The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 213 Everyone is evil
"Seriously, Xu, it's been almost two months and all you've given me is this little bit?" Fan Bingbing held the outline, which consisted of only two sheets of paper, looking at it from every angle with a face full of confusion and dissatisfaction.

"To correct you, at most it will only take a month," Xu Jiuyang said calmly. "It's already quite good to have such a detailed outline."

"You call this detailed?" Fan Bingbing made no attempt to hide her disdain.

"It has time, people, place, cause and effect, and introductions of the main characters. Isn't that detailed enough?" Xu Jiuyang first asked rhetorically, and then said earnestly, "Don't rush, Fan. Think about it. In the next three months, you still have to film 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.' After filming, you'll need to rest, right? Then in September, you have to attend the Cannes Film Festival. Angela arranged it from the beginning. The trip will take another month. Even at the fastest, filming won't start until October."

"What?! Even if 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber' starts filming in March, it will be almost finished by June. Then it will be another three months until September. Can't we film this?" Fan Bingbing said, slamming her hand on the table.

“Fan, your ‘Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber’ took half a year from preparation to completion. Even if a movie is made faster, it’s impossible to finish it in three months,” Xu Jiuyang said with a sigh. “Take it easy, okay? You’re not Shi Xiu, why are you working so hard? Even if you’re going to work hard, you should work hard on something else. You can’t be an actor forever, can you?”

Fan Bingbing pursed her lips: "Alright, since you've put it that way, let's film it at the end of the year, but..."

She leaned closer to him: "How about you play the male lead?"

“Is this necessary?” Xu Jiuyang frowned. “Do you want to use the fact that the screenwriter and the male lead are the same person as a gimmick for promotion? Please, most viewers go to the cinema to watch a story and relax.”

“There’s really no need for that, but Xu,” her pearly white teeth grazed her rosy lips, “are you sure you want to see me act out a sex scene with another male actor?”

"How did you figure out this plot from just two pages?" Xu Jiuyang raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Really?" Fan Bingbing chuckled, picked up the two pages of manuscript paper in her hand, and turned to a certain place. "It clearly says here that the male and female protagonists have been dating for a long time."

“The male and female leads are definitely going to have a relationship, but that doesn’t mean they have to film a sex scene.” Xu Jiuyang spread his hands. “In fact, even if we were to film a sex scene, we wouldn’t necessarily have to film it directly. We could have the male and female leads appear on screen, accompanied by laughter and giggles, and then the male lead would be pushed into the frame and appear on screen again. This could be repeated three times, with the male lead wearing less and less clothing each time. The audience would then naturally understand what happened.”

Yes, it's the same trick Feng Xiaogang used in "I Am Not Madame Bovary".

Fan Bingbing immediately pouted: "Are you trying to force me to kneel down and beg you?"

Xu Jiuyang was speechless, because he knew that this woman truly meant what she said when it came to this.

If she really kneels in front of him, looking at him with puffed-up or pitiful eyes, even if he knows she has her own ulterior motives, he has no choice but to agree.

"Okay, but you need to arrange your schedule properly. I don't want to work non-stop," Xu Jiuyang asked with a sigh.

"Yay!" Fan Bingbing kissed him on the cheek without saying a word.

Xu Jiuyang blinked and subconsciously looked towards the corner, where his secretary Qin Lan was organizing documents. After feeling his gaze, she looked up and forced a smile, as if to say: Don't worry about me, I didn't see anything.

Fan Bingbing seemed to realize the awkwardness and changed the subject after a dry cough: "Speaking of which, I feel like I've seen this outline somewhere before. The male lead meets the rich second male lead through ping-pong, and is determined to seduce his sister, the second female lead. Then he's attracted to the second male lead's celebrity girlfriend, the first female lead. After they have sex, he's worried that she might get pregnant and affect his career advancement, so he simply kills her and frames her..."

She touched her chin, her expression turning somewhat strange: "To be honest, this type of story seems to be completely unexplored in China; only Europe and America write such stories. You didn't just copy it directly, did you?"

“Yeah,” Xu Jiuyang nodded, “It’s copied from Woody Allen.”

"Huh?!" Fan Bingbing's eyes widened, even showing some fear. "Woody Allen made a movie called 'Crime and Mistakes' in the 80s, the theme of which is the conflict between crime and morality and conscience, and how fate plays tricks on people," Xu Jiuyang said confidently. "In addition, throughout history and across the world, there are countless literary works about people being blinded by desire, doing all sorts of stupid things, and ultimately paying the price."

Of course, all that talk is just a copy of Match Point.

This movie could almost be a perfect replacement for the one shown in mainland China. It doesn't have Woody Allen's talkativeness; instead, it's more like David Fincher's style, using a strong plot to drive the story forward. All it needs is localized modifications to the details, incorporating Chinese elements, and having the protagonist go to jail at the end.

"Really?" Fan Bingbing, who had breathed a sigh of relief, squinted again, giving an expression that said, "I don't believe it."

“Basically, this type of story cannot escape the framework of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment,” Xu Jiuyang shrugged. “In addition, we have also made films that explore this aspect, but they are relatively subtle. You can take a look at Xie Tieli’s ‘The Bao Family’. Apart from no one dying, the core is actually quite similar.”

"Alright, alright," Fan Bingbing quickly waved her hand, her face full of impatience, "I believe you, okay?"

But she immediately asked curiously, "Then why did you design everyone to be villains? The second male and female leads treat the male lead like a monkey, the parents of the second male and female leads only want to find a son-in-law, and the female lead and the male lead use each other without any feelings."

“Isn’t this what you said?” Xu Jiuyang gave her a strange look. “We need to submit it to a film festival, but we can’t have two endings. I thought about it and decided to make everyone a villain, and everyone has a reason to die. That way, whether the female lead is killed, the male lead is arrested, or the second male and female leads die, it’s all believable.”

"Ah...yes...that's how it is, yes, yes, yes..." Fan Bingbing chuckled awkwardly.

It's clear she's completely forgotten what she said.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll be going. I have a date tonight," Xu Jiuyang said, standing up.

“There’s one more thing,” Fan Bingbing said, taking a check out of the drawer. “This is your share of the profits.”

"Dividends?" Xu Jiuyang looked at the number on it, which read 15.

"Yes, as I told you before, the revenue from Aurogon Games is not much different from the marketing department's estimate. After deducting various costs, there is a net profit of 500 million."

“I remember I had 5% of the shares, right?” Xu Jiuyang recalled.

“Yes, but the contract states that you only have a 3% share of the profits.” Fan Bingbing smiled, like a little fox who had just stolen a chicken. “I showed it to you back then.”

"Alright..." Xu Jiuyang said dryly, this time it was his turn to forget, "Then I'm leaving."

"Who are you going on a date with tonight?" Fan Bingbing asked casually, in a great mood.

“It’s Yang Rong,” Xu Jiuyang replied casually.

"Oh...who?!" Fan Bingbing realized.

Unfortunately, Xu Jiuyang had already escaped.

(End of this chapter)