Chapter 107: Liu Yifei's Debut

While Liu Yifei was practicing singing in Xiangjiang, Liu Xiaoli was busy arranging a red carpet gown for her back home.

However, because she was still just a young actress who had just debuted, she had no room to maneuver after making contact with a few big names.

She was still far from meeting the threshold for haute couture.

In the end, Lu Kuan asked Mei Yanfang’s personal designer, Liu Peiji, to step in and design this purple pleated floor-length gown for the young girl.

Besides Mei Yanfang, he was also a guest of honor for Zhang Guorong, Zhang Xueyou, Guo Fucheng, and others; he could be called the top dog of the Xiangjiang fashion design industry.

Han Lu and Xie Xiao’s shutters clicked frantically; from the moment Liu Yifei and Lu Kuan entered their range until they walked right in front of them, they almost pressed their fingers into a cramp.

"Wow, this way!"

"Chinese princess!"

"Lolita!"

When the Western reporters were feeling bored, they suddenly saw the face of an Eastern girl with a fresh temperament and were momentarily stunned by her beauty.

It was just that *Star Wish* hadn't been filmed yet; this was a living, breathing Princess Asha.

Relying on the advantage of being a fellow countryman, Han Lu shouted while shooting: "Hello, please wait a moment."

Liu Yifei had no experience and looked at Lu Kuan in a daze.

"Cooperate with her and pose."

"Oh, oh."

The young girl used all the eighteen martial arts she had learned from her etiquette trainer before coming, and after a flurry of confusion, she gradually got into the swing of things.

Awkward as it was, one couldn't deny that the person was truly beautiful!

Boss Lu very tactfully stepped aside and watched from the sidelines as little Liu used her beauty to conquer the picky photographers in Venice.

Good looks are justice; this holds true everywhere.

Liu Xiaoli was extremely excited; she was with the reporter from the blog network, who was a staff member Lu Kuan had specifically hired to take candid shots and collect footage of the crew throughout the trip.

Starting from this Venice trip, he would begin a series of public relations packaging to thoroughly push Liu Yifei to the forefront.

This was not only out of his interest as a shareholder of Red Star Dock, but also for the box office of the film that was set to hit theaters after returning home.

In short, everything is looked at through the lens of money.

Seeing the next crew about to arrive, Xie Xiao shouted loudly: "Director Lu, please, you two take a photo together."

Lu Kuan naturally complied obediently.

The dashing young director wore a well-fitted suit, a polite smile on the corners of his mouth, and very gentlemanly wrapped his arm around his companion's slender waist.

The heroine in the purple pleated skirt leaned slightly against him, her long legs appearing and disappearing, her expression calm and gentle.

If Gong Li’s black floral off-shoulder gown represented the nobility and elegance of the East.

Then this unknown young actress exhausted the fairy-like beauty and charm of a girl next door.

The clarity and clumsiness in her every gesture revealed the girl's quiet and graceful charm to the fullest.

This was a kind of gentleness and tranquility distinct from the busty, big-bottomed Western starlets.

"Click, click!"

Countless shutter sounds rang out, and the first photo of the two was born.

The official red carpet process of the Venice Film Festival only lasts about 30-35 minutes; the host and staff watched in surprise as this pair walked by, and the expected cold reception did not occur.

The red carpet is a world-renowned event process, and the lonely star-studded avenue of Asian filmmakers often makes the organizing committee anxious enough to grab reporters to come and show support.

Clearly, there was no need to worry about this problem today.

"Yifei, this outfit is truly beautiful today."

As the jury president, Gong Li had two domestic crews attending the red carpet ceremony tonight, and she also waited politely at the end.

"Thank you, Sister Gong Li!"

Liu Yifei familiarly performed a cheek-kissing greeting with Gong Li, and the two posed for photos again at the invitation of reporters and the host.

Boss Lu nodded with satisfaction; the film's promotional work was still ongoing, but Liu Yifei's personal marketing was going smoothly.

Unlike her previous life, where her image first appeared in the eyes of domestic audiences as Bai Xiuzhu, this time the young girl started with a high-profile red carpet debut.

In this era, the standard of such a debut could simply make a group of red carpet starlets who wanted to come but couldn't, or wanted to mooch but couldn't, green with envy!

And it wasn't the kind of forced mooching, even though she didn't have many scenes in this film debut.

"Lu Kuan, how about it? Today I really saved face for the crew, right!"

The young girl was secretly proud; she certainly knew where her resources came from and also wanted to do her best to give back to Lu Kuan.

At the very least, she didn't want to affect the film's promotion and box office because her acting was immature and she lacked star power.

"With this dress, even a pig inside would look beautiful; what does it have to do with you?"

With so many people around, Liu Yifei gave him a roll of her eyes, too lazy to bother with this stubborn contrarian.

Boss Lu watched the smiling Liu Yifei hug and take photos with her mother, and he began to consider his next plan.

According to the consensus of the several shareholders of Red Star Dock, after Venice, he would obtain a total of 30% of Red Star Dock's shares, becoming the second-largest shareholder after Cheng Jingfei.

With the cunning rabbit dead, the hunting dog is cooked; the plan to erode and annex Cheng Jingfei's shares also had to be put on the agenda.

The young girl he had raised with his own hands was about to walk to the center of the stage, and Boss Lu naturally had no kind heart to share this dividend with others.

It’s just that, how should this game be played...

Tonight was just the red carpet ceremony and simple event procedures; from the 29th, it would be the screening session that film lovers all over the world had been looking forward to.

The *Whiplash* crew had also long since started their promotional work.

This included posting posters, running interviews, even buying interviews, and going to mooch off the screenings of big-name directors and films to gain exposure, etc...

If a newcomer director and crew want to shine at a film festival, they must face the awkward situation where even good wine fears a deep alley; not being proactive in marketing is very passive.

Lu Kuan understood this principle, and the *Seeking Gun* crew, which Huayi participated in investing in, certainly understood it even better.

The next morning, when Lu Kuan and Tian Zhuangzhuang appeared outside the Film Palace for the opening film, posters for *Seeking Gun* were already posted everywhere.

Why were the spots reserved by the crew yesterday all posted with *Seeking Gun*?

The group temporarily suppressed their questions and walked to the Venice Film Festival’s activity hall, the casino.

"Casino" means gambling house, originating from Italian; during the film festival, this is the liveliest place on Lido Island.

Daily press conferences are held here, and after they end, by convention, directors and actors go to a room called "photocall" to accept media photography.

This is the second official appearance opportunity after the red carpet.

You can force your way onto the red carpet, but for this session, if you don't have a crew work pass, the film festival security will treat you like a food delivery guy and turn you away.

"Lu Kuan, Master Tian, why don't we see our posters?"

Liu Yifei and Feng Yuan also followed; among the leads, only Zhou Jielun was absent due to health reasons.

The crew had contacted a doctor to help him with rehabilitation, saving his energy to appear on the day of the *Whiplash* premiere.

Lu Kuan was also puzzled; although the marketing and promotion plan designed this time did not aim for a grand and extravagant approach, the necessary posters, interviews, and press releases were all there.

Soon, a conversation between two *Seeking Gun* crew members at the corner of the Film Palace answered their questions.

(End of chapter)