Chapter 477

Beijing, Xishan Villa.

Wei Jin leaned against the headboard with his hands behind his head, lying on the snow-white bed in the shape of the character "Tai," while Liu Yifei was biting hard beneath him.

The art of biting is actually quite profound; when to go deeper, when to curl, and the rhythm of speed all test the performer's technique.

But after more than four years of practice, Liu Yifei, while not daring to claim she had maxed out this skill, could at least be considered an expert who understood its essence.

So at this moment, Director Wei Jin expressed his satisfaction, reached out to pat the girl's cheek, which was slightly flushed from holding her breath, and teased:

"Yifei, now that the biting is done, it's time for this director to test your acting skills."

Although the biting was on Wei Jin, Liu Yifei felt it too; by now, she could no longer hold back, her large eyes watery and her gaze as seductive as silk.

"Brother."

"Eh, we're on the audition set, you must use professional titles."

Giving Wei Jin a flirtatious roll of her eyes, she knew this man was just being mischievous, but Liu Yifei also enjoyed this kind of intimacy between the sheets.

So she took the initiative to grab a pillow, lay down on it, raised her beautiful hips high, and assumed the posture for the scene.

"Director, I'm ready."

"Mm, you are already excellent at handling camera angles; now it depends on our chemistry. Get ready, I'm starting the shoot."

After speaking, Wei Jin used one hand to support her snow-white, slender waist and the other to grasp her delicate, soft, and plump, bouncy hips, beginning the shoot.

"Mm, Yifei, although I can't see your expression, the micro-expressions of your body are also very important, as are your tone and inflection; you must get into character and cannot just slack off."

"Mm~~~ Director Brother~~~"

Liu Yifei's melodious voice made Wei Jin feel tingly all over; this form of address was something she had called out back on the set of Those Years, and memories came flooding back in an instant.

"Very good, keep this state. Although it was just a short 'mm,' it fully displayed the character's current psychological state—that feeling of inner satisfaction, anticipation fulfilled, and the trembling excitement was captured perfectly."

Wei Jin directed while filming, and Liu Yifei became increasingly immersed in the role, to the point that this scene, which hadn't been rehearsed in advance, was actually done in one take.

"Alright, Yifei, this scene is over; it's time to adjust the camera angle and move to the next one."

Wei Jin turned the girl over, leaned forward, braced her knees with his hands, and pressed his palms against her back, exerting a little force.

Liu Yifei had cooperated with Wei Jin many times and instantly knew the camera setup, so she reached out and wrapped her arms around Wei Jin's neck, and her whole body lifted into the air.

"Oh~~~~"

This scene was primarily an action scene; such parts test an actor's ability to handle camera angles, while for a director, it tests whether they can capture the actor's best state during the movement.

At this moment, Wei Jin and Liu Yifei were cooperating perfectly; the amplitude of the rise and fall, the rhythm of the movement, and the handling of the camera angles were all perfectly synchronized.

It was just that this type of scene usually had a greater impact on the actress; in just half an hour, Liu Yifei had already NG'd twice.

"Director~~~ I can't do it anymore, let's take a break."

"Mm, I think that's about enough too, it'll be over soon."

As a dedicated director, Wei Jin perfectly captured the final shot, completing this shoot and release.

"Ah~~ ah~~~ ah~~~~"

Following the actress's loud singing, this audition scene finally came to an end. After the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped, Wei Jin held the now limp and powerless Liu Yifei in his arms, detailing the outline of the story.

The script prepared this time was Star Luck, a literary romance film about young men and women suffering from cancer who lean on and encourage each other in the final moments of their lives.

Such literary films undoubtedly have high requirements for acting and emotional immersion, so after hearing Wei Jin's description, Liu Yifei frowned deeply.

She realized that Wei Jin's previous judgment really wasn't a joke; she truly had no way to handle this type of role.

Seeming to sense the young girl's thoughts, Wei Jin pulled her tighter into his arms and reached out to grasp her chest to comfort her.

"Yifei, this time, let's not rush; you have enough time to ponder the role. On one hand, you can understand the external manifestations and inner dynamics of terminal patients through some feature films and documentaries; on the other hand, you can also learn about some cases from real life."

Liu Yifei nodded thoughtfully, "Mm, Brother, I know, I will thoroughly digest the script."

"Mm, prepare well. I estimate it won't start until next year; if you don't perform well then, you can't blame anyone else."

Liu Yifei pouted, feeling a bit unconvinced: "Hmph, Brother, you should prepare more too; don't let the great director fail to keep up with my acting then, tsk tsk."

Wei Jin raised an eyebrow. Good heavens, she was trying to rebel? Could he tolerate this? So he flipped over and pinned the girl beneath him, a playful smirk on his lips.

"Then, may I ask Teacher Little Liu to kindly guide this student's acting skills tonight?"

"Mm~~"

Before the young girl could speak, Wei Jin sealed her lips.

That night, Teacher Little Liu practiced what she preached, teaching with great care and leaving Wei Jin with much to gain. Although the Golden Horse Awards couldn't compare to the European Big Three, they were, after all, the "Three Golds" of Chinese-language cinema, and domestic audiences were more familiar with them, to the point that the topic of Bottom-Tier Girl's nominations remained high, with quite a lot of discussion online.

This also made the film's box office trend stronger and stronger, grossing 58 million on the 2nd alone.

With this, in 4 days, the box office for Bottom-Tier Girl directly broke 200 million.

Wei Jin had just intended to pay attention to the situation of other films when he received a call from Zhang Xu.

"Director Wei, there is something I need to report to you."

"Mm?"

Wei Jin leaned back on the sofa and crossed his legs, "About the signing?"

"Mm, Pan Yueming wants to sign, and besides that, Zhou Dongyu has also come to see me."

Wei Jin was a bit surprised when he heard this, "Mm? Pan Yueming has been freelancing for so many years, why did he think about signing? When did this happen?"

"Right after the Four Young Dan were announced, I suspect he was provoked."

Wei Jin nodded, understanding in his heart. Since his debut, Pan Yueming had also been a handsome young actor, but because no one was pushing him, he was almost never able to make the list.

Although Pan Yueming was older now and didn't meet the selection criteria, that didn't mean he couldn't feel the benefits of having a backer.

Think about it: something you have always longed for but could never obtain is being taken by younger juniors time and time again; this kind of gap is something an ordinary person cannot bear.

By comparison, freedom perhaps wasn't that important anymore.

"Fine, then sign him."

Wei Jin actually had a relatively good impression of Pan Yueming; he didn't cause any trouble, and besides, there was that connection with Chen Xi.

Furthermore, among the company's male artists, they happened to lack this type of handsome older man; Qiao Zhenyu didn't count, as he was too well-maintained and could continue to follow the youth idol route for a few more years. "Then Director Wei, what about Zhou Dongyu?"

"How do you evaluate it?"

Zhang Xu did not seem to expect Wei Jin to throw the topic back, so after some deliberation, he spoke:

"President Wei, I feel this girl isn't too simple. Last year, when Director Zhang first signed her, she was still interacting with us quite frequently. The company invited her to participate in several projects, but she didn't take a liking to them. Later, the contact became less frequent. As far as I know, for the past six months or so, she has been getting quite cozy with Wang Jinhua's side."

Wei Jin understood upon hearing this. In fact, Zhang Xu had already made a judgment in his heart, but considering the face of Zhang Yimou, he found it difficult to say it directly.

"Fine, since she is riding a donkey to find a horse, we don't need to worry about it so much. Just reject her directly."

"Alright, President Wei."

Despite not having an advantage in subject matter, relying on the contrast with its peers, the performance of *Bottom-Tier Girl* was unexpectedly strong in the eyes of the industry.

The so-called "the strong stay strong" phenomenon occurred; the siphon effect of the film market appeared again, and a large number of viewers were attracted by *Bottom-Tier Girl*.

On the 3rd, 53.4 million; on the 4th, 51.6 million; in 6 days of release, *Bottom-Tier Girl* raked in 305 million.

In stark contrast to this were the other companies in the National Day Slot.

The film *Dangerous Liaisons* starring Zhang Ziyi has been released for a week, with a box office of only 28.4 million.

*Tai Chi 0* is not much better, with a box office of just over 68 million after 8 days of release.

By comparison, *Second Exposure*, which had a production cost of only 20 million, performed slightly better. Relying on the reputation of director Li Yu and the explosive point of erotic scenes, it reported a box office of over 30 million after 6 days.

At this moment, the voices of ridicule on the internet are very loud, most of which are directed at *Tai Chi 0* and *Dangerous Liaisons*.

"Huayi shouted their slogans to the heavens, even daring to brag about a combined box office of 1 billion for the two films. Now they've been slapped in the face, right? According to the current situation, for Huayi's sky-high boast to land, the box office of *Tai Chi 2* must be over 900 million. Do they believe it themselves?"

"Brother, 1 billion box office, they didn't say the unit, right? Maybe it's New Taiwan Dollars, or Japanese Yen? Hahaha."

"Buddy, you're talented, hahaha."

"Zhang Ziyi's face must be almost swollen from the slaps, right? The appeal of the Four Dan Double Bing has been ruined by her just like that."

"Can this be considered the most 'watery' top-tier big actress in the country?"

"20 million in salary, it really doesn't live up to the name. The producers have already cried themselves to sleep in the bathroom."

Huayi Zongbu.

"Damn it, is this film really that strong? Did he really occupy the entire National Day Slot by himself?!"

Wang Zhongjun said with a dark face and a stern voice, with Wang Zhonglei, Chen Guofu, Stephen Fung, and several executives sitting in front of him.

Wang Zhonglei felt a bit helpless at this moment. Initially, it was he who insisted on competing head-on in the National Day Slot. He thought that three against one meant the advantage was with them, but as a result, before the other side even exerted any effort, a group of "rabble" had already fallen first.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Wang Zhongjun couldn't say much more. After a sigh, he added: "Forget it, get ready for *Tai Chi 2*. The publicity side needs to come up with a plan to minimize the impact."

"Understood, Chairman Wang."

The group shouted in loud voices, but they had no confidence in their hearts.

For films shot back-to-back, one must always face an unavoidable problem: if the word-of-mouth of the first part is ruined, the second part will inevitably be affected.

The situation for *Tai Chi 2* is not optimistic.

If Huayi's embarrassment was a mistake of overestimating their own strength and underestimating the power of their opponent.

Then Zhang Ziyi's encounter could perhaps be considered deserved. When she received the 20 million salary, she was too high-profile; she practically wanted the whole world to know.

Nowadays, unable to carry the box office, slander, questioning, and attacks naturally followed one after another.

Even the entire *Dangerous Liaisons* crew became the target of industry criticism.

There was no way around it; for the film *Dangerous Liaisons*, the combined salaries of the three main leads—Zhang Ziyi, Zhang Baizhi, and Jang Dong-gun—reached over 50 million, which really set a bad precedent for the industry.

"Xiao Jin, you say that when an actor takes such a high salary, won't it affect the normal operation of the crew? Don't the producers consider the risks?"

After Ceng Li coaxed Dudu to sleep, she browsed the relevant reports online and asked this question with a frown.

"Hmm, how should I put it..."

Wei Jin pulled the beauty into his arms, feeling the plump figure of the mature sister, and explained after some deliberation.

"Limited by the current market environment in the country, 20 million is basically the peak for actresses. This price is not considered high, and normally speaking, with a cost of 200 million, 30% as actor salary expenditure is not outrageous either. The key is still the problem with the film itself."

To put it bluntly, Wei Jin even maliciously guessed that the producers of *Dangerous Liaisons* were intentionally shifting the blame, and perhaps Zhang Baizhi, Jang Dong-gun, and others were also fanning the flames behind the scenes, attributing all the problems to Zhang Ziyi.

"In addition, for international big stars like Cheng Long and Li Lianjie, domestic films will also lower their salaries, just to avoid the problem you mentioned."

"Abroad, top-tier big stars usually take a base salary plus a box office share. So if Li Jie takes on a role in the future, you can also sign a contract like this. The producers shouldn't refuse. Of course, art films are another consideration..."

To be honest, the current domestic salaries are really not too high. With the rapid development of the film industry, in a few years, celebrity artists will truly be making money hand over fist.

"Is that so..."

Ceng Li nodded thoughtfully. It seems the key still lies in the crew's problems. She then remembered another thing.

"Xiao Jin, today is Yuanyuan's birthday. Did you call her?"

Wei Jin tightened his hold on the beauty in his arms, one hand invading the fairness in front of her chest.

"Of course, just while you were coaxing Dudu to sleep, I already called."

Ceng Li nodded. She was just asking casually. Aside from being a bit of a playboy, her little man was impeccable in other aspects. When she was in North America, he also asked after her almost every day on the phone.

But perhaps it was precisely because of this that he was so popular with young girls? Just as Ceng Li was letting her imagination run wild, Wei Jin had already buried his head deep down. The complex tactile sensation brought by his lips and teeth made her instantly regain her senses.

"Mmm~~~ Xiao Jin, be gentle~~"

Wei Jin did not respond, but his movements became increasingly gentle, and both hands also supported her breasts from below.

"Ooh~~ Li Jie, it tastes so good~~~"

After about two or three minutes, Wei Jin lingered with the fragrance on his lips and teeth, left reluctantly, and then got up and leaned forward.

"Li Jie, now it's your turn."

The familiar scent and the scorching breath made Ceng Li's heart tremble. She slowly opened her red lips and pressed them onto him.

"Oh~~"

(End of this chapter)