The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 311 How much are you offering?

"You talked to him a lot," Angela teased with a smile as she left the actors' side.

Clearly, while she spent most of her time listening to the actors' statements, she also kept some of her attention on him.

"Actually, he knows it himself, but... besides being a director of China Film Group, he is also a bureaucrat." Xu Jiuyang shrugged helplessly.

The defining characteristic of bureaucrats is that they prefer nothing to change, and if change is unavoidable, they want to change everything at once and do it to the best of their ability.

So even if we know that the best way to solve the chaos in the entertainment and film industry in the future is to get documents from above, what good will that do?

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you once said, ‘Man proposes, God disposes,’” Angela said casually.

"Yeah, what's wrong... hey?" Xu Jiuyang was a little confused. He wanted to say something more, but when he saw the girl who came with headdress and hair bun and wearing Hanfu, he couldn't help but be stunned.

"Son Ye-jin," Angela called out, waving at her.

The other party was stunned for a moment, then clearly delighted when he saw Xu Jiuyang. He immediately jogged over and bowed deeply, saying, "Ms. Lin Dewo, Mr. Xu."

"This is the actress Yunxin recommended to play Xiao Qiao," Angela introduced with a smile.

“I know…” Xu Jiuyang’s lips twitched slightly.

Even though "Red Cliff" is a male-dominated film, it still needs some female characters to add variety, so it was decided from the beginning that at least two female characters would appear.

Yes, it's Xiao Qiao and Sun Shangxiang.

Of course, Xu Jiuyang will definitely not let them take up a lot of screen time, or even have a scene like "Mengmeng stands up". They are just tools to balance the plot.

The highlight of "Red Cliff" is indeed the large-scale battle scenes, but it's impossible to fight from beginning to end. No matter how intense the story is, even if it's a fight movie from start to finish like "The Raid", there are always moments for the audience to catch their breath.

At this point, it would be perfectly acceptable to showcase the harmonious relationship between Xiao Qiao and Zhou Yu, or to highlight Sun Shangxiang's heroic spirit.

Therefore, the role of Sun Shangxiang was given to Fan Bingbing, while the role of Xiao Qiao was given to Son Ye-jin from South Korea.

If it were Fan Bingbing from before "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber," Xu Jiuyang might have doubted whether she could portray the heroic and valiant spirit. But now there's no problem; Zhao Min and Sun Shangxiang do share some similarities.

Or rather, because there is so little information about Sun Shangxiang, and even her name is something that only appeared in modern Peking Opera, there is room for interpretation, and it is perfectly acceptable to portray her in a way that is close to Zhao Min.

Her main purpose in appearing was to carry out some reconnaissance missions, while secretly observing Liu Bei and expressing some curiosity, which can be considered as a connection with the plot of Sun Quan marrying off his sister—although it is impossible to make a movie.

As for Xiao Qiao, she's just a pretty face, not much different from the Xiao Qiao in the TV series. In fact, because the scene of her outwitting Zhou Yu is gone, her role as a plot device is even more obvious. The movie version emphasizes the momentary brilliance of Liang Yu, so it can't follow the novel. Therefore, the focus of Liang Yu should be on the battle of wits and the battle without breaking the bond.

Because of this, the role fell to Son Ye-jin. Since Lee Yoon-hyung also had investments, it's normal for the Korean side to put someone in, right? It's not an important role, so we have to give them that much face.

But... why Son Ye-jin?

"Good luck," Xu Jiuyang nodded to Sun Yizhen.

After joining the crew, she worked hard to learn Chinese and etiquette, so why worry about so much?

Son Ye-jin wanted to say something more, but under Angela's gaze, she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue, bowed slightly, and stepped aside.

But that didn't mean she gave up. So when Xu Jiuyang went to the restroom halfway through, he turned around after washing his hands and saw Sun Yizhen, who was slightly out of breath, still wearing Hanfu, without her headdress and hair bun.

"Don't tell me you want to sacrifice yourself here," Xu Jiuyang said with a hint of helplessness.

Son Ye-jin, who understood, paused for a moment, then bowed and said, "If you want to stay here, that's fine too."

After saying that, she reached for the hem of her dress, preparing to kneel on the ground.

Xu Jiuyang, whose eyelids were twitching, quickly stopped him, saying, "Alright, alright, no need for that." Then, he took a deep breath: "Did Yunxin send you?"

Son Ye-jin lowered her head: "I can't say."

Xu Jiuyang twitched his lips: "Fine, since that's the case, you can decide when is suitable for yourself."

After saying that, he took out a business card and gave it to her, then thought for a moment and added, "If there's anyone else, let's all come together."

"Thank you so much, sir!" Son Ye-jin immediately bowed at a 90-degree angle, her joyful expression seemingly genuine.

Why does it feel like Yunxin is some kind of demon queen in front of them? Xu Jiuyang couldn't help but think this after they came out.

Of course he knew that Lee Yoon-hyung was very strict at work. She was Korean, so it was understandable. Besides, she was just strict, not abnormal.

"Looks like you've had some good luck?" Angela teased after they reunited.

"Is that so?" Xu Jiuyang was too lazy to say more.

"So, why don't you go play Zhao Yun and write a legendary romance between Zhao Yun and Xiao Qiao or Sun Shangxiang?" Angela continued to tease.

"Forget it, Teacher Yang, Teacher Sun, and Teacher Lu have been doing rehabilitation training for a long time, I'd better not get involved." Xu Jiuyang rolled his eyes at her.

In the beginning, she and Fan Bingbing persuaded him to play Zhao Yun in "Red Cliff" because the movie was to be divided into two parts, and the first part was filmed from Changbanpo.

To be honest, he was indeed tempted. Who wouldn't want to play Zhao Zilong, the hero with a silver saddle and white horse?
However, the original versions of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei were all chosen, and their ages were just right. Zhao Zilong at Changbanpo was also around 40 years old. It would be too damn incongruous for a young person like myself to take the stage.

In addition, he has already acted in several movies and TV series, but none of them have been released or broadcast so far, which has made his mother ask him on the phone whether he is really an actor.

Then, there's another movie called "Falling" going to start filming early next year. He didn't want to get involved in the entertainment industry anymore, but he had no choice. He wasn't thick-skinned enough to accept their advances without taking responsibility.

In short, that's how it was. In the end, the role was still given to Yang Fan. Although the box office of "A Blade of Despair" was terrible, the character of Wang Wu, the Great Swordsman, was still impressive. In addition, he had also played Zhao Yun in the Three Kingdoms drama. It would be suitable for the audience to feel nostalgic with Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei.

"By the way, there's something I wanted to ask," Xu Jiuyang said, seeing that Angela wanted to continue, "You made a deal with Bingbing about the Cannes Best Actress award, right?"

“That’s right.” Angela nodded.

"You guys might target some people and movies at that time, right?" Xu Jiuyang continued to ask.

"Hmm." Angela continued to nod.

"Then, how about you snipe someone for me too?" Xu Jiuyang asked seriously.

"Who?" Angela asked directly.

"Li An, the director of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'." Xu Jiuyang was equally clear.

"Did he offend you? When?" Angela raised an eyebrow curiously.

"Is it okay?" Xu Jiuyang did not answer.

“Of course, but how much are you offering in this deal?” Angela asked with a smile.

"What do you want?" Xu Jiuyang asked in return.

“Let me think…” Angela tapped her temple with her fingers, then leaned close to him and gently breathed into his ear: “How about spending some quality time with me tonight?”

(End of this chapter)