Bright Era of China Entertainment

Chapter 816 Happy Trio

Amid the cheers of her friends, Liu Xiaoli came out of her surprise and moved, put down her hands, let go of the couple, and turned to face her friends and family.

Facing everyone's blessings and amused looks, Liu Xiaoli felt both the joy of having so many friends come to her birthday, and the embarrassment of suddenly facing so many people without her knowledge.

"Sister Li, I really envy you. You are really lucky to have a daughter and son-in-law who care about you so much." Hu Jun's wife spoke first.

She gave birth to a son last year and became a mother for the first time. Perhaps it is because she has become a mother. Seeing Liu Xiaoli was moved to tears by these photos, I can understand her mood of crying and laughing at the moment.

"That's great. Seeing you all having so much fun together, I'm really envious." Liu Jialin and Liu Xiaoli hugged each other.

Also last year, she and Liang Chaowei completed their wedding abroad. This middle-aged couple who have been in constant turmoil have completed a major event in their lives. However, only those close to them in the circle know that the two are not planning to have children. They are just prepared to spend the rest of their lives as a pair.

So, when Liu Jialin saw that Liu Xiaoli's two children were so filial and grateful, and specially prepared such a birthday surprise for their mother Liu Xiaoli, she felt very emotional and touched.

Faced with such praise from the two elder sisters, Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei just smiled, embarrassed to know how to respond.

Liu Xiaoli and Liu Jialin separated, but smiled and said, "You too, these two kids are making trouble and you followed them, which makes me feel embarrassed."

She looked at Wang Jinhua and jokingly criticized: "And you, the big sister, are the one who started the trouble."

She tilted her head and looked at him again, helplessly saying, "Boss Han, Teacher Kaige, Director Tang, Brother Zhang, Teacher Huang Lei, why do you busy people come to join in the fun with the kids?"

She turned her head to look at her grandmother and family members, feeling ashamed: "It's my son's birthday but my mother's hard day. You are so stupid to even come here in person to mess up the generations. It's really..."

She glanced at her daughter and son-in-law, then looked at her sister Zhou Wenqiong's family, shook her head and sighed, "They even called your aunt over, all the way from Los Angeles... I'm impressed too."

On the surface, she was complaining and criticizing her daughter and son-in-law from different angles, but the happiness and joy on her face were beyond words.

Everyone watched it without saying much. This was just the mother showing courtesy to her child. Everyone watched this scene with a smile.

"Everyone, my daughter and son-in-law are not sensible. I called you here for such a small matter. I want to apologize on their behalf. Please forgive me. Thank you very much for coming and blessing us. Thank you very much."

"Well, since we're all here, let's have a good time tonight and treat it as a big family gathering. Then we'll..."

"Eh?" Liu Xiaoli suddenly got stuck and asked her daughter and son-in-law, "Where are we eating?"

"Hahaha..." After a serious and polite greeting, he fumbled when it came to the key issue. This sudden reversal made everyone present laugh and it was really interesting.

Liu Yifei covered her mouth, looking like she couldn't help laughing. She just thought her mother was so adorable and wanted to help her and Chu Xuan to hold the scene, but she knew nothing. It was really fun.

"It's in the restaurant of the small villa, and there are two tables." Chu Xuan reminded his mother that since the surprise was already in place, the subsequent initiative should be handed over to his mother. After all, it was his mother's birthday, and it would make her more face if her mother was in control of the overall situation.

"Come on, come on, let's eat. It's almost eight o'clock. These two guys didn't know how to take care of our friends and teachers' meals. I'm sorry for the poor hospitality. Everyone, come in and eat. It's so hot outside..." Following the mother's chattering and full of enthusiasm, more than 20 people walked into the villa talking and laughing.

There were two tables in the restaurant. After some miscellaneous furniture was moved away, the space for the two tables for dinner seemed very spacious.

The dishes had already been served, and both tables were served the same dishes. After a while, they were slightly cooled by the air-conditioning, but it did not dampen the pleasant atmosphere.

Chu Xuan, Liu Yifei and Liu Xiaoli sat separately, the couple and their friends sat at one table, while Liu Xiaoli and Wang Jinhua sat at a table with Han Sanping and other seniors and teachers, so that they could all be taken care of.

There were a total of twenty-seven or twenty-eight people present. Normally, there were ten people at a table. The round tables were wider, so more people could sit at each table without being too crowded.

Just like that, after both sides poured the wine and stood up to toast Liu Xiaoli three times, this birthday party started happily with the atmosphere of toasting.

Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei came to their mother's table with wine glasses. Since they had invited people to celebrate their mother's birthday, they had to return the favor with a few glasses of wine to express their gratitude.

Under the instruction and guidance of their mother, the three of them toasted each visitor one by one.

"Third brother, thank you for coming. Our family is honored."

The family first came to Han Sanping.

"Well, stop being polite. It's your 50th birthday. If you can come, come. If you can't, there's nothing I can do. It just so happens that I don't have time to make it today."

"Seeing that you are working for the happiness of your mother, even as an outsider, I am happy for your family happiness."

"Congratulations to Xixi for successfully graduating from Yale University's advanced course. I hope you and your family will be happy and successful in your career in China."

The whole family clinked glasses with Han Sanping.

"Teacher Kaige, thank you very much."

The whole family came to Chen Kaige.

"You're welcome. I'm seven years older than you, but no one younger than me has ever done anything like this for me. Seeing Xiaoxuan and Xixi do this for you as a mother..."

"I am moved by Xiaoxuan and Xixi's filial piety. I feel that 'from now on, there is no future for them, but this kind of heart is worthy of the dragon and the phoenix'."

"Second, I feel that as a mother, you have such love and care from your children. I feel that 'half of life is already old, and the rest of life is full of happiness'. I hope your family will always be happy."

After he finished speaking, Zhang Jizhong beside him said cheerfully: "As expected of a poet, his words are very sophisticated."

There was laughter from the people at both tables. They were impressed by Chen Kaige's poetic reply and also found Zhang Jizhong's teasing amusing.

"Come on, Brother Zhang, thank you."

"Come on, I'm not as good at speaking as the great poet Chen, so let's just keep it simple. I wish you happiness and good health. Everything is beyond words."

These senior teachers were guests, and the whole family treated them all with great courtesy.

Although Wang Jinhua and her family were also guests, the relationship between them made the family not so polite.

After just a symbolic toast of one or two glasses of wine, the couple and my mother came to another table.

"Auntie, have you eaten these four dishes? Master and his wife spent the whole afternoon preparing them. They are made with so much love." Zhao Liying used chopsticks to gesture at four dishes: stir-fried pork with green beans, stir-fried loach, boiled fish fillet, and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

"I ate it, and I can say with a clear conscience that it's delicious." Liu Xiaoli said, putting her hand on the back of Zhao Liying's chair.

Going against one's conscience... Such comments made friends laugh, and also made Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei look at each other with embarrassed expressions.

"Come on, young children and adults, thank you for coming." Liu Xiaoli said, holding up the wine glass.

"Auntie (Sister Li), happy birthday!" Friends raised their glasses together.

For Liu Xiaoli, today is a special day in her life.

When was the last time so many friends celebrated her birthday? The memory was too long ago, it seemed to be 30 or years ago, when she was still living in the An family, and her two families had held a banquet for her th birthday.

Later, she became obsessed with dancing and was too career-oriented. She divorced Ankang and brought Xixi into the circle, but she was a newcomer and had no connections. She had long forgotten about birthdays.

Twenty years have passed, and it is lamentable to face such a birthday situation, but it can also be said to be cause for celebration.

Apart from family members, all those who come here are people who have worked day and night, and some are even top figures like Han Sanping.

Thinking back to when I brought Sissi into the circle several years ago, how could such a situation have happened to her?
It is true, lying on the shallows like sand, sailing far away to the stars and the moon.

But she also knew that rather than saying these people came for her, it would be more accurate to say that they came for their daughter and son-in-law, or more bluntly, for the pursuit of interests derived from the brilliant era.

No matter how you say it, the bottom line is: when it falls low and no one cares about it, the dragon and the phoenix rise up to become the mother Huarong.

Her daughter and son-in-law have become successful, which has given her, as a mother, a filter of glamour and grace.

No matter what, from the perspective that her children are capable, this is something worth being happy about and makes her feel happy.

In this high mood of joy and happiness, in the warm and joyful atmosphere, on the first day back home, she was happily drunk.

"You go out first."

Late at night, Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei helped their mother upstairs. After returning to the room, Chu Xuan stepped out. Liu Yifei ran back and forth between the bedside and the bathroom, washed her mother's face, wiped her body simply, and finally covered her mother with a quilt.

"Mom, good night."

After saying goodnight to her mother who had fallen asleep drunk, she turned off the light, closed the door and left.

She and Chu Xuan looked at each other in the corridor at the entrance, and then the couple hugged each other.

"Mom is very happy today, and our mission is accomplished."

“We will continue next year.”

"Not so good. If I come every year, my mother won't like it. That's her personality."

"So... 60 years old?"

Liu Yifei raised her head in Chu Xuan's arms and nodded repeatedly: "Just as I thought, I will give her a bigger surprise ten years later."

Chu Xuan showed a gentle expression, thought for a moment and said: "Ten years later, it will probably be a family of four."

A family of four? ... Liu Yifei was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening and blinked: "Can't it be a family of five?"

Chu Xuan raised the corner of his mouth and looked at Liu Yifei with a smile.

As the mother happily celebrated her birthday, the couple was in a good mood and had a fun exchange.

The senior teachers left early after a few brief talks, and the business friends also left early after chatting for a while.

The couple went downstairs and returned to the restaurant. Only their family members and a few friends and older brothers and sisters who were free were still there.

Sister Hua was chatting with her family at one table, while they were chatting with friends at another table.

Those who haven't left yet are all huge drinkers. It's impossible for the couple to have a drinking contest, so they can only use various topics to divert the attention of these "huge drinkers".

"Xuan, Xiaodao, when will you start filming "Zhu Xian 2"? " Chu Xuan asked while eating a peanut soaked in vinegar.

"It hasn't been decided yet. We're still setting up the set in the studio." said Zhao Liying.

"Zhao Jian is still working with the special effects team and our screenwriter team," Liu Yi added.

Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei nodded, roughly understanding what was going on.

The story of "Zhu Xian 2" is set in the "Nine Netherworlds". Special effects are needed to interpret such a scene, and the entire drama is almost entirely presented with special effects.

For this drama, Century Culture rented eleven studios in the Beijing Film and Television Base. It should be noted that the special effects blockbuster "Enemy at the Gates" only rented thirteen studios in Hollywood at that time.

The special effects of a drama are almost catching up with a special effects movie, so one can imagine the difficulty and time spent on the preliminary preparations for the set.

It also draws on the excellence of Western film and television industrialization, and brings the special effects originally used in post-production in China to the front stage, placing them in the two major stages of script creation and scene construction, thereby improving post-production efficiency.

This requires cooperation among three companies: Brilliant Times Century Culture, Brilliant Times Digital Special Effects, and Brilliant Times Creative Literature, which means combining scene design, special effects planning, and script writing.

This is a common job in Hollywood, but it is innovative in China.

In the absence of experience, you can only rely on time to slowly get used to it.

No wonder several months have passed and there has been no news about "Zhu Xian 2". The male and female protagonists Huang Xuan and Zhao Liying were still free to attend their mother's birthday party. The couple also understood some of the current situation of the show.

"Eh." Ren Quan asked in confusion, picked up his chopsticks to pick up some food, and saw that Li Qiaoqiao could still find a duck wing in the plate of remaining duck meat. However, Li Qiaoqiao's chopsticks slipped and the duck wing fell off again. He calmly stretched out his chopsticks to pick up the duck wing for himself to prevent Li Qiaoqiao from snatching it. He did not put the duck wing in the bowl either, but took a bite of it immediately.

This series of actions only took one or two seconds. Li Qiaoqiao was stunned, while Chu Xuan, Liu Yifei and their friends laughed when they saw it. This scene was very interesting.

Li Qiaoqiao rolled his eyes at Ren Quan and said speechlessly, "You are so shameless."

Ren Quan smiled and ignored her, continuing what he wanted to say just now: "I remember that the heroine of the first part of "Zhu Xian" was Dong Xuan, so she is not in the second part?"

Huang Xuan and Zhao Liying looked at Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei. This question was not something they could understand, and they didn't know what was going on.

Chu Xuan clinked glasses with Hu Jun, put down his glasses and said, "Teacher Li Yu and Teacher Zhao Jian seemed to have invited her to participate in some scenes of Lu Xueqi, but it seems that she was rejected by Huayi. They probably don't think highly of small supporting roles."

After hearing this, everyone nodded thoughtfully.

In "Zhu Xian 1", Dong Xuan from Huayi Brothers was the female lead.

At that time, although Brilliant Times and Huayi Brothers should have been strangers to each other due to their past ties, capital was profit-seeking and the newly signed artist Dong Xuan needed promotion. The newly established Brilliant Times also needed film resources to satisfy some artists and make up for the company's need for overdevelopment as it had just been established.

That’s perfect, Dong Xuan plays the female lead and may be promoted by this drama.

He, Hu Jun, Tong Dawei, Xia Yu, Ren Quan and others participated in Feng Xiaogang's "Assembly", seeking a transition from a newly established company that needed time to integrate and allocate resources.

Both parties have their own interests, and it is only because these two companies, which have never had any dealings with each other, have come up with this cooperation of resource exchange.

For Huayi Brothers, this cooperation at that time had a prerequisite, that is, Brilliant Times had no plans to develop movies, so giving a few movie resources was not a big deal.

And now, not to mention the cinemas of Brilliant Times, the blockbuster "Enemy at the Gates" was already widely promoted last year. This is obviously a signal that Brilliant Times is going to enter the film industry.

When it comes to movies, there are only a few release dates throughout the year, so you can’t avoid competition.

Under such circumstances, firstly, Century Culture's original "Zhu Xian 2" greatly reduced Lu Xueqi's plot, focusing on promoting its own people and promoting Huang Xuan and Zhao Liying;
Secondly, Huayi Brothers saw that the role that was originally the heroine was only a minor supporting role in the second part, and since everyone wanted to save face, it would be strange that they would agree to let Dong Xuan play the role, let alone any issue of resource exchange.

What Huayi Brothers should consider more is how to deal with the problem of another impressive company coming in to share the pie after Brilliant Times entered the film industry this year.

Based on all these circumstances, after hearing Chu Xuan's vague words, the people present roughly understood the underlying logical relationship of the matter and stopped asking further questions.

"By the way, what happened to "Ghost Blows Out the Light"? When I was still filming "Twilight" in Hollywood, Li Yu called me and asked me to play the female lead, Shirley Young. What happened?" Li Qiaoqiao said.

She was still filming a movie two months ago, and Li Yu called her hoping to play the female lead in a drama produced by the company.

During the rising period of her film career, if someone asked her to act in a TV series, she would refuse without hesitation.

But the company had its demands, so she naturally couldn't make a decision immediately. She planned to come back and see the situation first.

She hasn't been back for a few days as she was delayed by some business. It's still unknown what the situation is.

It happened that Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei, the boss and his wife, were there, so she asked this question.

"Sister Qiaoqiao, you are really suitable. Teacher Li Yu has good taste." Liu Yifei smiled. Li Qiaoqiao was indeed a good match for the Shirley Yang she imagined. She was heroic and had that kind of temperament.

"No, I still don't know what's going on." Li Qiaoqiao and Liu Jialin clinked glasses of wine and said.

"Mr. Kong is having trouble choosing actors for Ghost Blows Out the Light." Chu Xuan explained, "How about this, Sister Qiao, are you free tomorrow? Let's go and take a look together tomorrow. I don't know the details."

"Okay, call me when you go tomorrow." Li Qiaoqiao readily agreed.

"Boss, Madam Boss, would you like to take a look at my literary company?" Liu Yi joked.

Chu Xuan said, "Why would I come to your literary company? My post-production team for "My Love from the Star" is at Century Culture, not where you are. I'm too lazy to go there. If I have anything, it's faster to contact me by phone."

Going to his own company to check it out and saying he's too lazy to go, there's no other boss like this... Liu Yi shook his head. He also knew that this was Chu Xuan joking in front of his own people, so he threw out a bait: "The novel website is built. This was your idea in the beginning. Why don't you take a look?"

"Is it built?" Chu Xuan became interested.

"It's completed. Let's come and see it." Liu Yifei also became interested.

"Take some time to come and have a look. I guarantee your trip will be worthwhile." Liu Yi tried not to laugh, as if he was holding back something very interesting, and was waiting for Chu Xuan and Liu Yifei to witness it.

At this time, Wang Jinhua said at another table: "We have finished eating here, and the elders also need to rest. Do you want to continue eating or change places?"

Liu Yifei glanced at her friend and suggested, "Shall we go to the big villa and sing?"

"No, no, singing is boring." Hu Jun suggested: "Don't you have a barbecue grill on your rooftop? Let's go and have a barbecue and drink. We finally get together, let's chat more. Singing is too noisy and disturbs the family's sleep."

"Let's go to my place." Chu Xuan spoke and made a decision for everyone.

"Then you guys go first, I'll help you clean up and come back later." Wang Jinhua said.

Just like that, a group of people got up, some took wine, some took ingredients, and rushed to the next scene in the middle of the night, intending to continue the joy brought by Liu Xiaoli's birthday tonight.

(End of this chapter)