Chapter 305: The Pitiful Ning Hao

After finishing his chat with Cai Yinong, Wu Yuchen had barely hung up the phone when his mobile rang once more.

He glanced at the screen, answered, and said with a smile: "Director Feng, I really have to have a word with you. It's not like you don't have my number—just contact me directly if you need something! Being this formal makes us seem like strangers~"

Feng Xiaogang's voice came from the other end of the line:

"Wu Dao, my fault, my fault! After all, there's a time difference between China and America; our days and nights are flipped. I was genuinely afraid of disturbing your rest and affecting your shooting schedule!"

"You're over in Hollywood shooting a blockbuster, and two back-to-back at that. With a budget of 500 million USD, that's more than our entire decade of production costs in China combined. Your time and energy are precious!"

"If I weren't at my wit's end, I really wouldn't want to add to your troubles!"

Wu Yuchen shook his head with a smile. This Feng Xiaogang—he was still the same old guy, nothing had changed.

He said directly: "Director Feng, I heard you've run into some issues with your script. What's going on? Tell me about it."

Feng Xiaogang stopped with the pleasantries and brought up the real business:

"Wu Dao, here's the situation. I previously took a liking to a novella by Zhao Benfu called *A World Without Thieves*. It's a story about a prodigal son returning to the fold, and the theme is meant to encourage people toward goodness. Theoretically, this is something advocated by our traditional culture."

"But I've revised the script several times and sent it to the 'Big Scissors' 【censors】, and it just won't pass. You're the recognized expert in script creation right now, so I was hoping you could take a look and give me some pointers so I can address the root of the problem!"

After listening, Wu Yuchen asked: "You've been sent back several times; surely the 'Big Scissors' gave you some revision feedback? What did they say?"

"They pointed out a few things: First, the thief's transformation lacks persuasiveness and lacks guidance from positive forces; then, they said I over-emphasized the clashes between thieves, that the thief dies too tragically at the end, and that the police don't play a significant enough role in the film. Additionally, there's the issue of 'the feeling that the train is full of thieves, which might cause a negative social impact.'"

After Feng Xiaogang finished, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly added: "Wu Dao, my apologies, I was so anxious I forgot you haven't even seen the script yet!"

Wu Yuchen chuckled: "Hmm, I do need to see your script before I can offer an opinion. Send it over to me."

"This... won't it affect you?" Feng Xiaogang asked.

"Haha, although I am quite busy right now, looking at your script, Director Feng, might be a nice change of pace~"

"Eh, that works! I'll mail it to you right away!" Feng Xiaogang said happily.

Wu Yuchen waved his hand and said: "No need, no need. Just give the script to Sister Xiaoran. She's coming over next week; just have her bring it to me, that's safer."

Hearing this, Feng Xiaogang's eyes darted, his heart stirred, and he said: "That would be perfect! Wu Dao, it's quite a coincidence—I was already planning to invite Xiaoran to be the female lead for this film!"

Feng Xiaogang had worked with Li Xiaoran before on *Be There or Be Square*, which grossed over 30 million.

Now, hearing Wu Yuchen's words, he felt this was definitely a hint. A coincidence? Was he overthinking it? Perhaps. But Feng Xiaogang had made it this far precisely because he thought more than others, was skilled at guessing people's intentions, and knew how to please the powerful.

Even if he was overthinking it, so what? If Li Xiaoran were the female lead, Wu Yuchen would certainly pay more attention to the script. The pillow talk of a woman was far more effective than his own foul mouth from thousands of miles away!

Besides, if the script didn't pass, he wouldn't lose anything. But if Wu Dao were willing to exert some effort, Feng Xiaogang had great confidence that the 'Big Scissors' would definitely give him some face!

"Oh? That's quite a coincidence! That works out well. Give the script to Sister Xiaoran first and let her take a look. Also, have her bring me the review feedback you received each time so I can take a good look at it!"

"You got it!" Feng Xiaogang hung up the phone happily.

On the other side of the line, Wu Yuchen also smiled. Feng Xiaogang was truly Feng Xiaogang; the moment he spoke, the other party understood his intention.

He did indeed want to secure the role of the female thief in *A World Without Thieves* for Li Xiaoran. In his past life, this was played by Rene Liu. You ask how Rene Liu landed the role? She relied on her man, Chen Guofu!

Chen Guofu was currently the Director of Columbia Pictures Asia. In this position, he had secured a lot of funding for the Chinese film industry, mainly by having Columbia invest in martial arts films and then taking the European and American distribution rights. Huayi Brothers' *The Warriors* was one such operation, and thus he had built up quite a friendship with Chen Guofu.

In his past life, the producer of *A World Without Thieves* was none other than Chen Guofu, so his little lover Rene Liu naturally landed the female lead!

However, Wu Yuchen intended to reserve this role for Li Xiaoran first. Even if Chen Guofu had influence, could he compare to Wu Yuchen?

As long as Wu Yuchen spoke up, even if Chen Guofu became the producer of *A World Without Thieves*, he wouldn't be able to touch this role. Everyone is relying on their men; if you, Rene Liu, can't compete with Li Xiaoran, then don't have any complaints.

As for the investment? Since Feng Xiaogang didn't bring it up, Wu Yuchen didn't plan to invest. Feng Xiaogang was still a director under contract with Huayi Brothers, and *A World Without Thieves* naturally belonged to Huayi. He didn't want to get too close to the Wang brothers.

Although *A World Without Thieves* had decent box office, he wasn't short on that bit of money. Helping Feng Xiaogang solve a script problem in exchange for a female lead—that wasn't asking too much, right?

As for whether solving the script problem for *A World Without Thieves* would waste his energy—in his past life, Wang Shuo solved it with a single sentence. It wouldn't waste any of Wu Yuchen's brain cells!

Night. The commotion on the bed finally ceased, and the room grew quiet.

Jiang Qinqin lay on Wu Yuchen's chest, breathing in his scent, and said to him with reluctance:

"Husband, after I leave, take good care of yourself. Don't work until one or two in the morning every night; it's bad for your health. And pay attention to what you eat. Eat less cold food. If there are local specialties, it's better not to eat them if you can avoid it. I saw that Ning Hao seemed to get food poisoning before; he was so weak he couldn't even walk..."

Hearing this, Wu Yuchen smiled. Previously, when they were filming on a certain island, the locals were quite hospitable and brought out their specialties for the crew to eat.

Chen Er was cautious and didn't eat any, but Ning Hao, that foolhardy guy, didn't pay any mind and ate big mouthfuls. As a result, he got hit and had diarrhea for several days straight. There wasn't a proper hospital on the island, so he could only take medicine, but the diarrhea wouldn't stop. After a few days, his naturally dark face turned pale, and he lost a whole circle of weight. It wasn't until the doctor arrived with special medicine and IV drips that he stabilized, but he had been put through the wringer.

Wu Yuchen gently patted Jiang Qinqin's back and said with a smile: "Don't worry, our crew's food is always shipped in from America. I guarantee I'll only eat the crew's meals!"

For a crew this large, the catering alone was a significant expense. The crew had a catering department of dozens of people preparing three meals a day for 800 to 1,000 people. Breakfast alone required 1,100 to 1,500 eggs, 100 to 160 pounds of bacon, 80 loaves of bread, 50 pounds of sausage, over 10 crates of fruit, and so on.

"That's good! And..."

Jiang Qinqin continued to chatter on, but Wu Yuchen didn't feel impatient at all. The love revealed in her words warmed his heart.

After Jiang Qinqin finished, he instructed her: "I can't see you off this time. I've had my agent, Carl, accompany you the whole way. If you have any requests, just tell him directly; he'll definitely be able to satisfy them. Call me to let me know you're safe whenever you arrive somewhere~"

Getting back to China from their filming location wasn't easy; she had to take various modes of transport back to America first, then to Los Angeles, before she could catch a direct flight to China.

The two of them talked back and forth, the room filled with a warm atmosphere.

One week later.

"Rat, want to try this?" Ning Hao asked with a smile as a blonde, blue-eyed foreigner held up a piece of fruit.

"Get lost! Chris, if you tease me again, I'll shove that up your ass!" Ning Hao cursed directly.

He still remembered the lesson from before; he had been so close to shitting his pants that he still didn't dare touch his own ass even now; he hadn't fully recovered yet.

Ning Hao didn't know how much his directing skills had improved after following Wu Dao to join the *Pirates of the Caribbean* crew, but his English had truly been practiced to perfection. Now he spoke fluently, and swear words rolled off his tongue.

Having spent half a year with the crew, Ning Hao had long since gotten familiar with these people. Ever since he got sick from eating random food last time, these people often teased him.

After Ning Hao finished speaking, he raised his glass and clinked it with Chris'. He didn't dare eat random things anymore, but drinking a little alcohol was fine, as long as it didn't interfere with work.

At this moment, another foreigner on the side asked Ning Hao: "Hey, Rat, didn't you say last week that the director's girlfriend left? I think I saw her come back today."

Before Ning Hao could answer, Chris shook his hand at him and said: "No, no, brother, you must have seen wrong!"

The other party retorted: "No, I didn't see wrong. A young woman with black hair and yellow skin—our crew doesn't have anyone like that!"

Chris said firmly: "No, no, I swear, the one you saw is definitely not the one from last week! I saw today's one too; she's much prettier than the one from last week! Her figure is great; this time I really agree with the director's taste!"

"Is that so? Then maybe I really did see wrong. I was still a bit of a distance away from her. Is her figure really that good?"

"Uh-huh! Her skin is great, and her figure is S..." Chris gestured.

These people weren't surprised at all that Wu Yuchen had changed the woman by his side; this was far too common in Hollywood.

At this point, Ning Hao raised his glass and interrupted: "Drink, drink. Don't discuss the director's private relationships behind his back, including the women around him."

Chris raised his glass and said: "Oh, Rat, I don't think you'd go and snitch, would you?"

"Of course I would! I'm the director's assistant!"

"Oh, my god!"

At this moment, the woman who was more beautiful and moving in the eyes of those foreigners than Jiang Qinqin was lying on Wu Yuchen's lap, enjoying his massage: "I'm truly exhausted. This place of yours is really too remote! Planes, cars, boats, then cars again—it's too much of a hassle!"

"Sister Ranran has worked hard~ Coming from ten thousand miles away, I'm truly moved!" Wu Yuchen said while kneading her shoulders.

Li Xiaoran giggled: "I'm the one who treats you well, right! Coming over to keep you company with just one phone call~"

"Mm-hmm, Sister Ranran is the best~" Wu Yuchen said, lowering his head to kiss her on the cheek.

Li Xiaoran rubbed her head against Wu Yuchen's thigh again: "But one thing is for sure, the more remote the place, the prettier it is. Your eye for location scouting is really good!"

"That's a given. Otherwise, how would I have taken a liking to you?" Wu Yuchen laughed.

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Li Xiaoran's face.

After a while, Li Xiaoran got up from Wu Yuchen's lap and stretched: "Mmm~~ That feels great!"

She then took a script and some accompanying materials out of her bag and handed them to Wu Yuchen: "Here, Director Feng asked me to bring this to you~"

Wu Yuchen looked at the title *A World Without Thieves* written on it, smiled at Li Xiaoran, and asked: "Sister Ranran, have you read it? What do you think?"

"I read it, it's quite interesting. It feels like those ancient knight-errant stories—a prodigal son returning is worth more than gold. *The Three Heroes and Five Gallants*, yes, just like Bai Yutang. Although he's a thief, he acts with chivalry..."

Wu Yuchen flipped through the script and said: "You're talking about the original novel, right!"

Li Xiaoran asked curiously: "Eh? You've read the original novel?"

Wu Yuchen nodded: "I have. This novel is from several years ago."

The original novel *A World Without Thieves* wasn't long, less than ten thousand words. The male and female leads were indeed more like chivalrous thieves; they didn't steal for money, but traveled around, stealing from the unrighteous when they were short on cash, and would rob the rich to help the poor, donating to Project Hope. The novel repeatedly mentioned they weren't bad people, which was why they developed the intention to protect the naive 'Foolish Gen' when they saw him.

However, in Feng Xiaogang's script, for the sake of dramatic tension, he changed the character settings. This couple was indeed a pair of thieves specifically targeting money.

But this created a logical problem. Why would a pair of thieves only interested in money suddenly change their nature and go to protect a naive child's 'dream of a world without thieves'?

Seeing Wu Yuchen finish flipping through the script page by page and then pick up the review feedback to read, Li Xiaoran couldn't help but ask: "This pile of review feedback—is it easy to fix?"

Wu Yuchen smiled and said: "Of course, you can't revise it line by line according to their feedback, otherwise the script would be completely unrecognizable!" ===== CHAPTER 306 =====