Chapter 141: Racing Casting and Retiring at the Peak

Wei Jin slumped on the sofa, completely lacking any image, his face showing a hint of helplessness as he looked over the script that Ning Hao had meticulously polished.

Casting for *Crazy Racer* had officially begun, and Wei Jin, as an investor, had been accidentally roped into doing the heavy lifting.

In the meeting room next door, Ning Hao and Xing Aina were conducting auditions, and there were still many actors queuing in the reception room and outside; one could see just how hot his project was.

After all, Ning Hao was no longer a nobody, but a dignified director in the 100-million-box-office club. If it weren't for the contract he had signed with Wei Jin, and the fact that both parties got along very well, there would be countless companies fighting to invest in his project.

One has to say, a husband-and-wife team is truly awesome; the script was written really well, and their efficiency was also very high.

"Old Wei, long time no see."

With so many people waiting for auditions outside, only Huang Bai was relatively casual, coming over directly to chat with Wei Jin.

"You came too? That's right, you are the go-to actor for my senior brother. How have you been lately?"

Seeing Huang Bai, Wei Jin couldn't help but smile; they hadn't seen each other for a few months since the annual meeting.

"How have I been? Just idling. You won't give me a role. I just got back from wrapping up *Dunk*, so I have to come here with my eyes wide open, hoping for some guidance from Haozi, right?"

Huang Bai was still the same as ever, and he was also one of the few old friends with whom Wei Jin got along very well.

"Cough, your image doesn't fit an astronaut either. By the way, didn't this project just start not long ago? You wrapped up so quickly?"

Wei Jin didn't take the bait and changed the subject.

*Dunk* was a new film invested in by Emperor Motion Pictures and Shanghai Film Group. Because of this, Shanghai Film Group didn't even have the energy to participate in the *The Martian* project, which showed that the two companies were truly prepared to go all out. Zhou Dong's fan effect was already very obvious; even with a plot as rotten as *Curse of the Golden Flower*, it could still gross nearly 200 million, a large part of which was paid for by fans. This allowed many producers to see a new path, which could be considered the predecessor of fan-driven films.

"I'm just a supporting role, what kind of screen time could I have? I coordinated with them in advance. You have to know, Haozi is giving me a lead role, I have to prioritize this side."

Wei Jin nodded upon hearing this and started chatting aimlessly with Huang Bai again.

And don't even mention it, this fellow Huang Bai had a really strong sense of gossip, asking about the inside story of Wei Jin's *Red Cliff*.

This matter was also interesting; a project with an investment of 600 million was halted by an insurance company due to actor issues, which was a bizarre tale in the industry.

Large-scale productions all have insurance companies, and the insurance company for this film was from North America; only they could handle such a massive policy.

However, Zhou Runfa's price hadn't been settled. Seeing that the project was about to be shelved, the producers had to increase the investment to stabilize the actors, but the increase in costs had to be guaranteed by the insurance company, and the latter deemed the risk too high and halted it.

Subsequently, China Film Group urgently added a 2-million-dollar deposit, which finally settled the matter, but when the project would start filming remained an unknown.

For this reason, Han Dong had complained to Wei Jin more than once, saying that Hong Kong actors were truly too difficult to serve.

After hearing Wei Jin's news, Huang Bai expressed full agreement; currently, Hong Kong actors still held themselves in high regard.

However, Wei Jin knew that after this incident, Mainland producers would learn their lesson, which could be considered a good thing.

Watching Huang Bai and Wei Jin chatting and laughing, many actors outside felt envious and could only secretly remark that Huang Bai was lucky. — Ning Hao's films usually used comedians; there were no handsome men or beautiful women, or perhaps it was because Xing Aina wouldn't allow it.

Moreover, he liked using experienced hands; at the very least, the actors from *Crazy Stone* still had a huge advantage. Wei Jin saw Xu Guangtou and Wang Xun walking out of the meeting room with smiles on their faces; it looked like they had both secured roles.

Before long, another figure walked in. Wei Jin glanced over—ho, another fellow townsman.

"Director Wei, it really is you. I thought I had seen wrong."

The person who arrived was none other than the Shaanbei-born actor Wang Shuangbao. Although the two had never collaborated, they were fellow townsmen after all, and they knew each other.

In fact, in a place like Beijing, many people in the industry with the same ancestral home would band together for warmth. With Wei Jin's status in the industry being so high, he naturally couldn't avoid being invited.

Out of courtesy, he had attended several gatherings of fellow townsmen; Jiang Wenli, Gu Changwei, Shao Bin, Chen Long, and others were regulars at these gatherings.

In fact, if it weren't for his dislike of circle culture, if Wei Jin were to call himself the leader of the Northwest Circle, few people would object.

"Hello, Teacher Wang. Long time no see. The audition for the role should be no problem, right?"

Wei Jin also had a good impression of this talented fellow townsman; he had seen many of the supporting roles he played in his past life, and they were quite brilliant.

"No problem, Director Ning is quite satisfied."

The two didn't have much of a friendship, so after some polite pleasantries, Wang Shuangbao left.

"Old Wei, how is this person's acting?"

"Better than yours."

Wei Jin spoke the truth. As of now, Huang Bai had not yet reached his professional peak, and compared to this Peking Opera martial arts actor, he was still a cut below.

After Ning Hao finished the auditions, the group had a meal together. After all, it had been a long time since they had seen each other, and everyone was about to join their respective crews soon, so parting was the norm in the entertainment industry.

During the meal, this fellow Huang Bai started complaining again that Wei Jin wasn't being a good friend, not thinking of his own brothers for such a big production, which drew a round of mockery from Ning Hao: "If I really let you act in it, when it's released globally, the foreigners will think that our country's scientific talents look like this, then your sin would be huge."

These words made Wei Jin and Xing Aina laugh until they were leaning back and forth; he was truly too talented. "Junior brother, are you really not participating in any awards within Huaxia anymore?"

Ning Hao's question wasn't rash; the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards had just concluded.

*After This Our*, which shone brightly at the Golden Horse Awards last year, became the biggest winner at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards, sweeping five awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Newcomer.

It was just a pity for Guo Tianwang, who didn't manage to take home the Best Actor award, though he probably didn't care; a Golden Horse Best Actor award was worth much more than a Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor, at least in this era.

It is worth mentioning that *Curse of the Golden Flower* actually won quite a few awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards, taking home Best Original Film Score, Best Costume Design, and Best Art Direction.

Gong Huang even took home the Best Actress award, becoming the 4th Mainland actress to win the Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actress after Siqin Gaowa, Zhang Ziyi, and Zhou Xun.

"Not participating, it's meaningless."

The remarks he made at the Golden Horse Awards last year had made the organizers very unhappy, and Wei Jin estimated that there would be little chance of them inviting him again in the future.

The Hong Kong Film Awards had threshold requirements, and Wei Jin wouldn't lower his own status to cater to them. Thus, since his debut, Wei Jin had never participated once. Of course, he had never thought about participating; it was nothing more than a "wild chicken" award where people circled their own territory to self-indulge.

Not to mention the Golden Rooster Awards; he couldn't see eye-to-eye with that bunch of old fossils. As long as these people didn't retire, Wei Jin would never participate.

"Not participating is fine too. In these two years, I've also seen through it; it's not that meaningful."

Ning Hao originally had a strong pursuit of winning awards, but after entering the circle, he realized there were so many twists and turns. Plus, having personally served as a judge for several domestic film festivals, he knew even better what these awards were like, so his interest faded.

"It should have been like this long ago. The European Big Three are the places you should be going."

Without blowing smoke or being biased, the European Big Three could at least achieve relative fairness and justice; those who could be shortlisted were at least of a certain standard, which was quite good.

"It's hard. I've listened to your graduation speech, and I've also studied the preferences for the awards, but it really feels so difficult. There are too many factors to consider..."

Ning Hao's words were not false. Even if you knew the preferences of the European Big Three, the script wasn't that easy to write. Furthermore, if you wanted to win an award cleanly, you still had to consider the issue of domestic censorship. Ning Hao wasn't a "barefoot" person anymore; he wouldn't gamble with his own future.

"Don't be in a rush either. How long have you been in the industry? You're still young; a few decades are more than enough for you to charge ahead."

Of course, Wei Jin's words were more of a consoling nature. It really wasn't that easy to win. Many of the Sixth Generation Directors in the country specialized in filming marginal topics and the dark side of society. Why? It was precisely because these were easy to win awards with. If they switched to other topics, this bunch wouldn't even be able to write the script.

"Alright, let's learn from Zhang Yimou." — After the gathering ended, Wei Jin arrived at the villa he shared with Li Jie. The two hadn't lived in their old house for a long time, mainly because it had been exposed and was no longer safe.

Li Jie had also reached the age of being like a wolf or a tiger; the moment they met, the two of them had a warm-up battle, but during the halftime break, a remark from Ceng Li caught Wei Jin somewhat off guard.

"Li Jie, have you thought it through?"

Wei Jin looked at the woman in his arms with some surprise; she had just won the Oscar Best Actress, and she was already starting to slack off?

After returning to the country, Ceng Li received an invitation from the Central Academy of Drama and went back to the school to give a speech; no one knew what the school administration had discussed with her, but Ceng Li was actually planning to go teach.

"Mm, Xiao Jin, I've thought about it for a long time."

Ceng Li actually didn't have a strong career ambition; since the hit broadcast of My Love from the Star last year, her every word and action had been pursued by the media, leaving her with absolutely no private space, which caused her great distress.

However, considering the great price Wei Jin had paid to make her famous, she still bit the bullet and accepted many appearances and endorsements.

But now that she had won the Oscar Best Actress, it was foreseeable that Ceng Li would become increasingly busy, and she didn't want to keep having so little time together with Wei Jin.

This time, the school's proposal for her to return to teach could be considered a win-win solution for her; she wouldn't be completely leaving the circle, she could have more private time, and the school environment was also relatively simpler.

"Then will you still act in the future?"

"I will, returning to school to teach doesn't mean retiring from acting."

Ceng Li still loved performing very much; as long as the script was suitable, she was still very willing to take on roles.

Wei Jin somewhat understood what Ceng Li meant; she didn't intend to be a popular starlet anymore and wanted to transition into a powerhouse actor.

Comparing the two, the former naturally had higher commercial value, but Ceng Li wasn't short on money now; Wei Jin had been helping her manage the money she earned over these past two years, and now Ceng Li didn't even know how much she was worth, though based on her level of consumption, it was impossible for her to spend it all in this lifetime.

As for being a powerhouse actor, there was usually not much commercial value, but they typically held a higher status within the industry; for example, veteran actors like Chen Daoming didn't have low pay and could live very affluent lives, they just weren't subject to the same attention from the media and all sectors as those popular leading actresses and actors.

"Alright then, as long as you're happy."

Seeing that Ceng Li had made up her mind, Wei Jin didn't intend to interfere; actually, this was fine, retreating at the peak of one's success might not be the worst way to bow out of the entertainment industry.

"Xiao Jin, thank you for your support."

"Li Jie, when expressing gratitude, one usually has to show sincerity."

Although they were already like an old married couple, Wei Jin seemed increasingly unable to resist Ceng Li's mature charm.

Rolling her eyes at Wei Jin, Ceng Li slowly lowered her head. The second update of the day, I implore all readers to reward me with subscriptions, follow-up readings, and collections; for follow-up readings, please flip to the last page, thank you everyone! (End of chapter)