Chapter 242: Underestimating your husband?

"Ahhhhh!"

"We won!"

The Moscow World Trade Center hall was instantly plunged into a frenzy. Members of the Chinese delegation couldn't help but jump up, everyone hugging each other tightly, venting the joy and excitement in their hearts to their heart's content.

Even though Wu Yuchen had long anticipated this result, being in this atmosphere at this very moment, he was also swept up, feeling excited and thrilled in body and soul, waving his arms continuously to celebrate. Dozens of International Olympic Committee members lined up to hug the Chinese delegation, and Wu Yuchen likewise received numerous hugs and congratulations.

When the Chinese delegation exited, reporters swarmed up. There was more than one microphone in front of every representative, and Wu Yuchen also received an interview:

"No language can express my feelings right now. I can only say that as a Chinese person, I feel incomparably proud!"

Wu Yuchen didn't hide his joy in the slightest, sharing it with everyone.

At the same time, 400,000 people swarmed toward Tiananmen Square and the Century Altar. Chang'an Avenue, alley entrances, university auditoriums, corporate lobbies, bars, canteens, train stations—wherever there were people, there was revelry. China's century-long Olympic dream was realized at this moment. When the scenes that had haunted their dreams and been imagined countless times became reality, it wasn't just in the capital, BJ; the entire Divine Land was boiling over.

The momentum of the celebrations in Hong Kong and Macau was no less significant. Toasts were being made one after another in bars, parades were everywhere on the streets, and even lion and dragon dances had come out.

Lao Mouzi said modestly, "This time it really wasn't me; it was Producer Jiang who went door-to-door to invite them one by one. I just hitched a ride on his success."

Without Wu Yuchen knowing, this photo of his slowly began to become the first-generation "Koi" image of the Chinese internet.

The next day, the Olympic bid delegation, having successfully completed its mission, was set to return home. Wu Yuchen was currently conversing with Lao Mouzi.

Back then, on the *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* project, with an investment of 15 million, Jiang Zhiqiang invested 3 million USD, accounting for 20%.

*Hero* certainly had buzz recently because big-name actors had agreed to join one after another. First, it was Liang Chaowei and Zhang Manyu, later it was Chen Dao, and finally, there were rumors that the Kung Fu Emperor Li Lianjie had been secured as the male lead. This cast lineup could be said to be the top one among the many domestic films currently. It was even significantly more magnificent than Wu Yuchen's *Brotherhood of Blades*, which hadn't even started filming yet. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the strongest cast lineup.

*Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* had a North American box office of 128 million USD. The distributor this time was Sony. After deducting distribution costs, the North American box office share received was 65 million. Then, after deducting the 20 million USD invested in PR and film promotion, 45 million USD remained. The overseas box office and various related copyrights, such as discs, were sold for a package price of 70 million. In other words, this project earned 115 million. After deducting the 15 million cost, it was exactly 100 million USD in pure profit. Of this, Jiang Zhiqiang received 20 million USD, and the remaining 80 million naturally belonged to Miracle Pictures.

Speaking of which, Wu Yuchen even went to say hello regarding Lao Mouzi filming *Hero*. It wasn't to ask for a role, but rather about the Qin King Palace, hoping that the Qin King Palace for *Hero* would be chosen at the Xiangshan Film and Television City. Lao Mouzi naturally had no objections and agreed readily. In any case, the attitude at Xiangshan was very good, and they could satisfy any request he made, transforming the Qin King Palace into the look he wanted.

"Awesome! China succeeded! Wu Dao brings his own halo of victory! Must worship him before exams from now on!"

"So excited! So happy! Sure enough, Wu Dao's victory gesture was right. From now on, I'm going to worship Wu Dao!"

"Zhang Shixiong, your *Hero* project is also quite attention-grabbing!" Wu Yuchen praised with a smile.

With Beijing successfully winning the Olympic bid, Wu Yuchen's previous victory gesture photo was once again being spread crazily. At this moment, everyone was happy and began to joke and praise him involuntarily. No one would play devil's advocate at a time like this.

After Jiang Zhiqiang earned 20 million this time, he was naturally extremely satisfied. Although he had labored for more than two years on the *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* project, the profit was also very generous. It could be said to be the largest sum he had earned since he started in the industry!

"That's only because you, Zhang Shixiong, could gather so many big-name actors~"

"Zhang Shixiong, how is your *Hero* coming along?" Wu Yuchen asked.

"Hehe, not much longer now. As soon as I go back, I have to continue the preparatory work for *Hero*. I estimate we'll start filming in August or September," Lao Mouzi said with a smile.

That's right, it was Lao Mouzi. He was also in this Olympic bid delegation, specifically filming promotional material for the Olympic bid. After all, Wu Yuchen had to act as a representative to speak, so he wouldn't be busy with filming matters.

And online, it was also a scene of jubilation.

Lao Mouzi waved his hand: "Hi, it wasn't aimed at me; they were all looking at the stars."

"Beijing won! We, China, have won the Olympics!"

Although Lao Mouzi's words were modest, the role Jiang Zhiqiang played in the *Hero* project was indeed very significant. First of all, *Hero* was a film he invested in.

But looking at the 80 million USD from Miracle Pictures, he drooled with envy again. Although he knew this was what they deserved, he couldn't help but think that if he had invested more back then, it would have been better. People are all like this; desires keep growing. After seeing how popular martial arts films were in the overseas market, Jiang Zhiqiang wanted to continue finding domestic big-name directors to keep filming martial arts, and this time he wanted the lion's share!

Although the famous saying "Standing in the wind, even a pig can fly" hadn't been born yet, Jiang Zhiqiang clearly understood this principle. Now, Chinese martial arts films in the overseas market were undoubtedly a "wind tunnel"!

Actually, the big-name directors he could choose from were just those few people. Wu Yuchen, Wu Baige, Lao Mouzi, Chen Kaige, Xu Ke, etc. Among them, Wu Yuchen had already started *Brotherhood of Blades* himself, leaving no room for him to invest. The other, Wu Baige, who was doing well in Hollywood, didn't lack his money either.

He simply flew back to the country and found Lao Mouzi, painting a big picture—Oscars, 200 million production, Chinese top-tier cast, he could find anyone he wanted. He attracted Lao Mouzi immediately. It just so happened that Lao Mouzi also had the idea of filming the First Emperor, and the two hit it off immediately.

Subsequently, Jiang Zhiqiang also visited them one by one, and then secured Liang Chaowei, Zhang Manyu, Li Lianjie, and others one by one.

To speak of it, Li Lianjie himself feels a bit depressed; he never expected that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," a project he declined because it didn't look very reliable at the time, would actually go on to win an Oscar!

And Liang Jiahui, who replaced him as the male lead, became one of the representative figures of Chinese actors in Hollywood in one fell swoop. Although Li Lianjie now had a place in Hollywood by virtue of his own kung fu and action scenes, he didn't have the honor of participating in an Oscar-winning film!

And just at this time, Jiang Zhiqiang came knocking, talking to him at length about *Hero*. The director was Zhang Yimou, who had more seniority and was more famous than Li An, and it had an all-star cast. The point was to aim for the Oscars, and the film would be pushed to the whole world. This immediately attracted Li Lianjie again. He wanted to win back the Oscar he lost in *Hero*!

Therefore, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that *Hero* was a setup orchestrated by Jiang Zhiqiang. Of course, once it reached the filming stage, Lao Mouzi was the core figure of the film.

Wu Yuchen didn't interfere much with the *Hero* project. After all, he had spent most of his time in Hollywood recently, and even if he had to worry, he had to worry about his own *Brotherhood of Blades* first!

After Wu Yuchen returned to Beijing, he specifically participated in the Olympic celebration activities organized by CCTV, where he accepted interviews and talked about some interesting anecdotes and details of the Olympic bid.

At the same time, on the second day after the successful Olympic bid, the long-prepared film *Shaolin Soccer* was finally released. The promotional slogan shouted was: "Watch *Shaolin Soccer*, celebrate the successful Olympic bid!"

This time, *Shaolin Soccer* was released simultaneously in the mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. After the censorship issues were resolved, the release naturally went smoothly. And back then, Wu Yuchen had already set this release window. He couldn't be sure about others, but he could be sure that this Olympic bid would definitely succeed, so he set it for *Shaolin Soccer* early on—the second day after the successful Olympic bid, which was also a Saturday. It was the summer blockbuster season, and it was the node of the successful Olympic bid; this was naturally the best release timing for *Shaolin Soccer*!

Taking advantage of this Olympic bid momentum, quite a few people went to the cinema to watch *Shaolin Soccer*. After all, the subject matter sounded related to sports!

To be honest, *Shaolin Soccer* was actually quite impressive, being able to integrate soccer, action, kung fu, and comedy into one. It was already not easy to embed the sport of soccer into the story of a "little person," and adding kung fu and comedy made it even harder. In addition, the film maintained Zhou Xingxing's nonsensical performance style, enhancing the humor and comedy, and showing the hardships of real life amidst the absurdity. It perfectly embodied the grassroots spirit of "little people can also have big dreams" in Hong Kong society, interpreting the Lion Rock spirit through sports dreams.

In his past life, although *Shaolin Soccer* wasn't released in the mainland, it was very popular in other regions. The Hong Kong box office broke a record of 60 million; Japanese fans also flocked to the film, eventually taking 3 billion yen (about 190 million HKD) at the box office, squeezing into the top ten annual box office in Japan.

It grossed over 5 million USD in Europe and America, and the final global box office was over 40 million USD, which attracted the attention of Sony Columbia and led to Columbia's investment in *Kung Fu* later on. However, this time, in order to film *Shaolin Soccer* smoothly, and also seeing the strong power of Bai Xiong in the mainland, Zhou Xingxing signed another film contract with Bai Xiong, and *Kung Fu* would naturally still be brought under Bai Xiong when the time came.

"Am I impressive?" Wu Yuchen rested his chin on Zeng Li's shoulder and asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Impressive, impressive, you are the most impressive! A national hero~" Zeng Li said with a giggle.

This time, the Beijing Olympic bid was truly the focus of the entire nation, and it was no exaggeration to say so. As one of the representatives who spoke, and having accepted answers in external media interviews many times, Wu Yuchen naturally received a lot of attention from the public.

Now that the Olympic bid was successful and the whole country was celebrating and boiling over, these representatives of the Olympic bid were naturally promoted as hero-like figures. Like Wu Yuchen, who was not only an image ambassador for the Olympic bid but also one of the presenting representatives, he received even more cheers. His statement had already been taken out and analyzed sentence by sentence, and even used by middle school students in their essays. Don't doubt it, this is not an exaggeration at all!

In the past, Wu Yuchen was just an object of pursuit for the film and television industry or fans. In the eyes of ordinary people, he was a big director, the first big director in China to win an Oscar, quite impressive. But that was it; it wouldn't make people want their children to take him as a role model or anything like that. Because everyone felt that the profession of a director was too far away from their own children, and there was nothing in common.

But now it was different. The current Wu Yuchen was no longer just a simple director; he had become a hero, a business card for China. Now, whether it was teachers or parents, they all started educating their children to learn from Wu Yuchen and contribute to the country when they grew up!

As she spoke, Zeng Li peeled an orange and sent a slice into Wu Yuchen's mouth: "Come, big hero, a reward for you~ Is it delicious?"

Wu Yuchen opened his mouth and chewed, making a long "Hmm" sound: "Delicious, sweet~"

Only then did Zeng Li peel another slice and eat it herself: "Hmm, it is quite sweet~"

"Good! You're testing the medicine for me!" As he said this, Wu Yuchen started tickling Zeng Li's waist, making her giggle.

"Eh, don't, I didn't, it's so itchy~ Don't, the orange is going to fall~" Zeng Li hurriedly begged for mercy.

Wu Yuchen's hand gradually moved upward, laughing: "The orange isn't delicious. I don't want to eat oranges now; I want to eat a pear!"

"Okay... I'll go, I'll peel one for you..."

"Peel what? I want to eat you, this pear!" As he said this, Wu Yuchen had already blocked Zeng Li's lips.

The orange in her hand was long gone. Zeng Li was currently lying in Wu Yuchen's arms, enjoying the afterglow after the storm. Wu Yuchen's hand played with her hair and asked nonchalantly: "Pear, how do you feel after finishing *Green Cloth*?"

"It's quite good, right? Why ask this?" Zeng Li didn't lift her head either.

Wu Yuchen said: "It's quite good, but *Green Cloth* is a drama with enough charm, but it might not necessarily become that kind of explosive hit. You understand, right?"

Zeng Li turned to her side: "You mean like *Laughing in the Wind*? After it aired, Li Yapeng became popular across the country all of a sudden?"

Wu Yuchen nodded with a smile. In March of this year, *Laughing in the Wind* was broadcast as a major CCTV drama, and then the "Yi Ya" in the theme song spread across the country. The several protagonists in the drama, Li Yapeng who played Linghu Chong, Xu Qing who played Ren Yingying, Gao Yuanyuan who played the little junior sister, and Wei Zi who played Yue Buqun, were all explosively popular now. After all, it was broadcast in rotation on TV every day.

"Why be so popular? When I filmed *The Grand Mansion Gate*, it wasn't like I hadn't been popular before. I was quite happy at the time, but later I felt a lot of pressure, always thinking about how to maintain it, making myself very tired. I think it's quite good now."

Listening to Zeng Li's answer, Wu Yuchen couldn't help but smile. Sure enough, she was relatively Buddhist. Unlike Zhang Ziyi and Fan Bingbing, who were full of ambition and kept trying to climb up.

Wu Yuchen thought of Fan Bingbing again. The *Wu Lin Wai Shi* starring this girl also started landing on various TV stations in May. It was currently in the peak broadcast period, and the prime time of more than a dozen channels was broadcasting it, which could be said to be popular all over the country.

This drama could be said to have integrated the ancient idol drama and martial arts film. Huang Haibing was a dazzling ancient costume male god in the hearts of the public as soon as he appeared, and Wang Yan directly rivaled the female lead because of the tragic villain Bai Feifei. As for the female lead Fan Bingbing, her Zhu Qiqi was quirky, and because her appearance was more beautiful than the original actress, she naturally gained a large number of fans, and there was no situation where the female lead Zhu Qiqi was overshadowed by the villain Bai Feifei.

The current Fan Bingbing could be said to be the well-deserved number one "Little Flower" born in the 80s!

Hmm, the current post-80s generation can only be called "Little Flowers." Think about it, even the title of "Four Little Dan" was only proposed last year, which were Zhao Wei, Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun, and Gao Yuanyuan, the four post-70s.

Now the big positions of actresses in the circle were still held by the post-70s, and the post-80s could only pick up some supporting roles and scraps. Like Fan Bingbing, who wasn't even 20 years old yet, she had already starred as the female lead in a hit drama, which was basically unique among post-80s actresses. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was the most outstanding among the post-80s Little Flowers!

Wu Yuchen stroked Zeng Li's thigh. He had also figured out Zeng Li's personality now. As an actress, she definitely had career ambition, but it wasn't that heavy. Having representative works with high reputation like *The Grand Mansion Gate* and *Green Cloth* was enough to satisfy her. It could be said that one good drama could last three years, and only after three years would she think about whether she should take another good drama.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered something and asked: "Pear, how is Xiao Yu now? Is she about to be a senior?"

Zeng Li had a younger sister, Zeng Yu, who was about three or four years younger than her, and was about to reach her senior year, about to face graduation.

Zeng Li nodded: "It's the summer vacation of her junior year now, and in two months she'll be a senior."

Wu Yuchen asked: "Then what are her plans? Does she want to work after graduation? Or continue to study for a master's degree?"

"Xiao Yu's grades are quite good, and our family wants her to continue reading. She hasn't made up her mind yet. Her school can guarantee her a master's degree, and she originally wanted to continue to take the postgraduate entrance exam, but my parents want her to study abroad, but I don't know if it's difficult or not."

As Zeng Li spoke, she also showed a worried look. She had deep feelings for this sister, and she naturally cared about her sister's future.

Although Zeng Li's parents divorced very early, they still cared about their two daughters the same way. Now the popularity of studying abroad in China was very high. In everyone's view, as long as you studied at a university abroad and drank foreign ink, then returnees were superior to others.

This was no longer any hidden rule, but a rule on the table, such as the conditions for some universities to recruit teachers. Now the conditions for universities to recruit teachers hadn't reached the doctoral level, requiring a master's degree or above, but many of them specifically named foreign master's degrees, and local ones had to wait in line. Ten years later, when the conditions were changed to doctoral degrees, it was the same—foreign doctors were more popular than local doctors.

Many parents, as long as they felt they had some conditions, were willing to smash their pots and sell iron to send their children to study abroad. Like New Oriental and Li Yang's Crazy English, they all started by taking advantage of this wave of continuous study abroad fever to grow and strengthen.

"Studying abroad? That's also quite good. There are indeed better academic environments and conditions in many universities abroad, and even if you open your eyes for a few years outside, it's not a loss."

Wu Yuchen nodded upon hearing this, and then continued to ask: "Then which school does Xiao Yu want to go to? Tell me after you ask clearly, I'll help her handle this matter!"

Zeng Li looked up at Wu Yuchen: "How can you help? Can you still manage university admissions?"

The information on studying abroad in China was very blocked now, far from being as open as it would be more than ten years later. They didn't know that there were actually many ways to study abroad, only thinking that they had to learn English well and take their usual good grades to apply. Zeng Li was even less aware of this.

Wu Yuchen said with a smile: "Don't talk about studying abroad, I can help her handle it even if she wants to go to Shuimu and Yan University. Didn't you say her grades are good?"

"Is it true or false?" Zeng Li asked, slightly excited.

Wu Yuchen showed a confident smile. The undergraduate difficulty of Shuimu and Yan University was a bit greater, and if he really wanted to do it, he had to prepare results in advance, but there were actually many ways to guarantee a master's degree. With the connections he had made now, it was not difficult to get a guaranteed master's spot at Shuimu and Yan University, not to mention that Zeng Li's sister's grades were good themselves.

Don't think that the professors at Shuimu and Yan University were all out of touch with reality. There were still many cliques in the academic circle and those who relied on social climbing. With Wu Yuchen's current reputation and status, there were definitely many professors willing to make his acquaintance. Isn't it just receiving one more student? What a big deal!

Wu Yuchen gently slapped Zeng Li on the butt: "Why, underestimating your husband?"

Zeng Li shook his arm, and at this time she also called out affectionately: "Husband, are you serious?"

Wu Yuchen said with a smile: "Like this, you let Xiao Yu come to Beijing immediately, and I will push her into the Olympic Bid Committee for an internship. When the time comes, I'll give her a certificate. With this internship experience, no matter if she guarantees a master's degree or studies abroad, she can take it out."

"If she wants to study abroad, let's say a university in America, I'll find some connections here and get some celebrities or big names in the industry of related majors to help her write recommendation letters. Foreign universities value this very much. You let her practice English well. With the internship experience in the Olympic Bid Committee and a weighty recommendation letter, it's no problem even if she wants to apply to Harvard University!"

Not to mention others, he could get Jobs' recommendation letter with a phone call. As for other people's recommendation letters, basically Spielberg could help him solve it. In fact, it might not even be Spielberg; his agency was willing to help him bridge the gap and get it done. After all, Wu Yuchen was one of CAA's most important clients now.

To be honest, if Zeng Yu was studying in the film and television industry and wanted to go to the University of Southern California, then Wu Yuchen's recommendation letter would guarantee her direct admission!

Zeng Li didn't know too much about recommendation letters, but seeing Wu Yuchen's confident look, she didn't doubt it at all anymore. Wu Yuchen wasn't the kind of person who liked to brag; everything he said, he would definitely do.

Zeng Li hugged Wu Yuchen tightly: "Husband, I love you to death!" ===== CHAPTER 243 =====