Chapter 93 93. Voluntary Devotion

The door of the private room was pushed open, and Zhang Ziyi widened her eyes and looked at the young man in front of her who was younger than herself in surprise.

She seemed to have just heard the number 5 million, and the unit was US dollars.

When Eric Cooper said this number, it seemed light and weightless, no different from $500.

Looking back at myself, my salary when I was filming Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was 130,000 RMB. Later, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became a big hit and I became famous. By the time I took on the role in Hero, my salary had risen to 1.6 million RMB.

But 1.6 million RMB is the highest salary he can get at the moment, because "Hero" is a commercial blockbuster with a high investment, and ordinary domestic films simply cannot afford this salary.

But look at the young boss of MGM in front of her. He asked for 5 million US dollars, which is more than 40 million RMB after converting into exchange rate, which is equivalent to her shooting 30 "Hero" movies. But this amount of money is just a drop in the bucket for him.

At this moment, the huge feeling of gap that had disappeared for a long time rushed into her heart again. The last time she had this feeling was when she met Gong Li.

But ever since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon brought her a certain degree of international fame, that sense of gap disappeared, and now it suddenly reappears.

"Hollywood, only Hollywood can allow me to truly realize my own value. This is the best opportunity."

With this thought in mind, Zhang Ziyi looked at Eric with increasingly passionate eyes.

She was not the only one who was shocked at the scene. Han Sanping, Zhou Xiaopeng and Deputy Director Chen also widened their eyes.

There were some things Eric didn't know, but Zhou Xiaopeng, as someone within the system, understood how big the number was, so big that it exceeded the aid from many countries.

So far, the total amount of donations and aid from all over the world to China is only more than 20 million US dollars.

For example, the United Kingdom provided $5 million in aid, Italy provided $1 million, Australia provided supplies worth A$1.7 million through the World Health Organization, Canada provided $3.14 million in supplies and research expenses, and South Korea provided $300,000 in free aid.

This is the case abroad. Although the enthusiasm is higher in China, the largest donation so far has been made by China Petroleum Group, which has only donated 20 million yuan.

The main reason was that the economy had not really taken off in 2003. In a leading city like Yanjing, the average annual salary of employees was only around 24,000 yuan last year.

So it would be abnormal for them to have no reaction when they saw Eric casually waving his hand and giving out $5 million.

Zhou Xiaopeng swallowed and said, "Eric, $5 million may not be appropriate."

"Why? I think 5 million is a lot."

Eric felt a little unhappy. If he thought this was not enough, it would be a bit greedy. He wanted to make some contribution, but he didn't want to be blamed.

Zhou Xiaopeng waved his hands hastily: "No, no, you misunderstood. It's not too little, it's too much."

"What?"

I’ve seen people complaining that the money is too little, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone complaining that it’s too much.

"Eric, there are some things you don't know, and it's not convenient for me to explain it clearly, but I can draw a line for you. Two million dollars is about right."

Being in the officialdom, Zhou Xiaopeng has to think not only about economic issues, but also about face issues.

If a foreign-funded enterprise is really asked to donate more than 40 million RMB, while the highest donation by domestic enterprises is only 20 million RMB, who are they slapping in the face? Many people will be ashamed.

Not knowing what Zhou Xiaopeng was thinking, Eric could only smile helplessly: "Well, since Director Zhou said so, let's just give him $2 million."

"Okay, then Lao Han and I will do our best to complete the preliminary procedures for you within a week. Before you return to the United States, we will try to hold a press conference and the matter will be settled."

After the serious business was done, the rest was just chatting. Zhou Xiaopeng became a listener, Han Sanping and Eric began to talk about the development of the film industry, and Zhang Ziyi really wanted to interrupt, but it was obvious that no one took her seriously.

After a few words, she felt too embarrassed to interrupt all the time, so she could only chat with Susan to get closer to her while secretly observing Eric.

The two men clinked their glasses and Han Sanping drank the remaining wine in one gulp. His glass was now filled with white wine. In his words, red wine was boring and did not taste right.

Eric continued to drink the red wine, but he didn't drink it all, just took a small sip.

The first three cups are just to follow local customs, and after that everyone should do their own thing.

Zhang Ziyi hurriedly filled Han Sanping's glass again, and the latter was obviously a little drunk at this time.

"Mr. Cooper, if our joint venture can be successful, it will definitely be successful, just look at my bad luck."

"I have a hope in my heart that MGM can help China train a group of talents, especially technical talents. The gap between China and Hollywood in this regard is really too big."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm telling you the truth, judging from the current level of special effects in mainland China, it can't even compare to Terminator 2, but that was a movie in 1991, 12 years ago."

"The future will surely be an era of special effects blockbusters. If we cannot break through the technical barriers, it will be very difficult for Chinese films to go abroad! It may even be impossible."

Eric couldn't help but marvel at the accuracy of Han Sanping's vision. According to his memory, the next ten years or so will indeed be dominated by special effects blockbusters. Hollywood will launch a massive bombardment on the global market and no country in the world will be able to rival it.

Although technology is a factor that makes Chinese films fail to go abroad, everyone knows the root cause and there is no need to explain it.

As for things like the film rating system, everyone knows the reasons why it has not been withdrawn yet.

Just chat, gossip, and brag, and say some casual words. Even if it's just a small circle of people, you have to be careful that there are ears on the wall, and there are many people who make mistakes.

"Mr. Han, what you said makes sense, but in my opinion, the story is more important than the technology, because a good script is the cornerstone of a good movie."

"I can help Huaxia train technical talents and build bridges between China Film and Weta Digital, but I hope Huaxia can pay more attention to screenwriters. As far as I know, the status of screenwriters in the Chinese film market is really hard to describe."

"If you really want to make your movies go global, it is much more important to focus on screenwriters than special effects. Otherwise, think about it, why were there so many American TV series that could be sold all over the world before special effects became popular?"

After chatting for a while, Han Sanping, who was originally in high spirits, became more and more depressed, and finally he simply drank another glass of white wine.

At around ten o'clock in the evening, when the dinner was over, Deputy Director Chen took Zhou Xiaopeng, who had drunk a lot, away, while Zhang Ziyi drove Han Sanping, who was almost drunk, away.

Eric and his two companions stayed at Fengze Garden, which is not only a restaurant but also a hotel with a very nice environment.

"Okay, you guys should go to bed early, and we can talk about it tomorrow."

After sending Chen Xing and Susan away, Eric took a good shower to get rid of the smell of cigarettes and alcohol.

For a non-smoker, smelling other people's secondhand smoke is simply torture, but even if you don't smoke, you can't stop others from smoking at a dinner party.

"Oh no, I left in such a hurry that I forgot to bring some clothes. I have to ask Chen Xing to buy some clothes tomorrow."

Shaking his head, Eric lay on the bed and turned on the TV. The first channel he saw was CCTV Channel 8, which was playing the preview of the next episode of "The Story of a Noble Family".

On the screen, Eric couldn't help but sigh and laugh at the young Chen Kun, Dong Jie who hadn't yet gotten together with Wang Dazhi, and the young Crystal Liu.

Recalling the past, he and Chen Kun had co-starred in a drama, "The Rise of Phoenixes". At that time, he was not even the deputy director, but just an assistant director.

At that time, capital was invading the entertainment industry most aggressively and traffic was king. The crew had actually changed from a director-centered system to an actor-centered system.

Except for those top directors, everyone is being kidnapped by capital, and he naturally plays the role of being ordered around.

But now it’s different. As long as you snap your fingers, countless bosses of film and television companies will come and lick your boots.

As for those actors, they don't even have the qualifications to lick the boots.

In this day and age, Hollywood is a place that stars all over the world aspire to go, and it also crushes China.

It hurts, but it’s the fact!

Just when Eric was about to fall asleep, the phone suddenly rang.

Seeing that it was an unfamiliar number, and it was from Hua Xia, Eric hung up immediately. An unfamiliar number calling in the middle of the night must be a traitor or a thief!

As soon as I hung up, the phone rang again, with the same number.

Eric hung up a second time, but the phone rang a third time.

"Hmm? Is there something wrong?"

After hesitating for a moment, Eric chose to answer the call, and a familiar voice immediately came from the other end of the line.

"Mr. Cooper, I'm Zhang Ziyi."

"Oh, what's up?"

Hearing that it was her, Eric frowned. This woman was not a simple character.

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

But then again, there are no simple characters in the entertainment industry. It is a chicken coop and duck coop, and actors and directors are just the small animals looking for food in it.

People like me naturally play the role of breeders.

You can sprinkle water and throw rice to the small animals, and when the chickens and ducks are fattened, you can eat them yourself or sell them for money.

"It's like this. Director Han noticed that you didn't seem to have brought any change of clothes, so he asked me to bring you a few sets."

"Then you can put it at the front desk and ask the waiter to bring it up."

"Uh, Mr. Cooper, would you mind telling me your room number? I think it's better for me to deliver it myself."

"Why?"

"Besides clothes, there are other things that are not convenient for others to deliver."

After hesitating for a moment, Eric said, "Then come to 301."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

In the lobby on the first floor, Zhang Ziyi's face showed joy. Then, instead of taking the elevator directly, she went to the bathroom.

She took out her makeup box from her bag and put on makeup carefully in front of the mirror to make herself look more exquisite.

I took out the mouthwash spray and sprayed it into my mouth. Then I blew into my palm and smelled it. The smell of alcohol was much lighter, which was great.

After finishing the preparations, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

In the dead of night, after drinking, indulge in promiscuous love, and do what is right for you: food, sex, and nature!

When she went abroad to participate in activities, she saw countless foreigners looking at her with longing eyes. She believed that with her charm, it would be no problem for her to win over a young man like Eric Cooper.

Knock, knock, knock. Hearing the knock on the door, Eric walked to the door and opened it. Seeing the woman in front of him, he couldn't help but wonder why she was wearing makeup. Her purpose was obvious.

"Thank you for taking the trouble to come here. Go to bed early."

After taking the clothes from Zhang Ziyi, Eric was about to close the door. He didn't intend to get involved with this woman.

He has a bad reputation and likes to stir up trouble.

But he didn't want to, and Zhang Ziyi couldn't, so the woman squeezed into the room sideways.

"What are you doing? Is there anything else?" Eric sounded a little unhappy.

Zhang Ziyi lifted her hair, and her eyes began to send out affectionate glances. She was still pretending to be so nice to me! "Eric, there are too many people at dinner. I actually have some questions about movies that I want to ask you. Now that no one is interrupting us, can we chat?"

Eric yawned. "It's too late, and I'm tired from the flight. Let's talk about the movie tomorrow. We can ask Director Han to organize a seminar and we can discuss it carefully."

Zhang Ziyi was stunned for a moment, thinking, do you really not understand or are you pretending not to understand? The actress came to study the movie in the middle of the night, is it really for the movie? "Wasn't it obvious enough? He is still so young and just joined MGM last year. He may not have experienced this kind of thing. It must be like this."

After thinking about it, Zhang Ziyi decided to try harder.

She pretended to be embarrassed and said, "Eric, can you let me use the bathroom? I drank too much and I'm not feeling well."

Eric was just about to say, "Just go to the lobby so I can close the door."

But Zhang Ziyi had already rushed into the bathroom pretending to be nervous, not giving him a chance to refuse, and then the sound of running water was heard in the bathroom.

"Mr. Cooper, I seem to be in some trouble. Can you help me?" After a moment, Zhang Ziyi's voice came from the bathroom.

"What! This is inconvenient, what's wrong with you? I'll order room service for you."

"No, I can't let them see me like this, it's too embarrassing!"

This sentence makes people think about it. Why is it embarrassing? Is it because of the posture?

"Then I'll call the police for you. The police will definitely protect your privacy. Don't worry, I'll call right away!"

"Huh? Wait, don't call the police. That doesn't seem to be too hard. I think I'm fine."

As Zhang Ziyi said this, she walked out of the bathroom with a complicated expression on her face. Looking at Eric's face that looked innocent yet a little concerned, she became even more angry.

"Impossible, he can't possibly not understand. Is it because I haven't done enough?"

"This guy is a gentleman? No, that's even more impossible!"

Zhang Ziyi was thinking hard. In fact, at this point, unless she was really confused, she should have given up.

But she was still unwilling to give up. She didn't know when she would get such a good opportunity again.

Thinking of this, she decided to give it a try. She didn't believe there would be a cat that wouldn't steal fish!

"Mr. Cooper, in fact, besides clothes, Mr. Han said he has other things to give you."

"Oh yeah, you just said it. What on earth is that?"

"me!"

After saying that, Zhang Ziyi took off her sweater and then untied her belt in Eric's surprised eyes.

(End of this chapter)