Chinese Entertainment King: Starting as a Fat Boy and Becoming a Singing King

After dinner, Liu Yifei insisted on inviting Xu Yao to go to her house for a visit.

The car turned onto a tree-lined avenue in Shunyi District, then passed through a gate, and Liu Yifei's Porsche Cayenne stopped in front of the villa.

Xu Yao got out of the car and stood beside it, his gaze sweeping over the building in front of him and the lawn behind it in the night.

Is this... really a home?

Xu Yao didn't know how many acres it was, but it felt like the size of four football fields.

He had heard online that Liu Yifei's house was very, very big, but now standing inside, he only felt that it was outrageous and empty.

"What are you standing there for? Come in."

Liu Yifei had already reached the porch and turned back to urge him on.

Xu Yao followed her into the house.

A series of light, hurried footsteps came from the depths of the corridor. An orange cat peeked out from around the corner, followed by a white cat jumping off the back of the sofa, and then a gray cat slowly strolling out from the stairwell.

Before long, seven or eight cats were standing in the living room, each with a different color and posture, but all looking in the same direction.

The direction Liu Yifei was standing in.

Liu Yifei squatted down and stretched out one hand.

"Dongdong, come here."

The orange cat named Dongdong walked over, brushed her calf with its tail as it passed by, and then walked away.

Another tortoiseshell kitten came over and nudged its head into her palm. She took the opportunity to scratch its chin and then righted a cat food bowl that had been knocked over on the ground.

Liu Yifei moved nimbly, showing none of the glamorous star persona she displayed at press conferences. She seemed more like an ordinary girl who had just gotten home from get off work and was settling her pets in the house.

These stray cats were rescued by Liu Yifei and her mother starting in 2011. They were treated, spayed/neutered, and found homes. The ones that stayed became family.

For her, this wasn't a mansion, but a shelter for stray cats.

Xu Yao leaned against the door frame, watching Liu Yifei squat on the ground, holding a bag of cat food in one hand and pouring it into a bowl with the other.

As Xu Yao watched Liu Yifei's busy figure, his mind drifted to her recently released movie.

"For Love or Money" grossed less than 35 million in its opening week in November 2014, eventually settling at 66 million.

Since 2015, Liu Yifei has focused on film shooting, and has starred in several films such as "The Night Peacock" and "So Young".

Partnering with accomplished actors, focusing on the film industry and the big screen, while temporarily refraining from television drama production, we are determined to secure high-end film and television resources.

In August 2017, the movie "Once Upon a Time" was released, and it was immediately met with a wave of negative reviews across the internet.

Liu Yifei won the Golden Broom Award for Most Disappointing Actress for this film.

In July 2017, photos of Chen Jingfei and Yang Caiyu kissing passionately in the street circulated online.

After that, Chen Jingfei gradually withdrew from Liu Yifei's business management.

Liu Yifei lost a large number of film and television business resources and channels.

In November 2017, "The Chinese Widow" was released, but its box office revenue was only 11 million yuan in five days.

Liu Yifei was subsequently labeled a box office poison, and her film career fell into a slump.

This was the darkest moment in Liu Yifei's acting career.

She has no new dramas, rarely goes out, has no scandals, and doesn't trend on social media; it's as if she's vanished from the entertainment industry.

Many people thought Liu Yifei's acting career was over.

But Xu Yao knew that she didn't.

Her life was full of resilience.

In the scene of the tea competition in the teahouse in "Meng Hua Lu", Zhao Pan'er, who has almost no lines, conveys the composure and resilience of a woman in a desperate situation with only her eyes and subtle hand gestures.

That scene is still used as a case study in acting classes at the Beijing Film Academy.

Then came Xu Hongdou in "Go to Where the Wind Blows", and then "The Story of Rose".

From then on, Liu Yifei returned to the top.

Xu Yao turned his gaze away from her.

I'm reminded of a Weibo post by Liu Yifei: "If I'm misunderstood, I'll never explain. It's pointless; people will only believe what they want to believe." I've gotten used to it all along, old wounds covered with new ones. It's okay, it'll heal quickly. Just enjoy the game.

Xu Yao thought that since they had met by chance, Liu Yifei should call him "brother" and treat him like family.

Can you give me some advice today?

Why make her go through the lows of the following years?

Liu Yifei started with a pair of Kings and four 2s, how did she manage to play them so badly?

Xu Yao borrowed a pen and paper from Liu Yifei, determined to analyze the situation thoroughly today.

You treat me to a meal today, and I'll give you a brilliant future plan in return.

He recalled the overwhelming ridicule online on Liu Yifei's thirtieth birthday.

Box office poison, expressionless acting skills, and a resource-backed actor.

It wasn't until "The Dream of Splendor" aired that everyone realized her acting skills were so good and so moving.

Why did such a good actor take such a long and winding road?

Xu Yao drew a vertical line on the far left of the paper and wrote the first line of text next to the line: 2004-2006.

Then he drew four horizontal lines under this time period, and wrote a name on each line: "The Story of a Noble Family", "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", "Chinese Paladin", and "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

All four TV series were broadcast on satellite TV and became huge hits.

Bai Xiuzhu, Wang Yuyan, Zhao Ling'er, and Xiaolongnu.

He's not even 18 years old, yet his popularity among the public is at its peak.

And then...and then everything came to an abrupt end.

Xu Yao drew a dividing line heavily to the right of this vertical line.

After the dividing line, he added a year next to it: after 2006.

Then below that line of text, two words were written: TV series, followed by a downward arrow with the word "zero" at the end.

Television resources have plummeted.

The root of this matter lies with the Tang people.

After filming "Chinese Paladin", Liu Yifei had a conflict with her agency, Tangren Media.

Tangren wanted to keep its television drama business, while Liu Yifei wanted to move into film. The two sides were deadlocked for a long time and eventually parted on bad terms.

What is Tangren's status in the mainland television industry?

The Legend of Sword and Fairy series was made by them, Scarlet Heart was made by them, and Xuan-Yuan Sword was made by them.

Breaking ties with Tangren Media was tantamount to severing all ties with the most powerful television resource channel at the time.

This blow was delivered too young, too early.

A sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl, without a complete management team behind her, only her mother and a godfather who is not from a professional background, lacks the necessary foresight regarding the cruelty of the industry ecosystem.

By parting ways with Tangren Media, the most stable path—television—was cut off.

After the Tang dynasty ended, where did they go?

Huayi extended an olive branch.

To show its sincerity, Huayi Brothers released "The Forbidden Kingdom" in 2008.

With Cheng Long and Jet Li as supporting actors, he soared to the top of the Hollywood IMDb Newcomer list.

This initial setup is phenomenal even in the history of Chinese-language films.

Everything looks good, so what?

Xu Yao drew an inconspicuous symbol on the paper and wrote two words next to it: Refusal to Sign.

After filming "The Forbidden Kingdom", Huayi Brothers wanted to sign her.

Liu Yifei declined.

From the perspective of that point in time, this choice doesn't seem wrong.

There are too many wolves and not enough meat within Huayi Brothers. Seniors like Li Bingbing and Zhou Xun are in their prime. Who should be given resources?

Even if you sign in, you might not get to eat the best piece of meat.

Moreover, the contract is a full one, making them completely dependent on others.

But the cost of being refused a visa is greater than imagined.

Huayi Brothers is the leading force in the mainland film industry. The most outstanding Chinese-language films of those years, such as "If You Are the One," "The Message," "Aftershock," and "Back to 1942," were all produced by Huayi Brothers.

Rejecting Huayi means giving up the most crucial resource channel in this region.

Tangren Media cut off its path in television dramas, and Huayi Brothers cut off its path in film.

Both cuts struck the major artery.

Then he drew a few messy lines below that line of text.

Liu Yifei began to be slandered and bullied by various parties.

Scandals keep emerging.

The outrageous rumors about being a "transgender person," the malicious label of "Yangzhou slender horses," the ambiguous speculation about an affair with a "godfather," and the accusation of falsifying her enrollment at the age of fourteen.

Resources plummeted to rock bottom.

There's an even deeper problem: for a period of time, she didn't have a professional management team.

Xu Yao drew a line of text next to her: "No management team, no one to help her secure good film and television projects."

And those that came to us were co-productions between China and South Korea, China and the United States, and China and France.

Co-productions may have ample investment and impressive casts, but if the script is poorly polished and the cultural context is incompatible, they are likely to flop both at the box office and with critics.

After Chen Jingfei got busy with his relationship, the consequences became even more troublesome.

Meanwhile, what are others doing?

Xu Yao drew another box on the right half of the paper.

Write Yang Mi, Zhao Liying, and Tang Yan in the box.

Yang Mi made a comeback with "Palace" and then secured her position as a top commercial star with the "Tiny Times" series and "Eternal Love".

Zhao Liying's dramas "The Journey of Flower", "Princess Agents", and "The Story of Ming Lan" were all hits.

None of these people have ever left the TV series.

In the battlefield where Liu Yifei left, they firmly grasped the core of national popularity.

When Liu Yifei was placed in the same competition, she became the background figure.

Liu Yifei has no new works, no awards, and no hit movies, so her acting shortcomings are magnified.

It's not that she can't act, it's that she doesn't have a new work that audiences will repeatedly watch to overshadow those negative reviews.

Zhao Ling'er was born in 2005, how many years can she be shielded?

They blocked it until 2015, ten years in total, and it couldn't be stopped anymore.

Xu Yao flipped to the last page. This time, he only wrote down one year: 2008.

In May 2008, around the time of the release of "The Forbidden Kingdom," Chen Jingfei gave a public interview, officially announcing Liu Yifei's path to becoming an international superstar. His exact words were: "To be on par with Zhang Ziyi, to succeed Gong Li, and to focus on Hollywood."

Xu Yao drew a very long arrow under this year, and wrote lines of text next to the arrow.

From 2008 to 2010, Liu Yifei suspended her work in China and went to the United States to study English, acting, and martial arts, preparing herself for a career in Hollywood.

After returning to China in 2010, she still focused on overseas auditions and co-production projects, only taking on a small number of romantic fantasy roles in China, resulting in a significant decline in the quality of her resources and her exposure.

At the end of 2017, Chen Jingfei spearheaded the signing of WME, the world's largest talent agency, to fully support the production of "Mulan".

This is the last gamble on overseas routes.

The 2020 release of "Mulan" was met with huge controversy and failed to meet box office expectations. This overseas route, which had been followed for fifteen years, came to an end with a dull thud.

The overseas route was a complete failure, wasting Liu Yifei's precious golden years as an artist.

This was a major strategic failure for Chen Jingfei, who misjudged the booming overseas market and underestimated the burgeoning domestic market.

Xu Yao wrote a line at the end of this arrow: After 2006, he basically stopped taking on TV dramas and lost his basic popularity among the public.

She went from being a top-tier actress alongside the "Four Dan and Two Bing" (referring to four popular actresses and two popular actresses in China) to competing in the same arena as the "Four Little Flowers" (a group of young, popular actresses).

Xu Yao wrote page after page, while Liu Yifei petted the cat and watched curiously.

Liu Yifei's eyes were full of confusion and bewilderment.

Looking at my name, my godfather's name, and the movies and TV shows I've acted in on the paper...

What exactly is Xu Yao going to do?

But she resisted her curiosity and didn't ask any questions.

Xu Yao was so focused at that moment that Liu Yifei couldn't bear to interrupt him.