The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 429 Apologize?

"I've come to apologize." Angela, dressed in a black backless mini-dress, swirled the champagne in her hand.

"An apology?" Xu Jiuyang raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it a bit much?"

“Absolutely,” Angela shrugged. “If you make a mistake, admit it; if you get punished, stand up straight.”

"You're spouting rhymes all the time, are you planning to take the postgraduate entrance exam?" Xu Jiuyang rolled his eyes. "Besides, this 180-degree turn of events is a bit too fast, isn't it?"

"A true man knows when to yield and when to stand firm," Angela continued, shrugging.

“A great man is a man,” Xu Jiuyang retorted.

“Then let’s have a female husband.” Angela said indifferently.

Seeing her determined attitude, Xu Jiuyang stepped aside to make way for her.

After all, she's the kind of person who won't give up until she gets what she wants. Even if she's rejected now, she'll find a way to come back.

Once they reached the suite's small living room, Xu Jiuyang looked at Angela again, a half-smile on his face, and asked, "So, dear Ms. Lindwo, how do you plan to apologize?"

“I’ve already had the distribution plan for World of Warcraft prepared. Once it’s launched in the US, we can start negotiations. You could launch and begin public testing in mainland China as early as February.” Angela smiled and poured him a glass of champagne.

"Sounds good." Xu Jiuyang neither agreed nor disagreed, but accepted the champagne she poured.

“I apologize, Yang, for your unhappiness,” Angela said earnestly after taking a small sip, “but I also hope you can understand that I often have to appear strong.”

"So I should consider your feelings." Xu Jiuyang chuckled.

“No, no, no, what you think is your freedom, I have no right to interfere,” Angela shook her head. “I just want to tell you what might happen to me. If necessary, you can point it out directly like today, without worrying about my pride.”

"That's a good tactic of retreating to advance," Xu Jiuyang said, giving a thumbs up.

“As long as it works,” Angela shook her head indifferently. “But I’m serious. If something like this happens again, just confront me directly.”

“Yes, those officials and common people who can point out my faults will be rewarded handsomely,” Xu Jiuyang immediately added.

“I guess so, anyway…” Angela sighed and downed her champagne in one gulp, “I can’t do anything about you.”

"Why do I feel like I've become the villain?" Xu Jiuyang said, half-jokingly and half-surprised.

Angela didn't say anything more, she just stared at him.

"Alright, alright, I don't need your apology. Just don't bring these things up in serious matters in the future. How can we bring up private matters in the open?" Xu Jiuyang made up an excuse.

He paused, then asked, "Is there anything else?"

“I’m a little curious,” Angela finally spoke, “why do you hate…Lu Chuan so much?”

To everyone's surprise, Xu Jiuyang spread his hands: "I don't hate them, they're just perfect for making an example of—and it was you who started this."

"Oh?" Angela narrowed her eyes.

“You’ve come to China to invest in cultural and entertainment products, and the results have been quite good. Naturally, capital from other countries is following suit. Isn’t that why Japanese capital has its eye on Lu Chuan and the people behind him?” Xu Jiuyang said.

This is a classic case of turning the tables, but who knows that even without her meddling, Lu Taro would still gravitate towards Japanese capital?

Furthermore, since this could confuse someone's purpose and could be considered a mere excuse, we could only have to make do with her.

“Looks like you’re really full.” Angela looked thoughtful, then quickly explained, “You said that before, I was just repeating it.” Xu Jiuyang couldn’t help but laugh and pinched her cheek. “Don’t worry, I know. I’m definitely full, so there’s probably no next time. So this time I have to do a good job.”

“As long as they cooperate, there will be no problem.” Angela’s tone was very confident.

“Very good, but Angie, you have to leave,” Xu Jiuyang reminded him.

“Why? I haven’t apologized yet,” Angela said with a smile.

"I already said..." Xu Jiuyang realized what was happening before he could finish speaking, and stared in astonishment at the woman in front of him.

"I've wanted to test her out for a long time," Angela said without any attempt to hide her feelings.

Just then, the doorbell rang. She immediately got up and hid in the bathroom, mouthing to him, "You decide."

Xu Jiuyang licked his lips.
-
With the closing of the Cannes Film Festival, the crew of "Falling" returned to China, where the domestic media had already begun to rave about the film.

While money certainly plays a role, another reason is that a Chinese male actor won the Cannes Best Actor award again.

It's worth noting that the last time a mainland Chinese filmmaker received this award was ten years ago, and that was Ge You.

Although some people in the mainland film and television industry are very eager to curry favor with Hong Kong and Taiwan, many others are resentful. The "Little White Dragon" incident happened in the autumn of 04. His reputation was already mediocre, yet he attracted so much support, which shows how deep the conflict was between many people in the Hong Kong and Taiwan film and television industry and many people in the mainland film and television industry at that time.

Originally, mainland China could still gain an edge by winning awards, but since Wong Kar-wai and Tony Leung won Best Director and Best Actor at Cannes in 97 and 00 respectively, that advantage has disappeared.

If you try to bring up Ge You's seniority, he'll just say, "Our Tony Leung is handsome and a great actor, what right does your bald-faced guy have to compare?"

Add to that the sixth generation of directors, who only focus on lowbrow and small-town themes, raking in consolation prizes every day. Compared to the previous generation, they are getting worse and worse, which is really infuriating.

Now, another mainland Chinese actor has won the Cannes Film Festival award. He is not only surprisingly young, but he is also likely to be the youngest Best Actor winner at Cannes. His good looks are in no way inferior to those of Tony Leung.

Most importantly, the entire film was made without a single Hong Kong or Taiwanese filmmaker; it was entirely produced by a mainland Chinese team, and the quality of the finished product was exceptionally high—this is evidenced by both reprinted news from French media and reports from journalists who went to Cannes.

Immediately, mainland filmmakers felt a sense of pride and vindication. Many actors, when interviewed and asked about it, said that this was a major boon for the mainland film industry.

"It's still early," Fan Bingbing muttered as she browsed the web.

Regarding what might happen in the second half of the year, although she had sent Yang Xue to the film crew, she did not intend to interfere too much, unless someone dared to bully Yang Xue.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that someone really liked Yang Xue's portrayal of Jiang Yuyan, she wouldn't have wanted to have anything to do with that lousy production crew at all.

That matter has already blown up quite a bit; there's no need to add fuel to the fire. Going too far would only make things worse. Some things aren't formed overnight, nor can they be changed overnight.

After "The Little Fish and the Flower Without Flaws," there was also "Special Identity," which caused a huge uproar, drawing attention and prompting people to take sides regardless of the facts.

However, "Red Cliff" has already been hijacked, and there will definitely be more blows to come. Once cinematographer Chan's masterpiece is exposed, the Hong Kong film industry will only deteriorate even faster.

Thinking of this, Little Fan couldn't help but hum, which made Qin Lan, who had found and organized the report and was about to report, look strange and hesitate whether she should speak.

Fortunately, Fan Bingbing quickly recovered, coughed lightly to cover up her embarrassment, stood up, and walked over to her: "How is it?"

“There are two sets of data that don’t match up right now…” Qin Lan immediately flipped to the problematic section and pointed it out to her.

After a discussion, the two of them stood extremely close together, almost touching.

(End of this chapter)