Chapter 766

……

"After repeated consideration and discussion, we have finally decided to cast you in a dramatic role. And regarding the status of this character, rest assured, it is absolutely very high."

"That's right. With your mature face and old-school temperament, if the makeup and styling are made a bit more 'formal' at the time, it will be nothing but perfect."

"Old Lei, you must know this is the role of the Consul at the National Embassy abroad. Anyone else might have an accident, but not you! Haha..."

"This role has another benefit: you won't have to go out with the navy, exposed to wind and sun. When filming your scenes, you only need to go there a few days in advance. How great is that, don't you think?"

Looking at Guo Fan and Director Lu Yang playing the "monkey" in front of him, Lei Lei Jiayin felt nothing but disgust in his heart.

What do they mean by "mature face"? What is this "old-school temperament"? I am three or four years younger than you; why do you call me "Old Lei"? Where am I old?

Though his heart was full of endless complaints, he could not express them with his mouth. In the end, Lei Lei Jiayin could only accept this positive supporting role representing the national image with a helpless expression.

He nodded somewhat regretfully and muttered, "Fine, at least it's a Consul at the Embassy. But why not the Ambassador?"

"I wish it were the Ambassador too, but the people from the Naval Political Department said it must be the Consul, not the Ambassador! Alright, let's leave it at that. When I make a blockbuster again next time, I'll have you play the male lead..."

After Lu Yang explained, he casually added a perfunctory chuckle, completely without sincerity.

"Hmm? Good, I'll remember Director Lu's promise, don't think about running away." Lei Lei Jiayin actually became serious, adding a tone of "warning" and reminding him repeatedly.

Outside, the news that the post-90s Dilraba won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actress continued to be hotly discussed within the industry.

Including some post-85 actresses, there were absolutely no shortage of colleagues full of resentment; but these people could only complain and feel indignant in private, daring not to mention it openly.

Those film and television companies and talent agencies with indirect competitive relationships mostly increased their promotional investment for their own artists to avoid losing business resources.

Because no one could deny that Dilraba's external conditions were truly favored by brands, especially those high-end commercial endorsements... Now that her fame has soared, she will only be more competitive!

"The latest generation of the Four Little Flower Dancers are basically all targets blocked by her in business, even suppressed by her, let alone us."

Cai Yinnong's words carried a tone of obvious helplessness. Nazha and Dilraba are the same type of female star; film and television resources aside, they are completely inferior, but business resources...

The results of the Hundred Flowers Award came out just last night, and this morning, the luxury brand endorsement that the company had negotiated for Nazha for a long time and seemed about to be finalized was told not to negotiate anymore;

and the reason was that someone else had already been decided. As for who, she had just found out half an hour ago. Who else could it be? It was Dilraba!

"When she took the art exam in 2011, I snatched her from Yue Jun's hands; now it's been nearly six years, she must have regretted it, right?"

"It shouldn't be the case. Although this person has no ambition and is love-struck, she is quite grateful."

"Newcomers at Shanhai Media have to stay in school obediently for two years, but we gave her the money she urgently needed, plus film roles, announcements, and work that could immediately support her family..."

The secretary said with a smile, but in her heart she also felt a bit sorry for Nazha; one could only say it was a trade-off.

"Alright, find other opportunities and resources for her to make up for it later. Has the lawyer arrived?" When Cai Yinnong spoke the second half of the sentence, her aura instantly became stern.

"Arrived, waiting in the reception room."

"Let's go, discuss business first. The trial is next month; I not only want him to fulfill the contract until the year after next and be frozen until the year after next, but I also want him to pay me a huge breach of contract fee!"

……

After sleeping in all morning, Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei originally planned to stay at home and be lazy again in the afternoon.

But around five o'clock, the two received Wang Wang Changtian's "harassing" phone call, reminding them to remember to go out early tomorrow morning to attend the movie premiere.

And they could no longer use the shabby excuse of "traffic jams" to perfunctorily cover up the subjective error of oversleeping or leaving late, which caused them to be late.

It was clear that Big Lao Wang had very high hopes for the movie "I Miss You in My Life";

and he was also full of confidence and fighting spirit for this confrontation with "L. O. R. D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties," produced by Le Vision Pictures, directed by Guo Guo Jingming, and starring a group of "top-tier traffic stars"!

As for "The Mermaid," released on National Day, Wang Wang Changtian seemed not to take it seriously, and he firmly believed that Wang Jing's movie was just here to make money, with no high ceiling.

"Fine, this time we'll give Wang Dong the face and get up early tomorrow."

In the garden, putting down the phone and picking up the drawing board again, Lin Nan looked at Liu Liu Yifei sitting on the swing and couldn't help but smile and tease.

"Hmm... then tonight we can only go to bed early."

Liu Liu Yifei raised the fat orange cat in her arms, wrinkled her nose and bumped heads with it; her crisp laughter rang out in the garden, prompting the pack of Wang Wangs and the team of Meow Meows to respond one after another in a rush.

Lin Nan was not drawing Liu Miss, because he had already drawn an hour ago; at this moment, he was drawing storyboards.

The sky was a crimson-gold sunset, and beside him were the lazy Liu Liu Yifei and the well-behaved cats and dogs...

Only in such a comfortable, leisurely, and happy atmosphere was it suitable to draw the storyboards for "Dying to Survive"; otherwise, it was too easy to hurt the spirit, after all, this was an infinitely sad and depressing story, with infinite infectious power.

By the end of the day, Lin Nan Film had once again confirmed an important actor—Zhang Zhang Hanyu.

Who else could it be? His on-screen positive image was too positive! Although he hadn't arrived, he was decided just like that, confirmed via video call... The people from the Naval Political Department approved it immediately.

After all, the Army's "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" was him, and the Ministry of Public Security's "Operation Operation Mekong River" was also him; so naturally, the Navy's "Operation Red Sea" could also have him—play a supporting role!

The night passed quietly.

In the morning, when the sky was just slightly bright, heavy movie news flew back from Spain.

The Hundred Flowers Award results, which had just passed less than 30 hours ago, seemed to instantly become "old news" and were ruthlessly cast aside into the cold palace;

while the "newcomer" was the "Grand Prize" from the San Sebastian International Film Festival, a Class A film festival grand prize won by a Chinese-language film!

All online media moved at the scent of the wind, plus the push and boost from individual capital; the internet became restless on a large scale and over a wide area, with relevant press releases covering the sky and sea, like a mountain calling and a tsunami roaring.

Think about early last year, when Director Lin Da cut down the Golden Globe for Best Director, the Jin Xiong, and the Oscar for Best Director; the scale of domestic public opinion seemed to be about this level then, not exceeding much!

"At around 10 PM Spanish time, which is 5 AM domestic time, the closing ceremony and award ceremony of the 64th San Sebastian International Film Festival concluded successfully;

Director Feng Feng Xiaogang's film work "I Am Not Madame Bovary" strongly won the Golden Shell Award for Best Picture at the award ceremony. This is also the first time a film work by Director Feng Feng Xiaogang has won such a grand prize in Europe..."

"International famous actress Fan Li Bingbing won the Silver Shell Award for Best Actress for "I Am Not Madame Bovary," taking the crown of Best Actress."

"According to relevant media reports, following winning the Best Actress honor at a Class A film festival in 2010 at the Tokyo International Film Festival for "Mountain of the Bodhisattva," to this day, Fan Li Bingbing has become the third female actress among global Chinese actors and the fifth in Asia to possess the honor of two Class A film festival Best Actress awards..."

"Huayi's official Weibo account published a long article: Director Feng Feng Xiaogang is an undisputed international master director, and Fan Li Bingbing is also a world-famous Best Actress;

the film "I Am Not Madame Bovary" is undoubtedly an excellent work that adds glory to Chinese-language films... The film will land in theaters nationwide on November 18, looking forward to the appreciation of the vast number of film fans..."

……

The internet was more crazy than yesterday, because Fan Li Bingbing's fans were indeed tens of millions strong.

Whether acting fans, looks fans, or naked body fans, in short, they were spread all over the internet, countless in number!

And this time, Fan Li Bingbing directly leaped to become the third among global Chinese female actresses; the most excited and crazy must be her many fans;

Who cares about Zhang Zhang Ziyi, Li Li Bingbing, Zhou Xun, Xu Xu Jinglei, or any other leading actresses of her age or even older than Fan Li Bingbing—right now, they're all garbage!

Online, Fan Li Bingbing's fans were holding their own against dozens, ruthlessly overwhelming all their former rivals, growing more ferocious with every clash, leaving the fans of other leading actresses utterly powerless—because these were two actual Category A Best Actress awards, real acting achievements!

"No need to guess—right now, the most furious people in the industry aren't Fan Li Bingbing's old rivals, nor the fans of the other leading actresses crushed and mocked by Fan Li Bingbing's supporters, but Wang Wang Changtian and Chairman Wang Da!"

Sitting in the car, Lin Nan chuckled as he teased Liu Liu Yifei.

"Because all the buzz and news coverage from the premiere of 'From Your World Passing By' got completely stolen by them?! Hahaha…"

Liu Liu Yifei, quick to catch on, smiled mischievously and raised an eyebrow.

Today was exactly that—where could you even find news about the movie premiere online? It was all about 'I Am Not Madame Bovary' winning awards, and the official press releases about Feng Feng Xiaogang and Fan Li Bingbing.

Indeed, when Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei arrived at Wanda Cinema around nine in the morning, they saw Wang Wang Changtian, smiling on the surface but with slightly furrowed brows; he was greeting guests one by one, yet his body language showed no trace of genuine enthusiasm.

Deng Chao stood beside Wang Wang Changtian, accompanying him—he was both lead actor and co-producer, and compared to Big Lao Wang, he was far more cheerful.

"Director Lin, Producer Liu, please come right in."

Seeing Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei, Deng Chao immediately stepped forward with a smile. Hearing this, Wang Wang Changtian also turned his gaze toward them.

"I bet you two have seen the news—Huayi really spent big, definitely bought traffic! Those who know understand Feng Feng Xiaogang won a Category A award; those who don't think he swept the Big Three European festivals! Eighth Jin Xiong in China? Ninth Golden Lion? Second Palme d'Or? Or maybe the second Oscar for Best Director in mainland China?"

Since the heated rivalry and mutual mudslinging during last year's New Year's release of 'The Bad Guys' and 'Old Beast,' Guangxian had already completely broken ties with Huayi.

Now, Wang Wang Changtian had no intention of holding back—he launched into a direct tirade right in front of Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei.

"Chairman Wang, could you lower your voice a bit? There are so many people around."

Liu Liu Yifei whispered a reminder; she felt many eyes subtly glancing their way.

"Liu Yifei's right—there are plenty of media here today. Chairman Wang, be careful—someone might overhear and leak this. That'd be a real incident. Hehe…"

Lin Nan also chuckled, pulling Wang Wang Changtian aside; Deng Chao, shaken by Wang Wang Changtian's words, had turned visibly awkward—he couldn't interject, since among the four of them, his status was the lowest.

Inside the private, closed cinema, Lin Nan immediately spotted Ning Hao and Xu Zheng chatting with Wang Da Cinema's Liu Liu Xiaobin; nearly all the other familiar faces were not from the Huayi camp.

Huh? Wang Bao was here too! Unbelievable. After all, his scandals were still hot on entertainment boards, with sustained buzz.

"You go ahead, I'm going to join Xie Nan."

Liu Liu Yifei naturally told Lin Nan, without waiting for his reply, and strolled away gracefully—truly a top producer.

Greetings rang out one after another; everyone in the hall knew Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei had arrived.

Ning Hao glanced over, then quickly walked over, looking like he had something exciting to share:

"Lin Nan, look—after so long, we finally see Feng 'Great' Director's face again. It's pure 'vindication,' 'milk is mother,' 'sucking up,' 'grossly pretentious'…"

Wow—Ning Hao's string of sarcastic descriptions instantly hooked Lin Nan's curiosity.

"What happened?" he asked eagerly.

"The award-winning Feng 'Great' Director clearly can't sleep! It's around three a. m. in Spain right now—he just posted on Weibo five minutes ago. Check out his wording—tsk tsk tsk, hilarious, like some kind of…"

Lin Nan took the phone Ning Hao offered, involuntarily squinting—hmm… this was unmistakably Feng Feng Xiaogang, once he got his way.

"I'm thrilled and honored that 'I Am Not Madame Bovary' has been recognized by the San Sebastián International Film Festival. As the world's most authoritative Category A film festival, it has affirmed my strength as a film director and awarded me its highest honor. In my heart, it surpasses all other Category A festivals—it is my mentor, the most authoritative of all Category A festivals.

In the past, some malicious journalists, film professionals with poor skills but vile hearts, and many viewers I consider intellectually deficient questioned my work, belittled my creations, even claimed I only made lowbrow, vulgar films at home, incapable of crossing borders, utterly unworthy of the title 'Great Director,' miles behind those few other big directors in China…

Today? I stand on the highest podium of an international Category A film festival, one held in Europe… I'm delighted to have slapped the faces of these fools—satisfying, a bunch of mouthy…"

"Has he been drinking? 'I Am Not Madame Bovary' hasn't even been released yet!" Lin Nan finished reading Feng Feng Xiaogang's Weibo, his face a mix of disbelief and grim understanding—this was exactly Feng Feng Xiaogang's style, no doubt.

"We all think he must've been drunk at the after-party—otherwise he wouldn't be this out of control."

Now we just wait to see if he deletes the Weibo within a few hours—or maybe it'll vanish even sooner? Either way, Huayi will definitely suppress this post—he's too much of a troublemaker, haha…" Ning Hao laughed unrestrainedly, but after laughing, he couldn't help sighing.

"What's wrong now? Feng Feng Xiaogang's Weibo didn't even mention you, right? At most he vaguely hinted at you and Director Zhang Zhang Yimou…" Lin Nan chuckled.

"Shut up, don't rub it in. I'm just laughing, then suddenly feeling jealous. I think I'm no worse than Feng Feng Xiaogang, but…"

Ah, so he'd hit a nerve. Lin Nan sighed helplessly and patted his shoulder. "Don't give up—keep looking for chances. You know, for directors, forty is just the beginning…"

"You bastard, rubbing it in again? What else can I do? Wait for you to take me along? How long will that take?"

Lin Nan glanced at him—you damn well know how to climb up a pole!

Soon after, Deng Chao, Bai Bai Baihe, Yang Yang, Zhang Tian'ai, Liu Yan, and Yue Yue Yunpeng walked onto the stage, bombarded by media questions…

The half-hour pre-screening interview ended quickly amid laughter.

Then, the big screen slowly lowered, and the movie 'From Your World Passing By' officially began…

In the front row, Liu Liu Yifei leaned against Lin Nan's shoulder; both watched intently. After all, it was a comedy—no need to strain the brain, just enjoy.

Amid the waves of laughter from the audience, Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei contributed their share.

"You know what? Liu Yan played really well this time," Producer Liu praised.

"Yeah, this supporting role was good," Lin Nan said, watching the screen.

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Will we meet again, Zhao Zhao Yanzi?

When we meet again, be happy, okay?

Zhao Zhao Yanzi, be joyful, be happy, okay?

Joyful… happy…"

"Master, let's go."

"…Your world won't have me anymore… it's fine, you must be happy yourself… Zhao Zhao Yanzi? Zhao Zhao Yanzi? Zhao Zhao Yanzi, how can I live without you… Zhao Zhao Yanzi… Zhao Yanziaaa…"