Chapter 330

In the courtyard of the Hyde Park villa, Liu Yifei sat in a rattan chair for a long time without speaking.

A frost-colored turtleneck sweater wrapped around her slender neck, and the biting spring breeze brushed over the faint gray-blue veins on her cold white skin.

Even though she had already guessed Yang Mi's position, truly catching a glimpse of this corner of the truth still made her brow bone fold into sharp shadows like a Munch painting, as if it were the thin gold script of Emperor Huizong of Song blooming on rice paper.

Big Mimi's two text messages transformed into traffic named ambition, affecting three female stars in the domestic entertainment industry through cross-border communication.

She successfully aroused Liu Yifei's interest in her, and began to savor the two faces of this new-generation female star.

She also successfully prevented Bingbing's cautious probing tonight, causing this long-neglected big star to have to spend the night alone again, only able to treat the soft bedding of the high-end hotel as him to entangle repeatedly, unable to sleep all night.

Even she herself had been thrown into chaos because of the text message that shattered the secret just now.

Did Liu Yifei do it?

Boss Lu, this egg with a crack, really attracted quite a few female ambitious people in the entertainment circle.

Bingbing and Big Mimi, even if placed in later generations, were two unavoidable black-red female stars.

In the entertainment industry, this never-ending star-making factory, they were like two carefully carved totems of ambition, writing the dark fairy tale of the evolution of Chinese female stars under the spotlight with completely different aesthetic symbols.

Bingbing is Medusa on the red carpet.

When the bright yellow dragon robe on the Cannes red carpet in 2010 spread out in front of the lens, she completed her coronation from Jin Suo to the Empress.

The raven-blue clouds piled up into a crown of power, and the snow-white skin and vermilion lips outlined a totem of desire.

Yang Mi is the nine-tailed fox in the jungle.

Unlike Bingbing's burning flames, Big Mimi's ambition is hidden under the sugar coating of girlishness.

That pair of long, narrow fox eyes is naturally ambiguous, capable of holding the clear tears of Guo Xiang in "The Return of the Condor Heroes," and also flashing with precision behind the workplace suit of Lin Xiao in "Tiny Times."

In the survival rules of the traffic forest, they interpret the multiple variations of ambition in different forms.

Bingbing's dragon robe is the battle flag of the charge, and Yang Mi's fox eyes are the code of evolution.

When Liu Yifei in her previous life was defeated by overwhelming black material and retreated from the circle, these two ambitious people had already cast their appearance, traffic, and capital into a poisoned scepter.

In this Shura field where beauty is power, their survival philosophy is far more captivating than the million-dollar costumes on the red carpet.

But what about this life?

In this life, with Boss Lu's blessing, the arrogant Medusa's momentum is even greater, only crouching under one person.

But the nine-tailed fox in this life hadn't yet revealed the magical power of breaking its tail and being reborn before being targeted by Liu Yifei, whose vision, knowledge, and temperament far exceeded hers.

Or rather, these two ambitious people were both targeted by this nineteen-year-old Empress.

Oh, right, let's count that human wealth flower for now.

As the washing machine said, fighting with people is endless fun; the current Liu Yifei doesn't know what fear is at all.

She has the spoiled pride she knows in her heart, and even more the confidence of a high-rise building.

In the afternoon, casting aside the distractions of children's private affairs, Liu Yifei didn't go to probe and verify anything else, and drove Mia and Liu Xiaoli to Champagne City.

Just as she recorded in her diary, the focus of those three words has always been on "me."

"Xixi, slow down, Mom is scared!"

On Interstate 57, which runs southwest, the old mother curled up in the passenger seat of the Ferrari Enzo, fearing the wind, while Mia followed closely in a Cherokee.

This high-performance sports car aims for ultimate performance and lightweight; the engineers planned more space and layout for the cockpit and powerful power system, leaving no space for rear passengers.

Clearly, this problem made Liu Xiaoli very dissatisfied.

"A car worth millions, and even the back seat can't hold people, is this appropriate? Otherwise, Mia could be with us, how safe that would be."

Liu Yifei wore sunglasses, her refreshing and neat waterfall-like hair brushed up, and a few strands of broken hair playfully stuck to her fair cheeks, making her crystal-clear skin even more breakable.

Liu Yifei, who transformed into a rebellious girl as soon as she held the steering wheel, didn't pay much attention to her mother's complaints, slightly pursing her pink lips, and occasionally letting out cheerful cheers.

"Wow! This is too cool!"

The crisp and sweet voice drifted wantonly in the wind, until she was slapped by her old mother and reluctantly slowed down—

The Enzo is a hard-top sports car with no top that can be raised or lowered.

Liu Xiaoli had already been blown by the strong wind, her expression flying everywhere.

Liu Yifei frowned and looked at the rearview mirror: "Shh, Mom, it seems like a car has been following us!"

Liu Xiaoli was startled, and before she could capture any danger factor in the rearview mirror, Mia's phone had already called in.

"Crystal, someone is following, a 3.0L Royal is on your left rear."

Liu Xiaoli anxiously grabbed the phone; her English wasn't particularly fluent, but communication was unimpeded: "Mia, should we seek help?"

"Not for now, there is a parking area 20 kilometers away, we will stop there for a while to see the situation."

Hanging up the phone, Liu Yifei didn't childishly compete with the tailing Crown, and steadily and unhurriedly met the Cherokee at the parking area one after another.

The tall and sturdy Mia opened the Cherokee's door, let Liu Xiaoli and her daughter get in, and watched the two young Asian men who got out of the Crown alone.

"Is it them?"

The dark car film made Liu Yifei's pupils lose focus for a moment: "These two yellow-haired guys wearing Stanford baseball shirts have appeared at school."

"What have they done to you?" Liu Xiaoli grabbed her daughter's arm nervously.

"Nothing, didn't do anything, just often saw them in the classroom and cafeteria, during this time."

Soon the mystery was revealed; Liu Yifei looked at Mia, who leaned over, and rolled down the car window: "What's the situation?"

"Claiming to be a cadre of the Tokyo 'Yinghun Society', currently employed by an animation media company under Sony Columbia, saying there is something to talk to Crystal about."

Liu Yifei's face instantly darkened; this is a notorious right-wing organization.

She instinctively wanted to refuse, but always felt that if she didn't send these scums away, letting them follow all the way to Champagne City and let Zhang Chunru see them would be even worse.

In fact, ever since Boss Lu announced the project of the film in Jin Ling a few months ago, she and Zhang Chunru had already discovered many signs of harassment.

The young girl put on sunglasses, let Liu Xiaoli sit in the car, and went to negotiate herself.

Although the old mother was a woman with no power to tie a chicken, how could she let her daughter face it alone, and stood beside Liu Yifei one after another with Mia.

"Say what you have to say."

The two Japanese yellow-haired guys bowed to the end, their English pronunciation with a Tokyo accent made Liu Yifei frown: "Miss Liu! Excuse me! Please withdraw from the filming of the movie that falsifies history!"

"Please!"

Liu Yifei was furious, the blue veins on the back of her fair hands were slightly visible, and she wished she could go up and kick the two yellow-haired guys over.

She thought about it and took out her Nokia, opening the shooting function: "Come on, say more."

"I have a MyTube account with 5 million followers, I would be very happy to let you two become new Asian stars in North America."

The taller yellow-haired guy put away his pretense, facing the camera, and said gloomily: "This is the prayer of us good civilians, please consider it, Miss Liu."

"If Miss Liu is unwilling to give up, we will also do our best to follow you, persuade you, until you agree."

Typical right-wing hooligans with rules and organizations, using some dirty and mean methods to bring mental pressure to the parties involved without violating the law.

It's just that Liu Yifei had already seen a lot in Zhang Chunru's notes and her own descriptions, and had sufficient psychological preparation.

The Yinghun Society yellow-haired guy clearly didn't have the expectation of doing things in one go, and left in the car with a strange smile, which also seemed to be in the direction of Champagne City.

Liu Yifei didn't take it seriously at all: "Let's go."

"Ah!"

Liu Xiaoli suddenly screamed in surprise when she looked back!

The hood of the large Cherokee was sprayed with graffiti, painted with a big cross; a black teenager hadn't had time to do evil to the Enzo before being scared to pee and flee by Mia's action of pulling out a throwing stick.

"These damn animals!"

The old mother, whose ancestral home was in the Northeast, slapped the hood of the car angrily: "Xixi, tell Li Xiaolu, clean up these scums!"

Boss Lu's repeated reminders finally became reality; even the most low-key opening press conference couldn't stop the infiltration of this group of moths.

"They are afraid! It's good that they are afraid!" Liu Yifei hugged the furious Liu Xiaoli and comforted her: "It shows that we are doing the right thing!"

"It's okay, Mom, it's just these few months in the United States; when we return to the country, these monsters will have nowhere to hide."

Liu Xiaoli patted her daughter's back: "When the time comes, invite Chunru to return to the country to live for a period of time; at least before and after the filming and release of this movie, I see that some people won't be peaceful."

"I thought so too, I'll tell her when I go over this time."

The next two-hour journey was calm, only the graffiti on the Cherokee's hood needed to be dealt with.

Liu Yifei was a bit glad that she discovered it in time in the parking area; if the Ferrari Enzo that the washing machine gave her was harmed, she would simply ask Mia to help her buy two Glocks on the black market.

Arriving at Zhang Chunru's residence, the Chinese-American female writer looked her up and down uneasily in the living room: "Xixi, are you both okay?"

"No, don't worry!" Liu Yifei smiled like a flower, then wondered: "The security guards outside the door are also..."

Zhang Chunru smiled bitterly: "Li Xiaolu arranged it, I'm really not used to it."

"I let my parents and Brett take the children to live in the city center; I'll stay here with you, accompany you to practice spoken language."

Liu Xiaoli went to the room to arrange things, and Liu Yifei held her hand: "Lu Kuan is quite thoughtful; these days I have also found some abnormalities."

"Fortunately, they don't dare to make too much trouble, just secretly using some dirty methods, which can't be on the table."

Zhang Chunru looked at her with a smile, thinking to herself that he must be thoughtful, even the psychologist he prepared for you has been contacted.

I hope you never need it.

In the next few months, until the film starts shooting around August, Liu Yifei will experience a life experience journey that can be considered physically and mentally exhausted.

She wants to completely turn herself into Zhang Chunru.

Starting from the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, she will traverse her footprints of searching for historical materials in major university libraries in the United States, discovering the Rabe Diary in Germany, and visiting survivors in Jin Ling.

Keep this state until the start of filming.

If looking at data and Zhang Chunru's diaries and notes before wasn't too profound mental pressure, after all, she had the relief and adjustment of the parties involved, and the transfer of attention from the Booth School of Business life.

Then these three months will be a great test for her spirit and psychology.

But as long as she crosses over, this character will naturally stand up.

After all, this is a historical film from the perspective of a character biography; restoring the truth and original appearance of people, things, and objects is the primary proposition, and the next step is artistic creation and ideological sublimation.

After lunch, Zhang Chunru dug out a camphor wood box from the small attic; in the kraft paper bag with the 1982 Jin Ling Post Office stamp, five TDK tapes were arranged as before.

Like a tombstone of time.

She put these tapes that her grandfather Zhang Naifan taught her to speak Huaiyin dialect (now Huai'an, Su Province) when she was young into the radio, and the current sound unique to the old-fashioned tapes of 1983 entered her ears.

Two "Zhang Chunrus" with a twenty-year difference sat on the small stools in the attic, and through Zhang Naifan's kind voice, they traveled back to twenty years ago together.

Dazed, as if separated by a lifetime.

"Click."

The tape inserted into the radio began to rotate, first a rustling sound like silkworms eating mulberry leaves, then the crisp sound of porcelain colliding.

"Xiao Ru, hold the teacup steady."

The old laughter seemed to be able to shake off the dust accumulated between the beams; the sunlight from twenty years ago suddenly slanted into the attic's tiger window, nailing two shadows to the mottled wall.

Liu Yifei listened quietly, savoring this scene that would also be used as the true feelings at the beginning of the film.

Crossing the golden years of time, her projection overlapped with the silhouette of the young Zhang Chunru, and two braids rippled in the light of 1983.

"Come, read with Grandpa—it's going to rain this afternoon." Zhang Naifan's Huaiyin official dialect carried the rhyme of the canal water waves; Liu Yifei's throat rolled but couldn't make a sound.

"Sister Chunru..." The young girl tilted her head to ask her about the pronunciation of the dialect, and then glanced at the thin cheeks of this justice angel, who was already full of tears.

Zhang Chunru touched the young girl's face and tried to squeeze out some smiles, shaking her head to indicate that she was fine.

She held her palm tightly again, trying to give some warmth before she faced the wind and rain alone and started to walk this path of exploring historical truth again.

This ascetic practice of Liu Yifei's transformation from an ordinary actor to an excellent actor was like a spring rain suddenly falling on the world, officially starting from this day at the end of April.

Early May, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, USA.

This is the first stop where Zhang Chunru decided to start writing books and looking up data in 1994.

In the anti-magnetic cabinet numbered HT-04 in the special collection room of the Hoover Institution, Zhang Chunru first came into contact with the original diary of Wei Tielin, the person in charge of the Jin Ling Women's College of Arts and Sciences.

Twelve years later, today, Liu Yifei's fingertips touched the handle of the brass door, and the metal surface still retained the stinging pain of the low temperature the night before.

The smell of moth-proof powder drifting from the door made her think of the camphor wood box in the attic of Champagne City a few days ago, mixed with the unique fishy sweetness of old sheepskin.

The archivist in khaki overalls was dusting the documents and handed her a pair of white gloves when she entered the door: "Put these on, the documents are very fragile, be careful."

"Thank you, Vincent."

"Iris called me, you are the first visitor this morning." Vincent, who was in his fifties, looked at her intently for a few seconds: "You really look like her."

The face shape is similar, the demeanor is similar, the accent is similar.

Only the eyes are still a bit lacking.

Vincent handed over a black hard-covered registration book: "Come on, sign here."

Liu Yifei's voice was sweet: "Can you tell me which page Iris's registration is on?"

The archivist curled his lips, didn't complain much about the trouble, turned around and returned to the bookshelf, searched for two minutes, and then spread out a registration book with an almost peeling surface.

Visitor record on March 12, 1995—page 207, the "Iris Chang" signature dyed with blue ink has not faded to this day.

Liu Yifei wore white gloves, brushed over her name carefully, forcing herself to start immersing herself in Zhang Chunru's mood at that time.

She wants to remember this scene, even remember the lighting, temperature, taste, and touch in this archive room today.

She knows she doesn't have any outstanding talent, only to substitute and experience as much as possible, just as he requested.

The moment the anti-magnetic cabinet opened, the aged atmosphere with historical meaning wrapped in coolness rushed toward her.

Liu Yifei's fingertips wearing white gloves just touched the lock-line binding of "Wei Tielin's Diary," as if she felt the dampness of the Jin Ling plum rain season in 1937, which actually revived in the dry air of California.

On the yellowed inner page, December 17, 1937, recorded:

"Tonight, more than 30 women broke into the campus by climbing over the wall. Their long hair was cut unevenly—this is the trace of cutting their hair themselves to avoid being raped by the Japanese army."

Although she had seen this sentence countless times from scripts, historical materials, and notes diaries, Liu Yifei's fingers turning the pages still trembled uncontrollably.

Nothing touches the soul more than real history.

She didn't look at too much, but kept simulating and savoring Zhang Chunru's emotions at that time in her mind.

Lu Kuan systematically explained to her the preparation method for biographical film characters.

From the surface to the inside, first of all, it is naturally to deeply understand the character's life, personality, social background, and historical environment, and read relevant books, diaries, letters, and interviews to master the character's inner world and external environment.

When retracing the character's path, observe the surrounding environment, character behavior, and language habits, and try to imitate the character's lifestyle, such as eating habits and work and rest patterns.

These are the parts she has already completed, and they are the contents she has focused on preparing in addition to reading in the past six months.

But these are still just forms.

Just like what was seen from the perspective of the archivist Vincent, Liu Yifei, who deliberately wore Zhang Chunru's original clothes, imitated her face, and even had a similar English accent, was just missing her eyes.

This requires her to feel the emotional fluctuations the character might have experienced through personal experience and find the emotional resonance point with the character.

Liu Yifei began to actively reflect on the character's behavioral motivation and think about the character's natural reaction in specific situations.

The morning light slanted in from the Gothic colored window, and she sat for two hours.

After a long time, the young girl stood up and found the archivist lightly: "Vincent, I still need these historical materials, please."

"All ready, ma'am."

Vincent took her to the file cabinet, and seeing Liu Yifei's happy expression, he couldn't help but say: "You can rest for a while before looking."

"Researching these is not easy. Iris didn't recover for half a day when she first saw those photos."

Liu Yifei tried to smile, the visible mental pressure was much greater than when she entered the door: "Thank you, Vincent, I'm fine."

The archivist shook his head helplessly looking at her slender back; it was the first time he saw an actor experiencing life like this. Because Zhang Chunru stayed at the Hoover Institution for a long time to check historical materials more than ten years ago, he and this Chinese-American female writer were close friends, and it was also considered a convenience for Liu Yifei's ascetic practice.

Whether in reality or in Lu Kuan's script, the Hoover Institution is a very important scene.

This is the beginning of Zhang Chunru's contact with vast historical materials.

These historical materials not only include "Wei Tielin's Diary."

There are also extremely important historical evidences such as the "Hundred-Man Killing Competition" report of the "Asahi Shimbun," Japanese logistics records, and the 16mm film master tape of Pastor John Magee.

It is also the main argument used by Zhang Chunru later to debate with the Japanese ambassador to the United States on PBS television.

After these evidences were discovered by Zhang Chunru from the vast sea of old paper, she sent copies to the country and handed them over to many massacre historical research societies and organizations, becoming a powerful material evidence for remembering history.

Photos and other materials are more fragile; Vincent took her to the special collection room, where the light and humidity are conducive to the storage of old items.

Under the ultraviolet lamp, the silver salt particles of the Hundred-Man Killing photo cast fine spots on Liu Yifei's iris, which is a means of anti-corrosion.

If the words of killing and rape in "Wei Tielin's Diary" made her scalp numb.

Then these photos of ferocious scums are undoubtedly a more intuitive visual and spiritual impact.

"Ugh!"

The young girl had a neurogenic stomach spasm unexpectedly.

She suddenly thought that there were similar descriptions in Zhang Chunru's diary, and she didn't care about that much, placing herself at the shooting scene in her mind, and began to think about the micro-expressions and action details of the character.

These details cannot be known from written materials and the parties involved; this is the significance of experiencing life before shooting.

Should I swallow first or blink first when I have a reflex vomiting?

Liu Yifei thought of what Boss Lu said, the action chain of the character.

Facing the impact of bloody historical materials, Zhang Chunru must want to quickly suppress her physiological reaction of vomiting reflex and continue to pursue the truth of history.

Then she should be turning the page with her left hand and pressing her stomach with her right hand?

What about the micro-expressions on her face?

It should be the swallowing action to resist the vomiting feeling first, then blink painfully, and then stare at the historical materials without wanting to move away, right?

If that young director saw this scene beside her, I believe he would nod with great relief; these are details that only top actors have.

Whether you can do it depends on talent.

But whether you are willing to do it depends on the actor's own efforts and temperament.

In terms of acting, Liu Yifei may not be as talented as Huang Rong, but she is full of Guo Jing's sincerity and perseverance.

Admittedly, genius actors may not need such ascetic life experience to keenly capture the details and acting skills that make the character image outstanding.

But like her, placing herself completely in painful history and realistic environments for deep experience, and tempering and shaping acting skills in extremely realistic scenes, is obviously better able to understand the true meaning of performance art.

This step of Liu Yifei is a very important step in the transformation of her acting career.

But not to mention whether this step can be crossed, just plucking up the courage, taking out time, and giving up everything to prepare for a film has already screened out most of the female stars in the domestic entertainment industry.

The young girl frowned tightly, recalling Zhang Chunru's notes against the historical materials, constantly picking character details; this is Lu Kuan's requirement for her.

Under the big screen and in the 4K high-frame-rate digital camera, details are the key to the success or failure of the character.

When Oscar winner Day-Lewis discovered the oil well eruption in "There Will Be Blood," he first licked the crude oil from the corner of his mouth with his tongue (physiological stimulation triggered vomiting reflex), then his Adam's apple rolled violently three times to suppress vomiting, and finally squeezed out laughter from his teeth.

This 1.7-second micro-expression chain fully demonstrated the tearing feeling of the oil tycoon who is both greedy and fearful.

When Meryl Streep said "Take my daughter" in "Sophie's Choice," her left hand suddenly pressed her stomach, and her right fingernails scratched five parallel creases on the tablecloth.

Just this one action almost practiced her fingernails to cracks.

And Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight," the action of licking his lips came from his observation of the side effects of antidepressant drugs.

In his performance, every time before the plan was implemented, his tongue would involuntarily sweep over his upper gums; this pathological action made the criminal motive more physiologically realistic.

The so-called devil is in the details, that's it.

Liu Yifei took out her Nokia N95; this is the new model she just changed.

Not because she is fickle, but for its 5-megapixel camera; she wants to shoot some details she rehearsed and go back to study them carefully at night.

When looking at the saber photo, the change in her eyes, is it reasonable to look at the tip of the knife first, then at the victim, or vice versa?

What was Zhang Chunru thinking at that time?

When watching the 16mm Magee film, listening to the gear friction sound made by the projector, Liu Yifei thought about it and made a defensive action of straightening her back.

This should be her instinctive reaction when she saw the violent images, right?

And looking at the yellowed Japanese logistics report, the 37 gallons/day oil and gas usage data must have made Zhang Chunru at that time pupils earthquake and tremble all over with anger.

Combined with historical materials such as the Hundred-Man Killing photo before, this is clearly used for burning corpses!

Liu Yifei looked at the series of terrifying numbers with her eyes splitting:

December 14, applied for 3,000 condoms for comfort stations;

December 19: Reported that the kerosene consumption for burning corpses reached 37 gallons per day;

December 24: The health team complained that the tool wear rate caused by handling severed limbs increased by 200%; (Note: real data)

The morning light slanted in from the gap of the blinds, cutting Liu Yifei's side face into fragments of light and dark.

Her waterfall-like hair was loosely pinned behind her head, and two or three strands of broken hair were stuck to her neck by cold sweat, and the tips of her hair swept out fine waves on the file paper with her rapid breathing.

A drop of water fell on the copy, and the young girl's tears fell heavily, as if she wanted to pierce through this unbearable evidence.

At this moment, she had completely entered the play, and couldn't tell whether she was Zhang Chunru in 1994 or Liu Yifei in 2006.

Stanislavski once issued a warning: "Actors should be careful to become sacrifices for their characters."

At this moment, Liu Yifei's time vertigo at the Hoover Institution is the cruel baptism of stepping into the temple of great performance—

When she rubbed the 37 gallons on the document with her fingers, the palm prints were being scorched by painful history into the same gullies as Zhang Chunru.

This is perhaps the most bizarre truth of actors who are deeply into the play: only by letting the real body become a historical container can the soul live forever on the film.

From 7:30 in the morning to 4:00 in the afternoon.

The first day at the Hoover Institution passed like this.

On the large Cherokee, Mia looked at her with some worry: "Crystal, your state is not right."

"I know, it's okay." Liu Yifei didn't look up and looked at the images in the phone; they were all performance actions and details she designed during the day.

The female bodyguard was helpless: "Should we return to Beverly Hills or find a hotel in Stanford to stay?"

"Ah?" The young girl looked up indifferently: "Just stay nearby, I have to arrive early these days."

Liu Yifei started an immersive pre-shooting experience; many universities, libraries, and graduate schools where Zhang Chunru checked data were in California, and Lu Kuan proposed that their mother and daughter move into the house he just bought.

According to the Chinese, the house has not been lived in for a long time and has no popularity, losing people, which is unfavorable to Feng Shui.

It's just that Liu Yifei has always been awkward and unwilling, making the old mother who was full of joy quite regretful.

In her heart, she naturally wanted to find ways to match this pair, but in the proud young girl's heart, this is "the name is not right, the words are not smooth."

It's okay to accompany and look, but your house, in what name should I move in now?

Returning to the hotel room, Liu Xiaoli looked at her daughter with concern, but before she had time to ask for warmth, she tried her best to smile and push her mother out of the room to return to her own room.

"Mom, I still have to look at data and analyze performance details. I'll eat two bites when the hotel delivers food later. You go to rest too!"

Liu Xiaoli wouldn't give up: "That won't work, how can you experience life like this? How long has it been, and your chin is sharp!"

"Is it? That's just right, anyway, I have to lose weight; Sister Chunru lost more than 15 pounds in those years."

The old mother was speechless, she said more and was wrong.

After nagging for a long time, she was still persuaded to leave by her daughter.

She paced back and forth in the room next door with worry, worried about Xixi's mental state, sighed, took out her phone and dialed out.

——

The "Curse of the Golden Flower" crew had already left Hengdian in April and moved to Wu Long in Shancheng.

In the conference room, the meeting of the Olympic creative group was just about to start when it was interrupted by the vibration of Boss Lu's phone on the table.

The young director gestured to everyone and walked out of the conference room: "Hello, Liu Ayi?"

"Li Xiaolu, didn't bother you, right? I see it's past nine o'clock in the country, thinking you should have gotten up."

"No, you speak."

Liu Xiaoli looked bitter and deliberated: "Hey, actually I really don't want to make this call."

"I know Xixi's efforts now are all to better shape the character; these years as long as she is filming, I have never protected her shortcomings."

"But this time I'm really worried!"

The old mother was earnest, and at the end, she couldn't help but sigh: "Li Xiaolu, now only your words she can listen to. Help persuade her."

"Everything must be combined with work and rest; how can she be so obsessed and stick her head in without coming out? Can her body stand it!"

"Don't worry, Liu Ayi, I'll handle it."

"Eh! Good, good."

The young director sighed; this girl is really stubborn when she is serious, and no amount of advice is useful.

He returned to the conference room first: "Sorry everyone, delayed for fifteen minutes, I'll handle something."

Ma Wen laughed: "Not delayed, I haven't slept enough, I'll squint for a while."

"Go, go."

"Then we'll go out for a smoke too."

Lin Ying was a bit curious: "It's strange today too, in the past he couldn't delay Olympic work even if it was urgent."

Everyone nodded, and could only secretly guess what urgent matter he encountered.

At the end of the corridor, Boss Lu frowned and rubbed his chin, and dialed Liu Yifei's phone immediately.

Beep beep beep...

Sorry, the phone you dialed is currently busy.

Soon a text message came in: I'm busy, wait a while.

It seems that this busy signal is the prompt for hanging up; the man didn't think about it and continued to dial.

The sound of the waves is the same, still a text message, popping out a question mark.

It seems that something is not quite right?

Boss Lu continued to bomb the phone, this time successfully connected, but was greeted by a coquettish shout: "I'm thinking about performance details, what are you doing?"

Liu Yifei in the hotel room was already a bit obsessed.

She had just been repeatedly grinding the video clips during the day, and was interrupted by the washing machine's phone from time to time!

"Stop for a moment, don't expect to achieve success in one battle, have you forgotten that you have an important mission?"

Liu Yifei was stunned, and it took a lot of effort to come back to her senses from the state of meditation: "Ah? What?"

"Oh! Netflix! Is the investment negotiated?"

Boss Lu's strategy was very successful; he understood the irritability of people in artistic creation being interrupted, and chose to create another important topic to divert her attention.

"That's right, Blockbuster's recent networking action has been very successful, the online user growth rate has surged, and Netflix should have felt the crisis."

"You happen to be in Los Angeles, prepare to go to Netflix to talk to Hastings in these few days. If you want our $300 million financing, you have to accept the route of continuing to fight the DVD rental war with Blockbuster."

Liu Yifei has to experience life at the Hoover Institution at Stanford these days, and Netflix headquarters is in Los Gatos, a Silicon Valley city group, and the two are less than 50 kilometers apart.

"Okay." Liu Yifei let out a long sigh, and then reluctantly said: "I... have some performance clips, can you send them to you to help me see?"

"Yes, prepare quickly, wait for Huang Anna's notification."

The phone hung up, Liu Yifei let out a long sigh, and was dragged out of 1937 by Boss Lu alive.

It seems that she found the misty path to top actors, and the young girl even almost forgot the Netflix strategy she had agreed with Lu Kuan before.

Since this month, from the outside and the inside, she disguised herself as Zhang Chunru in another time and space, and the first step was to step into the Hoover Institution, which is extremely important to her.

Liu Yifei, who only caught a glimpse of the door, was still far from being able to be free.

Even if it wasn't for this phone call just now, and not being diverted by Lu Kuan, she might have become a sacrifice for the character like Stanislavski's warning.

This is like a young female knight who has just entered the martial arts, being forced to give enlightenment by Boss Lu, an old demon of two lives, and teaching her the supreme mental method of the rivers and lakes.

The old demon didn't pay attention, and this female knight who didn't know the height of the sky and the thickness of the earth was about to go into trouble.

Not to mention the immature Liu Yifei, even top actors have those who are too deep into the play and cannot extricate themselves.

Leslie Cheung filmed "Farewell My Concubine," and kept the orchid finger of the Dan role during the filming, almost leading to permanent muscle tension abnormality in his right little finger.

Later generations said that because of this role, his sexual orientation cognition appeared stage disorder, which is not enough for outsiders to say.

Heath Ledger filmed "The Dark Knight," and fell into severe insomnia one week after the film was finished, often having auditory hallucinations, and had to accept half a year of psychological healing.

Day-Lewis finished acting in "Lincoln," and when accepting an interview, he couldn't turn around for a while, and kept answering questions with English slang from the 1860s.

Fortunately, the "hysteria" of this river and lake female knight was interrupted by the old demon, and she turned to look at the Netflix data.

Netflix's market value in mid-2006 was only about $1.5 billion, with total assets of nearly $400 million, but 120 million of them were 55 million DVD inventories.

In addition, there is a total debt of nearly $200 million, from the copyright fees of the production side.

In 2006, when Hastings led Netflix to fight Blockbuster, grabbing online and offline DVD users, the $300 million Boss Lu took out can be described as sending charcoal in the snow.

Liu Yifei also has a clear understanding of this—

The Total Access launched by Blockbuster, which has made Netflix feel a headache these few months, also cost them $150 million.

Buying in is not a problem, the problem is how Liu Yifei follows Boss Lu's rhetoric to guide Hastings to deviate from his "correct course"—the layout of streaming media business.

West Coast time, May 7, Liu Yifei met with Hastings in the chairman's office of Netflix.

The blinds cut the California sun into fine golden threads, falling on the hem of Liu Yifei's professional suit.

She admired the inventory wall paved with DVDs in Hastings' office with a clicking sound.

Unlike Liu Yifei, who had checked Hastings' ancestors for eighteen generations, Hastings looked at this Asian woman with a strange expression, not knowing how to define her identity.

Star? MyTube big blogger? Female entrepreneur?

Or, a Chinese woman who once made the wife of the News Corp president suffer.

"Crystal, I didn't expect you to come to negotiate with me. I know you, but I'm not very familiar with you."

Hastings' pair of eagle eyes were particularly sharp: "Many stars in Hollywood do business, but I find it unbelievable that you can take out $300 million to join a track with white-hot competition."

"Crystal, do I have the honor to hear you tell the truth?"

Actress Liu Yifei turned confidently: "Very simple, I am a Chinese actress, I hope I can gain a foothold in Hollywood, this is not hard to understand, right?"

"Uh-huh."

Liu Yifei laughed: "Chinese people can't get any important roles in Hollywood. If I want to get the favor of big directors and big producers, I must have enough chips."

"DVD rental and distribution channels are my chips, and I do indeed look forward to Netflix's development, especially you, Mr. Hastings, your management ability is so outstanding, it is admirable!"

Hastings got to the bottom of it: "But such a young actress like you, this capital..."

Liu Yifei raised her hand to interrupt him disdainfully: "The letter before I came, your finance has confirmed, there is no doubt about the capital strength."

"As for where my money comes from, don't expect to know too much."

"Don't you know that in the East, the numbers in the bank accounts of the rich on the list don't even have the fraction of the big crocodiles under the water?"

The young girl proudly raised her chin, her acting skills exploded, with the posture of an overseas asset manager of a certain red family in the East.

"This is a bold industrial investment, and it is also paving the way for myself. You just consider accepting, or not accepting!"

Hastings looked at the mysterious oriental beauty in front of him and was in a trance.

Raven-black long hair combed into an academic low ponytail, matte base makeup played a good role in increasing age.

A midnight black wool crepe suit, the neckline slightly opened in a French boat-shaped cut, revealing the collarbone lines with the luster of pearl mother-of-pearl.

Even if there is no jewelry decoration on the whole body, it also shows extraordinary nobility.

What a set of capital rhetoric without modification, Hastings spread his hands, slandering which oriental red family's eldest lady this is playing.

"Okay, let's talk about Netflix."

Wu Ershan in the text has gone offline; find time to change the previous plot.

This damn thing.

(End of chapter)