Chapter 552: Newcomer, New Project: Wei Jin Wants a School Uniform Look

Inside the chairman's office at Shanhe Building.

Wei Jin was browsing industry news while enjoying the services of his assistant, Huang Mengying.

In three days, the box office for American Dreams in China had directly crossed the 100 million yuan mark, closing at 116 million.

Moreover, relying on good word-of-mouth, the daily box office was higher with each passing day.

However, looking at such a blockbuster film, there was quite a lot of negative news online.

First, the three main leads, Huang Xiaoming, Qiao Zhenyu, and Tong Dawei, were brought out by many media outlets for discussion and comparison.

Qiao Zhenyu was fine; since his debut, most of his resources had been provided by Shanhe Media, and his personal image had always been well-maintained.

As for Huang Xiaoming and Tong Dawei, there were quite a few pieces of gossip and dirt; when the two had snatched resources from each other, or when they had publicly undermined each other on certain occasions, the internet was a scene of lively activity.

Subsequently, director Chen Kexin was attacked by the Hong Kong media.

This film itself was his "pledge of allegiance" handed over to China Film Group; if it had lost money, the Hong Kong Circle probably wouldn't have said anything, but now anyone with eyes could see that compared to the 70 million production cost, this film was definitely a huge profit.

Coupled with the fact that from the leads to the supporting cast, American Dreams in China almost entirely used actors from Mainland China, the Hong Kong media spoke quite nastily.

Things like "kissing up to the Mainland" or "having a spineless backbone just to make money," they were only a step away from labeling Chen Kexin a "Hong Kong traitor."

Regarding this, neither Chen Kexin himself, his wife, nor the other investors came out to respond.

After all, the decline of the Hong Kong Circle was an indisputable fact; a couple of dog barks wouldn't cost them a piece of meat anyway, so as long as it didn't hinder making money, it was fine.

Even the Mainland media and netizens couldn't be bothered to pay attention this time.

From this point, one could see that the decline of the Hong Kong Circle was fully exposed! Wei Jin was just about to continue flipping through the news when he felt a chill below; looking down, he saw that Huang Mengying had already let go of him, her large eyes filled with spring, her gaze as soft as silk.

"Boss~~"

"Hehe, it seems Mengying is in a hurry. Very well, I have things to do later, so let me feed you first."

After speaking, Wei Jin pulled the girl up from beneath him, used a little strength in his hands to lift her into his arms, and strode toward the office lounge. More than an hour later, under the attentive grooming of a flushed Huang Mengying, Wei Jin tidied himself up and returned to the office.

Not long after he sat down, he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in."

"Senior, you were looking for me?"

Wen Muye, wearing glasses and looking slightly scholarly, pushed the door open and asked with some curiosity.

"Mm, sit down first."

After greeting Wen Muye to take a seat, Wei Jin continued: "If I remember correctly, you're graduating next year, right?"

"Yes, I applied in '10, and when I enrolled, I was in the '11 class."

Wei Jin nodded. Wen Muye didn't come from a formal background; it seemed he had pulled strings before applying to confirm Tian Zhuangzhuang as his mentor, and only then did he participate in the art exam.

"Then have you thought about your graduation project?"

"Not yet, but I have an idea that I plan to expand on..."

Speaking of this, Wen Muye suddenly realized, slightly excited, "Senior, you mean...?"

Wei Jin smiled: "Mm, it's what you're thinking. Two years ago I told you to direct a feature film, but the timing was never quite mature. I heard from Chen Xi that you've been training quite well on several film crews, and now it's time."

While speaking, Wei Jin took a bound document from the drawer and handed it over.

Last year, Cao Baoping directed Dearest, and Wen Muye learned during that process; the remaining one, Lost and Love, was very suitable to hand over to him.

And looking at the large characters on the script cover, Wen Muye was also a bit apprehensive at this moment.

"Senior, this..."

Understanding his unspoken subtext, Wei Jin smiled and comforted him: "You don't need to worry; you have no problems in terms of ability. As for whether you can help those families, that is not a matter for you alone. Just do what is within your ability."

In this instant, Wen Muye's heart was excited, moved, and worried—quite complex and contradictory.

But after taking a deep breath, all this complexity turned into determination.

"Senior, don't worry, I will definitely do my best and absolutely will not let you down."

Looking at Wen Muye's serious expression, Wei Jin found it somewhat amusing; the company's directors really each had their own personality.

"Mm, don't rush the project; thoroughly digest the script. If you have any questions later, you can contact Chen Xi."

To be honest, in his past life, the film Lost and Love didn't have particularly good box office or word-of-mouth, at least a cut below the same genre's Dearest.

However, the reason for this mainly lay in the form of expression; as a road movie, the dramatic conflict in Lost and Love was naturally a bit weaker.

But this time, the script was done by the screenwriting department, many details had been optimized, and it was controlled by Shanhe Media, so there was no cost pressure. Wei Jin believed the result would definitely be different.

News came back from Cannes that the premiere of Hidden in the Dust was very successful, and the local media reports were almost all positive.

In the three trade journals, Screen, The Hollywood Reporter, and Le Film Français, Hidden in the Dust reached an average score of 3.3.

You have to know, the Cannes trade journal scoring is out of 4, and generally, anything over 3 is considered a high score.

For example, Jia Kezhang's A Touch of Sin just reached 3.

And the 3.3 score for Hidden in the Dust was already the second-highest among the dozen or so Main Competition Section films screened so far, second only to Blue Is the Warmest Colour's 3.6.

There was no help for it; that film, Blue Is the Warmest Colour, was a same-sex romance, and the subject matter had too much of an advantage.

But even so, the media and industry insiders could almost judge that Hidden in the Dust would definitely not come away empty-handed.

Even according to the Cannes Film Festival's consistent "hot favorites die" principle, the probability of winning the final Palme d'Or was not low.

It is worth mentioning that Matt Damon's Behind the Candelabra was also shortlisted for the Main Competition Section.

It's just that the gay-themed film clearly wasn't favored by the local media, with an average trade journal rating of only 2.8; the probability of Matt winning an award was a bit low.

At the same time, there was constant news here in the country.

After 26 days of release, Zhao Yanzi's So Young really climbed over the 600 million threshold, closing at 602 million.

Just as the media had hyped before, Zhao Yanzi surpassed Xue Xiaolu to become the number one female director in the Chinese film circle.

As her alma mater, Beijing Film Academy sent their blessings immediately, once again pinning her resume to the top of the school's official website.

And the numerous stars and artists in the circle all began to hype her up; after all, adding flowers to a brocade is a common trait in the entertainment industry.

Especially for such a female director, it was truly too friendly for the actresses in the circle.

For a time, Zhao Yanzi seemed to have completely become a top-tier commercial director, with unparalleled momentum.

But now, Lu Yang was not nervous at all, because the total box office for *Kung Fu Jungle* had quietly reached 592 million, with a daily box office still around three to four million. With five days left until the film was pulled from theaters, breaking 600 million was a foregone conclusion, and the hope of even overtaking *So Young* was not non-existent.

These past few days, Bai Bin, Zhao Wenzhuo, and others were all shouting about it on Weibo, and even Baoqiang, who was still attending the film festival in Cannes, didn't forget to chime in a couple of times.

As for Xu Zheng, he eventually persuaded Ali and brought his legal team to the company to sign the agreement.

There are no secrets in the entertainment industry; the agreement signed in the morning leaked by the afternoon.

"Brother, is this true? Did you really sell the copyright to Xu Zheng?"

Wang Changtian called immediately to verify, his tone carrying a hint of surprise.

"Yes, the company has many projects and can't keep up, and Xu Zheng himself has other ideas, so it's better to sell it. But it's not a one-time buyout, and the price isn't cheap."

Wei Jin didn't hide anything and immediately told Old Wang the specific situation.

"Brother, you really don't suffer a loss at all."

"Haha, Old Brother, you tell me, is it worth this price?"

"It is, how could it not be? A 1 billion box office."

Old Wang's tone was quite emotional. Looking across the country, how many films have a 1 billion box office? Don't look at Enlight Media as a big enterprise; its total annual profit is only two or three hundred million, which doesn't even compare to the earnings of a single film like this.

And listening to Wang Changtian's exclamation, Wei Jin also had some faint guesses in his heart.

Sure enough, Old Wang on the other end of the phone changed the subject, "Brother, do you think Enlight Media could buy a share?"

"Old Brother, you'll have to talk to Xu Zheng about that, but I reckon Ali would be happy for Enlight Media to join in. After all, you are the distributor, so you have some advantages."

"Good, I'll go find him right now."

Old Wang was swift and decisive, hanging up the phone immediately to go find Xu Zheng.

And Wei Jin received quite a few more calls, even including one from Zhang Zhao of LeTV.

But to Wei Jin's surprise, this call wasn't to verify the news, but rather to set its sights on the sequel box office revenue-sharing contract he held.

It must be said that LeTV's idea was good. With Ali already having taken the lead, LeTV wouldn't gain much by joining now; instead, there was a lot of room to maneuver with Wei Jin's revenue-sharing contract.

Relying on the influence of the *Jiong Series* and Boss Jia's ability to draw up PPTs, LeTV could definitely play some tricks with this contract.

However, Wei Jin couldn't see eye to eye with that group, so he could only politely decline.

Although he wasn't optimistic about the prospects of the *Jiong Series*, why complicate a straightforward revenue-sharing contract? Jing Tian had been busy with promotions in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region these days and had just returned in the afternoon, so Wei Jin specifically accompanied her for dinner.

But having learned his lesson last time, Wei Jin wouldn't agree to eat spicy hot pot even if he died, which made the young girl giggle incessantly.

All the way back to Dongshanshu, Wei Jin thought a great battle was about to begin, but he didn't expect the young girl to nimbly turn on the TV and tune it to a channel.

After confirming the image on the TV, Jing Tian patted her proud chest.

"Yay, the timing is just right."

At this moment, what was playing on the TV was *With You*.

"Tian Tian, are you following this show too?"

"Of course, it's a drama starring Qingzi, I definitely have to show my support. I've been watching it these days. Brother, shall we watch it together?"

"Okay."

Wei Jin went along with it, hugging the fragrant and soft young girl as they sank into the sofa.

"Brother, you don't know how super popular this show is. Our class group has been discussing it lately, and many classmates are very envious of Qingzi."

Wei Jin nodded; Jing Tian's words were not false at all.

Perhaps because *Hello Old Times* sold so well, this *With You* became a hit as soon as it aired, with a premiere viewership rating as high as 1.5%.

Subsequently, driven by the plot, the viewership rating rose steadily. It had been less than a week since it started airing, and the rating had already reached 2.4%, with a market share exceeding 15.9%, even more exaggerated than its predecessor.

More importantly, the word-of-mouth for the drama was explosive; on Yinxiang Net, over a hundred thousand people had already rated it, with a score as high as 8.9.

With the score established by over a hundred thousand people, even if the score dropped later, it would definitely not be lower than 8.5.

Just like *Hello Old Times* back then, a year had passed, and the score still remained at 8.6.

Without a doubt, with such word-of-mouth support, the subsequent viewership ratings would definitely go higher and higher, and it was even very likely to compete for the top three in annual viewership.

As for the female lead, Kan Qingzi, although the character Geng Geng she played didn't have overly distinct traits and wasn't too likable, she still received a huge boost, and her national popularity soared.

According to Zhang Xu's report, in just these few short days, the number and price of Kan Qingzi's commercial endorsements and advertisements had soared by at least 30%.

It is worth mentioning that because of her image in the drama, Xinhua Winshare Bookstore actually sent an invitation, hoping Kan Qingzi would serve as their brand ambassador.

However, she was busy with the drama's promotion recently, so the two sides had not yet signed an agreement.

Of course, if one were to talk about it, the male lead, Cheng Yi, received an even greater boost.

Although the character design of Yu Huai wasn't as perfect as Lin Yang in the previous work, it was precisely this more grounded school boy that made the audience feel more real.

During this period, his Weibo followers surged by over a million, the vast majority of whom were young female fans, leaping from an obscure, unknown actor to a quasi-second-tier male star.

Just this one drama was absolutely worth his determination to join Starry Sky Culture.

At least from the current perspective, among the 2008 acting class of the Central Academy of Drama, no one was doing better than him.

As for the future, hehe, backed by Starry Sky Culture, his classmates were afraid they would never catch up.

"I have to say, I didn't notice it usually, but I didn't expect Qingzi to look quite good in a school uniform."

Jing Tian rested her chin on her hand, looking at the styling in the drama, and commented.

"I can't agree with that; my Tian Tian wearing a school uniform, that's what you call good-looking."

Wei Jin smiled and complimented her. He still remembered those nights during the *Bottom-Tier Girl* promotion; although Jing Tian in a school uniform couldn't compare to her in a full-body cheongsam, it still had a unique flavor.

Thinking of this, Wei Jin tightened his hold on the girl and said softly, "Tian Tian, how about you change into that set tonight?"

Jing Tian rolled her eyes at him, said nothing, and continued to stare at the screen.

Wei Jin didn't mind, but his hands became increasingly restless, climbing the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain one moment and exploring the Jiuzhai Huanglong the next.

About half an hour later, the TV broadcast ended. Jing Tian's exquisite face was already flushed, and she bit her red lips, sending a signal.

But now the situation of offense and defense had changed; how could Wei Jin possibly let her off so easily?

In the end, Jing Tian still changed into a student outfit, letting Wei Jin become a professor in advance. (End of this chapter)