Chapter 103: The popular Zeng Li and re-investment

Liu Zhou and his family spent the first Spring Festival of the new century in Beijing.

However, just after the first day of the Lunar New Year, on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Liu Zhou's parents and grandfather returned to Guangzhou.

All relatives and friends are in Guangzhou, and visiting relatives and friends after the New Year is a tradition deeply engraved in the bones of the older generation.

In the end, only Liu Zhou and Zeng Li were left in the capital, living in their own world.

Seeing this, Liu Zhou couldn't help but think that maybe his parents were deliberately not wanting to disturb them.

But it was pretty nice to spend the Spring Festival with Zeng Li for the first time.

After sending his parents on the plane, Liu Zhou smiled and said to Zeng Li, who was arranging the dried fruit plate, while flipping through the newspaper:

"Lizi, you've become even more famous now. The news media are all praising your Spring Festival Gala program."

In later generations, in the entertainment section on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the overall competition of the Spring Festival Gala is no longer as good as that of the Spring Festival period.

Many people would rather read the box office news and word-of-mouth feedback of the Spring Festival movies, and are too lazy to care about the aftermath of the Spring Festival Gala. Even if they go to watch it, they do so with the intention of complaining and mocking it.

But the Spring Festival period has not yet been formed, and the Spring Festival Gala is still a party for people across the country.

Every year, the entertainment news around the Spring Festival is almost entirely dominated by the aftermath of the Spring Festival Gala.

"Niu Qun's last Spring Festival Gala, to see County Mayor Niu off to his new post!"

"King of pop Leon Lai makes his first appearance on the Spring Festival Gala, his fisherman's hat and wide-leg pants set the trend of the times!"

"A song by Zeng Li, expressing her love for her country and family!"

"The Queen of Wanwan, Zhang Huimei, will sing passionately at the Spring Festival Gala!"

"The 96 beauties from the Central Academy of Drama, Zeng Li and Zhang Ziyi shine on the Spring Festival Gala stage!"

……

In the Spring Festival Gala of the Millennium Year of the Dragon, the traffic star was undoubtedly Dawn, who was performing on the Gala for the first time.

King Leon Lai's singing and dancing ranked first in ratings among all the programs in the Spring Festival Gala, and his outfits have set off a fashion trend in mainland China.

It may sound a bit harsh, but at that time, when mainland audiences looked at King Leon Lai, it was a bit like country people looking at city people.

Apart from Leon Lai, the most discussed performer in this year's Spring Festival Gala was Zeng Li.

Not only was it discussed by ordinary audiences, her song also dropped like a huge rock on the music scene, causing waves.

Liu Huan, a mainland music mogul who also participated in the Spring Festival Gala, said in an interview the next day:

"Zeng Li's song has created a new genre of music!"

The lyrics, composition and singing style of this song were carefully studied by musicians from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macau when they heard this song.

As a result, Liu Zhou, as the lyricist, even got a small portion of space amid the overwhelming news about the Spring Festival Gala.

These musicians probably never imagined that the person who stirred their minds and innovated in music actually came from another field.

Liu Zhou didn't care about the impact on the music scene at all. What made him happy was that Zeng Li really became popular in the country on a large scale this time.

Zeng Li was also very popular in the past, but she was probably only well-known among people who pay attention to movies and the literary and art circles.

But now, like Boss Zhao, she has broken through all circles and most people in the country know her.

I can only say that the influence of the Spring Festival Gala at this time is so terrifying!
However, fame brings trouble. Some media, led by the Beijing News, began to report the news that Zeng Li and Liu Zhou were in love, and the news was even very popular.

This made Liu Zhou grit his teeth but he could do nothing about it. If he had known earlier, he could have had a few more rumored girlfriends like Cao Tianwang did, and now he could have thrown out some news to muddy the waters.

In addition to Zeng Li, Zhang Ziyi also participated in this year's Spring Festival Gala, and was the opening act.

However, the boost to her popularity from this year's Spring Festival Gala stage was far less than that from Zeng Li's, and the level of discussion about her was even relatively low.

Despite this, Zeng Li and Zhang Ziyi both participated in the Spring Festival Gala right after graduation, which made the Central Academy of Drama famous in the industry.

As students from the 96 acting departments of the Central Academy of Drama and the Beijing Film Academy began to emerge, they were inevitably compared with each other, and even the two universities themselves would compete secretly.

Previously, Beijing Film Academy had a Boss Zhao who overshadowed the entire Class of 96. But now with the sudden popularity of Zeng Li and Zhang Ziyi, the Central Academy of Drama can be said to have surpassed Beijing Film Academy.

In addition to the huge popularity of King Li and Zeng Li, this Spring Festival Gala was also the moment when Zhao Benshan was crowned the king.

With the official departure of Chen Peisi and the death of teacher Zhao Lirong, Zhao Benshan has deservedly become the leader of the sketch category of the Spring Festival Gala.

From now on, Zhao Benshan’s sketches will be the biggest highlight of the Spring Festival Gala every year.

At this time, people have fewer entertainment activities, and there are not many games or certain audio platforms to pass the time, so the popularity of the Spring Festival Gala lasts for a long time.

It was not until the Lantern Festival was over and school started that the enthusiasm gradually subsided.

During this period, Liu Zhou and Zeng Li did not dare to go out and stayed at home most of the time. However, despite this, when Liu Zhou saw a few people who looked like reporters and paparazzi at the entrance of Dengcao Hutong when he was out, he knew that his residence was not very secretive.

It is quite rare that my courtyard has not been discovered for so long.

At that time, there were very few paparazzi among the mainland reporters, unlike those in Hong Kong where they were omnipresent.

However, the trend in Hong Kong has gradually spread to the mainland, and there will be more and more paparazzi like this.

Liu Zhou couldn't help but sigh, he knew that he and Zeng Li needed to move.

Although I am reluctant to leave this courtyard, after all, I have lived here for several years, but I have to move for the sake of privacy. This is also what I have to pay as a public figure.

This time, Liu Zhou did not consider changing to a courtyard house, but directly bought a single-family villa.

The villa is located in the former Asian Games Village, and is also located in the later Aobei Villa District. However, because the bid for the Olympic Games has not been successful yet, this term has not been put forward, and it is now called Yabei Villa.

The "Wangfu Garden" developed in the first phase of Yabei Villa is mainly based on economy. Although the house type is large, the functions are relatively basic.

But at the end of last year, the second phase of villas built here began to be sold. These villas introduced the style of overseas villas and are luxuriously decorated. In addition, the Fourth Ring Road will be officially opened this year, and transportation will be convenient.

So Liu Zhou spent more than 8 million to buy a detached house with three floors above and one floor underground, totaling more than 500 square meters and a courtyard of more than 200 square meters.

This villa was selected jointly by Liu Zhou and Zeng Li. They could move in directly with just their luggage. On the day before the Lantern Festival, they simply packed up their things and moved in.

The confidentiality here is relatively high, and the two don't have to worry about being recognized or being followed and blocked by paparazzi.

After the Chinese New Year, Liu Zhou had nothing to do, so he spent more than a month writing the sixth part of Ghost Blows Out the Light, "Return from the South China Sea", and the seventh part, "The Wrath of the West Hunan".

However, Liu Zhou did not send the manuscript to Mengya magazine, but locked it in a drawer and would send it to them when needed.

During this period, Zeng Jia also took Zeng Li to participate in several events.

Although she received a large number of movie and TV series scripts at this time, she did not consider TV series, and there were no movie scripts that she liked, so she turned them all down.

Now she can be picky about scripts!
She would not accept any roles that had too intimate scenes, any roles that she was not satisfied with the content, or any custom-made scripts that looked like they would exploit her fame. Even if the salary offered was far above her market price, she would refuse it without hesitation.

Liu Zhou once said hypocritically that she was picky and had forgotten everything she learned from her teachers at school.

Zeng Li held Liu Zhou's face and said with a smile:

"I'm so famous now, can't I have the freedom to choose the scripts? Besides, I'm afraid some petty-minded people will secretly get jealous."

Hearing this, Liu Zhou couldn't help but laugh and hugged Zeng Li in his arms.

It is really a blessing to have someone who knows and loves you.

In fact, in Liu Zhou's heart, he was not very willing to let his girlfriend become an actress.

But Zeng Li's dream is to become an actress, and Liu Zhou can't stop her.

So Liu Zhou tried his best to make her famous. Once she became famous, she would have more say.

Just like Qin Hailu in later generations, he never filmed intimate scenes involving kissing or more. When facing an interview, he directly said, "I have worked hard in the industry for so long just so that I can now choose not to film a certain scene whenever I want."

Now Zeng Li understands Liu Zhou's painstaking efforts and is especially considerate of his pettiness. How can she not love such a girlfriend?
Liu Zhou was very busy last year, having released two movies. He didn't want to tire himself out this year, so he stayed at home to rest after the Chinese New Year.

It just so happened that Zeng Li was not out filming, so the two of them lived a carefree life in the new villa for more than a month.

Zeng Li may be the most Buddhist popular star at present.

At present, Mr. Zhao is still working hard for Aunt Qiong Yao, and Zhang Ziyi is also filming "Rush Hour 2" with Big Brother Long in Hong Kong

Moreover, in order to break into the Hong Kong circle and please Big Brother Long, Zhang Ziyi was so happy that she actually performed a show of kissing on the face, pouring wine, and carrying him like a princess in front of the camera.

Zhang Ziyi was also photographed feeding grapes to Big Brother Long with her own hands, and catching the seeds that the elder brother spit out after eating. She also drank the water that the elder brother had drunk without any hesitation.

This can only mean that Zhang Ziyi deserves her success!
Zhang Ziyi is indeed a career-oriented woman and is very ruthless towards herself.

It seemed that after attending the Berlin Film Festival with the crew of "My Father and Mother", her Ren and Du meridians were opened up. She studied hard in school, but her grades were at the bottom and she almost cried. The innocent Zhang Ziyi disappeared.

However, Zhang Ziyi did not flatter the powerful and look down on the weak, and her attitude towards her classmates did not change much. She maintained a relatively good relationship with Zeng Li, Liu Ye and Liu Zhou.

At the beginning of March, news suddenly spread in the circle that the famous director Zhang Yimou was spending 30 million US dollars to shoot a martial arts blockbuster.

The news caused a huge sensation as soon as it came out.

People in the industry know that such news is not groundless, and the investment amount may be fake, but the shooting of a martial arts blockbuster is most likely true.

So everyone in the industry, whether it was agents or actors, took action after hearing the news.

Liu Zhou and Zeng Li still sat back and watched, as they knew that this movie was the "Hero", which pioneered the domestic commercial blockbuster film industry, and all the stars were big names, so these people from the mainland had no chance at all.

But looking at Zeng Li reading a book on the balcony, it seems that her current popularity is not worse than those in Hong Kong and Taiwan?
Zeng Li is very popular both in China and in Asia. The afterglow of the Savage Storm has not yet passed.
I don’t know if she will have the opportunity to participate in this big project this time.

(End of this chapter)