Chapter 60: Chapter Sixty: August Gossip

Lu Zheng hung up the phone and shook his head at Miss Jing Tian.

"Tian Tian, that role already has an owner."

Lu Zheng hadn't expected Lin Nan to truly have casting rights; unfortunately, it seemed already decided.

Miss Jing Tian felt a bit disappointed, but quickly adjusted her state.

"Uncle Lu, it's fine; at worst, we'll find another chance later."

"Hmm, that makes sense; at worst, we'll find people ourselves to make a movie."

Lu Zheng comforted her.

After seeing off the Wanda people, Lin Nan leaned comfortably against the sofa; this matter was settled, netting a clean profit of 2.4 million US dollars.

Huayi's gossip still occupied the entertainment headlines; Wang Wang Jinghua's ambiguous reply obviously made the media sniff out other meanings.

Watch him build a high tower; watch his tower collapse.

How many companies in the industry were waiting to see the joke; during the years Huayi soared and developed rapidly, it was precisely the years Wang Wang Jinghua joined.

From the millennium to now, Huayi stepped forward to become the leader of private film companies, with a gathering of big shots under its banner, making everyone envious.

Wang Fei's announcement of marriage only rippled like a dragonfly touching the water, attracting a bit of attention.

At most, it made people complain about the man: what charm exactly allowed him to move freely among several female stars.

"Little Mr. Wang asked to talk to me again; this time he actually said that after the company lists, artists can hold shares."

Zhu Zhu Yawen frowned and said to Lin Nan.

Reporters, unable to get a definite answer from the parties involved, actually started blocking artists; he had been bothered several times.

"Oh my, stocks? The two Mr. Wangs are planning quite far ahead."

Lin Nan teased.

"I've already planned to follow Sister Hua, but Mr. Wang's repeated talks make me truly awkward."

"Are they still doing ideological work for everyone?"

Zhu Zhu Yawen pondered for a moment.

"Not entirely; for the old hands who came over with Sister Hua, they talk less, probably knowing their attitude."

Huayi's headache was certain; back then, to recruit Wang Wang Jinghua and the troupe of actors under her, the jointly opened agency company's shares were split fifty-fifty: half for Wang Wang Jinghua, half for the Wang brothers.

But daily management was done by Wang Wang Jinghua; now that the split was causing trouble, the advantage lay completely not with the two brothers.

"You're just a signed artist; why think so much? If they want to woo you, give something concrete; drawing big pies is meaningless."

"Let's go take a stroll; Xu Ke's 'Seven Swords' is on."

Lin Nan invited Zhu Zhu Yawen to watch the movie together; Xu Ke's Wu Xia was still quite good.

"You're not inviting those two?"

"Forget it; if they go out on the street, they'll easily be recognized; probably not many women in the cinema anyway; martial arts films still attract more men."

"Fine; if I get scolded later, it has nothing to do with me."

Zhu Zhu Yawen stated this beforehand.

'Seven Swords' had an investment of 140 million; during promotion, it was said that both script polishing and costumes, makeup, and props reached perfection, hailed as Xu Ke's life-blood effort.

When Lin Nan and Zhu Zhu Yawen entered the cinema, they discovered the occupancy rate wasn't too high; this was still during summer vacation, yet a single screening hall had less than one-third filled.

"This is only the third day of release, right?"

Zhu Zhu Yawen asked uncertainly.

"It is the third day; released on the twenty-ninth."

Lin Nan replied.

In this situation, the box office might not be optimistic.

For the movie's two-plus hours, Lin Nan and Zhu Zhu Yawen gritted their teeth and finished watching.

"I seem not to have understood it."

When walking out of the cinema, Zhu Zhu Yawen said a sentence.

"Costumes, sets, and props were all exquisite; nothing else."

Lin Nan replied with a sentence.

He also regretted inviting Zhu Zhu Yawen to watch this movie; purely deceived by the name Xu Xu Laoguai.

The better the costumes, makeup, props, and outdoor scenes were, the worse the plot was.

The story structure was very loose; character development was weak; after watching the two-hour movie, Lin Nan actually couldn't think of any impressive plots or characters; no, there was also Sun Sun Honglei.

"This movie is afraid it will lose terribly; 140 million, you know," Lin Nan muttered.

"Don't let reporters hear that; trouble will happen," Zhu Zhu Yawen joked.

"Am I that stupid?"

Lin Nan said in a bad mood; if these words traveled from his mouth to the reporters, it would be an incident.

"Let's go quickly," Lin Nan urged.

The huge poster of 'Seven Swords' still hung on the cinema's promotional wall; Zhang Zhang Jingchu's path was quite wild, and she was on it too; Donnie Yen and Li Ming were in the most prominent positions, but they probably couldn't save the box office.

After parting with Zhu Zhu Yawen, Lin Nan returned to the company.

'Return to Dust' had little box office, but the revenue sharing with the theaters couldn't be careless; on the other hand, after a month of screening, 'Silent House' ended perfectly.

Lionsgate's email had already arrived; the North American box office finally settled at 89 million US dollars; adding other regions, the box office still failed to break 100 million, regretfully stopping at 98 million.

Hollywood news had already reported 'Silent House's' results; Lionsgate harvested huge box office again with a low-budget horror film; Lin Nan's name was mentioned time and again.

The news of New Line and Lin Nan's new film collaboration was still hot; 'Silent House's' success also spread domestically; Huayi's gossip even showed a trend of being suppressed.

On the first day of August, benefits appeared.

Huang Huang Shengyi's mute girl image in *Kung Fu* still lingers in the minds of many viewers — pure, pristine, delicately charming. Star Splendor packaged her exactly that way…

A set of bold photo shots brazenly appeared in a men's magazine — half-concealed, wet, sultry and provocative, tempting, with every curve clearly defined.

"This is the latest issue of *FHM*. Tsk tsk, truly an eye-opener."

In the past few classes at the Film Academy, there weren't many famous actresses. Liu Liu Yifei was a natural beauty, and had accumulated a massive following through several hit TV dramas.

But in terms of stature, she ultimately couldn't compare to Huang Huang Shengyi, who debuted as a Star Girl — that was *Kung Fu*, after all. And now, the latter has dug her own grave.

Lin Nan flipped through the magazine. "It is rather sudden. Feels a bit like she's letting herself fall."

Zhu Zhu Yawen had shown up early in the morning, *FHM* in hand, to find Lin Nan — no thought at all for appearances.

"Has Zhou Zhou Xingchi's company really come to letting its actresses shoot this kind of stuff?"

Zhu Zhu Yawen could hardly believe it. The magazine had been flipped through by a few of the new hires the company usually got along with — and he'd happened to see it.

"What grounds do you have to say that? It's also possible this Star Girl decided to do it on her own."

Lin Nan studied the magazine photos with a critical eye.

Zhu Zhu Yawen caught up a beat later. "Then wouldn't she be making a mortal enemy of the company?"

"Why do you care so much? Maybe she's already got her next move all planned out."

Only in the entertainment industry can this happen: one moment you're the pure senior sister on campus, the next your junior brothers are admiring your sultry photo spread.

……

The Star Girl's sultry photo spread made the August 1st issue's sales astonishingly good.

The contrast between pure and sultry was an absolute treat for *FHM*'s target readership.

The media wouldn't let any hot story slip by. Star Splendor saw this issue of the magazine and was absolutely furious.

The show seemed to have only just begun. Before Star Splendor could even make a move, Huang Huang Shengyi — as if coached by someone — appeared in the news media as the weak, persecuted party.

She proactively contacted the press, unilaterally announcing the termination of her eight-year management contract with Star Splendor, and declared she was willing to pay any price — not just paying to "buy back her freedom," even quitting the industry altogether if she had to.

The image of a persecuted, threatened, exploited, helpless little person suddenly became vivid and clear.

"That's masterful!"

Watching Huang Huang Shengyi's whole play, even Lin Nan was impressed. Now, almost all the mainland media and netizens were siding with the woman. Star Splendor's PR really was terrible.

Lately entertainment news has been all over the place — something different every day. Over here, gossip of every kind; over there, the nationwide talent show *Super Girl* was holding its finals. Sitting at the company, Lin Nan constantly heard them talking about texting in votes for so-and-so.

Before the show here was even done, a new stage was being set over there.

After a period of silence, Wang Wang Jinghua suddenly announced directly to the press that her contract with Huayi had expired, would not be renewed, and that she would be leaving Huayi Entertainment.

This time the party involved had come out and said it herself — the Wang brothers could no longer claim it was pure fabrication.

Compared to the other news, this was the biggest headline of the period.

Huayi's position in the film and TV industry was second only to a few state-affiliated giants, firmly holding the top seat among private companies.

If Wang Wang Jinghua had said it herself, then it had to be true. A swarm of media reporters descended, surrounding Huayi Film and TV in a tight ring — even more people were staking out the management company.

As for the reasons behind Wang Wang Jinghua and Huayi parting ways, the internet was instantly abuzz with speculation.

There were all sorts of theories — that many of their productions didn't use their own people, that profit-sharing was unfair, that people were being pushed out and given a hard time.

Immediately after, artists including Chen Daoming, Hu Jun, Liu Jialing, Xia Yu, and Yang Ziqiong all declared they would not be renewing their contracts with Huayi.

They had followed Wang Wang Jinghua in back then; now it looked like they would be leaving together.

The departure of the top manager and several dozen well-known artists was now a done deal.

Some media outlets stated outright that without Wang Wang Jinghua, Huayi would be unable to move an inch. Big Wang's reply was terse: if Huayi couldn't move an inch, it could only be when he himself left.

Orange Sky was dragged back into the conversation again — after all, Wang Wang Jinghua and several dozen established artists were a big, juicy piece of meat, and everyone was guessing who would swallow it.

Orange Sky, which had previously been rumored to be taking over, was naturally brought up again — but this time, not a peep out of them.

Reportedly, Big Wang smashed a lot of things in his office.

The next day, Huayi Film and TV publicly announced that the company had secured a three-million-US-dollar investment share in the Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster *Journey to the Center of the Earth*.

Huayi, which had been written off, made a forceful announcement of the news. Wanda Cinemas also quickly issued a notice that it would be co-investing in *Journey to the Center of the Earth*.

A large group of reporters came to Lin Nan's company to ask about it. He did not appear; an employee came out and confirmed the matter.

"This is true. Director Lin has already signed a contract with Wang Zong. Huayi will invest three million US dollars to co-produce this film."

Huayi's co-investment in a Hollywood film was a shot in the arm for the company after Wang Wang Jinghua's departure, and a flex of its muscles to the industry.

Huayi was still Huayi — they still had Feng Feng Xiaogang and a whole roster of film and TV talent.

What shocked the industry was that Fan Li Bingbing, Li Li Bingbing, Ren Quan, and others — all personally cultivated by Wang Wang Jinghua — did not follow her out, but chose to stay at Huayi.

"Sister Hua is very magnanimous. Coming or going is entirely up to the individual. She won't force anyone, and it won't affect the friendship between everyone."

This was information disclosed to the media by a person involved.