How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 37 Lou Zhu Ai Boar
As the saying goes, one doesn't visit a temple without a reason; one doesn't buy a house or withdraw cash unless absolutely necessary.

Chi Xin, who had been avoiding Wang Yao for almost a week in order to delay the progress of Qu Shou's project, took the initiative to call him, which must mean that there was something more important.

Sure enough, as soon as Wang Yao asked Ma Ruo, he understood that business had come knocking.

"Mr. He has gone on a business trip, so I'm in charge for the time being."

Wang Yao has just completed the loan procedures for Angel Fund: 50 yuan, a three-year interest-free loan, plus two years of tax exemption benefits.

This cash can be used to open a few more online stores and expand the business.

"You manage Weibo, right?" Chi Xin asked.

“Yes, I was worried she wouldn’t handle it well, so I temporarily took over all her verified social media accounts,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

"Stop being modest. I think you have a plan to clear her name. I've received several calls today, all asking who's behind it all. Even President Xu came to inquire. You've really made Old He proud," Chi Xin said with a smile.

"I'm just trying my luck, at least I can't let the artist face such pressure alone. If we do nothing, that would be too hurtful," Wang Yao said with a light laugh.

"You're too kind, kid. In our line of work, it's better to avoid trouble. It has nothing to do with conscience; it's just that this industry is like walking on thin ice. Don't be fooled by these underlings."
They themselves had a clear understanding of the contract at the time. They chose to fight for this opportunity themselves, and it had nothing to do with our company. We only provided the opportunity and the platform.

"You're too young and don't understand how unpredictable people are. If you help her now, she'll accuse you of harming her later," Chi Xin sighed, trying to persuade her earnestly.

"As long as I have a clear conscience, there's nothing to lose anyway," Wang Yao smiled.

"However, Ma Ruo has a good amount of traffic right now, so she's quite valuable. I suggest we strike while the iron is hot and monetize her as soon as possible," Chi Xin said, getting to the point.

“It would be great if it could be converted into revenue for the company, but we’ll have to discuss that with President He,” Wang Yao said seriously.

“The fact that you’ve been put in charge of the person means you can make decisions on your own. There’s no need to interfere with everything. The movie ‘Confucius’ is going to be released tomorrow, and I have a friend who’s in charge of the publicity. Do you think we could collaborate?” Chi Xin said with a smile.

"Confucius"?
Wang Yao recalled that it should be the one starring Chow Yun-fat, which created the myth of a 4000 million yuan salary for a male actor in China, with a total investment of 1.5 million yuan and a box office of 1 million yuan, losing all its money.
Why does Chi Xin only take on these money-washing jobs?

"This shouldn't be a problem. After 'If You Are the One' airs this week, Ma Ruo's popularity definitely won't drop. She should be able to catch up next week. I'll post a review or a movie review then." Wang Yao pondered for a moment.

With such a large production like "Confucius," there must be many distribution channels. We could try to get in on the good side and maybe we'll get some unexpected surprises.

"Is there a way to combine the popularity more effectively? Simply driving traffic isn't very meaningful; it would be best if we could create a trending topic," Chi Xin requested.

This way, she can not only receive publicity and distribution fees, but also serve as a case study, so that any movie company that wants publicity and distribution in the future can directly contact her.

"Well, this topic has to be related to the movie. I need to see the movie before I can think about it," Wang Yao said.

"That's right, there's a screening tonight, I'll get you a ticket so you can go check it out first," Chi Xin said with a smile.

"Mr. Chi, when are we going to Hunan TV?" Wang Yao asked, seizing the opportunity.

"I've tried to contact Li Ying a few times, but she hasn't given me a specific time yet. Let's wait a bit longer," Chi Xin said dismissively.

She was just hoping to drag things out until Qu Shoubao brought He Ming down.

"Can I bring two more people to the preview screening tonight?" Wang Yao asked.

“Okay, but no more than five people. I’ll give you a phone number; you can contact him directly.” Chi Xin replied and sent Wang Yao a phone number.

After communicating with the other party, Wang Yao confirmed the location of the preview screening and brought Ni Ni, Nazha and her daughter, and his cousin Zhou Cong with him that evening.

Recently, the online store has kept Ni Ni and Zhou Cong extremely busy, so Wang Yao is taking them to relax a bit. Besides, Zhou Cong is a die-hard fan of Zhou Xun.

Inviting Nazha and her mother was to see if they could give Nazha some exposure and broaden her horizons.

A film preview screening refers to a pre-release event organized by the distributor to screen a film in a designated cinema before its official release. The distributor may invite industry peers or media to participate in the screening and generate buzz for the film's promotion.

Preview screenings have a long history in Hollywood, but in China, it started with "Hero." After all, as the first film to be comparable to international commercial films, all the procedures were copied from Hollywood.

Later, in order to enhance their prestige, other film promotions now almost always include preview screenings for any film with a decent budget.

When Wang Yao and his entourage arrived at the venue ahead of time, the front row was already occupied by various media outlets. Only the first row had some empty seats, but nameplates were placed on them.

Wang Yao was just relaxing with his team, so he chose an inconspicuous spot in the corner of the second-to-last row.

The cinema, which has nearly 500 seats, actually only has a little over 100 seats, with most of the seats empty.

After Wang Yao and the others took their seats, they took out drinks, potato chips, popcorn and other snacks. After waiting for a while, the host said some polite words, the lights dimmed, and the movie officially began.

"Confucius" is a mediocre film.

The theme is weak, the plot is disjointed, the shots are copied, and the acting is poor.

The box office success was entirely due to the combination of historical figure IP and popular celebrity Chow Yun-fat.

The film's premise is weak. It's clear that the filmmakers wanted to use historical events and Confucius's life to showcase the philosophical value of Confucius's thoughts on social changes at the time, as well as his reflections on etiquette and hierarchy. However, they tried to express too much, and the mismatched plot made it seem very weak.

The plot is convoluted; the director attempts to illustrate many things through the life of Confucius, but because the chosen biographies are either obscure or unimportant, the combination of sensationalism and tedious recounting makes the story extremely boring.

The cinematography is poorly copied. The central character, Nanzi, played by Zhou Xun, appears as a Lolita fashion icon, blatantly trying to portray the older man/younger woman dynamic. It's said that Zhou Xun even complained about stepping barefoot on cow dung on the grass. Furthermore, the war scenes show numerous homages to various domestic and international films. The script's weakness lies in its dialogue and basic grammar. Addressing Confucius as "Zhongdu Zai Daren" at the beginning reveals the screenwriter's mediocre skill. In the pre-Qin period, "Daren" specifically referred to a dream interpreter, but in common parlance, it could also refer to height or parents.

Adding "人" (person) after an official title was a custom unique to the Yuan Dynasty.

They talk about restoring history, but they're unwilling to spend money to hire an art director with a professional history background.

In short, in Wang Yao's eyes, the film's failure to make money was well-deserved.

With a production cost of 1.5 million, and a gross profit margin of 40% for film revenue sharing, the company needs at least 3.75 million in box office revenue to barely break even.

However, I doubt the producers are expecting to make money from the box office.

From Wang Yao's perspective, this movie is meaningless, but it's a different story for others.

Ni Ni, who is to Wang Yao's left, screams and shouts whenever Zhou Xun is in the shot, acting like a complete brainless fan, without paying any attention to the plot.

"Why is Zilu cursing Confucius?" Ni Ni asked, puzzled, after seeing the scene where Zilu argued with Confucius over meeting Nanzi.

Historical films often claim to recreate history, but in reality, they are just a bunch of half-baked, narrow-minded speculations with their own personal touches. So, when designing the plot, a problem arises.

Trying to replicate historical storylines is like feeding garbage to viewers who truly understand history.

However, it is completely confusing for viewers without a historical background, as a certain level of historical knowledge is required to understand the relationships between the characters and the allegory.

Just like doing classical Chinese poetry and prose reading comprehension, you need to consider the author's life and the historical context to understand it.

This has resulted in films based on Chinese history often having grandiose and empty themes, spectacular scenes, and plots and characters that leave viewers confused and unable to remember them.

Then, when the box office was bad, he started yelling at the audience for having no aesthetic sense and not understanding art.

“Nanzi was a famous beauty at the time, but she had a bad reputation, so Zilu felt that a moral gentleman like Confucius should not meet with a woman with such a bad reputation in private,” Wang Yao explained casually.

"Why is she not well-regarded? Isn't she the Queen?" Ni Ni asked curiously.

"Nanzi was originally a princess of the State of Song. She married Duke Ling of Wei, an old man and a young woman. However, Duke Ling of Wei was an old gay man with two male favorites, Gongzi Chao and Mi Zixia. The story of 'sharing peaches and cutting sleeves' refers to Duke Ling of Wei and Mi Zixia."

"Nanzi, a perfectly normal young girl, whether for political purposes or physical needs, had an affair with another favored minister, Gongzi Chao. Not only did Duke Ling of Wei not stop it, but I heard he even spied on their rendezvous," Wang Yao casually explained.

Instantly, both sides went silent, clearly indicating that the CPU had burned out.

"Wait, I don't quite understand. This Nanzi cheated on her husband with his lover? And her husband was secretly watching her? Huh?" Ni Ni asked, swallowing hard after a moment of thought.

“Yes, that’s right.” Wang Yao nodded.

Huh? After hearing Ni Ni's summary, the plot does sound quite plausible.
My incompetent husband confronted my mistress after discovering my infidelity.

"What? What are you talking about?" Naza asked anxiously, her face flushed red, and she almost leaned against Wang Yao's lap.

"Not suitable for children." Wang Yao chuckled and pushed her head away.

"Wow, were people in ancient times really that open-minded? They had affairs and male lovers!" Ni Ni exclaimed in surprise.

"What has happened before will surely happen again. However, from a historical perspective, the content of this passage from 'Zi Jian Nan Zi' does not necessarily refer to a specific event. In fact, it mainly satirizes Duke Ling of Wei at that time."

Duke Ling of Wei was powerful at the time, comparable to the hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period. He wanted to annex the State of Song, so whether it was taking a prince of Song as his male favorite or forcibly marrying Princess Nanzi of Song, it was all preparation for the annexation of Song.
The social atmosphere at the time discouraged such annexation, which is why this record exists, and why the idiom "Lou Zhu Ai Jiao" (娄猪艾豭) came about.
The analogy of Nanzi to a sow seeking pleasure, and Gongzi Chao to a breeding boar, suggests that Duke Ling of Wei was the mastermind behind treating them as playthings. Later generations used the metaphor of a promiscuous woman to represent a "louzhu" (a type of pig), which may actually allude to power.
The comparison of Ai Jiao to male concubines actually refers to corrupt officials and treacherous ministers. Zilu's questioning of Confucius may also be a reflection of his disappointment that Confucius saw the humiliation that Wei had done to Song but did not stop it. It doesn't seem to have much to do with romantic scandals.

After all, pre-Qin history doesn't just record mundane things like private life; most of it carries political purposes and metaphors," Wang Yao explained earnestly.

"This Duke Ling of Wei has some really outrageous quirks," Ni Ni said lightly.

"The State of Wei was such an outrageous country. Duke Ling of Wei had an ancestor, Duke Xuan of Wei, who had an affair with his stepmother, Yi Jiang. Then, before his son's engagement, he saw that his daughter-in-law, Xuan Jiang, was beautiful and forcibly married her."

Moreover, Wei was the country with the most internal strife, with an average of one king dying in internal strife every 17 years. Yet, ironically, it was the last country to perish. History is so paradoxical,” Wang Yao sighed.

"So, is this Nanzi really a promiscuous woman?" A curious voice suddenly came from behind.

"Who knows? First, history can never be repeated. Second, history can only be inferred from historical records. Just take it as a story."

However, I think the story of Confucius meeting Nanzi was embellished, because Confucius's ancestor was Weizi Qi, a nobleman of the Shang Dynasty, who was enfeoffed in the State of Song for his contributions to King Wu's conquest of the Shang Dynasty. Therefore, Confucius, Nanzi, and Gongzi Chao were theoretically all descendants of the same Yin-Shang Dynasty.
The State of Wei was established specifically to oversee the descendants of the Shang Dynasty. The two states had a long history of enmity, and at the time, Wei was stronger than Song. It is highly likely that Confucius's trip to Wei was at the invitation of Song to help mediate relations between the two states.

This story, seemingly defaming Nanzi's promiscuity, may actually be using moral discourse to prevent the State of Wei from finding a reason to annex the State of Song, and may even have instigated internal strife among the crown prince Kuai Kui of Duke Ling of Wei.

Moreover, Zilu also died at the hands of Kuai Kui more than ten years later. Wang Yao chuckled.

Wait, this voice isn't Nazha's or Ni Ni's.
Then he suddenly turned around.

Turning my head, I saw a figure wearing sunglasses and a mask, completely concealing himself and almost blending into the darkness. The fluorescent light reflected from the sunglasses looked like will-o'-the-wisps.

The three of them were chatting when suddenly another voice came in. How scary!

Wang Yao looked at the mask with a cut in the middle and felt a sense of déjà vu.

　Thank you to "Reading is also writing", "Cosmic Disaster Chen Ang", and "Reading is about mood" for their generous donations!
　　感谢中年少女、秋意随风起佳人如梦来、深蓝银河、问纸、低调进行曲、海东青168、神之昵称、figor、龙蟠风逸之士、素坊、晚上太黑、叔本滑、以后不熬夜、水粉誓言、w虎虎生威w、千舟、水煮白肉、随风变轻、为何如此如此、穿越汽车来了、书友2017127144914425、百事可乐lck、书友20170325225236261、读者书友20211002004148829、书友161109025956543、书友170301201120213、书友20231013406880、1933441128576159744的推荐票、月票支持~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)