Chapter 257: Capital's Perspective

The Charity Bazaar was still going on. After Jing Tian collected her auction item, she sat back down in her seat.

Fang Hong glanced at her—just a simple, not-yet-fully-matured young girl, a bit stiff when put in the spotlight.

Not yet the poised, easygoing version of herself she'd later become.

Then the venue lights dimmed, turning hazy and suggestive. Lang Lang took the stage and played "Sea March"—the surging melody, wave upon wave.

Liu Jiang raised his goblet in a gesture to everyone present, and everyone at the tables raised their glasses and took a sip.

When a big shot offers a toast, you drink.

After a long piano piece, the host came on stage and introduced how the Yanran Foundation had been helping those children—moving stuff.

The camera also caught Wang Fei and Li Yapeng. Li Yapeng sat ramrod-straight, while Wang Fei still wore that aggrieved-wife look, couldn't be bothered to care, playing with her phone.

Li Yapeng went up to give a speech, everyone clapped, and she still had that ghostly expression.

"They used to be such a loving couple, looked really happy, and now they don't even talk." Liu Tianxian tilted her head and gossiped in a low voice, glancing at Wang Fei's table.

She hadn't seen Wang Fei say a single word or show a single expression the whole time—always that deadpan face.

"They were never compatible to begin with, destined to split." Fang Hong turned his head and took a look.

Wang Fei craved freedom; Li Yapeng offered comfort.

Stability was fine, having the wife at home raising the kids was fine, but Li Yapeng didn't have the ability to hold up a household. His ventures kept failing, and he kept trading on his wife's fame.

So it was a contradiction—wanted a virtuous wife at home, yet couldn't hold things up himself, yet still leaned on his wife's fame to boost his career.

Actually, Wang Fei's temper was pretty decent. Dou Wei just straight-up became an immortal, wanting to live an "immortal" life, and she never said a word against her ex. After divorcing Li Yapeng, she never said a word against him either.

Decades of on-again-off-again with Xie Biwang—even when Xie Biwang married Zhang, she never said a bad word about either of them.

If it were any other female star, she'd have dragged her ex through the mud—like so-and-so.

"You sound so sure about that?" Liu Tianxian looked at him.

"I did a quick calculation—they split next year." Fang Hong raised his hand, pinched his fingers, squinted his eyes, looking every bit the charlatan.

Liu Tianxian laughed, swatted him, and looked back at Wang Fei's table.

Celebs chase celebs too—Liu Tianxian was no exception.

Jing Tian had been watching the two of them the whole time. Seeing them chat so happily, she couldn't help feeling a twinge of loss.

"What are you two chatting about, chatting so happily?"

Just then Deng Chao came back—he'd gone up on stage earlier as a celebrity volunteer, basically just standing next to whoever was auctioning their item, posing for photos together.

Liu Tianxian pulled her gaze back: "Hey, where's your better half? Why didn't she come today?"

"Something came up at home last minute, couldn't make it."

Deng Chao smiled, then asked: "Tianxian, has your management contract changed?"

"No, my contract's never changed." Liu Tianxian didn't understand what he was getting at.

But she didn't pry—her curiosity wasn't that strong.

"Oh!"

Deng Chao nodded, glanced at Fang Hong. So the Principal hadn't taken a stake in Liu Tianxian's management company, nor interfered in her management business.

Getting so many films handed to her—pretty enviable.

He was working with Enlight, and Enlight was siphoning off part of his profits.

"I'm planning to open my own studio soon, and also start a film company with Yu Baimei." Deng Chao said.

"Well, congrats—about to be a boss." Liu Tianxian cupped her fists.

Jing Tian and the others at the table listened along, with no intention of butting in.

"What boss? Still working for someone else." Deng Chao laughed self-deprecatingly. Enlight was taking the majority stake in this company too.

That's how celebrities were now. Once they hit a certain level, opening studios and film companies looked like going independent, but they all needed a backer—just like how Liu Tianxian later leaned on Tencent.

Investing in films wasn't easy. The market had grown, the times were slowly changing—it wasn't like the old days when Fang Hong could just go it alone.

But 2012 was still relatively restrained; it wasn't as absurd as later, when everyone came to grab a slice of the pie.

Fang Hong said nothing—nothing to do with him!

"Aren't we all? Take it slow, it'll get better." Liu Tianxian offered encouragement.

Deng Chao smiled and shifted the topic: "I was hoping to ask the Principal how to make a good film."

"Back in our day we just shot blind—no big fuss about it." Fang Hong said offhandedly.

"Shooting blind and still getting box office would be great too. I'll just pray my film doesn't totally flop." Deng Chao joked.

He was planning to put together his own project to shoot "Breakup Master"!

Fang Hong said nothing—nothing to do with him either!

For stars like them, either you put together your own project to shoot a film, or you lean on a film company with resources.

If you want to sit around waiting for resources, waiting for someone to invite you to act, you'll be waiting a long time.

After "The Four," Deng Chao hit a dry spell with no roles coming his way—apart from his own "Devil and Angel" and "Breakup Master."

In a few years he only shot "Zhongguo He Huo Ren" and "The Dead End," and had to wait until 2016 for "The Mermaid."

But those were still Enlight's resources. Other circles he basically couldn't touch—no resources for him there.

If you say wait for Lao Mouzi's, Xu Laoguai's, Xing Ye's films—hah!

Not to mention they only start work every few years, and whether they want you is another matter entirely.

In this circle, it's not like good acting means people fawn over you—"Oh, you're so professional, come act in my film."

It's not like that. Everyone has their own circle.

Plenty of great actors out there, plenty of cheap and easy-to-use ones too—why pick you?

Take Shen Teng—the good resources were basically all handed to him by Mahua FunAge. The outside jobs—"Monster Hunt 2," "Mission Milano," "Go Away Mr. Tumor"—were either trash or just supporting roles.

They're just cashing in on your value. If you want to land their good projects, unless you're literally the only one who can play the part.

The real shows are reserved for insiders. Take Wang Jin's pretty words—*From Vegas to Macau*, *Chasing the Dragon*—weren't they all given to Hong Kong circle actors?

Many people wonder why Shen Teng doesn't hold shares in Mahua FunAge, yet still stays with the company. The reason is simple: Mahua FunAge has a whole team creating for him.

If he left and tried it, not to mention whether he could survive out there, that entire team would just go on backing someone else. That's how cold-blooded it is.

Your acting is good, but theirs isn't bad either!

So that's how this circle works. Even if you're famous and have proven your worth, once you're outside this circle, others don't necessarily have to hire you.

Especially the big directors—they themselves are the box-office guarantee!

Take Liu Tianwang. He's always touting projects at every occasion, saying there are films looking for him, but how many people actually approach him? The ones who do are still those Hong Kong circle folks.

Guo Fan, Ning Hao—that only came after he spent years integrating himself over here and building ties. Of course, big capital isn't that easy to lean on either. Everyone wants to lean on capital, but capital is never short of obedient people. Why would they bother backing you?

Besides being obedient, you have to work hard to create value yourself.

Only when they can make money off you will they keep giving you resources, giving you films to shoot. If you don't obey, no matter how capable you are, they'll bury you.

In capital's eyes, you're not irreplaceable. If you won't do it, plenty of others will.

Deng Chao noticed the Principal's indifferent expression toward him and felt a bit sour about it. Seems the Principal had no interest in him.

Actually, he wanted to try pulling Fang Hong in, offer him projects, and bundle in resources from Enlight and Yutu together.

But Fang Hong couldn't care less about him. In his eyes, just like capital's view, he wants obedient people. Zhang Songwen and Xie Miao, in his view, are exactly that—people with professional ability who also know how to listen.

Liu Tianxian understood Deng Chao's thoughts in her heart too. She'd been through it herself, but right now she wasn't getting involved.

The rest of them were minding their own business, staying out of it!

"Wow! Ah!"

Just as the auction was getting dull, Fang Long bid 500,000 on a designer handbag and gave it to Li Bailian beside him.

The crowd cheered nonstop. Li Bailian was overjoyed, stood up, bowed repeatedly, and kept thanking him.

But Fang Long wasn't losing out either. The Moutai he'd donated was bid up to 3 million by Li Bailian. These two really know how to play the game.

Li Bailian even explained: "I have a close friend who's a fan of Fang Long. Before coming, she made sure to ask me to win this bottle of wine for her."

Isn't that just fear of their own item getting passed over.

Even more outrageous—Feng Kuzi painted a picture, a very abstract one. Xiao Wang, Su Mang, and Liu Jiang kept bidding against each other, driving the price up to 17 million.

These people really know how to play. Fang Hong looked at the painting and couldn't appreciate it.

But it takes real clout for people to bid you up!

This is where big directors differ from actors. A big director can become the cornerstone of a company; actors are far from that!

If Fang Hong went on stage and casually put up any item, someone would probably bid millions for it.

"Principal, why aren't you bidding?" Su Mang came over again, draped her arm over his shoulder, carrying a glass of wine.

The auction had now ended, and the party phase had begun. Everyone was back at the tables, judging heroes by their drinking.

"There's nothing I want." Fang Hong said.

"You can also bring things you don't use to our auction here—manuscripts, artworks, anything. They'll be donated in your name as charity." Su Mang explained.

Just casually draw something, casually put something out, and a crowd of people would scramble to bid.

What they're bidding on isn't the item—it's favors and social currency!

"Next time, if I have anything." Fang Hong brushed her off, not wanting anyone's favors.

"Alright then, let's have a drink." Su Mang raised her glass in a gesture.

Fang Hong picked up his stemmed glass, about to clink with her.

"Why are you drinking champagne? Switch to liquor, we're drinking liquor." Su Mang pulled her glass back and refused to clink.

"I don't drink." Fang Hong said.

"How can you not drink? Everyone who comes here is supposed to drink." Su Mang didn't believe he didn't drink.

"If you want to drink, then drink." Fang Hong's tone turned stiff.

Pretty annoying of her—always coming over babbling a bunch, and even dictating what he should drink.

Not asking him to bid on things, then asking him to donate things for auction. Just donate some money, have a meal, and that's enough—why so many demands.

Who's the boss here? If the boss isn't enthusiastic, how can the people who follow him be enthusiastic.

These sudden words made Liu Tianxian, who was chatting with Jing Tian, freeze for a moment. She turned to look at the two of them.

"Then Principal, suit yourself. I'll finish this glass." Su Mang's face didn't look great either. She tipped her head back and downed the whole glass in one go.

Fang Hong took a casual sip, just to get by.

After Su Mang left, Liu Tianxian took his hand.

Fang Hong signaled that he was fine.

The scene was once again full of clinking glasses and toasts everywhere, with people mingling and networking all over the place.

At Fang Hong's spot too, people kept coming over to toast him from time to time, but none of them cared what he drank—they all just downed their own glasses in one gulp.

"Tianxian, you've got to come to my *CZ12* premiere!" Fang Long came over.

"Big Brother, if I'm free, I'll go." Liu Tianxian picked up her glass, stood up to face him, giving a deliberately vague answer.

Although she'd cut ties, Liu Tianxian had always kept up a friendly front, so the relationship between them hadn't broken down.

At least on the surface, it looked decent.

"My premiere is in December. Just clear half a day, it won't take much of your time." Fang Long invited again.

He took this film's premiere very seriously and had gone all out—held at the National Stadium, hosted by Sa Beinan, almost like an awards ceremony, with lots of stars attending.

Fang Long, Huayi, Emperor Entertainment Group—the three-way combo is not to be underestimated.

"That's still a ways off. If I'm free then, I'll definitely come." Liu Tianxian was polite but not without awkwardness.

In her past life, she did go. Wang Lihong was there too!

"Alright!"

Fang Long clinked glasses with her, then said to Fang Hong, "Principal, you can come too."

"If I have time, I'll definitely come." Fang Hong said the same thing.

This made Fang Long a bit awkward—how could the two of them have the exact same line.

This awards ceremony ends here; everyone was still relatively restrained, not like last time when they had to hurl insults at each other before it was over.

Last time there was no CCTV, and no audience either.

This time the audience was admitted, CCTV was present too, and everyone still cared somewhat about their image.

As for what happened after Bazaar Charity ended, no one knew. In any case, Fang Hong saw several big bosses with their arms around pretty young beauties, their hands resting on the girls' bottoms.

The laughter and joy, the scene of mutual consent—people envied them for having such a beautiful "love"!

(End of chapter)