The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 506 In the Air

This low-key approach has its advantages; at least Xu Jiuyang is already thinking about how to arrange Wang Baoqiang's role in Zhang Yimou's next film.

Last year's "Reign of Assassins"—no, I mean last year's "House of Flying Daggers"—while not as spectacular as "Hero," received slightly better reviews and higher box office returns.

After all, the theme of "Hero" is still the same old assassination attempt on the Qin Dynasty, so the outcome is already predetermined. Viewers will naturally have a lower opinion of the film, even if the action scenes are exciting.

"Reign of Assassins"—no, "House of Flying Daggers"—is different. It's a pure martial arts film with a touch of philosophy, and it's particularly good at being pretentious. All of this makes it more appealing to the audience.

In addition, people's pockets are getting fatter year by year, and even if it's just a little bit more, it's normal for the box office to surpass "Hero".

So, after his break, Zhang Yimou wanted to keep up the good work and make some more blockbuster films.

Angela is not Zhang Weiping, and there is also Xu Jiuyang, so his share is still quite substantial.

In addition, Chen Kaige's first big-budget production is about to be released. In order to promote "The Promise", the authorities have specially moved their own well-made "Red Cliff Part II" to the summer season. Zhang Yimou still wants to compete for the title of the number one Chinese filmmaker.

Xu Jiuyang was prepared to satisfy him. Zhang Yimou had a strong tool-like directorial nature, making him relatively easy to control—at least easier than the rich guy who won the Palme d'Or—he had to be squeezed dry.

In his conception, there were two roles that were very suitable for Wang Baoqiang. The male lead had more screen time and a better appearance, but no action scenes. The male supporting role had a lot of action scenes, but less screen time overall. This was because in this story, the male lead was the main character and the plot revolved around him, while the others were just a group.

But there's no rush. The project was only approved when Xu Jiuyang went to Yunnan Province for training, and filming won't start until April or May next year. By then, Wang Baoqiang should have finished filming "Soldiers Sortie" and could seamlessly join the crew.

So what we need to do now... is something similar to what we did at this time last year.

“What do you mean by ‘almost’? When you went to their house before, it was New Year’s Day, but now it’s January 10th, 2006,” Angela said with great dissatisfaction.

"Oh dear, that's because training doesn't finish until the end of December, and the army invited us to participate in the New Year's Day celebration, which caused the delay," Xu Jiuyang said with a smile.

"Really?" Angela narrowed her eyes, then turned to look at the others. "Do you believe it?"

In the small cabin of the Gulfstream private jet, besides the two of them, there were five secretaries and assistants: Anne Hathaway, their personal butler, Doutzen Kroos, Keeley Hazell, Zhang Meng, and Liu Tao.

Du Chen and Ji Li are not worth mentioning. Although they are at the same level as Annie, they are mostly her de facto assistants.

Zhang Meng was there to connect with Liu Tao, while Liu Tao was there because she was the woman who was in charge of management work for Xu Jiuyang, had the best foreign language skills, and had time.

Lin Chih-ling is the housekeeper, Li Hong is responsible for the daily operation of the studio, and Dong Qing and Zhou Tao have some of Li Yunxin's characteristics, so it can't be just Liu Tao who plays the part.

That's right, they are currently flying over the United States from Los Angeles to Kansas. What happened to Gao Yuanyuan, Fan Bingbing, and Li Yunxin will happen again to Angela.

"It's none of my business. I'm just a junior assistant," Annie said without looking up, displaying a completely disrespectful attitude.

Although Du Chen and Ji Li didn't dare to act like her, they still smiled apologetically and said, "Sorry, boss, we haven't finished organizing the data yet."

"I don't believe it!" Zhang Meng raised her hand high. As Angela's person, she would definitely stand on her boss's side, even if she was having a blast with someone else.

The most difficult situation was naturally for Liu Tao. She should obviously side with Xu Jiuyang, but the problem was that in the US, Angela didn't even need to make a statement; Du Chen, Ji Li, and Zhang Meng would take care of her, and her own boss might not even stand up for her. Fortunately, Xu Jiuyang intervened at this moment: "That's how it is. If you're a step behind, you'll be a step behind... You all celebrate Christmas, rarely New Year's Day, so don't be so concerned."

The tone was rather guilty.

That's normal. Not only was he holding back for the past three months, but the women were too.

In particular, to make himself look more like a soldier, he followed the standards for new recruits and did not bring a cell phone into the barracks, communicating with the outside world only through public telephones.

Anyway, the studio, the game company, and the investment company all have their own people to manage them. Xu Jiuyang gave them authority before he left. If there are any decisions they can't make, they can discuss them. If they really can't handle something, they can ask Gao Yuanyuan and Fan Bingbing. So there's no need to worry at all.

So, after he finished training and said goodbye to Wang Baoqiang, he turned on his phone, which he hadn't used in a long time, and was bombarded with text messages.

There are countless lines like "Thinking of you again today," "When are you coming out?" and "I feel terrible without you," not to mention the more cheesy and explicit ones.
Of course, that would have been fine, but the problem was that someone actually came to the gate of the military camp to wait for him.

This person is Yang Rong. Her hometown is here. Although she doesn't know how long Xu Jiuyang will train, she still needs to get some fresh air during the New Year's Day holiday, right?
So she waited several days in advance, and called immediately after receiving the reply text message—of course she had to reply, she had to be at least a little better than a jerk.

I won't go into details after that. Xu Jiuyang had been holding back for three whole months, as had Yang Rong.

Not only that, Yang Rong immediately called Chen Hao, who then called Yan Danchen, who in turn called Dong Xuan and Tong Liya, and the group quickly flew over together.

Fortunately, Zhang Yan, Li Hong, and Dong Qing came to greet him in advance after receiving the notice, and thus handled the aftermath of certain matters properly; otherwise, they might have attracted Uncle Hat's attention.

Naturally, they also took the opportunity to join in, but because of their contributions, they all got one-on-one opportunities.

To be honest, Xu Jiuyang especially enjoyed being one-on-one with Li Hong. The way she looked, with her pent-up longing mixed with shyness, was very captivating.

Well, in short, because of this delay, it was several days later when I finally met up with Angela in Shanghai. Although I flew to Los Angeles and spent about ten hours getting back, it was all for naught. So, the original plan to rest in Los Angeles for a while before flying to Kansas was canceled because Chinese New Year's Eve is earlier this year, at the end of January.

“Why shouldn’t I care? I’m very unhappy right now.” Angela clearly wasn’t going to let it go so easily.

"Well, let's talk about what I need to be careful about when we get to Kansas," Xu Jiuyang changed the subject.

“No need. I brought you here just to show my face.” Angela’s tone was somewhat indifferent.

Xu Jiuyang suddenly realized that Angela rarely talked about her family situation. Not to mention Gao Yuanyuan and Fan Bingbing, even Li Yunxin, who had conflicts with her family, would still occasionally talk about interesting things about her family, especially those related to her eldest sister, Li Fuzhen.

Angela, however, would only offer a few words of casual conversation before changing the subject, even if asked directly.

"Okay, do you have any progress on that matter?" Xu Jiuyang changed the subject again.

"Which thing?" Angela clearly didn't know what he was talking about.

“It’s…that thing,” Xu Jiuyang scratched his head, glanced at the other women in the cabin, and took a deep breath, lowering his voice, “…finding…a wife…”

(End of this chapter)