Unboxing, Director!

Chapter 180

Because Lu Jiang still had filming commitments and time was tight, the celebration banquet followed immediately after the press conference.

On the way to the hotel, Wang Yongde, the president of the Central Academy of Drama, finally brought up the topic of Lu Jiang staying at the school.

However, the conditions given were not as "outrageous" as one might have imagined.

Because the Central Academy of Drama and the Beijing Film Academy have different professional focuses.

One is stage drama, and the other is the film industry.

In addition, the school had previously raised the issue of postgraduate admission without examination.

Therefore, the conditions that Wang Yongde can offer this time are relatively limited.

Lu Jiang will take the lead in securing a place in a graduate program, a teaching position, and the possibility of opening new majors.

However, the latter is not certain. For the same reason, the majors offered by universities are different from the very beginning and cannot be added or changed at will. Therefore, such a thing is not easy to achieve. If Lu Jiang has this interest and idea, the school can only say that it will do its best.

Therefore, Wang Yongde even said, "Lu Jiang, if you feel that the courses and resources of Beijing Film Academy are beneficial to you, you can also cooperate with them."

Lu Jiang immediately retorted, "Then wouldn't I be a traitor?"

"How could that be? The Central Academy of Drama and the Beijing Film Academy are not enemies."

Wang Yongde said with a smile, "Zhang Huijun and I have actually discussed this. If you are willing, you can pursue a dual degree at two universities during your postgraduate studies."

Lu Jiang couldn't help but glance at him after hearing this.

It's quite rare to study at two universities simultaneously.

Situ Zhaodun nodded: "That's a good plan."

The Beijing Film Academy had already spoken with him many times, wanting to poach Lu Jiang.

But not only Lu Jiang, he himself didn't have any thoughts on this.

However, the fact that a professor at the Beijing Film Academy trained a great director who turned out to be from the Central Academy of Drama is bound to attract some gossip.

Now that we have this solution, everyone is happy.

Lu Jiang actually had no objection to going to Beijing Film Academy to pursue a master's degree.

Anyway, there's no harm in it.

As mentioned before, the conditions offered by the other party this time are very lenient. There are no course requirements, and you can just get a degree by being a nominal employee and doing nothing. It can also expand your social circle. Social circles are meant to be a preventative measure.

In addition, he was aware of the troubles that Situ Zhaodun was currently facing.

So, go for it.

The matter was quickly settled.

Lu Jiang will be pursuing postgraduate studies at both universities.

The graduate advisor at the Central Academy of Drama is yet to be determined, while at the Beijing Film Academy it is Situ Zhaodun.

Although it's called a dual-training program, Lu Jiang's main focus is still on the Central Academy of Drama.

Wang Yongde from the Central Academy of Drama had already made arrangements on how to handle this matter.

Next, Lu Jiang will join the Film Association as a student of the Central Academy of Drama.

The introducers were a group of seniors from the Central Academy of Drama.

This means that we are now firmly aligned with the Central Academy of Drama.

In addition to this, Lu Jiang also has the role of a lecturer. Courses can be flexibly arranged according to Lu Jiang's schedule, and importantly, he has a formal teaching position.

This made Lu Jiang feel quite emotional.

In his past life, he also dreamed of working for the government, but he lacked the ability. Now, however, he easily obtained a government job.
After the matter was settled, everyone was in a good mood, and the conversation returned to the movie.

"The Lobster" has won an award at Cannes, but that doesn't mean its award-winning journey is over.

We should still aim for the other international awards.

This is not just about awards and honors, but also about enhancing the international influence of Chinese films.

Just like "Farewell My Concubine" back then, after winning the Palme d'Or, it went on to win dozens of awards around the world in the following year.

To further expand the influence of films and Chinese filmmakers across the globe.

This was a big deal, and Lu Jiang certainly wouldn't refuse.

The Central Academy of Drama will form a special team with the Beijing Film Academy to handle this matter.

In addition to international awards, mainland Chinese awards are equally important.

For example, I'll definitely be showing off at next year's Golden Rooster Awards.

This not only increases the influence of the film, Lu Jiang himself, and the Central Academy of Drama, but also provides an opportunity for Lu Jiang to strengthen cooperation and exchange with these professionals.

After all, no matter how many flaws there are in the Golden Rooster Awards, it is still a top film award in China. If Lu Jiang doesn't care about it in the future, don't the people under Lu Jiang need it?
With the support of the Central Academy of Drama, this matter will naturally be much easier for Lu Jiang compared to relying on his connections with Situ Zhaodun and others to manage it himself.

A celebratory banquet was held at the Beijing Hotel.

It's a small group, mainly composed of students from the 98 directing department and people from Lujiang Company. The entire former group participated in the filming of "Lobster," and currently, one-fifth of them have joined Lujiang Company.

The celebration banquet didn't feature a large number of guests, but there were still many reporters present.

Since F3 is here, these people now bring huge traffic, and reporters can't let them go.

The long-lost cousins ​​Gao Xixi and Bai Yu also came to the scene. After drinking a lot, Gao Xixi held the gold-plated Palme d'Or trophy tightly and kept telling reporters, "I knew when he first entered university that his future would be extraordinary!"

Bai Yu inwardly grimaced, thinking to himself that he had been troubled for a long time back then, saying that Lu Jiang's studies were not good enough, which made him afraid to visit the Lu family for the New Year.
The lively celebration banquet lasted for two hours. Lu Jiang did not participate in the second half, as he had to return to Hengdian overnight.

Before leaving, a tipsy Ning Hao took the opportunity of going to the restroom with Lu Jiang to reveal his true feelings: "Lu Jiang, I want to make a movie."

Lu Jiang glanced sideways.

Not easy.

Ning Hao finally wants to make a movie!
But was this just drunken talk?

Lu Jiang couldn't help but retort, "You're not really going to mess up 'Goddess Dragon', are you?"

"No!" Ning Hao loosened his belt. "I just rediscovered my dream. I want to become a great director too!"

"Oh, I'm envious."

"Yeah, I'm craving it. If I don't, I'll fall behind you. If you pee on me like I'm peeing, I'll have nowhere to cry!" Ning Hao said emotionally, then released his load, shook it off, and exclaimed, "Ah, that feels good!"

The next second, Ning Hao started vomiting violently again; he had drunk too much.

Lu Jiang shook his head, waited for him to finish vomiting, and then patted him on the back, saying, "I want to see your script within a month."

"Huh? What?" Ning Hao's eyes rolled.

Lu Jiang ignored this and directly instructed Baoqiang, "Baoqiang, remind him tomorrow."

"Understood, bro!"

Baoqiang chuckled and helped Ning Hao back to the dining table.
After saying goodbye to everyone, Lu Jiang returned to Hengdian overnight.

Lu Jiang was woken up by a phone call the next day.

Li Chao hurriedly explained the situation.

This is about yesterday's celebration banquet.

Today, various media outlets reported on yesterday's celebration banquet for "The Lobster," but there wasn't much coverage of the film itself. Instead, the most talked-about topic was the photo of Deng Chao and Hao Lei holding hands.

During the latter half of the celebration banquet, Hao Lei quietly arrived at the scene, and the two seemed unable to resist holding hands, which was caught on camera by reporters.

F4 member Deng Chao's relationship exposed!

Needless to say, its popularity will spread throughout East and Southeast Asia in the next few days.

Some media outlets have even begun to describe this pairing event with headlines such as "the second century's hand-holding."

Lu Jiang asked, "Was it intentional or accidental?"

"It appears to have been taken accidentally."

What did Deng Chao himself say?

"He thought he might as well just go public."

"Then let's not press it."

He had discussed this matter with Deng Chao before.

The pros and cons of making it public and not making it public have also been discussed.

How they choose is their own business.

So let's grant his wish this time.

Li Chao then asked, "But what about the fans? If an idol is in a relationship, many people might unfollow them." "Fans who unfollow you just because they're in a relationship are better off without."

These people are mostly those who can't find self-worth in reality and gain a sense of "participation in the success of others" by following celebrities. They are willing to spend money on their idols, which can bring traffic and revenue, but once the idol goes against their wishes, such as dating or breaking up a couple, they will frantically criticize them and even pollute the entire industry.

Fortunately, this fan culture is not yet prominent, so it is estimated that there will not be a large-scale loss of fans in the end.

"So you're going to make it public?"

"Yes, handle it properly, don't let Hao Lei suffer, so that people won't say we're bullying the woman."

"clear."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Jiang let out a long sigh of relief.

An idol like Deng Chao suddenly changing his image will indeed bring certain revenue losses to the company in the short term.

But popularity built on fan support is ultimately unstable.

We must broaden our horizons and expand our perspective.

Focusing on the work and serving the audience is the right thing to do.

Perfectly, this romantic affair was a test. If handled well, and with the excellent reviews of "The Emperor of Han Dynasty" and "The World's Finest," Deng Chao can smoothly move on to the next stage.

Not long after I hung up the phone, Deng Chao called back. He was all smiles on the other end, saying, "You're so shameless."

Lu Jiang immediately started cursing: "You didn't bring your girlfriend when I was here, but now that I'm gone, you're secretly holding hands with her. What, are you afraid I'll steal her away?"

"No, she was supposed to arrive in the first half, but her flight was delayed."

"Alright, alright, go tell your mother-in-law that excuse later! Remember, it's fine to be public, but don't easily say things like 'one love for life' to others. If something goes wrong, I won't be responsible for you."

"Okay, bro."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Jiang felt a strange sense of urgency, like his own son had grown up.

And it was quite comfortable.

Should I have a baby?

No, no, no, I need to play for a few more years before I talk about it.
After dealing with Deng Chao's matter, Lu Jiang turned his attention to two other news items about himself.

These are two rather bizarre reports.

The first issue is that some media outlets have questioned who the director of "The Lobster" actually is.

Such doubts can be traced back to Rikutaro.

Lu Taro's "Looking for a Gun" was released in mainland China in early May and has grossed around 6 million yuan so far.

Most of the press releases were full of praise for Rikutaro's debut work.

But anyone with a discerning eye can see that the style of this work is very similar to Jiang Wen's.

Therefore, some media outlets have questioned whether Lu Taro or Jiang Wen is the director of "The Missing Gun".

Some media outlets even brought up the old film "Farewell My Concubine".

The same question arises regarding "Farewell My Concubine".

In the eyes of these people, Lu Jiang's situation is very similar.

They're all from Beijing's elite circles, and all have renowned instructors.
So it inevitably makes people wonder if this is an unspoken rule for you to promote your juniors?
Of course, such doubts are still very small at present, but Lu Jiang and Situ Zhaodun have still noticed them.

The two men were in complete agreement on this matter, believing that such claims would be dispelled once the movie was released.

Besides this, there's another rather bizarre news story.

One media outlet quoted Lu Jiang's declaration at the Central Academy of Drama yesterday: "I will formally bring my talent to the film industry."

Most people will not misunderstand the meaning of this sentence.

However, this particular media outlet believes that Lu Jiang will no longer direct television dramas.

Lu Jiang initially ignored the reports, but at noon, Li Chao called to say that many media outlets had called to inquire whether "The World's Number One" was Lu Jiang's last TV series.
Clearly, that media outlet's misinterpretation has spread.

However, this also brought some benefits to Lu Jiang.

The popularity of "The World's Number One" has begun to climb further.

Li Chao even said that in the ongoing negotiations for the overseas drama series "The World's Number One", the asking price has started to rise again.

Originally, because Lu Jiang won Best Director, the asking price for the second run of "The World's Number One" in mainland China and overseas had already increased a couple of days ago. Now, many TV stations have heard the news and raised their prices again.

This left Lu Jiang somewhat dumbfounded.

However, Lu Jiang still denied the rumor.

It's just a small amount of money, not worth it.

Turning back, we continued filming.

"Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre" has entered its final stage of filming. As it was previously discussed, some scenes were cut during filming, so it is expected to wrap up in a week at most.

The overall filming process took a little over four months, which was more than half a month less than expected, so it was quite efficient.

After filming wrapped up that day, Lai Shuiqing came to inform everyone that the wrap ceremony would still adhere to the principle of keeping a low profile and would not be held in public. The wrap party would be held behind closed doors, and would end after the drinks were finished. Everyone would go home the next day and get together again when it came time for promotions.

Needless to say, this must have been calculated by a master again.

Lu Jiang didn't care about it, but after Lai Shuiqing mentioned the wrap-up, Jia Jingwen fell into a further daze.

Lu Jiang knew that this was definitely because of him.

Sure enough, on the day filming wrapped, before heading to the wrap party, Jia Jingwen came to Lu Jiang's room and, without any preamble, pounced on him as soon as she closed the door.

But she didn't immediately take the next step. Jia Jingwen just held Lu Jiang, tears streaming down her face, her head buried, without saying a word. She only tightened her arms, as if trying to meld Lu Jiang into her body.

The golden box on her head also disappeared.

Clearly, Jia Jingwen made the final decision; reality prevailed over emotion.

She can't give up her current resources, and she can't truly be like Zhao Min, abandoning everything to bravely pursue love.

Lu Jiang felt a little regretful about this, but mostly relieved.

They were only interested in each other's bodies, and their relationship was already quite stable.

The matter of eye techniques caused an unexpected complication, resulting in the two not communicating for a long time, and their relationship became strained and uncomfortable.

It's good that things are back to normal now.

The two embraced for about ten minutes before Jia Jingwen finally separated from Lu Jiang and looked up at him, asking, "Can I have you tonight?"

"Then don't get drunk. You like to bite people when you're drunk, and I don't like that."

I'd only feel better if I bit you to death!

Jia Jing laughed and cursed, wiped away her tears, and left.

The wrap party was nothing special, just eating and drinking.

Countless people tried to get Lu Jiang drunk, but it was only at this moment that everyone realized that Lu Jiang truly possessed unparalleled martial arts skills and could not get drunk no matter what.

Ultimately, everyone turned their anger towards the other lead actors.

So, in less than three hours, after several rounds of various drinking games, Song Qingshu and the others who were left to drink were brutally attacked. Gao Yuanyuan was also made to be seven or eight parts drunk. Jia Jingwen's alcohol tolerance was surprisingly good, but she didn't make it to the end either.

The worst off are Lai Shuiqing and the martial arts choreographers. They're usually so arrogant and expect you to do whatever you want. Do you think you can just run away today?
Lai Shuiqing shouted, "Go ahead and find Lu Jiang if you dare!"

Suddenly, Song Qingshu, who had been lying face down on the table just a second ago, sat up abruptly and shouted, "He stole my Zhiruo sister! If I could outdrink him, he would be dead here today!"

Everyone burst into laughter. Lai Shuiqing had no choice but to lie there dead 20 minutes later.
In drinking situations, it's advantageous to not get drunk, but it's also disadvantageous that you have to call it a day.

Despite being a big shot, Lu Jiang couldn't help but show some down-to-earth side today when facing his comrades with whom he had lived for several months. He helped the sober ones settle in before returning to his own room.

To his surprise, when he returned to his room, he saw Jia Jingwen sitting properly on the sofa, her face flushed as she looked at him.

"You're not drunk?"

"I promised you I wouldn't get drunk."

Jia Jingwen slowly approached and touched his pectoral muscles. "Shall we take a shower first?"

Lu Jiang was about to agree when there was a knock on the door. Looking through the peephole, he saw it was Gao Yuanyuan.

After opening the door, Gao Yuanyuan collapsed inside; she was truly drunk.

She was completely unaware that Jia Jingwen was also there. She simply climbed onto Lu Jiang's back on instinct, murmuring, "Baby, I feel so bad," while taking off her short-sleeved shirt.

Lu Jiang put his arm around Gao Yuanyuan, exchanged a glance with Jia Jingwen, and spoke first: "How about next time?"

Jia Jingwen smiled and said, "Let's do it together, it's not like it's the first time anyway."

As she spoke, she kissed him.

That night, the dual cultivation achievement that Zhang Wuji couldn't attain, Lu Moumou accomplished.
(End of this chapter)