Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 373 Xiao Ran and Ya Ya, two beauties and skilled dancers. Huang Bo playing a monk? Making a fortune at the film festival!
I invested three million in Ning Hao so that this guy wouldn't live like Kong Yiji.

Ma Xun also has two beauties by his side.

We also need to discuss the script for "Incense".

"Isn't the male lead a monk? How come he has worldly desires?"

"He's not a proper monk, and the reason I'm interested in this book is because Ning Hao has a good grasp of human nature."

"Brother Ma, how exactly did you dig it?"

"It's very simple. In short, it's all about money."

"money?"

Xiao Ran and Ya Ya asked this question in unison, and Ma Xun smiled.

"Of course it's for the money."

Reshaping the Buddha statue—do you think this monk is devoted to Buddhism?
It's because without the Buddha statue, there's no incense offering, and therefore no source of income for him.

His back-and-forth trips to the county town to rebuild the Buddha statue were all for money.

However, this process of pursuing money is also a process of growth for the young monk, who initially didn't understand many things at all.

It's like giving gifts to your boss.

This is growth, but it's also a process of a monk's gradual decline.

To Ya Ya and Xiao Ran, Ma Xun's words were even more exciting than the battle they had just fought.

Although they always knew that Ma Xun, despite being the boss, was also very knowledgeable about movies.

But I never expected that he would understand it to this extent.

Ya Ya couldn't help but ask, "Is this monk bad?"

Ma Xun laughed, "It's hard to say if it's bad."

"But wasn't he after all set his sights on the village chief's sister from the very beginning?"

It's perfectly normal for her to ask this question, since the role has been confirmed to be played by Ya Ya.

Ma Xun laughed and said, "At most, it's just that he's not pure in the six senses."

Is this really a small matter?

Xiao Ran chuckled, "Then what about me? Am I the female demon that this monk encountered during the process of reshaping the Buddha statue?"

What she said was so funny that Ya Ya laughed along with her.

Ma Xun shook his head and said, "I can't call her a female demon, because, according to my current understanding, you should also be helping this monk grow."

Upon hearing this, Xiaoran couldn't help but think of more things, "Could it be that I'm with this monk..."

The fact that they stopped talking at the end makes the meaning all too clear.

Ma Xun couldn't help but lightly slap Da Zha, "What are you thinking! There's no such drama."

What does 'this kind of play' mean?
Ya Ya couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle softly.

Xiaoran was in a dilemma. "Then, how can we help him grow?"

Ma Xun laughed and said, "Isn't it simple? Words are enough. After all, this monk has never seen a real prostitute. You just need to say a few words, and then... during filming, you can even improvise."

Xiaoran blushed even more upon hearing this, "I have absolutely no idea how to cook chicken..."

Ambiguity, it's absolutely easy for ambiguity to arise!

Ya Ya couldn't stop laughing.

Ma Xun could only say, "You should think about your role from the perspective of a monk."

Simply put, this monk wasn't entirely bad; after all, he was a monk. Moreover, you can see from his process of making money that he was initially very inexperienced and shy.

But after he got the money, his behavior changed...

The reason I like this story is because the character is very well-developed.

People aren't all good or all bad.

Ma Xun truly understands this novel, "Incense."

If Ning Hao could hear his analysis, he would definitely consider him a lifelong friend.

However, if Ya Ya and Xiao Ran heard this, it would be a different story.

"Black Panther?"

"Lu Zhenhua?"

Goodness, they immediately thought of the TV series "Romance in the Rain".

The conversation between Yiping and her father was quite interesting.

Some analysts have suggested that the character Lu Zhenhua is based on the warlord Yang Sen.

The original time period of this drama was not the Republican era of the "Big-Eyed Thief" version.

Let's not even talk about the play.

Ma Xun could only smile after hearing this, but he had already said what needed to be said.

Ma Xun has pretty much covered the roles of Ya Ya and Xiao Ran.

In fact, in the original timeline of the movie "Incense," neither the village chief's sister nor the prostitutes had much content.

Even the scene with the village chief's sister was filmed in a rather lewd way.

Ning Hao probably couldn't find an actress who could play the pretty village girl, so he mainly had the monk stare at photos of the girl when she was a child.

It's one of those photos where the person is completely naked.

Well, to be honest, Ning Hao is quite a jerk.

As for the prostitute, she was obviously not real; Ning Hao had hired a few gossipy women from the streets to play the role.

Anyway, the main focus is on someone who has absolutely no looks.

What I'm saying is, even if you're just fooling around, you should at least make the prostitutes in the county wear stockings or something, right?

Otherwise, it would be too unprofessional.

Well... cough cough, Ma Xun doesn't understand these things.

So, their roles are pretty much settled, who's left?

Who will play the monk?

"For some reason, he seems a lot like Huang Bo."

Xiaoran recommended Huang Bo. Is that appropriate?

Ma Xun didn't say anything; he was just tired and wanted to sleep.

……

Three million? That's incredible!

"What did Mr. Ma say?"

"That's right! I've heard of Mr. Ma before. He's an incredibly powerful figure! Three million is nothing to him!"

"Our Haozi is so lucky! I also know that Mr. Ma is really knowledgeable about movies!"

"Indeed, he's even won awards!"

"Hey, why are you all saying all this? What's the point? The three million is the real deal!"

"Ha ha……"

Ning Hao was trembling with excitement after receiving Ma Xun's three million investment.

The classmates who worked with him were overjoyed.

Actually, Ning Hao originally planned to make this movie with his classmates, but in reality, he had only managed to raise 4 yuan beforehand.

Of his classmates, probably very few will be left with that money.

With such a small amount of money, even for a short film with the lowest requirements, it's necessary to ensure that almost all the cast and crew receive little or no pay.

Ning Hao's plan was to wait until most of his classmates had left, and the pre-production work for the movie would be almost done. In the end, only a few of his buddies would be left.

Let's not ask for money.

Goodness, this guy's pretty cunning.

But now things are great, Mr. Ma's three million has solved the problem perfectly!

Actually, when he went to discuss things before, Ning Hao had a premonition that he might get investment.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have even borrowed a suit.

Take a look!

How accurate was your premonition!

Now, let's begin preparing for the other important tasks.

The original plan was for the actors to simply go back to their hometowns to find the actors.

Ning Hao is from Shanxi, so he knows that salaries there are not high.

4 yuan should be enough.

Now that we have three million, we can finally find some professional actors.

Of course, Tong Liya will definitely be the lead actress; Ning Hao isn't stupid, he understands.

As for that prostitute, I suspect she also has someone.

So, let's find the male lead and other important characters.

I have three million in hand... well, I'll have to ask my classmate for help.

Well, Ning Hao is really good at taking advantage of his classmates.

It seems this guy is aware of the joke about college students being cheaper than migrant workers.

So...

"Forget about pen names, just help me think of someone to cast as our male lead."

Ning Hao's words were quite artful; he said "who can we ask?" which clearly implied that everyone should ask their classmates.

Because everyone here is a classmate.

Sure enough, everyone started thinking about it.

Some people are quite decisive.

"Since it's Mr. Ma who's investing, doesn't this mean we have an excellent option?"

"Yes! Huang Bo from the dubbing class!"

"Makes sense!"

Hey, you know what, that really hit Ning Hao right in the heart.

That's what he thought too, but he wasn't familiar with Ning Hao. So, now...

"Shall we go together?"

"Why don't you ask a classmate you know well first?"

"Yes, yes, let's do it that way."

Alright, these guys are starting to move.

Previously, they couldn't afford to hire Huang Bo, but now... Huang Bo is clearly one of Mr. Ma's men.

So, you might not have to pay him to hire him.

And just like that, Ning Hao and his group found Huang Bo very quickly.

Although Huang Bo can now be considered a big star, he is indeed famous.

But recently, there has been less work.

After all, it's a pandemic.

I've been taking extra classes at school lately.

The dubbing class is actually a vocational college program, lasting only two years.

He's about to graduate.

Then use this time to recharge yourself.

My girlfriend, Xiao'ou, has already graduated and is now a senior student.

What a mess.

Unexpectedly, a lot of classmates came that day.

"Incense?"

"Mr. Ma? Which Mr. Ma?"

"No, which other Jack Ma is there in our entertainment industry?"

"Is it really him? Why didn't he mention it to me?"

"Mr. Ma is very busy, he has a lot of things to do every day. This project was just finalized. Besides, he put me in full charge."

It must be said that Ning Hao is quite good at bluffing.

Despite the hype, Huang Bo genuinely liked the script after reading it.

How about we put on a performance?
"This monk..."

"Actually, he's not a bad person."

Ning Hao's words resonated with Huang Bo for some reason.

However, Mr. Ma did not notify him.

"I'll discuss it with Mr. Ma."

Hearing this, Ning Hao perked up.

So, they waited for Huang Bo to call.

Unexpectedly...

"The line is busy."

For a moment, the two looked at each other.

One can't help but think that Mr. Ma is a very busy person.

But this character...

I'll try my best to act!

Ning Hao was delighted by Huang Bo's words.

But what exactly is Ma Xun busy with?

He received another call from an important person, Han Sanping.

No need to say anything, there's something we need to discuss.

……

Beijing Film Studio.

"This year has been affected."

"Boss, what's been affected?"

"The College Student Film Festival."

"Oh, yes."

Do you have any ideas?

"Boss, what you're saying... I believe you already have a solution."

"If I had a solution, why would I need to ask you?"

"There must be some solutions, right?"

"Of course, it'll be postponed, but..."

"I understand, how long will the extension be, right?"

"clever."

Han Sanping clearly hoped that Ma Xun would give him some advice.

Ma Xun knew about this college student film festival; this year, due to the influence of SA-RS, it was held in October.

But clearly, this pandemic did not last that long.

This time it probably ended around July, I think, I don't remember very clearly, but it ended around August.

So let's look at it this way...

"The delay is definitely going to happen, so it would be better to wait until around July. I heard that the virus seems to be sensitive to heat."

His statement put Han Sanping under immense pressure.

"Who told you that? You'll be held responsible for that."

Ma Xun understood, of course, and so...

"Actually, we could have moved it up earlier, but we might as well just hold a film festival without an audience."

This is unbelievable... No audience?

What about the screening portion?
Ma Xun then added, "It was during the awards ceremony, there was no audience, but there were celebrities."

I could even organize an online awards ceremony, entirely online.

We at Douban.com are fully ready to cooperate.

As for film screenings, some universities in Beijing are currently closed, so students' extracurricular cultural life must be very dull. Why don't we just start a program and bring movies to universities?

What do you think, sir?

good idea!
Han Sanping couldn't help but nod repeatedly.

This could even be considered a political achievement, as many students are indeed feeling incredibly frustrated.

In particular, this online awards ceremony is something we've never done before.

He asked Ma Xun for some more details.

Ma Xun was a worldly man; he participated in many online activities afterward.

Therefore, he answered fluently.

"We'll do it your way! But if we can hold an offline awards ceremony, then let's do it offline."

In this way, Ma Xun also directly...

"OK, but this time..."

"Oh, don't worry, how could I possibly mistreat you?"

Alright, the deal is done.

The specific steps are...

"If there's no audience, why don't we put up lots of cardboard signs in the audience area? If it's going to be done online, that would be much simpler."

"cardboard?"

"Major brands, of course."

"Huh? An ad?"

"Let's make up for some of the losses."

Good heavens, Ma Xun actually didn't even let go of this opportunity to make money.

Han Sanping laughed, but there was nothing he could do.

If this keeps getting delayed, who knows when this year's College Student Film Festival will even take place?

Maybe it won't be here this year.

It should be noted that the College Student Film Festival was actually a political achievement of Han Sanping. Although he did not personally organize it, he definitely promoted it when he was in office.

If this film festival is canceled, Han Sanping's political achievements will be greatly damaged.

Ma Xun actually provided two solutions, both of which were quite novel.

Most people wouldn't necessarily think of that.

Han Sanping had no choice but to take the risk and give it a try.

In this way, Han Sanping had essentially boarded Ma Xun's chariot.

Their interests became more closely intertwined with Ma Xun's.

After finishing discussing that matter, Han Sanping didn't let Ma Xun leave. He started talking about something else.

"I heard you're going to make a horror movie?"

"Huh? What horror movie?"

"Isn't it a movie called 'The Terror Live'?"

"Ah, this... Haha... Who said it was a horror movie?"

"Well... I can't tell you who said that, but if it wasn't you... never mind, let me remind you, it's not that we can't make or broadcast horror movies in China, but the censorship of horror movies is much stricter."

"Boss, I understand."

Who the hell is gossiping about me?
Wait a minute, it's probably the Wang brothers again.

(End of this chapter)