The entertainment empire began with Liu Yifei's premarital pregnancy.

After returning to Beijing, Lin Bufan did not immediately restart filming. Instead, he went to his company to handle some company affairs.

"Boss, this is an invitation from Director Jiang Wen!"

Upon arriving at the company, Bai Bing handed the invitation to Lin Bufan.

This invitation was from Jiang Wen, inviting Lin Bufan to attend the premiere of "The Sun Also Rises".

"March 1th..."

Lin Bufan opened the invitation and glanced at the time.

The movie "The Sun Also Rises" will be released next month, on September 2nd, but the premiere will be held a day earlier, on September 1st.

"Okay, I got it!"

Lin Bufan placed the invitation aside.

Going is impossible, not for any other reason than that he was in Venice at that time and couldn't possibly come back.

However, if we refuse, we can't let Bai Bing convey the message; that would be too disrespectful to the other party.

The invitation from Jiang Wen was handwritten by him, not typed. Since the other party valued it so much, he definitely had to call and explain.

"Has anything else happened lately?"

Lin Bufan looked up at Bai Bing.

There's no rush to make a call. You can call later when you're done with your other tasks.

"Director Zhang has come to the company several times these past few days, but you haven't been here, boss..."

Bai Bing opened the notebook and then reported.

Many things in the company are reported to the secretariat in advance. The secretariat will categorize them according to their importance and then hand them over to Bai Bing.

All she had to do was report to Lin Bufan according to the records.

"Zhang Xiaoguang? Did he say anything about it?"

Kyoto Entertainment has several signed directors, but only two of them have the surname Zhang. One is Zhang Ting, but he is currently filming the second part of "The Ming Dynasty: The Yongle Emperor" and it is impossible for him to come to the company for several days in a row.

That leaves only Zhang Xiaoguang.

He was a director who signed with the company later, and he directed the previously released film "Difficult Love".

"Send someone to inform him that if he has something to attend to, he should come see me now!"

"Yes, boss!"

After Bai Bing finished speaking, he was about to turn around and leave.

"Oh, by the way, go and find me a personal secretary."

Lin Bufan suddenly remembered something and gave instructions to Bai Bing.

In just over a year, Bai Bing has already honed her abilities. To still treat her as a personal assistant would be to underestimate her.

Moreover, it's also a waste of talent.

He can't keep an eye on things at the company all the time, so he definitely needs someone he can trust to stay there and keep an eye on things for him.

The only person he could trust was Bai Bing.

This is why Lin Bufan didn't bring Bai Bing with him when he went to Hong Kong this time, but went alone.

However, Bai Bing couldn't always be by his side, so he still needed a personal assistant to help him with some daily chores.

"Okay, boss!"

Bai Bing nodded. Although she felt a little regretful that she couldn't be by her boss's side all the time, she also knew that what she had to do was more important: to keep an eye on the company for her boss.

"Boss, what are the requirements for this personal secretary?"

"You decide what to do!"

Lin Bufan waved his hand, saying that as long as his daily life matters could be handled properly, nothing else mattered.

"Okay, boss, I understand!"

After Bai Bing left, Lin Bufan picked up the phone and dialed the number written on the invitation card.

To be honest, this was the first time Lin Bufan had spoken to Jiang Wen at such close range. Although they had met before, they had only nodded to each other and had never spoken.

"Director Jiang, I'm Lin Bufan!"

"Director Lin!"

Jiang Wen was also quite surprised to receive Lin Bufan's call.

"Director Jiang, I probably won't be able to attend the premiere. I should be in Venice at that time, so there's a scheduling conflict..."

Lin Bufan gave a brief explanation, stating the purpose of his call.

"That's such a pity. I was hoping to have a long talk with Director Lin..."

Jiang Wen felt a little regretful, but after all, the two of them had only just met, so she couldn't say things like, "You must make time for this..."

Even close friends wouldn't act like this, let alone someone you've just met.

"When I get back this time, I'll treat Director Jiang to dinner if I have time..."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two hung up the phone.

Lin Bufan wasn't very familiar with Jiang Wen, and there wasn't much to talk about. Besides, they weren't talking face-to-face; he could just explain his meaning over the phone.

"Boss, Director Zhang is here!"

As soon as he hung up the phone, Bai Bing knocked on the door and came in to report to Lin Bufan.

"Bring him here!"

A few minutes later, Bai Bing led Zhang Xiaoguang into Lin Bufan's office.

"President Lin!"

"Director Zhang, come, have a seat!"

Upon seeing Zhang Xiaoguang enter, Lin Bufan smiled, stood up, walked to the sofa, and waved to him.

After the other person sat down, he continued, "I heard from Secretary Bai that you've been looking for me these past few days? What's up?"

"Mr. Lin, it's not a big deal, it's just that 'Difficult Love' has already finished airing three rounds. Do you have any new projects planned?" Zhang Xiaoguang looked at Lin Bufan somewhat embarrassed.

"A new project?"

Lin Bufan glanced at Zhang Xiaoguang in surprise.

With the release of "Difficult Love", director Zhang Xiaoguang earned quite a bit. His director's fee plus a share of the profits brought him three million.

Three million in 07 was definitely not a small amount.

Zhang Xiaoguang initially gained fame in the industry with "A Meter of Sunshine," but unfortunately, he didn't have any good works afterward and was unemployed for a long time.

However, since the release of "Difficult Love" and its high ratings and positive reviews, he has received more offers from investors to act in his films.

But without exception, Zhang Xiaoguang rejected them all.

It's not mainly about the price.

These investors, armed with scripts and checks, approached Zhang Xiaoguang, offering a starting price of 100 million yuan for the director's fee, plus a share of the TV series' profits.

In the past, he would have accepted any offer, after all, who can turn down money?

But now, he knows very well that reputation is the most important thing for both actors and directors.

After his initial success directing "A Meter of Sunshine," he became somewhat unrestrained, and as long as he was paid, he didn't even bother to read the script.

Until he signed with Kyoto Animation, his director's fee had dropped to a pitiful 20 yen, and good scripts were nowhere to be found.

He turned over again, and he knew exactly what he should do.

If it's a good script, he'll naturally accept it. The main reason is that Kyoto doesn't prohibit contracted directors from taking on outside projects. But there really aren't any good scripts, so Zhang Xiaoguang has no choice but to come to Lin Bufan.

It's common knowledge, both within the industry and within the company, that President Lin has a lot of good scripts in his hands.