This actor has something

Chapter 384 So your name is Lu Yang?

Eating with a group of middle-aged and elderly people can be quite annoying.

They were all heavy smokers. Even Wang Jinghua, who was sitting next to He Daqi, was smoking one cigarette after another, making the private room smoky. If you didn't know better, you would think they were cultivating immortality.

He Daqi finally couldn't take it anymore. He made an excuse to leave the private room and grabbed a waiter: "I remember your hotel has an air circulation system, right? Please turn on the air circulation in private room number six for me."

"It's still a bit cold outside, so if we turn on the air circulation, the temperature in the private room will be quite low."

"Cold? That's good! Open it for me."

He Daqi didn't care if he was cold or not; if he was, he should hurry up and leave so he could go home and comfort his children.

However, he underestimated how resistant these people were to the cold. Perhaps the temperature wasn't too low, because these people, with their faces flushed from drinking, were loudly telling stories.

Han Shanping was quite drunk at the moment, and he was talking about his experience of being sent to the countryside.

Sure enough, the topic instantly resonated with everyone, and Lao Tian, ​​Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige, and the others immediately started chiming in with their own opinions.

So these guys have all eaten at farmers' houses before?

He Daqi pursed his lips and then began to eat his food in silence.

The meal lasted for more than four hours, from just before six o'clock to past ten o'clock. If Ma Yingjun hadn't been forced to drink under the table by He Bing, the meal might not have ended.

Since Brother Ma is unconscious, He Daqi will definitely have to pay the bill. The food cost wasn't much, around three thousand yuan. The key issue was the amount of alcohol consumed, and they specifically chose the expensive drinks. In the end, the alcohol bill came to over thirty thousand yuan.

Let's talk about whether He Daqi felt guilty about eating that meal.

On the way home, He Bing, drunk, slumped in the back seat of the van and kept pulling He Daqi to chat with him. He Daqi was also quite busy, typing and chatting with Zhou Huimin while also trying to appease He Bing.

"Uncle, when they were chatting just now, they were talking about filming Farewell My Concubine. They described it in such a serious and detailed way, but it's different from what I heard."

Upon hearing this, He Bing sat up a little higher, opened his eyes, and grinned as he asked, "What did you hear about it?"

"Everyone I've heard says that Farewell My Concubine was directed by Chen Kaige's father, so Chen Kaige's other films have lost their original flavor."

"That's utter nonsense!" He Bing chuckled dismissively. Seeing He Daqi's disbelieving look, he explained earnestly, "When Farewell My Concubine was being filmed, Chen Kaige's father was already in the late stages of cancer. He was in excruciating pain on his hospital bed every day. How could he possibly be there to guide the filming? He only showed his face when the crew was being set up, and he didn't go to the crew more than a few times after that."

What He Bing said was something He Daqi didn't know. If it was really as He Bing said, then He Daqi was even more confused.

"So you're saying Farewell My Concubine was really directed by Chen Kaige? Then how come his later films are so different from his earlier ones?"

"It's a long story, and there are many reasons. But the two main reasons are: one is the strong lineup. Back then, Mr. Chen helped Chen Kaige invite the top people in the country. If you have time, you can see how strong the lineup was when you look at the filming crew of Farewell My Concubine. Didn't we talk about it when we were drinking? They were the first batch of college students. Back then, every college student was a top student."

He Bing slurred his words and became somewhat confused towards the end, eventually falling silent. He Daqi was waiting for him to explain the second reason when he turned his head and saw that his uncle was already fast asleep.

Damn it! Why don't you finish talking before you go to sleep?!

After finally managing to get He Bing home, Zhou Huimin came over to the villa reeking of alcohol. She sniffed him like a dog, then shoved him away with a look of disgust.

"You reek of alcohol, it's disgusting. You can sleep on the carpet tonight, no, you can sleep on the sofa in the living room, so that the bedroom doesn't smell of alcohol either."

"You've even arranged this? I'm sleeping in your bed, what can you do to me? You don't like the smell of alcohol, do you? I'm going to kiss you!"

As He Daqi spoke, he reached out to hug Zhou Huimin, which startled her so much that she quickly took a few steps back. Seeing that He Daqi wasn't chasing after her and was just chuckling, Zhou Huimin became somewhat embarrassed and angry. She grabbed a cushion from the sofa and was about to hit He Daqi.

She waved the pillow twice before He Daqi snatched it away, and then He Daqi grabbed her too, pressing Zhou Huimin's head down with both hands and giving her a good slap.

After kissing her, He Daqi laughed and ran into the bedroom bathroom, closing the door behind him, leaving Zhou Huimin banging on the door in helpless rage.

……

……

Yonghui Qiming, third floor, small conference room.

"So you're Lu Yang, kid?"

"……Yes."

Lu Yang nodded awkwardly.

Good heavens! What's going on here?
Lu Yang pinched himself; it hurt terribly, so it wasn't a dream.

If it's not a dream, how could Zhang Yimou appear in the company?
Just a while ago, the two sides were fighting fiercely, and He Daqi and his men had completely crushed the newcomers. And now, less than a few months later, Zhang Yimou has come here to be a director? Are you kidding me?
Back when the two sides were fighting, Lu Yang charged forward fiercely, shouting slogans. He posted long articles on Yabo.com every day criticizing Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping, mainly playing the role of a sycophant. He was all about unwavering loyalty.

Now things are fine. It's probably because his charge was so effective that Zhang Yimou asked for his name as soon as he entered the door, clearly remembering him quite well.

How embarrassing!
Fortunately, someone came over and eased Lu Yang's embarrassment. Han Shanping patted Lu Yang's shoulder with a kind smile and said, "Young man, you look like a very talented person. I heard from Daqi that you were the assistant director of 'After My Flowers Bloom, All Flowers Kill' before? Are you going to be the assistant director of 'Painted Skin' this time?"

“Yes, Chairman Han.” Lu Yang quickly stood up and nodded.

"Great, great, great! You must seize this opportunity. I look forward to you becoming a director in the future."

That's great! Another young director is about to succeed.

Han Shanping, lost in thought, sat down next to Zhang Yimou with a broad smile, clearly in a great mood. He probably forgot that he had already used this same line of conversation with Lu Yang once before.

He's thinking about happy things right now. With Zhang Yimou and He Daqi as a team, there's no doubt that next year's box office is guaranteed.

At this moment, He Daqi lazily pushed the door open and came in. After greeting everyone, he sat down listlessly next to Lu Yang.

Despite his disheveled appearance, he still had the mind to care about others. Seeing Lu Yang's awkward look, He Daqi asked with a smile, "What's wrong, junior brother? Did you wear the wrong socks because you came in too fast?" Lu Yang didn't speak, but subtly glanced at Zhang Yimou, everything was understood without words.

He Daqi instantly understood Lu Yang's concerns. He couldn't help but sigh at the unpredictability of life. Who would have thought that Zhang Yimou would be the director of Painted Skin? If someone had told He Daqi this a few months ago, he would have thought that the other person was delusional.

"Alright, almost everyone's here. Chairman Han is the producer, Vivian isn't here, but she's the producer and lead actress. Zhang Yimou is the director, Lu Yang is the assistant director, Da Qi is the editor and lead actor, and Sister Hua and I are the supervisors. Let's discuss how to film it." Liu Ying stood up and handed out scripts to everyone as she spoke.

When the script was submitted for review, Han Shanping had already read it, but he hasn't opened it yet. Everyone else has also read it, so only Zhang Yimou is currently reading the script carefully.

"Daqi, how much do you think this movie should cost?" Han Shanping asked He Daqi, noticing that Zhang Yimou was still looking at the script.

"Around fifty million, not much more," He Daqi replied nonchalantly.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I think a budget of 150 million is too low for this movie. How could it be made for only 50 million? 50 million wouldn't even cover half of the special effects, would it?" Zhang Yimou's tone was full of doubt.

"Director Zhang, you may not know this, but we did all the special effects for Asia-Pacific ourselves, and the cost wasn't high," Wang Jinghua explained with a smile.

Zhang Yimou shook his head slightly: "It's impossible to make it for 50 million. Didn't you say that Daqi and Zhou Huimin are the main actors, and there's also a female lead, right? No matter who the other female lead is, the salaries of these three people would be more than 50 million, right?"

It seems that Chow Yun-fat taught Zhang Yimou a lesson well enough when filming "Curse of the Golden Flower," so much so that Zhang Yimou still harbors some resentment when the topic of film salaries comes up.

Seeing Zhang Yimou's defiant expression, Liu Ying turned to look at He Daqi. Noticing He Daqi's listless and unwilling-to-speak demeanor, Liu Ying began to explain:

"Director Zhang, our film production is a bit different from other companies. Daqi and Vivian take a share of the profits. The other female lead will be Zhou Xun, and we will try to persuade her to take a share as well. If she really doesn't want to, we can replace her. Whether it's Ya Yue or Yong Hui Qi Ming, there are actresses who can fill in. Of course, Director Zhang, you will also take a share. Sister Hua will discuss the specific amount with you in detail."

Zhang Yimou was somewhat surprised. It turned out that the rumors about He Daqi's salary had been circulating all along. No, it wasn't just rumors. When he was preparing for "Curse of the Golden Flower," he had someone come and inquire about the price. At that time, the price offered to He Daqi was not low, and he was rather unresponsive. It turned out that he just didn't want to take on any other projects!

"What about preparing props, locations, filming crew, and logistics personnel? There are many large scenes in the script; we can't possibly change them all, can we?"

Zhang Yimou's question this time left He Daqi somewhat bewildered, and he couldn't help but ask in return:

"Director Zhang, these won't cost 50 million! Don't tell me you haven't seen 'After My Flower Blooms, a Hundred Flowers Kill'. Ning Hao only spent a little over 40 million on filming. Later, because he needed to train the team, he wasted a lot of time on the special effects, which only cost around 30 million. The big scenes in 'Painted Skin' are obviously not as numerous as in 'After My Flower Blooms, a Hundred Flowers Kill', and many of the props can be directly used from 'After My Flower Blooms, a Hundred Flowers Kill'. 50 million is more than enough."

"Ning Hao only used 40 million back then?"

"Correct!"

Now it was Zhang Yimou's turn to be confused. Looking at He Daqi, he didn't seem to be lying to him, which left Zhang Yimou in a state of bewilderment.

This is incredibly strange! Are we living in different times and spaces? Are prices different?
"Then... let's start making preparations and see."

Zhang Yimou didn't want to appear unreasonable, and although he still had questions, he didn't want to say more, so he hesitated for a moment and chose to compromise.

He was hoping He Daqi would lend him a hand, but now he's so stubborn. What's going on? He should wait and see.

"Director Zhang, I hope we can work together smoothly from now on. I'll be in charge of all the preparations for the production. Just contact me if you have any requests." Wu Nannan smiled and gestured to Zhang Yimou.

Zhang Yimou nodded and responded with an "Mmm".

Lu Yang, with a simple smile, also raised his hand to indicate: "Director Zhang, I've gotten to know the filming team quite well since I worked with Senior Brother Ning before, so you can ask me about this."

Zhang Yimou gave him a half-smile and said, "Okay."

At first, he thought that the Ya Yue side was a bit like a makeshift operation, but after exchanging ideas, Zhang Yimou felt that the Xin Hua Mian side was more like a makeshift operation.

Putting everything else aside, it seems that Asia-Vietnam is the only place in China that can do special effects post-production.

Seeing that the conversation was almost over, He Daqi said to Liu Ying, "Sister Liu, please take on less work. Every time I come to the company, I see our special effects department working like crazy. They're always working overtime, it's always like this, they never have a moment to rest. Give my senior brothers and sisters a break."

Before Liu Ying could speak, Wang Jinghua laughed and explained for her, "Haha, Daqi, you've misunderstood Liu Ying. Those jobs all came to us on their own initiative. There were so many that the special effects team chose which jobs to take. If they hadn't known that our company was going to do the post-production of Crazy Stone 2 and Painted Skin this year, they would have been booked for the whole year by the beginning of the year."

“…Fine then.” He Daqi rubbed his nose dejectedly.

So it turns out they chose this themselves. No wonder those guys were so enthusiastic; they were busy making money...

"Are you alright now? If you are, I'll head back first. You can talk about the preparations for the film crew. I'll just wait to start acting." He Daqi said, getting up and heading out.

"Wait!" X4
Ok?
He Daqi turned around in surprise and found that Liu Ying, Wang Jinghua, Han Shanping, and Zhang Yimou had all called out to him.

"You guys go first," Han Shanping said with a smile, waving his hand.

“Daqi, you wrote the script, and there are some parts I need to discuss with you,” Zhang Yimou said first.

“There’s no rush. I’ll come over often once you officially start preparations, and we can communicate then.” He Daqi said, looking at Liu Ying and Wang Jinghua.

Wang Jinghua glanced at Liu Ying and chose to speak first: "Daqi, regarding the actors..."

"Whatever. Except for Zhou Xun, who is already booked, the others can be arranged however you like."

“Okay!” Wang Jinghua replied with a bright smile.

What Liu Ying wanted to say was an urgent matter, something that He Daqi needed to resolve first.

"Daqi, your assistant Yan Jiu hasn't been to work for several days. His work phone has been with me the whole time. When I called him, he said you know what he's been up to. I'm about to get busy. Do you want me to find you an assistant or do you want to find one yourself?"

He Daqi was taken aback. He hadn't been going out much lately and had completely forgotten about Yan Jiu. Yan Jiu definitely wouldn't be working as an assistant after returning from South Korea, so Liu Ying was right; he should find a new assistant.

"Okay, I understand. I'll think about it and get back to you soon." After saying that, He Daqi looked at Han Shanping, who was the only one left who still had something to do.

"Daqi, if I remember correctly, before the filming of 'When My Flowers Bloom, All Other Flowers Wither,' you said there would be a sequel to this movie," Han Shanping said leisurely.

(End of this chapter)