Reborn in Russia as a Big Shot

Chapter 121 Fan Bingbing

At the 27th Golden Horse Awards in Hong Kong in 2008, Guo Zijian was nominated for Best New Director for his film "Wild Dogs".

His new film "Green Moss" will be released in Hong Kong at the end of May. New Century Entertainment, as one of the behind-the-scenes investors, also took advantage of the short-term exposure brought by Guo Zijian to make a splash in the Chinese film industry.

But in the mainstream perception—

This is a Japanese-owned entertainment company that used to produce "GG" (Girls' Love) films. After its transformation, it has set its sights on the niche market of exporting remakes of Japanese dramas and has just reached a cooperation agreement with China Star.

The center of gravity of the Chinese-language entertainment industry has long since shifted from Hong Kong to the mainland. The new century has little presence in Hong Kong, let alone in the entire Chinese-language market.

But some people still feel that the name New Century looks somewhat familiar.

SOHO Modern City.

Fan Bingbing had just returned from Hong Kong after attending the Golden Horse Awards, and the first thing she did upon arriving home was to rummage through her belongings.

After rummaging through the bag, I checked the drawers.

"What are you looking for? Why are you in such a hurry?" Fan's mother, Zhang Chuanmei, came over to ask after hearing the clattering noise in the room.

Fan Bingbing's new house is not yet fully renovated, and she is currently living with her parents.

"I need a business card." Fan Bingbing searched for a long time but couldn't find one. She sat on the bed with a long face. "I don't remember throwing it away. I must have just put it in some bag."

"Wait a minute." Zhang Chuanmei took a shoebox from the living room cabinet and handed it to her daughter. "See if this is it. It contains all the things you've left around the house, and the laundry clothes you took out of your pockets. If it's not here, then I really don't know."

Business cards, bank receipts, invoices, slips of paper—all sorts of random things were scattered around, not organized at all, just piled up haphazardly.

Fan Bingbing dumped everything onto the bed, took out the business cards and looked at them one by one, and actually found one.

With a beaming smile, he said to his mother, "I'm going to make a phone call. You can go out now."

"Pack up."

"I'll clean up after I'm done hitting her." Fan Bingbing pushed her mother away, saying in a spoiled tone, "Mom, it's so good to have you."

"Let's get down to business."

After Zhang Chuanmei left, Fan Bingbing locked the door from the inside, picked up the business card and muttered to herself, "Prefix +7, where is this phone number? Is it Japan Island? Never mind, I'll give it a try."

Fan Bingbing dialed the phone number printed on Li Xiang's New Century Entertainment business card, and the person who answered the phone spoke Russian.

"Can you speak Chinese?" Fan Bingbing asked in English.

The other person was someone else, and they spoke a lot in English. Although I still couldn't understand them, it was at least much more friendly than Russian.

"We're looking for your boss, Li Xiang. You should be able to understand the name, right? Li Xiang." Fan Bingbing talked to herself for a while, but the other party actually hung up the phone.

"I need to find a translator." Fan Bingbing was flipping through her phone book, trying to see who could help her, when suddenly an unknown number called. The prefix was +81, indicating it was from overseas.

After answering the phone, the other party finally spoke Chinese this time, and their Mandarin was quite standard, with a hint of Qingdao accent.

"I'm Fan Bingbing. Have we met before? I think I vaguely remember you." Fan Bingbing had forgotten what Li Xiang looked like, let alone Han Jiayin. After giving a perfunctory answer, she hurriedly asked, "Is Japan New Century Entertainment, which collaborates with Hong Kong's China Star, part of the same company as you?"

Li Xiang said that Zhang Baizhi should give birth and raise the child himself, but since they were already in Hong Kong, he had to go and see him.

Hong Kong paparazzi are everywhere, and although Li Xiang has a scanning device for self-defense, it is definitely not as effective as a telephoto lens in terms of distance.

He was simply invited to Yong Ge's house as a guest and "coincidentally" ran into Zhang Baizhi, who was visiting his father.

"The market is so bad right now, you want me to raise money? Where would I get the money? I still have to raise my son."

Zhang Baizhi has declined New Century Entertainment's invitation, citing "raising a son" as the reason, and is preparing to set up his own studio.

Yong Ge also transferred his shares in the new company to her.

Li Xiang pointed at Zhang Baizhi, then turned to Yong Ge and asked, "Does she have a say in our family?"

"No." After correcting his attitude, Yong Ge shooed his daughter away, saying, "Go back to your room quickly. Your job from now on is to take good care of the child. Everything else is none of your business."

"That's my money," Zhang Baizhi protested.

"You can't decide whose money it is. I'll talk to your mother after I finish talking to Brother Xiang. Just wait for my call." Brother Yong still insisted on discussing things separately, calling him Mr. Li in front of outsiders but Brother Xiang in private.

"If I had known my status in the family would be like this, I wouldn't have had the baby." Zhang Baizhi stood up, leaning on the sofa armrest.

Li Xiang got up to help her.

"No need, I can manage on my own," Zhang Baizhi said, but his arm was already outstretched.

Li Xiang helped her back to her room and then came out to continue chatting with Yong Ge.

"Raising money is not easy now, but this round of financing is all from our own people, so the valuation is relatively reasonable. We'll sign the contract at the end of November, so try to raise the money yourself."

Li Xiang cautioned, "Equity investments have very poor liquidity and may not be liquidated for several years. Don't borrow money just because you think it's profitable; try to use your own funds as much as possible."

"I understand. I've already sworn to Bai Zhi that I might not be able to quit gambling, but I promise I will never borrow money again." Yong Ge chuckled sheepishly and asked, "Are you sure you can make money?"

"Who can say for sure? Investing is risky. Anyway, I won't invest a single penny," Li Xiang said, pouring cold water on the idea.

Yong scratched his head. "You're putting a lot of pressure on me."

Li Xiang teased, "Didn't you say you seek fortune in danger?"

Yong looked worried. "Of course I'd gamble with my own money, but the problem is I don't have any. I was even thinking of persuading Baizhi's mother to sell the house."

"And Bizhi, if I don't include her in such a good deal, she'll definitely think I'm treating her like an outsider. But if I include her, and we lose money, she'll still have to blame me."

Yong Ge joked, "I've gambled my whole life, and this is the first time I've been a little hesitant to place a bet."

Li Xiang frankly said, "This shows you have a sense of responsibility. I wouldn't dare to do that either."

"Do you even understand the internet? You don't understand anything and yet you blindly follow along, guessing high or low with your eyes closed and you still have a 50% chance of winning. Do you know how much of that chance you have of winning?"

"People can't make money beyond their own understanding. They might get lucky once in a while, but they will lose in the long run and eventually get burned."

"Then should we bet less?" Yong Ge's confidence wavered.

"Don't ask me. I'm responsible for the advice I gave, and I can't take responsibility." Li Xiang pointed to the bedroom and said, "If I had known that it would lead to this, I wouldn't have agreed to the financing and bring you guys in. I was afraid of being blamed."

"Bai Zhi definitely wouldn't be able to stand being mistreated by you. This is all I'll ever be. I can't hold onto money; whatever I earn, I'll gamble it all away sooner or later. I'm worried about my two sons." Yong Ge looked at Li Xiang and confided, "What kind of knowledge do you have? All I know is fighting and killing. What good can I teach them?"

"Pointing at Bai Zhi, that means entering the entertainment industry, did give them some opportunities, but it's not that easy. Xiang Zuo has resources and family connections, but he still can't make it and is just playing minor roles every day."

"I did consider having them come with you, but they don't understand the internet or anything like that. They wouldn't be able to learn it even if you asked them to. They'd just be wasting their time with you."

Yong Ge became more and more agitated as he spoke, "I don't know if you understand my anxiety, but the reason I've suffered in my life is because I have no survival skills. I don't know anything, so I can only gamble."

"I hope they can learn something so that no matter what troubles they encounter in the future, they can support themselves."

"Who said you don't have survival skills? You just haven't realized it yet." If you think purely from a utilitarian perspective, Li Xiang would certainly hope to ruin Yong Ge's two sons, as long as they can ask for money.

"Am I a talent too?" Yong Ge looked doubtful, then paused and suddenly perked up. "Teach them micro-expressions? I think I've been getting the hang of it lately, I'm pretty accurate at it!"

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