Chapter 695: The Question of Having Children; The Big Three, Which One to Choose?

After a "Cut," all the cast and crew of *Marriage Story* relaxed. According to the plan, the morning's filming task was considered completed.

"Dinner, dinner, the hotel's catering truck has arrived." Zhou Xun held Lin Nan's megaphone and shouted playfully.

Although her scenes hadn't started yet, she had run to the crew early to join in the fun; after all, it was in the capital, and it was close.

"Speaking of which, today is indeed the 20th. Weibo is very lively. People in the circle are showing off their love, announcing their relationships, even that Princess Ziwei has... Hmm? Is someone in the crew having a birthday?"

Seeing the hotel staff take out a beautifully packaged 6-inch cake separately, Zhou Xun subconsciously asked Liu Yifei.

"No one is having a birthday. Didn't you say it yourself? Today is the 20th, just following the trend."

Miss Liu smiled, the expression on her pretty face quite proud, clearly carrying a sense of showing off.

"Oh my, Lin Dao is quite thoughtful."

"You can beg Xixi and let her reward you with two bites. Yaya, go to your Auntie Xixi, there's something delicious."

Lin Nan first teased Zhou Xun, then beckoned to the little girl.

Yue Jun had left the crew and returned to the company after ten o'clock, so the little girl was brought by an assistant, quiet, not crying or making a fuss, looking increasingly cute.

"Thank you, Uncle, thank you, Auntie Xixi."

The little girl, who was already a bit greedy, heard Lin Nan's words and saw Liu Yifei beckoning to her, so she immediately moved her little arms and legs and ran over.

"With my relationship, of course, I'll take it without asking. Give me a fork."

Zhou Xun hummed softly, walked over boldly, and entered the makeup room together. After taking the paper plate and fork handed to her by Liu Yifei, she didn't forget to tease:

"Xixi, do you want to have a daughter in the future, seeing that you like this little girl so much?"

"Ah? Sister Xun, you're talking nonsense again, there's a child here." Liu Yifei frowned slightly and glared at her.

"Do you think she looks like she doesn't know anything? Children nowadays know quite a lot. Yaya, remember to call me sister, you know?"

Zhou Xun pointed to the little girl who was holding a plate in one hand and a fork in the other, with a faint smile on her face, and continued to speak without restraint.

Now, the little girl was a bit at a loss; she looked at Liu Yifei blankly, her eyes seeming to carry a question, not knowing whether to call the auntie next to her "sister."

"Don't pay attention to her, just call her auntie, she's 13 years older than me." Liu Yifei touched the little girl's head and taught her with a smile, and the latter nodded obediently.

"Tsk, you're not allowed to mention my age."

Zhou Xun "turned her face" instantly upon hearing this; she considered herself still young! "You still haven't said, do you want to have a daughter or a son?"

"Neither lunch nor cake can block your mouth. You got married much earlier than us, what about you?"

Lin Nan also came to the makeup room with his assistant, who was holding a fruit platter exclusive to the few people sitting there.

"Just curious. As for me... I didn't plan to have children... or, work hard, let nature take its course." Zhou Xun's tone suddenly became a bit low.

Liu Yifei noticed the change in the other party's mood and hurriedly changed the subject:

"As for Lin Nan and me, let's wait another two years. We're not in a hurry. The world of two is so good, we haven't had enough of it yet... Hmm, it'll be soon too. Right, Lin Dao?"

What could Lin Nan say? Liu Yifei had actor ideals; she wasn't even 29 yet, and she didn't want to go raise a fetus!

"Yes, at least we have to get an international Best Actress award back before considering these things. But the pressure is a bit high, the mother here, the father there... urging from time to time."

"Hehe..."

Hearing Lin Nan's joking complaint, Liu Yifei bit the cake fork and laughed non-stop, winking at him playfully.

"You two deserve it, haha..." Zhou Xun was also happy, and the slight gloomy mood just now was swept away instantly.

Looking at Yue Jun's niece again, the little girl was burying her head and focusing on dealing with the cake, with quite a bit on her face.

In the summer slot, another film with a powerful cast has entered.

In the afternoon, Tang Ren Media officially announced:

The action-comedy blockbuster *Skiptrace*, which wrapped up filming at the end of the year before last and stars Jackie Chan, Johnny Knoxville, Fan Bingbing, Eric Tsang, and others, is officially set for release on July 21st.

This date is exactly one week earlier than the release time of that *League of Gods* from Zhongxing.

In the eyes of the film industry, this will inevitably be a fierce battle. As for who becomes the dragon and who becomes the worm in the end, that remains to be seen.

Although the investment amount and cast of *League of Gods* look incredibly strong, Jackie Chan is still very capable, with extremely strong appeal, and Fan Bingbing seems to be able to carry the box office too!

The film and television circle is no longer paying attention to the news from Cannes, because the final, most grand awards ceremony red carpet is much stricter than the opening ceremony red carpet; you really can't just "mooch" your way onto it.

The Chinese stars who can appear on the closing ceremony red carpet must have been solemnly invited by the organizing committee, like Gong Li and a few others; of course, there are many like Lin Nan who have no schedule to attend.

However, the invitation suddenly issued by Huanxi Media to the film and television industry and media circle replaced the news from Cannes and became the new focus of attention in the industry.

The date is June 3rd, and the name is the New Shareholder Partner Signing Ceremony and Celebration Banquet. The specific content is temporarily confidential; the media signing press conference will be held during the day, and the welcome celebration banquet for new shareholders and partners will be held in the evening!

The reason Ning Hao "skipped work" for a day was that he was called back by Dong Ping and Xu Zheng to discuss this matter.

After all, two big directors are joining Huanxi, so the banquet guests invited are naturally mostly big names in the industry, at least second-tier and above, so they must make a cautious choice.

"Cut!"

An afternoon of filming ended in a hurry, a "hurried feeling" where time flies when you are in a serious state.

The female lead played by Liu Yifei took the child back to her mother's home in another city. In the film's setting, she would later entrust the child to her mother, arrange for school, and look after her, while she herself would go to auditions.

At the same time, the relationship between the husband and wife also hit a reef completely. The two officially separated and agreed to break up peacefully, letting time slowly cut off this marriage; for the sake of the child, in the short term, maybe a few years, the two would not go through divorce procedures, nor would they find a lawyer to sue for divorce...

"The state of Yifei holding the child and resolutely going out is simply amazing!

I couldn't help but substitute it into my mind, what would Lin Dao's reaction be if Yifei takes her own child and slams the door in the future... Ah! It hurts..."

"What reaction would I have? I'll beat you to death first! You crow's mouth..."

Lin Nan took a magazine and gave Zhou Xun a blow to the head.

Ignoring Zhou Xun, who was grimacing, and Liu Yifei, who couldn't help but laugh, Lin Nan glanced at the crew team packing up the equipment and beckoned to his assistant.

"Lin Dao?"

"Notify Kara Wai's agent to join the crew tomorrow."

"Okay, Lin Dao."

"And you, you should prepare too. If nothing goes wrong, at the earliest tomorrow afternoon, at the latest the day after tomorrow morning, it will be the scenes where you officially appear."

"No problem, when have I ever made a mistake, sister?" Zhou Xun rolled her eyes at Lin Nan angrily and said.

"Alright, alright, *Alice Through the Looking Glass* will be released in a week. I'll treat you to a movie then? Hmm, no bump..."

Liu Yifei reached out and poked the spot on Zhou Xun's head that had been hit, inviting her with a smile.

"If there's a bump, you two have to compensate me with at least a few movies, the kind that win awards!"

"Looks like a cranial injury, talking nonsense, hehe..."

Liu Yifei's level of sarcasm is also very high.

Lin Nan once said: When writing a script by hand, it has the most "feeling."

Han Jia has always remembered this sentence, so she wrote the first draft entirely by hand; she really felt that state, where every sentence could be written from the heart, and every line could be considered to the best.

"Soon, soon, it'll be soon..."

"Jia, do you want to go to the Shanghai International Film Festival next month with me? We need to set the itinerary." Han Sanping knocked on the study door belonging exclusively to Han Jia and asked.

"Not going... Hey, wait a minute, going!"

A few seconds later, the study door opened, and Han Jia, with slightly dark circles under her eyes, appeared in front of Han Sanping.

"What are you doing? Another day?" The old father's mood was instantly wrong.

"Oh, these are not important. Weren't we just talking about the film festival? I'll go take a look too, I really need to relax." Han Jia said with a quite good mood.

"Is your script finished?" Looking at his little cotton-padded jacket's smug expression, Han Sanping guessed it immediately.

"Hehe, the first draft is almost finished.

I still have to refine it a few more times later, striving to make it unchangeable, it will be much easier! Anyway, it won't stop me from going out to get some air first. It seems Yifei has tickets for Disney, it just opened, I'll go stroll around with her..."

"You really should go out for a walk, look at how you've become a shut-in these past few months?"

Hearing that Han Jia was about to be "liberated," Han Sanping's mood also improved a lot, and then he remembered the script his daughter had spent a year preparing:

"And that script of yours, bring it over for me to see, let me give you some advice."

"No, not now. It has to be something I did independently. When it's completely refined, I promise I'll be the first to show it to you!"

Shaking her head like a rattle, Han Jia refused without hesitation.

"Fine, I'll wait to be the first person to appreciate your masterpiece." Han Sanping waved his hand with a smile, then stopped paying attention to his daughter and went downstairs alone.

Closing the study door, sitting back at the desk, looking at the first draft of the script that was about to be completed on the table, Han Jia couldn't help but mutter while in a pleasant mood:

"What should I call it? Hmm, I have to think about it carefully, headache..."

There is indeed no need to look forward to the daily box office of *Finding Mr. Right 2*, as it officially fell below 2 million, entering its fourth week of release with a daily income of 1.89 million. The celebration banquet invitations had already been sent throughout the circle.

Thus, the limited daily box office big market in the domestic film market was completely "monopolized" by imported films.

*Captain America: Civil War* still had a daily income of several million, and *The Angry Birds Movie* and *The Divergent Series: Allegiant* had first-day box offices of over 50 million and nearly 30 million respectively... A group of domestic films that had just been released for not long were all reduced to cannon fodder.

"Chairman La, the daily box office of *Song of the Phoenix*, which had just shown some signs of improvement, has been crushed again."

The next morning, just after arriving at China Film Group, La Peikang heard the secretary's report.

Promising screenings but not fulfilling the promise was indeed unjustifiable, but the heads of the cinema chains below collectively opposed it, and he had no choice.

"Being able to get a daily box office of 10 million once is already because of good word-of-mouth. Cinema chains are the home field for commercial films. The box office ceiling for films like *Song of the Phoenix* is ultimately too low."

La Peikang seemed to be explaining, and also seemed to be finding an excuse for his "breach of promise."

The paparazzi lurking outside the *Marriage Story* crew had been stared at by security personnel outside for so many days, unable to find out any situation inside the crew;

But today, they finally lurked until they got "material" and published it on the internet for the first time on the spot.

"This morning, the famous Hong Kong actress Kara Wai arrived at the *Marriage Story* crew, led by staff from StarWu Film..."

"According to an interview with Director Yue Jun by reporters on the scene, actress Kara Wai is indeed a cast member of the film *Marriage Story*. This cooperation is the second cooperation after *The Thieves*, and specific character information is not convenient to disclose at the moment."

"It is reported that *Marriage Story* is the first film work by Lin Dao Nan with such a high degree of confidentiality, and it is not ruled out that other actors will enter the scene one after another..."

"Of course, I will also go to participate."

At Hengdian World Studios, Watching Shu Chang looked at the hot search on Weibo and muttered with a smile.

"Who are you playing?" Reba was very curious.

"Playing Xixi's sister, it counts as a cameo. You should still worry about your *Pacific Rim 2*. Didn't Jing Tian go abroad two days ago? It should be about *Pacific Rim 2*, right?"

"Others are the female lead."

Reba smiled modestly, then gossiped and leaned towards Watching Shu Chang, "Brother Jiao's daughter seems to have come again, but why does it seem like every time there's a feeling of parting on bad terms?"

Hearing this, Watching Shu Chang subconsciously glanced at the direction of the lounge door:

"This is coming for the connections accumulated by her father over the years.

But the film and television circle changes with each passing day. Hong Kong and Taiwan have long been out of the game, and the film and television capital in the mainland has also changed batch after batch. Brother Jiao doesn't have many connections left. Look, maybe someone is still eyeing you?"

Watching Shu Chang joked with Reba, and the latter was stunned, "Me? What could they eye me for?"

"There are many things you can be eyed for. You have the traffic gathered by *Running Man*, you are taking the celebrity route, you have a studio, and you are backed by Lin Nan Film... My brother's company doesn't sign people now, but can't the four of your studios sign people?"

Watching Shu Chang winked at Reba; she saw it clearly, who told her to be an acquaintance of Jiao Enjun.

"I don't have this idea, I'm fine alone." Reba shook her head, very resistant.

"Don't worry, you can't pass Director Jiang's level. I heard her say before that Brother Jiao's daughter, hmm, anyway, she has nothing... It's a waste of her father's looks, she didn't inherit a single bit, haha..."

In the crew, this is a scene of waking up.

The old mother played by Kara Wai calls her daughter and granddaughter to get up, and implicitly makes a three-chapter agreement with her daughter: she can't sleep in here, she must get up early, and she must think about how to deal with the current situation between the husband and wife... The granddaughter doesn't know that her parents have "separated" yet.

And the female lead played by Liu Yifei retorts with a face full of morning grumpiness, saying that when she was at home, it was always her husband who had the final say, and now she doesn't want to listen to anyone, getting up early is impossible!

"Cut!"

A morning of filming, just for a three-minute shot in the final film, but it was completely worth it.

"Lin Dao, Yifei, my first scene is over, so I won't stay in the crew for long. I'll go stroll around, and come back to finish up later?" Kara Wai said with a smile.

"Of course, this whole movie is filmed in the capital, everyone's time is very sufficient, there is no need to rush the scenes."

Lin Nan and Liu Yifei did not force the other party to stay. Old actors are like this; as long as they can get into the scene at any time, they don't need to be stationed in the crew, they can come and shoot at any time, and leave after shooting.

"Then next time it's my scene, just call me in advance, I will rush over as soon as possible."

After sending Kara Wai away, the next scene was Zhou Xun's appearance.

"As a female lawyer, Sister Xun, have you fully grasped your character?"

Zhou Xun, sitting there with her legs crossed, had a look of disgust:

"Looking down on me again? In terms of aura, my aura in the play is going to cover Yifei, this 'actor,' especially the first time we meet, Yifei will appear a bit restrained;

After all, she and her husband, that is, you, agreed to break up peacefully, but in the end, she decided to find a lawyer to end the marriage that exists in name only as soon as possible, and even wanted to get custody of the child..."

Zhou Xun kept talking, while Liu Yifei listened on the side, nodding in agreement from time to time.

Facts have proved that Lin Nan's idea of finding a group of powerful actors to support this movie is very correct, which will wirelessly raise the probability of the movie winning awards;

He and Miss Liu want a Best Actress award. Even if there is only one Best Actress award, this movie can be considered a great success!

When Lin Nan and others were burying their heads in filming, this time passed very quickly.

On the 22nd, the Cannes International Film Festival closed smoothly. A group of mainland stars who didn't mooch onto the red carpet still posted quite a few photos and press releases in Cannes.

The marketing accounts and water armies on the internet never care about truth or falsehood, they only do things for money, and it's just a blow.

There are also countless brainless fans who always feel that their idol is awesome, and then there is all kinds of showing off and stepping on others, and finally fighting...

On the 23rd and 24th, Tang Ren's *Chinese Paladin 5* and Jaywalk's *The Interpreter* were broadcast one after another.

Good guy, the former had been promoting and creating momentum with the big IP "Chinese Paladin" since it started filming last year, but what was the result? It pulled a big one this time!

And *The Interpreter*, which focused on promoting Yang Mi, was no less inferior. One word -- rotten.

Therefore, from the first day of broadcast, both TV series enjoyed the full firepower output of the entire internet and were scolded by countless netizens and audiences.

But in general, *Chinese Paladin 5* and Tang Ren Media were scolded more.

Because the bigger the target, the more it attracts firepower.

And the big IP "Chinese Paladin" can be considered to have completely collapsed, ruined by Tang Ren itself!

"It's been 12 years since *Chinese Paladin* was broadcast! Who the hell would have thought that the special effects of *Chinese Paladin 5* would be beaten by the *Chinese Paladin* from 12 years ago?"

"It's been more than ten years, and Tang Ren is still filming 50-cent fairy tales about little rascals fighting monsters and leveling up. They are really reluctant to spend money on special effects."

"Inside information, Tang Ren looked for Tiangong Color before, but thought the price was expensive, so they turned around and looked for an old special effects company in Hong Kong... It's really blood-vomiting saving money."

"A classic big IP was ruined just like that, a bunch of people acting awkwardly... The acting is really bad!"

"Don't talk about the 'big brother' upstairs, the 'second brother' next door *The Interpreter* is also very funny. Yang Mi is completely different from the one in *Finding Mr. Right 2*, no acting skills at all, her face seems wrong, her hairline is a bit high..."

"It's only been half a year since filming started, and it was filmed while overlapping with the movie version of *Once Upon a Time*, so it's strange if the acting is good!"

The celebration banquet for *Finding Mr. Right 2*, just as Lin Nan had said to Xue Xiaolu before, neither he nor Liu Yifei went.

Because the filming of the movie had officially entered a rhythm, Liu Yifei was in a good state, and Lin Nan and Zhou Xun were of course accompanying the gentleman.

Recalling the first scene of Liu Yifei and Zhou Xun, Lin Nan felt it was very good.

Liu Yifei wiped her tears while saying that Lin Nan, the husband, did not have the shortcomings of her ex-husband that Zhou Xun mentioned, but they really reached the point of having to divorce...

At that moment, she was a weak woman without any opinions, a weak person in marriage, not like acting. Hmm, she brought a part of reality into the scene again.

"It's been 12 days since filming started, the crew will be on holiday tomorrow, and continue the day after tomorrow."

Lin Nan waved his hand with the megaphone and announced, and all the crew members burst into applause.

"I won't disturb your world of two. You two go watch *Alice Through the Looking Glass* yourselves."

Zhou Xun was very sensible and raised her eyebrows at Lin Nan and Liu Yifei.

"I didn't plan to really treat you to a movie either." Miss Liu hugged her chest, raised her chin, and smiled cunningly.

"Tsk, stingy ghost."

"Speaking of which, we shouldn't be able to finish filming next month, right? There's the Shanghai International Film Festival in front, and the Huabiao Awards behind."

Facing Zhou Xun's inquiry, Lin Nan's expression became serious: "Hard to say, but adding the two awards together, the former is 9 days, the latter is 1 day, a total of only 10 days."

"We'll film for 15 days this month, and there are 20 days next month, barely enough? At most, wrap up in early July."

The crew will definitely have to stop for those few days of the Shanghai International Film Festival. After all, Lin Nan had promised Liu Yifei to go play together earlier.

"Also, filming five minutes of footage every day, it will accumulate to 150 minutes in a month, time is definitely enough!" Zhou Xun nodded, "The Big Three, have you decided which one?"

This question immediately made Liu Yifei pay attention too, and she looked at Lin Nan.

"It stands to reason that you are a direct descendant of Berlin, you should go to Berlin!" Liu Hanhan said seriously. She knew that Lin Nan hadn't made the final decision yet.

If it was confirmed to go to Berlin, then after the Venice International Film Festival ended in the second half of this year, they could communicate with Berlin in advance.

A helpless smile appeared on Lin Nan's face, and he shook his head:

"Precisely because I am a direct descendant of Berlin and have won too many awards there, it's hard to decide whether to go there this time."

"Because considering the factors of avoiding suspicion and public opinion, my film is very likely to be treated specially, that is, more strictly... Even the judges of the main competition unit will intentionally suppress me... After all, I already have two Silver Bear awards for Best Director and one Jin Xiong award for Best Film, and the Jin Xiong was just won last year!"

... ===== CHAPTER 696 =====