This actor has something

Chapter 386 Friendship Turns sour
He Daqi has been quite troubled lately.

Actually, Zhang Yimou had a personal reason for directing Painted Skin. He thought that Zhang Yimou would have to pay attention to both the Olympics and Painted Skin at the same time, so the preparation for Painted Skin would not be very fast.

It's also his fault for not having worked with Zhang Yimou before, and for not even having thoroughly investigated Zhang Yimou's style.

Now the question arises: He Daqi suddenly realized that Zhang Yimou was a nuclear-powered bull and horse. He really didn't know where this old man, who was almost sixty years old, got so much energy every day.

They haven't let go of the Olympics, and they're keeping the Painted Skin incident in mind just as much.

The key issue is that Zhang Yimou is quite stubborn. He insists on getting to the bottom of things and loves to scrutinize details, which has caused He Daqi, who has always treated screenwriting as a mere formality, to suffer.

Zhang Yimou now calls him three times a day, each call lasting no less than half an hour, forcing He Daqi to tell the story of Painted Skin over and over again, to the point that he feels he has brought out the entire original film library.

But Lao Zhang is still like a walking encyclopedia of questions, always asking He Daqi unexpected questions. He Daqi is just someone who copies homework; what does he know about screenwriting? How could he know what the original director and screenwriter were thinking?

After all that effort, He Daqi now feels that his irregular sleep has been somewhat cured. Every night at nine o'clock, he turns off his phone, lies down on the bed, and goes into the film library to study the original film of Painted Skin, so that he won't be at a loss for words when Zhang Yimou asks him again.

It can be said that it has met its natural enemy, which is quite like the saying that the lazy person is the perfect nemesis.

Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, it was already mid-April.

Today, the organizing committee announced on its official website that it has begun selling 50% of the opening and closing ceremony tickets, as well as tickets for other sporting events within China.

With Lao Zhang acting as an inside man, He Daqi already knew the news and was currently sitting in front of his computer, ready to grab tickets.

Clearly, he had lost his mind, forgotten what internet speeds are like these days, or overestimated the resilience of the organizing committee's official website.

When the time was up, He Daqi clicked refresh, and the website went blank, then became inaccessible.

It seems there are quite a few people like him who know inside information.

"Did you manage to get one? Did you manage to get one?"

The two little ones, like two lucky charms, stood guard on either side of He Daqi. Seeing He Daqi standing there in a daze, they began to ask him questions in their childish voices.

Because He Daqi had said early this morning that he was going to try to buy tickets, and he looked very serious, the two little ones had been holding their breath and concentrating, afraid of disturbing He Daqi's performance.

They didn't understand why they were trying to buy tickets, but seeing how serious their father was, they knew it must be something very important.

"I got them." He Daqi nodded seriously, then hugged the two children to his side, pinched their little cheeks with a smile, and said, "You two are really Daddy's lucky stars."

"Dad, what can we do if we manage to get a ticket?" the son asked curiously.

"If we manage to get tickets, Dad can take your family to the Olympics next year."

"That's great!" The little girl jumped up and down upon hearing this, excitedly grabbing He Daqi's hand and asking, "Then, Mom, will you be going?"

"Go, everyone go, great-grandfather and great-grandmother go too."

"Wow, awesome!"

The two little ones were so happy, thanks to He Daqi's sweet talk, that they were overjoyed, just like they had won a game. Although they didn't understand what the Olympics were all about, it didn't stop them from being happy.

Zhou Huimin covered her mouth and laughed beside them, watching the three of them having a good time.

He Daqi played with the children for a while, then turned to Zhou Huimin and waved: "You take them to play for a while, I have to go out and make a phone call."

"Discussing filming with Zhang Yimou again? Why is he so long-winded when making a movie?"

"Don't talk nonsense, he was serious." He Daqi offered a half-hearted defense, then took his phone and left.

Zhou Huimin was wrong. He Daqi didn't call Zhang Yimou this time. Usually, it was Lao Zhang who called him. Why would He Daqi go looking for trouble and take the initiative to contact Zhang Yimou?

"Hey, Shuangxi."

"Mr. He, are you going out? I'll make the arrangements right away."

"No, no, I want to talk to you. Look, your brother is a CEO now, and Yan Jiu will probably become a CEO after he comes back from South Korea. You're with me every day, haven't you thought about planning for the future?"

Chen Shuangxi was stunned and couldn't understand why He Daqi was acting so strangely today. He followed He Daqi every day, so how could he not know what kind of temper He Daqi had? This sudden concern left Chen Shuangxi somewhat bewildered.

"Mr. He, is there something you want me to do?"

"Ahem, well, this is what I'm thinking. I'm planning to put you in the position of personal assistant to give you some experience. You should have seen how Yan Jiu works before, right? You're not usually very talkative, so this is a good opportunity for you to talk more and gain experience for future transfers to other positions."

Chen Shuangxi felt a slight itch on his scalp, and his smooth brain began to wrinkle. He really wanted to yell at He Daqi to speak properly.

After a long silence, Chen Shuangxi finally repeated her question in a dry voice: "He Sheng, is there something you want me to do?"

"I do have something very important to ask you for help. Go and buy me some Olympic season tickets, including the opening and closing ceremonies and some popular events. Don't bother trying to buy them online if you can't get them. There are three convenient ways to buy them now: queuing up at the venue, selling them at bank branches, and making a reservation by phone. However, I estimate that making a reservation by phone is also unlikely, so the first two are more reliable." He Daqi said cheerfully.

Chen Shuangxi breathed a sigh of relief. This was nothing? He thought He Daqi had given him some troublesome task, and then arranged for him to run away to Southeast Asia after he finished.

"Don't worry, He Sheng, I will definitely get you a ticket!" Chen Shuangxi promised confidently, sounding very certain.

He Daqi chuckled and said "Good luck" before hanging up.

Since Shuangxi is so confident, she must have decided to queue up for tickets at midnight, so I don't need to give her any more instructions.

What? You're saying Chen Shuangxi might not know the rules about queuing and grabbing tickets in Beijing? No problem! He can learn! If one day isn't enough, try two; if two days aren't enough, try a month. There's still plenty of time; he'll eventually manage to get a ticket.

Compared to the later matter of being He Daqi's personal assistant and answering phone calls, grabbing tickets was a minor issue.

……

……

The press conference announcing the launch of the Painted Skin project is finally about to take place.

The project was kept secret. At first, rumors started coming from Hong Kong, then it was said that Ho Tai-kai was going to film it, and then there was no further news.

Reporters had only vaguely heard that Zhou Xun was one of the two female leads, and there were other rumors about her as well.

The sudden announcement of the press conference caught all the entertainment reporters off guard. Fortunately, it was announced three days in advance, so even if they really wanted to attend, they had enough time to travel from other cities to Beijing.

The press conference wasn't starting for another half hour, and the main cast and crew were already waiting at the hotel.

"Da Qi, didn't you say you were going to give me a leading role? How come I've become a supporting character? Is it because I brought someone else along that you cut my scenes?"

"Get lost! I meant you'd be the lead in the second part of 'After My Flowers Bloom, All Others Wither,' not 'Painted Skin.'" He Daqi crossed his legs, nonchalantly ignoring Deng Chao.

"Okay, then tell me in detail about the second part of 'When My Flowers Bloom, All Other Flowers Wither,' what kind of scenes I have?"

"You're still playing Ding Xiu, but this time you have a love story. You have a crush on your master, Ding Baiying, but he dies later, so you start wandering the world." Deng Chao lightly punched He Daqi and asked, "Can't you be a little more specific?"

"The script isn't even out yet, how much detail can I go into?" He Daqi shrugged.

Lu Yang is still polishing the script. He Daqi has only given him an outline, and he expects Lu Yang to fill in the rest of the details. Anyway, this is originally Lu Yang's movie, so it's no problem for him to put in more effort and finish the script a few years in advance. As for whether it is the same as the original work, He Daqi doesn't care.

"Then... who will play Ding Baiying?" Deng Chao asked somewhat embarrassedly, his meaning quite clear: he wanted to recommend someone.

"What do you think?" He Daqi looked at him with a half-smile.

"Hehe, you know what I mean."

"I understand? Oh, I understand! You're happy at Huayi now, so you must want one of Huayi's actresses to come, right? Fan Bingbing or Li Bingbing?"

"Tsk! It's no fun pretending to be confused! I mean..." Deng Chao turned his head and winked at Sun Li, then said to He Daqi, "Her!"

"Hey, aren't we buddies? Why are you suddenly so concerned? You came to Painted Skin and brought him along, and now you're the lead in 'After My Flowers Bloom, All Flowers Kill' 2 and you still want to bring him along? Has our friendship soured?"

"Just say it's okay!"

"Okay, whatever you say, how can it not be allowed?"

The two whispered to each other in a corner of the lounge, while the others sat in the middle of the lounge sizing each other up.

The door was pushed open, and Zhou Huimin walked in. She saw He Daqi and Deng Chao standing in the corner, and she raised an eyebrow.

He Daqi got up and patted Deng Chao on the shoulder, then fawned over and moved two more chairs. After Zhou Huimin sat down, he sat next to her, and the couple whispered to each other.

Deng Chao smacked his lips, moved a chair over to Sun Li's side, and started chatting.

A moment later, Zhang Yimou pushed open the door and came in.

Apart from He Daqi, Zhou Huimin, and Zhou Xun, who were already aware of the situation from the beginning, everyone else stood up in surprise.

Zhang Yimou didn't attend the casting process; he only recommended a few supporting actors. Besides the three main characters at the beginning, there was Pang Yong, played by Deng Chao, and Xia Bing, played by Sun Li. The others were chosen by Wong Jinghua.

So when they saw Zhang Yimou appear, these people were quite confused.

"Let's go, it's time."

Zhang Yimou was expressionless, revealing no emotion. Before anyone else could greet him, he gave a curt reply and turned to leave.

He Daqi and Zhou Huimin got up and followed, followed by Zhou Xun.

Deng Chao was full of questions and didn't have time to catch up with He Daqi to ask, so he could only pull Sun Li along.

The other supporting actors exchanged glances and followed silently behind.

Even they didn't know that the director was Zhang Yimou, let alone the reporters.

So when Zhang Yimou led the way and pushed open the door to the hall, the scene erupted in uproar.

A group of reporters stared wide-eyed at Zhang Yimou, who was leading the group. Whether they were reporters from Yabo.com or other media outlets, their minds were all a bit blank at this moment.

The reporters, especially those from Yabo.com, are now staring at each other in disbelief. Just a few months ago, they were giving Zhang Yimou a good dressing down, but now he's become one of their own.

This world is truly strange...

"Hello everyone from the media, I am Zhang Yimou, the chief director of Painted Skin."

"Hello everyone, I am Lu Yang, the assistant director."

"...Actor He Daqi plays Wang Sheng."

"...Zhou Huimin plays Pei Rong."

"...Zhou Xun plays Xiao Wei."

"...Deng Chao..."

“…Sun Li…”

"..."

After the introduction, the reporters below were practically going crazy with curiosity.

After finally getting to the Q&A session, someone immediately stood up with a microphone and asked, "Director Zhang, what prompted you to collaborate with Daqi?"

Because Zhang Weiping is an idiot...

Zhang Yimou muttered to himself, forced a smile, and began to blatantly lie: "I've always admired Daqi, and this cooperation is a mutual one..."

They kept going in circles, but the final meaning was that both sides appreciated each other and hit it off immediately.

"Daqi, is it really as Director Zhang said?"

"Yes, I have always had great respect for Director Zhang..."

The reporters below were all wondering: Good grief, are you guys so passionate about your affair, have you even considered other people's feelings? Weren't you two fighting back and forth just a few months ago?
No one can answer this question. Even if you ask it, He Daqi won't care. Why would he care about other people's feelings?
This press conference had so many surprises that the reporters were a little unsure where to begin their questions.

Should Zhou Xun ask how she was chosen as the female lead?
Should Vivian Chow ask? Why, after keeping a low profile for several years, has she suddenly decided to act again?

Of course, there are more topics surrounding He Daqi and Zhang Yimou; this combination was something no one expected.

So the press conference lasted for nearly three hours, until 1 p.m., and no one felt hungry; they were all clamoring to ask questions.

Everyone knows that this incident will definitely cause a huge uproar today, both in real life and online.

At 2 p.m., after repeated persuasion, a group of reporters, who were as excited as if they had been injected with stimulants, finally agreed to end the press conference.

As they walked out, the group of actors still felt like they were living in a dream.

When everyone first learned that He Daqi was the male lead, they all thought he was on a G-Wagon convoy, but as they drove along the road, the convoy ended up on an aircraft carrier at the dock.

"Daqi, aren't you making a fantasy movie? Why did you invite Zhang Yimou? Are you trying to challenge the award rules in China and win Best Actor with a fantasy film?" Deng Chao put his arm around He Daqi's shoulder and asked in a low voice with an incredulous look.

"What? Am I not worthy to cooperate with Zhang Yimou?"

"That's not what I meant. I meant, tsk... isn't anyone going to do anything about this? You two together are just cheating, aren't you?"

(End of this chapter)