Chapter 454 The Vengeful Director
"Someone is wary of you."
Chen Ziyan said to Lu Yanhe.
"You're wary of me... what?" Lu Yanhe asked. "Red?"
“No, we are wary of your international influence,” Chen Ziyan said. “Although we all know that it doesn’t all come from you, others can’t see that much. They only see that every film you’ve been involved in gets shortlisted for top international film festivals.”
Lu Yanhe: "But what would others be wary of if we were shortlisted for a top international film festival?"
“We’re wary of your growing influence,” Chen Ziyan said. “The film and television industry isn’t just about film companies and production staff; it also has all sorts of associations and organizations, with various stakeholders involved. Look at Director Wang Zhong; a Best Director award at the Situ International Film Festival propelled him to the top in China, putting him directly into the ranks of top directors. He’s been invited to attend all the top film events in China this past year. You’re the same. Your resume is outstanding among male actors; you just need a major award. When you win a Best Actor award overseas, you’ll directly enter the top male actor club—although some say you’ve already joined, without a major award, it’s ultimately undeserved.”
"That's not the most crucial point. Besides that, you're also a director, screenwriter, and producer. Think about it, from 'Rouge' to 'Lost in Thailand,' your scripts helped Chen Bige win the Best Actress award at a top film festival and return to the peak of her career, helped Huang Kairen successfully enter the film industry and get a highly acclaimed screen role, and also made a complete newcomer, Wang Dashan, famous."
Chen Ziyan continued, "When you were making 'Love Letter,' top industry figures like Luo Yuzhong personally supervised your production; Liu Bige, a director who won the Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival, served as your director of photography; Chen Bige broke with convention by joining a new project less than six months after finishing her previous one to play the lead role in your new film; and Director Wang Zhong even brought Wintour Robbe, the artistic director of the Jose Film Festival, to visit your set. All of these things repeatedly reminded people in the industry that you had already established a considerable influence, and that if you wanted to do something, you had a very powerful force to help you."
Lu Yanhe gradually realized what Chen Ziyan was talking about.
"Does a tall tree catch the wind?" Lu Yanhe asked.
“No, it’s the emergence of a new force that inevitably affects the interests of other interest groups,” Chen Ziyan said. “For you, this is just a circle of friends, but for others, it means a new threat. If you become famous, it only means you’re competing with other artists, but you’re not. Tom White, the head of HP’s Asia-Pacific region, prioritizes purchasing your projects, and other people’s projects can only be put on the back burner. Aurora Video has signed a long-term cooperation framework with you, and other people’s cooperation with Aurora Video will inevitably be affected. Who gets priority funding is a matter of extremely close interests. Even Beijing and Taiwan couldn’t achieve the original cast of Friends appearing together, but you were able to do it. Moreover, it’s obvious that the actors of Friends trust you more and are closer to you.”
Lu Yanhe remained silent.
"Now do you know why others are wary of you?" Chen Ziyan said. "It's not just because the bigger the tree, the more the wind will blow against it, but also because even an innocent person can be guilty of possessing a treasure."
Lu Yanhe took a deep breath.
"So what should I do? Should I try to produce fewer good works in the future?"
"Of course not." Chen Ziyan rolled her eyes at him. "I'm just reminding you that your situation and status have changed drastically. In the future, people's attacks on you will probably be more and more like this situation, saying that you coveted what others had, or accusing you of being unworthy of your position. In short, they will definitely pull you down from this pedestal."
Lu Yanhe: "So, Sister Ziyan, what you mean is—"
"The reason I'm telling you all this is that I hope you won't be provoked by these people's words, and that you'll stand up and admit that they're right, that you don't actually have the exaggerated influence that everyone says you have," Chen Ziyan said. "Don't take off the golden robes that others have put on you. Since many people have lifted you to this position, what you need to do is not to step down from this position, but to stand firm in this position as much as possible."
Lu Yanhe suddenly realized.
Chen Ziyan was worried that his "moral fastidiousness" would flare up again, so she went to explain herself and make sure she was "clear-headed".
"..."
“Sister Ziyan, I don’t think I’m that naive anymore.” Lu Yanhe never had such a thought from beginning to end.
"That's good." Chen Ziyan smiled at him.
Lu Yanhe knew from the smile on her face that she didn't believe him.
You're still very naive.
Her meaning was written all over her face.
"..."
-
In the afternoon, Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi went to the cinema to watch a newly released movie called "Behind the Golden Robe." It's a drama film about a tailor who secretly passes on intelligence amidst the chaos and turmoil of the Republican era. It's similar to a biographical film, except that the character is fictional and has no historical prototype. The story is told in the style of a spy thriller.
The film's box office performance during the summer season was not very good, earning only a little over six million on its opening day and only a little over eight million on its second day.
This movie is indeed not suitable for the summer movie season, which is full of commercial films.
However, the film received very good reviews. Lu Yanhe only learned about it after seeing Zeng Qiao recommend it on his WeChat Moments.
In cinemas, most people are there to see "The Myth Returns," the recent box office champion, a period fantasy epic released at the end of July. In just over two weeks, it has already grossed 1.5 billion yuan. Under its dominance, other new releases, including "Skiptrace" and "Assassination of the Ming Dynasty," have been relegated to the second tier. While their box office performance isn't terrible, they're not exactly winners this summer. Meanwhile, older films like "The Angry Crow" have almost exhausted their market potential, and "Lost in Thailand" is currently only generating a few million yuan in daily box office revenue, essentially settling around 640 million yuan.
Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi entered the movie theater after the screening room had darkened, and sat in the third-to-last row.
When buying tickets online, there was no one else in this row, in order to prevent Lu Yanhe from being recognized by others.
However, there weren't many viewers in the theater.
Lu Yanhe glanced at the crowd and saw that there were only about a dozen people.
"Why did you choose to release the movie 'Behind the Golden Robe' during this time slot?" Lu Yanhe asked, puzzled.
Chen Siqi said, "It's probably because 'Behind the Gold Coat' doesn't have any big stars; it's all veteran actors. Even if it were released during a smaller period like the Mid-Autumn Festival, it wouldn't have the kind of cast that would attract audiences to the cinema. It's better to release it during the summer season, when the audience base is larger. With proper promotion and management, it could still get some box office revenue. The production cost of 'Behind the Gold Coat' is definitely not very high. If it can get more than 30 million yuan at the box office in theaters, it should break even. Judging from its premiere, it should be able to get close to 20 million yuan in its opening weekend. With good word-of-mouth, it might be able to maintain its long run and become profitable after its theatrical release."
Chen Siqi now understands film promotion and distribution even better than Lu Yanhe.
She puts a lot of thought into it and often writes reviews on the film and television review section of the "Jump Up" self-media platform. What she writes most often is actually analyzing the operation of a film from an economic and market perspective. This is something she's personally interested in; writing these articles is less about writing for others and more about recording her own thought process and conclusions.
After Chen Siqi said that, Lu Yanhe felt that it made a lot of sense.
The male lead of "Behind the Golden Robe" is Feng Shuo, a talented actor whom most people who follow the film and television industry will recognize, but in terms of fans and popularity, he's not exactly a household name. Besides Feng Shuo, none of the other actors in the cast are big-name stars or popular celebrities; they are all actors with a certain level of recognition but relatively few fans.
The initial sales figures for a film like this are bound to be poor. In addition, given that it's a pseudo-biographical film with no real-life counterpart, audiences who know a little about it are unlikely to choose to go to the cinema.
In this situation, the choice of release date is relatively less important. What's more important is how to "fool" as many viewers as possible.
Ten minutes into the movie, someone suddenly came over.
She was also sitting in this row.
Upon seeing this, Lu Yanhe immediately lowered his head and made way for the person to pass.
As the other person passed by, they quietly apologized and sat down in a spot just two seats away from Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe turned his head and glanced at the screen. With the light from the screen, he could clearly see the other person's profile.
She was a woman in her forties.
Lu Yanhe raised his left hand and placed it on the side of his face to slightly shield it.
-
During the two-hour movie, Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi barely interacted at all.
The movie exceeded their expectations; it was not at all as boring or dull as they had initially thought.
The whole story is very tight and fast-paced.
The story is about a tailor in Donglin City. Because of his excellent skills, he was very popular with the ladies of the city and often visited the mansions of the powerful and wealthy.
One day, a tailor was on his way to a lieutenant's house to take his wife's measurements and have a new dress made when he was kidnapped by two men, one named Li Mazi and the other Ma Chengquan, who threatened him to take his apprentice inside. Ma Chengquan kept his apprentice as a hostage, while he took Li Mazi into the lieutenant's house. Li Mazi's intention was to steal something. Under Ma Chengquan's cover, Li Mazi successfully stole what he wanted without further incident.
Unexpectedly, that very night, Li Mazi knocked on the door of the tailor shop, severely wounded. They had been exposed, and his companion Ma Chengquan had already sacrificed himself. He had barely managed to escape, but was critically injured and on the verge of death. He stuffed a cloth bag he had stolen into the tailor's hand, begging him to deliver it to the Ruyi Inn in the west of the city.
The tailor wanted to stay out of this mess, but he also didn't want the man to die in his shop, so he went to find a doctor late at night. He hadn't gone far when he saw a group of people surrounding his shop, led by none other than the adjutant's men. They were there to retrieve the stolen cloth bag—which was still clutched in his arms.
Before the tailor could think any further, he saw his apprentice being dragged out. Unable to find out his whereabouts, he was shot dead. The fourteen-year-old boy was an orphan whom the tailor had taken in. With a gun pointed at his forehead, the boy's legs were trembling with nervousness. Under these circumstances, he refused to reveal his master's whereabouts.
The gun went off immediately.
The tailor's eyes were bloodshot from the shock of the scene, and he wanted to rush out, but seeing Li Mazi being carried out brought him back to his senses. He then understood his predicament, knowing that if he showed himself, he would surely face the same fate as the apprentice, being killed. Li Mazi was taken away by the adjutant's men, and the tailor could only sneak off to the Ruyi Inn.
But when the tailor cautiously arrived at Ruyi Inn, he found it surrounded by another group of people. Only one person escaped, and the tailor saved him while he was being chased. The tailor told him what had happened and gave the cloth bag to Xu San.
To survive, the tailor had to escape Donglin City to avoid being searched. The man the tailor had rescued, Xu San, also needed to escape quickly to deliver something. As they tried various methods, the two grew increasingly familiar and close. The tailor treated the young Xu San like his deceased son, and Xu San learned some needlework from the tailor, saying he wanted to mend his own clothes, which he did for several days.
However, Donglin City was heavily guarded, and there was no way to get out. Just then, news arrived that the revolutionary army had suffered a major defeat at Huyi Pass, and the city erupted in cheers. Xu San panicked, saying he had to get out of the city immediately, even if it meant death. The tailor said his recklessness was just suicide. The two had a huge argument and parted on bad terms.
The tailor was discovered and captured by the adjutant's men. The adjutant interrogated him about the whereabouts of the list. The tailor guessed that the so-called list was probably what Li Mazi had stolen from the adjutant, and it was in the cloth bag. However, he gritted his teeth and said nothing, only that he had no idea about any list. The adjutant then asked if he knew Xu San. He only said that he didn't know any Xu San at all.
...
This is actually the story of an ordinary person against the backdrop of a turbulent situation.
Having seen the movie "The Message," Lu Yanhe roughly guessed what Xu San would do next when he saw Xu San learning needlework from the tailor—in this world, especially in spy dramas, there was no precedent for using needle and thread to embroider information on clothes to transmit intelligence.
By this point, Lu Yanhe basically knew how the movie would end.
Xu San is definitely going to die. Only when he dies can the list on his body be retrieved by the adjutant, and only then can the "list code" on his clothes be passed on through his corpse.
But how to approach the character of the tailor? To Lu Yanhe's surprise, the day after the tailor's arrest, Xu San was captured by his adjutant. The adjutant interrogated Xu San about the list's location, but Xu San remained defiant. However, someone had investigated his whereabouts the previous day and found him in his hiding place. After obtaining the list, the adjutant immediately killed Xu San and then prepared to kill the tailor. However, his wife intervened and spared the tailor's life, keeping her in the mansion to make clothes for her. Thus, the tailor became the adjutant's wife's personal tailor.
However, the situation of the war suddenly began to change. On the day the revolutionary army entered Donglin City, the adjutant's office was immediately surrounded. The tailor, as the adjutant's tailor, was imprisoned along with them. Until that evening, an officer suddenly took him away. Just when he thought he was going to be killed, he was brought to a familiar piece of clothing. It was Xu San's clothing.
The officer asked him if he knew a man named Xu San.
The tailor remained silent. Over the years, no matter who asked him, he always acted as if he had never known Xu San.
The officer asked him if he could read.
The tailor remained silent.
The officer suddenly pointed to the garment in front of him and asked, "Do you recognize this garment?"
The officer took out a palm-sized strip of cloth from the inner layer of the garment, on which a few lines of text were embroidered.
The officer said that the tailor had helped Li Mazi steal a list of spies from the adjutant's residence. This list contained the names of traitors the adjutant had planted within the revolutionary army. At the time, both Li Mazi and Xu San wanted to deliver this list to the revolutionary army as quickly as possible to eliminate these traitors.
Besides the rat list, there was also Xu San's account of being hunted down, rescued by the tailor, and their attempt to escape the city together. Xu San wrote on it that if the tailor was still alive when the revolutionary army entered the city, he requested that his superiors convey his gratitude.
It was only at this point that the tailor learned why he had been caught up in the life-or-death crisis of that year.
Near the end of the film, Li Mazi, whom the tailor thought was already dead, is found in the dungeon of the adjutant's mansion. It turns out that he has been imprisoned there all these years, and the adjutant even hired a doctor to treat him in an attempt to extract more information from him.
The tailor watched as the emaciated Li Mazi was helped into the car by his companions, and the car drove away. He turned back, looking at the garment in front of him, and his mind drifted back to when he and Xu San were down on their luck, secretly hiding in a house, and Xu San clumsily learning needlework from him. Because they were afraid of attracting attention by lighting lamps, they could only do this work under the moonlight.
The tailor scolded him for being so fussy at a time like this, insisting on having his clothes mended.
A shy smile appeared on his young face.
He said this at the time: "My father was also a tailor, but I rarely had new clothes to wear. Every time my clothes were torn, he would mend them for me. I asked him why he didn't make me new clothes. He said that in such difficult times, there weren't many new clothes to wear. Sometimes, it was just a small tear, and I didn't think it was a big deal, but when he saw it, he would definitely make me take it off and mend it for me. I said that this was too much trouble, and that I should just mend a few more torn pieces at once. He said that torn places must be mended in time, otherwise the holes will get bigger and bigger, and it will be harder and harder to mend them, and maybe when I want to mend them, I won't be able to mend them at all."
The tailor stared blankly at the clothes in front of him. Many soldiers were coming and going around him, but no one noticed the man staring blankly at the clothes. No one knew what he was thinking behind his blank gaze.
The film ends with this scene, and then the end credits roll.
-
"It's been a long time since I've seen a movie like this in theaters."
Lu Yanhe overheard a girl in the row in front of him talking to her boyfriend.
"Yeah," her boyfriend said, "I was quite moved after watching it."
Lu Yanhe breathed a sigh of relief. Taking advantage of the fact that the lights in the screening room were not yet on, he said to Chen Siqi, "Let's go first."
Chen Siqi nodded.
As soon as he finished speaking, the woman sitting to Lu Yanhe's left suddenly stood up and went over first.
Lu Yanhe had no choice but to let her go first.
However, she stopped beside him.
"Are you Lu Yanhe?" she asked softly.
Lu Yanhe was startled. Oh no, he'd been recognized?!
He whispered, "You've mistaken me for someone else. I just look a bit like him."
"Stop pretending, you must be him, the voice is exactly the same." The woman said with great certainty, and then said something that shocked Lu Yanhe: "I am Zhou Changying, the director of 'Behind the Golden Coat'. It's a coincidence that I ran into you here."
Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi were both stunned by this incredible coincidence.
You can even run into the director of a movie while watching it.
However, what Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi didn't expect was that twenty minutes later, Zhou Changying would directly ask Lu Yanhe in the car if he would be willing to invest in a sequel to "Behind the Golden Robe".
Lu Yanhe was completely bewildered.
Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi certainly wouldn't give an immediate reply to this matter. They chatted briefly with Zhou Changying, exchanged contact information, and promised to reply after thinking it over. Only then did Zhou Changying leave.
After everyone left, Lu Yanhe and Chen Siqi looked at each other in bewilderment.
Chen Siqi said, "I searched online and found that she is not a fraudster; she really is Zhou Changying."
"Uh, my mind is a bit of a mess right now, I haven't quite processed it yet, why...why would she suddenly ask me to invest?"
"Is it because everyone thinks you're very rich?" Chen Siqi asked.
"I'm not so rich as to dare to invest in a movie," Lu Yanhe retorted.
Investing in movies is a high-stakes gamble.
Chen Siqi said, "The production company of the movie 'Behind the Golden Robe' is Ruyi Pictures. Why does Zhou Changying want to make a sequel? Why didn't he approach Ruyi Pictures? Don't they want to make a sequel?"
Lu Yanhe: "I feel like I should ask Sister Ziyan to help me find out."
Chen Siqi nodded: "Mm."
On the way to the restaurant, Chen Siqi sat in the passenger seat, searching for information about Zhou Changying on her phone.
"This Director Zhou has really had a tough time," Chen Siqi said to Lu Yanhe while looking at her phone.
"What's wrong?" Lu Yanhe asked.
“The film companies she’s worked for, except for Ruyi Pictures which she just recently collaborated with, all went bankrupt.” Chen Siqi looked incredulous. “Some media outlets have directly called her a jinx director.”
I tested positive again. My condition has been completely off these past few days. I don't know when I'll get better, so I've been posting less. Please forgive me.
(End of this chapter)
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