This actor has something

Chapter 299 Spearhead

The villa in front of them was about the same size as the one He Daqi bought in Beijing.

The advantage is that the surrounding area is full of three-story buildings, and the road is right outside the courtyard. It's a stand-alone building with a private entrance, so the privacy is quite good.

The villa is located on the banks of the Han River, surrounded by beautiful scenery. In particular, it is not far from the sea; it only takes about half an hour to drive to the beach.

The real estate agent was very enthusiastic, constantly explaining the advantages of the villa, and tirelessly leading He Daqi and Zhou Huimin up and down the stairs.

This deal is highly likely to go through, because the real estate agent saw obvious liking in Zhou Huimin's eyes.

This real estate agent is from Yanbian. She has served many Chinese clients before, and she understands one thing very well: when Chinese couples come to look at houses, it is usually the woman who makes the choices and ultimately decides on the best option.

At this moment, she was speaking Korean, pretending to be a Korean and acting as if she couldn't understand Chinese. In fact, her ears were perked up, and she just wanted to hear Zhou Huimin's evaluation.

Then, based on Zhou Huimin's evaluation, we will decide which advantages of this villa we will focus on introducing next.

"Honey... how about this place? I think this villa is nice."

Zhou Huimin almost shouted "Daqi!" but thankfully she remembered that He Daqi was also a top star in South Korea, so she only uttered one word and then used the intimate nickname.

"You really know how to pick things. Gangnam is the most expensive area in Korea, but you still chose to buy here. Wouldn't it be the same to buy a set by the sea? The price there is probably less than a quarter of what it is here."

He Daqi's tone was disdainful. In his opinion, since they wouldn't be staying here for long, why bother buying a house?

Zhou Huimin glanced at him sideways and said irritably, "Stop talking nonsense! I'll pay for it!"

Seeing that he couldn't reason with Zhou Huimin, He Daqi clicked his tongue, turned to the real estate agent, and asked, "How much is it per square meter here?"

The real estate agent maintained her smile. She hadn't expected the Chinese couple to be so wealthy; even with the husband's reluctance, the wife was actually willing to pay for it herself. Hearing He Daqi's question, she explained very professionally:
"In South Korea, prices are calculated by 'pyeong,' with one pyeong equal to 3.3 square meters. This apartment is priced at 28 million won per pyeong, which, if converted to square meters and then to Chinese yuan, would be approximately 62,000 yuan per square meter."

So expensive!

He Daqi smirked and turned to Zhou Huimin, who was waiting for him to translate, saying, "It costs 62,000 yuan per square meter here, so this house would cost more than 30 million yuan. You're spending so much money to buy a house here, and we might not even come here for vacation every year. What are you after?"

"You're nagging endlessly about a mere thirty million? I don't care. I've got my eye on this one. Ask the agent what procedures are involved. I want to buy it today."

Looking at Zhou Huimin's nonchalant attitude towards money, He Daqi really wanted to ask her what she meant by "only thirty million".
These past few days, Zhou Huimin has been on her period and has been irritable. He Daqi thinks she might be acting strangely today, so he decides to calm down and wait until her period is over before discussing whether or not to buy a house in South Korea.

He Daqi smiled apologetically at the real estate agent and said, "I'm sorry, miss, my wife said the price is a bit too high. We'll go back and discuss it further, and we'll contact you as soon as we've made a decision."

Oh no! This scoundrel is taking advantage of his wife's inability to understand Korean and has been keeping it from both sides!
At this moment, the real estate agent wished she could shout at Zhou Huimin that she was also Chinese and that they could communicate directly in Chinese, telling the scoundrel to get lost!

It's a pity that I've been pretending for so long. If I suddenly blurted out a sentence in Chinese, they would probably be on guard.

With a forced smile, the real estate agent made a final effort: "Sir, the third floor of this villa is included, as is the yard. In total, it can be bought for just over 20 million Chinese yuan, which is a really good deal. The housing prices in Jiangnan District have been rising for the past two years. If you miss this opportunity, it may not be this cheap next time."

"I'm so sorry to have troubled you today. Let's discuss it again when we get back."

After speaking, He Daqi took Zhou Huimin's hand, gesturing for her to leave together.

"So, what did the agent say?" Zhou Huimin asked as they walked.

"The agent said that buying a house here is very troublesome and requires a lot of preparation. She said she would contact us again after she helped us with the process."

Damn it!
Looking at He Daqi, who was blatantly lying, the real estate agent wanted nothing more than to slap the documents on his forehead.

I should have known better than to pretend to be from South Korea...

Watching the couple, wearing masks and sunglasses, leisurely leave, the real estate agent sighed helplessly.

It's so hard being a working person!
……

Zhou Huimin's mood fluctuated, and He Daqi was somewhat prepared for it.

"Look! They have taiyaki here too!"

Zhou Huimin, who had just come out of the villa looking sullen, was now happily pulling He Daqi toward a roadside stall.

He Daqi's attention wasn't on the roadside stalls. He followed Zhou Huimin's lead, looking into the distance with a frown.

"Could you ask around here what kind of filling the taiyaki are?" Zhou Huimin shook He Daqi's arm.

"It's rose bean paste filling, that's what it says on it," He Daqi said, glancing back at it.

After saying that, he handed the stall owner a banknote, held up one finger and said, "Just make one, thank you for your hard work."

He doesn't like sweets. He usually only eats a small piece of the pastries that Vivian Chow buys to taste before stopping.

So now Zhou Huimin is used to him gesturing "one" and doesn't say anything, just happily watching the stall owner busy himself and waiting to eat.

Taiyaki was made quickly, and before long, Vivian Chow was happily clinging to Ho Tai-kai's arm, squinting as she ate.

"Let's go take a look over there."

It was a bit hard to see from a distance, so He Daqi decided to walk closer to see what was going on.

Just a few alleys away, the scene was one of utter desolation.

Amidst the ruins were makeshift shacks made of torn cloth. Not far away, a young mother carried one child on her back and another tied to her chest. Amid the children's noise, she was squatting down, sorting through vegetable leaves.

The vegetable leaves were clearly picked up from the market; they were mostly old and rotten leaves, but the young mother sorted them very carefully.

When she noticed He Daqi looking at her, a shy smile appeared on her dusty face. She hurriedly lowered her head, avoiding eye contact with the brightly dressed He Daqi and Zhou Huimin.

He Daqi continued to look ahead. This slum was not small, consisting of small huts made of tattered tents. In the distance, he could vaguely see a group of teenagers running, jumping and playing among the crowded shacks.

Behind us, we could clearly see the city's high-rise buildings and the villa district where each house was worth tens of millions, which contrasted sharply with the scene before us that seemed to belong only to war-torn regions.

At that moment, He Daqi suddenly felt a bit ironic.

He turned to look at Vivian Chow, who was eating taiyaki with gusto, and asked softly, "After seeing this scene, do you still want to buy a house here?"

Zhou Huimin nodded nonchalantly: "Think about it, there used to be Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong, and the housing prices were ridiculously high, weren't they? Do you think every country is like China, where everyone is given land for housing? There are plenty of people who don't have a place to live."

"Idiot! What does it matter to me whether they have a house or not! What I mean is, the slums are so close to the villa area, would you still dare to buy a house here? Aren't you afraid that if you bring your kids here for a vacation, they'll open the door and find a murder scene inside?"

He Daqi looked up at the sky speechlessly. If he hadn't looked up, he probably wouldn't have been able to resist rolling his eyes at Zhou Huimin. Zhou Huimin smiled sheepishly. She had thought that He Daqi had hurriedly pulled her over because he thought she was wasting money and wanted to lecture her on the principles of thrift and frugality.

"What should I do? The child is getting older, he can run, jump and talk. I'm thinking of taking him out for a stroll around the streets since there aren't many domestic tourists in South Korea right now, so he won't feel so cooped up in the neighborhood. I can also take him to the beach. I wouldn't dare to take him out so openly in China."

"We'll see. Anyway, we're not buying around here. The security here is definitely not good. If you really want to buy a vacation villa in South Korea, let's find a safer place."

……

……

As it turned out, He Daqi's guess was correct.

Within a few days, he had a set of murder case data from South Korea. Looking at the series of major cases near the villa area that he had seen before, he couldn't help but click his tongue.

Because Ho Tai-kai is going to film The Host here this year, which will probably take at least four months, Vivian Chow brought Ho Tai-kai here in advance to scout out the location, hoping to buy a villa in South Korea.

But I almost stepped on a landmine.

"I've said it before: because of the bald eagle soldiers here, the repressed people are basically all mentally ill. Otherwise, why would I make The Host? It's just to give them a sense of liberation and boost the box office. Look at these outrageous numbers. The population of less than one province in China is more perverted than the entire country."

Zhou Huimin was speechless. She examined the data chart for a long time, then suddenly her eyes lit up. Pointing to a spot marked in green, she asked, "What about this?"

"I'll call and ask."

He Daqi took out his phone and made a call.

After hanging up the phone a moment later, he picked up the map and drew a few circles on it.

“These places are all near the police station and there are many checkpoints near the subway entrance, so there are no major cases. My friend just said that it would be best to find a gated villa area and not near a slum.”

Zhou Huimin leaned over and sat close to He Daqi, carefully studying the map. Whenever she didn't understand something, she would quietly ask He Daqi for help.

Judging by his energy, he's determined to buy a house in South Korea. I guess it's not for convenience anymore, but for saving face.

Otherwise, if you come here excitedly, take He Daqi around for several days, and end up wasting your time, that would be a bit embarrassing.

Jingle Bell!
He Daqi took out his phone, glanced at it, and then answered the call.

"Sister Liu, you've arrived?"

"Yes, we just got off the plane and are heading straight to Seagate headquarters. Daqi, are you free right now? If not, we'll go to the hotel and wait for you."

"That's fine, I'll be there in half an hour."

Before He Daqi could say anything after hanging up the phone, Zhou Huimin hurriedly started looking for his coat.

It was obvious that she had overheard the conversation because she was so close to the phone.

After half an hour.

The couple, wearing sunglasses and masks, got out of their car at Seagate headquarters.

Liu Ying and the others had already arrived and were now sitting in the lobby waiting for He Daqi.

The people who came to sign the contract this time were not only from Yonghui Qiming, but also from Huanya. According to the previous agreement, Yonghui Qiming will begin to disassemble and reorganize after the filming of The Host is completed.

The Host was the last film co-produced by Wing Hye Kai Ming and Huan Ya.

The next collaboration was between Yonghui Qiming and Ya Yue.

All three parties attached great importance to this cooperation, so a large number of people came when the contract was actually signed.

Of all the people, Yonghui Qiming had the fewest: Liu Ying, He Daqi, Zhou Huimin, a lawyer, and a translator.

Both Huanya and Seagate have about a dozen people each.

"It's great to see you again, Daqi."

"Yes, we meet again. Executive Director Li, you've called me quite a few times."

Executive Director Li had finally been waiting for this day. He had organized the team for the Han River Monster on the first day of the Lunar New Year, but He Daqi had dragged it out until now.

Right now, his face, which was barely any flesh, was beaming with eyes that looked like the number eight. Whether it was ugly or not, if you saw someone like that in the evening, you'd probably think you'd encountered a Japanese ghost.

"Haha, please understand me. After all, this investment is so high, I'm really a bit worried. I've staked my future on you. If the Han River Monster project fails, I might have to resign with the main responsibility on my shoulders."

He Daqi didn't see any sign that Executive Director Li was worried.

However, it's true that the investment was high. After several months of discussions, the special effects for The Host were handled by the Bald Eagle.

With an investment of ten million US dollars, this is the highest-budget film that Ho Tai-kei has ever made, apart from Kung Fu Hustle, especially since he was the lead actor.

Of course, the Myth doesn't count. He Daqi has seen the finished Myth in the film library, and he would never believe that Myth's investment was about the same as Kung Fu Hustle's.

The meeting room was bustling with activity.

More than thirty people whispered among themselves, passing documents around. Only when all three parties confirmed that the documents were correct could they be set aside and the next one be looked at.

Previously, as an actor, He Daqi could simply sign a contract for the two movies he filmed in South Korea. Now, as an investor, there are many more intricacies involved.

Although they had communicated many times by phone before and were very interested in cooperating, everyone became serious and attentive when it came to actually signing the contract.

The contract was very detailed, specifying the amount of investment from each party and the ownership of the copyright. The target audience for this film was the people of South Korea, so their share of the profits was the largest.

No one really cared about the copyrights in other regions, since this is a self-indulgent film from South Korea, and it's obvious that it wouldn't sell well in other areas.

They watched for almost three hours, and even though it was lunchtime, no one suggested they finish eating before continuing.

Finally, at 1:15 PM, all three parties confirmed that there were no problems and then signed the contract.

"I'll leave the rest to you." After signing the contract, Executive Director Li came over with a smile and shook hands with He Daqi.

"I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation."

(End of this chapter)