Chapter 54: Crew Conflict

Edison Chen preened and posed like a rooster, acting cool and handsome, frequently chatting and striking up conversations.

"Hello, two beauties. My name is Edison Chen. You should know me, right?"

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

Especially this young girl with a tall figure and jade-like skin, who gave him a completely different impression from the heavily made-up young models in Hong Kong.

If those coquettish bitches were delicacies he was tired of eating, this one was elegant and refined, like clear water and cabbage.

After more than half a month of round-robin banter with Lu Kuan, Liu Yifei had fully mastered the linguistic art of retorting.

"Brother Edison, your mouth seems crooked!"

*Hmm, Hong Kong version of Zhao Si. *

Su Chang tried her best to hold back her laughter on the side. Liu Yifei was becoming more and more like Lu Kuan; she was truly vicious.

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

Edison Chen was a little embarrassed. Fortunately, everyone was toasting and didn't pay attention to this side. He slightly adjusted his facial expression and launched an offensive again.

"*Infernal Affairs* will premiere in the second half of the year. It's ten times better than mainland movies! You can go see it. I play Lau Kin-ming in it."

Liu Yifei wanted to roll her eyes. *You're so proud of playing a supporting role. *

Suddenly, she thought of the rhetoric Lu Kuan used to tease her that day.

"Lau Kin-what?"

"Lau Kin-ming."

"Kin-what?"

"Lau! Kin-ming."

"Lau what-ming?"

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

His father, Chen Zemin, was an industrialist and a member of the Legislative Council, and was good friends with Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Where had he ever suffered such anger!

The wine glass was smashed to pieces on the table by him, and he was about to loudly scold this "bun-faced" mainland country bumpkin.

*Country bumpkin! No experience! *

Lu Kuan looked at Liu Yifei, who was frightened pale, and reprimanded: "What are you doing?!"

Mani Fok also raised her eyebrows: "Edison, what are you doing?"

The Hong Kong entertainment industry isn't big, and she was highly trusted by her boss, Albert Yeung. She was the team leader on this trip to the mainland, and she immediately controlled the situation.

Although Edison Chen was used to being arrogant, this wasn't Hong Kong after all. Knowing he was in the wrong, he glared at Lu Kuan and Liu Yifei hatefully, muttered something muffled, and turned to leave the table.

Liu Xiaoli hurriedly came over to comfort her daughter, looking at his thin, monkey-like back with dissatisfaction.

Liu Yifei took a deep breath. She had indeed been frightened by his sudden brutality just now, and she felt a lingering fear: "Mom, I'm tired. Let's go back."

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

Mani Fok raised a glass of wine and drank it herself, her voice tinged with apology: "I'm sorry, Mr. Lu. Young people have no sense of proportion. Please forgive me."

Nicholas Tse had wanted to advance and retreat with his good brother just now, but seeing Mani Fok acting so humble to this young man he looked down upon, he also decisively stood up and left.

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

Shawn Yue had the smallest status among the three and had to follow the footsteps of the big brother.

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

His intimate relationship with Anita Mui, his unmasked "kicking a man when he's down" regarding his salary, and his accurate prediction of his punitive sentence of community service.

Lies don't hurt people; the truth is the fast knife. Every single one of these things made him very embarrassed.

The speed at which this wave of popular young Hong Kong actors like him and Edison Chen rose was too fast, and they had a ridiculous sense of superiority toward mainland actors, directors, and even investors.

This is a prejudice carved into their bones, which takes 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 the crew. In this day and age, Hong Kong and Taiwan artists and directors were all arrogant soldiers, and the practitioners all knew it.

Back then, Jet Li's daily salary for filming *The Shaolin Temple* was 90 yuan, while the Hong Kong supporting actor in the same group was 5,000 a day.

When Liu Xiaoqing was popular all over the mainland, she participated in the filming of *The Burning of the Imperial Palace*. Her treatment was the same as the extras; she slept on the floor and ate steamed buns with pickles, while the Hong Kong actors had exclusive dining cars and were welcomed and sent off.

Chen Kun didn't react much. He had always had criticisms of Liu Yifei, thinking that 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 all had eyes, and the scene gradually returned to enthusiasm.

Boss Lu had come through the big winds and waves in his past life. He didn't take a few twenty-something "two-five boys" to heart, but he had to carefully consider how to deal with this bunch of thorns...

The dinner ended, and everyone returned to the crew hotel to rest. Lu Kuan called Ning Hao to go to Tian Zhuangzhuang's place to get the note and find the Youth Film Studio director, Qiu Yuanxu. Suddenly, someone stopped him from behind.

"Director, are you in a good mood?"

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

Lu Kuan froze for a moment. This level is high enough!

At first glance, he really thought it was some water lily shyly unable to withstand the cool wind!

Dong Jie was closest to Chen Kun in the crew. Apart from that, it was Liu Guoquan and her son; other miscellaneous people didn't enter her eyes.

However, starting from today's press conference, she became interested in this newly promoted young director who disguised himself as just a small actor with some connections.

Unexpectedly, just such a press conference that tried to be as low-key as possible still made Lu Kuan look like "Tang Seng meat," and all kinds of female demons began to probe and attack frequently.

"Oh, very good. A little wind and waves, not enough to fear."

Dong Jie didn't believe his set—putting on a brave face. Young film and television practitioners all know their own warmth and cold.

Just like herself, at 19, she replaced Zhou Xun, who was injured during filming, to appear on the Spring Festival Gala, partnering with the then-popular Nicholas Tse to play the bride.

Zhao Benshan, who appeared on the Spring Festival Gala that same year, took her to find Zhang Yimou and cooperated on *Happy Times*.

Everyone cast envious, jealous, and hateful eyes at her, thinking she was going to soar into the sky with the identity of a "Mou Girl," and even she herself thought so.

Unexpectedly, she went her own way, didn't listen to Zhang Yimou's admonition, and went to act in *White Collar Apartment* of Hunan Radio and Television, without making a splash.

This year's *The Story of a Noble Family* could be considered the turning point in her acting career. If she didn't succeed, she would be indistinguishable from the crowd.

In later generations, it was by virtue of the hit *The Story of a Noble Family* that she successfully transferred to the Hong Kong circle in 2003, signed with Wong Kar-wai's company, and received the care of Tony Leung and others.

Dong Jie knew how to take care of a man's self-esteem. She covered her mouth and laughed softly: "Although the director is young, he is very mature and steady."

Boss Lu saw her like this and suddenly felt a little tired.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 55 =====