Chapter 269: Time to sleep

Speaking of achievements at the three major European film festivals, Zhang Yimou really has a long list. Basically, starting from *Red Sorghum*, every film has won major awards: the Golden Bear at Berlin for *Red Sorghum*, the Silver Lion for *Raise the Red Lantern*, the Golden Lion and Best Actress for *The Story of Qiu Ju*, the Best Actor and Jury Prize at Cannes for *To Live*, the Jury Prize at Cannes for *Shanghai Triad*, the Silver Lion for *Not One Less*, and the Silver Bear for *The Road Home*...

This string of awards from the three major European festivals is even more impressive than Wu Yuchen's. Therefore, it is no surprise that fans speak up for him.

"Zhang Yimou debuted so much earlier than Wu Yuchen; is it fair to simply compare the number of awards from the three major European festivals? Besides, even if we compare Chinese-language films, Wu Yuchen's box office completely crushes Zhang Yimou's!"

"How can film art be measured purely by box office?"

"Why should the title of 'Number One Chinese Director' only look at awards? If you want to compare, you have to compare overall influence, including both box office and awards. I just love watching Wu Yuchen's films; I just don't like Zhang Yimou's constant rural tone!"

"Even if we compare awards and honors, Wu Yuchen's Chinese-language film box office completely crushes Zhang Yimou's! You, Zhang Yimou, should win an Oscar first before you talk!"

"Wu Yuchen did win an Oscar first, but the *Hero* side has also said they are going to campaign for an Oscar this year!"

"Heh, is an Oscar something he can just campaign for whenever he wants?"

"Director Zhang hasn't been nominated for an Oscar before; *Ju Dou* and *Raise the Red Lantern* have already received two nominations for Best Foreign Language Film. The chances of campaigning for an Oscar this year are very high!"

"What's the point of just talking about nominations? Can a nomination count as an award? Still the same words: win one before you talk!"

Listen to these slogans—how patriotic, how much national integrity!

"We have never taken the likes of Zhang Weiping seriously. *Brotherhood of Blades* has now broken 300 million in box office, and our goal is to break the 360 million box office record of *Titanic*, reclaim the throne of Chinese film box office champion, and defend the dignity of Chinese-language cinema!"

When interviewed again by reporters and the media, Cai Yinong also expressed with high spirits:

Subsequently, a crowd of media also began to hype this up extensively.

By the time it had been in theaters for three weeks, *Brotherhood of Blades* had a box office of 290 million. The single-day box office had already fallen below 10 million, but it was getting closer and closer to *Titanic*. A gap of less than 70 million did not seem unreachable.

Sure enough, after this, Zhang Weiping stopped talking; it is unknown if he was warned by Jiang Zhiqiang. This was also interpreted by the media as him backing down to *Brotherhood of Blades*.

Previously, although Han Sanping, Wu Yuchen, and the interior of Miracle Pictures had exchanged and discussed this, it had never been announced to the public. But as the box office of *Brotherhood of Blades* broke 300 million, this goal was officially shouted out.

Although piracy is like a cockroach that cannot be eradicated, this can greatly dampen their arrogance and slow down the spread of these pirated copies. Even if there are pirated copies on the market, they are basically low-quality ones filmed in cinemas, with poor picture quality and full of noise. Even if someone buys them back to watch, they won't be satisfied, and in the end, they are instead addicted and walk into the cinema to buy tickets to watch.

Because of someone's deliberate guidance, the topic of comparing Zhang Yimou and Wu Yuchen was also hyped up, from *Hero* and *Brotherhood of Blades* to the comparison between the two directors.

In this way, the daily drop in the box office of *Brotherhood of Blades* became much smaller.

After two weeks of release, the box office of *Brotherhood of Blades* had already reached 220 million, and at this time, pirated copies began to appear on the market. The *Brotherhood of Blades* crew reported them one after another, cooperating with the law enforcement team to strike down three pirate sources in succession, while also offering a 5 million anti-piracy reward; reporting, exposing, etc., would all be rewarded.

The more disputes there are, the more attention it attracts. Those who originally didn't want to go to the cinema and wanted to wait for pirated copies couldn't sit still either. It just so happened that the lowest ticket price dropped to 15 yuan, and these people began to buy tickets and walk into the cinema to watch. And those who argued fiercely, in order to win the argument, began to spend money to buy tickets to enter the cinema and re-watch, just to dig out more details to support their point of view!

Cai Yinong and Zhang Weiping had to have a verbal battle across the air every two days. Under these circumstances, the heat of *Brotherhood of Blades* was also full.

In the middle of this, Chen Kaizi's fans were not without a voice, but they were all sprayed by the supporters of both Wu Yuchen and Zhang Yimou. "You're just shouting about a Cannes, what are you shouting about? Go cool off on the side!"

In this way, these pirates really didn't dare to be as arrogant as usual, knowing that this time the authorities were serious. If caught, they would be sentenced, not the kind that would be released after being detained for a few days, so they had to cool down a bit. At worst, they wouldn't do this order first and avoid the limelight. Wu Yuchen is the current number one Chinese director and can enjoy such a high degree of anti-piracy efforts from the authorities, but they don't believe that every film can enjoy the treatment of *Brotherhood of Blades* in the future!

As for *Brotherhood of Blades*, it was previously praised overwhelmingly. But no matter how good a film is, there will be people who don't like it, let alone *Brotherhood of Blades* is not that perfect. Naturally, some people feel it is exaggerated, but they were hindered by the fact that everyone was blowing it up before and it was not easy to express their opinions. Now that Zhang Weiping, the leader, has emerged, they don't have to hold back anymore and started arguing with people around them who like *Brotherhood of Blades*.

Even those who were not interested in martial arts films before, looking at the newspapers and listening to the discussions of people around them every day, were also hooked. They bought tickets and walked into the cinema to watch *Brotherhood of Blades*. After all, if you don't watch it, you don't have the right to speak; how can you participate in the discussions of people around you?

At this time, Jiang Zhiqiang, the investor of *Hero*, jumped out and stated that Zhang Weiping's point of view only represents him personally and cannot represent the *Hero* crew. Neither he nor Director Zhang Yimou has anything but praise for *Brotherhood of Blades*!

When asked which is better between *Hero* and *Brotherhood of Blades*, Jiang Zhiqiang smiled and said that the two styles are different and it is not easy to put them together for comparison, just like gold and jewelry are both very good, and everyone has their own preferences.

"Reclaim the throne of Chinese film box office champion, and defend the dignity of Chinese-language cinema!"

However, he praised *Brotherhood of Blades* for setting a good start and a good example for *Hero*. The box office results it achieved represent everyone's recognition of martial arts films and brought up the heat of martial arts films, saying that *Hero*, which will be released in a few months, has benefited from *Brotherhood of Blades*.

Just for this, those who haven't watched *Brotherhood of Blades* must go to the cinema to support a movie ticket!

In this day and age, everyone's patriotic feelings are much stronger than in later generations. The box office of patriotic films in later generations is full of oil, and now *Brotherhood of Blades* is also playing this emotional card.

Some newspapers even directly created a column for daily box office reports of *Brotherhood of Blades*. Although it is only a rough figure, don't say it, many people just like to stare at this figure to see how far *Brotherhood of Blades* is from this record.

After equating the box office of *Brotherhood of Blades* with *Titanic* and patriotic feelings, it really works. In this way, many fans with patriotic feelings are not only willing to brush it again themselves, but also actively start to recommend it to relatives and friends around them:

"Hey, hey, Old Liu, haven't you watched that *Brotherhood of Blades* yet? What a good movie, I suggest you take your whole family to watch it together!"

"Hey, Old Li, don't you usually say you are the most patriotic? You don't even support a 15-yuan movie ticket? Is your patriotism contributed to piracy? Don't wait, hurry up and go to the cinema to buy a ticket!"

8 million, 7 million, 6 million...

The single-day box office of *Brotherhood of Blades* is gradually decreasing, but the total box office is getting closer and closer to *Titanic*. It's just that the tens of millions after the box office exceeded 300 million are indeed a bit difficult, and can only be ground slowly with time.

Seeing that it is getting closer and closer to the 360 million of *Titanic*, Han Sanping also secretly made up his mind that this time, even if *Brotherhood of Blades* stays in the cinema for 1 year, he must break this record!

"Brother-in-law, am I moist~"

Wu Yuchen looked at Fan Bingbing, who was snuggled in his arms with charming eyes like silk, patted her round buttocks, and called her a slut.

Fan Bingbing played the second female lead, the female doctor, in *Brotherhood of Blades*. Because of Ding Xiu's line "very moist," she was also jokingly called "Sister Moist" by netizens.

In the film, Ding Xiu finally sent Zhou Miaotong, played by Jiang Qinqin, and "Sister Moist," played by Fan Bingbing, to Suzhou to settle down, waiting for Shen Lian to take over and take care of them. Wu Yuchen doesn't know how Shen Lian will treat the two women, but anyway, he has already taken care of both of them.

However, her coming to send warmth was really timely, allowing Wu Yuchen to vent the gloomy energy in his heart. During this period, he only paid slight attention to the box office of *Brotherhood of Blades*, and his main energy was still focused on preparing for the new film.

In order to shoot the new film during the War of Resistance, he ran to several concentration camp sites in the country. After seeing these things, his mood was naturally not good. Fan Bingbing came over, which just warmed his body and mind.

Fan Bingbing came here this time, besides secretly communicating feelings with Wu Yuchen, naturally also aimed at his new film, and actively asked:

"Brother-in-law, is there a role suitable for me in your new film?"

Wu Yuchen laughed and rubbed Fan Bingbing's soft body: "Why, you still want more?"

Fan Bingbing's face was charming, and her voice was charming: "Learning from brother-in-law, no matter how much, it's not enough~"

Wu Yuchen looked at her, thought of a recent event, and thought of the future fate of this girl in his past life, and couldn't help but sigh: "In the future, you should pay taxes, don't miss any taxes, don't not pay taxes!"

Fan Bingbing nestled in Wu Yuchen's arms and rubbed: "Brother-in-law, what are you talking about? I only sleep with you alone!"

Wu Yuchen pinched her small waist: "What are you talking about? I told you about Liu Xiaoqing!"

"Ah?" Fan Bingbing said "ah," and then reacted.

Fan Bingbing naturally heard about Liu Xiaoqing's recent affairs, and couldn't help asking: "Brother-in-law, are you talking about Liu Xiaoqing's tax evasion? Isn't it said that she is cooperating with the investigation?"

"Investigation? This time it's not just an investigation, it's going to jail!" Wu Yuchen couldn't help but emphasize his tone.

"Ah? How could this happen?"

Fan Bingbing exclaimed and immediately asked:

"I saw that people in the circle did this kind of thing before, isn't it enough to make up for it afterwards? Will Liu Xiaoqing really go to jail this time?"

In the past, celebrities who broke the law always had loud thunder and small raindrops. Even if the big names in the literary and art circles evaded taxes repeatedly, they would not suffer severe punishment. For example, the former big sister of the mainland music scene, Mao Amin, it was not just once. In the early 90s, there was one time, and in 1998, the second time the incident was exposed, not only was she found by the relevant departments, but it was also reported by newspapers. In the end, after paying the fine, she was no longer pursued.

There is more than one person similar to Mao Amin, so this gives some people in the literary and art circle an impression that they will not be severely punished if they commit this kind of thing, at most they will be fined.

Wu Yuchen shook his head and said: "This phenomenon is not good. The authorities already want to rectify it. Liu Xiaoqing hit it this time, and she will definitely be the typical example to kill the chicken to warn the monkey."

Liu Xiaoqing once had a "famous quote" when she was interviewed: "It's hard to be a person, it's hard to be a woman, and it's even harder to be a famous woman." This incident is really a good annotation to her "it's hard to be a person."

Subsequently, Wu Yuchen looked at Fan Bingbing and said: "You must remember Liu Xiaoqing's lesson! Money is something everyone loves, and I love it too, but the way must be legitimate. Don't make yourself stink for this little money! Don't have a fluke mentality. Anyway, my words are here. You can make money, but don't do illegal things, otherwise don't blame me for not protecting you then!"

Fan Bingbing shrank her neck when she heard this, and then took Wu Yuchen's hand and put it on her chest: "Brother-in-law, I listen to you the most, I promise you I will never do this kind of thing!"

Wu Yuchen's brows relaxed when he heard this. Fan Bingbing's situation is very different from his past life. Relying on his big tree, she has a background and a backer, and can get many resources. She doesn't need to take risks like in his past life, so the probability of doing this kind of thing is naturally greatly reduced.

Speaking of Bingbing's time in his past life, I don't know whether to say she is unfortunate or lucky.

Unfortunate is because more than 80% of the circle has this behavior, but she is the only one who became the chicken to warn the monkey. Saying that she hit it because she supported *Cell Phone 2* is not seeing the essence. This kind of thing is 100% a target chosen in advance. Otherwise, why didn't Xiao Cui attack Feng Xiaogang and the Wang brothers who made *Cell Phone 2*?

To put it bluntly, it is actually that someone above wants to rectify it. She was too popular at the time and had no strong background, and she did do these unclean things, so she naturally became a good target. After slaughtering her, it triggered a group of stars to go to the relevant departments to pay back, which saved their reputation. It is equivalent to Xiao Pang alone bearing everyone's charges, and she was the only one who became a banned artist.

Saying she is lucky is because her 800 million amount is much larger than Liu Xiaoqing's. If it weren't for the fact that the tax-related regulations were revised in 2009, giving those who evaded taxes for the first time a chance to pay back and fine, the time she would have to squat would definitely be much longer than Liu Xiaoqing's.

However, Fan Bingbing is really desperate. If it were someone else, she would have stopped after this encounter, but she kept tossing. There was no hope in China, so she turned to Japan and South Korea, and even wanted to learn Korean to seek opportunities in the stick country, and took a lesbian movie. But no matter how she struggles, it is unlikely. Time and fate, what can she do?

This time Liu Xiaoqing was imprisoned for 422 days, which will have some deterrent effect in a short time, but after three years, the circle will return to its old ways. Moreover, with the rapid development of the entertainment industry and the influx of a large amount of capital, various chaotic phenomena will be more and more excessive.

Wu Yuchen must still give her a vaccination, don't say I didn't warn you!

He thought about it, verbal persuasion is not enough, he turned over directly, he must use practical actions to leave a deep impression on Fan Bingbing!

... ===== CHAPTER 270 =====