Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 587 Experiencing Life
"I want to move out." Liu Yifei said this only after she had made her husband comfortable.

"Why move out?" Li Qiutang was contemplating the relationship between humans and the universe and didn't react to Liu Yifei's words.

"To experience life," Liu Yifei said, finding a comfortable position in her husband's arms. "Zhu Xiaoyan and Liang Jiangong are a middle-class couple, and I want to go out and experience life."

From the director's perspective, he was naturally pleased that the actors were actively experiencing life, but from the husband's perspective, Li Qiutang couldn't help but worry about Liu Yifei's safety.

But Liu Yifei continued, "Our whole family is moving out together, and I've already found a place."

Instead of seeking your husband's consent beforehand, it's better to beg for his forgiveness afterward.

The family now lives in a house worth over 8000 million yuan. What middle-class couple would live in a house like that?

"Let's move back to our old house and live there together for two months."

"I don't need to. You've been pampered and spoiled since you were a child, but I haven't. Before I became famous, my family was just an ordinary middle-class family. I know better than you what middle-class family life is like."

"Oh, just keep me company, I want to do a good job in this play, please grant my wish."

Liu Yifei persisted and begged, and Li Qiutang finally agreed to pack her things and move out with her in a few days.

"But it's agreed that since it's about experiencing life, we should go all out. You're not allowed to use your car, jewelry, designer clothes, or bags."

"Okay, I'll switch to a domestic car."

“You can’t use those custom cosmetics that cost 20,000 yuan a bottle or those face masks that cost more than 1,000 yuan a sheet.”

"Okay, can I still go to the gym?"

"Going to the gym is fine, but going to the beauty salon is not."

"it is good."

You cannot accept any gigs for the next two months.

"No problem, I already declined."

That was the decision. Two days later, Liu Yifei and her family of three started moving. Liu Xiaoli didn't want to move, but she was persuaded by her daughter and agreed to support her daughter's work.

The old house is in Chaoyang District and has never been sold. I never expected it would come in handy now.

"You've never lived in this house before, have you?" Liu Yifei asked with a smile.

“I stayed here,” Li Qiutang whispered, leaning closer. “I slept in that room, and you came over in the middle of the night…”

Liu Yifei remembered, and blushed deeply: "You still dare to say that!"

After the three of them finished settling in, they checked in that day, and Liu Yifei began her two-month role-playing experience.

Four films are worth watching during this year's National Day holiday: *Operation Mekong*, *I Belonged to You*, *L.O.R.D.: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties*, and *Mission Milano*. Including others, a total of 13 films will be released during the holiday period.

A 7-day holiday is more than enough to see.

Before its release, no one was optimistic about "Operation Mekong," and the market still didn't believe in military action films. "I Belonged to You" and "Mission Milano" were considered strong contenders for the top spot, and "L.O.R.D.: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties" was expected to perform strongly in the first three days thanks to its all-star cast.

But the most anticipated film was Feng Xiaogang's new movie "I Am Not Madame Bovary," which was originally scheduled to be released during the National Day holiday. However, it was recently announced that the film would be withdrawn from the release date—this trick has been used to death—and will be released on the less popular date of November 18.

The reason is: "The International Federation of Film Critics Awards commented that 'Li Xuelian is a Kafkaesque struggle, and the director has played with form and content in a very sophisticated way.' With such high praise, our ambitions have been aroused. We will go to whichever period is cold. If the National Day and New Year's Day periods are hot, we will not go. If November is cold, we will let Pan Jinlian scald November."

They're still worried about not making money during the National Day holiday.

Fan Bingbing has already won the Best Actress award at San Sebastián, what more could she possibly want?

Fun fact: Fan Bingbing is the third actress in the Chinese film industry to win both the Best Actress and Best Actress awards (A-list) – the two ahead of her are Maggie Cheung and Gong Li.

In terms of awards, Fan Bingbing is truly among the very top tier of the Chinese film industry.

Fan Bingbing was exceptionally confident after winning her new Best Actress award. She hadn't forgotten Li Qiutang, nor had she forgotten that Li Qiutang still had two films in hand: "The Meg" and "The Butterfly Lovers."

She wanted to use her Saint Sebastian Trophy to open Li Qiutang's door.

She only needs one of the two films; her favorite is "The Butterfly Lovers," since it's directed by Li Qiutang himself, making it a different story.

She knew that to secure a role, she had to focus on one production; she couldn't juggle two projects at once, and she couldn't tell Li Qiutang, "If I don't get this role, I'll take that one." It wasn't a role she was given!
"We haven't worked together for almost 10 years." The last time the two worked together was in May 2007, when Fan Bingbing played a supporting role to Li Qiutang in "Arrogant".

Director Li ignored Fan Bingbing's words and laughed, "We haven't worked together for 10 years, but it's not like we haven't seen or contacted each other for 10 years. The resentment in your words makes it sound like I'm a scumbag who abandoned his wife and children. If Li Chen hears this, how am I supposed to explain it?"

"I Am Not Madame Bovary" has not been released or screened yet, so Li Qiutang has naturally not seen it. Fan Bingbing then explained the movie to him and the character Li Xuelian that she played.

“She is a rural woman…” Fan Bingbing knew the general story of “The Butterfly Lovers”. She tried to use her knowledge of Li Xuelian to let Li Qiutang know that she could play some roles that were very different from herself. She could play rural women, so playing a middle-class young woman like Zhu Xiaoyan would be a piece of cake.

Although Zhu Xiaoyan couldn't possibly give it to Fan Bingbing, Li Qiutang still listened attentively to what Fan Bingbing had to say.

It was precisely because the two had known each other for 10 years, and she was also good friends with her wife, that Li Qiutang said, "Why did Feng Xiaogang choose you to play Li Xuelian? You should know that your image is actually not suitable for playing rural women. Gong Li in 'The Story of Qiu Ju' is the real rural woman."

Fan Bingbing said, "I know, I was also puzzled when I first received the invitation, but Director Feng Xiaogang said something that touched me. He said, 'If you find someone with universally recognized good acting skills to play the role and it turns out well, there's nothing strange about it. But if I find someone that everyone thinks is no good to play the role and it turns out well, that would be a real achievement.' He also said, 'Everyone says you're just a pretty face, but I know you're not. You've never played a rural woman before. Let's work together again. You give me a chance, and I'll give you a chance too.'"

"I think this is a great opportunity. Why can't I act in a rural drama? Anyone can play a pretty girl, but rural dramas are very difficult, and not everyone can act in them. After several months of filming..." Fan Bingbing began to talk about her experiences filming in the countryside over the past few months.

I must say, Fan Bingbing's understanding is quite good.

Li Qiutang believed that with Fan Bingbing's hard work, her performance in "The Butterfly Lovers" should be quite good, but what could she do when Liu Yifei was willing to sleep with her?

Li Qiutang declined Fan Bingbing's request, citing the slow progress of the project and the fact that casting had not yet begun.

"I heard Feng Xiaogang is going to make a movie called 'Cellphone 2'?" This movie appeared on Huayi Brothers' film list at the beginning of the year.

"Ah, yes, he's still writing the script," Fan Bingbing said. "Why are you asking about this? Didn't you say you weren't interested in director Feng Xiaogang?"

“I’m not interested in him. I’m just asking. What’s the point of making a sequel after more than ten years?”

(End of this chapter)