Chapter 249: Lucky Year

"Quickly use the nunchaku, heng heng ha xi!"

"Quickly use the nunchaku, heng heng ha xi!"

On the stage, a young man was moving his steps while waving his arms, singing hard.

And under the stage, a group of teenage fans were cheering constantly:

"Cool!"

"Bunker!"

"Zhou Jielun, Zhou Jielun!"

Last month, Zhou Zhou Jielun released his second personal album, *Fan Texi*. If the first album *Jay* only made him slightly famous, then this second album *Fan Texi* really made him famous everywhere.

At this time, little Zhou is really talented. The songs in this album are all boutique, I don't know how much higher than *Christmas Star* 20 years later.

However, what really made him go out of the circle was this *Nunchaku* that spread all over the streets and alleys of the Chinese-speaking area.

Gao Zhu Yuanyuan is a native soccer fan. In junior high school, she joined the Beijing Guoan fan association, and in high school, she wrote a love letter to Cao Xiandong, the "Golden Left Foot" of Guoan at the time.

On the sofa, at this time, Gao Zhu Yuanyuan was also nervously pulling Wu Wu Yuchen: "Brother Chen, do you think we can get in this year?"

Losing the game is a comprehensive factor. Carelessness and underestimating the enemy is one aspect, and there is also the reason that the West Asian referee influenced the game in order to help Iran. Finally, it successfully helped Iran lead China by 1 point to get the World Cup quota.

And being able to spread so fast is naturally because Miracle Pictures is

"What's the matter?"

"Zhou Jielun, Zhou Jielun, come quickly!"

He had now crossed over from the main island and arrived in Hong Kong to promote. Although his language communication with the fans here was not very smooth, he was not stage-frightened at all, responding to the fans' enthusiasm.

But Hong Kong was different. Because of the influence of the former British Hong Kong, football was undoubtedly the most popular sport in Hong Kong. And tonight was the critical battle for the Chinese team to qualify for the World Cup; even here in Hong Kong, many fans were paying attention.

The current Zhou Jielun, after winning the Golden Melody Award, had his confidence greatly boosted. He was much more confident in front of the stage than before, and he had changed his styling; he no longer wore a baseball cap when he came out, revealing a confident smile while jumping and dancing.

After finishing today's promotional activities, Zhou Zhou Jielun had just returned to his hotel room when he ran into Wu Wu Kequn, who came to knock on his door to find him:

Because of the influence of Japan and the United States, the number one sport in Wanwan had always been baseball. The second most popular, which many people might not guess, was badminton, while basketball and volleyball ranked third and fourth. As for football... it couldn't even make it into the top ten. Therefore, Wanwan was a football desert; even during the World Cup, there were not many people watching the matches.

Of course, the fact that this song could become a huge hit was also inseparable from the contribution of lyricist Fang Fang Wenshan. The lyrics were not only cool, but the line in the chorus, "Quick, use the nunchucks, heng heng ha xi!" was truly too memorable. Basically, anyone who had heard it once, whether they liked it or found it annoying, had it imprinted in their minds.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Upon arriving in Hong Kong, with Huang Huang Xiao Ming and several others specifically inviting him, little Zhou naturally actively watched the match with everyone.

Wu Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "The current national football team is at its strongest, and they are currently at 4 wins and 1 draw, ranking first in points, with strong momentum, and playing at home. Moreover, with the lessons from the previous session, there shouldn't be any interference from the referee this time; the Jinzhou Tragedy won't happen again."

"I think so too!" Gao Zhu Yuanyuan said with a giggle, and she even waved a small Chinese national flag she had specifically prepared, looking very cute.

Little Zhou actually didn't watch football matches much in the past.

"Watch the match! We've all prepared! Actually, I didn't watch it before either, but the football atmosphere here in Hong Kong is really intense!"

At the same time, the night markets in the mainland region were also extremely popular tonight. Every owner was trying to find ways to place a TV at their stall and tune it to the live broadcast on CCTV-5, otherwise, who would come to eat at your place!

Wu Wu Kequn said while pulling Zhou Zhou Jielun to walk outside. After arriving at Huang Huang Xiao Ming's room, he found that the F4 members were all there. Little Zhou also smiled and greeted them: "Brother Huang Xiao Ming, Brother Liang, Brother Qiao Zhenyu~"

Seeing this, Huang Huang Xiao Ming greeted him: "Come, come, come, you've returned just in time; this match is about to start! If we can win this, our Chinese team will be able to enter the World Cup!"

During the last attempt to qualify for the World Cup in 1997, the national football team was also high in the group standings. In the last two rounds, under the condition that a draw would be enough to qualify, they were leading Iran 2:0 but were chased by 4 goals in a row, and in the last match, they lost to Qatar 2:3, resulting in a failure to qualify by 1 point, creating the famous Jinzhou Tragedy in the history of Chinese football.

Two hours later, when China won the match 1:0 against Oman, Gao Zhu Yuanyuan couldn't help but let out an excited scream. It wasn't just her; the shouting outside also kept reaching Wu Wu Yuchen's ears. The fans tonight were all boiling over.

Groups of fans gathered together on the streets, shouting:

"Long live Chinese football!"

"Chinese team! Rise up!"

The commentator on the TV was also constantly shouting loudly:

"Chinese football has done it! Break out of Asia and head toward the world!"

Tsk tsk tsk, Wu Wu Yuchen watched this scene, looking at these fans who were happy to the point of madness. For some reason, the scene from more than a decade later, "Are you worthy of us? Geneva, refund the money!", came to his mind.

He thought of the programmer with no future and the Tiezi who allegedly attempted suicide and was going to be locked up for 15 years. With this group of people, how could Chinese football possibly be good? He thought it was the starting point of a bright future, but it was actually the peak!

A year later, they would go to the World Cup for a one-round tour and come back with a goose egg. If you call it embarrassing, it was also an expected result.

On one hand, the opponents in the group were too strong; Brazil and Turkey were a champion and a third-place finisher. On the other hand, the batch of players who entered the World Cup competition was not the best lineup at all; it was all a result of various relationship games.

Everyone knew that the market value of those who appeared in the World Cup would skyrocket. With such huge benefits, who cared about your strength or whether you played well? At this time, what you competed for was connections and money. This atmosphere had continued for more than 20 years without changing, hehe.

However, at this moment, Wu Wu Yuchen's phone suddenly rang again. He opened it and saw it was his agent, Karl. He picked up the phone and asked:

"Karl, what's the matter?"

"Wu, just now, President Bush officially announced to the outside world at the White House that he would launch a war on terror, fight violence with violence, and send troops to Afghanistan."

Wu Wu Yuchen was slightly stunned. Although he had long known that this would happen, he didn't expect it to be announced right at this time. However, the Americans didn't care whether your national football team qualified or not.

Wu Wu Yuchen immediately asked: "What is the public opinion in the United States now?"

Karl said: "Because of 9/11, there are many voices supporting the dispatch of troops in the country now. But we in Hollywood have always held high the slogans of peace and anti-war, so you had better not express an attitude toward this matter."

Wu Wu Yuchen nodded: "Don't worry, I understand this kind of thing in my heart."

If he shouted against the war now, he would offend many American citizens who were stirred up with revenge emotions due to 9/11. If he supported the war now, he would be directly going against Hollywood. Moreover, afterward, when many people began to oppose the war, the words of a public figure like him would be hard to take back.

Therefore, Karl also specifically called to remind him, fearing that Wu Wu Yuchen didn't understand the situation in the United States. At such a time, not expressing his voice and keeping silent first was the best.

After hanging up the phone, Wu Wu Yuchen pondered in his mind. This war was fast if you said it was fast; the local regime was destroyed in less than 2 months. But it was slow if you said it was slow; the Americans were also dragged into the quagmire and didn't withdraw until 2021, investing trillions in military spending.

Afterward, he shook his head; his hometown was still the most peaceful!

Thinking of China, it was indeed no exaggeration to say that this year was a blessed year for China. Putting aside the fact that the Americans relaxed their attention and containment on China due to 9/11, just the several major events that happened one after another this year—the successful bid for the Olympics, the national football team qualifying, and then waiting until December, there would also be China's successful accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO)—all meant that China was constantly heading toward the world. Especially this last one, which played a great role in China's development.

Wu Wu Yuchen looked at Gao Zhu Yuanyuan, who was still celebrating, and directly picked her up. He had already watched the match, and the next stage was for him to personally go on the field to play ball.

For the next period of time, Wu Wu Yuchen was busy with the post-production of "Brotherhood of Blades," and at the same time, he also paid attention to some new projects opened by the company.

Actually, Miracle Film and Television had already opened quite a few plays this year, from "Black Hole," "Conquest," and "Escape from the Sky," to "Xiao Xiao Shiyilang," "Emperor of Han," and "Love Across Time," etc. For example, "Black Hole" was already scheduled to be broadcast soon, and there was no more manpower to open new plays.

However, this time it was Zhang Zhang Jizhong's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes." With the shooting team organized by Zhang Jizhong himself, Miracle Film and Television only needed to invest. It was just that the lineup of this "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" had changed significantly from his past life. In his past life, this version of "Condor Heroes" was basically considered a failure, and the most criticized part was the lineup, with the key concentrated on the male and female leads.

First, let's talk about the male lead, Li Yapeng. Actually, his portrayal of Linghu Chong was passable, but Guo Jing was not. You have to know that Guo Jing was honest and simple, and possessed great wisdom that looked like stupidity, but Li Yapeng's Guo Jing was too wooden and dull, and his stupidity was somewhat artificial. In other words, you could tell at a glance that it was faked. Many viewers even cursed that Li Yapeng's Guo Jing didn't lack a brain, but had an extra chromosome.

Zhou Xun's Huang Rong was actually played well, but that rough voice—how could it compare to Rong'er's clear, silver-bell-like voice?

Therefore, the male and female leads were simply replaced. The actors for Guo Jing and Huang Rong this time were Liu Ye and Jiang Jiang Qinqin, respectively.

That's right, Zhang Zhang Jizhong was just making trouble. Previously, Liu Ye and Jiang Jiang Qinqin had cooperated once in "Classic of Mountains and Seas," and the effect was very good. This time, he brought them together again to play the classic CP of Guo Jing and Huang Rong. This was built-in promotional traffic!

Liu Ye himself was a silly boy as the male lead in "Classic of Mountains and Seas," and he had a silly yet cute temperament, which was actually quite suitable for Guo Jing. As for Jiang Jiang Qinqin, she hadn't played a role similar to Huang Rong before, so he didn't know if she could perform that clever and cute energy.

However, Wu Wu Yuchen was not very worried; he just took it as letting Jiang Jiang Qinqin challenge herself and broaden her acting path. Actually, regardless of whether she played it well or not, the moment she was set as Huang Rong, she had already eaten up this wave of traffic and heat for Condor Heroes and Huang Rong, which was still very beneficial for her personally.

Jiang Jiang Qinqin being able to play Huang Rong naturally couldn't be without Wu Wu Yuchen's word. This time, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was Zhang Zhang Jizhong leaving CCTV to work on his own, and the investor was Miracle Film and Television. Wu Wu Yuchen, this big financier, naturally had the most influence. Moreover, Jiang Jiang Qinqin was one of the most famous actresses in the country now, so he couldn't possibly dislike her. Once the project was established, it was settled, and then after auditioning a circle of male leads, they decided on Liu Ye.

Of course, this time Zhang Zhang Jizhong's casting also dragged a circle of female stars out to be rinsed again; Zhao Wei, Zhang Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun, etc., none were spared, and the male and female leads were only announced until it was almost time to start shooting. This was this guy's traditional craft.

This day, Wu Wu Yuchen received a call from Han Han Sanping, so he put down the work in his hands and rushed to China Film Group.

Upon meeting, Han Han Sanping asked with concern: "Director Wu, how is your 'Brotherhood of Blades'? When do you plan to release it?"

Wu Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "It's not finished yet; the special effects and soundtrack are all being done. Why is Brother Han so anxious?"

Han Han Sanping laughed and said: "Your new movie, Director Wu, and it's a big martial arts production, who wouldn't want to get a sneak peek!"

However, he then said: "And reform is coming next year, so only your movie, Brother Wu, can suppress this group of guys!"

Hearing this, Wu Wu Yuchen's eyes immediately lit up, and he couldn't help but lean over and ask: "Brother Han, is it decided?"

Han Han Sanping smiled and nodded, then took out two documents and pushed them in front of Wu Wu Yuchen: "It was just decided in the meeting, and it will be released to the public next month. Take a look."

Wu Wu Yuchen immediately took the documents and saw that one of them was titled "Implementation Rules on Reforming the Film Distribution and Screening Mechanism," which generally meant that they would resolutely promote the cinema chain system, with cinema chains as the main body, reducing the levels of distribution, and production units could directly supply films to cinema chains.

However, the introduction of the policy was one thing, and the execution effect after landing was another. At that time, cinema chain reform would definitely face layers of resistance. Han Han Sanping's meaning was to use Wu Wu Yuchen's "Brotherhood of Blades" as the general to charge and break through the lines. After all, Wu Wu Yuchen's big productions were something that every cinema chain couldn't refuse, and this would be used to reduce the resistance encountered during the reform.

Wu Wu Yuchen thought for a while and understood Han Han Sanping's meaning, then said: "The Spring Festival slot might not be in time; how about releasing it in next year's summer slot?"

"Good, release it in the summer slot, and at that time, our China Film Group will also fully cooperate with your promotion!"