Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 301: Xu Qing Resolves Doubts, Chen Hao Develops Feelings

“Mr. Ma, you know that if you want something, you have to give something in return. That’s just how realistic the world is.”

“These are the principles I’ve shared with others. I also know what you sisters are thinking. My conditions are very simple. This Golden Eagle Goddess title is actually not that meaningful.”

"Oh, Mr. Ma, are you planning to offer the Golden Eagle Award?"

"The Golden Eagle Award is nothing. I can give your sister a chance."

"Opportunity? What opportunity?"

"Go to Hollywood."

"Well... Mr. Ma, you're keeping your word."

"If you have all your doubts, then let's leave it at that."

"No, it's not that I doubt you, it's just that the opportunity to go to Hollywood to make movies is really..."

Ma Xun could see just how tempting this opportunity to break into Hollywood was for the Ice and Snow Sisters.

Li Xue's expression immediately changed, and he even seemed somewhat incredulous.

But for Ma Xun, this was a piece of cake.

Under these circumstances, he had no choice but to provide more details.

"The previous '50 First Dates' sold quite well, and this movie also did well at the Hong Kong box office. Columbia Pictures is already talking to me about the script rights. You should have heard of 'The Others,' which is currently showing in the United States."

Upon hearing this, Li Xue's mind seemed to explode.

The Others was released recently during the Halloween season, which is the typical release window for American horror films.

Basically, any highly anticipated Hollywood horror film will be released during this period, along with various marketing tactics.

For example, a fierce-looking woman might dress up as a dark witch and recommend horror movies to everyone.

She's even acted in movies herself. Fans of B-movies and horror films should have seen her two snow-white... cough cough, this woman is Cassandra Peterson, and she's a true lover of horror films.

Returning to the topic of "The Others," it received excellent reviews after its release.

Although the ending was a major reversal, somewhat like "The Sixth Sense," it was still quite different.

Moreover, Naomi Watts' performance was widely praised.

Her face is really striking; it's hard for most people to guess her real age, which makes her even more suitable for the role of the mother in this movie.

For Li Xue, the person she was more concerned about was Li Jiaxin.

This Hong Kong star gave a very good performance, especially when she wore that European-style housekeeper's outfit, which gave her a unique kind of sexiness.

In fact, it was precisely because the movie was so well-made that Li Jiaxin acted that way towards Ma Xun.

Now, this film...

“Mr. Ma, I didn’t know this movie was related to you…”

This can't be blamed on Li Xue, after all, we're not in the same circle, and many people in China right now are unaware of what's going on in the US.

Ma Xun interrupted her abruptly, saying, "The Others is the same as The Haunted House, which is an adaptation of my work. They are also very interested in 50 First Dates. I guess Columbia Pictures will make more money from this film because it has a smaller budget."

So, if your sister wants to…

The rest is self-explanatory.

“Mr. Ma, my sister and I have deeply felt your sincerity, and please believe in our sincerity.”

Li Xue was clearly very satisfied with the 'conditions' offered by Ma Xun.

But at this point, Ma Xun also needed to obtain some 'thing'.

"And what about your sincerity, sisters?"

We have to point that out to her.

Li Xue had gotten a little carried away just now; there was no way around it, the temptation of venturing into Hollywood was too great. Now that he had calmed down, he did some simple thinking.

"Didn't we already talk about my master's situation before?"

Yes, I did give them the conditions before.

Ma Xun laughed and said, "A woman like your master, who can't even get along with the Wang brothers, what difference would she make with me?"

That... does make sense.

To put it bluntly, Wang Jinghua is capable of handling things independently.

Although Huayi Brothers profited more from cooperating with the Wang brothers, Wang Jinghua's side also benefited.

Ma Xun also knew that Wang Jinghua would leave Huayi with her people back in 05.

In other words, without him doing anything, Huayi was already severely weakened. Since Wang Jinghua was determined to leave, how could Ma Xun possibly agree to the Ice and Snow Sisters' offer on that condition?

At this moment, Li Xue was of course unaware that her master would leave the Wang brothers in a few years, but now she was certain that her master and Ma Xun might not cooperate very well.

"Then... Mr. Ma, what do you intend for me to do?"

I might as well give you the power to set the conditions.

Li Xue's posture was very soft, which was actually quite normal, since she had already offered herself as a bedmate before.

Even if I wanted to get hard, I couldn't.

Ma Xun's expression became much more serious as he said, "From now on, you must report to me any actions taken by those two brothers or your master."

Go undercover?
Li Xue was truly surprised that Ma Xun would offer such a condition.

However, upon closer reflection, Li Xue's position at Huayi is indeed very suitable for her to be an undercover agent!
She can be considered a mouthpiece for Wang Jinghua and the Wang brothers.

She actually has a point on both sides.

Especially her sister.

Li Bingbing wasn't someone Wang Jinghua brought up early on. Legally speaking, Li Bingbing was a legitimately signed agent with Huayi Brothers.

The agent is indeed Wang Jinghua, but they don't actually have a very direct subordinate relationship.

Thinking of this, Li Xue was shocked... Ma Xun is too amazing!
He's figured all of this out?
No wonder he always wins.

And I'll be his undercover agent... Fine!
"Mr. Ma, I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation."

"very good."

This was considered an agreement, and Ma Xun was naturally happy to have gained a high-level undercover agent.

Moreover, compared to Wang Jinghua and the stars under her management, Li Xue is actually more valuable.

Because after Wang Jinghua left Huayi, she started her own business.

That means they might not necessarily cooperate with you, Ma Xun.

In that case, why not find someone with whom there is a greater possibility of cooperation?

Li Xue is going to be a very powerful figure at Huayi in the future. After Wang Jinghua leaves, she will be in charge of those celebrities.

Ma Xun and the Wang brothers will probably be fighting for a long time.

There's no way around it, those two are pretty smart, and they're not easy to deal with.

Therefore, Li Xue is clearly more valuable.

Next, Ma Xun and Li Xue discussed some details, such as contact methods, and...

"Where's the pledge of allegiance?"

This……

Li Xue blushed and said, "Mr. Ma wouldn't ask me to kill someone, would he?"

The Warlords' Pledge = Heads.

But we live in a civilized society.

Ma Xun laughed and said, "I don't seem like I'm guilty of instigation."

It was a joke, but the subtext was: you figure it out yourself.

Li Xue smiled too, as for the pledge of loyalty she could think of...

In any case, their cooperation agreement has been finalized.

……

There's one more undercover agent.

Introducing Li Bingbing to Hollywood was just a convenient thing to do.

She certainly couldn't play the lead role in "50 First Dates," but with Ma Xun's influence, playing a supporting role would be a piece of cake.

Of course, Ma Xun is not a con artist.

Although he fooled many people.

The key is that we now have an undercover agent like Li Xue.

Ma Xun has gained a useful eye at Huayi, which is a huge win for him.

In addition, it could also prompt Wang Jinghua to leave Huayi earlier.

That was absolutely a heavy blow!
When this scandal broke, the Wang brothers were interviewed and they were genuinely frightened; you could clearly tell that something was wrong with their expressions.

You used to be so full of vigor, right?

Unfortunately, these two were lucky. Later, Feng Xiaogang's "Assembly" made them a fortune. The film ranked second in the box office among domestic films at the time.

They were saved in a way.

Let's not talk about these things anymore.

With Li Xue by his side, Ma Xun's trip to Changsha was almost perfect.

His return to Beijing was actually for one very important reason.

"Nightclub" is now showing!
The initial publicity and distribution, securing screenings, and copying are all part of the work, etc.

I'm going to be very busy for a while.

There are only a few days left until the Lunar New Year film season.

We absolutely have to do this properly.

Fortunately, the publicity was a great success because of Yuanyuan's Golden Eagle Goddess award.

This also served as excellent publicity for the film.

After all, Gao Yuanyuan is the female lead!

But soon, everyone discovered that Huang Bo was there too, which was...

"How come he's so lucky, being so ugly, to be able to work with so many beautiful women?"

"Exactly, it's so enviable."

"It's definitely intentional!" "I think there might be a conspiracy. Maybe the government wants us to start dating quickly? Or maybe they're pressuring us to get married?"

"Why do you think so?"

"Think about it, even an ugly guy like Huang Bo can win over such a beautiful girl. Doesn't that give us single guys a lot of confidence?"

Wow, this interpretation... well, it does have some merit.

Never mind that, let's just talk about how effective the promotion of "Nightclub" is.

In any case, they have been quite successful in this regard.

They even stole a lot of space from "Big Shot's Funeral".

It's worth noting that, in terms of cast, "Big Shot's Funeral" is clearly stronger.

So, the next thing to do is to schedule the screenings.

This time, it seems that all of them are pilot projects for the reform of the cinema chain system.

To put it bluntly, the previous advantages are gone.

However, Ma Xun was still very confident.

In that case, it comes down to whose film has a higher production quality.

And another thing... of course, is to do some things with the cinemas.

The Wang brothers are very good at signing guaranteed release contracts with theaters.

Ma Xun is definitely not to be outdone!
Moreover, he also plans to offer some discounts.

Currently, the labor cost for a film print is 600, but it starts at 1 when sold to a movie theater.

I don't want this ten thousand!
That's right, let's have a big sale!

Honestly, don't underestimate this discount; it's quite substantial.

These days, a single copy can sell for hundreds of thousands, especially a premiere copy.

Therefore, Ma Xun is truly full of sincerity.

With these plans out there, his film scheduling shouldn't be at a disadvantage.

The rest depends on the word-of-mouth after the film's release.

When that time comes... the Wang brothers will definitely do what Zhang Hanyu said in "Big Shot's Funeral".

We need a hitman!
What should we do?
Just as Ma Xun returned to the capital and was pondering this matter, someone came knocking on his door.

"Great, let's give the Golden Eagle Award to that little slut."

"You've already taken them all, so why be jealous?"

"I'm not jealous at all."

"No jealousy? I don't believe it. Why don't you open your heart and let me see?"

Open your heart?

The person who came was Xu Qing. The sound of her voice stung her eyes, her cheeks flushed red, and she cried out, "You bastard!" but she also unbuttoned her clothes.

White, damn white!

Ma Xun laughed and said, "Okay, I'm definitely not jealous."

Xu Qing was extremely shy, but she didn't rush to give it to Ma Xun.

Today, she mainly came to talk about something else.

"By the way, it seems you've offended Chen Hao, haven't you?"

"Oh? She cried to you about it?"

"What are you thinking? How could she do that?"

"No, then how did you know?"

Ma Xun is quite strange.

Xu Qing smiled and explained, "You don't know anything. This girl has lost a lot of weight since she came back from Changsha. Let me tell you, she's actually been having a tough time lately."

"Relatively difficult? What's the situation?"

"Her father is seriously ill and is in the hospital."

Upon hearing this, Ma Xun immediately understood.

No wonder Chen Hao's recent behavior has been rather unusual.

She has something to say, but she can't bring herself to say it.

In this day and age, it's no joke that many families in China fall back into poverty due to illness.

Moreover, let alone ordinary people, even middle-class families can't afford it.

The so-called serious illness is most likely something like cancer, which costs money like water.

Ma Xun suddenly understood everything, and he felt a little uneasy.

Alright, I'll help if I can!
"Give her some money."

"Give money? Under what pretext? How can I give it? You're the boss, you should handle it."

Ma Xun never expected that Xu Qing would outmaneuver him.

He immediately pulled the fair-skinned, plump woman into his arms without any temper.

"Anyway, it's you. Who told you to bring this up? You figure out a solution. I'll give you 500,000 first."

Ma Xun's actions have a lot of domineering CEO vibes.

Xu Qing felt something in her heart.

Her heart opened up once more...

It's so damn white!

……

Chen Hao has been under a lot of pressure these days.

I had to go to training, and I even went to Changsha, but I didn't get anything out of it.

At least, she felt she had failed.

Her original plan was to explain her family situation to Ma Xun, hoping that he could help her get through the difficult time.

Even if it meant selling myself to him, that would be fine.

But when I'm in front of people, I just can't bring myself to say those words.

She had no choice but to talk about those things.

What award? What big star? What…

Oh dear, I'm so stupid!

Chen Hao felt extremely guilty, but life had to go on.

That day, she came to the hospital again.

Unexpectedly, he ran into his mother and Sister Xu Qing.

"You kid, don't come here anymore. Just focus on filming. Don't worry about your dad's affairs."

The mother was very happy, but Chen Hao didn't understand why.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

At this moment, Xu Qing chimed in, "I'll pay for your father's medical expenses."

ah? this……

"Sister, how can I ever repay you for what you've done?"

Chen Hao was so moved that he looked like he was about to cry.

The mother, however, wisely left first to go back and take care of her husband.

Xu Qing then said, "How could I possibly pay for your medical expenses? Don't repay the wrong person, silly girl."

This... Chen Hao was stunned for a moment.

Could it be, could it be him?
Ma Xun, what he said before was so realistic, so unbearable, so...

But now he… wait a minute, what he said before wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

Forgetting one's roots—Chen Hao is now particularly prone to forgetting his roots.

They're all making excuses for the other party's horse.

But how can I repay this kindness?
Chen Hao couldn't help but blush.

Xu Qing could only suppress her laughter upon seeing this.

Actually, Ma Xun had mentioned it to her before, not to mention the money he gave her.

After all, the two of them had some 'talk' about before.

But now... Xu Qing hasn't implicated Ma Xun, right?

……

After returning to Beijing, the Wang brothers went to see Han Sanping.

Unfortunately, Han Sanping didn't want to say much about the scheduling issue.

The two of them had met with a rebuff.

But there was no other way. With "Big Shot's Funeral" about to be released, they had to go all out with the publicity campaign.

In addition, we need to hold a proper premiere!
These days, blockbuster movies have to have a grand premiere, otherwise you'd be embarrassed to call yourself a blockbuster!

So what to do?

"The Overseas Chinese Hotel is ready."

"It seems okay."

The Overseas Chinese Hotel is a suitable place to hold the premiere of films involving overseas audiences.

Director Li's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is an example.

Don't underestimate this restaurant; it's quite prestigious.

Just then, someone came in and handed over a newspaper.

The two brothers were completely dumbfounded when they saw it!
what?
Ma Xun, that guy, he actually...

The newspaper headline read: "Nightclub" will have its premiere at this year's Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival!
(End of this chapter)