In the entertainment industry, everyone has been reborn, but who will be their servant?

Chapter 90 To save face

"The Forbidden Kingdom" was released on the 18th and grossed $2090 million in its opening week internationally, breaking the previous record of $1800 million held by "Hero".

Actually, "The Forbidden Kingdom" cannot be considered a purely Chinese-language film, as the entire film was shot with English dialogue.

There's nothing we can do; some people just love to fantasize!
This film topped the box office charts in Southeast Asian regions such as South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand. It was released in China on the 24th and enjoyed immense popularity, with reports of the film seemingly covering the entire world.

It's fair to say that Hendrik Willem Van Loon and Jeremy Li have a truly strong appeal, absolutely top-notch.

But it only stays popular for a few days, and then it gets heavily criticized by the audience, causing the box office to collapse.

Anyway, the movie's final box office did not meet Huayi's expectations. With so many big stars, it didn't even reach 2 million yuan. "The Warlords" has already surpassed 2 million and is close to 3 million.

However, the movie did not bring any benefits to Liu Yifei. Just as Qin Xuan said, she was criticized by countless viewers as a "pretty face"!
"Anyone could play this role; she's just a beautiful background character!"

"The characters are too much like tools; they exist simply for the sake of existing!"

"It looks good when they fight, but it always feels light and airy, like they're dancing, without any real threat."

"The romantic subplot is the most awkward part of the whole movie."

These criticisms not only prevented her from gaining the audience's favor, but also resulted in a very bad reputation. Liu Yifei was also quite upset, feeling as if her efforts had been in vain.

That's how movies are. If they're not well-received, they're easily rejected by the audience. Deng Chao works so hard, and Huang Bo is so successful, but they keep making bad movies. If your acting isn't good, you'll be abandoned by the audience. It's cruel.

Qin Xuan was busy with another matter. The 24th was a crucial time for the crude oil sell-off. This day would be the lowest point, and prices would rise after that.

He flipped through a large amount of international news, trying to recall the key points and the lowest point in his memory. He relied on constantly watching the news to evoke his deepest memories, after all, this was not a major event like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Lehman Brothers.

It's just the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Just as he picked up his phone, it vibrated first. He glanced at it and saw it was an unfamiliar landline number, so he hung up immediately.

Then he called Liu Xiaoli: "Auntie, 103.5 points, throw it when it reaches this point."

"Okay!" Liu Xiaoli hung up the phone, then stared intently at the screen, preparing to sell the shares.

The points are now slowly dropping from 105, which makes her very nervous, fearing that the curve will rise.

At the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television in Fuxingmen, Zhang Hongsen held the telephone handset and listened to the "beep beep" sound coming from the other end. He was stunned for a moment: "This person even hung up our call."

"Try again! They might be busy," Tong Gang gestured.

Zhang Hongsen had no choice but to press the handle onto the red landline phone and pick it up again to dial once more.

Qin Xuan's phone rang again. Seeing it was the same landline number, he thought it was a scam and cursed, "Are you crazy?"

He hung up again and called Liu Xiaoli to ask, "Auntie, have you arrived yet?"

"It'll be quick. Don't disturb me while I'm working on it; it'll distract me." Even though Liu Xiaoli was anxious, her tone was gentle.

However, such opportunities are fleeting and cannot be taken lightly.

Qin Xuan stared at the newspaper, circled it with a red pen, rubbed his hands together, and felt extremely uneasy.

At the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, Zhang Hongsen, holding the microphone, said with a wry smile, "I think this kid doesn't want his movie to pass censorship. Can't he see it's a Beijing city code?"

No one has hung up on him repeatedly.

"Don't rush, don't rush, let's try again." Tong Gang calmly gestured for another attempt.

Helpless, Zhang Hongsen had no choice but to dial again.

At this moment, Qin Xuan was extremely agitated and couldn't stand being disturbed. Seeing his phone vibrate again, he angrily pressed the answer button: "Who is it?"

"I am Zhang Hongsen, deputy director of the Film Bureau!" Zhang Hongsen introduced himself directly with an authoritative tone.

Upon hearing this name, Qin Xuan's eyes widened in surprise. The name was all too familiar to him; this was the director during the peak of the film market.

"Oh, it's Director Zhang! I thought..." Qin Xuan's tone softened.

"What else did you think?" Zhang Hongsen asked him.

"No, no, I didn't think it was anything." Qin Xuan changed his expression, his previous irritation completely gone.

He thought they were scammers. In this day and age, who uses a landline? Even if not everyone has a mobile phone, they should at least have a PHS phone!

The main reason is that he has never received a call from a leader in either his past or present life; the leaders still maintain the old traditions.

He then asked, "Director Zhang, is there something you need from me?"

"Of course something happened." Zhang Hongsen seemed to be saying, "If nothing happened, I would have called you." He even called three times.

"You said it, I will go through fire and water," Qin Xuan declared his loyalty.

"It's not that serious. It's just that your script for 'Nanjing Photo Studio' is stuck in the leadership group's review process, and you need to come and give a presentation." Zhang Hongsen's tone softened.

"Thesis defense?" Qin Xuan was puzzled.

"Yes, when making a film on such a significant subject, the screenwriter and director need to be present to explain the film's value orientation, as well as how to handle the narrative perspective and sensitive scenes. This is the normal procedure."

Zhang Hongsen explained the situation, but it seemed like he didn't quite understand.

Qin Xuan really didn't understand that there were so many twists and turns involved in filming this kind of subject matter. He hadn't experienced it in his previous life, and no one had told him about it. It was because he hadn't reached that stage in his previous life.

In reality, the issue was that the experts had been arguing for over half a month, with some saying the script needed to be changed and others saying it didn't.

Some also suggested adding a reflection line to take into account international repercussions and the feelings of foreigners, mainly for anti-war purposes.

Some people asked, "Has the author really reflected on this? Adding this line is just wishful thinking."

In short, various experts argued endlessly and couldn't reach a consensus, so in the end, as is customary, the screenwriter and director had to defend their work. There are usually differences between the script and the final cut, so this defense is a necessary procedure.

How do you handle sensitive issues in certain segments of the footage you've shot? That's the question that needs answering.

But Qin Xuan's response was clearly not what they expected; they wanted Qin Xuan to debate with those experts.

"I'm fine with the defense, but I'm currently filming and can't leave very often." Qin Xuan agreed to go for the defense.

"It will only take a day or two, it won't waste too much of your time. You don't want your movie to fail the censors, do you?"

Zhang Hongsen's last sentence left Qin Xuan speechless.

Of course, he didn't want his film to fail to pass censorship. After all, he had already spent money, and if it was stuck in censorship, all the previous work would be wasted, and the Olympic bid team would be very disappointed. The whole team would be disappointed.

"Director Zhang, please tell me a time," Qin Xuan said.

Zhang Hongsen was very satisfied with this attitude: "Choose a time to come before the 30th, just don't come on the weekend. Also, there is a seven-day holiday for May Day. If you come after that period, it will be too long, you know what I mean."

"Sure, no problem." Qin Xuan agreed, inwardly thinking: Even relationship experts get a weekend off!

"There's one more thing. Give me your email address, and I'll send you a draft that you can refer to during your defense," Zhang Hongsen said.

"A script? Am I supposed to read from a script?" Qin Xuan was confused again. Couldn't he say what he wanted to say?

He noticed that the leaders were all reading from prepared speeches. Did he also receive such treatment?
“Of course not. They will ask some questions. This script only tells you how to answer them, but you still have to say it in your own words,” Zhang Hongsen explained.

"Oh, okay!" Qin Xuan understood.

This is tantamount to letting him cheat; he'll be given the answers to whatever questions others ask.

That means the Film Bureau wanted to make this film, but due to differing opinions from some experts or departments, they couldn't force it to pass. That should be the case.

"Do you have any other questions? You can ask me." Zhang Hongsen asked.

"No problem, I'll make the arrangements. We'll head to the capital in the next few days." Qin Xuan had no objections.

Even if you have such thoughts, you should keep them to yourself. You can't expect your boss to treat you the same way you normally would; you still need to have some respect for them.

Today is the 24th, and the 26th and 27th are not allowed to go, as these two days are the weekend and the experts need to rest.

Only the 28th and 30th are two or three days.

Qin Xuan provided his email address to Zhang Hongsen, who then sent him a document—not an official document, but just a regular document.

Just as he was about to look at the experts' strange and unusual questions, his phone suddenly vibrated.

It was Liu Xiaoli calling, her voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement: "Xiao Xuan, crude oil has fallen by 5.9%, and with a leverage of 1 million, you've made a profit of 590 million US dollars."

"Yes!" Qin Xuan couldn't help but clench his fist and shout excitedly, "Auntie is awesome!"

"You really are something." Liu Xiaoli covered her mouth, smiling reservedly, not minding what he was thinking, and knowing he was happy.

She was quite happy about this; she made $19.6 by following the trend, which is more than a million dollars in hand, essentially doubling her investment. All the hard work these past few days was worth it.

Actually, what made her happy wasn't how much she earned, but rather the thrill of winning at gambling; the heart-pounding feeling was incredibly exciting.

If she were as reckless as Qin Xuan and bet everything, her wealth would accumulate very quickly.

Qin Xuan earned 590 million yuan from this round, which is equivalent to 4130 million yuan. This is much more lucrative than making movies, and it's not hard work, although it makes your heart race.

In other words, Qin Xuan now has $1190 million in capital, and he can continue to increase it.

Although the stock market can be very profitable, it doesn't make you a billionaire overnight. You have to keep working your way up, since you have a fixed amount of capital.

Those who earn hundreds of millions, billions, or tens of billions either have a lot of initial capital or have gone through many rounds of multiplication to reach that level; it's impossible to get rich overnight in one or two times.

The crew members filming over there suddenly called out to Xuan, who seemed to be neglecting his duties. They exchanged glances, both puzzled.

"Auntie? Does President Xuan have such a heavy taste?" This thought grew wildly in their minds.

During this period, they were either reading the newspaper or constantly making phone calls on their phones. They were extremely busy, and no one knew what they were doing.

Qin Xuan calmed his excitement. Earning so much money at once for the first time was bound to make him a little flustered. Filming a movie had taken him more than half a year to prepare, and he would know how much he would make by watching the box office results, so he wasn't so excited anymore.

The stock market is thrilling; it's either life or death. He asked, "Auntie, how long will it take to withdraw this money?"

"You can't withdraw your funds tomorrow if you close your position on the same day," Liu Xiaoli said.

That means it can't be done for the next three days. Tomorrow is the weekend. Qin Xuan thought for a moment and then said, "Okay, you can take a rest."

"Hey, this isn't like you. You should be pressing your advantage! Why are you stopping now?" Liu Xiaoli couldn't help but tease her.

Judging by the boy's level of madness, he should be flipping over non-stop.

"We definitely need to consider the timing and the wind direction. Right now, there's neither the right timing nor the right direction, so we can't just act blindly. But don't worry, the right time will come soon." Qin Xuan had a plan in mind. There are many opportunities during a financial crisis, but they can't be available all the time.

After all, this kind of crisis only comes once every ten years; the last one was in 98.

“That makes sense. So what are you going to do with the money? Just leave it there for now?” Liu Xiaoli understood what he meant.

"I have another favor to ask of you."

Qin Xuan paused for a moment and then said, "You should be quite familiar with this. I would like you to help me find out about the top online marketing companies in China, list them all, and see how much their companies are worth."

"What do you want to do?" Liu Xiaoli asked, looking surprised.

“It’s not right for me to keep getting scolded. I should scold back. What’s the point of making money if not to prove myself? What do you think?”

(End of this chapter)