Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Yang Che's office is on the third floor. His desk, tea table, and other small items are still old objects that were moved from Tazhai. Actually, he really wanted to be on the second floor, but everyone disagreed.

Also on the third floor are Li Jian's finance department and Guo Xiaoyue's office; well, the office is essentially a department.

The second floor houses the film and television department; all the equipment, costumes, and props have been moved here.

The first floor houses the Gugu Gaga and administrative departments.

In addition to the company relocation, Yang Che and Gao Yuanyuan also moved their belongings from Courtyard No. 8 to Tazhai on July 28, since their lease was due to expire.

Gao Yuanyuan had no objections to this. Apart from worrying about her bottom getting cold when using the toilet in winter, she was quite satisfied with everything else, and she also liked living in the courtyard.

So, under Gao Yuanyuan's direction, Tazhai began renovations again, but the only major change was to the toilet in the southwest corner.

She converted the west wing into a gym and karaoke room, and another room into a storeroom; the east wing is a kitchen and guest room.

The main building remains unchanged, along with the boiler room, Old Sun and his wife's bedroom, and the small storeroom.

The main house has three rooms: the middle room is a reception room, the east room is a study and tea room, and the west room is a bedroom.

Instead of a bed, Gao Yuanyuan had a heated kang (a traditional heated platform bed) installed in the bedroom, large enough to sleep four or five people.

Because of the renovation, Gao Yuanyuan asked her boyfriend for money for the first time. Yang Che transferred the copyright fee for "Car 44" to her, which amounted to 73 yuan after deducting handling fees and taxes.

Gao Yuanyuan wasn't a permanent resident; she only came occasionally to check on the renovation progress and rarely stayed overnight. Of course, when she did stay, it was only in Anzhenli.

During this period, Yang Che's main focus remained on "Looking for a Gun". He did not use Liu Jiang's help, but instead let him concentrate on preparing for the TV series "Good Fortune and Prosperity".

On August 4th, Yang Che, who had finished writing "Looking for a Gun", arrived at the small screening room of the Beijing Film Studio, where a group of talented people had already gathered.

Yu Dong and his wife, Han Sanping, Xinyinglian, Lao Zhu from Shanghai Film Studio who came to Beijing on a business trip, Lao Fan from the distribution department of Beijing Film Studio, and of course Wu Shixian and other behind-the-scenes creators of "Waiting Alone".

After watching the abridged version for less than three minutes, Han Sanping turned his head and whispered, "Isn't this your film?"

Wu Shixian, who was sitting in the back row and seemed a little nervous, suddenly twitched at the corner of his mouth.

Yang Che calmly replied, "I don't understand what you mean, Mr. Han."

Han Sanping glanced back at Wu Shixian, said nothing, and continued reading.

Yang Che also watched it carefully. It was very good. Some movies can transcend the limitations of their time. "Waiting Alone" is one such movie. Everyone can find their own shadow in it, or the shadow of someone around them.

Youth is like a pigeon's whistle, passionate yet serene, so close yet so far.

Wang Rong sang "Kiss Mark" very well; Yang Che felt it was better than the original "Super Star."

The theme song and ending theme, "You Exist in My Song," goes without saying; the moment Wang Fei's voice comes out, it feels like your heart is being squeezed.

After watching it, people praised it highly.

Old Zhu from Shanghai Film Studio said, "It's really well made. The plot is smooth, the characters are vivid, the emotions are sincere, and the tone is positive. It's just that its commercial appeal is relatively weak compared to 'My Sassy Girl,' and it will probably be difficult to go international."

These words were spoken sincerely, and others thought so too, but what they didn't say, and what they didn't say even more, was that "the domestic box office is expected to be far less than that of 'My Sassy Girl'."

This has nothing to do with quality. "My Sassy Girl" has an exaggerated comedic shell and a universal love story at its core, appealing to all ages; "Waiting Alone" is more suited to urban youth and movie fans, and its acceptance by the general public is relatively limited, as can be seen from the reactions of these middle-aged and elderly men.

Wu Shih-hsien was not discouraged, because Yang Che had said something similar before filming began.

So at this moment he was very frank: "Our box office target is 1800 million."

Yu Dong chuckled: "That's too modest. Compared to 'My Sassy Girl,' it's a bit less commercially viable, but compared to other movies, it's very strong. In my experience, as long as the marketing and distribution are done properly, 3500 million is still achievable."

Han Sanping nodded slightly, seemingly agreeing with Yu Dong's assessment.

Old Zhu from Shanghai Film Studio paused for a moment and then said, "It will still be released nationwide at the same time. 4000 million is still a piece of cake. You should release Wang Fei's song in advance; that should bring in at least 1000 million at the box office."

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Wang Fei's boyfriend.

Yang Che opened his mouth, then said expressionlessly, "I wrote that song."

Old Fan from the distribution department of Beijing Film Studio burst out laughing. His laughter was so loud that it sounded so jarring.

People burst into laughter.

Yang Che remained expressionless. He wasn't proud; instead, he really wanted to slap Wang Fei's butt. Hmm... he'd been free for three days.

Afterwards, Wu Shixian and Liu Chang discussed distribution matters with Yu Dong and others, but did not mention the November 1st release of "Saw" in the United States. After all, no one could be sure how much the box office would be, and Yang Che... he couldn't say too much either.

Anyway, there's another official screening on November 15th.

Yang Che did not participate in the discussion; he went to Han Sanping's office.

When Han Sanping saw the notebook handed to him, his expression was priceless; he clearly knew about "The Search for the Gun".

"You'll direct it yourself?"

"right."

Han Sanping panicked, as if his first love was about to go out and sell herself.

"Why are you making this? Didn't you say you wanted to make commercial films?"

Yang Che said in a serious tone: "This is a commercial film, a crime thriller."

"Hey, Mr. Yang, you're supporting young directors to make these kinds of films, but you still need to continue exploring commercial genres, I mean those that can get high box office returns."

Yang Che was too lazy to argue: "Since President Han doesn't think it's good enough, then I'll go find Xi'an Film Studio, no, President Zhu of Shanghai Film Studio is still here..."

Han Sanping slammed his fist on the table.

"They became arrogant and domineering after achieving some success."

Yang Che was also furious: "Don't try to pin the accusation of arrogance on me. My head is too small to fit."

Han Sanping slapped his hand again: "China Film Group will invest half."

Yang Che's gaze was deep and thoughtful: "I've already sold the overseas copyrights for $400 million."

Upon hearing this, Han Sanping nearly choked and coughed several times.

"I haven't heard of any income coming in."

"It hasn't been officially approved yet; it's just a verbal agreement."

"Tsk tsk."

Yang Che was speechless: "This is my directorial debut, the price isn't high."

"Which store did you buy it from?"

"Colombia."

Han Sanping nodded, feeling embarrassed to bring up investment matters again, let alone the pre-sale.

Even if it weren't for that, China Film Investment would be a favor to others, but for this person it would be outright robbery.

What's your budget?

"500 million. By the way, Mr. Han, you can show the script to Lu Chuan's parents, so they won't keep making wrong judgments about their son."

Han Sanping slammed his fist on the table again: "I don't care about any of this."

"Calm down, calm down. I'm planning to cast Jiang Wen as the lead actor, and the director would like to invite Mr. Han to make a cameo appearance..."

"etc..."