Actor: Thank you.

Zhang Yuan was in a great mood.

Although the salary was secondary to him, earning so much more money was something to celebrate.

"They won't stop using you just because your salary is too high and you lost the bet, right?" Sisi whispered in his ear after her excitement had subsided a bit.

"Not really."

"If the other party reneges on the deal over such a small amount of money, then they are not a worthwhile partner to cooperate with."

"Someone who's been navigating the world for decades, surely wouldn't...?"

Zhang Yuan turned around and looked at Stallone.

The guy was raising his eyebrows, deep in thought, looking a bit bewildered.

On the first day of practice, he broke the amateur record on the court.

What if you could train for a few more years...

Sylvester Stallone came from a poor background and achieved success through extraordinary effort.

Therefore, he directly rejected the pointless idea that the shot was just luck.

He deduced that there were only two possibilities.

First of all, he is very talented.

Secondly, the child is very strong...

"Silvis, how is it?" Zhang Yuan spread his hands.

The other person shook his head and reluctantly bumped fists with him.

"Trust me, I'll make you feel like you got more than your money's worth," Zhang Yuan said confidently.

“300 million…you win, no problem.” Stallone pouted and spread his hands.

"But with a limited budget, we can't give you cash."

“Zhang, this is a business deal, and we need to discuss it in a business-like manner.”

Stallone's proposal was a tiered salary system, with a minimum of $100 million and a maximum of $300 million.

There are two reference standards: the film's total box office and the film's box office in China.

The total box office revenue is to ensure the film's high profitability and the ability to pay his salary.

The box office success in China ensured that he brought enough overseas attention to the film, making his salary worthwhile.

Sylvester Stallone stated that he would only receive his full salary if the Chinese box office reached over $5000 million.

Zhang Yuan said no problem, but Hong Kong and Taiwan should be included.

He made it clear that these two places are an inseparable part of China.

Zhang Yuan blocked him from both ends; these two places are major box office markets, with at least tens of millions of RMB in box office revenue.

If you agree, it will reduce my stress.

If you disagree, then that's a big problem; our values ​​don't align.

Zhang Yuan displayed an attitude of not giving an inch.

Stallone raised his hands to indicate that he was not interested in international politics and would not participate in domestic partisan struggles or foreign conflicts.

Finally agreed.

Zhang Yuan also helped the film companies on both sides of the strait obtain the names of the domestic production companies.

This way, he can effectively monitor box office revenue across mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Otherwise, if I find another company in mainland China to act as my agent, what if they collude with me from the inside and try to sabotage me?
"Making money isn't easy." He finally stopped talking when his throat was dry.

"It's mentally taxing."

Sylvester Stallone may look all muscular and strong, as if all his strength comes from his arms, but the reason he's where he is today is because he's not an ordinary person.

"You're just too cautious," Sisi said, handing him a bottle of water.

She was well protected. Although she worked hard and wasn't spoiled, her mother and godfather protected her all the way, preventing her from seeing the ugly faces of many people.

He was just an actor in "The Expendables 1".

Now that we're in the second installment, he's not just an actor, but also a collaborator, so we have to be more cautious and careful.

A notorious traitor in the early days of Chinese esports, a certain StarCraft player known as "Jiangnan Dog King," once gave his opponent expired bread to eat before a match.

They were also playing Crayon Shin-chan loudly all night in the next room.

It attacks the enemy from both the digestive system and sleep.

Famous quote: The duel begins before the match even begins.

Do you think this is because domestic athletes lack sportsmanship and have poor manners?

The same is true abroad.

This brings us to the famous "Jordan Flu Night".

The flu is just a euphemism, a way to cover up something embarrassing.

Actually, it was "Jordan's night of food poisoning".

Game 5 of the 97 NBA Finals: The Bulls played the Jazz on the road.

After attending an event the night before, Jordan felt hungry and ordered a pizza at the hotel.

When it arrived, there were five or six people crowding outside the door. Usually, a pizza delivery person only takes one person at most.

Without thinking much, he finished the entire pizza.

At four o'clock in the morning, the trainer received a call from Jordan. When he arrived at the room, the superstar was already curled up on the floor and unable to get up.

Severe food poisoning, fever up to 40 degrees Celsius.

Seeing that things were not going well, the coach and manager discussed it together and decided that he needed to be taken to the hospital.

Jordan refused and insisted on getting on the bus to the game; by then, he needed help to get on the bus.

The previous four games ended in a 2-2 draw. As a key player, if Jordan weren't there, there would be no point in even playing this game; the team's morale would be ruined.

What is the backbone of a team?
You just need to point it anywhere, without moving, and your morale will increase by 50% while the enemy's morale will decrease by 50%.

The same principle applies to the practice of emperors personally leading military campaigns in ancient times.

Of course, Jordan was even more impressive, personally leading the team despite being poisoned.

Despite taking medication, he played for 40 minutes, scoring 38 points and ultimately hitting a crucial three-pointer to lead the team to a 90-88 victory over the Jazz.

By the end, Jordan was already out of it, just like when Brother Qian brought alcohol onto the stage; he was driven entirely by his subconscious.

He rushed to the hospital after the match and almost ended up in the ICU.

Although Kobe, James, and Curry were also famous in their own eras, when it comes to the NBA, the first person that comes to mind is Jordan.

With food poisoning and a high fever, let alone playing a 40-minute high-intensity game, even an ordinary person can't sit up straight.

In the eyes of Westerners, after this battle, Jordan has already become a demigod, having accomplished what ordinary people cannot.

But for the Chinese, with their predecessors who could run 70 kilometers with heavy loads for 14 hours and then defeat the Americans, Jordan doesn't seem so amazing after all.

There are generally two interpretations of "Flu Night".

The Jazz's general manager and owner bribed the pizzeria's underlings.

This is something betting companies do to get higher odds.

In short, nobody had a grudge against Jordan; they were just acting in their own self-interest.

Destroying you is none of your business.

This is a common saying in the West: Business is business. When it comes to making money, there's no room for sentimentality, justice, or even law and morality.

This is their true nature.

So even when dealing with someone like Sylvester Stallone who has a fairly good reputation, you have to be extremely careful.

The more careful you are, the less likely something bad will happen.

If nothing goes wrong, we're friends.

Stallone also noticed his caution and found him troublesome.

But it also showed more respect.

White people only respect the strong.

“Zhang, we need another actress for this movie, just like we did for the first one,” Stallone said to him after playing ball for a while.

"I hope to gain more benefits from the Chinese region, so I want to use Chinese people."

Do you have any recommendations?

Zhang Yuan glanced at Qianqian, but then shook his head.

She is indeed hardworking and is one of the few actresses in China who can keep up with the pace of the film, but her image is not suitable.

A young girl suddenly appeared out of a bunch of rough men; it's outrageous.

He then abandoned the idea.

But since they asked, we have to use our own people.

Yu Nan was at the meeting because Sylvester Stallone's Millennium Films had found a partner in LeEco.

People from LeEco recommended Yu Nan.

Now that I'm the partner, of course I have to promote my own people.

"How is Zhang Ziyi?" Zhang Yuan replied.

Zhang Ziyi has become less international in recent years, and her resources in North America have plummeted since she lost the support of her Jewish father.

Moreover, she has already been proven unable to carry the box office in Hollywood.

If I can't play the lead role, I can still play the supporting role.

Stallone certainly knew her.

Zhang Ziyi became famous in Hollywood for her "action heroine" image. Films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers, and Rush Hour 2 were all quite successful.

But when she didn't want to play an action heroine, she failed.

The same goes for Sissi. Her role as Golden Swallow in The Forbidden Kingdom gave her a little bit of fame in North America, but she didn't want to play similar roles anymore, so she stopped acting.

It wasn't until "Mulan" took this path that it gained popularity.

That's the image that white people have of Chinese people; it's hard to see anything else that way.

Zhang Ziyi is currently filming "The Grandmaster" and is training well; her physical condition is at its peak.

Zhang Yuan told Stallone about this and said he would send him several on-set videos of Stallone's fight scenes, the real content without post-production editing.

If he thinks it's okay, we can consider it.

As for salaries, that's another issue for Hollywood.

Even though Zhang Ziyi is famous overseas, Sylvester Stallone wouldn't even give her 100 million.

Women's pay is significantly lower than men's, a gap that is much larger than in China.

Zhang Yuan said it was okay and he would communicate with her.

I called Zhang Ziyi and told her I had recommended a role for her in "The Expendables 2".

Even though they were on the phone, Zhang Yuan could still sense that Zhang Ziyi was about to laugh.

Even though I was put through a lot of trouble and forced to sign the contract, looking back now, it was really worth it!
Before the domestic action film "Flying Swords of Dragon Gate" has even been released, another major international production has followed.

She knew that Zhang Yuan looked down on her appearance, otherwise she would have jumped on a plane and traveled thousands of miles to deliver the cannon.

"I'll have Wong Kar-wai prepare a video for you, and you can also film some footage of yourself boxing and doing kung fu. I'll show it to Stallone."

"Perform better."

He could take advantage of Wong Kar-wai without any fear of being caught.

Has filming for "The Grandmaster" finished?

"A few more months," Zhang Ziyi replied after making an estimate.

"It's been over a year since we started filming, and they're still dragging their feet," Zhang Yuan complained before hanging up the phone.

Stallone was quite surprised that Zhang Ziyi, who is quite famous, was actually his artist.

“Like I said, I won’t let you down, and I won’t let her down either, which is why she’s willing to work with me.”

"Zhang, you are the most confident Chinese person I have ever met. You are quite different from Jet," the older brother exclaimed.

"We are two generations, and future generations of Chinese will be more confident."

"Okay." The guy didn't think much of it, then his eyes darted around a few times, clearly not ready to fart.

"I have a proposal."

"We will form our own golf team and play matches occasionally."

"Why don't you join my team? We can play together often. I think you have a lot of talent."

"Also, remember to keep today's events a secret. I want you and Arnold to have another match."

Stallone always seems to want to sabotage his old rivals, and he's already figured out how to stir things up.

It hurts me to lose, but if Schwarzenegger loses too, I won't feel so bad.

Zhang Yuan thought to himself, "Paul Walker wants me to join his amateur team, and Stallone wants me to join his amateur golf team."

Okay, these kinds of celebrity events can help me build connections, and I'm busy enough already.

After playing for several more hours, Xiaolongnu got tired, and he also lost interest in this "aristocratic" sport, so he wanted to leave to eat.

As he was leaving, Stallone called him back.

"I heard you've been in contact with quite a few producers lately and have invested in some projects?"

Zhang Yuan's heart skipped a beat. Holy crap!

I just won a round, and before I've even made any money from you, you're already eyeing my money?

I've heard this sales pitch at least 20 times recently, and all sorts of strange people are coming to my door asking for investment.

You, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, have your own production company and do this kind of thing too?

Next, they'll probably say, "I have a friend who's currently preparing for a film or TV show. I think you two could talk about it."

Sylvester Stallone: ​​"I have a friend who's currently working on a movie. I think you two could talk about it."

Zhang Yuan: …

I'm starting to doubt that I can read minds.

But just as he was about to collaborate with them, they asked him to play golf.

In addition, she also has to consider Zhang Ziyi's international image; it wouldn't be appropriate to offend her.

“Sure, I can talk to them if I have time.”

"Here's his contact information. He's not in California; he's in New York."

After receiving the message, Zhang Yuan said goodbye to the other party.

In the following days, I spent some more time playing with Qianqian, but all good things must come to an end, and the joy of rest is always short-lived.

Even if he piling up his work and tries to shirk his responsibilities, the other party still has work to do.

Although the company only cares about her, it also shows that she, as an artist, has to support the entire company.

If she lies down, her family of over a dozen people will have to live off their savings.

That day, they took her to the airport.

Zhang Yuan also needs to make a trip to New York.

"Time flies." In the airport's underground parking garage, Xiaolongnu said goodbye to him with reluctance.

"These past few days have flown by."

"I don't want to go back to work," she said coquettishly.

"I'll ask you out again when I have time later," Zhang Yuan said, patting her head.

"Don't treat me like a child, patting my head like that." She laughed and pushed his hand away: "I wish you all the best in New York."

"Remember to think of me, bye!"

She pushed open the car door forcefully, waved her hand, and strode away, quite dashingly.

But her occasional glances back revealed that she was just pretending to be nonchalant.

Her assistant accompanied her back to China, as they were worried about letting her travel alone.

Zhang Yuan rested briefly in his car before boarding a plane to New York with his bodyguard.

He recently acquired a huge fortune from the New York Stock Exchange.

Now I'm back in my city.

On its first day of trading, Uku had a market capitalization of $40 billion.

These past few days, instead of declining, it has continued to rise, reaching nearly 50 billion US dollars.

After all, in the country at this time, Youku had no rivals.

The collapse of Chinese concept stocks has not yet arrived, and the US stock market has full confidence in Chinese companies.

In fact, the collapse of Chinese concept stocks is not only a problem of Chinese companies. Being targeted and shorted by various international funds is also an important reason.

Youku really caught a good time.

But this auspicious time was deliberately chosen by Gu Yongqiang, a master.

To outsiders, it all seems like luck, but in reality, it's mostly about intelligence and experience.

After getting off the plane, Zhang Yuan did not immediately contact the person Stallone had introduced.

Instead, they rented a car and went to Brooklyn, the most populous, chaotic, and poorest part of New York City.

The per capita income here is only one-tenth of that in Manhattan.

Even though the two districts are separated by a river, they seem like two different worlds.

It is also a place where Chinese people gather, with the largest number being people from southern Fujian, Guangdong, and Hong Kong.

However, due to New York's expansion and development, the land price in this area has increased significantly.

However, Zhang Yuan came here not to buy a house, but to meet someone.

"Brother-in-law!"

He was standing a short distance from an apartment building when a clear female voice rushed toward him on a gust of wind.

"Don't yell." Zhang Yuan pointed at the girl who had jumped up in front of him.

It's our Nezha!

The practice of calling someone "brother-in-law" originated from Shu Chang's story.

This girl has been cunning since she was little, always trying to outsmart the adults.

Zhang Yuan came to Brooklyn just to see her.

Shu Chang had told him before that after watching a few American TV series, this girl kept insisting on studying in North America.

So, taking advantage of the winter break, I'm going to have a study tour experience.

When Sisi came to North America with her mother, they lived in an affluent neighborhood and attended a private high school.

When she came here, she could only stay with a host family, and in a run-down place like Brooklyn at that.

This is due to the difference in family circumstances.

"Then I'll call you brother, hehe!" She pounced on him and gave him a hug.

Zhang Yuan patted her open.

"Your cousin said that if I have the chance to come to North America, I should visit you."

"How does it feel to be here?"

"Are the accommodations and food good?"

"Great, that's perfect!" she exclaimed, tilting her head back.

"That's good. Since everything is fine, I don't need to help anymore. I'll be going now."

"No, no, not good at all..." she quickly changed her mind.

Zhang Yuan just made a show of it and broke her promise.

Don't think too highly of Americans. Homestay families can be good or bad; it all depends on the people and luck.

They accept foreign students in order to make money.

Many people are not as fortunate as Harry Potter, who stayed at his aunt's house.

"I don't like the food here, and the houses here are poorly soundproofed."

"The black people on the street are scary too," Little Nezha said, shaking his arm and feigning pitifulness.

"And things are so expensive here, I don't dare to spend any money."

Zhang Yuan glanced at her and realized she was trying to play the victim.

"So after this experience, do you still want to study in North America?"

"Yes, I do. The atmosphere here is very free, and going to school is easy." She immediately changed her expression.

Zhang Yuan rubbed his forehead.

Fine, fine, you're free, right?

If it weren't for Changchang's sake, I wouldn't even bother with someone like you.

"Alright, I'll treat you to dinner. Come with me."

I took her to a fancy restaurant in Manhattan for a meal.

They are growing and developing, and have a good appetite.

Judging from the way she eats, she probably doesn't eat very well usually.

Many international students in China are used to being served food, but once they arrive overseas, they are forced to become cooks, which shows the difference in taste between ordinary food in foreign countries.

"Brother-in-law..." she said again, but when she saw Zhang Yuan squinting at her, she quickly changed her words: "Brother, it's delicious."

"But only you can treat me to this meal. Once you leave, I won't be able to eat it anymore."

“Then I’ll earn the money myself,” Zhang Yuan said, tossing down his napkin.

"I'm a child, I can't work abroad," she pouted, looking aggrieved.

Zhang Yuan held back his laughter.

If they can't work... how old are those white boys who work as golf caddies and frying French fries?

"Brother, how about I be your girlfriend, and you take care of me?" Little Nezha stared at him with his big, mischievous eyes.

Zhang Yuan: …

The entertainment industry is a big melting pot; getting involved too early is not good, or you'll end up like that.

"If you say that again, I'm leaving, and you'll have to pay the bill."

"No, no, I was just kidding."

"Stop talking nonsense." Zhang Yuan was too lazy to argue with this talkative girl.

"I don't care whether you're here for study abroad or plan to study abroad in the future."

"Since your cousin asked me to take care of you, I will."

“In the days to come, while you are abroad, I will have the accountant process your transactions and transfer $1000 to you every week.”

"Great!" the girl shouted, raising her arm, which drew frowns and turns of the surrounding customers.

The manager came forward to tell them not to make noise.

Little Nezha covered his mouth, but his eyes narrowed and his eyebrows curved with laughter.

"Don't shout. Children shouldn't interrupt adults." Zhang Yuan's temples throbbed.

I want to borrow a set of needles and thread to sew her mouth shut.

"My sponsorship of you comes with conditions."

$1000 a week is a lot; it's more than many workers in New York earn.

But not too much, so she wouldn't become extravagant.

"Two conditions."

"First, drug use is strictly prohibited, absolutely not allowed."

“Every time I return to China, I have to show you the urine test results, otherwise I will cut off the funding.”

"Secondly, no messing around is allowed, absolutely not allowed."

"If I find out, you'd better be prepared to get a beating."

Zhang Yuan had already given them a very wide range of leeway, tacitly allowing them to smoke, date, and so on, and he couldn't be bothered to care about their academic performance.

However, prohibited items and train operations are strictly restricted and cannot be violated.

Joining a church is fine. In fact, there are relatively few strange sects in big cities like New York, but they are more common in remote mountain villages.

If it's a legitimate Catholic or Chinese Baptist church, joining temporarily might even have some benefits, as you'll have more people to help each other out in daily life.

Of course, the prerequisite is that you have to donate some "incense money" to the church.

I can't control her character; that's her parents' responsibility. But at least she'll be healthy.

You shouldn't do things that damage your body.

"Brother, you're so fierce!"

"I'm scared." She lowered her head and pretended to be aggrieved: "I'm a proper girl, and a child at that. How could I do such a thing?"

"I blushed when I heard that."

Zhang Yuan didn't respond and continued speaking.

"Remember what I said."

"Don't make your cousin sad."

"Okay, I know." Her expression changed quickly, then she laughed again: "Hehe, I'll definitely put in a good word for you with my sister."

"I knew you were so good to me."

"Mm." Zhang Yuan nodded.

"Could you take me to buy a new phone? My old one is too old."

Zhang Yuan: …

"I also want a pair of jeans, so I can dress up nicely, take pictures with you, and send them to my sister, okay?"

"I have a party tomorrow, why don't you come with me? You're tall, handsome, and a big star, people will definitely envy me."

She kept chattering away, her little mouth never stopping.

He, who can handle a host of Hollywood A-listers, was completely rendered speechless by a teenage girl.

Where's the needle and thread?
Even a stapler would do; just staple it into her mouth.

My head hurts! (End of Chapter)