ebonymovies Chapter 623: The No. 1 Rich Woman, Da Bingbing
Chapter 623: The No. 1 Rich Woman, Da Bingbing
……
……
The nearly two-hour dinner was a pleasant and harmonious affair, with both hosts and guests enjoying themselves.
As an observer, Arthur witnessed his "Uncle Gu" and "Brother Gu" chatting and laughing with his own old man, Deng.
From philosophy to art, from East to West, from the French Revolution and the bourgeoisie to the Four Books and Five Classics, poetry and prose, they talked about everything.
of course,
Basically, his father would speak first, and Gu Qing would then follow up with ease.
Arthur watched in stunned silence. He had never seen a young man withstand three rounds of "culture bombardment" from Old Deng without showing any signs of fatigue.
Cultured people look down on Director Chen.
If you're uncultured, you really can't out-talk Director Chen.
"Hahaha--"
Throughout the entire meal, Director Chen's laughter never stopped.
He was beaming with joy, his face glowing, and he hadn't put down his chopsticks for a long time; most of the dishes on the table had gone cold.
Director Chen felt that he hadn't encountered such a "good" conversation partner in a long time.
"Why do I feel like Brother Gu is coaxing his grandson?"
A reckless idea popped into Arthur's mind.
He stole a glance at Director Chen, who was sitting in the main seat, smiling like a blooming chrysanthemum.
Old Deng was already a little tipsy. Although the plum wine wasn't very strong, he drank it quickly and heartily, laughing uncontrollably.
"Arthur, pour the wine!"
Director Chen was flushed with alcohol, his face as red as if he had just finished a sauna, but his eyes, reddened by the alcohol, still shone with excitement.
He had never met anyone in his life with whom he could have such a pleasant conversation.
He had only dared to use the phrase "friendship across generations" in his articles before, but he never expected to actually encounter it today.
"In ancient times, Heng was just over twenty years old, while Rong was forty, and they became friends."
Even when drunk, Director Chen still kept classical Chinese texts in his hand and recited a passage in a refined manner.
After he finished reciting it, swaying his head, each word carried a touch of the unique boldness and emotion of drunkenness.
"Now that we are friends, Xiao Gu, let's have a long talk tonight. We'll make sure we come with high spirits and leave thoroughly satisfied!"
His conversation with Gu Qing felt like meeting a kindred spirit, as if he had traveled back to ancient times.
"A heart-to-heart talk?!"
Upon accurately capturing those four words, Gu Qing's hand, which was holding a wine glass, paused slightly.
He had already drunk two glasses of fruit wine tonight. His body was not tolerant of alcohol, and his fair and handsome face was flushed, with even his eyelids showing a hint of drunkenness.
But the moment Gu Qing heard those four words, she instantly snapped back to reality.
A heart-to-heart talk with Director Chen?
What a joke!
Even if the other person is quite old, he wouldn't dare!
Photos of Director Chen in his youth, wearing white shorts and acting coy, have been circulating on the internet for a long time.
"Director Chen, I can't hold my liquor, and it's getting late. I have to go to the Spring Festival Gala rehearsal tomorrow morning."
Gu Qing gently raised his hand, using the back of his hand to lightly block the bottle Arthur was tilting to pour into his glass. He smiled at the child, then apologized to Director Chen.
"Director Lü's rehearsal schedule is very tight. He has to be there by nine o'clock in the morning. It's not good to be late."
"Walk?!"
In an instant, Director Chen was struck dumb.
Is his Boya leaving?
What's the difference between this and being interrupted right after the intro to "High Mountains and Flowing Water" has been played?
Why the rush!
Director Chen put down his wine glass. "At worst, I'll personally send someone to take you there tomorrow."
“Brother Gu, you’ll be sleeping whether you go back to the hotel or stay at our place. It’ll just take time to get around.”
Arthur also put down his bottle and, for the first time ever, took the initiative to speak, completely captivated by Gu Qing, and warmly invited her to stay.
"I usually live at school and rarely go home. The bedding in my room is all new; the nanny changed it just a few days ago."
If you don't mind, we can sleep together.
"Sleep with you?"
Gu Qing's eye muscles twitched slightly. Why do you two look like father and son now?
"Director Chen, there's really no other way. My program was personally planned by Director Lü of the Spring Festival Gala. He put in a lot of effort and energy, and I can't let him down."
Gu Qing felt a chill run down her spine. She forced a smile, then quickly stood up, not wanting to stay a moment longer.
"In addition, my hotel is very close to the TV station, so it will be convenient to go there tomorrow without worrying about traffic jams."
"We'll have a proper chat when we join the crew at the end of the month. I'll talk to you every day on set, just don't think I talk too much."
Gu Qing had already retreated to the side door of the living room.
"I'll see you off..."
Director Chen tried to persuade her to stay, but Gu Qing had already taken her first steps.
He staggered to his feet, and Arthur reluctantly helped Old Deng up by the arm.
Watching his elderly father stagger and stagger, he chased him all the way from the living room to the gate of the courtyard house.
Open the wooden door,
Director Chen stood between the stone lions in front of the gate, lanterns hanging above his head. A cold wind blew as he watched Gu Qing get into the car and wave goodbye. He was speechless and choked with emotion, remaining motionless for a long time.
at first,
Arthur was still in the room, using chopsticks to pick up the cold food. He had been acting as a waiter for almost two hours, and he was starving.
Then I waited for a while.
They discovered that their elderly father had not yet returned.
He lifted the curtain in surprise, looked up, and caught a glimpse of his old man's desolate back.
"Dad, it's cold outside, let's go back inside."
Arthur raised the back of his hand to wipe the grease from the corner of his mouth, and walked forward with a stiff upper lip.
Director Chen remained motionless, as if he hadn't heard anything.
"Dad, Dad, let's go back."
Fortunately, Arthur has gotten used to it.
From small to large,
He was used to Old Deng's various "sentimental" performances; he could go through the whole process with his eyes closed.
He patiently advised him.
Finally, Director Chen reacted.
He touched his chin, feeling no beard, sighed softly, turned away, shook his head, and said in a desolate voice:
"Le Tian is gone..."
He walked back to his room alone, feeling dejected.
Arthur was left completely bewildered and petrified.
Until a cold wind blew by,
Arthur shuddered before finally reacting, and ran back into the house with his head down.
……
the other side,
Gu Qing told the driver to speed all the way back to the hotel, and the first thing she did was close the door and take a cold shower to wash away the smell of alcohol.
He wasn't lying; he really was going to rehearse for the Spring Festival Gala tomorrow.
And not just the Spring Festival Gala,
As December approaches, various TV stations have extended invitations to Gu Qing for their New Year's Eve galas.
The most intense competition is between three places: Huangguotai, Yueliangtai, and Dongfangtai.
All three companies were willing to offer the final spot, demonstrating their considerable sincerity.
Gu Qing passed over the central moon platform without even thinking about it.
Even if the latest episode featuring him on the dragon boat race wasn't maliciously edited,
However, Moon Terrace had committed too many evils, and their crimes were deeply entrenched and difficult to reverse. Gu Qing had long since decided not to have any further involvement with them.
Not to mention,
When it comes to local TV stations' New Year's Eve galas, Moon TV has never been very competitive.
If Gu Qing remembered correctly, at the New Year's Eve banquet in 2018 in her previous life, Moon Terrace invited the most incredible artist to be the finale – “MC Tianyou”.
The rapper famous nationwide for his catchy phrase "I drink alone and get drunk" stood on the stage of the New Year's Eve gala, rapping to tens of thousands of audience members.
This move infuriated all the artists who participated in the New Year's Eve gala on Moon Terrace at the time.
They not only felt humiliated, but also felt that their self-worth had been lowered.
After years of hard work singing, dancing, and acting, I ended up sharing the stage with a rapper.
This is undoubtedly the biggest laughing stock in the industry.
In previous years,
Dongfang TV has always had the best reputation, with its stage design being the most meticulous.
Their New Year's Eve gala spared no expense in every aspect, from lighting design to stage machinery, from sound equipment to special effects team, and every frame was screenshot-worthy.
Huangguo TV has the highest viewership and the widest audience. It loves to invite popular idol artists and let young people headline the show.
These two local TV stations were also the most competitive for Gu Qing.
They used all sorts of emotional appeals and personal connections, and Zhao Ya's phone was ringing off the hook.
To Gu Qing's surprise, Teacher He did not call and remained silent throughout the incident.
However, it was Wang Han, another "stone lion" at Huangguotai, who called to extend an invitation to Gu Qing.
This Mr. Wang is like a lower-budget version of the great director Chen.
He also considers himself a cultured person, and usually likes to carry a folding fan, nitpicking over words and constantly using classical Chinese phrases.
But Director Chen is truly cultured.
Despite being a literary youth, he is indeed well-read and knowledgeable.
He can recite Bai Juyi's complete works fluently, and he can also explain the aesthetic concepts of the French New Wave cinema to you from beginning to end.
His arrogance is evident from his very bones and he never pretends to be arrogant.
I just look down on uncultured bumpkins, so what?
For the general public, watching Director Chen is more about entertainment, and they appreciate Jiahao's work.
To say I feel disgusted or averse to it wouldn't be quite right.
Wang Han, on the other hand, is at the other extreme.
He appears amiable and always smiling, but everyone can sense the sour and pedantic air emanating from him.
Gu Qing used half the energy she had spent dealing with Director Chen to exchange a few polite words with Wang Han before hanging up the phone politely.
After a meeting with the team, and after weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, we still chose Dongfang TV.
There's no way around it, they've been partners for a long time.
When Gu Qing was being attacked online, Dongfang TV was the first local station to stand up and spend a lot of money to buy his new drama.
At that time, Gu Qingzheng was highly controversial, and he was labeled as a "male mistress" and "downgraded in resources".
However, Dongfang TV's purchasing department flew directly to the film set and signed the contract without much haggling over the price.
People spent so much money supporting his work when he was at his lowest point, so the sensory experience is naturally better.
Even when the female leader from the film purchasing department visited the set, she didn't act arrogantly or haughtily, suggesting that the male actors in the crew have dinner with guests.
She stood quietly in the corner of the set for a while, and when she saw Gu Qing, she blushed, took out her phone, and shyly asked him if she could take a photo with him and get his autograph.
After taking the photo and getting her autograph, she left with her phone, saying as she went:
"Gu Qing, please film well, and our station will definitely promote it well."
Gu Qing always remembered this respect.
Even the deputy director personally called Gu Qing for this New Year's Eve celebration.
Throughout the process, they were kind and gentle, showing concern for our well-being, and provided the best sound equipment, special effects team, and stage design...
Finally, they added that no matter how much other stations offered in terms of salary, they would give Frozen TV an extra five million.
Five million!
This is already the total appearance fee for the closing act on many local TV stations.
Many celebrities would rather pay their own way to participate in the New Year's Eve gala, just to make an appearance at this nationally highest-rated event.
For celebrities in the entertainment industry, New Year's Eve galas are the highest-level commercial performance stage.
The wealthy and powerful Shanghai tycoon is now so poor that all he has left is money.
With Dong Fangtai showing such sincerity, Gu Qing naturally couldn't refuse.
Finally, both sides reached an agreement on the contract:
The performance time for the two songs, plus the interview and interaction segment in between, totaled twelve minutes of appearance, for a total salary of twelve million.
One million per minute, achieving the feat of making millions every minute.
Other than that,
If Gu Qing were to be even more ruthless, he could gain even more.
So-called New Year's Eve galas are not necessarily all live broadcasts.
Many artists wear many hats, performing on various TV stations, pre-recording their performances, and leaving the rest to the post-production editors.
With Gu Qing's status and popularity, she could easily earn tens of millions more by getting advance recordings from two more TV stations.
But he obviously wouldn't lower himself like that.
Besides Dongfang TV,
Gu Qing only recorded a New Year's greeting video for Bilibili, expressing his gratitude to the poor guys on Bilibili, and sent a few words of blessing, charging a "friendship price" of 100 million. Bilibili may be poor, but it has too many talented young people.
The rise of memes, CP-themed editing, highly skilled content creators, and a young audience.
The value of this platform cannot be measured by simple commercial returns.
Not to mention the relationship between the two.
As of now:
In the ancient style section, music section, dance section, entertainment section, and CP-themed video editing videos of various artists, Gu Qing's songs are everywhere.
Every few videos you watch, you'll inevitably encounter Gu Qingyin's instrumental music.
Of course, the audio source was pirated; A-B didn't pay any copyright fees at all.
Gu Qing turned a blind eye to it.
Poor guys can't afford the membership fees for Tencent Music or NetEase Music, so they can only reluctantly use Bilibili to play videos as music.
What could he do? Spoil him, of course.
……
The next day,
Gu Qing got up early, and Sister Xu came to help him with his makeup.
"Xiao Gu, why do you look a little swollen today?"
Sister Xu looked in the mirror, utterly astonished.
This kind of state is truly rare for Gu Qing.
"Sister Xu, I went to Director Chen's house for a social event last night and had two glasses of fruit wine. Did it have a big impact?"
Gu Qing opened her still sleepy eyes, turned her head to look in the mirror, and saw that she was indeed a little swollen.
"Do I need to use ice to reduce the swelling?"
In his memory,
When idols were trainees in South Korea, makeup artists would often apply ice to their faces to quickly reduce swelling.
"It won't have a big impact, it'll be fine in a bit, but you can't use ice."
Sister Xu flatly refused, "Using ice to reduce swelling will cause your face to spasm and become paralyzed if you do it for too long."
I've seen countless young celebrities who used to apply ice to their faces every day when they first debuted, but after a few years, their facial muscles started to become uncontrollable.
She paused, sighed, and softened her tone.
"Xiao Gu, when you go to the film set to shoot a movie in the future, and I'm not by your side, don't let anyone use this method on you."
This is abusing your health. You won't realize it when you're young, but it'll be too late to regret it when you get older.
was saying,
Sister Xu had already gently placed her slender fingers on Gu Qing's cheeks, using her fingertips to gently push from the center of his chin towards behind his ears, and then slide along both sides of his neck towards his collarbone to help lymphatic fluid return.
"Xiao Gu, you have a good memory. Watch my hand gestures again, and you can use this method to reduce swelling from now on. It's very effective. This is my secret technique."
"Sister Xu, the massage was very comfortable, I give you a thumbs up."
After watching the movements once, Gu Qing half-closed her eyes and dozed off again. "I'd better not drink it anymore."
"Xiao Gu, it's okay to drink a little. Many celebrities drink excessively. Just treat it as a way to cultivate your mind and relax."
Sister Xu softened her voice, looked at the handsome young man in the mirror with his eyes slightly closed and lowered, and said with heartache.
"I'd better quit. I don't want to get injections."
Gu Qing's breathing was slow and shallow, and she was drowsy.
The entertainment industry is a place that easily triggers anxiety about appearance among celebrities.
But rather,
Money comes too quickly, and the temptation to spend it recklessly is overwhelming, taking into account factors such as work and stress.
In later generations, there are countless celebrities whose looks have deteriorated before the age of thirty; steamed buns made from fermented dough are a common sight.
If your appearance is ruined, you have to resort to technology.
When technology is used too much, there will always be times when it fails.
Gu Qing didn't want to end up like that.
……
Before I knew it, it was 8:30.
Gu Qing arrived at the Spring Festival Gala rehearsal on time. He learned from Director Lü that Chen Duling had also come for a makeup test and rehearsal a few days ago, and the result was very good, much better than when she danced the robot dance.
The two of them couldn't bump into each other.
Gu Qing's schedule is too busy. If he really wants to rehearse with Xiao Erduo, it will probably have to wait until around February.
Perhaps it was at that time,
His film "Legend of the Demon Cat" has already been filmed.
After finishing the Spring Festival Gala rehearsals, Gu Qing continued to travel to various cities to promote the drama "Riding the Waves".
Before we knew it, it was December 23rd.
The box office figures for "Duckweed" after one week of release are officially in: 12.1 billion yuan.
Gu Qing has already recouped all of the 350 million yuan he initially invested in production and marketing.
Upon learning this news,
Sister Zhao's tense nerves finally relaxed, and she slept well with Gu Qing that night.
"Duckweed" achieved remarkable success, leading the pack among films released at the same time and ranking first in box office revenue.
The second place went to Chen Long's "Bleeding Steel," which only grossed 2.6 million yuan.
This number isn't too bad for Jackie Chan, but it looks rather pathetic compared to "Duckweed".
As for "Youth," which was originally favored by many film critics to be a dark horse, it fell to third place with a box office of only 1.8 million yuan and received extremely poor reviews.
There are two reasons.
First, Feng Xiaogang fled to the United States at this critical juncture, ostensibly to "handle his daughter's study abroad affairs."
With the fervor surrounding "Wolf Warrior 2" still lingering, his act of "running away after filming" has greatly displeased ordinary viewers.
The movie had just started airing when the director ran away. What right does he have to continue calling the audience "trash audience"?
This director is absolutely terrible!
Secondly, Huang Xuan's statement at the premiere of "Youth" that "my acting skills are no less than those of any young actor" is noteworthy.
The fact that the marketing accounts repeatedly compared her to Gu Qing's Feitian Award nomination has thoroughly fueled the dissatisfaction of the Gu family.
Gu Jia's fans flooded ticketing platforms across the country with negative reviews for "Youth," complaining about the illogical plot.
When Director Feng saw this scene in the United States, he didn't know whether to feel relieved or to smile bitterly.
The Spring Festival film season is generally quite short, lasting only two weeks.
Just when Gu Qing thought he could only make a small profit at most, the weekend arrived.
He witnessed the surprise Zhou Yiwei had described.
Beijing Film Academy became a trending topic.
The trending topic was: calling on all teachers and students to book a free screening of Gu Qing's new movie.
This move left the other two universities completely bewildered.
Hey, you have no sportsmanship!
Keep in mind that it's almost the end of the year.
Universities and colleges are about to begin their admissions process.
The Beijing Film Academy suddenly mobilized all its faculty and students, with school leaders providing free funding, under the guise of supporting "Junior Brother Gu Qing's" actions, and instantly gained a lot of attention.
Wouldn't that mean they'd snatch away all the best students?!
When the high school students who were preparing for the art exams saw that Gu Qing had performed a song called "The Wind Rises," the Beijing Film Academy, as his alma mater, immediately responded by booking out the entire school to support him.
Is there a closer teacher-student relationship than this?
Not to mention,
'Gu Qing' itself is a golden brand.
He is now the object of every young man and woman's true desire and longing.
Everyone wants to be 'Gu Qing'!
And that's not all.
What is the entertainment industry?
They are incredibly adept at navigating social situations and interpersonal relationships.
The Beijing Film Academy, in particular, has never lacked talented artists.
When a second- or third-tier celebrity reposted the school's post and added: "@Gu Qing, keep it up, junior! Your senior will book two shows to support you."
This article immediately went viral and became a trending topic.
The Gu family members were all smiles and rushed over to express their gratitude and leave comments.
This celebrity, who doesn't usually have a very high profile, was suddenly given the title of "Nation's Best Senior Brother".
His popularity skyrocketed, and his blog followers increased by hundreds of thousands overnight.
Other artists from the Beijing Film Academy were green with envy.
For a small amount of money, you can make a big splash, improve your image, and even show your loyalty to the school.
Could there be a better price-performance ratio?!
then,
The entire entertainment industry has gone crazy.
How many artists are there in the Beijing Film Academy?
No one can count them all.
There are at least a hundred celebrities whose names you can recognize.
From veteran performing artists to middle-aged veteran actors, and from newly debuted young idols.
Not to mention the countless screenwriters, directors, producers, cinematographers, art directors...
These people are all graduates of the Beijing Film Academy, and they are all involved in this industry chain.
Everyone is entitled to forward that announcement and add a message like "Senior brother (senior sister) supports you".
One artist booked two shows, another artist booked three shows, and yet another artist booked five shows in one go.
Once the flames were ignited, they quickly spread like wildfire.
Once a trending topic is established, the entertainment industry is naturally a place where everyone flocks to ride that wave.
Even the most frugal artist, given this momentum, has no choice but to book out entire venues.
If you take the place, maybe no one will care; one more or one less won't make a difference.
But if you don't cover it, then things will get really funny.
Amidst a flood of trending topics about "Beijing Film Academy alumni booking out an entire theater to support Gu Qing,"...
Your name didn't appear. What do you mean?
Are you dissatisfied with your alma mater?
Don't you care about your junior brother?
Or are you so unwilling to spend even this little bit of money?
Keep in mind that this was a publicity stunt initiated by the Beijing Film Academy itself. If the academy doesn't retaliate against you, won't other artists from the Beijing Film Academy also do the same?
We were all competitors to begin with, and there were countless resources we fought over, roles we snatched, and grudges we had formed.
They'd love to have dirt on you so they can kill you at a crucial moment.
In this circle,
Sometimes you don't lose a box office race, but a silent vote about "stance" and "popularity".
quickly,
The trending topics on various platforms have become occasions for celebrities to show off their extravagance.
Today: Huang Xiaoming has booked five shows.
Tomorrow: Huang Bo will be covering all seven matches.
An hour later, Chef Huang performed eight more shows.
The numbers were jumping at an astonishing rate, and almost all of the top ten trending topics on Weibo were related to the phrase "a certain celebrity booked out a theater to support Gu Qing".
As for the male celebrities, they were relatively polite, keeping the number of people booking out entire venues to single digits.
Those female celebrities went completely crazy.
Honey (Yummy) 10 shows, Liu Yifei (Liu Tianxian) 10 shows, Da Tiantian (Sweetie) 15 shows, Li Binbin (Li Binbin) 18 shows...
Until Da Bingbing topped the list with 20 private screenings, becoming the undisputed number one in this silent battle of female tycoons.
In her comment section, a long-lost, unified chorus of praise for "Fan Ye" (a nickname implying Fan Bingbing) resounded.
That was the first time she had received such a large-scale positive response in the public sphere after a long period of silence.
In the entertainment industry,
There is a special unspoken rule.
Wherever Bingbing is in the limelight, it inevitably stirs up a fierce battle and bloodshed among female celebrities.
Nowadays,
She topped the list with 20 private shows, infuriating her rivals who had clashed with her for years.
"You vixen, are you from the Beijing Film Academy? You only have twenty shows to perform?!"
"You've really stolen the show, haven't you?! Do you think we can't afford to?!"
"They're even trying to ride on the coattails of Beijing Film Academy's popularity!!"
Just as all the female artists were filled with indignation, especially those who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy, they rolled up their sleeves and prepared to fight.
Gu Qing posted on Weibo.
……
...(End of this chapter)