Chapter 157: An Idea

Although he had refused all media set visits.

But a film wrapping was something that simply couldn't be kept secret.

By the time the crew held the wrap party, the outside world had already spread the news.

"The art film 'The Fault in Our Stars,' starring Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei, has wrapped."

"'The Fault' was kept strictly confidential—plot unknown, ending unknown…"

"Liu Liu Yifei's mother has a role in 'The Fault,' character unknown."

…………

Filming this time had drained Liu Liu Yifei's mental and physical energy tremendously.

In her own words, she had to sleep at home for several days to recover her energy, so she could thoroughly step out of 'The Fault' from the inside out and forget that kind of sorrowful emotion.

She used to be able to get up around ten o'clock, but now she openly slept until eleven or twelve, waiting for Liu Liu Xiaoli to call her for lunch.

'Love Is Not Blind' had broken through the 300-million-yuan box office, destined to be the biggest dark horse of this year's film market.

Xue Xue Xiaolu had leveraged this to leap into becoming a red-hot director.

She only needed to shoot one more successful commercial film to firmly secure her position as a top director.

Lin Nan saw the news of the Beijing Film Academy anniversary celebration; that day 'The Fault' had been busy wrapping, so he hadn't gone.

Flipping through the news now, he saw a lineup of over five hundred actors and stars—a truly spectacular sight.

Zhang Zhang Yimou, Chen Chen Kaige, Gu Gu Changwei… dozens of famous directors sharing the stage.

In this kind of occasion, Director Chen was bound to outshine Zhang Zhang Yimou—the former was elected alumni representative by a landslide.

In Lin Nan's view, Zhang Zhang Yimou and Chen Chen Kaige were worlds apart, representing two different backgrounds and classes.

And in this circle, Chen Chen Kaige was ultimately the one with deep roots.

Well then! Although he hadn't attended the anniversary celebration, the school wouldn't forget Lin Nan.

An "Outstanding Graduate Award from the Film Academy" couldn't be left out for him; even if it couldn't be presented on-site, they had to have someone mail it to him specially.

In any case, the official website's list already had Lin Nan's name, followed by his long list of résumé entries and honors.

"It's just these two steps away, and you're mailing it? I'm impressed." Lin Nan quipped.

…………

Yue Jun called to tell Lin Nan that most of the employees previously sent to the 'White Snake' crew had returned.

Additionally, people from Jului Pictures had also come and wanted to meet him.

Lin Nan was a bit curious—what on earth could it be that they insisted on seeing him.

When he arrived at the company, the front desk told him the people were already waiting in the third-floor conference room, with Yue Jun receiving them.

"Tell Director Yue to come to my office."

"Okay, Lin Dao."

In less than five minutes, Yue Jun came over.

"What's going on? It's been less than a month, and more than half the people from Tiangong Color are already back?"

Lin Nan asked directly.

He saw Yue Jun couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"You don't know—when I heard from the people who came back, that crew over there was simply perverted.

They compressed what should've been two months of filming into 25 days to finish. Jet Li almost got wrecked, hahaha…"

Lin Nan understood immediately—it must be that 'Flying Swords of Dragon Gate' was pressing them hard, so they could only keep pushing the schedule.

"Also, let me tell you something. After Tiangong Color joined the crew, the script they got was completely different from the original.

Jet Li went from a cameo role straight to lead actor—his part increased by more than tenfold, all action scenes…"

"It can't even be called 'White Snake' anymore—it has to be called 'The Legend of Fahai'!"

Lin Nan found it hard to keep a straight face hearing this—he had known long ago.

"Then what did they come to the company for?"

"It's about the special effects. Tiangong Color gave three tiers of special-effects options, and they picked the cheapest one."

"Haha, that's amazing, what geniuses!"

This time Lin Nan really couldn't hold it in—was this the "no upper limit on special-effects costs" that Yang Zai had been bragging about?

"How much was the lowest tier of special effects for this 'White Snake' again?"

Lin Nan asked. For every film, the length, quantity, and required effect of the special-effects shots were different, so the price was also different.

"Thirty million yuan."

The moment Lin Nan finished speaking, Yue Jun immediately answered—this price was indeed the lowest tier.

Yue Jun immediately continued:

"They came over just to meet you, hoping the specific special-effects costs wouldn't be made public."

"Not made public?"

Lin Nan nodded and muttered. He could roughly guess what Jului Pictures was thinking.

"If it's only these small matters, I won't see them. Send them away."

"Mm." Yue Jun then left the office.

Lin Nan could now render his verdict on Jului Pictures—they couldn't stir up any big waves, just petty tricks.

…………

When he returned to the villa, he saw Liu Liu Yifei looking drowsy, sitting in her garden in a daze.

In front of her was her laptop, as if she was reading the news or something.

"Don't tell me you just got up?"

"Mm-hmm, half asleep."

Miss Liu raised her head, squinted at Lin Nan, and gave a faint smile.

The computer screen showed the movie information for "Beginning of the Great Revival," and it happened to be a set of stills.

Liu Liu Dehua playing Cai E, and Yang Ying playing Xiao Xiao Fengxian.

"Look, her expression is so stiff. 'Once parted, hard to meet again,' yet you can't see a trace of emotion on her face."

Liu Liu Yifei pointed at Yang Ying and said a line.

Lin Nan glanced over — it really was tough on Liu the Heavenly King; acting opposite Yang Ying was probably about the same as performing without props.

Still, he had to admit, Boss Huang had put in the effort, going to all that trouble just to land her this small supporting role.

"She's the Boss's girlfriend."

"Huh?"

Miss Liu didn't usually pay much attention to this kind of gossip, so she was surprised by Lin Nan's words.

"I'm not kidding you. If a suitable chance comes up later, Boss Huang will probably introduce her to everyone."

Lin Nan had heard that this scene required shedding tears, but Yang Ying simply couldn't cry.

In the end, Liu Liu Dehua had to do it himself — he dripped some eye drops into Yang Ying's eyes to stand in for tears, and only then was the scene considered finished…

……

Huayi Brothers' stock had already been unlocked for over twenty days.

He remembered that right after the IPO, the price had hit a high of 91 yuan; now it was only 30.75 yuan.

Plenty of media outlets online were reporting on the net worth of the celebrity shareholders.

Because Huang Huang Xiaoming had previously been a Huayi Brothers employee, he was even allowed to increase his holdings by a full fold — now at 3.6 million shares, the stock alone made him worth over a hundred million.

Zhou Xun's one million shares were still one million shares, but she had a big mouth and had let it slip not long ago.

By now, plenty of people in the industry knew it was Lin Nan who had suggested she buy in — which contributed yet another hot news item.

Since Lin Nan had been at the "Star Luck" crew all this time, Huayi Brothers hadn't contacted him either.

Until today, when Wang Wang Zhonglei's call finally came.

"Lin Dao, this year's company annual meeting — please come by.

It's about the shareholder dividend; your 8 million shares are no small matter."

Lin Nan had waited a long time for this call from Wang Wang Zhonglei.

"Dividends? In cash?" he quipped.

"Haha, Lin Dao, you jest.

Huayi Brothers is in the middle of ramping up investment and forging ahead — where would cash dividends come from?

We're planning to distribute dividends in the form of additional shares."

"Good. Once you have a specific time, let me know — I'll be there on the dot."

For something this good, Lin Nan certainly wouldn't miss it.

Just as he was about to end the call, Wang Wang Zhonglei spoke up again on the other end.

"Also, I hope you won't sell off your stock in the short term. Huayi Brothers' share price still has plenty of room to appreciate."

"Mm, I know."

After hanging up, Lin Nan shook his head — it was all just mutual exploitation.

Wang Wang Zhonglei wanted to leverage his identity as a shareholder and a Golden Lion-winning director, while Lin Nan was also waiting for the right moment.

A thirty-yuan share price was indeed a bit low; he couldn't possibly sell.

……

"Love Is Not Blind," after breaking through 300 million, seemed to instantly lose momentum, now inching forward bit by bit.

Chen Chen Kaige's "Sacrifice" had begun large-scale promotion.

The first big production in December was Director Chen's film.

Premiere invitations had been sent to Lin Nan Pictures, and Red Star Factory had also received one.

This was the difference between Chen Chen Kaige and Zhang Zhang Yimou.

Back during "Under the Hawthorn Tree," Zhang Zhang Yimou had lumped Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei together — one invitation, and it felt very warm.

Director Chen, on the other hand, was rather by-the-book.

Speak of the devil.

Tudou was the first to file for an IPO with NASDAQ, planning to raise 120 million US dollars.

But the accident that was bound to happen — even with a warning, couldn't be avoided.

"Lin Dao, I'm truly sorry. Back then you did seem to warn me…"

"What's the situation now?"

"We've been stopped by the relevant domestic authorities — we have to resolve the lawsuit first.

It's nothing but a matter of money, but I don't have much left now; it's all been poured in…"

"Then let's wait. Good luck to us."

Lin Nan made no statement; he just wanted to watch from the sidelines.

"Youku's side will go more smoothly than ours. First and second — even though they only differ by a 'one,' the gap between them, Lin Dao, you should understand."

"What about the other shareholders?"

Lin Nan understood what Wang Wei meant — he wanted to get more funding from him again.

"They're all furious, urging me to resolve the lawsuit quickly, but it's not something you can just rush. It'll take at least half a year, and besides…"

"Then let's wait."

Lin Nan cut off Wang Wei mid-sentence.

At this point, he would not be putting up any money.

Lin Nan wanted to wait for the other shareholders to declare their stance first—best of all, after Youku's successful IPO!

Things had already reached this stage; Lin Nan chose the second plan.

Namely, at the right moment, bottom-fish and take over the chips!

At this moment, Lin Nan's mind held only this single thought.

Try to see if he could swallow it—at the very least, more than half.