Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 614 I'm not interested in bad movies, but I'm open to collaborating with theaters! Zhang Yuqi's 24-Hour Boyfriend?

The Warring States Period?
Ma Xun certainly remembered this 'blockbuster', he even went to see it, but it was a pity he spent over twenty yuan.

I don't know what I was thinking at the time, but I figured it couldn't be that bad, so I just went to take a look.

Good guy, really good guy.

Ma Xun had expected this movie to be terrible, after all, many reviews were scathing, and there was that very classic GIF, Hong Lei's "Too brutal!"
To be honest, judging from the way he said that line, it was obvious that he was about to lose control.

I never expected this movie to be so bad!

"The Warring States" is truly a terrible movie that has crossed the line of what a bad movie can be.

Even though some of the bad movies from the past were terrible in many ways, there were still some aspects worth mentioning.

What I'm saying is that even in a terrible movie like "The Promise," some scenes were still filmed to a very high standard.

For example, that guy Chen Kaige who filmed in the flower fields of Yunnan... he ruined those flower fields, and he should definitely be remembered as a disgrace.

And "The Banquet" was so difficult to watch; the people in it didn't speak properly.

However, the stage design of "The Banquet" is of a very high standard and is very beautiful. The entire team is the same stage design team used in the Olympics.

It's terrible, but the set design is decent, which is a plus.

Then there's "Curse of the Golden Flower".

This movie... at least there are big steamed buns to watch.

Although many people criticize this point, who knows, after they've finished criticizing, they might find a quiet place late at night to admire all the big-breasted girls in the city.

In short, these three films are among the worst movies that have been heavily criticized.

Even so, it has some advantages, and its box office performance was actually quite good.

But this "Warring States"...

It's impossible to find even the slightest bit of merit in Ma Xun.

Moreover, he was well aware that the film had cost a lot of money.

How exactly should this money be spent?
Or is it something like washing...?

These are hard to say.

Now, Mr. Lu is showing off his treasure as if it were a precious artifact. What can Ma Xun say?
"The Warring States Period—just hearing those two words evokes a sense of grandeur! Add to that the powerful Wanda Group and Mr. Lu's investment in this film, and it's clear this will be a blockbuster!"

Ma Xun's main focus is on extreme commercial hype.

Upon hearing this, Mr. Lu was quite pleased. He said, "Mr. Ma, you flatter me. Actually, I also thought that Tang Dynasty epic film that you directed was excellent."

That revised version of "Warriors of Heaven and Earth"?
"I didn't expect Mr. Lu to have seen it too."

"Of course, Mr. Ma's films are all excellent, and this one, 'Warriors of Heaven and Earth,' is a classic."

"Ha...you flatter me."

"That's not an overstatement."

Alright, let's move on to the mutual flattery phase.

However, this mutual flattery is usually just a facade; the real key is...

"Mr. Ma, why don't you guys at Enlight Media also join this 'Warring States' project? What do you say?"

“This…” Ma Xun immediately hesitated. “Mr. Lu, I have no problem with publicity and actor resources, but direct investment might be a bit troublesome.”

Clearly, Ma Xun shouldn't fall into this trap.

But since they've taken the initiative to contact him, Ma Xun really can't just refuse them outright.

You have to find a good reason, and it would be best to shift the blame elsewhere.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Lu burst into laughter upon hearing this, saying, "Oh dear, I was just joking with you. Actually, this blockbuster is a direct collaboration between us and Wanda. Although it's our first attempt at film production, we're aiming for a big production, and ideally, we'd handle it ourselves..."

"Of course, Mr. Ma's support in terms of publicity and actors is wonderful."

This... it turns out this guy never intended to play with anyone else in the first place. Ma Xun thought to himself, "You should have said so earlier! You scared me half to death."

However, Ma Xun said 'resources,' but Mr. Lu actually heard it as 'support'?
No, he definitely did it on purpose.

Ma Xun didn't speak with a Northeastern accent. In fact, even if he did speak with a Northeastern accent, he could say those two words without any problem; they sound the same as in standard Mandarin.

Yes, there are some words in Northeastern accents that don't distinguish between retroflex and alveolar consonants, but these two words are definitely exceptions.

This was definitely intentional.

Ma Xun immediately understood that Mr. Lu must think their book, "The Warring States," would be a huge hit, so he didn't want anyone else to get a piece of the pie.

Yes, think about the situation in the original timeline, isn't that exactly how it is?

In the original timeline, if Wanda Group hadn't believed this movie would be a huge success, they wouldn't have invested so much.

Actually, there's another issue involved: the increase in actors' salaries.

It's true that the movie "The Warring States" was a terrible film, but it still led to a massive pay rise for actors in the mainland entertainment industry.

We'll talk about that later; let's deal with the immediate situation first.

"Okay, I will definitely provide support."

“That’s great!”

The two finally finished discussing everything they needed to discuss, and aside from the film, the main topic was their collaboration on theatrical distribution.

Ma Xun proposed a very special way of collaborating.

"Mr. Lu, as you know, I still own some shares in Golden Harvest Cinemas, which has a very good reputation in Hong Kong and has a lot of experience in operating cinema chains."

How about this? My Jiahe will also open a store in Wanda Plaza. What do you think?

I can elaborate a bit more: in terms of daily management, we still need support from Wanda. As for other aspects, we have people to handle them.”

This model is very innovative.

There's a feeling that we are intertwined, each other in the other.

Mr. Lu quickly noticed the 'characteristics' of this pattern: "A clone?"

Hey, this guy's got something.

Ma Xun laughed and said, "It's not exactly a case of using a fake brand. Anyway, it's a normal business in this mall, and I will naturally contribute to the investment in Wanda Cinemas. It's just that if Golden Harvest joins in, it can offset some of the cost."

He made it sound so easy, but Mr. Lu knew it was definitely not that easy or simple.

However, this matter is not a major problem, because it does not fundamentally change the cooperation that everyone had previously discussed.

"That's good, it's always good to have more brands in this mall."

"Haha... about the details..."

"Let's talk slowly."

"it is good."

The two finally settled the deal.

In terms of details, this is relatively simple.

In fact, Ma Xun's actions had one very special advantage: they maintained his independence within the Wanda Group.

It's important to understand that once a merchant enters a shopping mall, they often have to listen to the mall's decisions.

One of them is 'money'.

In this day and age, the money your brand makes in a shopping mall is actually paid to the mall by consumers first.

In other words, consumers pay first into the mall's account, and then the brand reconciles accounts with the mall at a certain time to receive the money.

This is a crucial point, as it is completely different from the era when online payments were highly developed more than a decade later.

Later, it mostly went online, and the money went directly into the brand's system.

And now... that's why people say that those who run shopping malls these days are really awesome; they genuinely have a strong cash flow.

You see, this money, although it doesn't actually belong to the shopping mall but to the brand, the problem is that it just needs to stay in the shopping mall's account for a while.

Even if it's just for a month or a week, you'll still have to pay a lot of interest, right?
Moreover, there are actually many other ways to play.

For example, banks have deposit targets to meet, which has given rise to an industry called bridge lending companies.

This money can then be deposited into banks through these bridging companies, helping banks meet their deposit targets. It's also worth noting that banks will offer a fairly high interest rate as a return on this money.

There are also many other ways to play.

For example, investing in real estate, short-term bonds, etc.

Some shopping malls even resort to refusing to pay, simply keeping the brands hanging.

Then, regarding Wanda Group as a company... the reason why Wang Jianlin was in such a sorry state and Wanda Plazas were having a hard time was fundamentally because times had changed.

In other words, the later online payment system meant that shopping malls no longer had as much money as before. Their accounts weren't exactly empty, but they were certainly struggling financially.

Ma Xun couldn't help but feel a little sad.

Of course, Wanda now, just look at this square, it's truly thriving.

New, brand new!

It opened at the end of 06, and it was so grand and crowded!

The crowd was overwhelming...

Ok?
As Ma Xun was looking around, he noticed a pair of eyes.

The owner of these eyes was a beautiful woman, and this beautiful woman was also gazing at her.

Their eyes met; although they didn't know each other, they should have recognized each other.

Zhang Yuqi?
Ma Xun knew who she was at a glance, after all, she was considered a relatively successful "Star Girl".

But why is this woman targeting me again?
Based on the principle of "better to avoid trouble," Ma Xun simply left.

Yes, it's best to avoid messing with this woman.

To be fair, Zhang Yuqi's performance in "CJ7," despite having limited screen time, left a very deep impression.

Her teacher, wearing a cheongsam, especially in the scene where she squats down, her great figure is impossible to hide.

But to be honest, she looked a bit rustic in that movie.

She looks like a country bumpkin.

But when Ma Xun thought of this rustic place... he couldn't help but think of Liu Tao.

Many people commented that she was "rustic and tacky," referring to the things she used to do... *cough*.

I'd rather not think about these things anymore.

Ma Xun quickly arrived at the underground parking lot.

This Wanda Plaza is very large, and its parking lot is naturally quite spacious as well.

It should be said that such a large parking lot could even cause people to get lost.

Unexpectedly, just as Ma Xun found his car and was about to open the door and get in, someone suddenly appeared.

"Hello, Mr. Ma."

"Oh, hello there, Ms. Zhang."

That's right, it's Zhang Yuqi.

Why does this woman seem so persistent?
Ma Xun felt strange, but he didn't show it on his face. Zhang Yuqi, on the other hand, was very proactive.

He chuckled and said, "Mr. Ma, are you curious as to why I'm following you?"

This really struck a chord with Ma Xun, and it also meant that Zhang Yuqi admitted that he had come along.

Ma Xun smiled and said, "There's nothing to be curious about. There are just too many women in the entertainment industry who want to be with me."

That's definitely a double entendre.

On the one hand, it's to point out that Zhang Yuqi, you woman, definitely have that kind of motive.

Does this motive mean that we want to take advantage of Ma?
Ahem... and don't think of it in such a dirty way.

On the other hand, it points out that Zhang Yuqi may have the same goal as those female stars in the entertainment industry.

Be one of my people, Ma Xun's people, and I'll elevate you!

This has long been considered a well-known 'rumor' in the entertainment industry.

So, what exactly is your purpose, Zhang Yuqi?
Unexpectedly, Zhang Yuqi answered with an 'or'.

She said, "What if I said I'm different from those women?"

"So what exactly is different?"

"I hope that Mr. Ma can be my boyfriend 24 hours a day."

"Oh?" That's quite intriguing. "Why?"

We must ask for the reasons.

Zhang Yuqi smiled, but she didn't answer why. She simply said, "As long as Mr. Ma agrees, you can play around as much as you want within these 24 hours... me."

Good heavens, this woman is really something else.

Ma Xun frowned. "Woman, you're going a bit too far, but I won't agree unless you tell me why."

“You…” Zhang Yuqi’s expression changed.

Ma Xun was about to get into the car and leave, but he still left with a question: "You do have a good figure and a pretty face, but do you think you're the kind of guy who's always looking for a woman?"

He opened the car door after saying that, but then...

A hand touched Ma Xun's hand.

"What if I told you that Mr. Ma could be at my beck and call from now on?"

I have to say, Zhang Yuqi is quite bold...

(End of this chapter)