Huayu Chunqiu, starting from being adopted by a fairy mother

Chapter 319 Withdrawal of Investment
"Oh my god! Is this something I should be able to see?"

"Holy crap, did they play the wrong movie?"

"Who is this woman? She's really good-looking."

"If all Chinese films were made like this, how could they not prosper?"

"Broker Leung is so handsome, I like him so much..."

……

The quiet movie theater was no longer quiet as certain scenes appeared.

Then, as some scenes unfolded, it spontaneously quieted down.

"Well!"

In the pitch-black scene, in a dark corner, Yang Mi was watching a movie.

She didn't seem to care when the shocking images appeared.

These are nothing compared to what's going on; there's even the time to make comparisons. This actress's figure isn't as good as mine, and while Leung Chiu-wai's figure is average, his poses are quite unique. I'll have Wood try them out when I get home tonight.

A familiar muffled groan reached her ears, and she could no longer focus on the screen.

"Holy crap, what are those two doing? This is a movie theater, there are security cameras in the back," Yang Mi exclaimed inwardly.

Curiosity is like a weed, scratching it is unbearably itchy.

"Ahem, Shishi, Liang Chaowei has a good physique, doesn't he?" Yang Mi leaned to the left and asked Liu Shishi across Liu Jing.

"Hmm." Liu Shishi pursed her lips, her eyes fixed on the screen, devoid of any expression.

She had no interest in looking at Leung Chiu-wai; a hand was roaming up and down her waist.

"Not bad, right? It's a bit difficult, but you're a dancer, so it shouldn't be too hard for you." Yang Mi moved closer to the left, half of her body resting on Liu Jing's lap, searching for any hint of something between them.

Liu Shishi remained silent. This pose was nothing special. Her senior brother, relying on her flexibility, had tried poses that were much more difficult.

But this cannot be said, not even by Yang Mi.

"Watch the movie properly." Liu Jing pressed Yang Mi's head down and pushed her back.

"Pshaw! Movies are nowhere near as good as live streaming," Yang Mi muttered. She had just seen someone playing with a lion.

Liu Shishi didn't want to talk to Yang Mi. Tonight was supposed to be a private time for her and her senior brother, but a third party had come along.

After the first day of training, she made plans with her senior to go shopping that evening.

Just as the movie was about to end, Yang Mi arrived with several movie tickets, saying she wanted to treat everyone to a movie.

After hearing this, Zhao Liying left without even glancing at Yang Mi.

The two gentlemen were very perceptive; you wanted to invite Liu Jing to the movies, and we were just giving him a ride.

These past few days, news of Yang Mi being "played with" has been everywhere, with the most common speculation being that the man was Liu Jing. Now it seems she wasn't "played with" at all. It's only been a few days, and she's still lively and energetic, but that man is definitely Liu Jing.

Zhang Tianai also wanted to go, but she didn't want to go with Yang Mi; she only wanted to go alone with Jing Shao. After watching the movie, they could have a late-night snack and then enjoy a wonderful night—it couldn't be happier.

She believed that with her looks and figure, she could definitely win over Young Master Jing. She was even more confident that with her methods, Young Master Jing would stay away from these vixens from now on.

In the end, Yang Mi bought a dozen movie tickets, but only used three, and she was happy with that.

Naza also wanted to go, but Liu Jing kicked her out, saying that the movie wasn't for a little kid like her.

When you grow up, cough cough...

I just said it without thinking; there was absolutely no malice in it.

Liu Jing considered "Lust, Caution" his biggest competitor, and he had already watched it several times before its release. He not only watched the version shown at film festivals, but also the version approved by the Film Bureau.

If Jiang Wen knew, he'd probably drown his sorrows in alcohol again. And you didn't watch a single episode of "The Sun Also Rises," the movie released around the same time.

Because of this drama, Liu Jing once caused a huge scene.

The review process for "The Warlords" was fraught with twists and turns, involving numerous revisions and deletions, leaving it almost unrecognizable.

They want to change the phrase "rob money, rob grain, rob women" to "rob money, rob grain, rob territory".

The film is called "The Warlords" because it comes from the story of Lin Chong joining Liangshan in the classic novel "Water Margin".

The three brothers swore an oath of brotherhood, which also required them to present a pledge of loyalty. Each of them had to kill an outsider to cut off any possibility of escape. From that moment on, their brothers' lives were their only concern; everyone else was worthy of death.

The three men captured and killed three passersby. Zhao Erhu was nonchalant, while Pang Qingyun remained expressionless. However, Jiang Wuyang's mindset gradually changed during the killing.

From then on, Jiang Wuyang valued the pledge of loyalty above all else, and this became the guiding principle for his future actions.

Liu Jing put a lot of effort into the performance, using expressive eyes and subtle facial expressions to clearly convey the complexity of his emotions and the immense determination he ultimately made.

This scene was cut because it was deemed an act of indiscriminate killing. Without this pivotal scene, the rest of the story seems rather nonsensical.

Liu Jing could barely accept the deletion of this scene, but he couldn't tolerate the deletion of the scene where Jiang Wuyang was subjected to the death by a thousand cuts.

He filmed this scene for several days. There was a scene of being slowly sliced ​​to death, shown in a long shot, with an executioner carrying out the execution, two officials supervising the execution, and two soldiers washing away the blood.

There's also an even more important shot: a close-up of Jiang Wuyang's face.

Pain, struggle, and despair are beyond compare; nothing is more painful than a broken heart.

Liu Jing uses his acting skills to portray Jiang Wuyang suffering both physical and mental torment. The physical pain is nothing compared to the psychological grief.

After Pang Qingyun was shot and fell to the ground, he smiled and said to Jiang Wuyang, "Quick, pledge your loyalty."

He already knew Jiang Wuyang was doomed, and rather than suffer torture, he chose to end his own life. Jiang Wuyang didn't understand, so he was subjected to the death by a thousand cuts.

Removing the scene of being slowly sliced ​​to death makes Pang Qingyun's final scene seem inexplicable.

The Film Bureau's demands for deletions and alterations were based on sound reasoning and were not intentionally targeting Liu Jing. Liu Jing could not tolerate it, but he had to.

Who knew they would give "Lust, Caution" the green light, while refusing to approve the bloody scenes of "The Warlords," they actually approved the erotic scenes of "Lust, Caution."

Moreover, the scene depicting the slow slicing wasn't particularly bloody; the filming deliberately avoided showing certain scenes.

When Peter Chan first came to the mainland, he did whatever the Film Bureau told him to change without daring to say a word.

Li Lianjie and Liu Dehua didn't say anything. We were just there to get paid to make movies. Editing and censorship were the director's job; we wouldn't bother with that.

Liu Jing was unhappy. "I worked so hard, even lowered my salary, all for what? To win an award."

Several women knew that he was obsessed with winning the Best Actor award. In fact, half of this obsession stemmed from the lottery.

You guys deleted all of Jiang Wuyang's memorable scenes, so what am I supposed to get?

He went directly to Lao Han and said, "I gave you face last time with Lu Chuan. You have to give me face this time too. Don't cut Jiang Wuyang's scenes."

Old Han was very troubled. "This isn't my responsibility, so coming to me won't help. Chunqiu didn't invest in this show, so why are you more anxious than the investors?"
Liu Jing said righteously, "I'm doing this for the sake of art. You should talk to the higher-ups. Either treat everyone equally and have them cut some scenes from 'Lust, Caution,' or be lenient with us and don't cut some of Jiang Wuyang's scenes."

Old Han does have a solution, but he doesn't want to get involved. He'd have to lobby his superiors, and if he opened that door, who knows how many times that kid would come after him.

Liu Jing, along with Chen Kexin and Li Lianjie, would visit Lao Han every few days.

Later, "The Sacred Flame" became a hit, and its box office soared. Suddenly, Lao Han wanted to get involved again.

Liu Jing watched "Lust, Caution" with no ulterior motives; he genuinely approached it with a learning mindset. Ang Lee certainly has a knack for filmmaking. Putting the plot aside, his narrative techniques, scene handling, character development, mise-en-scène, pacing, and so on, all offer valuable lessons.

As the paperclip scene appeared, Liu Jing appreciated it even more; the director was a skilled photographer who knew what the audience liked. Art imitates life, which suggests the director's life was also quite rich, probably no less so than his own.

However, I heard that the male lead put a lot of effort into this scene, which means he has a lot of life experience.

Margie Tsang, Kitty Lai, Maggie Cheung, and Carina Lau are both best friends and ex-girlfriends, and have quite a rich love life.

A while ago, Dong Jie traveled a thousand miles to celebrate Liang Chaowei's birthday, which was the talk of the town. Many media outlets lamented that Liu Jialing had defeated all the beautiful women, but ultimately lost to the younger Leng Qingqiu.

Liu Jing also felt a bit emotional, recalling how he almost made Dong Jie a hindrance when Xixi was filming "The Story of a Noble Family".

He was quite amazed when Leng Qingqiu appeared. If he hadn't been too young back then, he would definitely have tried to cause some trouble.

I have the will but not the power; how many stunning beauties have I missed in the past?

As he was lost in thought, he heard Liu Shishi spitting lightly on his left and Yang Mi clicking her tongue in amazement on his right.

Turning its head to the left, the little lion also turned its head to the left, as if embarrassed to look at the picture.

Liu Jing smirked. If he missed out, so be it; the person in front of him was just fine.

He placed his large hand on the little lion's waist and suddenly pulled it towards himself.

The little lion let out a muffled groan, too afraid to move. She knew there were security cameras in the movie theater, so she draped her coat over her lap and let her senior brother do whatever he wanted.

Liu Jing was just teasing the little lion; this wasn't a private occasion, so there was no need to humiliate him.

"Sigh!" Liu Jing sighed deeply as he looked at the screen.

"Senior brother, this scene is not suitable for children. Can't you handle it? Why don't we stop watching? If you want to, let's go home," the little lion whispered.

She had her own way of thinking. Her senior brother was quite skilled in that area, and he would take the bait with just a little teasing.

Especially after she discovered her senior's two major hobbies, she flirted with him in a targeted way, and he fell head over heels for her.

The more domineering Liu Yifei becomes, the gentler I become; if this continues...

"..." Liu Jing's computer crashed.

He sighed, not only feeling anxious but also unable to take action himself. The actress on screen was average-looking and had a mediocre figure; she wasn't his type.

He sighed, thankful that it was released at a different time than "Lust, Caution," but judging from the audience's reaction to the sex scenes, the film's box office wouldn't be low.

He sighed, noting that the Golden Horse Awards are organized by Taiwan, and Ang Lee is a director from Taiwan. "The Sacred Flame" managed to avoid the release schedule, but not this year's Golden Horse Awards; it's likely it will win nothing this time.

The little lion clearly misunderstood, thinking that his senior brother was impatient.

"How about we go to the car?" Little Lion bit her lip. Her senior brother had made the same request before, but she had refused.

Liu Jing was both amused and exasperated. He had only praised her a few times in front of everyone during the training this afternoon; there was no need for such a repayment.

In the afternoon, he was in the training classroom, looking at the six lead actors in front of him, and he felt as if he had returned to five or six years ago.

When Lai Shuiqing was filming "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," Zhang Min invested in the project. They originally wanted Gao Yuanyuan to play Zhao Min, but Lai Shuiqing immediately took a liking to her and insisted on casting her as Zhou Zhiruo.

Alyssa Chia went for the role of Zhou Zhiruo, which was arranged by the investors; Lai Shuiqing felt she was suitable for Zhao Min. Liu Jing played the young Zhang Wuji and was also the action choreographer for that series.

A teenager teaching a group of adults martial arts was met with considerable resistance from the group. To subdue them, Liu Jing employed various methods.

Now, standing before a group of leading actors once again, he didn't need to use any tricks; the six actors were trembling with fear, and none of them dared to disobey him.

Looking back on the past and looking at the present, Liu Jing was filled with emotion and spent an afternoon as a training instructor.

Zhao Jian is right. Zhang Tianai, Liu Shishi, and Gulnazar have a dance background, which makes their martial arts training much more effective.

However, he overlooked one point: although Zhao Liying had no foundation, was stiff, and had uncoordinated limbs, she was a hard-working and dedicated girl.

It's really hard to say which is better: getting twice the result with half the effort or getting half the result with twice the effort.

Liu Jing was intrigued. He realized that learning from the screen was ultimately superficial, and that true understanding required hands-on experience.

"Forget it! And there's Yang Mi, that tagalong. I'll go home and wait for you. You can shake her off." Little Lion changed his mind again. The movie theater was too dark, and he almost forgot about the third wheel.

"..."

Liu Jing watched his junior sister get up and leave, six black dots floating above his head, and I didn't say a word.

"Hehe, this little slut definitely couldn't stand it and went to the toilet," Yang Mi mocked.

"She has guests over," Liu Jing explained.

"Sigh! I was planning to thank you properly today, but it seems I won't have the chance," Yang Mi said regretfully.

On the last day of October, her scandal was still raging.

On the first day of November, her news was no longer headline news.

The hottest topic is Lust, Caution; no one can take it away from it.

The investment team behind "Dream of the Red Chamber" is complex, with an investment exceeding 100 million yuan, involving multiple capital sources including film and television companies, television stations, and government cultural funds.

These investors don't all provide funding; some provide distribution, some are responsible for operations, some for production, and others provide publicity and distribution resources.

The real funders were a few coal mine owners who only provided the money and, incidentally, wanted to promote a few actresses.

This morning, two investors, dissatisfied with Rongxinda's casting choices, announced their withdrawal of investment.

These two individuals had little say in the production process, but they invested a considerable amount of money, reaching as much as 40 million.

When Lao Han called, the other party wasn't very polite and directly complained that the characters they chose were all ugly and disgusting.

Even if you're a big shot in the film and television industry, coal mine owners can't really pay you any attention; you're just another face in the crowd.

Yang Mi didn't need to guess; it was definitely her older brother standing up for her.

She was confident that her older brother would definitely take action, based on her understanding of him. But she hadn't expected him to act so decisively.

The production of "Dream of the Red Chamber" suddenly lost a significant portion of its funding, forcing the casting process to be suspended.

What made her even chuckle was that she couldn't find any of her enemies. The boss thought there was really a problem with the casting and was planning to invite the two investors to dinner that night.

Yang Mi was in a great mood. "You guys treat the investors to dinner tonight, I'll treat my brother to a big meal." She dressed up nicely and went to Chunqiu to report to her brother.

She knew that today was the first day of training for the main actors, so she specially bought a few tickets.

Tonight she planned to sacrifice one or two people to make her older brother happy. She had her sights set on Liu Shishi and Zhang Tianai, but unfortunately, the woman whose face was practically screaming "I'm going to throw myself at you!" didn't come along.

She was helpless; she wanted to call out to Bai Bing, but Bai Bing acted as if she couldn't understand. She wanted to call out to Jing Tian, ​​but she couldn't bring herself to say it.

The other women were either not very familiar to me, or I didn't get along with them very well.

"What do you want to do?" Liu Jing asked curiously.

The older brother guessed correctly; this was indeed his tactic. Jing Tian's family could easily get the coal mine owner to withdraw his investment.

Jing Tian's uncle and Sister Li are business partners; it's all over with just one phone call.

Bai Bing collected such comprehensive information; it would be a waste of her assistant's efforts not to take advantage of the opportunity to get revenge.

Besides that, he also gave his assistant some advice. "You want to sign outstanding talents, right? The Dream of the Red Chamber is currently casting at various art schools, selecting the best of the best. Why don't you go and loosen up some soil when you have some free time?"

"You play Dou Dizhu all the time, but you've never played mahjong before, have you? We were just missing one player, now we're missing two," Yang Mi teased.

"I prefer playing Dou Dizhu (a card game)." Liu Jing was more interested; too many people wouldn't be able to take care of everyone properly, so three people were the optimal configuration.

"They have a guest, could it be her aunt?" Yang Mi guessed.

"Let's go! What's the point of watching a movie? Let's play cards." Liu Jing stood up. Little Lion only said to wait for him at home, and didn't say he couldn't bring people, so it wasn't a breach of contract.

"I want to play mahjong," Yang Mi said with a grin.

"Fuck your sister."

"Tomorrow I'll adopt a younger sister and tell her that your brother-in-law always thinks about you."

The two adulterers had no interest in watching the movie and sped off straight to the Lion Grove Garden.

bang bang bang...

"Liu Shishi, open the door, I want to play cards with you... mmm..."

Upon reaching the door, Yang Mi pounded on it and shouted.

Liu Jing quickly covered her mouth, saying, "If you tell me your bad intentions, do you believe Liu Shishi will dare not open the door?"

The little lion has the most traditional values; tolerating him juggling multiple relationships is already the absolute limit.

She always held the attitude that she would gradually change her senior brother and that she would ultimately be the victor.

Last time, while reciting poetry and cultivating immortality, the little lion drank quite a bit of wine, and when he woke up, he looked like he wanted to die.

This time, we must also be clever. Liu Jing repeatedly told us on the way not to alert the enemy, otherwise we would make things worse.

Yang Mi replied, "I have a plan. Just wait and see how you compose poems and collect honey."

"You idiot, is this your solution?" Liu Jing hissed.

Yang Mi pulled a small bottle out of her pocket, looking sly. "Even the most chaste and virtuous woman would have to beg to be violated, let alone someone who isn't."

Liu Jing slapped Yang Mi on the back of the head. "You're really something else. This thing is confiscated. You're not allowed to use this stuff on your sisters again."

"Aren't they sisters?" Yang Mi instinctively wanted to ask, but Liu Shishi opened the door.

"Senior brother, what brings you here?"

Hehe, keep pretending, you're doing a good job.

Liu Jing and Yang Mi had the same thought at the same time.

buzzing...

The hairdryer is running inside.

"Holy crap, we really have guests." Yang Mi exclaimed in surprise, looking at Liu Jing.

"Senior brother, I was just about to call you, but we have guests at home." The little lion sighed, emphasizing the word "phone."

Liu Jing took out his phone and saw an unread text message: "Senior, I ran into Lao Cai at the entrance of the community. She came to see me. I'll get her drunk tonight, and then I'll come find you."

Yang Mi sneered, shoved the little lion aside, put her hands on her hips, and said aggressively, "Oh! Liu Shishi, you've got some skills, hiding people at home now. Which handsome guy is it? Let's take him out for a spin... Um, President Cai, you... hello."

Liu Jing followed them inside. Old Cai was drying his hair with a hairdryer. They exchanged surprised glances.

"Old K, you're really free, coming all the way to Yandu again."

"Hey! Is Yandu your home? You won't even let me come here?" Old Cai was furious. What am I doing in Yandu? Don't you know the answer to that?

They had arranged to discuss the script today, but she had just boarded the plane when she received a text message from Bai Bing: the boss's schedule had changed, and today's script discussion meeting was canceled.

Lao Cai immediately made a call, but the assistant was very assertive, saying the time was undetermined and it wouldn't work in the next couple of days because their boss was very busy.

She wanted to say something more, but the plane was about to take off, so she could only say it when she arrived in Yandu.

Upon arriving in Yandu, she first visited Liu Shishi's place, intending to go to the Chunqiu Building the next day, and that's when they bumped into each other there.

Old Cai was furious. "You're really busy, aren't you? Busy dating a few young girls, huh?"

"Yandu is our home, and protecting it depends on everyone." Liu Jing chuckled awkwardly. He had stood the other party up, and although it wasn't intentional, he was caught red-handed, which was indeed a bit embarrassing.

"Senior brother, what would you like to drink?" The little lion pretended not to see him, opened the refrigerator, and took out a beer.

She thought for a moment and decided to drink some baijiu (Chinese liquor) first, which would get Lao Cai drunk faster.

There were a few dishes on the table, which the two of them had just bought at the door. Whether it was enough or not, it didn't really matter; they weren't expecting to be full anyway.

Yang Mi is very composed right now. Lao Cai is on the same level as her boss, and she has even acted in a movie about sugar figurines.

"Sister Cai, thank you for taking care of me back then. I'd like to toast you." After everyone sat down, Yang Mi started the toast.

"When you filmed 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio,' it had only been a few years, and you've already grown into a young woman." Old Cai sighed, looking Yang Mi up and down for a moment, then hesitated, "Mi Mi, I heard you're about to terminate your contract with Rong Xinda? What are your plans after that?"

"Plans?" Yang Mi had just taken a sip of wine, clutching the glass, her expression blank.

She was only focused on terminating the contract and hadn't thought about the future. When suddenly asked about it, she was truly stumped.

We definitely can't sign with Chunqiu; that's our elder brother's territory, but it's also Liu Yifei's territory. Liu Yifei is so petty; she definitely won't let us get away with this.

Besides, with Gao Yuanyuan among the older generation and Tang Yan among the younger generation, there was simply no place for her. Relying on her elder brother wouldn't work either; both of them, like her, had ambiguous relationships with him.

Xinbaoyuan is also out of the question. They have a very good relationship with Rongxinda, and if they go there, they'll just be asking for trouble.

Huayi is even worse; it's a quagmire. With a past like mine, no matter how innocent I am, I can't clear my name. What do you think, brother?
What about Hong Kong and Taiwan? Her former manager mentioned it to her, but...

"Honey, how about joining our Sugar Manor? Liu Jing told me he wants you to play Tang Xuejian. I was a little hesitant before, thinking you could play a descendant of Nuwa. You have a good figure, which fits the Nuwa descendant's character. But after seeing you just now, I realized Liu Jing has a good eye for casting; you really are perfect for Tang Xuejian. Spoiled and willful, loud and boisterous, you're quite like Tang Xuejian, like a little firecracker." Old Cai laughed, becoming more and more satisfied with you.

In particular, the relationship between Yang Mi and Liu Jing is very similar to that of Tang Xuejian and Jing Tian.

Yang Mi's face tightened. What do you mean by being loud and boisterous? What do you mean by being willful and capricious? Is this how you see me?
"If you're willing, I'll negotiate with Rong Xinda. What do you think?"

(End of this chapter)