Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

Jay Chou arrived heartbroken and left speechless.

Bah! Zhuang Huai'an, you liar! You even claimed 91 was a holy land for men's emotions! It's utterly useless!

Before we could even comfort Jay Chou, the strongest film and television company from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong was about to take our turn!

Dong Ping of Poly Huayi Film & Television, Wang Zhongjun of Huayi Brothers Film & Television, Wang Changtian of Enlight Media, Wu Kebo of Orange Sky Entertainment, Ms. Zhao of Huace Film & Television, Da Gou Ge of Xiaoma Benteng, Yang Shoucheng of Yinghuang Film & Television, Lin Jianyue of Huanya Film & Television, the couple Wu of China New Dragon, and Wu Dun of Baodao Changhong Film & Television.

Han Sanping, the head of China Film Group; Ren Zhonglun, the leader of Shanghai Film Group; Xie Zhaojing, the head of Beijing Film Studio; and Song Jiangbo, the second-in-command of Changchun Film Studio.

It's no exaggeration to say that the only person in the entire Chinese film industry right now who can bring together such a lineup is Zhuang Huai'an!

After welcoming everyone to the conference room, Zhuang Huai'an and Wang Changtian exchanged a knowing glance. Old Wang blinked silently, while Lao Zhangzi, who was listening in, looked at their subtle interaction with a strange expression.

"Welcome everyone to the Chibi Investment Promotion Conference."

Zhuang Huai'an pointed to the documents on the table, "Without further ado, let's take a look at the script first, and then discuss the cooperation."

Although it was an old story, the presence of Zhuang Huai'an's name piqued everyone's curiosity, and they quickly began to read it.

The script was short, and everyone read it one after another.

Seeing this, Zhuang Huai'an smiled and said, "That's about it. Does anyone have any questions?"

"Director Zhuang, I have a question."

Lin Jianyue raised his hand and, speaking in broken Mandarin, said, "First of all, let me state that Director Zhuang's screenwriting skills are beyond question, but isn't this script a bit too righteous?"

"Isn't it good?" Zhuang Huai'an tilted his head.

"Of course, that's good."

Lin Jianyue considered for a moment, then added a condition, "Director Zhuang, I absolutely did not mean to question you; I was simply looking at it from a market perspective."

Nowadays, audiences go to the cinema for something new and unfamiliar. But with this script, Cao Cao is Cao Cao, and Zhuge Liang is Zhuge Liang—it's all so formulaic and lacks any gimmicks. Would people want to spend tens of dollars to see this in a movie theater?

"And what does Chairman Lin mean?"

"Huh? Me?" Lin Jianyue pointed to himself, and said with great interest:

"I think the Three Kingdoms period shouldn't only feature heroes, but also beautiful women! While Diao Chan wasn't present during the Battle of Red Cliffs, there were the Qiao sisters, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao, and Sun Shangxiang. Using these women appropriately to advance parts of the plot could attract female viewers and express a grand anti-war message from a female perspective."

This is great news!

OK, you're out!

Silently giving Huanya an X in his mind, Zhuang Huai'an found it somewhat amusing. He didn't respond, instead turning to the calm-faced Long Wu and his wife, "Mrs. Xiang, you're the only woman present. What do you think of Chairman Lin's idea?"

Mrs. Xiang possessed an air of elegance and nobility, but her opening remarks left everyone speechless: "I'm not very educated and can't comment on the quality of a script, but I grew up in nightclubs and have witnessed the brutality of the underworld and the struggles between gangs, so this is the only perspective I can offer."

In my opinion, whether it's the Three Kingdoms period or any other dynasty, it all boils down to large-scale gang warfare and territorial grabbing. For the big bosses, women are just accessories. For example, my success, Xiang Lan's success, is all built on my husband. How could a big boss possibly ask a woman's opinion before making a decision?

Xiang Lan paused slightly, looked at Lin Jianyue's gloomy face, and said sarcastically without any mercy, "That's true. It's understandable that Chairman Lin, a playboy from a wealthy family, would be interested in women."

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but chuckle and glanced at Xiang Lan with admiration. To be able to summarize the essence of history in such a simple way, she truly deserves to be called a famous female boss in Hong Kong!

Seeing Lin Jianyue's face turn ashen and he was about to lose his temper, Boss Yang sighed inwardly and, considering his relationship with Lin's father, quickly tried to smooth things over.

"Mrs. Xiang makes a good point, but Chairman Lin also has his own considerations. Everyone, please remember that we are here to invite Director Zhuang to give us a meal, not for a script discussion. Let's all speak politely and make money together."

Boss Yang's words were somewhat humble, but they made Lin Jianyue's heart skip a beat. He was instantly embarrassed and wanted to slap himself. Heaven knows if he had been possessed by an evil spirit just now.

How dare you question a director who has won four Golden Horse Awards!

"Well, Boss Yang is right."

Seeing that the time was right, Han Sanping put his teacup on the table and chimed in, "Actually, I personally don't really like these kinds of investment promotion meetings. In my opinion, it's just a matter of a few hundred million yuan in investment, and it's not impossible for China Film Group to bear the entire cost."

Ren Zhonglun's expression changed and he was about to retort when Han Sanping continued, "Of course, this kind of behavior is not advisable. The main task of China Film Group is to expand the film market, not to monopolize it. So I hope everyone will analyze this rationally and take it seriously, instead of... underestimating themselves."

These words, coming from Lao Han, were undeniably weighty.

Lin Jianyue's face flushed red and then turned pale. It didn't matter if he missed Director Zhuang's car, but if this incident cut off Huanya's northward journey, that would be a disaster.

Seeing that the situation had stabilized, Zhuang Huai'an chuckled to himself, "If you all have no more questions, why don't you listen to my plan?"

Knowing that the main course was about to be served, everyone tensed up and involuntarily sat up straight.

"The two parts of Red Cliff will have a total budget of US$8500 million. Since it will be filmed in mainland China, I've chosen an auspicious number: RMB 6.8 million. 91 Film Company will hold 40% of the shares, China Film Group will hold 10%, and the remaining share is what you all aim for today."

Zhuang Huai'an smiled and added, "Oh, by the way, this movie involves global box office revenue sharing, so please consider carefully before making your bids."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Wang Changtian raised his hand and shouted, "Guangxi offers $10 million for just 1000% of the shares!"

Damn it! It's you again!

Everyone cursed inwardly, but at the same time felt somewhat helpless. They all knew that Wang Changtian was Zhuang Huai'an's inside man, and since he had spoken, the price was basically... the bottom line.

"China has invested an additional $1200 million, also for a 10% share," Xiang Lan retorted defiantly.

Boss Yang fell into deep thought. Ever since he and Zhuang Huai'an had grown estranged, he had been thinking about how to reconcile. He was determined to get this share!

After a brief pause, he gave his answer: "Emperor will invest $1000 million in cash, plus three cinemas! In Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and… Wuhan!"

Good heavens, everyone was stunned. Using assets as equity, this is a huge investment!

Zhuang Huai'an's heart skipped a beat; this old fox always managed to come up with something new.

Ren Zhonglun and Song Jiangbo of Changchun Film Studio exchanged a glance, which opened up a new idea: when it comes to the number of cinemas, who can compare with Shanghai Film Studio and Changchun Film Studio!

"Shanghai Film Studio is broke!"

Ren Zhonglun stated confidently, "I'm willing to offer six cinemas located in prime locations in the Yangtze River Delta region, totaling 100 million RMB, for just 8% of the market share!"

"Me too!" Song Jiangbo gritted his teeth and followed suit. "Six... uh, eight cinemas in prime locations in Northeast China, which costs 100 million RMB, just like President Ren!"

Unfortunately, in terms of value, the three northeastern provinces are inferior to the Yangtze River Delta region (Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai) by the equivalent of Hunan, Jiangxi, and Hubei.

Everyone was shocked by the two men's extravagant spending. In this day and age, is life in a state-owned factory really that difficult?

"Alright, I'll take the investment from Chairman Ren and Factory Song!" Zhuang Huai'an was overjoyed. Money was nothing compared to this treasure!

With the aforementioned individuals' desperate measures, the others also had their own ideas and, based on their own circumstances, offered their prices.

Even Xie Xiaojing, who had just taken office at Beijing Film Studio, whether she wanted to give her own son a push or was really planning to take a gamble, like Shanghai Film Studio, offered 6 cinemas to gain an 8% share.

After careful consideration, Zhuang Huai'an finalized the share allocation: 24% for the three state-owned factories, 10% for Yinghuang, 6% for Guangxian, 8% for Huayi Dongping and Wudun, and the remaining 2% for China New.

The Long couple didn't care; having the title was enough. As they always said, they were making movies, but they were playing the financial game. If the stock market rose by even a percentage point, they'd make a fortune.

Zhuang Huai'an was even happier. The Cape of Good Hope was finally coming!

After politely seeing everyone off, he led Han Sanping to his office on the top floor.

A man in military uniform sat at the tea table, his two bars and one star on his shoulder drawing attention.