Chapter 672: Ten Years of Life and Death, Both Vague and Distant

In the icy, snowy world, Liu Tianxian felt the cool chill on her cheeks, her mind cleared considerably, and her body trembled involuntarily.

But she didn't feel any discomfort; instead, she let out a "hiss," as if drawing in a breath, looking thoroughly pleased.

"So refreshing!" she said.

Fang Hong, seeing her like this, was a bit stunned. He touched her forehead with the back of his hand and said, "Are you sick?"

"You're the one who's sick. I just feel the cold on my body—it's very comfortable, very stimulating."

Liu Tianxian swatted his hand away and added, "You have no idea—for the past few months, I haven't even let a single drop of water touch me."

"Other pregnant women are afraid of the cold, afraid of ice, but you—great, you love ice." Fang Hong found it very strange.

"I just love ice, I even want to eat snow." Having said that, Liu Tianxian grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and was about to stuff it into her mouth.

"Hey, hey. Can you even eat that? It's filthy." Fang Hong quickly grabbed her hand to stop her, then added, "If you like it, I'll go make you some ice cream."

"Really?" Liu Tianxian's eyes lit up.

"Really. I'll sneak it to you, won't let your mom or my mom see." Fang Hong leaned in and whispered.

"Oh hubby, you're still the best." Liu Tianxian was delighted.

Being pregnant for a few months is like being a national treasure—can't touch this, can't eat that—it's miserable.

"Xixi, come back after playing for a bit, don't freeze." Xu Liyun, seeing Liu Tianxian hadn't come inside for a while, urged her from the doorway.

"Okay, coming."

Liu Tianxian replied, then whispered to Fang Hong, "Go quickly, I want to eat it right now."

"Then go back to the room and wait for me, don't let anything slip. I'll be back very soon." Fang Hong said.

"Mm-hmm!"

Liu Tianxian nodded, saw him off from the Villa, then headed toward the house.

Xu Liyun, seeing her son hadn't returned, couldn't help but ask, "Where did Honghong go?"

"Oh, he had something to do, he'll be back soon." Liu Tianxian said casually.

"Honestly, he's already so grown up, always running outside—what's there to do that's more important than keeping you company?" Xu Liyun said.

"Right, I told him the same thing. Mom, I'm sleepy, I'm going to nap first." Liu Tianxian deliberately let out a yawn.

"Alright, go sleep." Xu Liyun didn't suspect anything—pregnant women are naturally drowsy.

Little did she know that in her room, Liu Tianxian was waiting full of anticipation to eat ice cream. She still regretted not getting to eat the freshest hot pot last time.

She had also been scolded by her mom, told not to eat random things.

Fang Hong drove back quickly—he had bought it nearby, not far, and had wrapped it in several layers.

Xu Liyun saw her son carrying something in his hand and couldn't help but ask, "What are you carrying?"

"Didn't Xixi have a craving for sweets lately? I bought her some cake—here, take a look." Fang Hong, without changing expression, offered to show his mom.

Inside, everything was specially packaged, wrapped up in a flashy way, impossible to tell it was ice cream.

"Why show me? If she likes it, just buy it for her—just don't eat anything cold and catch a cold." Xu Liyun waved her hand, appearing very open-minded.

Fang Hong said nothing more, carried the things upstairs, opened the door and saw Liu Tianxian half-lying on the bed. He lifted the paper gift bag in his hand and waved it temptingly.

"Wow! How did it go, wasn't discovered?" Liu Tianxian jumped up at once, went over and took the bag from his hand, sat cross-legged on the carpet, and started tearing open the packaging.

"No, I said it was cake, my mom didn't suspect." Fang Hong sat down beside her too.

"Pretty clever." Liu Tianxian praised.

She took out a small square box from the bag. After taking it out, it really did look like cake packaging—very exquisite.

There was even a string tied on top. After untying the string, inside was something like a round bowl of ice cream, with a scent resembling vanilla.

She sniffed it with her nose and said, refreshed and delighted, "Wow! Such a fresh smell, haven't smelled it in ages."

"Try it." Fang Hong smiled.

"Mm!" Liu Tianxian was in a wonderful mood. She picked up a small wooden stick, scooped out a piece of ice cream, then put it in her mouth to taste—immediately feeling it cold, sweet, and fragrant in her mouth.

"So delicious, absolutely amazing."

She enjoyed it greatly, scooped out another bit of ice cream, held it to Fang Hong's lips and said, "You try some too."

"I won't, you eat." Fang Hong politely declined.

"Then I'll enjoy it all by myself." Liu Tianxian said happily, sending another spoonful into her own mouth, and pressed her lips together, looking thoroughly pleased.

Fang Hong just watched her beside her, bite after bite, eating with great gusto. He was also very happy, and couldn't help feeling his own mood lift.

"Dummy, why are you staring at me like that?" Liu Tianxian noticed and glanced at him.

"Watching you because you're pretty, the more I look the better." Fang Hong reached out and brushed the hair at her temple back.

"You see me every day, still not enough?"

Liu Tianxian tilted her body, nudged him with her shoulder, and teased, "Hey, are you thinking about it?"

"You guess." Fang Hong knew exactly what she meant.

"I'm a kid, how would I guess? If you want to, you want to; if you don't, you don't." Liu Tianxian said.

"So what if I want to, so what if I don't." Fang Hong said.

"If you want to, we can try." Liu Tianxian smiled somewhat ambiguously—truth be told, she wanted to too.

"Is it okay?" Fang Hong said.

"I've heard that after three months it's fine." Liu Tianxian said, her eyes wide and watery.

Fang Hong glanced at her belly, still afraid of hurting her, and said, "Let's wait, wait until it's developed a bit more."

"Alright." Liu Tianxian also felt they had to be careful.

The two chatted on one side while eating the delicious ice cream on the other—such leisurely moments were something the two basically experienced every day.

Sneaking in extra snacks like this was still rare, after all—they had to consider both moms' feelings.

On January 16th, the Macau Film Festival opened. Thanks to the Jade Rabbit faction's soaring power and reputation in the entertainment circle, that year's Macau Film Festival could truly be called star-studded.

Almost every major star in the entertainment industry showed up, and this year was one where new talents emerged in droves.

Wang Jiaer, Wang Ziwén, Zhang Yishan, Yang Zi, Yang Yang, Liu Haoran, and others all became huge this year; whether familiar or not, all were invited to Macau.

Even though Yang Zi had past conflicts with the Principal, she still had to go to Macau to show support.

Because at least half of today's film and TV industry is controlled by the Principal—anyone wanting to act in a drama needs his approval.

Thus, this year's Macau Film Festival was the most lively ever, with unprecedented popularity, and Douyin, as a partner, livestreamed the entire award ceremony in clips.

Bilibili also livestreamed full clip videos.

#Da Mimi in lace battle gown secretly battles #85! Turn reveals backline shocks internet: Does this figure need a publicity draft to outshine everyone? #

#Nazha's sheer lace kills the whole red carpet! Bare skin on display, red carpet shots collectively out of focus#

#Fan Xiaopang returns with celadon gown sweep! Floods feeds: Porcelain beauty outshines European royalty#

#Zhu Yilong in antique pocket watch chain, Ming-Qing nobleman time-traveling#

「. 」

One by one, stars seemed to return, resuming their outshining and publicity drafts.

As if the previous reputation attacks meant nothing, the entertainment industry returned to its prosperous, glittering scene.

After spending so much money, you've got to do some business!

The Macau Film Festival brought Douyin massive traffic; within a short time, daily active users surpassed thirty million, monthly active users exceeded one hundred million, and retention was extremely ideal.

Douyin's rapid rise struck a blow against Kuaishou, Meipai, Miaopai, and similar apps, intensifying competition.

Tencent also grew wary and began incubating its own short-video app, Satellite TV—but Tencent never puts all its eggs in one basket.

So it chose to invest in Kuaishou.

Of course, Tencent holds most of the mainstream music on the market, and the two sides inevitably clashed over music copyright.

This is normal; Swan Castle also sued Hero Trace in the gaming field, forcing the opponent to alter gameplay and visuals.

After its launch, this game still gained considerable popularity due to its similarity to Honor of Kings, especially since Tencent threw money around—offering Q-coins and skins just for playing.

But Honor of Kings had first-mover advantage, having operated for one or two years already; most players had formed fixed habits, making it hard for Tencent to surpass it.

Both sides have been quietly competing—inevitable, since their businesses overlap.

To break Tencent's music licensing monopoly, Douyin had to reconstruct music: altering original BGMs, which is why many songs later became DJ versions, then only extracting the chorus to bypass traditional copyright.

Additionally, it supported independent musicians and used algorithmic recommendations and traffic bias to create hits.

Later, "We Are Different" and "Take You on a Trip" became popular this way, promoting grassroots original music.

But now, overseas viral hits still dominate—like "PPAP" and "Nirvana," both Douyin's earworm anthems.

The Macau Film Festival red carpet went smoothly, because Xing Ye brought his film "The Mermaid" and its main cast to show support.

The main cast of this film remained the same, except the male lead was replaced by Shen Teng.

This year's Spring Festival Slot has entered promotional mode, and like in the past life, three films dominate: "The Mermaid," "From Vegas to Macau 3," and "Monkey King 2."

Other films can be ignored.

"The Mermaid" belongs to Yutu; "From Vegas to Macau 3" belongs to Bona; "Monkey King 2" belongs to Hong Kong-funded Star Film.

Once, Fang Hong suppressed the predecessor of this film, "The Monkey King: Uproar in Heaven," back when he had conflicts with Fa Ge.

But now he no longer uses underhanded tactics to suppress anyone—he relies purely on ability.

At his level, suppressing a single film is meaningless; it doesn't help Yutu's development, because succeeding or failing in one or two films has little impact on Yutu.

To keep doing such suppression would be beneath him, and besides, no one in this circle dares provoke him anymore.

If others don't provoke him but he still goes after them, that would truly be beyond redemption.

So all compete fairly—box office success depends entirely on personal ability.

"Ex Machina 2" remains delayed; releasing it alongside "The Mermaid" and "From Vegas to Macau 3" would be like shooting oneself in the foot.

"The Mermaid" and "From Vegas to Macau 3" both use Chang'e's subsidiaries and Tubaipiao's promotional channels.

"From Vegas to Macau" is an IP, so its promotion still revolves around those few stars; "The Mermaid"'s slogan is: "You Owe Xing Ye a Movie Ticket."

That slogan worked in the past life, drawing audiences to theaters; since it succeeded, they're using it again.

This year's New Year's Eve is February 7—there isn't much time left.

For the Macau Film Festival, the host was Ni Ping, a woman known for speaking her mind, comparable to Cui Yongyuan.

At the award ceremony, facing the glittering stars, she stepped on stage and teased: "You all look radiant on the red carpet, but why do you all start playing with your phones as soon as you sit down? Are you checking if you made trending topics?"

This drew laughter from the audience.

Then she added: "I heard something bad happened in the entertainment industry recently—many might blame the Principal. But I say, you shouldn't blame him; you should thank him. Why?

Without him exposing it, who knows how far this industry would have sunk?"

This silenced the room, leaving a hint of awkwardness.

"Some films now have better special effects than scripts. I hope tonight we can talk more about the sincerity in stories."

This award ceremony continued last year's tradition: avoiding giving major awards to Yutu's films, to prevent accusations of favoritism.

Though some still complained, they did their utmost to avoid it.

Soon, articles about the Macau Film Festival winners topped headlines on major media and trending lists.

Short-video platforms also carried related reports.

"Best Special Effects: Gravity!"

"Best Supporting Actress: Wang Zhi for Goodbye Mr. Loser!"

"Best Supporting Actor: Zhang Yi for Dear Ex!"

"Best Actress: Xu Qing for Mr. Six!"

Although this film was rejected and hadn't been released yet, it was submitted for consideration.

When Yutu and Huayi decided the winner, Huayi submitted it, unwilling to fight further—completely surrendering, now only wanting peace.

Many BoNa films were also nominated for evaluation.

Liu Tianxian was originally nominated for Best Actress, but the unwritten rule excluded her, and she didn't attend due to prior commitments.

They said she was already the double Best Actress at the Macau Film Festival, and though Fang Hong hadn't taken over then, winning consecutively wouldn't be appropriate—better to wait a couple of editions.

Due to the Macau Film Festival's visibly rising fame, people online are now promoting: "Liu Tianxian, Double Best Actress at Macau."

That means the value of her previous award is increasing, and many people don't understand its history.

They just assume the Macau Film Festival has always been impressive; only those who pay special attention know the truth.

Of course, some people do provide context, but this doesn't stop the festival's prestige from rising.

If Liu Tianxian wins another award at the moment when her name and authority at the Macau Film Festival peak, it can cover up the earlier "water award"!

The Best Actor award went to Deng Chao for The Dead End.

"Best Director, Guo Fan for Mojin: The Lost Legend!"

With almost no competition, in terms of both plot and Best Special Effects, only this film could win.

The current film market has too few quality films.

"Best Screenplay, Mountains May Depart!"

"Best Film, The Dead End!"

After each of these films' creators won their awards, they gained massive exposure via live internet broadcasts on stage.

This allowed them to sell more rights.

Even the award-presenting celebrities, flashing on the glittering stage, were seen by tens of millions at once.

This Macau Film Festival also attracted a large number of tourists, turning Macau into a brand, with visitors not just from Neidi, but also Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.

After all, domestic films and TV dramas have strong markets in these regions, so more fans come to chase stars.

While the warmth of the Macau Film Festival was still spreading, on January 19, the inaugural "Top Ten Economic Figures of the Year" was held at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

It was much larger than outsiders imagined—not just an ancient architectural complex, but also included a royal garden area and a grand hotel.

It was an integrated garden-style hotel for leisure, office work, meetings, events, accommodation, and sightseeing.

Except for the Presidential Building, the other dozen or so buildings were open to the public—if you had the money, could afford it, and had no problematic background, you could come and experience it.

Staying here was priced in US dollars.

Staying here was also prestigious—whether in terms of status or wealth, it was impressive to say so, given its reputation as the only ultra-five-star garden villa hotel in Dongfang.

Liu Tianxian's coming-of-age ceremony was once held here; back then, everyone assumed she had some powerful background and was viciously criticized for it.

In fact, Liu Tianxian was unfairly blamed—this place was always open, and she wasn't the only celebrity to host events here: Fang Long held film launches and charity galas here.

Guoji Zhang and Fan Xiaopang held brand endorsements and private banquets here.

They just didn't let the outside world know they were holding closed-door banquets, eating and drinking inside.

The advantage of holding events and banquets here was excellent privacy—complete secrecy from the outside world.

After all, there was vetting, and media reporting was restricted.

Li Lianjie also held a One Foundation charity gala here; Jack Ma, Tony Ma, Lei Bus, Lao Wang Zong, and Dong Dajie all held events and banquets here.

No one criticized them, but when Liu Tianxian held one event, she was viciously attacked for having connections—nobody knew why.

This time, Fang Hong brought Liu Tianxian again; beneath the guesthouse's main gate, armed guards stood watch.

After verifying their identities and access passes, the guards saluted them, and the two walked inside.

Vehicles required special license plates to enter, so both had to walk in—other attendees did the same, walking in and restricted to designated areas under guidance.

As the sun set, Fang Hong admired the beautiful scenery—the grass, trees, and plants lifted the mood, even in winter, and beside them flowed a clear little lake.

"How wonderful it would be if you raised your child here!" he sighed.

"What's so great? You can't go here, can't go there—no freedom," Liu Tianxian said, linking arms with him.

She still wore a black fur-lined coat, exuding elegance and nobility, though she looked bulky; unless you looked closely, you wouldn't notice she was pregnant—you'd just think she'd gained weight.

After all, her face was round—she really had gained weight.

Even if you noticed, what could you do? The people here weren't like the entertainment circle, under blinding spotlights; no one gossiped.

She added: "I still prefer staying at home, doing whatever I want."

"That's true," Fang Hong nodded.

Though the scenery here was beautiful, there was always a sense of awe that made one feel uneasy.

"Was your coming-of-age ceremony in that building?" Fang Hong asked.

"Building 17, called Fangfeiyuan," Liu Tianxian said.

"What a coincidence—we're going to Building 17 this time too. Doesn't it feel like a return?" Fang Hong joked.

Only Building 17 was used for large meetings, press conferences, cocktail parties, and banquets.

The others were leisure suites and banquet halls.

"Yes—from coming-of-age to becoming a mother, ten years have passed, like a lifetime. Oh, suddenly I feel like reciting a poem." Liu Tianxian sighed, smiling sweetly.

"Go ahead," Fang Hong said.

"Alright, uh—ten years of life and death, vast and dim, no need to think, yet never forgotten; a lonely grave a thousand miles away, nowhere to speak of sorrow; even if we met again, you wouldn't recognize me, tears streaming, temples frosted with white," Liu Tianxian coughed lightly.

"Brilliant poem, truly brilliant," someone clapped.

(End of Chapter)