Chapter 226: Eye for an Eye, Yang Mi Wants to Devour Me

"Boss, Li Jie, she..."

After Liu Yan finished her meeting with the Variety Department, she came to Wei Jin's office to ask about the matter she was concerned about.

Although she hadn't seen the result, Ceng Li's cautious behavior still led Liu Yan to make some guesses.

"Mm, it's just as you think. I'm going to be a father."

Wei Jin did not hide it; Liu Yan was one of the people he trusted most.

"Congratulations, Boss."

Liu Yan's mood was somewhat complicated, but she had always been very clear about her own position, and plus, her relationship with Ceng Li was quite good, so she quickly adjusted her mood and offered her congratulations.

"Thank you. By the way, what stage is the program at?"

*Keep Running* had been in preparation for a long time. The reason for prioritizing this project was that the South Korean version would be born next year, and Wei Jin naturally had to intercept it in advance.

It was just that Wei Jin was not very sure whether the current domestic environment could support the birth of a reality show, but trying it out was still possible.

Because this type of outdoor game program did not overly subvert the audience's perception of variety shows, it could be considered a relatively suitable pioneering work for reality shows.

If it could succeed, it would mean the market accepted it, and by then, many of the ideas in Wei Jin's mind could be realized.

"The behind-the-scenes team from South Korea has already arrived, and the preparation work is going very smoothly."

Upon hearing this, Wei Jin nodded. The production difficulty of this type of program was actually not high; the main issue was the lack of experience. To help the Variety Department cover the bottom line, he had even specially invited the production team of *Infinite Challenge* to come and provide guidance.

The reason the other party agreed readily was also simple: the two sides had always had cooperation. The *The Heirs* produced by the South Korean branch was sold to MBC, and the latter was precisely the production side of *Infinite Challenge*. Moreover, Shanhe Media had also paid enough in travel expenses.

"By the way, regarding the choice of guests, do you have any suggestions?"

*Keep Running* was set for 5-7 Resident Guests; it was best if they were uninhibited, had a strong sense of variety, or had distinctive features.

There were not many such people within Shanhe Media, and even if there were, Wei Jin still had to consider whether to let them participate.

After all, excessive exposure in variety shows would affect an actor's career. Wei Jin still relatively approved of maintaining a sense of mystery and distance between actors and the audience.

"Lei Datou and Brother Bo, perhaps. Both of them are quite funny. As for the rest, I don't have any ideas yet."

Liu Yan knew that she was a main guest of this program. In order to create the program's effect, it was very necessary to choose two people who were familiar and could help cooperate.

"Mm, not bad. However, we still need to ask for their opinions. In addition, for the remaining personnel, you can discuss it further with the Variety Department." — The premiere of *Eye for an Eye* had begun. Although the investment was not large, Wei Jin still gave Lu Yang and the crew the respect they deserved.

At the scene, Wei Jin saw the lead actor Wu Yue for the first time. Speaking of which, he was actually Ceng Li's junior.

Wu Yue was from the Chinese Opera 97 Class performance major, but compared to the star-studded Chinese Opera 96 Class, their class was far inferior. The only ones who had made a name for themselves were Wu Yue and Chen Hao.

Compared to Chen Hao, who reached her peak upon debut and was heavily supported by influential people, Wu Yue's star path was much bumpier.

Over these years, Wu Yue had starred in many television dramas as the male lead, but he only managed to make his face familiar and had absolutely no popularity. Audiences might recognize him when they saw him, but they wouldn't know who he was.

Lu Yang was dressed very spiritedly today, but Wei Jin could feel his nervousness. After all, it was his first independently directed film, and the box office results would determine his starting point in the circle.

"Relax, there's no way it can lose money."

Wei Jin said this with extreme confidence. For something that could break even with twenty million, just relying on his name as a screenwriter, the box office would far exceed this amount.

"No, Boss Wei, I was thinking about it crossing one hundred million."

Lu Yang's words were shocking; one sentence made Wei Jin choke.

"You have ambition."

"Hehe, didn't Senior Brother Ning Hao also use your script and directly cross one hundred million? People still need to have dreams."

Lu Yang's words were truly reasonable and well-founded. Wasn't the situation of *Lost on Journey* back then similar to *Eye for an Eye*?

Today's premiere didn't have many gimmicks, and soon it was time for the film to play.

The ninety-minute film had a simple but compact plot, with sharp and clean fight scenes, and the beginning and end echoed each other, forming a complete plot loop.

Bursts of applause erupted from the audience. Lu Yang knew in his heart that the box office was secure. — After the premiere, the headlines given by the media were very eye-catching:

"Blind in eyes but not in heart; an eye for an eye, holding righteousness in one's chest."

Thanks to the support of theater screenings and the name of Wei Jin as the screenwriter, the first-day box office of *Eye for an Eye* was 11 million.

For a small-budget production with an investment of no more than 6 million, this was already a very dazzling result, and it could be considered a good start for sniping Lu Chuan.

The movie fans who had watched it all gave good evaluations, and the Yinxiang Net rating of 7.3 also meant the film was worth watching.

There were even many martial arts enthusiasts who called it the most excellent martial arts film since *Brotherhood of Blades*.

With word-of-mouth fermentation and the weekend bonus, the second-day box office of *Eye for an Eye* reached 14 million, and the Sunday box office was 13 million; the first weekend's three-day box office reached as high as 38 million.

This result truly shocked people in the industry. According to this data, the box office was guaranteed to cross one hundred million, and Lu Yang would become a major commercial director in the country with a box office crossing one hundred million.

For a time, many companies in the industry felt worried. With Ning Hao before and Xu Laoguai after, now there was even a Lu Yang. The director team of Shanhe Media was becoming increasingly strong. How many works would there be every year in the future? Was there still room for other companies in the industry to survive?

More importantly, Shanhe Media also controlled the largest theater chain. Companies in the industry couldn't even resist and could only watch helplessly as Wei Jin ate until his mouth was oily.

"Wei Jin's script is really good, but what's even more amazing is his eye for talent."

Han Sanping felt some emotion. Over these years, he had also invested in many directors, so why hadn't one of them been able to stand out like this? As for the threat of Shanhe Media, Han Sanping had never considered it. No matter how much money Wei Jin made, there was a share for China Film Group. One must know that the theater chain controlled by China Film Group was even larger than Shanhe Media's.

Han Sanping even wished that Wei Jin would produce dozens of films every year to completely promote the development of the film industry. — "Li Jie, come quickly and try this. I made pig trotter soup."

During this period, Wei Jin came to Ceng Li's place almost every day, and occasionally he would even spend some effort to make a meal of love for Li Jie.

"Xiao Jin, just leave these things to Li Jie to do. Why are you joining in the fun?"

Li Jie was introduced by Zhu Wei. It was said that she was the widow of his comrade-in-arms. She was reticent and very tight-lipped. The key was that she was very skilled at cooking and taking care of people. Ceng Li was very satisfied; wasn't this better than Wei Jin coming over?

However, saying that was one thing, but how could Ceng Li not understand the man's intentions? Watching Wei Jin blow on the soup in the spoon again and again as if taking care of a child, and finally testing the temperature before feeding it to her, Ceng Li was full of happiness.

"Mm... Xiao Jin, your culinary skills are actually quite good."

Ceng Li's words were not flattery; Wei Jin's culinary skills really surprised her somewhat.

"Is that so? Then Li Jie, you should drink more."

"Mm."

Under Wei Jin's feeding, the bowl of soup soon hit the bottom. Ceng Li also let out a satisfied burp and leaned lazily on the man's shoulder, enjoying the rare time spent together. Because she knew that there wasn't much time left to stay in the country.

Wei Jin had already communicated with her about going to North America to nurture the fetus, and Ceng Li had also agreed. It was really because the matter of Wang Fei giving birth a few years ago made her somewhat terrified. She dared not imagine what kind of terrible situation she and the child would face if it were really exposed.

"Li Jie, have things been arranged at the school?"

Ceng Li is not yet showing, so she can still stay in the country, but many things must be prepared in advance after all.

"Mm, after much haggling, the school leadership finally agreed."

Speaking of this topic, Ceng Li felt a bit embarrassed; she had only been leading the Beijing Film Academy 07 Class for two years, and now she was abandoning them for the reason of "going abroad for further studies." No matter how one looked at it, she wasn't a good teacher, right? Thinking of this, Ceng Li looked at Wei Jin and spoke up, which was rare for her.

"Xiao Jin, if the company has any suitable projects, please help me look after that group of students."

"Don't worry, Li Jie, I am their teacher's husband, after all."

Wei Jin took advantage of the situation verbally, drawing a roll of the eyes from Li Jie, and then he thought of something else.

"By the way, are you really planning to keep it from your mother?"

It was shameful to say, but Wei Jin had gotten someone's daughter pregnant without even having met her mother yet; he didn't know if his "mother-in-law" would give him a big slap across the face when they met.

"Mm, just listen to me this time. We won't tell her for now; it's only a matter of a few months, and I will handle it well."

Ceng Li still didn't know how to face her mother for the time being. Over the years, her mother had raised the two sisters alone, which was very hard. Because of her own unhappy marriage, her mother hoped even more that both sisters would have good homes.

If she let her know now that she was pregnant out of wedlock without any status, who knew what kind of scene she would cause. It was better to wait until the child was born.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now."

Wei Jin could naturally understand Ceng Li's thoughts; it was all a mess of his own making.

What made Wei Jin even more ashamed was that he himself dared not confess this to his uncle and his old man, at least not right now.

One had to know that the two old men were still relatively traditional and had a very good impression of Jing Tian. If Wei Jin had just treated the young girl as the Wei family's daughter-in-law one moment and then had a child with another woman the next, the two old men might just be angered into a state of poor health.

Wei Jin could only pin his hopes on the fact that after the child was born, the two old men would spare his life for the sake of the third generation of the Wei family. ——Receiving a call from Teacher Jiang, Wei Jin was a bit surprised.

"For this year's defense, you should go first. With you there, no one else dares to show their face."

"Uh, alright, it doesn't matter to me."

Wei Jin agreed readily; he also understood why this was the case—the gap in status was too large.

Although they were all classmates, they were even more nervous facing Wei Jin than they were facing the school leadership.

"What time exactly does it start?"

The meaning behind Wei Jin's question was obvious; he didn't want to participate in those meaningless activities, as the time he spent with Ceng Li was already becoming less and less.

"Tomorrow at 2 PM, don't be late."

"Don't worry."

The news of Wei Jin being the first to defend soon spread throughout the Beijing Film Academy campus.

Many teachers and professors applied to audit, and quite a few students were plotting to manufacture some "chance encounters" tomorrow; after all, there might not be many opportunities left in the future. ——Wei Jin walked on campus, feeling sentimental about his impending graduation; as for the defense, there was really nothing to be nervous about.

Perhaps because graduation season was approaching, there were many more students on campus, and seeing him, they came over one after another to greet him.

"Hello, Senior Wei."

"Hello, Senior Wei, I am Zhang Xiaofei from the Beijing Film Academy 05 Class."

"Hello, Senior Wei, I am from the Beijing Film Academy 05 Class..."

Many acting students about to graduate gathered their courage to greet Wei Jin; after all, the latter was a big boss in the industry.

The competition in the entertainment industry was too fierce. If they could successfully sign with Shanhe Media, at least in the starting phase, they wouldn't lack resources anymore. Hadn't they seen the few lucky ones who signed earlier already beginning to stand out? Although Wei Jin understood their intentions, it was a pity that the quality of students at the Beijing Film Academy had truly been getting worse over the years, and Shanhe Media was destined to be unable to sign so many people.

While lost in thought, a voice startled him; looking closely, it was Mimi.

"Has 'Dream of the Red Chamber' wrapped up?"

After 'Chinese Paladin' wrapped up, Yang Mi had joined the crew of 'Dream of the Red Chamber'; Li Xiaowan was actually quite good to her.

"Not yet, but my scenes have wrapped up. I came back to prepare for graduation."

Yang Mi was dressed very beautifully today, highlighting her advantages, and as she spoke, she leaned in close. Wei Jin was a bit unaccustomed to it; after all, he had watched her change.

"Almost forgot, you are also from the Beijing Film Academy 05 Class. You debuted too early; I thought you had graduated long ago."

"What's the use of debuting early? I'm still just playing bit parts everywhere. Bai Bin from Senior's company is doing much better than me."

Yang Mi's tone was a bit sour; if one were to ask which domestic female artist she envied the most, it would be Jing Tian.

Next was Bai Bin, an artist who didn't come from a professional background and was merely an Assistant to Wei Jin, yet she was heavily promoted and was now a solid second-tier female star. In terms of popularity and fame, she was definitely stronger than Yang Mi.

Come to think of it, Yang Mi regretted it deeply. When Shanhe Media first started artist management, because she was under contract, she didn't take that step proactively. Now, wanting to join was even harder.

However, she had made up her mind today; she had to try hard. Taking a deep breath, Yang Mi said:

"Senior, when my contract expires, can I sign with your company?"

"You are already famous, why sign with me? The example you just gave isn't right; Xiaobai, she..."

"Senior, I can do it too."

Before Wei Jin could finish his sentence, he saw Yang Mi interrupt him with a determined look on her face.

"Senior, whatever she can do, I can do too."

Seeming afraid that Wei Jin wouldn't understand her meaning, Yang Mi specifically added another sentence, then looked straight at Wei Jin, waiting for an answer. She didn't believe that she was truly that unattractive.

Wei Jin didn't expect Yang Mi to be so bold, actually taking the initiative to offer herself up and begging for a "hidden rule." The entertainment industry hadn't reached the point of crazy involution yet, had it?

But then he thought about it and felt relieved. For a woman with such a strong career drive like Yang Mi, who she slept with wasn't important; having resources was what mattered.

"Come to the company to talk when you have time; I have to go to my defense now."

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