Chapter 795

In the entertainment industry, many things have a commercial logic.

But some people do not follow commercial logic.

For example, Li Zhibai; he talks about feelings, about true friends and true brothers, about being willing to go through fire and water for them.

But not following commercial logic does not mean it is all the same thing.

For example, Zhang Yuezhen.

After the *Seventeen Layers* spin-off was filmed, Zhang Yuezhen immediately began helping Chen Pinhe find his next project.

However, the next project was not that easy to find.

The ones they wanted and were willing to approach already had better choices, such as Jiang Army. The quantity was already small, and Chen Pinhe was not the first candidate, so naturally, there were even fewer opportunities.

However, Zhang Yuezhen had not expected at all that, besides Jiang Army, Wen Shengming and Liu Teli had also become stumbling blocks for Chen Pinhe.

After Wen Shengming won Best Actor at the Venice International Film Festival, he unexpectedly announced a luxury brand endorsement without stopping. Although it was only for the China region, for an actor of his level, either he wouldn't endorse it, or if he did, within six months to a year, he would definitely be promoted to a global ambassador title.

And what Zhang Yuezhen did not expect was that this luxury endorsement deal had been negotiated for Wen Shengming by Shi Huo.

Wen Shengming's business contract had actually been signed with Shi Huo as well.

Actually, there was nothing to be "surprised" about; it was too easy to understand.

It was just that Zhang Yuezhen was very annoyed: why were so many people gradually gathering around Lu Yanhe, wearing the same pair of pants as him?

Back then, one should have—

"Manager Zhang!" Someone knocked on the door.

Zhang Yuezhen came back to her senses, "Come in."

The secretary opened the door and stood at the entrance, "Ning Yao is here."

"Let her in."

Ning Yao was wearing a white dress—

As a female star, it was rare to dress like this.

Dressed just like a little white flower on a university campus.

"Sister." Ning Yao walked in delicately, holding a paper box, her smile sweet, "I baked some cookies at home and brought some for you. If you don't mind, please have a taste."

Zhang Yuezhen stood up with a smile and said, "Why did you go through all this trouble?"

"It's no trouble, I like doing these things in my spare time," Ning Yao said. "Besides, Sister, you are so good to me; I'm just making some small cookies, don't be so polite with me."

Zhang Yuezhen: "Of course I won't be polite with you. By the way, when do you join the crew for your next film?"

"Next week," Ning Yao said.

"You just wrapped up last week, right? Oh my, this is too exhausting," Zhang Yuezhen said. "They should have let you rest for a few more days."

Ning Yao said: "It's fine, I don't want to rest either, I don't need to."

Zhang Yuezhen: "You silly child, acting isn't just manual labor; it requires the accumulation of emotion and passion. You can't burn yourself out too severely."

Ning Yao said okay.

Zhang Yuezhen held Ning Yao's hand and said, "After you finish filming your next movie, I have found a role for you in a Hollywood film. Practice your English well, you know?"

Ning Yao showed a look of surprise.

"Sister, you are too good to me."

"That goes without saying; you are my favorite newcomer. If I'm not good to you, who would I be good to?" Zhang Yuezhen pinched Ning Yao's cheek, "Let's work hard, but don't be anxious. As an actor, one must guard against arrogance and impetuosity, you know? Just act well, and leave everything else for us to handle. We will definitely become famous."

Ning Yao nodded vigorously.

"Okay!"

After Ning Yao left, the secretary walked in, picked up the cookies Ning Yao had brought, and walked out silently.

Zhang Yuezhen didn't even lift her head.

The secretary looked at the cookie box in her hand with pity and threw it directly into the trash can.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Yuezhen walked out of the office with her bag.

"How could Liu Zefan slap you in the face so publicly last time?"

Thirty minutes later, Zhang Yuezhen met with Li Xia at a high-end private club.

Sunlight spilled in from outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Outside the window was a quiet courtyard scene.

Between them sat a small coffee table with an exquisite tea set on it.

Li Xia looked helpless and said: "What can I do? Now these big stars are all like spoiled children. You think you're doing it for their own good, but they don't appreciate it."

Zhang Yuezhen: "He thinks he's capable enough now and doesn't need to rely on you, so his wings have hardened. Let me remind you: don't spend all your hard work grooming someone, only to end up making a wedding dress for someone else. Look at Jiang Army; before he was famous, he worked with his previous company for so many years. Just a few years after he became popular, he signed directly with Shi Huo."

Li Xia: "Sigh, that's easy to say, but if he really wants to jump ship to Shi Huo, what can I do? His contract with us is also about to expire."

"With the way Lu Yanhe is doing things, which agent will dare to send their artists to him to film his projects in the future?" Zhang Yuezhen said. "If you ask me, don't you all have any objections? How can he do this?"

"What's the use of us having objections?" Li Xia shook her head. "We can't force Liu Zefan to stay. Even if we forced him, he wouldn't necessarily agree, right?"

Zhang Yuezhen: "Sigh, that's why one must be cautious when cultivating newcomers now."

Li Xia: "Isn't the new company you just established cultivating newcomers? That Ning Yao, I know her. Ever since she was picked by you and started being groomed, she has basically never left the set, filming one movie after another. You feed all your resources to her; aren't you afraid that once the little girl grows up, she'll run off too?"

"Since I can feed her resources, of course I'm not afraid of her running off," Zhang Yuezhen smiled slightly at Li Xia. "Actually, if you were really determined not to let Liu Zefan go, I don't believe he wouldn't have any issues that you could hold over him."

Li Xia: "How could that be? You think I don't want to? The problem is it's impossible."

Zhang Yuezhen: "What's impossible about it?"

Li Xia: "Sigh, forget it, let's not talk about this. You suddenly invited me to meet today; it wouldn't just be to chat about Liu Zefan, would it?"

"Of course not. He is your artist; I may gossip, but the serious business is certainly not him," Zhang Yuezhen said. "I wanted to ask, for the British drama *Suspect*, didn't Liu Zefan already sign the contract? Are there any roles with decent screen time that you could recommend to me? Regardless of gender."

Li Xia: "Ah? You overestimate me. We can't get a word in for this show."

"I don't need you to get a word in, just let me see the script," Zhang Yuezhen said. "I'll handle the rest myself."

"This—" Li Xia did not expect that Zhang Yuezhen was actually aiming for the show *Suspect*.

Zhang Yuezhen smiled, "I won't take advantage of you for nothing. Look, you must know the Shijin film *Ten Miles of Fragrance*; there is still a role in it that hasn't been cast. Didn't you just sign a boy who graduated this year? His age is just right; I can help you put in a good word."

Only then did Li Xia smile.

"There aren't any suitable cameo roles left in the first *Men in Black*; just showing one's face doesn't have much meaning," Lu Yanhe said to Li Yuefeng over the phone. "Let's look at the next two films later to see if there are any suitable roles. If there are, I'll save them for you."

After hearing the news about *Men in Black*, Li Yuefeng called Lu Yanhe immediately to ask if there were any roles.

When it came to asking Lu Yanhe for roles, Li Yuefeng had always been the most proactive and spared no effort.

Hearing Lu Yanhe say this, Li Yuefeng stopped asking.

"Okay."

Lu Yanhe said: "Do you still have the schedule to ask me for roles? You have so many films lined up now."

"It's just a cameo, two or three days at most. How could I not squeeze out that much time?" Li Yuefeng said. "You all have broken into the international market one by one, and I want to as well. Let me just get some exposure first."

In terms of career ambition, for the women there is Jiang Yuqian, and for the men there is Li Yuefeng.

Lu Yanhe laughed.

"If you want to get exposure in Hollywood films, actually, I can help recommend you. For the sake of the Chinese box office, they would be very willing to let you make a cameo."

Li Yuefeng: "That won't do. If it's not your film and I go to make a cameo, how embarrassing would that be? Going to make a cameo in your film is me supporting a friend. Going to make a cameo in a film that has nothing to do with me—no matter how big the film is, it's still just a cameo. I have my pride; I'm a popular first-tier star in China after all, how can I go be someone's mascot?"

Lu Yanhe laughed.

"Alright then."

"Of course, if it's the kind of cameo that's particularly worth it, I'm willing," Li Yuefeng said. "Doing a cameo just for the sake of a cameo, forget it."

"Okay."

"Why are you always so proactive in asking Lu Yanhe for roles?" Wu Bai was driving in the front; he only spoke after hearing Li Yuefeng hang up the phone.

"What's wrong with me asking Lu Yanhe for roles? Isn't this very normal?" Hearing Wu Bai's question, Li Yuefeng didn't even look up, asking while replying to someone's message.

Wu Bai said: "It's not that, one or two times is fine, but I see you always asking him. Won't it make him feel annoyed?"

"He won't. I'm not pestering him for roles; I'm just making him remember I exist whenever there's a possibility," Li Yuefeng said. "Tell me, how many people are eyeing his films? If I'm not proactive and let him remember I'm still here, wouldn't a role that might have been mine go to someone else?"

"You've collaborated with Linghe on two films in a row; that's actually already a lot."

"A lot?" Li Yuefeng looked up in surprise. "This isn't a lot at all; I wish there were two more, four more!"

Hearing this, Wu Bai was speechless for a moment.

"You'll know if you look at the scripts. The scripts handed over by Linghe are a cut above other scripts in quality; even if it's not a script written by Yan He, they are all very good," Li Yuefeng said. "Their Linghe scripts are all selected through rounds of competition. Take *Corpse Image*, for example—a snowbound manor-style suspense thriller. How many people have written such stories? But even in such a genre, they can still perform miracles in a nutshell. They made it with a production budget of 12 million. The costumes, makeup, and props are top-tier, the cinematography and art direction are top-tier; it's not shoddy at all. With such script concepts and project management models, whoever acts in them benefits. You've been to a Linghe set to film; only then will you know what 'professional' means."

"Is it that exaggerated?" Wu Bai asked in surprise. "*Corpse Image* was just a crew of thirty-something people."

"That's why I say they are awesome," Li Yuefeng said. "For a film like this to be shot with such quality, other companies absolutely couldn't do it with fewer than a hundred people. The art department alone would have to be a large team of at least eight people. But *Corpse Image*, the art department had only four people, can you believe it? The cinematography too: one director of photography, two cameramen, and two camera assistants—five people in total—yet they could support the crew's daily multi-camera shooting. The level is top-tier. When I'm filming on set, the waiting time never exceeds half an hour; the efficiency is extremely high. Before every scene, what I receive isn't just a call sheet, but also storyboards. Before going to the set, I already know how the director wants to handle the shots for the next scene."

Wu Bai: "I have heard of this."

"After the film is finished, the main creative team basically updates everyone on the film's progress every so often: what stage the post-production is at, where special effects are being done, which release windows they might be aiming for later, and what aspects they hope I can mention in my recent public schedule... A one-stop service. Do you know what feeling this gives me? Just two words: professional. They clearly know what they are doing now and what they will do next, they have made contingency plans for situations that might arise, and they tell me very clearly what I can do during this time and which periods I need to reserve for them, so as not to lock the schedule too tightly. After so many years, I've filmed so many movies, including *Seventeen Layers*, and no crew is more professional than this small crew with a production budget of only 12 million. That's why they can control costs without lowering the film's quality."

Wu Bai: "Linghe can achieve this in this aspect because they have completely mastered the production process in their own hands. For the same film, other production companies couldn't possibly shoot it with just 12 million. Every link has people who want to make money, just like your salary. If it were another film, your salary absolutely couldn't be just 4 million."

"Is my film salary quoted higher in the market?"

"It's negotiable," Wu Bai said bluntly. "The food, clothing, housing, and transportation on set are all areas where conditions can be raised, including helping other actors get roles, as well as remuneration for later promotional activities. Like *Corpse Image*, a film completely centered on you, even if the contract shows only 4 million in salary, you would collect some remuneration through other items. But for *Corpse Image*, you only had that 4 million salary, nothing else."

Li Yuefeng smiled ironically.

"No wonder those films get worse and worse, one worse than the next. Except for the investors, everyone can make money. It deserves to be in a film industry winter from time to time."

"So you know why investors are willing to bring sacks of money to invest in Linghe's projects, while during the two years when Northern Lights invested its budget into *My Own Swordsman* and *Squid Game*, many of its subordinate studios and producers had huge objections," Wu Bai said. "But by doing this, he actually offended many people invisibly. He frequently uses small bets to win big. Think about it, how does this make other film and television production personnel act? You make a budget of 50 million, and the investor asks, why can Linghe do a similar project for 15 million? If it weren't for the fact that Linghe's production personnel and funds are basically self-sufficient, and at most the project accepts external investment, with the company making all the decisions, many underhanded tricks would have been used on Linghe long ago."

Hearing this, Li Yuefeng shook his head.

"Truly rotten."

"Yeah, truly rotten, but what can you do?" Wu Bai said. "You can't just film Linghe's movies for your whole life, and Linghe can't be the only one to stand out and occupy the entire forest, right? So many companies are knocking on your schedule; if all the films you take are Linghe's, what is the reaction of others? Would you become a completely Linghe-affiliated actor? Then they can't eat this piece of cake, so will they find ways to trip you up, kick you down, and give the ecological niche you occupy to actors they can control and cooperate with?"

Li Yuefeng was full of disbelief, "It's so dirty."

Wu Bai: "Anyway, that's how things are."

"Too dirty," Li Yuefeng said. "Brother Bai, I finally know why Jiang Yuqian and the others are working so hard to find opportunities overseas. This is to prepare a retreat for themselves."

"Then are you overthinking it? They actually don't have such thoughts at all?" Wu Bai laughed. "Jiang Yuqian changed her development route completely because it's difficult for her to win awards. She is now on the route of an international superstar, and she is walking it very successfully. You average Best Actress winners might not really be able to compare with her status now."

Li Yuefeng: "But one really must have the ability to jump out of this environment, otherwise you really don't know when you'll be threatened. Brother Bai, we should also open up other battlefields later. In case these people unite to go to war with Linghe in the future, you asking me to be dragged into fighting Linghe is something I can't do, and you asking me to stand by Yan He's side to fight against them, I don't have that ability either. I have to stay away."

Wu Bai: "It's not that easy. With the current market, who would think your relationship with Linghe isn't close? In terms of collaboration, the number of times you've collaborated with Lu Yanhe has never fallen out of the top three."

Li Yuefeng: "It's not that—"

Li Yuefeng himself was too embarrassed to say these words.

Three *Seventeen Layers*, cameo appearances in *Friends* and *Raise the Red Lantern*, and starred in *Those Years*. Now there are two more films where he is the male lead, one of which has already been filmed.

Come to think of it, Li Zhibai and Yan Liang don't have as many as him.

Wu Bai looked helplessly at this actor who had grown up with him.

"Now you know why I told you that you can't always collaborate with Linghe?"

Li Yuefeng: "... Alright."

Wu Bai: "However, our contract is also about to expire. Yuefeng, I suggest you sign your film and television contract with Shi Huo."

Li Yuefeng looked at Wu Bai in shock: "Ah? Are you crazy? Then what about you?"

"I will leave the company and cooperate with you as an individual," Wu Bai said. "I'll tell you the truth: my strongest areas are public relations and promotion; my resources are concentrated in business and media. In the film and television sector, before you reached your current stage, my resources were enough for you, but now they aren't. If you go to Shi Huo, I can use this platform to help you fight for better film and television resources. Besides, they are also expanding their business overseas, which is very beneficial for you to develop overseas business in the future."

Li Yuefeng: "You're coming with me? That's fine. I thought you had fallen in love with me and were willing to sacrifice your own interests to lift me up."

Wu Bai: "..."

Li Yuefeng: "As expected of Brother Bai."

Wu Bai: "Get lost."

Li Yuefeng asked: "Then what about the others you manage?"

"I will establish a studio and carry out cooperation with Shi Huo as a studio. The focus of the cooperation will be you. For others, those who are willing to follow me, I will continue to manage; those who are not willing can stay," Wu Bai said. "Actually, I suggest doing this because the resources I control have reached a bottleneck, and I must also go to a larger platform."

Li Yuefeng: "Can do, very can do. Let's grow big and strong together."

"Jiang Yuqian!"

"Qin~ Qin~ Look over here!"

Jiang Yuqian, in a gorgeous dress, walked onto the red carpet in Paris.

What she was attending was the screening event for *Doomsday* in Paris, France.

Over the past few years, the time she spent in Paris each year was even more than a month.

Various fashion events, brand events, including the Maxine series *Perfect Truth* that she collaborated on with French director Donovan Motovani, were also filmed in France.

It can be said that before she truly opened up the Hollywood market relying on *Red Eye Flight*, her "international influence" was mainly reflected in Europe.

And among them, France was the main one.

Female stars have an advantage compared to male stars, which is "if film and television aren't bright, fashion is."

During the period when Jiang Yuqian had no works following up, she relied entirely on her performance in fashion to maintain exposure.

And when she became popular again relying on *Red Eye Flight*, this exposure fed back into her.

She was no longer a newcomer who had just started out and just became popular.

In the eyes of those people in France, she was "red on top of red."

Now the promotion of *Doomsday* was a large-scale show for Jiang Yuqian.

Her image in the film already carried a part of the "female vase" nature, so she could also appear in various beautiful, pretty, and sexy styles without any scruples.

This allowed her to sweep the fashion media exposure of the past month—

Popularity nourishes people.

Jiang Yuqian waved and walked past amidst the tsunami-like shouts.

Yeah, superstar.

Many photographers felt that she was so beautiful today that she was glowing.

Until she walked into the screening hall, an unexpected figure appeared in front of her.

That was someone she had not expected at all.

She shouldn't have appeared here.

Jiang Yuqian frowned.

"Manager Zhang?"

Zhang Yuezhen, Chen Pinhe's wife.

Zhang Yuezhen walked up to Jiang Yuqian with a smile.

"Miss Jiang, we finally meet."

Jiang Yuqian subconsciously looked left and right.

There were actually many people around, but four bodyguards guarded the surroundings, making others tactfully stay away after seeing this formation.

They didn't know Zhang Yuezhen, but they all knew that this must be someone with connections having a "whisper" with Jiang Yuqian.

Zhang Yuezhen's gaze fell on Jiang Yuqian.

"Miss Jiang is so beautiful today; it really is true that popularity nourishes people." She leaned close to Jiang Yuqian and whispered in her ear: "However, Miss Jiang, haven't you reached your hand out a bit too far?"

Jiang Yuqian looked at Zhang Yuezhen with a serious expression.

In full view of the public, she really couldn't just throw a tantrum and walk away.

She just looked at Zhang Yuezhen.

She knew she was talking about the *Windowsill* incident.

What she didn't expect was that Zhang Yuezhen would come directly to her for this matter.

(End of chapter)