Chapter 400: Tian Xian Reunited, A New Large-Scale Film

Shanhe Building, Chairman's office.

Wei Jin looked at the two scripts the screenwriting department had cobbled together, feeling somewhat curious.

"Why only these two?"

"Boss Wei, these are the two we believe have the most adaptation value; after all, a script still needs conflict and drama."

Wei Jin was silent for a moment; in this world, the ordinary is the majority, and most people's lives are not sufficiently spectacular.

Likewise, these families of lost children are the same; most are ordinary stories, and most people have heard similar stories, so they truly lack adaptation value.

"Then you have reached an agreement with the families, right?"

"Yes, Boss Wei, you don't know how excited these families were when they heard the news that we were going to adapt them. Sigh, Boss Wei, don't even mention it, several female colleagues who went this time cried until they were a mess. Those god-forsaken human traffickers—even a big man like me couldn't stand it."

The tall, six-foot-plus member of the screenwriting department rambled on about the experience, and Wei Jin was also visibly moved.

Pity the hearts of parents everywhere; if one day Dudu were to be abducted, Wei Jin did not know if he would be like the protagonist in the story and search for his child for thousands of miles, but he could be certain that Ceng Li would definitely collapse.

"Alright, you go get busy first."

After dismissing the person from the screenwriting department, Wei Jin held the two scripts in his hands, pondering who to hand them to for direction.

To tell the truth, the filming difficulty of *Lost and Love* and *Dearest* was not high, and they did not require any specific director to complete.

It was just that considering the need for influence, it was best to find someone with great fame, whether for the director or the cast.

After some thought, Wei Jin had a preliminary candidate in mind, and he immediately picked up the phone and dialed.

After a conversation, the other party was very interested, and the two agreed on a time to meet.

With one matter settled, Wei Jin thought of the events at the celebration banquet again.

Regarding the invitation from the Shanghai International Film Festival, Wei Jin had not yet made up his mind.

Although this was a great honor, to tell the truth, Wei Jin did not think much of the Shanghai International Film Festival.

The reason was none other than its influence being too low! Every year, those who came to compete were unknown overseas works, and the film festival officials insisted on giving the awards to foreigners every year, even if those films were like trash, they still enjoyed it tirelessly, as if this could increase the film festival's influence.

Little did they know, the more they did this, the lower the influence became.

The organizing committee's intentions this time were not hard to guess; it was nothing more than hoping to improve the quality of the competing films through Wei Jin's influence and his connections around the world.

Regarding this, Wei Jin was not optimistic, which was why he was somewhat hesitant.

"Forget it, stop thinking about it, relax for a while."

Wei Jin took out his phone and started scrolling through online news.

Good heavens, this guy Yang Zi was actually out bragging again.

As a director, Wei Jin also used film when he first started, only later gradually adapting to digital cameras.

But the news of the world's largest film manufacturer—Kodak—going bankrupt had been making a huge stir these days, and Wei Jin naturally knew about it.

It was said that many directors in the circle, like Feng Dapao, Chen Shiren, and others, were all hoarding film.

It was just that Wei Jin did not expect that Yang Zi would actually state on Weibo that he wanted to buy the remaining 8 years of the Oscar naming rights from Kodak.

He even shamelessly stated that he wanted to lead domestic films into Hollywood and add bricks and tiles to Chinese-language films, making a contribution. Unsurprisingly, there was a chorus of boos and mockery online and in the circle.

Just as he was lamenting that Yang Zi was so detested that even dogs would avoid him, his Assistant, Huang Mengying, knocked on the door and entered.

"Boss, news came from Director Jiang that *Sealed with a Kiss* is preparing to start filming in the middle of next month. Tangren hopes you can attend the opening press conference."

Wei Jin nodded; with Jiang Xuerou keeping an eye on things this time, Tangren's efficiency was slightly faster than he had imagined.

"Hmm, reply to them and say it cannot be decided for the time being."

*Witch* was also about to start filming; if the timing was right, Wei Jin intended to finish both trips at once, but if it was not suitable, then he could only say sorry to Miss Cai.

"Alright, Boss."

Wei Jin supported his head, pondering new projects, and before long, Huang Mengying knocked on the door and entered again.

"Meng Ying, is there something else?"

Huang Mengying bit her red lips lightly, her eyes somewhat resentful.

"Boss, it's been almost a month..."

Wei Jin was suddenly struck by realization; after the start of the year, he had been busy with company business, and at night he had been accompanying his several main consorts; the little assistant wanted to eat meat.

Wei Jin immediately reached out and pulled the woman over, holding her on his lap, his hands stroking her alluring black silk stockings.

"Meng Ying, you are just too honest; sometimes you need to be a bit more proactive, you know?"

Huang Mengying's pretty face flushed slightly upon hearing this, and she then unbuttoned her chest, pulling the man's large hand up.

"Mmm~~~"

Feeling the warm breasts, Wei Jin's fingers moved nimbly, and the front-clasp bra instantly fell apart, his hands meeting smoothness on both sides.

"Mmm~~~ Boss~~~"

Looking at the assistant's inability to withstand the teasing, Wei Jin no longer hesitated; after putting her down, he stood up.

Huang Mengying was overjoyed; having been in a dry spell for over a month, she was finally going to be fulfilled. She immediately squatted down proactively, and after undressing her boss, she began to eat the meat in big mouthfuls.

"Mmm, very good."

Gently pressing on the back of the assistant's head, Wei Jin moved slowly. A few minutes later, feeling the timing was ripe, he patted the woman's face.

Huang Mengying, who had been waiting for a long time, received the signal and quickly stood up, pulling up the hem of her skirt.

"Heh, Meng Ying, you were quite well-prepared, slap!"

Looking at the woman's 7B black silk stockings and T-back, Wei Jin reached out and gave a slap, laughing and teasing her.

"Boss, stop messing around~~~"

"Alright, I'll feed you until you're full right now."

As the man drew close, Huang Mengying felt incomparably fulfilled and could not help but let out a sound of joy.

"Oh~~~~"

On Valentine's Day, Wei Jin, Jing Tian, and Liu Yifei disguised themselves and went to the Mahua FunAge theater to watch a live performance.

It must be said that stage plays are at the very top of the contempt chain in the film and television circle, and there is good reason for this.

When standing on stage, actors have no beauty filters, no retakes for NG, and certainly no stunt doubles or special effects; they are face-to-face with the audience the entire time.

It is equivalent to shooting a movie where every scene is done in one take.

This is a tremendous test of an actor's professional competence and comprehensive strength.

Although the Happy Twist team follows a comedic path, their acting foundation is truly strong, which is why it is no wonder that when they later turned to the big screen, they all became powerhouse actors. After the performance ended, Liu Yifei set a goal for herself; she decided that once her promotional work ended, she would use her rest time to train more in stage plays.

Regarding this, Wei Jin was, of course, in total agreement.

To be honest, neither Jing Tian nor Liu Yifei are naturally gifted acting talents; they can only compensate for their clumsiness with diligence.

Relatively speaking, Jing Tian is better; although her ability is a bit lacking, she listens to advice, has aspirations, and can basically discipline herself.

As for Liu Yifei, she is too Buddhist-like; when she has no promotional work, she sleeps until she wakes up naturally, and when she has free time, she sings karaoke with friends. The rest of the time, she is either petting her cats or reading books, and she is not too concerned about her own career.

Now that she has aspirations, that is for the best.

In the evening, Wei Jin took the two of them to eat their favorite spicy hot pot, then headed straight to Xishan Villa, which was the love nest he had specially prepared for Valentine's Day.

On the snow-white bed, Wei, Jing, and Liu were working together to shuffle the cards.

Wei Jin lay on the bed in a spread-eagle position, playing a game of "lip-to-lip" swordplay with Liu Yifei.

And beneath Wei Jin was Jing Tian, who was performing stage management duties and adjusting the camera angles.

After a round of close-quarters combat, Wei Jin sensed that the two beauties were ready to play their cards and issued an invitation.

"Tian Tian, Yifei, who is playing their card first tonight?"

Jing Tian and Liu Yifei looked at each other and actually started playing a game of rock-paper-scissors.

In the end, Jing Tian had better luck and won the right to start the battle.

"Yifei, then I'll play first."

The young girl sat down at the card table happily, her beautiful eyes slightly narrowed, and she bit her red lips lightly as she began to play her cards.

"I'll let you go first; anyway, you won't last long."

Facing Liu Yifei's challenge, Jing Tian was unable to refute; in fact, at this moment, she could barely speak.

It could be seen that Wei Jin's card-playing was fast and accurate, as if he had completely grasped the hand Jing Tian was holding; every time he played a card, it struck her softest spots, leaving her with no strength to resist.

More importantly, Wei Jin still had energy to spare at this moment; his hands were not idle either, wandering wantonly over the two perfect, delicate bodies.

He had to admit that playing with the two beauties separately and traveling with all three of them brought completely different physiological and psychological pleasures.

Soon, under Wei Jin's powerful offensive, Jing Tian lost a point and was replaced by the new player, Liu Yifei.

"Yifei, you were just teasing Tian Tian, but your technique doesn't have any advantage either."

Wei Jin teased while playing his cards, and he was also giving Jing Tian a massage; using his mind for three things at once could be described as incredibly relaxed.

After all, compared to the five-person mahjong with several assistants, dealing with the two little novices, Jing Tian and Liu Yifei, was indeed too easy.

Perhaps if the four "Empresses" all came at once, the card game would be more intense, as the two mature older sisters are much more formidable.

However, Wei Jin himself did not know when he would be able to fulfill his wish for this ultimate, perfect mahjong tournament.

Immediately, he stopped overthinking and focused on the present, concentrating his energy on taking care of Liu Yifei; in no time at all, he had defeated the young girl until she was completely disarmed.

Then Wei Jin turned over to fight again, as Jing Tian had already rested for a good half hour.

For a time, the joyful songs inside the room were incessant.

After half a year, Wei Jin once again experienced the joy of the "Fairy" and the "Wealthy Flower" combined. Half of February had passed, and in the film market, the smoke of the Spring Festival Film Season was gradually subsiding.

After 24 days of release, *Once Again* had crossed the 600 million box office mark, but the daily box office was already less than 5 million, and its potential had been exhausted.

However, the Hollywood blockbuster *Mission: Impossible 4*, released after the Spring Festival, performed quite well; its box office approached the 100 million mark after just two days of release, which was even more impressive than the first-week box office of *The Viral Factor*.

Currently, *Mission: Impossible 4* has been released for over 2 weeks, and its box office is already approaching the 400 million mark.

If not for *Once Again* standing at the forefront, the entire month of February would likely have been dominated by Tom Cruise from across the ocean.

By comparison, the performance of other domestic films was extremely lackluster.

*All's Well, Ends Well 2012*, produced by LeTV and co-produced by Zhang Zhao and Raymond Wong, ultimately brought in a box office of 66 million.

*New Perfect Two*, directed by Zhu Yanpin and featuring the popular Taiwan idol Joseph Chang, which was released during the same period as *Once Again*, didn't even finish its theatrical run before becoming cannon fodder, with a total box office of less than 30 million.

That film starring Huang Bai, *Crazy Stone*—wait, *Crazy Dinner*—which Jing Tian and Wei Jin went to see together, had good word-of-mouth, but the producers' promotion was too poor.

Even with Wei Jin helping to recommend it on Weibo, the final box office only reached a little over 46 million.

Compared to the production cost of over 20 million, this film was undoubtedly a loss.

However, it is said that the investors of this film have coal boss bloodlines, so presumably, they didn't care about such a small amount of money.

Other films to be released in March have already entered the promotional stage, and *Ex Machina* and *A Simple Life* are no exceptions.

Although the production costs of these two films are very small, what should be done still must be done.

The former plays up the gimmick of sci-fi thriller, while the latter plays up the selling point of being backed by Venice and Golden Horse Awards, which has indeed attracted considerable attention.

Regarding the invitation to the film festival, after careful consideration, Wei Jin called Ren Zhonglun back and politely declined.

He had thought very clearly about this matter.

The predicament of the film festival was not caused in a day, and the reputation of the film festival cannot be built in a day or two.

Unless he, Wei Jin, served as the chairman of the film festival for a long time, he could not change the current situation of the Shanghai International Film Festival at all.

But is that possible? Without a doubt, absolutely impossible!

One must know that as an international A-list film festival, the Shanghai International Film Festival has a higher status than the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival.

The organizing units consist of the General Administration, China National Radio, and the local Shanghai government, and the twists and turns and conflicts of interest involved are too great.

Not to mention whether the chairman of the film festival can be held by one person for a long time, the resistance involved alone is imaginable.

Wei Jin is not willing to waste his time on power struggles and infighting with these people.

As for the idea in his heart, Wei Jin plans to start from scratch and build a new system domestically first.

It's just that the timing is not yet ripe; after all, whether it's the Golden Horse, the Hong Kong Film Awards, or the Golden Rooster, the influence formed over a long period is still there, and it is difficult to rally people to start a new film award rashly.

But Wei Jin believed that as the directors signed under Shanhe Media earned more and more honors, as his own influence on the international stage grew ever larger, and as the three major Chinese film awards continued to court their own destruction, this matter would eventually be accomplished!

And Ning Hao being shortlisted for the Berlin International Film Festival this year was the first step! "Now, it just depends on Senior Brother's luck."

For Ning Hao's bid for the award this time, the company naturally arranged for a relevant team to go over for public relations, but whether he could win would ultimately depend on the strength of his competitors and luck.

Withdrawing his thoughts, Wei Jin began to prepare his new project.

This time, he decided not to touch science fiction films for the moment and to make a drama film to clear his head.

The script had already been chosen, but some adjustments and revisions still needed to be made regarding the details.

Since Han Sanping had already said before that the script review process this year would become much easier, Wei Jin naturally had to test the bottom line and come up with something bold. (End of chapter)