Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 531: An old man in the family is like a treasure, the lazy Xiala villagers

At six o'clock the next morning, when it was still dawn, Lin Yuan and the crew had already set off on the bus.

The journey to Xiala Village takes nearly 5 hours, and it will be almost 11 o'clock when we set out to reach our destination.

Before the "afternoon rain" arrived, they only had three hours to allocate accommodation and unload supplies, so the time was quite tight.

The crew's convoy lined up and headed towards Xiala Village.

The convoy was guarded in front and behind by Humvee military vehicles led by Kane. The bulletproof armor and howitzers of the remote-controlled weapon station could effectively deter those with bad intentions.

The Kisangani gang bosses who insisted on coming to see him off looked at Lin Yuan's bulletproof Hummer military vehicles with even more awe in their hearts.

The convoy was not moving very fast and it took more than half an hour to get out of Kisangani.

As soon as the convoy drove out of Kisangani, the road conditions immediately became visibly bad, and the vehicles began to shake violently.

Forget about the hardened road, it's just that kind of loess mud road.

In order to make the road smoother, a lot of gravel was spread on the road surface.

The gravel was crushed by the passing wheels and mixed with the mud, which made the road surface more supportive, but the price was that it became quite vibrating.

The vehicle had not driven far when many people began to feel dizzy from the bumpy ride.

On the bus, Director Eastwood stood up and said loudly:
"If you feel carsick, you can go to the logistics staff to get motion sickness medicine. If you feel uncomfortable, don't try to be tough. Being sick here is no small matter."

After hearing the director's words, many people went to get their medicine, then sat back in their seats and took the medicine with water.

Lin Yuan looked at the scene in front of him and sighed that Director Eastwood was a thoughtful butler who made people worry-free.

After greeting everyone, Director Eastwood sat back down next to Lin Yuan and said, "Why don't you take a Hummer? The shock absorption of that vehicle is obviously much better than that of a bus."

Lin Yuan glanced at the Hummer leading the convoy and shook his head. "I'm also a member of the crew. Treating myself as a special person isn't good for morale. Director, if you were to take a military vehicle, everyone would surely understand."

Hearing Lin Yuan's words, the old director's stubbornness immediately came out: "Why? Do you think I'm too old to withstand the bumps on the road? But you have to know that when I was young, I was a famous cowboy.

Even the strongest horse couldn't flip me over, so a little bump like this is nothing to me! I just think of it as reliving the horseback massages of my youth."

After saying this, the old director stretched out his body and pretended to be enjoying himself.

Seeing that the director was completely unconvinced of his age, Lin Yuan understood even more why he could continue working until he was 90 years old.

When people get old, it is a good state for them to accept their fate and reduce their desires and stop struggling, or to continue to struggle like the old director.

The elderly in these two states often have good mental states and live longer.

The most frightening thing is that people are unwilling to accept failure and suffer from severe internal friction, which makes them unhappy. Such elderly people often have poor health.

"How much do you think it would cost to pave an asphalt road here?" Lin Yuan asked, changing the subject.

The reason why he raised this question is that Director Eastwood himself owns a small construction company. He set up a construction company for a period of time in his middle age and has been running it to this day, which shows that his business is doing quite well.

Therefore, Director Eastwood is definitely an expert when it comes to project costs.

When the old director heard Lin Yuan's question, he was stunned for a moment. He didn't know why Lin Yuan suddenly asked this question.

You can't really build an asphalt road just because the road is a bit bumpy during filming? That would be too extravagant.

But he still answered the question first: "You asked me this question suddenly, and I'm not sure at first.

The cost of road construction is mainly divided into two parts: materials and labor.

If purchased from China, where material costs are the lowest, the cost per cubic meter is approximately between US$15 and US$30.

Under normal circumstances, the cost of paving one kilometer of asphalt road is between US$30 and US$40.

But considering the transportation conditions and climate in Congo, I'm afraid the cost of laying it here will be over $50 per kilometer."

Hearing the director's answer, Lin Yuan nodded. It was about the same as he expected.

Congo is located in the tropics and has a very hot climate. Coupled with the interference of "afternoon rain" almost every day, the difficulties that need to be dealt with in the project are definitely more than those in temperate regions.

Coupled with the poor local transportation conditions, the overall construction cost will inevitably increase significantly.

If the cost per kilometer really exceeds $50, it means that the cost of building the road is completely unaffordable.

But if the road is not built, it will be impossible for him to mine and transport the minerals after obtaining them.

It seems that obtaining mining rights in the Kisangani area is not an easy task.

After Lin Yuan and Kano's relationship became closer last night, Lin Yuan felt that the time was ripe for obtaining the rights to exploit the resources.

He used interests to win over the local upper class and used the film screening team to capture the hearts of the lower class. Now he doesn't have to worry about being constrained and resisted like other foreign capital.

Lin Yuan planned to finish filming in Xiala Village and then return to Kisangani to formally discuss resource extraction with Kano.

By then, the film screening team had been touring the rural areas of Kisangani for two months, showing films and had established a considerable group base.

Of course, Lin Yuan did not intend to directly reach out to those mature mining areas from the beginning.

Those mining areas are generally controlled by large international capital, have rich mineral reserves, and are close to main lines of transportation, so they can be mined at relatively low costs.

If Lin Yuan competes for these ripe cakes, he will inevitably face strong backlash, and Kano may not support him doing so.

Therefore, he could only settle for the second best and choose those mines with abundant reserves but relatively remote areas, and then wait until the conditions were ripe before gradually moving on to those larger mineral deposits.

Just because he chose a mine in a remote area, he had to consider the cost of road construction, which really gave Lin Yuan a headache.

Seeing Lin Yuan's frustrated look, Director Eastwood smiled and asked, "You really want to build a road here? Is it worth it?"

Lin Yuan lowered his voice and whispered, "Director, let me tell you something. This is still confidential to the outside world."

Director Eastwood has signed a contract with Lin Yuan Pictures. In addition, he recognizes Lin Yuan himself, so he can be considered as one of his own, so Lin Yuan did not hide it from him.

"You tell me, I won't tell anyone." The director responded in a low voice.

After he finished speaking, he raised his head and looked around, as if he was afraid that the crew members would hear him.

But this was obviously an overreaction. The bus Lin Yuan was riding on was not full. Their seats were at the rear of the bus. GAKKI-chan was sitting in the front row, and Saragama was sitting on the other side.

The crew members were chatting loudly in the front, and it was impossible for them to hear the conversation between Lin Yuan and the director.

As long as you don't speak loudly, you don't have to worry about leaks.

Lin Yuan continued, "This time I came to Congo not only to film, but also to see if I could seize the opportunity to acquire the resource mining rights here."

"So you are interested in the resources here? No wonder you set up these film screening teams. I naively thought you just wanted to provide benefits to the locals." Director Eastwood sighed.

Although it is a bit outrageous to describe an old man as "simple", the old director did not think about it in this way.

"You should know how strategically important Congo's resources are, right?" Lin Yuan asked.

The old director nodded: "Yes! Upstream resources determine the downstream industrial chain. This is a decisive strategic resource.

From this perspective, setting up a few film projection teams to win the hearts of the local people is simply a huge profit.

The cost of road construction is not completely unacceptable.”

Lin Yuan replied, "The problem now is that I wanted to reduce conflicts in the early stages, starting with mining areas in remote areas. However, I'm worried that I can't afford the cost of building roads in remote areas."

Let alone an asphalt road, even if it were a cement road that costs half as much, I still wouldn’t be able to afford it.”

Of course, he didn't mean that he couldn't afford to build a road. Given Lin Yuan's wealth, he could definitely afford to build a road.

What Lin Yuan meant by "unable to afford it" was that if the cost of road construction caused the mine to go from profitable to loss-making, that would be unacceptable.

After all, business is business, and you can't do business at a loss.

"No, who says we have to build a cement road or an asphalt road?" asked director Eastwood.

"But if the road isn't hardened, how can we transport the heavy ore?" Lin Yuan pointed at the road below the bus and asked, "Are we going to have to rely on this dirt road? It rains here every day."

It is indeed as Lin Yuan said. It rains every day in tropical areas. If the road surface is not hardened and only relies on this kind of gravel road, it will be difficult for large trucks transporting ore to pass through the mud after the rain.

"Have you ever heard of a rural paved dirt road?" asked director Eastwood.

This completely touched upon Lin Yuan's blind spot. He asked in confusion, "I've never heard of this. What is this?"

The old director patiently explained: "If you want to harden the road surface, there are more than just cement roads or asphalt roads.

In fact, these two types of roads are not only very expensive to build, but also have high maintenance costs. They are not suitable for construction in rural areas with vast land and sparse populations that cannot afford high road construction costs.

Therefore, the priority is to use lime-flyash soil to harden the road surface.”

"What is Erhuitu?" Lin Yuan asked humbly.

"Fly ash soil is a base structure made by mixing lime, fly ash and soil in a certain ratio, adding water, mixing and rolling.

It has higher strength than lime soil, has certain board properties and good water stability." The old director replied.

"Combined with the use of a hardener, lime-fly lime soil pavement not only remains water-stable and rain-resistant, but also maintains a solid surface. It also becomes increasingly harder with increasing use, significantly reducing future maintenance costs," the veteran director continued. After hearing Director Eastwood's explanation, Lin Yuan finally understood.

Although the road surface constructed with fly ash soil is not as smooth as cement and asphalt roads and is not more conducive to rapid passage, it also has the advantages of being solid, durable and low cost, and is often used in the construction of rural roads.

"How much can the cost be reduced?" Lin Yuan asked the question that concerned him most.

"Even if it is laid in Congo, I estimate that the cost per kilometer can be controlled within 4 US dollars." Director Eastwood gave the answer.

Hearing this answer, Lin Yuan was overjoyed.

The original cost of asphalt roads was as high as US$50 per kilometer, and even cement roads cost US$25. Now it has been cut to less than one-tenth of that, US$4.

This means that the cost of roads is no longer an issue.

The old director was also very happy to help Lin Yuan. He smiled and said, "You can leave the road construction to me. I promise to complete it perfectly for you."

Director Eastwood's value is not only reflected in his understanding of how to use fly ash soil to build hardened roads.

Although this is a blind spot in Lin Yuan's knowledge, it is just a piece of information after all. As long as people in the industry know it, it is not a big deal.

The old director's real talent lies in his ability to resolve countless difficulties encountered during road construction. It is not the case that he simply knows how to harden a road surface with lime and soil and then can confidently say that he can do it perfectly for him.

Lin Yuan definitely wants to take over more than one mine, and he needs to build a lot of roads. If he can have the help of the old director, he will have no worries.

Looking at director Eastwood, Lin Yuan couldn't help but sigh that the saying "an old man in the family is like a treasure" is indeed true.

"Director, you've really helped me a lot. Once I've taken over the mine, I'll give you 5% of the shares." Lin Yuan said.

He definitely didn't just give verbal praise, but was reluctant to make concessions, so Lin Yuan immediately gave him equity, which was what the old director deserved.

"No need for equity. I'm happy to help you, but there's no need to share my profits." To Lin Yuan's surprise, the old director immediately shook his head and refused without even thinking.

"Director, even though this is only 5% of the equity, do you know how much it is worth?" Lin Yuan said.

"I don't know how much it is, maybe tens of millions of dollars, or even hundreds of millions of dollars. But no matter how much it is, I don't care. Lin Yuan, you don't have to give me shares. I just want to do something for you." The old director obviously knew the value, but he still refused.

Seeing that Lin Yuan was still trying to persuade him, the old director reached out and stopped him: "Lin Yuan, I'm already over 70 years old. For me, the wealth I have now is more than I can spend for the rest of my life. Giving me more money is not helping me, but harming me."

"Harm you?" Lin Yuan asked puzzledly.

"If I were to receive this money, I wouldn't be able to use it. It would only lead to my children scheming against each other and plotting against each other for the money.

I have seen too many elderly people falling out with their children, leading to their lonely old age, all because of property distribution issues.

Believe me, it is very difficult to distribute wealth among several children.

I had already divided up the family property with great difficulty before, and now with such a huge fortune coming in, I really don’t have the confidence to handle it again.

So don't give me any money. Our relationship doesn't need to be bound by material interests. "Don't you have any confidence in our friendship?" the old director asked.

Having said that, Lin Yuan naturally wouldn't insist any longer.

Director Eastwood made it clear that he already had enough money, and more money would only lead to a rift between him and his children.

Lin Yuan understood this very well. Dividing the cake is indeed a matter that involves people's hearts and is extremely difficult to handle.

What parents consider a fair distribution plan is often to reduce the peaks and fill the valleys.

For example, a parent has a fortune of $100 million and two children. One child is more promising and has $200 million of his own fortune, while the other child is doing worse off and not only does he not have a penny, he even owes $20.

At this time, parents tend not to distribute the money equally, but instead give most of the money to the less fortunate child, while the promising one gets less.

Because in the eyes of parents, a child is already living well and does not need much help from them.

The other child is having such a hard time, so we have to help him more.

But if parents really do this, it may be the beginning of the promising child's alienation.

He would think, is all my hard work rewarded by being treated differently by my parents?
In his view, this distribution plan must be absolutely unfair.

I am doing relatively well, which is the result of my own efforts, but it is definitely not a reason to be treated differently.

Even if the child is kind and chooses to understand his parents' distribution plan, he will still feel that his brother who gets more property should take on more of the responsibility of accompanying and supporting his parents.

This will also make him less filial to his parents.

This example is just a very small aspect of the parental property game.

In fact, the real trade-offs and games are more complicated, and it is difficult to distinguish right from wrong.

Director Eastwood had gone to great lengths to work out the previous property distribution plan to the satisfaction of all parties, and he definitely didn't want to do it again.

Lin Yuan couldn't insist any longer, especially since the old director added, "Given our relationship, we really don't need to be bound by material interests. Don't you have any confidence in our friendship?"

If you have confidence in the friendship, don't bind him with material benefits.

This is the veteran director's clear-cut expression of his attitude, but one must listen to the whole thing. In Lin Yuan's opinion, the first half of the sentence is more important: there is really no need to be bound by material interests.

What he said was not that there should be no binding of any interests, but simply that "material interests" were denied.

Favors owed to others must still be repaid, but not with money.

So what does the old director want?
Obviously, he hopes that Lin Yuan can help him realize his ambition of being an old horse in the stable with a thousand miles to go.

Thinking of this, Lin Yuan felt a headache again:
What gave him the most headache when he came to Shara Village to shoot the movie this time was not his own scenes, but the scene where director Eastwood had to face the Tiger King "Raja" himself.

This was exactly the dilemma that Lin Yuan had never felt before. After all, if the old director had to face the tiger personally, he would not have the confidence to save him if something unexpected happened.

There have been no major accidents in Lin Yuan's action movies over the years. If nothing happens to him, but the director dies, I really don't know how the entire film and television industry will view him.

But today he owes the old director such a big favor, so it seems that Lin Yuan must fulfill his wish no matter what.

So Lin Yuan could only plan to wait for Meng Tao to arrive and discuss a foolproof plan with him, ensuring that the old director could have a good time while also guaranteeing his absolute safety.

During the following trip, Lin Yuan began to communicate frankly with the old director about his plans in Congo.

A lot of this work requires his cooperation, so it would be inappropriate if I don't explain everything clearly.

So time passed quickly as the two of them communicated with each other.

The sky outside the car window gradually brightened, and soon it was noon.

After driving for more than five hours, the convoy finally arrived at its destination, Xiala Village.

Looking at a large area of ​​thatched roofs in the distance, Lin Yuan said, "That's Xiala Village. We're here."

Director Eastwood looked at the ochre-colored village in the distance and couldn't help feeling curious.

African villages in film and television works are often of this khaki color.

It is called yellowish earth because there is not a single piece of cement ground in the village, only loess roads.

Not only is the ground made of loess, the walls of the house are also made of yellow mud, and the roof is made of yellow thatch. How can it not look like a yellow earth color?
On the other hand, there is no greenery in the village. There are no flowers or plants, not even a single tree.

This made both the Chinese director Lin Yuan and the American director Eastwood feel very confused.

Because both Chinese and Americans like to add some greenery to their houses to make them look pleasing to the eye.

Not to mention the modern American-style lawns, even in ancient Chinese villages, people liked to plant a jujube tree or a persimmon tree behind their houses, and even had a vegetable garden.

It not only has a beautifying effect, but you can also eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Isn’t that great?
But Xiala Village is really a bare piece of land, without a single tree or blade of grass, which is really puzzling.

"Why do all African villages look like this?" Director Eastwood asked Lin Yuan in a low voice.

"It is said that it is because the people in the village are lazy, so all the trees were cut down for firewood." Lin Yuan replied.

There are several thick tree stumps in the center of the village, which are used as stools by the villagers, confirming Lin Yuan’s statement.

This answer made the old director roll his eyes. There was a jungle less than 500 meters away from the village, and there was plenty of firewood there.

Can't I just walk a few steps to pick up some firewood and burn it?
Are you so lazy that you have to cut down all the trees in your village?
Lin Yuan seemed to have guessed his thoughts and pointed to the nearby jungle. "They don't care if there are fruit trees in the village, because there are plenty in that jungle. Look what that is?"

The old director looked up and couldn't help but let out a cry: "F*CK!"

As far as the naked eye could see, they saw banana trees, mango trees, papaya trees, pineapple trees, pomegranate trees...

It's like an orchard, with everything you need.

If you don’t know, you might think this is an orchard planted by locals, but seeing such a disorderly arrangement, anyone can guess that it is wild!

There are so many wild fruit trees that can be picked and eaten without planting, so who would care about the income from the few fruit trees in the village?

Of course it was to save a few steps, so just chop it down!

Seeing this scene, everyone couldn't help but want to complain:
Africans are really too lazy, but you really have the capital to be lazy!

(End of this chapter)