HuaYu: Starting with Photography to Navigate the Entertainment Industry

Everything seemed calm on the surface, but undercurrents were surging within the entertainment industry.

12 month 31 day.

Beijing, Huayi Brothers headquarters.

On a chilly winter afternoon, Wang Zhongjun sat behind his large desk, exuding composure and confidence.

He casually picked up a contract from the table, waved it dismissively, and tossed it to Fan Bingbing across from him.

"Bingbing, here you are, your contract renewal."

Across from him, Fan Bingbing picked up the contract with a blank expression and looked at it intently.

Meanwhile, Wang Zhongjun leaned back in his chair, put his feet up on the desk, and idly scrolled through his phone, muttering something under his breath:

"With the new contract, the company will continue to guarantee your basic needs, your salary will remain the same, and I will also secure resources for you. We will continue to give you preferential treatment. In less than three years, you will be able to secure your position as a top-tier actress."

At this point, he put down his phone and looked at Fan Bingbing with a smile.

"Bingbing, with such generous terms, you'd better think of a way to thank me."

As he spoke, he reached out and touched Fan Bingbing's hand.

"Whoosh!"

Fan Bingbing dodged his outstretched hand by flipping through the contract.

"Um?"

Wang Zhongjun frowned, thinking to himself:

"This Fan Bingbing is ungrateful. Just as Zhong Lei said, Li Bingbing is more controllable."

As he was thinking, he saw Fan Bingbing throw the contract on the table, then lean back in her chair, cross her legs, and...

"Chairman Wang, I can't sign this contract."

"Oh?"

Wang Zhongjun was very surprised to hear this.

He instinctively sat up straight, picked up the contract, and glanced at it.

No problem, it's a contract for Fan Bingbing.

This contract is something countless female stars in the entertainment industry would fight tooth and nail for.

Now, Fan Bingbing on the other side says she can't sign?

Wang Zhongjun frowned again, looking at Fan Bingbing with a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean? You're not satisfied with the contract?"

Fan Bingbing turned to look out the window, paused, and said:

"I've had enough of being number two. This contract means nothing to me."

Hearing her say that, Wang Zhongjun was no longer in a hurry and said with a smile:

"Want to be number one? No problem, but it's not something to rush."

More importantly, besides resources, you also need to change your temper. If you don't listen, who will dare to allocate all resources to you?

"Obey? Ha!"

Fan Bingbing chuckled softly and glanced at Wang Zhongjun.

"I don't want to be a plaything of the wealthy; I am the wealthy myself."

At this point, Fan Bingbing stood up and walked out. Reaching the door, she turned and said something.

"I'll be a free agent from now on. I'll set up my own studio, and we might have the opportunity to collaborate in the future."

Goodbye, Chairman Wang.

After saying that, she waved to Wang Zhongjun, giggled, and walked out of the office.

Watching Fan Bingbing's retreating figure, Wang Zhongjun's face flushed with anger, and he slammed his hand on the table.

"Bang!"

"They're absolutely ungrateful!"

Just then, the door opened again, and Wang Zhonglei walked in.

Seeing Wang Zhongjun's exasperated expression, he chuckled and said:

"Big brother, you see, I told you she was hard to manage. It was the right thing to not give her all the resources."

"snort!"

Wang Zhongjun was furious, cursing through gritted teeth:

"You call yourself a wealthy family? You really dare to say that!"

At this point, he said to Wang Zhonglei:

"Block her! Block her! All resources related to us must not contain this bitch's name."

Wang Zhonglei leaned against his desk with his arms crossed and said leisurely:

"To be honest, Fan Bingbing is no simple person. In the past few years, he has relied on the company's resources to make connections with many people."

Now that they've grown up, it's really hard to shut them down.

I reckon she understood this too, which is why she's so arrogant!

"Phew~~~!"

Wang Zhongjun's face was grim, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. After a moment, he asked:

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Wang Zhonglei sat in the chair that Fan Bingbing had just sat in and said:

"Brother, what we need to focus on now is not banning Fan Bingbing, but quickly filling in the gaps in the company's second-tier team."

"Um."

Wang Zhongjun nodded. "Do you have any suitable candidates?"

"If we're talking about people within the company who are worth developing right now, I'd recommend Gao Yuanyuan."

Externally speaking?

Wang Zhonglei considered it for a moment, then took out a stack of photos from his pocket and handed them to Wang Zhongjun one by one.

"My first choice is Liu Yifei."

This young girl, despite her young age, has both looks and acting skills; she's definitely a promising talent.

"Liu Yifei?"

Looking at Liu Yifei's photo, Wang Zhongjun pondered for a moment.

"She's not bad, but that old man Chen Jinfei is fiercely protective of his own and has money, so Liu Yifei is not easy to mess with."

Upon hearing this, Wang Zhonglei leaned forward and said mysteriously:

"Brother, I heard that Chen Jinfei is in trouble. He's probably too busy taking care of himself to care about her."

This is our opportunity.

"Hmm, what you said makes sense."

Wang Zhongjun nodded and said:

"Then let's try to make contact with Liu Yifei and throw out some bait."

After saying that, he asked Wang Zhonglei,

"What about the other photos you have?"

Wang Zhonglei handed over all the photos and said:

"These are some promising new talents I've recently found. They all have good potential and are worth nurturing."

They're not famous yet, so now's a good time to make a move.

Wang Zhongjun took the photos, looked at them one by one, his eyes immediately lit up, and he kept muttering to himself.

"Qin Feifei, An Yixuan, Tang Yan, Yang Ying."

"Yes, really good. These guys are really promising talents, and they're good-looking too. Putting everything else aside, just based on their looks alone, they deserve to receive preferential treatment."

At this point, he looked at Wang Zhonglei and said with a smile:

"You've really got connections, haven't you? You've done a lot of work. Where did you get these people from?"

"Haha, it didn't take much effort at all."

Wang Zhonglei said with a smile:

"These four people are all working at a studio called Starway now. If you ask me, we should just take them all down."

"A career in entertainment?"

Wang Zhongjun shook his head; he had never heard of it.

"But you know what, the boss of this Starway company has some insight; it's not easy for him to find these people."

"You know this person too, he's Xu Lang, the one who filmed 'One Man, Two Immortals'."

"It was him?"

The "One Person, Two Immortals" phenomenon was all the rage, how could Wang Zhongjun not know about it?

He crossed his arms over his chest, pondering something, then looked at Wang Zhonglei.

"Brother, this Xu Lang is quite a talent. Putting everything else aside, just this 'One Man, Two Immortals' technique alone is something no other photographer could pull off."

He paused for a moment, then had an idea.

"Alright, let's leave those four flowers alone for now. Let's make contact with Xu Lang first. If it works out, we can acquire Starway directly."

"Acquisition?"

Wang Zhonglei hesitated; he was unwilling to spend money on something like this.

"What are you afraid of?"

Wang Zhongjun said with a smile:

"Just give him a betting agreement, pack a big piece of meat for him, I don't believe he won't take the bait!"