Wu Baige Fires the Fire

Chapter 87 Wu Baige Fires the Fire (Bonus Chapter! 3 chapters, 10,000 words)

"Director He! Director He!"

What is your opinion on Lu Chuan's remarks?

"Director He, 'Fireworks in the Human World' has seen its box office soar, creating a box office miracle for art films. What are your expectations for the box office?"

"Director He Yi'an, do you think it's fair to others that you won Best Director through such means?"

"Director He Yi'an, you're so young to be making movies. Are you just a figurehead? Do you have a powerful background supporting you?"

"He Yi'an, please answer the question directly!"

Information about He Yi'an's return to China, and even his departure from Venice, had already been sent back.

Reporters have long been eager to know the inside story of his award.

Although major media outlets dare not openly contradict the official stance, it shouldn't be a problem for me to conduct direct interviews and ask questions, right?

So when He Yi'an appeared, the reporters who had been waiting for a long time swarmed around him, their microphones almost poking He Yi'an's face.

He Yi'an is not a celebrity, much less a trained South Korean entertainer who can stand in the spotlight without blinking.

A series of flashing lights made his eyes blurry, and he instinctively took a step back.

At this point, it was the seasoned veteran Han Sanping who had the experience.

He walked up from behind and blocked He Yi'an's way: "Everyone, everyone, please make way. This is a public area. Don't block the passage for other comrades. If you have any questions, let's find another place to talk."

As a result, Han Sanping's words of comfort had no effect.

Many people who recognized him shoved microphones right in his face.

"Mr. Han, may I ask why you invested in He Yi'an's film?"

"President Han, some people say you are He Yi'an's powerful backer. What do you think?"

"President Han, we've checked the records. You came from Emei Film Studio, and He Yi'an's father was also an employee of Emei Film Studio. This film also has investment from Emei Film Studio. Does this mean that Emei Film Studio has already taken control of China Film Group?"

After his eyes had recovered slightly from the glare, He Yi'an heard this explosive question.

What the hell!

Is it appropriate to ask this question so directly?

Even if you dared to ask this question, Han Sanping probably wouldn't dare to answer it, right?

As expected, Han Sanping frowned upon hearing the question, but being a seasoned veteran, his expression remained tense and serious.

I invested because the script was good.

"As for whether he has connections or not, that's all nonsense. He Yi'an got to where he is today through his own talent."

As for other questions, Han Sanping simply wouldn't respond, since any response to such questions would be wrong.

Seeing that Han Sanping was unwilling to say more, and not daring to treat him like other celebrities, the reporters simply changed their target and turned their attention to Yu Feihong.

"Yu Feihong, I heard you're switching careers to become a director?"

"Why do you have this idea? You were the assistant director in He Yi'an's film. Were you actually the director of this film?"

"Yu Feihong, what is your relationship with He Yi'an?"

When will your first movie start filming?

"Fairy Jinghong, what do you think of Director He Yi'an? Do you think he's the right person for you?"

"Yu Feihong, have you ever considered trying a relationship with an older woman/younger man?"

Entertainment reporters, after all, are always looking to create big news, so the questions they ask are getting more and more outrageous.

However, Yu Feihong handled such questions and reporters with ease.

She smiled gracefully and said, "The matter of switching careers to become a director is still in the planning stages. As for An Ge'er, he is a genius, and I admire him very much."

"You guys shouldn't say anything about him not directing the movie. You have to understand that he won the Best Director award at Venice. Such a high honor is not something you can just give up to someone else."

The reporters simply ignored Yu Feihong's explanation.

What a joke! Don't they know that this movie was directed by He Yi'an?

If it weren't for that, and if such a huge public outcry had actually been filmed by someone else, they would have exposed it long ago.

However, this group still found the bombshell in Yu Feihong's words.

"Yu Feihong, you call him An-ge'er, are you two close?"

"Could you explain your relationship in detail? Is he your pet? —"

Hearing these increasingly outrageous questions, Yu Feihong ignored them all and dared not say anything more: "We are friends, nothing more."

The reporters wanted to ask more questions, but Yu Feihong had already followed Han Sanping forward.

Finally, all eyes were focused on He Yi'an, and they completely surrounded him.

Seeing this, Han Sanping figured He Yi'an wouldn't be able to leave without saying something, so he simply stopped trying to stop him.

Knowing that he couldn't escape no matter what, He Yi'an gave up resisting and looked at the reporters.

In an instant, the flashbulbs went off again.

"Director He, please say a few words!"

"Yes, what's your response to the controversy these days?"

"Director He, why did you say 'The dogs bark' in Venice? Whom did you mean by 'the dogs'?"

"Do you have some kind of grudge against Director Lu Chuan? Why has he targeted you repeatedly?"

"What do you think of telling him he doesn't deserve the award?"

Facing the camera, He Yi'an, who had gradually gotten used to it, showed the friendly smile he had learned from Richard.

"First of all, Lu Chuan said my film didn't deserve awards. That's his opinion. Who does he think he is? Does he have the right to comment on me? I'm the Best Director at Venice Film Festival. What is he?"

"I can respect anyone's right to express their opinion, but I don't agree with what he said, like a dog barking."

"If you want to comment on me, wait until he wins Best Director."

"Secondly, my film won awards because of its own quality, not because of anyone else. Gong Li was the chair of the jury, but she was only one of the seven judges. If my film was bad, her opinion alone wouldn't count."

"Third, I said 'Stop barking, dogs!' in Venice because some people really deserve to be scolded." As He Yi'an said this, his smile became even brighter.

"You've all seen how much some of these dogs have been barking lately. A bunch of ungrateful bastards, shouldn't they be cursed?"

Such a ruthless confrontation caused an uproar among the reporters, and their flashbulbs went off even louder.

"Director He, who exactly are you referring to as 'some people' and 'those people'?"

"Director He, aren't you afraid of offending people?"

"Director He, are you admitting that you were swearing?"

"He Yi'an, can't you even tolerate criticism of your films?"

He Yi'an looked at the reporters. Now that he was on the opposite side, he was not afraid to continue the confrontation.

Besides, they are almost all silenced now, so they may not be able to speak. What he said at this moment is the only thing that sets the tone.

Since we can't get along with that group anyway, why not take this opportunity to completely sever ties?

It's often said that to enter the entertainment industry, you have to network.

He Yi'an would never become someone else's henchman or lackey.

He who hadn't succeeded before wasn't qualified to raise a banner or build a circle.

But now that he has a name, a company, and funds, he can take advantage of this opportunity to establish his own territory!

As for other companies like Huayi, their cash flow is even worse than Langyuan's right now!

"Why should I be afraid of offending people?" Once he established this point, He Yi'an became even more unscrupulous. "I have my own company, capital, and I can write scripts myself. I don't rely on them for a living."

"Here I can announce something: Langyuan welcomes anyone with a dream of artistic creation and film and television production to join us. As long as you have the ability, we welcome you."

"You can say whatever you want, but you must release this sentence verbatim!"

The reporters looked at each other in disbelief. This was the first time in all these years that they had encountered someone threatening them and demanding free publicity.

This young man is incredibly bold.

But He Yi'an didn't give them a chance to retort, and continued, "As for the barking of dogs, I'm referring to those who haven't even seen a movie since I started making films, yet still spout nonsense."

"Whether they are from China or abroad, whether they are public intellectuals, film critics, filmmakers, or producers in the industry, if they haven't seen the movie and are just talking nonsense, they are just barking like dogs."

"As for those who watch the movie and still distort the truth and spout nonsense, they're just barking like dogs!"

"I can certainly accept the criticism you've given me, but criticism and malicious slander are two different things. Like I said before, I respect everyone's right to express their opinions, and as long as there's substance to it, I'll accept even criticism! But..."

"When a group of people use criticism as a pretext to maliciously smear others, why should I tolerate their behavior, especially since their way of thinking is questionable!"

"Director He, aren't you afraid of offending some people and continuing to be targeted because of your ruthless approach?"

He Yi'an glanced at him dismissively: "Get into trouble with them? Which of my statements was false? I said they were spouting nonsense without even seeing the movie, that's a fact. If they feel offended, they can go see the movie."

"If they want to criticize after watching, that's their freedom. But criticizing without watching, or speaking from the perspective of compradors and groveling to the power of the West, is just barking like a dog."

"I have no interest in even replying to those barking dogs."

The reporters were absolutely smitten with He Yi'an at that moment.

This young man is a real topic generator.

"Director He, I have one last question!" one of the reporters shouted, "What are your box office expectations?"

He Yi'an thought for a moment, then said, "Fifty million."

The room fell silent for a moment, then erupted into an even louder uproar.

"Fifty million?! Director He, are you kidding me?"

"Although 'Fireworks in the Human World' is doing well at the box office right now, do you know what 50 million means?"

"Last year, 'Big Shot' only made 43 million!"

He Yi'an looked at the reporters, his smile unchanged: "I was talking about the global box office. Actually, I already sold the rights for three million US dollars in Venice alone, and that's part of it. As for the domestic box office, it's about thirty million."

The reporters were at a loss for words.

"Alright," He Yi'an said, "that's all for today. I might do an interview with a media outlet in a few days. You can ask me any questions you have then."

After saying that, he prepared to turn and leave.

Suddenly, another reporter seemed to have received the latest news and shouted loudly.

"Director He, Hollywood director Wu Baige just gave an interview to Taiwanese media and criticized you on the show!"

"What?"

He Yi'an didn't hear clearly, so the person repeated it again.

Upon hearing this, the reporters present immediately made phone calls to confirm, and soon the group surrounded him again, refusing to let him leave.

They never expected that today they would not only receive a lot of first-hand information about He Yi'an, but also possibly get news of the two directors arguing.

That's right. Based on what these reporters knew about He Yi'an after their initial contact with him, they probably wouldn't have bothered with him in other places. But in front of so many reporters, he would definitely retaliate.

Everyone stared intently at He Yi'an.

They didn't want to miss such a good opportunity.

P.S.: Please vote with monthly tickets, all kinds of tickets. I added an extra chapter because I saw that the number of recommendation tickets had reached 10,000.