Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 782 I Don't Need Everyone to Like Me

But Yi Lijing didn't start by stirring things up; she wanted Li Qiutang to say something else that would attract attention.

Are you satisfied with your current industry?

“I’m satisfied.” Li Qiutang nodded. “The market is so much bigger than when I first started out. There’s more money and more opportunities. How many films did I release in a year before? How many do I release now? What’s there to be dissatisfied about?”

"But in recent years, audiences have become increasingly dissatisfied with the industry's chaotic state, and the glamorous filter that the film and television industry presents to the audience seems to be shattering. Do you think this is a good thing?"

“If it breaks down, it can be rebuilt.” Li Qiutang continued, “Don’t you think this is a cycle? History has cycles of order and chaos, and so does the industry. Our film and television industry has experienced fifteen or sixteen years of rapid development, so it’s normal for problems to be exposed now. Just take it easy.”

"But this chaos may last for a long time. Aren't you worried that many people won't be able to hold on?"

"What exactly do you mean by 'chaos'?" Li Qiutang asked Yi Lijing in return.

Yi Lijing certainly couldn't talk about stealing gold coins, so she used the easiest group to manipulate as an example: "For example, young male celebrities and those with high online traffic."

“It’s nothing,” Li Qiutang said. “Just leave it to time and the market. You might be popular for a year, two years, three years, four years, five years, or ten years. You can’t stay young and fresh forever. This industry is very cruel; it’s really a case of 'if you don’t move forward, you fall behind.' If you don’t improve your skills, you’ll be eliminated quickly. Audiences are very fickle.” After saying that, Li Qiutang took a sip of water.

Yi Lijing quickly seized on the flaw in Li Qiutang's words. She was not satisfied with Li Qiutang's answer: "You said to leave it to time and the market. Isn't that a passive approach? It's like doing nothing at all."

"What can we do?" Li Qiutang asked her in return.

Yi Lijing was speechless, only smiling to cover it up, and then pointed out very sharply: "You are a very famous director. To put it bluntly, you are at the top of the film and television industry's food chain. These chaotic phenomena do not affect you, so you don't want to talk about them or care about them, and you are willing to maintain the status quo. As for whether it will devour the next generation of creators, you don't really care. Is that a fair interpretation?"

"I'm not trying to maintain the status quo, but rather to respect industry rules. You might imagine the film and television industry as a world that needs a hero to uphold justice, but in reality, it's first and foremost a massive and complex industrial system. Expecting it to become a moral sanctuary for the entire society is both unrealistic and naive."

"Of course I will take responsibility, but if you ask me to rely on my personal strength to fight against the chaos in the entire industry, you are giving me too much credit. That's Don Quixote, not me. All I can do is do my job well in my own little corner. I've been working for more than ten years, and to be proud, I've done some good things and set a good example."

Speaking of the film crew, Yi Lijing took the opportunity to ask a question: "Many people say that you have a bad temper on set and that you scold people. From actors to staff, everyone has been scolded by you. Do you think this is a good way of working?"

Li Qiutang retorted sharply, "Have you ever worked on a film set?"

Yi Lijing disliked the interviewee's frequent questioning, which made her feel like she had lost control of the interview, but she couldn't do anything about Li Qiutang.

She had never worked on a film set, of course, but she said, "Isn't there a better solution?"

"Maybe, but losing your temper is the simplest and most direct method," Li Qiutang said. "Losing your temper is a tool used in film crews. My cursing doesn't mean I really hate you. Small film crews have thirty or forty people, while large film crews have thousands. With so many people gathered together, all sorts of problems can arise, especially when you're rushing to film. You can't possibly speak nicely to everyone."

Li Qiutang added, "We seem to be particularly resistant to the word 'emotion,' but in fact, emotion is a good thing, and we should learn to use it."

Yi Lijing clearly didn't want to move on from this: "You call losing your temper a 'tool,' but isn't that an abuse of your power? Because you know very well that as a director, the person you scold doesn't dare to talk back."

Li Qiutang had never encountered such an aggressive reporter before, but being a seasoned veteran, he quickly organized his words to retaliate: "If your team's director didn't do their job before the show started, would you calmly and methodically have a heart-to-heart talk with them? Any team that bears ultimate responsibility for the outcome needs the clearest command system. You talk about power? Behind my power lies the responsibility for the success or failure of the entire production resting on my shoulders alone."

“If the film is bad, I'll take the blame; I'll be the one drowning in the audience's spittle. I'm not exercising the right to bully people, but the right to ensure that a group of people don't all fall into the same trap. They don't talk back because we all understand that the emotions at that moment weren't for me personally, but to protect the life of the work.” Yi Lijing then steered the conversation away from professional matters and began talking about his personal life. “You got married very young.”

"It's not that early. I got married in 15, when I was 31, which is a normal age."

"I've been in this industry for a long time."

"I work behind the scenes, so it doesn't matter when I do it."

Yi Lijing seized on this loophole: "But Yi Fei is an actress in front of the camera, especially a beautiful actress. Getting married too early might have some negative effects."

This time, Li Qiutang was smarter: "She doesn't seem to be affected much." She wasn't giving Yi Lijing any room to maneuver, adding, "She'll still be filming all the dramas she's supposed to."

But this didn't stump Yi Lijing at all: "Won't her fans have a problem with that?"

Li Qiutang laughed and said, "If you watch a couple of Yifei's interviews, you'll know that she doesn't care much about these things."

Li Qiutang's relaxed demeanor when talking about his wife made Yi Lijing feel that he was challenging his authority as a journalist.

"Do you really not care? Or are you just saying it to comfort people?" Yi Lijing asked rhetorically.

Li Qiutang was already somewhat displeased, but he remained calm and polite: "I'm your husband. If you can't believe what I say, then who can you believe? If you interview Yifei and she says the same thing, wouldn't you also think she said it on purpose? Then all the questions would be unanswerable."

Li Qiutang continued, "Or are you disappointed that I didn't give you the answer you wanted to hear? I must say that she sacrificed a lot for me, and that her voluntary sacrifice brought stability to my family, allowing me to work without worries. Is that the answer you want?"

Yi Lijing didn't speak. She simply lowered her head, quickly jotting something down in her notebook; the sound of her pen scratching across the paper was particularly jarring in the quiet room. You never know whether her silence was agreement or a preparation for an even fiercer attack.

"I don't expect a 'sacrifice' answer. What I'm curious about is, behind this relaxed 'she doesn't care' attitude, have you ever felt a trace of unease?" Yi Lijing, as expected of a top-notch interviewer, quickly organized her words, which were exceptionally sharp.

Li Qiutang didn't want to get entangled with Yi Lijing in her personal relationships anymore, so she decided to play it cool: "We're too busy loving each other to have any unease."

Yi Lijing clearly sensed the undisguised impatience in Li Qiutang's words, and the impenetrable wall he was trying to build with "love." She understood that the fortress of his marriage was now unbreakable.

The program ends with Li Qiutang seeing Yi Lijing off, the two strolling outdoors, accompanied by Li Qiutang's monologue:

“Look at these doors and windows, people are arguing inside, and people are falling in love inside. Our job is to take what happens inside these doors and windows, weave it into stories, put it in a black box, and then shine a beam of light on it for others to see. The audience sees the joys and sorrows, but we are actually dealing with a kind of raw material called life.”

"What is a director? He's the one on set who has to yell 'Action' and 'Cut.' But in real life, no one can yell 'Cut.' Life is not a 'one-take' story that can be relived. Whether it's good or bad, it becomes the final version presented to others."

"I don't need everyone to like my version."

The two walked away, and the program ended.

(End of this chapter)