Chapter 54: Crew Conflict

Chen Guanxi preened and posed like a rooster, acting cool and suave, frequently chatting up and hitting on people.

"Hello, beautiful ladies. My name is Chen Guanxi. You should know who I am, right?"

He put on his signature smirk, feeling that it shouldn't be a problem to charm these two country bumpkins from the mainland.

Especially this tall, slender young girl with skin like ice and jade; she gave him a completely different impression from the heavily made-up models in Xiangjiang.

If those flashy, cheap women were delicacies one had grown tired of eating, this one was like a simple, refined dish of clear-water cabbage.

After more than half a month of turn-based banter with Lu Kuan, Liu Yifei had fully mastered the art of talking back.

"Brother Guanxi, your mouth seems to be crooked!"

Hmm, the Xiangjiang version of Zhao Si.

Su Chang was desperately holding back laughter on the side; Liu Yifei was becoming more and more like Lu Kuan, truly vicious.

Crooked your sister! This is my style, you know!

Chen Guanxi felt a bit awkward. Fortunately, everyone was busy toasting and hadn't noticed this side. He slightly adjusted his facial expression and launched his offensive again.

"The premiere of *Infernal Affairs* is in the second half of the year, it's ten times better than mainland movies! You can go watch it; I play Liu Jianming in it."

Liu Yifei felt like rolling her eyes; acting as a supporting role and you're so full of yourself.

Suddenly, she remembered the way Lu Kuan had teased her that day.

"Liu Jian what?"

"Liu Jianming."

"Jianming what?"

"Liu! Jianming."

"Liu what-ming?"

Chen Guanxi was so angry his face turned livid. He had become famous at a young age and his family had immense influence.

His father, Chen Zeming, was an industrialist and a Legislative Council member, and a good friend of Li Shoucheng and Fang Long; when had he ever suffered such an insult!

He smashed his wine glass onto the table, shattering it to pieces, and was about to loudly berate this bun-faced mainland bumpkin on the spot.

Country bumpkin! No class!

Seeing Liu Yifei frightened pale, Lu Kuan spoke up to reprimand him: "What are you doing?!"

Huo Wenxi also arched her eyebrows: "Guanxi, what are you doing?"

The Xiangjiang entertainment circle wasn't large, and she was highly trusted by her boss, Li Shoucheng. As the team leader for this trip to the mainland, she immediately brought the situation under control.

Although Chen Guanxi was used to being arrogant, this wasn't Xiangjiang after all. Knowing he was in the wrong, he shot a hateful glare at Lu Kuan and Liu Yifei, muttered something under his breath, and turned to leave the table.

Liu Xiaoli hurried over to comfort her daughter, looking at his skinny-monkey-like back with dissatisfaction.

Liu Yifei took a deep breath. She had indeed been frightened by his sudden outburst of violence, and now, still feeling a lingering fear, she said, "Mom, I'm tired, let's go back."

Su Chang also glared at the Xiangjiang people present with a sense of shared hatred and left with the mother and daughter.

Huo Wenxi downed a glass of wine and said apologetically, "Sorry, Mr. Lu. The young man has no sense of propriety, please forgive him."

Xie Tingfeng had just wanted to stand with his good brother, but hearing Huo Wenxi humble herself before this young man he looked down upon, he also decisively stood up and left.

"Sister Mani, I'm tired today, leaving first."

Yu Wenle had the lowest status among the three and had no choice but to follow the lead of his big brother.

To put it bluntly, Xie Tingfeng had been extremely dissatisfied with Lu Kuan from beginning to end.

His intimate relationship with Mei Yanfang, his undisguised gloating over the film's pay, and his accurate prediction of the punitive sentence of community service he received.

Lies don't hurt people; the truth is the sharp blade. Each and every one of these things made him feel extremely embarrassed.

The speed at which he and Chen Guanxi, this wave of popular young actors from Xiangjiang, had risen was too fast, and they held a ridiculous sense of superiority toward mainland actors, directors, and even investors.

This was a prejudice carved into their bones that would take time to reverse.

Only then did the restaurant truly fall into a deathly silence.

Li Dawei looked sympathetically at the young director who had just assembled his crew. In this day and age, Hong Kong and Taiwan artists and directors were all arrogant and unruly, a fact that industry insiders were well aware of.

Back in the day, Li Lianjie's daily pay for filming *Shaolin Temple* was 90 yuan, while the Xiangjiang supporting actors in the same crew received 5,000 a day.

When Liu Xiaoqing was popular all over the mainland, she participated in the filming of *Burning of the Imperial Palace* and received the same treatment as the extras, sleeping on floor mats and eating steamed buns and pickles, while the Xiangjiang actors had dedicated dining cars and were catered to hand and foot.

Chen Kun didn't have much of a reaction. He had always had complaints about Liu Yifei, believing her immature acting affected the crew's progress and the quality of the TV series, but he still appreciated Lu Kuan.

"Director Lu, come, I toast you!"

The two clinked glasses. The crew members were all observant, and the atmosphere gradually became lively again.

Boss Lu had been through great storms in his past life; he didn't take a few twenty-something punks to heart, though he would need to carefully consider how to deal with this bunch of troublemakers...

The banquet ended, and everyone returned to the crew's hotel to rest. Lu Kuan called Ning Hao to go to Tian Zhuangzhuang's place to get the note and find the Qingying Studio director, Qiu Yuanxu, when someone suddenly called out to him from behind.

"Director, are you in a good mood?"

The voice was as gentle as water, her figure as delicate as a willow in the wind, her demeanor pure and quiet.

Lu Kuan was stunned; this level was quite high!

At first glance, one would really think she was some water lily, shy and unable to withstand the cool breeze!

In the crew, Dong Jie was closest to Chen Kun, and besides that, it was Liu Guoquan and her son; other idlers didn't catch her eye at all.

However, starting from today's press conference, she had become interested in this newly emerged young director who was disguised as just a small actor with some connections.

He hadn't expected that even a press conference kept as low-profile as possible would still make Lu Kuan like Tang Monk meat, with various female demons starting to probe and attack frequently.

"Oh, very good. A few waves are nothing to fear."

Dong Jie didn't believe his act; he was just puffing himself up to look big. Young film and television practitioners all knew the cold and warmth of the industry themselves.

Just like herself, at 19, she replaced Zhou Xun, who was injured while filming, to appear on the Spring Festival Gala, partnering with the then-red-hot Xie Tingfeng to play a bride.

That same year, Zhao Benshan, who was performing on the gala, took her to meet Zhang Yimou, and they collaborated on *Happy Times*.

Everyone cast looks of envy, jealousy, and hatred at her, thinking she would soar to the sky with the status of a "Yimou Girl," and even she herself thought so.

Unexpectedly, she went her own way, ignoring Zhang Yimou's advice, and went to act in Xiangguang TV's *White Collar Apartment*, which didn't make a splash at all.

This year's *The Story of a Noble Family* could be considered the turning point in her acting career; if it didn't succeed, she would fade into the crowd.

In later life, it was precisely because of the hit broadcast of *The Story of a Noble Family* that she successfully switched to the Xiangjiang circle in 2003, signed with Wang Jiawei's company, and received the care of Liang Chaowei and others.

Dong Jie knew how to take care of a man's self-esteem, covering her mouth and smiling lightly: "Although the director is young, you are very mature and steady."

Boss Lu felt a bit weary when he saw her like this.

(End of chapter)