Chapter 53: Resolving Inner Conflicts and the Celebration Banquet

As Wei Jin and Ceng Li remained silent, the heat surrounding the scandal gradually faded, finally coming to an end; Wei Jin also followed his heart and prepared to go to 501 for a short stay of a few days.

Upon receiving Wei Jin's call, Gao Yuanyuan felt very conflicted inside.

Her feelings for Wei Jin were very complicated; she admired his talent and was infatuated with his body, yet she did not know if this counted as love.

She only knew that when she was with Wei Jin, she felt very relaxed and happy, but Wei Jin had never responded to this relationship, even though she had hinted at it many times.

Gao Yuanyuan made up her mind that after this meeting, she would break it off with him; she could only say that she had not met him at the right time.

However, the moment they met, when Wei Jin held her and kissed her passionately, she forgot to resist, or rather, she no longer wanted to resist.

Just like that, Gao Yuanyuan muddledly ended up in bed with Wei Jin, once again becoming infatuated with his body.

What made Gao Yuanyuan even more at a loss was that just after the act, when she was about to speak up to end this ambiguous relationship, Wei Jin took out two scripts and handed them to her.

"Yuan Yuanjie, these are movie scripts I wrote for you. Take a look and see which character you like better?"

Hearing these words from Wei Jin, waves of emotion surged in Gao Yuanyuan's heart, and it was not because of the joy of having movie resources.

In fact, in terms of film, Gao Yuanyuan was highly favored, especially by art-house directors; she was almost considered Wang Xiaoshuai's go-to lead actress, and the film they collaborated on last year, *Qinghong*, was even shortlisted for this year's Cannes Film Festival.

But a script written specifically for her by Wei Jin was different, and he had written two at that, leaving her to choose; having reached this point, only gratitude remained in Gao Yuanyuan's heart.

"Why do you have to be so good to me? We are just 'friends' after all."

Gao Yuanyuan's tone was somewhat bitter, and the word "friends" carried a touch of sorrow.

"Yuan Yuanjie, if my appearance has brought you trouble, I am very sorry."

Wei Jin sensed Gao Yuanyuan's mood and did not want to dwell on their relationship anymore; as a transmigrator, what was wrong with enjoying himself? "I am a fickle man. I may not be able to give you what you want, but as long as you are by my side, I will certainly give you the best I can."

Wei Jin had also thought for a long time before saying these words.

There were all kinds of actresses in the entertainment industry, and everyone's thoughts were completely different; some came for his resources, such as Hu Jing and Fan Bingbing. In these types of relationships, the woman's goal was clear, and Wei Jin handled them effortlessly—resource exchange was enough.

But there were some who were truly after him, such as Ceng Li and Gao Yuanyuan. Both had known Wei Jin since he was obscure. Wei Jin could not give them promises and could only try his best to make up for the debt with resources.

Wei Jin was not truly a scumbag; he could not be completely devoid of emotional fluctuations. Even a dog would have feelings after spending a long time together, let alone a delicate beauty who had been silently admiring him all along.

Thinking of this, Wei Jin felt a bit irritable. Why did this batch of actresses before the '85 generation always want to talk about love, and some even loved so desperately that they would even slit their wrists to commit suicide?

Why not learn from the actresses born after '85 and focus wholeheartedly on their careers? This put a lot of pressure on Wei Jin, making his already limited emotional reservoir nearly drained by the land of gentleness.

Hearing Wei Jin's somewhat irresponsible words, Gao Yuanyuan was actually happy inside, but this did not mean her standards were low.

She was actually not afraid of Wei Jin being fickle; she was only afraid of Wei Jin being heartless.

A fickle man would always be captured by some woman, but a heartless man would truly never stay for a woman. At this moment, Gao Yuanyuan secretly made up her mind that she must subdue Wei Jin.

Having figured this out, Gao Yuanyuan took the scripts and offered a sweet kiss.

After some entanglement between the two, Gao Yuanyuan finally looked at the scripts.

"I like both scripts, what should I do?"

Having opened her heart, Gao Yuanyuan returned to her usual bright and optimistic self, just like when she first met Wei Jin; her voice was full of lightness and even a bit of coquettishness.

"Then let's shoot both, though I'm afraid it will have to be next year."

Since Gao Yuanyuan liked them, Wei Jin naturally would not be stingy.

"I'll listen to you. As long as it's you, I'm willing to wait however long it takes."

Gao Yuanyuan's words had a double meaning, and then the two began to be clingy again.

Having resolved her inner conflict and made up her mind, Gao Yuanyuan seemed like a different person—gentle, considerate, soft as water, and giving Wei Jin infinite tolerance.

That night, Wei Jin once again sank into the land of gentleness. Time came to August 14th; after thirty days of release, *Crazy Stone* officially ended its run.

*Crazy Stone* had a box office of over 34 million in its first three days, over 48 million in its second week, and only over 17 million in its third week due to the release of *Seven Swords*; the box office for the final two weeks was less than 10 million.

The final box office reached 109 million. Ning Hao successfully entered the Billion Yuan Club, becoming one of the only three directors in Mainland China to reach the hundred-million mark.

On the evening of August 15th, as the film's creators raised the small hammers in their hands together and smashed the ice sculpture symbolizing the box office, the celebration banquet officially began.

This was Ning Hao's first film, and it was a film with a box office of over 100 million. No matter what, Wei Jin had to hold a celebration banquet for the entire crew. In addition, Wei Jin also prepared a big red envelope of one million for each of the main creators and Ning Hao.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother, for becoming famous in one battle and becoming a hundred-million-yuan director. From now on, your projects will be hot commodities. It's a good thing I placed my bet early and got the priority investment rights."

Wei Jin said, looking at the smiling Ning Hao.

"To be honest, I have to thank you, Junior Brother."

"If it weren't for your stimulation, I might not have had the courage to take this step; if it weren't for your investment, I wouldn't even have been able to assemble the crew; if it weren't for your promotion and distribution plan, the film wouldn't have achieved such a high box office. This drink, I toast to you."

Ning Hao's words were sincere.

"That's right, President Wei. Without you, I don't know where this script would be left to gather dust. I'm really grateful."

The one speaking was Ning Hao's beloved, Xing Aina.

"Senior Brother, Sister-in-law, you two are being too polite. I'm the one who earned the most from this film, so I should be the one thanking you, haha."

Wei Jin could certainly feel the gratitude of the couple, but he was not a person who liked to be sentimental, so he immediately changed the subject.

"Senior Brother, don't always think about ideals and art-house films in the future. You should be able to see that only the box office can make people look at you with respect and get people to invest in you. Once your fame is great and your status is stable, then go pursue your ideals and art; there's no rush to chase awards."

"You see things more clearly than I do. No wonder you've achieved this at your age. A toast to you."

Ning Hao could tell that Wei Jin was giving him a heads-up.

"Don't just toast me. Senior Brother, you are the protagonist tonight. There's a line of people waiting to toast you. Go, go enjoy your applause."

The banquet continued, and many heads of companies in the industry also made a special trip to congratulate them today.

Huayi Brothers also came. Wang Zhonglei looked at the glorious Ning Hao and then at the steady Wei Jin, feeling a bit uncomfortable inside.

Huayi invested in many films this year, but the film and television industry was high-risk, and whether they could make a profit was still an unknown.

It was only by relying on the endorsements and announcements of the large number of actors and stars under their banner that Huayi's book performance could sit firmly in the position of the industry's private leader.

The brothers were trembling and walking on thin ice. With such a large setup and so many staff, they had only achieved these results after working hard. Thinking about how Wang Jinhua's side was delaying the renewal of their contract, and not knowing where next year's profits would come from, for a moment, he felt like his brain was about to explode.

But compared to Wei Jin, who had only made two films, the money earned this year might not be less than Huayi's profits, and there were not so many messy things. Anyone would feel unbalanced in their heart.

To date, Wei Jin's two films, *Those Years* and *Crazy Stone*, have both broken the 100 million mark at the box office.

Although China Film Group participated in *Those Years*, as the main controller, Wei Jin's profit would not be less than 20 million.

For the project "Crazy Stone," Wei Jin was the sole producer, with a profit of at least 30 million.

Everyone is an insider; they can roughly calculate how much money Wei Jin has made.

On the other side, Wang Changtian and Yu Dong had similar sentiments.

The market cake is only so big; since Wei Jin has filled his pockets, others have to eat scraps. China Film Group at least earned some distribution fees, but the other companies didn't get a thing this time.

"Next time, we must participate in Wei Jin's future films."

The heads of many industry companies thought of this point simultaneously.

Wei Jin could not hear the inner thoughts of these company heads, and even if he could, he had no mind to pay attention to them for the time being, because he received two very unexpected phone calls.

The first call was from Liu Yifei, inviting Wei Jin once again to attend her 18th birthday coming-of-age ceremony. The young girl was very expectant on the phone that Wei Jin could go to the venue, and she even specifically asked about Wei Jin's schedule.

Actually, she had already invited him during the film festival, but Wei Jin had not agreed directly.

Wei Jin suddenly realized that, unknowingly, this young girl was about to become an adult. After pondering for a moment, he agreed, though he felt it was a bit strange.

The second call gave him a bit of a headache; it was from a Department Head at Mango TV, inviting Wei Jin to attend the grand finale of "Super Girl."

As a newbie author writing a book for the first time, I beg for collections, follows, reading updates, and recommendations. Thank you all. As a newbie author writing a book for the first time, I beg for collections, follows, reading updates, and recommendations. Thank you all.

(End of this chapter)