The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 378 We are sisters

“Yes, just give them the three documents on the far right of the second row of the cabinet on the left. We don’t need the rest for now. If they don’t understand them, they will naturally email or call me, and I will have them come over again. Then you can give them the rest.” Xu Jiuyang stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the night view outside, and made the call. “There are other considerations for not giving them all at once.”

After saying a few more words, he hung up the phone and then stretched comfortably.

As Angela said, she had things to take care of today, so he took a rare day off and stayed in the hotel without going anywhere. He also took the opportunity to ask Zhang Yan to clean up the mess of a few things over the phone.

Although Zhang Yan was his personal assistant, this time she was cooperating with Angela's operation. If he kept her by his side, who knows what Angela would do to him—at least that's how Xu Jiuyang saw it—so he left her at home.

Xu Jiuyang didn't have anything specific to do at the moment, and he had two literary assistants with Sister Yuanyuan, so he might as well make use of them and see if there were any books he could copy.

Ever since "Falling" was published in "Fiction Monthly," my father's tone on the phone has softened considerably. If there's a chance, of course, we should keep up the good work.

So he simply compiled the outline of "Li Xuelian's Accusation" and handed it over to Zhang Shuang and Zhao Shu to complete.

It's easy to find an excuse. With the masterpiece "The Story of Qiu Ju" as a precedent, it's perfectly normal to want to write a story about a rural woman filing a lawsuit, but with a different core theme, right?
What's more, he only created a simple outline that had almost no connection to the movie from his previous life. He let them fill in the gaps first, and then he corrected it little by little. That way, it would be his own work... Well, at least half of it was.

"So, should we let Fan Tongxue act in it this time too?" Xu Jiuyang thought with a mischievous grin, rubbing his chin.

Actually, the movie "I Am Not Madame Bovary" from the previous life had no problems in terms of concept and production. It wasn't the 90s then, and the theme of perseverance in "The Story of Qiu Ju" was already unoriginal, and audiences didn't like it.

In contrast, the kind of drama "Li Xuelian Accuses Herself" features a female protagonist who is clearly making a fuss, but officials at all levels have to deal with her in various ways because she went to the capital to file a complaint and had her picture taken in front of a big shot. This leads to her making a fool of herself, which actually makes the audience smile.

Moreover, this subject matter offends no one. For ordinary viewers, seeing bureaucrats suffer setbacks, misfortunes, or even moments of joy in life is something that bureaucrats, especially grassroots civil servants, have mostly encountered a few oddballs, so they can't help but empathize with the characters in the movie.

Furthermore, the changes in the square and round lenses are also full of symbolism, further expressing the theme visually. It has to be said that Feng Xiaogang has a knack for this.

However, the final box office was only 4 million yuan. That was 16, when the box office record had been pushed to 30 billion yuan, and the following year it was pushed to 50 billion yuan by "Wolf Warrior 2". A mere 4 million yuan in box office revenue could not even make it into the top 20.

As for the reason, it's very simple. Just look at the movie title. It should have been an ensemble piece, but in order to highlight Fan Bingbing and generate more hype, they forcibly inserted a scene where she was falsely accused of being Pan Jinlian. As a result, when the female lead finally said that she was just faking her divorce and was being unreasonable, the audience basically didn't buy it.

In addition, Fan Bingbing was already a well-known "carpet star" at the time, and she had gone too far down the path of becoming famous through controversy. No matter how good her acting skills were, they couldn't overcome the first impression and the unfriendly changes in the camera angles. Even though the jokes were very similar, they still drove away a considerable number of viewers.

That's right, while the change in the circular lens was a good idea, it was used at the wrong time.

If you want to build a reputation and win an award, doing this is fine, but doing it for commercial purposes is foolish. Raising the viewing threshold for "The Wandering Earth 2" was a last resort, but for "I Am Not Madame Bovary," doing this is suicidal.

"Well, let's get the novel out first. Movies and such are too far off." Xu Jiuyang shook his head, banishing those thoughts from his mind.

Moreover, it's still uncertain whether Fan, in this lifetime, would even consider this subject matter.

Just then, the doorbell rang. He went over and looked through the peephole, and immediately showed a surprised expression.

After thinking for a few seconds, Xu Jiuyang opened the door, and Yini outside waved the champagne bottle in her hand with a smile: "Hi, can you have a couple of drinks with me?"

"Is there something you need, Ini?" He didn't move aside.

“Of course, I’d like to discuss that topic from dinner tonight further,” Ini nodded. Xu Jiuyang thought for a moment, then let her in.

I barely left the hotel today, except for a stroll around in the evening. I was planning to have something to eat at the hotel restaurant when I ran into Ini, who was returning from shopping with her maid, Sho. Ini immediately invited me to have dinner with her.

Having dined with Angela a few times before, Xu Jiuyang didn't refuse.

When eating, chatting is inevitable. As they chatted, the conversation turned to Angela, and he heard a completely different version of Angela from Ini.

In Xu Jiuyang's mind, this Kansas-born American woman, who could be considered an expert on the mainland, always planned carefully before acting, as if everything was under her control. Only when you finally got what you wanted after haggling did you realize, upon reflection, that she had set a price that was right on your bottom line, as cunning as an old fox.

So, who is that kind, warm-hearted, and genuine woman that Inee was talking about, who is she?

“To be honest, I really didn’t expect her to choose you as her boyfriend,” Enni said, her face flushed after a few glasses of champagne, her tongue slightly slurred. “In America, many men pursued her, but she never gave them a second glance. I never expected… I never expected her to come here…”

"Who knows? Maybe it's fate." Xu Jiuyang shrugged and briefly explained the meaning of "fate."

"Wait, what is this...?" He opened his eyes wide, somewhat incredulous.

"Do you think I'd believe that?" Ini asked, her eyes narrowing and her smile becoming alluring, even carrying a certain air of mystery.

"If you do that..."

“Everyone who has dealt with her in the US knows what kind of people she’s interested in,” Yi laughed. “Don’t tell me you don’t know about her relationship with her personal secretary.”

"Of course I know that..." Xu Jiuyang gritted his teeth, "Could you take your hand away?"

“Of course,” Inee withdrew her hand, but plopped down in his lap. “If news of your affair gets back to America, can you imagine how surprised those who know the inside story will be?”

She pressed her hand against his chest, her whole body pressed against him, her eyes filled with a dreamy look: "Tell me, Chinese man, how did you conquer her?"

"You're so smart, how could you not have thought of that?" Xu Jiuyang said irritably.

"So, you admit you're amazing?" Ini began to get excited, and the hand on his chest moved down again.

"What do you want to do?" Xu Jiuyang was increasingly displeased. "You and Anji are sisters."

“Of course, we’re sisters. She often shares things with me, so…” “Let me experience your prowess, you Chinese man.”

Xu Jiuyang took a deep breath: "Shouldn't you show some sincerity first?"

"Oh, of course..." she smiled smugly and slid down his body.

(End of this chapter)