Reborn, my online friend is the real me.

He can't touch Tencent's stock this year, nor can he touch Baidu's. With the balance in his US stock account and the funds in Shiguang Entertainment's account, he doesn't have much cash at his disposal.

Fifty million US dollars is no small sum, and Marvel needs quick cash; they can't pay in installments, they're in a real bind.

He picked up the phone and dialed Su Ting's number. It rang three times before Su Ting answered.

"Sis, I need money."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. "How much?"

Su Yu said something that made Su Ting think she had misheard: "Fifty million, in US dollars."

Su Yu heard her take a couple of breaths on the other end. "Xiao Yu, tell me, did you get scammed in America? What kind of project costs fifty million US dollars? You only spent two million on 'Buried'. Are you going to use fifty million to buy an aircraft carrier?"

Su Yu leaned back in his chair, put his feet up on the desk, and tried to make his tone sound less like that of a bewitched gambler.

"Sis, don't ask too many questions. Just mortgage your Tencent stock and the company. This is an opportunity. Whether we can gain a foothold in Hollywood depends on this project."

Su Ting remained silent for a moment, and Su Yu imagined she was probably rolling her eyes.

Su Yu smiled and added, "If I get scammed in the US, don't book me a flight back to Beijing. Just book me a flight to Antarctica. I'm going to make a documentary about penguins."

Su Ting didn't respond to his joke, her tone becoming more serious: "I'll get back to you about the money tomorrow. Xiao Yu, be careful over there."

...

Over the next few days, Su Yu kept a close eye on news from David while writing the script for "Teddy Bear" in his office.

This was an American comedy he really liked in his previous life, about a teddy bear that could talk, smoke, and swear.

The first time I watched it, I laughed so hard I almost fell over. The second time I watched it, I thought the screenwriter was a genius for managing to mix vulgarity and warmth together without making the audience feel uncomfortable.

During the filming of "Buried," he had David approach Seth McFarlane to buy the rights to develop the live-action film. The rights fee was $500,000. McFarlane made an offer, Su Yu negotiated back and forth for two rounds, and finally settled on $450,000.

David asked him, "Why are you buying the copyright to a teddy bear? Are you going to open a toy store?"

"You don't understand, this bear can talk; and it swears." David's expression slowly changed from incomprehension to bewilderment.

David practically lived in Marvel's conference room, and Su Yu entrusted him with full authority to negotiate on his behalf. The other party also knew that the boss behind Time Entertainment was Chinese, and they were initially somewhat dismissive. However, as David laid out the company's asset certificates and cash flow on the table, their attitude immediately changed.

David used every trick in the book, employing both soft and hard tactics, leveraging his extensive network and negotiation skills accumulated over the years. He played the sympathy card, explained the difficulties of the situation, painted a rosy picture of Sino-US cooperation, and sometimes deliberately ignored the other party for days before suddenly reappearing with new conditions when they became impatient. He used most of the thirty-six stratagems.

Every day, Su Yu received the same calls from David: "They're still holding on," "Boss, they're too stubborn," "Kevin Feige is impervious to reason."

Su Yu paced back and forth in the conference room, phone in hand. After a moment's thought, he said, "Tell them that Time Entertainment's funds are readily available. We can sign a fast payment agreement, with the first payment arriving within ten business days. Big companies are slow, we are fast. That's our advantage."

David exclaimed excitedly on the other end of the phone, "I'll go tell them right away," and then hung up.

Two days later, Su Yu was sitting in his office looking out the window when his phone rang.

Beneath David's hoarse voice lay an uncontainable ecstasy, both raspy and excited.

"Boss, it's a deal! Fifty million US dollars, box office revenue share unchanged. We got 14% of the copyright revenue and 12% of the merchandise revenue! 30% for the sequel investment rights. I've done my best!"

Su Yu excitedly grabbed his phone, stood up from his chair, and walked to the window.

"Well done, David. The bonus will be deposited into your account immediately. You're one of my most valuable partners in Hollywood, and you'll get your full bonus."

David said something on the other end of the phone that I couldn't quite place, but it sounded like he was laughing.

After hanging up the phone, Su Yu opened the window, took a breath of the dry Los Angeles air, and saw the Pacific Ocean in the distance shimmering in the sunlight.

He leaned against the window, took out his phone, found Liu Yifei's number, and wanted to send her a message, but then put the phone down after thinking about it.

This matter is not completely settled yet; the contract has not been signed, and the money has not been received. It's not too late to talk about it once everything is finalized.

The contract signing ceremony was scheduled for the end of January. A few people from Marvel came, led by Kevin Feige, who was wearing a dark blue suit and had his hair neatly combed.

He didn't look like a Hollywood film company executive; he looked more like a young university professor, speaking politely and meticulously.

After signing the papers, he walked up to Su Yu, speaking in English with a slight East Coast accent, looking directly at Su Yu without any beating around the bush: "Su, you're young and adventurous. I hope we haven't made the wrong decision."

Su Yu smiled and held his hand. "You won't regret it. Don't worry about importing it domestically."

Kevin Feige looked at him for a few more seconds, nodded, and walked back to his own group of people.

The signing was not announced to the public, and all parties tacitly chose to keep a low profile. Marvel did not want the outside world to know that they still needed to seek financing from small companies, which would arouse suspicion from their business partners.

Su Yu didn't want to reveal his plans in Hollywood too early, and both sides, each with their own thoughts, tacitly kept the matter a closely guarded secret.

......

Su Yu leaned against the headboard of the hotel bed, with two pillows supporting him—one vertically against his back and the other horizontally against his waist. He held his phone in his hand, the screen's light reflecting off his face.

Liu Yifei's voice came through the receiver, carrying the fatigue of having just finished practicing and an unconcealable excitement, the two emotions mixed together.

"Su Yu, if I master this skill, do you think I won't need a stunt double on set anymore?"

Liu Yifei took a breath, her voice coming back from afar, probably after she changed her posture, "Today we practiced that backflip move, and the coach said I could go and film 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'."

Su Yu laughed out loud, imagining Liu Yifei training at the martial arts school; with her hair in a ponytail, wearing training clothes, and covered in sweat.

A slow smirk crept onto his lips as he uttered something that even he found a bit irritating: "Once you've mastered this, who's in charge at home? If your future partner makes you angry, one judo throw and he'll be in the hospital."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, and Su Yu could almost picture her biting her lip and rolling her eyes upward.

The voice came through the receiver, carrying an exaggeratedly fierce tone: "Then I'll try my hand on you first. When are you coming back? I want to practice my grappling techniques on you."

Su Yu quickly said, "I've practiced Sanda (Chinese kickboxing), you can't beat me."

Liu Yifei sneered, her voice chilling: "You practice Sanda (Chinese kickboxing)? The most intense exercise you've ever done was getting out of bed to get takeout?"

Su Yu was silent for a moment, then popped a grape he had taken from the hotel fruit platter into his mouth and mumbled, "I work out every day in America."

Liu Yifei laughed out loud and pressed him for more questions. Su Yu put his phone on the bedside table and said, "The signal is bad." Liu Yifei said, "Su Yu, stop pretending."

Su Yu put the phone back to his ear and heard Liu Yifei laughing uncontrollably on the other end.

He laughed, then suddenly asked, "Take it easy during training, Ms. Liu. Don't injure yourself. Kung Fu isn't something you learn in a day. With your physique, don't be unable to lift your arms during the audition."

Liu Yifei's smile faded, and her tone became more serious: "I know, my mom said the same thing. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Su Yu wanted to say, "How could you possibly have any sense of proportion?" He knew Liu Yifei's personality; once she made up her mind, nothing could change it. Asking her to "take it easy" in training was like trying to turn back the Yellow River.

"By the way, your film 'First Love' is coming out soon, right?" Liu Yifei suddenly changed the subject, her voice tinged with curiosity. "Is Lu Yang nervous?"

Su Yu leaned against the headboard, switching the phone to his right hand. "I'm nervous. Last time, I was under a lot of pressure filming 'Our Times,' and he was just watching from the sidelines. This time it's his turn, and he's been messaging me every day saying he can't sleep, saying things like 'What if the box office is bad?' 'What if the audience doesn't go to the theater?' I said, 'Why would I worry about you if you're calling me?'"

Liu Yifei laughed heartily on the other end of the phone, "I heard from Wang Jia that Zhu Rui is also extremely nervous."

"China Film Group provided 800 copies this time, 200 more than last time." Su Yu's tone softened a bit. "President Han really gave us a lot of face. But the competition is fierce. 'Love Transfer' has a strong cast, and 'Night at the Museum' is an imported film."

Liu Yifei interjected, "You're worried? Didn't you say you'd only handle filming and not distribution? You said you'd leave distribution to China Film Group. Who said that?"

Su Yu opened his mouth and then closed it again. Liu Yifei tried to imitate Su Yu's usual tone of voice, but she didn't quite get it right, though she captured that slightly smug vibe.

Su Yu was silent for a moment before laughing: "Okay, you have a good memory. I'm not worried, just a little nervous for Lu Yang. This is his first time directing, I hope he doesn't ruin the reputation of Shiguang."

The two talked for a long time, from "First Love" to Berlin, and from Berlin to the casting of "The Forbidden Kingdom".

The laughter gradually subsided. Su Yu checked the time; it was already 1 a.m. in Los Angeles, and it should be 5 p.m. in Beijing.

He told Liu Yifei to get some rest, and Liu Yifei responded with a soft "Mmm," as if afraid of disturbing something.

"Sissi".

"Um?"

Su Yu hesitated for a moment, holding his phone. He wanted to say, "Let me know if you need anything about your audition for 'The Forbidden Kingdom'," but then changed his mind and said, "Be careful during training and don't get injured."

"Okay, you too. It's cold in Los Angeles, wear more clothes."