Who said this top flow is crazy! This top flow is awesome!

Chapter 451 I Can't Live Without You
"I heard that Ikeno's situation is a done deal."

at the same time.

In another corner of the venue, around the round table in the northwest circle.

Li Qian's uncle ate his snack without any restraint, and said to everyone in a low voice, "It seems that we made the right move back then. Even if Chi Ye really takes over, he shouldn't have too much malice towards us now."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and one of them said obsequiously, "You have to say, the boss has a good eye. Look, so many people avoided Chi Ye back then. Only you have such foresight, thinking ten steps ahead for every one step you take. You're not someone that ordinary people can compare to."

"Hey, that's over, that's over."

Uncle Li Qian waved his hand, but judging from his expression, he was still quite pleased.

"Sigh, but we still haven't been able to achieve a closer collaboration with Ikeno."

Another bigwig surnamed Gu shook his head. He didn't have a good impression of Chi Ye before, but since the Northwest Circle took the initiative to show goodwill to Chi Ye, he went with the flow and didn't express any insightful opinions.

Now that he's in the moment, he's secretly regretting it, thinking that letting the Li family rush ahead was really a huge waste of their time.

I heard that Li Qian and Chi Ye have a somewhat ambiguous relationship. Could it be that they're really going to take off in the future? Wouldn't they be the ones calling the shots in the industry then?

Well... although everyone can basically come up with something about kinship, there has always been a distinction between close and distant relatives. Even among relatives, there are differences in the closeness of the relationship.

"There's nothing we can do about it. He's always been an anomaly. Which actor in the industry can handle every script himself? Now that Coconut has money, he can probably even handle the investment himself. Old Zhang has extended an olive branch several times, but he's not interested."

The Imperial Advisor, who had been listening to the conversation with his eyes closed, paused, then opened them: "I recently started a new project, and the best male lead was actually Chi Ye. The screenwriter even said the script was based on him, but unfortunately..."

He was just trying to make money off this, since with his experience and status, there are plenty of actors in the industry who can replace Ikeno and are available whenever he needs them.

It's just a matter of how different the effects of the substitutes are. Being able to invite Ikeno himself is naturally a million times better than inviting those substitutes.

In addition, the Imperial Advisor also has his own ulterior motives. In recent years, he has become increasingly crazy, accepting all kinds of good and bad projects as long as he is paid. For example, he is the producer of the latest controversial drama, "The Mystery of the Deity".

This behavior naturally brought him a fortune, but it also slightly damaged his reputation and public image.

At his age, he doesn't really care that much about his image in the eyes of netizens, but can the current Ikeno be compared to the Ikeno of the past?
In the past, if you could invite Ikeno to perform, everyone would give you a thumbs up and say that your performance was a sure thing.

Now that you've managed to invite Ikeno, no one will give you a thumbs up anymore; instead, they'll instantly think a million times more highly of you—after all, being able to get a leader to "work" for you is enough to show how much power you have.

Therefore, although Zhang Yimou had often given Chi Ye notices from time to time in the past and was not annoyed by rejections, this time he was obviously really interested and was prepared to use his connections.

"Hasn't Li Qian arrived yet?"

He asked, and when Uncle Li Qian heard this, his mouth curled up: "Hey, that kid heard that Chi Ye has arrived and thought that he hadn't seen him for a while, so he was going to go and say hello."

"Uh……"

Upon hearing this, Boss Gu curled his lip and cursed inwardly, "You really know how to talk nonsense. Everyone knows that Chi Ye brought Jin Xia with him this time, and that is the proper empress."

Even if Li Qian and Chi Ye were not related, they would be like mice running away from a cat. After all, there are many cases of keeping mistresses or adding family members in the entertainment circle, but I have never seen anyone dare to challenge the wife.

That old man, now he's so desperate to climb up to Chi Ye that he doesn't even care about his niece anymore.

Pooh!
"Oh, that's perfect. Li Qian is the second female lead in the new drama, so I can have you go and talk to her..."

The Imperial Advisor was intrigued and immediately began to speak.

Just then, news came that Chi Ye had been summoned by his superior as soon as he arrived. It was Wang Mi who had personally called him away. As for who the superior who had come to see Chi Ye today was, not many people knew.

But it is said to be inaccessible.

"..."

Upon hearing this news, the people around fell silent again, exchanging bewildered glances, their inner flames rising like wildfire in spring.

……

"Have you received the message yet?"

Inside the office.

Ikeno sat upright on the sofa. Opposite him was a middle-aged man in his sixties. He had a lot of white hair, but his facial features were very red. He had a broad forehead and a loud voice. He looked like someone who frequently attended various important occasions.

Asking directly, Chi Ye, remembering the advice his former boss had given him, obediently nodded: "Received."

Both are equally straightforward, but Ikeno knows that the other person probably likes them.

really.

The middle-aged man chuckled, nodded at Chi Ye, and then said thoughtfully, "You might not believe it, but I've been watching you for a long time."

Ikeno paused for a moment, then said, "I actually believe that."

"Oh?"

The middle-aged man exclaimed in surprise, "Why?"

Ikeno said sincerely, "Because I'm really too famous."

"..." After a two-second silence, the middle-aged man laughed even louder: "Hahaha... Interesting, Xiao Chi... You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"

Ikeno forced himself to nod, "Uh... I don't mind."

"If you mind, just say so."

"Can you really just say it directly?"

"No."

"Oh."

Chino was fully awake, but the middle-aged man found this young man quite interesting, mainly because of his work environment. In fact, there were many misunderstandings about him from the outside world, who always thought he would be a rigid and serious old man.

In fact, this is a clear cognitive bias. Because of his high position, many things are handled by his subordinates. He only controls the specific direction. Strictly speaking, he is indeed very strict on important matters, but his personality in private is not like that.

such as.

"I started paying attention to you for the first time because of today."

He said frankly, "You must have participated in some kind of program back then, sang a few songs, and he put in some effort to have someone send the video to me so I could see it."

"Hmm... I personally don't appreciate this kind of youthful music."

"But there's one song I really like."

Chi Ye's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't say anything.

He could roughly guess which song it was.

As expected. "The Dragon Scales of Heaven and Earth".

He squinted, tapped the table, and said with a hint of appreciation, "This song... has very good lyrics. You might think I'm exaggerating, but that's the reality. It's not just me; many people are very satisfied."

Ikeno remained silent: "It's just something I felt... and it's all based on real-life events."

"really."

The middle-aged man didn't mention this point much, but just looked at him and said lightly, "Later you released a lot of songs, but I haven't heard them much... 'Blue and White Porcelain' is good, it's an excellent work like 'Heaven and Earth Dragon Scales'."

Ikeno said that with your aesthetic sense, you really can't appreciate other works... Only this kind of song can have a certain impact—referring to a certain aspect.

In fact, Chi Ye himself was quite surprised to meet this person. Although his old leader had already given him a heads-up, he still didn't expect that if the news got out, he would really be sitting on the sidelines.

But as the middle-aged man said, what he did here was not important; what was important was to give Ikeno a strong and clear signal, as well as a "status".

Throughout Ikeno's career, he has almost never stopped questioning whether the path he has taken is correct. He has produced many excellent works, but from beginning to end, he has never truly gained "recognition".

That's why so many people dared to target him, and that's why Tencent and the Beijing entertainment circle treated him like clay, believing they had a chance to completely destroy him.

The reason is simple: they have never received this kind of signal.

Today is different. It's like water flowing into a channel, or many small things adding up to something great. There will always be a day when he achieves results. Everything he has now is not something that suddenly fell from the sky, but rather the result of the path he has walked before, a series of footprints left behind. Reaching this point means he has reached the most ideal state.

"Our domestic entertainment environment is somewhat unique."

The conversation between the middle-aged man and Ikeno was neither long nor short. At the end, he said thoughtfully, "Actually, being an entertainer is difficult, but it's even more difficult for us. But that's the reality. We also want to break through this, but that requires people like you... many people like you."

Chino was flattered: "Someone like me... I guess I'm the only one."

"Haha." After getting to know each other better, the middle-aged man didn't mind. After laughing, he looked at Chi Ye with a serious expression: "I didn't bring any special gifts or seals today, but I think it won't be long before you receive something... I also hope that you can live up to these things and live up to our conversation."

Chi Ye's expression turned slightly serious: "Definitely."

The middle-aged man pointed at him: "The Wandering Earth is key, you need to be ready."

"……clear."

Chi Ye watched the other person leave, and then realized that he was actually in a good mood. He wasn't sweating profusely or nervous as he had imagined. The main reason was that the middle-aged man really didn't have any ill intentions towards him; in fact, he had come to support him.

This support could be the deciding factor for a lifetime, highlighting the significance of this conversation. It is one of the few truly significant gains Chi Ye has made since officially announcing her relationship.

……

After leaving the office, Ikeno kept replaying his last words from his middle age: "The Wandering Earth" is the key…

Why is it crucial?

He didn't quite understand it at first, but now he vaguely grasps something.

Compared to "The Martian", "The Wandering Earth" has two main advantages. First, the filming locations are mostly set in the newly built film and television city in Qingdao.

This is not just a simple film and television city, but China's first industrial chain capable of producing and filming top-notch large-scale special effects movies. The completion of this film and television city indicates that the domestic entertainment industry is about to enter the era of blockbusters, but no one cares.

Yes, ordinary people care, so we need to make people "care".

Why should I care?

As one of the first major projects to use this film and television city, and a key science fiction film receiving support, "The Wandering Earth" is clearly an excellent publicity ambassador.

Another point is the plot. Although Ikeno did his best to translate "The Martian" into Chinese, it still carried some overseas culture to some extent, otherwise it wouldn't have been so popular overseas.

The script for "The Wandering Earth" is no secret at the top. It is clear that this is a Chinese science fiction work that is more in line with the national conditions and is even "authentic".

If "The Martian" allowed Ikeno to break free from international constraints and become a prominent figure in science fiction films, then "The Wandering Earth" will most likely have to shoulder the heavy responsibility of being a publicity officer.

This selection isn't really for external audiences—externally, there's already "The Martian," a towering peak that's hard to surpass. It's an internal form of publicity, a way to convey cultural confidence that all viewers can feel.

Having figured this out, Chi Ye wasn't really worried anymore, because this was how he had always been. He was finally at the end, and with a team that had already gone through "The Martian" and was becoming more and more mature, there was nothing to be afraid of.

"Teacher Chi, are you alright?"

Back at the venue, Jin Xia, who had been waiting for him, came over happily, and said in a rather forceful tone: "Don't be sad, that old man used to come to my house often. He's a descendant of my grandfather's comrade-in-arms. He's easy to deal with!"

Ikeno asked in surprise, "Is it still possible to handle this now?"

His words were realistic, and the old lady's face fell. After thinking for a while, she said, "Of course! Although my grandfather is gone, my maternal grandfather is very capable, it's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's just that I don't get along well with my grandpa's side, um... anyway, for your sake, I'm willing to make some sacrifices."

"No need, the talks went very well."

Ikeno smiled gently.

The old lady spoke hesitantly, but she already knew that Ms. Zeng's (Jin Xia's mother) family did have some influence, but it was far from the glory of the Jin family. It could only be said that the old lady was saying these words more to comfort herself.

Hmm...maybe she also wants to recapture that feeling from before. Maybe she'll feel disappointed. Before, she could help Ikeno with ease, but now she can only pretend to be amazing.

The domineering Empress Dowager can no longer be domineering, so of course she will be heartbroken.

Thinking of this, Chi Ye suddenly said to Jin Xia, whose face showed no emotion, "But I do need you, I can't live without you."

"Well?"

Looking back this summer, she blinked her big, confused eyes.

Chino thought she might be overthinking things; perhaps Jin Xia didn't think that way.

But he still said frankly, "The leader just said that if it weren't for your dad helping me, things would have been really bad this time."

This summer, she fluttered her long eyelashes a few times and suddenly said, "That's my dad too, not me."

Chiye: "?"

So, you want me to marry your dad?
"Humph."

Meanwhile, the old lady laughed, put her arm around Chi Ye, and said in a sweet voice, "Teacher Chi, don't worry, I know you can't live without me."

Ikeno: "Why?"

"Because you like so many things about me, and every time you do it, it's... embarrassing!"

(End of this chapter)