Chapter 265: Catching the Mole

Taking off his coat, Lu Kuan sat down before the first draft of the script in his study.

He suddenly pulled out the small fragrant sachet Liu Yifei had embroidered for him earlier and held it to the tip of his nose; the clear scent of mint was refreshing and invigorating.

The script manuscript submitted by Liu Heng before him was already filled with his revision notes.

If one were to say that the "Earthquake" by Feng Xiaogang in his past life was adapted from the novel *Aftershock*, then the conception for Lu's version of *Tangshan Earthquake* in this life came from Abbas Kiarostami's *And Life Goes On*.

*And Life Goes On* tells the story of the 7.3 magnitude earthquake in Iran in 1990.

The protagonist learns that Koker, the town where he had filmed *Where Is the Friend's Home? *, has been severely hit by the disaster, so he takes his son Puya and drives a yellow sedan to the disaster area to search for the two young actors who had appeared in that film, whose fates were unknown.

The plot structure of this road movie is very simple, following a single narrative line.

Along the way, the protagonist encounters an old woman whose family of 16 was crushed to death by collapsed houses;

He meets a middle-aged man who remains optimistic despite the earthquake, having lost his younger sister and three nephews, and is still installing a television antenna to watch the 1990 World Cup;

He encounters children who, oblivious and happy, are catching crickets by the roadside due to the unusual animal behavior caused by the earthquake.

In short, this film, which uses the road movie perspective to embody the spirit of optimism and heroism under disaster, was an artistic creation by Kiarostami.

Because of the plot structure, its entertainment value is too weak; what stands out are his signature realistic long takes and open-ended conclusion.

Returning to this *Tangshan Earthquake*.

The screenwriting team led by Lu Kuan and Liu Heng, after nearly a month of consultation, produced the first draft of the script.

Under the single line of Kiarostami's *And Life Goes On*, two additional subplots were added.

Kiarostami's narrative angle was from the outside in, while the new *Tangshan Earthquake* uses three subplot perspectives to narrate the full picture of this disaster.

The soldier character, one of the protagonists serving as a company commander in the 38th Army's rescue unit, represents the official power and macro perspective of the earthquake;

The female lead, the protagonist's wife, who appears at odds with her husband due to family background, moves from mutual estrangement to being moved by his great love, striving to rescue her sister-in-law; this is the third-person narrative of the epicenter;

There is also the family of the male lead's younger sister, who, along with her newborn baby, is buried under the ruins until the female lead persistently digs them out; this is the first-person perspective.

From the trivialities and estrangement of family life before the quake, to the myriad of lives suddenly swept into the torrent of disaster, to the hope that finally blooms from despair.

It can be said that the three perspectives cover everything, from the macro to the details, seeing the big through the small, truly using the encounters of ordinary people to interpret the joys and sorrows under the disaster.

With the script finalized, one could begin considering the casting.

Aside from his first few films where he had to consider using roles to balance interest relationships, Lu Kuan had been casting in secret since *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, deciding internally himself.

This *Tangshan Earthquake* was no different.

For the soldier role, considering age, acting skills, and temperament, Hu Jun was the only choice;

For the female lead, the image of a petite wife with a scholarly air, Lu Kuan intended for Zhou Xun.

She was still in a stalemate with Rong Xinda and had not completely joined Yanda Huayi, so there was no fear of causing suspicion.

The other main supporting roles were Hu Jun's younger sister and brother-in-law, a newlywed couple; the sister had just given birth to a baby and was buried under the ruins waiting for rescue.

For these two simple and pure images, the brother-in-law would be Wang Baoqiang, and the sister could be played by Song Jia, who was 25 this year.

Her first film in the future, *Curiosity Kills the Cat*, earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Rooster Awards.

The character Tan Xian'er in the TV series *Chuang Guandong* was a simple and pure rural girl image, fitting the role requirements in the script.

Lu Kuan had considered Liu Yifei.

But first, having an 18-year-old girl play a breastfeeding rural woman felt somewhat incongruous.

No matter how much makeup she wore, standing next to Wang Baoqiang, it would be hard for the audience to get immersed.

Additionally, she had to join the crew for the second season of *Zhu Xian* next month; overlapping filming was not advisable.

Finally, it was decided to let Liu Yifei make a cameo as a college student girlfriend; other visible roles in the play could be given to company artists as cameos or favors.

Liu Heng was still in Tangshan collecting first-hand information on the disaster; Lu Kuan communicated with him for over an hour, clarified the revision suggestions, and waited for the final draft to be submitted.

However, with the first draft, work could begin on site surveying for some fixed inherent scenes, including special effects models and the restoration of realistic scenes.

Meanwhile, after a week of intensive contact, the members of Lu Kuan's Olympic opening ceremony proposal bidding team had arrived one after another.

Among them, Lin Ying happened to call the day after he finished revising the script.

"Director Lu Kuan?"

"It's me. You are Ms. Lin Ying, right?"

Lin Ying, at her home in New York, looked at Liang Zhouyang beside her with some helplessness.

"Director Lu, I have received your email. I feel incredibly proud to be able to participate in this grand event, but..."

Lu Kuan understood the implication: "Have you also received other invitations?"

"That's right. Director Ang Lee sent an invitation slightly earlier than you. It is indeed quite difficult to choose now."

"If Director Lu doesn't mind, I would like to ask you a few questions."

As mentioned earlier, American cinema is also divided into two levels: California and New York, or rather, Hollywood and New York.

Hollywood is the top commercial film base, while New York is a paradise for art films; Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, and others are all great directors who came out of New York.

As for the American Chinese community, they are also roughly divided into three circles: California, New York, and metropolitan cities.

California and New York are the two regions with the largest concentration of Chinese people, among which Manhattan's Chinatown in New York is the oldest and largest Chinatown in North America.

Therefore, for Lin Ying, who had been studying and working here for a long time, Ang Lee's fame and reputation were still much higher than those of Lu Kuan, who had only been in the industry for three or four years.

"Please go ahead."

"Regarding the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony, do you think that in terms of cultural creativity, the nation is greater than the world, or the world is greater than the nation?"

Lu Kuan knew this was Lin Ying considering the compatibility of cultural cognition with him.

If the philosophies were inconsistent, forced cooperation would not be very pleasant.

To be honest, Lu Kuan did not know much about the aesthetic propositions of this niece of Lin Huiyin, only some of her stunning designs.

If he were to cater to her based solely on intuition, for such an international artist, "the world is greater than the nation" was clearly a more appropriate answer.

But Lin Ying was worried about differences in thinking, and Lu Kuan was worried too!

He could only tell the truth: "This question is quite subtle. For me, the proposal design for the Olympic Games can be summed up in eight characters."

"Chinese learning as the substance, Western learning for application."

"I choose to use Western high-tech and special effects means, as well as advanced exhibition service concepts, to present aesthetic imagery that is mostly nationalized and a fusion of both."

Liang Zhouyang on the other end of the phone listened with eyes shining, admiring her idol even more. He was only a few years older than her, how could he be so talented!

She looked at her great-aunt with pleading eyes, but Lin Ying had already made her own decision.

"I cannot say who is more excellent between you and Ang Lee, but I am willing to cooperate with the youngest and most excellent director in China once. I very much appreciate your transformation and dissemination of traditional culture."

Lu Kuan was overjoyed: "That's great, welcome to join!"

"By the way, if our team lacks a choreographer, I can introduce a friend, also a New York Chinese."

"Sure, who is it?"

"His name is Shen Wei. He has a dance art center in New York and is proficient in both classical and modern dance."

Lu Kuan understood; this Shen Wei was the person in charge of the *Scroll* program for the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony in the future.

*Scroll* showcased the charm of Chinese culture in a grand and creative way.

Dancers used their bodies and modern dance techniques to "paint" a Chinese landscape painting on a specially made giant canvas, accompanied by the melodious melody of the guzheng, perfectly fusing traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting art with modern dance, showing the profoundness of Chinese culture to the whole world.

The American Chinese circle was very small; following the vine, he had found another big talent.

Even without copying the proposal from his past life, such top talent was scarce.

Domestic artists like Yang Liping naturally had some gaps compared to masters like Shen Wei who were well-versed in both Chinese and Western studies in terms of international vision and Western dance research.

Lu Kuan contacted and negotiated with North American artist talents one by one, including Atlanta Olympic director Michelle and Cirque du Soleil director Dragone, who were successfully recruited.

Meanwhile, domestic bidding members contacted by Han Shanping, Zhang Huijun, Tian Zhuangzhuang, and others using their connections and industry influence also joined one after another, and the team was about to take shape.

At the headquarters of Wangjie Holdings, this was his first time coming to the office since the group company was established last time.

Since the internal self-made OA system went online, it had been updated to 2.0, basically able to handle most paperless office processes, but for some decisive matters that Sun Wenwen could not handle on his behalf, he still had to inquire personally.

For example, the development problem of Wangjie Mall.

Dongzi on the sofa looked at the huge floor-to-ceiling windows in the boss's giant luxury office, feeling envious and jealous, but not daring to hate.

The more he came into contact, the more he understood, and the more he repeatedly received guidance on some of the company's detailed ideas from him, the more he was convinced.

"Brother Dong, don't be so gloomy. The one who should be worried now is Ma Yun, haha."

Wangjie Mall had been established for nearly a year, starting from scratch to catch up with Taobao in the online mall business; it was hard to say who was on par.

Because the starting types were different, Taobao was still galloping on the C2C track, with registered users exceeding 4 million by the end of last year, and the PV, or daily visits, was about 40 million.

But Wangjie Mall had not been on this track from the beginning.

In addition to relying on old traditional 3C products to make standardized goods, it was more because of the existence of Liu Yifei's tens of millions of "fan economy" that directly cut into the B2C track, cutting off Taobao's transformation path this year.

Now Wangjie Mall, in addition to the traffic from Liu Yifei's fan economy, was flooded with peripheral merchants from many domestic movies and TV series.

For entertainment industry audiences, besides the cinema, the most reassuring consumption scene was the countless figures, posters, CDs, idol magazines, and co-branded T-shirts in Wangjie Mall.

And what gave Dongzi a headache was Taobao's lead in the payment track.

"President Lu, this idea was first proposed by you, but it was still snatched by that alien, sigh!"

"It's nothing. Our team was just one step slower, but we can walk more solidly!"

Dongzi looked at the young director in confusion.

To be honest, his perception of Lu Kuan was very strange. He knew little about the detailed industry trends and operations and almost never asked, delegating power to him to act.

But on issues like B2C versus C2C, or the current "payment credit," he could always give constructive opinions from the perspective of an industry pioneer.

It's just that their own payment system had just had an internal test version, and Taobao had officially launched software called "Alipay."

"Software is nothing; anyone can do it."

Lu Kuan comforted Dongzi, who didn't know his wife was beautiful: "The point is the industry access problem, or let's just make up a name, the payment license problem."

"Payment license?"

"He has Alipay, we have Zhifutong, it's just a piece of software, but in terms of industry compliance, we are all taking advantage of loopholes."

"Now we and Taobao both have user registration scales under 10 million. Think about it, one day when the users exceed 100 million, how much money will be lying on Zhifutong and Alipay?"

"Can the banks still sleep?"

Dongzi had been stunned since he entered the door, and Lu Kuan's every point made him stunned once.

Because he really understood and really listened.

Although there was no clear understanding of the financial security issues described by Lu Kuan, it was clear that this legal vacuum would be filled at any time.

The speed of filling it depended on the development speed of websites like Taobao, Wangjie Mall, EachNet, and Amazon.

The country only began to issue the first payment license in 2011, and the license also became the first element of compliance in the payment industry.

It marked that payment companies became one of the payment institutions recognized by the central bank and obtained legal status.

Now Ma Yun's Alipay and Wangjie's Zhifutong were, frankly speaking, small fries trying to pry the wall of financial institutions; no one paid attention before they grew up, but once they became big, they would be caged.

Lu Kuan patted him on the shoulder: "Don't be discouraged, it's just one step behind. E-commerce is still a blue ocean, and Taobao is not the only opponent."

"We should look at the long term, for example..."

"Express delivery and warehousing business."

Dongzi was stunned again, and the time of being stunned was slightly longer this time.

In these five minutes, he saw the good after-sales service and user reputation relying on self-built logistics;

He saw the autonomy and controllability of logistics distribution;

He saw the surge in PV and registered users brought by distribution efficiency and service quality...

It's just that Dongzi had a worry: "President Lu, the funds for logistics and warehousing..."

"Prepare to contact venture capital. With Taobao as a benchmark, our valuation is not low, especially after we firmly suppress them in the B2C business."

Dongzi was not very optimistic: "But this heavy-asset development model, even if SoftBank comes, it may not dare to bet!"

"Then make the data of registered users and PV look better first, communicate with Yang Siwei, and do more online marketing."

Mentioning this topic, Liu Qiangdong's face was a bit awkward.

"President Lu, actually Ms. Liu's endorsement is about to expire, but..."

"What?"

"Manager Yang said that she is not planning to renew the contract for the time being."

Lu Kuan narrowed his eyes: "Didn't Sun Wenwen inform all of you subsidiary leaders about this?"

"Before August, all business cooperation of Liu Yifei must be accelerated and increased. How come your Wangjie Mall is dropping the chain?"

At the beginning of the year, at the showdown after the Golden Globe Awards, Liu Yifei gave him an ultimatum.

That is, the sentence, "I am this kind of color," used to force Lu Kuan to get rid of the scumbag role, but the latter never paid attention.

With time approaching, it seems this is for real.

Dongzi was stunned for five minutes, and Lu Kuan was also stunned for five minutes.

He tried various methods in his mind to solve this problem.

Threaten her? Coerce her? Lure her?

He found that it was still unsolvable, especially since Liu Yifei, who had even started to take an interest in *Dragon Slayer*, this...

Lu Kuan and Dongzi looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.

Both sighed deeply.

"I will solve this problem. Wangjie Mall has three directions next."

"Firmly do B2C, firmly improve payment functions, and take out the logistics and warehousing plan first."

"If you want to take money out of people's pockets, you have to make yourself look good on the surface, right?"

Dongzi came with a depressed mood and left with worry.

He was surprised to find that on the issue of women, this genius was not as good as himself?

The high-ranking official's daughter is now firmly in his grasp, how can you, President Lu, not even be able to handle a little girl?

Xue Xiaolu knocked on the door and came in. Learning that the boss would be working in the company today, she came over in a rage!

"Director Lu! Isn't this a bit too much?"

Xue Xiaolu was holding a notebook, *Those Years*.

"Teacher Xue, why are you so angry? Sit down first."

Lu Kuan took out the water-polished black tea and generously took out a lot, without any sign of heartache.

Because he bought a truckload.

"It's not that, Director Lu. I understand the company's current shortage of directors, but I have been rushing this *Bad Genius* since the New Year."

"It's almost finished and entering post-production, how come before I even took a breath, this new script came?"

"I can't do this job!"

Xue Xiaolu was a teacher at the Beijing Film Academy. Compared to other employees, she still had some confidence in front of Lu Kuan.

Because she had been in the education system for a long time, and the high-intensity work pressure over the past year really made her unable to breathe.

Oh, you, President Lu, know how to go to Jiuzhaigou to relax when you are irritable and have no inspiration, but you don't care that your subordinates are being worked to death?!

"Teacher Xue, have you read the script of *Those Years*?"

Xue Xiaolu said weakly: "No, and I have no energy to read it. If I read it again, my husband will divorce me."

Lu Kuan was furious: "He dares? Teacher Xue, you have made great contributions to our Wangjie. If Teacher Qin has any ulterior motives, I will immediately ban him from the industry!"

Xue Xiaolu's husband, Qin Yong, graduated from the Department of Literature at Yan University and was a screenwriter in the industry. He was not famous and now belonged to the husband relying on the wife's honor.

The former female teacher at the Beijing Film Academy couldn't help but glance at Lu Kuan, who had a serious face, knowing he was joking.

"Hey, can you let me rest for two months? Or is this movie looking for Liu Yifei again? Must it be done before August?"

"Then you should change people early, otherwise Liu Yifei, a little girl, can hold on, but I, an old woman, can't!"

Lu Kuan's face was a bit embarrassed. Dongzi and his gang all knew about his high-intensity exploitation of Liu Yifei in a short period of time.

This... is not good.

How can I establish a glorious image as a boss and president in the future? The reputation of Lu the Skinner is about to come out.

"Okay, then Teacher Xue, you can polish the script again. It just so happens that Liu Yifei needs to cooperate with Wangjie Video to shoot a cultural dissemination video."

Xue Xiaolu was speechless, but the purpose of this trip was achieved.

Death to friends, not to poor nuns. Yifei, you should take care of yourself.

Who told you to get involved with this kind of person? It's poisonous!

"President Lu, how is the distribution arranged?"

"Oh, it will be finished next month, post-production will be done in May, and it will be released in the summer season."

Lu Kuan saw her hesitant look: "What's wrong?"

"Tsui Hark's *Seven Swords* should also be in the summer season. They have stars like Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, and Lu Yi, and also Jang Na-ra, who is second only to Yifei now. I'm afraid..."

"Useless, they are all paper tigers. Teacher Xue, don't you trust my vision?"

"This time we are hitting the elite. We will use two low-cost films, *Bad Genius* and *Crazy Supermarket*, to snipe him. I have great confidence."

Lu Kuan certainly has confidence. With a cost of 140 million, it took 83 million in national box office, suffering its first defeat in the martial arts genre after Ang Lee's *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon* and Zhang Yimou's *Hero*.

A crushing defeat in box office and reputation.

*Crazy Supermarket* in June will be released first, using a high-quality low-cost production to whet the audience's appetite, and then let them eat a piece of shit made of gold that Jang Na-ra participated in.

Arranging *Bad Genius* in the same period to grab the show, plus Wangjie's unparalleled publicity ability in the industry, it is not a problem to knock *Seven Swords* off the horse.

Lu Kuan has a good relationship with Tsui Hark. The special effects were done by Butian Yinghua.

It's just that *Seven Swords* in this life has Yanda Huayi's investment and Jang Na-ra's appearance, so it must bear the unbearable weight. It can only hurt Master Tsui by mistake.

In 1995, in the market environment where the Hong Kong film market was gradually shrinking, Tsui Hark still went all out to film *The Blade*, with a box office of only a pitiful 3.3 million Hong Kong dollars.

He lost money and had an unpleasant time with his old partner Zhao Wenzhuo. Until this year, 2005, he had not touched the martial arts genre he loved for ten years.

Unexpectedly, this *Seven Swords* would repeat the same mistakes. Excluding the share, the film party lost nearly 100 million.

With Zhou Jun's intervention, Yanda Huayi has indeed achieved significant improvements in industry status and internet channel integration compared to the previous life.

But because he ignored the industry development trend, attempted to achieve his goal of listing and cashing out as soon as possible, and benchmarked against Liu Yifei to create a competing actress Jang Na-ra, he stepped into this big pit by mistake.

Xue Xiaolu achieved her goal and left satisfied.

Sun Wenwen knocked on the door and came in to report the boss's recent schedule.

"March 22nd, a charity match organized by Sister Mei and the Hong Kong Star Football Team to donate buildings and money to poor schools in Aba and other areas of Sichuan Province."

"March 24th, the Olympic opening ceremony proposal bidding team gathers for the first time at the Beijing Hotel. The flight and accommodation for all personnel have been confirmed."

"March 26th, the screenwriting team led by Liu Heng submits the final draft of the *Tangshan Earthquake* script. By the end of the month, the set and building aging situation of the Tangshan film set must be accepted."

Lu Kuan interrupted her: "That football team, who are the domestic ones?"

Sun Wenwen smiled: "Zhao Benshan, Sun Nan, Yu Quan, Wu Jing, Wang Feng, and you, President Lu."

"Then our mainland people are not enough?"

"Wang Minhui said that the Hong Kong Star Football Team will mix with us to form a team. We mainlanders just need to participate."

That's fine, otherwise Old Zhao running and panting, how much trouble it would cause.

Not to mention this, he has to take a ball to dribble and find the feeling in the past two days. In his past life, he was the captain of the Beijing Film Academy team. It has been many years since he put his sword in the arsenal.

President Lu misses the running in the sunset those years. That is his lost youth.

Sun Wenwen continued: "Immediately following is the opening ceremony of *Tangshan Earthquake*, scheduled to start on time at 3:42 PM on the 27th."

Lu Kuan nodded silently. On July 28, 1976, at 3:42 AM, a disaster struck quietly.

"Arrange a time for Hu Jun, Zhou Xun, and a few actors to have a meal, and also that little Song Jia."

"Then arrange for Wangjie Video and Travel Satellite TV to prepare for the live broadcast of the opening ceremony on the 27th in advance. It must be done properly."

"Yes, leader."

President Lu suddenly remembered something: "By the way, the documents and clothing for tomorrow's meeting..."

"In the wardrobe behind you, there are also the party member certificate of the China Association for Promoting Democracy and the attendance certificate of the CPPCC. You can check them later."

Tomorrow is the third session of the 10th National Committee of the CPPCC in 2005. Lu Kuan will participate in politics and discuss politics as the deputy chairman of the Beijing Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy.

At the same time, he will participate in the discussion of the literary and art working group as the vice chairman of the China Film Directors Association, with Zhao Benshan and Zhang Yimou on the list.

"How is Liu Yifei's work arranged recently?"

Sun Wenwen was stunned and opened her notebook to scan it.

"*Bad Genius* will be finished soon. The shooting of the traffic video is arranged for early April after communicating with Yang Siwei."

"Oh, by the way, Sister Mei also invited her to Hong Kong to participate in the charity match and banquet. A flight has been booked for you."

President Lu's heart moved, and he pretended to touch his mobile phone: "Wenwen, you call Liu Yifei, my phone is out of power."

He wants to verify his guess.

Sun Wenwen said embarrassedly: "Boss, I don't have her number. Shall I call Yang Siwei?"

"1380909834x."

Lu Kuan didn't go to verify whether she had saved it, but as long as Liu Yifei answered, the first sentence could show the relationship between the two.

If Liu Yifei started with "Sister Wenwen," then Liu Yifei was lying in the hospital ward last time.

Then Liu Yifei's "precise capture" of his schedule several times is very suspicious of whether it has anything to do with his housekeeper.

Sun Wenwen pressed the keys with a normal face, and only the ringtone of the cat meowing remained in the office.

"Hello? Hello?"

"Ms. Liu, I am Sun Wenwen."

"Ah! Sister Wenwen, is there anything?"

Sun Wenwen cast a look of asking for instructions. President Lu shook his head at her and pointed to the water-polished black tea on the tea table.

"Nothing, President Lu brought some black tea from Sichuan Province. I'll see when I can send you some."

"Okay, then I'll let the assistant take it. Don't run."

"Okay, goodbye Ms. Liu."

"Goodbye."

The sound of beep-beep-beep came. Sun Wenwen looked up again, and President Lu had already lowered his head and started to approve documents.

"You go first, no need to close the door."

"Yes, boss."

Sun Wenwen's palms were full of sweat. She walked out of the office with difficulty, turned and walked to the bathroom, walking faster and faster, faster and faster...

She swallowed hard in front of the mirror, regardless of whether the makeup today would be ruined, and splashed water on her face to force herself to calm down.

She tidied up her short bangs, and the housekeeper of Wangjie Holdings went downstairs and entered her office.

Locked, dialed Liu Yifei's phone.

"How is it, did he suspect it?"

Liu Yifei was also very uneasy. In case the washing machine knew that she...

In the hospital ward, President Lu tested her lukewarmly but startled the snake. The next day, Liu Yifei carefully discussed with Sun Wenwen.

Do not leave numbers for each other, ask who it is when connecting.

Fighting wits and courage with people like Lu Kuan, not a single flaw can be left.

Sun Wenwen was about to cry.

"Ms. Liu, or..."

"No! Sister Wenwen, how can you shrink back?"

Liu Yifei could think of what she wanted to say with her teeth.

First explicitly refuse, then gradually persuade: "You also know my value to Wangjie, not only now, but it will only be higher after this year!"

"Don't worry, if something happens, I will protect you. Even if you are fired, the studio will always have a meal for you, and the treatment will be compared to Yang Siwei."

Sun Wenwen hung up the phone in a daze. The innocent little girl in her mind had turned into a little devil with red horns.

President Lu is a big devil.

Why do you two have to come to torture us poor people?!

Afei: Same feeling!

Sun Wenwen walked from a small town test-taker to a higher education institution in Beijing, met a genius boss to change her destiny, and grew up with Wangjie to become the housekeeper of the giant ship of domestic entertainment.

With her double quotient, she shouldn't have taken such a risk.

It was really because she had handled so many financial data of the company that she felt that Liu Yifei had a special status in terms of economic value and in President Lu's heart.

She was not too stupid, but too smart. The more the company developed, the more panicked she became, and the more she wanted to consolidate her position.

Therefore, she chose to invest in Liu Yifei in advance, investing in this girl who might become the boss's wife.

Starting from the time she accepted her bag at that dinner...

It's too late to regret, the only thing to be glad about is that there is no reveal for the time being.

Lu Kuan returned home with a full set of meeting equipment. Not only March, but the whole of 2005 will be a difficult and arduous year.

Starting from the opening of the earthquake movie, he must take into account the creation of the opening ceremony proposal and the movie.

In mid-April, he will set off for Cannes to watch the film and prepare for the film festival jury.

August 31st is the deadline for the directional collection of the Olympic opening ceremony proposal, followed by the post-production of *Tangshan Earthquake*.

If the opening ceremony proposal is successfully bid, there will be the first proposal reporting work in September.

In short, there are thousands of things. Lu Kuan has a headache just thinking about it. The more the business is done, the more it binds his hands and feet, and he has no qualification to step on the brakes himself.

Afei drove the Bentley Arnage to Huabin Golf. The president of Wangjie Holdings just changed a car.

The Land Cruiser LC120 was originally bought for fun. After this car accident, even if it was done by himself, he had to pay attention to the safety of the car.

Lu Kuan pushed open the study door. Bingbing was reading the script of *Protégé* and seriously making a character biography for Fen.

She naturally did not have the ambition and motivation to become a movie queen like Liu Yifei, but she had always kept in mind Lu Kuan's guidance that "a female actor's work is 1, and others are 0."

Although she had already stood out in the fashion track, she still could not stop improving her main business.

"Have you eaten? There is food in the fridge. Shall I cook for you?"

"Where is the nanny?"

"I let her go back first. Zhou Jun is suspicious. I think it's better to be cautious."

Bingbing is naturally a woman who is sophisticated and worldly. Every time she meets President Lu privately, she does her best to be gentle and fully displays the charm and talent of a big actress.

For a big boss who dominates the business and film circles, Bingbing feels that he may not like such a strong woman.

Ambition grows wildly, passing through the dusty fear, and she is also looking for an opportunity to break through.

For a top big actress like her, she will not let go of any opportunity for life leap.

Knowing Lu Kuan and sacrificing herself is the first time, and maybe there will be a second time.

"Why don't you just cook something simple? Just me and Afei to eat."

President Lu was indeed a bit hungry. He never regarded Afei as an outsider, and the three of them often ate together in the villa.

Hearing the engine sound, Bingbing opened the curtain and smiled: "Afei is quite sensible, much better than you."

The next door was bought by Bingbing. Afei usually goes there to rest at night. It seems that he knows the boss has been vegetarian recently and avoids suspicion first.

"Haha, look at what you said, where am I not sensible?"

President Lu hooked his fingers to let Bingbing sit on his lap: "Instead, it's you, you have to know how to look at my face, understand?"

The big actress lifted the broken hair on her forehead, and her cold left hand covered the man's cheek: "How to look at your face?"

"Looking at my face means seeing that I am very lustful, so hurry up and have sex!"

"Ah!"

Bingbing was picked up by the waist with a giggle, followed by absurd daytime debauchery.

The biting cold wind of early spring could not resist the warmth of the gentle village. Only a few wild cats that broke into the villa yard were in heat, echoing the lingering and soft sounds from the second floor.

"Today is safe..."

Bingbing wrapped her waist and did not let go. The stretching of her forehead interpreted the wonderful release of dopamine. This reward mechanism of human hormones maintaining intimacy fascinated her.

After the matter, Bingbing, who was determined to lose weight, could not resist the entanglement. After cooking a few home-cooked dishes, she accompanied President Lu to eat a few bites.

"How is Wang Jinhua?"

"Sister Hua and the Wang Dajun brothers talked a few more times. I guess they are going to break up."

Cheng Tian was established in the domestic entertainment industry. Currently, the officially announced signing is Chen Hao, Liu Yifei's colleague in *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*.

But the transactions under the water should have been going on for a while. The earthquake in the domestic entertainment industry will break out sooner or later.

Fan Bingbing smiled bitterly: "But now my news is not accurate. Sister Hua has regarded me as a traitor."

"Well, what about Zhou Jun?"

"He is still okay. He tested me once last time, but there was no result. I haven't seen anyone much recently."

"Oh, by the way, recently Huo Siyan has always accompanied Wang Xiaolei to socialize with Zhou Jun. Once she was drunk and called me. I heard Director Zhang, Director Zhang, not very clear."

President Lu paused his chopsticks, thinking, could it be Director Zhang of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology?

He accelerated the accumulation of political resources in *Tangshan Earthquake* and the Olympic opening ceremony proposal to prepare for the unexpected, and the opponent was also accelerating the public relations of picking thorns and encircling and suppressing.

"Everyone is catching the mole!"

He sighed and lit a cigarette after the meal.

Zhou Jun is catching the mole, and he is also catching the "mole."

It's just that Sun Wenwen is a somewhat peculiar mole...

Her professional loyalty and personal loyalty have been tested. Last year, Yanda Huayi tried to dig the deputy general manager of the artist economy department, and also leaked several training plans of Wangjie.

After the investigation, Sun Wenwen was offered three times the salary but was not shaken. In this regard, President Lu is relatively at ease.

But Liu Yifei's matter...

It really made him laugh and cry. Even if he can't confirm 100% that she got his schedule from Sun Wenwen, at least there is a major suspicion.

The next small test will show clues, don't rush.

"By the way, who do you have the best relationship with among the editors-in-chief of domestic fashion magazines?"

Bingbing raised her smooth forehead: "What do you mean?"

"Anna Wintour told me that *Vogue* will be launched in China around September, asking for my opinion on the editor-in-chief."

"Really! That's great!"

Bingbing was energetic. With the help of the most authoritative *Vogue*, her fashion career can obviously go to a higher level.

And this is all thanks to the man in front of her.

"I'll think about it, but there are only a few domestic fashion female editors."

She counted with her fingers: "Xiaoxue, Su Mang, Hong Huang, Zhang Yu..."

President Lu has an impression of the name Zhang Yu. The first editor-in-chief of *Vogue* in the future is her.

"Zhang Yu is good. She seems to be working at *Vogue* in the UK now. You can communicate more with her."

"Well, understood."

For Bingbing, words don't need to be said to ten points. She knows what to do with a little hint.

President Lu turned to another topic: "How much money do you have in your hand now?"

Bingbing, who finished washing her hands and making soup, was virtuously wearing rubber gloves to clean the table, was stunned.

"Are you short of money?"

"What do you think?"

Bingbing smiled: "There is about 20 million in cash, plus several properties, apartments and villas, and the car is very ordinary."

"What's wrong?"

President Lu remembered the 2 million she donated without blinking, saying it was to repay him.

She has been with him for so long, and she has never asked for anything.

"I'll mark a few places for you. Keep some money in your hand, and buy houses with the rest."

"Oh, by the way, don't you like Sihe Academy? I have two good ones there. You take them to live in. Let someone handle the procedures."

The 831 deadline mentioned earlier has ended, and the country has begun the bidding, auction, and listing system for land transfer, and land supply has completely moved towards marketization.

This has led to a closer connection between land prices and housing prices, which continues to rise.

If a time traveler chooses a time to hoard houses, 04 and 05 are the last boarding opportunities in the past ten years.

Bingbing's movements were stifled, and her eyes seemed to overflow with love. After a long while, she turned and entered the kitchen.

"No, I'll buy the house myself. I'm not looking for these from you."

President Lu doesn't care whether she is acting or immersed in the play, just do what he thinks is right. What if it's fake?

At least for the past two years, she has pretended that he has never seen any flaws.

"Okay, stop doing it, there will be a nanny tomorrow."

Bingbing responded obediently, turned back and hugged his neck: "I am sometimes really greedy, I really want to see you every day."

"Haha, greed is a good thing, greed makes people progress."

Lu Kuan didn't care about her vague declaration of love, or allegiance.

Full and warm, thinking of lust, the big actress continued to devote herself to today's KPI.

Collapse the bed.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 266 =====