Huayu: Starting with Hijacking from "The Story of a Noble Family"

Chapter 65 Liu Yifei: Does your mother know how wasteful you are?

Liu Yifei: What exactly did you give China Film Group to make them promote you so diligently?

Xu: I want to know. Liu Yifei: Never mind. Xu Heng: Then I won't tell you. Liu Yifei: Hmph. Liu Yifei: I'm just afraid you'll lose money!

Xu Heng: Thank you for your concern. Liu Yifei: You have no sincerity at all. Xu: It's nothing to tell you. Actually, I didn't give you any benefits. I just used the simplest and most direct method. Liu Yifei: You gave me money?

Xu Heng: Of course, movie promotion costs money. Liu Yifei: How much did it cost?

Xu: Including the cost of printing and copying, the total is 400 million. Liu Yifei: Not counting production costs?

Xu Heng: Of course not!

Liu Yifei: ————

Liu Yifei: Does your mother know how wasteful you are?

Xu Heng: Of course I can spend my own money however I want. Liu Yifei: I know you're a tycoon, but could you please stop showing off like this in front of me?

Xu Heng: When did I show off?

Liu Yifei: What do you think? Right now!

A few days later, China Film Group started to exert its efforts, or more accurately, the 400 million yuan that Xu Heng spent began to exert its efforts. Many domestic media outlets reported that "Our Times" was about to be released.

Xu, the director and male lead, and Liu Yifei, the female lead, received numerous interview invitations from the media, including CCTV-6 Movie Channel.

Some media outlets have also compared "Our Times" and "Jade Goddess of Mercy" because the two films were released around the same time and the main actors are quite popular.

Xu Heng certainly has no objections, but it's unclear whether this is China Film Group's intention.

This promotional strategy benefits both films, at least before their release.

A little while later, Liu Yifei sent another text message.

Liu Yifei: With a budget of 700 million, we need at least 2000 million in box office revenue to break even. Are you confident?

Xu Heng: I'm still confident that the box office will reach 1000 million. Liu Yifei: Wouldn't that mean we'd lose money?

Xu Heng: It's not like I can't afford to lose money. Liu Yifei: So your so-called big red envelope was just something you said casually, right?

Xu Heng: Of course there will be some if the movie makes money!

Liu Yifei: Hmph, you stingy person!

A while later.

Liu Yifei: Tangren has been contacting me, wanting to invite me to act in that TV series. Xu Heng: I'm quite interested in that series and am considering taking it, but we haven't reached an agreement on the salary yet. Liu Yifei: Do you think I should take it? Xu Heng: You can take it. This game is quite popular, and I think the image of the female lead suits you quite well. Game adaptations are very popular overseas now. Liu Yifei: Then wouldn't I have to act opposite you again?

Xu Heng: Well, there's nothing we can do about it. Liu Yifei: Hmph!

Liu Yifei: Should I agree to Tangren's offer now?

Xu Heng: Let's wait until the movie is released. I'll talk to Tangren about my salary then. Liu Yifei: What if the movie loses money and my salary gets lower?

Xu: Then I'll make it up to you with another movie, okay? Liu Yifei: Tch. At the same time, looking at the messages on her phone, Liu Yifei couldn't help but purse her lips. It seemed that she would have to film with Xu Heng again.

But as Xu Heng said, there was no other way; Tangren insisted on having her act alongside Xu Heng, and she didn't want it to be this way.

As for waiting until the movie is released before replying to Tangren, she had no objection. She still trusted Xu very much. Then, on Saturday the 18th, Xu Heng's four roommates, Liu Yifei's four roommates, and Shu Chang went to a movie theater near the Beijing Film Academy to watch "Infernal Affairs 2," which had just been released in mainland China the day before. This was something they had agreed on during their last gathering.

Xu Heng had seen this movie in his previous life, but he did not refuse it.

Upon learning that her daughter was going to see a movie with her classmates on Saturday, and that Xu Heng would be there too, Liu Xiaoli didn't say anything, nor did she try to stop her.

She had a lot of faith in Xu Heng's character, and besides, her daughter was often at school, so she couldn't stop her if something really happened!

"I told you, Infernal Affairs 2 wouldn't do very well at the Chinese box office!"

After meeting at the movie theater, Zhang Zichen immediately said with some pride.

He previously said that "Infernal Affairs 2" wouldn't do well at the Chinese box office, and some people disagreed with him.

The opening day box office figures for "Infernal Affairs 2" have been reported: less than 150 million.

It might not be entirely accurate, but even if the box office figures were accurate, they certainly wouldn't be very high.

"It's only been one day since it was released; today's box office will definitely be even higher!"

Liu Jing retorted again, although she also knew that the box office of "Infernal Affairs 2" in mainland China was unlikely to be very high.

"It's normal for Saturday's box office to be higher than Friday's —"

Zhang Zichen pursed his lips and muttered something under his breath.

He knew that Liu Jing idolized Xu Heng and had a good relationship with Liu Yifei.

Liu Jing glanced at him, then ignored him.

Zhang Zichen is indeed quite handsome, but he is far inferior to her idol Xu Heng, and the gap is even greater in other aspects!

After watching the movie, the group strolled around for a while.

We had dinner together again, and then went to a karaoke bar.

Upon entering the private room, Liu Jing first requested a song for herself: "Super," the title track from the popular band Da She Tuan's new album of the year.

Star.

This album was released in August of this year, which is two months ago, and it sold over a million copies in its first month across Asia.

After Liu Jing finished singing "SuperStar", it was Wang Jia's turn to sing "Prague Square".

This song is from Cai Yilin's new album "Watch Me Change 72 Times" released this year. The album was released in March of this year and has now sold nearly 2 million copies across Asia.

After Wang Jia finished singing, Wang Hongyu requested a classic song by Andy Lau, "Forget Love Potion".

Not to be outdone, Zhang Zichen requested "Dong Feng Po" from Jay Chou's new album "Ye Huimei" this year.

Then Sun Haidong requested Luo Dayou's "Love Song 1990", Zhou Yang requested Liu Ruoying's "Later", and Shu Chang requested Liang Jingru's "Courage".

You could tell they were all quite skilled, and might even have had special training.

Shu Chang even released an album when she was 10 years old, and it sold over 10 copies!

Liu Yifei glanced at Xu Heng and selected Wang Fei's "Red Bean".

Her favorite song is Wang Fei's. She even sang Wang Fei's "I'm Willing" with Liu Tao when she participated in the Jiangsu TV program "Extraordinary Weekend".

Of course, that was before. Now, her favorite song is definitely "A Little Happiness," which she sings herself.

She just saw this song in the popular song requests list, but she didn't request it.

After the song "Red Bean" was finished, everyone looked at Xu Heng, but he hadn't finished singing yet.

Moreover, he can write songs, so his singing skills must be pretty good.

Liu Yifei and her three roommates had also heard him sing "Confession Balloon," but they didn't know if it had been edited.

Since "Confession Balloon" hasn't been officially released yet, it's naturally not available in karaoke bars.

So Xu Heng went over and requested Wang Jie's "Heartbreak 1999".

Then, as soon as he opened his mouth, his three roommates had only one thought in their minds.

From now on, they will never sing again as long as Xu Heng is around, especially when there are girls present!

Liu Yifei, her three roommates, and Shu Chang were also instantly captivated by his singing.

Around 9 p.m., Liu Xiaoli personally came to pick up Liu Yifei by car.

Seeing that Xu and the others had clearly had a little to drink, and that her daughter and goddaughter had no smell of alcohol at all, Liu Xiaoli couldn't help but nod to herself.

Moreover, she could tell that Xu Heng and the others hadn't drunk much; they were probably just doing it for the atmosphere.

She had indeed never seen Xu Heng drink too much; in fact, he rarely drank at all.

Afterwards, Liu Xiaoli brought her daughter and goddaughter home together, and Liu Yifei also really wanted to have a good chat with Shu Chang.

After she noticed her relationship with Xu had improved, she seemed to neglect Shu Chang, who had originally been her best friend.

On Monday, Liu Yifei and Shu Chang came to school together and had lunch together in the cafeteria.

Liu Yifei took leave from class in the afternoon and arrived at the school gate to find that Xu Heng had already arrived.

They then walked together for two or three minutes to the CCTV-6 production center next door.

This was only because they deliberately slowed down; otherwise, it would have taken even less time.

CCTV-6's real name is Huaxuan Film Satellite Channel. It only uses the CCTV-6 logo and has no connection with CCTV at all, let alone being a subsidiary of CCTV.

In Xu Heng's previous life, CCTV-6 was nicknamed "Sixth Princess" because of her unconventional personality and frequent arrogance.

The production center is not in the CCTV building, but at No. 2 Xitucheng Road. No. 4 Xitucheng Road is the Beijing Film Studio, which is closer than the Beijing Film Studio where Xu Heng auditioned for "The Story of a Noble Family".

They're here today to record an episode of "Chinese Film Report," an interview program, the purpose of which is naturally to promote "Our Times."

Recording started around 2 PM and lasted for a little over an hour.

This program is divided into a daily version and a weekend version. The daily version is simpler, while the weekend version is more formal.

They recorded the weekend version today, but the program is only 20 minutes long. Afterwards, "Six Princesses" will go to the Taipei Film Studio for some interviews.

Furthermore, when the program airs, the movie trailer will also be shown.

Although it's called a trailer, it's more like a music video.

The content consists of edited clips of movie scenes, accompanied by the theme song "A Little Happiness" and footage of Liu Yifei recording the song.

A few days later, Zhang Dahuzi revealed that the post-production of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" was about to be completed.

Meanwhile, media outlets reported that Li Yapeng and Zhou Xun had officially broken up. Neither of them denied the rumors this time, which basically means that the "Jing-Rong romance" that lasted for less than two years has officially come to an end!

Another day passed. On Saturday, October 25th, at around 9 PM, after a movie finished playing, the "Chinese Film Report" program recorded by Hsu Heng and Liu Yifei aired, and it would be rebroadcast the next day.

The show didn't have high ratings, but it garnered a lot of attention from movie fans.