Actor: Thank you.

After spending a little time together, the two went out to find a place to eat.

This time, the two of them went alone, leaving their assistants and bodyguards free to do as they pleased.

Brother Long went to a bar for a drink to relax.

He's been very nervous lately, not drinking at all, for fear that something might happen.

The assistant went to a nearby shopping mall to buy gifts for the elderly and children in the family, planning to give them away during the Chinese New Year.

Life returned to normal.

There aren't that many thrilling moments.

Zhang Yuan was exhausted after his trip, but all he gained was a warm woman and a cold 1.5 million in his account...

“You must be really hungry.” Zhang Yuan watched as Xixi devoured the lobster and poured her a glass of white wine.

In theory, there's a saying that red wine goes with red meat and white wine goes with white meat.

However, the actual combinations are very complex.

Pairing wines with meals at upscale restaurants is an art in itself.

There is a manga in an island country called "Drops of God", which tells the story of wine sommeliers.

The main storyline revolves around the protagonist's search for the "Twelve Apostles" and the "Chief God," as well as their struggle for their inheritance.

These thirteen wines are all top-quality wines from different wineries and vintages.

This comic book sparked a wine craze in the island nation and was extremely professional.

If you want to get started with wine, this comic book is all you need.

The wine Sisi is currently pairing with lobster is Château d'Yquem, the white wine from the Twelfth Apostle in the comics, known as "A Moment of Eternity".

The only difference is that the comic specifically mentions the auspicious year of 1976, while the wine they are drinking now is from 5 years ago.

It is sweet but not cloying. While enhancing the deliciousness of food, it also retains its own aroma in the mouth and nasal cavity without being overly dominant in competing with other flavors.

Good wine and good actors have something in common in some ways.

"I'm a little hungry."

"Then you should find a hotel and order some food first."

"But I want to have dinner with you." She put down her knife and fork and took a sip of her wine.

"The food tasted great, and the wine was excellent."

"So it must not be cheap, right?"

"It's alright," Zhang Yuan calculated.

It cost less than $1000 in total.

He could accept the price, but the 20% tip made him uncomfortable.

He just couldn't stand the tipping culture; he considered it a bad habit!
This is the means by which capitalism shifts class contradictions.

"You said it was alright, but it wasn't cheap, so I'll pay the bill."

"You can't always be the one paying."

"Okay." Zhang Yuan didn't try to be a chauvinist and insist on paying the bill; he just smiled and agreed softly.

Americans aren't really good at cooking; they basically follow a few principles.

Cheese is power, butter is energy, and sugar needs to be consumed in large quantities.

Many Chinese people find authentic American food unpalatable; our bodies cannot handle such a violent energy bomb.

Why are white people always so excited?

You eat according to their recipes, and you get excited.

Lobster rolls, grilled prawns, lobster bisque.

Zhang Yuan ordered a large portion of the signature filet mignon, which also came with mashed potatoes.

American-style mashed potatoes are made by mixing butter and potatoes in a 1:1 ratio to ensure a smooth and creamy texture.

So when foreigners say Chinese food looks greasy, it really just looks greasy.

They ate it directly.

"Want some to share with you?"

"Okay, I'll share some with you too."

The two exchanged some of their food.

In the past, she would not have been willing to eat each other's food in public.

The sense of "boundaries" between oneself and oneself is now significantly weaker.

Because she came from a single-parent family and had to wander around since childhood, she is actually someone who can be described as independent, but also someone who is quite guarded.

Easy to approach, but difficult to delve into.

It won't be easy to get her to completely open up.

"What are you looking at?" Sisi noticed that Zhang Yuan was looking out the window.

"It's nothing," Zhang Yuan shook his head. "I'm just experiencing what others have seen."

"What do you mean?"

"This restaurant is called Musso & Frank."

"The seat behind you was where Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy had a date."

"Huh?" Sisi turned around and saw a foreigner smiling and nodding at her, so she turned her head away shyly.

“The table next to mine…” Zhang Yuan pointed to the side: “is called the Chaplin Corner.”

"The comedy master came dozens of times, and each time he sat in the same place, ate their filet mignon, and looked out at the street scene."

The moon of today is not the moon of old, yet the bright moon once shone on the ancients.

Hollywood is indeed a place where many miracles and legends have been born.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? I should have brought my camera and taken some photos," Sisi complained.

"If you like it, you can come again next time."

"But they are only the past; we are the future."

"Hey." Seeing his confident look, Sisi smiled and lowered her head.

After the meal, as agreed beforehand, Zhang Yuan took her to a small nearby cinema.

There weren't many people who recognized them to begin with.

Even though movies like "The Forbidden Kingdom" and "Fast & Furious" were shown in North America.

But foreigners don't usually remember their faces.

They didn't even bother to disguise themselves; they just entered the theater like any other person.

It was shabby, small, and old.

Many of America's facilities did indeed start much earlier, decades earlier than those in China.

But it's been decades, and the facilities are being updated very slowly.

Even Americans themselves think it's too shabby, but in the eyes of some public intellectuals in China, it has become "cultural heritage".

People who have never seen a 5000-year-old country envy those with a 250-year-old country for their cultural heritage...

After Zhang Yuan sat down, he found the chair to be small and dirty.

He felt that this "foundation" was unnecessary.

Sisi didn't seem to mind.

I'm happy as long as I'm on a date with him.

I'm just curious that Hollywood has so many big theaters; it's a great place.

Why not go to those other places, instead of coming to this run-down little place...?

Hiss... she suddenly realized.

It's not that I don't know how to watch movies; what I really want is for them to do something to me while I'm watching a movie, right?
That won't do... Never mind, as long as he doesn't go too far, let him be.

This is a foreign country, so there aren't that many paparazzi watching and taking pictures.

"What movie should we watch?" Sisi hesitated for a while before calming down.

Whatever, he always spoils me, so I'll spoil him too.

"Horror movie."

"Yay!" Sisi exclaimed excitedly when she heard it was a horror movie.

She's watched plenty of movies like The Ring, Ju-on, and Oculus.

She likes that heart-pounding feeling, whether it's being scared by a horror movie or riding a roller coaster.

But her mother didn't like it; Liu Xiaoli was an artistic type.

So usually I either watch it by myself or with a female classmate.

This is the first time I've ever watched a horror movie with a guy.

Shortly after, the lights in the theater went out.

The title appeared on the screen: "Paranormal Activity".

Paranormal means supernatural.

Activity means activity.

If translated literally, this film should be called "Supernatural Phenomena".

That's just how rustic it is.

Fortunately, although it was not introduced to China, the subtitle and translation groups in the early years were mostly spontaneously formed by liberal arts students, and their level was very high.

So they gave the film a fitting and clear name: "The Ghostly Chronicles".

This is why Zhang Yuan came to this shabby little movie theater.

Because this movie won't be shown in major theaters!
Only small cinemas are showing it.

This film is actually a "copycat" of "The Blair Witch Project".

"The Blair Witch Project" is that found-footage horror film that only cost $6 to make, but through millions of dollars of viral marketing, it grossed over $2 million at the box office.

North America is a popular place for all kinds of "theology", "pseudoscience" and "extraterrestrialism".

This is related to the fact that their basic education is relatively "happy," and many people's understanding is detached from the material world and the laws of physics.

Simply put, it's a matter of unscientific cognition.

This is what is meant by "If you don't study math, physics, and chemistry, life will be full of metaphysics."

Therefore, these mockumentary works can easily create a trend.

People here take it seriously.

The film's content is not complex, and is even quite crude.

It's about a couple who moved into a new house only to find that something was wrong with it.

The woman was acting strangely, but the man didn't believe his girlfriend.

So the two of them decided to turn on the DV camera every night before going to bed, place it opposite the bed, and record the whole process to see if they would discover anything.

The plot follows a formula: record video, check the content, find problems, record more video, find more problems...

The bizarre situation worsened, escalating step by step.

However, no actual "ghost" appears in the entire film; instead, the atmosphere is created through various elements such as lights going out or cups breaking.

Then, the girlfriend's behavior in the video became increasingly strange. She would get up in the middle of the night and walk around, or stand by and watch her sleeping boyfriend, watching him all night long.

When her boyfriend checked the video during the day, he also noticed that a sound like a devil's whisper was slowly appearing in the audio track, and it became more and more obvious.

In 09, this style of expression was quite trendy.

Zhang Yuan watched with great interest.

After watching for a while, he turned his head and found that Sisi was looking at him.

"What's wrong? The movie wasn't good?"

“It’s quite interesting,” she replied.

"Then why aren't you watching the movie, but watching me instead?" "I'm waiting for you."

"What are you waiting for me to do?"

Then she grabbed Zhang Yuan's arm and put it around her shoulder.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm used to you not liking to be affectionate in public before."

"Is it my fault?" Sisi pouted and glanced at him sideways.

The two of them continued watching, embracing each other.

"ah!"

"Hey!"

"call……"

As the startling scene unfolded, Zhang Yuan noticed his arms trembling.

Not that brave, but loves excitement.

"Hehehe..."

"You're making fun of me." Sisi patted his chest.

"No, I just laughed at it."

"It's a horror movie, and you're still laughing? Show some respect to the producers, okay?" Sisi complained irritably, of course knowing he was laughing at her.

The film is not long, only about 100 minutes long.

This approach won't last long.

After leaving the cinema, they asked Brother Long to come and pick them up.

Even in Hollywood, Zhang Yuan wouldn't dare to wander the streets at midnight.

Brother Long had a few drinks, wasn't drunk, and quickly came over.

What did you think of this movie?

"It's pretty good, quite innovative, and different from the island nation and Siam horror films I've seen before."

"It's just a bit rough around the edges."

"It was probably filmed with a handheld DV camera," Zhang Yuan replied.

"No wonder." Sisi crossed her arms.

Zhang Yuan draped a scarf over her shoulders.

At this time of day, the temperature in Hollywood was below 10 degrees Celsius, and it was quite cold.

Back at the hotel, the two finished washing up.

Zhang Yuan told her to wash first, since girls need to blow-dry their hair, and it would be faster for boys.

She came out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe and drying her hair.

"power cut?"

Zhang Yuan looked up and saw that the bedroom was completely dark.

"Sissi, where are you?"

"cough……"

No sooner had he finished asking than a figure dressed in white with black hair appeared on the other side of the bed.

It had menacing hands and feet and slowly crawled toward him.

It's obvious that she's cosplaying Sadako.

You know what, she has a really nice way of twisting her waist.

"Take your life..."

The "female ghost" said in a high-pitched voice.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuan threw down the towel, pulled off his belt, and took off his bathrobe.

Seconds of light.

"Hey hey..."

The female ghost stopped pretending, brushed aside the long hair she had pulled in front of her, and tried to back away.

"Don't go, do you want me to die?"

"Here, here, I'll give it to you."

"No!" Sisi struggled to lean back. "Humans and ghosts are different."

"It's good that humans and ghosts are on different paths."

"Humans and ghosts are on different paths, which means there is reproductive isolation, so there is no need to worry about contraception."

Liu Qianqian: ...

"you've changed."

"You don't play with me anymore."

“You used to play along with me,” she complained.

"I'm acting alongside you, but the play has been changed."

"It used to be 'The Ring,' now it's 'Lust, Caution.'"

“Lust, Caution isn’t a horror movie!” Sisi replied with a frown.

"How could it not be? A woman falls in love with a traitor and helps him escape assassination."

"Everyone thinks it's beautiful, especially female viewers and readers who think it's love... Isn't this a horror movie?"

Given Jiang Wen's values, how could she possibly film this kind of movie?

If it were his turn to film, Wang Jiazhi would have blown Mr. Yi's head off within the first 15 minutes and taken the second male lead up the mountain to become bandits.

“You’re being sophistical,” Sisi tapped his nose.

"Let's take care of business first!"

We've had our fill of this mess.

"Aren't you tired?" After finishing her business, her long hair was matted with sweat from her forehead.

"It's not tiring, and we're both usually busy, so we don't have many opportunities to be together."

"So, while I have free time, I need to make up for the missed slots."

"Mmm." Hearing him say that, the other person smiled, hugged him, and nuzzled his head against him.

I'm still excited, so I won't fall asleep so quickly.

The two lay face to face, wrapped in blankets, chatting idly.

"So, you took me to eat lobster, and found a restaurant run by famous people."

"Then why did you take me to see this low-budget movie?"

Liu Qianqian has also grown a lot and learned to apply what she has learned to other situations.

She felt that the other person wouldn't just randomly pick a movie to watch.

"Don't you think it's quite interesting?"

"Yes."

"That's good."

"Are you interested in the director or the actors in this film?" she guessed.

"Ha, there are no celebrities or famous directors here, so why would I be interested?"

If the $60000 budget of "The Blair Witch Project" turning into $2 million is a box office miracle, then...

In fact, the return on investment for "The Haunted Cop Shop" is even more outrageous than the movie mentioned above!
With a budget of $13,000 and an additional $2000 for marketing and distribution, the company ultimately grossed over $100 million at the box office!

Let's just say that the audience of "happy education" is easy to fool.

This is similar to how short video platforms like Xiaohongshu and Kuaishou target their customers.

People with low education and low income are actually the easiest to deceive.

Since it can get such high box office revenue, why isn't it released in major theaters? Why can we only watch it in small, run-down cinemas?

Because the time isn't right yet!
This movie was filmed in 07.

Because of its low cost and rough content, there was initially no plan to release it in theaters.

It was released directly on DVD.

In North America, many B-movies are made and sold directly on DVD, and they can recoup their costs.

Just like the streaming platforms of later generations.

The copyright ecosystem and consumer concepts in China and the United States are completely different, so their approach simply won't work in China.

Of course, the fact that DVDs weren't popular in the country was also due to the Japanese.

The same old trick: the island nation monopolizes the DVD patents, so you have to share the profits with them as long as you sell discs.

Americans don't care about this or that. If I have the ability, I'll just rob you. Why should I give you money?

China couldn't do that; it didn't have the strength back then, nor could it project such a bullying image.

Later, the Japanese used the same approach with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, so China and the US both opted for the electric vehicle route.

The short guy, only 1.4 meters tall, was always waving his arms around, trying to extort money from two muscular men by charging them tolls.

It is already an act of kindness from the world that we took a detour.

Paranormal Activity first spent two years in the DVD market.

The CDs sold must have fetched millions of dollars.

The production company took a look and thought, "Great!"
Then the idea of ​​releasing it in theaters came to mind.

They went through a series of connections and asked for favors, eventually ending up with Spielberg.

My older brother is a senior figure, and he understands how difficult it is to support small companies, so he introduced them to Paramount, one of the Big Eight publishers, for distribution.

The big film studios are all arrogant and only gave Spielberg a little face; they didn't put in much effort.

Therefore, it can only be shown in small theaters.

And after its release, the box office performance was not good.

It's been airing for almost four months, but it hasn't earned as much as selling DVDs.

It wasn't until the following year, after winning two North American awards, that it suddenly became a huge hit, selling over 100 million copies.

This movie isn't popular yet.

In other words, in capitalist countries, the film and television market has a high degree of freedom in theaters, and these kinds of films can be shown for half a year or even a year.

If it's released in China and there's no chance of it being shown for two weeks, it's completely doomed.

Although he hasn't become famous yet, Zhang Yuan isn't in a rush either.

It's been so many years since it was filmed, there haven't been any investment opportunities, so we can't pick up the scraps from this movie.

Because his goal wasn't this movie at all!

Instead, it's the production company, Blumhouse Productions, which is still a tiny workshop.

in the country, this company is directly translated as Blenhouse Films.

Because the boss's name is Jason Brun.

Let's leave aside the company's later masterpieces for now.

Because there are too many well-known works.

It is a very unique company that focuses on horror, thriller, and low-budget films.

The company's rise to prominence appears to be due to the huge success of "Paranormal Activity".

Actually it is not.

What truly made the company a success was the arrival of a genius director.

That is, James Wan, the last god of horror films. (End of this chapter)