Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Let's take full copyright for Chapter 400.
Gu Ming was preparing to go back, but before he left, he had to take care of something.

"Cough cough, um..."

Gu Ming rubbed his face to compose himself.

You need to learn how to act.

Filming hasn't started yet; construction workers are still repairing the main hall of Shaolin Temple. There's still some time before filming begins, but Zhang Xinyan isn't idle. The actors have no acting experience and need training, and besides, he has a lot of other things to do.

Gu Ming stopped the translator Zhao nearby and greeted him.

"Where is Director Zhang?"

"Oh, Director Zhang Xinyan is training actors in the square behind the main hall."

"Come with me, I have something to say to Director Zhang."

As Gu Ming spoke, he walked towards the main hall first.

The main hall, which is under renovation, is now covered with scaffolding. The bamboo scaffolding looks shaky and a bit scary. Gu Ming strolled leisurely through the scaffolding and arrived at the square behind the hall.

"Director Zhang!"

"Oh dear, Mr. Furuya!"

The two greeted each other with a deep bear hug. Perhaps because the money was almost settled, Zhang Xinyan was all smiles and in a particularly good mood.

Unlike those outside the film crew, a director with a long history and rich experience like him knows exactly what kind of position Gu Ming holds.

Perhaps their commercial value isn't the highest, but with just one Cannes award, they're considered top-tier actors. Besides, they received a basic investment of two million yen this time.

No matter how you look at it, he's a god of wealth, so it's always good to worship him first.

Gu Ming stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the actors practicing in the square.

Just then, Gu Ming and Li Lianjie made eye contact. Li Lianjie, who was usually fearless, shifted his gaze slightly, seemingly hesitant to meet Gu Ming's eyes.

"This kid, why are you still feeling guilty! When you tricked me into giving away the money for donations, did you ever think about feeling guilty?"

Gu Ming shook his head secretly and turned to Director Zhang Xinyan.

"Director Zhang, is it time to start filming?"

"That will take a little longer. The main hall is already under renovation. We'll paint it first, buy some furniture from down the mountain, and make sure it looks decent. We can get the interior decorations from other places."

Zhang Xinyan spoke eloquently, saying with a smile, "We also specially purchased a second camera from Hong Kong, which can be used for multi-camera shooting, and we can also have a more sufficient amount of film."

Everything is ready, just waiting for the money to arrive.

Gu Ming nodded, but beneath his calm expression, he suddenly uttered a sentence that sent chills down Zhang Xinyan's spine.

"Director Zhang, you prepared so meticulously that you even fooled my people."

Zhang Xinyan suddenly looked up, his face displaying only one expression.

Oh no, we've been exposed.

Gu Ming stood with his hands behind his back, his voice sounding increasingly calm.

“I paid the money. I repaired the house. But Mr. Director, how could you steal from my people! I thought only Koreans did this kind of thing.”

Zhang Xinyan was momentarily at a loss as to whether to cry or laugh.

After a moment, the old man returned a friendly smile to Gu Ming.

"Really? Such a thing actually happened? I'll definitely investigate this thoroughly and see what they stole!"

"Director, there's no point in pretending to be stupid with me."

Gu Ming stood up and casually tossed a remark to Zhang Xinyan.

"They're spending my money to build houses and then stealing my things. I'm withdrawing my investment."

Zhang Xinyan almost fainted with a quack.

"We can't withdraw our funding!! The equipment has already been purchased, and the film is ready. It was all paid for with the filming funds. If we withdraw our funding now, we won't have enough money for filming, and how can we ever make a film!"

Gu Ming shrugged: "What does this have to do with me?"

Zhang Xinyan froze instantly.

Right.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the person in front of you!
Seeing that Gu Ming was about to leave, Zhang Xinyan became truly anxious. Filming this movie was no easy feat, and it wasn't an ordinary project. The initial investment of HK$400,000 was wasted before even a single roll of film was produced, and he was the one who ultimately had to take over.

If Gu Ming were to turn around and leave at this moment, then it would truly be the end.

“Mr. Furuya.” Zhang Xinyan took a deep breath and finally swallowed his pride.

"Tell me, what conditions do you want for me to continue investing?"

Gu Ming stopped in his tracks, a smile playing on his lips.

Isn’t this coming?

Gu Ming pulled Zhang Xinyan back to sit down, and casually picked up the teapot on the table to pour a cup for each of them.

"I want overseas copyrights."

"No problem, all of them are fine."

"I also want to develop audio-visual products."

"That's fine too."

“Give him more screen time.” Gu Ming pointed at Zhen Zidan.

After thinking about it, Zhang Xinyan nodded and said, "Okay."

Gu Ming began chiseling at the wall.

"I want to buy land!"

Seeing Zhang Xinyan's astonished expression, Gu Ming said, "I want to buy the land of Shaolin Temple and develop it into a tourist area. Then, I'll let the Japanese come to Shaolin Temple for tourism and turn it into a tourist attraction."

Zhang Xinyan's face twitched for a long time before he could finally manage to utter a single sentence.

"I really can't do that! This isn't something I, as the director, can decide, nor is it something the abbot of Shaolin Temple can decide. The land belongs to the state. If you want to talk, you can only go to the local officials in charge."

Gu Mingming asked knowingly, "What are the chances?"

Zhang Xinyan gave a bitter smile.

Of course, it's not very high!
Even the Zhou people couldn't buy the Shaolin Temple with money, let alone the Japanese.

Gu Mingben only wanted to open the window and had no intention of discussing the matter at all.

Seeing Zhang Xinyan's relieved expression, Gu Ming reached out and shook Zhang Xinyan's hand, looking regretful.

"Director Zhang, I really admire you. When I was very young, I loved buying and watching VHS tapes. That movie, 'The Jade Bow and the Cloud Sea,' was absolutely beautiful. It made me yearn for the places in the story. I was overjoyed to see you again, but I never expected this to happen. I hope this kind of thing will not happen again in our collaboration."

Zhang Xinyan cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards Gu Ming: "I guarantee with my old face that it won't happen again."

"That's good. I'll get ready to head back to Japan now." Gu Ming casually pulled out a business card with the number of the Extreme Action Agency written on it.

"After the filming is completed, you can call my company's number."

After saying this, Gu Ming got up and left.

Zhang Xinyan let out a long breath, looking at the business card in his hand repeatedly, his feelings were extremely complicated, he couldn't say whether he was angry or ashamed.

More than anything, he felt ashamed, never imagining that one day he would have to learn from foreigners in this way.

Fortunately, he managed to save his investment from being withdrawn.

"In the past, it was always the envoys sent to Tang China who came to our Zhou Kingdom to learn things. I never expected that this time they would ask me to learn from Japan. Indeed, those who are accomplished come first!"

Zhang Xinyan sighed, but carefully put the business card away.

There may be a possibility of cooperation in the future, as long as similar incidents do not happen again.

As for the overseas copyrights, they were almost all sold to Gu Ming except for Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea, which was a last resort.

Zhang Xinyan didn't think the film would have any box office success overseas; Hong Kong and Taiwan would be enough.

Of course, quality is still the most important thing! Now that we have an extra investment, the main hall of Shaolin Temple has been renovated, and we have also learned some new techniques for shooting action films. The quality of the final product will naturally be better.

"Learning has no end!" Zhang Xinyan said, shaking his head and reciting the words with his hands behind his back.

Study it; it's full of knowledge.

It's very deep.

(End of this chapter)