He Yi'an, why didn't you say so sooner?!

When He Yi'an came out of the Beijing Film Academy again, it was already getting dark.

He never expected to return to school several times in a row, but today's trip yielded far more than he anticipated.

Xue Xiaolu and Cao Baoping have confirmed that they will take on "July and Ansheng", and Jiang Wei is also willing to be the producer. Of course, the most important thing is "Painted Skin" sent by Ning Ying.

This led him to conveniently find a job for Mu Deyuan.

Although he went to Mu Deyuan's office to discuss the directorship of "Painted Skin," Mu Deyuan initially refused to agree.

He said he's only going to be a photographer now, and he's not going to do anything like directing anymore.

In the end, it was He Yi'an who compared himself to Chen Daren, arguing that Chen Daren's method was inferior, that finally convinced Mu Deyuan to agree to the challenge.

But he still said he wanted to see the script before making a final decision.

Based on He Yi'an's understanding of him, if Mu Deyuan had no interest at all, or had no intention of taking the role, he wouldn't have asked him to send the script, and he would have studied it carefully.

What are you researching?

Do you smoke and drink alcohol?

Since they've said that, it's almost certainly going to work out. "With these two projects secured, Langyuan will definitely have no shortage of projects going forward, saving them the trouble of bothering me. I can finally get a good rest this year..."

Lying flat is one of life's greatest pleasures.

He Yi'an, of course, also wanted to lie down and relax.

The reason I was so busy the past two years was because I was forced to.

In the early stages of the company, if he didn't put in any effort and just did nothing but drink, go to bars, and play with women like Wang Zhonglei, where would he get such a great opportunity to rise to prominence?

Putting everything else aside, the three movies and two TV series she starred in over the past two years have directly established Langyuan's reputation.

This also widened the gap between Langyuan and other film and television companies in the Chinese entertainment industry.

And it's a generational gap!

All of this is inseparable from the efforts made over the past two years.

Only He Yi'an can confidently say that although he was reborn, he led the company to where it is today entirely on his own.

There's no need to add any points to Dark Blue!

There are no cheat codes or special tasks! And there are no system sign-ins or strategy rewards!

Besides, even if there were a strategy reward, it should have been Liu Yifei who received it!

Otherwise, why would she keep trying to win me over? (Haha, just kidding!)

Since everything is due to everyone's support and my own efforts.

Now that he's been working hard for over two years, can't he enjoy himself a little?

Hey!

Don't say it yet.

Of course not!

Making grand pronouncements is fine, and there's nothing inherently wrong with it, but He Yi'an simply can't enjoy it.

Why is that?

He took out his phone and glanced at the date.

Please visit [website address] to see the latest chapter! Address: dEqixs.oRg. February 15, 2004, two weeks before the Oscars.

This year's Oscars are held on February 29th, and he needs to get there early to attend several cocktail parties and public relations events.

This is also an important reason why he came back early to handle company matters.

Because there are just so many things to do!

ε=('ο'*))) alas

The tough guy sighed!

But after sighing, He Yi'an could only pick up his phone and send Richard a message: "Send me a copy of the Oscar schedule."

Perhaps due to the time difference, the other party might have already gotten up. In any case, by the time He Yi'an returned home, Richard had already replied to the message.

"Boss, you finally contacted me. I thought you had forgotten about me."

"Everything you requested is ready. Wait, okay, I've sent it to your email. I also need you to confirm the attendance list for a few cocktail parties; I've sent them to you along with those."

He Yi'an turned on his home computer to receive the file, and then quickly browsed through it.

The first thing in the attachment was a schedule of events for Oscar week, with Universal's PR arrangements for mandatory attendance packed tightly together. From February 20th to 28th, there were screenings, media roundtables, and cocktail parties almost every day.

As the director of "A Separation" and "Crash" and the producer of "Little Miss Sunshine", He Yi'an has to attend several events.

However, for some events related to "Crash," you don't actually need to attend; just go for a look around and make a token appearance.

After all, if you're going to put on a show, you have to go all the way. If you don't, the people serving you will think you look down on them.

If you look down on them, how can Harvey and his group believe them?

After carefully reviewing the event schedule sent by Universal Music, He Yi'an picked and chose a few that he absolutely had to attend. Then he called his assistant, Xiao Wang, and asked him to book tickets to Hollywood.

"Mr. He, which day should we book?" Xiao Wang asked on the phone.

"Flight number 22."

After hanging up the phone, He Yi'an thought that since things had come to this point, it was time to inform Liu Yifei.

He knew perfectly well that Xiao Liu was filming a scene where the modern female lead was in school, and that she needed to show a vibrant and confident demeanor.

Telling her this news should be helpful.

"Sissi, how's filming for 'Love Comes Again' going?"

About ten minutes after the message was sent, a reply finally popped up. Liu Yifei's phone was usually with Liu Xiaoli, so the lack of a timely reply meant she was probably filming.

"We just finished filming a scene. Teacher Yu said we'll wrap up in five days. What's going on?"

"Then you need to make sure you have the time. The Oscars are coming up soon, and our movie has been nominated. They'll need you to go there, so you'd better work hard and try to finish filming by next Tuesday so you can fly to Los Angeles."

"Come attend the Oscars with me!"

After the message was sent, perhaps due to the high density of information or the suddenness of the message, Xiao Liu on the other end was left speechless for about half a minute.

Then, after the CD cooled down, He Yi'an's phone started vibrating like a vibrator, with a series of messages popping up:

"Ahhhh???"

"Really???"

"I'm going to the Oscars too???"

"You're not lying to me, are you?!"

"I've never been to an Oscar before!!!" "No, wait, I haven't prepared anything!!!"

"We're leaving in a few days, why are you only telling me now? Did you deliberately wait until now to tell me?"

"He Yi'an, why didn't you say so sooner!!!!"

Looking at the string of exclamation marks on the screen, He Yi'an couldn't help but laugh out loud, imagining Xiao Liu's possibly frantic appearance.

It's been a long time since I teased Xiao Liu, so it's quite fun to do this every now and then.

Moreover, intense emotional fluctuations can also be beneficial to physical and mental health.

Then he slowly typed a few words: "Calm down, there are still two weeks, everything is still in time."

"Too late my foot!!! Mom says I'm different now, I can't be as casual as before, especially in Hollywood, where you have to maintain a respectable image; that's what people there value most!"

"Do you know how long it takes for female celebrities to prepare for a red carpet event?!"

Speaking of dignity, He Yi'an thought about it and realized that Americans do indeed value this the most.

This is also the tone and culture of their entire society. If you lack dignity or cannot maintain it, you will be ostracized from this circle, or even killed very quickly.

Unless you're willing to leave immediately or downgrade your position, many celebrities go bankrupt every year in order to maintain appearances.

These things are not really a big deal for Chinese people, after all, we have a saying since ancient times that you can't judge a book by its cover.

But there's no point in telling Xiao Liu all this now. Besides, He Yi'an can easily come up with ways to coax Xiao Liu: "That's other people, you're different."

"Why am I different?"

"You're naturally beautiful; you look good in anything, and any dress can accentuate your beauty!"

Unexpectedly, after He Yi'an sent the message, Liu Yifei didn't reply for a long time.

Little did he know that when Xiao Liu saw these things, the tips of his ears had turned bright red.

Liu Xiaoli, who was standing to the side, was a little confused. Didn't I tell you to ask what needs to be prepared?

Why are you still spacing out?

She had just heard from Xiao Liu that He Yi'an was going to take her to the Oscars, so she took it very seriously.

After all, the memory of my last trip to Cannes is still fresh in my mind.

Seeing that Xiao Liu didn't react for a while, Liu Xiaoli quickly asked He Yi'an what he had to say. As a result, Xiao Liu was a little confused and dizzy, so Liu Xiaoli simply took the phone herself to check.

Ok!

So they haven't even asked anything yet, and they're already flirting?

Okay, okay, so this is how you guys play it!

Liu Xiaoli originally thought He Yi'an would be more composed, but she didn't expect him to be so composed. He really is two-faced.

So it seems that it's not entirely her daughter pursuing He Yi'an; maybe He Yi'an is just stringing her along?

It can only be said that once the seed of doubt is planted, previous viewpoints must be reshaped.

If He Yi'an was in control of everything, then he had his eye on Xixi from the very beginning.

Okay, okay, if that's the case, then wouldn't I be letting a wolf into the house?

Liu Xiaoli, who was also lost in thought, began a brainstorming session.

So he stormed off in a huff.

It was only then that Xiao Liu realized her mother had seen their chat, and she hurriedly chased after her to explain. Meanwhile, He Yi'an in Beijing was puzzled; why hadn't Xiao Liu replied after all this time?

Are you filming again?

Or is there some other problem?

Just as I was wondering whether I should say something more, Liu Yifei's reply finally came.

"You just wait!!!"

He Yi'an was completely oblivious to the murderous intent in those three words and continued making arrangements on his own.

"Then I'll go over there first to attend a few parties. You can come a few days later, and I'll personally pick you up from the airport."

After posting this message, He Yi'an put away his phone and looked at the lights outside the window.

It is said that nighttime and autumn are the times when we are most prone to reminiscing and longing.

He hadn't taken it seriously before, but now he'd been proven wrong.

For some reason, he suddenly remembered the afternoon two years ago when he was almost bitten by a dog outside the Tianlong film crew's location...

He thought of the girl who rushed out to stand in front of him, both afraid and stubborn; he thought of the flying fish suit and Leica M3 she gave him; he thought of her bright eyes when she sang "Always Quiet" in the karaoke room... and then he remembered her words, "If you're so capable, wait for me for another two years."

Two years.

Time flies, a year has already passed...

Suddenly, I felt a sense of guilt and disgust.

He Yi'an quickly shook his head, banishing those chaotic thoughts, and muttered to himself, "Is this just a surge of hormones? What's the rush?"

……

Before leaving, He Yi'an first confirmed the flight information with Liu Yifei, and then called Liu Xiaoli to briefly explain the arrangements for Oscar.

Liu Xiaoli didn't know what she was thinking at that moment, but it sounded the same as before: "Xiao An, it's Xixi's first time going to the Oscars, she doesn't know anything, and this time the time is too tight, we didn't prepare a team..."

"Don't worry, Auntie. I've arranged professional assistants and a styling team for you. We can prepare everything after it's over, so there won't be any problems."

"Thank you so much, you're so kind." After saying this, Liu Xiaoli explained, "I'm thanking you on behalf of Qianqian."

"Auntie, what are you saying? We're friends, we help each other out."

...On February 22, after more than ten hours of flight, the plane landed at Los Santos International Airport.

Richard still personally came to pick him up at the airport.

After He Yi'an got into the car, Richard turned around from the passenger seat and immediately reported: "Boss, I have sent the revised itinerary to your email."

"There's a Universal-sponsored cocktail party tomorrow night, an Academy screening of 'Crash' the day after tomorrow afternoon, and the Independent Filmmakers Association dinner the night after that..."

He Yi'an was somewhat overwhelmed by these American drinking customs.

Who says that Europeans and Americans don't care about social etiquette and don't have a drinking culture?

There were so many people inviting him.

However, He Yi'an was getting a headache from reading all this information, so she interrupted him and asked, "Alright, just get to the point and tell me which places are essential to visit."

"OK, you'd better show up at the Global Cocktail Party tomorrow night. Stacy will be there too, and she should be talking to you about the follow-up arrangements for Oscar PR."

"Just show up for the screening the day after tomorrow afternoon. You don't need to say anything. Just show up so the judges see you're there; that's enough to show your support."

"As for the Independent Filmmakers Association's dinner..."

Richard knew quite a bit, so his tone shifted subtly as he tentatively asked, "Harvey will definitely be there too." "Him? What will he be doing there?"

Richard continued, "He goes every year; he's a VIP. Miramax has several films nominated this year, and he recently sponsored the association's dinner himself, so the organizers definitely had to send him an invitation."

"Okay, that's perfect. I'd love to see his expression in person."

So, does He Yi'an actually have any grudge against Harvey?

From a Chinese perspective, it's not considered a festival.

He had only wanted to buy the film rights from He Yi'an at a low price, but he didn't sell them, so he felt that He Yi'an didn't value him and that's why he held a grudge.

Later, due to his pursuit of the Oscars and the lack of respect he received in Toronto, and the fact that the Australian Whites directly disrespected him and instead sought help from He Yi'an, it was as if Harvey was being directly attacked.

From Harvey's perspective, it was He Yi'an, this yellow-skinned monkey, who was trampling on his dignity, and his resentment towards him grew stronger and stronger.

Doesn't this seem outrageous?

But that's the squid's thought process.

Or whether it's Onsa or squid, their thought process is actually the same.

Every white man believes he is the chosen one, the savior. Everyone else should be conquered or saved by him.

Want to rebel?

Then look at Israel's current attitude and arrogance towards its neighbors, and you'll understand everything.

……

For the next few days, He Yi'an spent almost all his time attending cocktail parties and film screenings.

After dealing with it for a few days, I went through the entire public relations process for the Oscars with Universal's PR team.

Universal was not stingy when it came to making appearances or spending money.

Since we've already decided to continue investing, there's no need to be stingy anymore.

Three more days passed, and having almost finished what needed to be done, Liu Yifei and Liu Xiaoli flew to Los Santos.

He Yi'an went to pick him up personally, because it was already evening when he arrived.

Los Santos is not safe at night, and besides, he needed to give some instructions to Xiao Liu and Liu Xiaoli.

Although He Yi'an had already completed most of the preliminary procedures, since he needed to secure some rewards for Liu Yifei, she also needed to make an appearance. Especially tomorrow night, He Yi'an was paying for the film association dinner hosted by Universal Pictures.

Along the way, He Yi'an told Liu Yifei and Liu Xiaoli about some opportunities he had participated in a few days ago, their main opponents this time, and his conflict with Harvey.

The reason for making this clear is to prevent Xiao Liu from being misled by questions set up by others.

Hearing that an Oscar PR team has to go through so much trouble, it's all about spending money. Both Liu Yifei and Liu Xiaoli feel like their idealized image has been shattered.

Even after learning that He Yi'an had already spent millions of dollars on this, she felt extremely distressed.

But the money has already been spent, and it's unrealistic to say they want to give up; the mother and daughter aren't mindless people.

Therefore, I only kept all of this in mind for the time being.

Xiao Liu was somewhat worried about the conflict between He Yi'an and Harvey. She thought that the conflict between He Yi'an and Harvey was caused by her doing public relations for her.

"Will he be going to the party tomorrow night?"

"He probably won't come to Universal's event. His relationship with Universal hasn't been great lately, and besides, I paid for this banquet."

Noticing that Xiao Liu seemed a little worried about him, He Yi'an turned to look at her and said, "Don't worry, just stick with me and don't be alone."

Liu Yifei nodded and didn't ask any more questions. The car drove into the Beverly Hills hotel, and He Yi'an arranged for Liu Yifei and Liu Xiaoli to stay in adjacent suites.

After a while, he suddenly felt a message on his phone. He took it out and saw that it was a message from Liu Yifei.

"Wow! The room is huge, even bigger than the one I stayed in last time! You must be living the high life in Hollywood!"

Seeing the string of exclamation marks following the message, He Yi'an didn't say much, but simply advised, "Get some rest, adjust to the time difference, there's important business tomorrow."

"Okay, I got it. You should go to bed early too."

Just as He Yi'an was about to put down his phone and prepare to rest, he received another message.

This time it was sent by Richard.

"Boss, I just received news that Harvey's team has been intensively lobbying for the Best Supporting Actress award for 'Cold Mountain'. He's invested a lot of money and I guess he's determined to win this award."

After reading the message, He Yi'an's lips curled up slightly. Just as expected, Harvey knew that the other rewards were hard to obtain, so he took the initiative to lower the public relations target.

What he needs to know now is how much he has invested!

"How much money did he invest?"

"I don't know the exact number, but from what I've heard, it's at least around 800,000." 800,000 for a supporting actress is indeed not much compared to other awards.

It's not even as much as what He Yi'an invested before.

Of course, the reason why He Yi'an seems to have so much money is because he added more money after he came here. The initial nomination and shortlisting public relations expenses were actually about the same as those of other companies.

The main factors are public relations and the number of nominees.

The more public relations efforts are involved, the more shortlisted entries there are, and naturally, the more money is spent.

With fewer goals, less money is spent.

Harvey actually invested a lot in the early stages, after all, he even did public relations for the Oscars.

In fact, He Yi'an's nomination this time, along with the total expenses for this year's Oscars, far exceeded those of previous years.

After all, according to Harvey, He Yi'an had won almost every award in every aspect.

These messages are certainly not false.

He Yi'an's three films did indeed garner all the awards, but by distributing them among all the films, very few awards actually went to any of the individual films.

Besides, there's "Crash," which was all hype and no substance. "Let him vote! Our strategy remains the same, keep throwing out the smokescreen, let him think we're doing everything we can to win Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for 'Crash.'"

The Art of War is only interesting when it's interpreted through the lens of Sun Tzu.

Following He Yi'an's method, he basically had to attend every banquet. Of course, it wasn't just him; Paul and Richard had also been taken advantage of.

They mainly went to meet those that He Yi'an didn't want to attend.

It's unclear how long this tactic can last; by the time Harvey realizes it, it will probably be too late.

However, spending $800,000 on a Best Supporting Actress award seems a bit much for Harvey.

Of course, this "not quite right" is actually based on comparison.

Because it's being compared to He Yi'an, compared to him...

Harvey didn't spend much on this because he thought the same thing as He Yi'an.

Because of his disruptive behavior, the expenses of other companies increased significantly this time, not to mention Harvey, who had also tried to win over the Best Picture, Best Director and Jury Prize winners.

--------

P.S.: I went back to my hometown to harvest grain over the weekend, and I'm exhausted. I saw that some generous readers have given me rewards. I only got back last night, so I can't add an extra chapter now. I'll add an extra 10,000 words tomorrow!