Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 128 Three Principles: Loyalty, Loyalty, and Damn Loyalty
Yan Li's practical comfort was very effective, and Qin Lan's mood improved a lot.

Scolding her means she acted well, she should be proud!

A movie was still being filmed in Jiangsu Province, so Yan Li couldn't stay long. He stayed with her for two days and then left Beijing and returned to his hometown.

The Spring Festival is coming soon and the crew has a lot of things to do. Yan Li, the producer, is the boss and he can't just abandon everyone and go home to celebrate the New Year.

So I can only take time to come back for a day or two to visit my parents, and then wait until the filming is finished.

He had spoken to his parents before and knew that the family restaurant was doing very good business because of the braised meat.

But when I really returned to my hometown and saw the scene in my own restaurant, I was still a little surprised.

It was almost four o'clock in the afternoon, which should have been the quietest time in the restaurant, but the seats were almost full.

Seeing her son's surprise, Zhang Hong explained to Yan Li that the family only had so much braised meat every day. They started selling it in the morning and it was basically gone by the evening. If they rushed to eat at dinner time, they might not be able to eat any.

This is because the quantity is limited and each table of guests cannot buy too much, otherwise it will be difficult to sell out until the afternoon.

"Then why limit the quantity? Just do wholesale directly."

Yan Li felt that it was too tiring for his parents to run the shop from morning till night and also have to serve customers, so he simply wholesaled the braised meat and closed the shop after selling it out.

"Your father likes to run a restaurant. Braised pork is his specialty, and we have many other regular customers who come for our dishes."

"Anyway, as long as the braised meat is braised well, it won't be a big deal to cut and season it. They eat the braised meat in the restaurant and order other dishes and drinks, and our family makes more money."

"The main reason for the limited supply is that some people buy too much while others can't, which can easily lead to conflicts. We have to take care of the neighbors and the villagers."

"..."

Yan Li understood. He was thinking that his parents were tired and that wholesale would be easier. His parents were thinking that they would be tired but could earn more.

As for why not expand production or open branches, you can make more money then.

Because of many considerations such as being too busy, the market being easily saturated, and the high risks, people dare not try it easily.

To put it bluntly, Yan Li's parents are small restaurant owners from the countryside, with limited knowledge and courage.

For them, if the store business is good, they will work harder, run the business steadily, and be satisfied with making a little more money within their understanding.

Yan Li thought about it and didn't try to persuade him.

His parents are almost fifty years old and have run a small restaurant for many years. They are not very educated and their perceptions in this regard have already been fixed. There is no need to force them to correct it.

The couple was unsure about expanding their business, setting up a few branches or processing plants, and they were worried every day, unable to eat or sleep well, which ended up backfiring their efforts.

He makes money as a son, and his parents run the store. It's good for him to have something to do every day.

Of course, running a small restaurant is too tiring, so Yan Li plans to persuade his parents to hire more people to reduce the workload.

Otherwise, if you get sick from working yourself to death, how will you help take care of your grandchildren in the future?

Yan Li, who knew his parents' personalities well, knew that nothing else could be said but this trick would work. No matter how frugal Zhang Hong and Old Yan were and how they didn't take care of their health, they had to give way when they heard about their grandson.

Upon learning that her son would leave after just two days of returning, Zhang Hong decisively closed the business for a day.

This is very rare. Restaurants are in business and if they close for one day they will easily lose customers. Therefore, except during the Chinese New Year or when the weather is very bad, Yan Li's restaurant basically does not close.

Now I can stop for a day just for Yan Li. In addition to the importance he attaches to his son, the braised meat is also delicious, so there is no shortage of repeat customers, which gives him the capital to be willful.

After closing the stall and going home to have a meal with his parents, Yan Li started making phone calls the next day.

This time when he returned to his hometown, in addition to visiting his parents, he also had the idea of bringing some people back to the crew.

As mentioned before, the composition of film and television crews is complex and involves many intricacies.

Yan Li is young and lacks prestige in the industry. Even though he has a say in the crew and is knowledgeable, some people don't take him seriously in private.

It's not that they pretend to obey but actually disobey, but there is some perfunctory work or some small tricks.

Of course, if Yan Li is willing, with his status and identity, he can easily disintegrate and win over the troublemakers, and then drive out the troublemakers.

But this incident made Yan Li understand a truth.

Power is from the bottom up, and it is not easy for a lone person to be effective, especially in a place like a film crew with a strong gangster atmosphere. He doesn't even need to utter a word when there are a dozen strong guys pointing at him, and no one dares to take him lightly.

In addition, Yan Li now has some money and pays more attention to safety issues.

The public security is unstable, and there are many criminals targeting the rich, stealing, robbing, kidnapping, etc. They take a few people with them and look tough when they go out.

Yan Li started researching this matter last year, made some contacts and selections, and also made phone calls before.

So, when Yan Li left his hometown, he took away 19 young men, all of whom were strong and sturdy. They were all questioned twice by the police at the airport.

These nineteen young men include Yan Li’s relatives, childhood friends, classmates, and friends.

Among them, there are several people worth mentioning.

Yan Xin, Yan Li's cousin, is 21 years old. He just returned from conscription this autumn. He used to work in a factory in Dao City with his classmates, and now he has come to live with his cousin.

There were three brothers in Yan Li's father's generation, arranged according to [Hai Jiang He]. There are four brothers in Yan Li's generation, arranged according to the Confucian Five Constant Virtues of [Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom and Trustworthiness].

However, because the name "Yan Ren" is too ambiguous, the eldest cousin is called Yan Yi, Yan Li is the second, Yan Zhi is the third, and Yan Xin is the youngest.

The four cousins are of similar age, so they have been playing together since they were young and have a very good relationship.

When Yan Li returned to his hometown to recruit soldiers, the first people he thought of were his cousins.

However, my eldest cousin Yan Yi is already married and has a family with young children. Now he and Uncle Yan Li have bought a big truck, and the two of them take turns doing transportation. They live a good life, so it is impossible for him to leave his family and business to join Yan Li.

The third child, Yan Zhi, is the only undergraduate student in the Yan family, and he studies medicine.

Now he is attending university in Quancheng and is said to be preparing for the postgraduate entrance examination. Yan Li can't let his cousin drop out of school and join him in the crew, otherwise his uncle and aunt will have to fight him to death.

Therefore, only Yan Xin, the little cousin who had no future and no burden, went out to work with Yan Li with great confidence.

Apart from his cousin Yan Xin, the person Yan Li trusts the most is Wu Maowen.

He was Yan Li's childhood friend from the same village. The two had been playing together since they were young, playing in the mud. They were almost inseparable from preschool, elementary school, and middle school. It wasn't until Wu Maowen dropped out of middle school to work that they saw each other less often, but they were still best brothers.

When Yan Li was not at home, his parents would ask Wu Maowen to run errands for them.
Therefore, the relationship between the two sides is very good. Yan Li wanted Wu Maowen to live with him last year, but the other party's father was ill and could not leave home without him.

Now that his father's health has improved a little and he has spent a lot of money on his medical treatment, he followed Yan Li out to work.

Wu Maowen is introverted and steady, speaks little, and values friendship very much. Yan Li plans to let him be his driver.

In addition, there are the two brothers Tian Yuan and Tian Ye, Yan Li’s classmates in the martial arts school.

The elder brother is honest and simple, but very good at fighting, while the younger brother is smart and shrewd, and also has a bit of ruthlessness. Back in the martial arts school, the two brothers were the vanguard and military advisor of Yan Li's gang.

These two don't have any proper jobs in their hometown and just hang out on the streets.

Yan Li looked for them because he saw that they knew each other well and were brave enough to fight.

Nowadays, if you want to do business, you need to have a few unscrupulous people under you. They are all good people and are easy to be bullied.

The rest of the people have nothing to say. Yan Li will make arrangements based on the situation. There are three principles:

Loyalty, loyalty, and damn loyalty!
There are plenty of talented people out there. These people haven't made it far in their hometown and have mediocre abilities. Yan Li doesn't expect these people to be of much help to him. The key is that they are obedient, do whatever he tells them to do, and stay close to him.

...

Yan Li led a group of people back to the crew, causing some commotion.

Just like Yan Li said, with twenty young men pointing there, the persuasive power is very strong.

Yan Li did not let them eat for free. They were allowed to do anything, such as stage management, logistics or extras, as long as they were not idle. In addition to the remuneration given by the crew, he would also give them some subsidies privately.

"Brother, are you in charge of all these people?"

Compared to the hustle and bustle of the crew, Yan Xin and others were actually more shocked.

They knew that Yan Li was doing well, and Yan Li also said that he was running his own business and had set up a film crew.

But hearing about it was one thing, but seeing with their own eyes a crew of several hundred people busy doing operations that they did not understand, and people passing by respectfully greeting Yan Li, the looks these people gave Yan Li were filled with shock, confusion, excitement, and a hint of strangeness.

Is this still the mischievous Yan Li they knew? !
"cough."

Yan Li narrowed his eyes, slowly took out a cigarette, lit it, and exhaled lightly.

"Are you relieved? Work hard and I'll make sure you all buy houses and get married."

"Hmm."

Everyone nodded excitedly and happily, surrounding Yan Li and asking him questions, and Yan Li answered them patiently.

Wealth and honor do not return home, just like walking in brocade at night!
Similarly, it is also a great joy to show the fruits of one's hard work to these childhood friends and feel their admiration and surprise. Yan Li is a worldly man and enjoys this kind of joy very much.

"Hey, brother, isn't that Fan Bingbing?"

"The guy in green looks familiar. I've seen him on TV."

"Isn't that the dragon goddess next to you? She's my favorite."

Yan Li glanced at the young man who was pointing at Dong Xuan and patted him on the shoulder.

"Like someone else, that's your sister-in-law."

"what?"

On the other side, Dong Xuan and others also discovered Yan Li and his group. Yan Li waved his hand, and Dong Xuan walked over and Yan Li introduced them.

"This is Yan Xin, my cousin, and Wu Maowen, my best friend, Tian Yuan Tianye..."

Dong Xuan smoothed her hair and said gently, "We're all family from now on. It's not easy to be away from home. If you have any questions, you can talk to your brother and me."

"Okay, go back now. I'll take them out for dinner and arrange accommodation."

"Well, drink less." Dong Xuan understood Yan Li's character, and emphasized that she was well-behaved and virtuous, giving her enough face, which dumbfounded Yan Xin and his gang.

She was a female star on TV. She was like a young wife in front of Yan Li. The impact was too great.

Yan Li felt that it was enough. If he was any more excited, he would not be able to sleep at night. So he called Lin Jiachuan, Zhou Yiwei and a few other crew members who only cared about Yan, and went out for dinner.

We are all family, so we can keep each other informed and take care of each other in the future.

After drinking, playing, and drawing a lot of cakes, Yan Li also gained full loyalty.

They are all young men in their early twenties, at the age when they value loyalty and are young and ignorant.

When a good brother who you grew up with takes you away from your hometown, treats you well with good food and drink, and even arranges a job for you, promising to help you make money and settle down in a big city, that feeling makes you want to sell your life to him...

----

Two days after Yan Li returned to the crew of "The Seven Fairies", almost all the people he brought with him had found jobs.

In addition to Lin Jiachuan, there is also the taciturn Wu Maowen by his side.

Except for Dong Xuan, the person next to him, the other actors didn't pay much attention to this. They were more concerned about how to celebrate the New Year.

During the Spring Festival, the crew did not take a holiday, and the actors and staff did not leave the group.

This is commonplace in the film and television industry. Except for newcomers, anyone who has not spent the New Year on the set would be embarrassed to call themselves an insider.

But the Chinese New Year also has its own customs. What benefits or short holidays the crew has are what everyone is concerned about.

Yan Li also attaches great importance to this.

During the Spring Festival, everyone is far away from home and still has to work hard. If it is not handled properly, the morale will be low and the filming will not be good. Affecting the progress and quality is a small matter, but if something goes wrong, it will be troublesome.

This has precedent in the film and television industry!

The crew treated them harshly or failed to relieve their emotions in time, which led to internal repression.

Actors and crew members went on strike, secretly destroyed equipment and props, fought and caused trouble, and conflicts broke out. At the very least, work was suspended, and in serious cases, the crew was directly ruined.

Therefore, after discussing with Wang Decai and others, I felt that we should not be too stingy.

Yan Li gritted his teeth and squeezed out some funds specifically for Spring Festival benefits and bonuses, and at the same time gave two days off on New Year's Eve and the first day of the new year.

Don’t think it’s too little. This is the case for most crews. Very few can have more than three days off during the Spring Festival. Some crews still go to work on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

This happened to a crew working in the same hotel as "The Seven Fairies".

We work all day during the Spring Festival, but we finish work early in the afternoon on New Year's Eve to leave time for the New Year's Eve dinner and watching the Spring Festival Gala.

Originally, many people in the crew of "The Seven Fairies" complained about the lack of holidays, but after hearing about the treatment of the crew next door, their mentality suddenly became balanced.

Yan Li was also very cunning. After learning about this, he began to use the intelligence system to find out the Spring Festival arrangements of several other crews.
Then he used his strengths to overcome his weaknesses and arranged for his own people to spread the news in the crew, comparing dishes with Crew A, bonuses with Crew B, and holidays with Crew C.

The entire crew of "The Seven Fairies" was suddenly filled with joy, and Yan Li became a conscientious boss, praised by everyone.

January 2004, 1, New Year's Eve

Yan Li not only ordered the New Year's Eve dinner from the hotel, but also cooked a pot of braised meat himself, which was sold out.

Fatty Fan chewed on a pig's trotter while looking at Yan Li in surprise: "I didn't expect you to be such a good cook."

“There are so many things you didn’t expect.”

Yan Li frowned and looked at Fatty Fan: "You should eat less. I always feel that you have gained weight since joining the crew."

"Bullshit."

Fatty Fan almost jumped up and down: "How can I be fat? I can eat anything without gaining weight."

Having said that, his movements of gnawing on the pig's trotter slowed down noticeably. He hesitated and didn't dare to eat it, but he couldn't bear to give up the delicious food. He looked at Yan Li with resentment.

"It's Chinese New Year, and you're just causing trouble for others."

Yan Li didn't bother to pay attention to her and picked up two pieces of meat for Dong Xuan: "It's a rare opportunity to braise this meat, eat more."

Fatty Fan opened her beautiful eyes slightly: "Aren't you afraid that she will get fat too?"

"My pleasure."

Fan Xiaopang is an actor hired by the crew. For the sake of the quality of the series, he has to supervise the other party's body management.

Dong Xuan is his girlfriend, it doesn’t matter if she is fat or thin, Yan Li is such a “personal and private person” person.

Seeing Fan Xiaopang being humiliated, his classmates Huo Siyan, Pan Yueming and others laughed secretly, and were also scolded by Yan Li.

Actors have a small base weight, so a few pounds of weight gain may cause a difference, so you really can't eat too much during the Spring Festival.

That being said, except for Jiang Xin and Wu Yue who were in special circumstances and could only watch, everyone else ate plenty of food, and in the end they all started scrambling for it.

Fat Fan felt burdened by Yan Li's "critical hit" and ate less.

Afterwards, he began to regret it and urged Yan Li to continue braising the meat tomorrow, and got support from others.

Yan Li didn't accept the offer. He said he was in a good mood for the New Year, so he wanted to have some fun. Did he really treat him as a chef?
Seeing that Yan Li ignored them, the greedy Fan Xiaopang and Huo Siyan joined forces to ask Dong Xuan to plead for them, and Jiang Xin couldn't help but offer to help.

She was almost gluttoned to death just now, so she really wanted Yan Li to cook a pot of beef and chicken to satisfy her appetite.

"It's no use looking for me."

Dong Xuan cruelly told the truth: "If you don't believe me, go ask Yiwei and the others. Yan Li might not cook it for several months. He doesn't want to. Even if you prepare the seasoning and meat, he won't touch it."

Dong Xuan showed some sympathy as she spoke. "I suspect he set this up on purpose today, letting you get a taste of the sweetness and then keep you worried about him from now on."

In the end, she couldn't resist begging him, but ended up being threatened and bribed, letting him manipulate her...

Anyway, this is Dong Xuan's process. This group of people is probably even worse off. They don't even have a chance to be manipulated by Yan Li. They can only imagine it in their memories.

"Such a beast?"

Fat Fan couldn't help but mutter, then looked at Yan Li again and nodded, thinking that this was something that this bastard could do.

"what happened?"

Yan Li was far away, and when he saw her suddenly look at him and ask a question, Fat Fan smiled politely.

"I praise you for being kind."

"scold me?"

Yan Li knew what was going on, so it was okay to praise him for his generosity, his cleverness, and his good behavior.

Praising him for being kind, especially coming from Fatty Fan, is most likely a roundabout way of insulting him.

Fan Xiaopang: "..."

As for human nature, there is nothing wrong with what she described!
After finishing the New Year’s Eve dinner in the restaurant, everyone went back to their rooms to watch the Spring Festival Gala.

Yan Li called Dong Xuan, Lin Jiachuan, Zhou Yiwei, Yan Xin and others to come to his room. His room was large and had a big TV.

Then Dong Xuan thought that they were all boys, so she called Yang Xue and Jiang Xin, who were good friends with her, and the two of them told the story to other friends.

So one person tells ten people, ten people tell a hundred people.

In the end, more than 20 people were crammed into Yan Li's room, eating, drinking and having fun. Yan Li was very upset and planned to sleep in Dong Xuan's room at night.

I had planned to watch the Spring Festival Gala attentively and have some fun, but as soon as the Gala started, Yan Li's phone kept ringing, with one call every once in a while.

By midnight, only one-third of the fully charged phone's battery was left.

At midnight, everyone greeted each other and celebrated the New Year, and some people went downstairs to set off firecrackers.

Yan Li also took out the red envelopes he had prepared and gave them out. These red envelopes were personally prepared by him and were different from the bonuses from the crew.

Fan Xiaopang was thick-skinned and asked for two. Then, seeing that Dong Xuan didn't have any red envelopes, he urged her to ask for a big one.

Dong Xuan smiled shyly: "No, I'm done."

This time Yan Li returned to the crew and brought her a New Year's gift. This year is the Year of the Monkey, and Yan Li made a golden monkey the size of an egg, weighing about 1000 grams.

【每年情报X：中国二十年黄金均价一览……2004年85/克……2013年289/克……2020年373/克……2020年黄金饰品巅峰价格超600/克………】

Since seeing this annual information at the beginning of the year, Yan Li has become particularly fond of gold when giving gifts, especially to his own women.

Expensive, beautiful, and value-preserving!
Gold necklaces, rings, bracelets, etc. weigh less, so it is more economical to make solid ornaments.

In the Year of the Monkey, give a golden monkey; in the Year of the Rooster, give a golden rooster; in the Year of the Dog, give a golden dog. If you can't do that on Valentine's Day or your birthday, just make a pure gold heart to symbolize deep love.

"I actually like silver or diamonds. They look nice, but gold always feels a bit tacky. But since he likes to give them to me, I can only accept them."

After hearing Dong Xuan's words which were in the name of disgust but were actually showing off, the red envelope that Fan Xiaopang had just asked for no longer interested him.

This bastard may be a playboy, but he is really willing to spend money!
The price of gold bought at a gold shop is higher than the average price. Less than two kilograms of gold will cost at least 10 yuan.

She worked hard for several months to shoot the film "The Seven Fairies" and was paid 45 yuan.

After deducting taxes and the share given to the company, and leaving aside some of her expenses and costs here, the money left in her pocket is not even enough to buy two golden monkeys.

Don’t be jealous, don’t be jealous, men are unreliable!
I want gold, so I buy it for myself, as much as I want.

Fan Xiaopang tried hard to prepare himself mentally, recalling the two silver locks and a pile of embroidery he saw in Yunnan Province, and gradually regained his composure.

Money is important, but dignity and pride are more important!
At this time, Yan Li held a red envelope in his hand: "This is the last one, who wants it?"

"I."

Fatty Fan raised his hands very high...

(End of this chapter)