Chapter 190

"Ding-ding-ding-ding~"

Hearing this vivid ringtone, Zhao Liying cast her gaze on the black phone on the table.

Its name is very strange; it's not called 3310, nor is it called N93 or N97. It's called iPhone.

It's produced by an American company, priced at 6980.

Zhao Liying felt that she could never spend so much money in her life to buy a communication tool.

Even if the watermelon-cutting game is really fun.

But Zhang Xinyu had a different idea. Three days after signing the contract with "Brand New," she went to the gray market to buy this phone, which was said to be epoch-making.

The reason was: "This life is stable. Splurging a little, what does it matter?"

Zhao Liying wanted to refute a little, reminding the other party not to open the champagne halfway. But in the end, she couldn't help but laugh along, and finally said nothing.

However, even the most valuable phone needs someone to use it.

Zhang Xinyu grabbed it, looked at the text message, put the phone back on the table, and continued eating.

Zhao Liying couldn't help but say: "Are you really not replying? You've been sent twenty or thirty messages since this morning, right?"

Zhang Xinyu said irritably: "Do I reply to everyone's messages? Do I have that much time?"

"Didn't you say before that he was quite handsome and his family was rich?"

Zhang Xinyu rolled her eyes at her: "What's the use of being handsome? Is Hengdian short of handsome guys? Whether he has money or not, I was just guessing. Hey, I just chatted with him at the bar; I didn't expect this idiot to really stick to me. Annoying."

Zhao Liying ate a mouthful of rice and said: "The month has just started; how many is this already?"

Zhang Xinyu looked startled, "Hey, what 'how many'? It's all those men being sentimental, okay? Don't talk nonsense about this outside. If it reaches Boss Qi's ears, I'll be finished."

Zhao Liying said: "I know, I'm not stupid."

"I think you're quite stupid. Eat quickly."

After finishing lunch, the two went out.

Today, Zhang Xinyu took a small job from a group leader to play a pair of ancient-costume sisters shopping. The money wasn't much, 200 per person.

Speaking of which, after signing with Brand New, their lives hadn't actually changed much.

Besides signing a long-term double room for them in a three-star hotel, the company didn't care about anything else. They were left to fend for themselves in Hengdian.

That couldn't be said entirely, though. Because they were given a base salary of 1,000 yuan every month to ensure they wouldn't starve to death.

Including the terms in the agency contract.

Except for the sharing terms which were quite generous—all 4:6, with the artist taking the big share—everything else was the most overbearing of overbearing.

The contract duration was 10 years, and the breach penalty was as high as 20 million. There were almost no reciprocal constraints on the Brand New company.

Besides promising to pay their social insurance and housing fund according to the law every month, there was only one vaguely worded agreement: "At an appropriate time, if there is a suitable role, the company will consider priority under the premise of fair competition..."

Basically equivalent to saying nothing.

When signing, Zhao Liying heard Boss Qi was quite dissatisfied, telling the lawyer to remember to delete this clause next time.

But at the time, after she finished reading the contract, she felt this thing was a slave contract.

If it weren't for Zhang Xinyu saying one sentence, she really wouldn't have dared to sign.

Zhang Xinyu said: "Do you think we have anything worth Chen Nuo cheating us for?"

That settled it.

Just as they went downstairs, Zhang Xinyu's high-end phone rang.

"Grass." Zhang Xinyu cursed, "Endless."

She cleared her throat and answered, "Hello... um, I was busy in the morning and didn't look at my phone... Ah? That's not good, my mom told me not to accept gifts from boys casually... Hey, fine, see you tomorrow. I have to put on makeup, I'll contact you when I'm down... Um, okay, bye-bye."

Noticing Zhao Liying's surprised look, Zhang Xinyu smiled and said: "Maybe I really didn't misjudge; this sucker is really rich, saying he bought me a Chanel bag. Um, don't take it for nothing; I'll verify if it's real or fake when the time comes."

Zhao Liying gave her a thumbs up.

Zhang Xinyu giggled: "I didn't say anything or do anything; these men just obediently send money to my door. What can I do?"

Zhao Liying knew that was indeed the case,

And she really couldn't envy this kind of popularity with men. She sometimes thought, if she really became famous one day, it would definitely be female fans who made her famous.

The two hailed a taxi and went to the crew called "Biao Xing Tian Xia." From makeup and filming to finishing work, it took less than three hours in total.

The group leader who found the job for Zhang Xinyu this time was a middle-aged man in his 40s, a bit older than He Yong, with a very special name: Li Bai.

He was also very nice, looking very gentle. Seeing the two girls come over, he said with a smile: "Finished? Hard work, hard work."

Seeing Zhao Liying sweating a little on her forehead, he even immediately called someone nearby to go to the shop to buy two bottles of iced drinks.

"Sigh, today's play, simple is simple, hard is hard. If it weren't for your strength, it really wouldn't have been so easy to finish."

He praised them a couple more times and then gave them the money cleanly.

"Thank you, Brother Li." "Thank you, Leader Li."

Zhao Liying and the others took the money, thanked him, and left laughing and talking.

There were a few extras at the shop entrance who had been watching coldly.

One of the men said in surprise: "Scum Li specifically saved two fat jobs today just for these two? But he didn't do anything in the end, just let these two beauties go like that?"

A woman also found it strange: "Fuck Scum Li, last week I took a job from him, and when paying, he insisted on touching me twice. These two don't look bad either, how come? Is he their biological father?"

Everyone laughed together.

"That thing Scum Li, who gave birth to a son without an asshole, can indeed only give birth to daughters."

"That's right, this dog thing, the day before yesterday I agreed on 200 with him, and later he forcibly deducted 50 from me, fuck."

"Heh, normal situation, he's not famous in Hengdian for..."

It wasn't just them who found it strange; Li Bai's few confidants also found it quite surprising.

The flat-headed guy who just ran to help buy water asked: "Brother Li, what's the background of these two women?"

Li Bai smiled coldly: "Don't ask, it has nothing to do with you. Anyway, remember from now on. When you see these two aunts in Hengdian, be polite to me."

Another girl had a bit of a realization and asked: "Leader Li, is it about that He Yong incident? I heard they later signed into that Chen..."

Li Bai interrupted: "Enough, just know it. Don't talk about it everywhere."

This girl looked envious and jealous, saying sourly: "I think these two women are just so-so. What exactly did that someone see in them?"

Li Bai laughed: "That's a good question. Don't you know this is one of the latest three unsolved mysteries of Hengdian?"

"Haha, Leader Li, are you guys playing this in the group leader group again? What are the other two?"

Li Bai smiled and said nothing. He added in his heart, of course, why are you still playing extras, and when is that idiot He Yong going back to his hometown.

Zhao Liying and Zhang Xinyu took the money, happily arm-in-arm, preparing to go eat seafood in the evening to reward themselves well.

As a result, Zhang Xinyu's high-end phone rang again.

She and Zhao Liying were just talking about how a group extra's clothes were torn while filming just now, revealing half a butt, and the two were talking and laughing on the road.

Taking out the phone and seeing the number, the smile on Zhang Xinyu's face vanished completely, and she answered respectfully, "Hello, Boss Qi, hello."

Then Zhao Liying saw her eyes widen, and her voice trembled: "Yes, yes, no problem, definitely no problem... Okay, I know... Tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock, okay, I will definitely arrive on time. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Boss Qi."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Xinyu turned her head, and without waiting for Zhao Liying to ask, she said in a daze: "Boss Qi said they are coming back tomorrow, and they want me to... I need to prepare, tomorrow, tomorrow I join the crew."

Zhao Liying was stunned for a moment, reacted, and exclaimed: "Which crew?"

Zhang Xinyu's lips moved, but she couldn't say those two words at once.

At this moment, her phone suddenly rang again.

Zhao Liying saw the five big characters "Bar No. 2 Zhang" appear on Zhang Xinyu's huge iPhone screen.

She knew Zhang Xinyu's habit,

Bar is the location, 2 is the time, Zhang is the surname.

This person should be the rich man who called before.

Zhao Liying felt Zhang Xinyu probably hadn't come back to her senses yet, just answered it casually, and the first few sentences were clearly not in the state.

"Ah, yes... ah... ah?"

After agreeing a few times, Zhang Xinyu blinked her eyes and asked suspiciously: "Meet? Meet for what? By the way, don't call me anymore. I was in a bad mood yesterday; if there's anything that made you misunderstand, I apologize. That's it. Bye-bye."

Zhao Liying asked with a complex tone: "You don't want the bag?"

Zhang Xinyu giggled and said: "If I want it, can't I buy it myself? Have you seen Fan Fan Binbing asking anyone for a bag? Little Ying, don't do these flashy things; what are you thinking about all day long?"

Letting Zhang Xinyu join the crew was Chen Nuo's decision.

Since he promised Teacher Li to act well, he really kept his word.

That evening, he took out the script for The Message to read again.

It was mainly to ponder the few scenes after he returned. Because the version they were filming now was actually very different from the version of The Message by Huayi in the previous life.

It was closer to the original work or the TV version of the previous life.

For example, Gu Xiaomeng is really a young lady.

And Li Lingyu is the "Old Ghost," which is the underground party.

The script also changed many plots that had no logic in the Huayi version.

For example, there was a scene in the original version.

Two underground party members, Zhang Hanyu and Zhou Xun, met in a room.

Zhang Hanyu knew that many wiretaps were installed in the room,

So while saying threatening words to Zhou Xun, he walked around the room, covering all the wiretaps under the table and coffee table with tape,

After that, he started to collude with Zhou Xun, thinking that the Japanese wouldn't be able to hear them.

When Chen Nuo saw this, he felt, what kind of retarded plot is this?

The Japanese couldn't hear, but did they still need to listen?

The wiretaps were inexplicably covered with tape, and there were only two of you in the room; if you aren't underground party members, who the fuck is?

But strangely, there was clearly no such bridge in the script this time, and Fan Fan Binbing wasn't meeting with Huang Bo in that way either.

I don't know where the problem was.

Now reviewing carefully, Chen Nuo discovered a trace of impropriety in the script again.

So, he called Qi Yuntian.

Choosing Zhang Xinyu was because this girl's temperament just fit the feeling he wanted.

A subordinate of Major Takeda, a beautiful and sexy Japanese female secret agent, replacing the silly big-headed soldier guard in the original script. Because he felt that at this time, unless the Japanese were all dead, they would let the puppet army be entirely responsible for guarding the suspects.

This is a bit-part role, not much acting, and not many lines. Everything is in Japanese, very suitable for a vase who can't act.

Not long after, Qi Yuntian replied.

Zhang Xinyu's side was arranged.

Likewise, Ning Hao and Mai Jia both said there was no problem, and unanimously praised President Chen for truly being proficient in everything—not only reaching the world's top level in acting but also being damn good at screenwriting. If this continues, how are they supposed to mix?

Chen Nuo knew that if it were half a month ago, even if what he said was indeed correct, Mai Jia definitely couldn't have had this tone about changing the script on the spot. Even if he was the biggest investor and producer, so what?

When a scholar's temper comes up, everyone dares to scold, right?

But now...

"Why so serious?"

On August 4th, Chen Nuo and Qi Yuntian returned to Hengdian.

His driver in Beijing, Linghu, also followed this time.

This was Old Chen's strong decision, saying it was to let Linghu drive when there's a car, and follow him when there's no car.

Chen Nuo agreed.

After all, now when he goes to the airport, once recognized, more or less some fans will surround him for autographs.

Thinking about it, it's still quite dangerous.

With this taciturn former bodyguard, if someone wants to stab him again, at least it won't be that easy.

On the plane, Chen Nuo heard a not-so-big, not-so-small matter from Qi Yuntian.

When saying it, Qi Yuntian was quite annoyed.

"If I had known, if we really wanted to stuff such a person into the crew, we could have thought of a way. However, I didn't remember who that Teacher Sun was at the time. It's my fault."

Nuo Nuo blinked, "So, who exactly is that Teacher Sun?"

Qi Yuntian rubbed his nose, "Do you really not know or are you pretending not to know? Sun Haiying is..."

"Oh, he won the Golden Eagle Award for Audience's Favorite Actor, so he's very awesome, and his wife is also very awesome, having won the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers and the Tokyo Film Festival Best Actress over 10 years ago. Seeing our movie might be a hit, so they want to stuff someone into our crew, and then you didn't agree, so he released words, saying 'let's see' with you. Right."

Besides this, Chen Nuo actually also knew that this person and his wife in the previous life not only believed in Jesus to the point of obsession but also moved to the US, mocking the country on some media for a while. Later, they went to apply for immigration, but it didn't go through, so they had to move back to the country.

Saying it's disgusting to the extreme is not an exaggeration.

Qi Yuntian said: "Something like that. Actually, there are quite a lot of these things recently. With your current situation, the circle knows our movie will definitely be a hit. So, many people want to stuff people in. Including Ning Hao and Qunshu, the pressure on them is not small either."

"I want them to film well and worry less about these things, so I took everything on myself. Among them were these two. However, him scolding me is nothing; mainly I'm worried he won't let this matter go and will make things difficult for you later. So I'm giving you a heads-up."

Chen Nuo raised his eyebrows and asked: "What did he scold you?"

Qi Yuntian was stunned for a moment, smiled bitterly, and didn't speak for a while.

Five days later, Chen Nuo knew.

At that time, he was putting on makeup, preparing to film a major scene in The Message.

At this time, Pan Chengrong called him from Sichuan and asked: "Chen Nuo, did something happen to Little Qi? I just called Professor Li and heard her voice wasn't right, as if she was crying. I asked a couple of questions, and she said it was a family matter and told me not to worry."

"No way..." Chen Nuo said subconsciously, then reacted, comforted Pan Chengrong a few times, and hung up the phone.

Afterward, he found a video on the internet; it should be Sun Haiying accepting an interview from a TV station in Jiangsu.

In it, he expressed some views on homosexuality. Especially pointing out by name, talking about a person.

"As far as I know, Chen Nuo's agent Qi Yuntian is such a person. As the saying goes, 'near vermilion, one gets stained red; near ink, one gets stained black.' I am very concerned about whether Chen Nuo will be affected. This cannot even be described as moral depravity or corruption; it is simply a crime! This is all against human nature, it is all a crime!"

After watching. Chen Nuo asked the makeup artist next to him, "Where is President Qi?"

"Talking with Director Wong Kar-wai outside."

Chen Nuo nodded thoughtfully and said nothing more.

While Chen Nuo was putting on makeup, in the makeup room next to him, Zhang Xinyu and Fan Fan Binbing were also making final preparations.

They had been in the crew for five days. After the initial nervousness, Zhang Xinyu also got used to being in the same makeup room with a Hundred Flowers Best Actress or a TV female idol when there was a play, but she was still not used to seeing the Joker who was now sweeping the world.

After all, news about The Dark Knight still came from home and abroad every day.

Last weekend, after officially crossing into the third 1-billion-box-office movie, global media collectively reported on it.

Because, how many years has it been?

This 1-billion-US-dollar box office achievement, I don't know how many aggressive movies have been sunk by it.

It is simply like a Sighing Wall that is infinitely high and infinitely far.

No matter who comes, don't even think about crossing it.

It not only blocked Harry Potter and Spider-Man outside the wall but also made Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars shy away.

Who could have expected that this wall of despair would be broken by a little knight in ragged clothes and a declining family background, stepping on it with a gun?

Even, after breaking the wall, his physical strength was not exhausted.

Only four days,

It officially surpassed The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King with a global box office of 1.21 billion US dollars, becoming the second highest-grossing film globally.

In this way, it caused the effect of a Category 12 typhoon.

Even Zhang Xinyu saw in the news on the NetEase entertainment section that the Batman who was almost forgotten—Christian Bale—proudly declared when accepting an interview with Variety magazine: "Perhaps by Batman 3, Titanic will also be salvaged from the seabed by us."

The implication, no need to say!

Under such media offensive, The Dark Knight's 3rd weekend box office actually rose instead of falling compared to the 2nd week, coming for a spring-like trend.

In 3 days, it took another 160 million US dollars globally.

Bringing it to the terrifying height of 1.37 billion US dollars in total global box office.

It also made Warner stock rise 13.7% in one day, breaking the 50 US dollar mark on the way; although it fell back at the close, the market value still reached 30.2 billion US dollars, up 23.6% from before The Dark Knight was released.

As one-half of the miracle creator, Christopher Nolan's name is destined to remain in film history. The dark-style superhero movie he pioneered is also destined to be imitated and paid tribute to by countless directors and production companies.

And the other half?

In the CBS news video forwarded by Sina, Zhang Xinyu saw the pot-bellied Warner Bros. president, who had just returned from vacation in the Caribbean, being intercepted by reporters at the airport.

That fat man laughed and said: "The negotiations with Nuo Chen regarding Batman 3 have already begun. Both sides are talking very happily, and there is already a preliminary intention. At the same time, for this year's Oscars, Warner Bros. will also fully support him in impacting the first Oscar acting trophy for an Asian actor."

That is the president of Warner Bros., one of the six Hollywood giants!

Hearing those two weirdly pronounced words "falling dust" from his mouth, and then thinking that the "magical genius boy" she saw on set these two days, who is being talked about by the world's media, is also the "intimate friend" in the mouth of one of the most authoritative people in the world film circle...

Thinking of this, Zhang Xinyu couldn't help but have wild fantasies every night.

Seeing Fan Fan Binbing's calm appearance at this moment, Zhang Xinyu couldn't help but feel a little admiration for this fellow apprentice sister of hers.

She felt that if it were her about to film such a scene, she definitely couldn't do it as if nothing happened. Especially since the object is Chen Nuo!

Zhang Xinyu couldn't help but ask: "Sister Bingbing, aren't you nervous?"

Fan Fan Binbing smiled very calmly, "It's not like I'm not wearing any clothes at all, what's there to be nervous about?"

Zhang Xinyu didn't know what was going on, her face suddenly turned a little red: "B-but..."

Fan Fan Binbing seemed to know what she was thinking now, and without waiting for her to finish, she said lightly: "Xinyu, a professional actor cannot have distracting thoughts."

(End of chapter)