This director is so innocent.

Chapter 81 Sugar and Cooperation (Please Subscribe)

A dozen minutes later.

The Grand Cherokee arrived at a private restaurant.

These days, people's living standards are improving day by day, and they are becoming more and more particular about food and drink.

Private kitchens, with their elegant and quiet environment, are very popular among wealthy people.

"Su Jin".

Before Su Jin even reached the entrance of the private restaurant, he heard someone calling him. Looking closely, he saw a fair-skinned girl with a sweet smile waving at him.

The girl's name is Tangtang, which is the same Tang that appears in the poem by the great Tang poet.

He and Tangtang dated for a while, but not for long, only about a semester.

Chen Zhixi said that she had seen him at the gate of the Central Academy of Drama because he had escorted Tangtang back to school.

Tangtang was not as extreme as rumored, such as attempting suicide by cutting her wrists after a breakup.

The two broke up amicably, without any tension whatsoever.

After breaking up, the two had a few more friendly sex encounters.

"Tangtang," Su Jin said softly with a smile.

It's been almost a year since I last saw her, and Tangtang is still as beautiful as ever, with her smile still so sweet, her legs still so long, and her waist still so slim.

Her breasts are still like small steamed buns.

"You can wait for me in the private room; it's too cold standing at the door!"

"It's okay, it's nice to get some fresh air outside." Tangtang smiled slightly and, just like before, linked arms with Su Jin.

The movements were very natural, without any awkwardness.

Su Jin did not refuse Tangtang and let her hold her arm, just like when they were dating before.

To be honest, Tangtang is a really good girl. She's kind-hearted, easygoing, and not pretentious at all.

If he hadn't remembered the entire forest, he would have almost fallen for Tangtang's gentle home.

On the way to the private room, Tangtang asked, "I heard you became a director. How does it feel?"

"It's alright! It's just quite tiring," Su Jin replied casually.

"It must be tiring, yet you keep saying you want to be a director, and that you want to be the best director in China." Tangtang looked up at Su Jin, her beautiful eyes like crescent moons, full of smiles.

"That was just me being young and naive, bragging without thinking."

"Hehehe————" Tangtang smiled, recalling the time they spent together.

As they spoke, the two arrived at the door of a private room.

Tangtang let go of Su Jin's arm and pushed open the door.

A middle-aged man and a woman inside stood up to greet the two as they entered.

"President Zhuang, President Xu, this is Su Jin," Tangtang introduced her.

Chengtian Entertainment has three bosses: the first boss is Wu Kebo, the second boss is Wang Jinghua, and the third boss is this General Manager Zhuang, whose full name is Zhuang Liqi. He is a famous producer and the person in charge of Chengtian Film and Television.

He was the creator of "Romance in the Rain" and "Pink Lady".

This Ms. Xu, whose full name is Xu Li, is Tangtang's agent and the head of Chengtian Shijiu Agency.

She previously worked at CCTV, then joined Ma Zhongjun's Ciwen Oriental, and was later poached by Wu Kebo.

The name Chengtian Shijiu is immediately reminiscent of Wong Jinghua's Chengtian Shiba.

Didn't Wang Jinghua leave Huayi and join Chengtian in 05?

Wu Kebo was naturally worried that Wang Jinghua would run away again, so he acquired Wang Jing's Jingcheng Star Flavor, renamed it Chengtian Shijiu, and poached Xu Li to compete with Wang Jinghua.

By the way, Xu Li and Wang Jing have a good relationship.

Tangtang has therefore starred in many Hong Kong films, including "The Sniper and the Strategist," "Storm Riders 2," and "Tiger, Stick, and Chicken."

Unfortunately, no matter how much she was promoted, Tangtang just couldn't become popular.

Later, Xu Li left, and Tangtang's agent was changed to Ji Rujing.

This person is no ordinary individual; they are a master of hype.

Every time Tangtang works with a male actor on a film or television project, she stirs up rumors about them, such as with Huo Jianhua, Zhong Hanliang, etc.

Liu Kaiwei ————

Tangtang also sent birthday wishes to Huo Jianhua on Weibo for three consecutive years, but unfortunately it was like flirting with a blind man, since he didn't have a Weibo account.

Besides generating buzz, Ji Rujing also created a "naive and sweet" persona for Tangtang.

You know what, Tangtang became famous by creating scandals.

Otherwise, Tangtang would never have been ranked alongside the other three great poets of the Tang Dynasty.

Look, Yang Mi has "Palace", Xia Jie has "Scarlet Heart", and Ya Hua Zi has three national dramas.

And what about Tangtang? She doesn't have a single blockbuster work.

You might mention "Chinese Paladin 3," but that show only had average ratings back then and wasn't a huge hit, so its impact on the actors was so-so.

The current hype is entirely due to the positive effects of the actors' performances.

If you look at the other three's blockbuster works, those are the kind that sparked nationwide discussions.

Yang Mi's song "The Power of Love" was a hit everywhere. Her starring role in the terrible movie "Mysterious Island" still grossed 8000 million yuan at the box office thanks to her own star power.

Judging from the box office figures, it's clear that Yang Mi was incredibly popular that year.

Zhuang Liqi looked Su Jin up and down. Although he had seen Su Jin's photo before he came, he was still surprised to see him in person.

This isn't just a gift from God; God is practically feeding us.

How can someone be so good-looking?

Is there no justice in this world?

Xu Li, who was standing to the side, was also quite shocked. Having worked as an entertainment agent for many years, this was the first time she had ever seen such a good-looking young man.

She even wanted to recruit Su Jin under her wing.

"Hello, Mr. Zhuang, I am Su Jin." Su Jin smiled slightly and extended her hand to him.

"President Su, you are young and promising! You have built such a successful business at such a young age," Zhuang Liqi praised with a smile.

"It's just small-scale work, just enough to make a living," Su Jin said modestly.

The two of them asked him to dinner through Tangtang. Although they didn't talk about anything, he could roughly guess that they wanted to invest in Ning Hao's new movie "Sheep Without a Shepherd".

We can't exactly think about signing him, can we?

As for how he knew about his relationship with Tangtang...

When an artist joins a company, they are asked to provide a detailed account of their romantic history, just in case something unexpected happens and the company is caught off guard.

After shaking hands with Zhuang Liqi, Su Jin shook hands with Xu Li and greeted her. Just as she was about to finish, she heard the latter say, "President Su, if I may ask, have you considered signing an agent?"

Even though I know I'll most likely be rejected, I'll still feel a bit unwilling to give up without trying.

"I'm sorry, I already have an agent."

Xu Li sighed inwardly and asked, "I wonder which agent was so lucky to sign President Su?"

"Mr. Zhong Lilao, the leader of the Malaysian contingent."

"Why did President Su sign her? Dama Benteng's business acumen isn't exactly impressive!"

"It was just a coincidence!" Su Jin replied casually.

Xu Li nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

It was obvious that Su Jin had no interest in signing a contract or becoming an agent. Asking further would only annoy them, since they had come with a mission today.

"Tangtang, sit next to President Su," Xu Li instructed.

Tangtang smiled sweetly, then sat down next to Su Jin, raised her delicate hand, and began to use hot tea to rinse Su Jin's bowls and chopsticks.

The two people opposite frowned slightly upon seeing this, not because they looked down on her, but because they didn't understand what Tangtang was doing!

Seeing this, Su Jin smiled but didn't offer any explanation.

We don't have the habit of rinsing our bowls and chopsticks after eating. This habit started when he brought Tangtang to eat, and Tangtang gradually started doing it.

After sitting down, we started ordering.

Since she was a guest, Su Jin casually chose two dishes and handed the menu to Zhuang Liqi.

The private restaurant served dishes very quickly, bringing out three or four dishes in just over ten minutes.

Su Jin enjoyed the food while chatting with them.

They talked about things related to the film market.

"President Su, you're a young person, so you must have different ideas. What's your opinion on the higher-ups saying that Chinese films should go global?" Zhuang Liqi suddenly asked.

I'm standing here watching; how can I possibly see it?

Going out into the world is none of my business. I'm just a nobody, I can just keep making my little movies.

Although Su Jin was inwardly complaining, she still replied seriously, "I don't have the same vision as you. I think we should first establish ourselves locally, do a good job in our own film industry, first radiate to the Asia-Pacific region, and then go global."

"Great minds think alike." Zhuang Liqi raised his glass and said, "Come on, President Su, let's have a toast."

Su Jin raised her glass and clinked it with Zhuang Liqi's. After finishing her drink, she said to him, "The current film market is too superficial. People talk about going global without even understanding anything. Do they have the ability?"

Take Huayi Brothers for example! They're always bragging. A few years ago, they collaborated with Columbia Pictures and produced "Big Shot's Funeral." After its North American release, what happened? Their underwear was exposed. It was utterly shameful.

Zhuang Liqi must be extremely dissatisfied with Huayi!

He can even use such a vulgar word as "underwear"—he's supposed to be a cultured person!

Didn't you see Tangtang covering her mouth and laughing nonstop when she heard the word "underwear"? Her gums were showing from laughing.

"Big Shot's Funeral" is a 2001 film by Feng Xiaogang, starring Ge You and Golf, and also features a foreigner as a lead actor.

It grossed $4300 million, making it the highest-grossing film of the year, but its North American box office performance was quite poor, only $820.

You didn't misread it, and you didn't miswrite it. There's no "ten thousand" at the end; it's $820.

The reason for such low box office is that North American audiences have absolutely no interest in purely Chinese-language films.

They prefer ancient Chinese blockbusters like "Hero" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

"This time they learned their lesson and made a big-budget film with Lionsgate, even inviting Jackie Chan and Li Lianjie to participate. But our Chengtian is not bad either. We invested 7000 million US dollars and produced 'Red Cliff,' bringing together big stars from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong."

What's the point? No matter how big the hype, it can't compare to two kung fu superstars fighting on the same stage.

Of course, only children make choices; adults want it all.

Anyway, it's just two movie tickets, so I can see both.

"Our 'Red Cliff' has a huge advantage over their 'The Forbidden Kingdom' because the Three Kingdoms theme is very familiar to audiences in East Asian countries."

Su Jin nodded, agreeing with Zhuang Liqi's words.

Ancient China overlooked the entire East Asia. People in Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia are very familiar with ancient China, especially audiences in island nations, who are probably more familiar with the figures of the Three Kingdoms than audiences in mainland China.

But he didn't want to listen anymore. Who likes to just listen to someone bragging?

The cast of "Red Cliff" is amazing, but what does that have to do with him?

Could you possibly cast him as Zhao Zilong?

Let alone him not wanting to act in such a terrible movie, even Wong Jinghua wouldn't agree.

Zhao Zilong has already been internally selected by Wong Jinghua to be her top artist, Hu Jun.

Zhuang Liqi was puzzled when he saw that Su Jin showed no sign of being interested. It seemed that all his boasting had been for nothing.

"Mr. Su, would you be interested in playing a role in 'Red Cliff'?"

Upon hearing this, Su Jin instantly perked up, and Zhuang Liqi finally got to the point.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. With a project as popular as "Red Cliff," big stars would fight tooth and nail for a role. How could they just give him any role he wanted?

"Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Zhuang, but I am unavailable; my schedule is already full for next year."

Upon hearing this, Zhuang Liqi frowned. "If you don't participate, how can I ask you for benefits?"

Xu Li frowned upon hearing Su Jin's words.

Although Chengtian Entertainment has leveraged the injection of funds from Japan and the addition of Wong Jing-hua to establish a strong foothold, making the landscape of the domestic entertainment industry a three-way balance.

It seemed to be enjoying great success, even surpassing Huayi Brothers for a time. However, Chengtian Entertainment had extremely poor self-sufficiency and lacked its own directors, so it had always collaborated with directors from Hong Kong.

But those people are all money-grubbing types. They only care about making the film and not about its success. Whether the film makes money or not is none of their business.

It's fair to say that this is very irresponsible.

They came here tonight thinking they could attract Su Jin by offering her a role in "Red Cliff," and then take the opportunity to invest in Ning Hao's new film "Sheep Without a Shepherd."

But to everyone's surprise, Su Jin wasn't interested at all.

Zhuang Liqi said directly, "President Su, let me be blunt with you! Chengtian wants to invest in Ning Hao's new film, 'Sheep Without a Shepherd's Murder'."

Su Jin didn't agree immediately, but instead asked, "Cheng Tian is a large and powerful family with many connections to directors in Hong Kong. They shouldn't need to invest in Ning Hao, right?"

"It's not necessary, but as a part of the Chinese film industry, why should we keep investing in those people in Hong Kong? They're taking all the benefits. How can our mainland film industry develop?"

Therefore, Chengtian made a decision that went against our ancestors' wishes—no, a major decision—to invest in promising mainland directors, making a small contribution to the country's film industry.

Zhuang Liqi spoke with great passion and enthusiasm, which made people's blood boil.

At least the naive and innocent Tangtang was fooled by him, looking at Zhuang Liqi with admiration.

But Su Jin didn't believe any of that at all.

He believed that pigs could fly, but he didn't believe in these people's integrity.

Therefore, he made it clear that he didn't want to waste any more time talking to Zhuang Liqi; it was too boring.

"Mr. Zhuang, to be honest, the investment quota for Ning Hao's new film is already full, but I want to be friends with you. I can give you 15% of my share, which is—"

Zhuang Liqi was a little disappointed when he heard the first part of the sentence, but when he heard the last sentence, a smile immediately appeared on his face.

It's just a premium!

They have little else but a lot of money.

"Thank you, Ms. Su." Zhuang Liqi toasted Su Jin.

After finishing her drink, Su Jin said, "President Zhuang, I wonder if the deal regarding the roles in 'Red Cliff' still stands?"

"President Su wants to act?" Zhuang Liqi said with a smile.

He always said that!

How could any actor not be interested in "Red Cliff"?

Unfortunately, Su Jin's words instantly killed his smile.

"No, it's for someone in my company. The size of the role doesn't matter, as long as they have lines and can show their face."

"Okay, I'll go back and see which role is suitable."

"Thank you, Mr. Zhuang."

"Mr. Su, you're too kind. It's nothing at all."

See?

That's the advantage of big companies; the roles you'd fight tooth and nail for, they decide on in just a few words.

The gathering ended around 9:30.

At the entrance of the private restaurant, Zhuang Liqi said, "President Su, Tangtang didn't drink any alcohol, so let her drive you home!"

Su Jin looked at Tangtang beside her, and seeing her nod, she agreed.

"Mr. Zhuang, we'll be leaving now. Please take care on your journey."

The moon is bright and the stars are few; the north wind is howling.

Seeing that Tangtang was dressed in thin clothes and wrapped tightly in a coat, Su Jin took off her down jacket and put it on her.

"You, why do you prioritize style over warmth?"

"Sister Li told me to dress like this, saying it looks good."

It looks good, a long black coat, a high-necked tight black sweater, paired with high boots, and her fair skin is exposed, but she's not wearing flesh-colored stockings.

"Wait until you become a star before you dress like this. Don't listen to your agent's nonsense now."

"oh."

Seeing how well-behaved Tangtang was, Su Jin couldn't help but pinch her fair little face.

"So much time has passed, why do you still like pinching my cheeks?" Tangtang rubbed her little face, pouting coquettishly—

Said.

"Because you're soft!"

"rogue."

Tangtang's body is indeed very soft.

Back at the courtyard house, the two had a friendly artistic exchange.

Perhaps because they hadn't seen each other for a long time, Tangtang's emotions were particularly intense, and she was unwilling to admit defeat.

However, when it comes to fighting spirit, Su Jin is a level above, beating her until she was crying for her parents before it ended.