Chapter 280: "To Live" novel released

The next morning, the hardworking Master Cheng made a cup of coffee for Wen Lian and then skillfully rubbed her belly.

There was a little pain between Wen Lian's brows, but it relaxed after a while.

She felt it and said unexpectedly:
"It really doesn't hurt!"

At this time, Wen Lian was lying on her back on the bed in pajamas. She looked like a sculpture by the top sculptor, or like a goddess in Greek mythology in an oil painting. Every curve of her body revealed fullness and softness, combining feminine sexiness and maternal divinity.

She couldn't help but hug Cheng Cheng, put her face on his chest and snuggle tightly.

Cheng Cheng asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing~," Wen Lian said in a dreamy tone, "It just feels so unreal, like a dream."

Cheng Cheng stroked her long hair and back:
"Then let this dream never wake up."

Wen Lian asked worriedly, "What should we do when we return to China?"

Cheng Cheng comforted him, "Go back to China as usual. If you miss me, just send me a message, or I'll visit you on set."

"Hmm~", Wen Lian made a sound through her nasal cavity, with a hint of little woman's satisfaction.

Cheng Cheng kissed her forehead and said:
"Okay, get up, come with me to discuss the contract today, and we will return home later."

Wen Lian nodded meekly: "Okay."

Having said that, Cheng Cheng got out of bed, put on his clothes, and went to the bathroom to wash up.

Wen Lian hugged the quilt with her long legs exposed in the air. She watched Cheng Cheng putting on his clothes, and the admiration in her eyes was almost overflowing.

After Cheng Cheng walked into the bathroom, she took a deep breath of the remaining smell on the quilt and started to get up and get dressed.

Catching a glimpse of red in the trash can, she pulled out two pieces of paper and covered it with them.

Whenever she thought of the confusion and fusion of last night, she felt extremely shy, especially when she thought of the force of Cheng Cheng's impact, which made her feel like her soul was about to fly away. This feeling would probably not be forgotten for two or three days.

So much so that when she woke up in the morning, she still had some withdrawal symptoms.

After Wen Lian had packed up and finished putting on makeup, Cheng Cheng took her to meet the film producer.

Bruce was getting anxious, and when Cheng Cheng showed up, he was like seeing his real father:
"Okay, you're finally here. Didn't you say 2500 million US dollars before? I agree. 2500 million US dollars is 2500 million US dollars. I've already prepared the money!"

Cheng Cheng and Wen Lian sat down and said:
"Didn't I say that 2500 million US dollars was the price before the awards ceremony? After the awards ceremony, it will not be this price anymore."

Bruce asked anxiously, "How much do you want now?"

Cheng Cheng calmly reported the number: "3000 million US dollars, I will give you the entire European market."

"This is too much." Bruce couldn't accept it.

Cheng Cheng asked curiously, "A lot? But I gave you a chance before, and you didn't seize it."

Bruce pleaded, "But the maximum price I gave before was 2000 million US dollars. Now that the award ceremony is over, I can only add 500 million at most. I have already taken a big risk, okay!"

Cheng Cheng was unmoved: "Whether it was the 2000 million U.S. dollars you quoted before or the 2500 million U.S. dollars now, it's your price. It has nothing to do with me."

Bruce said, "Okay, can you lower the price a little? Really, apart from me, it's hard to find a film producer as sincere as me. We will have many opportunities to cooperate in the future. I believe you will definitely shine in the European film industry in the future."

Cheng Cheng finally nodded and said:

"Okay, let's put it this way. There's no point in reducing the price from 3000 million to 2700 million or 2800 million. This is not like bargaining in a market. Just 2500 million or 500 million as if I were your friend."

Bruce was overjoyed and stood up to hug Cheng Cheng:
"Okay, you're so nice! I love you so much! I believe we could become good friends!"

Cheng Cheng: "But there is one condition."

Bruce was alert: "What conditions?"

Cheng Cheng put his arm around his shoulders and said, "If you have a good script, you can give it to me. We are friends now, you won't refuse, right?"

Bruce waved his hand: "No, no, I'll keep an eye on it for you."

After promising to transfer the money within three days, Bruce left.

Then, Cheng Cheng began to meet with film producers from other regions. Europe is a major box office for Tianxia art films, so of course the most expensive films are sold there. In comparison, films from other places are not as good as before.

Two hours later, all the film producers had finished their negotiations, and the total sales amounted to 5000 million US dollars, or 3.5 million yuan.

In fact, this price is not small. Apart from the 3.3 million yuan for filming costs, the remaining million yuan will all be kept in the account without having to be shared with anyone else.

Take "The Professional" for example, the total box office was 24 billion RMB, high enough, right? But Cheng Cheng only received 6 million RMB.

So why is it that the sixth generation directors have been doing well despite making films that cannot pass censorship and be released?

Just because art films don’t make money in China doesn’t mean there is no money to be made; just because art films are not shown in China doesn’t mean there is no place for them to be shown.

In Europe, there are cinemas dedicated to art films and even independent films, and there are enough audiences who are willing to watch art films.

The sixth generation directors’ films mainly make money by selling overseas copyrights and materials.

Especially around the 00s, when commercial films in China made millions of dollars, the sixth-generation directors could easily earn millions of dollars in copyright income.

That group of domestic art film directors basically all follow the same approach: making movies for Chinese people and earning money from foreigners.

It was not until later, when the domestic film market took off, that Tianxia's so-called art films gradually faded from the European three major films.

Because it is not difficult for domestic art films to make over 10 million yuan at the box office, and it is possible to make over 100 million yuan if they are well made. The domestic filming budget can also be over 10 million yuan. As for the European market, there has been no change in recent years.

After selling the film, Cheng Cheng and his crew boarded the plane and returned home.

On the plane, Qi Hao poked Li Yang with a sly look and said:

"Brother Yang, have you noticed that there seems to be something going on between our Director Cheng and Sister Lian? It seems that they are much closer today. Do you think they are..."

"Shh!" Li Yang stopped him with his eyes, "Don't talk about these nonsense. Is Director Cheng's affairs something we can discuss? Mind your own business, don't get involved, and don't spread it!"

Qi Hao whispered, "I know, I will definitely not tell anyone. Brother Yang, when you say that, did you also notice that Sister Lian's eyes are not right when she looks at Director Cheng?"

Li Yang: "They are a perfect match, it is normal for Wen Lian to like our Director Cheng. Anyway, be careful in the future and don't offend Wen Lian."

Qi Hao: "I know, how dare I!"

Half an hour before the plane took off, Cheng Cheng took the time to check his phone and found that it was full of reports about him.

"To Live" swept three awards! Cheng Cheng topped the Cannes Film Festival, no surprises! "

"Well-deserved! Chu Qing and Wen Lian won the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at the Cannes Film Festival, and Tianxia Films once again achieved its highlight moment"

"Chinese films explode again! Chu Qing and Wen Lian won the Best Actor and Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival"

"Just now, the new Cannes Film Festival winner Wen Lian! With tears in her eyes, she thanked Cheng Cheng!"

"To Live" won three awards! Gong Guangming and Lv Zhuofeng sent messages to congratulate"

"Eric Wan won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. After she came out of the trough, it is never too late for her dreams to come true"

"At the Cannes Film Festival, Cheng Cheng's domineering speech shocked the audience: I will come back again!"

"On the evening of May 5th, local time in Cannes, the 27th Cannes Film Festival held a grand closing ceremony. The leading actors and actresses Chu Qing and Wen Lian of the Chinese film "To Live" directed by Cheng Cheng were both awarded the Best Actor and Best Actress awards. At the same time, the film won the second prize of the Jury Grand Prix."

"In her speech, Wen Lian said that she was most grateful to Cheng Cheng. Two years ago, she was at her lowest point and Cheng Cheng's career suffered a devastating blow. At that time, no one cared about them. Two years later, they appeared at the Cannes Film Festival, working hand in hand and achieving glory.

In his speech, Chu Qing lamented that he had never expected to win the award. Fifteen years passed in the blink of an eye. Cannes witnessed his journey as an actor. It was a recognition of him and also a spur to him.

Cheng Cheng was the last to come on stage. His speech was brief but powerful, winning applause from the audience.
On the same night, Jia Zhensi's "Homeland" and Shi Zai's "Glory" also won awards. Chinese-language films have become a regular award-winning "guest" at the Cannes International Film Festival.

Before this, Chinese-language films have always performed well at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 1987, directed by Lü Zhuofeng
Chinese-language films have become a new force at European film festivals!"

Cheng Cheng glanced out the window. At this moment, the plane had just taken off. As time passed, the plane was getting farther and farther away from the ground. Things on the ground were getting smaller and smaller. White clouds began to appear outside the window.

Cheng Cheng knew that everything would be very different when he returned home this time!
——In China, when Cheng Cheng chartered a plane to return home, many directors’ phones were flooded with calls.

Especially the three biggest directors in the country: Lü Zhuofeng, Tang Ping and Gong Guangming.

Internationally, there are only a few prestigious awards:
The three major European awards plus an Oscar.

This time, Cheng Cheng came back from Cannes and in a sense was able to compete with them.

If they can win awards, Cheng Cheng can also win awards.

They are good at promoting people. In the past two years, Cheng Cheng has promoted three or four first-tier stars and seven or eight second-tier stars.

They can make money, the total box office of Cheng Cheng’s movies has exceeded 20 billion!
They have less and less advantages in front of Cheng Cheng, and all that is left is their qualifications.

In the media's view, these directors should be compared, and netizens also want to see their reactions.

Lu Zhuofeng was the first to like Cheng Cheng’s Weibo post about his award and also posted a message to congratulate Cheng Cheng. However, he had to rush to Serbia to shoot a China-Serbia co-production that day and had no time to be interviewed.

Gong Guangming was blocked at a certain film forum. When facing the interview of the reporter, he said that he was very happy to see Cheng Cheng win the award and that Tianxia Film had successors.

Tang Ping did not show up and the reporters were unable to interview him, which led some netizens to say that he was petty.

In addition to several directors, Bai Bei is also at the center of the storm.

This time, the Best Actor and Best Actress went to Cannes at the same time. Chu Qing won the Best Actor award again, but she returned empty-handed. In comparison, she lost all face.

In addition to the controversy caused by the plot of "Giving Birth to a Daughter", the second female lead Yue Xinling has been softly banned, and Bai Bei's ability to select scripts has not only been questioned, but her reputation has also been affected.

Ning Shan and Liu Wei Chi were also at the center of the storm. As the media dug deeper, the news spread that they had been selected when Cheng Cheng was casting, but in the end Chu Qing played the role. The media wanted to interview them if they felt any regret.

Ning Shan expressed his regrets in an interview, but more of them were blessings. Not being chosen by Director Cheng showed that his acting skills were still a little lacking. He would work hard and hoped to have a chance to truly collaborate with Cheng Cheng in the future.

Liu Wei Chi also expressed his strong desire to cooperate with Cheng Cheng.

At the same time, the novel "To Live" was also released. Riding on the momentum of "To Live" sweeping the Cannes Film Festival, on the day of release, as soon as it was put on the shelves, 70 copies were sold out on various platforms such as Taobao, Douyin, and JD.com!

Offline bookstores were packed with people and books were hard to come by. A total of one million physical books were sold out on the first day.

There are a total of 170 million books online and offline, which is just a drop in the ocean when compared to Tianxia’s huge crowd of book buyers. There are even more readers who did not buy the books!
The printing plant of Shenhua Publishing House is running at full speed.

Listening carefully to the roar of the machine, there are only two words:

Print!

Print!

Print!

Readers who bought the book flipped through it immediately, and then they saw -

Don't be confused. Even the dead want to come back to life, so you, a living person, cannot die.

People live for the sake of living itself, not for anything other than living.

It is better to be a normal person. Fighting for this and that will cost you your life. For someone like me, I am getting more and more useless, but I have a long life. People I know die one after another, but I am still alive.

Only after being crushed by fate can you understand the mercy of time.

No matter how much suffering a person endures while alive, he will find a way to comfort himself when he is about to die.

Cry in the way of laughing, live with death as your companion.

There is no repeated road in the world, and no life can be replaced.

Nothing is more convincing than time, because time can change everything without informing us.

We come to this world at first because we have to; we leave this world at last because we have to.

The end of life is nothing but death, and the meaning of death is nothing but rebirth or eternal sleep. Death is not the loss of life, but the departure from time.

Humans cannot tolerate too much truth.

I am immersed in imagination, yet tightly controlled by reality. I clearly feel the split of myself.

The standard to test a person is to see where he spends his time. Don't deceive yourself; when life comes to an end, only time will not lie.

The full text of "To Live" has 12 words. If you read quickly, you can finish it in three and a half hours, and if you read slowly, you can finish it in eight hours.

After reading it, many people were either speechless or in tears, moved by the simple words in the book.

This book, really!

It’s too shocking!

Tragedy scene after scene is laid out before the readers like a stage performance, allowing readers to see the misery of life, the optimism and strength of the grassroots people, the resilience of life, and the silent power of fate and time.

Especially the two words on the cover of the book: alive.

So on topic!
It’s not about living, it’s not about surviving!
Just live!

In the book, Cheng Cheng's heavy and calm descriptions are very telling.

So, this is the kind of movie he made?

Judging from the quality of the book, it seems well-deserved to win three major awards at Cannes.

on Weibo.

"This book is amazing! The word 'great' pales in comparison to this book."

"What is a good book? One that you can finish reading without taking a breath, that's it!"

"The truth has its own powerful force. This is a book that will leave you speechless for a long time after reading it. When I read Jiazhen's death on page 165, I couldn't hold back my tears on the side of the road. It was so tragic!"

"After watching it, I feel uncomfortable all day long. I feel like I'm going to be depressed! My friend, do you want me to die?"

"Why is it so miserable? Wuwuwuwu! My eyes are red from crying after reading this. I want to write the word 'miserable' on my thigh!"

“I had trouble breathing after watching this!!!”

"I feel so overwhelmed and uncomfortable."

"I cried my eyes out while watching it, and after I finished it, I started to recommend it like crazy! It's really great!"

"Are you trying to drag others into this by introducing Amway?"

"Tomorrow I will lend the book to my deskmate in front of me and my deskmate behind me. Everyone will take turns to feel uncomfortable! No one can escape!"

"Brother Frog is a cheerful person, but he writes such a miserable novel for us to read."

"How good do you think the mental state of the person who wrote 'To Live' is? Otherwise, how could he write such a depressing book?"

But some people gave negative reviews, saying that this was "a deliberate accumulation of tragedies", "all the tragedies were awkwardly mixed together", "writing about suffering for the sake of writing about suffering", "consuming suffering", etc.

But soon, some writers came out to defend Cheng Cheng:

"In 2022, domestic movies and TV series are still about bullshit and unrealistic love and youth. The protagonist is always an intern in Yuhang, the imperial capital, with a monthly salary of 3000 yuan, living in a 180-square-meter house, eating takeout and drinking Starbucks every day, and even snacking on Three Squirrels, and then meeting a rich second-generation or self-made entrepreneur who takes her (him) on a flight.

Or there are middle-aged couples, one of them is lazy while the other works to support two or three children; the man drinks and has barbecues, while the woman does yoga, travels, and does beauty treatments.

This is the plot of today’s TV dramas and movies. Both the men and women are beautiful, have enough money and houses, and they just date all day long.

By replacing the lower-class people with middle-class families and saying that they are ordinary people, these screenwriters and directors have tried their best to imagine the lives of the lower-class people. But just like ordinary people cannot imagine how happy rich people can be, they also cannot imagine how hard the lives of ordinary people are.

So, how can a work like "To Live" be a pile of tragedies? Compared to those floating and pretentious things, we need works like "To Live" more!

And it’s not enough!”

(End of this chapter)