Chapter 128: Heavenly Queen Wang Fei and the Complex Entertainment Circle

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Cheng Chen followed Xu Cainv and Zhang Yadong into the recording studio.

"Jinglei, over here, Yadong."

As soon as they entered the studio, a soft, languid female voice rang out.

Looking up, he saw a pale, ethereal, and strikingly beautiful face.

Seeing her, Cheng Chen was slightly surprised.

Wang Fei? How is she here too!

Wang Fei, spotting Cheng Chen behind Xu Cainv and Zhang Yadong, also paused briefly, then smiled and greeted:

"Hello, Cheng Chen, I'm Wang Fei."

"Hello, Sister Fei, I didn't expect to meet you here."

Cheng Chen replied politely.

Regardless of anything, Wang Fei was a legendary senior in the music industry.

Her acclaimed album "You Wang Fei So I Wang Fei."

With total sales of 9.7 million copies, she received the Guinness World Records certificate for "Highest-Selling Cantonese Female Singer."

This was an unprecedented achievement among singers.

It was this very album that catapulted her to dominance in the music scene.

Beyond her extraordinary voice, Wang Fei's romantic life was as dazzling as her singing.

Since falling in love at age seventeen and causing the Hei Bao Yue Dui to break apart,

over the next twenty-eight years, she had passionate affairs with five men.

Each man was a charismatic genius, each entangled in an inextricable love story with her.

Her affair with the hot celebrity Chu Zifeng was still gossiped about by the public more than a decade later.

So, Cheng Chen maintained a respectful distance from both her and Xu Cainv.

"Hello, Sister Fei, Cheng Chen—you know him, right? Let me introduce the others.

This is Director Ye Weixin; this one doesn't need introduction—you know him, right? Li Ming, the Heavenly King!"

Come to think of it, Cheng Chen, you're a Heavenly King too.

If the media caught this scene of two Heavenly Kings and a Heavenly Queen together, it'd shake up the entertainment circle, haha."

Xu Cainv pulled Cheng Chen's arm over to Wang Fei's side, where two men sat beside her.

Director Ye Weixin and Li Ming, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

Xu Cainv, no doubt a socialite of the Beijing circle, quickly warmed up the atmosphere among the previously unfamiliar people with just a few words.

Yet, her gesture of pulling Cheng Chen's arm and introducing him to them

made Zhang Yadong, standing nearby, feel overlooked and slightly resentful.

But he quickly corrected his mindset—though he now had some notable achievements,

before these big names, he remained a behind-the-scenes worker, lacking their fame.

Of course, he would never accept Cheng Chen as his equal.

Just wait—I'll make him regret it…

Cheng Chen glanced briefly at Zhang Yadong, who stood nearly on the edge.

He then turned his attention fully to the people before him.

As Xu Cainv had just said, if this group were photographed by the media,

while saying it would "shake up the entertainment circle" might be exaggerated hype, it would still be major news.

Wang Fei and Li Ming need no introduction—one a Heavenly Queen, the other a Heavenly King.

Both were household public figures.

What truly interested Cheng Chen was Ye Weixin.

This man was also a formidable figure.

After dropping out of middle school, Ye Weixin saw an advertisement from Ni Ni Cheng Film Company seeking staff and entered the film industry.

He started by doing odd jobs and delivering lunch boxes for three months at Ni Ni Cheng.

Zheng Zheshi (Fat Cat) noticed him, promoted him to script supervisor, then later to Assistant Director.

From then on, his life began to rise.

In 1996, Ye Weixin directed the gangster action film "Wong Guk Fung Yun," emerging as a notable director.

Later, he directed acclaimed works like "Kill Zone," "Ip Man 1 and 2," and "Qian Nu You Hun."

Ye Weixin was a director who explored many film genres.

He experimented with Kung Fu, crime thrillers, romance, comedy, horror, and fantasy.

His early film "Sheng Hua Shou Shi" pioneered the Chinese-language zombie genre.

He was an exceptionally innovative director,

blending Hong Kong-style storytelling with complex cinematography.

Creating fast-paced action and visually explosive effects.

Thus carving out a path for himself within Hong Kong's classic action film tradition.

Meanwhile, the release of his "Dragon Tiger Gate" marked Ye Weixin as a leading figure in Hong Kong's Kung Fu cinema, crime thrillers, and marginal commercial art films.

Of course, it was 2003 now—films like "Kill Zone," "Dragon Tiger Gate," and "Ip Man" were still future works.

At present, he had only just begun to establish himself among Hong Kong's director elite.

Cheng Chen knew him so well because, in his youth, he had greatly admired Ye Weixin's film style and studied him extensively.

"Hello, Cheng Chen, I know who you are—your feat of taming Yuan Baye is still talked about in the director circle today."

"Someone who can tame Yuan Baye? Hmm, I'm very interested in you."

Ye Weixin smiled as he looked at Cheng Chen, speaking Mandarin that wasn't quite fluent.

Every director has his own circle, and among directors there are subtypes: action, drama, comedy, and so on.

Although Zhou Xingchi had repeatedly demanded secrecy for Kung Fu.

But action design, which barely touches plot details, leaking out isn't a big deal.

A young mainland pop king helped Yuan Baye fulfill Stephen Chow's nearly demanding action design.

This made every Hong Kong action director itch with envy.

Amid today's Hong Kong action films sinking deeper into clichés and formula.

For someone like this to emerge was truly astonishing.

Ye Weixin, who started with action films, naturally paid close attention to Cheng Chen.

Hearing this, Cheng Chen could only smile bitterly.

He even suspected whether Yuan Baye told everyone he met about how Cheng Chen helped him with the action design.

He wasn't deliberately promoting Cheng Chen's name—his character was upright; he never claimed others' achievements as his own.

This was clear from his demand to add Cheng Chen's name to the action design credits of Kung Fu.

Cheng Chen could already picture Yuan Baye's conversations with others:

Stranger: "Ba Ye, I heard you took on the action design for Xing Ye's new movie?"

"Xing Ye's notorious for being hard to please—didn't he torture you?"

Yuan Baye: "Hahaha, you idiot—I found a genius action choreographer on set."

"That singer everyone's talking about—he got Zhou Dao to agree."

"Damn, even his singing's this good—these young people today, truly impressive…"

Cheng Chen bowed slightly to Ye Weixin and said politely:

"Director Ye, you flatter me—I just got lucky and happened to sync up with Zhou Dao's way of thinking."

Hearing their conversation, everyone turned to stare at Cheng Chen in surprise.

They knew Cheng Chen sang well—he was the god who sold over a million copies in his first month.

They also knew Cheng Chen acted—though his dramas in 2002 and 2003 weren't many, they never stopped airing.

But Cheng Chen is also the martial arts choreographer for Xing Ye's new movie…

Wang Fei:???

Li Ming:???

Zhang Yadong:???

Xu Cainv: I knew it—I was right, he's so talented!

Cheng Chen:???

…

Xu Cainv then introduced Dongzi, who stood nearby, to everyone.

Soon after, the group began chatting, and Cheng Chen finally understood.

These people had gathered because of Ye Weixin's new film, Da Cheng Xiao Shi's theme song.

Although Da Cheng Xiao Shi was still being filmed, Ye Weixin took it seriously and came all the way from Modu's set.

The composer and lyricist was Zhang Yadong, introduced by Wang Fei.

Zhang Yadong was currently courting Xu Cainv, and Xu Cainv was close to Wang Fei.

So when he heard Zhang Yadong was meeting a Hong Kong director today, she came along…

Cheng Chen had only vaguely heard of Da Cheng Xiao Shi—he preferred Ye Weixin's action films.

So he wasn't very familiar with this film starring Wang Fei and Li Ming.

Zhang Yadong, who had been ignored until now, finally got his chance to speak.

He pulled out all the stops, explaining how the music he composed for Da Cheng Xiao Shi reflected the protagonists' psychology.

How it tied into the plot, how rhythm and lyrics were designed, and his entire creative philosophy from start to finish.

Everyone nodded frequently; Cheng Chen, standing aside, kept his gaze fixed on Zhang Yadong, Wang Fei, and Xu Cainv.

These three were interesting: Zhang Yadong entered the industry because of Dou Wei and Dou Ying.

They introduced Zhang Yadong to Wang Fei, and he produced her first original Mandarin album, Fuzao.

He helped solidify Wang Fei's status in the Hong Kong music scene and opened the mainland music market.

Zhang Yadong married Dou Ying, becoming Dou Wei's brother-in-law and Wang Fei's brother-in-law.

In 1999, Wang Fei divorced Dou Wei.

In 2000, Zhang Yadong divorced Dou Ying.

Hmm—in less than a year, the Dou siblings each received a divorce certificate.

After that, Dongzi began pursuing Xu Cainv.

Around this time, Li Yapeng entered the scene and began aggressively courting Wang Fei.

It was said that while filming Da Cheng Xiao Shi, Li Yapeng learned Wang Fei liked jokes.

So he collected jokes, compiled them into text messages, and sent them to her—his record was 100 messages in one day.

One hundred text messages a day—Li Yapeng truly lived up to his nickname, the Octopus.

Back in 1998, Li Yapeng and Xu Cainv starred together in the TV drama Jiang Qing Ai Xing Zhi Dao.

In the drama, Li Yapeng and Xu Cainv played a passionate couple, and they were nicknamed Jin Tong Yu Nu and the National Couple.

Several years later, Xu Cainv and Li Yapeng appeared together on a singing show.

The two recreated the iconic "shared bicycle" romantic scene from *Love Will Find a Way*.

Soon after, Xu Cainv's first performance challenged Wang Fei's *Those Rushing Years*.

Enthusiasts jokingly called Xu Cainv challenging Wang Fei on behalf of Li Yapeng…

The relationship among the three was not complicated, but it was certainly not easy to unravel at a glance.

Indeed, the saying proved true:

The entertainment circle is a circle.

…

Dongzi pulled out the song he had written, but director Ye Weixin kept frowning without comment.

Finally, he nodded and said:

"Leon (Li Ming), try this song first."

Li Ming nodded and took the lyrics and melody from Zhang Yadong.

The film's theme song was personally assigned by director Ye Weixin to be sung by Li Ming.

That's why he was brought along on this trip to Jingcheng.

After Li Ming entered the recording studio, Zhang Yadong gave Cheng Chen a smug look.

Today was supposed to be his moment, but Xu Cainv's performance upon arrival had left him feeling uneasy.

After entering, Director Ye lavished praise on Cheng Chen.

This made Dongzi especially bitter, still resentful that Cheng Chen had stolen the spotlight.

Only when he explained his creative concept did he manage to regain some ground.

Now that Li Ming was singing his meticulously prepared song, he finally felt at ease.

Now see how you're going to show off!

Clearly, he had great confidence in his own composition.

He believed it was no worse than any song Cheng Chen had released since his debut…

Not long passed before Li Ming stepped out of the recording studio.

"This song… hmm, how to put it… it doesn't quite match Zhou Qian's psychological state (the male lead of *Big City, Small Matters*)."

Li Ming said slowly.

Hearing this, Zhang Yadong's heart tightened, but Ye Weixin spoke:

"First, listen to the song…"

Li Ming nodded and played the recording he had just made…

After the song ended, Ye Weixin frowned deeply; Zhang Yadong watched, anxious inside.

He glanced helplessly at Wang Fei, who gave him a signal and said:

"Director Ye, what's wrong with the song?"

Ye Weixin's expression turned grave:

"When Zhou Qian rejects Xiao Yue's bold confession verbally, his heart still longs to draw closer to her.

After Xiao Yue finally breaks up with him, this emotion reaches its peak, and Zhou Qian begins actively pursuing her.

But Xiao Yue's attitude toward him remains distant yet occasionally close; Zhou Qian's inner torment drives him to keep reaching for her.

In this song, I only hear Zhou Qian's torment—there's no further action…"

Zhang Yadong is undoubtedly an outstanding music composer.

He possesses unparalleled talent and passion for music.

But influenced by his personality, he favors a somber style in certain types of songs.

This somberness isn't in the arrangement or lyrics, but in the emotional tone the song conveys.

This was perfectly evident in his earlier album *Restless* for Wang Fei.

"Overall, this is a fine song, but… it doesn't suit *Big City, Small Matters*."

Ye Weixin looked at Zhang Yadong and spoke slowly.

Uh… was that a rejection?

Cheng Chen watched Zhang Yadong's ashen face and suddenly felt a pang of sympathy.

The quality of his song was unquestionable, but this kind of "custom-made" work—

once it fails to align with the film, even the best song can't fulfill much function here.

At that moment, Ye Weixin's gaze suddenly landed on Cheng Chen and said:

"A-Cheng, how about you give it a try?"

"Me?"

Cheng Chen stared at Ye Weixin with a strange expression.

You just rejected one, and now you're eyeing me? Are you a player?

Still, though he thought it, Cheng Chen said aloud:

"Can I see the movie script first?"

"I have one."

Li Ming pulled out the script from his bag.

Cheng Chen took the script—hmm, Li Heavenly King took his role seriously.

The script was filled with dense notes.

After taking the script, Cheng Chen immersed himself entirely in the plot.

Seeing Cheng Chen reading the script, Ye Weixin took the initiative to chat with Zhang Yadong, whose expression was uneasy.

After all, he had just turned someone down, and Ye the director felt a bit guilty.

The group began talking beside him.

After about half an hour, Ye Weixin stood up and said:

"Time's about up. Well, let's call it a day and talk another time."

Clearly, asking Cheng Chen to read the script had been an offhand gesture.

After all, Cheng Chen's reputation was well known, and now that he had taken the script and said nothing.

He understood that even if Cheng Chen truly had ideas, it would take time for them to take shape.

He'd keep looking for songwriters anyway—today was just an experiment.

As everyone stood up to pack up and leave, Cheng Chen suddenly closed the script and said:

"Sorry, I found the script deeply moving—I just wrote a song."

"Could I trouble you for a little more time? Let me play it for you before you go."

Just wrote a song?

Zhang Yadong:???

Ye Weixin:???

Wang Fei:???

Li Ming:???

Xu Cainv: He's really talented!

……

——————Extra Notes——————

Thank you to Xiao ShihoudeWo, Wu Dao Heavenly King?, Tianxia Guanjia, Wo Zhi Shi Yi Zhi De Yun Nanhai, and Xiao Xiangzi for your monthly votes, and thanks to all the brothers for your recommendation votes.