Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

"Hahaha, An, you are my lucky star. I made 3 million US dollars from this betting alone, which is equivalent to a free James Wan movie series development!"

In Chinese terms, this is called "the wool comes from the sheep's back."

Hearing Kirk's unrestrained laughter on the phone, Zhuang Huai'an realized that his prediction was correct; this Grand Slam victory really did have the old man's backing.

Tsk, the Old Money Consortium is terrifyingly powerful. This old guy is definitely more than just 36th on the Forbes Rich List!

"This is nothing,"

Zhuang Huai'an's eyes flickered slightly. "Kirk, getting excited over 3 million US dollars is really not in line with your status as the King of Gambling in America."

"An, you don't understand. Money is a small matter. The real reason is that this means I've entered the European market. Anyway, while I'm in a good mood, I need to go pick out a bunny girl to play with. Congratulations again, my friend."

After hanging up the phone, Zhuang Huai'an fell into deep thought.

The World Cup is just around the corner, why don't we give Kirk a shot?

For such a world-class sporting event, without Kirk, the American gambling king, leading the way, his small frame really wouldn't dare to get involved rashly.

This is a cash cow!

Back in the capital,

Lin Jiachuan came to his door immediately. Zhuang Huai'an chuckled when he saw him stammering and unable to speak.

"Hey Dao, what's up? Is there anything we can't talk about?"

"That's the main issue; it doesn't really concern me."

Lin Jiachuan sighed, "It was Ning Hao who came to me. He's looking at the release date for his movie and wanted to ask me when our movie will be released so he can avoid it."

"Is that all?" Zhuang Huai'an seemed to realize something.

Last June, Ning Hao put together a script for "Crazy Diamond," but instead of seeking investment from 91 Company, he approached Han Sanping through Wang Hongwei's connections.

Ning Hao is no longer the unknown figure he was in the original story. Having directed two films by Zhuang Huai'an, he is known in the industry as "Little Gu Changwei." With his experience comes confidence, and Han Sanping did not hesitate to invest 450 million RMB to produce "Crazy Stone."

To be honest, Zhuang Huai'an initially considered recruiting Ning Hao, but after two collaborations, he realized that Ning Hao was too opinionated. He could make friends and invest in him, but if he wanted to use him as a tool, it would be better to win over Zhang Yimou or slowly cultivate Zhuge Liang and Feng Yu.

This actually offers better value for money.

"Yes, that's it." Lin Jiachuan was a little embarrassed. "Mainly because I thought we'd been through thick and thin together, and he asked me about it, so I couldn't very well refuse..."

Despite his rugged appearance, Dao Ge is actually an extremely meticulous and sensitive person. Although Ning Hao has left the Four Great Kings group, their friendship remains, as they were partners who fought together. Therefore, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask.

"It's alright, Brother Dao."

Zhuang Huai'an smiled and reassured him, "It's good to discuss it. You go and tell him that the promotion for 'Hearing Girl' will start immediately. My idea is to release it simultaneously in mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in mid-March."

This really needs a middleman to relay the message; we can't expect Zhuang Huai'an to tell Ning Hao himself, "My movie is about to be released, so you should stay out of the way."

What has become of it?

"I gave him a suggestion: since this movie is invested in by China Film Group, you should have him directly tell Han Sanping to release it in June, during the domestic film protection month. There shouldn't be any major problems."

"Okay, I'll head out now."

"By the way, let me tell you guys, I'm moving tomorrow. Come over and have a housewarming party for me!"

"Okay, I've relayed the message."

Watching Lin Jiachuan's retreating figure, Zhuang Huai'an shook his head, chuckled, and continued working.

He didn't take it to heart. It was just "Crazy Stone," which only grossed over 2000 million yuan. It was a dark horse in the market, but it didn't rank very high in the 91 Company.

in the afternoon,

Liu Lei strolled into the office.

"Guo'er, I just went to see your villa. It's really nice. The landscaping and security are very well done. You don't have to worry about being blocked at the door anymore."

"Brother Liu, you're making it sound like I'm being chased by creditors."

Zhuang Huai'an replied to him irritably, and the two walked to the tea table and sat down. He handed him a cigarette and started brewing tea.

"That's because he's a creditor, isn't it?"

Liu Lei laughed and said, "The rules are very tight in our line of work. Do you know what people in your industry call you?"

"What?" Zhuang Huai'an looked at him curiously.

"The person in the entertainment industry most afraid of being exposed,"

Liu Lei exhaled a puff of smoke and joked, "One of my clients is an editor at a daily newspaper. When I was chatting with him the other day, he kept talking about you. I heard that media outlets all over the country are looking for you. Director, your decision to move was definitely the right one."

"Then you see,"

Zhuang Huai'an handed him a cup of tea. "I really had no other choice. You went to the courtyard house, right? Goodness, Zhang Lu came back and told me that at least thirty or forty media outlets were lying in wait for me at the entrance of the alley."

"I went there, and when they saw me take out my key to open the door, they swarmed over."

Liu Lei said with a hint of schadenfreude, "I dragged Zhang Lu's brother along to help, and he scared the kid half to death. He's probably downstairs looking for his sister to comfort him right now."

Zhuang Huai'an chuckled, "Brother Liu, are you really not afraid your nephew will get a haircut during the Lunar New Year?"

"Sigh, these are all bad habits."

Liu Lei waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Actually, the old saying goes that one misses their uncle, but somehow it turned into 'the uncle died.' I don't believe in that."

The two chatted for a while, and Zhuang Huai'an was able to relax for once.

Liu Lei, as expected of a local bigwig in Beijing, has high emotional intelligence. His ability to play the straight man is no less than that of Old Master Wang's son. In short, he will never let you fall flat on your face. This is why the two of them can still get along well despite their big differences.

"I've put away all the appliances in the villa, and moved the safes from the courtyard house over too. Auntie Pang is leading the cleaning team right now. Director, are we really cooking tomorrow? Or should we find an auspicious day or something?"

Zhuang Huai'an chuckled. "Brother Liu, didn't you just say you didn't believe in these things?"

"I don't believe it, but I think you're different."

Liu Lei laughed and said, "A while ago, before I started my company, I went to a fortune teller to predict my fortune. The fortune teller asked me what industry I was in, and I said I was just an employee. The fortune teller immediately started cursing and swearing, 'What kind of fortune does a lowly employee have?'"

"Hahaha, this is a true master, a master without a doubt."

Zhuang Huai'an waved his hand, "In my hometown, there's a tradition that if you believe in fortune telling, you have to keep believing, otherwise you'll suffer misfortune. I've never believed in it, and I don't plan to."

"Yeah, this thing is quite complicated to set up."

Liu Lei smiled and didn't continue. He had just mentioned it casually. In his opinion, the person with the best luck and the strongest destiny in the world was probably Zhuang Huai'an, who was sitting in front of him.

The leap from a rich kid to a billionaire is astonishing.

"Boss, Uncle."

Zhang Lu walked in and reported to the manager: "The receptionist called; there are a lot of media gathered at our company entrance. Boss, do you think we should hold a press conference?"

"No, let's let the bullets fly a little longer."

Zhuang Huai'an said with amusement, "Now is not the best time. We can get the biggest traffic after the Hearing Girl campaign starts."