Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 358 Planting a Big Trap for the Opponent! Meeting Annie in Hong Kong

"Mr. Chen's statement is strange. If it's a collaboration, then everyone has a chance. How can you say that someone is stealing from someone else?"

Ma Xun still hasn't clarified exactly what business he stole from Chen Guofu, but his response was quite impressive.

His tone wasn't angry or upset at all; on the contrary, it was quite calm, highlighting that he didn't care about Chen Guofu's business at all.

The subtext is, you're on a completely different level from me.

Chen Guofu was a smart man, and he could naturally understand the hidden meaning in Ma Xun's words.

At that moment, he lost his temper and said, "Mr. Ma, it's not very fair of you to say that."

Ma Xun replied with a smile, "How is it unethical? I'd like to hear the details."

Chen Guofu didn't stand on ceremony and immediately explained the whole story: "Mr. Ma must be familiar with Mr. Ge Luming of Columbia Company."

This person previously collaborated with us on a fantastic film, "Double Vision".

Our film "Double Vision" achieved excellent box office results after its release, and received very positive feedback from all sectors.

With such achievements, there's bound to be an opportunity for us to collaborate again.

But when I spoke with Mr. Ge Luming recently, he said there was a new project, and this project… Mr. Ma, you can't deny that Mr. Ge Luming is your collaborator, can you?”

That's what happened.

"Of course."

Ma Xun admitted to it without any hesitation.

Chen Guofu was momentarily stunned by Ma Xun's decisiveness.

This person is indeed very capable.

"Then isn't this just robbing us..."

Before he could finish speaking, Ma Xun interrupted him, saying, "Mr. Chen, how can this be called robbery? I have cooperated with Ge Luming many times before. According to your logic, I have many more opportunities than you."

Besides, there's no rule in this world that says a company has to partner with a specific person, right?

With a hint of sarcasm, Chen Guofu's expression changed several times.

"But this time it's a horror movie! Besides, I've already talked to Ge Luming about it! I've already shown him the script!"

Ma Xun shook his head, a shake clearly directed at Chen Guofu. "We're all businessmen. What's done is done. Does anyone say that just because we've talked, we'll definitely reach an agreement? As for the script..."

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you much about the script." Chen Guofu said with a serious expression.

Still wary of me, haha...

In fact, Ma Xun probably already knew what was going on at that moment.

It must have been Ge Luming who made some promises to Chen Guofu.

Maybe they learned their deceptive tactics from Ma Xun.

As a result, Chen Guofu took it seriously.

However, Ge Luming ultimately chose to collaborate with Ma Xun, especially after Ma Xun told her the synopsis of the story "The Shadow Room," which finally convinced Ge Luming to make up her mind.

In other words, it is very likely that at that time, Ge Luming had a choice: on one hand, the horror film that Chen Guofu and his team were preparing to shoot, and on the other hand, the film "The Haunted Room" that Ma Xun offered.

After weighing the options, Ge Luming ultimately chose Ma Xun.

But this choice... Ge Luming, you've really improved!
They didn't even tell me directly!
That's right, that's about it. As for the movie "Double Vision" that Chen Guofu mentioned...

Ma Xun also admitted that "Double Vision" is indeed an excellent horror film.

The director and screenwriter of "Double Vision" is Su Zhaobin, who was originally the screenwriter of "The Lucky One's Love".

This person, who is a screenwriter by training, is quite good at telling stories with plot twists.

There are many plot twists in "Double Vision," as those who have seen it know. Su Zhaobin's next film should be called "Silk."

This movie was quite interesting. Ma Xun remembers it clearly; when it was released, it generated a lot of hype but didn't deliver much.

They made a big show of it, but it disappeared not long afterward.

Years later, some film bloggers tried to rehabilitate the film, offering various forms of awkward praise.

But in reality, Silk is an absolutely terrible movie.

As for just how bad it is...

You might think this is a horror movie, but the first ten minutes will make you think it's a science fiction movie.

You think it's a sci-fi movie, but after watching for another ten minutes you realize it's actually a horror movie.

You might think it's a horror movie, but you'll soon realize it can be used for detective work and deduction.

Once you start the investigation, hey, here's a major plot twist involving family ties and school bullying!

But it's not over yet; there's a final conspiracy...

Silk is a typical bad movie that lacks a central theme, a main storyline, and too much content. The director tries to tell too many things, but in the end, he makes a mess of everything.

The hype surrounding "Silk" was immense back then, largely due to the success of its predecessor, "Double Vision," and the strong cast of "Silk," which included Barbie Hsu, Chang Chun-ning, Chang Chen, and Yosuke Eguchi from Japan.

But when the audience saw it... good heavens, what a terrible movie!

So, the raindrops became smaller.

"Double Vision" was very well made, and Ma Xun agrees with that, but "Silk" was terrible, so it deserves criticism.

When evaluating a film, we should never be influenced by its predecessors.

Furthermore, Su Zhaobin later directed "Reign of Assassins," which was hailed as a masterpiece by many.

However, if you really understand Su Zhaobin's characteristics, you will take this film in stride, because Su Zhaobin is good at writing this kind of story, in which everything in the movie ultimately comes down to the villain, Little JJ.

That's just the style of our Director Su.

Now, back to the present, it means that what Chen Guofu and the others showed Ge Luming was the script for the movie "Silk".

Ge Luming chose to cooperate with me, and there's nothing wrong with that!
If that's the case... Ma Xun had a fun plan in mind.

This guy in front of me is easy to fool!
"Mr. Chen, I feel something is not right."

"What's wrong?"

"I gleaned something from your description."

"What is it?"

"So, did Ge Luming mention this to you?"

"What did you mention?"

"He didn't cooperate with you because he wanted to cooperate with me?"

"This……"

"Hey! Judging from your expression, I understand now. Someone must be sabotaging this, right?"

"No."

"Mr. Chen, your denial lacks any real conviction. Let me guess, the one who could bring me down in this kind of matter is someone in the film industry... most likely the Wang brothers from Huayi Brothers, right?"

Chen Guofu's face turned ashen, clearly indicating that what was said was true.

Ma Xun's logic is sound; Ge Luming couldn't possibly tell Chen Guofu, "I'm going to cooperate with Ma Xun," because Ge Luming had no motive.

Even if Ma Xun and Chen Guofu really fight, Ge Luming won't be able to profit.

So it definitely wasn't Ge Luming who did it.

Then it must be the Wang brothers!

These two guys have a grudge against me, and then I think about how Chen Guofu and the Wang brothers were practically inseparable.

No more running!
It's the two of them!
But then I thought... Chen Guofu must have gotten together with the Wang brothers around this time.

They later produced many films, such as "A World Without Thieves" and "The Message".

Actually, it was thanks to Chen Guofu's efforts that "Assembly" was able to enter Taiwan Province... After the film was accepted, many people in Taiwan Province found it unbelievable.

Clearly, Chen Guofu is a man of considerable influence.

And now...

"Mr. Chen, have you ever thought about why those two brothers did this?"

"why?"

Alright, Chen Guofu's casual response confirms it; it must have been the Wang brothers' doing.

Ma Xun didn't point it out, and continued to analyze with a smile: "Currently, on our mainland side, the Wang brothers and I can be said to be mortal enemies. There is still a big battle between us next."

"And what if you, a well-known film and television producer from Taiwan, become my enemy?"

“This…” In fact, Chen Guofu already understood by this point.

Ma Xun went on to say, "Then you'll be working with those two brothers wholeheartedly!"

The conclusion is obvious!
Of course, this is still a rather rudimentary analysis.

But that was enough; judging from Chen Guofu's eyes, he clearly understood everything.

"Mr. Ma means..."

The way people address each other has changed.

Ma Xun knew he had fooled him enough and could now proceed with the kidnapping.

"Actually, all you want is a relationship with a Hollywood company, and of course you also hope to collaborate on movies in mainland China, right?"

Pointing out the key point! Chen Guofu nodded.

Ma Xun continued, "Then, this project after 'Double Vision' can serve as a tool to test whether the other party is sincere in their cooperation."

"This, this way of putting it is so strange." Chen Guofu was actually pretending.

Ma Xun smiled and said, "Actually, I can also help you contact American film companies. Since the opportunity with Columbia Pictures is gone, I can introduce you to Mr. Harvey Weinstein."

Good grief, this is a total rip-off!
Chen Guofu's expression changed slightly. "I am also aware of this person's reputation."

It means, don't lie to me.

Ma Xun, however, said in a serious tone, "Harvey has indeed done a lot of bad things, but he does have Quentin Tarantino as a famous director. What if Tarantino is interested in your film?"

That's amazing!

Chen Guofu's eyes lit up. "Mr. Ma, you really have... If you could introduce us to the great director Quentin Tarantino, Mr. Ma, we'd be happy to..."

Ma Xun interrupted him, saying, "Don't rush. Let's examine the Wang brothers first. After all, I'm more concerned about clearing my name."

That makes a lot of sense.

Chen Guofu nodded again, and then sincerely asked, "Mr. Ma, what is your plan? Can you tell me about it? This... please rest assured, Mr. Ma, I, Chen, will definitely reward you handsomely."

Ma Xun said very decisively: "You can cooperate with the Wang brothers, but you should set conditions, which is that they must invest in your movies after 'Double Vision'."

And for this movie, I can help you out by getting it brought in from a Hollywood company.

If this project is expanded, it will become more attractive to the Wang brothers.

If something goes wrong then...

There's no need to finish the sentence, because it's enough.

Up to this point, Ma Xun has left no trace; he hasn't uttered the name 'Ghost Silk'.

And this method came about.

Chen Guofu thought about it for a long time, and everything he thought made sense.

He nodded slightly.

"Thank you, Mr. Ma! Please rest assured, I will definitely repay you!"

After saying that, he left.

Looking at this person's back, Ma Xun found it hard to suppress the urge to smile.

In the original timeline, Chen Guofu's cooperation with the Wang brothers clearly showed that the Wang brothers were always in a superior position, and it could be said that Chen Guofu was completely controlled by the two brothers.

One thing to be very careful about is that the Wang brothers are bad, but not good.

These two have ripped off Columbia Company quite a bit; some of the contracts they signed are shocking.

Fortunately, those were things from the original timeline. Now it's Ma Xun's turn to screw over Columbia Pictures.

Putting that aside, I believe that after Chen Guofu goes back, he will definitely bring up the "Silk" project and ask the Wang brothers to invest in it.

As long as these two agree to invest, and Ma Xun 'helps' bring in Hollywood capital.

Hehehe... The Wang brothers essentially invested a huge sum of money in a super terrible movie!

Ma Xun has planted a huge time bomb for his rival.

Let's just wait for the future to explode.

That sight must have been spectacular.

That's how we got rid of Chen Guofu.

Ma Xun naturally didn't return to Enlight Media; he simply went back to his own courtyard.

He can finally get a good night's sleep today; he really needs to take a day off.

But, I turned on my computer and took a look... hmm?

Unexpectedly, a new message arrived.

"I've heard some news that Golden Harvest seems to be going downhill again..."

This news came from Jiang Zuping.

The little spy actually worked.

Yes, that's true. The situation in Hong Kong is much worse than on the mainland right now.

Even if Golden Harvest's cinemas could open, they would practically be breeding mosquitoes.

It seems that Golden Harvest's cinema chain won't be long before it's owned by the Ma family.

"Continue to lie low."

Ma found this email.

He's not in a hurry right now; you have to be patient with these things.

We can only reap greater benefits when Lin Jianyue can no longer hold on!
Ma Xun is definitely a shrewd businessman.

However, Ma Xun will have to go to Hong Kong soon.

Of course, his current focus is still on the contrast between "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils".

Everything's arranged. I'll take a nap first.

……

At the end of 2002, more people chose to spend the New Year at home.

In this way, China's internet has developed very rapidly.

Against this backdrop, the two TV series began their showdown.

"The casting for 'The Return of the Condor Heroes' is seriously flawed! Bai Zhi doesn't resemble Xiaolongnu at all!"

"Yang Guo made a terrible choice! Who is that guy? Never heard of him!"

"Hu what song? Who is he?!"

Sure enough, the intensity was quite high.

Zhang Dahuzi and the Wang brothers and their gang made the first move.

They attacked "The Return of the Condor Heroes" in every way.

Of course, we've also started doing various promotional activities for "The Return of the Condor Heroes," revealing the cast and many other details to the audience.

Clearly, there are still a lot of martial arts and Jin Yong fans today.

But next...

Is it a publicly funded trip or filming?

"Was it necessary to film across the entire country?"

"The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils is a complete waste of investors' money!"

"That guy Zhang Dahuzi is burning money! He didn't film properly at all!"

Counterattack begins!
Of course, these are all posts from netizens.

A mysterious netizen, by editing news articles and online messages, launched a barrage of attacks on Zhang Dahuzi's "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils".

The key point is that all of this 'evidence' is crystal clear!

There's something clearly wrong with this version of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils".

That would certainly make the onlookers very happy.

The internet in China was instantly abuzz with excitement.