A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 162, "21," is now available!
June 14, Shanghai.

I drank some alcohol that night.

However, given Lin Jianlu's drinking capacity, he wouldn't get drunk at ordinary drinking parties, let alone just a small gathering with a few friends—a wrap party, I suppose. Although the crew was small, it was still quite a gathering of dignitaries, and many people came to toast him. However, almost no one considered themselves equal to Lin Jianlu anymore; it was mostly "I'll drink mine, you can drink as you like." And the girls around Lin Jianlu, almost one after another, urged him to drink less in recent months. So, in reality, in the end, he was just having a small drink and chatting with Zhang Yimou, Gu Changwei, Wang Jing, and a few others who remained on set.

The event ended early, a little after nine o'clock in the evening, when everyone shook hands and said goodbye.

Next, Zhang Yimou took the footage back to the capital and went to the Beijing Film Studio for initial editing, producing a short film of about ten minutes. He then left it for Lin Jianlu to return so that they could discuss and make the final cut together.

The final cut should be around six and a half to seven minutes long.

There will be a new arrangement to match this music video, but that's a minor issue.

Wang Jing will return to Hong Kong with Ge Fuhong.

Of course, in fact, even now, the MV shooting team including Zhang Yimou, Gu Changwei, Yuan Heping, Jiang Wen, and Hong Kong friends like Wang Jing, still had no idea what Lin Jianlu was going to do with the MV until it was finished—they only knew that Lin Jianlu's new song was going to use it.

Back in her large suite, Lin Jianlu let out a long sigh of relief.

It's alright, in his opinion, the filming is alright.

Perhaps thirty years from now, it will just be a slightly more polished short video, but in this era, it's enough to blow up the streets—blow up the streets of America, and also the streets of mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong!
Now that the music video is finally finished, he can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Just like when he handled the release, promotion, and music video shooting of "Cold to the End," now that the large-scale music video for "Believer" has been filmed, his behind-the-scenes work as a singer is basically complete.

Whether it succeeds or fails depends on fate; whether to do it or not depends on oneself.

I've done it, and I'll accept the loss.

Chen Hong, Yu Feihong, their agent Ge Fuhong, and a vice president from Xinli Columbia accompanied Lin Jianlu back to his room. As always, Chen Hong was busy greeting guests, while Yu Feihong, who wasn't good at such things, stood there arranging vases with a smile. However, Ge Fuhong didn't plan to sit down, as she was afraid of encountering a subtle confrontation between the two. She simply followed along to see if Lin Jianlu had anything else for her to do.

As a result, Lin Jianlu waved to them, inviting them to sit down, so the two of them sat down.

Lin Jianlu first asked about the money: had the budget been spent?
The deputy general manager paused for a moment before replying, "It seems there are still about 200,000 left!"
Lin Jianlu immediately said, "Zhang Yimou will give 15, Jiang Wen will give 10, and Wang Jing will give 10 Hong Kong dollars. If it's not enough, ask your boss Zhao for approval. If he doesn't approve it, come to me and I'll cover it."

The other party hesitated only slightly before readily agreeing.

Lin Jianlu laughed and said, "There's no way there's any money left over! We have to go over budget!"

Everyone laughed.

In fact, this was just a statement. Gu Changwei wasn't that carefree and dared to say he didn't want money. Yuan Heping had a clear price list. The other crew members also received money, but Zhang Yimou and Jiang Wen really didn't take any money. Especially Jiang Wen, a production assistant who had been running around for many days. As for Wang Jing, he only helped out for two days, so there was no question of money. But, even if they can refuse, you can't really not give them any!
Since Sony Columbia is paying for it, of course we have to pay.

After the joke was over, Lin Jianlu patiently explained a few words to Zhao Mingxin's deputy—as long as conditions and time permit, he has always been unwilling to do things that are pretentious or arrogant. He always makes sure to explain things clearly to people so as not to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

Zhao Mingxin was busy overseeing the album's release in America and couldn't possibly come over. The vice president he sent to be the MV producer must be one of his absolute confidants. At this point, the other party smiled and said, "No problem. Mr. Zhao has instructed us to follow your instructions. We're not afraid of overspending."

That's a very friendly remark.

So the matter can be considered closed.

Just then, Chen Hong brought over a few cups of tea. Lin Jianlu took one, took a sip, put it down, and then said to Ge Fuhong, "Sister Ge, this time when I go back, I'm going to look at houses. Are you ready?"

Ge Fuhong replied immediately, "No problem! I've already arranged for someone to look at the market for you for three or four months and selected the six best houses. I'll take you to see them one by one later."

Lin Jianlu nodded, "Okay!"

As early as before the Lunar New Year, Lin Jianlu had decided to buy a house in Hong Kong—it would be a little more expensive than the one in Taiwan, but not outrageously so.

In any case, if you look at it over a long period of time, it's unlikely that you'll lose money. So, for someone like Hong Kong, who is in fact the center of the entire Chinese-language entertainment industry for the next few years and an important transit point for traveling between the mainland, Taiwan, and overseas, it's better to get a comfortable place to live.

After all... another wave of money is about to come in!

Although it's still too early to say how well the album "21" will sell, as a time traveler and plagiarist, Lin Jianlu is quite confident—selling three to five million copies should be no problem!

Next, I'll make another Mandarin album. I'm not aiming too high, but even without considering the mainland market, I should be quite confident of selling five million copies!
With the upcoming tour, "21," featuring as many as fifteen songs, plus a few more Mandarin tracks, or even acquiring the performance rights to ten or eight English songs, it would be more than enough to fill a concert tour in Europe and America. And the East Asian and Southeast Asian markets are even more promising.

Therefore, you will earn more this year than last year!
However, apart from Yahoo, he really didn't know what else to buy!

In February, Yahoo's stock price dipped slightly, and Lin Jianlu's personal manager helped him make a killing. The plan to convert 60 million US dollars into Yahoo stock had already cost over a million dollars, and the mission was successfully completed—a total of about 126 million shares were acquired at an average price of only $48.

But that's a minor matter!
The big thing is that Yahoo's total shares to date are only 2800 million. Lin Jianlu's 126 million shares already make him a shareholder with about 4.5% ownership—in some ways, he's not even a small shareholder anymore. If he buys another 0.5%, Yahoo will have to invite him to join the board of directors!

He has no intention of becoming a director at an American internet company!

Just make your fortune quietly!

When he reported to Yahoo that his shareholding exceeded 3%, he received a personal phone call from Jerry Yang. At that time, he had already made it clear that he was optimistic about the company, would invest, and hold shares, but did not intend to join the board of directors.

However, Jerry Yang once jokingly said that if Yahoo were to launch a Chinese version in the future, they could consider hiring Lin Jianlu as the website's spokesperson—but it was just a lighthearted remark.

In short, I'll make a lot of money this year, but I have absolutely no idea what to do with it.

Lin Jianlu knew for certain that there would be a large-scale Southeast Asian financial crisis this year, but he no longer planned to engage in any lending. He had a premonition of the situation, and if he had the opportunity, he would feel a sense of loss if he didn't try to get some money or take advantage of it. However, as a complete novice in finance, Lin Jianlu remained vigilant and dared not get too involved.

Losing money in this trend isn't uncommon. So let's just get another nice house in Hong Kong—for myself, and for my woman when she comes over, whatever.

…………

After chatting for a few minutes, Ge Fuhong and the others got up to leave, but Lin Jianlu suddenly said, "By the way, have you heard Wang Fei's EP that was released not long ago? ... It's okay if you haven't. There's a song on that EP called 'The Promise.' Go to Cinepoly Records and Lin Xi and buy the Mandarin cover rights for that song. I've already spoken to Wang Fei, and she should have mentioned it to Cinepoly. Just talk to Cinepoly directly. I want to reserve it for Shu Hua!"

Ge Fuhong paused for only a moment before immediately replying, "Okay!"

Such a talented man is so passionate about his work, whether it's making English albums, shooting music videos, recording albums for himself, or even writing songs for his woman, it's all something his manager would absolutely welcome!
In fact, Lin Jianlu's diligence over the past six months has been something that she and Zhang Aijia could never have imagined in the first half of last year—he seems to have stopped mentioning retirement and has become more motivated!
This is great!
That's how it should be. Let him have lots and lots of women, preferably all stunning beauties and spendthrifts. That way, he won't be able to resist the urge to fight!

So before leaving, Ge Fuhong couldn't resist giving Chen Hong a flirtatious wink!

Actresses like Chen Hong, Yu Feihong, Xu Qing, and Brigitte Lin... you all deserve immense credit!
…………

Once the outsiders left, only the young couple remained in the room.

Chen Hong sat down next to Lin Jianlu, touched his face, and ran her fingers through his hair. "You must be tired. You're finally done. You two should get some rest. You can take a couple of days off before you have to work on other things. Fei Hong, I'm going back to my room."

But the next moment, Lin Jianlu grabbed her hand, then stood up, put his arm around Chen Hong's slender waist, leaned over to her chest and took a deep breath. He looked up and waved to Yu Feihong, who looked annoyed but still came over. So he casually put his arm around her as well, and with a slight struggle between their arms, they bumped into each other—they were about the same height, just like bowls hitting bowls, bouncing back and forth.

Lin Jianlu moved closer to the center of the four bowls and took a deep sniff.

The next moment, both girls raised their hands and pushed his head with angry smiles.

Chen Hong said, "I don't care, just show some respect for Fei Hong!"

Yu Feihong said, "Stop being silly! I slept here yesterday, let Sister Chen Hong stay with you today!"

Lin Jianlu refused to let go of either of them.

Yu Feihong chuckled, used both hands to finally lift his drooping head, leaned in and kissed him, smiling sweetly, "Good boy! Be good!...I'm leaving!"

In the end, they let her go.

It's not that forcing it is impossible. Whether it's a small family of three or a small family of many, if they gradually get to the close relationship they are now, then where is there any such thing as forcing it?
However, there are two reasons that must be considered.

Firstly, no matter how harmonious and friendly the two of them are when they are together, Lin Jianlu is completely unaware of the undercurrents between them. This is completely different from the relationship between Chen Shuhua and Su Huilun, so it will actually make both of them feel awkward.

Secondly... well, despite his lust and greed, Lin Jianlu genuinely preferred to respect them and their love for him. Therefore, he was less inclined to force them.

Sigh, maybe later!
As the door closed, Chen Hong was still smiling and waving at Yu Feihong, but as the door closed, the smile on her face gradually disappeared.

…………

April 15, 1997, was an ordinary day.

As the Earth completes its rotation, on this very day, countless audio-visual stores, specialty stores, and large supermarkets in countless countries and cities around the world received new stock.

A CD titled "21".

The cover features a rather rugged-looking profile.

Of course, the face is secondary; when the photo was taken, the face was turned slightly inward, so only an outline can be seen—the important thing is the young man's attire!
He was wearing a sharp black suit jacket and tie, and a green military cap that any Chinese person would recognize at a glance. He was holding the brim of the cap, but his lower body was covered in a pair of gaudy, baggy shorts that resembled beach shorts, revealing the well-developed and thick muscles on part of his thighs and a considerable length of his calves. He was wearing a pair of very traditional and retro cowboy boots. In the photo, he was crossing a road—a bizarre and comical mix of outfits.

An unknown person, no one cares.

At most, it might be spotted by a distributor at a publishing company, who might scoff and say, "It's just an artist's quirk."

Based on Lin Jianlu's opinion, the final promotional plan adopted a completely silent approach in the early stages of the album's release, whether in the main North American or Asian markets. There was no hype, no promotion, no ceremony; the album was released first, followed by the music video—to accumulate some word-of-mouth and initial sales.

This is even more true for Europe and Latin America, which are secondary important markets.

If the sellers don't promote their goods, of course no one will care.

However, starting that afternoon—specifically, from Japan and Tokyo in the East Ninth Time Zone, then to Taiwan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Bangkok, Singapore, all the way to Europe, and then to North America, basically in the afternoon or evening local time, the music video for "Baby" began to appear on a wide variety of variety and entertainment programs on television stations around the world. And as the album's first single, it obviously also began to appear simultaneously on music broadcasting programs on various radio stations around the world.

Of course, regardless of the quiet promotional strategy, Lin Jianlu is an exceptionally special case in Hong Kong and Taiwan. A day before, when Sony Columbia submitted the album for review, the news had already been leaked. First, Taiwanese television stations, and around the same time, Hong Kong's TVB, broke the shocking news that Lin Jianlu's first solo all-English album, "21," would be released tomorrow, and the music video for the album's first single, "Baby," would premiere on their channel!
That very evening, all the major and minor media outlets in Taiwan and Hong Kong broke the news!
Even more remarkably, some early adopters, professional music critics, musicians, and media outlets managed to obtain the album that very night through special distribution channels and internal connections.

So the very next morning, Ming Pao, a highly renowned and best-selling newspaper in Hong Kong, published two articles by two Hong Kong musicians with completely opposite tones in its entertainment section.

Even after editing and coordination, the titles of the two articles were perfectly matched, making them exceptionally neat and tidy.

Huang Zhan: "A Shocking Stories! Unprecedented in History!"

Lin Tian: "Self-Inflicted Humiliation! utterly incomprehensible!"

In an instant, Hong Kong and Taiwan were shaken!
***
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(End of this chapter)