Chinese Entertainment, 1999: Starting with the Oscars

A third-rate screenwriter is reborn and heads to Hengdian World Studios to peddle scripts. While apartment hunting, he runs into the landlord's brother, Fan Xiaopang, and offers double the rent to drive off the other tenants. Fate has a strange way of working: before becoming a screenwriter, he somehow becomes a lyricist and a highly sought-after extra. At the Beijing Film Academy entrance exams, seeing the dazzling Zhao Wei, Huang Xiaoming, and Xu Jinglei, Gu Xiaobai declares, "I can take their place." Sure enough, he is soon shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Original Song, and the following year, for Best Adapted Screenplay.