Chapter 264: Jing Tian: Role-playing is too addictive

The awards ceremony ended; it was already past one in the afternoon in the country, and major media outlets, news websites, and the Movie Channel were all broadcasting the news.

Entertainment headlines and Weibo trending topics were, without exception, all flooded and dominated by the sudden influx of Oscar information.

"The Hunt receives four nominations and wins two, taking home the Oscar for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay!"

"Following the Best Foreign Language Film award, Mainland China's great director Wei Jin has once again won two major Oscar awards!"

"On Oscar night, great director Wei Jin boasts of collecting all categories of Oscar awards!"

"At the Oscar ceremony, one of the Four Dan Actresses, Jing Tian, kisses Wei Jin; the two's romance is exposed!"

As his alma mater, Beijing Film Academy naturally continued its tradition; the banners for the four nominations had long been prepared, and this time, two were hung up in a row.

"Warmly celebrate our school's 2002 Director Department outstanding graduate Wei Jin for winning the 82nd Oscar Best Director award!"

"Warmly celebrate our school's 2002 Director Department outstanding graduate Wei Jin for winning the 82nd Oscar Best Original Screenplay award!"

At this time, it happened to be the final stage of the art entrance exams, and the two bright red banners were very dazzling, causing quite a stir at the scene.

Major portal websites, Weibo, and Tieba were also exceptionally lively; netizens were overjoyed, just short of setting off firecrackers.

Sea of Heaven Old Master: "Where is that sheepdog who said he couldn't win Best Director before? Come out, this time Grandpa will reason with you."

fgkpghv: "To the big shot above, he's probably afraid of your fifty military floggings."

Jun Tian Xi Zi: "Truth be told, Wei Jin is really awesome. Next, he's going to go for Best Film, right?"

Yi Nian Wu Hui: "Not very likely, Best Film is too hard, the resistance is too great."

Silent Night Breeze: "Regardless, Wei Jin is the pride of the Chinese people. From today on, I'm backing all his movies."

Shi Tian Zu Yu: "Sobbing, my Bi Yao" — Wei Jin naturally did not know about the chaos back home. After the banquet ended, Jing Tian pulled him and hurried back to the villa.

It was mainly because the young girl noticed that those Hollywood actresses were looking at her man with strange expressions, especially Theron, whose eyes looked like they were about to sprout hooks.

Along the way, Wei Jin received many congratulatory calls, from school teachers, group executives, familiar directors in the country, and several women.

However, now that they were home, Wei Jin finally thought about how to play tonight.

"Tian Tian, is it time to fulfill our agreement?"

"Don't be in a hurry, Brother, let me take a photo first."

Jing Tian took out her phone, placed the two Little Golden Men side by side on the coffee table, snapped a photo to freeze the moment, and then found the Oscar group photo the staff had just sent her.

In this photo, Wei Jin and Katherine Bigelow stood in the absolute center, with Best Actor Jeff Bridges and Golden Horse Best Actress Sandra Bullock on either side.

Looking at the photo where Wei Jin seemed to be surrounded by stars, Jing Tian felt like she was having an intracranial orgasm.

"Alright, Brother, what reward do you want? Tell me."

Putting down the phone, Jing Tian wrapped her arms around Wei Jin's neck with a hint of drunkenness on her face. Don't misunderstand, she hadn't been drinking; she was just intoxicated by the man's achievements and talent.

"I want to play role-playing."

Experiencing different lives helps the young girl unleash her nature. For the great cause of sleeping together in one big bed, Wei Jin really racked his brains.

"That simple?"

Jing Tian couldn't quite believe it; hadn't they almost played that to death? "Ahem, tonight you have to play Yifei, Sister Yuanyuan, Li Jie..."

Hearing this, Jing Tian's pretty face fell, her mind in a battle between heaven and man. A moment later, she sighed; after all, he was the man she chose. Very well, she would grant his wish.

After building up her psychological defenses, Jing Tian was unexpectedly surprised to feel a bit of excitement.

"Then what should we do next?"

Hearing this, Wei Jin took out an eye mask and put it on himself.

"Now I can't see anything. Whoever's name I call, you have to play them well. Hmm, you are Li Jie now..."

After some thought, Jing Tian began the role-play.

"Xiao Jin, how do you want Sister to serve you tonight, hmm?"

Jing Tian had spent quite some time with Ceng Li, and it must be said, her tone was quite spot-on. Wei Jin felt the excitement instantly.

This night was too unforgettable; the two played almost all night. Wei Jin's dream of sleeping together in one big bed was finally realized, at least on a conscious level — Beijing, inside a villa.

"Wife, we have to work hard. Junior Brother is about to clear the Oscar level, and I have to keep up."

Although he never thought he could surpass Wei Jin, Ning Hao didn't want to be left too far behind either. He wanted to finish the project at hand as soon as possible and start his award-chasing film.

"Look at you, you really intend to compare yourself with Wei Jin? That's an Oscar for Best Director, don't spend all day thinking about nonsense."

Xing Aina wasn't intentionally belittling her man; it was just that Wei Jin's current achievements were already undeniably the best in the country, so why look for trouble? "You old woman, do you understand what 'he who stays near vermilion gets stained red' means? If Junior Brother can win an Oscar, as long as I don't fall behind, winning one of the European Big Three sooner or later shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Ning Hao retorted irritably. Since the censorship incident of No Man's Land, his wife didn't dare to lose her temper. Whenever she was a little fierce, he would put on a look of utter despair, finally reclaiming his status in the family.

"Fine, fine, fine, you have the final say. So the script is no problem now, are we waiting for Wei Jin to come back for the funding?"

"Hmm, no need to wait. Just leave his share for him. While reviewing the script, we'll assemble the crew and try to start work as soon as possible..."

The more Ning Hao talked, the more excited he became. Ignoring that it was already late afternoon, he took the script and walked out.

"There's no time like the present, let's submit it for review today."

The news of Ning Hao submitting a new script spread through the circle that same day.

Everyone knew that this commercial director, who had been silent for more than half a year, was starting a new project.

For a time, many production companies and investors visited Ning Hao's Bad Monkey Studio, making this March even hotter. — For several days in a row, the news of Wei Jin winning the Oscar for Best Director did not cease in the country. Truly, he was not in the jianghu, but the jianghu was full of his legends.

However, the entertainment industry is realistic after all. No matter how good the Oscars are, they don't have much to do with people in the circle, but Han Geng's signing was different.

Major companies like Huayi, Tianyu, Bona, and Emperor Group all made offers.

Especially Emperor Group, which offered a signing fee of 100 million Hong Kong dollars, as well as the chips of two to three movies a year, and even promised Han Geng that he would have the opportunity to partner with Cheng Long in Hollywood movies. It could be said that they were full of sincerity.

But such a high price had clearly exceeded the market rate. The reason for this was nothing more than the entry of financial capital, with more and more hot money.

Since the policy opened in January this year, many film and television companies and entertainment companies have been established one after another. For these layman companies to enter the circle, the fastest and most convenient way is to throw money around. This also meant that the era of sky-high star salaries had begun, and money in the entertainment industry was becoming easier and easier to earn. Downstairs at the Emperor Group headquarters, recalling the news on the internet, Zhen Zidan felt very uncomfortable.

Han Geng, an idol who returned from abroad without any works, could actually receive such a promise from Boss Yang, but as a quasi-first-tier artist himself, he was reprimanded just for asking for a slight raise in salary. It was simply too unfair.

The more Zhen Zidan thought about it, the more angry he felt. He had to get rid of Emperor Group's control, but remembering his attempts last year, he felt a bit discouraged.

It was hard enough to get in touch with Li Rengang and Taiwan capital. He originally thought that with his own name, Blades would definitely be a box office hit, and then he wouldn't have to look at Boss Yang's face anymore.

Unexpectedly, the results were dismal, failing to even recoup the production costs; crucially, the word-of-mouth was also poor, with a 5.5 rating on Yinxiang Net, which was one of the reasons why the box office barely crossed 100 million before stalling.

Shaking his head, Zhen Zidan cast aside these unrealistic thoughts and walked into the building, hoping that *Ip Man 3* would launch smoothly—in North America, inside the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel, a small cocktail party was underway.

The first-day box office for *Happy Death Day* is already out: 8.8 million USD.

For a film with a budget of no more than 4 million, this is a quite impressive result; according to projections, the opening weekend box office will be around 30 million, so this project can be considered a success.

Seeing that matters here were drawing to a close, Wei Jin also intended to return to his country, so he hosted this cocktail party before leaving.

The attendees were all good friends of Wei Jin in this region, such as Leonardo, Matt, Theron, Taylor, Robert Downey Jr., James Wan, Christopher Nolan, and so on.

"Wei, have you really not considered staying in Hollywood to develop your career? I feel that only here can you fully display your talent."

Nolan held his wine glass and looked at Wei Jin very sincerely.

"Nolan, I think it's fine as it is now; North America values freedom, doesn't it?"

Gently clinking his glass with Nolan's, Wei Jin asked back with a smile on his lips; as long as he was making money, he had no interest in developing his career in Hollywood.

"That is truly a pity."

Nolan could only shake his head with regret; personal choices cannot be forced.

"However, Wei, those few scripts..."

"Nolan, you can't be too greedy. To be honest, I even regret *Inception*; these, I'd better keep for myself to make a run at the global box office, haha."

Wei Jin interrupted Nolan; *Interstellar* and *Dixing Yinxing* could not be given to him again.

"Alright, but the ideas in your head are truly endless."

Nolan had always liked scripts with science fiction elements, but since he was about to start the *Batman 3* project, he didn't press the issue.

Wei Jin was destined to be the protagonist of the night, and soon, Leonardo walked over.

"Wei, last time in Huaxia, I helped you handle a romantic dispute; how do you plan to thank me?"

Although Leonardo was joking, Wei Jin could see the former's obsession with the Oscar; unfortunately, it would be many years before he could get his wish with *The Revenant*.

To be honest, in Wei Jin's view, that film wasn't particularly great; it didn't win a single award at the European Big Three, and the reason it was able to win an Oscar was nothing more than pity or compromise from the organizing committee.

Leonardo had been chasing awards for over a decade, even torturing himself in films; if they didn't give it to him, heaven knows what this guy would do. After all, he had slept with too many women, and he definitely knew quite a few bombshells in his head.

"Leon, I don't have any thoughts of chasing an Oscar for the time being. If I have a suitable script, I promise, no matter what, I will let you see it first, how about that? Is that sincere enough?"

Having just won the Oscar for Best Director, Wei Jin knew even with his toes how difficult the ultimate prize was; only with the right timing, location, and people could one launch that final strike.

"Haha, then it's a deal; I will keep waiting for you, Wei." — After the banquet ended, Wei Jin declined the invitations from Taylor and Theron; didn't he see Jing Tian's eyes widened like copper bells? Returning to the villa, the two had a passionate session in the bathroom.

After the release, entering the "sage time," Wei Jin opened his computer to browse domestic news.

The films released in February had basically finished their theatrical runs.

*Hot Summer Days*, starring Huang Xiaoming, actually took in over 100 million at the box office, but the related news was all about his scandal with Yang Ying; even with photos as proof, the two simply refused to admit it.

Wei Jin privately thought that Yang Ying was probably willing to admit and confirm the matter, but she was afraid of affecting Huang Xiaoming's career, so she could only cooperate by staying silent.

"Brother, what are you looking at?"

Jing Tian, who had just finished blow-drying her hair, wrapped her arms around Wei Jin's neck from behind and curiously glanced at the page.

"Eh, Brother Cheng Long's film, why is the box office only this much?"

In Jing Tian's view, as a figurehead among Chinese film stars, Cheng Long's drawing power was beyond doubt; she hadn't expected *Little Big Soldier*, which he starred in, to only have a box office of over 100 million, not even comparable to a few of Shanhe Media's low-budget productions.

"It's normal; Big Brother's films have formulas that are too old."

Wei Jin shook his head, lamenting that Big Brother couldn't keep up with the times; now that the market was larger, the audience had more choices.

"I just don't know how much Bona will lose."

Although a box office of over 100 million seemed okay, one had to know that Cheng Long's personal salary alone was several tens of millions; conservatively estimated, the film's production cost was at least 100 million, so the investor, Bona, was likely suffering a miserable loss.

However, even more miserable was *True Legend*; this film cost 130 million, and the final box office was less than 50 million; as the investor, Edko was likely to lose everything.

To be honest, Wei Jin admired Zhao Wenzhuo, but it was a pity that the script for this film was too rotten, practically schizophrenic; Yuen Woo-ping was indeed excellent as a martial arts director, but he was still lacking as a film director.

Closing the computer, Wei Jin turned around and hugged Jing Tian.

"Tian Tian, we are going back tomorrow; shall we get some rest early?"

"Then Brother, do you want to play role-play again tonight?"

Jing Tian's face was slightly flushed at this moment; the normal pleasures of these past few days were certainly beautiful, but in her heart, she was always thinking about the excitement of that night, and she seemed to be a bit addicted.

"Hmm?"

Wei Jin hadn't expected such a good thing; could the little girl have awakened some incredible attribute?

However, such an opportunity was rare; he certainly wouldn't miss it, and he deftly put on the blindfold.

"Hmm, Yuan Yuanjie, today I want to take the 'wrong path'."

After losing his vision, Wei Jin felt that his sense of touch and smell were seemingly enhanced; a pair of hands wandering over the woman's body brought a very different tactile sensation.

"Pfft, you little rascal, there's a 'right path' you won't take, and you insist on taking the 'wrong path'; tonight, Big Sister won't indulge you."

Jing Tian's increasingly immersive performance made Wei Jin feel that this game must be promoted when he returned; it was truly too enjoyable. Today's first update.

(End of this chapter)