This actor has something

Chapter 431 The Solo Dining is Gone
The celebration banquet for Crazy Stone 2 was very high-profile, organized by China Film Group.

We invited a lot of reporters; it was like holding a press conference.

In order to allow He Daqi and his wife to attend together, Han Shanping even talked to He Daqi on the phone for more than half an hour. He had to give him face, so He Daqi did not make any excuses.

Logically, the celebration banquet for Crazy Stone 2 should have been hosted by Ya Yue, but Old Han is having a tough time right now and wants to take this opportunity to show off his profits.

On the way here, He Daqi was still talking about this with Zhou Huimin. In the past two years, China Film Group has been having a run of bad luck. First, they were tricked by a master, and then they were tricked by two international directors. It was a series of misfortunes. They were being humiliated in every way.

To be honest, if it weren't for the opening up of the cinema industry to private ownership and the increasing number of screens, given the pitfalls China Film Group has encountered in the past two years, they should have already packed up and sold their businesses.

He Daqi knew a little about Han Shanping's thoughts; the old man was always thinking about breaking out of Asia and going global.

The initial reason for betting on Chen Kaige was because Chen Kaige's performance in "Farewell My Concubine" caused a sensation and won a major international award. His reputation was still somewhat respected abroad. Unfortunately, the master made a big mistake.

For the same reason, he later tried to win over Li An, but Li An was even more ruthless and caused an accident. This made Han Shanping live a very cautious time, fearing that he might wake up one day to receive a transfer notice.

After suffering two losses, Old Han learned to play it safe and steady. He still hired an internationally renowned director, one who had worked at the top in Hollywood. However, he never expected that he would still underestimate Wu Baige's magnanimity.

The limousine was parked in front of the hotel.

He Daqi and Zhou Huimin got out of the car arm in arm, and as soon as they appeared, the flashbulbs started going off non-stop.

He Daqi knew why he was there today, so he didn't rush into the hotel. He smiled and stood at the entrance with Zhou Huimin for a while, and only went into the hotel after he felt that the reporters had taken enough photos.

"Daqi, wait!"

When He Daqi heard Ning Hao's shout as he was about to press the elevator button, he was surprised and blocked the elevator door.

"No way, senior brother, you're even later than me at your victory celebration banquet today?"

"Don't talk nonsense. Do you think I don't know what happened today?" Ning Hao nodded to Zhou Huimin as soon as he entered the elevator before responding to He Daqi.

He Daqi chuckled lightly, not intending to say anything more.

Ning Hao, however, was quite talkative and chirped, "Who do you think Chairman Han will hire next? He's already tried all the Chinese directors. Will he hire one of the top Hollywood directors next time?"

"I don't know. Maybe Chairman Han thinks others are unreliable and plans to do it himself next time." He Daqi shook his head with a smile, jokingly mentioning the information he found in the film library.

Ning Hao was clearly disdainful and was just about to make another joke when the elevator doors opened, and Han Shanping was standing in the doorway.

"Wow! Chairman Han, you're getting more and more energetic!" Ning Hao gave a live demonstration of what it means to change one's expression.

"Haha, Xiao Ning, I can't say whether I'm in good spirits or not, but you're getting better and better at talking."

Only after being hurt do you know what style suits you. As a director who brings only surprises and no unexpected events and is one of the few who boosts China Film Group's revenue, Han Shanping treats Ning Hao with a completely different attitude than he treats others.

Look, even though He Daqi and his wife are in the elevator, Han Shanping greeted Ning Hao first, and after speaking to Ning Hao, he said to He Daqi, "Daqi, there's a last-minute interview later, remember to chat for a bit."

"Understood, Chairman Han."

He Daqi agreed readily because he was there to help cheer on the team.

The box office performance of Crazy Stone 2 was quite interesting. After its release two weeks prior, everyone thought the decline would be precipitous. However, after the release of Red Cliff, Crazy Stone 2 stabilized and slowly declined in box office revenue, still reaching around two million on the day it was taken off the screens.

It slowly reached 300 million, which was unexpected by everyone, even He Daqi. Ning Hao's brand has been polished quite well.

Arranged by China Film Group, He Daqi was briefly interviewed for five or six minutes before making an excuse to give his seat to Ning Hao, allowing him to make an appearance.

As soon as he entered the banquet hall, people kept coming up to greet He Daqi. Many of his former acquaintances now looked at him with more caution, calling him "Daqi" less often and addressing him as "Mr." more frequently.

He Daqi also noticed this and guessed that his current reputation was not very good, so he didn't linger and made a few casual remarks before heading to the main table.

After sitting down next to Vivian Chow and greeting everyone at the table, He Daqi quietly asked Vivian Chow, "Where's Chairman Han? Didn't he say he wanted to talk to me today? If we don't talk now, will he make us stay late?"

Zhou Huimin gestured towards the banquet hall balcony, and He Daqi turned his head and saw Han Shanping waving at him.

Tsk, I just sat down and now I have to get up again.

He Daqi reluctantly got up and walked to the balcony.

"Daqi, when are you going to film Painted Skin 2 and My Flowers Bloom and Hundred Flowers Kill 2?"

"Next year, or the end of this year." He Daqi only realized after Han Shanping asked him that these two projects had been postponed for so long.

Han Shanping was just giving He Daqi a routine reminder; he didn't expect He Daqi to actually get things ready quickly. This time, he actually wanted to talk to He Daqi about something else.

"Daqi, I have a grand plan."

He Daqi almost laughed when he heard this. Another big plan?

However, having looked at the information in the film library, He Daqi knew that Han Shanping did indeed have a big plan this time, so he smiled and didn't say anything more, wanting to hear what Han Shanping had to say.

He didn't speak, leaving Han Shanping hanging. Old Han was waiting for He Daqi to ask him questions first so he could talk about his plans. But He Daqi pretended to be mute, making Han Shanping feel quite bored.

"Don't you want to hear about the plan?" Han Shanping smacked his lips and spoke again.

"I want to hear it." He Daqi nodded indifferently.

Han Shanping's eye twitched, and he cursed inwardly, "This brat really knows how to infuriate people!"

“I’m planning to direct a movie about a great man. I’ll invite a bunch of stars to help out. I’ll give you a role with a lot of screen time. Remember to keep your schedule open.”

What was supposed to be a lengthy discussion was abruptly ended by Han Shanping's few words. Han Shanping felt rather bored and didn't want to talk about it with He Daqi any further.

Can I not go?

"No, you have to come. If you don't act in it, I'll schedule all of Ya Yue's movies for release in April next year."

"No, no, I'll go." He Daqi waved his hands repeatedly with a wry smile.

"Sigh! I didn't call you here today for this. Tsk... China Film Group might not be able to fund Asian and Vietnamese films anymore. People say China Film Group is hogging the profits. Because of this mess, these people even took the opportunity of coming to Beijing for a meeting to file a complaint against me." Han Shanping put it very euphemistically, but there was a lot more to it than that.

At least half of it is related to Ho Tai-kei. A few days ago, Ho Tai-kei acted as a troublemaker, causing everyone to complain. At that time, the people in the entertainment industry suddenly realized that there were not many people who could talk to Ho Tai-kei.

It wasn't until Han Shanping had He Daqi raise his hand and let Lin Zhiling off the hook that Mengmeng, who was clearly going to lie down, actually stood up. This made everyone realize that China Film Group had been eating too well these past few years.

Why are you able to eat so well after making so many mistakes?
He Daqi noticed that Han Shanping's expression wasn't good, opened his mouth, and then hesitated, unsure of what to say.

It doesn't really matter to He Daqi who invests. Previously, China Film Group led a group of film and television companies in Beijing as investors, and now it seems that film studios from other places are also preparing to get involved.

No matter how you respond to Han Shanping now, it's not a good idea. You can't just say, "Don't cry, Mr. Han, stand up."

He Daqi hesitated for a moment, then hummed in response.

Clearly, Han Shanping didn't expect He Daqi to say anything encouraging. He sighed, took out a cigarette, lit it, and after a while, spoke again: "We've been cooperating for so long. If Ya Yue has any projects, let me know when they're ready. I'll talk to the others. I'll take you to meet a few people in a bit. You don't need to pay much attention to them, just pretend."

"Either is fine." He Daqi shrugged.

"Is Ning Hao still messing around with that no-man's-land?"

"Yes, he's gone mad. We've tried to persuade him many times, but he won't listen. Let's wait and see. If it really doesn't work, I'll step in and help him out."

He Daqi was speechless when this matter was brought up. How could Ning Hao be so arrogant? He originally thought that he would get better after suffering a little, but he didn't expect him to get stuck on this.

“You’re not good at running things, so I’ll run things for him. I’ll talk to him later and tell him to get things ready to finish filming this movie as soon as possible, and then start filming other movies soon.” Han Shanping thought for a moment and took the job. He couldn’t let honest people always suffer losses; this was his trusted and beloved subordinate.

……

……

With the Olympics drawing ever closer, Beijing has seen a significant increase in foreign faces.

You can always find foreigners with cameras taking pictures everywhere on the streets and alleys. Some are taking pictures of skyscrapers, palaces and historical sites, while others are taking special care to take pictures of old houses and poor people.

Fortunately, there are no beggars in Beijing, otherwise a bunch of foreigners taking pictures of a beggar would be quite a sight.

At first, He Daqi wanted to use Zhang Yimou's name to get some tickets, but he didn't get much benefit from the old man. Chen Shuangxi had to queue up in the early morning to help him grab the tickets, and even then, he didn't get all of them. He missed out on tickets for many popular events. Luckily, he managed to get tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies, otherwise He Daqi would have had to say a few words to the old man.

August 8th.

The Olympics that He Daqi had been eagerly anticipating finally began.

He led his family into the Bird's Nest early, but they didn't sit together. He and Zhou Huimin each held a child and sat side by side, while Grandpa He, Grandma He, He Bing, and the others were a few seats away from He Daqi.

This is already considered good; at least it's not far away. There are still many people who can't buy tickets and can only watch TV at home.

It was already hot outside, but people's hearts were even warmer. The venue was packed, with many people standing. This stadium was full the first time it opened, so it was definitely worth building.

"Dad, how much longer until it starts?"

The baby boy nestled in He Daqi's arms and asked softly.

Before they arrived, they had told the two little rascals not to speak loudly or leave their parents' side, so they were very well-behaved and were being held obediently by He Daqi and Zhou Huimin.

The stadium was too noisy, and He Daqi couldn't hear what his son said, so he leaned down and asked, "Huanhuan, what did you just say?"

"How long until it starts?"

"Let me see, it says it officially starts at eight o'clock, it's seven fifty-four now, six minutes to go..."

Before He Daqi could finish speaking, the time on his phone jumped to 7:55, and then the stadium lights went out instantly. Then, fireworks started burning around the stadium dome.

Everyone fell silent and looked up at the fireworks overhead.

After the fireworks lit up the sky, the ancient sundial was illuminated, and then a shooting star streaked across the venue, prompting cheers from the entire crowd.

The two little ones danced with excitement, waving glow sticks like everyone else and even joining in the countdown.

After the countdown ended, fireworks soared into the sky, and the booming of drums filled the air, creating a magnificent spectacle.

He Daqi smacked his lips. This grand occasion was indeed most suitable for Zhang Yimou. It was fortunate that Zhang Yimou was chosen; otherwise, it would have been a bit risky if someone else had handled it.

For example, Feng Kuzi and Chen Kaige both signed up...

He Daqi wiped his sweat. It was incredibly hot, especially with the child in his arms. August was the hottest time of year in Beijing, and with so many people around, the heat was amplified.

He Daqi thought with annoyance, "I've miscalculated a bit."

He glanced at Vivian Chow and found that she was also looking at him, her cheeks covered in sweat.

"Put them down and let them stand between our legs," He Daqi said to Zhou Huimin in a low voice.

“No need. If we don’t hold them, they won’t be able to see the rest of the program. It’s okay. Zhang Yimou said the opening ceremony performance is only an hour and a half. We’ll leave after the performance and skip the athletes’ speeches.” Zhou Huimin shook her head and whispered.

He Daqi hummed in agreement and handed her a tissue. Holding the child made it inconvenient to wipe Zhou Huimin's sweat, so he could only let her wipe it herself.

Thankfully, Vivian Chow doesn't apply putty much anymore, otherwise, she would probably look quite disheveled with all that sweat.

The Olympic opening ceremony I had been looking forward to was not a very enjoyable experience; the temperature actually ruined it.

As soon as the performance ended, He Daqi led Zhou Huimin, holding the child, to say goodbye to He Bing and the others, and then left the stage early.

After leaving the stadium and getting into the van, the whole family breathed a sigh of relief as the air conditioning blew in. At this moment, He Daqi began to wonder whether it was worth coming to watch the later games live, as watching them on TV at home seemed more comfortable.

However, seeing the two little ones excitedly bouncing around, He Daqi decided to bring them to see the place tomorrow, and if it gets too hot, they could do it later.

(End of this chapter)