Actor: Thank you.

For the first time, Zhang Yuan realized how correct Confucius's saying, "One should not speak while sleeping or eating," really was.

Throughout the meal, Nezha's mouth never stopped.

They're either eating, talking, or eating and talking at the same time.

That mouth was clearly smaller than a normal person's, yet its energy far exceeded expectations.

Zhang Yuan suspected that she had chosen the wrong profession and should have pursued traditional performing arts, such as crosstalk.

"Brother, what's going on between you and my cousin?"

"Were you having a baby during the last Chinese New Year?"

"You just said you weren't allowed to mess around, or you wouldn't give me any pocket money. Did something happen between you and my sister that you're scared?"

"Don't worry, I won't tell my family. I'll keep it a secret."

"elder brother,……"

"Waiter!" Zhang Yuan called over the waiter, rubbing his temples, and asked for an aspirin to clear his cerebral blood vessels.

He feared he would die of a stroke in New York.

After finishing the meal, quickly pay the bill and leave.

I took her to buy a brand new iPhone 4, the high-end 32GB version.

He immediately took it out, inserted the SIM card, and started fiddling with it.

Seeing her restless state, I specially bought her Applecare in case she broke it and needed repairs.

"Be careful when using it, especially when making phone calls," Zhang Yuan reminded.

He recalled that this generation of mobile phones had a common problem, also known as "Antennagate".

Due to a design flaw, holding the phone too tightly while making a call may result in poor signal strength.

Jobs later said that there was nothing wrong with the phone; it was just that consumers were holding it incorrectly.

Domestic Apple fans readily accept this arrogant attitude of "educating" consumers.

Try talking like that to the boss of any other domestic brand, and they'll be verbally abused until they're speechless.

I went to the upscale shopping mall on Fifth Avenue again to buy her clothes, pants, and shoes.

Actually, the largest indoor shopping mall in New York was originally another one, but unfortunately those two buildings became rare and irreplaceable after the "Little Flying Stick" incident.

In the end, this girl managed to "extort" him a good scolding.

Zhang Yuan kept repeating to himself, "Shu Chang likes her, I'm just giving Changchang face, Shu Chang likes her..."

I bought a trunk full of stuff and drove her back to her host family's apartment building.

Zhang Yuan got out of the car wearing a mask and hat, put all his things in some ordinary shopping bags, and then asked his bodyguard to carry them upstairs for him.

If someone sees a young woman carrying a bunch of designer goods home, and this isn't some upscale neighborhood, what if someone gets malicious and ends up harming her?

"Goodbye, brother-in-law!" he said deliberately as he waved goodbye before leaving.

Not only is he cunning and talkative, but he's also a bit cheeky.

Zhang Yuan waited in the car while Long Ge went upstairs and escorted her to the door.

Not long after, Brother Long returned and gave an OK sign.

"I think the white guy there seems friendly enough, so there shouldn't be any major problems."

“Knowing people, knowing faces, but not knowing hearts.”

It was alright for a while, but then the higher authorities issued a document that stopped the foreign adoption policy that had been in place for many years.

The clear reason is that cross-border child adoption carries a higher risk of child abuse.

The majority of them are white men from the United States who come to China and Southeast Asia to pick up children.

He was thinking about it all the while he was resting at the hotel that night.

Girls at this age are most easily influenced by their surroundings, and their temperament and values ​​can easily go astray.

Actually, she and Yang Mi are quite similar. They both grew up on film sets and didn't have their parents around for long periods of time.

So the two of them have something in common in terms of being "cunning".

But Yang Mi's good point is that she comes from a good family environment and her parents have normal values.

But Nezha is different. His parents divorced early, and his mother not only didn't discipline him strictly, but his own life wasn't exactly clean either.

Zhang Yuan asked himself, if he had a daughter, no matter how strong her opinions were, if she wanted to study abroad, he would have to find someone to accompany her and make all the arrangements.

How can you be so casual? Do you really think this is a beacon of civilization?
The real Western world is actually just like Guy Ritchie's famous novel, "Snatch".

As he was thinking, his phone beeped.

Changchang called him.

"Did you go see my cousin today?"

"Ah."

"She sent me a bunch of QQ messages, praising you the whole time."

That's right, I spent several thousand US dollars on things for her today alone, so why don't you say something nice about me?
Shu Chang spoke of this in a very cheerful tone, and seeing her happy, Zhang Yuan agreed.

"How could you say such things to my cousin?"

“Banning drug use is certainly right, but how can you say that to minors?” Changchang complained.

"You have no idea how chaotic it is outside. The average age of first birth in North America is only 13. Many people of color in slums become mothers at 14 or 5."

"I just don't want her to be led astray by this so-called free spirit. Once you embark on some paths, there's no turning back."

"I know you want the best for her..."

Shu Chang's strength is that he never argues back and always goes along with things.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. She's not my child."

"Please take care of my finances; the New Year is coming soon."

"Especially the companies in which I have invested, we must carefully examine them."

After chatting with the other person for a while, he fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, following the address given by Stallone, he arrived at a luxury apartment building that he had contacted in advance by phone.

He was greeted at the door by a middle-aged, gray-haired white man wearing black-rimmed glasses; he appeared quite refined.

"Hello, Zhang Yuan."

He greeted me in slightly broken Chinese and called me by the right name.

It's clear that this person is more familiar with Chinese culture than the average American.

He sat down on the sofa, and the other person asked the maid to bring him a cup of coffee.

This apartment is his home, and also his studio; it serves two purposes.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Yuan suddenly realized why the other person could speak Chinese.

The guy's name is Ted Hopper. He worked his way up from the bottom as a script supervisor to become a producer and own his own independent film and television company.

In his early days in North America, Ang Lee worked with him all the time!
He helped secure investment and handle the North American distribution of films such as "Pushing Hands," "Eat Drink Man Woman," and "The Wedding Banquet."

Specializing in low-budget genre films.

Now that Ang Lee has made a name for himself and become an Oscar-winning director, he naturally no longer collaborates with him.

My brother still specializes in smaller projects, and this time he has a new film.

He wanted to leverage his communication skills with Chinese people to make some money.

I immediately struck up a conversation with him and started talking about Ang Lee.

It's all about sentimentality, and saying he likes China.

Zhang Yuan cooperated with a friendly expression.

But in my heart, it was a different story.

Just like taking care of Nezha was out of respect for Changchang, chatting with him here is also out of respect for Stallone.

I've had my coffee and snacks.

Foreigners can really talk a lot.

It's no wonder that Chinese people suffer losses overseas. We are taught from a young age to be realistic and not to boast.

But here, bragging is the primary form of productivity.

The opening remarks alone covered two key points; how could a typical young Chinese person, educated in the traditional sense, possibly handle that?

"Let me tell you about the new project we're currently working on." The other person held a coffee cup with only a sip left and adjusted their glasses.

"I think Hollywood movies these days are so boring, nowhere near as fun as they were in the 80s." "We need more fresh blood!" he said indignantly.

Zhang Yuan nodded slightly.

Actually, about 10 years is a watershed moment for Hollywood.

Starting from this year, Marvel superhero movies became extremely popular, while traditional science fiction films began to decline.

At the same time, a retro trend began to emerge in Hollywood, with works appearing that reminisced about the old days.

Just like Guardians of the Galaxy, which also incorporated a lot of 80s elements.

Looking beyond the surface, why are traditional science fiction genres, such as space science fiction, mechanical science fiction, and biological science fiction, no longer popular?

Why were sci-fi movies so popular in the 8s and 90s?

Even though special effects are better now, a group of directors have gone back to using a lot of models for filming.

This is why Hollywood as a whole, and the Western world behind it, has begun to abandon science fiction and idealistic narratives.

They no longer care about landing on Mars, cloning sheep, or exploring black holes; at most, they'll just make some money by trading on related stocks.

This guy's thoughts are similar to Zhang Yuan's when he was in the country.

How can you do a good job in film and television when you're with these scoundrels!
The eight major Hollywood studios are indeed no longer what they used to be; otherwise, they wouldn't have been surpassed and acquired by companies like Amazon and Netflix.

Although Zhang Yuan agreed, he didn't get carried away and remained calm.

My friend said his new film is called "Martha Marcy May Marlene".

In short, it is a female name.

Martha Nancy May Marlene, that's the full name of this character.

Foreigners' names are all this complicated when you look at them.

Zhang Yuan felt it was a bit of a pun, since all four words of the name started with the letter M.

After listening to his brother's explanation, he understood why things were done that way.

The film tells the story of a young girl who goes astray and is led into an evil cult by her boyfriend.

The story focuses on the girl's struggles to fit in with normal people after she escapes and returns to society to live with her sister.

It also flashes back to how some girls are gradually brainwashed within the cult.

After listening to the cult's brainwashing instructions, Zhang Yuan understood.

The cult leader slept with each girl in turn and had older members mentor new ones, telling the girls that this was all normal.

Finally, it progressed step by step to mind control and mass killings.

Isn't this the Manson Family?

Charles Manson, the most famous cult leader in all of North America.

That's how he brainwashes his followers.

He became famous for leading his men in a major heist, murdering the wife of renowned director Roman Polanski in an extremely cruel manner.

This incident was later adapted into the main plot of the film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," starring Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, which was sued by Bruce Lee's family and prevented from being released in mainland China.

Manson's name is Manson, starting with M.

It can be said that the entire hippie culture in North America was brought to an end by the Manson Family.

Before this guy went crazy, everyone just thought of hippies as a generation of drug addicts and promiscuous losers.

After the Manson Family murdered several people, anti-hippie culture began across the United States, and the hippie movement disappeared in less than a year.

The stage name of the famous rock band singer Marilyn Manson is taken from this madman.

This band is also interesting; all the members use the name of a serial killer as their stage name.

The older brother was surprised that Zhang Yuan knew about the Manson Family.

He discovered that not only did he understand China, but the other side also understood his side.

Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle; without understanding and research, you are easily deceived.

But the man said that the film is not only a reference to the Manson Family, but also to many strange cults that still exist and operate in real life.

North America is teeming with talent; there are plenty of these kinds of things.

The villains in the first book in the Sherlock Holmes series, A Study in Scarlet, are based on the MM cult in Salt Lake City, Utah, North America.

That is, the cult that Tom Cruise believes in.

Even the British couldn't figure it out.

Because many religious sects are extremely powerful, the scripts are written in a relatively conservative manner, and they dare not describe the female lead's life within the sect too much.

Zhang Yuan was speechless when he heard this.

That would be terrible!
You either have to make it a cult horror film, or a revenge action film with lots of killing.

If you're afraid to do this and can't do that, it sounds like you're making a stream-of-consciousness art film. Isn't that just bullshit?

Can it make money?
Seeing his troubled expression, the other party quickly said that the film had a low cost, with a total budget of less than 400 million US dollars.

We are still short about 100 million.

If you think that's too much, 3 or 50 will do.

Among the production companies I've encountered recently, this one has a good attitude; they know that beggars have to kneel to beg.

Let alone 100 million, even 30 is still money. I can't just throw it away on a movie like this that's a waste of money!

That amount of money is enough to buy a Ferrari in North America.

With my status and a Ferrari, I could be a groom every day in New York for a whole year, changing into a different foreign woman every day.

Why should I suffer this pain with you?

Anyway, I'm here, I've talked, and I can give Stallone an explanation.

Zhang Yuan shared his thoughts, stating that he felt the film wasn't very profitable and frankly admitted he needed to consider it.

The other party was quite enthusiastic, leaving his email address and saying he could send the script to him to take a look, and that he could take his time and there was no rush.

He said goodbye to the other person in a dignified manner, without asking for a free meal.

After leaving the house, I went to the mall and bought a bunch of gifts to take back to China and give to my relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year.

When the sales assistant at the Rolex boutique saw him buy 20 gold watches, she almost mistook him for a half-brother from another country with no blood relation.

Packing their bags, they prepared to return home.

While waiting for his flight in the VIP lounge, he checked his emails on his computer and found that the other party had sent him a script.

I didn't pay attention and planned to delete the email.

But just as he was about to make his move, a brilliant idea flashed into his mind.

Instead of clicking, the script document was downloaded.

After opening it, I carefully looked at the content, which was entirely in English.

Especially the title, "Martha Marcy May Marlene".

As he looked, a smooth, snow-white back view gradually appeared in his mind.

"This one……"

He patted his head and thought hard before the figure gradually became clear.

"Oh!"

That's when I remembered.

That figure belonged to a stunningly beautiful foreign woman.

"What a terrible name. Chinese is much simpler."

He remembered that the film was later translated as "Double-faced Martha" in Hong Kong and Taiwan because the female lead, Martha, was a bit neurotic after escaping from the cult, similar to a split personality.

This film is Scarlet Witch, which is Elizabeth Olsen's first starring movie!
Zhang Yuan didn't remember the details at all, but he remembered her figure.

Because she appeared completely nude in this film... only from the back, not from the front.

Luckily, I was fair-skinned enough to remember it myself.

If you mention other things, I might be confused, but I can't forget Bai Yangding.

Perhaps this is a genetic curse unique to men.

Zhang Yuan doesn't admit that he was lusting after the other woman's body, but he did become interested in the film because of it.

In particular, he had a sudden inspiration: if he could accomplish something significant, losing some money might be acceptable… (End of Chapter)