Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 516 Scarlett Wants to Find a Girlfriend? Auction of "Assembly" Begins!
"My God!!"

"What happened? It's already in space?"

"No, I meant our movie."

"You haven't even seen the finished film yet, how can you think this movie is going to be amazing?"

"We just can't see eye to eye!"

"Xiaoran has already gone back."

"I know, but you have to let me watch that movie."

"Ok."

It must be said that Ma Xun originally had no intention of fooling Scarlett Johansson.

But after saying a few seemingly joking, mystical things, the girl became completely engrossed in them.

Then don't blame me, Ma Xun, right?
It's not fair to say they were completely fooling people, but it's more accurate to say they were fooling people to death.

Look, he's rolling his eyes.

I won't go into the details of how he rolled his eyes.

The key point is that Scarlett Johansson not only fell deeply in love with the series, but also really enjoyed it.

Actually, the United States also has military dramas, or rather, what they make here are called anti-war films.

The great director Stanley Kubrick made a film called "Full Metal Jacket", which clearly has an anti-war spirit.

However, much of the content is related to the military, specifically the American military.

He held a gun in one hand and a bullet in the other.

Saddam Hussein contracted blue egg disease.

Well, the instructors in their military camp turned these things into songs, and they're actually quite catchy.

They sang these songs while training.

This is truly astonishing.

Okay, some people might say that this is a movie, so there must be some exaggeration involved.

But in reality, the instructor who taught the new recruits to shout those slogans was a real instructor.

Kubrick brought him in originally to teach actors how to play a new recruit drill instructor, but after seeing the guy's talent...

Let him do it himself.

Anyway, he didn't have many scenes, and later this instructor was shot by that fat recruit.

The role of this instructor has become a classic in film history.

It must be said that this is indeed the best approach; professional matters should be left to professionals.

However, this can be clearly seen from the movie and the instructor's performance.

What exactly is it like to serve in the military in the United States?

Let's say that during training or other drills, if someone is verbally abused or said something even more offensive to provoke them, then after the training is over, everyone should have a heart-to-heart talk, right?

But it's a different story in the United States!

The general feeling here is that the instructor is a psychopath who just wants to torture others.

They scolded that person so badly, they really scolded him to death.

The fat guy's later behavior in "Full Metal Jacket" felt very normal.

He shot the instructor, and then he died too.

In other words, there was absolutely no sense of unity and love.

Some might say that this was intentionally filmed in the movie, since Kubrick was anti-war and might have looked down on American soldiers.

But the reality is... if you really understand these American soldiers, you'll probably realize that the movie was actually quite conservative.

At least, there's the most common thing in the US military: dealing with contraband and all sorts of sexual acts involving female soldiers.

Right? These people didn't even make movies about them, so this is already being very accommodating.

I reckon the military might have put pressure on the director. Besides, the US military also cares about its image; they often make some pretty exciting recruitment movies.

For example, Top Gun... In the United States, everyone knows that this movie is a recruitment ad.

So, Scarlett Johansson, who grew up in such a country, was completely captivated when she saw how Chinese soldiers were trained.

Although the training in our company is very tough, everyone can see that we have a very good relationship.

The feeling of being part of this group is amazing.

Scarlett Johansson is more and more likable the more you look at her.

Of course, she can barely understand Chinese now. Xiaoran used to explain it to her, but Xiaoran has already gone back to China.

The task of translation naturally fell to Ma Xun.

In this way, isn't it just that Scarlett Johansson receives Ma Xun's education almost every day?

After we've finished reading, let's discuss some other things.

But now, Cloverfield 2 has finished filming, and Ma Xun has to go back to China.

Scarlett Johansson felt a void in her heart.

"Are you going back to fight your enemies?"

Hey, I have to say, Scarlett Johansson used pretty good words in that statement.

"It's not exactly a battle, but it's quite complicated." Ma Xun didn't explain much, after all, Scarlett was, after all, an American.

He has already said far too much about China.

Scarlett frowned and said, "You're not going to tell me much, humph."

Angry?
Ma Xun smiled as he kneaded the dough, saying, "There's no way around it, the things I'm dealing with are just too complicated."

Yes, it's not as good as making steamed buns for her.

Scarlett Johansson was still a little unhappy. "Can't you just treat me as your girlfriend?"

Hey, there's something here.

In the United States, the relationship with a girlfriend is very strong, even stronger than we Chinese think.

To put it bluntly, getting married here is just too risky, so everyone's smart enough to play the girlfriend game instead.

Let alone ordinary people, many celebrities are always dating and never get married.

Take Johnny Depp, for example. He had children with his girlfriend and lived together, which was almost like marriage, but they never actually got married.

Well, this guy was a bit unlucky. He got married, but ended up marrying a woman who was a complete liar. That woman even pooped on his bed.

So, when a woman proposes that she wants to be boyfriend and girlfriend with a man, well...

"It's true that I'm Chinese, but I also know that it's not easy to find a girlfriend in the United States."

Ma Xun's words were a polite refusal, but they also pointed out directly: You American girl, don't think I don't know the situation here!

Scarlett curled her lip and said, "You're such a jerk. You've had your fun, and now you're going to dump me?"

Why did this happen?

Ma Xun laughed, "Are you in trouble now?"

These words were even more impactful, making Scarlett's eyes widen.

How did you guess that?

"It's very simple. If you're taking the initiative to bring up this and that with me, it's illogical if you're not after something."

Ma Xun stated that he is a seasoned player in the world of women.

Scarlett had no choice but to say, "I do need more money right now."

She didn't say what the specific reason was.

Ma Xun didn't ask any questions either. "Okay, let me introduce you to some roles. Taking them should ease your burden a lot."

"Really?"

"Trust me, but you must control your wallet and change your investment habits."

Ma Xun specifically emphasized investment here.

These words surprised Scarlett even more.

But I won't say more.

"Ma, you are the best man I have ever met."

"What? You want to have one for me?"

"That's not impossible."

"It looks like you owe a lot of money."

"Why do you always talk about this..."

Ma Xun laughed heartily, realizing he had guessed correctly.

...Ma Xun was, of course, guessing about Scarlett's situation, but his guess was not just a random one.

According to the original timeline, Scarlett Johansson should have met Deadpool at this point in time, and then married him in 08.

They divorced in less than a year.

They said it was because of personality clashes.

However, pay attention to this timing.

It's mid-2006 now. If you were in the United States at this time, and you turned on any TV channel, you would definitely find a real estate program.

Moreover, the content of the programs is almost identical.

Surge! Huge surge!

It will continue to surge in the future!

That's right, this is the current social atmosphere in the United States, basically a standard example of everyone speculating on real estate and stocks.

In terms of standards, anyone familiar with financial history knows them.

Warning signs of an impending collapse!

Moreover, it was a major collapse.

In fact, those so-called financial experts and real estate experts on television are spouting nonsense.

Why are they like this?

That's a scam!
What a big liar!

In fact, the US housing market is already in trouble, with numerous defaults and debt problems.

But that's precisely why we need to exaggerate even more.

Otherwise, how can we get someone else to take over?

Anyway, the real estate industry is basically a game of musical chairs.

With such a developed financial industry in the United States, they must understand the underlying principles.

As for Scarlett Johansson... Ma Xun estimates that this woman has most likely failed in her investments and ended up with a mountain of debt.

There are many people in Hollywood who are in debt because of real estate investments, the most famous of whom is Nicolas Cage.

You know, when Nicolas Cage appears in the news these days, it's all about how rich he is and how smart he is at investing.

But Ma Xun was well aware that in less than two years, this guy would be so in debt that he would question his existence and then embark on his path of making bad movies.

After all, Nicolas Cage is an Oscar-winning actor, and he paid back his debt more than a decade later.

Scarlett is probably one of the many people in debt, and she's only 21 years old with a bright future ahead of her, but she doesn't have much money, meaning she doesn't owe much either.

So, she married that little rascal; maybe it was a good match.

Deadpool is rich; he's a child star and a second-generation rich kid.

But it soon turned out that this guy was unreliable, so after Scarlett's crisis was resolved, they got divorced.

Or perhaps Deadpool realized that Scarlett was there to collect her debt.

Of course, all of the above are things that Ma Xun deduced.

There is no evidence.

As for whether it's right or wrong... it doesn't matter.

Scarlett has now set her sights on me, Ma Xun. The money she owes... will be under my control from now on.

Whether it's having a baby or paying off a debt, you should definitely make the most of it.

Scarlett Johansson's little schemes were no match for Ma Xun's.

In particular, she is only 21 years old this year.

Let's leave that aside for now.

After completing filming for Cloverfield 2, Ma Xun flew back to mainland China.

After all, there's a new change in the movie "Assembly".

Overseas Chinese Building.

Today, the conference room is filled with big names from the film and television industry.

Notably, several bosses from South Korean film and television companies also attended this time.

This is strange, although the Korean wave has indeed been quite strong in our country recently.

But isn't this movie "Assembly"?

Didn't I hear that this movie includes parts about the Korean War?
Are Koreans coming?

Should I type it again?
Never mind, anyway, the big shot didn't say anything.

That's right, the current meeting is about Feng Xiaogang's masterpiece, "Assembly"!

Auction of partial distribution rights!
This part refers to half of the domestic box office revenue of "Assembly".

In addition, it also includes all overseas box office revenue.

In the entertainment industry, overseas box office figures usually include those from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Of course, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are all part of our mainland, but there are various rules and obstacles to showing the film there, so that's how it is.

Actually, going to Taiwan is quite difficult, but going to Hong Kong is very easy. Hong Kong includes Macau, since Macau is too small, with only three cinemas, I think.

In this way, bigwigs from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan also came.

The arrival of Long Wu and Yang, the owner of Yinghuang, was not surprising.

Wang Yingxiang, the owner of Longxiang Company in Taiwan Province, also came.

That's really surprising; he's almost seventy years old.

However, some people have said that he came not only for this movie, but also for another movie, "The Knot," which was released almost simultaneously in mainland China and Taiwan this year.

This is critical.

So it's normal for him to come.

However, those familiar with Hong Kong films know that he has a story with the film "The Mad Monk".

Never mind all that, anyway, today is truly a gathering of big shots.

But just as Chen Guofu took the stage, preparing to act as the emcee and begin explaining the auction details...

Suddenly, the conference room door opened.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Ma Xun!

All eyes turned to him.

Long Wu and Boss Yang, among others, couldn't help but complain in their hearts... Did they want to put on a grand finale?

Well, maybe it's because Ma Xun is just too handsome.

He looked incredibly handsome in a sharp suit with a simple overcoat!
There weren't many women in the conference room, but they were all wealthy women or agents from the industry.

For example, Xu Feng, her eyes... I couldn't help but push up my glasses.

However, Ma Xun did not come alone.

He was accompanied by a beautiful woman.

Li Xiaoran.

then……

"Alright, the auction can begin."

After Ma Xun sat down, he said this.

what?
Is he directing Chen Guofu?

Great!

Those in the know understand that they seized the initiative directly.

Chen Guofu was furious, but there was nothing he could do.

I had no choice but to put on a smiling face.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Let me first give a brief introduction regarding the auction of the distribution rights for 'Assembly'..."

Once he finished speaking, the auction officially began!
"Half of the box office revenue from 'Assembly', plus overseas box office revenue and copyright package, are up for auction now! Starting bid: 500 million!"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone made a bid.

"Ten million!"

It's Wang Yingxiang. That old guy is quite ambitious.

"Eleven million."

It wasn't Ma Xun who made the bid, it was Li Xiaoran...

(End of this chapter)