Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 431 Beneficial to Physical Health
People from Xidu and Fengtian governments visited the set of "Mojin: The Lost Legend," mainly leaders from the publicity, culture and tourism, and radio and television departments.

The closed-door meeting following the set visit mainly focused on the investment and construction of the Changchun Film Studio's movie theme park.

At the meeting, a high-ranking official reassured Li Qiutang: "Don't listen to some people who say that you have to invest 300 or 500 million yuan before the project has even started. Investment is a free choice. If you like it, you invest; if you don't, you don't. This kind of forced investment is absolutely not allowed. Wouldn't that be robbery? It would sound terrible if word got out."

In these closed-door meetings, people can speak their minds. Li Qiutang also secretly complained to the leaders: "I am willing to contribute to my hometown, but investing in a film and television base is no small matter. I can't just give money after a few words. We should follow the rules and regulations. Only a fool wouldn't invest in a suitable and profitable project."

Once this is discussed openly, things will be much easier to handle afterwards.

Li Qiutang acted as an intermediary in this project, using her influence in the film and television industry to promote it and, when necessary, to connect people with other projects.

The closed-door meeting lasted a little over half an hour. They agreed that after the Ice and Snow World opens at the end of the year, they would hold another on-site inspection and presentation in Xidu to showcase the potential of investing in this movie theme park. Li Qiutang agreed to attend.

Back on set, Li Qiutang continued working.

Thanks to Li Qiutang's 1300 million yuan investment in a full-film 3D dynamic preview, which overcame all objections, the actors were able to quickly get into character when acting in front of a green screen and simple props (such as the snake head) or as motion capture actors.

Because the actors knew what they were going to act based on the pre-made dynamic previews, Liu Yifei knew that the motion capture actor in front of her was playing a tall zombie dog—the hair effects were particularly difficult to do, so the art team simply made it a bald dog, which was a last resort.

Of course, this still requires actors to have a strong sense of conviction and enough imagination.

Filming monster scenes was a lot of fun; the actors often burst into laughter, but Li Qiutang never blamed them.

The production team borrowed real snakes as props to create the terrifying atmosphere of the underground palace. These snakes are common in filming, are non-venomous, and do not interact with the actors during filming; they are only used to create atmosphere.

But just looking at it was scary enough; Li Qiutang was a little afraid of this kind of thing and didn't dare to look at it for too long.

Liu Yifei was also scared, but she was naive and dared to go up and touch him.

"What's its name?" Li Qiutang, standing next to her, wanted to pull her back.

"Aren't you afraid?"

“I’m scared, but I’m overcoming it now,” Liu Yifei said. “Ah, it’s so smooth.” She even took Li Qiutang’s hand and wanted him to touch it too. “With Master here, it won’t bite. You can touch it.”

"I wouldn't dare." Li Qiutang walked away, thinking, "How can this woman be so bold?"

"Come here, Ye-ge, feel it."

Liu Ye didn't dare either.

Liu Yifei wasn't satisfied with just touching it; she took the snake from her master and wanted to hold it herself.

She perfectly embodies the phrase "a complete novice but loves to play," clearly terrified yet eager to give it a try.

Li Qiutang could clearly see that both of her hands were trembling. Holding the snake, she asked her master, "What kind of snake is this?"

"The black-browed krait is a frequent character in movies and TV shows. Have you ever touched a snake before?"

"No." Liu Yifei glanced at the crew's behind-the-scenes cameraman and said, "Don't show this shot to my mom. She's terrified of these things. What kind of snake is this? It's huge, is it a python?"

"Yes, it's a python."

"And what about this box?"

"This is a pig-nosed snake."

"Pig-nosed snake, hehe, what a strange name."

"Look closely, its nose is upturned, so it's called a pignose snake." The master patiently explained the snakes on site to her. "This snake is venomous, but the venom has little effect on humans."

"This snake is quite the actor; it can play dead to fool other animals."

"Really!?" Liu Yifei's eyes lit up!
Li Qiutang stopped her master from continuing, saying, "I already have a cat, a dog, and a parrot at home. If you keep talking, she'll definitely buy a snake to take home."

"Hehe." Liu Yifei chuckled. "No, no, don't listen to his nonsense." But just now, when she heard that this snake was good at playing dead, she really wanted to buy one to play with.

After finishing work and having dinner, Liu Yifei and her assistant went for a walk and maybe shopped around the area. Li Qiutang was still in a meeting on set.

When he returned to his room at 11 p.m., Liu Yifei still hadn't come back. He was taking a shower when he heard footsteps and the sound of things being rummaged through outside the door. "Wife."

"Huh? What's up?" It was Liu Yifei's voice.

Li Qiutang didn't have anything to say to Liu Yifei; she just wanted to confirm something.

"Why are you back so late?"

"Cindy insisted on taking me to eat grilled fish, so we strolled around for a while longer."

"Still eating?" Li Qiutang swaggered out. "She's so fat, and she's been taking you out to eat like crazy. If you get fat, I won't want you anymore."

"Get dressed! The weather's getting colder, and I won't take care of you if you get sick."

Li Qiutang didn't listen to her; sometimes putting the car in neutral was quite comfortable.

Liu Yifei continued, "She wanted to eat, so I just picked up two bites." She's still filming, and she's very disciplined. If she weren't filming, she would have already started eating heartily.

After glancing at her husband, Liu Yifei suddenly said, "Wait a minute." Then she went to the drawer of her dressing table and took out two small boxes.

“These are two dzi beads that Huang Shengyi gave me before, she wanted us to wear them for fun.” Liu Yifei likes all kinds of jewelry, but Li Qiutang doesn’t. He doesn’t wear rings, and he doesn’t wear watches, necklaces, or bracelets unless he’s filming. “You should dress up a bit. I’ve bought you so many watches, how many times have you worn them?” He took out the dzi beads from the box. “What do you think? I don’t know much about these things. The pattern is a bit strange, but it’s kind of pretty.”

Li Qiutang doesn't understand how to appreciate this kind of thing, but he does understand Yang Zi!
Why did she give you this?

Liu Yifei then recounted her encounter with Yang Zi and Huang Shengyi at the premiere of "Lucy." Li Qiutang immediately understood the implications and laughed, "You even took a photo with her? The couple is using you as their spokesperson."

"What do you mean?"

“This thing,” Li Qiutang said, though she didn’t understand dzi beads, she knew the role Yang Zi and Li Lianjie played in it, “is related to religion. It’s hard to say whether it’s an antique, a collectible, or a craft, but there are people speculating on the market, targeting people in the film and television industry and the business world, because they believe in it to some extent. And the biggest collector of this thing is Yang Zi. When the time comes, he’ll put out a picture of you holding a dzi bead and say, ‘Look, even Liu Yifei is wearing our dzi bead.’ Wouldn’t that create a publicity effect?”

It's not that Li Qiutang necessarily thinks of people in such a materialistic way. If it were another friend giving her a small gift, Li Qiutang really wouldn't think that way.

But Yang Zi is a very special person.

Liu Yifei didn't believe it at first, thinking it was just a small gift and there wasn't much of a fuss about it.

Li Qiutang used her tablet to search for dzi beads and flipped through two seemingly serious news articles, which were actually business marketing articles: "Look, isn't this one?"

There is already a lot of information about dzi beads, and when dzi beads are mentioned, Yang Zi and Li Lianjie are usually mentioned as well.

In a report, Yang Zi talked at length about her love for dzi beads and her research on physiognomy. In the middle of the article, she mentioned that many celebrities in the entertainment industry are also dzi bead enthusiasts.

A photo of Liu Yifei and Huang Shengyi is among them.

Li Qiutang suggested, "If you don't want to be a free spokesperson, find some time to return the items, and I'll buy you a necklace later."

But then he added, "I suspect that even if we return the things, he'll still use them against you."

Once these photos are leaked, they can never be deleted.

Warning to Yang Zi?

It's no use. Even if Yang Zi stops posting, other people who make a living from dzi beads will post them, and various marketing accounts and netizens who just want to watch the show will also post them.

But Liu Yifei said, "Let's just return it. I don't understand these things. Aren't you going to change into your pajamas?" Li Qiutang had already burrowed into the covers.

Sleeping naked is good for your health.

"Where did you learn that?"

"You're not allowed to wear your pajamas today either; let's all do what's good for our health."

"You're such a rascal, I'm going to wash my face."

Li Qiutang took a tissue and placed it on the bedside table.

(End of this chapter)