Huayu: From Prisoner to Movie King

Chapter 602
During lunch, Chen Xuebin came late with a forehead full of sweat. Xu Kun didn't ask anything, but just told him to contact Yuan Shanshan, Zheng Shuang, and Jin Chen, sign a confidentiality contract, and then distribute the script.

As for him, he will leave for a guest appearance on the set of "Three Shots Surprise" in the next one or two days. When he comes back, he will be busy with the post-production of "Founding of a Republic" and will also play a guest role as a villain in "Crazy Supermarket".

There is no time to take care of the training of actresses in the short term.

Chen Xuebin wiped the sweat off his forehead and asked, "How about we just learn from the new version of the Dream of the Red Chamber and bring them in for some training?"

"Don't!"

Jin Chen and Xu Kun had no impression of him. He had heard of Zheng Shuang's name in his previous life. It was obvious that he was not a good person. And according to Yang Mi's description, Yuan Shanshan was obviously not a freeloader either.

Letting these two people train together and fight for the only leading role spot, what's the difference between that and raising a Gu?
Chen Xuebin was very dismissive of this: "They are just a few little girls. No matter how cunning they are, can they beat us men?"

Xu Kun looked at his face without saying anything. Old Chen suddenly remembered what happened in the morning. His face turned red and he stammered, "It's not that I can't deal with that little bitch. It's mainly because we are bound by love for a lifetime, so I took our feelings into consideration..."

Putting this little episode aside, the meal was a great pleasure for both the host and the guests.

The banquet ended after drinking.

On the way back, Xu Kun enjoyed Jiang Yiyan's massage while casually asking the assistant in the front row: "What's the arrangement for "Three Guns"? Is there a certain time when it will be released?"

Xu Kun didn't want Zhang Weiping to take advantage, so he gave "Three Guns" a very limited schedule. This required both parties to coordinate in advance so that he could concentrate on shooting.

"This……"

The assistant hesitated and said, "We said we would give them a call this morning, but we haven't received a call from them yet."

"Then you can call and ask."

The assistant agreed, quickly found the call records, and called the production director of "Three Guns".

As a result, the production director who was eager for Xu Kun to join the crew yesterday, changed his previous enthusiasm this time and said hesitantly that there were some problems with the crew's scheduling, and Director Xu's scenes might have to be postponed for a few days.

"What the hell is Lao Mouzi doing?"

Xu Kun was a little puzzled. Could it be that something went wrong with the crew, and Zhang Yimou was unable to control the situation and was afraid of embarrassing himself in front of him?

He thought about it and decided to call Sun Honglei, but Sun Honglei's phone was always busy and he couldn't get through after two attempts.

He had no choice but to suppress his doubts in his heart for the time being.

In the afternoon, Xu Kun took a nap under the influence of alcohol and woke up at around four o'clock. He took advantage of his free time to work out in the gym for an hour or so. When he was sweating profusely and was about to take a shower, he suddenly received a call from Zhao Benshan.

"Kun'er~"

Uncle Benshan sighed on the phone, "You said it was a big deal. How about this? When you come to the crew in a few days, I'll set up a table and let him apologize to Hong Lei in person. For my sake, don't bother with him."

"what?"

Xu Kun was confused: "Uncle Zhao, what do you mean? Who offended Brother Honglei?"

"You don't know yet?"

Zhao Benshan was a little surprised, but soon he said, "Well, this matter will be revealed sooner or later, so I might as well tell you clearly to prevent them from spreading rumors."

After listening to Uncle Benshan's conversation, Xu Kun finally understood what had happened.

It turned out that after joining the crew, Xiao Shenyang and Sun Honglei had a quarrel over the roles and publicity rankings.

When the contract was signed, it was agreed that Xiao Shenyang would be the C position, but later Sun Honglei's "The Disguiser" became a big hit, and after mid-April, the focus of publicity gradually became Sun Honglei.

Xiao Shenyang was naturally not very happy about this.

On the other hand, Sun Honglei did not think highly of Xiao Shenyang, who became famous by pretending to be a fool.

As a result, Sun Honglei was signing autographs for fans a few days ago. When the fan saw Xiao Shenyang was there, he wanted to get an autograph from Xiao Shenyang as well, but Xiao Shenyang ignored him.

Sun Honglei felt that he had lost face, and last night when several leading actors were having dinner together, he took advantage of the alcohol and deliberately made a few sarcastic remarks to Xiao Shenyang.

How could Xiao Shenyang, with his arrogant temper after becoming famous, be willing to suffer such a loss?

After a few exchanges, the two men started fighting, and the result was that Xiao Shenyang broke Sun Honglei's forearm and sent Sun Piaoliang directly to the hospital.

When something like this happens, the crew's first thought is of course to block the news.

That's why the production director made the excuse at noon that there was a problem with the scheduling and it might take a few days before we could start filming Xu Kun's scenes.

The same reason applies to why Sun Honglei’s phone has not been accessible.

But Xiao Shenyang felt that he had caused trouble, but he dared not hide it from his master - mainly because he couldn't hide it because there were several people from the Zhao Clan in the crew of "Three Guns".

When Zhao Benshan rushed to the crew, he did two things first. First, he took the initiative to visit Sun Honglei in the hospital, and second, he called Xu Kun.

Listen to the cause and effect.

Xu Kun pondered and said, "Uncle Zhao, how about this? I'll go see Brother Honglei first and hear what he has to say. After all, it's not my place to make the final decision for him."

"Okay, then you talk to him first. Well, this incident is also my fault for not teaching my disciples well. Anyway, what they do is their business. Let's not make things awkward."

Although Xu Kun did not agree readily, Zhao Benshan was not unhappy at all. After all, Xu Kun's status had changed completely. It was said that his superiors had directly arranged two bodyguards for him, so Uncle Benshan naturally had to give him enough respect.

After asking for the address of the hospital, Xu Kun hung up the phone and asked Jiang Yiyan and Tang Yan to help pack the luggage. He also asked his assistant to buy several overnight flight tickets to Gansu.

His relationship with Sun Honglei was not actually particularly close, and they had even shown signs of hostility towards each other in the early years, but they were old friends after all, and when they were attacked last time, Sun Honglei acted quite bravely.

Besides, it can be seen from the fact that Zhao Benshan contacted him directly that the outside world regards Sun Honglei as a member of Xu's faction, so he has to show up even more.

So that night, Xu Kun took two bodyguards including Zhou Lin, and an assistant and flew to Zhangye, Gansu - "Three Guns" was mainly filmed here.

Sun Honglei's injury was not too serious. When Xu Kun rushed to the hospital at noon the next day, he was walking around in circles in the ward.

Sun Honglei was stunned for a moment when he suddenly saw Xu Kun coming in from outside.

"Yo~"

Xu Kun stared at the wrist hanging around his neck and said with a smile: "It's been a few days since we last met. Brother Honglei, are you in trouble?"

"I...I..."

Sun Honglei was a little embarrassed. He wanted to hide it but he had no ability to do so. He could only ask awkwardly: "Why are you here? Are you here to film?"

"Uncle Benshan called me and I learned that you and Xiao Shenyang had a fight."

As Xu Kun spoke, he waved to the assistant who was accompanying the patient. Without waiting for Sun Honglei to nod, the assistant hurried out and closed the door behind him.

Sun Honglei sat down on the bed somewhat dejectedly, feeling touched but also a little embarrassed. He said stubbornly, "I'm not someone you can easily mess with. It's mainly because there are a lot of people in the Zhao Clan. This brave man can't stand up to a pack of wolves. They didn't do anything, but they were bound to take sides."

"Why did I hear that Xiao Shenyang went to a martial arts school?"

Xu Kun nodded, but he didn't think deeply about whether it was that the hero could not stand up to the wolves, or that such a big guy like him was knocked down by a sissy.

Instead, he repeated everything Zhao Benshan said on the phone, and then said, "He is the master, so Xiao Shenyang will do whatever he says, but I must listen to your opinion first." After listening, Sun Honglei was obviously relieved and smiled bitterly, "I am lucky to have benefited from you this time, otherwise... I would have to apologize to him."

"Isn't it?"

"Haha~"

Sun Honglei shook his head and said, "You are not from the Northeast, so you don't understand the significance of 'If you pass Shanhaiguan, Zhao Benshan will be in trouble' - let me tell you this, this morning Xiao Shenyang insisted that I was the one who started it, and he wants to settle the score with me."

Judging from Sun Honglei's expression, if Zhao Benshan really went to war to punish Xiao Shenyang, he would probably have to admit defeat.

"Then why do you want to conflict with him?"

"I didn't expect that Xiao Shenyang would really dare to do it. Just a few words of quarrel would attract Zhao Benshan."

"Okay, then I'll ask Uncle Benshan to arrange a table for us tonight?"

Now that Xu Kun understood Sun Honglei's idea, he naturally had nothing to hesitate about.

So that night, Zhao Benshan sent a car to pick up Xu Kun and Sun Honglei from the hospital.

The private room Uncle Benshan booked was particularly large, but there were only four parties attending the meeting.

As soon as they met, Zhao Benshan shook Sun Honglei's good hand and said apologetically: "Xiao Sun, it's all my fault for not teaching him well. He got too red all of a sudden. It's like putting him on fire. He's deformed and no longer the same as before!"

This statement was meant as an apology, but more importantly, it was an opportunity to criticize Xiao Shenyang.

Xiao Shenyang was obviously dissatisfied and even glanced at Xu Kun from behind Zhao Benshan.

"Why, you want to fight me?"

Xu Kun didn't tolerate him and directly retorted.

Zhao Benshan turned around immediately after hearing that. Xiao Shenyang hurriedly pretended to be humble and submissive, but he instinctively stiffened his neck.

"what's wrong with you?!"

Zhao Benshan scolded unhappily: "You beat him up like this and you still think you're right?!"

He was obviously avoiding the main issue and ignoring the fact that Xiao Shenyang overestimated his own abilities and provoked Xu Kun.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Shenyang did not appreciate it. Instead, he protested, "He was the one who slandered me first, I..."

"You don't give them face, so what if they say a few words to you?" Zhao Benshan was also annoyed, and simply said, "I think you are just too angry and your brain is burned. Did Director Xu offend you when we were rehearsing? Who were you talking to a while ago?!"

The main reason why he forced Xiao Shenyang to apologize to Sun Honglei today was that Xiao Shenyang had been sarcastic to Xu Kun before [although he did not mention any names, but you can tell who he was talking about as soon as you hear it], and now he has touched Xu Kun's friends, which may be regarded as deliberately targeting Xu Kun.

"I……"

Xiao Shenyang wanted to continue talking back, but seeing his master's gloomy expression, he swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

"What are you talking about? Apologize immediately!"

Zhao Benshan said this and stepped aside, signaling Xiao Shenyang to apologize to Sun Honglei.

Xiao Shenyang took two steps forward, gritted his teeth and looked at Sun Honglei, but he was unable to open his mouth.

The situation became tense, and Sun Honglei was the first to lose his temper. He said awkwardly, "Forget it. We are all from the Northeast. We will meet each other every day. After we finish drinking today, we will just..."

"Apologize!"

As a result, before he could act as a peacemaker, Zhao Benshan scolded him again in a harsh tone.

Xiao Shenyang gritted his teeth and suddenly turned to Zhao Benshan and said, "Master, I have earned more than 100 million for our Zhao Family Class in the past six months!"

"What do you mean?"

Zhao Benshan glared and said, "You are so arrogant because you make a lot of money? Master can't control you anymore?!"

The way Zhao Benshan treats his apprentices is actually somewhat similar to Guo Degang's. The Zhao family takes the lion's share of the performance fees [of course, he is definitely not as evil and cruel as Guo Degang]. The difference is that if something happens, Zhao Benshan is really willing to put in the effort and money to protect his apprentices.

"I didn't say that!"

Xiao Shenyang said this with his neck stiff, then suddenly turned around and knelt down in front of Sun Honglei.

"Aaaaaaah~"

Sun Honglei was so scared that he stretched out both hands to help him, but Xiao Shenyang suddenly jumped up again and said to Zhao Benshan: "Master, this should be enough, right?!"

After saying that, he stormed out of the door without waiting for Zhao Benshan to say anything.

"You...you say this kid!"

Zhao Benshan stomped his feet in anger.

At this time, Xu Kun sat down calmly and said with a smile: "Uncle Zhao, calm down, you have many disciples anyway."

"But there are only a few who are truly talented."

Zhao Benshan also sat down helplessly, patted Xu Kun on the shoulder and said: "You young people have your own things, but when I really retire in two years, someone has to carry the banner of the Zhao Family Class."

Then, he turned to the anxious Sun Honglei and said, "I'm sorry on his behalf. Don't worry, I will definitely let him act well and not have conflicts with you again."

Hearing this, Sun Honglei felt relieved immediately. After all, he didn't care much about Xiao Shenyang. He was mainly afraid that Zhao Benshan would protect his son and vent his anger on him.

So he quickly said, "Don't take it too seriously. How many young people can control themselves when they suddenly get angry? I went through the same thing back then, and it will get better slowly."

After a pause, he said to Xu Kun: "You are the only exception."

Xu Kun smiled but said nothing. He was no exception. If he had not been a second-generation human, with his temper and personality when he was young, he would have been dazzled by this world of pleasure.

Although Xiao Shenyang left in anger, he still had to eat the meal.

Because Sun Honglei's hand was injured, Xu Kun took the initiative to take over the task of pouring wine, and Sun Honglei accepted it calmly.

But when Xu Kun finished pouring the wine, Sun Honglei immediately raised his glass and said to Xu Kun: "According to the rules, this first glass should be toasted to Teacher Zhao first, but today I must toast to you, to you for coming all the way to help me, and to you for being willing to listen to what I have to say first!"

The reason why these two can be listed side by side is that too many people, after climbing to a high position, think they can be friends and brothers.

Xu Kun also picked up his glass, clinked it with his, and said, "I've said before that I will admit at any time that you, Sun Honglei, played my eldest brother."

This is what he said to Sun Honglei on the set of "Conquer". At that time, Sun Honglei was dismissive of this remark, but now when he hears it again, he has a different feeling in his heart.

"Hahaha~"

So he laughed and said, "This is probably one of the things I can brag about the most in my life!"

(End of this chapter)