Chapter 76: Fight

Hearing Su Yun's doubt, Zou Yunhua was slightly stunned at first, then he glanced at the photo and explained with a nostalgic look: "Of course you don't know him - his name is Zhao Liying, and he was the general manager of Zhao Brothers Company at that time."

"The position of general manager of Zhao Brothers Company back then was not just an empty title like it is now, but a real and important position. And the person who held this position was Zhao Liying, the nephew whom Zhao Rifu had the most hope for at that time."

"Don't underestimate him just because he's much younger than me. Someone like Zhao Liying has had talent in this field since childhood and his family is in this industry. The experience he has gained since childhood is comparable to that of a veteran with more than ten years of experience. He is definitely much better than someone like me who entered this industry after finishing school."

"Back then, I was just a 'newcomer' that he personally brought up."

"Because the Zhao family follows the traditional custom of the old big family in raising their children and grandchildren, they raise the next generation in a 'mutual raising' way, where brothers take turns raising their children. Therefore, Zhao Rifu's second brother Zhao Liying was raised by Zhao Rifu in Hong Kong, while Zhao Rifu's son Zhao Liming was raised by his third brother in Singapore."

"Zhao Rifu thought highly of Zhao Liying and once considered him the successor of the Zhao family. At that time, as his deputy, I couldn't get by without him." Zou Yunhua smiled, "Of course, I also understand that a family business like the Zhao family will only be passed on to its own people, so I didn't think much about it at the time."

"What I couldn't imagine was that after Zhao Rifu and his second brother had a falling out, his second brother actually forced Zhao Liying to resign, causing him to leave for Japan."

"Japan?" Catching this key word, Su Yun calmed down and continued listening.

"Yes, because he couldn't stay in Hong Kong, and couldn't go back to Singapore. He was not a good person in either place, so he had to go somewhere else." Zou Yunhua was immersed in his memories and didn't notice Su Yun's abnormality. He continued to talk to himself, "In fact, nearly half of the theaters in Jiahe Cinema Chain were also the winners of the fight between Zhao Rifu and his brothers. They were bought from Zhao Rifu's second brother's Zhao's Father and Son Film Company. For this reason, Zhao Rifu was dissatisfied with his second brother and the nephew he once thought was the most promising."

"But at that time, I didn't think that far ahead. I just thought that once Zhao Liying left, would I be able to get a permanent position?" Zou Yunhua sighed. "In order to win the position of general manager, I made a lot of efforts. Unfortunately, with the help of us, Zhao's family had already defeated all its former opponents and became the only one in the company, losing its former fighting spirit and openness..."

"So after Zhao Rifu arranged for Ms. Fang to work in the company, I knew that no matter how hard you work as an employee, you will never become the boss's own person."

“So I started Jiahe.”

Su Yun nodded with deep feeling: Indeed, workers will basically only be workers for their whole lives. If you want to be a boss, the easiest but also the hardest way is to abandon the past and start over.

"But the new Jiahe had a hard time surviving under the attack of the Zhao family. It was not until your master came back from the United States and joined the team that Jiahe gradually got on the right track." Zou Yunhua said this and looked at Su Yun with complicated eyes, "Shaolong's original wish was to break into Hollywood, but now he is like this..."

"You are his apprentice. I don't know whether to say it is luck or strength that has made you the second person in Hong Kong who can have a place in Hollywood, even though you are still so young." Thinking of the difficulties when Jiahe started its business and the friendship with Lu Shaolong, Zou Yunhua rarely opened his heart to Su Yun, "The reason why I support you so much in competing for the Oscar is not only for Jiahe, but also for Shaolong."

"I understand." Su Yun nodded again.

"It would be great if you understand what I mean." Zou Yunhua also nodded, and then called Su Yun to stand up, "Before we set off, you should go visit Shaolong and his family. You may stay in the United States for a while this time."

"I know." Su Yun responded, and then asked, "By the way, when will it be ready for the overseas telephone I asked you to install in my house?"

"We have already negotiated with the telephone company. In about a week, they should be able to install an overseas phone for you. Then you can call your home in Hong Kong anytime without having to worry about it all the time." Zou Yunhua replied.

These days, overseas telephones are expensive not only to install and remove, but also to use. Jiahe installed it mainly for the convenience of foreign work negotiations, while Su Yun's installation for family use can almost be regarded as a waste of money.

But she is still so young, and she and her family can make money, so when you think about it this way, it’s not a bad habit.

Therefore, Zou Yunhua agreed to help Su Yun, and at the same time it would be convenient for Jiahe to have another way to contact her if she needed help.

After getting the assurance from the rear, Su Yun felt relieved again. After visiting her master Lu Shaolong and her adopted grandfather Xu Gujie's family, she also gave her family some instructions, asking them to call her overseas if they had any problems.

Finally, after finishing everything, Su Yun once again boarded a plane to the United States.

On the plane, Zou Yunhua, who was sitting next to Su Yun, suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Su Yun: "By the way, do you need my help to prepare a dress for the awards ceremony?"

Even if it is just a nomination, it is enough to be broadcast live around the world.

In that case, no matter how naturally beautiful Su Yun is, she still needs external support to compete with those who have spent a lot of effort preparing for this award ceremony.

Children's dresses are difficult to buy. Generally speaking, in Hong Kong, people would find an experienced tailor with good craftsmanship and a good reputation to make them custom-made in advance.

Every year, the wealthy and upper classes would often have dresses and jewelry made in various sizes custom-made for their wives and daughters before holding various parties.

"My neighbor's family runs a garment factory, and her aunt is an experienced seamstress. When I came back this time, I drew a design diagram and asked her to help me make it." Su Yun said as he opened a small notebook he carried with him and showed Zou Yunhua the pictures on it. "They are all family members. They will prepare the materials for me."

Seeing the small dresses with various keywords on them, with dark, light, classical, modern and other styles, Zou Yunhua nodded and said, "Then I'll have someone prepare some matching jewelry for you, and have them send it to the United States along with the clothes."

Seeing him look like a worried old father, Su Yun smiled and agreed.

After arriving in the United States and checking into the hotel, Su Yun took advantage of the time before negotiations with Warner to look for previous award ceremonies from the system to see what happened.

It would have been fine if I hadn't seen it, because once I did I was almost shocked: the venue and makeup at that time were considered high-end by the standards of this era, but to Su Yun, who had been baptized by all kinds of beautiful stage effects in later generations, it was... quite simple.

But simplicity is not the main problem!

I don't know who came up with this idea, but perhaps to show off the split-screen live broadcast technology that has been used in recent years, when the awards are presented, the nominees will have a personal small screen to record their on-site reactions.

Nominees who are not present will be replaced by a photo.

Looking at the several moving color screens on the screen with one or two static black-and-white photos that looked like forgotten photos, Su Yun was filled with fear: Fortunately, she chose to fight for it and attend the ceremony.

Otherwise, when the Best Supporting Actress award is broadcast, her "posthumous photo" will be put on the TV screen, and some media may lose their conscience for the sake of publicity and make her like a certain car accident hero Nagano-san or a certain Miss Zhuo who is full of death news, and she will be accidentally exposed by various rumors...

On the second day, Su Yun and Zou Yunhua came to Warner's New York headquarters and began to negotiate on the issue of winning an Oscar.

However, upon hearing that these two Hong Kong people actually wanted Warner to help them win the Best Supporting Actress award, the person in charge across the conference table changed his expression on the spot.

"Did you know that Linda Blair from The Exorcist won the Best Supporting Actress award at the Golden Globe Awards in January?" The Golden Globe Awards are generally regarded as a bellwether for the Oscars, so the person in charge clicked his tongue twice, obviously finding their wild ideas ridiculous. "Even without Linda Blair, Tatum O'Neal from Paper Moon won the Best Newcomer award... and although AI Artificial Intelligence made a lot of money at the box office, it didn't win a single Golden Globe."

I don't know how Su Yun managed to get an Oscar nomination, but for a yellow-skinned kid like her, isn't an Oscar nomination enough? !

If she was a white-skinned child... no, even if she was just a black-skinned child, based on her age and acting skills, maybe Warner would consider focusing resources on her.

Unfortunately, things in this world are never as we wish. Even though everyone admits that her acting skills are as good as those of other competitors and her appearance is far better, this identity issue alone can cause her to fail at the Golden Globe Awards.

"We at Jiahe can offer 2 million US dollars." Zou Yunhua put forward his conditions in a humble manner.

Now is not the time to use money to inflate the PR wars of the future. The price of 2 million US dollars for a Best Supporting Actress is also "fortunate" that Su Yun is Chinese.

Otherwise, if we change to other nominees, there will be people willing to take it even if it’s half the price.

"It's not a matter of money, but... I can't explain it too clearly, do you understand?" Warner has never been short of money, and in this year's Oscars, they chose to spend a lot of money and use their connections to promote "The Exorcist", so it is absolutely impossible for them to divert their attention to another movie.

"Even if we don't choose Linda Blair, we can't choose your Mary." Seeing Su Yun's dejected expression, the person in charge felt a rare pity. "The Oscars require voting, and your opponent, Tatum O'Neal, her parents are both famous actors in Hollywood, and her network is quite extensive... Do you understand?"

When Su Yun followed the sullen Zou Yunhua out, they happened to meet Linda Blair who came here with her mother.

Su Yun had previously helped with post-production special effects for "The Exorcist", and the two were considered to be acquaintances who had met before, so Blair waved and greeted Su Yun.

There was a hint of pity in his eyes, but not the boasting of a winner.

Instead, it is the helplessness of being a "weak" person.

The girl, who was a few years older than her, also knew that she had little chance of winning, but because the movie was chosen, she took advantage of the hype created by Warner.

After failing to get any favor from Warner, Zou Yunhua did not give up and immediately took Su Yun to the old agency WMA.

They have plenty of money, but their connections cannot compare to those of the companies and people that originated here, so they can only turn to these old and large companies with complex roots in Hollywood.

The ending is of course very obvious, and we hit a wall again.

However, strangely, someone came here based on their information.

"You said that you will not take our business in the name of WMA, but will use your personal abilities and those of your friends?" Zou Yunhua, who was very happy when he saw the business card marked as the position of assistant to the president, immediately frowned again when he heard the visitor's true intention.

Even if you are an assistant to the president, how high is your success rate in taking private jobs?

Zou Yunhua was about to walk away, but was suddenly grabbed by Su Yun: "Don't go, I think I can trust him."

As she said this, she couldn't help but take another look at the business card on the table.

Michael Ovitz...

The founder of CAA, which will rival WMA in the future.