Huayu started as a substitute director

Chapter 739 The Uncrowned King
"Stop hiding in the bushes! Go out and take him down."

The things she loves to do are done in an hour or two. Liu Tianxian is currently playing the game "Honor of Kings" on her soft bed with her phone.

Fang Hong stood by, gesturing and giving instructions.

Liu Tianxian's eyes darted around and her fingers moved erratically, as if she couldn't keep up with the pace. She muttered to herself as she typed.

"Wow, how come this guy's big attack can kill me in one go!"

"No, I'm going to come back and kill him."

"How could this person be so treacherous? He just ran away without even trying to save me."

Her voice is quite sweet, and although she sometimes says hurtful things, her earnest little expression makes her hard to hate and rather endearing.

Fang Hong kept giving orders from the side: "Don't be a coward, take him down!"

"Ouch, he's dead again. You're the one who told me to do it." Liu Tianxian slapped him.

"You're terrible," Fang Hong said.

"Who are you calling incompetent? Will I die if you don't let me play?" Liu Tianxian said angrily, pinching his arm.

Fang Hong hissed in pain, rubbing his arm where it had been pulled; it still hurt quite a bit.

At this moment, the mobile game screen changed from gray to color. Liu Tianxian picked up her phone again and continued to operate it seriously, showing that she was quite serious about whatever she was doing.

While playing, Liu Tianxian continued to mutter to herself unconsciously; Fang Hong continued to give random instructions from the side.

"Hey! Why is this person chasing me?!"

"Stop running all the time. Why are you running when you're at full health? Turn around and grab him."

"How did he suddenly rush over?"

"Go! Everyone else has gone in, and you're still farming minions on the sidelines. Did the minions offend you?!"

"What if I can't beat him?!"

"Damn it, we can't escape anyway, might as well die!"

As the game's "failure" screen popped up, Liu Tianxian deflated like a punctured balloon; she had lost again, and this was the fourth time in a row.

Seeing that she was in a bad mood, Fang Hong tried to breathe softly to avoid getting into trouble again.

It's just because he talked too much earlier.

"Your breathing is too heavy, it's disturbing me." Liu Tianxian threw down her phone and suddenly exploded.

One hand grabbed his neck and forced him down onto the bed, then straddled him, while the other hand slapped his face.
"I told you to pay, I told you to go for it, I told you to do it... it's because you kept nagging on the sidelines that I lost."

He slapped his face with every sentence he said.

Fang Hong wasn't beaten very badly; he didn't feel much force, showing he knew his limits.

"You can't blame me for this! My commands were all correct, it's just that you're incompetent," Fang Hong retorted stubbornly.

"Me, bad? How dare you say I'm bad?" Liu Tianxian slapped him a few more times.

She was still wearing that red silk dress, which still revealed glimpses of her underwear. Since she was straddling someone, any large movement could risk exposing her underwear.

But it's just the two of them, a married couple, it's a very normal thing.

Liu Tianxian reprimanded Fang Hong, then took a deep breath to calm down and feel a little better.

She ruffled her messy hair and looked at him, saying, "Did I hurt you?"

"As long as it makes my wife happy, I don't care how much it hurts," Fang Hong said without hesitation.

"Oh," Liu Tianxian touched the man's face and laughed, "You've learned to say sweet nothings now."

“This isn’t sweet talk, it’s what’s in my heart.” Fang Hong was still lying flat, looking at him.

"Yes, yes, I love it!" Liu Tianxian was just about to stand up.

Fang Hong pressed her down onto her smooth thighs and reached up under her skirt, saying, "Don't move!"

"What?" Liu Tianxian's face was flushed.

"Let's launch a counterattack." Fang Hong smiled ambiguously.

"I've thought about it quite a lot." Liu Tianxian reached down.

"What you're saying is ridiculous. I'm still young and strong, not yet at the point where my physical functions decline. Of course, I'll do it more often and be very strong every time," Fang Hong said.

"Hehehe, yes, yes."

Liu Tianxian laughed, felt the strength in her hand, and then said, "But wait a bit, Lao Zha should be at work by now, let's give him a call first."

It's already past midnight, and it should be around 12 pm in Los Angeles, so the timing is perfect.

"Okay." Fang Hong patted his bottom, gesturing for her to get down.

Liu Tianxian pulled her legs back and sat down next to him.

Fang Hong picked up his phone from the bedside table, called Old Zack in the United States, and then held the phone up.

The call was quickly connected, and Old Zha's voice came through: "Hi! Principal."

“Hello Mr. Zha, it’s been a long time. How have you been?” Fang Hong said, translated by Liu Tianxian.

"Great! I just don't know if you're contacting me so early in the morning because you have some project you want to collaborate on with us," Old Zha said expectantly.

“There are plenty of projects, but there’s something I need to tell you. Huayi invested 600 million yuan in your company before, right? Since the movie hasn’t been made, you should return it to them!” Liu Tianxian adjusted her posture, putting one arm around Fang Hong’s shoulder and getting closer.

Fang Hong was holding up his phone right in front of him.

"This matter..." Old Zha remained silent, clearly reluctant to give it up.

It's been dragged on for so long, we've spent a lot on lawyers and put in a lot of effort, and now the principal wants to go back after just a few words. It just doesn't feel worth it.

The principal didn't collaborate on many projects with them. Apart from the Summoning Universe project, which was supposed to be a collaboration, they didn't work together much with other projects.

Therefore, Fang Hong's relationship with them is not as good as Donna's.

“Mr. Zha, this matter has dragged on for a while, but you can’t use it just because you have it. You’ll have to return it to its owner eventually,” Liu Tianxian continued, following Fang Hong’s instructions.

“Then they might not get the full amount. We can deduct a portion on the grounds of investment losses, otherwise it would be a loss,” Old Zha said.

This money was originally intended as an investment, so it's normal for the investment to fail and result in losses; there's nothing wrong with that.

"Then why bother? If you do this, it will be very difficult for your films to enter the Chinese market in the future." This statement carried a hint of threat, albeit in a tactful way.

If this is done, Warner Bros. movies will no longer be allowed in China. Given the current situation in China, it is quite easy to block the import of films from a Hollywood company.

It's nothing more than hyping up ideological issues.

American movies, if you nitpick, you can always find something wrong with them, and then they can exaggerate it and make a big difference.

The reason later Marvel movies couldn't get in was because of this issue. Of course, Disney is a repeat offender, always adding unnecessary things, and doesn't deserve any sympathy.

"Principal, I've worked with you for so long, and you treat me like this for your enemy. I'm heartbroken! You know, I did it all for you!" Old Zha said painfully.

"You're too kind, you're too kind. I just want to make money peacefully. There's an old Chinese saying, 'An eye for an eye only makes the whole world go round.' We're all so familiar with each other, why make things unpleasant?"

Besides, we've already made peace with Huayi; there's no point in continuing the fight.

Fang Hong has a whole set of grand principles to share.

This left Liu Tianxian somewhat at a loss for words; idioms and proverbs like these are the most difficult to translate.

However, with Liu Tianxian's intelligence, she still managed to translate it, enough for the other party to understand the meaning. "This matter can't be resolved peacefully. I was just helping out. If you're talking about keeping one or two hundred million, returning three or five hundred million is fine, but returning it all to them, who will compensate us for our losses?" Old Zha just wanted benefits.

Fang Hong knew it would be difficult to get it back. If it were Donna, it would be easier to get some back, but Donna was unlikely to do such a thing at the time.

Those with good relationships have professional ethics; those with bad relationships don't. That's how complicated it is.

This is definitely not something you should ask someone with professional ethics to do.

Liu Tianxian and Fang Hong exchanged a glance, their eyes asking him what to do.

Fang Hong whispered a few words in Liu Tianxian's ear.

“Mr. Zha, how about this, we’ll invest in the movie ‘Aquaman,’ and you can give Huayi’s money to Huayi,” Liu Tianxian said. Fang Hong’s idea was quite appealing.

“We don’t even have a movie in the works yet, we only have this idea, and you already want to invest?” Old Zha thought the principal’s idea was pretty good.

"It's alright, we'll accept any losses or gains," Liu Tianxian said shamelessly.

"Principal, you underestimate us. This is the DC Universe, how could we possibly lose money?" It seems Old Zack also has a plan in mind, knowing that this movie won't easily lose money.

It was originally a movie that was going head-to-head with Marvel, so there was no plan to involve Huayi Brothers.

"Then tell me what to do and state your conditions." Fang Hong could only let the other party state their conditions and see what they wanted before making a decision.

If the conditions are too high, then we'll just have to forget about it and let the Huayi brothers figure it out themselves.

“We’re still missing a director for this film, and we need the principal to help us out,” Old Zha said.

Liu Tianxian leaned closer and whispered, "Not bad, your reputation is so great now that even Warner Bros. wants to cast you in their movies, even in the DC Universe."

"Of course! Don't you know who your husband is? Although I haven't won any prestigious awards, I am the uncrowned king!" Fang Hong tossed his hair, looking very proud.

"mock up!"

Liu Tianxian patted his face and said, "Should we agree to their request? If you go and make a movie for them, this matter might be resolved."

"I don't make Hollywood movies. Their movies aren't something I can control," Fang Hong waved his hand.

Liu Tianxian said she understood and replied, "You're putting my husband in a difficult position. He's not good at making Hollywood movies."

She politely declined, explaining that Hollywood films operate on a producer system, meaning that the producers have to listen to the producers. To put it simply, Fang Hong would definitely face constraints if he went to make the film, and might not even have the right to edit it.

Knowing her man's personality, he would definitely argue with the other party; when has her man ever listened to anyone else?

It's not that just because you're awesome or a boss, others have to do things your way. You're only awesome in China; people in the past didn't recognize that.

So many Hong Kong directors used to follow the Hollywood model: if you make money, you're awesome; if you lose money, you're out!

The film starred two superstars from the original "The Forbidden Kingdom," Hendrik Willem Van Loon and Jet Li. Even though they knew the plot was absurd, they still insisted on making it the same way.

“You’ve misunderstood. We’re not looking for him to make a movie; we don’t have that idea. We just want the principal to help us communicate with Mr. Yu and ask him to help us make the movie ‘Aquaman’,” Old Zha said, revealing his idea.

"Oh, I see. Hehehe." Liu Tianxian realized she had misunderstood and couldn't help but laugh.

She was just being delusional, thinking the other party was looking for her man to make a movie. However, Mr. Yu's reputation in Hollywood is indeed much stronger and more authoritative than her man's.

After all, they've never lost money; they make money no matter what they film, and they even won an Oscar. They certainly deserve it.

She glanced at the man beside her and saw that his face was tense and he looked rather unpleasant, completely lacking the smugness he had shown earlier.

"It's alright, they have no taste. You're still the uncrowned queen." Liu Tianxian chuckled and hugged her tighter.

"Really? You think so?" Fang Hong asked.

"Yes!" Liu Tianxian affectionately nuzzled his face, then asked, "Will you say yes?"

“We definitely can’t agree to that right away. How can we agree so easily? You should first ask them if they’re hiring Mr. Yu to make a movie, and then they’ll return the 600 million,” Fang Hong said.

"Mr. Zha, if we help you find Mr. Yu to make a movie, will that mean we can get your 600 million back?" Liu Tianxian asked quite bluntly.

"That's something we can consider," Old Zha said.

Hiring Mr. Yu to direct their film would significantly increase their value and offset the losses from the long and drawn-out negotiations with Huayi.

Moreover, if we make this one, we can make a second one.

In the eyes of these Hollywood figures, Yu Xian is a young and promising director with great value.

Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian discussed it, and Liu Tianxian said, "If we ask Yu Xian to film it, China will also need some share. After all, Yu Xian is a director from China. If you borrow him to film, then our movie will not be able to be made."

"Principal, you've really lost all your humanity. I helped you out, and when I asked to borrow a director to make a movie, you started negotiating with me. This is so disappointing. We were just saying we'd have a good time." Old Zha didn't want the principal's money at all; if he wanted it, he wanted something in return.

“Alright, then we’ll talk to Mr. Yu. We don’t know if he’ll agree or not. Please wait for our good news,” Liu Tianxian said with a smile.

There's nothing left to discuss. We can get the 6 million back, but we need to let Yongyu use the money to make the movie first.

As for the Aquaman movie project, forget about it. They won't let China participate. Come to think of it, Fang Hong wouldn't approach Warner Bros. for any project.

How could Warner Bros. possibly seek out Fang Hong for their best projects?

After they hung up the phone, Liu Tianxian asked, "What should we do? Should we call Mr. Yu and tell him?"

"Go ahead and hit him, let's see if he'll take the hit," Fang Hong said.

Yu Xian's filming skills are sufficient to shoot a special effects blockbuster like "Aquaman," after all, he has already produced more than a dozen films.

Although they are all horror and erotic films, the experience and quality are there.

Liu Tianxian dialed Yu Xian's number directly, which made things much simpler; she didn't need to speak English, she could just speak Chinese.

"Hello, Mr. Yu, Director Yu, how are you!" Liu Tianxian was much more relaxed when talking to him!
"Who is it?" The voice on the other end was languid, as if the person hadn't woken up yet.

"Hey, Liu Tianxian, it's already this late, and you're still not up!" Liu Tianxian couldn't help but say.

"Oh, what time is it?" Yu asked.

"It's already ten o'clock, brother." Liu Tianxian raised her voice.

"It's only ten o'clock. What young person gets up so early?" Yu Xian said casually.

"You make it sound like all young people have chaotic schedules," Liu Tianxian said, then added, "You'd better wake up, we've got a big order for you."

"What big order?" Yu Xian asked in the same tone.

"Let me tell you, Warner Bros. has a movie called Aquaman in the DC Universe, and they want you to be the director," Liu Tianxian said.

"What?!" Yu Xian's voice suddenly became clear. Because of the loud noise, it sounded like a woman asking "What's wrong?" in Chinese.

He must be sleeping with a woman.

"Is that really true?" Yu asked first.

"It's true, Fang Hong and I have reached an agreement with the other party, but we haven't discussed your remuneration yet. Given the large investment in this film, you shouldn't be shortchanged."

After Liu Tianxian finished speaking, she asked Fang Hong, who was standing next to her, "How much did they invest in this movie again?"

"It should be around 1.6 million US dollars, over 11 billion, definitely an A-level production." Fang Hong knew a bit about it.

"Did you hear that?" Liu Tianxian said.

"I heard you, I heard you, I can answer." Yu Xian was quite excited.

I've become numb from making trashy horror and porn movies, so I can finally make normal movies. Before, it was all about the money, but now I'm making DC universe blockbusters for others, and I won't be short of pay.

After all, it's a commercial film, and the investment in this one film is equivalent to several of the previous ones.

(End of this chapter)