Chapter 39 Embark on the Journey

In Jiahe's conference office, two Western-suited foreigners representing Warner were sitting on the inside of the conference table facing the door, while Lian Da, who represented Lu Shaolong, was sitting opposite the two with an indifferent expression.

Zou Yunhua sat in the boss's seat between the two of them, at the end of the conference table, and looked like he was in charge of the situation: "Let me introduce you. This is Bruce's wife Renda, and this is Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Dean, who are here to negotiate the contract for the movie Game of Death on behalf of Warner Bros."

Renda took a quick look at the two of them: Reynolds looked like a typical middle-aged white man, while Dean looked to be a young man in his twenties.

Although both men were wearing suits, the older Reynolds' suit was obviously made of better material and better tailored than the younger Dean's. It looked like the setup of a senior manager with a young assistant.

The only person she had to deal with, then, was the elder Reynolds.

"Our company's opinion is to ask a new screenwriter to modify the original plot of the movie, and then try to use the half of the film footage that has been shot, and then find a few stand-ins with a body shape and appearance similar to Mr. Brucelu to shoot the remaining half of the plot. As long as the movie can be shot and delivered on time, we will not make it difficult for you." Reynolds had a sad expression, "Before I came here, I also heard about Mr. Brucelu's accident. I also feel deeply sorry and sorry for this, but please understand our work."

"So, as long as we can deliver a movie on time, it won't be considered a breach of contract, right?" Renda asked calmly.

"No." Reynolds looked at Renda, then signaled Dean beside him to pass a document over, "What we at Warner need is Mr. Bruce Lu's kung fu movie, not someone else's movie made to make up the numbers."

"Of course, we at Jiahe are very honest in the industry and will never do anything to cheat." Seeing that the atmosphere on both sides was beginning to become a little tense, Zou Yunhua quickly smiled and smoothed over the situation.

He also signaled to Lian Da with his eyes, telling her not to hesitate any longer and to make a decision quickly.

Renda simply glanced at the documents that were handed over, then looked at the two people opposite him: "According to what is written in the documents, as long as we hand over the video footage that Bruce shot before, and then hire a new screenwriter and a stand-in to shoot and deliver the movie within the agreed time, we don't have to pay the $2 million penalty, right?"

"Yes, at that time, Warner contributed 500,000 US dollars to Tiger Fighting Dragon, and Jiahe and Xiehe contributed 300,000 US dollars, so the total cost was 800,000 US dollars." Zou Yunhua immediately explained, "And because Game of Death was a co-production that invited many foreign movie stars and kung fu masters, it received an initial investment of 1 million US dollars from Warner. The additional investment from other aspects was not large because the film was suspended, so it can be temporarily excluded from the account."

Lian Da ignored Zou Yunhua's eye contact and instead looked at the documents on the table and fell into silence.

Reynolds and Dean, who were sitting opposite, exchanged a look: it was obvious that the grieving lady in front of them wanted to preserve her husband's hard work as much as possible. Unfortunately, the amount of $2 million in default payment was too high, and she absolutely could not come up with this amount.

Even if they managed to scrape together the money, where would they get the money for Lu Shaolong's subsequent treatment and her family's living expenses?

So this is a sure-fire negotiation.

Since the rise of Kung Fu movies in Hong Kong, Lu Shaolong has made a name for himself with Chinese Kung Fu and has also gained considerable fame in the United States - people love the charm of the mysterious ancient oriental country.

That's why Warner accepted Jiahe's invitation to cooperate and invested in Lu Shaolong.

Lu Shao Long's accident this time can be said to be both disadvantageous and advantageous: the disadvantage is that if Lu Shao Long's kung fu movies are popular in the United States, then they will lose a tool to make money for a long time; but the advantage is that the hospital has proved that Lu Shao Long may not be able to practice kung fu for a long time, or even in the future, so "Tiger Fighting vs. the Dragon" and "Game of Death" are the last two "posthumous works" of this once famous kung fu king.

By relying on this name for marketing, you can reap huge profits at the box office.

It is very difficult for Lu Shaolong to "turn around" now, so they will definitely choose the latter approach and try to take advantage of this popularity to grab as much as they can.

Of course, it is not only the people at Warner who understand this principle. Zou Yunhua, Lu Shaolong, Lian Da and many others in Hong Kong also understand this principle. However, since they have not yet fallen out with each other, they all tacitly avoid mentioning this point.

Lian Da took a deep breath with difficulty: Is it possible that I really want to give away my husband's hard work like this...

It was obvious from Lian Da's expression and movements that he had already begun the final struggle. Zou Yunhua and Warner both secretly revealed expressions of satisfaction.

"Wait!" As everyone in the conference room was waiting with their own thoughts, Su Yun rushed in with a stack of scripts and a videotape. "I have a script that is no less than "Game of Death", and I also brought some samples that were shot in advance!"

"Who are you?" The little girl had a special eye color that was different from that of Chinese people. Coupled with her bright and deep facial features and fluent English, Reynolds's eyes quickly turned to Renda and frowned. "She is your daughter, madam?"

"If so, please keep her under control and don't let her disturb us when we discuss the film contract..."

"I really have a great new movie to show you!" Su Yun jumped up and down, looking even more coquettish as she tried to attract attention.

"No, she is my husband's student." Before Lian Da could give further explanation, Su Yun rushed in front of the TV with the look of a naughty child who no one could control.

While holding the videotape against the video player with one hand and pressing the TV button with the other, she kept shouting, "You'll know when you see it. It's definitely a movie that can shock people..."

Because Su Yun didn't seem to be very good at using the VCR player, the snow on the TV screen jumped a little, and then it conscientiously played the TV program it was supposed to play first.

Before the cheerful cartoon theme song was even finished, the screen skipped again and switched to an all-English news page.

"Dear viewers, please pay attention. We are going to broadcast an urgent news..."

"At 2:33 p.m. on July 23, North American time, extremely strong hurricanes and rainstorms occurred in many parts of the United States. As of 2:33 a.m. on the 24th, the floods caused by the sea level rise caused by the storms have submerged most of New York. The number of destroyed buildings and the number of casualties among the local people are still difficult to calculate. The following image data are the disaster scenes of various cities returned by aerial photography..."

Because the broadcast language was typical American English, both Reynolds and Dean subconsciously focused their attention on the TV screen in the conference room.

It would have been fine if I hadn't seen it, but once I did, I was shocked: those familiar buildings and scenery in the vast ocean were...

Impossible, absolutely impossible, how could New York be flooded? !

But the images on this TV are indeed terrifyingly real.

Reynolds and Dean no longer cared about the negotiation. They stared at the TV screen until the drone camera moved forward and the Statue of Liberty, half of its body submerged in the water, slowly appeared on the screen...

"NO——" Reynolds and Dean screamed miserably at the same time, and the two began to fight for the phone on the conference table.

In a crisis like this, there is no distinction between superiors and subordinates. Dean, relying on his youth and strength, snatched the receiver and quickly dialed a number with trembling hands: "Hello, Dad, Mom? Are you, are you okay..."

Reynolds, who failed to grab the phone, was so anxious that he was running around like a headless fly. Finally, Su Yun pulled his sleeve and reminded him, "There is another phone over here."

"Thank you, thank you..." Reynolds heard that and immediately rushed to the small desk in the corner of the conference room. He picked up the phone and started dialing: "Hello? Tina? Lori? How are you guys now?"

Hearing the inexplicable replies from their family members on the other end of the phone, the anxious Reynolds and Dean spoke again in unison, explaining that they had seen the news about the flood in New York, and that they were worried about their safety and so they made a long-distance call...

Then I received even more confusing replies and questions from both sides of the family.

"What?! The weather in New York is great right now?! No hurricanes, no heavy rains, and no major floods?!"

"I want me to stop calling you guys at 3am?!"

"It's afternoon here!"

The play of jet lag caused these two family-loving men to be scolded by their grouchy family members.

"Don't worry about the time difference. Are you sure everything is fine? There's no flood in New York, right?!" After finally getting a reply that their family is safe, Reynolds and Dean looked at the TV that was still showing the aerial footage of the New York flood...

What the hell is going on?!

Seeing the two men who were still in shock and had confused expressions on their faces, Su Yun, the instigator, picked up the remote control and stopped the screen. Then, she turned around and smiled sweetly at the two men: "Can we talk about the new movie now, gentlemen?"

Shocked by the overly realistic special effects, Reynolds and Dean looked at each other again, and finally sat back in their original seats silently.

Seeing the two of them sitting back in their original seats, Su Yun's smile became even sweeter. She reached out and slowly pushed the plan with the name "Artificial Intelligence" printed on it forward.

If the child hadn't had to stand on tiptoe and lean most of his body over the conference table to push the plan over, Reynolds and Dean on the opposite side would have felt as if the person they were talking to was an adult with very mature means and psychology.

After a series of maneuvers to secure a one-week "reprieve" from Warner, Su Yun planned a trip to New Jersey, USA, in order to make a more detailed and substantial plan.

After packing up her things, explaining the situation to her family and saying goodbye, Su Yun came to Lu Shaolong's ward.

"Let Ah Ying go with you. He is one of the people I trust the most and he is also good at fighting. I can rest assured that he is by your side to take care of you." Lu Shaolong learned that Su Yun actually planned to "repay the master's debt". Seeing Su Yun preparing to go out with a baggage, Lu Shaolong was both relieved and worried. In the end, he had to hurry up and let someone notify his good friend Lin Jingying to come over before Su Yun left. "By the way, I heard that you have another senior brother in the United States?"

Lin Jingying nodded: "Yes, I haven't seen him for a long time either."

"That's good too. It's a good opportunity for you two brothers to reminisce about the past." Lu Shaolong said.

So, Su Yun and Lin Jingying boarded a plane to New Jersey together.

"I'm going to find someone this time. My strength alone is not enough to impress Warner's top management, but with his help, it will definitely be possible." On the plane, Su Yun and Lin Jingying explained the reason for her trip.

"Who exactly is this person?" Lin Jingying asked doubtfully.

"Speaking of which, he is really a 'sacred'..." Su Yun laughed, put the small notebook in which he recorded things into his bag, and looked meaningfully, "Stanley Kubrick, many people call him--"

"The God of Movies."