Chapter 691: Cursing Poems and Comedy Films

"Your bodies and names will both perish, yet the rivers will flow on for ten thousand ages."

This line of poetry is very easy to understand.

When everything of your generation has turned to dust, and both your bodies and reputations have vanished, it will not in the slightest harm the surging, eternal flow of the rivers.

This line of poetry comes from Du Fu's "Six Quatrains, No. 2."

You must know, Du Fu is hailed as the Poetry Sage.

This man's temperament was distinctly different from that of the Poetry Immortal Li Bai and others.

In his middle years, because his poetic style was "deep, melancholic, and rhythmic" and "concerned for the nation and the people," his poetry was also known as "Poetry History."

But in reality, he was also capable of writing poems to curse people, heh heh.

And with this one curse, this poem has been passed down for a thousand years!

I have to say, scholars are truly not to be trifled with, especially those top-tier scholars.

If you flatter them beautifully, your name can be passed down for a thousand years in their works.

If you annoy them, you might end up infamous for ten thousand years.

Placed on Blue Star, in this situation, different people have different understandings when looking at this poem.

Some people feel that in the second half, "the rivers will flow on for ten thousand ages," Luo Mo is talking about himself.

Saying that he can stay popular, stay famous, and keep creating good works forever.

But others feel that this might be talking about the film industry, about film history.

However, there is one point on which opinions can be unified.

The "bodies and names will both perish" in the poem definitely refers to—the Fan Hua Award!

Didn't the expert judges say before that whether anyone comes or not will not affect the Fan Hua Award continuing forever?

The meaning of the poem Luo Mo posted became obvious in an instant.

Continue forever?

Are you sure?

The expert judges of the Fan Hua Award could be said to be half-dead with anger when they saw this poem.

You brat, how dare you!?

Honestly, this is the first time they have seen someone so arrogant.

Yes, in these two years, Luo Mo has indeed stood at the pinnacle of the film world.

Any award that lacks him in these two years will appear to lack substance.

But the point is, you must stand at the pinnacle consistently for an award to become a mere shell because you don't participate.

Two years, three years... in such a short time, it is simply not enough to count.

After all, the foundation of our Fan Hua Award is right here.

Unless you can overlook the entire film industry for five or even ten years, always being number one.

But is that possible?

Honestly, we don't think you will flop or stop being popular in the next few years.

Now, no one dares to jump out to mock Luo Mo like a brainless clown.

He has already proven his strength with his achievements.

However, we do not believe that you can stay at the top of the industry for many consecutive years, riding on everyone's heads.

If any year some filmmaker does better than you, or can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you, and we award the prize to them, it won't affect the substance of the award in the slightest and will be completely convincing to the public.

Let alone Huaxia, in the entire Blue Star film world, there is no such badass figure who dominates every single year.

We believe you can stay popular for many more years, and we believe you can have works break into the top ten, or even top five or top three, every year.

But if you say you'll be number one every year for many consecutive years...

Doesn't that amount to—suppressing an entire generation with one's own strength?

You think this is a fantasy novel, goddammit?

The expert judges of the Fan Hua Award do not think such a situation will happen.

Want to smash our rice bowl? Keep dreaming!

However, this does not stop them from feeling stifled by being cursed.

"Writing poems to curse people is truly despicable!"

"I heard before that 'Dead Water' is going to be included in some official-sanctioned poetry collection."

"Netizens are all saying this isn't even a battle of the same level."

"There are actually people calling for us to write a poem of the same level to curse back; we are judges, not poets!"

"There are also netizens suggesting we record a rap to curse back; they think we don't know he's a Singer, they just want to hear him release a new song to curse us!"

"Why are people even singing to us: 'Snowflakes drifting, North wind whistling'?"

What makes the expert judges most uncomfortable is that they have always been sarcastic when facing interviews.

No one will target Luo Mo directly.

Because the person above him is Madam Zhong Lin.

Luo Mo is currently thriving, has an extremely positive influence on society, and is a high-quality star officially supported by the authorities.

At most, they can only make veiled criticisms and point at the mulberry to curse the locust.

These judges are all outputting in a roundabout way.

Anyway, we invited him, he didn't come himself, we can complain a few times, right?

Luo Mo is different; he outputs directly, or rather, this is basically slapping them in the face, right?

His attitude is very clear: I'm too lazy to play with you people, it's meaningless.

"Look me in the eye, you little brat!"

………

………

After Luo Mo posted this Weibo, Wang Rong finally understood a little bit about what Luo Mo was thinking deep down.

"It's too crazy, this is too crazy!"

If it were before, Wang Rong might have felt it was unrealistic.

But as he had more and more contact with Luo Mo, he also gradually became "crazy."

Thinking back to before his transition, when he was treated differently in various ways by the Fan Hua Award because of his identity as a Comedy Actor... Wang Rong's anger also flared up!

Looking down at the entire film industry, Wang Rong certainly wouldn't have been able to come up with such a terrifying idea.

He was now just determined to film his next Comedy movie well.

In the field of Comedy, he would maximize his own strength and give Luo Mo a helping hand!

If possible, he also hoped that he could dominate the Comedy film category and be number one every year!

"No wonder there's a term on the internet called 'Subtle Influence of Mo'; after staying with him for a long time, ambition really does grow," Wang Rong couldn't help but think to himself.

Of course, Wang Rong didn't feel that this was being conceited or getting carried away.

After all, the track record of Charlotte Troubles was right there; it was the strongest Comedy film of the past three years.

"Yes! Must keep up the good work!"

As for He Yuanguang, his mindset was peaceful.

Reaching middle age, his "big heart" had long since been tempered by Luo Mo.

From the initial cost that was higher than the box office record to make an Animation film, to the later film with a box office breaking 5 billion, Guang Shu had gradually become accustomed to Luo Mo's "wild talk."

As long as everything is turned into reality, can it still be called wild talk?

That is called having an accurate self-perception.

In the Animation world, he and Luo Mo had been ranked number one for these past few years.

Therefore, he didn't have any extra thoughts.

Guang Shu felt that he just needed to do his job well.

Only one person was completely stunned after seeing the cursing poem on Weibo.

That was the President of the Hong Kong Film Workers Association, Hua Jiaqun.

He had only just gotten the script and was still in the initial preparation stage.

And now, the pressure was on!

However, after thinking about it carefully, it was actually nothing.

Two Gun Kings was already the Hong Kong film champion of these past few years.

His expectations for Peerless were already higher than for Two Gun Kings.

And in terms of awards, what Hua Jiaqun recognized more was certainly the awards in Hong Kong.

"Anyway, it's not cursing the Hong Kong awards, so it doesn't matter," he thought to himself.

However, after this incident, more people turned their eyes to The Wandering Earth.

If one were to ask which of all the films Luo Mo had shot so far was the least favored, it would definitely be... The Wandering Earth!

The saying "Huaxia has no Science Fiction" was no joke.

Although it seemed that the more it was like this, the easier it was to take first place, because it was like picking the tallest among the short. But don't forget, its production cost alone was as high as 700 million!

If a film couldn't even break even, then at least to a certain extent, it was considered a failure.

Admittedly, everyone was relatively tolerant toward domestic Science Fiction films.

Many rational viewers were also very clear that development requires a process and must be done step by step.

But the tone you set was too high.

You high-profile announced an investment of 700 million, and there was the foreign blockbuster Doomsday Apostle causing trouble.

Then, the situation would instantly become different.

The higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

If your box office didn't reach 3 billion, it would definitely give people a strong sense of disparity.

In the eyes of the expert judges of the Fan Hua Award, and in the eyes of those few enemies of Luo Mo, The Wandering Earth was Luo Mo's riskiest move.

"What 'the river flows on forever'?"

"If your The Wandering Earth flops, it means this river of yours will run dry next year!"

"The main thing is that the timing for starting this film is also bad."

Back then, the foreign film Doomsday Apostle publicly and high-profilely humiliated Huaxia's Science Fiction films, and this film also contained a large amount of anti-Huaxia content.

Immediately following that, the project for The Wandering Earth was launched.

It was hard not to let people start making connections.

"Isn't this just sticking one's neck out? Hahaha!" everyone thought.

Don't end up losing face internationally when the time comes.

As for us, let's just wait and see!

"Heh, Luo Mo himself should be under a lot of pressure now, right?"

……….

……….

Shanghai, Xicheng.

Luo Mo was currently looking at the things sent over by the special effects team.

"Awesome! This part is done awesomely!" He excitedly slapped his thigh.

What is pressure?

He only felt now that this was a sure thing.

Luo Mo had been collaborating with this special effects team since the time of *Celestial Sword 5 Qixia Zhuan*.

As Luo Mo became increasingly popular, they had also been constantly improving.

If one were to talk about competing with the strongest Science Fiction films from Hollywood, there was certainly a gap there.

But if it was just a *Doomsday Apostle*...

"If I can't beat Zhang Sanfeng, can't I even beat you, the Seven Heroes of Wudang?"

Luo Mo spent more production costs than on Earth, just to make improvements in the special effects and some other areas that were not quite satisfactory.

"What's there to panic about? At worst... I'll add another hundred million!"

Luo Mo, who had made a fortune during the Shuji Dang, simply had that kind of financial power.

However, for such a blockbuster with special effects, no matter how much money one is willing to spend on post-production, the entire production process is extremely time-consuming.

As for the upcoming Spring Festival slot, *The Wandering Earth* would definitely miss it.

Before the Spring Festival, it would likely be impossible to finish.

Therefore, the plan was to place it in next year's Shuji Dang.

But, Luo Mo did not want to just let this year's Spring Festival slot go to waste.

Originally, if *Peerless* were a normal Crime-themed movie, it would have been in time for a Spring Festival release.

But the problem was, it needed to realistically recreate the production of counterfeit bills.

Hua Jiaqun was currently leading his own professional criminal gang... no, professional crime film team, working hard and diligently to study how to produce fake US dollars.

This was Luo Mo's Requirement; it had to be realistic enough!

For this reason, Hua Jiaqun even specifically reported it to the relevant departments and gave them a heads-up in advance.

He certainly didn't want everyone to be carrying cameras, huffing and puffing while making fake bills in some hidden location, only for the Police to kick the door open and round up his entire team.

"Whoa! Committing crimes is one thing, but you even recorded it."

"What, are you preparing to release a tutorial?"

Therefore, *Peerless* might make it in time for the Spring Festival slot, but it was not certain.

It specifically depended on whether the people under Hua Jiaqun's command had any talent for breaking the law.

On Earth, director Zhuang Wenqiang spent three or four months on it.

But who knows, maybe we have a criminal genius here?

"Tsk, but I really can't bear to miss this Spring Festival slot," Luo Mo thought to himself.

In recent years, the total box office for each Spring Festival slot had been growing steadily compared to the previous year.

People's enthusiasm for watching movies during the New Year was truly rising year by year.

After thinking it over, he decided to let it go.

On one hand, the filming time for this movie would be relatively short.

On the other hand, in Luo Mo's view, a Comedy was the most suitable for the Spring Festival slot.

During the New Year, isn't it great for everyone to go to the cinema together and have a good laugh?

When discussing it with Liu Shixiong and Wang Rong earlier, Wang Rong wanted to rest for a while longer.

At this moment, *Charlotte Troubles* was in the limelight, and it was his time to shine.

He still wanted to enjoy himself for a while longer, rather than immediately exiting the public eye and running off to film a movie in misery.

"Liu Shixiong, on the other hand, is quite eager to join the crew and start filming," Luo Mo smiled.

As for why Liu Shixiong was so urgent, he could roughly guess the reason.

Liu Shixiong probably hadn't been having a very... 【Joyful】 time lately.

The days of suffering under Bao Ying every night were too painful.

"Getting Wang Rong to leave the vanity fair, stop showing off, and get to work early is actually quite simple," Luo Mo said in his heart.

"That is to give him a script that makes his heart itch," he smiled slightly.

Luo Mo decisively sent over *Hello Mr. Billionaire*, which he had already written.

This movie could actually have been done better.

It is said that at the beginning, the female lead was set to be Ma Li. At that time, the film title hadn't even been changed to *Hello Mr. Billionaire*, and the working title was *Capital Successor*.

During the early promotion, it was Shen Teng and Ma Li who were always running around.

Because of the massive popularity of *Charlotte Troubles*, the news of the two collaborating again attracted a large number of investors.

And look, the female lead's name is Xia Zhu, which corresponds to Ma Dongmei's Dongmei.

But later on, the female lead was changed to a Taiwanese actress, and Ma Li was kicked out.

All of this led Shen Teng to openly be sarcastic at the film's press conference, directly saying: "What methods did you use to finally gain the director's approval?"

You have to know, at that time, Shen Teng's status in the industry was definitely incomparable to what it is now; there was a vast gap.

After all, he is now the 【20-billion box office man】.

At the same time, at the press conference, he also said something that was also a roundabout way of throwing shade.

"I really can't stand some... people without a sense of humor trying to grasp a Comedy work. I just feel that this point still needs... needs to be handled with caution."

The host said: "I won't ask you who has no sense of humor."

Shen Teng leaned his body toward that Taiwanese actress, glanced at her with his peripheral vision, and then turned back to the host with a smile: "If you ask me, can I even say it?"

— *Didn't say it*.

As mentioned earlier, Comedy performance is actually not that easy.

Luo Mo personally felt that Shen Teng's perspective was not wrong.

The female lead should have had many more gags, and many plot points could have been more brilliant.

In the end, she was reduced to a mere tool.

For the same piece of Drama and the same line of dialogue, if you change the Actor, the effect is immediately different.

Luo Mo was still considering whether to directly find the Actor who played Ma Dongmei on Blue Star to play the role of 【Xia Zhu】.

But he definitely had to find someone suitable for Comedy.

"I could also continue to make a cameo in this movie," Luo Mo smiled and said.

On Earth, that Singer who made a cameo in Hello Mr. Billionaire had already collapsed due to the incident involving his ex-wife's essay.

Besides that, some of the deleted scenes in this movie were actually particularly interesting.

For example, some of Wei Xiang's brilliant performances were later cut out.

Luo Mo intended to add some of the brilliant content back in without affecting the Story Rhythm of the film.

Just after sending the script to Wang Rong, Luo Mo received a reply on WeChat from Wang Rong.

"This trick again, using a script to seduce me into working!" Wang Rong saw through everything.

"Yeah, so what?" Luo Mo did not disguise it at all.

"Fine, I'm out right now, I'll read it when I get home tonight," Wang Rong said.

After ending the conversation with Wang Rong, Xu Chujing cut a fruit platter and came into the study.

After putting down the fruit platter, she saw that a blank document was open on Luo Mo's laptop.

"What's wrong? Are you thinking of writing something new?" Xu Chujing asked.

"I'm considering whether I should film another movie myself in the second half of this year," Luo Mo said.

"Don't be too tired," Xu Chujing said, looking at Luo Mo.

The two had discussed their career plans; neither wanted to still be struggling in the entertainment industry when they were very old, and if conditions allowed, they wanted to enter a state of retirement or semi-retirement early.

Xu Chujing felt that it was precisely because of this that Luo Mo was working so hard now.

Little did she know that it was because there were too many good works, and he felt his time was not enough.

Compared to such a vast civilization on Earth, I seem somewhat short-lived.

"It's fine, you know my physical fitness, don't you?" Luo Mo smiled and said.

I am not the same as Liu Shixiong.

Why else would they say that Liu Shixiong is an old fox, while I am a Closing Disciple?

Your doors are wide open, while I can block the whole thing, and block it for a long time.

Xu Chujing couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him and continued to talk about business, saying: "Then have you decided what to film?"

The two pairs of eyes fell simultaneously on the blank document on the laptop.

"Watching Wang Rong film Charlotte Troubles, I felt a bit itchy to try it myself," Luo Mo said: "So, let's make a Comedy too."

"Comedy?" Xu Chujing was slightly stunned.

"Yeah, just film a Comedy," Luo Mo said.

After speaking, he typed four large characters on the blank document.

——Let the Bullets Fly.

(PS: Everyone, don't forget the lucky draw in the book review section; all readers with a full subscription can leave a comment to participate. The first prize is a signed album by Zhou Dong, the second prize is 3 signed photos of Zhou Dong, and the third prize is a share of 30,000 Qidian coins. Currently, only 700+ people have commented, and the probability of winning is so high that even I want to participate.

At the editor's request, I continue to update the preview: This chapter was updated on August 18th at 17:33, and the next chapter is expected before 8:00 PM tomorrow.)

(End of this chapter)