Chapter 308: Little Liu's Compliance Test

"So... Twitter is your company?"

Even now, Boss Lu still found it somewhat unbelievable.

Looking at him rubbing his left chest, as if she could see the bruising through his clothes, Liu Yifei felt a tiny bit of regret.

But she couldn't blame herself entirely; the main thing was that she couldn't suppress her anger whenever she saw this dog of a man!

"That's right, I registered it in my mother's name. She holds a green card, and there are various conveniences to registering a company that way."

Boss Lu quickly adjusted his state and bluffed, "Liu Yifei, you're an actress. It's one thing to study at a business school to clear your head, but how can you throw yourself into the trivialities of a company like this?"

"I believe this is very detrimental to your acting career."

Liu Yifei gave a gentle smile, but her tone was firm: "First of all, we are currently in an equal business negotiation relationship. Don't call me Liu Yifei; call me Ms. Liu."

"Secondly, I have spent almost no extra effort; there are specialists responsible for the technology and operations."

"Finally, if you want to talk to me, I want to hear what you didn't finish saying on set yesterday first."

"What do you think of this face of mine, and how should it be filmed?"

Liu Yifei smiled charmingly, pressing her hands on the table: "I'll state this first: this isn't a threat."

"I just want to ask you, this great director, for some advice, just like that young lady who spent 15 million to buy your painting!"

Boss Lu couldn't help but laugh; women really hold grudges. How long ago was that!

In fact, Liu Yifei regretted blurting that out the moment she said it.

It seemed as if she had exposed that she was still paying attention to certain things.

She had originally made up her mind to ignore him.

That was why, except for her, the entire cast and crew had gone to the Los Angeles premiere of *Tangshan* to show their support.

They say indifference is the best weapon against an enemy, but ever since she saw him for the first time yesterday, she had been breaking her own resolve repeatedly.

It was as if she had cast aside all the grudges she had carefully picked out in her daily life, unable to maintain a cold demeanor for long.

It was mainly because the expression on his face was truly detestable, and he would say such nasty things without a second thought, making her teeth itch with hatred.

Liu Yifei consoled herself this way, and deceived herself this way as well.

Boss Lu sighed: "Actually, I wanted to tell you yesterday, but unfortunately you wouldn't even grace me with a meal."

"This face of yours..."

Liu Yifei reached out to interrupt: "Wait!"

She pulled a newly bought Nokia N93 from her small handbag—a pioneer concept phone of its generation.

The young lady opened the phone and aimed the rear 3.2-megapixel Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar optical lens at Lu Kuan, leaving the latter speechless.

Are you filming a micro-movie here?

"Why are you filming me?"

"Nothing, I've never seen you looking so sycophantic, just keeping a souvenir."

"I've started recording, hurry up and say it?"

Boss Lu spread his hands: "If you're recording, I'm not saying it."

The young lady looked at him with a smile and closed the phone: "Not saying it, huh? Fine, I'm leaving."

Saying this, she moved to stand up.

Boss Lu reached out and grabbed her forearm—the first physical contact between the two since that hug at the birthday party.

"Liu Yifei, you don't actually think this broken company of yours is worth much, do you?"

"With technology and product logic that have zero barriers to entry, I could replicate it easily."

Liu Yifei shook him off easily: "I know."

"I know that everything I've put so much effort into is not worth mentioning to you."

"I know you are very rich, that you can turn clouds and rain with a flip of your hand in the entertainment industry, and that you can come up with a pile of conditions to threaten me."

The young lady poured out the resentment she had nowhere else to vent: "But you came today, didn't you?"

"If Twitter really had no value at all, would you have come?"

"Even if you, the great Boss Lu, were just taking time out of your busy schedule, squeezing in a moment to come and look at this unknown little company with a playful attitude."

"After looking, you could swing your money club to knock me out, you could stomp it flat, or you could just sneer and walk away, lamenting that you wasted a few minutes."

"But you came, didn't you?"

"Since you came, I have the confidence to make demands."

"I just want to record it, so what? Are you going to negotiate or not?"

Seeming to feel that standing up made her taller than him and gave her more confidence, Liu Yifei rested her hands on the table and stared at him steadily.

Lu Kuan couldn't help but laugh; her momentum was quite sufficient, and she had seen through his bluffing.

It was an exaggeration to say that Twitter was worth that much to him right now.

But even replicating and operating it would take some effort; if he could buy it directly, that would naturally be the most cost-effective.

A more critical point was that he was currently the focus of North American internet companies.

Especially with the deal with Google about to be completed, the entire industry would be casting its gaze on him, the Chinese director who had created a 2.3-billion-dollar golden pig in such a short time.

The value of this track hadn't fully manifested yet, and once his interest was exposed, he worried that big sharks would enter the market early, such as Deng Wendi, who had been watching him, and the News Corporation behind her.

In fact, the Twitter of the future took many detours, and it wasn't until nearly two years after its founding that it became popular because of the South by Southwest conference.

Boss Lu looked the young girl up and down carefully again; she had indeed improved quite a bit, knowing how to perform a compliance test on him!

This was a standard tactic in business negotiations, such as suddenly making harsh demands or changing established rules, with the goal of probing the other party's bottom line and willingness to cooperate.

Using the topic from the set yesterday as an excuse to demand that he perform tasks unrelated to the negotiation was a form of compliance test.

It was just that this request seemed to carry quite a bit of Liu Yifei's personal agenda.

"Sit down first, let's talk slowly."

With the first burst of energy spent and the second waning, Liu Yifei's negotiation momentum faltered slightly after being glanced at up and down by him as if nothing were the matter.

Had this dog of a man seen through her?

She had predicted that today's confrontation wouldn't be easy, and since one plan failed, she sat down gracefully; in any case, the initiative was in her hands.

Boss Lu gazed at her eagerly: "This is the first time I've seen you wear such beautiful makeup; was it to come and see me?"

"Pfft, this is business etiquette; what does it have to do with you?"

Liu Yifei naturally wouldn't admit it, but this provocation from the cunning young director had already made her feel a bit guilty.

This emotional state was somewhat similar to appearing in front of an ex-boyfriend after a breakup—one must attend in full makeup, with full presence, and must never show weakness.

It was just that by exploiting her emotional dependence on him, Lu Kuan had almost seized the initiative with a single sentence.

He suddenly stood up, pulled his chair over to sit beside Liu Yifei, and leaned in close to the young girl.

Liu Yifei watched this face that had once made her toss and turn in bed suddenly draw near, and she could almost smell the faint scent of tobacco on the man.

She only felt her heartbeat quickening, and she subconsciously wrapped her arms around her chest: "What are you doing? Stay further away!"

"Didn't you ask me to see how to film you so you look good? Don't I have to take a close look?"

The young girl raised her fist: "I'm warning you, don't mess around, I won't indulge you."

Boss Lu's expression suddenly turned serious: "Don't speak!"

"Liu Yifei, look at this face of yours."

"Your forehead is of moderate width, balanced evenly with the lower half; your cheekbones are widest in the middle, and your chin is a rounded arc."

"The lines are smooth, the contours are soft, and it is extremely aesthetic; the soft tissue of your face is full and firm, making the face shape even rounder."

"Especially the perfect head shape and high crown; this is a typical 'head wrapping face,' making your face look smaller and more delicate, which is a great advantage in film camera lenses."

Liu Yifei pursed her lips tightly, watching his eyes constantly roaming over her face with gentleness and appreciation, and she subconsciously lowered her arms from her chest.

The relaxation of body language represented the emergence of a sense of security.

Of course, it was also because she had been disarmed by the young director's serious-sounding rhetoric, and she was no longer holding an antagonistic attitude like when she first walked in.

Boss Lu's expression remained as serious as ever, as if he weren't doing all this at the request of a negotiation opponent, but out of heartfelt praise.

"Liu Yifei, your double eyelids are small, fan-shaped ones that aren't very obvious, and you have some epicanthic folds at the inner corners."

"The overall trend of your eyes is upward, giving people a subtle and elegant feeling, as if they contain endless stories and emotions."

"Look at the makeup you're wearing today; it's not done well, it's too gaudy. Your eyeball exposure isn't high, and you look quite cold; you should go for the route of a cold, glamorous beauty."

"Really?"

Liu Yifei was so moved by what he said that she wanted to take a mirror out of her bag to take a closer look.

She didn't often wear makeup herself, so perhaps there were some areas that weren't done perfectly.

As the netizens said, you can doubt the private life of a washing machine, but you cannot doubt his eye for beauty.

Such an artist's experience and critique of aesthetics were at a professional level.

Liu Yifei listened in a trance; the tall man's figure in front of her blocked her view like a small mountain.

To say she was deeply intoxicated by these sweet words would be an exaggeration.

But compared to the previous comments about being inferior, having thick legs, gummy smiles, or a bun-face, this was certainly much more pleasant to hear.

Boss Lu suddenly changed the subject: "Liu Yifei, the water at Twitter is too deep, you can't handle it, sell it to me!"

"Huh?"

Liu Yifei was stunned for a few seconds; you just finished praising my eyes!

What about the nose? The mouth? The figure? The overall look?

"Wha... what?"

Boss Lu said in a deep voice: "Micro-blogs like Twitter rely heavily on the development of mobile internet, and the subsequent cash burn is extreme. Your funds are almost exhausted, right?"

Liu Yifei quickly recovered from the sweet talk, calm and composed: "You can wait, wait and see when my funds run dry."

"Oh, you must be waiting for the remaining payment for *Otherworld 2*?"

Boss Lu leaned in close to her, tapped his knuckles on the tabletop, and said coldly, "Don't forget, you borrowed 30 million from me to acquire the equity of Haidilao. When are you going to pay that back?"

"You! Shameless! You don't bring it up early, you don't bring it up late, but you choose to bring it up right now!"

Liu Yifei certainly hadn't forgotten about the 30 million, but she hadn't expected a wealthy tycoon like Lu Kuan to be so impatient about collecting the debt.

Boss Lu wasn't actually after this sum, which was a drop in the bucket for him; after all, the Ferrari Enzo he was preparing to give her for her birthday was worth nearly that much.

Bringing it up now was merely a tactic to strike at a competitor at the negotiating table.

You still owe me money! What right do you have to make demands or set conditions with me?

Liu Yifei’s momentum naturally weakened by a notch.

Lu Kuan continued to dismantle her psychological defenses: "Your aura is very strong today, you’ve dressed yourself up so beautifully, and the moment you walked in, you wanted to give me a compliance test to seize the initiative in the negotiations."

"Is this all you learned at the University of Chicago? It seems you still need to continue your studies?"

Liu Yifei looked at him expressionlessly; even though she knew these words were intended to provoke and disturb her mind, her temples were still throbbing from the irritation.

Just as her mother, Liu Xiao, had said, this trip would either end in charming him to death or beating him to death.

It was just that Boss Lu had watched little Liu grow up, and he was already immune to her beauty.

Perhaps Liu Yifei beating him up while A-Fei was away to vent her anger would count as the greatest achievement of this trip.

The girl kept her face calm: "Don't try to bluff me. If you think it has no value, then let's end it here today."

Lu Kuan had already sat down on the opposite side of the negotiating table, shaking out the layers of company documents in his hand.

"Three hundred thousand registered users, but basically no top-tier accounts, and your own influence in North America is limited."

"As for your only topic-marketing hook, *Twilight*, Wenjie has bought the author's film rights. We can completely sign an exclusivity agreement with her, forbidding her from continuing to cooperate with you."

The young director, who became completely heartless when discussing business, paused, looked up at her, and smiled: "What do you think? Little Liu, sell it to me; you choose between cash or shares."

"Of course, the specific valuation must be based on an assessment by a professional institution; neither you nor I have the final say."

In the later era of 2006, the domestic Sina Blog had only just been flourishing for a year.

But even for an assessment institution with strategic vision, it was very difficult to see the huge value of Twitter right now.

This was a profiteer openly bullying someone.

Liu Yifei listened to his threatening tone, her heart in a state of chaos for a moment; it was very difficult for a negotiating party in a completely weak position to have any strength to resist.

But she still wanted to try.

The young girl expressionlessly stuffed her phone back into her small bag, stood up, and prepared to leave.

"I don't like your kind of aggressive arrogance. I can find other buyers, you know?"

"I'll just say this is a project that Mytube boss Lu Kuan is also interested in. I want to see if it really is going to be ignored by everyone!"

Seeing that she wasn't taking the bait at all, Boss Lu suddenly slapped the table: "Liu Yifei! You need to think this through, okay? I can still give you a 'friendship price' here."

"If you really decide to burn the bridge, the Mytube team can launch a new project within a week. Whether it's capital or celebrity resources, we can squeeze your Twitter to death."

"By then, you won't even be able to maintain the heat of your current 300,000 users, and the millions of dollars you poured in early on will go down the drain, won't they?"

"How much money do you earn after working hard to film for a year? Face reality."

Liu Yifei was so angered by his naked threats that she trembled like a flower in the wind.

The "big heroine" who had been full of vigor from the moment she entered had turned into a wilted little white flower.

It was a negotiation with unequal power to begin with, and she hadn't held much hope, but being defeated so thoroughly left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Regardless of the twists of fate that led to Twitter being born in her hands ahead of time.

For these past four years, little Liu had always felt she was living under his wings; this was the first time she had conversed with him from a relatively equal perspective.

She had been very expectant when she received the call, even if just bringing a tiny bit of trouble to this dog of a man would have satisfied her.

Actually, her meticulous preparation had been effective.

Don't look at Boss Lu acting calm and indifferent on the surface; little Liu’s "burning the boats" move had really touched his weak spot.

The greatest reliance of a reborn person is their forward-looking perspective; if Liu Yifei really took Twitter around to promote it, there was indeed a risk of it being spotted by a giant.

They say women are hard to deal with; a normal negotiator might have already entered the bargaining process by now, but little Liu wasn't one!

She was bringing personal baggage and personal feelings to face off against the "washing machine"!

To put it more bluntly, as long as she was facing Lu Kuan, and as long as her heart hadn't completely cut off her feelings for him, it was impossible to treat all of this objectively.

Continuing to talk like this would leave her with no room to parry, so Liu Yifei wisely decided to leave the negotiating table for now.

"I need to consider it. Goodbye."

Lu Kuan grabbed her arm once more: "The tomahawk steak at Rose Garden is quite good. I specifically had people prepare it."

"How about it? It's been so long, care to grace me with your presence for dinner?"

Little Liu looked back at his sincere invitation, his gaze clear, as if he had instantly detached from the tension of just a moment ago.

What a split personality.

Dinner together...

A sugar-coated bullet or a sincere invitation?

The young girl scanned his face with her beautiful eyes, finding no flaws, but she still hardened her heart and refused: "No need, thank you."

She immediately turned and left, clicking away in her high heels with a haughty air.

Compared to twisting her ankle while wearing Jimmy Choo shoes at the Oscars last year, she was clearly already well-versed in this skill now.

Lu Kuan went out to greet Liu Xiao, who was waiting, and watched them walk away with a smile.

No rush, take it slow. After three days apart, one should look at someone with new eyes; little Liu’s progress was indeed not small.

In the past, she would never have escaped Boss Lu’s clutches for this dinner, and perhaps with a little more work, Twitter would have been secured.

It’s just that no matter how she changed, the underlying color of her charming and cute personality remained; it might not be obvious to outsiders, but it would naturally reveal itself to those close to her.

Judging from her performance just now, the young director felt she hadn't "sealed her heart with cement" yet, and he should still count as... a person close to her, right?

In the elevator, Liu Xiao looked at her daughter’s frosty face and cautiously probed the situation: "Xixi, with little Lu..."

"Don't call him little Lu, call him thick-skinned! A big pervert! A control freak! A dead profiteer!"

Little Liu looked at her mother, pouting; her vocabulary for cursing was limited, and she could only think of this much for now.

The elevator door opened, and Liu Xiao was torn between laughter and tears: "You can talk about cooperation with... Lu Kuan calmly."

"You are a professional actor after all, you messing around with that Twitter..."

In front of the elevator, a black bodyguard shielded a Chinese-American woman as they entered: "Ma'am, please make way."

Little Liu looked up, saw a Chinese-American female face with sharp features, and then they passed each other.

Deng Wendi recognized this Chinese actress—the Blue Moon of *Otherworld*, a top Chinese-American blogger on Mytube, who had a certain level of fame in North America.

In the background investigation on Lu Kuan, this was a girl who had a close relationship with him, and there were many rumors.

Especially a photo she had collected recently.

In the conference room, Lu Kuan watched the tenacious Deng Wendi enter and thought to himself that the steak he had specifically ordered was a waste.

He couldn't exactly go enjoy a candlelight dinner with this female hunter, could he?

"Lu Kuan, I know Google's final offer. 2.3 billion, is that right?"

"That's right. Make your offer. We've talked for so many rounds, and Ms. Deng doesn't seem like a dawdler, so why bother dragging it out?"

Deng Wendi looked at him silently for a few seconds: "I'll give you the same price, but the cash will not exceed 500 million; the rest will be paid in Myspace shares."

"You only have one Wenjie Video in the country; you can bring Myspace into China. With the support of News Corporation, the prospects will be very good."

Boss Lu shook his head: "Google is giving me no more than 1.2 billion in cash. Besides, to be honest, I don't think highly of Myspace's future. I'm sorry."

"The friendship of Fox is also very unimportant to you, is that it?"

The young director felt a bit weary of her circular talk and helplessly spread his hands.

Deng Wendi sighed silently: "To be honest, I really don't want to be enemies with a genius like you."

"But you have rejected my kindness again and again; this is truly too rude."

The industry giant was used to eating people and beautified unreasonable plunder as "releasing goodwill," which really left one speechless.

Deng Wendi had conducted an almost comprehensive investigation of him during this time, down to the smallest detail, which was why she had been able to recognize Liu Yifei at a glance just now.

"Lu Kuan, some things are unpleasant to say, but some people in the mainland have contacted me, hoping to create some small trouble for you in the North American media controlled by News Corporation."

"I know you are still participating in the director bidding for the Olympics. This is a huge temptation for you to improve your international reputation and domestic status. You shouldn't want to miss out on it, right?"

Boss Lu pondered for a few seconds, thinking about the implications between her words.

The so-called joint statements from Chen Kaige and others that Han Shanping had notified him about were merely a minor irritation that could be easily wiped out; to him, it didn't even count as scratching an itch through a boot.

But if they colluded with Deng Wendi and the News Corporation behind her to play some tricks of "blooming outside the wall but fragrant inside," creating obstacles for his international reputation, that would be a bit serious.

"Alright, I'll give you a few days to consider. I hope Boss Lu won't make a decision too hastily."

"The friendship of News Corporation is always open to you."

Having clashed many times, Deng Wendi only felt this time was extremely refreshing; this final trump card would surely be able to bring him some pressure, right?

Boss Lu was naturally calm and composed on the surface, standing up to shake hands and say goodbye, but his heart couldn't stop sinking.

It seemed he also needed to prepare more contingency plans.

——

Beijing time, January 9, 2006, the Wenjie official blog announced the short-term box office data for *Tangshan Earthquake*, which had been released for half a month.

Relying entirely on the contrast provided by peers, *The Promise* saw its reputation collapse and a refund incident break out, allowing *Tangshan* to eat up all the traffic.

The domestic total box office officially broke the 200 million mark, surpassing the main competitor of the previous New Year season, *The Promise*, and firmly occupying the dominant position in terms of screenings.

In RMB, the total box office in other Asian regions was 150 million, the European box office was 60 million, and the North American opening week box office was nearly 100 million, all meeting expectations.

Just as domestic film fans were enthusiastically discussing this good news while continuing to mock the stinking pile of dung *The Promise*, they all suddenly discovered that Director Chen’s blog had updated once again.

[Joint Letter]

I am Chen Kaige, a perfectly ordinary Chinese filmmaker.

In response to a certain director’s recent use of underhanded tactics and false statements, guided by the values of pure box office and profit, to slander and satirize peers in order to achieve great success in his own film career.

This kind of success is extremely shameful, and this kind of behavior is infinitely poisonous.

It is like Pandora’s box; once opened, it is hard to close, and the entire industry will suffer from this malignant disease of mutual attacks.

Here, we, the conscientious colleagues in the Chinese film and television industry, unanimously appeal:

We have a responsibility to maintain the normal order of the Chinese-language film industry, and we have an obligation to shoulder social responsibilities beyond just grabbing huge profits!

The long history of Chinese cinema continues to forge ahead; what we can remember are industry titans of high virtue and artistic achievement like Zheng Zhengqiu, Li Minwei, Sun Yu, and Cai Chusheng.

And not some film parasites who open their bloody maws, knowing only how to use unscrupulous commercial rules to suppress their peers!

I hereby state that from now on, I will no longer participate in any form of collaborative project with a certain director, and I refuse to discuss, promote, or advertise any related works!

At the same time, about sixty or seventy film and television industry personnel in the mainland updated a joint letter on their blogs; those without blogs had them posted by friends.

The frenzied entertainment reporters and the gossip-loving public of the mainland entertainment scene counted the names one by one, discovering they were all remarkable opinion leaders and industry public intellectuals.

Golden Palm director Chen Kaige and his wife Chen Hong;

Lu Tianmin, member of the Writers Association presidium, and his son Taro;

He Ping, Secretary-General of the China Film Directors Association;

Xiao Ying, professor in the Department of Philosophy at Huaqing University;

And other members of the Directors Association: directors Zhang Yibai, Gao Qunshu, Zhao Baogang, Zheng Xiaolong, and Teng Huatao;

Famous writers and screenwriters Hai Yan and Wang Shuo, as well as actors like Yuan Li and Xu Jinglei.

The joint letter was like a nuclear bomb detonating in the mainland entertainment scene; although no names were mentioned in the text and the word "ban" was not used, the naked hostility was already evident.

Clearly, the first to speak out were the core personnel of the Jing Circle.

Just as Zhang Yimou had previously comforted Lu Kuan, the most powerful aspect of this circle is that they not only control the film and television resources from the early days of the mainland entertainment scene, but they also hold print media resources like the *Jinghua Times*.

Before the arrival of the internet era, if the Jing Circle said snow was black, no one in the literary and artistic circles could prove otherwise.

They have a vast sea of opinion leaders in the cultural field; whoever touches their cake or touches their core interests will immediately unite to face the outside world.

Old Mouzi is the best example, but unlike his junior fellow apprentice Lu Kuan, Old Mouzi is, after all, just a director, and sometimes he can only bite the bullet and mock himself, letting them bark like dogs.

But the industry status of Wenjie is there after all; busybodies combed through the list of all those who had spoken out and found that there were still some "fish that slipped through the net" of the Jing Circle!

What about you, Huayi?

You were fighting tooth and nail before, so why are you acting like a coward this time?

And you, Zhang Jian?

The Mengzhou Club you run is the base camp for the Jing Circle bigwigs to hold sports activities; why aren't you participating in such a prominent matter?

And you, Feng Xiaogang?

Even if you are the head director of Huayi, your foundation and soil for survival originated from Zheng Xiaolong’s TV drama production center, didn't it?

The remaining so-called Directors Association directors are mostly TV drama directors and have nothing to do with Boss Lu’s film industry chain.

As long as I don't go on your Travel Satellite TV, it's fine; besides, Travel Satellite TV has always only broadcast self-produced dramas, and there is simply no opportunity for them to get involved.

There are also Dong Shuangqiang and Han Shanping, who actually originally had a strong Jing Circle background.

It’s just that these two were tied to the interest warship early on; let alone backstabbing Lu Kuan, they are currently busy putting out fires for him spontaneously!

But there were still quite a few netizens and film fans who were swayed by the narrative.

After all, TV dramas produced by the Jing Circle have had huge influence and audience groups before the millennium, and even now.

These directors and actors they used to worship speaking out on their blogs, along with industry leaders with semi-official backgrounds like Lu Tianmin and He Ping, naturally had high credibility.

For a time, rumors and black material about Boss Lu began to fly all over the internet.

Of course, most only existed for an instant; batches of organized internet trolls were blocked one after another by Blogbus and Sina, and ultimately did not stir up much of a splash.

Correspondingly, there was even more unhesitating support from industry figures like Mei Yanfang, Zhou Jielun, Tian Zhuangzhuang, Feng Yuanzheng, Li Xuejian, Zhang Huijun, and Zhou Xun.

Shortly after the joint letter was issued, the Fengxing Studio account on Blogbus released a third-perspective post from a passerby, analyzing the deep-seated reasons for this farce for the gossip-loving public.

[If we jump out of this petty personal grudge and look at the overall industry development and the contrast between new and old public opinion forces.

We will find that the conflict between Director Lu and Director Chen and the Jing Circle behind him is a historical inevitability.

In 2001, Director Lu burst onto the scene with five films in four years.

Except for *Tangshan Earthquake*, which has not yet finished its run, *Drummer*, *Thief*, *Foreign Land*, and *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button* are all top-tier films that are both critically acclaimed and commercially successful.

Whether it is the three major European film festivals or the Oscars, which our countrymen hold as the gold standard, he has reaped a rich harvest.

At the same time, looking at the expansion and mergers of Wenjie Holdings in the film industry chain, we can clearly see the birth of a small-scale film empire.

In addition to the fact that Wenjie Golden Harvest in the cinema chain field is still gradually expanding in the mainland, it also firmly occupies the forefront of the industry in special effects, director training, and media promotion resources.

Furthermore, he was ranked sixth on this year’s October Hurun Rich List (I personally express deep skepticism).

Therefore, the farce that film fans and netizens see today, I believe, stems from the following three aspects:

The struggle for the right to speak in public opinion between the traditional print media dominated by the Jing Circle and the online media discourse power of TV stations and friendly blog sites influenced and controlled by Director Lu;

The conflict between the art film criticism system led by Zhu Dake, Li Jie, and others, and Director Lu’s distinct commercial film and film industrialization route;

And the huge gap between the year-over-year decline of the domestic film industry and the overflowing success of every one of Director Lu’s films.

In other words, some people are jealous! They have started forming cliques and labeling people!

Searching through the long history of our country and nation, examples of such new forces challenging the traditional order are common.

Although this analogy is not very appropriate, will Director Lu become the Shang Yang and Chao Cuo of the film industry? We shall wait and see!]

Boss Lu’s overwhelming advantage in internet media caused many mindless, bandwagon-jumping black materials to collapse on their own.

And the neutrality of core figures like Dong and Han, as well as the fact that Huayi and others have had their courage broken in the last two years and dare not step forward, made the Jing Circle forces like Chen Kaige seem somewhat lonely.

Aside from the great momentum when they first appeared, it seems they did not stir up any greater waves.

But the timing chosen by the secretly plotting Gexi Xiong, Lu Tianmin, and the exploited poets was truly perfect.

This day was exactly the day the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee was meeting at the Qinglan Building to communicate the final candidates for the Olympic creative team.

In the conference room, besides the relevant staff of the Organizing Committee, there were also various people’s organizations, the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Disabled Persons' Federation, the Writers Association, and industry associations related to the Olympics participating.

Of course, the final decision was made by the core personnel of the Olympic Organizing Committee, and then they submitted the list to those few leaders for approval.

Other people from all walks of society only participated in discussions and expressed their opinions.

The trouble was that this group of people were all industry veterans, and they all had intricate connections with Lu Tianmin, Chen Kaige, and the Jing Circle faction.

Writers Association Secretary-General Chen Daying: "Leader Liu! I think Comrade Lu Kuan’s entry into the final creative team deserves cautious consideration."

"With such controversy and industry reputation, not only can he not be a director, but it is even doubtful whether he is qualified for the position of consultant."

"I agree!"

"That’s right! This is really not knowing how to unite comrades."

Zhang Heping couldn't bear to watch anymore, and also fulfilling Old Han’s entrustment, he said in a deep voice: "Everyone, listen to me for a moment!"

"This is no longer the era of posting big-character posters; there are many different opinions on the internet, true and false, what we need to look at is the truth!"

"The investigation results of the Hu Ge incident a few days ago did not provide sufficient evidence to prove it was related to Lu Kuan, and *The Promise* being returned is also a fact; these don't seem to constitute reasons for him to harm his peers, do they?"

Vice Chairman Tian of the Olympic Committee had received Lu Tianmin’s heavy entrustment and was going full throttle today:

"A young director who has only been in the industry for four years has caused so much controversy inside and outside the industry; they say there is no smoke without fire, and I think this comrade still has some things to reflect on, haha."

"I suggest that, given that Comrade Lu Kuan is still abroad, we exclude him from our discussion list today until the facts are investigated clearly."

"Leader Liu, do you think this is appropriate?"

The sycophants who had been lobbied swarmed up to echo the sentiment.

"Appropriate!", "Let’s do it this way!", "It should be so!".

Zhang Heping’s heart sank; this was the delaying tactic commonly used by officials.

The Olympic Organizing Committee would soon be submitting the list to the leaders; if Lu Kuan was excluded at this time, what hope did he have?

Furthermore, in the internal discussions of the Olympic Organizing Committee, the final result of the second round of bidding would be born between Lu Kuan’s Wenjie team and Zhang Yimou’s Jack Morton team.

A temporary suspension decision now might be a fatal blow.

Zhang Heping tilted his head slightly to look at Leader Liu; he knew Old Liu appreciated this young director, and it depended on whether he could withstand the pressure.

The debate and attacks on the internet were still fermenting; if something went wrong with Lu Kuan, whom Leader Liu recommended, he would inevitably have to take some blame.

The Olympic Games were the top major event in the country in recent years and could not tolerate the slightest mistake.

In an official’s political career, such decisions must always be made with extreme caution.

"Alright, let’s shelve the controversy; let’s start by talking about the consultants for the Olympic Organizing Committee..."

Leader Liu made the final decision, and naturally, there was silence below; following his request to shelve certain controversies, they began to communicate the composition of the creative team from low to high.

After the meeting, Leader Liu, with a grim expression, returned to his office and instructed his secretary: "Give Lu Kuan a call, use your mobile phone."

"Yes!"

The secretary dialed the phone, exited the office, closed the door, and stood nearby.

"Hello? Lu Kuan, it’s me."

"Mm, I’m doing very well lately. I won’t waste time; I have two things to say."

"First, the proposals for the second round of bidding from Wenjie and Jack Morton are both very excellent, and the leaders present also gave high praise afterward; given organizational principles, I cannot tell you the winning result in advance."

"Second, the clamorous events that have happened recently, although they are not earth-shattering, still require you to maintain concern and handle them in a timely manner."

"In doing things, you don't always have to meet them head-on; sometimes taking one step back to take two steps forward is also a reasonable strategy."

"In addition, like the Pan-Asia Film Academy you announced the establishment of at the film festival in France last time, you should do more things that are beneficial to regional unity and industry development, understand?"

"Oh? Is that so! Good, good, good, I will do more, and I will do it well!"

"Good, let’s leave it at that for now."

I don't know what was communicated with the young director on the phone, but in any case, when the secretary went in, he saw the leader had a smile on his face.

Liu Nushi was laying her cards on the table with a smart person; she gave no explicit instructions, yet every sentence revolved around the core issue.

"Your proposal, Lu Kuan, is excellent, and talent is hard to come by. Both I and the Aozu Society think highly of you, but the final selection still needs to be deliberated and submitted to the leadership for review."

"You must hurry to handle the loose ends of the recent events, seize the opportunity to continue increasing your voice on the international stage, add weight to your position during this critical period, and elevate your personal image."

North America, Los Angeles, Mountain View.

Having just hung up the phone, Boss Lu straightened his attire in the mirror once more, confirmed there were no issues, and then strode out of the room with long, confident steps.

It was 11:00 AM, just after Liu Nushi had finished her meeting, which was 6:00 PM on the US East Coast; today was the signing ceremony for Google's acquisition of Mytube.

Boss Lu had never intended to keep the news of him being the man behind Mytube a secret; otherwise, he would not have used his own name when registering the company.

It was just that this time, coinciding with the joint-signature incident back home, he needed a louder voice on the international stage, so he decided to personally attend this signing ceremony, which was at the very least a focus of the North American internet industry.

At this current juncture, the priority was to build his personal IP and continue to inject a shot of adrenaline into "Tangshan Earthquake," which had yet to finish its theatrical run in North America;

Secondly, it was to continuously enhance his influence in the North American market; knowing that this was the long-renowned boss of Mytube was enough to attract a group of YouTube users to pay attention to his films.

Finally, it was also to follow what Liu Nushi had said—to vindicate himself and build his reputation, and to defeat the conspiracy through this press conference and the subsequent numerous media interviews.

At 6:30 PM, the press conference began on time.

The three founders of Mytube, Lu Kuan, Chen Shijun, and Mike Suoluomen, appeared at the venue together with Google CEO Shi Misi, drawing immense attention from the media on-site.

However, when the blonde, busty host introduced the Mytube president as "Lu," the Chinese and foreign media on-site were all stunned!

"Lu Kuan!?"

"The washing machine guy?"

"He is the man behind Mytube?"

In the video livestream of the domestic inquiry, the comments took off, with the most common one being congratulations to Boss Lu for ascending to the position of the richest man in China!

Even though they did not yet know how much he would ultimately profit from the Mytube deal, it did not in the slightest affect the netizens' pride as they declared this news in advance.

At the same time, netizens on Xinlang, Blogcn, Tianya, Maopu, and other sites reached a collective climax, frantically checking in and posting comments to witness this historic moment.

(End of this chapter)