Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 686 Performers Can't Choose Their Audience
Yu Qian called and said he wanted to invite a few friends to his horse farm for a get-together at the end of the year. Li Qiutang, without suspicion, readily agreed.

I've had too many work-related social engagements lately. The day before yesterday, I organized a gathering for "Detective Chinatown 2" and "Operation Red Sea." Last night, I had dinner with Mr. Li from CMC Inc., and in the early hours of the morning, I rushed to the second half of a movie with several executives from Tencent. I haven't been able to sit down and have a proper meal in the past few days. I'm hiding away at Yu Qian's horse farm for some peace and quiet.

Li Qiutang gave her assistant a day off and drove herself to Tianjingdihua Pet Paradise.

Yu Qian's circle of friends isn't entirely devoid of ulterior motives, but they're rare. Yu Qian is a playful and easygoing person, and when they get together, they mostly just have fun and joke around. This is why Li Qiutang comes to him for some peace and quiet.

When it comes to eating, drinking, and having fun, Li Qiutang and Yu Qian are on the same page. They both believe that drinking buddies are necessary. You can't expect everyone around you to be a true friend who can inspire and give you insights. Being able to eat, drink, and have fun together is also a kind of value.

Anyway, Li Qiutang didn't expect to gain any inspiration or ideas from her drinking buddies.

We drove to the pet park. There weren't many visitors in winter, and now that it was getting late, most of the few remaining visitors had left.

It was windy and even colder in Yanjing today. Li Qiutang got out of the car, tightened her clothes, hunched her neck, and went inside.

"Qiutang is here." Yu Qian, wearing an apron and holding a spoon, peeked out of the kitchen and glanced at Li Qiutang. "Please sit down. Help yourself to whatever you want to eat or drink. Don't be shy."

Li Qiutang laughed and said, "I'm a guest, why would I do it myself?"

"Then shall I have an apprentice serve you?" Just as he was about to call for someone, Li Qiutang stopped him:

"I'll do it myself. I don't have that kind of lordly attitude and need to be served by others." He patted the gift box in his hand as he spoke. "I've put the finest pipe and tobacco here for you." This was also a gift from someone else to Li Qiutang. The person who gave the gift didn't know that he didn't smoke, but was showing off by giving him a pipe and tobacco. Li Qiutang couldn't refuse the person's request, so if he accepted it but didn't need it, he could only give it away again.

Upon entering the restaurant, one finds quite a few people there. More than half of Yu Qian's "friends" from Yanjing are present, including Wu Jing, Sun Yue, Ma Weidu, Yu Entai, Qiao Shan, and one of Yu Qian's apprentices.

Master Guo was also sitting to one side.

Upon seeing Li Qiutang enter, Wu Jing stretched out his hand and laughed loudly, "We've been waiting for you, great director. We didn't dare to touch our chopsticks until you came."

Li Qiutang extended her hand and shook hands with Wu Jing, saying, "If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have come. You guys would have starved to death."

Li Qiutang glanced at the table, which only contained some fruit and snacks, and said, "No dishes have been served yet, why are you picking up your chopsticks?"

Without paying any attention to seating arrangements, Li Qiutang pulled up a chair and sat down near the door.

Li Qiutang knew all the people present and had met them more than once, but this was the first time she had met Master Guo.

Strangely enough, despite having known Yu Qian for many years, this was the first time the two of them had met.

The master said on stage that he didn't like gatherings and that he only ate out a few times a year, which was probably not true.

At least he was able to talk and laugh at the table today.

"There are three directors at this table today."

Qiao Shan asked, "Why are there three directors? Director Qiu Tang, Director Wu Jing, and who else?"

"De Gang, he's become a director too."

Qiao Shan laughed and said, "You have eyes but don't recognize a mountain! You've really become a director? What kind of movie is it? When will it be released?"

The master smiled with a smirk and narrowed eyes, "Hahaha, compared to the other two directors, what kind of director am I? I'm just a enthusiast." He was also very modest, "It's called 'The Nineteen Generations of Ancestors,' and it was released on the first day of the Lunar New Year."

Li Qiutang looked at the Grandmaster with a calm and collected expression, and immediately understood that today's dinner party was arranged by Yu Qian for the Grandmaster.

Li Qiutang didn't know the master, nor had he seen the crosstalk club's movies, but he was very familiar with their reputation for bad films. However, that had nothing to do with him, so he had nothing to say.

After a short conversation, Yu Qian started serving the dishes, and everyone pitched in to help. Soon the table was full. Yu Qian sat down, said a few words, and explained that everyone was busy at the end of the year, and it was a rare opportunity to get together for drinks, so he wouldn't waste any more time and wished everyone a Happy New Year in advance. Everyone then began to eat and drink.

Everyone here is in the entertainment industry, except for Ma Wei, who isn't, but he still has close ties to it. So the conversation naturally veered towards the entertainment industry, which led to the upcoming Spring Festival film season.

The discussion of the Spring Festival film season naturally leads to Guo Degang's "The Nineteen Generations of Ancestors".

He was very proud of his film directing career, even to the point of being a bit carried away. He refuted netizens' accusations that he made bad movies: "First, I'm not a professional film and television actor, I'm a crosstalk comedian, so it's understandable that I didn't act well; second, you can't say that a movie is bad just because I'm in it, I was in 'The Founding of a Republic'; third, the movies I acted in before were all about helping others, I didn't even read the script, they might really be bad, but I was just helping others, you can't blame me."

“But some people say I only act in bad movies. I’m going to argue with you about that this year. I’m going to make a movie and put it in theaters.”

Three reasons to completely absolve myself of any responsibility.

Li Qiutang and Wu Jing exchanged a glance, both understanding the message in each other's eyes—nonsense. Although Wu Jing is a friend of Guo Degang, he clearly disagreed with Guo Degang's views.

In the eyes of a professional director, this is just being stubborn.

If the film's marketing team focuses on you, you're responsible. If the box office is bad, you can't blame yourself. But if the box office is a hit, you'll be the first to take the credit.

He also had another reason: "The audience doesn't dislike your movie, they dislike you as a person. No matter how well you make it or how well you act, they still won't like it. There's nothing you can do about it."

This is utter nonsense. Li Qiutang couldn't hold back any longer and said, "Artists can't choose their audience. You should know that better than anyone else."

Guo Degang was surprised that Li Qiutang would refute him. He paused for half a second and then said, "But there are always viewers like that. They just can't stand you, no matter how good you are."

Li Qiutang continued, "For a movie to succeed, the most crucial audience group is the general public. Fans and haters are both niche groups. Fans can't drive much box office revenue, and haters can't ruin a movie. The real mainstream is the general public who don't care who you are. As long as you make a good movie, the general public will naturally come to the theater."

Li Qiutang also cited Wu Jing as an example: "How many fans did Brother Jing have before his first movie, 'Wolf Warrior'? How many haters did he have?"

Wu Jing laughed and said, "I was almost unable to make a living back then, so I was happy to have haters, at least someone was paying attention."

"The first one made over 5 million, it was a great success." Wu Jing is a living example.

Li Qiutang can't stand people who blame the audience for not appreciating their work when they don't get good results. It's like hundreds of millions of viewers are wrong, and you're the only one who's right.
Guo Degang is a born troll; he had a million reasons to refute Li Qiutang, but Yu Qian stopped him. Yu Qian started talking about the glorious achievements of his celebrity horse owner group over the past year, what they had accomplished, and which horses they had their eyes on and would acquire after the New Year.

Yu Qian was genuinely happy when talking about horses.

When it comes to crosstalk, it's time to talk about Guo Degang's show.

He even jokingly said he would take Li Qiutang as his apprentice and give him the name Yun.

"Come on, Li Yuntang, I can't wait any longer."

"You're never going to stop taking advantage of me, are you?" Li Qiutang felt disgusted.

"Then I'll take you on as my film apprentice, and Yue Yunpeng too. Give me three to five years, and I'm confident I can improve your acting skills." Spoiling you?!

"Hahahaha!!" Everyone burst into laughter, and the grandmaster also gave an awkward laugh, trying to cover it up.

Grandmasters love to take advantage of others based on seniority. Li Qiutang wants to take him and Yue Yunpeng as disciples at the same time, putting them on equal footing. This is worse than killing him.

Master Guo wasn't speechless, he just remained silent. He knew Li Qiutang's status in the film and television industry, but Li Qiutang was young, younger than many of his disciples, so he decided to joke around and try to gain an advantage verbally, but he didn't expect to be rebuked by Li Qiutang.

It's not worth arguing with a top director over a few words. Just shut up and eat.

(End of this chapter)