Chapter 803: 《Infernal Affairs》: There is a mole, terminate the deal

A rendition of "Farewell My Concubine" can be said to have showcased Luo Mo's singing ability, which balances hardness and softness, to the extreme.

The entire stage performance, lasting over six minutes, left an incredibly deep impression.

Many people also developed a great interest in this film.

"When is it being released?"

"Want to Watch!"

"Produced by Luo Mo, it must be a masterpiece!"

"I heard it's related to Opera?"

"Probably next year's Shuji Dang, right?"

The General Director of the Spring Festival Gala, Sheng Gong, let out a long sigh of relief while watching the real-time viewership data backstage.

Letting Luo Mo go on stage to sing "Farewell My Concubine" was an exceptional move from the start, one that required courage.

If the effect is good, then everything is easy to talk about.

If the effect is bad and the audience doesn't like listening to it, he is afraid he would be roasted to death.

After all, this song isn't even just suspected of being an advertisement; it is genuinely promoting his own new film!

Although this matter was decided through meetings and was not something Sheng Gong decided on his own.

But regardless, as the General Director, he still has to bear a portion of the responsibility.

At this moment, he also Finally Understand why gala directors all feel that Luo Mo is a "stabilizing needle" level existence.

Even for the most lackluster gala, with him, at least the Peak Value of viewership will be guaranteed!

In fact, this year's Spring Festival Gala was indeed mediocre.

And it was overly focused on social issues.

For example, pressure to marry, unwillingness to have children, gender opposition, etc.

In this era of selling anxiety, social platforms like Weibo originally spend all day using these things to grab eyeballs and traffic, relying on everyone's arguments and mutual mockery to stir up heat.

Everyone is already watching these things every day.

And yet, they still have to watch them on the Lunar New Year.

Since it is the Spring Festival Gala, and since it is New Year's Eve, it must end with a happy ending.

The conflicts are easily resolved, turning into a family-friendly scene: "Our whole family together—make~dump~lings!"

As for performances like crosstalk and talk shows, due to constraints on content and other reasons, they give people the feeling of just padding out the runtime.

There were almost no funny points throughout, but there were plenty of awkward ones.

The feeling it gives is: the directing team probably knows this program is trash, but among these types, they must keep one.

Many people have started to miss last year's Spring Festival Gala.

"When Ning Dan and Luo Mo collaborated, it was truly good!"

"Sigh, the dancing isn't as good as last year either; things like Thousand-Hand Guanyin were so stunning!"

"The skits aren't good either; why didn't Liu Shixiong come this year!"

"Boring, boring, not watching anymore."

Everyone has gradually started to understand that it is not that the Spring Festival Gala has been gradually getting better over these years.

It is purely because Luo Mo is an Ox.

Regarding this, Sheng Gong doesn't really care.

Because he never thought about making an outstanding Spring Festival Gala.

His goal has always been to make a standard, error-free Spring Festival Gala.

Finally, many people stayed up until Xu Chujing went on stage.

A rendition of "Unforgettable Tonight" appeared on the Spring Festival Gala again.

This makes many people feel that if future Spring Festival Galas don't have "Unforgettable Tonight," they might feel a bit unaccustomed to it.

………

………

The next day, the first day of the Lunar New Year arrived.

Far away in Hong Kong, Qunzai stayed up all night.

He wasn't staying up for the New Year, he was just purely too nervous to sleep.

Of course, it wasn't like he didn't do anything.

He pulled a few friends from the circle and played mahjong all night.

Yes, in the Hong Kong films you see, Hong Kong stars are all dressed in bright and beautiful clothes, liking to roam in casinos, playing all kinds of cards, and going all-in at the drop of a hat.

But in reality, mahjong is very popular in the circle of Hong Kong stars and is the favorite of many Hong Kong stars.

Qunzai played all night, and because his heart wasn't in it, he lost over ten thousand Hong Kong dollars.

These days, everyone uses mobile transfers; of course, even if he gave cash, he would give real bills, don't worry.

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and "Infernal Affairs" is about to be released in major cinemas across the country.

This film, which has been pinned with high hopes by Hong Kong and is expected to be a work that saves the market, will finally be tested by the audience today regarding its quality.

Huaxia's Spring Festival film season has always been very explosive.

The Pre-sale Box Office of "Infernal Affairs" reached as high as 130 million, making it the film with the best pre-sale results among this year's Spring Festival season films.

It is also the first time in so many years that a Hong Kong film has ranked first in pre-sales during the Spring Festival season.

This gives people a dreamlike feeling of returning to the past.

You have to know, it used to be the world of Hong Kong films.

In the afternoon, a very special audience member arrived at the cinema.

His name is Qian Qingyun, one of the Four Great Directors of the older generation.

At the same time, he is also one of the first people in the film and television circle to appreciate Luo Mo.

Of course, he previously only felt that this young man would achieve great things in the future.

But he also did not expect that it could be to such an extent...

As one of the Four Great Directors of the older generation, for Qian Qingyun, the existence of Hong Kong films is actually quite special.

He is a director who has experienced the entire development of Mainland cinema.

From being crushed by Hong Kong films, to the sudden rise of a new force, and then to the current reversal.

Come to think of it, he was once one of the strongest combatants competing against Hong Kong films.

Qian Qingyun has competed in cinemas against many famous Hong Kong film directors, with each having their own wins and losses.

Strictly speaking, back in those days, many Hong Kong film directors looked down on Mainland directors and Mainland Actors.

Many Mainland Actors who went to Hong Kong to develop would be bullied.

And when Mainland directors were filming, if there were Hong Kong Actors in the crew, sometimes they would encounter those who were disobedient, or even demand that you change the script.

However, as he has grown older, many past events have become like passing clouds.

Hong Kong films have now entered a very awkward situation, and Qian Qingyun occasionally still feels a bit of regret.

In his view, Hong Kong films have their own distinct characteristics.

For them to decline completely like this is definitely not a good thing for the entire Huaxia film industry.

Director Qian is very curious, what kind of film will Luo Mo make with those few Best Actors from Hong Kong?

The cinema in the afternoon is also exceptionally lively.

Wearing a hat and a Mask, Qian Qingyun looks just like an old man in poor health, successfully hiding in the crowd.

Coming to the cinema with him is his son, Qian Zhengyi, currently a sharp new director in the circle.

As for him, he is at about the same level as Tian Ou.

It is just that Tian Ou started from scratch, while he has had his father's resources helping him along the way.

For a "second-generation director" like him, it is actually quite difficult to want to prove himself.

Even if he makes a good film, there will be people questioning whether it was ghost-directed by his father.

After taking a seat in the Corner of the Cinema, some film trailers were playing on the big screen.

After a few minutes, "Infernal Affairs" officially began.

The Drama at the beginning of the film tells of two male leads being arranged to go undercover respectively.

Liu Jianming is an Undercover planted by the Triad into the Police.

Chen Yongren is an Undercover planted by the Police into the gang.

Those audience members who thought they would see Luo Mo and Hua Jiaqun acting as brothers in the film based on the trailer know that they are Afraid they will be disappointed.

For a long time, brotherhood has also been one of the labels of Hong Kong films.

The line "One life, two brothers" has appeared in a large number of Hong Kong films.

Qian Qingyun and Qian Zhengyi feel that planting undercover agents against each other like this is indeed quite exciting and is a pretty good idea.

About ten minutes into the film, that classic rooftop scene appeared.

There is a rumor that originally, the original line was Chen Yongren saying he had been an Undercover for nine years, but it was Liang Chaowei who felt this line was not good and changed it to: "It was clearly said to be three years, three years after three years, three years after three years, it's almost ten years now, boss!"

From a certain perspective, 【nine years】 and repeating 【three years after three years】 twice, the latter certainly expresses the character's emotions better.

After the rooftop scene ended, Chen Yongren even went to a small alley to salute the deceased police academy superior.

This superior is dead, and the only one left who knows his Undercover identity is Huang Zhicheng.

And in this scene of saluting, Luo Mo's acting skills were well displayed.

Whether it was facial micro-expressions or his eyes, he acted very well.

Seeing this, Qian Qingyun no longer treated this film as a purely commercial film.

He even whispered to his son: "Luo Mo might just win a Best Actor award over in Hong Kong with this 'Infernal Affairs'."

On the other side, after Huang Zhicheng learned that Han Chen and the people shipping from Thailand were going to conduct a secret transaction, he immediately launched an operation.

Many audience members secretly cried out in their hearts: "Oh no!"

Now there is trouble.

Because the Undercover Liu Jianming, planted by the Triad in the Police, also participated in this operation!

Huang Zhicheng also stated that colleagues from the Serious Crimes Unit must wait for notification from the Undercover before acting!

Fortunately, Huang Zhicheng still kept a Heart Eye at this moment.

When introducing the protagonists of today's mission, he put up three photos: "Han Chen, Chen Yongren, Dilu."

"We have been monitoring them for a long time, and I hope we can catch them this time."

He did not directly expose Chen Yongren's Undercover identity, but instead included him in the arrest targets.

After Huang Zhicheng assigned the mission, Liu Jianming walked outside to make a phone call.

Just as he dialed the call, he saw Huang Zhicheng walk out and greet him: "Hey! Sorry, I only looked for you so late. You know, this kind of operation has to be kept confidential beforehand."

"It's okay, do you have confidence?" he said to Huang Zhicheng.

"It's nothing, a piece of cake," Huang Zhicheng said.

As their conversation reached this point, the call on Liu Jianming's phone went through, and he said into the phone: "Hey, Dad."

He even made an apologetic gesture to Huang Zhicheng, and continued to speak into the phone in front of the commander-in-chief of this operation: "Hey, let Dad listen."

"I don't have time to go back for dinner, okay," Liu Jianming said.

The scene switched to the car with Han Chen and Chen Yongren.

Han Chen, sitting in the back seat, was answering the call made by Liu Jianming!

In an instant, the audience in the Cinema felt a surge of excitement.

"I knew it! I knew he would tip them off!"

"What do we do? How do we handle what comes next?"

"Holy crap!"

Inside the car, Han Chen held his phone and said, "If you've cooked dinner, you have to eat it, right? Call me after work, and I'll heat it up for you."

After saying this, he even smiled.

It was clear that the two of them shared a tacit understanding.

He had already understood what Liu Jianming meant.

It must be said that Liu Jianming's psychological fortitude was formidable; he remained calm even while making the call in front of Huang Zhicheng, as if he were truly just telling his old man that he wouldn't be home for dinner tonight.

Inside the Cinema, the atmosphere instantly became tense.

Qian Qingyun and Qian Zhengyi knew very clearly that in this segment of the Drama, Luo Mo had not used any particularly brilliant tricks.

But the control of the pacing, the acting of the Actor, the foreshadowing of emotions, the attention to detail... everything was excellent!

The audience was undoubtedly immersed in it, with a strong sense of identification.

Qian Qingyun was not in a hurry.

He could guess that the main event was yet to come.

"This operation is likely just setting the stage, letting both the Police and the Triad know—there is an Undercover among us!" This was the intuition of a famous director.

Next, they would likely have to root out the mole within!

In the movie, Han Chen and his men walked into an old building in the busy city.

After entering the room, he had everyone take out their phones and place them on the table.

Then, he said to Chen Yongren, "Ah Ren, go pick up the Thai guy."

"Oh, you two come with me." Chen Yongren called over two underlings.

After Han Chen finished assigning tasks, his phone rang once, and he received a message: "454870."

This was the communication channel for the Police side.

When the Thai guy arrived on the scene, Han Chen chatted with him happily, while Chen Yongren was sent to the side to inspect the goods.

He actually took a sniff of the "flour" on the table.

Then, the expression on his face was incredibly vivid and realistic.

Han Chen watched him without blinking.

Chen Yongren turned his head and said, "AA+."

This was his evaluation of the batch of goods.

As for the audience, they felt deeply shocked.

"Holy crap, do you really have to sniff it when you're an Undercover?"

"How is he going to quit this later!"

"But it makes sense, otherwise why would they trust him."

"The price is just too high..."

On the Police side, they were completely unaware that Han Chen had also infiltrated their communication channel.

Han Chen could hear every task assigned by Huang Zhicheng.

He called Dilu, who was responsible for driving, and said, "Someone is following you, take them for a tour of the garden."

Sitting to the side, Chen Yongren cast a subtle glance at his Boss, Han Chen, who was on the phone.

The audience had assumed that in this operation, the Police would be led around in circles just like that.

Who would have expected Huang Zhicheng to ponder for a moment, his lips moving, as he suddenly said, "They've intercepted our channel, switch to 456855."

Hearing this, Liu Jianming stretched, his micro-expressions betraying struggle and tension.

A smile appeared on Qian Qingyun's face, and he thought, "That's more like it; this kind of confrontation is interesting."

Han Chen realized something was wrong; he walked into the room alone and made another phone call.

At this moment, Lin Guoping on the Police side had his phone ring.

The audience finally realized that he was actually one of the Undercover agents sent by the Triad!

He answered the phone, pretending it was a colleague calling to ask, "Hello? Why aren't you using the radio? Don't you know the channel has been changed?"

Huang Zhicheng stared at him from afar and said sternly, "Are you done yet?"

Lin Guoping glanced at him and said, "456855."

"Still talking!?" Huang Zhicheng scolded sharply.

"That's all." Lin Guoping hung up the phone in a hurry.

On the other side, Liu Jianming watched Huang Zhicheng's fingers tapping away.

He noticed that Huang Zhicheng was using Morse Code!

Huang Zhicheng suddenly said, "Zhang! Use the previous channel to notify Elephant again, tell him the operation is canceled."

Both sides were improvising, matching wits and courage.

This kind of confrontation made the audience feel incredibly satisfied.

At this moment, Han Chen also thought the operation was canceled and wore a relaxed smile.

On the other side, through a conversation with the fat man, Chen Yongren guessed that the pickup location for Han Chen and the Thai guy was Longgutan, and he immediately transmitted this information to Huang Zhicheng via Morse Code.

The Police immediately sent men to Longgutan to catch them red-handed.

They had already finished inspecting the goods on the boat and had reached the stage of receiving the shipment.

As a result, Liu Jianming began to operate frantically on his computer.

In the end, he came up with a regional mass text message.

At this moment, both sides were extremely tense.

Huang Zhicheng was already giving orders to arrest Han Chen and the Thai guy the moment they stepped out the door.

Over at Longgutan, they also planned to catch them red-handed!

In this way, they would have Han Chen dead to rights!

But who could have imagined that at the critical moment, Liu Jianming sent out the mass text message.

On the street, many passersby picked up their phones with confused expressions, looking bewildered at the text message they had received.

Han Chen naturally received this kind of mass text message too; before heading out, he said, "Wait."

Immediately after, he also picked up his phone and took a look at the message.

The camera gave his phone a close-up.

The text message contained that classic line, making the audience hold their breath:

"There is a mole, abort the deal."

(End of this chapter)