Chapter 75: The No Man's Land, Bazaar Invitation

Huayi really has a lot of messy business.

Ever since the falling out and split with Wang Jinghua, several talent management departments were established internally, leaving them to fight and scheme against each other.

Li Xue was brought up by Wang Jinghua and is currently the general manager of Huayi Talent Agency, nominally in charge of all agents.

It is understandable to tilt resources toward one's own sister.

But "The Message" is not a project exclusive to Huayi, and the copyright is not in Huayi's hands either.

"This is not taking me seriously at all."

Lin Nan compared and flipped through two versions of "The Message" script; one was the original draft by Chen Guo, and the other had been altered.

The original script, like the original novel, had Zhou Xun's Gu Xiaomeng as the absolute female lead.

After the changes, it became a dual-female lead, with a significant portion of Zhou Xun's scenes divided and given to Li Bingbing.

Especially the character played by Li Bingbing, which has over ten minutes of nude and abuse scenes, making it highly likely to overshadow the lead.

"Resource competition between female artists? I've learned something new today," Lin Nan muttered.

The news of the script changes for "The Message" had quietly spread among the Huayi artists.

Most people consciously avoided this topic to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Li Xue accepted the greetings of the minor artists with a smile on her face and walked toward Wang Zhonglei's office.

"Mr. Wang, you were looking for me?"

"Sit down, I have something to discuss."

Li Xue closed the door and sat opposite Wang Zhonglei.

"What are your instructions, Mr. Wang?"

Wang Zhonglei rubbed his eye sockets, "Forget about that script change matter; we will proceed according to Director Chen's original arrangement."

"Hasn't it already been changed and finalized? Why is it suddenly void?" Li Xue asked hurriedly.

"Lin Nan doesn't agree, and the company has no choice."

"Director Lin?"

Li Xue is much smarter than Li Bingbing; she instantly cleared her thoughts and figured it out.

It was nothing more than Zhou Xun going to find Lin Nan, but she was still a bit unwilling to give up.

"Mr. Wang, is there really no other way? It's already set that Zhou Xun won't renew her contract with the company."

"There is no way. This project is a joint production, and the copyright is in his hands."

Wang Zhonglei even regretted his previous decision to agree to the script change; in the end, he brought trouble upon himself without getting the job done.

Li Xue left the office expressionlessly to find Li Bingbing.

Afterward, all the actors confirmed to appear in "The Message" received notice that filming would proceed according to the original script.

On the last day of July, Liu Yifei wrapped up filming for the "Inception" crew.

Dressed in a fresh and beautiful summer outfit, she was very eye-catching.

She was blocked by a large group of reporters at the airport.

Liu Xiaoli held her daughter's hand, smiling constantly, answering questions as they walked until they got into the car.

"Let's go back quickly, Changchang is still waiting."

Liu Yifei urged, receiving an eye-roll from her mother.

At the villa, Shu Chang acted just like she was in her own home.

"Food and drinks are all ready."

"They are ready, all the result of Zhu Yawen and me working hard."

"The 'Silly Girl' she played is proficient in everything, but in reality, she is clumsy; she made egg tarts on New Year's Eve and couldn't tell salt from sugar..."

Lin Nan mocked her mercilessly, ignoring Shu Chang's unconvinced look.

Over half an hour later, a car stopped outside the villa.

Liu Yifei jumped out first, and a piercing scream rang out as the two girls hugged and jumped together.

"Alright, alright, let's go inside first," Liu Xiaoli reminded with a smile.

In the garden, only the four young people were left laughing and joking; Liu's mother had gone inside to rest.

"Xixi, how did it feel working with Nolan and Leonardo?" Shu Chang asked curiously.

"I learned a lot; Director Nolan said I improved very quickly."

Liu Yifei was a little proud, and even glanced at Lin Nan.

"Oh, I forgot, I haven't congratulated Changchang on graduating successfully yet."

"Haha, it's nothing really."

Shu Chang's popularity reached a new level this year; "Painted Skin" and "Magic Mobile Phone" in April made her the young actress second only to Liu Yifei.

When she graduated in June, a large number of talent agencies and film companies extended olive branches.

However, after careful consideration, she chose to build a small studio to work for herself.

"Although I have a studio, I will still need Director Lin and his family to look after me in the future, hehe..."

Shu Chang's eyes scanned back and forth between Lin Nan and Liu Yifei, teasing them.

"You're talking nonsense again." Liu Yifei, with flushed cheeks, was about to make a move.

"Director Lin, there's me too."

Zhu Yawen imitated Lin Zhiling's voice from "Red Cliff," giving everyone goosebumps.

Lin Nan was truly afraid of this guy, fearing he might blurt out: "Mengmeng, stand up."

"It's been a long time since we all went out to play together, right?"

The group instantly looked at Lin Nan, only to see him pull a few tickets out of his pocket.

"Olympic opening ceremony performance, tickets for the core area."

"Holy crap, good stuff," Zhu Yawen cursed.

"There are five seats together, Auntie, come with us."

Lin Nan said, giving one ticket each to Shu Chang and Zhu Yawen, and two to Liu Yifei; the latter looked at Lin Nan with a smile in her eyes.

The group agreed to go to the Bird's Nest together on the 8th.

The promotional effect for "The Equation of Love and Death" was not very good.

Cao Baoping hoped Lin Nan could make a trip.

Official media outlets were all reporting on the Olympics during this period.

Even Enlight Media, which has a huge network in the television system, could not spare extra promotional resources for this film.

In the studio, the host was Xie Nan, who is currently being heavily promoted.

"Director Lin, long time no see. I was edited down to only two minutes in 'Painted Skin' by you."

"Haha, I'll leave you five minutes of footage next time."

"That's a significant supporting role; I have to thank you first, but you must keep your word."

The recording began.

Cao Baoping talked about the things that happened when the film was being greenlit.

When he went to find Lin Nan for investment, the latter had just sent "The Martian" to Hollywood.

He agreed verbally over the phone and came back once in the middle to sign the contract.

"I went directly to the set to find Zhou Xun and invited her to play Xiao Wei."

"But she said she had no chest and no butt, just a flat airport, and asked if I was joking, haha..."

Lin Nan adjusted the atmosphere appropriately, and Zhou Xun and the other actors laughed uncontrollably.

The selling point of the promotion was him as the producer and Zhou Xun; after all, both of them came out of the "Painted Skin" crew.

"It's rumored outside that you won't renew your contract with Huayi after it expires. Is this true?"

After finishing the business, it was time for the gossip the media cared about; Enlight had already greeted the crew about this.

"I do have that plan. I want to open a studio; I want to work when I want to work, and rest when I want to rest."

Zhou Xun said it very casually, while Zhang Hanyu and Wang Baoqiang smiled awkwardly.

Once these words were spread today, it would be ironclad proof; for the sake of promotion, was she really not afraid of offending Mr. Wang and the others?

"To be honest, I even asked Xun-geer if she wanted to sign with me after her contract expired."

"As a result, she refused without even thinking; she didn't give me any face at all..."

After the show.

The media quickly reported the news that Zhou Xun confirmed she would not renew her contract with Huayi and had rejected Lin Nan.

But this was not the headline in the industry.

The hot news was actually: Ning Hao is suspected of having a conflict with Director Lin Nan, and they will no longer cooperate on new films.

Many people called, all asking what had happened.

How would Lin Nan know why? He was also very confused; they were eating together a few days ago, and today there was a conflict for no reason?

After reading the report carefully, he knew why.

Ning Hao really has a stubborn donkey temperament; once he decides on something, he won't listen to advice.

China Film Group had just confirmed an investment of 16 million in Ning Hao in the morning, and this gossip news came out in the afternoon.

Thinking about it, the first film that made Ning Hao truly famous was "Crazy Stone," for which Lin Nan provided the script and funding.

The second commercial film was "Crazy Racer," and Lin Nan held half the investment again.

This time the investment was a bit larger, and Lin Nan's shadow was nowhere to be seen; it would be strange if these media outlets didn't write nonsense.

Ning Hao called Lin Nan, laughing and joking.

"I found it funny even when I watched it.

But I really didn't mention the funding issue to you this time; Han Dong promised to help when *No Man's Land* goes through review..."

In the end, Ning Hao did not change the script, but instead thought of a roundabout way.

"When I was filming *Incense*, I wanted to go for awards, but it was the comedy *Crazy Stone* that really made me famous.

I think the script for *No Man's Land* is very suitable, and this time I will put in twelve times the effort to film it well..."

Since he had said as much, the underlying meaning was for Lin Nan not to try to persuade him anymore.

"Fine, good luck."

"Thanks."

A major commercial film director starting a new movie is a piece of fat meat for actors in the industry.

But given Ning Hao's personality, he would not want vase-like actors.

…………

People from *Harper's Bazaar* sent over another invitation.

Liu Yifei had been on *Bazaar* magazine once in the middle of the year, so she accepted this invitation as a matter of course.

This year is indeed quite special; the incident in May was chosen as the theme for this *Bazaar* Charity Night to raise funds.

Lin Nan thought about it carefully and still felt it would be better to go.

Come to think of it, that Su Mang had been sending him invitations for several years in a row, but he was usually in the habit of throwing the invitations into the trash can.

Unlike official public welfare activities, this kind of non-official charity gala, although it does do real work, is primarily entertainment-oriented.

The invitees are all the hottest stars in the industry or big shots with status and position.

There is no need to explain how popular Liu Yifei is; with four TV dramas as a foundation and three Hollywood films as support, she, like Lin Nan the great director, is one of *Bazaar*'s highest-priority invitees.

……

Lin Nan was just about to sleep when Tang Mu's call came in, sounding as if he had been bullied by a group of big men.

"Didn't you say last year that you were only going to play around for a month or two?"

"Damn Wall Street, it's all a bunch of liars, my hard-earned money..."

Tang Mu rambled on with his curses, and Lin Nan got the gist of it.

The stock market over there had seen abnormal growth last year; Tang Mu tasted the sweetness in the first month or two and ended up getting trapped.

No wonder Tang Mu looked like he had lost the will to live when they went over to discuss the investment for *Inception* back then.

The work he had done for Lin Nan over the past few years had essentially been for nothing.

It looked like it was about to crash.

Lin Nan didn't dare to get involved deeply, only thinking about picking up some quality stocks when the time came.

"You purely deserve this; you'd better just honestly be a worker from now on.

That's it, disturbing my rest in the middle of the night..."

Lin Nan yawned and hung up the phone; he felt that given Tang Mu's cowardly and lecherous personality, he shouldn't be jumping off any buildings.