Chapter 188

Seeing Lu Kuan walked into the office in a great mood, glanced at Liu, and felt secretly smug to himself.

"Watching me so closely won't stop me from using movies to bait the trap, right? Which actress can resist this kind of test?"

"Eh, Aunt Liu is here too?"

Liu Xiaoli stood up: "Yes, Little Lu. I brought you some tartary buckwheat tea that Xixi brought back from Dali earlier."

She hadn't intended to come and talk to Seeing Lu Kuan about the female lead role in *Exotic Land*; it was just that the situation with *Kung Fu* was still hanging in the balance, and she was waiting for an answer.

In the past, she would have made the decision herself, or discussed it with Cheng Jingfei.

Now, Cheng Jingfei was busy scrambling for money to clean up his own mess, utterly overwhelmed, and after this incident, the two families had basically drifted apart.

Letting the two children, Yang Siwei and Liu Yifei, make the decision left her feeling uneasy.

After much thought, the only option was to come with Yang Siwei to hear Seeing Lu Kuan's advice.

Seeing Lu Kuan asked curiously: "Little Liu, is Zhou Xingchi your uncle? How did he agree to let you go without requiring you to sign a contract?"

He was genuinely puzzled; this wasn't a parallel world, after all!

No one denied Zhou Xingchi's talent, but it was also a fact that both friends and foes alike spread rumors about his petty stinginess.

No one is perfect, so it wasn't that strange.

The young girl spat at him: "Talk nonsense!"

She then raised her eyebrows at him with a bit of haughtiness: "Is there a possibility that my ability has earned his recognition?"

Boss Lu didn't continue to tease her in front of Liu Xiaoli; he picked up his teacup and blew away the floating leaves.

"What's the salary?"

Liu Xiaoli looked a bit embarrassed: "Because Xixi refused to sign the contract, the original salary of 1 million has now become 300,000..."

In later generations, the salary he gave Huang Shengyi was less than 100,000, and at that time, she was still a nobody in the entertainment industry who had only appeared in youth idol dramas.

In this life, Liu Yifei was already a quasi-first-tier rising star with high popularity, but even so, she was still being aggressively lowballed by the Star Master.

You really are yourself!

"Then that's normal. I told Little Liu a long time ago about his eccentricities."

Yang Siwei said anxiously: "Boss Lu, please help us come up with an idea! They are calling several times a day to urge us!"

Boss Lu sneered: "Ho! Who is this?"

"Isn't this the general manager, agent, personal assistant, and creative director of the Liu Yifei Studio, whose wings have grown stiff?"

"Why are you visiting your old boss?"

Yang Siwei smiled awkwardly: "Boss Lu, even if the deal doesn't go through, the friendship remains. Although we couldn't work together, Xixi has been very protective of you. She even registered a..."

"Woo woo woo!"

Liu Yifei covered her agent's mouth with lightning speed!

【Record】 You can't let him know!

Boss Lu glanced at the young girl suspiciously, not understanding what kind of play this was.

Registered what?

"What's the point of acting for 300,000? It's only a few minutes of screen time; it won't do much to improve you."

Liu Xiaoli smiled bitterly: "But the other scripts submitted are very mediocre, and Xixi's future..."

Boss Lu interrupted her and asked Liu Yifei directly.

"If you want to increase your popularity and become popular again through a movie, you can play this role."

"But because of the screen time, it's impossible for you to get much training on set. He writes, directs, and acts in it himself; he won't have the leisure to pay attention to you."

Seeing Lu Kuan paused, tapped his fingers on the table, and signaled for Yang Siwei to refill his tea.

"I'll give you a choice."

Liu Yifei was surprised: "What?"

"Go to the *Exotic Land* crew."

Liu Xiaoli said with pleasant surprise: "Little Lu, but Zhang Ziyi she..."

Seeing Lu Kuan's expression remained normal: "I mean, Little Liu can go to *Exotic Land* to be her stunt double!"

Everyone in the room was stunned!

Are you even human?

Yang Siwei couldn't help but speculate about this former black-hearted boss in the most malicious way:

All of Liu Yifei's earnings for the past two years have gone to the Inquiry Realm; Seeing Lu Kuan must think the *Kung Fu* salary is too low and is making Xixi work for free!

Liu Xiaoli was even more panicked!

You silly girl, you said Seeing Lu Kuan wasn't angry that you refused to sign the contract; he's already using methods to exploit you!

The former family agent felt some regret; if she had known, she should have just agreed to the Little Yanei! At least she could have gotten two movie roles.

The daughter could just follow along step by step; what else could they do?

Liu Yifei fell into deep thought, wondering what Seeing Lu Kuan's purpose was.

"Your martial arts scenes are better than Zhang Ziyi's. Being her stunt double or light double can help you train your sense of the camera, help you familiarize yourself with Hollywood filming rules, and let you watch how actors like Leonardo perform on set."

"You should still remember what was said in *Whiplash*; there is no evaluation more harmful than 'not bad'."

"But to be blunt, it's a pity that your current acting ability is nowhere near that of a top-tier actor, not even 'not bad'."

Yang Siwei and Liu Xiaoli both wanted to argue unconvincingly, but only Liu Yifei pursed her lips and said nothing, her small fists clenched tightly.

She recalled her audition performance over the past three days; although there was a gap compared to Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun, it wasn't that bad, right?

Seeing Lu Kuan was indeed deliberately provoking her.

The success of *Whiplash* and *Chinese Paladin*, the massive traffic of the blog network, the first star website built by fans in the domestic entertainment industry, and a quasi-first-tier status that had climbed to a 3 million endorsement fee.

As well as the Golden Eagle Awards to be held at the end of September, she had vaguely become the most popular actress with the highest acclaim.

Everything could make her become carried away.

Originally, he wanted to keep Liu Yifei by his side, plan everything out, and help her grow step by step.

But since she had her own ideas and refused to sign with the Inquiry Realm, he could only let her go like a kite, sometimes tight and sometimes loose.

Constantly putting pressure on her, giving her a dose of setback education when she might be about to walk down the old path in complacency, ignoring those fleeting clouds.

This was also the ideal she described herself at Mei Yanfang's residence in Xiangjiang, saying she wanted to become a real actor.

"There is a third path; you can also study hard at the Beijing Film Academy and build a solid foundation, which is better than mixing for popularity in *Kung Fu*."

The grievance that Liu Yifei was about to pour out was quickly suppressed.

Her small face was tight: "Don't say anymore, I've decided, I'll go to *Exotic Land* to be a stunt double!"

"Be Zhang Ziyi's stunt double!"

She said the last sentence through gritted teeth and walked out of the office immediately.

How could she be willing?

She was already at this status and currently popular in the domestic entertainment industry; how could she be worse than being a stunt double for another female star in Seeing Lu Kuan's eyes?

How dare you insult me like this!

Outside the office, the Inquiry Realm company's interview with Zhang Ziyi had just ended.

When the reporters saw the popular young star Liu Yifei walking over, they gathered around again, with long guns and short cannons waiting.

The young girl was in a terrible mood and wanted to turn around and leave, but fortunately, Yang Siwei poked her from behind.

"Xixi, keep smiling!"

Liu Yifei took a deep breath and tried to put on a fake smile.

"Yifei, may I ask why everyone on the internet calls you the Fairy Sister?"

The female star was expressionless: "Too many press releases."

The reporter was choked by the words.

Self-exposure?

Another reporter interjected: "Yifei, may I ask why your private clothes usually don't fit your status as a popular young star, and some people say you look like a village girl; what do you think?"

The female star suddenly remembered that someone had also said she looked like a village girl.

"I am a village girl."

"Yifei must be very busy lately, right? *Chinese Paladin* has such explosive ratings; you must have received many movie offers?"

"Not busy, I'm looking for a job."

Liu Xiaoli felt a headache, and Yang Siwei felt lactic acid.

You really are the worst batch I've ever led!!!

The reporters present had never seen such a mudslide in the domestic entertainment industry and were all dumbfounded.

The young girl was annoyed by Yang Siwei pushing her from behind; why do you always push me, I didn't say anything wrong!

"Okay, thank you everyone, one last question."

"Yifei, after the audition for *Exotic Land* failed this time, do you have any plans for the next movie?"

Touching a sore spot, Liu Yifei frowned: "Who said my audition failed?"

Everyone was suspicious; could it be that this movie had two female leads?

"My audition was successful, I am now the female lead's stunt double, that's it! Goodbye!"

The popular young star swung her arms and left the venue, followed by her heartbroken agent.

Boss Lu, is it too late for me to go back to the Inquiry Realm now?

The domestic entertainment industry is a crowded dining table, and all practitioners are eating at this table.

When you are popular, there will always be people trying every possible way to consider your taste, and when the dishes are turned to you, they always stop steadily.

Just like Yu Dong and Huo Wenxi, who "served dishes" to him in different ways.

When your future is uncertain and there is much discussion, you will find that no matter how many times you turn the table, you can't pick up a piece of the dish you want to eat.

Over the past two days, Zhang Ziyi's successful selection as the female lead of *Exotic Land* has been headline news.

It is said that she has persuaded Director Zhang Yimou and set off for North America to participate in half a month of training and preparation.

Once Director Seeing Lu Kuan finishes the distribution of *The Thief* in the mainland, he will immediately begin the filming of this blockbuster.

Following this, a related piece of news came out, which was also shocking.

The popular young star Liu Yifei actually went to the *Exotic Land* crew to be Zhang Ziyi's stunt double?

This is too unbelievable, right?

The last person to do this was Liu Xiaoqing, who had just been released from prison, lowering her status to go to Hengdian to play a supporting role for actors who weren't even qualified to act with her before.

Who doesn't know that Liu Yifei is a rising superstar embryo nurtured by the Inquiry Realm; why was she sent to the cold palace so quickly?

Entertainment reporters, of course, wouldn't let go of this topic.

Soon, Zhuo Wei posted a blog post on the blog network, pointing out that "Liu Yifei Studio" had been officially filed and registered with the Industry and Commerce Department of Chaoyang District.

She had issued an announcement about terminating her contract with Red Star Dock, and everyone thought she had naturally signed with the Inquiry Realm.

What the hell is this studio?

According to the analysis of the King of Paparazzi, Liu Yifei had a disagreement with Seeing Lu Kuan for unknown reasons and was targeted by the latter, who threatened her with cutting off resources and a ban in the industry, making her work for the *Exotic Land* crew for free.

This really angered Liu Yifei's fans.

Most of her fans are post-80s and post-90s, the group most skilled at surfing the internet now.

Not to mention the blogs, the Liu Yifei group and Chinese Paladin group in the newly established Douban, and the personal theme stations established by her fans.

Blown by this evil wind from Zhuo Wei, there was a momentum like the expedition of the Di Bar in later generations, leaving no grass growing, and they marched mightily toward Seeing Lu Kuan's blog homepage.

It was truly magnificent and devastating!

Boss Lu's fans are mostly movie fans around thirty years old, and there is also a part that overlaps with Linger fans, and there is no shortage of a large group of people who have defected.

Especially on the second night of the casting, Little Liu posted a photo of exercising on her blog, accompanied by a few lines of Pushkin's poem.

If life deceives you, do not be sad, do not be impatient!

In the days of melancholy, you must be calm!

Believe, the happy days will come!

Her unintentional update was like blowing the horn of a charge, and the Lu-black army fought seven in and seven out on the Inquiry Realm and Seeing Lu Kuan's homepage!

Zhuang Xu helplessly called his junior brother again.

"Can you stop for a while? Why do you always cause trouble because of women? The server crashed for another 5 minutes!"

Boss Lu naturally heard about it: "Isn't that good? I personally went down to drive traffic, you should just be happy!"

Zhuang Xu looked at the data on the computer.

"Because of you, many people originally named Lu something changed their names, and some Liu Yifei fans directly changed their names to something like 'Beat the Washing Machine to Death'."

"Do you know that in the past few days alone, the number of SP members on the blog network has increased by more than 100,000!"

"They are all here to send flowers and likes to Liu Yifei, and those who changed their names are here to scold you!"

Boss Lu couldn't laugh or cry.

This damn, you damn, I damn!

I really am a marketing genius!

"Leave it alone, let them scold if they want, I won't lose a hair."

Public opinion is surging toward the Little Liu they like, but in the vanity fair, they all look at Boss Lu's face.

Changsha, Kaifu District, Deyu Road, Xiangtai Headquarters.

Yang Siwei was furious in the office.

"How can you do this! These plans were all set when *Chinese Paladin* was first approved!"

The staff of Happy Camp were expressionless: "Please don't shout; times are different now, and I don't want to say anything more unpleasant."

"This is a decision from above, and I am just conveying the opinion."

Yang Siwei sat down bitterly, looking at the program plan for Happy Camp on Saturday, September 20th, feeling extremely angry!

After the two families cooperated on *Chinese Paladin* and it became a hit, Yang Siwei, as Liu Yifei's agent, followed Seeing Lu Kuan's instructions to negotiate cooperation.

Regarding the Golden Eagle Awards opening on September 26, 2003, and the Happy Camp program on the Saturday closest to that date.

According to Boss Lu's original plan, they would use this currently hottest variety show to warm up for Liu Yifei, and then help her and Hu Ge and other artists under the banner promote on the blog.

The Golden Eagle Awards is a voting award; the 2003 Golden Eagle Awards could be voted by mail, phone, SMS, and internet.

Among them, internet voting and the blog network established an exclusive cooperation agreement to drive traffic to each other.

There was no Golden Eagle Goddess in 2003; the honors Liu Yifei could strive for at this time were the Most Popular Actress and the Audience's Favorite Actress.

The latter is a multi-winner award.

There is also a Best Performing Arts Actress, but it is generally awarded to highly respected industry seniors and serious dramas.

But when Yang Siwei came to Xiangtai again, she unexpectedly found that the previously set program content had completely changed!

Liu Yifei's appearances and interactions in the process were greatly reduced!

It was almost time for Xiangtai to get off work, and the staff came with cold faces to persuade her to leave.

Yang Siwei is a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to build Bingbing into Fan Ye in later generations.

She pushed aside the staff who were blocking her and rushed into Yao Jia's office.

Yao Jia was still looking at documents; she had been promoted to deputy director of the purchasing department because of the success of the *Chinese Paladin* project.

Although she is a deputy director, the head is already approaching retirement age, and she is an old subordinate of Director Ouyang's residence; it will be a matter of a year or two before she is promoted.

Yao Jia already had the momentum of a superior: "Siwei? Why are you so angry?"

Yang Siwei wanted to say something, then turned around and closed the door.

"Director Yao, things shouldn't be done this way, right?"

"The promotion plan was set by both families, and now the program team changes it as they please; isn't that a bit too much?"

"Isn't it just some nonsense from some rotten paparazzi on the internet? You are such a big TV station, is it necessary to listen to the wind and rain?"

Yao Jia was scolded by this former Inquiry Realm agent and silently took off her glasses.

In all fairness, she also strongly disagreed with this approach, but the general director of the program team was not under her management, so what could she do?

Her relationship with Liu Yifei hadn't reached the point where she could stand up for her and speak out for justice.

"Siwei, sit down first; I've also heard about this and asked about it."

"I personally strongly oppose this kind of behavior of looking at people and serving dishes, but it's hard for me to intervene in this matter in my current position."

Yang Siwei was anxious!

The key is that the emperor is not in a hurry, but the eunuch is; the young girl is eating and sleeping well at home, exercising, and is already prepared to break into Hollywood as a martial arts stunt double!

As for this Golden Eagle Award for Most Popular Actress, she doesn't care at all!

Yao Jia was bright-eyed and also intended to explore the relationship between Seeing Lu Kuan and Liu Yifei.

"Siwei, tell me the truth, what happened to Yifei? Why did she suddenly want to be a stunt double for Zhang Ziyi?"

Yang Siwei was tongue-tied and hesitant to speak.

I am also a part of their play! How would I know?

The natural agent's holy body suddenly had a flash of inspiration!

"Director Yao, actually there are some things I really don't find easy to say; I'm afraid it will affect Director Lu's reputation if I say it, but..."

"But I'm really afraid that your Xiangtai and his relationship will reach a dead end!"

Yao Jia looked at her suspiciously: "Siwei, take your time."

"Our cooperation with the Inquiry Realm has always been very pleasant; the second-round broadcast rights for *Chinese Paladin* are also about to be bid on, and the advertising fees have already arrived."

"I don't understand what you mean by a dead end?"

Yang Siwei had an idea and began to exert her unconstrained imagination.

"Director Yao, actually..."

"Actually, Director Lu is pursuing our Xixi!"

Yao Jia was shocked!

"What? Isn't Yifei only...?"

She suddenly remembered Zhuo Wei's earliest revelation about the two of them being in the same car for an hour!

She also remembered the scene at the Inquiry Realm's press conference at the beginning of the month where Seeing Lu Kuan asked Liu Yifei to go on stage to translate for Leonardo.

Thinking back now, where does this look like being sent to the cold palace?

This is clearly naked, calm, and composed favoritism!

Then why did he force Liu Yifei to be a stunt double for Zhang Ziyi?

And why is the latter "willing to take the poison"?

Thinking of the Inquiry Realm's involvement in the satellite station Travel Channel, Yao Jia felt that at least for now, the good cooperative relationship between Xiangtai and Seeing Lu Kuan could not be broken.

Yang Siwei looked at her changing expression, and her heart was also beating like a drum.

Must not let Boss Lu know that she slandered him! Otherwise, she would definitely be dead!

Actually, Yang Siwei, you can't count it as slander...

"Director Yao, these words come out of my mouth and enter your ears; please don't tell a third person!"

"After all, Boss Lu he... you know."

Yao Jia took a deep breath and gave her a polite smile from someone within the system.

"Don't worry, Siwei."

She then looked at her watch: "The station director shouldn't have left yet; come with me!"

(End of chapter)