Becoming a Movie Star, System Only Finished Loading After Ten Years
Chapter 131 - 128: Even the Landlord’s Family Has No Surplus Grain! (Requesting Double Monthly Votes)

Chapter 131: Chapter 128: Even the Landlord’s Family Has No Surplus Grain! (Requesting Double Monthly Votes)

What’s the idea behind sending your daughter to Qi Hao Studio?

The big shots were a bit confused, wondering what qualifications Qi Hao had to be your buddy and even help educate your daughter.

Nobody joked about Qi Hao and Gao Fei.

If Gao Yang intended for Qi Hao to have anything to do with his daughter, he wouldn’t be calling Qi Hao his brother.

Calling each other brothers is a form of trust, but also an obstacle.

"I heard you have shares of Mrs. Hua?"

Zheng Xiaolong couldn’t figure out when Qi Hao bought them.

"Yes, bought them a long time ago, I almost forgot about it."

Qi Hao lied with his eyes wide open, after all, the system had everything arranged for him, even if someone wanted to investigate, it would be useless.

"You should ask Mrs. Hua for resources!"

Zheng Xiaolong couldn’t understand why Qi Hao didn’t take off with Mrs. Hua’s help.

He even recommended Qi Hao to Mrs. Hua back then.

"I prefer to rely on myself!"

Qi Hao put on a deep look, perfectly fitting the inspirational persona.

Unfortunately, the coal boss worth billions next to him made his words lose credibility.

If you really relied on yourself, you should just slap Gao Yang beside you and break up with him.

"Yes, rely on yourself!"

Jiang Wen raised his glass and drank with Qi Hao.

He was the kind of person who never looked down on Qi Hao even when he was at a low point.

He was proud of his talent but never put on airs in front of the underclass.

This was also the reason why Qi Hao had previously hesitated whether to help him or not.

If it were someone else, he would have outright refused long ago.

The movies you make are all loss-makers, don’t you have any awareness?

Even though those coal bosses are nouveau riche, they’re not fools.

"Mrs. Hua’s resources aren’t that easy to get, they’re too domineering, An Feng didn’t do anything wrong but was banned by them..."

Gao Fei wasn’t good with alcohol, she was already getting a bit tipsy.

Once she got drunk, she just said whatever was on her mind.

She had long been displeased with Mrs. Hua and directly criticized a crucial part of the capital circle, Mrs. Hua, at this mostly capital circle big shots’ banquet.

Everyone else was stunned, not knowing what to say for a while.

"Fei, come on, drink!"

Qi Hao quickly smoothed things over, niece, you can’t just say whatever you want.

You have to consider the occasion when you speak.

I can only say...

Well done!

Gao Fei snorted, picked up her glass, and clinked it with Qi Hao.

The two of them harmonizing like this made it hard for anyone to argue with a junior.

Then...

The system prompted Qi Hao that the task was completed.

(⊙_⊙)?

Qi Hao didn’t even care about the awkward situation at the table.

How did the task get completed?

It was really surprising.

Qi Hao was still planning what excuse to use to invite the female big shot in the circle for dinner.

Turns out, just by drinking with Gao Fei, the system acknowledged he completed the task.

Tongzi, I admit I’m impressive now, and I can understand your desire to cling to me, but isn’t helping me cheat like this a bit too much?

However, Qi Hao thought for a moment.

Suddenly, he felt like he had entered a misconception.

Because Gao Fei was his employee, and the actual owner of Little Fatty Sheep was Gao Yang, he subconsciously didn’t regard Gao Fei as a capital bigwig.

But in reality, apart from being an employee at Qi Hao Studio, Gao Fei is definitely a big shot.

She’s the general manager of Little Fatty Sheep, and deciding which movie to invest in is just a matter of a word.

She doesn’t even need to repeatedly investigate whether it will lose money.

Her dad is worth billions, she gets millions in pocket money every month, and for transportation, she often uses a Bentley Mulsanne, worth 12 million, gifted by her father on her birthday.

Many so-called capital big shots may not necessarily have such extravagance.

"You’re right!" Zheng Xiaolong pounded the table in approval: "Mrs. Hua has indeed been too domineering these years, Qi Hao is right to not get too close to them."

Actually, none of the people on site, although close to Mrs. Hua, were actually from Mrs. Hua.

Ge You had nothing to do with Mrs. Hua other than their cooperation.

So, he followed up by saying: "Miss Fei is right, next time I meet them, I must strongly criticize them, Miss An Feng is only twenty this year, it’s too much bullying."

"Let her have a cameo in my movie, let’s see who dares to ban her."

Jiang Wen didn’t need to be mentioned, since "The Invaders", Mrs. Hua had stopped cooperating with him.

The last movie "The Sun Also Rises" was a collaboration with Emperor Entertainment, Taihe, China Film, and Bern.

His friends were Ying Da and Wang Shuo.

And Wang Shuo and Mrs. Hua, Feng Xiaogang had long broken up.

Even Wang Shuo’s woman, Xu Jinglei’s self-directed and acted movie "A Letter from an Unknown Woman", was done by Poly Huayi.

There was no psychological burden for him to disgust Mrs. Hua.

"Thank you, Mr. Jiang Wen!" Gao Fei gave Jiang Wen a sweet smile, lifted her glass, and clinked it with Jiang Wen as well.

"Fei, you’ve had enough, if you get drunk, your dad doesn’t have the ability to carry you home like he did when you were a kid."

After Gao Fei finished drinking, Gao Yang finally spoke.

He hadn’t said a word about his daughter cursing at Mrs. Hua the entire time.

What’s wrong with that?

Even if it’s wrong, it doesn’t matter, what can they do after being scolded?

If Mrs. Hua dared to make a sound, he could make sure Mrs. Hua wouldn’t know what hit her.

After this little episode, the dinner table became harmonious again.

After a few more rounds of drinks, they finally started talking about business matters.

"I won’t beat around the bush, my movie this time is a bit expensive, everyone take a look..."

Jiang Wen actually also invited people from Taihe.

Unfortunately, Taihe lost a fortune on Jiang Wen’s "The Sun Also Rises" last time and even had to queue behind Emperor Entertainment for box office revenue share. Finally, they are no longer indulging Jiang Wen.

Bern also pulled out; they withdrew too.

The only ones who turned up were people from Emperor Entertainment and China Film.

China Film never invests too much; their support for Jiang Wen is more due to the personal relationship between Han Sanping and Jiang Wen.

As for Emperor Entertainment, although they obtained rights for priority revenue share last time, they still couldn’t avoid losing money. They continue to support Jiang Wen because Yang Shoucheng has an investment agreement for five films with Jiang Wen.

Han Sanping, Yang Shoucheng, and even Gao Yang today all appreciate Jiang Wen’s talent.

When Jiang Wen makes films, he never considers the cost. He believes the value of art cannot be quantified, and budgets only limit creative freedom.

This unwavering determination enables him to fully unleash his talent in film creation, producing one remarkable work after another.

However!

This approach is very unfriendly to capital.

"Jiang Wen’s films are definitely good, but your production frequency is too low. The last one was two years ago. How much do you need this time?"

Seeing no one responding, Zhao Haicheng from China Film helped Jiang Wen ease the awkwardness.

The reason for not responding is understandable because responding might mean having to take the biggest share of this investment.

It’s okay to follow and invest a little, but who knows how much money might be lost if you take the largest share.

It doesn’t matter for China Film to respond since they are a state-operated enterprise, and it’s understandable they can’t invest too much.

"Actually, this time I plan to make it more commercial. As the line in the film says, make money while standing!"

Jiang Wen felt frustrated.

But he also knows what the problem is.

The investors are scared by him.

Budget overruns and delays can be tolerated, but the key is that the audience doesn’t understand what you’ve made.

You can’t just say the audience has a problem.

"Who doesn’t want to make money while standing."

Zheng Xiaolong sighed deeply; he also attended this meeting with a purpose.

Li Yabo from Emperor Entertainment shook his head and asked, "If there are no overruns, how much do you roughly need?"

The idea is to give a more flexible number.

Everyone knows Jiang Wen tends to overrun, and they are afraid of his overruns. If you say the cost is fifty million, and you overrun to a hundred million, recouping costs with a box office of one and a half billion versus three billion is two different levels of difficulty.

"Roughly one hundred million."

Jiang Wen originally wanted to say sixty million.

But Ma Ke, who co-founded the Not Even Said Film Company with him, suggested he say a little more.

What’s the use of saying less?

If you overrun, especially by 100%, people won’t believe you next time.

So, he set it at one hundred million.

Now, it shouldn’t be overrun... right.

"Emperor Entertainment is currently tight on funds..."

Li Yabo, without hesitation, began to withdraw, saying that even though Yang Shoucheng said to invest more, it was not based on a cost foundation of one hundred million.

To date, Jiang Wen has never made a film with a box office of over one hundred million, and he hasn’t even acted in such a film.

Does he know what a film with over one hundred million at the box office looks like?

"Sigh..."

Zhao Haicheng from China Film could only sigh.

They really couldn’t help; this year China Film lost big on Wu Yusen’s "Red Cliff," so where could they get the money to invest in Jiang Wen?

Even the landlord has no surplus food!

"Brothers, I’m putting it out here, this time, commercial means commercial, and I definitely won’t let your money go down the drain."

Jiang Wen raised his wine glass and drank it in one go.

Everyone sees the glamour of these big directors but overlooks the various constraints they face at the capital level.

Whether it’s Jiang Wen, Chen Kaige, or Zhang Yimou.

At the capital level, they aren’t glamorous at all.

"Let’s..."

Gao Yang smacked his lips, tilting his head towards Qi Hao beside him.

Isn’t it just a hundred million, look how it’s troubling Jiang Wen, he really liked "Sunny Days," many parts resonated with him.

He made roughly four to five hundred million this year in 2008.

Taking out a hundred million to invest in Jiang Wen isn’t impossible.

However, he always remembered that he had given the investment decision right to Qi Hao.

While Jiang Wen is good, he ultimately can’t compare to the friendship with Qi Hao.

"Hold on." Qi Hao shook his head.

"Whether this film earns or loses, I owe everyone a favor."

Jiang Wen now felt like swearing.

He actually invited Emperor Entertainment’s boss Yang Shoucheng, who declined to come to the mainland, as he was too busy.

Sending a particularly difficult Li Yabo.

It was enough to illustrate the problem.

Even the so-called benefactor of Jiang Wen, Yang Shoucheng, had this attitude, let alone anyone else.

If worst comes to worst, he’ll have to go to Xiangjiang himself.

"I’ll take out ten million together with Jiang Wen."

Ma Ke added, showing their commercial confidence in this film through this action.

"China Film can also take out ten million."

Zhao Haicheng had to support Jiang Wen.

He didn’t expect Emperor Entertainment to back down so much; China Film originally planned to contribute five million, but now they have to pitch in more.

"Emperor Entertainment will take thirty million; it’s not that we don’t want to take more, it’s really impossible, with the recently invested films, you should know, old Jiang, this year we have released eight or nine movies, with few making money."

Li Yabo was very distressed; the business was really hard to do.

Economic crisis!

It’s really no joke; Emperor Entertainment not only has films, but other businesses are also in various slumps.

Just look at the stock market.

The economic system and the financial market are closely related; the mainland’s stock market has begun to rebound, but Hong Kong stocks are still a mess.

Today, three or four investment companies showed up, yet they only managed to scrape together fifty million in total.

Jiang Wen could only direct an earnest gaze towards Little Fatty Sheep’s side.