This actor has something

Chapter 426 Exerting Power from Afar
"You spent another night with someone?"

Zhou Huimin nudged He Daqi with her elbow with a grin.

She lay lazily on the sofa, her head resting on He Daqi's shoulder, holding up her phone and carefully reading entertainment news.

The big fat cat was lying on the back of the sofa. When it heard Vivian Chow speak, it opened its eyes and lazily twisted its head. That was all it did. Then it comfortably closed its eyes and continued to lie there without moving.

He Daqi paused the game on his phone, smacked his lips, and asked, "Who is it this time?"

“A little model, she’s making it sound so real, but her imagination is a bit lacking. She actually said you did it eight times in one night, and it took three hours. Look at her blushing face, anyone who didn’t know better would actually believe it.” Zhou Huimin held the phone up to He Daqi’s face, wanting him to take a closer look.

He Daqi did look carefully, not at their faces, but at their ambition first. He was immediately disappointed after seeing their ambition, too lazy to look at their faces, and went back to playing his game, muttering to himself, "Why are all the models over there so skinny? Are they malnourished?"

Hearing this, Zhou Huimin chuckled and snuggled closer to He Daqi, going from resting her head on his shoulder to nestling in his arms. She playfully prevented him from playing games, stroking his face with her fingers and asking happily:

"If she knew that your eight times could last from afternoon until dawn, would she be so excited that she'd tie herself up and deliver herself to your door?"

He Daqi ignored her and let Zhou Huimin playfully pinch his face.

He didn't speak, but Zhou Huimin went further, pinching He Daqi's lower lip with her index finger and thumb, pulling it up to align with his chin, exposing all of He Daqi's lower teeth, making him look like a mentally challenged person who couldn't take care of himself.

Seeing He Daqi's expression, Zhou Huimin chuckled and continued, "I misspoke earlier. This little model doesn't even need to know your abilities. Just with your face, you can just wave your hand and she'll obediently package herself up and send herself over for you to judge. Daqi, how can you be so good-looking?"

As Vivian Chow started to swoon over her words, He Daqi rolled his eyes, first brushed away Vivian Chow's teasing hand, then tried to push her aside, preparing to get up and go back to the bedroom.

He tried to push her but couldn't budge her; Zhou Huimin clung to him shamelessly.

"Damn it! I stay home all day doing nothing, and suddenly more than a dozen guys have started having one-night stands with me. Did these idiots buy my picture and stick it on two-liter Coke bottles? Are they that addicted?"

He Daqi's flustered and pale appearance made Zhou Huimin cover her mouth and burst into laughter.

Everyone else has proven their innocence, so this mudslinging makes it impossible to defend oneself properly.

"Let's be patient for now and let them keep jumping around. That's how it is in Taiwan. They only know how to use these tricks all day long. Let's wait until they all show their faces and see who's behind them."

He Daqi wasn't usually prone to getting angry, but Zhou Huimin was a real troublemaker, constantly nagging him about these trivial matters. Over time, He Daqi started to get easily agitated whenever he heard about these issues.

Now He Daqi was getting impatient. With a sudden effort, he lifted Zhou Huimin off the sofa, ready to go back to the bedroom and give her a good talking-to.

"Put me down, I'm not playing around with you anymore. Have you forgotten we have to go to the company today?"

"You knew I was supposed to go to the company today, why did you still provoke me?"

He Daqi replied irritably, then let go of Zhou Huimin's foot and let her stand up.

Early in the morning, He Daqi originally wanted to stay at home a little longer, but now he was full of energy and prepared to go back to his bedroom to get ready before heading to the company.

About ten minutes later, He Daqi's phone rang in the nanny van.

As soon as the call connected, Deng Chao's infectious laughter filled the air. After he finally finished laughing, Deng Chao began to speak haltingly.

"Haha, Daqi, hahaha, you're awesome! Hahaha, playing with girls from afar, are you the Ruyi Jingu Bang (magic staff)?"

"roll!"

He Daqi hung up the phone without saying a word.

He stopped answering Deng Chao's calls. After refusing to answer two or three times, He Daqi got annoyed and simply blacklisted him.

When they arrived at the company, the employees of Ya Yue saw He Daqi with a long face and didn't dare to greet him. The atmosphere was both awkward and strange.

As a German-American, Adolf Reinhard neither understands nor reads Chinese, so he is completely unaware of He Daqi's current situation.

He had little contact with He Daqi and didn't know his temperament. Moreover, because of the shady workmanship during filming, He Daqi didn't give him a friendly look at first. So when he saw He Daqi with a stern face, he just assumed that this was a big star who liked to show his displeasure and cautiously came over.

“Dear He, I feel that those two directors don’t understand my art, and they also disagree on how to edit it, so I thought, why don’t I edit it myself, since it’s based on the story in my mind.”

This fat guy must have been wronged, so he came to He Daqi to complain. He fawned over He Daqi like a lackey, even pushing Zhou Huimin aside.

Finally, something happy happened. Seeing Zhou Huimin's amused and exasperated expression, He Daqi's lips curled up slightly.

Without responding to the white, fat man's request, He Daqi casually waved his hand, signaling Adolf Reinhard to stop arguing, and then quickly walked towards Ning Hao and Zhang Yimou.

The two were sitting in front of the computer, looking at Adolf Reinhard's rough cut of "Wild Chrysanthemum" and discussing something in hushed tones. Wu Nannan was standing next to them, clearly having been acting as a translator.

"Old Zhang... Director, senior brother, what do you think of this story?"

He almost called out "Old Zhang" aloud, but luckily He Daqi was quick-witted and changed the way he addressed him with a slight twist of his tongue.

Zhang Yimou had overheard He Daqi calling him "Old Zhang" in private conversations more than once, but he had never called him out on it. Now, hearing He Daqi almost let it slip, his eyelids drooped slightly, but thanks to his perpetually expressionless face, no one noticed any change in his expression.

Ning Hao glanced at Zhang Yimou, and seeing that he didn't speak, he spoke first to respond to He Daqi.

"The standards in South Korea are really high; they dare to film anything. If this were in China, this movie would probably be cut down to only ten minutes."

Ning Hao's tone was tinged with envy. He had been feeling rather disheartened by the scandals surrounding the No Man's Land and the mad dogs lately. Now, seeing Adolf Reinhard's "Wild Chrysanthemum," he was genuinely envious and even considered adapting "No Man's Land" and filming it in South Korea.

"I asked you to talk about the plot, why are you talking about the scale? Tell me quickly, what are your thoughts? I feel that Adolf's filming is too fragmented. If it were edited, it would be at least a four-hour film. The problem is that I think even two hours is too long, so I want you two to help me sort it out and see if we can edit it from a different perspective."

He Daqi put his hand on Ning Hao's shoulder and spoke while watching "Wild Chrysanthemum" playing on the computer.

Ning Hao noticed that Zhang Yimou was still silent, so he continued, "Director Zhang wanted to use flashback shots to increase the storytelling, but I think it's just so-so. I just said it would be better to move the ending to the beginning, use bloody scenes to attract the audience, and then make the audience curious to keep watching."

"Senior, you just spoke with Adolf, right? What's his plan?"

"His style is outdated, it's like an old-fashioned movie. If we follow his editing, I reckon it'll be boring and tedious, and nobody will want to watch it." Ning Hao was just taking advantage of the fact that Adolf Reinhard couldn't understand Chinese, so he was talking nonsense to his face.

Zhang Yimou finally spoke, but he didn't say anything good: "Daqi, if you want me to help with the editing, I don't think I'll have time. I'm busy with the Olympics, and after that, I have to prepare for the release of Painted Skin. So let Xiaoning do it."

"I don't have time either. My Crazy Stone 2 is about to be released, and after that, I'll be working on the script for No Man's Land. How could I possibly help with editing?" Ning Hao also made excuses.

"Was filming in that no man's land absolutely necessary? You got yourself into trouble because of it? I don't care, after Crazy Stone 2 is released, you get me a cut of it, I want to use it for comparison."

He Daqi flicked Ning Hao's forehead several times, making Ning Hao cover his head and dodge. After speaking to Ning Hao, He Daqi turned to Zhang Yimou:
"Director Zhang, you should also edit a version. With your boundless energy, I'm sure you'll find the time to edit. There's no rush for the final product. Just finish editing it before the Olympics are over. Anyway, you're only preparing for the opening and closing ceremonies, so you'll have plenty of time to edit in between."

Hearing He Daqi say this, Zhang Yimou nodded and agreed.

He Daqi turned to look at Adolf Reinhard, thought for a moment, and said in a comforting tone, "Mr. Adolf, make three copies of the negative and give one to each of these two directors. Didn't you just say you wanted to edit it yourself? I agree, but I have one request: the final film must be around two hours long, not too much longer."

Adolf Reinhard was overjoyed, grinning like a fat toad, nodding his head six times per second.

The issue of editing "Wild Chrysanthemum" has been resolved. He Daqi plans to compare the three versions together, get feedback from many people, and use the version that receives the most positive reviews.

"Daqi, this movie is from Seagate, but you brought Asia Pacific to do the post-production. You're really taking advantage of the company." Wu Nannan teased with a light laugh after He Daqi finished making the arrangements.

"Don't talk nonsense, Sister Wu. Ning Hao isn't one of us at Ya Yue. Director Zhang is from Ya Yue, but he was just helping out. Don't make a big deal out of it."

The two walked towards the office while talking, and then came the real business He Daqi had come to the company for today.

In the office, Liu Ying and Wang Jinghua were petting the big fat cat. This little gas canister was unusually lazy these days, doing nothing but eating and sleeping. It would roll over and lie on its back no matter who tried to rub it. It was basically just giving up.

Upon seeing He Daqi and Wu Nannan enter, Wang Jinghua and Liu Ying stopped what they were doing, turned around, and sat down at the table, ready to have a proper discussion about the issue of Taiwanese celebrities engaging in staged accidents for publicity.

Before He Daqi could sit down next to Zhou Huimin, Wang Jinghua teased, "Daqi, you've been quite popular with girls lately, with a bunch of girls lining up to date you."

"Since you've brought this up, let's start by talking about this issue. Besides me being smeared, have all the artists on our Asia-Pacific side been targeted? I'm including the artists under your management, Sister Hua."

Wang Jinghua straightened her expression and nodded, saying, "Yes, none of them have escaped. The most popular artist I have right now is Sun Honglei, and the second most active is Jia Nailiang. They've been the most criticized. Chen Daoming hasn't taken on many roles in recent years, so no one criticizes him. Hu Jun has also been the subject of a lot of discussion. The most important thing is that the other party is also stealing endorsements and appearances. Many of my artists have had their deals stolen. This is a full-scale crackdown."

"Besides our Asia-Pacific region, have any other Taiwanese artists ever smeared domestic artists?" He Daqi continued to ask.

He Daqi's question made Wang Jinghua start to think. After thinking for a while, she shook her head, meaning that this time the Taiwanese side was heading towards Asia and Vietnam.

Liu Ying thought of something funny, covered her mouth and laughed twice, and said happily: "Does Zhou Jieji not count? He's a veteran cesspool, he gets stepped on every day. I just can't figure it out, did he poop in Ziwei's mouth when they were filming back then? Now Ziwei brings him up to rinse the pot whenever she has a chance."

When Liu Ying mentioned this, everyone in the office burst into laughter.

He Daqi smiled and shook his head. After everyone quieted down, he spoke up: "Alright, it seems they're coming straight for us. Sister Wu, what do they say about the fifth floor? Can they file a class-action lawsuit?"

"Okay, but Daqi, don't have too high expectations. Even if you win the case, the artists there may not accept the punishment imposed on you in China."

"As long as we win the lawsuit, that's fine. Let them bear the stigma first," He Daqi said nonchalantly.

At this moment, Vivian Chow suddenly spoke up: "Since they're scrambling for appearances and endorsements, then we can scramble for them too."

Xiao Liu, you transferred 200 million from Yonghui Qiming to Asia-Pacific. Next, organize the list... never mind, no need to organize it. Xiao Wu, keep an eye on things; for any Taiwanese artist with projects in mainland China, send someone to get involved and snatch the roles.

"No matter what the project is, whether it's a movie or a TV series, you can have our artists bring their own funding to the production. If they don't have enough money, just tell me. I believe that apart from Taiwan's own companies in mainland China, no one else would refuse this offer."

"Vivian, what is the percentage of people who bring their own funding to join the project?" Wu Nannan asked seriously.

"It depends on the role. If it's a lead role, and the other party's project investment is 20 million, then our people will bring 8 million. If it's a major supporting role, we'll bring 3 million, and a minor supporting role, 500,000. For guest appearances, it depends on the star power. In short, the star power must be higher than that of the Taiwanese side. But one thing to note is that all projects must be carefully reviewed. If it's obviously a case of taking a lot of easy money, then don't go. Try to make their projects fail. If you owe them favors, then do them the favors. If you need to spend money, then do it."

After Zhou Huimin finished speaking, Liu Ying, Wu Nannan, and Wang Jinghua all nodded seriously, understanding what Zhou Huimin meant.

(End of this chapter)