Chapter 325: Wei Jin's New Project: A Difficult TV Drama

After resting for two days, Wei Jin focused his energy on the post-production of Gravity.

Once a person fully devotes their energy to a task, the time in the outside world passes very quickly.

It wasn't until Han Sanping called to remind him to attend the premiere of The Founding of a Republic that Wei Jin was shocked to realize that nearly a week had passed without him noticing.

On the 8th, Jing Tian got up early to dress up beautifully; the young girl was very keen on the lights of the red carpet, and as long as she was in Beijing, she would never miss a premiere.

"Brother, do I look good?"

It was midsummer, and Jing Tian was wearing an off-white sleeveless knee-length dress, fully revealing her snow-white arms. Beneath her swan-like neck was a double-layered maple leaf pendant, elegant and grand. With a pair of high-heeled sandals on her small feet, her overall look was fresh and charming.

"Of course you look good. I've said it before: north of the Yangtze River, Tian Tian is the most beautiful."

Wei Jin wrapped his arms around the girl's slender waist, buried his head in her dark, shiny hair, and took a deep breath.

"Mua, Brother, let's go."

A smile appeared on the girl's face, and she walked hand-in-hand with Wei Jin toward the car that had been waiting for a long time.

The premiere of Beginning of the Great Revival was held at the Ao Ti Zhong Xin Ti Yu Guan in Beijing.

When Wei Jin brought Jing Tian to the scene, the area outside the venue was already crowded with media reporters.

"Aren't there too many people here?"

Jing Tian let out an exclamation, seeing batches of stars entering the red carpet one after another, like a long dragon.

"It's normal; the cast of this movie is too powerful."

Wei Jin was also sighing. If it were the premiere of another movie, so many stars would likely be guests coming to show their support, but Beginning of the Great Revival was different; this group of people were all from the production crew.

This also resulted in those who truly came to show support being unable to squeeze in.

Sharp-eyed actors on the red carpet spotted Wei Jin and Jing Tian and hurriedly called out to them.

"Director Wei, Tian Tian, come over and walk with us."

"Yes, together, together, otherwise who knows how long we'll have to wait."

Wei Jin saw that it was Huang Xiaoming and Guo Tao. The latter had starred in Crazy Stone many years ago and had often appeared in Shanhe Media's productions over the years, so they were not strangers.

"Tian Tian, then let's hitch a ride."

Wei Jin held Jing Tian's hand and went straight into the main creative team.

After cooperating with the media reporters for a few photos in the interview area, Wei Jin pulled the young girl into the venue, though she was still a bit reluctant to leave.

Entering the venue, Wei Jin looked around and saw nothing but industry bigwigs.

Led by Han Sanping of China Film Group, a crowd of heads of industry companies, including famous actors and top directors, made it truly star-studded.

Even Zhang Yimou had given the crew of The Flowers of War a break to come and show his support.

Seeing Zhang Yimou, Wei Jin couldn't help but think of Zhang Weiping's sleazy maneuvers.

The filming of The Flowers of War had gone through many twists and turns; some time ago, Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping had argued again.

This movie was adapted from Yan Geling's novel of the same name. It was said that Zhang Yimou was afraid of people riding the coattails of its popularity and intended to buy all the film and television rights. Yan Geling was also very considerate and directly gave away the television rights cheaply, eliminating his worries.

Moved, Zhang Yimou promised that once the movie was released, the television rights would be returned without compensation.

Unexpectedly, that scoundrel Zhang Weiping went behind Zhang Yimou's back and sold the television rights for an astronomical price. This not only caused Yan Geling to suffer a huge loss, losing a large sum of money for nothing, but also saddled Zhang Yimou with a reputation for being treacherous.

After learning the truth, Zhang Yimou argued with Zhang Weiping directly on the set; his patience must have reached its limit.

Just as Wei Jin was thinking about how to recruit Zhang Yimou, Huang Bai walked over with a fruit platter.

"Old Wei, Tian Tian, want to eat something?"

Coming back to his senses, Wei Jin nodded and didn't stand on ceremony. He didn't know how long this event would take today, so he might as well appease his stomach first.

"Thanks, Brother Bai."

Jing Tian didn't stand on ceremony either. After politely saying thank you, she picked up an orange and started peeling it.

"Old Huang, Killing hasn't finished filming yet, right?"

Wei Jin had just spotted the director of Killing, Guan Hu, in the crowd, and figured they must have asked for leave to come.

"Yeah, it'll probably take another two months."

Speaking of this, Huang Bai couldn't help but complain.

"This current role is the most satisfying. I've been filming for months, but for Zhou Xingxing's Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, I only filmed for less than a week. No matter how you look at it, I wasn't the second male lead; I lost out big time."

Wei Jin and Jing Tian couldn't help but laugh. Just as the latter was about to say something, a slightly teasing voice came over.

"The three of you—a big director, an international star, and a Golden Horse Best Actor—eating like this at a premiere?"

Seeing who it was, Wei Jin smiled and teased back.

"Han Dong, why don't you sit down and have some too?"

The person who arrived was none other than Han Sanping. He waved his hand, maintaining the dignity of the head of China Film Group.

"I came over just to tell you that your two scripts should be ready in these next few days. But you, kid..."

At this point, Han Sanping glanced at the hands Wei Jin and Jing Tian were tightly clasping and swallowed the second half of his sentence, only able to sigh that this kid was playing too wildly.

Wei Jin didn't need to guess to know what Han was thinking; it was nothing more than wanting him to make big productions. He smiled and replied, "Thank you, Han Dong."

Han Sanping shook his head. With others around, it wasn't easy to say much more, so he made some small talk and left directly.

"Old Wei, you have new scripts again? How are they? Are there any roles suitable for me?"

Seeing Zuoshandiao leave, Huang Bai immediately revealed his true colors and shamelessly stuck to him.

"Old Huang, don't blame your brother for not looking out for you. Sometimes, you have to know how to handle things."

Wei Jin sat in the chair, leaning back against the backrest with the air of a master.

Huang Bai understood instantly, got up, came behind Wei Jin, and started kneading his shoulders.

"Boss, how's this pressure?"

"Not bad, you are teachable."

Watching Huang Bai's comical appearance and Wei Jin's posturing, Jing Tian smiled like a flower on the side. As the three of them laughed and talked, the premiere began.

Han Sanping was very confident about the film's box office; facing the reporters' interviews, he directly made a bold claim:

"Director Huang Jianxin and I are very confident. The results of *Beginning of the Great Revival* will definitely surpass *The Founding of a Republic*, with a guaranteed minimum of 500 million."

Everyone present had no objections to this. Two years ago, *The Founding of a Republic* was able to take in 450 million at the box office, and *Beginning of the Great Revival* had an investment as high as 70 million, far exceeding the former. It also happened to catch up with the good era of the booming film market, and with administrative support, this goal was not excessive. Only Wei Jin was not very optimistic. He remembered very clearly that the *Founding* trilogy's results got worse with each installment; furthermore, this time it was not monopolizing the release schedule, so the box office results might not necessarily be Ruyi (as desired).

Soon the film began to play, and a grand and majestic historical atmosphere rushed toward them. To be honest, the content of this film was lackluster, but in terms of casting, they truly put in the effort.

Whether it was Zhou Runfa's Yuan Shikai, Fan Bingbing's Yu Long Tai Hou, or Northeast Old Zhao's Duan Qirui, they were all portrayed with vivid realism, capturing both form and spirit.

What was even more impressive was the actor playing Feng Guozhang, Feng Gong; he was truly worthy of being a direct descendant, it was damn amazing.

Liu Tianwang's performance was also very eye-catching. The line, "A seven-foot body has already been promised to the country, and it is difficult to promise it to you again," was absolutely a display of true feelings and the peak of his acting skills.

This scene should have become a classic, but the acting partner was truly dragging things down. Yang Ying's performance directly made the scene very awkward.

It was obvious that it wasn't just Wei Jin who thought this way; many people at the scene let out laughs. Huang Xiaoming's path of supporting his girlfriend was truly long and arduous.

Thinking of this, Wei Jin turned his head to look at Jing Tian and secretly thought, "Fortunately, the little girl can make up for her clumsiness with diligence."

"Brother, what do you mean by looking at me like that?"

As if she had read Wei Jin's eyes, a murderous aura was revealed in Jing Tian's gaze.

"Cough, I was just thinking that if you were to act in it, it would definitely be much better."

"Hmph, that's more like it." — The premiere of *The Founding of a Republic* ended, just waiting for the official release in a week.

At the same time, the Film Bureau announced a batch of the latest approved project information, among which two were particularly eye-catching.

The film *Once Again*, a fantasy film.

Production companies: Shanhe Media, Red Star Dock.

Director: Wei Jin; Screenwriter: Wei Jin; Lead actress: Liu Yifei; Other roles: To be determined; The film *Bottom-Tier Girl*, an inspirational drama film.

Production companies: Shanhe Media, Starlight Splendid.

Director: Wei Jin; Screenwriter: Wei Jin; Lead actress: Jing Tian;

Other roles: To be determined; Once the news spread, the industry immediately began to boil. Launching two films in a row, is Wei Jin addicted to promoting women?

Many female artists felt their Dao hearts shatter, not understanding where they were lacking and why they couldn't catch Wei Jin's eye.

Just by looking at the titles of these two scripts, one knew that the female lead's screen time would definitely not be small, and they might even be "big heroine" films. For the female artists in the industry, the attraction was simply too strong.

Unfortunately, among the films Wei Jin personally directed, so far, only a few female stars have had the good fortune to participate.

Even the opportunity for public auditions had only been opened to the outside world for his first commercial film, *Those Years*, and the previous *The Thieves*.

More importantly, for these two projects, Liu Yifei's Red Star Dock and Jing Tian's Starlight Splendid were both production companies. Regardless of the share, this profit was too great.

This was no longer Wei Jin just promoting people; this was clearly telling the industry that Jing Tian and Liu Yifei were his women.

The sandstorms in Dunhuang had been a bit heavy these past few days, and the crew of *White Vengeance* could be said to have suffered quite a bit.

But looking at the news online, Yang Mi felt the bitterness in her heart was even worse than the sandstorm.

"Jia Jie, do you think I still have a chance to catch up with them?"

"Mimi, even if you can't catch up, as long as you keep making progress, you won't be too far from them, right?"

Seeing Yang Mi looking somewhat distracted, Ceng Jia felt it was necessary to remind her.

"Mimi, you must understand what it is you want."

Hearing this, Yang Mi instantly sobered up. Climbing into Wei Jin's bed was only for resources; there was no need to fall into the obsession of competing with Jing and Liu.

"Mm, Jia Jie, I understand."

"Mm, very good, Mimi."

Ceng Jia nodded with satisfaction. Yang Mi was indeed a natural seed for a career; this mentality was truly powerful.

"Film the remaining scenes of *White Vengeance* well. When this film is released, you will be completely different. You'll be the female lead of a historical blockbuster with a 200 million budget!"

Hearing this, Yang Mi's mood instantly improved. That's right, this *White Vengeance* had increased its investment and had already reached 200 million.

On the other side, having just finished an audition, Zhao Liying came out of the company's small conference room with an unconcealable surprise on her face.

She didn't expect the audition to go so smoothly. Thinking that she was about to become the female lead of an 80 million investment drama, partnering with Asian top-tier star Qiao Zhenyu, Zhao Liying felt like she was walking on air.

She naturally saw the news online as well. To say she wasn't envious would be a lie; after all, what actor could refuse a Wei Jin film?

It was just that she could balance her mentality well. A "little transparent" must have her own self-awareness; who could know what the situation would be in a few years? — "President Wei, there is a TV series looking for our investment."

Jiang Xuerou walked in with a stack of documents. After Wei Jin greeted her to sit down, he asked indifferently.

"Isn't this area left for you to be responsible for? What, you're not sure?"

As Shanhe Media grew stronger day by day, Wei Jin almost never asked about the TV series invested in externally; the TV series production department could evaluate them on their own. Of course, the department itself would have to be responsible for the final profit or loss of the project.

Therefore, when encountering projects they were unsure about, the TV series production department would sometimes come to ask Wei Jin for advice; after all, the latter's eye for judgment was famously accurate.

"Mm, this project has quite a few problems..."

"Then just reject it directly."

"But, this was initiated by Enlight Media."

Hearing this, Wei Jin understood Jiang Xuerou's concerns. After the incident with *The Four* had just happened, if he rejected it directly, he was afraid it would affect the relationship between the two companies. He then picked up the documents on the table and started reading.

"*The Patriot Yue Fei*?"

Wei Jin only looked at the big characters on the cover and understood Jiang Xuerou's meaning. This kind of subject matter was destined to be very difficult; whether it was the censorship or the filming, they might encounter great resistance.

Even some "remnants of the old era" would jump out to cause trouble. One had to know that the influence of this group of people in the entertainment industry was not small.

Continuing to flip through the documents, Wei Jin saw many familiar investors: Enlight, Xiaoma Pentium, Huang Xiaoming Studio, Meitao Entertainment... "Director Wang has really made a big scene this time, haha."

Wei Jin said with a smile. Logically speaking, a TV series didn't need so many investors at all. It seemed Wang Changtian also understood the principle that there is strength in numbers.

"Then what is your intention, President Wei?"

"Just for the sake of it being the first drama to tell the story of Yue Fei, I'll invest!"

Wei Jin didn't overthink it and directly stated his attitude. He didn't care about the attitude of those old guys; if they had the ability, let them try to jump out? "But President Wei, didn't you often say that Hong Kong and Taiwan screenwriters can't do historical dramas well?"

Jiang Xuerou asked the doubt in her heart; this was her biggest concern about this drama.

"That doesn't matter. Since they've invited us to participate, it's only natural for the screenwriting department to move in. At worst, we'll just restructure the script."

Wei Jin said unceremoniously. With the current reputation of Shanhe Media, as long as the other investors weren't fools, they would absolutely not refuse this good intention.

"Understood, President Wei. I'll go handle the coordination right away."

(End of chapter)