"Come, please sit down."

Zhang Yuan warmly invited Boss Ma to sit down.

The weather was nice, so they ate in the yard.

Surrounded by flowers and plants that Brother Qian carefully cared for, it really feels like a miniature paradise.

"You have a nice yard."

"Siheyuan is good, down-to-earth, and I like this kind of house too."

"I'm tired of living in those big modern villas. They're boring." Boss Ma is a man of the moment, so he praised them.

How about I exchange my big villa with yours... Zhang Yuan thought to himself that some people here are really Versailles.

"The place is small, please excuse me, but I spent all my savings to buy this house." Zhang Yuan deliberately mentioned money.

When Boss Ma heard this, he smiled as he expected.

Like money, lack money?

That's a good thing.

Soon after, the dishes were served.

Eight cold dishes and eight hot dishes. Even if there are only two people eating, the occasion is still presentable.

The leader can ask for four dishes and one soup, but you can't really give them.

"Come on, let me toast you first." Zhang Yuan raised a glass and lowered the mouth of the glass half an inch when toasting.

Boss Ma was very satisfied with his hospitality and attitude.

So, we started talking about work while eating.

"I heard from many people that you performed very well on the set."

"You handled the issue of the Little Fish and Flower crew very well this time."

"I know you are a capable person."

“And we already have a basis for cooperation.”

"As far as I know, you don't have an agency now, right?"

"Not yet." Zhang Yuan smiled foolishly, just waiting for you to say this!
"But I'm used to being alone." He immediately followed up.

"Hey, young people, it's normal to have personality." Boss Ma said with a smile: "But based on my experience, it is always difficult to fight alone."

“Especially for actors, the ceiling is not high.”

"After all, which company would give the main role of a big production to an outsider?"

Boss Ma speaks much more honestly than Wu Kebo.

"But what I'm afraid of is that once I join a company, the company's works won't give me enough room for advancement."

"You know, no one can tell whether a film is good or not until it is broadcast."

"That's wrong." Boss Ma shook his head: "Movie and TV works are nothing more than a few points."

"Script, director, funding, publicity."

"Let's take our Ciwen Films as an example."

“We only shoot adaptations of famous works and only work with great directors.”

"With sufficient funds, how can we not produce good works?"

"That's right." Zhang Yuan quickly smiled and toasted, but then immediately changed his attitude: "What a pity."

"I auditioned for The Return of the Condor Heroes before. This is your movie, right?"

"It belongs to us, Ciwen."

"Producer Zhang didn't like me."

"They only want a small role and the shooting period is long. I might as well take other films where I can earn more money and play the leading role."

“Oh…” Ma Zhongjun can be a boss, so he must be a smart person.

Can he not hear it?
If you want to get me to join you, you have to show sincerity.

And at least he has to be the protagonist of a big production.

Ma Zhongjun was just about to fool you, as long as you are willing to come, I will definitely arrange it for you after you come.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yuan spoke first.

"I heard that Nie Yuan just joined your company."

"I thought he would play Yang Guo in The Return of the Condor Heroes."

Boss Ma was choked back before he could finish his words.

Yes, Nie Yuan had already defected, but he didn’t get to play the leading role.

If you let me come, what if I become the next Nie Yuan?
Boss Ma understood what he meant.

It is normal that the two parties cannot reach an agreement during their first conversation.

While eating and drinking, they all started chatting about different topics.

It’s not that Boss Ma doesn’t want Nie Yuan to play Yang Guo.

But it was written in the contract between him and Big Beard that the final decision on casting lies with Zhang Jizhong!

As an investor, he can give opinions and influence, but cannot make the final decision.

However, if the bearded man goes too far, he can also check and balance him through funding and other things.

The guy in front of him now is the kind of person who won't release the eagle until he sees the rabbit.

It's really hard for me to handle it.

Ma Zhongjun was a rather gentle man, and he did not say much when he saw this, thinking that there was still a long time to come and everything would be easy.

Soon, the banquet was over and Zhang Yuan invited him to drink a few cups of tea.

Then he checked the text messages on his phone, confirmed the message, and found an excuse to see the guest off in person.

"Mr. Ma, thank you and Ciwen for your care. I am grateful to you."

"Okay." Boss Ma was thinking about letting Zhang Yuan be the lead actor in the next movie.

Let Nie Yuan suffer a little and let him wait a little longer.

At home, more than ten kilometers away, Nie Yuan shuddered again.

Mr. Ma got into the private car parked outside the yard. As soon as the driver started the car, it drove steadily out of the alley.

The alleys are narrow.

But we didn't know that after driving out a short distance, we encountered a vehicle driving towards us.

Fortunately, the drivers on both sides were pretty good and they just barely passed each other, folded up one side's rearview mirror, and kept the other side's rearview mirror almost touching the wall, so they were able to pass each other perfectly and go their separate ways.

Boss Ma drank a lot due to Zhang Yuan's enthusiasm. He fell asleep as soon as he got in the car and had no idea what was going on.

In another car, a burly man with a big beard stuck his head out of the window and looked at the rear of another car that was going away.

He looked like this not to see the car, but to see the license plate.

"This seems to be Ma Zhongjun's car." Zhang Da Huzi vaguely recognized it.

Hesitant and thoughtful, he arrived at Zhang Yuan's door.

"Director Zhang, I've been waiting for you for a long time!" Zhang Yuan came out to greet him.

The bearded man entered the yard and looked up. There were several cooks wearing tall white hats cleaning up the leftovers and preparing food for the evening.

"Oh, you're quite busy." The bearded man smiled and asked tentatively, "Did you entertain guests just now?"

"A friend, just chatting." Zhang Yuan deliberately did not say it was Ma Zhongjun.

But he knew that the bearded man saw Lao Ma's car.

He had long ago borrowed a few smart bodyguard friends from Huang Julong to keep watch at the entrance of the alley. Once these guests showed up today, they would send him a message.

The last time I gave Mr. Xie a "lesson", he paid generously, and this time when I was looking for someone again, the other party was quite enthusiastic.

He deliberately did not say that the person who had just come was Lao Ma, in order to create the effect that he did not want others to know that he was in contact with Boss Ma.

Because the bearded man is a very special person, he holds Ma Zhongjun in his left hand and Wang Zhonglei in his right hand. For Zhang Yuan, he is an excellent "megaphone".

"You said you wanted to talk business with me." The bearded man sat down at the stone table and glanced at the yard.

He did not want to be as polite as Boss Ma, because in his eyes, he was the producer and Zhang Yuan was the actor, so naturally, the other party should beg him.

In his heart, Zhang Yuan's position was lower than his, so there was no need for him to be too polite.

Boss Ma is polite because he has something to ask of him, so he has to show respect to others.

"What business do you want to discuss?" The bearded man is here to make money!

If it were an ordinary actor, the bearded man would not even bother talking to him about business.

But Zhang Yuan was different. He knew that this guy was very smart when it came to making money.

What's more, when he supplied lunch boxes to the crew, the kickbacks were delivered on time, which was very much to his liking.

Plus one more thing.

Zhang Yuan is very popular recently!

The bearded man felt that he could always be of use, so he reluctantly accepted the invitation.

Zhang Jizhong took a sip of tea and raised his eyebrows: "Wow, your Pu'er is pretty good."

It was popular to drink this in those days, so Zhang Yuan specially asked Zhao Decai to get him some good tea, which cost more than three thousand yuan per two taels.

"It's just so-so. If you like it, I'll bring you some later."

"Good good..."

This person is ruthless and looks like he can't get enough of taking advantage of others.

"Director Zhang, this is what we call business." After taking a few sips, he started talking about business.

"It's like this."

"I am familiar with your work. The scenes are top-notch, and the props and costumes are unmatched in the country!" Zhang Yuan praised him.

"Especially after I went to the crew of "Little Fish and Flower", I realized that the quality of the crew in our "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" crew is much better than that of the Hong Kong crew!" "Yes!" The bearded man slammed the table and said, "I just want to surpass the Hong Kong crew."

"Especially martial arts films, they must surpass the previous Hong Kong versions in all aspects!"

"That's right. For our mainland martial arts films, you still have to carry the weight."

“Hehehe…” The bearded man laughed and patted the chair.

"That's why I know that you build a lot of scenes before each shooting, or even directly build a film and television city, right?"

"What? Another crew is in a hurry to shoot a scene?" The bearded man remembered the previous connection made by Zhang Yuan to sell the location of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" to the crew of "A Chinese Ghost Story".

He made millions at that time.

Upon hearing this, the bearded man's eyes lit up.

"No, what I mean is that if we want to build a film and television city, we will definitely need a construction contractor."

"You also own shares in the film and television city, so you should have some say."

“It just so happens that I have a friend who does this.”

"If possible...it's mutually beneficial." Zhang Yuan made a gesture of rubbing money.

"Oh!" The bearded man reacted immediately.

Contract the construction of the film and television city scenic area, and then give me a commission.

interesting!
He had taken advantage of the film's budget and the popularity after it was broadcast to invest in a large number of scenic spots, which made him a lot of money.

Now when he heard that there was still an opportunity to make more money from the other end, he immediately became excited.

This was the project he had mentioned when he contacted Zhao Decai before.

For example, the previous "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" film and television city began construction in mid-02.

The film was completed by the beginning of 03, but the entire film and television city has not been completely completed until now.

The main scenes have to be transformed into commercial locations after filming, and supporting facilities, hotels, shops, and transportation have to be built around them...it won't be completed in one or two years.

This is a big project!

The bearded man had been eyeing the shares and future dividends, but he didn't expect to make a profit during the construction process.

After he reminded me, I discovered this way to make money.

"Hahahahaha!"

"Well, as expected of you!"

"It was probably too late to build the Tianlong Film and Television City before, but now the Shendiao Film and Television City still has at least 70% to be built, so we can do it!"

The bearded man looked him up and down.

Damn!

He had never seen an actor of his age with such a brain.

The abacus for making money is working like a ping-pong!
"Okay, very good... Then tell me, what do you want?" The bearded man was not stupid and did not give money for free.

Although he always gets things for free from others, he knows very well that he can't get anything for free from this smart guy in front of him.

"Actually, I've already told you what I want when we talked last time." Zhang Yuan replied with a smile.

"Last time we talked..." The bearded man frowned and thought, then...

[If you let me play Yang Guo, I will definitely not refuse! ]

Zhang Jizhong remembered Zhang Yuan’s original words.

"Hiss..." Even an old veteran like Big Beard took a breath of cold air.

How can he be an actor? He's clearly a wolf!

Once you bite it, you won’t let go!

"Well..." The bearded man did not agree immediately.

Before, he was only willing to give Zhang Yuan the role of Yelu Qi.

The reason is that they think he is not famous enough.

Secondly, the candidate for Yang Guo can only be chosen from among the people that Ciwen and Huayi companies want to promote.

So the result was a competition between Nie Yuan and Huang Xiaoming.

Huayi gave him more, directly giving him shares in the company, so Huang Xiaoming was the candidate in his mind.

There was a third person, and Huang Xiaoming also gave him money.

But now things have changed.

First, not famous enough.

Now it’s not a question of whether it’s enough or not.

Looking around, there is no one of his peers who is more famous than Zhang Yuan!
After that incident, Nie Yuan and Huang Xiaoming, both professional actors who had played leading roles in many dramas, were overshadowed by him in popularity!
Zhang Yuan: I am not targeting anyone. If we compare popularity, everyone here is a great person!

Now the public opinion about Nie Yuan and Huang Xiaoming is boiling, and Big Beard is actually feeling quite uncomfortable.

But he was reluctant to give up the money Huang Xiaoming gave him, but he would feel uncomfortable if he didn't sell the protagonist for a good price.

"Hey!"

The bearded man finally reacted.

The kickback from contracting the project should be much more than the two million given by Huang Xiaoming!

"Although it wasn't this guy who took it, not only did I not lose anything, I even made more money!"

Zhang Yuan had already figured out his money-obsessed mentality.

For money, this guy will do anything.

"But the problem is, even if Huang Xiaoming can't be used, Nie Yuan must be used."

"It's not his turn anyway."

While the bearded man was drinking his tea, he kept thinking.

He didn't want to offend Ciwen and Huayi, but also wanted to reap the benefits from Zhang Yuan.

After all, the money earned from actors is just small, while the money earned from investors is big money.

This old guy is the real ruthless one, he won't want to miss any benefit.

Zhang Yuan had no intention of pressing forward, he just threw out his bait and let the other party take the bait.

Then he started chatting with the other party with a smile, drinking tea and chatting, and no longer mentioned any business matters.

drip...

A few hours later, Zhang Yuan's cell phone rang, and he picked it up and took a look.

"Director Zhang, why don't we stop here today? I'll discuss the project with you in detail."

"Is there something wrong?" the bearded man asked with narrowed eyes.

"A friend is coming."

"You're quite busy." The bearded man had something in mind, but he wouldn't stay there.

I gave him the expensive tea and personally delivered it to him.

When the bearded man saw him return to the house and close the gate, he sat down in the car.

"Boss, where are you going?" the driver asked.

"Wait a minute." The bearded man remained motionless.

It seemed that Zhang Yuan had just entertained Ma Zhongjun before he came.

Who are you meeting now?
Huh... Soon after, a taxi stopped in the alley.

A plump woman dressed like an urban beauty in a black suit got out of the car.

"Cai Yinong the Sugar Man?" The bearded man took a look through the car window.

Boss Cai is not as rich as Boss Ma, and he is from another place, so he doesn’t have a private car and has to take a taxi to and from work.

It's simpler.

“It was Ma Zhongjun just now.”

"This is Cai Yinong now."

"This guy met with the bosses of two film and television companies in one day."

"And you're deliberately hiding it from me."

The bearded man has secretly defected to the Huayi faction.

I also know that Xiao Wang is quite interested in Zhang Yuan.

"Tsk, Lao Zhou, go buy me some food. I'll wait for a while. I won't leave yet."

"You waiting for someone?"

"I want to see the woman who just came in come out."

The bearded man considered himself an old hand and thought he could roughly infer the content and outcome of the discussion by looking at the other person's expression when he left.

And I also wanted to see Zhang Yuan’s attitude towards Boss Cai.

He can analyze a lot just from this information.

The reason why he cared so much about Cai Yinong was because he learned that Boss Cai was trying to obtain the copyright of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

Obviously, this person is also competing with me for the martial arts track!

The most recent version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" was filmed by Big Beard, so he pays special attention to this person.

In the courtyard.

"The bearded man didn't leave after all." Zhang Yuan received the text message.

"I knew this old guy was a thief!"

"That's great, I'll give you a big one in a minute!" (End of this chapter)