Chapter 813 discusses logic.

In the entertainment industry, many things are governed by commercial logic.

But some people don't follow business logic.

For example, Li Zhibai talks about feelings, true friends, true brothers, and being willing to go to great lengths for each other.

However, ignoring business logic doesn't mean it's the same thing.

For example, Zhang Yuezhen.

After filming the spin-off series of "The Seventeenth Floor," Zhang Yuezhen immediately began helping Chen Pinhe find his next project.

However, finding the next work was not so easy.

Those who want and are willing to contact others now have better options, such as Jiang Jun. The number is already small, and Chen Pinhe isn't even the first candidate, so his chances are even fewer.

However, Zhang Yuezhen never expected that, in addition to Jiang Jun, Wen Shengming and Liu Teli would also become obstacles for Chen Pinhe.

After winning Best Actor at the Venice International Film Festival, Wen Shengming immediately announced a luxury brand endorsement. Although it's only for the China region, actors of his caliber either don't do endorsements at all, or they'll definitely be promoted to TiTle and become global ambassadors within six months to a year.

What Zhang Yuezhen didn't expect was that this luxury brand endorsement deal was negotiated by Wen Shengming of the Shihuo Gang.

Wen Shengming's business contract also included Shi Huo.

There's really nothing "surprising" about it; it's all too easy to understand.

However, Zhang Yue was very annoyed. Why were so many people gradually gathering around Lu Yanhe and becoming his accomplices?

We should have done it back then—

"Mr. Zhang!" Someone knocked on the door.

Zhang Yuezhen snapped out of her daze and said, "Go in."

The secretary opened the door and stood in the doorway. "Ning Yao is here."

"Let her in."

Ning Yao was wearing a white dress—

It's rare for a female celebrity to dress like this.

She was dressed like a little white flower on a university campus.

"Sister." Ning Yao walked in sweetly, holding a cardboard box in her hand, with a sweet smile, "I baked some cookies at home and brought some over for you. If you don't mind, please try some."

Zhang Yuezhen stood up with a smile and said, "Why did you bother with this?"

“It’s no trouble at all. I enjoy making these things myself,” Ning Yao said. “Besides, you’re so good to me, sister. I’m just making some cookies. Don’t be so polite with me.”

Zhang Yuezhen: "Of course I won't stand on ceremony with you. By the way, when are you joining the cast for your next project?"

“Next week,” Ning Yao said.

"You just finished filming last week, right? Oh dear, that must have been so tiring," Zhang Yuezhen said. "They should have let you rest for a few more days."

Ning Yao said, "It's okay, I don't want to rest either, I don't need to."

Zhang Yuezhen: "You silly child, acting is not a job. It requires you to build up your emotions and passion. You can't exhaust yourself too much."

Ning Yao agreed.

Zhang Yuezhen held Ning Yao's hand and said, "After you finish filming your next movie, I've found you a role in a Hollywood film. You should practice your English properly, okay?"

Ning Yao's face lit up with surprise.

"Sister, you're so good to me."

"Of course, you're my favorite newcomer. If I don't treat you well, who else should I treat well?" Zhang Yuezhen pinched Ning Yao's cheek. "Let's work hard, but don't rush. As an actor, you must avoid arrogance and impatience, you know? Just focus on acting, and leave everything else to us. We'll definitely become famous."

Ning Yao nodded vigorously.

"good!"

After Ning Yao left, the secretary came in, picked up the cookies Ning Yao had brought, and silently left.

Zhang Yue didn't even lift her head.

The secretary glanced at the cookie box in her hand with pity, then threw it directly into the trash can.

Ten minutes later, Zhang Yuezhen came out of the office with her bag on her back.

-

Why did Liu Zefan publicly humiliate you like that last time?

Thirty minutes later, Zhang Yuezhen met Li Xia at a high-end private club.

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Outside the window is a quiet courtyard scene.

There was a small tea table between them, on which was an exquisite tea stand.

Li Xia looked helpless and said, "What can we do? These big stars these days are all like spoiled children. You think you're doing it for their own good, but they don't appreciate it."

Zhang Yuezhen: "He thinks he's become too capable and doesn't need to rely on you anymore, so he's become arrogant. Let me remind you, don't work so hard to promote someone only to have them benefit someone else in the end. Look at Jiang Jun, before he became famous, he worked with his previous company for so many years, but after only a few years of fame, he signed with Shihuo."

Li Xia: "Sigh, that's what they say, but what can I do if he really wants to switch jobs to Shihuo? His contract with us is about to expire."

“With Lu Yanhe’s methods, which agent would dare to send their artist to him to film his projects in the future?” Zhang Yuezhen said. “If you ask me, don’t you all have any objections? How can you do this?”

“What’s the use of our opinions?” Li Xia shook her head. “We can’t force Liu Zefan to stay. Even if we did, he might not agree, right?”

Zhang Yuezhen: "Sigh, that's why we need to be careful when training new talent these days."

Li Xia: "Isn't your newly established company training new talent? I know about Ning Yao. Ever since you took a liking to her and started cultivating her, she has basically never left the film crew, filming one movie after another. You're feeding her all the resources. Aren't you afraid that once the young girl grows up, she'll run away?"

“I can feed her resources, so of course I’m not afraid she’ll run away.” Zhang Yuezhen smiled slightly at Li Xia. “Actually, if you’re really determined not to let Liu Zefan run away, I don’t believe that he doesn’t have any problems that you can’t catch.”

Li Xia: "How could that be? Do you think I don't want to? The problem is, I can't do it."

Zhang Yuezhen: "What's so difficult about doing that?"

Li Xia: "Sigh, never mind, let's not talk about this. You suddenly asked me to meet you today, it's not just to talk about Liu Zefan, is it?"

“Of course not, he’s your artist. I can gossip all I want, but that’s not the important business,” Zhang Yuezhen said. “I wanted to ask, for the British drama ‘The Suspect,’ Liu Zefan has already signed a contract, right? Are there any decent roles in it that you could recommend to me? Male or female.”

Li Xia: "Huh? You overestimate me. We can't get a word in edgewise in this drama."

“You don’t need to interrupt, just let me look at the script,” Zhang Yuezhen said. “I’ll handle everything else myself.”

"This—" Li Xia hadn't expected that Zhang Yuezhen had come specifically for the drama "Suspicion".

Zhang Yuezhen smiled and said, "I won't take advantage of you for nothing. You must know about the movie 'Ten Miles of Fragrance'. There's still one role that hasn't been cast. Didn't you just sign a guy who graduated this year? He's the perfect age. I can put in a good word for you."

Li Xia then smiled.

-

“There aren’t any suitable cameo roles in the first Men in Black movie, just the kind where you make a brief appearance, so it wouldn’t be very meaningful,” Lu Yanhe told Li Yuefeng over the phone. “Let’s see if there are any suitable roles in the next two movies. If there are, I’ll save them for you.”

Upon hearing the news about "Men in Black," Li Yuefeng immediately called Lu Yanhe to ask if there were any roles available.

When it comes to getting roles from Lu Yanhe, Li Yuefeng has always been the most proactive and tireless.

Hearing Lu Yanhe say this, Li Yuefeng stopped asking questions.

"OK."

Lu Yanhe said, "Do you still have the time to ask me for roles? You have so many roles lined up in the pipeline right now."

"It's just a cameo role, at most two or three days. There's nothing we can't put together in that time," Li Yuefeng said. "You guys are all making it into the international market now. I'd like to too. I'll just get some exposure first."

When it comes to ambition, Jiang Yuqian is a good example for women, and Li Yuefeng is a good example for men.

Lu Yanhe smiled.

"If you want to get some exposure in Hollywood movies, I can actually recommend someone. They'd be very willing to let you have a cameo role for the sake of box office revenue in the Chinese market."

Li Yuefeng: "No way. It's not your movie. It would be too embarrassing for me to make a cameo appearance. If I make a cameo appearance in your movie, it's because I'm supporting a friend. If I make a cameo appearance in a movie that has nothing to do with me, no matter how big the movie is, it's still just a cameo appearance. I have a lot of face. I'm a top-tier celebrity in China. How can I be someone's mascot?"

Lu Yanhe smiled.

"Alright then."

“Of course, I’m willing to do a cameo if it’s one that’s really worthwhile,” Li Yuefeng said. “I won’t do a cameo just for the sake of doing a cameo.”

"OK."

-

"Why are you always so proactive in asking Lu Yanhe for roles?" Wu Bai asked as he drove, after Li Yuefeng hung up the phone.

"What's wrong with me asking Lu Yanhe for a role? Isn't that normal?" Li Yuefeng didn't even look up when he heard Wu Bai's question. He replied to someone's message while asking the question.

Wu Bai said, "It's not about anything else, one or two is fine, but I see you always asking him for them, doesn't that annoy him?"

“He won’t. I’m not begging him for roles. I just make sure he remembers me whenever possible,” Li Yuefeng said. “You know, so many people are eyeing his roles. If I don’t take the initiative to make him remember me, then the roles that might have gone to me will go to someone else.”

"You've collaborated with Linghe on two films in one go, that's already a lot."

"A lot?" Li Yuefeng looked up in surprise. "This is not a lot at all. I wish there were two more, four more!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Bai was speechless for a moment.

“You’ll know once you read the script. The scripts that Linghe submits are of a much higher quality than others. Even if it’s not a script written by Yan He, it’s still very good,” Li Yuefeng said. “Linghe’s scripts are selected through rounds of competition. Take ‘The Corpse’ for example. It’s a suspenseful thriller with a snowstorm and a mountain lodge theme. So many people have written stories like this, but they managed to make it work within a very limited budget of 12 million yuan. The costumes, props, cinematography, and art direction are all top-notch. It’s not shoddy at all. With this kind of script concept and project management model, whoever acts in it will benefit. You’ll know what professionalism is once you’ve worked on a Linghe film crew.”

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Wu Bai asked in surprise. "The Corpse Scene is just a production crew of about thirty people."

"That's why I say they're amazing," Li Yuefeng said. "To make a film like this, with this level of quality, other companies would need at least a hundred people to produce it. The art department alone would require a large team of at least eight people, but for 'The Corpse,' the art department only had four people. Can you believe it? The cinematography was the same. There was one director of photography, two cinematographers, and two assistant cinematographers, a total of five people, yet they were able to handle the multi-camera shooting every day. Their skill level was top-notch. When I was filming on set, the waiting time was never more than half an hour. Their efficiency was incredibly high. Before each scene, I received not only the call sheet but also the storyboard. I knew how the director wanted to handle the shots for the next scene before I even went to the set."

Wu Bai: "I've heard of that before."

"After filming wrapped, the main creative team would update everyone on the film's progress every so often, explaining the post-production stage, where they were working on special effects, potential release dates, and what aspects of 'The Corpse' they hoped I would mention in my upcoming public appearances... a one-stop service. You know how that felt to me? In short, professional. They clearly knew what they were doing and what they were going to do next, and they had contingency plans for all possible situations. They also told me very clearly what I could do during this period and when I needed to reserve time for them, so as not to make the schedule too tight. Over the years, in all the films I've made, including 'The Seventeenth Floor,' no production team has been as professional as this small team with a budget of only 12 million. That's why they were able to control costs without compromising the film's quality."

Wu Bai: "Linghe is able to do this because they have complete control over the production process. Other production companies cannot produce the same movie for only 12 million. There are people who want to make money at every stage, just like your salary. If it were another movie, your salary would definitely not be only 4 million."

"Is my movie salary really worth more in the market?"

“There’s room for negotiation,” Wu Bai said frankly. “Everything on set, from food and clothing to accommodation and transportation, is a place where you can make demands, including helping other actors get roles and the remuneration for subsequent promotional activities. For a movie like ‘The Corpse’ that is completely centered around you, even if the contract only shows a salary of 4 million yuan, you will still receive some additional remuneration under other pretexts. But for ‘The Corpse,’ you only have that 4 million yuan salary, nothing else.”

Li Yuefeng laughed sarcastically.

"No wonder those movies get worse and worse, one after another. Everyone except the investors can make money. It's no wonder that there are film and television winters from time to time."

"So you know why investors are willing to pour money into Linghe's projects, while during the two years that Northern Lights invested its budget in 'My Own Swordsman' and 'Squid Game,' many of its studios and producers had huge complaints," Wu Bai said. "But by doing this, they also offended a lot of people. They frequently tried to make big profits with small investments. Think about it, how are other film and television production staff supposed to compete? If you make a budget of 50 million, investors will ask, why can Linghe produce a similar project for only 15 million? If Linghe's production staff and funding weren't basically self-sufficient, and if the company didn't have its own say in accepting external investment, many underhanded tactics would have been used against Linghe long ago."

Upon hearing this, Li Yuefeng shook his head.

"That's awful."

“Yeah, it’s really bad, but what can we do?” Wu Bai said. “You can’t just film Linghe’s dramas your whole life. Linghe can’t be the only one that stands out and dominates the whole forest, right? So many companies are vying for your schedule. If all the dramas you take on are for Linghe, what will their reaction be? Won’t you become a completely Linghe-affiliated actor? Then they won’t be able to get a piece of the pie from you. Won’t they try to trip you up, kick you off, and give the ecological niche you occupy to actors they can control and work with?”

Li Yuefeng looked on incredulously. "It's really dirty."

Wu Bai: "Anyway, that's how things are."

“It’s too dirty,” Li Yuefeng said. “Brother Bai, I finally understand why Jiang Yuqian and the others are working so hard to find opportunities overseas. It’s to prepare a way out for themselves.”

"Aren't you overthinking it? She doesn't actually have such thoughts at all," Wu Bai laughed. "Jiang Yuqian completely changed her career path because it was difficult for her to win awards. She is now on the path of becoming an international superstar, and she is very successful. You, an average actress, probably can't compare to her in terms of status now."

Li Yuefeng: "But you really have to have the ability to break out of this environment, otherwise you really don't know when you will be threatened. Brother Bai, we should also open up other battlefields. In case these people unite to fight against Linghe in the future, I can't be dragged into fighting against Linghe. I don't have the ability to stand by Yanhe's side and fight against them either. I have to stay away."

Wu Bai: "It's not that easy. In the current market, who would think that you and Linghe aren't close? In terms of cooperation, you've never fallen out of the top three in terms of the number of times you've cooperated with Lu Yanhe."

Li Yuefeng: "It's not that bad—"

Li Yuefeng himself was embarrassed to say these words.

He starred in three "Seventeen Floors" movies, made cameo appearances in "Friends" and "Raise the Red Lantern," and starred in "You Are the Apple of My Eye." He also has two more movies where he plays the male lead, one of which has already been filmed.

In fact, neither Li Zhibai nor Yan Liang had as many as him.

Wu Bai glanced helplessly at the actor who had grown up alongside him.

"Now you know why I told you we can't always cooperate with Linghe, right?"

Li Yuefeng: "...Okay."

Wu Bai: "However, our contract is about to expire, Yuefeng. I suggest you sign your film and television contract with Shihuo."

Li Yuefeng stared at Wu Bai in shock: "Huh? Are you crazy? What are you going to do?"

“I will leave the company and cooperate with you in a personal capacity,” Wu Bai said. “To be honest with you, my strengths lie in public relations and publicity, and my resources are concentrated in business and media. In the film and television sector, before you reached this stage, my resources were sufficient for you, but now they are not enough. If you go to Shi Huo, I can use this platform to help you secure better film and television resources. In addition, they are also expanding their business overseas, which will be very beneficial for your future overseas business development.”

Li Yuefeng: "You're coming with me? That's fine. I thought you'd fallen in love with me and were willing to sacrifice your own interests to help me out."

Wu Bai: "..."

Li Yuefeng: "As expected of Brother Bai."

Wu Bai: "Get lost."

Li Yuefeng asked, "What about the others you brought with you?"

“I will set up a studio to collaborate with Shihuo. The focus of the collaboration will be you. As for the others, I will continue to mentor those who are willing to come with me, and those who are not willing can stay,” Wu Bai said. “Actually, I suggested doing this because the resources I have are reaching a bottleneck, and I also need to go to a larger platform.”

Li Yuefeng: "Yes, absolutely. Let's work together to make it bigger and stronger."

-

"Jiang Yuqian!"

"Qin~ Qin~ Look this way!"

...

Jiang Yuqian, dressed in a gorgeous gown, walked the red carpet in Paris.

She was attending a screening of "Destruction Day" in Paris, France.

In recent years, she has spent more than a month in Paris each year.

Fashion events, brand events, and even the Maxine series "Perfect Truth," which she co-starred in with French director Donovan Mottovani, were all filmed in France.

It can be said that before she truly opened up the Hollywood market with "Red Eye," her "international influence" was mainly reflected in Europe.

France was the main country among them.

Female celebrities have one advantage over male celebrities: "They may not shine in film and television, but they shine in fashion."

During the period when Jiang Yuqian had no new works to follow, she relied entirely on her fashion performances to maintain her public profile.

When she became popular again with "Red Eye Flight", the exposure benefited her in return.

She was no longer a newcomer who had just started to gain popularity.

In the eyes of those in France, she was "even more famous."

For Jiang Yuqian, the current promotion of "Destruction Day" is a large-scale show.

Her character in the movie inherently carries some of the "female vase" quality, so she can appear in various beautiful, pretty, and sexy styles without any hesitation.

This has given her a massive amount of exposure in the fashion media over the past month—

Redness is good for health.

Jiang Yuqian waved as she walked past amidst a tsunami of shouts.

Yes, a superstar.

Many photographers felt that she looked absolutely radiant today.

As she walked into the screening room, an unexpected figure appeared in front of her.

That was someone she had never expected.

She shouldn't be here.

Jiang Yuqian frowned.

"Mr. Zhang?"

Zhang Yuezhen, Chen Pinhe's wife.

Zhang Yuezhen walked up to Jiang Yuqian with a smile on her face.

"Miss Jiang, we've finally met."

Jiang Yuqian subconsciously looked around.

There were actually many people around, but four bodyguards guarded the area, so that others, seeing this formation, wisely kept their distance.

They didn't know Zhang Yuezhen, but they all knew that this must be someone important talking to Jiang Yuqian in private.

Zhang Yue's gaze fell on Jiang Yuqian.

"Miss Jiang looks beautiful today. It's no wonder you have such a radiant complexion." She leaned closer to Jiang Yuqian and whispered in her ear, "However, Miss Jiang, aren't you going a bit too far?"

Jiang Yuqian looked at Zhang Yuezhen with a serious expression.

With everyone watching, she really couldn't just walk away.

She just looked at Zhang Yuezhen.

She knew she was referring to the story about "The Window Sill".

To her surprise, Zhang Yuezhen actually came to her directly about this matter.

(End of this chapter)