Chapter 246: Zhang Zhang Yimou Pushing Someone In?

The news of Zhang Zhang Yimou and Zhang Zhang Weiping parting ways became the focal point of industry discussion.

But strangely, neither of the two parties appeared to speak out; the media wanted to interview them but could not reach them.

"Most likely, something is still under negotiation and no result has emerged yet."

Lin Nan voiced his speculation.

"What thing?" Liu Liu Yifei asked, somewhat curious.

"Nothing more than interests. As a major director, Zhang Zhang Yimou has shot so many films; he takes a share of the box office.

Now that the contract has expired, no official statement was released; instead, people from his studio leaked the news.

Clearly, the money he is owed has not been received, or it is simply being dragged out by Zhang Zhang Weiping..."

Hearing Lin Nan's analysis, the group all found it somewhat incredible.

Would anyone really dare to hold Zhang Zhang Yimou hostage?

"Let's not worry about that. Get ready for makeup; let's start work."

Lin Nan urged, as the group was being far too gossipy.

"Liu Qianqian, ready, action!"

A world map was spread on the table; the camera cut to Liu Liu Yifei.

By now, she had made up her mind, appearing confident and decisive.

"My plan is for you two to take the exam in Hong Kong, while I fly to a time zone where the exam starts earlier.

That way, I will see the questions several hours before you. After I finish, I'll write down the answers and send them to you..."

"You two go find some reliable classmates. They pay the money; I provide the answers. Only this way can I have enough money to study abroad with you, without having to ask others..."

Hearing these words, Luo Jin and the other instantly showed excited expressions.

"You go find clients; leave the exam business to me."

At this moment, Luo Jin realized, "How will you bring the answers out?"

"I can memorize them, as long as there is enough time. But by the time I finish the questions, there may not be enough time; with over a hundred questions, I estimate I can only memorize half..."

"Half? How will that work?"

"So, I need an assistant!"

Zhu Zhu Yawen looked at Lin Nan with a aggrieved expression; the next scene was truly putting him in a difficult position.

"Don't worry, it's just being thrown into a garbage dump...

I specifically had Ying Huang find a real garbage dump to ensure authenticity!"

As soon as the words fell, Liu Liu Yifei and the others looked at Zhu Zhu Yawen mockingly, trying to laugh but holding it back.

"Little Zhu, as a qualified actor, um, go for it!"

"Old Zhu, I'm rooting for you, haha..."

Zhu Zhu Yawen's face turned bitter; he sighed, "I'll strive to get it in one take."

Lin Nan nodded with a smile.

In a few more years, if an actor were made to roll around in a garbage dump, press releases would likely be published everywhere.

All filled with praise words like "dedication" and "hard work"; who knows, even then, they might still be using a stunt double!

"Have you memorized the upcoming plot and lines?" Lin Nan asked.

"Of course I've memorized them; do you underestimate me, your brother?"

The upcoming plot was a turning point.

The male lead played by Zhu Zhu Yawen had a very small laundry shop at home; while delivering clothes, he scratched someone else's car.

After being beaten until he was covered in bruises, he was thrown into a garbage dump. Because of this, he missed the application exam for a full scholarship to study abroad...

"Makeup, change location."

Ultimately, the female lead played by Liu Liu Yifei set the number of people involved in this SAT cheating scheme at 30, all wealthy students who could be trusted.

After all, charging 200,000 per person meant that too many people would bring too much risk, while too few would not be worth it.

The female lead even agreed to split half the money with Luo Jin and Watching Shu Chang.

Exterior scene.

"When the fighting starts later, don't actually hit hard," Zhu Zhu Yawen said in a gentle tone to the several guest actors.

"Don't worry; we are all professionals. But just in case, you still need to protect your special areas carefully, haha..."

Lin Nan teased, earning an eye-roll from Old Zhu and laughter from Liu Liu Yifei and the others.

"Ready, action!"

One could only say Zhu Zhu Yawen had bad luck; he didn't get it in one take, didn't get it in two, and was beaten up three times before this scene was finally shot.

The next scene was the shot of him waking up the next morning, covered in injuries, in the garbage dump.

Work ended in the evening; they returned to the hotel.

Lin Nan saw many missed calls, all from Yue Jun; he called back.

"I didn't bring my phone today when we started work; what's the matter?"

"Lin Dao, quite a few financial institutions have been calling to ask whether the company needs financing, whether there's an IPO plan…"

A few minutes later, Lin Nan understood what was going on.

The news that he had taken out a loan from ICBC had somehow leaked, and a swarm of financial institutions had come running like cats scenting fish.

Lin Nan Pictures was a premium company within the industry.

On the surface alone, its box-office profits were dazzling — a top-tier player in the business, not to mention deals involving copyrights and the like. These financiers were sharp operators.

"Next time anyone comes asking, just say we don't need it — not now, and not in the future either."

"Understood, Lin Dao."

Just as he was about to hang up, Lin Nan thought of something.

"Oh right, get in touch with Xu Zheng. Tell him the company is ready to start the second installment of the 'Lost' series…"

"Lin Dao, starting it now?"

"Once 'Genius Gunner' wraps here, I'll be back in the capital and we can greenlight it."

"Got it, I'll let him know shortly."

Thinking it over, Lin Nan realized none of his own films had ever been released during the He Sui slot.

This time he had some ideas — next year's He Sui slot, he could schedule one of his own films.

"Guo Fan won't be done with graduation until at least April. Director Lu Yang, can't let him keep idling around like this."

"Once 'Genius Gunner' wraps, I'll line up work for all of you!"

Lin Nan called ICBC, and sure enough, there was a mole on their side.

"Lin Dao, we're truly sorry. Anyone who leaks confidential client information like this — we absolutely won't keep them on. They've already been fired, and we'll keep it on their record…"

Coming out with that kind of line right off the bat, Lin Nan found it hard to keep pressing the matter, but he still gave them a warning.

"If something like this happens again, we won't need to work together anymore."

"Don't worry, Lin Dao. Something like this will absolutely never happen a second time, I guarantee it!"

"Then we'll see."

…………

Over at New Pictures, after more than a month, Zhang Zhang Weiping and Zhang Zhang Yimou sat face to face once again.

But the atmosphere was far from pleasant — both sides had their lawyers present.

"Regarding Director Zhang Zhang Yimou's box-office share from 'A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop,' from 'Under the Hawthorn Tree,' and the box-office settlement for 'The Flowers of War' afterward — please ask Mr. Zhang to settle everything in one go per the contract when the time comes. Especially the shares from the first two films — they've been delayed far too long…"

"Furthermore, Director Zhang's fees throughout all these years of working with you have been far below his industry standing and market rate. New Pictures has already taken more than enough advantage…"

……

As Zhang Zhang Yimou's lawyer went on and on, Zhang Zhang Weiping's face grew darker and darker — already a rough, fleshy-looking man, he now looked even more menacing.

Zhang Zhang Weiping didn't address the revenue-sharing matter, and instead brought up the artists.

"I'm taking back the artist management rights for Ni Ni and the others. Please pass along the message — either they come back to the company obediently, or I'll blacklist them…"

……

The negotiation ended once again without any resolution.

When Zhang Zhang Yimou and his lawyer got in the car and drove off, the latter spoke up first:

"Director Zhang, regarding the settlement, you can rest easy — it's a contract in black and white, he can't wriggle out of it. As for the artists…"

"What about it? Is it difficult?"

Zhang Zhang Yimou couldn't help but ask. All the artists were on his side — they even refused to take Zhang Zhang Weiping's or New Pictures' calls — but the contracts…

"Their management contracts are also signed in black and white with New Pictures. Your studio signing Zhou Zhou Dongyu is easier to deal with — legal or not, there's room to argue, and her contract is about to expire. But the others? Impossible."

"What do you mean?"

"Either follow Zhang Zhang Weiping's word and go back to New Pictures, or terminate the contract — but the termination fees are way too high. I suggest filing a lawsuit to bring the fees down, or finding another company willing to take them on…"

The lawyer was also helpless — the termination fees for the "Mou Girls" and "Mou Boys" ran into eight figures, which was simply absurd.

But then again, considering all these actors carried the "Mou" label, the sky-high termination fees Zhang Zhang Weiping had set suddenly made sense.

"Following me, they can't really develop properly — and I'm not going to start a company either…"

…………

Over on the 'Genius Gunner' side.

Zhu Zhu Yawen's face was covered in blood streaks, his clothes were torn and tattered, and he was filthy from head to toe.

"Lin Dao Da, you're brutal — the smell of that garbage mountain nearly killed me."

"You say that as if I didn't go in there with you."

Lin Nan shot back, a little annoyed.

Liu Liu Yifei and the others stood far off outside the waste disposal center, watching Lin Nan and his group come out, refusing to come any closer.

"Liu Qianqian, hiding from me like this — I'm hurt."

Lin Nan joked, though he had only gone in for a quick look. Seeing Zhu Zhu Yawen in that ghostly state, he got the feeling that he himself was filthy too.

"I'm avoiding Xiao Zhu. Hurry back with me to wash up — stay away from him, he's way too dirty."

Liu Liu Yifei waved Lin Nan over, urging him to come back with her right away.

"What do you mean I'm dirty? Is there any justice left? I did this for the shoot!"

Zhu Zhu Yawen instantly felt targeted — friendship had soured!

……

Once again, the scene shifted back to the school.

This time it was when Liu Liu Yifei introduced the cheating method to Luo Jin and the other person.

"Each student brings four specially made 2B pencils.

The answers to the fifty-two multiple-choice questions in Part One and the twenty-two multiple-choice questions in Part Two are to be given in order using four 2B pencils with barcodes graded from thickest to thinnest, numbered 1 to 4 — the thickest is A, the thinnest is D; four pencils are just enough.

The answers to the sixteen fill-in-the-blank questions in Part Three are the numbers printed beside the barcodes on the four pencils.

For Part Four, the essay topic — they'll send back the keywords, you find the essays online yourself, shorthand them, memorize them…"

On the monitor, Liu Liu Yifei laid things out in a sharp tone, then added at the end:

"All of this has to be finished within the few hours of the time difference, including the printing and pasting of the 2B pencil barcodes."

"Click — perfect! Tomorrow, we film the scene where you guys lobby Zhu Zhu Yawen into joining the cheating crew!"

Lin Nan said to Liu Liu Yifei, Luo Jin, and Watching Shu Chang.

……

Back at the hotel, Liu Liu Yifei was still caught up in her "cheating plan" speech.

Just then, Lin Nan's phone rang.

"Who is it?" Miss Liu asked.

"Director Zhang Zhang Yimou! Let me take this first, we'll grab dinner together later."

"Mm, then I'll go find Changchang first."

……

"Director Zhang?"

"Lin Nan, sorry to bother you again — how's the new film going?"

"Not bad, we're in the second half now, should wrap before the end of the month, but where I'll spend New Year's Eve is anyone's guess, heh heh…"

"Aren't we film people all like this? I've got something to discuss with you today."

"Go ahead."

"Is your company still signing actors?"

Hearing this, Lin Nan's heart skipped a beat — a bad premonition.

"Director Zhang, if you have something to say, just say it straight — signing people, I honestly haven't thought about it lately."

"What do you think of Ni Ni?"

At this, Lin Nan understood what Zhang Zhang Yimou meant.

"Did something happen? I remember her contract was with New Picture, wasn't it?" Lin Nan ventured.

"Right, she's about to terminate it, but the penalty is a bit steep. If you sign her, I think she's capable of earning that penalty back…"

Lin Nan was at a loss for words, momentarily unsure what to say.

…………

(End of chapter)