Chapter 208: Consultant Lu Enters the File

"Do you think only you lot know how to slam the table?"

"I can do it too!"

Lu Kuan also suddenly turned back and slammed the table, shaking the teacup in front of Director Tong twice.

"Director Wang! Don't you feel that your mindset is very fragmented?"

"On one hand, you strongly protest against the suppression of creative freedom, hoping to lift restrictions on your film themes, arguments, and boundaries."

"On the other hand, you shout that we are weak! We are pitiful! We need protection!"

"If you truly have the backbone and courage to pursue freedom, don't pin your hopes on policy support, but truly sink into the market."

"Is it appropriate to talk about dignity and freedom on one hand, while calling for help and nourishment from above on the other?"

He didn't say the nasty words about being a whore while wanting to set up a memorial arch for chastity; that would have truly created a mortal enemy.

The reporters at the scene were extremely excited!

They had long known that Lu Kuan was most skilled at verbal sparring, but previously it had always been facing reporters or the audience.

They didn't expect that today, facing this group of maverick Sixth Generation directors, he could still fight to the end with all his might.

Seeing the Seven Gentlemen sighing, blushing, or nearly walking out in a huff, Director Tong also decisively stepped in to control the rhythm.

"Alright! Everyone is doing this for the good of Chinese cinema; let's not hurt our harmony with debates, let's stop here."

The two sides, which were originally somewhat evenly matched, saw the Seven Gentlemen completely cease their efforts, and the symposium quickly ended after finishing the remaining formalities.

The intentions of the relevant departments were well implemented, and the Film Bureau sent a very clear signal to the industry:

It hopes that practitioners will prioritize the big picture, consider the future of Chinese cinema, place personal development within the torrent of historical trends, and never go against the tide.

At the same time, the Film Bureau and China Film Group successively opened official verified accounts on blogs to publicize the spirit of the symposium and related meetings.

It was just that the debate on the day was so brilliant that every word from both sides was reprinted by official media such as "China Film Report" and "Movie Channel," quickly causing an uproar in the critical community.

Huang Huang Shixian, Zhu Zhu Dake, and others successively entered the fray to disparage Lu Kuan's views, bluntly calling him a capitalist who talks without knowing the pain of those standing!

Lu Kuan had no enthusiasm to continue the verbal sparring with them; he spent these days handling official business at the company and would soon return to the Canadian set to start work.

Usually, Sun Sun Wenwen would contact him by phone to handle some urgent procedures for him, but many financial documents had to be signed and stamped in person.

"President Lu, the letter from the State Administration of Radio and Television has arrived."

"Just fill it out."

Sun Sun Wenwen hesitated and said: "The political status section..."

Lu Kuan suddenly remembered something and slapped his forehead, taking the letter from her hand.

【Wenjie Culture Media Co., Ltd.:

Due to work requirements, after research and decision by our unit's leadership group, we intend to appoint Lu Kuan of your company to the position of Senior Consultant at the Broadcast Science Research Institute of the National Radio and Television Administration. This letter is specially issued; please cooperate in filing the personnel file materials of this comrade to our institute's personnel department.】

Signature: Broadcast Science Research Institute of the National Radio and Television Administration

Lu Kuan had a bit of a headache.

This research institute was a public welfare institution established in 1958, affiliated with the Administration, and at the same level as the Film Bureau and the Movie Channel.

In the later year of 2013, the state combined the functions of the General Administration of Press and Publication and the Administration to establish the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, and the institute was also renamed the Academy of Broadcasting and Television Sciences of the National Radio and Television Administration.

The longer the unit's name, the more functions it has.

The main function of this research institute was to study relevant technologies in broadcasting, television, and film, and in the later internet era, it also conducted some research on digital copyright protection.

He, Lu Kuan, was not a technical expert; how did he get dragged into this unit!

In fact, this was also a helpless move after discussing it with Tian Tian Zhuangzhuang.

It stands to reason that since he was helping the Film Bureau under the Administration, the "remuneration" should be provided by the Film Bureau.

But the Film Bureau had no position like an advisory committee to give him; joining would make him a civil servant, and he was still the boss of several companies, which didn't comply with regulations.

On the other hand, Lu Kuan was already mixing in the film circle; if he were really inserted into the Film Bureau.

Then, in the future, when he fought with other film companies, it would really have that flavor of "Shaolin Soccer."

"The referee, the linesman, and the organizers are all my people; how can you fight me?"

This kind of thing was too sensitive, and the leaders didn't dare to take the risk.

Even if Lu Kuan himself was striving toward this goal—first engaging in public opinion, then becoming capital, and then attempting to exert his influence in the corresponding units.

But some things are better done secretly.

This senior consultant position at the research institute was barely a thing; at least he had entered the radio and television system, and it was a unit at the same level as the Film Bureau.

But now he still had to face a problem: his political status...

Should he join or not?

There were both pros and cons.

The benefit was that he could get closer to the organization, understand the policy direction and market trends, and better grasp the development context.

The disadvantage was that it would be unfavorable for his later layout and acquisition plans in the United States.

Foreign acquisitions of U. S. companies, especially in the media and high-tech industries, would be closely watched and required strict review by a committee called the "Committee on Foreign Investment."

If his status was "that," it would be quite taboo among the foreigners.

Some business tycoons in later generations also made different choices; Ma Yun, Liu Chuanzhi, and Wang Jianlin had all joined.

"Sun Wenwen, the people from the several democratic parties you told me about last month all came, right?"

"Yes, boss. The China National Democratic Construction Association, the China Association for Promoting Democracy, the China Zhi Gong Party, and the Jiusan Society all had people from the provincial organization departments come to recruit you."

These democratic camps had different natures; the Zhi Gong Party was mostly composed of overseas Chinese and their relatives, so he wouldn't consider it;

The China National Democratic Construction Association was mainly composed of people from the economic circle; Dongzi joined it in later generations;

The China Association for Promoting Democracy was mainly composed of senior intellectuals in the fields of education, culture, publishing, and media, which was quite a good match. (Note 1)

"Help me make an appointment with this Committee Member Zhang from the China Association for Promoting Democracy; we'll have dinner tonight."

"Okay, boss."

A protective talisman, the more the better.

In the evening, Lu Kuan hosted a banquet for several cadres of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy at the Wangfujing Hotel.

"Hello, Director Lu, I am Zhang Xin from the Beijing Municipal Committee."

This Committee Member Zhang was the deputy director of the local division of the organization department of the China Association for Promoting Democracy and the deputy chairman of the Beijing Municipal Committee, considered a prominent figure in the Beijing branch.

"Hello, Chairman Zhang, nice to meet you."

Zhang Xin was a smooth and sophisticated person and immediately solemnly introduced two people who looked like leaders.

"Director Lu, this is Director Qiao Sheng of the Education Division of the Publicity Department of the China Association for Promoting Democracy, currently the deputy director of the Journalism Department at the Communication University of China."

Lu Kuan reached out: "Hello, Director Qiao, nice to meet you."

The number of members in the democratic camps was relatively small; the China Association for Promoting Democracy had less than 30,000 members nationwide, mostly senior intellectuals.

For example, this Director Qiao's main job was a university department head.

"Director Lu, I have watched your two films many times; they are very brilliant!"

"Thank you, thank you, please give me more suggestions."

Zhang Xin turned to another slightly younger young woman.

"Director Lu, this is Deputy Director Xu Yue of the Beijing Liaison Office of the General Office of the China Association for Promoting Democracy."

"Director Xu is very young! She looks about the same age as me."

Xu Yue had a charming figure and beautiful eyes; hearing this, she couldn't help but laugh, revealing two shallow dimples on her face.

"Director Lu is joking; I have read your profile, I am 5 years older than you."

Zhang Xin introduced: "Director Lu, don't look at Director Xu as young; she is currently working in the Growth Enterprise Financing Department of China Securities."

Lu Kuan couldn't help but seriously look at the young woman again.

Whoa! A financial beauty; she became a liaison office director of the China Association for Promoting Democracy before the age of thirty. This was a lucrative position for socializing and accumulating favors.

This "honey peach" was not simple; she looked like a social butterfly, or the people behind her were not simple.

Otherwise, why wouldn't Zhang Xin even introduce her educational background? Clearly, it wasn't something to show off.

The four sat down, the banquet began, and after a few rounds of drinks, everyone quickly became familiar.

Zhang Xin first raised his glass: "Director Lu, the organization was very happy to receive your company's reply this afternoon agreeing to join the China Association for Promoting Democracy; we are very honored that we have one more comrade."

"Director Qiao, Director Xu, shall we all toast Director Lu together?"

Xu Yue happily raised her glass, while Qiao Sheng's expression remained normal, but he felt a bit uncomfortable inside.

It was just developing a new member; this Zhang Xin was making too much of a fuss. A liaison director like Xu Yue wasn't enough, and he had to drag him along too.

Once the pedantic nature of a scholar came up, he couldn't help himself.

"Chairman Zhang, you are a leading cadre; you still need to be rigorous in your speech. Director Lu is still in the organization's inspection stage, and the inspection period is one year."

This remark made everyone feel a bit awkward, and the atmosphere cooled down. Zhang Xin was a man of the world and skillfully smoothed things over.

"Director Lu, look at Old Qiao; he is used to teaching and educating people in universities and treats me and Xu Yue as his students."

Although Xu Yue felt that Qiao Sheng was more important, she couldn't let the atmosphere cool down, otherwise, it would be a dereliction of duty for her as a liaison director.

The beautiful young woman immediately cooperated tacitly: "Exactly! Teacher Qiao, you usually have a good tolerance for alcohol, but today you are getting drunk a bit fast; come, let me pick some food for you!"

The two shifted the focus of Qiao Sheng's words to themselves, and Lu Kuan just smiled and drank the wine in his glass, having no leisure time to get angry with him.

Just a lousy professor; Old Tian was discussing with Zhang Zhang Huijun about arranging his early graduation, and in a few years, who wouldn't be a university teacher, really!

Qiao Sheng drank his wine in silence, looking at the indifferent and overly young Lu Kuan, thinking about how to outdo him.

Right! Aren't you in the film business? I am in media; maybe you, Lu Kuan, need my connections to do publicity for you!

"Director Lu, are you aware of the newly established 'Xinjing News' in China? The editor-in-chief, Cheng Cheng Yizhong, is an old friend of mine; I can introduce you if you need."

Qiao Sheng was a professor in the Journalism Department at the Communication University of China; it was not strange that he knew the leaders of such industry newspaper groups.

It was just that Lu Kuan was stunned; they were just talking about the history of the China Association for Promoting Democracy and famous people within the party, so why did the topic suddenly branch off here.

The *Xinjing News* was indeed founded in November 2003, and its initiator was Cheng Cheng Yizhong, the former editor-in-chief of the *Nanfang Daily*.

He declared that he wanted to make the *Xinjing News* as responsible as the *New York Times* in reporting everything, and build it into the greatest newspaper in the country.

As it turned out, it met its Waterloo just four months after its founding.

Zhang Xin laughed and said, "Old Qiao, you should have told us sooner that you had such connections; next time, we can ask them to help promote the activities of our Democratic Promotion Association members."

"Exactly, Teacher Qiao is always obsessed with his studies and doesn't know how to empathize with the difficulties we grassroots cadres face in our work."

After three rounds of drinks, Xu Yue's cheeks were flushed with a rosy glow.

Hearing that Qiao Sheng still had such connections, she let her beautiful eyes wander and gave him a look that was both feigned anger and shyness.

Teacher Qiao: I'm beautiful, beautiful, beautiful; I'm drunk, drunk, drunk.

Looking at Lu Kuan again, why was he still looking so clueless? Could it be that he didn't understand the background of this Editor Cheng and the strength of the newspaper?

Teacher Qiao decided to give him a little lesson.

"Little Lu, the *Xinjing News* appeared out of nowhere, relying on the *Nanfang Daily*. I study this industry, so I know their strength very well."

"The *Nanfang Daily* had an advertising revenue of about 1.3 billion last year, with a cash flow of nearly over 100 million every month. It truly has a high starting point and massive investment!"

"You work in film, so it's impossible not to do marketing or advertising. If you need anything in the future, just come to Teacher Qiao; I have some pull over there!"

Boss Lu smiled noncommittally, thinking to himself that your old friend was only a few months away from singing the 'Prison Song' due to corruption issues.

"Thank you, Teacher Qiao, but I don't need it for now. The reach of traditional print media isn't very high right now; internet media is more popular."

Qiao Sheng happily slapped the table: "That's perfect! Blog Network, you know it, right?"

Zhang Xin said in surprise, "Old Qiao, you have resources at Blog Network too! Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Hey! I'm a scholar, how could I go around promoting this stuff every day like some commercial broker!"

The slightly flushed, balding professor saw the strange look on Boss Lu's face and thought he had finally hit a sore spot.

"Little Lu, the vice president of Blog Network, Mr. Wang Xing, studied at Huaching University as an undergraduate. He is a leading figure in internet media with a very high vision."

"He was well-acquainted with my daughter back at Huaching; the two of them... well, they could be considered childhood sweethearts, haha."

Qiao Sheng spoke cryptically, but the three people at the table were all somewhat stunned.

So you old rascal are trying to become the cheap father-in-law of Wang Xing?

"Those of us journalism scholars with a bit of fame in the industry, he often organizes dinners and symposiums to seek our opinions. As for me, he is still quite respectful."

"Oh, just the day before yesterday, he even specially sent a gift to the school to thank me for a development plan I made for Blog Network, including the later IPO plan."

Xu Yue was truly quite astonished now. She really hadn't expected that an old pedant like Qiao Sheng would have this kind of influence; that was the hottest internet company right now!

Her husband, who worked in investment at Morgan, often talked to her about this company, but no one in the industry could crack open the door to this Blog Network.

If she could help him connect with Wang Xing, she wouldn't have to be so cautious and watch her parents-in-law's expressions at her husband's family home.

Thinking of the bitterness and grievances of marrying into a wealthy family, Xu Yue decided that even if she had to go all out today, she would secure this connection with Qiao Sheng!

Moreover, she worked in this field herself and had long been paying attention to this internet upstart that had been established for over two years.

Thinking of the warming stock prices of Sina and NetEase in the US market this year and the huge profits of the initial investors, both she and Zhang Xin were somewhat envious.

If she could get some original shares before Blog Network went public through Qiao Sheng's connections...

"Teacher Qiao, you should have said so earlier. My husband works in this field and has always wanted to contact this Mr. Wang but had no way in. Now we've finally found the trick!"

Lu Kuan watched as Zhang and Xu abandoned their previous aloof demeanor, frequently toasting and picking food for Qiao Sheng, and couldn't help but feel amused.

What a scene of the floating world!

It was just a pity that Boss Lu had no interest in slapping these minor characters in the face; he was considering the issue of the *Xinjing News*.

Perhaps everyone would be puzzled, but this actually stemmed from the nature of its founding.

*Xinjing* was the first pilot unit in the country to run a newspaper in a different region.

*Nanfang* provided the money to go north, cooperated with *Guangming*, and used the publication number of the latter's dying *Life Times*.

This created a problem: it actually had no direct superior counterpart unit!

It wasn't until later that this bug was fixed, and the state implemented a policy of unified jurisdiction by the propaganda departments where the newspapers were based.

The reason Boss Lu was considering so much was to see if he could take advantage of its innate deformity to make some moves, find an opportunity to intervene and buy shares, and continue to expand his own public opinion position.

It was just that considering he already had the satellite channel, Blog Network, and the offline Focus Media in hand, would it be too blatant to intervene in the newspaper group?

He worried about attracting the attention and covetousness of those with ulterior motives; after all, his plan to build prestige and accumulate political capital had only just begun.

"Director Lu? Director Lu?"

Zhang Xin leaned over with her wine glass, pulling Boss Lu back from his deep thoughts into the Democratic Promotion Association member dinner tonight.

"Oh! Thank you, Teacher Qiao. If I have a need, I will definitely look for you."

Xu Yue and the other two looked at each other, all somewhat puzzled as to why this film director seemed so aloof.

Wasn't it he himself who said at the symposium that commercial films needed marketing?

How could he not know how to grasp an opportunity delivered to his doorstep!

Qiao Sheng sneered in his heart, you bunch of sanctimonious directors are nothing more than this; this attitude was definitely because he didn't want himself to steal the spotlight at tonight's banquet!

At this time node in 2003, news and information in the whole society had not yet spread so quickly, and Lu Kuan had only made a name for himself in the film and television circle; outsiders knew very little about his actual situation.

Seeing Qiao Sheng put his wine glass on the table with a heavy thud, looking displeased, Xu Yue decisively switched sides.

He was just a small director; these days, even dogs wouldn't watch domestic films, and she had no business dealings with him.

Qiao Sheng was different, especially since he could actually know the boss of Blog Network, which all the venture capitalists in the industry were drooling over!

On both ends of the scale, which was lighter and which was heavier?

Note 1: This is not called the Democratic Progressive Party; it is not the one of the green frogs.

This full name is the China Association for Promoting Democracy.

To prevent censorship, subsequent democratic parties will all be written as the democratic camp, trying not to let that word appear.

Chapter two will be later, don't wait.

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(End of this chapter)