Huayu is here for you

Chapter 171 Opening

Since the Olympic opening ceremony was to begin in the evening, Lin Yu and Ms. Liu did not rush to arrive early.

Instead, they found a quiet park bench, nestled together, and poured out their longing for each other after not seeing each other for several days—

"Ugh—huff—Senior brother, I can't breathe!" Miss Liu pushed away Lin Yu, who was still trying to kiss her, and said breathlessly:

Looking at Miss Liu, who was panting heavily and whose face was slightly flushed, Lin Yu also spent a long time using his immense willpower to suppress the little thoughts in his heart.

But for a moment he didn't know what to say, so he could only give Miss Liu an awkward smile.

"It's all your fault! You ate all my lipstick!" Miss Liu said, puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction as she looked at her senior brother's shameless behavior.

As she spoke, she took out a lipstick and a small mirror from her bag and began to reapply her lips.

"Hehe—it's just that my Qianqian is too beautiful, I couldn't resist!" Lin Yutian said with an awkward, shameless laugh.

Miss Liu glanced at Lin Yu, then ignored him.

After reapplying her lipstick, she sat quietly beside Lin Yu, her eyes slowly glazing over as she fell into deep thought.

Seeing Liu's appearance, Lin Yu stopped acting like a rogue and secretly moved a little closer, pulling Liu into his arms.

"Senior, will we always be together?"

Ms. Liu's sudden remark broke the three-minute silence.

Lin Yu gently ruffled Miss Liu's hair and slowly said, "Of course! Why did you suddenly ask that?"

Lin Yu was a little confused.

"It's nothing, it's just—I feel like I'm becoming more and more dependent on you, senior brother." Miss Liu gave a wry smile and said, "My mother often tells me: women need to be independent and can't always rely on men, otherwise—maybe in the end—"

"There wasn't a time like that," Lin Yu interrupted Miss Liu directly. "I will never leave you, never!"

"Hehe! Senior brother, you made your promise so quickly!" Miss Liu pressed her chest against Lin Yu's chest and laughed, "How could it be slow? You're mine, and you'll always be mine! You'll never run away from me in this lifetime."

17

"Hehe—okay! I'll never run away."

Like a gentle breeze, tender feelings carry my heart to your face. Though I haven't said "I love you," every word I utter is the language of love.

The Bird's Nest is destined to be incredibly lively tonight.

Celebrities from all walks of life stopped by, and reporters from various media outlets were also busy.

Jay Chou, Han Hong, Wang Feng, and other music industry heavyweights.

Jackie Chan, Nicholas Tse, Maggie Cheung—and a whole host of other film and television stars.

The long lines of hundreds of well-known celebrities, including those from the first and second tiers, were a sight to behold.

Moreover, the audience members who were able to buy tickets tonight are also looking forward to this grand event!

When Lin Yu brought Ms. Liu to the scene, he was immediately surprised by what he saw.

However, the media didn't care whether they were surprised or not, and they interviewed the two of them extensively.

After all, they are very attentive to this most famous golden couple in the entertainment industry right now.

After dealing with the reporters, the two continued to greet familiar film and television stars and entertainment industry bigwigs on their way to the venue.

Cheng Long, the Wang brothers, Lu Zheng, Jing Tian—I can say a few words about each of them, whether they have worked with Lin Yu or not.

Fortunately, Lin Yu and Ms. Liu's tickets were for the core area, so they didn't have to go through the sales channel. Otherwise, it might have taken them much longer to get their seats.

After the two sat down, they glanced around and saw that everyone around them was a big shot in the industry.

For the first time ever, Miss Liu maintained a quiet and ladylike demeanor while with Lin Yu.

Soon—the opening ceremony began.

A dazzling halo illuminated the ancient sundial. In the center of the stadium, with each powerful strike, 2008...

The ancient Chinese percussion instrument, the fou, emits a captivating sound, and white lights on the fou flash in sequence, forming a countdown.

Amidst the thunderous sound of drums, Lin Yu and Miss Liu, along with the entire audience, shouted loudly in unison as the numbers changed:

10、9、8、7、6、5、4、3、2、1————

Amid cheers, the opening ceremony officially began at 8:00 PM.

2008 performers struck drums and sang, reciting "Isn't it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar?" to express their welcome to Olympic athletes and guests from all over the world.

The 29 giant footprints of the welcoming fireworks marched step by step toward the Bird's Nest.

"The east wind at night releases a thousand trees of flowers, and blows down stars like rain."

The giant footprints transformed into countless stars falling from the sky, gathering into a glittering, dreamlike Olympic rings.

Brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—the Four Treasures of the Study—gather the essence of heaven and earth, showcasing five thousand years of Chinese civilization on the tip of the brush and on the canvas, condensing into a treasure of humankind.

As the giant scroll on the field was slowly unrolled, the entire audience was awestruck.

This enormous LED screen, 147 meters long and 27 meters wide, is a scroll depicting five thousand years of Chinese history, and the opening ceremony performance began from there.

Ancient sounds, the Four Great Inventions, Chinese characters, and traditional opera—the splendid culture of China is displayed in a magical way.

Amidst melodious music, a long scroll depicts caravans and maps of the Silk Road from over 2000 years ago, with thousands of sailors wielding giant yellow oars, forming a massive fleet that recreates the grandeur of Zheng He's voyages to the Western Ocean.

As the music played, giant oars churned, the sea and sky merged into one, and amidst the raging waves, two fleets of ships danced like giant dragons, drawing cheers from the audience.

Every segment of the opening ceremony was captivating, from the stirring national anthem to the spirited athletes, all conveying a love and respect for sports.

Miss Liu was moved to tears, and Lin Yu was also thrilled!

In his previous life, Lin Yu had only seen the opening ceremony on television, but he never expected that watching it live would be a completely different experience from watching it on television.

This is absolutely stunning!!!

China! This nation with a history spanning five thousand years has, at this moment, truly made the people of the whole world aware of it!

"Director Zhang! Just based on this opening ceremony alone—you truly deserve the title of national director!" Lin Yu sighed softly, his eyes slightly red. After the three-and-a-half-hour Olympic opening ceremony ended, Lin Yu and Miss Liu were still replaying the various scenes from the ceremony in their minds on their way back.

"Senior, Director Zhang is amazing!" As soon as she got home, Miss Liu exclaimed to Lin Yu.

Lin Yu glanced at Miss Liu, who was still upset, and smiled slightly, "Yes, very impressive, but you should get some rest now, shouldn't you?"

"And what about you? It's so late, why don't you—stay?" Miss Liu asked, glancing at the time.

Lin Yu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright, thank you very much for taking me in tonight, Miss Liu!"

"Hehe—alright, what can I say, I'm just too kind-hearted!"

Their eyes met, the evening breeze gently caressed them, stirring their heartstrings.

The following day, news of the Olympic opening ceremony dominated the front pages of major news outlets.

Zhang Yimou rose to fame overnight! He truly deserves the title of China's top director! Even Lin Yu was overshadowed.

Moreover, his own director's fee also rose sharply, reaching 20 million.

This figure, compared to his 1000 million yuan salary for directing "Hero" in 2002 and 30 yuan for directing "Happy Times" in 2000, shows that his salary has increased significantly in just a few years.

This is something that makes all the directors in the entertainment industry extremely envious!

Interestingly, while everyone was praising Zhang Yimou as the top director in China, Lin Yu's salary was roughly estimated by people in the industry, and then compared with Zhang Yimou's salary.

But what's truly laughable is that, whether it was intentional on the part of those who made the estimates, Lin Yu's director's salary was also 20 million!

However, the currency symbol at the end is US dollars!

20 million RMB VS 20 million USD!

For a moment, not only were people in the industry stunned, but even Lin Yu and Zhang Yimou, the two parties involved, were at a loss for words when they saw this situation!

However, that's the truth, and no one can refute it. Lin Yu's $20 million director's fee wasn't just empty talk.

Although this guy has always directed his own films, he occasionally sneaks in a couple of movies overseas. Leaving aside *Iron Man*, his salary for *Aquaman*, for example, was already $15 million, plus a share of the global box office. The $20 million salary they set for Lin Yu seems a bit low to everyone! $25 million wouldn't seem excessive at all.

Because the investment in "Aquaman" is not low, it's 20 million more than "Inception"! With Lin Yu's fame and strength, the box office is not to say it will reach 1 billion or 2 billion, but it's still possible to reach 700 or 800 million!

So how much is Warner Bros.' 5% share of the box office revenue worth? Thirty or forty million US dollars! After deducting taxes and theater fees, it's definitely worth more than five million US dollars.

So—the outside world gradually began to somewhat limit Zhang Yimou's title as China's top director, removing the aspect of his salary, and then a couple of days later, removing the aspect of his film's box office performance as well.

Because Lin Yu's box office achievements are indeed quite astonishing. Not to mention the box office performance of domestic directors, Lin Yu is also among the top in the global film box office rankings, which is quite unexpected!

However, netizens are quite cunning. If they can't claim the title of "China's No. 1 Director," they can find another title to boast about!

After all, Zhang Yimou really made the Chinese people proud this time.

Therefore, the title "National Preceptor" gradually began to circulate within the circle.

However, while one is happy, another is sad! While Zhang Yimou is being praised to the skies, Liu Cixin has been slammed to the ground!

The two are completely different now compared to 04, but Liu Feiren is being criticized even more harshly now!

All the championships and gold medals he had won before were ignored; all that was remembered was his withdrawal from the competition.

Even Lin Yu was somewhat alarmed by the excessive comments online.

Although there are supporters for him, and many of them are public figures, they are still too weak compared to the group of people online, like a drop in the ocean!

In the end, this man, once hailed by the masses as a flying man, apologized!

"Senior brother—why are all these people like this! Don't they understand other people at all?"

Faced with Miss Liu's question, Lin Yu was momentarily at a loss for words.

Cyberbullying!

Even a decade or so later, this word would still strike people as terrifying, let alone now.

Seeing the deeply sympathetic sadness on Miss Liu's face, Lin Yu patted her hair and comforted her, "He won't be defeated, and those comments that can't defeat him will only make him stronger! The same goes for you!"

Seeing Lin Yu's serious expression, Liu Yifei finally nodded slightly, and then continued to like the comments that explained things to Liu Feiren.

"Red Cliff Part I" has been off the shelves for almost a week, and its final box office grossed more than 320 million RMB, directly dropping to fourth place on the domestic film history box office chart.

The first and second are still Lin Yu's "The Witch" and "The Martian," and the third one goes without saying, the truck driver's big ship is still stuck there!

This left the originally confident Lao Han and a certain director who had been making outrageous statements feeling utterly disheartened.

They had some reservations about "The Witch's" box office of nearly 4 million, but it wasn't that hard to accept that they couldn't surpass it.

Although they keep saying things like they'll get the highest domestic box office and break 4 million yuan, it's all just talk!

However, the box office of 3.2 million yuan was indeed somewhat disappointing to them.

Looking for some comfort, Han Sanping turned his attention back to Lin Yu's "Twilight". After all, Lin Yu hadn't contacted him about the movie for so long, which meant he didn't care much about the movie's situation in China. In that case, they could really negotiate the price.

And as he expected, Lin Yu agreed to his offer of eight million without hesitation.

Having learned his lesson the hard way, Han Sanping had no intention of going all out like he did in the first movie.

The company announced the acquisition of the domestic rights immediately, relying entirely on chance and personal connections for publicity, and even skipped the premiere, focusing on saving money.

They can also take advantage of the wrap-up of Lin Yu's "Assassin's Creed" for promotional purposes, which is just wonderful.

"If we lose money again, I might as well quit my job as a director!" Han Sanping thought to himself as he made all the necessary preparations.

When Lin Yu was working on the post-production of "Wanted," he almost laughed himself silly watching Han Sanping's antics.

Is this a case of "once bitten by a snake, twice shy"?

Meanwhile, after the Chen teacher incident gradually came to an end, Ying Huang in Hong Kong Island also began to prepare for the filming of "Ip Man".

Moreover, the first thing they did was to inform Lin Yu, and the meaning was quite simple.

"The movie is about to start filming, shouldn't you help promote it?"