Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 407: One million, two million
While Chen Xi was recruiting for Jiahe, Zhang Chen was also attending a small dinner party.

The car stopped at the door, and Boss Yang got out first: "Now that Director Zhang has won Golden Harvest, he will definitely make a living in Hong Kong in the future. It won't hurt to make more friends. In fact, everyone has wanted to meet Director Zhang for a long time~"

As they were talking, Zhang Chen also got out of the car and the two of them walked into the hotel.

Inside the box, the other two had already arrived and were chatting. When they saw the two people coming in, they stood up to greet them.

"Sorry, sorry, I kept you waiting~"

Boss Yang was smiling and spoke first. The two men also stood up with a smile, obviously knowing him very well: "It's okay, we just got here~"

The four of them stood still, and Boss Yang acted as the introducer: "You are all in the film industry, let me introduce you.

This is Mr. Peter Lam from Media Asia, and this is Mr. Raymond Wong from Oriental Films. I don’t need to introduce this one to you~”

Huang Baiming: "Haha, let's meet Director Zhang Chen who made a scene at the Academy Awards. Oh no, now I should say he is the head of Golden Harvest..."

Peter Lam: "Director Zhang is truly a young talent. He is so young and yet he is already the boss of Golden Harvest. Compared to you, we are all old~"

Zhang Chen also said politely: "I am familiar with your names. It is not an exaggeration to say that I grew up watching your movies~"

"This time, Brother Zhang really made us sound old~"

"Haha~"

"Okay, everyone, stop bragging about business and sit down first before we talk~"

With Boss Yang's introduction, everyone exchanged a few polite words and sat down one after another.

After sitting down, Zhang Chen noticed that there were more than just four people at the scene, and each of them brought a female companion.

He didn't recognize the female companion brought by Peter Lam, but he did recognize the one brought by Wong Jing, the mainland's white lotus - Dong Jie.

Zhang Chen didn't have a female companion. He was caught by surprise by Boss Yang today, who told him to introduce some friends to him, so he followed here.

But even if he knew, he wouldn't be able to find a female companion. In Hong Kong, he didn't know many women at all.

Unexpectedly, Boss Yang had already made arrangements. He clapped his hands, and the door next door opened, and two young girls appeared.

She was wearing heavy makeup, but her features were still vaguely visible.

hmm~
Zhang Chen had a strange look on his face. He actually knew Yang Tianbao and Wen Yongshan again.

The two of them still seem to be young models and are often promoted together.

"I secretly guessed Director Zhang's preferences and selected two girls, but I don't know if they are to Director Zhang's liking. Why don't you two say hello to Director Zhang? Director Zhang is now the head of Jiahe. Any little that slips out from his fingernails will be enough for you two to eat~"

"Hello, I'm Angela Barbie~"

"Hello, Boss Zhang. I'm Wen Yongshan. Please take care of me~"

Janice Man originally wanted to say her English name, Janice Man, but suddenly remembered that the other person was from mainland China.

Mainlanders seemed to be unimpressed by English names, so they gave their Chinese names.

As expected, Zhang Chen looked cheerful: "Well, Miss Wen, please come sit next to me~"

When Yang Tianbao saw that Zhang Chen chose Wen Yongshan, there was no disappointment in his eyes. He sat next to Boss Yang obediently.

Seeing Zhang Chen choosing a woman openly, everyone felt relieved, at least it showed that the other party did not treat them as outsiders.

As men, they are considered to be loyal only if they have been through that together.

Although it is different now, the principles are the same.

As soon as Wen Yongshan sat down next to Zhang Chen, she immediately hugged his arm like a little bird and rubbed it continuously.

Angela Barbie is pretty much the same.

The mood of the two people being served instantly improved, and the people next to them also showed smiles that only men could understand.

Peter Lam joked: "Where did Boss Yang find these two beauties~"

"Fashion International~"

He was very pleased. The two little girls were so sensible, which made him proud. It seemed that Fengshang International could be a long-term cooperation partner.

Fengshang International is a model agency, and Yang Tianbao and Wen Yongshan are both contracted models of this company.

The modeling circle and the film circle are inseparable, and are more open than the film circle. Boss Yang often transfers people from there when he entertains people.

With the women joining in, everyone started chatting and laughing.

Huang Baiming suddenly said, "Director Zhang was born in the mainland, and this Miss Dong next to me is also from the mainland. Did you two know each other before?"

Zhang Chen shook his head: "We haven't worked together, but I know Miss Dong. She debuted as a "Mou Girl" and later starred in "The Story of a Noble Family". At that time, Miss Dong had a nickname, "The Koi Fish of the Entertainment Circle~"

"Oh, Koi? Does it mean you're bursting with luck?"

"Almost~"

"Miss Dong is so powerful?"

Now Boss Yang became curious. Hong Kong people believe a lot in luck.

Dong Jie smiled shyly: "No, it's just that I am really lucky. I participated in the Spring Festival Gala in 96 and was spotted by director Zhang Yimou, who asked me to film "Happy Times"~"

Dong Jie is indeed a lucky fish. She was able to stand next to Xie Bi Wang and show off her face when she participated in the Spring Festival Gala for the first time in 96. Then she was spotted by Zhang Yimou and pulled into the crew of "Happy Times" to act opposite Zhao Benshan.

The key point is that her acting was pretty good and she even won the "Best Actress" award.

What many people don’t know is that she also participated in Zhao Lirong’s sketch "Working Adventures", playing the role of a maid in the background.

"Oh, I see. No wonder Wong Kar-wai signed you~"

Boss Yang obviously knew Zhang Yimou, and he probably had thought of it, but Zhang Weiping was watching him very closely, so it was a bit difficult to poach him.

It was Zhang Chen who remembered something when he heard what Wong Kar-wai said.

It seems that Dong Jie is now signed under Wong Kar-wai's Zedong Films.

She took a role in a TV series despite being called "Mou Girl". Even though it was the hit "The Story of a Noble Family", it still caused Zhang Yimou to announce that he would never work with her again.

However, "The Story of a Noble Family" is indeed very popular.

The popularity even exceeds that brought by Mou Girl.

With such a good situation, any normal person should continue to develop the domestic market. However, this girl seemed to have lost her mind and signed a contract with Wong Kar-wai's Zedong Pictures.

Maybe he wants to develop in Hong Kong.

Unfortunately, Zedong Film and Television has few resources, and Wong Kar-wai is not very popular, so she never gets any good roles.

What a great start, I became your husband~
Dong Jie looked a little embarrassed when she heard someone mention "Wong Kar-wai".

Zhang Chen noticed this and didn't want to continue being embarrassed, so he took the initiative to ask: "How did Mr. Huang know Miss Dong?"

"Oh, I made a movie called Dragon Tiger Gate this year, and Miss Dong is the heroine~"

Zhang Chen said "oh" and then he remembered that Wong Jing was no longer the screenwriter Wong Jing in his impression.

In his impression, Wong Jing is the scholar in "Happy Ghost" and a well-known screenwriter among the Seven Monsters of Cinema City.

But in fact, after leaving Cinema City in 91, he started his own company called Oriental Films, which later developed into one of the four major media groups in Hong Kong.

Oriental Films is a typical family business, with son Huang Ziheng serving as the company's creative director and daughter Huang Yi serving as executive director.

Wong Jing has been a director, screenwriter, actor, and also runs his own company.

He is a jack of all trades, doing a little bit of everything, but in fact he is not an expert at anything.

As a director, he has basically no talent and no outstanding works, but he has achieved some success as a screenwriter and actor.

The movie "Happy Ghost" in which he starred was very popular, and the movie "Best Partner" in which he participated in the screenwriting was the box office champion of the year, as well as "The Wrong Car".

Starting a company is pretty normal.

In 92, a hit movie, "All's Well, Ends Well", was released, which grossed 4800 million yuan and became a sensation.

Later on it didn’t work anymore. A lot of things were done after the millennium, but none of them worked.

"The Express", "My Old Parents", "Mr. Ink", "30 Minutes of Love", "Scared", "Ultimate Fighter"...

I haven't heard of any of them, all of them were flops.

Until last year when I invested in "Seven Swords".

Wong Jing is one of the producers of "Seven Swords".

But "Seven Swords" was just famous, and it didn't do well at the box office.

However, Huang took a fancy to Zhen Zidan, and the two continued to cooperate afterwards.

In 06, we worked on "Dragon Tiger Gate", in 07, we worked on "Flash Point", and then in 08, we worked on "Ip Man"...

It was "Ip Man" that made the company earn money, which made Oriental Films one of the four major entertainment companies in Hong Kong.

“When will Dragon Tiger Gate be released?”

"Inland China, it's in July."

Wong Jing had a good plan and specially chose the summer season for "Dragon Tiger Gate", but it was useless.

The box office of "Dragon Tiger Gate" was bound to be a flop, otherwise it wouldn't even have a Baidu Encyclopedia entry.

Hong Kong comics are not well-known in mainland China, far less than Japanese comics. Few people know the original works of "Hua Yingxiong", "Bruce Lee" and "Dragon Tiger Gate", let alone comic-adapted movies.

However, since it was their first meeting, Zhang Chen didn't need to get too fancy with her. He could only say congratulations: "I wish Mr. Huang's "Dragon Tiger Gate" will be a big hit in the mainland~"

"Thank you Director Zhang for your kind words"

Zhang Chen came here today to expand his network.

Although he looked down upon the Hong Kong market, Golden Harvest was a Hong Kong company after all, and it always had to maintain good relationships with cinema chains.

In the mainland, as long as he has a good relationship with China Film, he is not afraid of anyone else, because China Film owns the cinema chains.

There are seven cinema chains in Hong Kong with more than 300 screens. The largest is the Broadway Cinema Chain, which belongs to Edko Films.

It just so happened that Zhang Chen had some minor conflicts with Anle Business. He initially entered the Hong Kong circle because of a conflict with Ma Chucheng, and Ma Chucheng was Anle's man.

Originally, Boss Yang wanted to ask Jiang Zhiqiang to come today, but after considering it again and again, he finally gave up.

We can only talk about the conflict between the two of them later.

In addition to Broadway Cinemas, the remaining ones include AMC Cinemas, Emperor UA Cinemas, New Treasure Cinemas, Golden Harvest Cinemas, Media Asia MCL Cinemas and Chinachem Cinemas.

As the name suggests, most of the famous film companies in Hong Kong have cinema businesses.

This stems from historical reasons.

If a production company does not have a cinema chain, it is difficult to guarantee attendance, so larger film companies will get involved in the cinema business.

As they got to know each other better, Peter Lam also said, "Director Zhang was really lucky to get Golden Harvest. I also wanted to get involved in Golden Harvest, but Raymond Chow blocked me in various ways. In the end, I don't know what method he came up with, but he let Acer Taiwan take over. At that time, many of my businesses were in Taiwan, so I had to give up in the end~"

Speaking of this, Peter Lam's face was full of envy.

"Haha, what luck! Even though Mr. Lin didn't take over Golden Harvest, he can still continue to cooperate with Golden Harvest..."

Zhang Chen also admitted that he was just lucky. Even if it had been a few years earlier, Zou Wenhuai would not have sold Golden Harvest to him.

Generally speaking, film companies and theaters have a two-way symbiotic relationship.

Film companies need their films to be released in more theaters, and theaters need a steady supply of new films.

But overall, theaters are the strong party.

However, this situation does not exist in Jiahe.

Zhang Chen can guarantee that each of his films is a co-production and can be released in mainland China.

Compared with the mainland, Hong Kong's box office seems less important.

Therefore, the cinema chains in Hong Kong cannot control him, which is also the reason why he dares to ignore Jiang Zhiqiang.

During the chat, Zhang Chen and Dong Jie's eyes met. Logically speaking, since they are both from the mainland, they should be closer.

But no, Dong Jie behaved very sensibly.

Zhang Chen was not interested in her either.

His biggest memory about Dong Jie is the gossip about him, Pan Yueming and Wang Dazhi.

Back then, he really squatted there and ate a lot of melons.

There is a question that has been lingering in my mind: what exactly do you like about Wang Dazhi?

The most interesting one is Wang Dazhi.

In 2024, Wang Dazhi transformed into live streaming to sell goods for the first time. When the speaking function was turned on, no one asked questions related to selling goods, but all asked about the gossip of the year.

All I can say is that the Internet has memory.

Push the cup and change the cup
Wen Yongshan is a caring person. When Zhang Chen drinks, she pours wine for him. When Zhang Chen chats, she serves him food. When he doesn't drink or eat, she pulls Zhang Chen to rub against her.
Restless~
Even if he studies it a hundred times, he won't remember it as clearly as if he did it once in person.

No wonder she started out as a young model, but eventually became an actress. She's amazing~
Boss Yang saw Zhang Chen's affectionate words and said, "Brother Zhang is really a man of temperament~"

After doing that together, he felt that their relationship had become much closer.

"Before, I was worried that there was a gap between my taste and Brother Zhang's, but now it seems that our aesthetic standards are similar, hahaha~~"

Everyone laughed. The chubby Peter Lam said, "Brother Zhang may not be used to it, but men in Hong Kong like to bring a female companion when they go out to discuss business, so as to adjust the atmosphere..."

Zhang Chen thought that the situation in the mainland was similar, and the Wang brothers were also the same.

Boss Yang was in the mood and no longer hesitated: "To be honest, Brother Zhang, I originally arranged two actresses for you. The older one is Xiong Dailin, also a model, two years older than Brother Zhang. The younger one is the two of them, six years younger than Brother Zhang. But unfortunately, Xiong Dailin can't come..."

Speaking of this, Wong Jing's eyes narrowed as he smiled: "Of course they can't come. The media has reported that the siege took 33 hours..."

33 Hours Siege is a meme played by the Hong Kong media. A paparazzi photographed Lynn Hung entering Aaron Kwok’s villa and leaving after 33 hours, so the event was given a name – 33 Hours Siege.

Zhang Chen also knew about this in his previous life. It was from then on that Xiong Dailin and Aaron Kwok officially confirmed their relationship and became a couple.

Xiong Dailin has hooked up with King of Pop Guo and has the hope of becoming his wife, so of course she will not attend this kind of dinner party again.

However, Zhang Chen knew that Aaron Kwok was a playful person. He had 18 rumored girlfriends before he got married. The longest one was with Lynn Hung, who lasted for 7 years and ended up in vain.

In a media interview, Aaron Kwok did not give a good word: "Only your feet know whether the shoes fit you or not."

After talking about women for a while, the group talked about movies:

"Brother Zhang, would you mind telling us a little bit about the three new movies produced by Golden Harvest? I heard that you wrote the scripts for them all?"

Zhang Chen nodded: "Yes, I wrote them all. What's up, are you interested?"

Everyone looked at each other, and finally Wong Jing said, "To be honest, I'm quite surprised why you wanted to do Ip Man~"

Zhang Chen was stunned: "What happened to Ip Man?"

"Nothing, Wong Kar-wai is also working on Ip Man~"

"Oh, you're talking about this~"

Zhang Chen didn't care: "He does his thing, I do mine, I'm not copying him. So many people have filmed Huang Feihong, there's no reason why Ip Man can't do it~"

Wong Jing said: "That's true. With the procrastinating nature of Sunglasses King, maybe your Ip Man will be released while his film hasn't even started~"

A few people spoke casually, not caring that Dong Jie was from Zedong Film and Television.

Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, Zhang Chen took the opportunity to win over the fans: "Speaking of this, are you interested in investing in it? I plan to make "Ip Man" into a series of films..."

Seeing Zhang Chen say this, several people suddenly fell silent. Everyone looked at each other, and finally Huang Baiming asked: "Has the candidate been decided?"

"Only the male lead has been decided, Zhen Zidan~"

Just as he said this, Zhang Chen's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, said sorry, and ran to answer the call.

The few people at the remaining table murmured, "Do you think this is feasible?"

Boss Yang remained calm. He was the first one to cooperate with Zhang Chen and knew the other party's strength well.

If there is an opportunity to join, he will definitely join, but there is no need to rush to create more competitors. Everything depends on everyone's own choice.

Wong Jing also had his own plans. He was optimistic about Zhen Zidan and was planning to work with him in the next few films. Unexpectedly, he suddenly became an artist of Golden Harvest. He didn't know how the two parties signed the contract. If it was a fixed-term contract, he could still find a loophole to cooperate.

If it doesn't work, forget it.

He didn't think Zhen Zidan was anything special.
Zhen Zidan is indeed not a very capable person nowadays.

Before 02, Zhen Zidan was the one that Yuan's class promoted. Unfortunately, he just couldn't become popular no matter how much they promoted him. He later returned to the United States in despair and made a living in Hollywood, mainly as an action director.

He hasn't made it yet.

He really rose to fame with the 02 film "Hero".

During the filming of "Hero", Jet Li recommended Donnie Yen to Zhang Yimou to play the role of Chang Kong, and this was when Zhen Zidan came to prominence.

He has made a place for himself among Hong Kong martial arts stars.

Then he kept fighting until he was 45 and could hardly fight anymore. Finally, he had his masterpiece - "Ip Man".

Finally became a star.

The group discussed and asked Boss Yang what he thought. Boss Yang said, "Let's wait and see. If possible, I would rather invest in "The Man from Nowhere"~"

Peter Lam: "He is not an idiot, how could he give up the share of "The Man from Nowhere" and let us pick up the money for nothing~"

"The Man from Nowhere" is a spin-off of "Hurricane" and is a project that makes money for free.

There is no risk at all in such a project, who wouldn’t want to invest?
But because of this, Zhang Chen will definitely not give up the fat meat in his mouth. It’s a lot of money and it doesn’t burn his mouth.

……

In the corner, Zhang Chen was talking on the phone with Lao Li.

"Uncle Li? What do you want to talk to me about?"

The old Li on the other side still said in a silly voice: "It's nothing important. I heard that you won Golden Harvest, so I thought of calling you to congratulate you. I also wanted to ask, I heard that you are going to make three new films, do you have any difficulties in funding, we can provide some~"

Zhang Chen's mind moved: "Then how much can Uncle Li provide?"

When Mr. Li on the other end of the phone heard this, he knew there was hope. He thought he had made the right call and immediately reported a number: "Is fifty million enough? Last time, Mr. Li came to check the accounts and knew that we made a lot of money from Hurricane. Not only did he not take the profits, he also gave me an extra fifty million to let me expand my investment..."

The richest man Li has been in high spirits in the past two years. Thanks to his stock operations, he is now the real richest man in the coal province.

Bankruptcy and running away are all things for the future. Now he is really in high spirits.

A small goal is really just a small goal.

Hearing that Lao Li was so confident, Zhang Chen suddenly had other ideas.

"Old Li, please don't get involved in Golden Harvest's movies. They're meaningless. Let me give you a suggestion. You should have heard that I'm going to make a science fiction movie, right?"

"heard."

"The investment is huge, estimated at 8 million yuan. China Film Group has already decided to invest, and Shanghai Film Group is also very likely to invest. If you are willing, I can give you a share, but I cannot guarantee a profit. This kind of blockbuster is a gamble. If you win, the bicycle becomes a motorcycle. If you lose, you just have to consider yourself unlucky..."

Zhang Chen deliberately said it in a serious tone. He thought that Mr. Li on the other side would think about it, but he didn't expect him to ask directly: "How much is one serving?"

"About ten million." Zhang Chen said casually.

"Okay, give me five first."

Now it was Zhang Chen's turn to be stunned: "Five shares means fifty million, not five thousand. Don't you want to consider it?"

"What are you considering? Half of the 50 million is earned from "Taken". I can still decide the rest~"

Zhang Chen suddenly didn't know what to say.

How can you say this is business? This is not how you do business.

But Old Li didn't listen to anything he said, and even said he would ask the richest man Li to see if it could be increased to 100 million.

Now it was Zhang Chen's turn to be in trouble. Even if Old Li really invested 100 million, he might not dare to accept it.

He also has to set aside a portion of his share for the Big Six in Hollywood, otherwise why would he use their global distribution network.

After he finished the call and returned, he found that no one mentioned investment anymore. Zhang Chen thought that they were not optimistic and did not continue the conversation.

After the dinner, the group came out hugging each other, and Zhang Chen said goodbye to everyone.

"Brother Zhang, get in my car. I'll take you home and we can chat about something. You two, take the one at the back~"

Watching Wong Jing and Peter Lam leave, Boss Yang pulled Zhang Chen into the car without saying anything.

Wen Yongshan and Yang Tianbao obediently got into the car behind.

The car started, but I didn't know where it was going.

In the car, Boss Yang suddenly said, "Brother Zhang, I won't beat around the bush with you. I heard that your new film is a science fiction blockbuster. I want to invest in it. Is that okay?"

Zhang Chen's eyes widened. What happened today? Everyone came forward to give him money.

But he still said, "Boss Yang didn't even read the script, didn't understand anything, and just invested directly?"

Boss Yang laughed and said, "I never look forward to the success or failure of a movie, but to you as a person. We have already cooperated on "Kowloon Walled City" and "Painted Skin". As long as you don't exclude me from the next science fiction film, I will definitely continue to invest~"

Zhang Chen suddenly found it very interesting. Why did he meet such kind of people today?

But what needs to be said still needs to be said: "Boss Yang, this play has a huge investment, which may reach 800 million yuan. In the end, it may not make any money~"

Boss Yang was also quite surprised, "Eight hundred million?"

Seeing Zhang Chen nod, the other party did not think much about it: "I, Yang, am a man of honor. Let's make a deal. I don't care how much your cost is. I will at least pay 50 million, no more, no less~"

Boss Yang looked at Zhang Chen, who stopped being pretentious and said, "Well, since you trust me, I'll be honored if you don't."

Zhang Chen did not expect that he could find half of the 800 million investment in one go. The rest could be directly supplemented by Xingchen Entertainment and the six major companies without having to look for anyone else.

……

Last day, please vote for me

(End of this chapter)