A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 245 is so awesome!
After chatting idly for a while, I found it rather boring.

Lin Jianlu felt that Tommy Mottola was completely faking it, putting on a crazy act, but deliberately not acting it out; in short, a mysterious state.

But Lin Jianlu couldn't be bothered with their petty infighting.

Having visited him, I've done my part.

He got up and left.

The settlement is no longer in Tommy Mottola's office, but in the office of Lin Jianlu's old acquaintance, Zieg Schuberman. Because of his role in orchestrating the global success of "21," he subsequently won an initial victory in the internal power struggle and has been promoted to senior vice president of Columbia Records, currently considered the company's number two.

While the accountants were busy and stressed, Lin Jianlu had nothing to do. After drinking two cups of coffee, he really didn't want any more, so he left Zieg Schuberman's office and strolled down the corridor, taking the opportunity to tour the interior of Columbia Records. This should be the office floor. He had been here many times, but each time he had only come and gone in a hurry. Now it looked like an old building. It was said that they had always wanted to move to New York, but they had never been able to.

Hey, Lin!

"Hey!"

Wow, Lin!

Hey, buddy, how are you?

Along the way, almost everyone they met greeted them with delight, and Lin Jianlu responded with a smile to each one. Suddenly, at a corner, they bumped into two menacing security guards. Lin Jianlu was taken aback for a moment, and the two security guards were also taken aback for a moment, but they quickly nodded and greeted him, "Hey, Lin!"

"Yay, hello!"

The two nodded, their eyes filled with curiosity and admiration, and brushed past each other. They quickly knocked on the door of an office next door, and after what seemed like a response from inside, they pushed the door open and went in.

Then a voice suddenly came from inside, "NO! Mr. Spears, Columbia has a very high opinion of Ms. Spears, but we cannot possibly pay her a whopping 30 US dollars in breach of contract fees! I'll say it again, you have to handle that damn contract yourself, Columbia won't pay a single penny!"

Then came a man's weak voice, "Please, Mr. Peters, help us, help this poor girl! Jive Records is a difficult company to deal with, and we simply can't afford to terminate the contract! This girl, she wants to sing, she just wants to sing... Please!"

Lin Jianlu pursed her lips, shook her head, and walked away.

Such things happen almost all the time in the entertainment industry, whether in the East or the West.

Opportunity, opportunity, and more opportunity!

Many people just need an opportunity, but that opportunity is so rare.

Before you get that opportunity, no matter how talented you are, it's all worthless. Once you get the opportunity and become famous, it's only because you got that opportunity at that time. For example, even though Lin Jianlu is very famous now, at the peak of his fame, it would be a simple matter of him starting his own record company. However, he still chose to acquire Music Factory, taking the opportunity to leave 10% of the shares in Rolling Stone. When Ge Fuhong wanted to merge Millennium Records into the company, Lin Jianlu agreed after a little thought.

In fact, every time he returned to the capital, unless the schedule was too tight, he would definitely have a meal with Xue Zhongding. If Rolling Stone hadn't signed him, if Xue Zhongding hadn't traveled all over the country in the dead of winter for "Cold to the End", and if Ge Fuhong and Zhang Aijia hadn't become his managers when he first debuted, protecting him from the wind and rain, how could he have become so successful?
In fact, Ge Fuhong's current position as general manager of Music Factory is only temporary. This position was reserved for Xue Zhongding by Lin Jianlu. However, he only needs to take a month or two to hand over the reins to the new manager sent by Rolling Stone. Around June or July, Lao Xue will go to Hong Kong to take up his new post.

This is how Lin Jianlu repaid that opportunity.

If you help me once, I'll help you for the rest of my life!

"Wow, Lin, hello!"

"Hey there!"

The Columbia Records headquarters building has a circular structure. Turning a corner, she soon encountered people greeting her again, but further ahead seemed to be the elevator shaft. Lin Jianlu hesitated for a moment, then decided not to go any further. Just as she was about to turn back, a questioning voice came from behind her, "Lin?"

Lin Jianlu turned around and saw a middle-aged man with a petite girl beside him.

"Oh God! Lin?"

The little girl, who had been looking dejected, suddenly looked up, her eyes widening in surprise. She instinctively covered her mouth with her hand, then quickly released it. "Oh... Mommy! Oh, Daddy, did I see that right?"—Her father had already rushed up to her. "Hi, Lin, it's great to see you! I'm Jamie, Jamie Spears, hey, Lin! Wow..."

He was so excited he could barely speak. Lin Jianlu smiled and reached out his hand, "Hi, hello Mr. Spears."

He clasped her hands together, reluctant to let go for a long time. Only when he felt Lin Jianlu forcefully pulling her hands away did he come to his senses. He turned his head and saw his daughter still standing there dumbfounded. Suddenly, he said, "Hey, Lin, hey, please allow me to recommend a girl to you. Believe me, she's amazing! She's been trained since she was little. She started performing on stage at nine, acting in plays at eleven, and joined Disney's 'New Mickey Mouse Club' at twelve. Wow, she's very popular. Hey, Britney, Camon, come here, don't just stand there like an idiot, say hello!"

Lin Jianlu was already about to leave when the other person started talking. He waved and quickened his pace, trying to shake them off, but he still habitually smiled and nodded at the girl who was still standing there staring blankly at him. However… um? Britney Spears?
He suddenly stopped, turned his head, and exclaimed, "Holy crap, is that Britney Spears?"
With her chubby baby face, she was quite pretty and cute, but by American standards, she was incredibly unfashionable, practically a typical silly girl—not even a naive and innocent type, just someone who seemed both unfashionable and stupid.

In the short time it took to stop, the silly girl snapped out of her surprise at suddenly meeting her idol. Her eyes widened as she walked up to him and exclaimed, "Lin! Oh God! Lin, I love you! I love your '21,' I love it like crazy, I'm your most loyal fan! Oh God, how did I end up meeting you... My parents took me to the Super Bowl, we managed to get tickets, believe me, I really did go, because I love you like crazy!"

Upon closer inspection, it really is her.

Lin Jianlu smiled and extended her hand to her, "Hey, Miss Spears, it's nice to meet you!"

"Oh God, I can't take it anymore, I'm going to cry!"

Well, it's not uncommon in the Chinese music scene, but it's even more serious in the US. Anyway, in Lin Jianlu's own memory of growing up, she doesn't think she ever had a period like this, where she was so crazy about a singer or actor that she would scream and lose control whenever she saw them!

Lin Jianlu was still smiling and was about to withdraw his hand when the silly girl suddenly pounced on him and hugged him tightly. "Oh, God! I love you so much, Lin, oh..."

Just then, the security guard who had come out of the office rushed over. Lin Jianlu quickly reached out and said, "Hey! Hey!" to stop the guard, then patted Britney Spears on the back. "OK! OK! Girl, Miss Spears, don't get excited, I can give you an autograph! Don't get excited!"

The bodyguards stopped Jamie Spears from getting closer. After Britney let go of Lin Jianlu, the people from the office came out and pushed past Britney, all smiles. "Hey, Lin, hello! I'm John, John Peters, from production. Nice to meet you!"

"MeToo!"

So they shook hands.

Located near the elevator, the area is always bustling with people. Although this scene lasted only a minute, it quickly attracted many onlookers, with many eager to come and see the superstar up close.

Well, this was inside Columbia Records, a place where singers and stars come and go every day. In fact, Lin Jianlu now absolutely dares not take commercial airliners, nor go shopping or strolling in any public malls—it was slightly better in Hong Kong, but even going out for a meal required disguise and careful maneuvering through crowds to get into a private room. Returning to the capital was the easiest option; the people there liked him, but not to the point of such frenzied pursuit. And the worst offenders, without a doubt, were the Americans!
Their idol worship here is truly crazy!

Seeing the situation in the corridor, Lin Jianlu quickly realized that it was not appropriate for her to stay in this state any longer. So, after letting go of John Peters' hand, she instructed, "Hey John, please remember to get the girl's mailing address. I want to send him an autographed copy, thank you!"

So, half-heartedly, he retreated quickly into the depths of the corridor under the escort of bodyguards.

Occasionally, when he turned around, he would see Spears and his daughter still looking at him affectionately.

Well, my original intention was just to wander around and relax, but I didn't expect to almost cause a farce.

It's a bit of a helpless situation.

Escorted back to Schuberman's office by security, Zhang Aijia came over and asked what was wrong. She was speechless. She immediately looked up at the two burly men standing behind Lin Jianlu. Although she didn't say anything, she made them both smile awkwardly. However, Lin Jianlu himself didn't seem to care. He was the one who told the bodyguards not to follow him. Instead, he told Zhang Aijia, "Later, go find that guy named John Peters and get the contact information for that Miss Britney Spears. I promised to give her an autograph."

She gave an "OK" sign and quickly went over to supervise the accountants' audit.

Lin Jianlu had no choice but to sit down on the sofa again, feeling utterly bored. After thinking for a moment, he turned to the burly man behind him and said, "Hey, Mike, Kamoon, have a cigarette!"

"You ordered me not to give you cigarettes!"

"I'm ordering you now, give me a cigarette!"

"OK, you're the boss!"

…………

Well, the audit took a good six or seven hours. It was incredibly boring, and the pizza downstairs at Columbia Records headquarters was as awful as ever. But the result was good; there were no problems with the accounts.

As expected, this time the global sales figure is slightly over 4450 million copies. Subtracting the slightly over 2400 million copies settled last October, that's roughly 2050 million copies, bringing the total royalties to 1.355 million US dollars. Hmm, the amount is a bit low, so Lin Jianlu specifically asked about it before signing the confirmation. Zieg Schuberman replied that it's always been like this in Africa, India, and other places; the distribution contracts stipulate that the percentage of sales from those regions allocated to Sony Columbia is lower, blah blah blah…

Okay, we could argue about it, but there's no need. They're not that different.

Lin Jianlu has always been reluctant to argue with record companies over these minor issues.

So he signed it without hesitation.

The money won't be available for a while, as it will have to go through Shin Kong Columbia. However, once Lin Jianlu signs the papers, Zhao Mingxin, although still in Taiwan, won't delay the paperwork here. Lin Jianlu should be able to receive the payment from Shin Kong Columbia in about a week.

Yes, of course, there's another big one.

The limited edition of "harvesting leeks" sold out almost immediately upon release. Zhang Aijia had already made arrangements with them beforehand, and this time the royalties were settled together – 33%, which is basically 3300 million US dollars!

The key is that the money came too easily. It was only 9999 US dollars per set, and they still wanted to buy it all. Unfortunately, there were only 10,000 sets available, so there was no way to do any reproduction or reprinting. It was all money in one go.

Well, the total revenue is approximately US$1.685 million!

I politely declined the dinner and party invitations, but after opening a bottle of champagne and taking a couple of sips, I left.

However, ever since she left the office and went downstairs to the elevator, Zhang Aijia had a strange smile on her face, which made Lin Jianlu frown frequently, but she insisted on not saying a word.

Just as the elevator was about to reach the parking garage, she showed the note in her hand, which seemed to be contact information. "I got that girl's contact information, but you need to think it over carefully. I've seen her basic information. She was born in 81 and is 17 years old. Let me contact a lawyer to ask if it's illegal to be 17 in America."

Lin Jianlu was stunned for a moment, then raised his middle finger, "Damn it! I didn't want to sleep with her, I'm just a fan!"

Sylvia Chang shrugged and remained silent.

When they arrived at the underground parking garage, bodyguards were escorting them to the car they had come in. Suddenly, Zhang Aijia grabbed Lin Jianlu, turned around and looked around, then pointed to a car not far away in the parking lot.

The next moment, without her needing to play any tricks, the rear doors of the extended Lincoln suddenly opened simultaneously on both sides, and two stunning beauties stepped out—"Holy crap! Haha!"

Lin Jianlu greeted them with a smile, and the bodyguards instantly lowered their guard. One on each side, they pulled them into their arms. Looking at Wang Zuxian on this side and then at Yu Feihong on the other, he asked, "Why did you come all this way from so far away?"—Though he said this, he was still happy inside.

Well, he had just received a large sum of money, and now his two lovers were coming to pick him up.

So cool!
…………

The two seem to be quite familiar with each other now—Yu Feihong went to Hong Kong to film a movie called "The Lucky Guy" and stayed in the villa in the Mid-Levels for a month or so, so they weren't exactly strangers.

This time, Wang Zuxian has been staying here for about two months. Yu Feihong arrived a little later, but they have kept in touch by phone. Lin Jianlu knows that she is basically staying here for two weeks and then flying back for a week to tutor her students. In her words, what's with all the arrogance? She's making a lot of money!
Lin Jianlu has two residences in New York. One is a townhouse on the Upper East Side, rented by Sony Columbia. That is his official residence, known to many in the industry, but he almost never lives there; it's more of a front. On the contrary, Zhang Aijia used that place to set up a small agency with six or seven people, which is now responsible for copywriting and liaison work. Therefore, when Wang Zuxian and Yu Feihong come here, they also stay in the other penthouse rented by Lin Jianlu.

They had lived in the same house for a month or two, used the same services and nanny, ate from the same pot, and even had the same team of bodyguards when they went out. The two should have become increasingly familiar with each other.

Once in the car, they raised the partition and each put their arms around one of the three of them, fooling around for a while, which somewhat quenched their longing. Then, Yu Feihong became less obedient. It seemed that although she was quite familiar with Wang Zuxian, she was still unwilling to fool around with the three of them, so she escaped on her own and sat in the opposite seat of the stretch Lincoln.

On the contrary, Wang Zuxian has always been very obedient.

Lin Jianlu was smug and didn't care about the eye roll Yu Feihong threw at her. She saw Yu Feihong adjusting her underwear through her skirt, tugging at it, pulling it up, and chuckling to herself.

However, once things calmed down a bit and I looked closely, I gradually began to see something.

The two of them have been in New York for the past two months, and it seems their makeup skills have improved a lot. Their overall makeup looks more refined. After staring at them for a few seconds, Lin Jianlu even let go of Wang Zuxian and leaned over to look at Yu Feihong's eyebrows. "Hmm, no wonder I thought she looked prettier than before. Her eyebrows are drawn very well!"

She had her eyebrows done, or perhaps a skilled artist designed them for her. In any case, this eyebrow makeup accentuated her femininity, making her seem young yet suddenly exuding the indescribable charm of someone in their thirties or forties.

Yu Feihong straightened her underwear, then bent over and got out of her seat, straightened her skirt, and sat back down before finally looking at him with a reproachful look and a smile, "Show some respect! There are two big stars sitting on your lap! Don't touch me!"

This unexpected joke was quite good, and Lin Jianlu laughed heartily.

Looking back at the person next to her, well, Wang Zuxian's makeup is more refined, but her eyebrows haven't been changed. That's right, her eyebrows are very distinctive, so please don't change them!
He hugged her affectionately, kissed her again, and asked, "You said you wanted to improve their pizza, how's the experiment going? Any progress?"—She laughed, "Yes! Feihong called her friend and asked her to guide me over the phone, and now I've learned how to make Northern-style smoked meat pancakes!"

"Hahahaha!"

Another good joke!

…………

The journey from Washington to New York isn't short, but luckily I had two beautiful women with me along the way. We chatted about their experiences in New York over the past two months, and before I knew it, we had arrived.

Four months later, I returned to New York.

It was almost nine o'clock at night when we went upstairs. Everyone was starving. After we got home, we quickly changed our clothes and washed our faces. The housekeeper had already brought up dinner, which she had prepared right on time.

Zhang Aijia also stayed for dinner, and everyone chatted while eating.

In the past two months, Wang Zuxian has signed contracts with eight brands of varying sizes and durations. Overall, if he fulfills all the contracts smoothly, he will steadily earn more than 80 million US dollars. This year alone, he has already earned more than 17 million US dollars in endorsement fees. To be honest, not to mention Hong Kong and Taiwan, let alone mainland China, even in the entertainment and fashion circles of Europe and America, this annual income has already firmly entered the second tier, and he can be considered a star on his own.

Sylvia Chang said that she has a lot of work scheduled for her, such as fashion shows, and estimates that she can earn about 30 million US dollars this year—and that doesn't even include film contracts!

Wang Zuxian has been quite popular in America in recent months, accompanying Lin Jianlu on the red carpets of the three major music awards. Her fame hasn't faded yet, and her image is highly regarded in the American entertainment industry. The fashion world believes she possesses a modern charm rarely seen in Eastern women, perfectly embodying the image of an independent woman. The film industry, due to her acting background, is willing to experiment with the Eastern elements she represents. Some second- or third-tier productions, with budgets of around six or eight million US dollars, have even started to invite her to play the lead role—of course, the pay is low, far less than what she could earn from a fashion brand endorsement, shooting a few commercials, or walking the runway.

However, Sylvia Chang still suggested that she try taking on two films in the second half of the year.

A film salary of three to five hundred thousand US dollars, but having to work hard for two months to earn it, is obviously not worthwhile. But that's not how it works. The halo brought by Lin Jianlu can only last for a year or two. If she can get a good film on her own and establish her own big screen image, that's a long-term thing!

However, the production companies that invited her offered her roles that were either purely Western-style characters with Chinese faces, or action-oriented characters. In short, even Zhang Aijia and Wang Zuxian themselves couldn't quite say what kind of image or style Wang Zuxian should take, and they still felt a little dissatisfied with such roles—but Wang Zuxian was still determined to accept them.

There was no established path to begin with. Almost no Asian female actor in Hollywood has successfully built her own personal image and acting style. So, of course, she has to rely on herself to explore and experiment.

In Yu Feihong's words, "Let's give it a try. If I become famous, I'll have made a profit. If I don't, so be it. I'll just consider it as earning a paycheck."

Wang Zuxian himself said, "Not all money is the same. 500,000 US dollars is almost 4 million Hong Kong dollars. When I was at the peak of my popularity in Hong Kong, I only earned 2.8 million Hong Kong dollars a few times. I could never get past the 3 million mark! Even so, I still have hundreds of thousands more than Thirteen Aunt and Li Jiaxin!"

Well, Yu Feihong has only filmed one movie so far, "The Lucky Guy" starring Stephen Chow, for which she received a salary of HK$150 million.

In Hong Kong, only the Four Great Actresses can earn more than three million Hong Kong dollars for a film—and that's for big-budget commercial films. For example, Maggie Cheung only earned 260 million for the art film "Comrades: Almost a Love Story"!
So in fact, 50 US dollars is well worth the price.

Of course, Lin Jianlu didn't care; let her be! Loving to make money and wanting to work are not flaws.

However, with the World Cup in France coming up, the filming of "The Matrix" will likely be on a five-day work week. In that case, Lin Jianlu plans to take some time to fly to France to watch a few World Cup matches. She might consider bringing one of the two girls along for a photo op.

Just being able to appear next to a global pop icon, even just being photographed, instantly generates massive online buzz—of course, they'd rather have their own woman benefit from it!
However, well, let's not say it yet. We need to be fair. If we choose one, the other will be disappointed and unhappy. But it's not suitable to take this one to the last show and then switch to another one for the next show. So let's just take whoever is free and has the time to fit in, so the other one won't have too many complaints.

Yu Feihong's overall progress in making money is not as good as Wang Zuxian's, but she is quite happy.

She made a small fortune last year, but at that time, Zhang Aijia was not yet proficient enough, and her network was not yet fully established. Yu Feihong herself was content with her modest wealth, so she left after making a little money and went back to teaching. This time when she came back, her popularity had declined considerably, but her music video was still playing, and her old connections remained. After Zhang Aijia opened up her network in the fashion industry, she was still able to recommend her successfully.

She has already secured endorsement deals worth 30 to 40 million US dollars, and her earnings this year alone amount to 7 to 8 million US dollars. Next, she has another big deal to negotiate. Bulgari wants to push her to appear on the cover of "VOGUE," a fashion magazine that is considered bible in Europe and America. After seeing the effect of her on the cover, Bulgari will make a final decision on whether to sign her and invest resources in her. The deal is huge, and Bulgari didn't even choose Wang Zuxian. Once she is signed, it will be worth several million US dollars per year.

In short, everyone is busy making money!
In comparison, Yu Feihong has far fewer film resources than Wang Zuxian—perhaps because she appears in music videos as a typical classical Eastern beauty, and Hollywood producers haven't yet found suitable roles for her!

In short, any drama that invites her to participate will definitely be poorly made just by glancing at the script!
There's a low-budget horror film where she plays a Chinese girl who comes to America for tourism. Her friend is brutally murdered, and the perpetrator is chasing her, but she ultimately defeats him using Chinese kung fu. The story is said to be so illogical that it's "unwatchable" and "an insult to my intelligence."

There are also some supporting roles in medium to large-scale productions, with only a dozen or so shots and five or six lines, but they are basically just decorative roles for her, like a diplomatic secretary of a major Eastern country, a mysterious Eastern female painter, or a Chinese writer living in America who actually knows kung fu...

Well, Yu Feihong's main focus for now is still on the fashion industry, but she has also been reading scripts and plans to follow in Wang Zuxian's footsteps. Once the big projects are basically finalized, she will try to take on a few films here to test her acting range.

Not long ago, Taiwanese director Li An came to New York. He is quite familiar with Sylvia Chang and has known Wang Zuxian for a long time. This time, he came specifically to see Yu Feihong. They chatted for a while. It is said that he plans to make a martial arts film for his next project and wants to invite Yu Feihong to play an important role. They talked in person, and it is said that he even tested her on-screen presence and praised Yu Feihong's beauty and temperament.

"Oh, I didn't remember if you hadn't mentioned it. It was probably around September. Jackie Chan was going to shoot another movie in Hong Kong, and he specifically told me that he wanted to invite you to play the female lead. He probably wanted to try making a pure Hong Kong film without American investment and sending it to the United States for release. He thought you had a certain level of popularity here, so he invited you to join the cast. I didn't even ask what the role was! Old Zhang, you can talk to Jackie Chan about it later."

Sylvia Chang chimed in, "Okay! I'll talk to them!"

Well, their situation is pretty good overall. With Lin Jianlu becoming a sensation in Europe and America, they are now in the best position to capitalize on the opportunity. Whether it's starring in music videos or walking the runway, they've gained recognition here. Their looks and charisma are good enough to carry the show, so they can start making a fortune.

Making money is all about this, especially in this industry under the spotlight.

The difficulty lies in getting into the public eye and being noticed. Once people notice you and see you, you can earn this money!

You can make money if the people like you, if the people are curious about you, or even if the people dislike you.

That's the meaning of being famous!

Of course, no one gives you money for free; everyone wants to make money off the attention you receive. So, you're both quite busy every day. They each have their own assistants, cars, drivers, bodyguards, and so on. Of course, aside from the assistants being arranged by Zhang Aijia, all the other support staff are provided by Lin Jianlu.

And then, Lin Jianlu will start getting busy.

After dinner, Yu Feihong made a few cups of tea and brought them over. While everyone was drinking tea, Zhang Aijia started talking about Lin Jianlu's upcoming work—which was even more intensive than the work of Wang Zuxian and Yu Feihong!

The key difference is that the workload is not the same thing!

No matter how busy they are, they still have to wait in line, get their makeup done, and then it's nothing more than shooting, walking the runway, and standing on stage. They have plenty of rest time in between, and you could even say that most of it is actually just boring waiting time.

But whenever Lin Jianlu gets busy, he is at the absolute core of almost every matter, and he can't even take a moment to relax!

First, there's "The Matrix," for which the contract was signed for four months; that definitely takes up the largest chunk.

During this period, Jackie Chan's first Hollywood film, "Rush Hour," was about to be released, as was Li Lianjie's "Lethal Weapon 4." Lin Jianlu had promised to take time to attend their premieres.

Then, there are four brands that are planning to sign new endorsements, including Sony and BMW. They are all global big brands and are willing to spend a lot of money. Next, we need to sign contracts, shoot commercials, and participate in car shows, electronics exhibitions and so on to help the brands stand out.

This is because, in 1996, when Lin Jianlu first became famous, he took on too many endorsements. Many of these endorsements are still ongoing and conflicting. The negotiations currently underway with Zhang Aijia, no matter how much both parties agree, will have to wait at least two years before he can negotiate to terminate the contract with the original endorser. In other words, he doesn't actually have many endorsements that he can immediately secure. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to stay in Hong Kong until mid-May; he should have come over after finishing filming "The Myth."

Moreover, this is just the legitimate job, the kind that directly earns money. Besides that, there are all sorts of other things that involve not only making money but also interpersonal relationships, and many of these have already accumulated. In fact, Zhang Aijia can't really make decisions for Lin Jianlu on his behalf; they can only discuss them face-to-face.

For example, recently there's an American TV series, Friends, which is reportedly filming its fifth season. They've already sent an invitation to Sylvia Chang through Terry Semel, the chairman and co-CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures, with whom Lin Chien-lu has had two dealings. They're quite formally hoping that Lin Chien-lu can make a guest appearance in an episode.

A character featured in a single episode, appearing as a surprise at the end of the fifth season.

It's said that the plan is for the male and female leads to be fans of Lin Jianlu, especially the female lead Rachel, who is a huge fan of Lin Jianlu. Coincidentally, Joey places an order for "Lin Jianlu's One-Day Friend" on a website called eBay, and the product turns out to be real—Lin Jianlu actually appears...

Well, putting aside how popular Friends is now, practically a national classic in America, just the fact that Terry Semel personally came forward is hard to refuse—Friends is a co-production of Warner Bros. and NBC, and The Matrix is ​​also a Warner Bros. production, so they were in a period of friendly cooperation.

Furthermore, Friends has become so successful that a 10-second TV commercial can be worth $2500 million per season, making them incredibly lucrative. It's said that eBay and Morgan Stanley, which is pushing for eBay's IPO, spent a whopping $4000 million on product placement for this episode.

So, even though it was just a guest appearance, only one episode, Warner Bros. and NBC offered a whopping $600 million. After some negotiation, $1000 million is probably impossible, as there hasn't been such a high salary in the current American television industry, but seven or eight million dollars is still entirely possible!
Why would Lin Jianlu refuse such a job?

Make money and maintain friendships at the same time.

Then I'll just have to keep busy! Busy! Busy!
Not to mention that he already has a busy recording schedule for the second half of the year – recording and producing for others, and recording new songs for himself, for several albums and dozens of tracks!
During his recent trip to Japan, he just decided that he would start preparing for his first concert since his debut—to hold a few small-scale shows first to test the waters, and if the results are good, he would then turn it into a global tour!

He is an international top superstar, and he is more like the king of the two kings. You can imagine how big his concerts are. Even if he holds a few shows to test the waters, there are so many things to prepare in advance that it makes people's scalp tingle just thinking about it!
Event promoters, performance contracts, performance venues, stage renovations, sound system setup, music directors, stage directors, backup dancers, choreography, publicity, style, buzz, full-process filming, whether to do live TV broadcasts... and so on.

Well, while a considerable portion can certainly be handed over to Sylvia Chang, the technical and artistic aspects must be led and controlled by Lin Chien-lu herself!
However, times have changed. Now, when Lin Jianlu hears about these things, she no longer feels particularly bothered. On the contrary, she feels somewhat eager to act. She is no longer simply thinking about making money. Her foundation is very solid now. What she is thinking about now is to prove herself as a superstar!
I, Lin Jianlu, was quite famous for a few years around 2000, even globally!
The Internationale's Shoo-Stop!
(End of this chapter)