Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 382 Some movies aren't made to make money.

It was supposed to be a Valentine's Day celebration, but Liu Yifei seems to have developed an immunity to flowers and wine.

However, Li Qiutang gave her a new talking eclectic parrot, which made her extremely happy.

"Watch out, don't let the cats and dogs scare it to death again. If it scares it to death again, I won't be seeing it off."

Liu Yifei ignored her, focused only on teasing the bird: "Does it have a name?"

"It's waiting for you to fetch it."

"Let's keep calling it 'King'." The parrot she'd raised before that died was called 'King.' "It could talk, right?"

"Yes, but I didn't have time to teach it."

Just then, the bird spoke up: "Wishing you prosperity!" It even nodded.

This delighted Liu Yifei: "Wow, it can talk. Congratulations on your fortune!"

"Wishing you prosperity," the bird replied.

"It must be the shop owner who taught it the auspicious words. When I went to buy it, it didn't say 'Wishing you prosperity'."

It's still a bit cold, so Liu Yifei hung it indoors: "I'll hang it up on the tree outside when it gets warmer. Wait a minute." With that, she ran off.

When she returned, she was holding a box and presented it to Li Qiutang like a treasure: "Open it and take a look."

Li Qiutang opened the box as instructed. Inside was a black and gold Nikon camera: "Do you have this F3?" The Nikon F3 was launched in 80 and discontinued in 02, but Li Qiutang was unfamiliar with the camera in the box.

"It's a new release from last year, a classic reissue in black and gold, a Japan exclusive. I finally managed to snag one. What do you think, isn't it beautiful?"

"It's beautiful." Li Qiutang didn't have much of a sentimental attachment to film cameras; he would use one if he had it and not use another if he didn't. But this camera in front of him was indeed very beautiful, and he liked it very much.

He didn't tell Liu Yifei that he had forgotten how to develop photos, and he no longer had his darkroom equipment.

Liu Yifei continued, "From now on, you can use this camera to take pictures of me, emphasizing my youthful beauty, liveliness, and cuteness."

"Did you buy this for me, or for yourself?" Li Qiutang asked with a smile.

"Is there a difference?"

“There is a difference,” Li Qiutang said. “I want to photograph other women.”

Liu Yifei immediately tried to hit her, yelling, "You used my camera to take pictures of other women, didn't you? I'll beat you to death!"

"I meant filming my mom and your mom."

"Oh, that's more like it." Liu Yifei sat back down.

“There are other female celebrities as well.”

Liu Yifei stood up again, ready to hit her: "You get itchy if you don't annoy me for a day, huh?"

After a playful fight, Liu Yifei let Li Qiutang off the hook: "Come on, I bought tickets. Come with me to see 'Teahouse' at the Beijing People's Art Theatre today."

"I've watched it so many times."

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. Come on, do you know how hard it is to get tickets for the Beijing People’s Art Theatre’s ‘Teahouse’?” Liu Yifei practically dragged Li Qiutang out of the house.

Li Qiutang's original plan was for the two of them to stay home and watch TV. Li Qiutang had even downloaded horror movie resources to relive the thrilling feeling of when they first started dating, with Li Qiutang touching Liu Yifei while she playfully resisted.

Unexpectedly, Liu Yifei didn't give her a chance.

The two drove Li Qiutang's new car to see a play. "Teahouse" needs no introduction; it's a classic among classics, a crown jewel of the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

Perhaps they had been recognized. During halftime, just as Li Qiutang finished drinking water and handed her thermos to Liu Yifei, a slightly chubby, short-haired boy walked over and asked, "Yifei? Qiutang?"

The two looked and realized it was none other than Yang Jiayin, a classmate from the 02 acting class. He was the only one in the entire 02 class to be admitted to the Beijing People's Art Theatre, which was a widely praised story at the time and drew much envy from everyone.

"Hey, Jiayin, long time no see." Yang Jiayin has been away from the film and television industry for many years. He was curious why Liu Yifei and Li Qiutang would come to watch the show together, but he didn't care about such unimportant things at all.

"Don't leave after the show ends, I need your help with something."

Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei weren't very close to Yang Jiayin at school, but they were classmates after all. Since she had already offered her help, they decided to see how it went, whether they could help or not.

Seeing Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei's predicament, Yang Jiayin immediately said, "This isn't my business, it's our theater's business. You'll find out soon enough. I'll go back now and come find you later."

After the performance, Yang Jiayin took the two to the backstage of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, which should have been their first time entering the backstage area of ​​the theatre.

"Teacher Yuanzheng, I have successfully brought the person with me," Yang Jiayin said with a smile.

Backstage in the dressing room, the actors were all removing their makeup. Feng Yuanzheng hadn't even finished removing his makeup when he got up to shake hands with Li Qiutang. Li and Liu took the initiative to greet him and the senior actors.

Actually, the matter is very simple, and it's not even Feng Yuanzheng's business, but rather the business of another young director from the Beijing People's Art Theatre named Xu Ang.

Xu Ang is adapting the classic Hollywood film "12 Angry Men" and wants to create a Chinese version for the big screen.

The idea was good, and the Beijing People's Art Theatre supported it, but it was impossible to find a film company to take on such a film.

The Beijing People's Art Theatre only makes three to four million yuan a year; how could they afford to invest in movies?

It just so happens that Feng Yuanzheng saw Li Qiutang watching the show today, so he swallowed his pride and begged Li Qiutang for help on behalf of Xu Ang.

"You're too kind. Don't be so polite," Li Qiutang quickly waved her hand. "If this film is lacking anything, I'll definitely help if I can."

Feng Yuanzheng said, "Let's get this straight: this film might not make any money."

“I’m not afraid,” Li Qiutang said indifferently. “How much can a film like ‘12 Angry Men’ lose if it goes bankrupt?”

He Bing, who was standing next to him, laughed at him: "He really is a big director, he doesn't care about money."

Liu Yifei added insult to injury: "What we want is his money."

Li Qiutang said, "I don't have much else, but I do have a little bit of money."

Everyone laughed.

Xu Ang is not at the theater today, but Feng Yuanzheng, He Bing and others have some understanding of the adaptation of "Twelve Angry Men". He Bing said: "The current difficulty is that no one is willing to invest in this movie, that's the problem."

"What's the progress of the adaptation?"

"I don't really know about the adaptation progress, but the copyright expired a long time ago." The original version was released in 57 and is already a public domain film.

Li Qiutang said, "Give me the director's contact information, and I'll talk to him."

"I'm glad you said that." Feng Yuanzheng had thought Li Qiutang would refuse, since Li Qiutang was a commercial filmmaker who cared about making money, but he didn't expect the negotiation to go so smoothly.

On the way back, Liu Yifei teased him, "You're something else, even watching a play gets you people talking to you about projects."

Li Qiutang said, "This movie is destined to lose money. If you want to invest, then invest."

"You're destined to lose money, yet you still invest."

"Well, like I said before, some movies aren't made to make money."

"I may say that, but could you please stop touching my legs?"

But Li Qiutang didn't care: "What's wrong? It's Valentine's Day, can't I even touch you? You've gained weight recently, huh?"

Liu Yifei hasn't attended any public events for over a month. She ate a lot during the Chinese New Year and neglected exercise, so she naturally gained some weight.

Just as Liu Yifei was about to say that she wasn't fat, Li Qiutang said, "But I like it."

"Drive carefully!" Liu Yifei slapped Li Qiutang's hand away.

(End of this chapter)