspective, the advantage is on our side; we simply don't fear those people joining forces.

The reporter asked Fang Hong again: "What do you think of what Fa Ge from Hong Kong said?"

"Fa Ge? Never even heard of him."

Fang Hong waved his hand, leaving the reporters dumbfounded—such disdain for Fa Ge.

Others were also dumbfounded. Well, very arrogant!

Nothing happened at night.

(End of this chapter)