The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 446 Free play
The events surrounding the participation of "Kekexili" in the Tokyo International Film Festival in September 2004 will undoubtedly remain etched in the memories of many for years to come.

The film had already done a lot of publicity before it was scheduled to go to Tokyo. After all, a hero who fights against poachers in a wild world with his beliefs and ultimately pays the price with his life is naturally appealing to audiences.

Unexpectedly, after the film was released in Tokyo, not only did rumors of plagiarism suddenly surface, but the plagiarized party also officially filed a lawsuit.

Although this rumor had circulated before, it was mostly confined to the internet and rarely appeared in traditional media.

The fact that such a large number of people are reporting this now suggests that they have solid evidence—most ordinary people in this era wouldn't associate this kind of news with premeditation.

As a result, public opinion began to lean towards the plagiarized entity, Liu Yujun, who directed "The Ice River Flows Here," believing that Lu Chuan, the director of "Kekexili," might have indeed plagiarized.

This situation improved somewhat after the production team held a press conference in Tokyo, announcing that there was no plagiarism and emphasizing that the director spent two and a half years practicing—no, wait, two and a half years preparing—and even interviewed members of the anti-poaching team from that time before producing the film.

After all, you've been practicing for two and a half years. Maybe it really is just a coincidence with the documentary? Nobody would joke about their reputation, right?
Even after it was later revealed that Lu Chuan's father was also a habitual plagiarist, and a lot of dubious evidence was cited, everyone started to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

At this point, unless someone is completely oblivious, most people would realize that there might be something fishy going on here.
So when news came from Japan that "Kekexili" had been released and that media outlets that had seen it said there was no plagiarism issue—at least that's what some domestic media outlets said—public opinion continued to subside.

And then...and then I was driven to the bottom.

Rumors had already begun to circulate that "Liu Yujun is just trying to extort money," but then came the bombshell news that "due to the plagiarism incident of 'Kekexili,' the Motion Picture Association of America is urging European film festivals to re-examine awards for Chinese directors such as Zhang Yimou." Under such a shock, who would care about the former? Why would Americans get involved if they didn't see them?

Especially those two screenshots compared together, many people who supported Lu Chuan felt a strong sense of betrayal upon seeing them, and thus made a 180-degree turn and sided with Liu Yujun.

In short, all the communities were in an uproar. Some were attacking the Americans for making trouble, some were attacking the mainland for embarrassing themselves internationally, and some were attacking Liu Yujun for disregarding the overall situation. They argued endlessly with each other.

Of course, questions and similar questions were inevitable, especially from newspapers in the Southern Media Group, which made a big deal out of it.

They were very clever; they didn't directly implicate Zhang and Chen. After all, these two achievements were recognized both internationally and by higher authorities, and directly involving them would easily lead to them being targeted. But if they attacked Lu Chuan and his father, saying that their misconduct implicated Zhang and Chen, and subtly implied that Zhang and Chen wouldn't have been discovered otherwise, that would have been quite clever, wouldn't it?

As news from the United States continued to escalate, the International Intellectual Property Alliance of the United States also issued a statement, believing that China has always had major problems in protecting intellectual property rights, and "Kekexili" is the best proof of this.

Since Dad said so, the Japanese naturally followed suit, and the media there began to ridicule them in various ways.

At this point, the facts were no longer important; it had essentially escalated into a diplomatic incident, so the "Kekexili" film crew in Tokyo announced their withdrawal from the competition.

And then...

"I guess this is the last message the public will receive," Xu Jiuyang said, sitting in the small living room, browsing the web on his laptop, looking at a webpage titled "China Opposes Unfounded Accusations."

It may seem that the counterattack from above is weak, but only those involved in the negotiations know the actual situation.

So Angela said, "Don't worry, everything is under control."

"I bet she's getting the better end of both sides," Xu Jiuyang muttered.

For example, on the one hand, they use their connections in the United States to create an excuse to manipulate China—which is quite normal. In the 90s, Americans loved to attack the mainland through intellectual property issues.

On the other hand, he must have told the people on the mainland that he had a way to handle the matter.

Although the actual situation would certainly be more complex, Xu Jiuyang believed she would definitely do it, and do it very cleverly, managing to have her cake and eat it too without being discovered. However, if she continued to straddle this fence, what if one day both sides joined forces to set her up…

"Forget it, I can't interfere in this kind of thing anyway, and they are all highly skilled, so this little problem shouldn't be a big deal." Xu Jiuyang sighed.

The reason I say this is...

Just then, there was a knock on the door. After being given permission, the pretty maid pushed in a food cart and placed coffee and snacks on the desk.

“Sir, is there anything else you need?” she asked softly but politely.

"Is Yunxin still in the study?" Xu Jiuyang asked casually.

"Yes, Madam is still talking with several secretaries," the maid nodded in reply.

"Okay, go ahead." Xu Jiuyang waved his hand.

After the maid obediently left, he sighed again, because this new Japanese maid who appeared next to Li Yunxin not only still had no name, but her name was also Airi.

Meanwhile, the other three new maids are named Aino, Mayu, and Jessica.

Hmm... what are the chances of picking a Japanese maid and getting Yoshihiro at the same time?

He didn't know much about Mayu and Jessica, but he could tell Airi and Aino apart.

"What does this have to do with me? Would they really harm me?" Xu Jiuyang muttered to himself, feeling somewhat frustrated.

Although it was he who proposed targeting the Lu family father and son, and even provided a feasible plan, their ability to exercise their own discretion within the plan was also quite remarkable.

For example, Angela used the white dragon to relay information to her superiors.

The assault incident involving the crew of "The Little Fish and the Flower Without Flaws" still happened. This is not surprising, given the nature of Hong Kong people; they are unlikely to change until they are slapped hard.

In his past life, the reason why Xiao Bailong could make the people of Hong Kong bow down was not only because mainland actors were united in their hatred and because it stirred up a huge public opinion, but also because he was a member of the Screen Actors Guild in the United States.

So, after he reported this to the Screen Actors Guild, they actually sent someone to investigate.

And then, I won't say much more. No matter what, Hong Kong people have to act according to the whims of foreigners. In addition, with such a big uproar in public opinion, mainland actors expressed their boycott one after another, which led to Nicholas Tse and Dicky Cheung's apologies.

The former, backed by Mr. Yang, could still make a comeback and land leading roles in big-budget productions once the storm had passed. The latter, however, spent many years on the sidelines. While not exactly blacklisted, he rarely received good resources, especially those dominated by mainlanders.

Therefore, Angela used the actors' union as leverage to manipulate the White Dragon into becoming a middleman, mastering the essence of creating cards out of thin air—of course, she didn't do it herself, but arranged for someone else to manipulate the other party.

To be honest, the way she managed to execute things so skillfully, with each step linked to the next, is quite impressive.

The use of Xiaobailong was secondary; what surprised someone the most was that, through the internal investigation triggered by the plagiarism incident, Director Huang of the Central Academy of Drama was also investigated.

(End of this chapter)