Chapter 516: Prepare to be on Call

Just past ten in the morning, Lin Nan and Liu Yifei were already sitting in the IMAX 3D giant screen hall.

DreamWorks' unrivaled 3D special effects, under the blessing of the IMAX giant screen, were so shocking that all the audience couldn't take their eyes off them.

So much so that Liu Yifei, with her single ponytail, bright eyes, white teeth, and plain face, was rarely stared at by too many people.

Dressed like a girl next door, Miss Liu was out watching a movie today with her boyfriend and fiancé-to-be, Lin Nan, focusing on a casual and natural beauty.

And Lin Nan was holding a popcorn bucket, specially provided for the great beauty beside him, like a—servant!

"You, you want to eat snacks yourself, but you don't want to take them yourself..."

Lin Nan joked with a soft smile; before he could finish his sentence, slender fingers pinching popcorn had already stuffed it into his mouth.

"Why, is Lin Dao now impatient with me? I'm thinking, I'm still far from being a yellow-faced woman, right?"

Liu Yifei rolled her eyes "fiercely," her voice very low and a bit sarcastic, with an arrogant look that said you'd better rephrase that.

"What nonsense are you talking about, my Princess Xixi. In this life, I can't leave you.

And in my heart, looking at the whole circle, you are the best-looking, no one else..."

Whispering in her ear, Lin Nan began to express his loyalty, a bit cheesy.

"Oh, keep your voice down."

Liu Yifei looked left and right subconsciously, then pushed Lin Nan, but a bright smile had already bloomed on her face.

Seeing that they were getting engaged in a few days, followed by the official marriage and wedding.

The palpitation in their hearts was becoming more and more obvious.

Nervousness, excitement, anticipation, longing... various emotions intertwined, it was indescribable excitement and happiness.

While the vast majority of the audience was waiting for the movie's post-credits scene, Lin Nan had already taken Liu Yifei's hand, hunched over, and chose to leave early.

The two of them seemed to have been recognized.

As for why they were recognized? It definitely wasn't Lin Nan's fault. It was all because Liu Yifei was too beautiful, her temperament was outstanding, and her recognizability was so high!

"Was that girl just now Liu Yifei?"

"Damn. Now that you mention it, it really is her! Then the other one is Lin Dao Nan?"

"I seemed to have accidentally heard before that that man is Lin Dao; he said something like 'Princess Xixi'?"

"My god, too loving! I missed the opportunity to take a photo; I was also next to them, dying of regret..."

Not long after, quite a few posts appeared on Weibo, and the click-through rate was skyrocketing.

"Ran into Liu Yifei and Lin Dao Nan at Wanda Cinema; only managed to take a picture of their backs, but it's still very beautiful... miserable!"

"Remember: Lin Dao calls Liu Yifei 'Princess Xixi' in private!"

Lin Nan felt he might be socially dead. Well, he admitted he was indeed socially dead.

Quite a few acquaintances sent messages to tease him, and the core vocabulary was: the four words "Princess Xixi"!

And the entry "Princess Xixi" was soon pushed to the trending list, but not the top headline.

Because the entertainment news headlines of major media this morning were all an unverified "rumor."

Lin Nan only found out when he received a call from Wang Changtian while accompanying Liu Yifei and Liu Xiaoli for lunch.

"Lin Nan, if this is true, our three companies will be on the merit roll."

This morning, a netizen posted saying that the popular young actor from Taiwan, Kai Zhendong, had followed in the footsteps of Gao Hu and Zhang Mo and was caught in the capital.

The netizen stated bluntly that his father had spent the whole night interrogating with colleagues, which didn't end until after five in the morning; now they were just waiting for the official announcement from the authorities.

The internet was already in an uproar.

Unlike the previous ones, Kai Zhendong became explosively popular through "You Are the Apple of My Eye" and the continuous release of the three "Tiny Times" films. In these three years, he had accumulated a huge fan base, and most of them were brainless fans.

And in the morning, these fans were like a locust plague, sweeping Weibo and other portal websites.

Posting photos, showing evidence, trying to prove that their "male god" hadn't been in the capital recently, where he was running announcements, traveling...

These people even started "human flesh searching" and "cyberbullying" the netizen who posted the "rumor," claiming they would make him die a horrible death!

"Heh. It's understandable that there's no news from the authorities, but does the agency have nothing to say?" Lin Nan said jokingly.

"Hahaha, it's really interesting when you talk about it. Just now, Sina contacted the agent to verify the truth of the news; do you know what they said?"

"What did they say?" Lin Nan was a bit interested.

"The agent said they were also looking for Kai Zhendong, and the latter is currently out of contact, so the company team cannot respond to media questions for the time being."

"Laughing to death, heh... Is this considered stupid? Or is it the cleverness of 'there are no three hundred taels of silver buried here'?"

Lin Nan stood in the garden and mocked unscrupulously, making Liu Yifei and Liu Xiaoli, who were eating in the house, a bit puzzled—what happened?

Wang Changtian also laughed along:

"Yes, the agent hanging up the phone or refusing to answer would have been fine. But this kind of superfluous explanation, what's the difference between it and admitting half of it?"

After chatting for another seven or eight minutes, until Lin Nan took the initiative to say that his lunch was only half-eaten, Wang Changtian realized and apologized repeatedly with a smile.

When hanging up the phone, Lin Nan couldn't help but predict: "Chairman Wang, in the second half of the month, we will likely have to hold another major meeting."

"Mm? The higher-ups should notify us. I reckon this time, it won't be as simple as holding a major meeting..."

Regarding that "rumor," in fact, the entire film and television circle already believed it 90%.

Because if this kind of thing were fake, the party involved would definitely stand up to clarify it immediately! How could there be talk of being out of contact?

But thinking carefully, it's not wrong to say out of contact.

A person is suddenly locked up in the bureau; people outside can't find him, right? If it's not out of contact, what is it?

When Lin Nan sat back at the dining table, Liu Yifei already knew what he was talking about on the phone just now.

After she finished eating, she was originally prepared to reply to Weibo messages, so she naturally saw the trending headline.

The internet was already divided into clear camps.

Half of the netizens were convinced that he was another self-depraved drug addict; while the other half firmly believed that Kai Zhendong was innocent. The two sides just started fighting on the internet!

"Changchang also said, Zhang Mo is a pity; his acting skills are very good." Liu Yifei was chatting with Shu Chang and said casually.

Lin Nan also remembered; Shu Chang and Zhang Mo really had worked together, in that "Young Imperial Envoy" ten years ago, where the latter played Fengshen Yinde.

The film and television circle is just that weird; many children of veteran actors, even if they graduate from professional institutions, have no acting skills.

But Zhang Mo is different; even though he was expelled in the first semester of his sophomore year, his acting skills among second-generation stars are top-notch.

The summer slot entered its final half-month, which was also the most tragic stage.

On the 15th alone, 8 new films were released simultaneously.

This included "The Sword Identity," which Lin Nan helped advertise, as well as three imported films: "Pompeii," "Tom-Yum-Goong 2," and "The Legend of Tarzan"!

And a week later, ten more films, including "The Four 3," "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," and "Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants," would enter the chaotic battle one after another.

The film market was destined to become a meat grinder, and more than half of the films would inevitably become cannon fodder.

Lin Nan met Yue Jun, who had rushed back from the crew, at the company; the latter looked quite dusty.

"The quote they gave me was reduced by 10% on the previous basis; now it's 90 million."

A few months ago, Shiyue Culture's quote was over 100 million, but at that time, Lin Nan and Yue Jun both felt they weren't worth that price.

Besides a group of employees with ideals and some skills, there was nothing else; the equipment was old and backward, not to mention there were no ready-made works...

"90 million?" Lin Nan asked.

Yue Jun shook his head: "I think it's still high; the company team's market valuation for them is at most 80 million.

This is still because the domestic animated film market is very poorly developed and is a blue ocean."

Lin Nan pondered and nodded. "80 million is appropriate. We can promise to improve the treatment of ordinary employees; the foundation can be the same as Tiangong Color."

The base salary can be the same, but when it comes to bonus incentives, Shiyue Culture definitely can't compare to Tiangong Color.

After all, Tiangong Color's industry status, importance, and money-making ability are not something the former can compare with.

But animated films also have an advantage, that is, once done well, the copyright can be sold all over the world, just like "The Monkey King" from the Shanghai Animation Film Studio back then! This is also the main reason why Lin Nan wants to acquire Shiyue Culture.

Two days passed, and the internet was in a mess, still arguing.

The media was jumping up and down, analyzing and looking for clues, but the authorities still hadn't made a sound.

Besides that, the film and television circle was also silent, with a tense atmosphere of a storm about to come.

A large number of film and television companies had already started preparing for the Venice trip ten days in advance; most of them were going to sell or buy films.

And film and television stars had to wait another ten days, just needing to go over before the opening ceremony, either for the red carpet or for brand activities.

Afternoon of the 15th.

"If the word-of-mouth of other films is polarized, I would definitely think there is something wrong with the film. But for this 'The Sword Identity,' I don't have this view."

Liu Yifei told Lin Nan that "The Sword Identity," which he helped recommend, not only had a screening rate of only 7%, but the word-of-mouth was seriously polarized.

Those who like it feel it is a good film infinitely close to reality, ironic to the extreme.

Those who don't like it feel the film is too earthy and awkward; such audiences are mostly young people, perhaps because their life experience is insufficient.

"Here, the phone, it's Chairman La."

Liu Yifei, holding the cat with one hand, picked up the phone from the table and handed it to Lin Nan, who was sending an email on his tablet.

"Calling at five or six in the afternoon, it's definitely not good news." Lin Nan complained.

"Chairman La?"

"Don't run around recently; prepare to be on call."

Listening to the voice coming from the phone's speaker, Liu Yifei sat up straight, very curious why La Peikang said this?

"Did something happen, Chairman La?"

Lin Nan had a vague guess; it should still be about the drug involvement.

"Before the end of the month, we have to hold another major meeting; not a single person who attended last time can be missing."

"Caused by that Taiwanese actor?"

"Tomorrow or the day after, the public security system will issue an official notice. This time it can be considered giving Jackie Chan preferential treatment, not announcing it immediately..."

Unlike Lin Nan's calmness, Liu Yifei was very shocked; she had worked with Jackie Chan on "The Forbidden Kingdom."

"Big Brother Jackie, he was also pitted by his son?" Liu Yifei asked softly.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 517 =====