Huayu: Returned Overseas Chinese

"Don't say things that are detrimental to unity."

Upon hearing this, Xie Fei glared at Wu Bing. Wu Bing immediately realized what he meant, slapped her mouth, and apologized repeatedly.

Seeing this, everyone just smiled knowingly. Some things are better left unsaid; there's no need to say them all the time.

"What are you talking about, all this commotion?"

Han Sanping led a group from China Film Group over and, seeing the Beijing Film Academy students gathered together, asked with a smile.

"Old Han, are you talking about Chen Jingming?"

Zheng Tongtian picked up the conversation, smoothly smoothing things over. Han Sanping nodded, then smiled and said:

"I met this kid a while ago, not bad. Daring, resourceful, but knows his limits. Old Yu, you'd better train him well."

When the topic turned to her, Yu Li smiled and chimed in:

"Old Han, the way you're talking makes it sound like I don't value talent."

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter. Not far away, several leaders from the Central Academy of Drama watched this scene with immense envy.

The Beijing Film Academy (BFA) is now producing not only directors, but also a major investor. A TV series with an investment of 20 million yuan features a cast entirely composed of BFA graduates, both leading and supporting roles. The old saying goes, "BFA produces directors, Central Academy of Drama produces actors," but now, Chen Jingming has suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and not a single student from the Central Academy of Drama has been used.

As it approached ten o'clock, the host walked onto the stage and gently tapped the microphone. The sound signaled to everyone that the banquet was about to officially begin, and they all took their seats as arranged.

Chen Jingming and several of his brothers also came out from backstage, and then separated when they reached the second row. Chen Jingming's seat was in the second row, while the others sat in the area further back.

The leader of the broadcasting system sat in the center of the first row, with the heads of China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, Beijing Film Academy, and Central Academy of Drama sitting next to him.

The second row consisted of executives from Chen Jingming's company, as well as people from film and television companies such as Huayi and New Pictures. Most of them were there to discuss film scheduling and cooperation.

During the opening segment, leaders from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, China Film Group, Beijing Film Academy, and Lin Dan all took to the stage to deliver speeches. Chen Jingming did not go up; he has always defined himself as a producer.

After Lin Dan finished his speech, the broadcasting leaders left in an orderly fashion. They were only there to show their support and didn't linger; only the China Film Group delegation remained. Chen Jingming was talking quietly with Lin Dan when he suddenly heard someone calling his name from nearby.

"Jingming, come here for a second."

Chen Jingming turned his head and saw Xie Fei waving at him, surrounded by a group of people, all of whom were among the most outstanding actors from the Beijing Film Academy in recent years.

"Thank you, Teacher Xie."

Chen Jingming walked over and greeted him respectfully.

Xie Fei waved his hand, looked at everyone, and said with a smile:

"This is your junior brother, Chen Jingming. From now on, we'll be in the same circle, so please look out for each other."

Huang Xiaoming, Zhao Zhetian, Yu Nan, Zuo Xiaoqing, Sun Li, Chen Kun, Zu Feng, Yan Danchen, Hai Qing, Huang Haibo, Ling Xiaosu, Yu Bo, Dong Xuan, Guan Yue, and others all greeted Chen Jingming with smiles.

Although Chen Jingming was somewhat surprised that Xie Fei had specially introduced him to someone, he still politely addressed him as "Senior Brother" and "Senior Sister".

"Alright, you young people can chat amongst yourselves. I'm leaving now. Keep up the good work."

Xie Fei casually remarked, and before leaving, he patted Chen Jingming on the shoulder as encouragement.

Chen Jingming quickly nodded in agreement. With Xie Fei gone, everyone relaxed considerably and began chatting casually. Chen Jingming's phone had a lot more private numbers now, and many people subtly expressed their hope that if he got a good script in the future, he would consider his own people.

After chatting for more than ten minutes, Chen Jingming was pulled away again. This time it was Han Sanping, who personally introduced him to veteran producers in the industry such as the Wang brothers, Zhang Weiping, and Jiang Wen. Chen Jingming maintained a smile throughout, responding calmly to the collaboration offers from everyone, only offering polite and mild remarks: "There isn't a suitable script yet. I'll contact you all when the opportunity arises."

Everyone present was shrewd, and they all knew what was going on: this young man was young, but he was very tight-lipped and didn't let out a single word.

The banquet lasted for more than two hours before it ended. Chen Jingming also took the opportunity to get to know many people in the industry, including Chang Li, a teacher at the Central Academy of Drama, and the "Eight Beauties," all of whom were young, beautiful, and had outstanding temperaments.

After most of the people had left, only the employees of Hongyuan Film and Television and a few of Chen Jingming's roommates remained at the cinema. The group found a place to sit down and began to chat.

"Jingming, you really stole the show today. Teacher Xie and Chairman Han both personally helped you build connections." Wang Hao looked at him, his tone full of envy.

"You only see me in the limelight, but you don't see how tired I am. To be honest, I really don't like dealing with these kinds of occasions. It's tiring and makes me feel constrained. I have to be careful with my words, afraid of saying the wrong thing."

Chen Jingming looked somewhat tired. Today he had truly witnessed the way people interact in the entertainment industry. They only say nice things, praising you to the skies, and then coldly watching when you'll fall.

"Next time, don't take this opportunity, give it to me! I've never experienced being surrounded by so many female celebrities before."

Seeing his Versailles-like demeanor, Liu Tiejun couldn't help but tease him.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter. Lin Dan walked over at this moment and gave Chen Jingming a wink. Chen Jingming understood, greeted his brothers, and then walked with Lin Dan to a quiet corner to the side.

"What's wrong?" Chen Jingming asked curiously.

"Today, companies such as New Pictures, Huayi Brothers, Beijing Broadcasting Media, Media Asia, Emperor Entertainment, and China Film New Line have all contacted me to discuss the scheduling of subsequent films and the settlement cycle."

Chen Jingming frowned slightly: "Isn't this normal? We open a cinema, it's only natural for them to come to you to discuss cooperation. What's the problem?"

"There's no disagreement on scheduling, but they all want the payment settlement period to be shortened to within fifteen days, saying they're under a lot of financial pressure." Lin Dan frowned slightly.

Chen Jingming's face also darkened. When he was setting up the cinemas, he had already learned about the industry rules: cinemas and distributors usually settle accounts one month in advance. The other party was now demanding half a month in advance, which was clearly because they saw him as young and wanted to take advantage of him.

"Is that all you mean?" Chen Jingming asked in a deep voice.

Lin Dan shook his head: "No. Beijing Guang and Huanya haven't expressed their opinions, but the other companies all support this proposal."

"Hmph." Chen Jingming snorted coldly. "Ignore them. Just follow China Film Group's lead. We'll settle whenever they settle. The cinema properties are all ours; we only have labor costs. We can afford this financial pressure. At worst, we'll just stop showing their films. I want to see if they'll be willing to give up nearly 10% of our market share."

Lin Dan nodded in agreement. He was unwilling to compromise in the first place; every extra day the money remained in the company account meant an extra day of interest, so he couldn't let the other party just say they wanted to expedite it.

The two had different perspectives, but their attitudes were the same. The matter was thus settled. It was getting late, so Chen Jingming said goodbye to Lin Dan.

"Brothers, let's go, it's on me today."

Chen Jingming returned to the group and greeted them with a smile.

"Let's go, let's go, I'm starving. It's supposed to be a banquet, but I haven't had a chance to eat much. I came here on an empty stomach this morning, and now I'm stuffed to the bone," Li Yang replied with a smile.