Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 428 Difficult to Invite
But the biggest news in the film and television industry this summer was that Liu Yifei married Li Qiutang.

No news story is more shocking than this one.

Unfortunately, both of them were filming on set, and reporters have been unable to interview them so far.

This year has been filled with happy events in the entertainment industry. Chen Sicheng and Tong Liya, Wu Jing and Xie Nan, Liu Kaiwei and Yang Mi, Zhao Youting and Gao Yuanyuan, Tang Wei and Kim Tae-yong, Zhou Xun and Gao Shengyuan, plus Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei, have all gotten married. In the first eight months of this year, seven celebrity couples have gotten married.

Netizens jokingly call this year the year goddesses get married.

Li Qiutang and Liu Yifei avoided the media while filming on set, which helped them avoid a lot of unnecessary gossip and rumors.

As for sharing the joy of her marriage, Liu Yifei doesn't really have much desire to. She's willing to share little things in her life with the media, share her cats and dogs, and share the books she reads, but she doesn't want to bring up her marriage in the media.

So many good friends witnessed her happiness, and the official announcement has been released; that's enough.

Li Qiutang works behind the scenes, so he doesn't have much to say to reporters.

Netizens discussed the couple's relationship, but that was just talk and didn't cause any real trouble.

At most, they might dig up Li Qiutang's two obscure ex-girlfriends, but both girls now have their own jobs and lives and have nothing to do with Li Qiutang anymore. The reporter couldn't even figure out when Li Qiutang started dating them.

Li Qiutang contacted Jiang Zhiqiang, the CEO of Edko Films, and asked him to act as an intermediary to introduce Chen Zhixi or other senior executives of the company to Stephen Chow to meet and discuss a cameo role—Li Qiutang didn't have time to fly to Hong Kong to meet him.

But as soon as Jiang Zhiqiang heard Li Qiutang's request, he advised him to give up the idea. His exact words on the phone were: "I don't know him well. He's a difficult person to deal with. He won't accept your cameo role."

Jiang Zhiqiang didn't even want to try, and advised Li Qiutang: "I can talk to anyone else in the Hong Kong film industry for you. If you want to play the nostalgia card, I can even invite Long Wu, but Stephen Chow is really difficult to deal with."

Li Qiutang then called Lin Jianyue, the head of Huanya Group, but Lin Jianyue's attitude was the same as Jiang Zhiqiang's: "It's impossible. I don't know him well."

Everyone says they're not familiar with him. Is Stephen Chow really that unpopular in Hong Kong?
Li Qiutang refused to believe it and called Li Yabo, the CEO of Yinhuang, again. Li Yabo also advised him not to have such thoughts: "It's easier to ask the Chief Executive to make a cameo appearance than to ask him."

Li Qiutang still didn't believe it and called Wenjun again, but Wenjun didn't even want to mention Stephen Chow: "He doesn't associate with us, and we can't get him to come."

Li Qiutang contacted top bosses in the Hong Kong entertainment circle, but not one of them was willing to help him, and none of them were even familiar with Stephen Chow.

I'd heard long ago that Stephen Chow was unpopular, but after decades in the business, it's truly astonishing how bad his interpersonal relationships have become.

Just as Li Qiutang hung up the phone with Huo Wenxi, who also said she couldn't help, his assistant knocked on the door and came in to say that they had contacted Zhou Xingchi.

“I told him we were director Li Qiutang’s team and wanted to discuss a collaboration with him. His company was quite happy and welcomed us, asking us to fly over to talk. I said our director is currently filming and can’t go to Hong Kong. They replied that even Stephen Chow doesn’t have time to fly to the mainland. Before I could say anything, he started putting on airs.”

"Never mind the airs for now, just keep talking," Li Qiutang said.

“I asked if it would be okay for our staff to fly over and talk, but his company said no, saying that Stephen Chow doesn’t talk to his staff, he wants to talk directly to the director or the boss, the person who can make the final decision.”

Li Qiutang's team also had its share of arrogance. "I'm a big director too. I have box office success and awards. I'm no less than you. I don't feel comfortable talking to you like that." As she was speaking, Chen Zhixi's call came in. Li Qiutang told her assistant to wait a moment and then answered Chen Zhixi's call.

"Qiu Tang, don't contact Stephen Chow anymore. Our talks have fallen apart." Chen Zhixi and Da Peng personally went to Hong Kong to meet with Stephen Chow.

"What's wrong? I've already gotten in touch with him."

Chen Zhixi continued, "Last week, Da Peng and I flew to Hong Kong specifically to see him. We got straight to the point and said we wanted to ask him to make a cameo appearance, just for one day. Before Da Peng even started talking about the story of 'Jianbing Man,' he interrupted him, saying he had a new story to tell Da Peng, and we'd talk about the cameo after discussing that. Da Peng was thus kept up with discussing his new story by Stephen Chow for a full seven days. He's Da Peng's idol, and Da Peng simply couldn't refuse him. Da Peng sincerely shared all his jokes and his reflections on making comedy over the years, good or bad, with Stephen Chow. On the last day, his visa expired, and if we didn't talk about the cameo soon, it would be too late. And guess what he said?"
"'I'm not going to act for you.' So he never intended to act for us in the first place, just keeping us in Hong Kong for seven days and wasting our time!" Chen Zhixi was furious. "Da Peng was like a fool, being fished out by him for seven days."

Li Qiutang was somewhat knowledgeable, but this was the first time he had ever seen someone try to fish for money like this. If someone asked you for a favor, you should just say so. Why try to fish them out by making them work for you for seven days for nothing?

He's a ruthless person, that's all I can say.

How is Dapeng's mood?

“He was a little disappointed, but only because he couldn’t get his idol to act in it,” Chen Zhixi continued. “Jianbing Man starts filming next week, so don’t worry about things on your end.”

Li Qiutang felt a strange sense of pleasure from the crickets in the background, so she told Chen Zhixi about the connections she had made over the past few days.

These past few days have seen the outbreak of the "anti-Stephen Chow movement" led by Mrs. Xiang, who fiercely criticized Stephen Chow on Weibo, causing many people to take sides.

Li Qiutang's feelings for Stephen Chow are just average. He is also a fan of Stephen Chow, but perhaps because he works in this industry, he doesn't have the same fan bias towards Stephen Chow.

"If we can't get him, we can't get him. The movie can still be made even without him. It's just a cameo, no big deal."

Just as she was about to hang up, Chen Zhixi suddenly added, "When are you planning to make your 'Mirage'?"

"Let's wait a couple of years, then see if anyone asks."

"The two soldiers are the most enthusiastic, both saying they can bring in some funds. Gao Yuanyuan asked me on WeChat yesterday when we're going to do it. The company wants to launch it, but it depends on you."

"If you have a suitable director, you can let someone else film it. There's no need to wait for me. I need to rest after filming 'Mojin: The Lost Legend.' You have to let me finish my wedding, right?"

Chen Zhixi realized that Li Qiutang was not keen on filming "Mirage" for the time being.

"Okay, now that you put it that way, I know how to reply to them."

After hanging up the phone, Li Qiutang told her assistant, "You don't need to say anything more. Zhou Xingchi's project is over. 'Jianbing Man' starts filming next week. We've worked for nothing."

After saying that, he went back to the set to continue filming. The next part of the shoot would be focused on ancient tomb exploration scenes, which would be very troublesome.

(End of this chapter)