The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 444 The drama begins

Xu Jiuyang knew Li Hong quite well; after all, with that thief Yuan constantly venting his twisted feelings for her online, it was hard not to notice him.

So he knew that she dropped out of junior high school and had to work in various places to earn money, and that she was almost forced into an arranged marriage by her family.

Afterwards, she threatened to commit suicide by drinking pesticide to force her family to give in. She then went to the families who had already held banquets and tried to persuade them to agree to her plan to work to pay off her debts. In the end, she not only paid off her debts but also got into the Jilin Provincial Education College. She then moved from the county TV station to the provincial TV station and then to CCTV.

Although she entered CCTV based on her abilities and the massive recruitment drive, her journey was not smooth sailing. In the international channel, cross-strait programs had the lowest viewership, yet she remained in that hosting position for over a decade.

Is it a lack of professional competence? Obviously not. Considering the rumors circulating about her, it's worth investigating further.

As for the allegations made by Yuan, the notorious thief, that she was forced to drink by Xu Cai Nu at a dinner party to the point of unconsciousness while trying to find a suitable job for her brother, a photographer, we won't even mention those.

In short, if you had to pick the most suitable female host from CCTV to be your wife, Li Hong would be the one.

For some reason, she quit her job at Jilin Provincial Television before the millennium and went to Hong Kong with her sister Xiaoli.

Xiaoli's explanation was that Liu Fangfei and Li Hong had both been inadvertently involved in a major corruption case at the time, and chose to resign in order to protect themselves. She herself was in Northeast China at the time, looking to invest in some businesses, and was very worried after hearing the news, so she gave up the idea of ​​investing and just wanted to find a few suitable people to help her.

After all, for mainlanders, especially those from Northeast China, once they go to Hong Kong, she is the only person they can rely on, so she is naturally very convenient to use.

And that's how she met them.

To be honest, the explanation was rather weak, but Xu Jiuyang didn't pursue it much at the time, and naturally wouldn't care now.

It was only because Li Hong, like Liu Fangfei, was a trusted confidante of Sister Xiaoli that he hadn't really had any contact with her, even though he had met her a few times.

However, since Sister Xiaoli has already said so, it wouldn't be good not to accept. Besides, I quite admire her. It just so happens that I'm going to set up an independent studio by next year at the latest, so it would be very suitable for her to be in charge. She will be responsible for supervising the operation of the film and television company under Sister Xiaoli.

Of course, that's not urgent. Right now, the most important thing is something else, something Xu Jiuyang has been planning for a long time, waiting to see how strong Angela and the others are.
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"This was definitely premeditated, absolutely!" In a Tokyo hotel, a middle-aged man waved a newspaper and shouted loudly, while a young man sat dejectedly on the sofa, looking utterly helpless.

The newspaper, which was being tossed around with a loud thud, bore the headline in bold black Japanese: "New Chinese Director's Work Confirmed to be Plagiarized!"
"Xiao Chuan, what are you doing? You need to straighten up!" After yelling, the middle-aged man saw the young man's helpless appearance and immediately became furious.

"Uncle He, this... the Japanese media have all gotten involved... what else should I do?" the young man asked timidly.

"Hold a press conference to refute it!" the middle-aged man said, slapping his forehead. "No matter what the actual situation is, we absolutely cannot let this accusation be leveled against us!"

After saying that, he glared at Lu Chuan and said, "Xiao Chuan, I remember you told me before that you hadn't seen that documentary."

"Of course I definitely didn't!" Lu Chuan suddenly became assertive. "At most, I just... just heard someone mention it..."

He Ping stared at him for a long time, then waved his hand: "Don't say so much now. Have President Wang and the others arrange a press conference. Also, call your dad and ask him to think of a solution in China."

"Oh..." Lu Chuan responded, then asked with some concern, "Uncle He, will there be any problems?"

He Ping simply waved his hand impatiently: "Just go if I tell you to!"

The production team of "Kekexili" reacted quickly. Upon seeing the news in the morning, they held a press conference that afternoon to clarify and refute the claims. However, it was to no avail, because the next day, not only did Japanese media continue to report on the plagiarism incident, but even some of the largest media outlets, such as the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun, joined in.

News from within China is even less optimistic, with some media outlets reportedly extending the plagiarism accusations to Lu Chuan's father.

“My brother said it was indeed premeditated. The only thing we can trace back to now is the statement Liu Yujun issued in June. At the time, not many people paid attention, and not many media outlets reposted it; it was just discussed a lot online. Then, when we came to attend the Tokyo Film Festival, Liu Yujun suddenly filed a lawsuit, clearly trying to use public opinion to pressure us,” said Xiao Wang, who came to the film festival with him, somewhat frustrated.

He came to Tokyo with the film crew to relax, but he never expected to run into such a big problem before he even got to visit Ginza.

"Can we reach a settlement?" He Ping asked calmly.

“It’s difficult,” Xiao Wang sighed. “My brother is trying to contact the other party, but he can’t find any trace of them at all, which is also evidence of premeditation.”

"Then... what should we do now?" Lu Chuan asked, swallowing hard. "I don't dare go out anymore. Japanese reporters... they see me and ask what I think..."

After saying that, he muttered to himself, "They were so polite before, and it's such a wonderful country..."

"Calm down!" He Ping snapped, clearly displeased, before asking Xiao Wang, "What does Mr. Wang mean?"

“At this point, we can only stick to our guns and not back down,” Xiao Wang sighed. “The domestic public opinion is alright; there’s no evidence for all the things they’ve pinned on Old Master Lu. We just can’t find the instigator, and when we try to communicate with the media, they’re all being evasive. I guess they have some powerful connections.”

"Let's deal with Japan first," He Ping said calmly, looking at Chen Guofu, who hadn't spoken yet. "Old Chen, is there any news about Mr. Kawasaki?"

"Mr. Kawasaki did hint that it might be related to Sony, but he wouldn't say anything more," Chen Guofu said with a wry smile.

"Damn it, those little devils, they're quick to take money, but when things really get tough, they're utterly useless," He Ping couldn't help but curse.

Then he saw Chen Guofu hesitate and asked, "Old Chen, is there anything you want to say?"

Chen Guofu pursed his lips: "I mean... I mean, is it possible that Angela Lindwo, the female director at Columbia, is behind this?"

After he finished speaking, before He Ping could even open his mouth, Xiao Wang exclaimed, "How could that be? She's the director for Greater China, and things in Japan don't affect her."

Chen Guofu frowned but did not refute, while He Ping thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you have any evidence, Lao Chen?"

"This..." Chen Guofu suddenly became embarrassed, "No, it's just a gut feeling..."

"What's this, Lao Chen? You can't just say it was someone else's doing because of... well, you know?" Xiao Wang said impatiently. Luckily, he had some sense and didn't blurt out certain things.

Chen Guofu's face turned somewhat ugly. He had been kicked out of Columbia University simply because the newly appointed deputy director wanted to make an example of him. He had no ability to resist at all. Anyone would be unhappy in his situation.

Fortunately, He Ping interjected in time: "How about this, let's communicate with the organizers and get 'Kekexili' released as soon as possible, and then communicate with the Japanese media to promote that it is different from documentaries, and we don't need awards or anything like that."

(End of this chapter)