Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 412 People always grow through suffering losses
I don't know when it started, or who started it, but entertainment reporters, even if they have juicy stories, won't reveal them; instead, they've begun to extort celebrities in disguise.

Providing a direct quote in person is considered efficient; what I hate is this kind of leaking information and making insinuations within the industry. You still have to pay to buy out the information they have, but they use your information to attract attention and gain traffic first.

This time, the outside world didn't need to guess much; everyone said it was Huang Xiaoming.

Because of the huge success of "The Invisible Guest," there has been a lot of talk about Huang Xiaoming and Qin Lan "rekindling their old romance."

Even if it wasn't a rekindling of old flames, the media did bring up their past relationship again.

Some media outlets have already reported that Huang Xiaoming's girlfriend, Yang Ying, is very averse to Qin Lan and the media hype surrounding their rekindled romance, which has led to conflicts between Huang Xiaoming and Yang Ying.

Yang Ying particularly disliked the media mentioning that Qin Lan had paid an exorbitant penalty to terminate her contract with her company, traveled thousands of miles to the hospital to care for the injured Huang Xiaoming, and even made their relationship public. This made her feel inferior to Qin Lan.

For the past month and a half, the media has been frantically speculating about the relationship between Qin, Huang, and Yang, sometimes even dragging Lu Chuan into it.

So now that there are rumors about a popular male star from the summer blockbuster season having relationship problems, who else could it be but Huang Xiaoming?
While the audience was busy gossiping, the crew of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" had already arrived at the Ulanhada volcanic cluster.

This place is really deserted. I heard that the local government just got the approval for the geopark, and it will take three to five years to complete the bidding and construction. It might as well let the film crew shoot a movie first.

The scenery does fit the style of the film crew, but from a tourist's perspective, it's not fun.

Ulanhada will only film scenes featuring the three tomb raiders. The villainous group led by Liu Xiaoqing has already returned to Yanjing to make preparations, while Xia Yu went to Moon Lake to make preparations.

Before leaving, Li Qiutang specifically instructed the team: "I think that Miss Hong Kong's movements are not up to standard. After we return to Yanjing, you should make sure to train her as soon as possible and not delay the progress."

Whether it was an attitude problem or simply a lack of ability, Chen Kailin's Mandarin lines were halting and stuttering, which made Li Qiutang very worried about her later action scenes. Yangzi's action scenes were no less than those of the trio.

To be on the safe side, since Chen Kailin might not listen to the staff, Li Qiutang specifically called Chen Guofu, who was in Yanjing making preparations. Chen Kailin was brought in by him, and Li Qiutang wanted him to personally supervise Chen Kailin's training.

Li Qiutang wasn't afraid of being accused of gossiping behind people's backs. He told Chen Guofu directly, "Chen Kailin's movements are problematic. I suspect she didn't train beforehand."

Only a small team from the crew remained in Ulanhada. This small team was more flexible, making it faster and more convenient for Li Qiutang to film than with the larger crew.

Li Qiutang even had time to take Liu Yifei for a ride on the crew's beat-up motorcycle.

"Do you know how to ride a motorcycle? I've never seen you ride one before," Liu Yifei said, sitting in the back, clearly worried.

"What's wrong with riding a motorcycle? I've ridden both my dad's and my uncle's motorcycles. Sit tight."

Although it had been a long time since he had ridden a motorcycle, it wasn't difficult to get used to it. Li Qiutang started the engine and wobbled off on the road.

Liu Yifei, sitting in the back seat, screamed in fear that he would throw her off.

"Slow down."

"Let me do it."

"Ah—hahaha!"

The crew members watching found the two of them amusing: "They're like two children."

"Have you forgotten that Yifei is only 27 years old and the director is only 30?"

Li Qiutang sped along for a while, then slowed down and strolled leisurely with Liu Yifei.

Liu Yifei gently tugged at his clothes, and Li Qiutang said, "It was like this when we were filming 'In Time,' right? I would take you on my bicycle."

"No, I'm the one who brought you," Liu Yifei said.

"You were riding so wobbly, I was afraid you'd die, so I'll carry you from behind." Li Qiutang remembered it clearly. Liu Yifei patted Li Qiutang on the back: "I can ride a bike!"

Li Qiutang said, "We've driven around for a while, it's time to go back." With that, she turned the car around and headed back.

But Liu Yifei told him to get off: "You've ridden one lap, it's my turn to ride."

"You've got an addiction to cycling?" But Li Qiutang still gave up her seat.

"Tsk, where are you grabbing?" It was only because there was no one around that Li Qiutang was accused of being a hooligan.

"Sorry, it's just a habit, haha."

"If someone else were taking care of you, would you put your hands like that? You just know how to bully me." But Liu Yifei was quite willing to be bullied by Li Qiutang.

"You won't even let me touch other people's wives." The atmosphere was fine, but Li Qiutang had to be sarcastic.

“You…” Li Qiutang couldn’t see it, but he guessed that Liu Yifei was rolling her eyes.

Liu Yifei leisurely led Li Qiutang back to the film set, and after everyone prepared for a while, they started working again.

…………

Perhaps spurred by the box office success of "The Invisible Guest" (which grossed over 600 million yuan) and the start of filming for "Mojin: The Lost Legend," Lu Chuan hastily launched "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe," originally scheduled to begin filming on August 20. After the first weekend of August, Lu Chuan held a press conference in Yanjing to mark the start of filming.

The two films and their two directors have been the focus of the media, with reporters coming to them on their own initiative, without needing to be invited by China Film Group or LeTV.

On stage, Lu Chuan recounted his arduous journey of preparing for "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe" over the past year, expressing his gratitude to China Film Group for their trust and to Mr. Jia of LeTV for their generosity. As he spoke, he began to cry again.

Reporters in the audience who knew him well couldn't stand this tactic anymore. Why are you crying again? It's a happy occasion when you turn on the camera. Can't you be a little happier and more confident?

"Strictly speaking, 'Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe' is my first pure genre film, a purely commercial production. I've made many art films before and achieved some success. Now, my first commercial genre film is based on such a big IP, and I'm personally very excited. If there's anything I do poorly, please feel free to offer your guidance." He seemed quite modest at this point.

Next, representatives from the two production companies, China Film Group and LeTV, took the stage to speak.

Finally, Lu Chuan acted as the introducer and officially announced the cast of "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe" to the media.

Zhao Youting, Yao Chen, Feng Li, Li Chen, Zhao Liying, Feng Xiaoyue, Li Guangjie.

When introducing the lead actors, he exuded a sense of pride and ease in both his tone and demeanor, as if he had chosen the best and most suitable actors.

However, Lu Chuan never expected that as soon as he announced his lineup, he would be met with a tidal wave of criticism from netizens!
Mark Chao is currently very popular, and Feng Li is indeed a fat man. These two can be said to meet the requirements of Hu Bayi and Wang Pangzi for the time being. However, Yao Chen's portrayal of Shirley Yang has been unanimously criticized by netizens. Shirley Yang is a great beauty. What is so beautiful about Yao Chen?

And who is Cao Weiwei, played by Zhao Liying? She doesn't exist in the novel at all. It's not that viewers can't accept original characters; Ying Caihong, played by Liu Xiaoqing, is also an original character.

However, perhaps out of respect for the elderly, the audience did not particularly oppose Liu Xiaoqing, but showed a natural distrust towards Zhao Liying's Cao Weiwei.

Not to mention the librarian played by Li Chen and the expedition leader played by Feng Xiaoyue.

However, the cast has already been announced, and Lu Chuan announced at the press conference that the crew would soon be heading to the location for filming.

The day after the press conference for "Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe" was held and the lead actors were announced, actress Tang Yan posted a cryptic message on Weibo:
"It's my fault for not listening to advice and trusting the wrong person. I've finally seen what it looks like to break a promise. People always learn from their mistakes. I hope your new movie will make you stop needing to cry and play the victim in public."

Many people couldn't understand the meaning of this Weibo post and thought she had been dumped by a scumbag again.

(End of this chapter)