Huayu 05, our science fiction movie universe

Chapter 609 More Laughter
To be honest, casting Ma Li as the female lead in "Hello Mr. Billionaire" greatly enhanced the comedic effect of the film.

First of all, her partnership with Shen Teng is definitely not a case of 1+1=2, but rather greater than 2.

Moreover, Ma Li herself is a very down-to-earth actress, and the role of Xia Meili was tailor-made for her.

The owner of a small supermarket often makes mistakes in the accounts. She seems to be petty, but she is actually kind-hearted despite her cold exterior.

Only someone like Ma Li or Jia Ling could play this kind of role without making the audience dislike them.

Especially in the movie "Hello Mr. Billionaire", when Xia Meili becomes Wang Duoyu's accountant, her intervention against his absurd spending habits doesn't feel annoying or noisy.

Because Xia Meili is a small supermarket owner from the bottom of society who has also come from a poor background, she was genuinely heartbroken when Wang Duoyu bought the Daxing Football Team, took the players to live in presidential suites, ate delicacies every day, and invested in all sorts of outrageous projects.

If this were performed by that coquettish Taiwanese actress, the character's logic would be flawed, and it would only make the female lead seem like a busybody.

Only after seeing how poor Wang Duoyu was back then can Xia Meili's criticism of Wang Duoyu's arrogance and his ignorance of his place after getting a little money be truly valid.

After suddenly becoming rich, Wang Duoyu would reasonably have the idea of ​​cutting ties with the past when faced with Xia Meili's criticism.

A woman who, though somewhat naive, still stays true to herself.

A smart man who is lost in money and wealth.

Such male and female leads undoubtedly elevate the theme of "Hello Mr. Billionaire" to a higher level, while also enriching the dramatic conflicts.

Meanwhile, because Wang Duoyu concealed the truth that he had spent 1 billion yuan in a month in order to inherit the wealth, the situation took several turns.

At first, Wang Duoyu spent money recklessly and made reckless investments. His exaggerated behavior seemed surreal. Zhuang Qiang was incompetent and only knew how to be Wang Duoyu's lackey, obeying Wang's orders without question. Xia Meili, on the other hand, always opposed Wang Duoyu's decisions.

As a result of sheer chance, Wang Duoyu's haphazard investments yielded positive results.

Originally, it was an investment in a sunset industry, and the low-priced stocks were purchased. Unexpectedly, the stocks, which had hit the daily limit down, surged after the investor invited Warren Buffett to dinner, and the investor made a profit of 100 million yuan.

They had someone transport an iceberg from the Arctic to Alashan, but before the iceberg even arrived, Coca-Cola bought the image rights to a family of polar bears inside the iceberg, making them a fortune once again.

However, Wang Duoyu seemed extremely uncomfortable with this capital appreciation that should have brought him joy, even to the point of collapse, leaving Zhuang Qiang and the others puzzled. But it did make the audience in the screening room burst into laughter.

Even Wang Hao and Jing Tian couldn't help but grin when they saw Wang Duoyu sprawled in his chair, surrounded by subordinates praising him for completing the "most amazing operation in history."

The contrast between something that should be a good thing turning into a bad thing is indeed quite funny.

However, facing Wang Duoyu, who could make a fortune by making random investments, Xia Meili, who had previously thought he was just fooling around and wasting money, no longer had the confidence she used to have.

When she hesitantly approached Wang Duoyu, she lowered her head in shame, indicating that she had failed his trust.

It turned out that Xia Meili disapproved of Wang Duoyu's wasteful spending and wanted to at least leave him some savings so he wouldn't fall into poverty again. So, she secretly used Wang Duoyu's money to invest.
However, she was just a small supermarket owner who could even make mistakes in accounting, so how could she know anything about investing? She simply bought a lot of real estate based on current popular investment trends.

After all, in Xia Meili's simple mind, houses are a way to preserve value, so buying a house is definitely the right thing to do.

As a result, the property became an unfinished building because the originally advertised subway route was suddenly changed.

"I'm sorry, Duoyu!"

On the big screen, Xia Meili, having failed in her real estate investment, lowered her previously proud head in front of Wang Duoyu and apologized in a humble voice for the first time.

"It was my fault. I shouldn't have questioned your investment strategy. You can hit me, scold me, or even kick me out, it doesn't matter to me..."

Upon hearing Xia Meili's words, the group of people around her, including Zhuang Qiang and the team members, immediately distanced themselves from her, all showing mocking expressions.

Only Wang Duoyu was different.

"Who said I was going to kick you out? You're truly my lucky star, Xia Meili!"

Upon hearing that Xia Meili had lost money on her investment, Wang Duoyu's gloomy face, which had been clouded by his stock market profits, immediately brightened. He happily hugged her and gave her a big kiss on the cheek.

This sudden action not only stunned Xia Meili, but also made everyone else stare wide-eyed.

However, their bodies reacted first, and they surrounded Xia Meili again, their mocking expressions quickly turning into friendly smiles.

According to the team coach later, Wang Duoyu wasn't looking for an accountant at all; he was clearly looking for a girlfriend.

However, they also privately complained that Wang Duoyu's taste wasn't very good, as he actually fell for Xia Meili, a tomboy.

"Let me tell you, men with money turn bad."

Wang Duoyu had never eaten anything fine before, and he took a liking to Xia Meili.

But I would say this won't last long. With money, what kind of woman can't you find?

"Just you wait and see. After a while, once he gets tired of her, Wang Duoyu will naturally dump Xia Meili."

The coach's secret conversation with the team members was overheard by Xia Meili, who happened to be passing by. She recorded it and sent it to the coach's shrewish wife.

However, Xia Meili agreed with what the coach said, even though it was unpleasant. She genuinely didn't think Wang Duoyu would fall for her.

But if he didn't like her, he would have lost hundreds of millions investing in real estate. Why wasn't Wang Duoyu angry at all, but instead very happy?
It seems there's no other possibility than that he generously forgave her explanation because he likes her.

This put Xia Meili in a dilemma. On the one hand, she did have a good impression of Wang Duoyu because of his generosity and boldness. On the other hand, she also had the concerns that the coach had mentioned, worrying that Wang Duoyu was just playing around and was not sincere towards her.

Wang Hao nodded in satisfaction upon seeing this, expressing his approval of the handling of this plot, both in terms of story development and character portrayal.

In the original "Hello Mr. Billionaire", the female lead Xia Zhu's change of opinion about Wang Duoyu mainly stemmed from two staged accidents.

It all started when Wang Duoyu and Zhuang Qiang encountered an old man trying to scam them. Xia Zhu happened to witness this and misunderstood, thinking that Wang Duoyu had hit someone and didn't want to take responsibility. As a result, she developed a dislike for him, which led to the subsequent conflict between the male and female leads.

To resolve this conflict, the original "Hello Mr. Billionaire" deliberately included a staged accident scene for the female lead, Xia Zhu, so she could witness the old man staging the accident and clear up the misunderstanding. However, this forced coincidence undoubtedly diminishes the story's plausibility, making Xia Zhu's subsequent love for Wang Duoyu seem unconvincing.

So much so that after watching this movie, many netizens commented:

"Although Xia Zhu said she didn't like money and didn't care about money, every step to please her and win her over required spending money."

This also led to a lot of dislike from netizens for actress Vivian Sung, who played Xia Zhu, because her acting skills were not up to that level of effortless mastery. She was just playing Xia Zhu in the way she used to play Taiwanese idol dramas, which naturally made the female lead seem like a scheming, manipulative woman.

In a movie, especially a comedy, if the female lead is not likable, it's already half the battle won.

This can be seen in Stephen Chow's comedies. Although the female lead in Stephen Chow's movies often only plays the role of a decorative vase, some people even say that Stephen Chow does not respect women and likes to make fun of the female lead.

But whether it's the mute girl in "Kung Fu Hustle", the Fairy Zixia and the Spider Demon in "A Chinese Odyssey", or Liu Piaopiao in "King of Comedy" and Qiu Xiang in "Tang Bohu", they have all left a deep impression on the audience, and their characters are all beautiful in nature.

The original "Hello Mr. Billionaire" female lead, Xia Zhu, had this problem of being unlikable; her character design was flawed.

Fortunately, with Ma Li playing Xia Meili in the new version, this problem no longer exists, or at least its impact is minimal.

In this part of the movie, Ma Li is extremely conflicted because she mistakenly believes that Wang Duoyu likes her, and she often avoids him.

However, because of Xia Meili's failed investment, Wang Duoyu decided that she was the best person to complete his succession task. He trusted her a lot and not only invested heavily in Xia Meili's small supermarket to expand it into a city-wide chain brand, but also entrusted all his funds to Xia Meili to manage.

During this process, the two actors' scenes together naturally provided a lot of laughs, filling the movie theater with joyful laughter that just wouldn't stop.

Under Xia Meili's haphazard "operations," Wang Duoyu's assets did indeed shrink.

Meanwhile, amidst the chaotic spending spree, their relationship subtly changed.

Wang Duoyu discovered that after Xia Meili purchased a batch of "health products," she was unwilling to cheat the elderly people, even if it meant losing money and destroying the products, because she found they were of inferior quality.

Although Xia Meili is not very bright, she is kind-hearted. In fact, it is precisely because of her kind nature that she occasionally "miscalculates" and allows some people to take advantage of her.

Once Wang Duoyu realized this, his impression of Xia Meili changed drastically, and their relationship quietly warmed up.

However, kindness is one thing, but the money that needs to be spent still needs to be spent.

With the one-month deadline fast approaching, and thanks to Xia Meili's hard work, the mission objective is about to be achieved.
This made the two foundation managers responsible for supervising him uneasy. If Wang Duoyu failed to complete the task, then his second uncle's assets of over 10 billion yuan would all be handed over to the charity foundation for management.

In order to prevent Wang Duoyu from inheriting the estate, two fund managers approached Xia Meili and told her the truth.

This suggests that Wang Duoyu's trust in her was actually a form of deception.

Wang Duoyu never trusted Xia Meili's abilities. The reason he gave her money was because he was sure she would lose it all, not because he had any feelings for her or liked her.

"So, stop flattering yourself. Look at yourself, old and unsophisticated. And look at those young and beautiful girls outside. Wang Duoyu is so rich, how could he possibly be interested in you?"
He's just using you, you fool! He's always been using you!

The words of the two foundation managers completely shattered Xia Meili's defenses and destroyed her illusions, causing her to run out of the private room in tears.

Xia Meili's disappearance undoubtedly disrupted Wang Duoyu's plans. However, with the friendly match between Daxing Team and Hengtai Team imminent, Wang Duoyu didn't have the time or energy to search for Xia Meili.

However, after the game ended, a phone call came in, along with a photo of Xia Meili tied up.

So this was the ultimate test that the Second Master had set for him—a choice between humanity and wealth.

The kidnappers demanded that Wang Duoyu pay ten million to ransom Xia Meili. If he chose to save her and used the money on someone other than himself, he would lose his inheritance of 30 billion.

But if they don't help, Wang Duoyu will completely lose the 30 billion.

Wang Duoyu paced frantically in the room, his mind filled with Xia Meili's flushed face when she scolded him, her serious expression when she was doing the accounts, and all the little things he had done with her in the past.

He also tried to numb himself with alcohol, but in the end, he rushed to the kidnappers' hideout with the money, choosing to give up 30 billion to save Xia Meili.

When Mr. Jin appeared and announced that this was just a test, Wang Duoyu hugged Xia Meili tightly.

"Money can be earned back, but without me, I'll truly be penniless!"

Wow!
The screening room erupted in applause; everyone was very satisfied with "Hello Mr. Billionaire."

Wang Hao clapped his hands and then looked at his wife, asking, "Honey, do you think Wang Duoyu really likes Xia Meili?"

“Of course it is, that’s 30 billion. Wang Duoyu gave it all up for her. What else could it be but true love?” Jing Tian answered matter-of-factly.

"Couldn't it be for beauty?" Wang Hao joked.

Jing Tian glanced at Ma Li's face on the big screen, shook her head decisively, and the two of them laughed together.

"Hahaha!"

Indeed, if he had saved that young female celebrity from Taiwan, the audience might have said that Wang Duoyu was blinded by beauty.

But if he were to give up 30 billion just to save Ma Li, then what would that be if not love?

Moreover, the love story between Wang Duoyu and Ma Li makes up for the regret of "Goodbye Mr. Loser", giving people the feeling that Xia Luo and Ma Dongmei have gotten together.

This can be considered a small Easter egg.

At least after the movie ended, Wang Hao, who attended the preview screening, praised "Hello Mr. Billionaire" highly when asked by reporters, saying that it was the funniest domestic comedy film in recent years.

After that, many viewers who had seen the preview screenings discussed the plot of the movie endlessly, causing quite a stir online. This made other viewers who hadn't seen the preview screenings eager to see it, so they immediately took out their phones and started pre-ordering tickets for "Hello Mr. Billionaire" on Taobao Tickets.

(End of this chapter)