Chapter 365: The Frustrated Xiang Family and the Start of the Summer Vacation

What confused many netizens was not only Luo Jiaying's sudden change of words, but also something even more incredible happened afterwards.

The chairman of the Academy Awards and the author of "The Stephen Chow Era Announces the End", Wen Jun, also suddenly changed his words, or it could be said that it was not a change of words, but an additional explanation.

He published a long article on his Weibo saying:
"I have no intention of attacking Stephen Chow. The articles I published in the media before were just rational discussions on why the era of Stephen Chow, as an important filmmaker, has come to an end.

There is no tone of criticism, and the end of an era does not mean that the person is outdated. Those are completely different concepts.

My original words were that if he didn't produce any more good works, then the era of Stephen Chow would be over.

What's so strange about this?

The era of Xu Guanwen has ended, and the era of Zhou Runfa has ended. The key is that they did not let down the era that belonged to them.

There are many actors and directors who have never even had their own era!

Saying that a person’s era is over is not a denial of that person.”

Compared with Luo Jiaying, Wen Jun's explanation is indeed easier to accept.

Many netizens also looked up the original text published by Wen Jun, and it was indeed not like what the media reported later, saying that Zhou Xingxing was out of date, which made everyone have a better impression of him.

But Zhou Xingxing’s fans are not fools. If you published this article at such a sensitive time and you didn’t mean to stir up trouble, no one would believe it.

Therefore, some radical fans will still criticize Wen Jun in the comment section of his Weibo as usual.

However, compared with the endless abuse before, the situation was much better, which made Wen Jun breathe a sigh of relief.

In the past, when Stephen Chow was attacked and criticized in Hong Kong, he never said anything or responded, so many people forgot about his super high popularity.

In this anti-Zhou incident, Zhou Xingxing's fans collectively went berserk and burst out with such amazing fighting power that it also made some people in the Hong Kong circle wake up and start to look at Zhou Xingxing with admiration again.

To be honest, in his opinion, apart from Jackie Chan and Jet Li, if other Hong Kong stars were subjected to such suppression by the Xiang family, they would most likely be discredited.

Perhaps this time even the Xiang family underestimated Zhou Xingxing's influence, or overestimated their own influence.

The Xiang family is no longer the film industry giant that could decide life and death in the Hong Kong circle with a single word.

This also made Wen Jun feel even more fortunate that he had found a new boss for himself before.

The outside world was unaware of Wen Jun's psychological activities, and after him, Liu Dehua, who was dragged into the incident by Xiang Tai, also stood up.

In an interview, he clarified what happened before:
"I didn't say in person that Zhou Xingxing is not my friend. I just said in person that Xiang Sheng is, has been, and will always be my friend and my good boss. Maybe Xiang Tai misunderstood.

I have not had a quarrel with Stephen Chow over pay. If there is a chance in the future, I hope to work with him again. My relationship with him is just like that of a partner in a movie. I can say that I am his fan now, in the past, and in the future. "

Once Liu Dehua's clarification statement came out, it can be said that the anti-Zhou movement initiated by the Xiang family was officially declared a failure.

Zhou Xingxing was scolded for more than ten days, and the intensity was so great that people in the circle once thought that the comedy master Zhou Xingxing might be finished.

But in just a few days, the entire public opinion suddenly reversed. The speed at which things changed was simply unbelievable.

However, some knowledgeable people in the circle also guessed that someone must have stepped in to protect Zhou Xingxing.

Otherwise, with Zhou Xingxing's strength and the fact that he has no foundation in the mainland, how could it be possible for public opinion to turn around so quickly.

But they could never guess which big boss was helping Zhou Xingxing. His actions were so subtle and silent that they left no trace.

Such means made them even more awed. They knew that such a person was not someone they could afford to offend, so they did not investigate further.

However, those who have this ability are only the top few people in the circle.

Other people could sense that someone was protecting Zhou Xingxing, and of course the Xiang couple could also notice it, and they even knew roughly who was doing the work.

Xiangjiang, Xiang family villa.

Mrs. Xiang looked at Xiang Huaqiang and asked with a gloomy face:
"Didn't you talk to Liu Zhou on the phone? Why did he help Zhou Xingxing?"

Xiang Huaqiang frowned, smoked his cigar expressionlessly, and then said:
"I just got the news that Golden Harvest and Stephen Chow have just reached a cooperation agreement to jointly invest in Stephen Chow's new movie."

"So this is Zhou Xingxing's bargaining chip for Liu Zhou to help? Liu Zhou thinks highly of him?
When we approached Golden Harvest for cooperation, they kept making excuses and it was clear that they were not sincere. Now that Stephen Chow has come to us, they still reached a cooperation agreement with him even though they knew we were trying to target him.

This clearly shows that he doesn't take us seriously, and we have helped him a lot before."

According to the original plan, Jet Li and Chow Yun-fat would come out to support the Xiang family, and even most of the Hong Kong entertainment industry would come out to support the Xiang family.

Gossip can melt gold, and in this case, Stephen Chow will definitely be discredited.

But she didn't expect Liu Zhou to help him, which disrupted her plan.

Although Liu Zhou's actions were very secretive, the Xiang family was no small fry. The information they were exposed to and the situations they understood were much clearer than most people in the circle.

So it didn't take long for her to roughly figure out that it was Liu Zhou who took action.

Although she was very angry, she knew that it was impossible to discredit Zhou Xingxing when facing Liu Zhou. But this also made her feel more aggrieved. They used to be arrogant, but now they have to be humble. The Xiang family's reputation is not as good as before.

"I don't know what the discussion was between Stephen Chow and Liu Chow, but the reason why Golden Harvest has been reluctant to cooperate with us is probably because he understands some of the details of our 5510 movie project."

"What do we do now?"

"Don't say anything more, just pretend it never happened."

"Isn't this embarrassing?"

At this time, Xiang Huaqiang put out the cigar in his hand, looked up at his wife and said:

"What else can we do? Sink him into the sea?
We are now going to enter the mainland market, and Liu Zhou has great influence in the mainland. Not only does he own cinema chains and has close relations with China Film, he also has very good relations with the higher-ups.

Not only should we not offend him, we should also strive to maintain a good relationship with him. Since he has not publicly expressed his support for Stephen Chow, we should just pretend we don’t know.”

Frustrated?
Of course it’s frustrating!
Xiang Huaqiang thought that he had given Liu Zhou enough face before. He did a great job in doing the favor that Liu Zhou asked him to do.

He originally thought that even if he and Liu Zhou were not friends, they were at least close partners.

But now it seems that it was all my own wishful thinking. Others didn't take me seriously at all.

To be honest, Xiang Huaqiang had never suffered such humiliation in his life.

But what's the use of being angry? Times have changed and the old ways simply won't work anymore.

Now if you give money to others, they won’t accept it and would rather work with Stephen Chow.

If you want to make a living in the mainland, you cannot offend others. Even if you know that they have embarrassed you, you can only swallow the humiliation secretly and even have to curry favor with them.

In the past, I was the one who embarrassed others and they had to accept it. I never thought that it would be my turn now.

This feeling is indeed unpleasant, but for the sake of profit, you have to endure it.

The share price of Yongsheng Entertainment is half dead, although the Xiang family is not short of money.

Hong Kong's film market certainly cannot support such a large scale of funds. If we want to successfully get the money out and use it properly, we have to rely on the mainland's film market.

So no matter what, Liu Zhou cannot be offended.

Xiang Tai snorted and said:

"If it was twenty years ago."

Looking at his wife who was still indignant, Xiang Huaqiang knew that she had not yet adapted to the past. Although he was also very angry, he still comforted her:

“Now we are serious businessmen, and we do things for money.

The mainland film market is booming right now. Last year's box office revenue exceeded 4 billion yuan. I estimate that it will reach 10 billion yuan within five years.

What a huge market this is! Even at the peak of Hong Kong films, it was far inferior to this market.

In the past, we at Yongsheng could make eighteen films a year. Now, as long as we do our best, it is entirely possible for us to make twenty-eight, thirty-eight, or even more films a year.

By then, our stock price will be able to rise again, and our market value will be able to return to its peak. It may even be possible for our market value to exceed 10 billion, just like Golden Harvest.”

After hearing what her husband said, Xiang Tai's mood obviously eased, but she still felt a little bit uncomfortable:
"This is too easy for Zhou Xingxing. We can't offend Liu Zhou, but this time we went to such great lengths and Zhou Xingxing got away with nothing. Where can we put our face?

You know, it was Zhou Xingxing, this loser, who caused the stock price of Yongsheng to plummet. "

“There will be opportunities in the future. Now Zhou Xingxing is working with Golden Harvest, and Liu Zhou is protecting him. There is no better solution.

I know Zhou Xingxing too well. He is too greedy for money and has a weird personality. He can't cooperate with anyone for long.

Lin Xiaoming also supported him at first, but they turned against each other later. I believe that it won’t be long before he and Liu Zhou fall out, and then we can find a chance to deal with him.”

Xiang Tai also knew that it was impossible to overthrow Zhou, he was just angry, and she also felt that what her husband said made sense. She could still deal with him after Zhou Xingxing left Liu Zhou.

"Then let him have it for now!"

Although public opinion has reversed at this time, there are still many people who are looking forward to the follow-up development of the anti-Zhou incident.

Especially those who believed the jokes on the Internet and thought that the Xiang family was so awesome that even Cheng Long was once punished to kneel by them. This matter is definitely not over.

But after waiting for a few days, they unexpectedly found that the Xiang family remained silent and did not make any comments on this, which disappointed many people who were waiting to watch the show.

And with the silence of the Xiang family, the anti-Zhou incident that had caused a stir in the city came to an end.

It is now June, the summer vacation is about to begin, and a large number of new films are being released.

The most anticipated among them are Ning Hao's "No Man's Land" and Lu Chuan's "Jinling Jinling".

(End of this chapter)