Chapter 249: Wrap-Up, Gossip, One Move Behind?

This was the first time Liu Liu Yifei spent New Year's Eve apart from Liu Liu Xiaoli.

Two phone calls had already lasted nearly an hour.

Through the glass, she watched the bustling crew inside the restaurant and unconsciously smiled.

"Mom, I'm doing very well over here. Lin Nan, Xiao Zhu, and Changchang are keeping me company, so you don't need to worry. We'll wrap up and head back during the Spring Festival..."

After hanging up, Liu Liu Yifei walked into the restaurant booked by the crew.

"Come on, let's celebrate! Lin Dao's screenplay and investment in 'Pacific Rim' has broken 1 billion in domestic box office! Cheers!"

Zhu Zhu Yawen held up a bottle of champagne and started drinking straight from it.

Liu Liu Yifei sat down beside Lin Nan, glanced at Zhu Zhu Yawen, then teased with a smile, "He's going too crazy."

"Let him be; tonight is supposed to be lively anyway."

Lin Nan handed Liu Liu Yifei a glass of red wine. "Let's celebrate!"

"Mm, okay."

Just before New Year's Eve, 'Pacific Rim' completed three weeks of its domestic run, with box office surging to 1.03 billion.

Media outlets everywhere were scrambling to report on it.

Lin Nan Pictures, China Film, and Wanda had become the envy and object of jealousy for every production company in the industry.

In contrast, 'Those Years', which claimed to be a dark horse, had its box office frozen at 50 million, making no further progress.

On the other side, 'War of the Assassins', co-produced and invested in by 200 million yuan by Emperor and Huayi, was a complete mess at the box office.

After taking in 10 million on its first day, daily box office kept dropping. By the time it was pulled from theaters, the total box office would likely barely exceed 100 million!

'The Great Magician', co-invested with Bona, was just like 'War of the Assassins', with box office figures in a complete fog.

When Yang Yang Shoucheng gave interviews to the media, his face had turned black several times already.

News that Lin Dao Nan had booked a high-end restaurant in Hong Kong Island was also the headline in entertainment news.

"Lin Dao Nan splurged 960,000 to book a luxury restaurant on Hong Kong Island, where the entire crew spent New Year's Eve together..."

"'Pacific Rim' domestic box office reaches 1.03 billion, about to enter the Spring Festival slot, with one week of screening time remaining!"

"Third-week box office was 220 million; 'Pacific Rim' needs to earn 170 million in the final week, otherwise the 1.2 billion target is hopeless!"

"Judging from the declining box office data of the first three weeks, the 1.2 billion goal for 'Pacific Rim' seems slim..."

After New Year's Eve came the Spring Festival.

Early in the morning, Lin Nan met with many actors and stars from the Hong Kong circle.

Since others came to pay visits on the first day of the lunar new year, he certainly couldn't hide and refuse to see them.

Those who were closer, like Andy Lau and Jackie Chan, chatted much more casually.

The younger actors and artists all seemed quite restrained, yet they kept smiling and constantly searching for topics. Lin Nan even felt a bit awkward...

"In the Hong Kong circle, the Spring Festival is a rare opportunity to build connections; after all, the place is small, so personal visits are possible."

Andy Lau's wife was five months pregnant; he wasn't taking any work commitments during this period, so he had plenty of time and was now free to chat with Lin Nan.

"You, the Golden Lion Director, are rarely spending the Spring Festival on Hong Kong Island; artists from every company who can get a connection surely had to come over to make themselves familiar?"

Lin Nan truly had no way to refute this statement.

In the morning, he met many stars: Simon Yam, Kenny Wong, Nick Cheung, Man Chun, Yuan Yuan Heping, the Zhang Jin couple, Nicholas Tse, Bai Bing...

There were also many star children, led by the Crown Prince, who was personally brought by Jackie Chan.

There were also people who made Lin Nan feel disgusted, such as Donnie Yen and Eric Tsang...

There were also many female artists, truly deep in thought, actually targeting Liu Liu Yifei, calling her "Producer Liu" again and again, spouting sweet words without hesitation.

However, Miss Liu was not foolish; her occasional silly side was only for her own people; in front of outsiders, she was sharp and shrewd.

Regarding these purposeful flatteries and praises, Liu Liu Yifei let them go in one ear and out the other, never taking them seriously.

On the third day of the Spring Festival, the crew returned to the filming location.

At this time, another piece of bad news came back from Hollywood.

The Oscars announced the nomination list for all awards.

Domestically, 'The Flowers of War' was chosen to compete for Best Foreign Language Film, even going so far as to open a back door, which sparked considerable opposition.

Afterwards, the North American distributor of the film even registered 'The Flowers of War' for competition in 13 individual award categories.

Now the results are out; not a single one of these 14 awards was nominated; total defeat!

The domestic film and television circle was in an uproar. Zhang Zhang Yimou failed to make an impact at the Oscars for the eighth time!

This meant that overseas rights trading for 'The Flowers of War' was completely hopeless.

In an instant, a large number of voices denigrating and mocking emerged.

"Facts prove that the old generation should step aside; don't always occupy the latrine..."

"There are other excellent directors domestically, such as: Lin Dao Nan, Director Jiang Wen... Director Lu Chuan..."

"The one above, forget about Lu Crown Prince!"

Even while in the crew, Lin Nan and others could occasionally feel the public opinion storm outside.

This time, Zhang Zhang Yimou was pushed to the forefront, simply because colleagues in the industry had accumulated resentment for too long.

"Is this really true?"

During the break after lunch, Luo Jin ran over, clutching today's entertainment newspaper, half excited and half thrilled.

"What's wrong now?"

Liu Liu Yifei, lying on Lin Nan's director's chair under a blanket and napping, was woken up by the noise.

She squinted her eyes and called out, her rosy cheeks looking particularly beautiful.

"A whole page, all gossip news about Director Zhang Zhang Yimou."

This even made Lin Nan, who was reviewing the footage on the side, curious.

"Let me see."

Lin Nan took the newspaper; the Hong Kong edition was reprinting mainland gossip news.

"Good heavens!"

With just one glance, Lin Nan couldn't help but exclaim in surprise!

"Director Zhang, Ms. Gong, the crew ignoring everyone around them, entangled..."

"Late night of '07, International Zhang and Director Zhang, alone in a room for 48 hours..."

"'The Love of Hawthorn' Zhang's Girl and her mentor, chaotic mess, room for 24 hours..."

"'Thirteen Sisters' Zhang's Girl and Director Zhang, spent three days and three nights in a villa..."

How incredibly stimulating!

Behind every headline was a short essay, written very convincingly.

Especially the sequence was very clear; time, place, and which movie were all written out plainly.

Liu Liu Yifei, Shu Chang, Zhu Zhu Yawen, and others gathered around, and immediately all stood with mouths agape.

"This is way too explosive!"

Zhu Zhu Yawen smacked his lips and sighed.

"Except for someone close to them, who could write something so 'real'?" Lin Nan speculated.

Whether it's truly real, how much is true and how much is false, who can really know!

"Not to mention the internet, it must be lively. As for the entertainment circle, it's probably already a mess!"

Zhang Zhang Yimou is a top-tier director; this kind of news is aimed at ruining his reputation.

"First, prepare for the afternoon scenes. As for the gossip, you can care about it slowly when you go home tonight."

Not just Zhu Zhu Yawen and the others, but even the rest of the crew started chattering. To avoid affecting the start of work in a while, Lin Nan directly shouted.

"Okay, Lin Dao."

Wrapping up within three days; this was the timeline Lin Nan set.

Changing clothes, applying makeup, setting up the equipment; everyone started moving.

The huge success of 'Pacific Rim' made Jing Tian's status take a big leap forward.

The notices, endorsements, and drama offers sent to Starlight Brilliant during this period showed a surge; Zhang Yi over there must be no less busy.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Jing Tian's 'Time-Space Rescue Soldier' was released.

For the sake of caution, besides the premiere press conference, Jing Tian did not participate in any further promotion.

Facts proved this decision was correct!

"Do not mention this movie in front of the media in the future; even if they ask, do not respond.

I will communicate with the cinema chains to take the movie down voluntarily; after all, the cost was only ten million..."

Lu Zheng seriously instructed Jing Tian.

'Pacific Rim' lifted Jing Tian to a higher level; now 'Time-Space Rescue Soldier' absolutely cannot drag her down, not even a little bit.

"Uncle Lu, is it really that bad?"

Jing Tian asked unwillingly; she felt she had acted seriously.

But the first-day box office of 750,000 was really glaring.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but sigh; he remembered Lin Nan's advice from before.

"In the future, we still have to find reliable directors, screenwriters, and production teams..."

Little Zhang Zhang Ziyi had already posted several announcements, claiming she would pursue legal responsibility against the rumor-mongers.

Several young Zhang's Girls operated in the same way.

On the contrary, Gong Li was indifferent to this; after all, those days were her own real past...

"Director Zhang, we spent a huge sum of money and used many connections; finally, we confirmed these rumors all came from..."

"Came from Zhang Zhang Weiping, right?"

"Yes, does Director Zhang know?"

"Hehe, who else could it be but him? Thank Mr. Jia for me."

"Director Zhang is too polite; no need to be so formal. Mr. Jia said these rumors will disappear soon..."

Lin Nan frowned and exchanged glances with Zhu Zhu Yawen and the others; they watched Liu Liu Yifei eating biscuits and drinking milk there.

According to the script, the scene of inducing vomiting at the exam site would be performed by Liu Liu Yifei.

This silly girl was particularly fond of this kind of ugly makeup scene; finally, she had the chance this time!

"You'd better eat a little less, just spit out a tiny bit."

Lin Nan couldn't help but remind her—he had originally said they would fake the shot, but Liu Liu Yifei just shook her head, wanting to do it for real.

Five minutes later, Miss Liu finally stopped.

……

"Alright, everyone get ready… action!"

According to the script, when Zhu Zhu Yawen and Liu Liu Yifei were transmitting the answers for the second and third sections of the test respectively, something went wrong.

The former had stayed in the restroom too long and was reported.

Amid the staff's urging to open the door, he nervously finished sending the answers, and the very second after tossing his phone into the toilet, the staff kicked the door open and dragged him out.

Liu Liu Yifei, on the other hand, because the line for the restroom was too long, had only just taken out her phone to prepare to send the answers when she was rushed into the exam hall by the invigilators.

She had no time to hide her phone and could only bring it out with her, and then she saw Zhu Zhu Yawen being cornered by several staff members, being intimidated and interrogated…

At the exam hall entrance, there were already additional personnel checking for contraband, so she could only hide her phone under the water dispenser and enter the exam hall.

……

Liu Liu Yifei silently wrote the answers for the third section of the test on the answer sheet for the fourth section, so as not to forget later.

She planned to wait until she left the exam hall, then send them back together with the fourth section's exam questions and the essay keywords.

On the monitor, a close-up was given to Liu Liu Yifei—she thrust her pen into her throat, and with just two thrusts, the thing she had just eaten came back up…

Liu Liu Yifei smoothly exited the exam hall, grabbed her phone and ran, and the invigilators noticed something wrong with the answer sheet and chased after her…

The scene cut to the station, where Liu Liu Yifei was intercepted by a group of people, but in the end she successfully sent out all the answers, stuffed her phone into a passerby's backpack, and was "escorted" back herself…

At the same time, in the secondary shot, Liang Liang Jiahui found Luo Jin and Watching Shu Chang, asked about Liu Liu Yifei's whereabouts, and was brushed off by the two of them.

A large batch of 2B pencils with the answers were distributed. A crowd excitedly rushed toward the exam hall…

According to the plot, Zhu Zhu Yawen sacrificed himself by admitting to cheating, clearing Liu Liu Yifei of suspicion.

……

One was expelled from school, the other graduated from high school smoothly.

"Money is easy to make! From now on, this is what we'll do—one easy trip and we make over a million. Even if we get caught, we won't go to jail anyway…"

Zhu Zhu Yawen smiled darkly, inviting Liu Liu Yifei to cheat on the Oxford entrance exam together in the same way.

"If you're short on money, just take my share…"

"You refuse?"

Zhu Zhu Yawen's face contorted grotesquely.

"If you don't come with me, I'll go report you for cheating on the SAT, and everyone else too. In the end, your father will be utterly disappointed in you…"

"I will voluntarily bear the consequences of my own mistakes. That's what Dad wants to see…"

……

After two days of continuous shooting, the final shot was of Liang Liang Jiahui leading Liu Liu Yifei into the SAT testing center to "turn themselves in."

"Cut, that's a wrap!"

"I hereby announce…"

"Let me, let me do it."

Liu Liu Yifei cut Lin Nan off, running over with a smile in her eyes and brows.

Lin Nan knowingly handed over the megaphone in his hand. "Alright, you do it."

"I hereby announce that 'The Genius Gunman' has officially wrapped!"

Liu Liu Yifei's clear, cheerful voice, amplified by the megaphone, spread throughout the entire crew.

"We've wrapped! Awoo…"

……

Led by Zhu Zhu Yawen and others, the crew instantly erupted in a ruckus—everyone was happy and excited.

The news of "The Genius Crew" wrapping spread like wildfire.

"Produced by Lin Nan Pictures and Red Star Factory, directed by Lin Dao Nan, produced by and starring Liu Liu Yifei, the film 'The Genius Gunman' officially wrapped today on Hong Kong Island!"

"Jiang Jiang Xuerou, Director of Lin Nan Pictures, stated that the wrap party will be held in the capital."

……

"'Pacific Rim' fourth week box office: 100 million. After 30 days in theaters, the domestic total box office has reached 1.15 billion, with only one day left before it leaves theaters—missing the 1.2 billion mark!"

"Lin Dao Nan's revenue-sharing bet with the theater chains ultimately fell just short, failing to secure the 46% revenue share!"

…………

(End of this chapter)