Chapter 310: The Taste of a Tokyo Film Festival Best Actress: Strange Sightings Within China Film Group

As the saying goes, the New Year isn't over until the fifteenth day.

Just past the New Year, the officials in the censorship committee suddenly increased their efficiency.

The Film Bureau announced the latest scripts to pass review, and *Dixing Yinxing* was prominently on the list.

A big-budget science fiction film written and directed by Wei Jin himself was the best news material for the media, and related reports instantly flooded the airwaves.

"Shanhe Media's latest film, *Dixing Yinxing*, exposed after passing review!"

"*Dixing Yinxing*, another sci-fi blockbuster is coming!"

"*Dixing Yinxing* is written and directed by Wei Jin; other information is unknown."

Once reported by the media, the news spread rapidly through the film and television industry, and there was much discussion online with various speculations about this film.

Wei Jin, who had returned to the country for less than two days, became instantly busy as several companies he frequently collaborated with called him one after another.

Some were asking about investment, others about roles; Wei Jin felt it was better to settle things early, so he summoned Chen Zhiming to his office.

"Has the budget come out?"

With Chen Xi away, Chen Zhiming was Wei Jin's go-to Producer, and this matter had been entrusted to him before the New Year.

"It's out. A total of 450 million. Shanhe Ink estimated the special effects costs at the highest tier; rendering all the special effects shots will cost at least 200 million. As for shooting costs, since there is very little live-action filming, the bulk will go to props and sets, estimated at around 100 million, with the rest being the crew's salaries and expenses."

Wei Jin nodded; this cost was within his estimates.

"Alright, then prepare to initiate the project."

After dismissing Chen Zhiming, Wei Jin browsed industry news from this period in his office.

He noticed the project initiation of a film, *Crimes of Passion*.

One has to say, Huang Xiaoming is truly a romantic; he went to great pains to pave the way for Yang Ying, single-handedly securing both the lead actor and actress roles, forcibly elevating the status of a Hong Kong model with zero acting experience.

Wei Jin could imagine how envious the female stars in the circle were of Yang Ying.

Regardless, Huang Xiaoming was a top-tier high-quality male star in Mainland China, a company boss, worth hundreds of millions, and possessed extensive connections in the industry; it was truly a pity to see him taken by a Hong Kong model just like that.

Sure enough, Huang Xiaoming's ex-girlfriend was already mocking them on Weibo with snide remarks, subtly pointing out that the reason for their breakup back then was Yang Ying's interference.

Yang Ying was also playing the victim on Weibo to garner sympathy, and Huang Xiaoming's Weibo was interesting—all sorts of evasive hedging; as for whether that was really the case, only the parties involved probably knew.

Another piece of news was quite interesting: Huayi announced Feng Dapao's new film project—*1942*! Wei Jin didn't know what the Wang Brothers and Feng Dapao were thinking; perhaps they really made too much money last year, or perhaps it was just sentimentality.

One must know that *Remembering 1942* is indeed a good book, but if it were made into a film, the audience might not buy it.

The reason is very simple: the whole book can be summarized in one word—miserable!

Such a tragic story is destined not to be favored by the market; Huayi will likely lose quite a bit on this film.

Inside the Golden House, a scene of uniform temptation was unfolding.

Fan Bingbing, in a maid outfit paired with black silk stockings, was indescribably alluring.

After some passionate dancing, Wei Jin and this stunner began playing poker on the sofa.

After a few rounds of cards, the two had moved to the bed.

During the refractory period, Wei Jin lit a cigarette, toyed with the woman's firm, perky buttocks with one hand, and felt a sense of admiration in his heart.

Over the past two years, after his unreserved nourishment, this woman looked increasingly youthful, and even the skin on her body was getting better and better; there would definitely be no problem extending her shelf life by another ten years or so.

"By the way, why did you come back to the country so early? Didn't I arrange for Hunter to take you to participate in the awards season?"

"Hmm~~ I missed you."

Fan Bingbing's voice carried a hint of languor, and at this moment, her face was still flushed with satisfaction; one must know that the past few months had been too hard to endure.

Thinking of this, Fan Bingbing suddenly realized that, unknowingly, she had completely become the man's possession, and she secretly reminded herself, "Fan Bingbing, you are going to be a woman of a wealthy family; don't get lost in this."

But this feeling was truly addictive; in just over an hour, all the fatigue of these past days had vanished.

"Smack! Speak like a human."

Wei Jin slapped the woman's perky buttocks; he didn't believe Fan Bingbing would abandon a good opportunity to expand her connections in North America just to return home and have sex with him.

"Ah, I have a movie to promote, so I came back early, but I really did miss you too."

While secretly annoyed at the man's lack of romantic sensibility, Fan Bingbing was also somewhat helpless; the film's release schedule was really poorly timed, otherwise, she would have wanted to wait for the Oscar ceremony to walk the red carpet.

"Hmm? A movie? Is it that *Guanyin Mountain*?"

"Yes."

Wei Jin nodded, remembering; although it was a small-budget art film, it was right for Fan Bingbing to value it so much, as she had won the honor of Tokyo Film Festival Best Actress last year because of this film.

Speaking of which, the reason why the big actresses in the country had a higher status than the younger ones was that they relied on awards.

Among the Four Dan Double Bing, Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun both won awards early on to prove themselves; Li Bingbing followed closely, winning the Golden Rooster Best Actress for *The Knot*; even Zhao Yanzi had the Golden Goblet Best Actress and Huabiao Award Award Award Best Actress, and even Xu Cairen won the Hundred Flowers Best Actress for *Curiosity Kills the Cat*.

Only Fan Bingbing, having debuted for over a decade, had never had any award worth showing off; this time she finally got her wish, and no one would ever say she was trying to latch onto the Four Dan actresses again.

"I heard there are quite a few passionate scenes in this film, hmm?"

The hand Wei Jin had pinched on her perky buttocks exerted some force.

"Ah~~ Uncle, they were all camera tricks; at most, it was just kissing. Since being with you all these years, I have kept myself chaste..."

Fan Bingbing parted her red lips to express her loyalty; she knew very well the power of the man before her. Since *Taken*, she had never had contact with any other man.

"Heh, I've certainly felt that."

"Uncle, can you give *Guanyin Mountain* more screenings in the theaters this time?"

Fan Bingbing cooperated with the man and adjusted her sleeping posture; this was the purpose of her meeting Wei Jin today. It was truly too difficult for an art film to achieve high box office numbers.

"That depends on what benefits you can offer."

"Uncle, whatever you want, I will comply..."

Wei Jin patted the woman's head, and she obediently lowered herself.

Watching Fan Bingbing, who was trying hard to please him, Wei Jin knew in his heart that as long as he was strong enough, no matter how much ambition this woman had, she would always only be able to crawl at his feet.

"Alright, the warm-up ends here. Now, let this director see the strength of the Tokyo Film Festival Best Actress."

The woman obediently turned around; she knew what method the man liked.

"Oh~~~ very good, it's the taste of Tokyo."

The next morning, Wei Jin woke up from the faint morning light, the woman beside him still fast asleep.

Looking at the situation on the floor, Wei Jin was in a very good mood; this woman Fan Bingbing could always bring him surprises—in a word, superb! Feeling the abundant energy of the morning, Wei Jin felt he could play another round of poker, and his hands began to make mischief under the quilt.

After a while, Fan Bingbing opened her eyes, turned her head, and gave Wei Jin a charming smile.

"Uncle, do you want to do bad things so early in the morning?"

Wei Jin suppressed his fire; this woman was truly the number one seductress of Chinese entertainment, her skill was truly profound.

"I am doing this for your beauty and skincare; since you're awake, sing a tune first."

Hearing this, Fan Bingbing didn't mind; she casually propped up her body and dove into the quilt.

"Mm, very good."

Fan Bingbing's performance was quite skillful; she didn't need Wei Jin's guidance, he only needed to experience it quietly.

Before long, Wei Jin felt it was time for breakfast, so he patted the woman's head through the quilt.

Fan Bingbing understood immediately and climbed out. An hour after breakfast began, Wei Jin arrived downstairs, where Zhu Wei had been waiting for a long time.

Taking the breakfast handed over by Lao Zhu, Wei Jin ate it inside the car.

"Lao Zhu, let's go."

Today was the day agreed upon with several investors to discuss investment shares. The time was still early, but Golden House was some distance from China Film Group, and Wei Jin didn't want to be late.

However, the traffic in Beijing was truly not good. Even though they had already missed the morning rush hour, the vehicle was still moving very slowly, and Wei Jin couldn't help but close his eyes to rest in the car.

"You exist, in my deep memories, in my heart, in my dreams, in my singing~~~"

A sudden ringtone made Wei Jin open his eyes and answer the phone.

"Hello, President Wang?"

"President Wei, it's like this, I need to inform you about the company's strategic plan for this year."

After listening to Wang Zhonglei's description, Wei Jin asked with slight surprise:

"President Wang, do you mean that Huayi Brothers is going to start getting involved in real estate?"

"Not real estate, it's cultural tourism, like Disney. The company plans to spend a huge amount of capital to build a new cultural city."

"Huge amount? How much?"

Seeming to hear the sarcasm in Wei Jin's tone, Wang Zhonglei felt a bit awkward; who told this guy to have so much money? He couldn't compare.

"Ahem, President Wei, this time it involves about several billion in funds, specifically..."

Hanging up the phone, Wei Jin shook his head. A cultural city sounded high-end and classy, but Disney wasn't that easy to build. At the very least, in terms of IP copyright protection, the country couldn't do it yet; there was simply no soil for it to survive.

Huayi Brothers probably understood too; this move was like Xiang Zhuang performing a sword dance, his target being Liu Bang.

Cultural real estate, to put it bluntly, is also real estate, but under the name of a cultural tourism project, it would likely have much more of an advantage in both price and procedures than a real real estate project. The Wang Brothers were truly calculating.

Shaking his head, Wei Jin stopped paying attention. After all, he was just a shareholder; how Huayi developed was the Wang Brothers' business, and he only needed to cash out his stocks at the right time.

However, a cultural tourism project would likely be good for the stock market; he didn't know how much he would earn from this wave.

More than half an hour later, Wei Jin's Mercedes-Benz S600 finally arrived at the destination.

Zhu Wei drove the car directly into China Film Group; the guards were not surprised, as they were all old acquaintances.

Just after getting out of the car and walking into the front hall, Wei Jin saw several people surrounding him, all members of the association.

"Wei Jin, is it convenient to take a moment of your time to chat?"

An old man with a balding head, wearing a smile on his face, said with a bit of fawning.

"Hm? Sorry, I have a very important matter today, I have an appointment with Han Dong, goodbye."

Although he was a bit surprised, Wei Jin refused without hesitation. He and this group of people had no conflict of interest; no matter what they wanted, he didn't need to get involved, and there was simply no need to chat.

Watching Wei Jin's retreating figure, two of the old men couldn't keep their composure and left with a flick of their sleeves, while the remaining few stayed behind with determined faces to wait.

Walking straight to the small conference room, the various investors had already arrived.

"Han Dong, what are those people outside doing?"

As soon as Wei Jin took his seat and nodded to greet Ye Ning and the people from Aerospace Science and Industry, he asked Han Sanping.

"What? Did they come to you too?"

Han Sanping looked at Wei Jin with some surprise, then looked at Ye Ning, and spat out a curse.

"What bad luck."

Ye Ning, who was to the side, also shook his head with a bitter smile; he had never seen such a scene before.

"What exactly is the situation? You didn't cut the support funds again, did you?"

Wei Jin, who had just leaned back against the chair, sat up straight instantly, his eyes flashing with burning flames of gossip.

"I didn't cut them; actually, this year's support funds are even more. But there are more and more people just waiting to die, so it's not enough to go around."

Wei Jin understood instantly; everyone wanted a little more, and this group of people was all waiting eagerly for the specific allocation.

"But what does this have to do with me? They even want to chat with me? Could it be that I can help?"

Speaking of this, Wei Jin paused for a moment, suddenly thinking of a possibility.

"Could these people be looking for me to pull investment?"

Wei Jin's tone carried uncertainty; if that were really the case, it would be a real eye-opener.

"Hahaha, you finally reacted. That's why I said it was bad luck. Just after starting work for the New Year, these people blocked the gate of China Film Group, grabbing anyone they saw. President Ye was also harassed by them just now."

Looking at the disdain on Han Sanping's face and the bitter smile on Ye Ning's, Wei Jin finally believed it was a fact. He was truly impressed; these people were really something.

"Alright, enough small talk. The comrades from Aerospace Science and Industry came here specially, don't keep them waiting too long."

The person in charge from Aerospace Science and Industry, Wang Gong, waved his hand, indicating he didn't mind.

"Han Dong is too polite. We do research all day, so it's rare to have a chance to hear fresh news from the entertainment industry; consider it a change of pace, haha."

After some polite pleasantries, Wei Jin went straight to the main topic.

"The budget for this time is 450 million, and the specific situation is as follows."

First update of the day.

(End of this chapter)