Chapter 198: The Return of the Double-Gold Great Director

"Bingbing, treat it as your own home when you come, don't be polite!" a middle-aged woman said kindly.

"Thank you, Auntie~" Fan Bingbing bowed politely.

"Mom, stop busybodying. I'm taking Bingbing to my room to play~" Gao Yuanyuan said, pulling Fan Bingbing toward the room.

Since Fan Bingbing transferred from Seeing Qiongyao's company to Miracle Pictures, she has been very comfortable. After entering the company, she was full of energy, striving for the 200,000 she owed, and striving for her future!

And Miracle Pictures didn't let her down. As soon as she came in, they arranged a role for her, and it was a female supporting role—the daughter of the Grand Tutor, the sister-in-law of the Emperor!

Over the past two months, she played the female supporting role Pang Qiuyan in the *Young Justice Bao* crew, and formed a deep friendship with Gao Yuanyuan, who was of similar age and played the female lead. As soon as this TV series finished filming and returned to Beijing, she was invited by Gao Yuanyuan, who was deep in sisterly love, to her home to visit and play.

After entering Gao Yuanyuan's room, Fan Bingbing found that Yuanyuan's room was quite simple and elegant, with a green potted plant placed on the side of the white storage cabinet, light blue curtains, and sunlight spilling onto a stack of neatly arranged newspapers on the desk through the window.

Fan Bingbing walked over and saw the headline on the newspaper: "Wu Yuchen's *The Sixth Sense* box office breaks 300 million, shocking America!"

Afterward, Fan Bingbing flipped through the stack of newspapers and found that they were all reports about Wu Yuchen's *The Sixth Sense*:

"Wu Yuchen's *The Sixth Sense* box office and word-of-mouth harvest!"

"Wu Yuchen's *The Sixth Sense* becomes the strongest horror film in history!"

Fan Bingbing immediately shook Gao Yuanyuan's arm and said: "Sister Yuanyuan, why are you still opening the webpage! Just call Brother-in-law directly!"

Is she, Fan Bingbing, not beautiful enough? And her name is also a repeating sound, okay!

In her view, whether it was Jiang Qinqin or Gao Yuanyuan, they were able to become famous stars in the country because of Wu Yuchen. She also wants to lean on this big tree!

Gao Yuanyuan finally had someone to share with, and she couldn't hold it back anymore, pouring out the beautiful process of her meeting, knowing, and loving Wu Yuchen. She didn't notice the flame rising in Fan Bingbing's envious look at all.

Fan Bingbing flicked the newspaper in her hand and then gave Gao Yuanyuan a sly smile, teasing: "Oh! Why is our Yuanyuan sister so concerned about Wu Dao Yuchen!"

But she is Fan Bingbing, Fan Bingbing who wants to make progress! She wouldn't do that!

Facing Fan Bingbing's envious look, Gao Yuanyuan spoke with great enthusiasm amidst her constant praise, and unknowingly her throat went dry. Just as she wanted to get up to drink some water, she slapped her head: "Oh! I forgot!"

Wu Yuchen didn't think much about such trivial matters. He picked up his phone and made a call, not to anyone else, but to the male and female leads of this film *Love*, Ge Cunzhuang and Wang Danfeng. This time the film was able to win the Golden Lion Award, and the performance of the two old actors was a great contribution. He had to report the good news to the two old seniors for the first time and let them be happy too.

"*The Sixth Sense* sweeps the United States, Wu Yuchen creates a horror myth!"

"Then you should have told me earlier~" Gao Yuanyuan stomped her little feet lightly.

"We are a match made in heaven~" Gao Yuanyuan said with her little chin raised.

After Gao Yuanyuan hung up the phone, she said happily to Fan Bingbing: "Brother Chen said I was the first one to call to congratulate him!"

"Sister Yuanyuan, tell me about you and Wu Dao, how did you meet?" Fan Bingbing asked with a look of thirst for knowledge.

"I came to find you that day and heard it by accident. I really didn't mean to!" Fan Bingbing added hurriedly.

Fan Bingbing thought to herself, she could be considered to have discovered some of Wu Dao's little secrets!

"Ah?! You heard it!" A flash of panic, shyness, and secret joy flashed in Gao Yuanyuan's eyes.

Not just Gao Yuanyuan, Fan Bingbing was also blushing as she looked at it, and she hugged Gao Yuanyuan and cheered loudly.

However, there were ultimately few netizens in the country in 99. The first batch of people who knew were these news practitioners, and among them, the evening newspapers were the happiest, because it was around 2:00 PM in China now, and they could quickly rush out the manuscript, add it to the newspaper, and the sales of tonight's newspaper would definitely rise!

In the evening, *Beijing Evening News* was placed in various newspaper kiosks on the streets:

"Wu Yuchen wins the Golden Lion, achieving the double-gold great cause!"

Hearing Fan Bingbing's reminder, Gao Yuanyuan came back from her excitement and hurriedly clicked on the headline again, but I don't know if it was because there were too many people visiting, the new webpage was spinning and couldn't be read.

Gao Yuanyuan was stunned for a moment, then immediately screamed in excitement, then excitedly pulled Fan Bingbing beside her, constantly shaking her and shouting excitedly: "Brother Chen won the Golden Lion Award again! Golden Lion!"

Fan Bingbing went up and hugged Gao Yuanyuan's arm: "Sister Yuanyuan, you don't have to quibble. When you were calling on the crew before, you called him Brother Chen, Brother Chen, I heard it long ago~"

Exclaiming, Gao Yuanyuan hurriedly went to open the computer in the room. Now the old Lenovo computer takes one or two minutes to turn on.

Gao Yuanyuan explained while operating the dial-up internet with her hands. After several minutes, she opened the few webpages she usually collected. It took another half a minute to react. The headline on the homepage of the Sina portal website, which was read first, clearly wrote a title:

"Wu Yuchen's *Love* captures the Golden Lion in Venice!"

Gao Yuanyuan immediately said happily: "Hello, Brother Chen, congratulations on winning the Golden Lion! Really? Hee hee, look how much I care about you! Then you have to reward me when you come back~ Hmm, hmm, I'll wait for you to come back..."

The phone was connected after ringing a few times.

Gao Yuanyuan's face turned red. She snatched the newspaper from Fan Bingbing's hand and argued somewhat shyly:

"Sister Yuanyuan, take a look at the specific news!"

Gao Yuanyuan slapped her head upon hearing this. She was really stupid. She took out her phone and called Wu Yuchen.

The two girls laughed and sat on the bed. Fan Bingbing gently pinched Gao Yuanyuan's rosy and beautiful face and said, "Sister Yuanyuan, you are so beautiful, I want to kiss you as a woman. No wonder Wu Dao was fascinated by you!"

"Isn't everyone discussing this? Besides, Chen... Wu Yuchen's *The Sixth Sense* has achieved such good results, winning glory for us, shouldn't we all pay more attention to it!"

Without a doubt, exposing Jiang Qinqin and Gao Yuanyuan is absolutely the stupidest choice. This is even more serious than her falling out with Seeing Qiongyao, and it is likely to ruin her acting career in the future, the kind where there is no way out. She is stupid to do this kind of thing.

Fan Bingbing leaned over and asked: "Sister Yuanyuan, what's wrong?"

At the same time, the news that Wu Yuchen's film *Love* won the Golden Lion also spread rapidly in various regions of China.

"Sister Yuanyuan, look in the mirror. Your face is as red as a monkey's butt now. I told you before, I'm afraid you won't be able to film anymore!" Fan Bingbing covered her mouth and laughed.

Gao Yuanyuan hurriedly switched to the Sohu and NetEase she opened just now, but these two webpages couldn't be read either. This speed of a few KB really made Gao Yuanyuan anxious.

At this time, Fan Bingbing put away her phone. She had just edited a congratulatory text message and sent it to Wu Yuchen, then looked at Gao Yuanyuan with an envious look again and said: "Sister Yuanyuan, you and Brother-in-law have a good relationship!"

Gao Yuanyuan touched her face upon hearing this. It was indeed a bit hot, then she grabbed Fan Bingbing and patted her: "Smelly Bingbing, what monkey's butt, you are bad!"

Logically, she should now exert the spirit of "girls help girls" and pull Jiang Qinqin and Gao Yuanyuan together to expose Wu Yuchen's true face as a scumbag.

"Today is the day of the Venice awards ceremony. Chen told me the time difference is seven hours. It should be about time. I originally wanted to watch the news on the internet!"

Fan Bingbing's envy wasn't fake. She thought to herself, if I hadn't reminded you, how could you grab this first one? If I had this relationship with Wu Dao, then I would have to be the first one every time!

Wu Yuchen smiled looking at the phone. Yuanyuan, this girl, is really thoughtful. Afterward, he saw a text message on his phone, which was sent by Fan Bingbing. He didn't expect this girl to be so thoughtful. Afterward, he thought that these two people seemed to be filming *Young Justice Bao* together. Wouldn't they be together?

Besides, Jiang Qinqin can, Gao Yuanyuan can, why can't she, Fan Bingbing?!

"Chinese-language films win three major awards, shining in Venice!"

Not only *Beijing Evening News*, but *Yangcheng Evening News*, *Xinmin Evening News*, and *Yangtze Evening News* also published similar content, entering thousands of households with the delivery of the newspaper delivery man.

"This Venice Film Festival, Chinese-language films have become the biggest winners. Wu Yuchen's *Love*, Zhang Yimou's *Not One Less*, and Zhang Yuan's *Seventeen Years* have wrapped up the three most important awards."

"And among them, the one that attracts the most attention is naturally *Love*, which won the Golden Lion Award for Wu Yuchen!"

This year is undoubtedly Wu Yuchen's breakout year. At the beginning of the year, *Getting Home* captured the Jin Xiong in Berlin, and now he has taken the Golden Lion with *Love*. He has also become the second person in our country after Zhang Yimou to be a double-gold winner!

"It is especially worth mentioning that Zhang Yimou's Jin Xiong and Golden Lion were won separately after 4 years, while Wu Yuchen won them consecutively in the same year, which can be called unprecedented and adds a legendary color to him!"

Winning double gold in the same year also marks that Wu Yuchen has entered the peak period of his creative career, not only having *The Sixth Sense*, which is both critically acclaimed and a box-office hit in America, but also *Getting Home* and *Love*, which have extremely high artistic value.

"Undoubtedly, Wu Yuchen has become a resounding signboard for the Chinese film industry to the outside world!"

Chen Kaige tightly squeezed the newspaper in his hand, reading it word by word, only feeling a burst of depression in his chest that couldn't be released.

Chen Kaige's year wasn't very smooth. *The Emperor and the Assassin* went to participate in Cannes and only won a technical award, and after it was released in China at the end of July, it only achieved 10 million box office after more than a month, not even a fraction of *My Sassy Girl*.

That's fine, he, Director Chen, doesn't compare box office, he compares artistic achievement. A bunch of vulgar people who don't even read *Records of the Grand Historian* still expect to understand his film?

However, he didn't expect that this Venice, which had just fallen, not only did Zhang Yimou win a Jury Grand Prize, but Wu Yuchen also won the Golden Lion and became a double-gold director!

This couldn't help but make Chen Kaige feel resentful and his sense of crisis increase, and he didn't even notice that he had squeezed the newspaper until it creaked.

Chen Hong understood her husband and immediately stepped forward to stroke the back of his hand, saying softly: "Kaige, *The Emperor and the Assassin* was filmed very well. You can only blame a bunch of foreigners for not understanding our Chinese culture. Look at Japan, they have a very good evaluation of you, don't they?"

Then she gently pulled the newspaper out of Chen Kaige's hand:

"In these three major European film festivals, if you want to talk about influence, Venice and Berlin combined can't compare to Cannes. Your Palme d'Or gold content isn't something they can compare to. You, you should relax your mood now, wait two years and win another Palme d'Or, who can compare to you again?"

Chen Kaige breathed a sigh of relief after listening, only feeling that Chen Hong still understood him, and a smile appeared on his tense face.

That's right, what is double gold? Can it compare to his Palme d'Or? Can it compare to his *Farewell My Concubine*?!

Wait for him to adjust his state and fight Cannes again!

Venice, at the party after the awards ceremony, naturally all kinds of people came to congratulate him, and Wu Yuchen also talked to them one by one. After this round, Wu Yuchen breathed a sigh of relief and saw Maggie Cheung chatting and laughing with Zhang Yimou, so he walked over.

To tell the truth, Wu Yuchen felt a little embarrassed for snatching a Golden Lion from Zhang Yimou, but it was only fleeting. This kind of thing will happen sooner or later. In the past few years, Chinese directors have been very active in the three major film festivals, and Zhang Yimou is also in a high-yield period. It is impossible to avoid him specifically because Zhang Yimou came to participate. If that were the case, the Golden Rooster in the country would have to take care of Zhang Yimou and avoid him for the past two years, and Wu Yuchen wouldn't have to film movies either.

Wu Yuchen must walk at his own pace. Help when he can, fight when he should, and take himself as the main.

After he walked over, he smiled at Maggie Cheung and said:

Wu Yuchen feels that he really has a karmic connection with Zhang Manyu. Previously, when he won the Berlin Best Director award—the first major award of his life—Zhang Manyu was a judge, and this time for the Golden Lion, it was her again.

Zhang Manyu joked, "Wu Dao, how do you know I voted for you? Maybe I voted for Director Zhang instead~"

Wu Yuchen laughed and said, "Whether you voted for me or for Senior Brother Zhang, I still have to thank you!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yimou also laughed, "Wu Yuchen is right. We were able to return fully loaded today, and that couldn't have happened without your support!"

"You two great directors, stop flattering me. It's because you are both capable enough and the films you made were good enough that you succeeded!"

Zhang Manyu then revealed a little bit: "Actually, the jury president, Kusturica, really liked Director Zhang's *Not One Less*, but the majority of the judges favored Wu Dao's *Love*."

This made Wu Yuchen understand. The jury president this time favored *Not One Less* and likely fought hard for it, but his *Love* was more popular with the people. This made Wu Yuchen feel it was quite interesting; one must know that in the previous two Berlin Film Festivals, the jury presidents were on his side, but this time, it was the opposite.

However, since he had already won the Golden Lion, there was nothing to worry about, which is why Zhang Manyu was able to say it out loud.

Usually, after the awards ceremony ended, Wu Yuchen would stay here for a few days to sell his films. But this time, he didn't linger at all and directly declined the offers from the various film distributors who came knocking, because this time he was aiming for the Oscars, and he would have to wait until after the Oscar results were in before selling.

Inside a conference room at China Film Group, Wu Yuchen and Han Sanping were both present, along with the veteran Ge Cunzhuang. As for Wang Danfeng, she hadn't come over; she was currently in Hong Kong with her husband.

Reporters from *China Film News* and *Film Weekly* were taking photos of the group and conducting an interview.

"Wu Dao, may I ask when *Love* will be released? Everyone is eagerly looking forward to it!"

The films Wu Yuchen makes now have become the public's favorite. The craze caused by *My Sassy Girl* is still in full swing, and then came the news that *The Sixth Sense* had broken 300 million USD in North America. Before that had even been digested, Wu Yuchen brought back the Golden Lion from Venice. It can truly be called wave after wave, and the impact on the domestic film industry is getting stronger with each one.

It's unknown when *The Sixth Sense* will be imported, and many people are planning to resort to piracy, but since *Love* has already won an award, it has aroused strong expectations from everyone.

Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "I'm sorry, but everyone might have to wait a little longer for the public release date. I plan to wait until after the Oscars before releasing *Love* domestically."

After these words were spoken, the reporter was immediately energized: "Wu Dao, are you planning to use *Love* to aim for the Oscars?"

Wu Yuchen smiled and said, "I do have that intention, but for the time being, it's not up to me. It still has to go through our internal evaluation and review to decide whether *Love* can represent our country in the competition."

After Wu Yuchen finished speaking, he looked to his side. Han Sanping was amused by what he said and then told the reporter:

"On this point, Wu Dao can rest assured. Just two days ago, the film *Love* defeated numerous other films that had applied and obtained the qualification to be submitted for this year's Oscars from the Chinese region!"

The reporter was immediately thrilled. This trip was truly worth it today; not only did they dig up quite a few behind-the-scenes stories about the filming of *Love*, but they also obtained this important piece of news. This alone is enough to put out a version of the news!

After the reporter left, Han Sanping asked Wu Yuchen with a smile, "Are you really not going to wait for a good date?"

Wu Yuchen waved his hand: "It's just a preview screening, why pick a good date? Just this week, send out invitations to everyone; those who want to come can take a look."

"That's true. With your reputation as Wu Dao, there's no need to pick any date at all. Whatever day you set, that day is a good day!" Han Sanping said, giving Wu Yuchen a thumbs up.

"Hey, President Han, don't flatter me too much, or I might really start to get a big head!"

After Wu Yuchen finished speaking, he and Han Sanping both burst into laughter.

Wu Yuchen is not like Chen Kaizi, who insists on choosing important dates like the 11th to release a film, making a show of his own status. The show he made for *The Emperor and the Assassin* was quite grand, but the result was a failure in both box office and awards. What was the use of making a show back then?

Of course, the main reason is that he still has other things to arrange, and his schedule is quite tight; he doesn't want to delay too long in Beijing. The sooner this preview screening is over, the better. It was originally done just to comply with the Oscar foreign-language film application procedures. However, even if he has things to do, it doesn't stop him from returning to Beijing to spend time with his parents and the people around him first.

Click, click. Wu Yuchen turned the key in the lock. As soon as he pushed the door open and entered, he saw Li Xiaoran wearing small shorts, stepping out with her bright, long legs, trotting toward him in flip-flops. The pair of white mounds on her chest were heaving and swaying, and then she directly wrapped her arms around his neck. With a bit of force from her feet, her legs wrapped around his waist, and she planted a loud kiss on his face.

Wu Yuchen supported her bottom, holding her like a large doll, and asked her with a smile, "Why are you so enthusiastic today?"

You have to know that usually when he comes over, at least half the time Li Xiaoran is sitting in front of the computer playing games and doesn't even pay attention to him.

"Celebrating our Wu Dao winning the Golden Lion, of course!" Li Xiaoran said with a grin.

"Is that how you celebrate?" Wu Yuchen asked again, pressing his forehead against hers.

Li Xiaoran blinked her big eyes: "Then how do you want to celebrate..."

Before she could finish, her mouth was already blocked by Wu Yuchen. After a while, Wu Yuchen lifted his head, his warm breath hitting Li Xiaoran's beautiful face: "It's to celebrate for your husband~"

"Stinky Chenchen, do you dare to go tell my mom and dad that?" Li Xiaoran didn't wait for Wu Yuchen to answer and took the initiative to kiss him...

In the evening, the two walked out of the bathroom one after another and sat lazily on the sofa. Li Xiaoran leaned into Wu Yuchen's arms, letting the September night breeze slowly dry their hair.

Wu Yuchen combed Li Xiaoran's hair with one hand while asking, "How do you feel about your filming in *Be There or Be Square*?"

"It's alright. I don't think there's any difficulty. Director Feng and Teacher Ge You are both very considerate of me, but I feel that Teacher Ge You's enthusiasm isn't very high. By the way, he even complained twice in the middle, asking why you didn't go find him instead of his old man! Director Feng didn't even dare to scold him, for fear he'd quit and stop filming. It's hilarious!" Li Xiaoran said, laughing until she shook.

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen also showed a smile. When he went to find Ge Cunzhuang back then, it seemed to have given Ge You some unrealistic fantasies. Now, with *Love* winning in Venice and the news spreading that it's going to aim for the Oscars, he's probably even more depressed. But no matter how much resentment he has, he wouldn't dare vent it on his old man!

At this moment, Li Xiaoran suddenly said: "By the way, I just met a friend recently, a Beijing drifter. I think she's living quite pitifully, and I want to let her stay here for a while. Is that okay?"

Actually, this house is under her own name, and Li Xiaoran can decide for herself who stays and who doesn't. But after all, Wu Yuchen often comes to see her when he's in Beijing, so she definitely has to discuss it with him.

"Hmm? Who is it?" Wu Yuchen asked curiously.

"A little sister from Sichuan, named Xie Na."