Chapter 405: The Alluring Yumo, the Swaying Ni Ni

In the film market, *Once Again* has finished its theatrical run, with a final box office total of 637 million.

As a small-to-medium budget production, this box office has already crushed most of the domestic commercial blockbusters.

As the female lead, Liu Yifei's market value and salary have skyrocketed once again.

Regarding endorsements, Wei Jin does not pay much attention, but he is very clear about the film salary aspect.

From the 3 million during *Bodyguards and Assassins*, it rose to 10 million through *Inception*, and the *Mojin: The Lost Legend* before the new year pushed her salary up to the astronomical figure of 15 million.

By now, Liu Yifei's salary has directly surged to 20 million.

You have to know, how many years has Zhang Ziyi been in the industry? A special script like *Dangerous Liaisons* only offered her 20 million, and her usual public quote is no more than 12 million.

Ceng Li, as the first Mainland China Cannes Best Actress and the first Chinese Oscar Nominated Best Actress, has an external salary of only 2 million USD.

As for Jing Tian, although she has the globally best-selling *Lucy* and *Now You See Me* series, because her work output has decreased in the last two years, her salary is approximately 3 million USD.

Gao Yuanyuan goes without saying; although *Passengers* sold well, the industry doesn't believe she is the one carrying the box office, so her salary is actually the lowest among the four "imperial concubines," at only 10 million, roughly the same as Zhou Xun, Fan Bingbing, and others.

As for other actresses, even Yang Mi, who has risen the fastest in recent years, has only seen her salary rise to 5 million.

Therefore, Liu Yifei's salary is absolutely among the very top tier of all domestic actresses, to the point where the vast majority of actresses cannot even entertain the thought of catching up.

Ning Hao returned to Beijing with the *The Great Buddha* crew, returning with honors, and the whole group was beaming with joy.

"Senior brother, congratulations!"

In the reception room, Wei Jin gave Ning Hao a fierce hug.

"Hahaha, it still has to be your script. I've decided, from now on I'm going to cling tightly to your thigh, haha."

Ning Hao truly feels that the feeling of winning without effort is too great.

*No Man's Land* has been struggling for years without results, yet he easily took home the Best Director Silver Bear for *The Great Buddha*—who can you reason with about that? After reminiscing with Ning Hao, Wei Jin looked at the two leads in the film.

I have to say, Ning Hao really likes using familiar faces; this time he actually used the actors from *Crazy Racer*—Wei Jin's fellow townsman Wang Shuangbao and the character actor Bado, the two who played the killers.

But don't look at these two as lacking fame; their acting skills are truly excellent, and their performance in *The Great Buddha* was quite eye-catching.

After the group reminisced for a while, Ning Hao brought up a matter.

"Junior brother, I don't intend to release this film; I can't be bothered to look at the faces of those bird-brained people, but..."

When Ning Hao spoke, he looked at the several leads, and Wei Jin understood immediately.

During the filming of *The Great Buddha* this time, because the prospects were unclear, Ning Hao employed his old tradition again, squeezing the actors until they were in a sorry state.

Now that it has won an award and the copyright has been sold for 8.1 million USD, after deducting production costs and public relations expenses, Shanhe Media has profited at least 5 million USD or more, so he should at least provide some compensation.

Thus, Wei Jin waved his hand and immediately stated his position.

"Senior brother, everyone, rest assured, there will be a celebration banquet, and there will certainly be red envelopes."

"Hehe, junior brother is generous."

"Thank you, President Wei!"

The celebration banquet for *Once Again* and *The Great Buddha* was held together.

The entire film circle did not expect Wei Jin to have such a flashy move, but let's just say, it really is damn convenient.

The scale of this celebration banquet was not large, but there were still quite a few people who came to show support, especially media reporters.

"Director Ning Hao, *The Great Buddha* is not being released in theaters; don't you feel regret?"

Once the reporter's words were out, many people in the circle who came to show support looked at Ning Hao curiously; it must be hard to swallow that his first award-winning film cannot be released, right? "No regrets. If I had to cut out the essence of the film for the sake of a release, I feel that would go against the original intention of filming it..."

Speaking to this point, Ning Hao paused, and seeing many industry insiders showing expressions of regret, he continued to add.

"However, I have already communicated with the school leaders at Beijing Film Academy, and there will be a small-scale screening in the Beijing Film Academy auditorium. Interested friends can come to watch it then. In addition, the film will also be released in the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets at a later date."

This was a compromise method discussed by Wei Jin and Ning Hao; as long as it does not enter the Mainland China theater circuit, the censors cannot control them.

"That's pretty good, I'll go take a look then."

"Hmm, Ning Hao actually has a lot of ideas; he's actually too lazy to tangle with those old guys."

"The copyright has already made a huge profit, so what does it matter whether it's released or not."

Many people in the audience began to whisper; this kind of operation is still quite rare.

Subsequently, the celebration banquet officially began.

When the 637 number ice sculpture for *Once Again* was smashed by Wei Jin and Liu Yifei holding a small hammer together, and the 810 number ice sculpture for *The Great Buddha* was smashed by Ning Hao and his wife together, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became heated.

Afterward, Wei Jin distributed red envelopes to the main creators of both films respectively.

The production cost of the film *Once Again* did not exceed 25 million, and including marketing and distribution, it was roughly around 50 million.

But the domestic distributable box office alone reached as high as 251 million, and counting the 80 million from trailer ads and product placement, as well as the 12 million USD in overseas copyrights, the cumulative profit exceeded 400 million! So Wei Jin was not stingy, giving a full 5 million for the entire crew to split.

On the *The Great Buddha* side, although the profit was not as high, he still brought out 2 million as red envelopes for the crew.

The atmosphere of the entire celebration banquet reached its climax the moment the red envelopes were in hand.

After the bustle faded, Wei Jin took Liu Yifei back to the villa.

From the moment they got in the car, the young girl was telling him about the art exams these past few days, talking all the way until they got home.

The number of art examinees this year is unprecedentedly high, so the dean in charge of the art exam work, Wang Jinsong, is also quite strict.

Several who had used technological means on their faces were directly eliminated on the spot by Wang Jinsong.

For this reason, quite a few parents brought reporters to surround the school, claiming that Beijing Film Academy discriminates against candidates who have had plastic surgery.

"Oh? How did the school respond?" Hearing this, Wei Jin became interested.

"Brother, you don't know, Teacher Wang is so imposing. He directly said in front of the reporters that natural beauty is the only thing that cannot be surpassed. In his view, he cannot accept candidates who have had plastic surgery, unless he is no longer at Beijing Film Academy..."

Wei Jin nodded; Wang Jinsong is indeed very strict and also very responsible, but it is a pity that he is a lone tree in the school and cannot support it all; there are some things he cannot influence.

"Then have you seen any promising seedlings these days?"

"No, quite a few fairly famous candidates, claiming to be 'Little Fan Bingbing,' 'Little Gong Li,' 'Little Zhang Ziyi'... oh, right, there were also several 'Little Liu Yifei's,' which cracked me up. But after looking at them, they were just so-so..."

Wei Jin nodded; every year during the art exams, there will always be media coming out to hype things up, and the further it goes, the more this situation will happen.

Because most of the art examinees are pretty enough in appearance, but they don't have any unique characteristics.

In the entertainment industry, being pretty alone is not enough; you must have a unique character, something that makes the audience remember you and like you.

Take Zhao Liying for example; in terms of looks, she definitely doesn't count as a top-tier beauty, and her figure is quite ordinary, but she possesses a natural affinity that makes her incredibly popular with the public.

So, how do you make others think you have a unique character? Naturally, by hyping up the traits of famous actresses. Package yourself as "Little Liu Yifei" or "Little Zhang Ziyi," and don't you get both the buzz and a first impression? "By the way, Brother, I saw a girl at school who looks a bit like Mom when she was young."

"An art examinee?"

"No, it seems she's from the '11 class."

Hearing this, Wei Jin roughly knew who it was; it should be that female artist known as "Liu Erfei."

Wei Jin had consumed plenty of gossip about her and Chen Jinfei in his past life.

"Right, is your art exam work finished?"

"Mm, but my notices have come in, and I start next week. I estimate I'll be running around for several months this time; there's just too much piled up."

Watching the young girl's somewhat distressed look, Wei Jin supported her perky buttocks with both hands.

"Then tonight, let me help you relax properly."

Seeming to think of another upcoming window of free time, Liu Yifei's pretty face flushed with a blush, and she nodded gently.

"Mm, Brother, love me."

Ning Hao seemed very attentive to the new script, and after resting for only one day, he took the initiative to come to Wei Jin's place.

"Junior Brother, where is the script you said was ready?"

Still wearing his big gold chain, Ning Hao sat on the guest sofa in a sprawling posture, looking every bit the hoodlum.

"Here, take a look. Which one do you like?"

Wei Jin took the prepared scripts from the drawer, walked around the desk to hand them to him, and then picked up the tea he had just brewed to savor it.

"《A Big Shot's Funeral》? 《The Winners》? The names are both quite interesting."

After muttering to himself, Ning Hao quietly began to flip through them.

Taking advantage of this moment, Wei Jin browsed the news online.

The Oscar awards ceremony was about to begin, and in Hollywood, one cocktail party followed another.

There were also many related reports domestically, but Wei Jin didn't expect to see that guy Hunter.

But once he saw Li Bingbing and Zhang Ziyi beside him, he understood why he was in the domestic news.

The former was invited to attend this year's red carpet because of 《Resident Evil 5》, and the latter was one of the thousand judges for this year's Oscars.

"Damn, this guy really is living the good life."

Wei Jin couldn't help but complain; in the photos, this fellow was surrounded by beauties, and the key was that the two big stars were also full of smiles, showing none of the arrogant and cold demeanor they displayed domestically.

If you want to talk about playing hard, it has to be Hollywood!

After some silent criticism, Wei Jin heard the sound of Ning Hao putting down the script.

"Made your choice?"

"Junior Brother, you really have given me a difficult problem; I quite like both of them."

Looking at the two scripts on the table, Ning Hao looked conflicted.

Wei Jin could understand; 《A Big Shot's Funeral》 was a multi-line narrative with black humor, which fit Ning Hao's style very well.

As for 《The Winners》, it was a suspense comedy with distinct postmodern characteristics, using meta-cinema, parody, deconstruction, irony, and collage to tell the story; for Ning Hao at this stage, it should feel quite novel.

"If you like them, keep them both. Choose one to start filming this year, and as for the rest, film them whenever you want."

Ning Hao's eyes lit up; only children make choices, adults naturally want both.

"Good, then I'll start with this 《A Big Shot's Funeral》 first to get my style back, haha."

Wei Jin shrugged; he had no objections.

"Fine, take the scripts back to study. There's no rush on this. As for 《Lost in Thailand》, put in some effort."

"Alright, after the Beijing Film Academy screenings end, I'll stay with the crew; it'll be like a vacation for myself. You have no idea, I've been with your Na Jie every day during this time, I'm almost sick of it."

Ning Hao began to complain about this recent trip to Berlin.

One moment he glanced at a North American actress and got scolded to his face; the next, his outfit on the red carpet was ruthlessly mocked by his own wife... This made Wei Jin feel a sense of shared anxiety; would his four main wives be like this in the future? Inside Wu Hao Jin Wu, Wei Jin looked at Ni Ni, who was dressed in the "Yumo" qipao, a flash of amazement in his eyes.

"Have you really thought this through?"

To be honest, receiving this girl's call, Wei Jin was truly a bit surprised. After all, with Zhang Yimou's care and no shortage of company resources, there was no need to be this anxious, right?

"President Wei, I have thought it through. Please give me a chance; I will be very obedient."

Ni Ni's tone was very firm, carrying a sense of determination to burn her bridges.

Honestly, she was not a woman who lacked self-respect; if she could, she also hoped to walk cleanly in the industry.

What prompted her to make this decision was her experience at this Berlin International Film Festival.

As everyone knows, the film festival red carpet is the first choice for many actresses to show off their style.

Ni Ni was also full of expectations for this Berlin red carpet, but unfortunately, due to her status, even with the company's arrangements, she still couldn't get the high-fashion gown she wanted.

This led to the gown Ni Ni wore on the red carpet not fitting well, and the other one she wore at the subsequent cocktail party was also unsuitable.

So much so that a perfectly good opportunity to showcase herself turned into a scene of embarrassment, and she was teased by the media quite a bit.

The reason was simply that Ni Ni's status wasn't high enough; the brand could only let others choose first, and only then would it be her turn! Such things were actually not uncommon in the industry, but Ni Ni didn't want to go on like this.

She wanted to be famous; she wanted the whole world to know her name was Ni Ni!

At this thought, without waiting for Wei Jin to act, Ni Ni took the initiative to press against him, a mysterious smile on her face, and extended her slender fingers to press lightly on the man's chest.

"Little handsome guy, do you like big sister?"

Ni Ni didn't know how to please a man, but she quickly shifted her identity and began to play the role of the courtesan "Yumo."

"Hmph, that depends on what tricks you have, little sister."

Watching the swaying Ni Ni, Wei Jin reached out to pull her into his arms, his hands stroking her rounded, perky buttocks through the qipao.

He actually quite liked this vibe; the obedient, the haughty, the seductive, the cold—they could all bring different experiences.

"Hehe, little handsome, tonight big sister guarantees you'll be so happy you'll forget about Shu."

Ni Ni parted her red lips slightly and kissed Wei Jin on the chin, her hands not idle either as she undid the man's fastenings.

She kissed her way down from his neck, chest, and abdominal muscles. (End of chapter)