Chapter 34: Starting off with such a thrill? [Seeking follow-up reads!]

On December 19, Li Wenyu was unaware that Ziyi, Yanzi, and others were gathering in groups to book out cinemas, deeply critiquing Fan Bingbing’s acting skills.

After seeing off Leslie Cheung’s flight to Shanghai early that morning, Li returned to his hotel to prepare for the auditions for the female lead of *The Piano Tuner*, as well as a role for a girl around fifteen.

Li had sent invitations to Chen, Gao Yuanyuan, and Hu Jing for the female lead—a character who enters into a brief romance with the tuner and eventually creates a "cinematic fog obstacle" long post-credits scene. Today was the first round of auditions.

Meanwhile, the Xiang family, one of the investors, pushed for Cecilia Cheung, while Huayi, another investor, pushed for Li Bingbing. The largest investor, "Brother Rong," chose not to interfere at all. *The Piano Tuner* had not been officially greenlit yet; the team behind the production was a collaboration between Leslie Cheung, China Star (the Xiang family), and Huayi.

Li was indifferent to the politics; as long as he was paid his director/screenwriter fee of 3.5 million plus 10% of the box office share in Hong Kong and the mainland, the production method didn’t matter. He was grateful to Leslie Cheung, a mentor with true integrity who set the ground rules: everyone had to help fight piracy starting from the opening day of *The Shallows*. Those who wanted to get on board had no choice but to comply.

Choosing China Star and Huayi was a strategic move to have them lead and coordinate with China Film Group to secure mainland and Hong Kong cinema chains; *The Shallows* required top-tier anti-piracy measures. Without them, no matter how viral the marketing was, the film would collapse after two or three weeks. If the expected box office was 100 million, piracy could easily slash it to 50 million.

Anti-piracy was a comprehensive system. Beyond strict inspections across all cinema chains, they needed to offer millions in rewards to the public, publish hotlines for reporting, and promise 100,000-yuan rewards to anyone who helped authorities track down and arrest those selling pirated discs. Making examples of offenders while publicizing these efforts was crucial.

Back at the hotel, Fan Bingbing was sitting on the sofa, studying the profiles of Chen, Gao Yuanyuan, and Hu Jing. The more she studied, the less concerned she seemed, and she began to tease Li as soon as he entered.

Ten minutes later, she scoffed, "This Hu Jing is something else. Which wealthy benefactor is backing her? She’s got a powerful background just like Yanzi. She’s ranked second on the list of most beautiful faces in the mainland, but I feel like she’s the worst actor of the three."

Li shook his head. "I'm just meeting them. If they don't pass the first screening, I'll choose between Cecilia and Li Bingbing."

The tuner’s serious girlfriend, the female lead, didn't actually have much screen time, and her role was far less flashy than the female antagonist. She was simply a passionate, cheerful, and grounded young beauty. As for acting, both Cecilia and Li could handle it, though it was expected they would be outclassed by Tony Leung Ka-fai; they would simply need him to hold back a little.

A moment later, Fan walked back into the guest room and brought out several folders. "These were sent by Mr. Cheung. Candidates for the small supporting role, the 15-year-old girl."

As he took the folders, Fan’s phone rang. Seeing it was Li Bingbing, she smiled, "I guess Hua Jie and Bingbing are here. I’ll go pick them up."

Li began flipping through the folders. The sheer volume of paper documents and photos nearly made his head spin. Among the hundreds of profiles, the only ones he recognized were 15-year-old Yang Mi, 14-year-old Liu Shishi, Reiza, Zhang Jiani, and the surprisingly young Jing Tian.

Most were either child actors or students from the Beijing Dance Academy. Li took four folders and knocked on the door of his assistant, Xiao Hu. When the door opened, he said, "Xiao Hu, set up appointments for these four today for their first audition."

He hadn't pulled out Jing Tian's file; she was only 13, too young—she would barely be 14 by the time filming started. Plus, Jing Tian was famous for... well, never mind. Besides, the "Little Blind Sister" was currently far behind Yang Mi in terms of recognition.

Xiao Hu was the same person who had picked him up at the airport in Hong Kong, and he still served as his dedicated Cantonese translator, including during the filming of *The Shallows*. Even though they tried to hire people who spoke Mandarin, about 10-20% of the crew still didn't, and he needed Xiao Hu to relay his instructions.

Xiao Hu beamed. "Don't worry, Brother Yu, leave it to me." It was hard for him not to look happy; he used to be an insignificant member of Leslie Cheung’s large team, but now, following the great Director Li, he was essentially taking off.

A few minutes after he returned to the room, Wang Jinghua and Li Bingbing arrived. After brief pleasantries, Li Bingbing was effusive with her gratitude. She even leaked the news that several actresses in the industry were planning to organize group bookings for *The Shallows* just to critique Fan Bingbing’s acting in the theaters.

As for why Li Bingbing was so grateful: under normal circumstances, a starlet like her trying to land a major film role would usually have to "go through the gauntlet" of old men like Director Feng and President Wang. When Huayi discussed this investment and the female lead, they didn't even go through internal screening; Fan Bingbing had simply sent a word via Wang Jinghua saying "Let it be Bingbing," and all other obstacles vanished.

To get a role without having to jump through hoops? Actresses like Li Xiaolu would be green with envy.

Fan Bingbing looked proud and boastful. "Pfft, after Brother Yu’s coaching, I feel like I’ve been reborn. Do you think I’m afraid of them? Critiquing me? On Saturday, they’re going to be scared to death by my performance."

Fan wasn't just suspecting she was a natural talent anymore. She often joked that if anyone ever said her acting was bad, it was all because Li kept her so busy three to five times a day that she had no time to settle down and study. But after spending ten days on the *Wonder Boy* set, every time she performed, she showcased her skills so brilliantly that Andy Lau and Joey Wong couldn't stop praising her.

She had turned Cecilia into a cautionary tale. During their scenes together, she would speak Mandarin while Cecilia spoke Cantonese, and neither could understand the other. But since the script clearly stated what each scene needed to express, she kept putting so much pressure on Cecilia that they had to reshoot repeatedly. It was said that Cecilia was so frustrated her conscience grew a size out of sheer anger.

Fan put an arm around Li Bingbing’s shoulder and said earnestly, "Bingbing, you have to show them what you’re made of. You must outperform Cecilia. I feel like the three beauties Brother Yu chose today are just going through the motions. Their acting is mediocre, and they don't have backers, so they'll likely be screened out. Your only real rival is Cecilia."

Li Bingbing thanked her again, moved, and vowed to give her absolute best. She didn't know why Fan was supporting her so much, especially since they hadn't been on great terms before, but at this point, who cared? It was the female lead role!

Fan’s motives were simple: if Cecilia came to act, she would definitely be trying to "send flowers and warmth" to Li Wenyu every day. Li Bingbing was much better—Li Wenyu had absolutely no interest in her.

As they chatted, Wang Jinghua changed the subject. "Bingbing, there are advertising deals coming in from Chanel, Dior, and others, offering between 1 to 3 million a year. They want you to shoot commercials and be their spokesperson. What do you think? There’s also plenty of interest from mainland brands."

Fan’s eyes lit up. She looked at Li Wenyu, who could only nod. "Standard endorsements are fine, but you must ensure quality control. Especially with food—don't take those deals easily. Once a food safety scandal hits, the spokesperson gets torn to shreds."

Fan nodded repeatedly. "Understood. But Hua Jie, let's wait until *The Shallows* is released and see how it does at the box office. The higher the box office, the higher my price will be. These are the last two days before the volcano erupts."

In the midst of their laughter, the first interviewee, Gao Yuanyuan, arrived. The beauty currently had short hair and was still a bit baby-faced. As she walked in, she bowed nervously.

Li Wenyu smiled and nodded. "Don't be nervous. Take twenty minutes to prepare, then perform this scene: You and your boyfriend have been in a cold war for ten days. He calls you to come to his place, and you think you're going to reconcile. When you arrive, you find a strange woman wrapped in a bath towel in his house, and your boyfriend is there on the bed, naked."

Gao Yuanyuan: "???"

The scene was so intense right from the start that even Li Bingbing, who hadn't read the script, looked on in astonishment.