I'm not a drama freak, I can really see through the script

Chapter 371, "Hidden in the Dust" vs. Beijing Art Film Circle

At this time, "Hidden in the Dust" was also causing a stir in public opinion.
Li Xuan stayed at home watching the online discussions.

The publicity campaign hasn't even fully taken off yet, and it's already getting so much attention.

Now, I'm a director who naturally attracts attention.
There was positive public opinion, but also negative public opinion, and the negative public opinion was actually brought about by Liu Yifei.

These negative news reports and comments were quite unpleasant.

"The Forbidden Kingdom" was criticized for being emotionally flat, lacking any sense of immersion, and feeling stiff. As a film, it was completely unworthy of praise.

It can only be said that she did manage to leverage her advantages of fair skin, good looks, and good temperament, but her acting skills were truly lacking.

Then it turned to "Hidden in the Dust".

You can't even act well in commercial films, and you want to act in art films?
It's important to understand that art films rely heavily on the actors' performances to convey meaning.
Many of the emotions within are like those in a stage play, relying on acting skills to express the thoughts and feelings within.

Therefore, an actor's acting skills are extremely important.

Li Xuan's acting skills are undoubtedly good, but with another character dragging him down, many things become different.

Let's 'average' the acting skills.

That would be a huge drag on the team.

Looking at the online public opinion, it seems that people aren't really doing well for their work.

"The release of 'Cow' and 'Springtime' is so much earlier than expected!" Huang Bo, who was standing next to Li Xuan, said with great interest, "I'm the lead actor in 'Cow' this time."

An art-house film directed by Guan Hu, starring Huang Bo.
At this moment, he and Ning Hao came together to find Li Xuan.

Ning Hao has always been a staunch supporter of Li Xuan. Although he rarely comes back, he is never hesitant to ask Li Xuan for resources—and he is equally uncompromising when it comes to making movies.

Huang Bo and I are now more like friends.

The entanglement of interests.

But there are far fewer of them.

The friendship remains, but the company is gone.

Li Xuan could understand, comprehend, and respect Huang Bo's words—even though Huang Bo had personally apologized.

Li Xuan also expressed his understanding.

Two tigers cannot share one mountain. Unlike Luo Jin and Zhu Yawen, Huang Bo has his own pursuits, his pursuits as an actor.

As a classmate in the acting department back then
A truly talented and accomplished actor.

Huang Bo possesses talent and ability. His once unremarkable appearance has now become an asset.

A face that's easier to 'discard'.

This is of absolute help in winning awards.
His acting skills have even reached a point where he is qualified to be an emperor.
Among the younger generation, in terms of pure acting skills, he is the only one who has made progress at such a rapid pace and is worthy of winning the Best Actor award.

That's why Li Xuan could understand why they parted ways back then.

It's a better choice for both of them.

They are both rivals and friends.
"I'm so lucky. I've never had a real chance to face you before. This time, I've finally gotten lucky."

“I’m also very happy. I originally felt that this time, my film ‘Cow’ was a one-man show against another one-man show, but now, with this adjustment to the release date, I don’t have to compete against you two years later when it comes to the Best Actor award. Instead, I can compete against you, my friend, earlier, just like now.”

“I’m also glad that we agree on this point,” Li Xuan said with a smile.

"However, those people in the Beijing literary circle don't have any good intentions. Seeing that you've put up works of 'scar literature,' they swarmed in and directly targeted you, trying to distract you and suppress your achievements."

Huang Bo paused for a moment and then said, "It can also be seen as them asserting their sovereignty in territory they are familiar with."

"I see it."

Li Xuan could easily see what these people in the Beijing circle were thinking.

Literary adaptation has always been their exclusive domain.

Especially in the area of ​​'scar literature', works with a strong sense of the 1980s have always been their comfort zone, winning awards and box office success are their strongest and most proficient skills.

Meanwhile, the literary bigwigs in Beijing's literary circles have been immersed in this field for nearly thirty years.
When a 'challenger' appears.

When the challenger is someone who has already lost face in the first round with "Nanjing! Nanjing".

So this kind of stress response is not surprising.

"So, my friend, I think I've roughly understood what you're saying. What do you think I should do now?"

"Let's reschedule."

Huang Bo frankly said, "As a friend, I really hope to be in the same time slot as you. It would be my good fortune. But this time, your film 'Hidden in the Dust' has a lot of negative publicity. They can't attack you directly, but they might target Liu Yifei or Yu Hua."

"You should be feeling the influence of public opinion now. 'The Forbidden Kingdom' was simply riding the wave of public opinion, and Yu Hua has been criticized for only being able to make 'To Live.' Even if you make another version of 'To Live,' it will be difficult to surpass it."

Huang Bo is also conflicted.

They hope that Li Xuan will compete against them here.

But rationally speaking, as a friend, I still hope that Li Xuan can adjust his schedule. The public opinion surrounding this time of year is indeed not good, especially with Liu Yifei dragging him down.

Moreover, Huang Bo paused for a moment.

"To be honest, I think this competition is very unfair. Your choice of Liu Yifei was really a drag on the team. Under these circumstances, the acting skills are really not on par."

"Although bullfighting is a one-man show, in reality, my acting skills alone are probably stronger than your complementary performance."

Two strong elements complement each other.

However, when one element is weak and the other is strong, especially in art films that heavily emphasize acting, the resulting weak performance can weaken the overall impact.
Because the stronger one must adapt to the weaker one.

Huang Bo watched Liu Yifei's acting in "The Forbidden Kingdom" and said that whether it was due to the director or the script, her performance was very flat throughout. As a leading actress on the big screen, this kind of performance is unacceptable.

Now, firstly, it's on the big screen, and secondly, this work is an art film.
Artistic works still rely heavily on acting skills.

Forget about the script, the actors, and the public opinion.

Huang Bo felt that even if he won, it would be an unfair victory; under such circumstances, winning would be a loss in itself.
Li Xuan stroked his chin.
I sensed that Huang Bo was trying to 'help' me persuade myself.

You could also sense his good intentions.
"No need."

"Hello, Mr. Zhang, this is Liu Lili."

"Hello, Mr. Li."

"Hello, Mr. Wang."

“Lily, I know what you want to say, but the big picture is more important. Compared to Yifei, other parts of ‘The Forbidden Kingdom’ are too sensitive and involve too many interests.”

"I see."

Liu Lili hung up the phone in silence, her implication clear: it was a "good deal" for Jingquan Capital Group to negotiate with Hongxingwu to use Liu Yifei as a shield against public opinion at this time.

The cost is minimal.

At the very least, his own daughter would be the 'price' to pay. He made numerous phone calls, but to no avail.

The public opinion surrounding "The Forbidden Kingdom" has had a very negative impact on my daughter.

If my daughter has had a smooth and successful journey to where she is today, then that smooth sailing has vanished completely.
All the advantages, background, and everything I once thought I had have vanished.

"Daughter, you could actually rest."

"Mom, stop talking, I won't agree to that." Liu Yifei took a deep breath and said, "I won't retire from acting."

Liu Lili remained silent.

Actually, she felt that her daughter needed rest more.
Because of her smooth-sailing life, she will feel what the wickedness of the world is, including in the upcoming film "Hidden in the Dust".

To be honest, Liu Lili felt that when her daughter was approached to direct this film, it wasn't without the element of leveraging her popularity.

A Sino-US co-production, The King of Kung Fu, and a new generation of rising stars.

These labels, when applied to any work, can generate genuine buzz.

Use this popularity to increase your influence.

But now, when that influence turns negative, when that influence becomes a negative force that is despised by others.

At this point, Liu Lili felt that Li Xuan's most rational action would be to change the file.
Absolutely, it's definitely a schedule adjustment.
To avoid the negative impact of the daughter being "unworthy of her position".

It's to avoid the impact of negative public opinion surrounding the female lead.

Frankly speaking, as time went by, Liu Lili also felt that Li Xuan was a young man with absolutely a bright future.

Looking at it now, Liu Lili can't deny, and won't deny, his talent and ability.

Li Xuan's presence can no longer be ignored in the entire Beijing social circle.
No, saying it cannot be ignored is also biased.

Even a direct confrontation, in the absolute sense, a direct confrontation.

In this situation, avoiding this disadvantage is the best choice in the absolute sense. Rationally speaking, even if it were Liu Lili in this situation, she would also use this most intelligent way to avoid the disadvantage.

Perhaps, this approach is harmful to the daughter.
But all we can do is let our daughter accept it. It's just something we can't help.

Here, Liu Lili sighed softly. These busy tones, even the biggest background figure, Wang Jingfei, responded with only one thing: "Bear with it. A small act of impatience can ruin a big plan. Once the storm passes, my goddaughter will still be that celestial fairy."

She's still the same Liu Tianxian.

"I was wrong before."

“I always thought that with my background and resources, I could ensure my daughter's survival in this industry, but now everything is telling me that it won't work.”

If it's purely based on the accumulation of background and resources...
The result is now.

"It's Mom's fault."

"How could it be Mom's fault? If I had performed well, no one would have harmed me in the public eye. It's precisely because I didn't perform well that this kind of public criticism has fallen on my head."

Liu Yifei, on the contrary, has a very open-minded view on this matter.

"It's okay, my schedule should be normal this time."

Liu Lili shook her head.

Ultimately, they were just too young.

She could understand Li Xuan to some extent; they shared some similarities.
A person who will stop at nothing to succeed.

My choice is to climb the ladder of power and resources. But ultimately, the goal and the result are the same.
Li Xuan, however, chose to refine his 'purity'.

These were originally two different paths, but now that things have come to this point, it seems that Li Xuan's choice has a higher degree of purity in terms of achieving and completing the goal.

It has become so pure.

It has come to this point.

Therefore, 'resonance' lets Liu Lili know that Li Xuan, who will stop at nothing to reach the top, will make the wisest choice here, which is to adjust the schedule and even hide the photo of his daughter on the poster.

To minimize her 'negative' impact.

She didn't want to disappoint her daughter—who didn't seem to think that Li Xuan would do something like adjusting his schedule.

On the second day.

The promotional posters featuring Liu Yifei and Li Xuan continue as usual.

The release date remains the same.

Everything is as usual.

They even intensified their promotional efforts—the poetic phrase, "Rose cannot bloom in the desert of Northwest China," adorned promotional posters that seemed to be full of 'suffering'.

The information is something you can know at first glance.

It has a very pure feel of "scar literature." The very essence of it is the feeling of being scarred.

The fact that Yu Hua had a strong resemblance to her father didn't surprise Liu Lili; what surprised her was that nothing about her daughter had changed.

Even when she was in the spotlight and causing negative public opinion, she was still in the center position.

She is Li Xuan's 'female lead', and that remains unchanged.
This choice shocked Liu Lili.

Very shocking.

I think I know this young man a little bit.

But he made a choice that was completely different from her intention.
A choice to 'protect' Liu Yifei!

"I'll just say it."

Liu Yifei's face was squinted with a smile. The gloom that had previously made her less inclined to smile because of this incident, and that she no longer ate her favorite desserts, was no longer present.

Much of it dissipated, and instead, it transformed into a feeling and expression of 'happiness'.
A joyful expression, as bright as a little sun.

It had been so long since I'd seen my daughter, and I felt this heartfelt joy and happiness.

That daughter who exudes the scent of sunflowers
It's been a long time since I've seen it.

Indeed, when even she, as a mother, was powerless to reverse public opinion and unable to help her, and when all the 'capital' and circles around her who had previously made such promises were running away, only Li Xuan chose to face the challenge head-on.

Only Li Xuan here chose Liu Yifei.

A choice made purely without regard to self-interest.

At least, that's what Liu Lili thinks.

"daughter."

"Ok?"

"You could consider switching to a different circle."

(End of this chapter)