Chapter 374: Century Hand in Hand, Century Embrace, Golden Horse Best Actress Double Win

Since mid-November, promotional campaigns for Lunar New Year films have begun.

This year's Lunar New Year slot remains lively, with a cluster of major productions.

Yi An's "October Siege" gathers multiple stars, while Zhang Yimou's new film "Three Musketeers: The Comedy" is released.

Zhou Jielun, Chen Daoming, and Zhi Ling's sister star together in "The Tomb," Xiao Yanzi and popular young actor Chen Kun co-star in "Mulan," and Zheng Yijian and Guo Tianwang star in "Fengyun 2."

These are still December releases; January brings more hot films, such as Jackie Chan and top star Wang Liqun's "The General and the Soldier," and Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen's new films "Confucius" and "The Brocade Guard."

Some low-budget films sneak in, seeking gaps in the schedules of major blockbusters to make a quick profit.

As previously mentioned, Yi An leveraged the popularity of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3" and the gossip between Hu Ge and Yang Mi to produce a low-budget romantic comedy, "Destined to Love You."

This film's budget is under 8 million, featuring Hu Ge, Yang Mi, Tang Yan, Liu Shishi, and other main cast of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3" in supporting or cameo roles, making it a sister or spin-off series to the TV drama.

Planned for release during the Spring Festival slot, this year's Valentine's Day falls exactly on Lunar New Year's Day, making a Valentine's premiere impractical, so it will launch directly in the Spring Festival slot.

The target audience is primarily fans of the two leads, young men and women, and young couples.

Given the low budget, if box office reaches 20 million, combined with other revenues, the project will be profitable.

This year, Yi An invested in two films: "October Siege" and "Destined to Love You."

However, several more films were added to the release slate: Donnie Yen's "The Brocade Guard," Zhou Jielun's "The Tomb," and a low-budget film titled "My Tang Dynasty Brothers."

Among them, the film "The Tomb" was not favored by the distribution department, deemed truly terrible.

But earlier, Yi An had collaborated well with its producer, Changhong Pictures, on "The Big Dunk," and they came personally with sincere intentions, making it hard to refuse.

More importantly, Yi An and its boss have many collaborations in Taiwan Province, and they've provided considerable help.

One cannot use someone's help and then kick them out immediately, so Yan Li personally ordered the project accepted.

"The Tomb" is heavily promoted externally, but Yi An, aware of the truth, believes this project has little chance of success.

Of the five projects, the most favored is undoubtedly "October Siege," followed by "The Brocade Guard."

"October Siege" will directly compete with "Three Musketeers: The Comedy."

The two films are spaced only a little over a week apart; many media outlets hype it as Yi An's next battle against a veteran film company after defeating Huayi in the National Day slot.

Will the new king maintain dominance, or will the old general prove resilient?

Yi An ignored this media hype entirely; Yan Li scoffed at it.

Huayi, no matter what, is a billion-dollar market cap company, with resources and influence.

Previously, it was quietly regarded as the industry's top leader; even now, though surpassed by Yi An, it remains the undisputed number two.

A battle between the top and second-ranked companies, in the same slot and genre, makes logical sense.

But why would New Vision dare to challenge Yi An?

It's merely a large studio for Zhang Yimou; meanwhile, companies like Hai Run, Ci Wen, Huace, and Rong Xinda are all preparing for IPOs, while New Vision remains silent.

Even if it made moves, who would invest in a film company dependent solely on one director?

Most astonishingly, Zhang Yimou holds no shares in this company; strictly speaking, their relationship is merely a collaboration, bound only by personal ties and long-term cooperation.

That's terrifying—if Zhang Yimou ever quits, New Vision collapses immediately.

Many still use New Vision's past achievements to justify treating it as a major company.

In reality, at the moment capital surges began, New Vision's outdated mindset and lack of clear advantages have already sealed its fate of abandonment and elimination.

Therefore, Yan Li pays no attention to New Vision; Yi An doesn't even consider it a rival.

But Zhang, the boss of New Vision, has been acting overly bold.

He not only claimed "Three Musketeers: The Comedy" will win decisively, but also sneered at Huayi and Yi An.

"... Film companies obsessed with IPOs have little heart left for actual film production."

One of Yi An's executives couldn't stand his arrogance and mocked New Vision for being stagnant and unambitious.

In response, Zhang mocked him, asking how much salary Yan Li pays him to be such a brown-noser.

Yan Li had originally ignored the old bastard, but unexpectedly the guy wouldn't stop, thinking he was easy to bully.

Tired of his petty verbal sparring, Yan Li struck straight at the heart.

Leveraging the news of Yi An distributing original shares, Yan Li publicly spoke out on Weibo, defending Zhang Yimou.

He listed the treatment received by major directors.

Feng Xiaogang received Huayi's original shares, now worth nearly 200 million; Huayi strongly supports his creative freedom and pays him top director fees.

Director Chen is his own boss, collaborates with everyone, earns more, and enjoys complete creative freedom.

Even Ning Hao, a junior, received Yi An's original shares, highly valuable, with additional benefits and creative freedom also supported by Yi An.

Only Zhang Yimou—the chief director of the Olympic opening ceremony—receives nothing from New Vision, is constantly restricted, and is truly pitiful.

He has always revered Zhang Yimou; if Zhang joins Yi An, he will receive full original shares and top benefits, be treated as a pillar, and be cherished deeply.

This move is truly devastating!

Zhang, the boss, fears most and cannot accept is Zhang Yimou's departure.

Even though he knew Yan Li's public statement was clearly meant to provoke him, he was deeply shaken.

He angrily told reporters that Yan Li was sowing discord and indulging in fantasy, that he and Zhang Yimou had been close brothers for over twenty years, and that Zhang Yimou would never leave New Vision.

Seeing this, Yan Li began posting again on Weibo.

"【...】 If you're truly good brothers, when your brother has a better future, you should see him off, not block him."

"【...】 Talking about brotherhood while refusing to share actual benefits, exploiting your brother to enrich yourself—that's outright moral coercion and bullying."

"【...】 Taking more money is one thing, but you also meddle, create problems, hide behind the scenes counting money while pushing your brother to the front to take the blame—how righteous!"

"【...】 Honestly, Zhang, you've endured this long—it's truly admirable. I sincerely respect your magnanimity."

"【...】"

Zhang, the boss, exploded on the spot, desperately proving how good he was to Zhang Yimou, ranting and cursing, accusing Yan Li of having sinister ambitions.

Yan Li replied on Weibo with just one sentence: "【If I'm wrong, why are you so upset?】"

Boss Zhang: "＃％＆～￡｛％￠｝"

Seeing Boss Zhang nearly explode and the speculation from outside, Lao Mouzi could no longer sit still, and stated during an interview.

"First, thank you, General Yan, for your appreciation, but my collaboration with Wei Ping has been quite pleasant, and I'm satisfied with the current situation—I have no intention of leaving Xin Huamian."

Yan Li remained courteous toward Lao Mouzi, posting a friendly reply on Weibo, and couldn't resist throwing a little shade at Boss Zhang.

【………Hope Director Zhang has smooth sailing with Xin Huamian; Yi'an's door remains open to him at all times】

Whether or not Lao Mouzi and Boss Zhang had some arrangement, the latter stopped provoking Yi'an, and when questioned by reporters, merely emphasized that Lao Mouzi wasn't leaving—or avoided answering altogether.

Before the New Year film season even began, a major drama unfolded, and netizens enthusiastically declared it thrilling.

Many speculated whether Yan Li was seeking revenge against Boss Zhang, genuinely trying to poach Lao Mouzi, or both.

Others joked that Boss Yan was undoubtedly the vanguard of romantic conquests—he openly flirted and managed to turn a twenty-year "married couple" into chaos, a shame he didn't play Ximen Qing.

Then again, Ximen the Great Lord had Pan, Lu, Deng, Xiao, and Xian; Yan Li might fall slightly short on Xiao and Xian, but with advantages in other areas, he's essentially an upgraded Great Lord.

Fortunately, Yan Li doesn't pursue married people, so there's no need to fear a human tragedy.

…

Compared to the New Year film season that hadn't yet begun, Yan Li's main focus was actually on the Golden Horse Awards.

In late November, the Golden Horse Awards were held in Taipei, Taiwan Province; both Li Bingbing and Li Xue were nominated for Best Actress, and Yi'an's artist Huang Bo was nominated for Best Actor for "Bullfighting."

Yi'an's films "The Message," "The Search for Li Mi," "Crazy Stone," "Painted Skin," and "Ip Man" were all nominated in various categories.

Yan Li personally led the delegation, and all relevant personnel chartered a plane to Taiwan Province for this year's Golden Horse Awards.

Li Bingbing and Li Xue arrived at the airport VIP lounge and saw an acquaintance flipping through a magazine.

"What are you doing here?"

Young Master Zhou looked up at her: "I'm nominated for Best Actress too, you know."

This year, Taiwan's overall environment had changed; mainland films were especially dominant at the Golden Horse Awards.

Of the four Best Actress nominations, only one, a woman named Zhang Rongrong, was from Taiwan; of the four Best Actor nominations, one was from the mainland, two from Xiangjiang, and the other, though active in Hong Kong and Taiwan, was actually from Guangdong Province.

Even among the eight nominees for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, only half were Taiwanese actors.

This drew attacks from some extreme local media accusing the Golden Horse Awards of flattery, claiming they had become the "Mainland Golden Horse Awards."

Young Master Zhou was not only nominated for Best Actress, but specifically for "The Search for Li Mi."

This film was invested in and produced by Yi'an; following Yi'an's main group, Young Master Zhou also hitched a ride on their chartered flight.

Li Bingbing had no reply; it was almost funny—the top two actresses of Huayi were both nominated for Best Actress thanks to Yi'an films, and were flying to the awards ceremony on Yi'an's plane.

No wonder so many wanted to leave—Huayi's performance was truly heartbreaking and despairing.

The two didn't get along; after asking one question, Li Bingbing went to sit far away, and Young Master Zhou had no interest in engaging.

The role in "Dir En Jie: The Heavenly Empire" had been almost secured by Li Bingbing, but was snatched away from her.

New grudges plus old ones—had Young Master Zhou not been planning to leave Huayi and wanted to mend ties with Yi'an, she would never have boarded the same plane as her.

After a while, Yan Li arrived, nodded to everyone, then focused on his phone call.

Fan Xiaopang came with him; he glanced at the Li sisters, then sauntered over to sit beside Young Master Zhou.

The Four Dan and Two Bing all disliked each other—everyone had grudges against everyone else.

But comparatively, the tension between Young Master Zhou and Fan Xiaopang was slightly less.

Aside from the daily chaos among the Four Dan and Two Bing, the only direct confrontation had been when Yan Li clashed with Wang Le of the Jingcheng Four Young Masters—but back then, the conflict centered on two men, and the two women didn't fight much.

So not only did they maintain a friendly facade, but when they met privately, they could even chat a bit.

Especially when Li Bingbing was around, gossiping together about their old rival made the conversation even more enjoyable.

Of the Four Dan and Two Bing, the most notoriously difficult to get along with was Zhang; Xu Caimei played small circles; the Two Bing and Xiao Yanzi had decent popularity, but each had controversies; the one with the best popularity and best public reputation was Young Master Zhou.

Fan Xiaopang held old grudges against Xiao Yanzi, looked down on Zhang Kuang, and looked down on Xu Zhuang; although Li Bingbing and Young Master Zhou were also criticized in various ways, they were relatively better off.

Young Master Zhou felt similarly toward Fan Xiaopang—mainly because they had little direct conflict of interest, and she currently couldn't afford to provoke Fan Xiaopang.

Although the Four Dan and Two Bing all denied it and continued to have tensions, in reality, with Yi'an's rise, Fan Xiaopang had become the most powerful among them.

At this stage, only Zhang pursued an international path, backed by a so-called foreign big shot and claiming "girlfriend" status with some domestic and international socialites, so she wasn't particularly wary of Fan Xiaopang.

The rest of them all had some inclination to avoid direct, open conflict with Fan Xiaopang.

For instance, Xiao Yanzi had previously tried to appease Fan Xiaopang, publicly praising her performance in "The Message" in media interviews and so on.

The rivalry between the Huanzhu sisters was a curse, but also a bond; sometimes, mentioning an old friend or reminiscing about the past made it hard to truly break ties.

Young Master Zhou was about to leave Huayi, losing her major backer, and had even less reason to provoke the rising Fan Xiaopang.

In fact, once she became a free agent, she might even collaborate with Yi'an.

Fan Xiaopang had no such complex thoughts—she simply wanted to annoy and isolate Li Bingbing.

When Yan Li finished his call and saw this scene, he understood what was going on, but didn't bother to intervene—he was used to the Li sisters alternating between fighting and making up.

Yan Li didn't meddle in the three women's covert struggles; instead, he chatted with Ning Hao, Huang Bo, and Guan Hu.

Guan Hu's "Bullfighting" had nothing to do with Yi'an, but since Huang Bo was involved, and the chartered flight had room for a few more, they were included.

During the conversation, it was clear Huang Bo was trying to speak well of Guan Hu to Yan Li.

Huang Bo's debut film, "Get in the Car and Go," was directed by Guan Hu, who had been his mentor.

Since then, Huang Bo had appeared in multiple of Guan's films; their personal friendship was extremely close, and in Huang Bo's heart, the two most important directors were Ning Hao and Guan Hu.

Ning Hao was now Yi'an's leading director and had a closer relationship with Yan Li than Huang Bo did—he didn't need Huang Bo to worry about him.

Guan Hu and Yan Li had only a bit of old friendship from "Survival: The Migrant Workers," and had had little contact in recent years.

Now, Yi'an's status in the industry needed no explanation; Huang Bo thought this was a rare opportunity—he could speak well of Guan Hu, and if he connected him with Yi'an, it would benefit Guan Hu's career.

If Guan Hu did well, given their relationship, Huang Bo would surely benefit in the future.

Huang Bo was proactive; Guan Hu was also putting on a show.

When Yan Li first met Guan Hu, the latter still had some of the arrogance of a circle insider; but times had changed—Yan Li was no longer a small-time boss just starting out, but a formidable capital magnate.

At this moment, Guan Hu could not act superior in front of Yan Li.

Many in the cultural sphere are like this.

If you have no money, he won't even bother with you; you're not from the same world.

If you have a bit more money than he does, he'll pretend to be friendly on the surface, but inwardly looks down on you, thinking you're not of the same path.

But if you're exceptionally wealthy, he might start groveling at your feet.