Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 253 Trinity

Just as Jiang Shan finished her phone call with Zhang Yan and rushed to Tianjin to collect interest, the "Sunshine" crew began their second meeting.

Since the other two investors have not yet arrived in Beijing, the negotiating parties remain Dong Ping and Jiang and Liu.

"I'll be frank."

Dong Ping stared at Jiang Wen and said coldly, "President Zhang is putting on such a big show, clearly trying to control us. With the crew in such a sorry state, we don't have much leverage to bargain with him. So, the losses of Huayi will fall on Director Jiang."

"What do you want to do?"

Jiang Wen was both wary and aggrieved: "I didn't embezzle any money. I spent all the money you invested on making the movie."

Stop talking nonsense!

Dong Ping sneered, pulled a switchblade from his waist, and stuck it into the table with a 'thud'. Then he reached behind him, took a document from his henchman, and placed it next to the switchblade.

Then he looked at Jiang Wen again and said, "Choose one."

Jiang Wen subconsciously exchanged a glance with Liu Xiaoqing, who then reached out to take the document.

Seeing this, Jiang Wen gritted her teeth and rushed ahead of her.

He grabbed the document and skimmed through it, discovering it was four empty contracts. The contracts stipulated that Jiang Wen would voluntarily film two movies and two TV series for Huayi at half the market price.

"Bullshit!"

After reading the contract, Jiang Wen instinctively wanted to slam it on the table, but after glancing at the switchblade opposite him, his movements immediately slowed down.

He put the contract back on the table and said through gritted teeth, "That's unreasonable, I didn't..."

Dong Ping didn't say anything, but simply pulled out the switchblade, and without even looking, tossed it behind him.

A short, stocky man with a face full of pimples reached out and grabbed the blade. His palm was immediately cut open near the base of his thumb, drawing blood.

The man nonchalantly switched the dripping blood knife in his other hand and walked around the table toward Jiang Wen.

"What do you want to do?!"

Liu Xiaoqing and Jiang Wu quickly stepped in between them. Seeing this, Jiang Wen, though her legs were trembling, still pushed aside her brother and girlfriend and shouted, "I'll sign! I didn't say I wouldn't sign!"

Seeing this, Dong Ping waved his hand to signal the short, stocky man to come back, and someone immediately stepped forward to bandage his right hand.

Dong Ping leaned forward and placed a pen on the contract.

Jiang Wen took a deep breath and said awkwardly, "I can sign, but I can't sign it like this."

"Um?!"

Dong Ping's eyes immediately flashed with a cold light again.

Jiang Wen hurriedly said, "You have to let me negotiate the price, right?!"

As he spoke, he held up one finger and said, "Just one, one movie."

"No, I can increase the fee to 75%."

"Just one movie, and he gets 40% of the salary."

"One movie + two TV series, 50% of the salary!"

"Two movies, one with a lead role and the other with a supporting role, I received 30% of the salary."

After some haggling, the two finally had a contract rewritten, with Huayi securing two film contracts for Jiang Wen in advance with a 30% cut of the price, one as the lead and the other as the main villain.

Although there is only one lead role, the fact that Jiang Wen plays the main villain is quite a gimmick.

After seeing Hua Yi's people off, Jiang Wen angrily kicked the door next to her room. The old door popped open, and a woman's scream immediately came from inside.

Liu Xiaoqing peeked inside and saw the female lead, Ning Jing, wrapped in a bath towel, nervously staring at the door.

"It's nothing, he's just drunk and acting crazy."

As Liu Xiaoqing spoke, he hurriedly dragged Jiang Wen back to the office, while Jiang Wu silently returned to the front desk.

"They're all bastards, turtle bastards!"

After entering the room, Jiang Wen slammed her hand on the table, gritting her teeth and shouting angrily.

Liu Xiaoqing rolled her eyes at him and said helplessly, "Isn't this all your own fault? Besides, what's the point of cursing now if you didn't curse earlier?"

"I...I was afraid of hurting you!" Jiang Wen tried his best to save face, but Liu Xiaoqing had known him for several years and knew what kind of person he was. Fortunately, although he was cowardly, he wasn't the kind of coward who would betray his teammates.

Of course, it's also possible that Jiang Wen hasn't experienced severe torture yet.

"okay."

Liu Xiaoqing said, "It's just two film contracts, what's the big deal? It's almost time, I need to go pick up the investors' representatives from Yunnan."

As she spoke, she stepped forward and straightened Jiang Wen's collar, comforting him, "What you need to do now is relax. Once this drama is filmed completely, everything will be alright."

After saying that, he kissed Jiang Wen on the forehead again, then picked up his bag and hurriedly went downstairs.

After Liu Xiaoqing left, Jiang Wen sat there blankly for a moment, then suddenly ripped open the collar of her clothes.

Since the problems arose in the "Sunshine" production team, Liu Xiaoqing seems to have gradually gotten used to treating him like a child, but for Jiang Wen, this approach is actually more like an insult.

He is Jiang Wen, a real man who stands tall and upright!
But Liu Xiaoqing was busy with the film crew, and he couldn't afford to have a big argument with her over this, so he could only keep it bottled up inside.

But now this anger is becoming increasingly difficult to suppress.

Just then, Ning Jing, fully dressed, stormed in and demanded angrily, "Director Jiang, what was wrong with you just now?! What about my door? Who's going to fix it?!"

In the crew, besides Liu Xiaoqing, the only one who dared to argue with Jiang Wen was Ning Jing. Jiang Wen, in turn, greatly admired Ning Jing's earnestness and never held it against her.

But this time...

Ning Jing, who stood with his hands on his hips demanding an explanation from Jiang Wen, suddenly became a mixture of Dong Ping and Liu Xiaoqing in Jiang Wen's eyes—and of course, that despicable Zhang Yan as well!

This trinity of images instantly ignited Jiang Wen's passion. She got up, pushed Ning Jing onto the sofa, and then pounced on him fiercely.

Ning Jing was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly pointed outside and said, "Wait a minute, the door, the door!"

"We'll fix it tomorrow!"

"I meant the door wasn't closed!"

[PS: It was these two who got together that led to Jiang and Liu's breakup.]

…………

Two days later in the morning.

The four investors' representatives, along with director Jiang Wen, traveled together in one car to Tianjin—followed by a van full of entourage.

The driver was Jiang Wen. He had a black eye and a bandage next to his mouth. He kept a straight face and didn't say a word the whole way.

Liu Xiaoqing, in the passenger seat, also had an icy expression, staring blankly out the window the whole time, and didn't glance at Jiang Wen once.

Seeing this scene, Wen Xie and another investor representative in the back row frequently looked at Dong Ping on the other side, their eyes filled with apprehension and curiosity.

They all obviously thought it was Dong Ping who did it, after all, Huayi suffered the biggest loss this time.

Dong Ping was too lazy to explain. Anyway, it wasn't a bad thing to make them wary. He was more curious about how Jiang Wen and Liu Xiaoqing had fallen out.

Is it a case of everyone fleeing when disaster strikes?

Just then, Wen Xie suddenly said, "Mr. Dong, what if we don't touch Huayi's shares, but just sign a contract for a bridge loan?"

After Wen Xie arrived in Beijing yesterday, he suggested that since the current problem is the restriction on the identity of the main investor, he could take the lead in raising funds to inject capital into Huayi, and then invest it in the production team, which would solve the immediate crisis.

However, Dong Ping rejected the proposal without hesitation. Huayi did not reject Hong Kong capital investment, but if Hong Kong capital were absorbed at this time, his shares, as the chairman who had just made a major mistake, would definitely be diluted in large quantities.

Today, Wenxie proposed a bridge financing method, which actually carries certain risks.

For example, Huayi might take the money and run off with it, or fail to follow the contract when distributing the profits later—since the investment was made in Huayi's name, the return money should definitely pass through Huayi's hands first.

The fact that Wen Xie would proactively offer such a suggestion can only mean that he truly loves Jiang Wen.

"No."

To everyone's surprise, Dong Ping still refused without hesitation. However, this time he took the initiative to explain: "We, Huayi, have gone through many trials and tribulations to obtain the pilot qualification. In doing so, we have offended many people. If they have a handle against us and we lose the pilot qualification, then Huayi will have no chance to turn things around."

Upon hearing this, Wen Xie had no choice but to give up and instead inquired about Zhang Yan's situation.

When he learned that the other party was only 26 years old, just a few months older than Jiang Wen's younger brother Jiang Wu, and that he had started from scratch, he realized that this negotiation would definitely not be easy.

(End of this chapter)