Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

In the afternoon, Yang Che called Lao Fan to report on the situation, mentioning the estimated copyright fees from Japan and South Korea.

Old Fan's voice suddenly became extremely loud: "How much?"

"Around 300 million US dollars, so you'd better come to Shanghai."

Old Fan paused for a moment and said, "I told you you had full authority over this, and I really did have something to do."

After that, Yang Che went to Berna Company, which is a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor of Huangtingzi Community.

I talked with Yu Dong about holding a press conference and inviting the media after the deal was finalized.

After what happened that morning, Yu Dong had more confidence in him, but still asked, "Will it work?"

"Remove the 'ma' from me. Who am I?"

"Alright then, I'll contact some influential people in the past."

Yang Che reassured Yu Dong: "Even if it doesn't work out, they don't need to worry about making a wasted trip. I'll still pay for their travel expenses. No, I'll pay double."

Yu Dong gave a thumbs-up: "Boss, you're fucking awesome!"

..........

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye. Yang Che bid farewell to Gao Yuanyuan, who was still in bed, and headed to the Capital Airport.

They met up with Kazuo Fukasawa and then headed to Shanghai together.

During the flight, the two had a more in-depth and detailed discussion about "Postmen in the Mountains" and its distribution.

Kazuo Fukasawa praised Yang Che as a genius in distribution and earnestly recommended that he work for Tohoku in Japan. Having just stepped down as general manager, recommending someone was no problem for him...

Yang Che flashed a V sign with his hand and said in a pretentious manner, "The Chinese film market is about to reach a turning point, after which it will rise sharply. And that turning point is 'My Sassy Girl,' this is my historical mission."

Kazuo Fukasawa remarked with deep emotion, "You possess true heroism, and I sincerely wish you success."

After landing in Shanghai, the film festival organizers came to pick up Kazuo Fukasawa.

Yang Che also needed to go to the screening venue first, but he took a taxi there.

I was eighteen that year, standing there like a lackey.

From Hongqiao to Pudong, Yang Che looked out the taxi window at the plane trees, garden villas, old-style villas, the Air Force sanatorium, the West Suburbs Hotel... Well, just like in another time and space, he still didn't like Shanghai. He was a rascal, a country bumpkin.

It was already 1 p.m. when we arrived at the Shanghai International Convention Center.

Yang Che bought two chicken burgers at the KFC in the exhibition hall and made a phone call while eating them.

A short while later, at the entrance of the first-floor exhibition hall, a man in his forties with a meticulously slicked-back hairstyle and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, wearing a gray striped suit, looked around.

"Secretary Zhang?"

"Hello, are you Mr. Yang Che?"

"it's me."

Secretary Zhang opened his mouth. As the secretary of the director of Shanghai Film Studio, he hurriedly ran out to greet the "distinguished guest," only to find that the guest was so young, carrying a backpack and eating a hamburger.

However, he quickly composed himself and gestured, "Please come with me. Cho Byung-won, the president of Pine Tree Films in Korea, is already waiting for you."

Yang Che nodded: "Thank you. Could you tell me about Pine Tree Pictures and Zhao Bingyuan?"

"Hmm... It's a film distribution company established in 92, mainly handling the import and distribution of films by fifth-generation directors and Hong Kong art films. Zhao Bingyuan speaks fluent Chinese, but he doesn't talk much."

Yang Che nodded: "Thank you."

Inside the exhibition hall, well, it was basically a trade fair. At a glance, there were film companies from about twenty countries exhibiting.

You can also see posters for "Genghis Khan"...

However, Yang Che was not interested in any of this and followed Secretary Zhang to an office on the east side.

There were two people sitting inside, one around forty years old and the other around thirty, both very thin, and clearly Korean.

Surprisingly, these two people didn't have the arrogant attitude that most South Koreans have towards Chinese people these days. Well, you could say that after dealing with Chinese people for a long time, they've become more polite and humane.

Zhao Bingyuan was also surprised; he thought some "big shot" wanted to see him... After chatting about the movie for a few minutes, he became even more interested. What interested him even more was the simultaneous release of Three Kingdoms films.

Even as Zhao Bingyuan was thinking of giving up, he uttered the phrase "great unity of the century"...

Seeing that the other party readily agreed, Yang Che stood up and said, "Then I will wait for you two at the Shanghai Film Studio this afternoon. After the movie, I will treat you to a meal at the Shangri-La Hotel. Please make sure to leave me your time tonight."

Do the Japanese staff also eat together?

"Yes, is there anything inconvenient for President Zheng?"

"No, I'm just curious."

"I see. Goodbye then, I need to get ready."

"Please go ahead."

When they left, Secretary Zhang's gaze towards Yang Che became much more friendly. He couldn't speak as logically as he did with the Koreans and always maintained the dominant position.

Outside the exhibition hall.

"Thank you, Secretary Zhang."

"Mr. Yang, you're too kind. Knowing that your film was printed at the Shanghai Film Studio makes me feel even closer to you."

"More than that, director Cheng Er is also an employee of your Shanghai Film Studio."

"Really? I didn't know that."

"That's normal, Shanghai Film Studio is a large and powerful company. Secretary Zhang, farewell."

"Wait, Mr. Yang, I'd like to report this matter to Factory Director Zhu. Is that convenient?"

Yang Che chuckled: "What's inconvenient about that? I suppose it was President Han who called Director Zhu."

"Indeed. Okay, goodbye Mr. Yang."

"goodbye."

..........

7pm.

Sun Nan's high-pitched, resonant, and powerful voice rang out in the screening room of the Shanghai Film Studio; it was "I Believe," and the subtitles appeared on the screen.

Cast

Song Xingxing and Fan Bingbing

Niu Geng Huang Haibo

......

When the lights came on in the screening room and people started to applaud, they discovered that Yang Che was no longer in the room.

Director Zhu of the Shanghai Film Studio discovered that his secretary was also absent.

Overjoyed, Zhao Bingyuan could only say, "Director Cheng, I can predict that 'My Sassy Girl' will be a huge hit in South Korea and will become the most popular Chinese film among South Korean audiences."

Indeed, South Korean feminism is not extreme these days, so the vast majority of men still support it.

Kazuo Fukasawa nodded in deep agreement, believing that the film would likely break a record for Chinese mainland films at the Japanese box office. He also thought that many lines from the film would become classic quotes, those poetic sentences.

Kazuo Fukasawa looked at Zhao Bingyuan with a hint of disdain. This "stupid guy" (1) did not know how to appreciate such a beautiful sentence, and he was even from the Chinese Department of Fudan University.

Some veteran directors from the Shanghai Film Studio looked at each other in disbelief. "Movies can be made like this? Why are Japanese and Korean film companies so optimistic about such a mindless popcorn movie?"

It can only be said that most directors who grew up under the planned economy really don't consider box office performance. Of course, this is definitely not a bad thing, but we won't discuss it here.

At that moment, Yang Che and Secretary Zhang entered the screening room one after the other.

Note 1: "Chon" is a derogatory term used by Japanese people to refer to Koreans, meaning "small" or "insignificant." Koreans call Japanese people "flip-flops," which... well, it might be related to the wooden clogs (wooden sandals). It's funny, but it's true.