Chapter 121

At the airport, Wu Yuchen was reading a book while waiting for his flight when he suddenly heard a voice from beside him:

"Excuse me, are you Wu Dao Yuchen?"

Wu Yuchen turned his head to look and saw a handsome face looking at him with some excitement, and couldn't help but feel a bit dazed. It wasn't because the man in front of him was handsome, but because he hadn't expected to run into him here.

Daniel!

Seeing Wu Yuchen stunned and not speaking, Wu Yanzu immediately suppressed his excitement and explained:

"Wu Dao, hello, I'm a fan of yours. I watched "Run Luo La Run" that you directed, it's really, really great! I love it so much! I was waiting for my flight over there just now and saw someone who looked like you, I didn't expect it to really be you!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen understood. His "Run Luo La Run" had also been released here in America, and it even included the illustration of him winning the Berlin Best Director award, which had turned Wu Yanzu into a fan.

He immediately smiled and reached out to shake his hand: "Nice to meet you! Sorry, I just thought your image was excellent and very suitable for being an actor, which is why I didn't react in time~"

Wu Yuchen then struck up a conversation with Wu Yanzu and learned that he had just graduated and was waiting for a flight to Hong Kong Island, planning to go there first to find his sister.

Wu Yanzu was a top student in the architecture department at the University of Oregon and was born here in California. Like many American students after graduation, he planned to travel for a year before considering his future.

"I've never been to Hong Kong Island before, I only wanted to go take a look because my sister said it's very interesting."

"Then do you speak Cantonese?"

"No, I spoke Shanghainese at home before high school, I've never spoken Cantonese. But my sister said it's completely fine to speak English on Hong Kong Island."

Wu Yuchen looked at Wu Yanzu with a smile, an idea couldn't help but arise in his heart, and he asked:

"Do you have any plans to visit Beijing?"

"I just went to Beijing the year before last. I participated in a training camp at the Shichahai Martial Arts School. I've practiced kung fu for many years and even won awards!" Wu Yanzu said, revealing a proud expression.

Wu Yuchen gave a timely thumbs up: "Wow! That's really amazing!"

Then he asked casually: "Daniel, have you ever considered becoming an actor in the future? Your image is really excellent!"

Hearing Wu Yuchen say this, Wu Yanzu scratched his head: "Wu Dao, I've never thought about it. I studied architecture and haven't had any contact with acting..."

"Hehe, it's okay, you can think about it properly now. Let's exchange contact information, and if there's an opportunity, I'll look for you!"

He remembered that Wu Yanzu went to Hong Kong Island to work as a model for a few months, then was crazily pursued by a director to film a gay movie, "Bishonen". He refused for half a year before he couldn't handle the director's persistent pestering and finally agreed.

He could speak Shanghainese but not Cantonese, wouldn't that make him even more suitable for development in the Mainland?

Acting was acting whether in Hong Kong or the Mainland, and the opportunities he had here were definitely better than "Bishonen"!

……

Wu Yuchen stepped off the plane and was just about to say that the air in China smelled so good, but as he inhaled and felt the sand and dust mixed into his nose, he had to swallow those words back.

Although the air quality in Beijing was a bit worse, the moment he stepped onto Chinese soil, he felt a sense of returning home, a heartfelt intimacy and relaxation.

This time, someone from the company had been specifically sent to pick him up, driving that same domestic jeep. As soon as they saw him, they very perceptively took his luggage.

Wu Yuchen sat in the back row and asked about the situation at the company during his absence. After listening, he realized that there were quite a few things waiting for him now.

First was the preparation for "Failan"; everything the company could prepare had already been prepared, and the rest required Wu Yuchen, the director, to return and make the final decisions himself.

Then there was the "The Burning Years" crew, which was short on money. The crew's funds were given in batches of one million. After the actors were finalized in March, they spent another month preparing, officially started filming in April, and had already been filming for two months, spending 4 million.

It wasn't that they had overspent, but that Miracle Pictures was running low on liquid funds. Because the money from selling the copyright for "Run Luo La Run" hadn't been deposited into a domestic account, and the country had always been very strict with the control of US dollars, the money couldn't be taken out once it entered, so Wu Yuchen didn't dare to transfer it in. Under these circumstances, Miracle Pictures began to run short on liquid funds. If Wu Yuchen hadn't returned, the company would have had to contact him.

Also, Han Sanping had come looking for him, because summer vacation was approaching. The film he shot in the winter half a year ago, "Together", was meant for the summer release slot, and the Beijing Film Studio had already finished the publicity plan and wanted to find him to discuss it.

Wu Yuchen rubbed his temples in the back seat. It seemed he couldn't stay idle; there were many things, and quite a few were waiting to be handled as soon as he returned. However, there was one benefit: he had the power to decide on all these matters. Compared to Hollywood, he was completely in control.

It wasn't that he wanted to do everything himself; for example, "The Burning Years" was basically left to Kang Honglei and the company to handle, but the decision-making power for the project was in his hands, and he had the final say. This feeling of being proactive versus reactive was completely different.

Wu Yuchen picked up the phone:

"Hello, Brother Lei? Yes, I just got back! How is the filming progress on your end? Another two or three weeks? Okay, I know, I'll have the 1 million transferred to you tomorrow, don't worry, just film well."

After Wu Yuchen hung up the phone, he said to the front row:

"Go to the stock exchange first."

"President Wu, aren't you going home to rest first?"

"If I don't solve the money issue first, I won't be at ease even if I look at it!" Wu Yuchen said with a smile.

Wu Yuchen going to the securities company was naturally to deal with the Changhong stocks he had bought.

After returning from the Tokyo International Film Festival last year, he had invested another 800,000 US dollars into Changhong stocks. Added to the more than 3 million he already had, the market value of his holdings was nearly 10 million at the time. Now, after more than half a year, it had risen to 36.23 million yuan.

Naturally, Wu Yuchen was now a major client and was invited to the VIP room.

Wu Yuchen looked at Changhong's stock price; it had already risen nearly 20 times compared to the low point in January last year. What his mother had nagged him about at the time was that it had risen 20 times, and now it seemed it should be about right. Regardless of whether it was the highest point or not, he had already earned so much, and the rest was risk.

The manager of the securities company said to Wu Yuchen with a smile:

"Mr. Wu, your capital volume is somewhat large. If you sell it all at once, you might suffer some losses. Would you like to consider selling in batches?"

Wu Yuchen frowned upon hearing this and asked:

"What was Changhong's turnover yesterday?"

"540 million."

Wu Yuchen thought for a moment and said: "I'll wait here for an hour, let the trader sell it in batches."

He didn't want to spend several days selling it either; a turnover of 500 million was enough to absorb his sell order of over 30 million.

About forty or fifty minutes later, the manager walked over:

"Mr. Wu, it has all been sold for you. After deducting the commission, your cash is 35.07 million."

Wu Yuchen calculated it; he had lost about 3%. However, his continuous selling would definitely cause the price to drop, so losing only 3% was acceptable. This money could be withdrawn and used tomorrow.

By the way, the only benefit of the domestic stock market was that it didn't collect personal income tax or capital gains tax. However, if you really wanted to invest in stocks, you had to go to the US stock market; after all, it really rose, while the A-share market had been at 3000 points for ten thousand years. If you were aiming for the tax you saved, your principal would mostly be lost. Wu Yuchen only dared to play because he had the advantage of foresight.

The next day, Beijing Film Studio.

"Wu Dao, you have to tell me all about this trip to Hollywood!"

Wu Yuchen had come to the Beijing Film Studio originally to discuss the release of "Together", but as soon as Han Sanping saw him, he pulled him aside to make him talk about Hollywood.

Wu Yuchen shook his head with a smile: "Director Han, we always talk about American freedom here, but I have to tell the truth: in terms of the power of a director, our directors here are much freer than in Hollywood!"

Then, Wu Yuchen began to tell Han Sanping about his Hollywood experience. Except for the small episode between him and Gretchen which didn't need to be mentioned, he told everything exactly as it was.

Although Wu Yuchen complained, he tried his best to be impartial when telling the story.

Han Sanping could hear the constraints the director faced from Wu Yuchen's description, but he could feel the power of Hollywood even more. Capital, union protections, talent agencies, special effects production, completion bonds, and the powerful publicity system that Wu Yuchen hadn't even come into contact with—China had a huge gap in every one of these links.

"A trip well worth it, well worth it!"

Han Sanping sighed twice, then showed a pleasantly surprised smile to Wu Yuchen:

"You were actually able to invite Shi Tailong to be your male lead; just this point alone would make countless domestic directors envious to death!"

Wu Yuchen chuckled upon hearing this and said somewhat boastfully: "Director Han, I didn't invite him; Shi Tailong sent himself to my door!"

Han Sanping laughed out loud: "You really are getting the benefit and still acting coy!"

Then he asked: "By the way, there's nothing too explicit in this "Frequency" of yours, right?"

"No, it's just time travel and father-son affection, very positive and mainstream."

"Hey, then I'll go help you put in a word in a couple of days. With Shi Tailong as the male lead and you as the director, there shouldn't be much of a problem introducing this film for screening next year!"

Only after hearing Han Sanping's words did Wu Yuchen remember this matter; he hadn't considered how things would be domestically when he was filming "Frequency" before.

Now, the China Film Group had an import quota of 10 foreign films every year. Last year, the "Broken Arrow" filmed by Wu Baige was imported. And with "Frequency" having him, one of their own, plus a superstar like Shi Tailong, it was nine times out of ten going to take one of the spots.

"Then thank you, Director Han~"

"What are you being so polite for? With a director like you here, they would have to import it even if I didn't say anything." Han Sanping laughed.

After the two finished talking about Hollywood, Han Sanping called in the small section chief Yu Dong to discuss the publicity and distribution of "Together".

After Yu Dong came in, he smiled at Wu Yuchen and said:

"Wu Dao, actually, before you came back, we had already roughly discussed a plan. Our film has the big star Wang Zuxian, and you, the Berlin Best Director; we'll use the two of you as the publicity points."

Wu Yuchen nodded; this was expected. The name of such a big star as Wang Zuxian had to be used.

He asked: "How do you plan to publicize the point of Wang Zuxian?"

"We thought of a few publicity titles at the time, and finally chose this one."

As Yu Dong said this, he handed over a notebook. Wu Yuchen took it and saw it written on it:

"Wang Zuxian's first film in the Mainland, a touching work by Wu Yuchen!"

Looking at this title, Wu Yuchen thought it was quite in line with the publicity slogans of this era. The name "Wang Zuxian's first film in the Mainland" could indeed attract quite a few people.

But how to put it, Wu Yuchen was used to those titles from later generations, so he felt this was too flat and too stiff. Anyway, he found it very ordinary and insufficient to stir people's emotions and desires.

However, Wu Yuchen didn't blame them; after all, the general environment was like this now, and people's imaginations were still constrained.

Seeing that Wu Yuchen didn't speak, Yu Dong tentatively asked: "Wu Dao, do you think there's a problem?"

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "No problem, it's quite good. But I think we can take a slightly bigger step."

"Bigger?" Han Sanping was also curious upon hearing this. How big?

Wu Yuchen picked up a pen directly and wrote another line in the notebook:

"Asian Diva Wang Zuxian's Search for Relatives in the Mainland!"

After Han Sanping and Yu Dong saw it, they were both dumbfounded.

Yu Dong stammered a bit: "This, this..."

He hadn't expected that a publicity title could be chosen like this?

Han Sanping was stunned for a moment and also asked: "If we publicize it like this, will we be scolded for false advertising?"

Wu Yuchen smiled: "Where is it false? Isn't the movie I filmed the whole process of the female lead, Wang Zuxian, returning to the Mainland to search for relatives?"

Han Sanping scratched his head upon hearing this. That was true, but this title was very misleading!

They had never done anything like this before.

Wu Yuchen asked Yu Dong with a smile: "Section Chief Yu, if you were an audience member, would you be interested if you saw such a title?"

Yu Dong nodded immediately: "I definitely would! After seeing it, I would want to know why Wang Zuxian would run to the Mainland to search for relatives? What happened to her in the past? Does she really have relatives still in the Mainland..."

Wu Yuchen turned his head and said to Han Sanping:

"Director Han, you see, doing it this way will definitely attract more audience members into the cinema. We aren't counting this as false advertising, at most it's a bit of well-intentioned guidance; these things don't even count as child's play in Hong Kong or Hollywood."

Han Sanping had already been stirred by the various Hollywood experiences Wu Yuchen mentioned earlier. Now, hearing him say this, he also made up his mind: "Okay, let's do it this way! But won't there be a problem on Wang Zuxian's side?"

"There shouldn't be a problem, I'll call her in a moment to ask. If she doesn't agree, we'll follow the original plan."

Wu Yuchen felt that there shouldn't be much of a problem on Wang Zuxian's side; after all, she had experienced all kinds of exaggerated and prank-style publicity methods in Hong Kong, so what was this?

Yu Dong looked at this title, then looked at Wu Yuchen, his eyes rolled, and he picked up his pen to write another sentence in the notebook, then said with a smile: "Director Han, Wu Dao, I think it would be better to add one more sentence."

Wu Yuchen and Han Sanping looked at the notebook and saw it had become:

"Asian Diva Wang Zuxian's Search for Relatives in the Mainland

——Recorded in full by Berlin Best Wu Dao Yuchen!"

Wu Yuchen couldn't help but say "damn" in his heart. He had to admit that this Yu Dong's brain worked really fast; adding this sentence increased the sense of reality of Wang Zuxian's search for relatives even more!

At the very least, this made it look full of gimmicks and very attractive to the simple audience of the 90s!

……