The Rise of Chinese Entertainment in 2008

Chapter 167 It is only right

Seeing Lu Chuan remain silent, Wang Zhongjun smiled, reached out and patted his shoulder, saying, "But you don't need to worry. I've already spoken with Gu Ning personally. He will only clarify and deny things in front of the media; he won't say anything out of line."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Wang!"

Lu Chuan forced a smile. Wang Zhongjun's words seemed to be helping him, but the subtext was that he already believed that he was the one who did it.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have told him these things. The reason I didn't expose him was simply because I wanted him to make money for Huayi.

However, Lu Chuan did not continue to deny it, because Wang Zhongjun had just said that as long as someone is willing to believe it, the truth or falsehood is not important.

Clearly, Wang Zhongjun was one of those who believed it.

"We're all on the same side, no need to be so polite."

Wang Zhongjun smiled and said, "The company was preparing to sign Gu Ning, but he didn't know what was good for him. Huayi and Director Lu have a common enemy."

Therefore, Director Lu doesn't need to worry; Huayi will step in later.

Upon hearing this, Lu Chuan was initially delighted, then asked with some doubt, "Then why hasn't Huayi done anything? Could it be because they're worried about Tian Zhuangzhuang?"

"Tian Zhuangzhuang is a bit troublesome, but not to the point that Huayi should be worried."

Wang Zhongjun said, "That kid is just a nobody, he doesn't hold back when he does things. Just because you had a little conflict with him, he tried to sabotage you when your movie was released."

If Hua Yi throws dirty water at him, he will throw dirty water at Hua Yi in return.

Even if a movie doesn't make any money at the box office, how much will it lose? With Huayi Brothers' IPO imminent, even the slightest impact is more important than a movie.

It must be said that Gu Ning's revenge against Lu Chuan did indeed serve as a warning to others.

It wouldn't be enough to make Huayi fearful, but it would certainly make him somewhat wary.

Otherwise, how could Wang Zhongjun have told his brother not to cause any unnecessary trouble?

Do elephants care how many ants they step on when they walk?

If it were an ordinary person, he would never tell his younger brother not to do anything for the time being.

Although Gu Ning was just a slightly larger ant in his eyes, this ant was already getting a bit of a thorn in his side.

That's why he didn't let his brother do anything, wanting to wait until the stock price stabilized after the IPO before making any decisions.

"I see."

Lu Chuan was overjoyed upon hearing this. As long as he could get revenge on Gu Ning, he didn't mind working for Huayi.

If his previous films had performed well at the box office, he would naturally not have been willing to work for someone else.

But because of Gu Ning's actions, it will be difficult for him to attract large investments in the country.

Hua Yi is rich, so working for him is fine, as long as you get your share.

Gu Ning was unaware of any of this. After leaving the company, he returned to the film crew.

I had just finished checking the filming progress during my absence and hadn't even had a chance to look at the footage shot by Fan Chunxi when the reporter arrived.

Gu Ning had the reporters led to an empty classroom, and then brought Fan Chunxi into the classroom.

"Director Gu, what are your thoughts on the fairness of the Hundred Flowers and Golden Rooster Awards?"

"Director Gu, you revealed online that Director Feng Xiaogang's award was the result of Huayi Brothers' public relations efforts. Is there any inside story behind this?"

As soon as Gu Ning arrived, reporters surrounded him, practically shoving microphones into his mouth.

"Quiet!"

Gu Ning shouted, "I will answer everyone's questions one by one, but if you continue to be so disorderly, then I will have to refuse the interview!"

"Don't worry, everyone. Now that Director Gu is here, he will definitely answer your questions."

Fan Chunxi said, "But with this chaos, how is Director Gu supposed to answer?"

Upon hearing this, the reporters calmed down.

Seeing this, Gu Ning and Fan Chunxi went up to the podium and said, "Alright, let's ask questions one by one, from left to right."

"Director Gu!"

The reporter on the far left smiled and said, "You've revealed online that the Hundred Flowers and Golden Rooster Awards are rigged. Could you provide more compelling evidence?"

"First of all, those things on the internet are just rumors; I have never said anything like that. As our ancestors said, rumors stop with the wise."

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Gu Ning said, "The Hundred Flowers and Golden Rooster Awards have been running for about thirty years and are the most prestigious awards in China. The participants are all highly respected people. Personally, I don't believe there could be any behind-the-scenes manipulation."

The reporter was clearly dissatisfied with this answer, saying, "But there's an old saying, 'Where there's smoke, there's fire.' With so many people in the industry, why hasn't it been revealed that someone else was behind it?"

"Heh~"

Gu Ning laughed in exasperation and said, "My neighbor's child hit him when the other kids in the neighborhood snatched his toy, and he went home and complained to his parents."

The parent who took the blame said, "There were several children playing together at the time. Why did you only hit my child and not the others?"

Your child must have made mistakes too. Since both of them have made mistakes, then each of you should take care of your own child. How dare you come here to cause trouble?

Don't you think your words are the same as those of the parent who hit the other child?

"Director Gu, you are completely changing the subject. Children don't have the ability to distinguish right from wrong, so it's normal for them to make some mistakes."

"But adults do it, who would do it maliciously for no reason?" the reporter immediately retorted.

"You said it yourself, it wouldn't happen for no reason, but with fame comes trouble. My two movies have both achieved good results, so some people might be jealous, or other movies released at the same time might be deliberately trying to frame me because my movies squeezed out their box office," Gu Ning said calmly.

"Can--"

"alright!"

Gu Ning interrupted him, saying, "I have limited time and can't answer only one person's question. Next!"

"Director Gu!"

The reporter was about to say something, but the reporter next to him had already spoken up impatiently.

"You just said that others are slandering you because they're jealous of you. Is it possible that you're also jealous of director Feng Xiaogang?"

Gu Ning looked at the reporter who asked the question as if he were an idiot.

"Have the bar for journalism been lowered this much lately? Making baseless accusations is one thing, but shouldn't there at least be some basic investigation going on?"

Gu Ning said calmly, "I didn't even submit my film for awards, why should I be jealous of others winning awards?"

"Uh~"

The reporter was stunned and asked in confusion, "Director Gu's first film was fully qualified to participate, why didn't he participate?"

"Because I have self-awareness."

Gu Ning said, "My first film was a road movie. Even if I were to be a judge, I wouldn't have the face to vote for myself."

I already knew the outcome, so why would I send it? As for your claim of jealousy, that's utter nonsense. Alright, next one!

"Director Gu, what do you think about Feng Xiaogang winning the award? Many of the nominated films are also excellent, and the audience has a lot of doubts about the selection results."

"It's good to have questions; it would be really problematic if there were no questions! Audiences have their own preferences and naturally tend to favor what they like."

This isn't a reading exam where you're ranked by total score.

I personally really enjoy director Feng Xiaogang's films. I've seen almost all of his movies in theaters, and I think he deserves this award.