Huayu became famous overnight

Chapter 258 Teacher Zhao was bullied

"Well, this was personally instructed by Chairman Wang to do everything in his power to help you open up the situation in Los Angeles."

Seeing Xu Ming's expressionless face, the Wanda representative touched his nose and added, "Of course, it's also to open up opportunities for us."

I'm afraid the latter sentence is the main reason.

That's the downside of leveraging existing resources.

You have to accept whatever amount others give you.

Fortunately, he was mentally prepared; it was nothing more than changing some of the words in his draft.

There's one way to talk about dealing with Hollywood bigwigs, and another way to talk about dealing with bigwigs from all walks of life.

Please convey my thanks to Chairman Wang.

Xu Ming said something to the other person, and then walked towards the rest of the crew.

He knew very well that this stage did not belong to him.

All the smiles shown to him were for Chairman Wang, who was not present.

He should return to his place and fight for his own spotlight.

"Sorry, I just finished dealing with those important figures and neglected everyone," Xu Ming said with a smile.

“Being able to handle important people means you are an important person yourself,” Jennifer said.

"No, I'm just a pawn that was pushed out."

Xu Ming shook his head and said frankly, "Originally, I only wanted to invite some people in the industry, but I didn't expect Wanda to invite so many guests."

His background is not complicated; anyone with a keen eye can easily find out.

Therefore, he did not hide the fact that he benefited from the situation.

Megan laughed and said, "Even if Wanda doesn't invite them, many people will still come uninvited. A three billion dollar acquisition of AMC is a huge deal on a global scale."

The only thing that surprised her was that Xu Ming was so highly regarded by Wanda.

This kind of occasion is used as a platform to announce the arrival of the latter.

Three billion US dollars?

Jennifer took a deep breath; for a moment, her brain simply couldn't process how enormous this sum of money was.

Bell and the others standing nearby were equally impressive.

Even director David's gaze towards Xu Ming changed.

How the hell are these damn Chinese so rich?

Why can't I be the one who's so damn rich?
"It shouldn't be that high," Xu Ming said, frowning.

Megan glanced at Xu Ming and said, "On paper, even with AMC's $19 billion debt and $500 million in equipment upgrade costs, Wanda will probably only have to pay around $700 million."

Listen to the tone of the daughter of the world's seventh richest man: only seven hundred million, and that's in US dollars.

However, the other party's information channels are indeed well-connected.

As partners with Wanda, Xu Ming also had no opportunity to learn about these contract details.

“I know that you have a friend at AMC, as you do. It seems you have a close partnership with Wanda,” Megan probed.

She had looked up Xu Ming's information and initially thought that the latter would not have a significant impact on Huaxia Capital, which was why she agreed to cooperate.

Besides the good script, they also saw Xu Ming as a bridgehead for entering the Chinese market.

But to everyone's surprise, the other party attracted an investment of 30 million US dollars in one go, and these funds included many well-known Chinese companies.

In this way, the honorary producer naturally gained real power, and in competition with David's role, she sided with the latter.

At this banquet, she realized even more that Xu Ming's role with Huaxia Capital behind him was not just a simple one, but perhaps involved a deeper level of cooperation.

"Hehe, I guessed." Xu Ming was taken aback, then laughed.

Megan didn't say anything; she didn't send any message.

Xu Ming was too lazy to explain. He couldn't very well say that the reason he was sure the price wouldn't be that high was simply because he thought the higher-ups wouldn't allow it.

To others, their conversation sounded like gibberish.

I felt that Xu Ming had gained a 'capitalist' aura just like Megan.

Little did they know that Xu Ming shared their resentment towards the rich.

What's even more infuriating is why he's not the one who's rich!

Suddenly, a fragrant breeze wafted over.

Scarlett walked up behind him and naturally took his arm: "Some trivial matters took up time. I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"of course not."

Xu Ming shook his head and said with a faint smile, "Isn't the main character always the one who makes the grand entrance last?"

Scarlett couldn't suppress her smile upon hearing this, and hugged Xu Ming's arm even tighter, as if she wanted to wrap him up completely.

She knew Xu Ming was referring to the contract they had signed previously.

She was exhausted from working on this contract.

The crowd looked back and forth between the two.

Especially Jennifer, whose status is almost the same as Scarlett's.

To some extent, the two are competitors.

Seeing Scarlett cling to Xu Ming's arm without any hesitation, he felt a sense of urgency.

She can do without this resource, but she can't accept it if someone else takes it.

“Scarlett has signed an acting contract with our association, and our first film will be based on her,” Xu Ming said.

Amy, Jennifer, and the others immediately looked at him with more fervor.

If offering oneself could guarantee a leading role in a movie, then Xu Ming wouldn't need to sleep at night anymore.

"Does this project accept external investment?" Megan asked.

"Of course, we're here to create the cake, not to steal it," Xu Ming said with a smile.

Many older Chinese figures who came to Hollywood always tried to bring their landlord mentality with them.

He always wants to be king and domineering, and wants to make the actors he promotes extremely famous.

They didn't consider that the more cake they ate, the greater the backlash would be.

Why was Jackie Chan able to succeed?

He successfully expanded the pie, and in a position of absolute central importance.

Xu Ming's current stance is that he's brought his own resources to Hollywood to help everyone make and share the profits, providing food and lodging as a form of support.

Once there's a first Scarlett, there will be a second and a third.

They wanted to eat more cake, so they instinctively gathered around Xu Ming, trying to clear obstacles for him.

In China, such people are called traitors.

But in Xu Ming's eyes, they were all perfectly law-abiding citizens.

After chatting for a while, I received a signal from a Wanda representative.

Xu Ming led Scarlett to the center of the banquet.

Under everyone's gaze, he calmly said, "Welcome everyone to this banquet. As an outsider, I imagine many of you are unfamiliar with me, or even hostile, thinking that someone else is here to rob them." "Wrong," he continued, "I'm here to give you money."

The sudden turn of events startled the unsuspecting crowd, who then burst into laughter and became more interested in the seemingly inexperienced Xu Ming.

"Our first film project has been officially launched. The female lead is this beautiful lady next to me. You should all be familiar with her, Scarlett O'Hara, the Black Widow."

Xu Ming turned slightly to the side and gestured to Scarlett.

The latter waved to the surroundings, flashing a professional smile.

She was specially invited by Xu Ming to act as a mascot, and Scarlett clearly enjoyed being the center of attention as a mascot in this event filled with bigwigs from all walks of life.

"The estimated production cost is 40 million US dollars. Currently, all positions except for the female lead are pending. We welcome everyone's recommendations."

"Of course, this is just the beginning. We will be making at least ten more films, each with an investment of no less than 50 million US dollars."

"To this end, we have prepared one billion US dollars. We will select the most mature Hollywood team in the global film industry and use the most advanced film equipment here to create films that audiences around the world will love, and build a bridge between the North American market and the Chinese market."

“I sincerely hope that all of this billion dollars can be sent out, instead of remaining in our hands as a pile of worthless paper.”

Xu Ming spoke with great passion, his arms waving rapidly as his tone quickened.

This caused the audience to feel excited.

A billion dollars—in the past, they would have just dismissed it as nonsense.

However, given the previous rumors of Wanda acquiring AMC for 3 billion yuan, this 1 billion yuan investment seems credible.

As gamblers in the casino of America.

They are never afraid of new players winning money; they are only afraid that new players will not dare to enter the market.

Xu Ming, a new gambler with deep pockets and a willingness to spend money, instantly became their favorite and hot commodity.

clap clap clap!
A round of enthusiastic applause filled the hall as everyone welcomed the gamblers from the East who had entered with their large sums of money.

The Wanda representative clapped so hard his hands turned red.

Mr. Xu is really generous; he managed to secure a total investment of one billion US dollars. No wonder Chairman Wang attaches great importance to it.

Seeing the expression on the face of the Wanda representative, who was also Chinese, the crowd became even more convinced.

"Come over to my place tonight? I forgot to tell you last time, my cat can do backflips, so I'll have it perform this time," Scarlett said affectionately.

Ten billion! Ten billion! Even if only a portion of it were given to her to make movies, she could eat resources until she was sick of them.

"I'm afraid it won't work tonight, let's do it in a couple of days," Xu Ming said, shaking his head.

A flicker of disappointment crossed Scarlett's eyes, but she quickly rallied: "Okay, I'll wait for you."

Immediately afterwards, everyone else at the banquet swarmed in, leaving her no chance to speak.

Xu Ming became the most sought-after person at the scene.

"The first movie is a science fiction action movie. I can't reveal too much about the specifics, but I can tell you that the movie is called 'Lucy,' which is the name of the earliest female ancient human."

"As for future films, they will definitely not be limited to science fiction, and there may even be a collaboration with Jackie Chan."

"Is one billion US dollars a lot? The production cost of a mid-budget film is about fifty million US dollars. If you add marketing and publicity expenses, it will be close to one hundred million. That means it will be spent on ten mid-budget films. Is it too much or too little?"

Facing the crowd around him, Xu Ming bragged even more and more wildly.

He didn't even remember when Xiao Juan came up to him. He only saw the latter tug at him, pulling him out of his reverie about a certain not-so-famous German painter's speech.

He then waved apologetically to everyone and followed Xiao Juan to a quiet corner.

"Brother Ming, have we really prepared a billion yuan?" Xiao Juan asked excitedly during the journey.

"I don't know about US dollars, but I do have some Happy Beans," Xu Ming sneered.

Xiao Juan was bewildered and asked in surprise, "Oh, then what you just did..."

"That's bullshit."

Xu Ming retorted confidently, "You think I'm a money-printing machine? You even spend a billion US dollars to make a movie. What can't I do with that money?"

Despite the fact that his association has attracted many companies to join, his current credit line is at most $100 million.

Before he achieves any success in the Hollywood market, those investors are unlikely to easily entrust him with their capital.

"Oh, isn't that a bit too much?" Xiao Juan's voice gradually softened to the whisper of a mosquito, as if afraid of being overheard.

Their straight spines bent over, as if they had done something wrong.

“Look at you, you’re acting like a thief even if you haven’t done anything wrong. Stand up straight and imagine yourself as the assistant of a billionaire…” Xu Ming said.

"Brother Ming, I really can't imagine it," Xiao Juan said with a mournful face.

"You child, you haven't learned any of my strengths."

Xu Ming shook his head and said, "We're just bragging a little. Although I don't have a billion dollars, I still have a hundred million. It's just a tenfold leverage. In America, that would be considered quite honest."

"Besides, I only said I would have it, but I didn't say how or when to spend it. Who knows, maybe I'll actually have it while I'm spending it."

He chuckled as he spoke.

He casually brushed aside Xiao Juan's hair, messing up her neat hairstyle, which made her pout.

"If someone has no money and wants to borrow it, they're hated and despised. But if someone has money and wants to borrow it, people are grateful and willing to hang out with them. How can you tell if someone has money or not?"

“In modern society, anything can be faked. It’s all about subjective judgment. If everyone thinks you’re rich, then you are rich. I don’t need everyone here to think I really have a billion dollars. Having a portion of that is enough.”

Xu Ming paused, then sneered, "Besides, even if someone notices something's wrong, they'll only fuel the fire. They're not afraid of you lying, they're afraid of you not knowing how to lie. If you can lie flawlessly, then why can't you make the lie seem real?"

"They need Chinese capital to heat up the market, which will then attract others to join in. It's all a game of musical chairs."

However, for him, it doesn't matter whether he is truly regarded as having a billion dollars in capital or as a fraudster.

This will be helpful for our subsequent plans.

As he just said, bragging about something might just turn out to be true.

Once "American Hustle" and "Lucy" achieved success, he could make a billion dollars' worth of money look like a billion dollars' worth of money.

"Just don't get yourself into trouble."

Xiao Juan didn't understand this, but after asking a question, she brought up the important matter: "Sister Xiao Yuan said she has something to discuss with you regarding Teacher Zhao Wenzhuo."

"Call her."

Xu Ming frowned. If Xiao Yuan was in such a hurry to find him, it must be something serious.

After dialing, Xiaoyuan's voice came through.

"Mr. Xu, Teacher Zhao has been bullied."

"make it clear."

Xu Ming's forehead creased with annoyance. "Do you know how easily things can be ambiguous?"

"He signed a contract for a movie last year, and it was agreed that he would co-star with Donnie Yen as the male lead. Now that he has joined the crew, the script has changed his role to a supporting one, and he is currently on hiatus."

"Brother Zhuo means he doesn't want to film anymore and is asking for the company's opinion," Xiao Yuan said.

Xu Mingchu was slightly taken aback when he heard this, and then a look of reminiscence appeared on his face.

Damn, how could I have forgotten about that?

"Then let's not film it. But we can't be too optimistic about the other party. We should preserve the evidence immediately and have Zhuo Wei prepare a contingency plan. If there's no movement, that's fine. But if they really cause trouble, we need to retaliate quickly."

Xu Ming pondered for a moment and said, "Also, have Brother Zhuo pack up and prepare to come to America."

(End of this chapter)