Chapter 654: Puppet on Strings

This scene was simple and was filmed quickly!

"Wrap!"

Fang Hong shouted into the walkie-talkie.

The set immediately erupted in "clap clap clap" applause, continuous and unceasing, along with joyful cheers from the surroundings.

After nearly two months of filming, The Martian was finally wrapped, and it had been shot with two crews.

If you added up the time, it amounted to at least three or four months of filming.

Liu Tianxian carefully descended from mid-air, took off her helmet, and the crew unhooked her wires.

"Tianxian-jie, you worked hard!"

"Happy wrap!"

The surrounding crew members clapped as they stepped forward, gathering around Liu Tianxian — of course the main creators were there too: Li Anran, Liu Yin, Shen Ao, Chen Xiuwei, and the rest of them.

More people stood watching from afar — their status wasn't sufficient.

"Thank you, thank you all."

Liu Tianxian looked at the familiar faces around her, the applause and the congratulations, and she was quite moved.

Another film done, everyone would soon go their separate ways, and she wouldn't be able to act for at least a year — she'd have to stay home and rest with the baby.

The crowd parted, and Fang Hong walked up to Liu Tianxian holding a bouquet of flowers, and handed the flowers to her.

"Wow! So pretty!" Liu Tianxian exclaimed in delight, threw herself at him at once, and the two hugged tightly.

The people around them smiled, and warm applause rose again, louder than before; someone was filming with a phone, recording the moment — it could also serve as behind-the-scenes footage.

With so many people, the scene was still very lively!

Huang Jiaozhu wasn't part of this crew, so he could only watch from the outer edge, unable to blend into the atmosphere.

"What are you doing here?" Liu Tianwang spotted him.

"Oh, it's just that something came up on my wife's side recently, so I wanted to come over and discuss it with the Principal." Huang Jiaozhu didn't hide it.

He knew Liu Tianwang was on this crew — he'd heard — so he didn't look particularly surprised.

For ordinary people, this would be hard information to come by, but for him it was quite ordinary news.

Hearing that, Liu Tianwang immediately knew what it was about — basically everyone in the circle had heard.

Da Baobei herself had come out of their Hong Kong circle in the first place.

Seeing Liu Tianwang stay silent, Huang Jiaozhu wanted to ask his opinion: "What do you think — if we ask the Principal to back off, will he?"

"You're asking me? I don't know either!" Liu Tianwang laughed. He simply didn't know the Principal as a person — he'd had too little contact with him.

And it had nothing to do with him, so it wasn't appropriate to voice an opinion.

This left Huang Jiaozhu feeling quite uncertain — not even one person to consult with. His wife only cared about herself, not how difficult things were for him; the Principal wouldn't even give him the time of day.

While the two were chatting here, over there they were cheerfully taking group photos. Liu Tianxian noticed someone missing and called out: "Brother Hua, why are you over there? Come take a photo — Xiaoming, you're here too!"

She had also spotted Huang Jiaozhu from afar — the two of them standing together.

"Yes, came to visit the set." Huang Jiaozhu smiled and waved in greeting.

"Then wait there for a bit, wait till we're done with the photo." Liu Tianxian said politely, then stood together with her companions.

Nearly a hundred people stood in several rows, gathered together facing forward, and the camera in front froze them for a commemorative shot.

After the photo was done, the work wasn't finished — they needed to terminate the contracts of the temps, extras, and guest actors, and settle any payments due.

Then there was clearing the set and accounting.

The set had to be cleaned up — although this was Jade Rabbit's studio to begin with, they still had to follow the rules, since other crews needed to use it.

The on-site staff began busy post-production work: organizing and crating equipment, packing props, cost accounting, and so on. Many staff members, extras, and guest actors also left — their work was done.

Actors including Liu Tianwang and Chen Daoming also changed clothes, said goodbye to the crew members, and prepared to leave.

"Principal, we'll head off first — let's work together again if there's a chance." Liu Tianwang said his goodbyes.

"Alright, take care. Shen Ao, help me see off Brother Hua and Uncle Daoming and the others." Fang Hong gestured for the assistant director to escort them — he wouldn't go himself.

Shen Ao put down his work and walked them out of the studio. These big stars had their own cars and their own assistants — he only needed to see them to the door.

As the crew came and went, Liu Yin handed a document to Fang Hong: "Principal, this is the shooting log — keep it safe."

This could be used to calculate equipment wear-and-tear costs and compare the actual number of shots filmed against the planned shooting volume.

It could also be checked for timecodes, scenes, and shot numbers for editing reference.

It was essentially a work laptop — a very useful thing.

After wrap, each department was handing off work; the footage needed to be handed to the imaging engineer for verification, and any reshoots needed to be decided within three days.

If too much time passed, people might not have time — they'd be moving on to other crews.

So wrap wasn't the end — there was still a lot of post-production work to do, though the actors were mostly done.

Liu Tianxian changed clothes. Since the weather had turned cool, she wore a long, loose pink hoodie that just covered her belly and lower body, leaving only her beautiful long, straight black legs exposed.

She wore leggings underneath, so her legs looked very shapely — she wasn't short to begin with.

"You go ahead with your work, I'll go see what Huang Jiaozhu wants." Liu Tianxian saw Fang Hong communicating with the cinematographer and rested her hand on his shoulder.

She still remembered Huang Jiaozhu, thinking he'd come to see her.

"Okay!"

Fang Hong couldn't be bothered to care what Huang Jiaozhu had come for.

Liu Tianxian smiled, suddenly snatched the walkie-talkie from Fang Hong's hand, and playfully spoke into it: "Hello, hello, all departments, adjust the lighting and get ready to shoot."

This move made the leaders and team captains of every department on set freeze, all stopping their work.

They thought: Didn't we just wrap?

But when they looked toward the Principal, they saw the Principal speechlessly snatch the walkie-talkie back from Liu Tianxian's hand and wave her off to go farther away.

Liu Tianxian covered her mouth, laughing "ha ha," and walked off.

"No worries, you all carry on, this drama just wrapped." Fang Hong said into the walkie-talkie.

Only then did the heads of each department relax, thinking they still had to film — they hadn't expected it was a prank by the couple, giving them a scare.

With energy like that, better to take it home and play!

Liu Tianxian walked up to Huang Jiaozhu with a smile and said brightly, "Boss Huang, you just got married and you're not at home keeping your wife company, but running around everywhere — aren't you afraid your wife will make you kneel on a washboard?"

The two of them weren't exactly close friends, but they were quite familiar with each other.

"Not afraid — it was she who told me to come out. Besides, I do have some status at home." Huang Jiaozhu said with a smile.

"Well that's good. As you can see, my husband and I are very busy — we only just finished filming today. I'm really sorry we didn't make it to your wedding." Liu Tianxian apologized for not attending the other's wedding.

"No worries, the thought is what counts." Huang Jiaozhu didn't mind.

What he cared about was how to bring up the matter of Da Baobei. Watching the Principal bustling about, he seemed to have no intention of stopping.

Liu Tianxian noticed his gaze drifting toward Fang Hong, so she asked, "Did you come here today for something?"

Huang Jiaozhu lowered his head in silence for a moment, then said after thinking, "To tell you the truth, I came here today for my wife's matter."

He figured it would be better to discuss this with Liu Tianxian — after all, in the previous crises, it was Liu Tianxian who had acted as the middleman to help smooth things over.

The Principal was hard to talk to, but Liu Tianxian was still quite easy to deal with.

"Oh, what's the matter?" Liu Tianxian asked, puzzled.

Huang Jiaozhu pulled her aside to a quiet corner where fewer people were, to avoid being overheard.

He looked around, then said, "My wife signed a bet agreement with Huayi, and she's been dragged into the rivalry between the two sides for no reason. I came this time to ask if the Principal could stop targeting my wife."

"This matter?" Liu Tianxian had thought this person came to see her, to look at her.

Thinking about it, he wouldn't be that kind-hearted — he only thought of her when his own interests were harmed. The previous few times had been the same.

"Yes, if she can't fulfill the bet agreement, she'll have to compensate Huayi for the losses. That sum is still quite large, and it's very difficult for us." Huang Jiaozhu spoke sincerely.

Liu Tianxian was clear on this matter — Huayi had put up 756 million, and signed a bet agreement with Da Baobei and the others.

If Da Baobei couldn't fulfill the bet agreement, she'd have to compensate Huayi for the losses, that is, ninety million. How much Da Baobei specifically bore within that, that was unknown.

Because several stars had signed it together.

In any case, if the bet agreement couldn't be fulfilled, Huayi would have to bear the losses; but if the stars refused to perform or couldn't bear it, Huayi would have to absorb the losses itself.

And the biggest downside of this matter was that if the bet failed, it would be as if the star didn't have such high value in the future — it would be questioned.

Industry trust would drop, exposing the company's insufficient risk assessment or project management capability, requiring goodwill impairment provisions and dragging down the financial statements.

This was Fang Hong's ultimate goal — to make Huayi blow up. The current Huayi was different from its later contraction.

They had invested in far, far too many projects, leading to a mountain of debt.

In the previous life, the later Huayi had movies and variety shows to digest it, the stock price dropped slowly, declining gradually over several years.

In this life, Fang Hong wanted Huayi to blow up all at once.

Fang Hong had probably told Liu Tianxian all of this, and Liu Tianxian probably understood.

"I don't really want to get involved in your affairs, but I'm curious — your wife made a bet with Huayi, how much did your wife take? Just give it back, wouldn't that do?" Liu Tianxian grew more serious.

Take other people's money, just give the money back, wouldn't that work? Was there any need to make it so difficult?

That Da Heiniu too — didn't want to return the money.

"She invested it all — invested in a shared accommodation platform called Zhubaijia; invested in a juice drink called heyjuice; invested in Xiao Wang's Panda Esports; plus lost some money buying stocks. This money can't be pulled out in a short time." Huang Jiaozhu spoke helplessly.

In other words, the money was all gone, all invested, all locked up, and there wasn't much left in hand.

Xiao Wang and Da Baobei had a very good relationship — for exactly this reason, there were capital ties between them.

Actually, Da Baobei had also invested in some film and television projects — Bride Wars, Murder of Water Year, and other films were all her investments.

The box office was all too tragic to look at, all losses.

This was cannon fodder — in the film circle, those who made money were always the minority.

Later she also invested in Entrepreneurial Age, My True Friend, and other TV dramas — the reputation and ratings went without saying.

She also invested in Taiyangchuanhe — that company's listing plan was terminated, and cashing out was difficult.

People really thought Da Baobei had a lot of resources. In this circle, basically no one asked her to act — most of it was her own investments.

Eighty million in pay! In real terms, apart from crews at Fang Hong's level, few crews could afford her.

With that money, better to hire second-tier stars — cheaper and achieving roughly the same effect. Da Baobei couldn't carry a drama.

So Da Baobei invested in many projects, all kinds of investments, and even invested in hot pot with Chen Chichi and the others — 99% of it was a complete mess.

Then she could only desperately make money in the entertainment circle.

Investment was inherently risky. Even if Alibaba or Tencent invested, there was only a 10% survival rate — invest in 10 companies, only one survives, the other nine would die in competition.

Whether that one company could make money was still uncertain, and it would take a long time.

Normally, such venture capital had only a 5% survival rate. Stars playing this game were just giving away money.

Most stars were like this — once they made money in the entertainment circle, they invested everywhere; when they lost, they went back to the entertainment circle to scoop up money. Mainly, they had so much money they really didn't know what to do with it.

How much could a top star even spend? People like Qi Wei and Li Xiang, who weren't exactly famous, were already extravagant. Top stars would only be more extravagant — they had long since spent it all.

"I can't help you with this. Even if you go to Fang Hong, he won't back off. I advise you to give up this idea, lest you make yourself unhappy." Liu Tianxian advised.

Actually, when Huang Jiaozhu stated his purpose, she had already guessed that Fang Hong certainly knew what Huang Jiaozhu had come to do.

Fang Hong's goal was so clear — how could a few words make him give up? Even if Huang Jiaozhu offered benefits, it wouldn't work. He had to take Huayi down.

"Can't you help me communicate? The Principal would definitely listen to you." Huang Jiaozhu pleaded earnestly, knowing it was indeed the case.

Going to the Principal, it would be good if he didn't scold him — so he had been acting very patient all along.

"Xiaoming, what do you take me for? Even if he listens to me, I wouldn't treat him like a puppet, letting me control everything. He's a person, with his own ideas." Liu Tianxian seemed a bit displeased.

If she listened to her, she'd have to side with outsiders and hold her own man back. Before, she was afraid her man would go astray; now it was normal business competition.

"I didn't mean that, you misunderstood."

Seeing her expression change, Huang Jiaozhu hurriedly explained, "I just thought that if you acted as the middleman in this matter, it would be better."

"Even so, I still can't help you. How many times have I been the middleman for your affairs? In the very beginning, I was the middleman for Yao Dazui at Huayi.

After that it was Yan Zi, and now it's your wife again. You've always been the good guy, while we've borne all the curses." Liu Tianxian said with some agitation.

At the very beginning, Fang Hong attacked every female star in the entertainment circle indiscriminately, and when he went after Yao Dazui in particular, it was Huang Jiaozhu who came to plead for her.

At that time he made a phone call to Liu Tianxian, and Liu Tianxian helped pass along a few words in the middle.

Of course, that time Fang Hong's strength was still not enough, and he didn't want to make himself a public target for everyone to gang up on, so he stopped while he was ahead.

But the favor that time was taken by Huang Jiaozhu — in other words, Huang Jiaozhu took the favor from Huayi.

Later, when he went head-to-head with Yan Zi, it was also Huang Jiaozhu who came to plead, and although Fang Hong didn't agree, he did give him a way out.

Again Huang Jiaozhu took the favor. The two of them as a couple are pure villains — they never got any of the benefits.

Of course, those two times also had reasons of their own why Fang Hong wanted to stop.

These words were a bit harsh, and they made Huang Jiaozhu feel guilty. Indeed, at the time he had acted as middleman and taken the favors from Huayi and Yan Zi, and accepted their benefits.

In any case, the Principal had competed with those people many times, and he had reaped benefits in the middle.

"Xiaoming, as a friend, I haven't let you down, have I? Whatever I should do, whatever help I should give, I've done it all." Liu Tianxian said.

"I know." Huang Jiaozhu nodded. Liu Tianxian had indeed treated him well and fulfilled her duty as a friend.

Whatever the matter was, she really did help him communicate.

"It's just this time, you'd best stay out of it." Liu Tianxian meant: don't help Da Baobei fill the hole.

Let her fail to complete Huayi's gambling bet, so that Huayi's hole just keeps growing bigger and bigger.

"My wife is involved in this — I really can't stay out of it." Huang Jiaozhu's voice carried a note of difficulty.

If Da Baobei fails the gambling bet in the end, he'll have to help her fill the hole too — after all, she's his wife, nothing to be done about it.

"Then suit yourself, but don't go looking for Fang Hong either. I don't even agree, so do you think he would?" Liu Tianxian said.

She herself didn't agree to back off, so her husband would be even less likely to back off. Going to talk would be useless — just asking for trouble.

"I understand." Huang Jiaozhu nodded.

On this matter Liu Tianxian had also become firm, but he also knew the reason. Liu Tianxian had been wronged by Huayi — for how many years now? There had to be resentment in her heart.

No one is a saint. After being cursed for so many years, after crying and feeling wronged, how could she possibly face it calmly and at peace? Liu Tianxian was already very forbearing.

Although this matter seemed to have nothing to do with Liu Tianxian — she wasn't involved — her attitude was already one of supporting the Principal.

It was impossible that, like the previous few times, a word here, some communication there, and a way out would be given to wrap things up.

The crew's wrap-up work was still busy. Over on his side, Fang Hong was paying attention to Liu Tianxian's movements from time to time, wondering what they were talking about.

After Huang Jiaozhu walked away dejectedly, he stepped forward and asked, "What did you say to him? He just left."

"Nothing much. Every time something comes up he comes looking for us. I told him to go home on his own." Liu Tianxian waved her hand dismissively.

"That impressive?" Fang Hong was surprised.

He had been very clear on Huang Jiaozhu's state just now — he very much wanted to communicate with him. Even if he couldn't bring himself to speak, he was deeply torn inside, yet he still appeared very restrained and very patient.

And he himself didn't want to deal with this person. For an ordinary person, with a fragile heart, they would have turned around and left on the spot — they wouldn't have taken that kind of grievance.

"Of course. I told him to go back — what else could he say?" Liu Tianxian said.

"You didn't promise him anything, did you?" Fang Hong asked.

"No, I didn't promise him anything. Why would I promise him anything? If I promised him, wouldn't that put me on the opposite side from you?" Liu Tianxian said.

"Well said. Miss Liu's awareness is very high — her husband is very gratified." Fang Hong laughed.

"Get lost."

Liu Tianxian gave him a light smack, then hooked her arm through his and said, "Let's go, walk me back. Working non-stop is so tiring — I want to go home, I want to sleep."

Pregnant women are naturally drowsy to begin with; she'd just had scenes to film during this period and had been pushing through. Now that there were none, she could relax and sleep without any worries.

However, Liu Tianxian also told Fang Hong the specifics of her conversation with Huang Jiaozhu: Da Baobei had no money — all her money was tied up in investments.

Fang Hong had guessed this too. Actually, most stars were like this — using their celebrity status to invest here, invest there, and in the end it was a complete mess.

Things like hotpot franchises, streetwear brands, pajamas — that's how it was. They'd scammed tons of people and still managed to stay out of it.

As for how to make Huayi sink deeper into the mire from here on out, that was up to Fang Hong himself. No one could stop him — even Liu Tianxian was on his side. On the fronts of family and friendship alike, the possibility of anyone else coming to mediate had been cut off.

(End of this chapter)