Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 156: Boss Yan’s domineering defense of his shortcomings, and Fatty Fan’s displeasure
The crew of "Little Fish and Flowerless" at the Huairou Film and Television Base in Beijing

Since the beating incident that happened not long ago, he has been pushed to the forefront of public opinion.

The media condemned the incident, dozens of mainland actors and related practitioners jointly spoke out, and the two parties publicly apologized and went to the hospital to visit.

At present, although it is claimed that a settlement has been reached, the crew is still under great pressure from public opinion, and the internal atmosphere is rather depressing. The actors go back to rest after filming, rarely go out, and never accept interviews.

But today, Fan Xiaopang asked the producer for leave and took Yang Xue away from the crew in a car.

Although they are both artists under Wang Jinghua, Fan Xiaopang and Yang Xue originally had no friendship and had not even dealt with each other many times.

After working together once in "The Seven Fairies", the relationship between the two became closer, at least in the crew of "The Little Fish and the Flowerless", the two were relatively close.

"Bingbing, you said you would take me to meet the group. Which group?"

Yang Xue was dragged here under duress, and was in a daze. When she asked Fan Xiaopang, he wouldn't tell her and kept her in suspense.

"You'll know when you get there. If it works, don't forget Sister Hua's credit for reminding me."

"That's for sure."

Yang Xue nodded. The artists under Wang Jinghua are relatively independent. Although there are cases where old artists bring up new ones, most of them just attend events or take care of the crew, and they rarely help introduce roles.

She didn't have a particularly good relationship with Fan Xiaopang, so Yang Xue was surprised and grateful that he was able to help her this time.

It took more than an hour to drive from Huairou to downtown Beijing, and we finally stopped at a Shandong cuisine restaurant.

Fat Fan wanted to get out of the car with his bag. He opened the door and closed it again. He took out a mirror and adjusted his makeup, which made Yang Xue a little nervous.

Why is the crew so cautious?!

After entering the restaurant, Yang Xue asked the waiter to lead her to a private room. There were a few people sitting in groups of three or four. She took a quick look around and found some of them looked familiar, but she had never met them before.

Fat Fan was also looking around. After seeing everyone clearly, his smile paused slightly, but he soon smiled again.

"Director Cheng, no, Mr. Cheng, I'm not late, am I?"

"It just so happens that we just arrived not long ago. Come, Bingbing, let me introduce you."

Cheng Lidong, full of high spirits, extended his hand to introduce Fan Xiaopang who was sitting down.

"This is Mr. Wang from XX International Company, and this is Mr. Zhang from XX Company in Taiwan Province, who is also an investor in our drama."

"This is directed by Jin Guozhao. Have you seen the movie 'First Contact'? It's a work by Director Jin."

"You must know this person, Mr. Liu Dekai."

"This is Wu Jiani, also an actor in our group."

Fan Xiaopang shook hands with everyone one by one and introduced Yang Xue. After the greetings, she took the time to ask.

"Isn't Mr. Yan coming over today?"

"Come on, he has a lot of social engagements and we don't know when he'll be here. He just called and told us to eat while we wait."

Cheng Lidong sighed a little. He had thought that preparing to shoot "Investiture of the Gods" would make him famous in the circle and also save face in front of his former brother Yan Li.

As a result, his project was still struggling to attract investment, while Yan Li had already put together a "Legend of Lu Xiaofeng" which was not much less in scale.

The project was launched later than "Investiture of the Gods", but its progress is far ahead of it, and it has already started an overwhelming casting and publicity.

Cheng Lidong originally knew that Yan Li was quite capable, but he boasted that he had been in the circle for many years and thought he wouldn't be much worse.

But this time he finally understood Yan Li's strength. Putting aside other things, when it comes to attracting investment, even if the three of them were put together, they would not be Yan Li's match.

Knowing that someone was coming, Fat Fan nodded and invited Yang Xue to eat. She had just finished work and had been on the road for more than an hour, so she was already hungry.

After just a few bites of food, Mr. Wang from the international company started to toast Fan Xiaopang, saying that he had admired him for a long time and was extremely honored to work with him this time.

Fan Xiaopang is not a newcomer. I can tell what he is thinking about by looking at his posture, and he is not stage-frightened.

He just had a drink with her, and then refilled it as a toast.

In this situation, hiding is useless. The more you hide, the more excited it becomes. If you do the opposite, make the other party scared and intimidated, then peace will naturally come.

In other situations, Fan Xiaopang would have to guard against a round-robin battle or being besieged, but today he has Cheng Lidong, a familiar face, as the host, Yang Xue can also provide cover and cooperation, and Yan Li is there to save the day, so it can be said that he has half the home court, and she can't drink him to death.

Fatty Fan drank three cups of water in a row, including toasts, which stunned Mr. Wang.

The other party retreated, and Mr. Zhang, who was with him, came to toast again.

Without Fan Xiaopang's invitation, Yang Xue took the initiative to toast. She was obviously not as alcoholic as Fan Xiaopang, but she could still help to drain his drink, not to mention that Cheng Lidong was trying to take sides.

But Mr. Zhang's alcohol tolerance is much better than Mr. Wang's just now. Fat Fan was not scared away and could only fight a protracted battle slowly.

Yang Xue was a little worried: "Is it okay? Should I call the driver?"

"It's okay, he can't put me down."

Fan Xiaopang was very calm. She was not stupid. She would fight with the other party until she was drunk. If she saw that the situation was not going well, she would give in, pretend to be drunk, and ask for reinforcements. There were plenty of ways to deal with it.

While they were drinking, the door of the private room rang, and Yan Li, with a slightly rosy face, walked in and greeted them with her hands clasped together.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"Why did you come here?"

Fat Fan, who was not fond of drinking competitions, stood up and walked forward, took Yan Li's hand, said something coquettishly, and then whispered something quickly.

"There's an old pervert harassing me, stop him."

Yan Li, who was a little surprised at first, immediately understood. He skillfully put his arms around Fan Xiaopang's slender waist and spoke in a doting tone.

"Okay, I was wrong, okay."

Cheng Lidong looked at the two of them in surprise, but said nothing and introduced them to each other.

They all sat down again, and Fat Fan sat right next to Yan Li, who asked in a low voice.

"Which old pervert is this?"

Fatty Fan pursed his lips, hesitated, and said, "Don't cause trouble."

Yan Li did not comment, but glanced at them casually. Feeling two hostile and unhappy emotions, he immediately locked onto the target and went to Cheng Lidong to ask.

"Who are these two investors?"

"From Taiwan Province..."

After Cheng Lidong introduced him, Yan Li instantly calmed down. He thought he was some entertainment tycoon from Taiwan, but it turned out to be just an old scoundrel who came to the mainland to beg for food with some money.

He looked at Fatty Fan with a look of disappointment: "You are no match for me. Why are you yelling at me? Why are you throwing wine in their faces?"

"I'm not polite if you touch me, how can I splash you if you greet me with a smile? I still have Brother Cheng's face to save."

Fatty Fan had his own reasons. Yan Li curled his lips and said, "No need to explain. Being a coward is being a coward."

"........."

Fat Fan gritted his teeth, said nothing, picked up a sea cucumber, bit it off and chewed it hard.

Mr. Wang and Mr. Zhang, on the other side, saw Yan Li and Fan Xiaopang chatting animatedly, looked at each other, and Mr. Zhang raised his glass.

"Miss Fan, we haven't had enough to drink yet, let's continue."

Fan Xiaopang looked up at Yan Li, who did not respond. She glanced at Cheng Lidong and spoke.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Zhang, I've reached my limit and can't drink any more."

Mr. Zhang tried to persuade her, "How is that possible? Miss Fan can easily be a huge drinker. This is just the beginning."

Mr. Wang was encouraging from the side: "That's right, it's a rare opportunity to cooperate, Miss Fan can't be disrespectful."

Cheng Lidong stepped out to smooth things over: "Mr. Wang and Mr. Zhang, Bingbing has indeed reached his limit. I'll drink with you two."

Mr. Zhang stared at Fatty Fan and didn't respond: "Mr. Cheng is Mr. Cheng, and Miss Fan is Miss Fan. They can't be confused."

"Yes."

President Wang chimed in with a forced smile, "We've come all the way to the mainland to invest. We can't just not even give you the courtesy of having a drink. How can we continue to cooperate like this?" Hearing this, Fatty Fan hesitated and looked at the embarrassed Cheng Lidong. Just as he was about to reach out to touch the wine glass, a hand snatched it away and poured it at President Wang.

This action caused an uproar in the entire box, and Mr. Wang, whose chin, neck and chest were splashed with wine, turned pale with anger.

"Diao, boy, what do you mean."

"What do you mean?"

Yan Li reached out and hugged Fatty Fan. "I want to ask, what do you mean by forcing my woman to drink in front of me? Do you treat me like a dead person?"

Mr. Zhang looked at Cheng Lidong angrily: "Mr. Cheng, this is your sincerity in cooperation."

"This……"

Cheng Lidong hesitated. He couldn't afford to offend the investors, and he didn't want to offend Yan Li and Fan Xiaopang either. He felt completely numb.

"Okay, you guys are brave, just wait and see."

Seeing this, Mr. Zhang pointed at Cheng Lidong, pulled Mr. Wang and left angrily. Director Jin Guozhao and Liu Dekai were a little embarrassed and hesitated whether to leave with them.

One of them is a Taiwanese director and the other is a Taiwanese actor. Naturally, their participation in this project requires the support of Taiwanese investors.

Just as he was about to stand up, Yan Li stopped him, "Director Jin, Teacher Liu, this personal grudge has nothing to do with you. Let's continue."

Afterwards, Yan Li raised his glass and clinked it with Cheng Lidong.

"Brother Cheng, I'm not here to mess with you. Let's chat privately later."

At this point, Cheng Lidong was helpless. He had already made his choice by letting the two investors leave.

Having said that, the dinner party soon ended due to the commotion. The director, Liu Dekai and others left, and Yang Xue went to wait in the car. Only Cheng Lidong, Yan Li and Fan Xiaopang were left in the box.

Without outsiders around, Yan Li revealed his true colors. He was just taking advantage of the situation and doing it on purpose.

Even if this hadn't happened today, he would have found a way to kick these two people out.

"They want a 1600% share for 40 million. We're basically working for them."

Yan Li was very disdainful of the two investors just now. They spent so much money to get this share and still wanted to pretend to be the financial backer. This was too much.

"what?"

Cheng Lidong was a little confused. The first part of "Investiture of the Gods" was planned to invest 3000 to 4000 million yuan. A 40% share in exchange for 1600 million yuan was not a low amount.

After all, Yongle Film and Television was established not long ago, the investment is large, and the risk is relatively high, so it is really difficult to negotiate the investment share.

Yan Li didn't care what Cheng Lidong thought and said, "How about this? Give me 50% of your shares first. I'll see if I can raise 3000 million for you. The remaining 50% will be split between the two of us. We'll pay back any excess and make up for any shortfall. It'll be considered a joint production."

"Can half the share really bring in 3000 million?!"

Cheng Lidong blushed. The project investment was too large and it would be difficult to make a profit. He even thought about giving up most of his shares if it really didn't work out. This project would make little or no profit and was purely for the purpose of promoting the company's reputation.

"I can't guarantee it, but there should be hope. If that doesn't work, we can add another 10%. If the two of us split the cost by 40%, it's less than 1000 million, so we should still make a profit."

"Yes, there must be."

Cheng Lidong raised his glass and drank it directly: "Brother, I owe you a big favor this time."

"It's a win-win cooperation."

On the surface, Yan Li seemed to have helped Cheng Lidong a lot, and even helped him make money.

But then again, Yi An's current strength has reached its limit in controlling "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng" and "The Legend of Xue Rengui", so the two dramas have to be staggered.

He simply didn't have the energy to produce "Investiture of the Gods" anymore, so Cheng Lidong took charge and helped with investment and post-production distribution, achieving the best of both worlds.

It doesn't matter even if Old Cheng takes advantage of it. Yan Li won't lose out anyway. Besides, there will be cooperation in the future, and he can make it up to him slowly then.

Fat Fan had been listening to their conversation from the side, his eyes flickering constantly on Yan Li.

After the show, Yan Li handed the drunk Cheng Lidong to his driver. He looked at Fatty Fan, wiped his hair a little cockily, and asked, "How did you feel just now?"

Fan Xiaopang sighed sincerely: "You are such a profiteer."

Yan Li: “…”

I'm asking you if it's cool to help you out!
"That's all you can do to bully me. If I were you, I would have just thrown it at Mr. Zhang to vent my anger."

Fatty Fan muttered, "You're the big boss, you're confident, and I'm just a small actor."

"Afraid of shit."

Yan Li stared at her with a burning gaze. "If you want to come to my company, I'll protect you from now on. Don't worry if you run into this kind of thing. As long as you're right, I'll clean up the mess for you, no matter how big it is."

Fan Xiaopang was a little moved. Today was quite a stimulation for her.

In the past, when she encountered similar situations at drinking parties, she would compromise, smile, and act like a rogue. The most intense thing she would do was to pick up her bag and leave. There were also people who stood in front of her, but this was the first time she fought back so domineeringly and helped her vent her anger.

It’s just… Fatty Fan’s pretty face was tangled: “But Sister Hua is very good to me, let me think about it again.”

"Okay, but you better hurry up. If someone gets there first and takes our company's top spot, don't blame me for not warning you."

Fatty Fan frowned slightly and said in a gloomy tone, "Are you poaching other people?!"

"..."

The tone of his voice sounded as if he had abandoned me after having fun with me. If you don't agree to me, you won't allow me to find someone else.

"Not yet, but it's hard to say. I'm not trying to scare you, but our company is quite popular right now."

This is not to fool Fan Xiaopang. After several consecutive projects, Yi An's reputation in the industry has become more and more famous. There are many newcomers and young actors who want to curry favor with him, including some famous young actresses.

"If your company really signs another actress, can I still play Daji in Investiture of the Gods?"

"Don't worry, this role has already been decided. It's yours whether you sign it or not. Even if we can't work together, we can still be friends. I'm not that petty."

Fan Xiaopang stared at Yan Li with his beautiful eyes. The latter looked calm. After a moment, Fan Xiaopang expressed sincerely.

"I will seriously consider it and give you an answer as soon as possible."

"Ah."

Yan Li was actually not in a hurry. Now that Fan Xiaopang was here, there was no suitable project for the time being, so he wanted to urge the other party to make up his mind.

As long as he is determined to change jobs, Yan Li will win him over and instigate him, and he will join his team sooner or later.

"Well, it's getting late, let's retreat."

Yan Li said goodbye and was about to go home. He had been to three events today and drank a lot of wine, so he felt a little tired.

"Hey."

Fat Fan called him, looked at Yan Li's puzzled expression, and kicked the ground with his toes unnaturally.

"When did that scandal start? I haven't been in the news much lately."

"Don't worry. Didn't I tell you that the best effect will come before the premiere? I'm trying to find an opportunity right now. Maybe it will be even better than the gossip we created."

Fatty Fan's expression was slightly dull: "What opportunity?"

"This matter is still uncertain, so I'm just going to reveal it to you. Don't say anything nonsense, including Yang Xue."

"Ah."

"I just contacted one of the directors of this year's Spring Festival Gala. I'd like to see if I can get you seven fairies to appear on the show. That would be a great advertising opportunity."

When Yan Li mentioned his new idea, he was beaming with joy, but he found that Fan Xiaopang's reaction was not as happy as he thought.

Fan Xiaopang thought it was normal. The scandal of two soldiers fighting for a husband would have a bad influence and would not be conducive to performing on the Spring Festival Gala. He could only choose one of the two.

She was the only one who appeared in the scandal, but there were seven of them together on the Spring Festival Gala. She suffered a great loss.

Yes, that’s why she’s unhappy…

(End of this chapter)