Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 380 Liu Yifei: Forgetting Righteousness for Lust

Liu Yifei and Li Qiutang were eventually photographed in Sanya.

"On the third day of the Lunar New Year, netizens spotted Liu Yifei at a resort hotel in Sanya. Liu Yifei was alone with her mother, who was wearing long dresses but looked like sisters. It's easy to see from the photos that Liu Yifei was in a good mood that day." That day, Li Qiutang accompanied her parents to visit their old colleagues who were also spending the New Year in Sanya, but Liu Yifei did not go with them.

It has to be said that there are a lot of people from Northeast China in Sanya. They don't just come here to spend the winter; many have even settled down here.

"On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, a netizen ran into director Li Qiutang at a visitor center on a beach in Sanya. Li Qiutang was wearing sunglasses and dressed casually. After being recognized by the fans, he greeted them warmly and said that he and his parents were spending the New Year in Sanya." That day, Liu Yifei accompanied her mother shopping and did not go out with Li Qiutang.

The two chance encounters between netizens caused quite a stir among Liu Yifei's fan base.

Liu Yifei's fans now basically accept that she and director Li Qiutang are together; there's no way to deny it, as all previous signs pointed to the two dating.

They were even photographed spending the Chinese New Year in Sanya together these past two days. Although they were not photographed together, the meaning was already quite clear.

Not to mention, the dinner photo Liu Yifei posted on the evening of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year was highly similar to a food photo in a nine-grid layout posted by director Li Qiutang on the fifth day. This basically confirms the existence of a close relationship between the two.

Aside from offering their respect and blessings, there's nothing fans can do.

Fortunately, the family wasn't photographed or spotted by netizens when they returned to Yanjing on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, so the paparazzi probably haven't returned to work yet.

"Ah! The New Year is finally over." After sending her parents back to Fengtian, Li Qiutang felt a great sense of relief.

“It didn’t tire you out.” Liu Yifei packed Li Qiutang’s luggage, saying as she did so, “My mom told me that your parents still want to buy a new house.”

Before Li Qiutang could answer, he added, "I still think we don't need to buy it. I haven't lived in this house for many years, and it's no different from a new house. Why spend that money?"

"Buying and decorating a house will be another whole lot of work later."

Li Qiutang replied, "Yes, building a house is indeed too much trouble."

"You don't want to build a house, so it's fine for you to stay here with me."

Li Qiutang said with a big face: "We don't need to buy a house to get married, and my mother-in-law even cooks for me at home. Why would I be unwilling?"

Liu Yifei laughed, threw the clothes in her hand onto Li Qiutang's lap, and said, "You married me just so you could have a house to live in and someone to cook for you, right?"

Li Qiutang thought for a moment and then hummed in agreement.

Liu Yifei broke down and shouted, "You should refute me!"

"I'll give you one more chance. Are you interested in me or my money?"

Li Qiutang didn't put on any pretense and said without hesitation, "Money."

"Ah!" Liu Yifei was furious.

Li Qiutang stood up, folded the clothes neatly, and put them back: "There's no other way. Hesitating for even a second would be disrespectful to the money."

Liu Yifei ambushed and punched Li Qiutang. Li Qiutang, being a jerk, retaliated by punching Liu Yifei in the arm.

"Ouch, that hurts." Liu Yifei glared at Li Qiutang. "If you're not busy, you can clean up outside. You haven't been back for so long, and you're just leaving my mom to do all the cleaning by herself?"

"Okay, wife, whatever you say, husband will do." After saying that, he gave Liu Yifei another quick kiss and went out to help his mother-in-law with the cleaning.

"When my wife gives an order, I'll do it." Liu Yifei murmured, repeating Li Qiutang's words, a smile unconsciously creeping onto her lips. "She always uses sweet words to coax me."

When Li Qiutang's family returned, the total box office of "The Monkey King" was already close to 8 million yuan, and breaking 10 billion yuan should be just around the corner.

The movie "Where Are We Going, Dad?" has grossed over 5 million yuan, but controversy remains. However, industry experts have offered advice: "When following a trend, timing is crucial, and you also need to be mindful of the release date. The reason why 'Where Are We Going, Dad?' has performed so well at the box office is largely because it is still popular. The first season had just finished airing, the topic was hot, and it coincided with the family movie-watching demand during the Spring Festival."

As of the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Autumn Pictures' "Ex-Files" had grossed over 5000 million yuan, which is quite a good result for a low-budget romantic comedy. It's worth noting that "Ex-Files" was the worst-performing film among the four movies released on the first day of the Lunar New Year!

The other three films all feature big-name stars, while "Ex-Files" only had a pitiful average screening rate of 5%—sometimes as high as 8%, and sometimes just over 4%.

"Ex-Files" has reached the company's predetermined profit target, and the film's costs have been recouped. Although the "Tree of Heaven" project allows newcomers to lose money, Tian Yusheng still faces significant box office pressure. The first two films under the "Tree of Heaven" project, not to mention "Lost in Thailand," even an art film like "The Fault in Our Stars" broke even and earned the lead actress, Shu Chang, a Golden Horse nomination, perfectly fulfilling the mission.

If "Ex-Files" loses money, Tian Yusheng himself will be too embarrassed to face Li Qiutang.

Now that he's broken even, Tian Yusheng can finally relax.

That day, Li Qiutang returned to the company to give employees red envelopes to start the work week, while Liu Yifei stayed at home picking her toes. Her agent was helping her negotiate a new endorsement, and she didn't have any work to do for the time being.

Shu Chang came to find her happily.

Shu Chang spent the entire Chinese New Year filming on set, and just finished shooting a few days ago. She's experiencing a minor career resurgence, but she's still far from reaching the peak popularity of her roles as Xiao Yu and Sha Niu. However, she's very satisfied with her current achievements; her Golden Horse Best Actress nomination has brought her to the attention of many renowned directors and producers.

"So, did he propose?" This was what Shu Chang was most concerned about.

"Not yet." Liu Yifei was also anxious; she was particularly eager to know what the ring Li Qiutang had been preparing for over two years would look like.

“How can he be like this? We’ve met each other’s parents and started discussing the wedding date, and he still hasn’t proposed. What is he waiting for?” Shu Chang said. “I’m still waiting to receive the bridesmaids’ red envelopes.”

Speaking of work, Liu Yifei said that her movie "Lucy" will be released this year, and she will also be filming "Mojin: The Lost Legend". She doesn't want to take on any other projects.

But Shu Chang has a very busy schedule this year, and she will be joining the cast of a new movie in a few days: "It's your company's youth film, called 'Fleet of Time,' and I'll be playing the female lead, Fang Hui." This is the resource that director Zhang Yibai took the initiative to contact her after Shu Chang was nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards.

"What do you mean 'our company'? I don't own any company shares, nor am I a company employee."

“You’re the boss’s wife now, the boss is all yours,” Shu Chang said with a smile.

Shu Chang will begin filming "A Fleeting Romance" next month.

"I also received an audition invitation for a TV series."

"Can you manage all that?"

"There are roles to film, what's there to be too busy for?" Liu Yifei had no intention of blaming her best friend for filming multiple projects at once, because she knew that Shu Chang's current position in the industry was very awkward. She had experienced a minor resurgence in popularity, but it was still not stable enough. Only with another drama that would be a huge hit in terms of ratings or box office could she advance her career. Until then, she could only keep filming and trying out various roles. During this period, filming multiple projects at once was inevitable.

"Is Qiutang coming back in the next few days? If he doesn't, I'll stay here with you."

Liu Yifei laughed and said, "He can stay here when he comes back."

"If he comes back, you won't be able to sleep with me anymore."

“It’s okay,” Liu Yifei picked up her phone, ready to text Li Qiutang, “I’ll kick him out.”

Shu Chang glanced at her phone and laughed, "Why did you save someone's contact as 'Pighead Li'? It's at the very end of the contacts list."

Actually, Liu Yifei didn't need to kick Li Qiutang out. After work started, Li Qiutang temporarily moved to the Huairou base.

During their late-night chat, the two best friends slept in the same bed as when they were children.

"What other roles do you want to audition for?" Liu Yifei asked, lying down next to Shu Chang.

"There's a TV series called 'The Journey of Flower,' and their director also approached me to participate." Shu Chang had no intention of discussing work with Liu Yifei at the moment, and after a few words, she got on the highway.

"Hey, tell me, does he usually hold you like this when he sleeps?" Shu Chang's hand had already touched Liu Yifei's waist.

"Ah, hahaha." Shu Chang tickled Liu Yifei's funny bone. "Want to know? Go find yourself a boyfriend."

"You've forgotten your sisters now that you have a husband. You used to tell me everything."

“It’s not just men who forget their principles for the sake of beauty,” Liu Yifei said. “Ah, it itches, hahaha. If you keep this up, I won’t be polite.”

(End of this chapter)