Chapter 318: Spring Festival Gala Invitation

The bidding system for the Spring Festival Gala general director started in 1993.

Before this, the Spring Festival Gala general director was always internally designated. The implementation of the bidding system was for fair competition.

The bidding process for the Spring Festival Gala general director is generally: first, hold a bidding meeting.

Bidders present their respective bidding plans.

During the whole process, members of the CCTV Editorial Committee just listen quietly, without interrupting or asking questions.

After the bidding meeting, the editorial committee members start closed-door discussions.

Finally, the editorial committee will discuss the best candidate for the new Spring Festival Gala general director in their minds that afternoon.

This time, Ma Dong knew very well how he was elected as the host of the Spring Festival Gala.

Because his plan for the general director, except for mentioning one person, could be said to have no other highlights.

After all, although he and Zhang Shaogang hosted *Challenge the Host*, which was the ace program of Channel 3, his qualifications as a director were shallow, and he had only directed language programs for the 2009 Spring Festival Gala.

He had never touched the position of general director.

In order to keep the content of the plan confidential, the content of this bid was completed by him alone, without the help of a second person.

So, no highlights was a compliment.

To be precise, except for that ingenious idea, the rest was a pile of shit.

As a result, at the bidding meeting, three judges broke the precedent and asked him three questions.

These three questions were:

"Have you been in contact with him before?"

"Do you know the people at Sina Weibo?"

"Then how much certainty do you have?"

After he finished answering, the big boss sitting in the middle looked around and said: "Invited last year, but he had to film, so there was no way. Filming again this year, and an even bigger movie, I didn't even think about this. What Little Ma said, this direction, heh, a bit interesting."

Of course it's interesting.

This was the method he came up with through the recent Weibo war.

Chen Nuo's difficulty in being contacted was well-known.

Before, when he was studying at the Beijing Film Academy, there was news every few days, or many paparazzi squatting, and photos of him going to school and class could always be taken.

However, since he graduated this July, it could really be said that no regular domestic media had contacted him again.

The photos of the filming scene in *Let the Bullets Fly* were heard to have been obtained by staff members bought by NetEase Entertainment for a lot of money.

Later, he went to the United States.

It was lively in the United States, *Time* magazine, *People* magazine, high-society charity dinners, tech company video platforms, the news from across the Pacific was flying everywhere, making domestic media feel like restless hornets.

However, whether it was CCTV or anyone else, all interview requests for him were blocked at Huanxin Company.

The reason was just one, and it made anyone unable to find fault: Mr. Chen Nuo is currently preparing to star in Director Nolan's new movie and has no arrangements for interviews.

Yes, this habit of his before starting a new movie is now known to many people. No matter how big the reporter is, they can't accuse him of being a big shot.

Originally, many people thought he would attend the donation ceremony at Peking University. After all, stars doing this kind of thing feels like it's used to brush up on their reputation. If they don't show their faces, isn't the money donated in vain?

As a result, only the newly appointed female general manager of Huanran Yixin came, and he still didn't show his face.

Later, from Tokyo to Yili, although there were many stolen photos of the set flowing out, for domestic media, it felt like it was better than nothing.

Not enough, far from enough.

Just look at the click-through rates and number of comments on major portals every time his news came out, which far exceeded other stars.

Compared to before, although there were more people who didn't like him, scolded him, and mocked him,

but who the hell cares about this?

All TV stations and entertainment reporters only knew that last month, when Fan Fan Binbing was promoting *Bodyguards and Assassins* and accepted an interview with NetEase Entertainment, talking about the romance between Liu Yifei and Chen Nuo,

the content was actually just one sentence, and it was a nonsense sentence.

"They are both adults and know what they are doing. As their mutual friend, I hope everyone gives them a little space."

What's the difference between saying this and not saying it?

As a result, that NetEase reporter added a headline. What exactly it was, Ma Dong couldn't remember, anyway, it mixed Fan Fan Binbing, Chen Nuo, and Liu Yifei's names together, making a clickbait headline.

As a result, news later leaked from inside NetEase that the news broke the record for the highest number of clicks in the NetEase entertainment section.

Later, Ma Dong had been paying attention to the new media war, the Weibo war between Tencent, NetEase, and Sina.

It was the same.

Was that Weibo post really posted by Chen Nuo himself?

It was really a mystery.

To this day, there is no conclusion, and the official Sina Weibo has always maintained a strange silence.

Neither denying nor admitting.

As a result, the number of forwards for that nameless Weibo post has exceeded 600,000, the number of replies has exceeded 1.2 million, and the number of likes is over 700,000.

It even caused the Chen Nuo from Jiajiang, who was suspected to have been replied to by Chen Nuo, to be interviewed by the *Huaxi City Daily* some time ago.

It could really be said that even the person is true or false is unknown.

Just a Weibo post with Chen Nuo's name was worth more than the dozens of stars on Tencent.

Especially Mr. Jet Li.

Also a big shot ranked at the top of the Forbes Celebrity List, a superstar with 100 million for one movie, speaking of which, his domestic film salary was much higher than Chen Nuo's.

As a result?

He posted eight Weibo posts, and the one with the most likes and comments was accompanied by photos of martial arts practice, but it only had 90,000 likes and 7,000 comments.

It could be said that it was not on the same level at all.

There were also people spreading the slightly exaggerated sentence: one Weibo post is worth 30 million.

Ma Dong's inspiration for bidding for the Spring Festival Gala general director came from this.

What is the biggest pressure on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala now?

It is that after Teacher Gao Xiumin passed away and Fan Chushi withdrew from the sketch circle, Uncle Benshan was unable to support the situation alone, and started using his own fame to pave the way for his apprentices every year.

Even though Xiao Shenyang became popular overnight last year, the viewership of the Spring Festival Gala itself hit a new low.

Including the advertising bidding for this year's CCTV Spring Festival Gala.

The big moves haven't started yet, and competitors including Gree, Haier, etc., have all stated that they will not bid for the zero-point timekeeping advertisement with their peers.

Is it that Gree and Haier have no money?

Can't even take out tens of millions, watching their opponents grab the naming rights for CCTV Spring Festival Gala zero-point timekeeping for several consecutive years, and they are not panicked at all?

Of course not.

The reason is clear to everyone from the station head to the security guard at CCTV: it is the declining viewership of the Spring Festival Gala year after year that makes people not care.

Ma Dong, as a CCTV insider, of course knew these things clearly.

He felt that whoever could come up with the plan most likely to save the viewership would be able to enter the final list of the leaders.

As a result, it was indeed the case.

Even in the bidding process, he, a second-generation star and popular CCTV host, was definitely not the one with the highest popularity.

The one with the highest popularity was named Jin Yue.

This person won the "Starlight Award," the highest award for Chinese television literature and art, 19 times in a row, and had successfully directed three Spring Festival Galas in 2001, 2003, and 2007.

It could be said that besides Zhang Yimou, no one could be found in China who was more awesome than him at directing evening parties.

But in the end...

When he stood on the cliff's edge, receiving the appointment letter for the 2010 Spring Festival Gala general director from the CCTV leader that afternoon, under the unbelievable gaze of Jin Yue, Ma Dong was high-spirited, but also felt that he was standing on the edge of a cliff.

He knew clearly that whether he could fulfill the boast he made during the election was the key to whether he could stay at CCTV in the future.

For the next week, he handed over everything else to others, and he mainly ran one line, which was Sina.

"Tencent Weibo is coming aggressively, NetEase and Sohu are eyeing it, currently although your Sina Weibo is not lagging behind and still leads in market share, Tencent's dozens of stars are not just for show, and after eating up the shares of the other two companies recently, the gap with Sina is getting smaller and smaller."

"The big stage of the Spring Festival Gala is absolutely an excellent platform. Our audience is not one or two provinces, but the whole country. Your spokesperson walks onto this stage. At that time, you can promote it on Weibo."

"Spring Festival Gala plus Weibo, the traffic bonus effect on your Weibo at that time... is absolutely 1 plus 1 greater than 2."

"Our leaders said, as long as you are willing to build a bridge, our Spring Festival Gala is also willing to cooperate with you to carry out some different forms of live broadcasts."

"Yes, but the premise is still... this is absolutely a win-win situation."

After running for a week, he ran to Sina headquarters I don't know how many times, his soles were almost worn out, and his mouth was almost dry, finally, a week later, a call came from there.

Helped him make an appointment.

"The people from CCTV are coming tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"You are going to pick them up yourself?"

"Mm, after all, it's CCTV, and the general director. By the way, send Little Zhao and Little Yang to the airport."

"Okay."

After Chen Nuo confirmed with Qi Yuntian, he turned to Yang Mi and Zhao Liying and smiled: "How does it feel to come here this time? I don't have time to accompany you, were you bullied?"

Yang Mi chuckled and said: "How is that possible, on Chinese territory, they dare, and I am a proper relationship household! My feeling, my feeling is that it's too cold, Chen Geshen."

Chen Nuo looked at the two girls who were wrapped like rice dumplings, wearing masks and earmuffs, revealing only a pair of eyes, and couldn't help but sigh.

Not to mention Yang Mi, even when he was cold, he asked Nolan why he arranged such an ice and snow scene, what was the significance?

As a result, he said, it was to pay tribute to the 1963 *007: Casino Royale*.

Sure enough, he is an old-school filmmaker.

Speaking of which, Nolan was willing to change from film to all-digital 3D photography this time. Michael Slan and the others didn't understand, but Chen Nuo knew it like the back of his hand.

It was 100% because he invested so much money and didn't want him to lose money.

James Cameron, the most profitable movie director in the world, if he hadn't taught Nolan his business philosophy, Chen Nuo would dare to write his surname backward.

It's just that these things, whether it was the introverted British gentleman or the Chinese man who didn't like to hang "thank you" on his lips, didn't say it out loud, just tacitly understood it.

But Chen Nuo knew that Jiang Wen's favor was considered repaid.

But now, besides Wong Kar-wai, there was another Nolan.

He calmly said the route Nolan gave, Yang Mi's eyes widened incredibly, and said: "The big director's thinking, we mortals really can't understand. But Chen Geshen, are you really going to sing at this year's Spring Festival Gala? Wow, this time, your reputation as a song god will resound throughout the country, oh."

Chen Nuo didn't know if Big Honey was really stupid or pretending, but thinking of some things he heard in the previous life, this woman wouldn't really treat them as some kind of song god. This nickname had been called for years and hadn't gotten tired of it yet, would this person not feel it was a nickname at all?

Chen Nuo tentatively asked: "Why? Yang Geshen, do you want to sing a song at the Spring Festival Gala and let everyone appreciate your singing voice?"

"I!" Yang Mi's voice rose instantly, then hummed and lowered it, "Forget it, as for me, wait another ten years."

Chen Nuo turned his head again and asked Zhao Liying, "How about you, Flower Fairy."

As soon as Chen Nuo said the three words "Flower Fairy," Zhao Liying's body trembled.

She looked up suddenly, looking at Chen Nuo.

In the girl's eyes, the world of snow-covered sky was like a hundred flowers blooming at this moment.

She couldn't help but laugh, but covered by the thick white mask, no one saw it.

Yang Mi asked curiously on the side: "Flower Fairy, what Flower Fairy?"

Chen Nuo ignored her and continued to say to Zhao Liying: "Do you want to go up and sing a song of Fable? When the time comes, call Su Tuan and Little Si too. Let the four of us from the Mingming Comedy Troupe perform together at the Spring Festival Gala, how about it?"

No matter what Zhao Liying laughed like after hearing this.

Ma Dong, who arrived the next day, felt that it was not very good at all.

He sat in the coffee booth on the third floor of the hotel, with a bitter smile on his face: "Chen Zong, this, this, of course, it's not absolutely impossible. We can also discuss it. However, unless it's a last resort, let's not."

Chen Nuo said seriously: "Ma Laoshi, you haven't heard me sing. I really can't find the tune. When I was filming *Perhaps Love*, Director Peter Chan really almost killed me. In the end, I sang word by word, and in the end, it was just like that."

Ma Dong twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile, "Chen Zong, you don't have to worry about this. Our Spring Festival Gala has a special technology, no matter who goes on stage, it's impossible to crack or go off-key. At that time, I guarantee that the effect of your singing will definitely not be worse than *Perhaps Love*."

Looking at his cheap look, Chen Nuo suddenly realized, "Oh, you mean..."

Ma Dong made a "shh" gesture, "Chen Zong, walls have ears, this matter cannot be said clearly. In short, as long as you come, these problems, we can all solve."

"And, the comedy troupe you just mentioned, I basically understand the meaning. Let's do this, Chen Zong, when the time comes, I will arrange that girl into the chorus group. Those two comedy actors, you can call them to come up with a program, come to us for rehearsal, and compete together. How about it?"

Chen Nuo suddenly felt that the art of trading of Old Tang was really awesome. With a small test, it really had an immediate effect.

In this way, Chen Nuo also grasped the fourth step of the art of trading, and smiled: "Ma Laoshi, then it's a deal."

"Actually, I'm really moved that you came all the way to Xinjiang to chat with me. Then I won't beat around the bush with you. Sina has actually told me some things before. I also agreed. Now I will express my position to you directly."

At this moment, Ma Dong's heart was about to jump out of his throat.

Although he had said a lot of things before, the person in front of him was always joking, and he didn't know his true intentions at all.

"I checked the Chinese New Year's Eve this year before, it's February 13th, and the Berlin Film Festival opens on February 11th. Speaking of which, at that time, I asked the crew for ten days off, ready to go to the Berlin Film Festival with Director Zhang Yimou."

"Now if I want to participate in the Spring Festival Gala, then I will only fly back to China after the Berlin opening ceremony, and then fly back the next day. I think I'm just tired, it's fine."

"However, the rehearsal before the Spring Festival Gala, I really can't squeeze out time. Because I have a lot of things to do in the crew every day."

"So please Director Ma... um? Keira?"

Ma Dong was stunned for a moment, turned his head to look, and saw a blonde, blue-eyed woman walking towards them.

As for her appearance, for media people like them who pay attention to the European and American film circles, she is extremely familiar.

I have seen it in entertainment news before, it is this British beauty who fascinated I don't know how many fans around the world in *Pirates of the Caribbean* who is about to star as the heroine of this movie, but I didn't expect to see the real person.

Ma Dong felt a particularly unreal feeling at this moment.

Keira Knightley looked at Ma Dong curiously and asked: "Chen, it's coffee time. You haven't finished yet?"

Chen Nuo said: "Immediately, you wait for me on the side for a while."

"OK."

Ma Dong saw that Keira Knightley really sat on a stool on the side obediently, crossed her legs, and looked at this side full of curiosity.

"Director Ma, my opinion is like this, what do you say?"

Ma Dong pondered for 0.01 seconds, although he was not sure what Chen Nuo meant by having a lot of things to do, whether it was filming, or what.

What did that coffee time mean.

Did his girlfriend Liu Yifei know that he was drinking coffee with Keira Knightley here every day.

He was a host of *Challenge the Host*, he really didn't understand these Hollywood things.

He nodded and said: "Chen Zong, there is no problem in principle. You also know that our Spring Festival Gala generally has to go through five rehearsals, and we also understand your special situation. Let's do this... once, come once before you go abroad, is that okay?"

……

……

"What is he looking for you for?"

Keira Knightley walked on Chen Nuo's left hand side and asked with special curiosity.

It was coffee time.

In fact, neither of them had coffee in their hands, only thick gloves.

On the first day, when Chen Nuo went to find Knightley, he just wanted to invite her to the coffee shop downstairs for a drink.

But seeing that she spent 40 minutes dressing up beautifully, he felt that just going downstairs to sit for a while was too wasteful of expression.

So he called Knightley downstairs for a walk.

Chen Nuo certainly would never admit that this was to let the severe cold of Yili avenge him for the 40 minutes of waiting.

In short, in the end, the two developed the habit of walking around the three-star hotel they had booked for a few laps every day after work and dinner.

Because to avoid paparazzi, they wouldn't even go out the main gate.

However, no matter how cold this British beauty was, she would dress up beautifully every time.

Chen Nuo also understood this quite well.

In Xinjiang, her scenes were very few. She had plenty of time every day and didn't know how to pass it.

She was different from Ryan Lei Nuozi.

That man also had no scenes, and he traveled around the mountains and rivers every day, treating himself as a tourist, walking around the county town all day, and even learned a few words of Xibe language. His self-familiar personality made him make several local Xibe friends. He couldn't be seen all day.

Chen Nuo listened to Knightley's words and replied: "He came to find me to attend a party."

"Party? What party?"

"Uh." Chen Nuo didn't know how to explain, so he directly prevaricated: "A party for the Chinese New Year. You don't understand. Alright, don't mention this. Continue the previous topic, Keira, your childhood sounds very happy."

"Yes, I am very lucky. I remember when I liked..."

Chen Nuo listened carefully to Keira Knightley's narration.

Regardless of what Ma Dong and others thought when they looked at him and Keira Knightley walking in the cold outdoors from top to bottom in the hotel room at this moment.

But he really wasn't picking up girls, nor was he trying to ride a big foreign horse.

Because, whether this foreign horse has anything is hard to say, but the chest is absolutely as flat as a man's, this is beyond doubt. For a vulgar person like him who likes big breasts, thin waist, long legs, and a perky butt, the attraction is definitely failing.

The only reason he found Keira Knightley to chat was that Nolan thought his acting was not good enough.

But where was it not good enough?

Nolan spoke vaguely.

Nolan is not Wong Kar-wai, he won't hide things and play with people.

Chen Nuo knew that Nolan might just feel something was wrong, but couldn't say what was wrong, so he would be like this.

Therefore, this problem could only be figured out by himself.

However, after communicating with Keira Knightley for many days, until now, he still didn't quite understand in his heart what kind of performance Nolan wanted.

Was it because he subconsciously felt that Knightley was a man, so he resisted?

Or was it because he had never been married, didn't understand the difference between love and marriage, and couldn't act out the feeling of a married man killing his wife with his own hands?

Chen Nuo felt it shouldn't be.

Wife and girlfriend, how much difference is there between the two?

That's how he thought.

Therefore, when his coffee time with Knightley ended and he was ready to go back to his room to rest,

seeing that Ryan Lei Nuozi, who didn't know where he had been traveling these past few days,

holding a bottle of Kweichow Moutai he didn't know where he got,

sitting at the door of his room drinking it mouthful by mouthful, Chen Nuo was really surprised.

"WTF, Ryan, what's wrong with you?"

Ryan Lei Nuozi raised his head, drunk and bleary-eyed, and looked at him, saying, "Chen, it's over between her and me. Everything, it's over."

And then.

Since Chen Nuo had known him,

he had never seen this blonde, handsome guy look so miserable.

He actually buried his head,

buried his face in one of his arms, and began to sob, "Woooooo."

(End of chapter)