Chapter 1678: Romantic Things

From a certain perspective, Zhao Fusheng was not a gentleman.

The kind of thing where a man remains unmoved by a woman's charms was unlikely to happen to him.

But the problem was, Zhao Fusheng was a bit dizzy now.

Scarlett!

Throwing herself into his arms?

Swallowing his saliva, Zhao Fusheng decisively chickened out.

"Um, Scarlett, Scarlett! Stop!" Zhao Fusheng quickly stepped back a few paces, putting distance between himself and Scarlett Johansson, and said rapidly, "I promise you, I'll help you fight for that role, okay? Stop first!"

"What?"

Scarlett Johansson was taken aback, looking at Zhao Fusheng with surprise and astonishment.

To be honest, she hadn't expected that at this moment, this Eastern man would choose to retreat.

"Well, I think it's not appropriate for us to do anything at this time, right?" Zhao Fusheng said seriously, seeing that the beautiful actress was about to take off her clothes. "I don't want to take advantage of you, and you shouldn't use yourself to exchange for something, right?"

Scarlett Johansson looked at Zhao Fusheng with a half-smile, her big eyes blinking, revealing a playful expression: "Zhao, you really surprise me..."

"Ahem..." Zhao Fusheng coughed dryly and finally said, "Well, I'm a bit tired. Let's meet again sometime, okay?"

"Then you have to give me your phone number. Your private one!" Scarlett Johansson didn't want to let it go, smiling as she said to Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng wanted to refuse her request, but seeing her posture, as if she would take off her clothes at the slightest disagreement, he sighed helplessly, nodded, and entered his phone number on Scarlett Johansson's phone.

To be honest, he really had no way to deal with this woman now.

Walking up to Zhao Fusheng, standing on tiptoe, she kissed him on the cheek. Scarlett Johansson smiled: "Zhao, you're a lovely guy. I really like you."

Huh?

Zhao Fusheng was dumbfounded, watching Scarlett Johansson's graceful figure leave, as if she were a spirit.

Touching his own cheek, Zhao Fusheng shook his head helplessly. Humans, indeed, are strange creatures.

After Scarlett Johansson left, Wu Sijie walked in and said in a low voice to Zhao Fusheng, "Chairman, do you think she might leak the news to the media?"

After all, Zhao Fusheng's identity was actually quite mysterious—a wealthy man from the East, holding shares in Marvel and Facebook. Any piece of news about him would be a very attractive headline.

"No."

Zhao Fusheng shook his head. "She just wants an opportunity."

"An opportunity?"

Wu Sijie was slightly taken aback, looking at Zhao Fusheng with some surprise. "You mean, she wants to star in the second 'Iron Man'? But she's already a well-known actress in Hollywood."

This was true. Before this, Scarlett Johansson was indeed very famous, having played roles in multiple Hollywood films with good reviews, making her an actress with considerable audience appeal.

"Fame doesn't necessarily mean money." Hearing Wu Sijie's words, Zhao Fusheng smiled and said, "You have to understand, fame and income are sometimes not the same thing."

He paused and smiled, "It's like some actors in our country. You think they're very famous, often appearing in movies and TV dramas, but would you say they earn a lot?"

"I understand." Wu Sijie smiled and nodded.

In the end, it was the difference between fame and money. Being famous doesn't guarantee making money, and those who make money aren't necessarily that famous.

Obviously, Scarlett Johansson felt that her image as an artistic goddess was already sufficient and she no longer needed to continue on the artistic route, intending to transition toward commercial films.

This is common among actors. In fact, there are many such actors in China, such as Yu Nan, Zhang Jingchu, and including Tang Wei, all of whom started by making artistic films, gained considerable fame, and then transitioned toward commercial films.

After all, the former can win awards and accumulate reputation, and once one's reputation and status have reached a certain level, no one doesn't hope for a higher salary.

Everyone knows that artistic films have limited budgets, with tight funds for shooting—how could they offer high box office payouts?

This is not nonsense. Director Jia Zhangke has made films for half his life, winning numerous awards, yet the biggest investment in one of his films was that film "Ash Is Purest White," with an investment of seventy million yuan!

It's even less than the salary of a lead actor in some TV dramas.

This is the tragedy of artistic film directors and actors: no matter how high the reputation, no matter how many awards the film wins, the money that ends up in their hands is basically nothing.

It's hard enough to support oneself, let alone support one's family.

Therefore, many artistic film directors, both domestically and internationally, like to use their own wives as leading actresses. The reason is simple: promoting one's own people is one aspect, but more importantly, it's cheap.

Of course, there are also actresses who choose to be with directors for fame, such as Sophie Marceau and that old Polish driver's union.

Don't talk about the dreams of artistic goddesses; in the end, it's just each taking what they need.

But I digress.

Having understood what Scarlett Johansson wanted, Zhao Fusheng naturally knew how to respond.

And he was also willing to see some of his own people among Marvel's superheroes.

Come to think of it, if he remembered correctly, Captain America seemed to be a recommendation from Robert Downey Jr.

He wondered if Mr. Downey had mentioned this to Kevin Feige yet; if not, he might consider lending a hand.

The night passed without incident. The next morning, as Zhao Fusheng was having breakfast, Kevin Feige and Robert Downey Jr. arrived together.

“Dear sir, hello.”

Robert Downey Jr. greeted Zhao Fusheng respectfully; after all, he was an actor personally selected by Zhao Fusheng, so he naturally showed him great deference.

Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly: “Mr. Downey, I hear your performance in the film was excellent. I hope everyone will think so after it’s released.”

“As you wish.” Robert Downey beamed.

Kevin Feige, on the other hand, looked serious. He turned to Zhao Fusheng and said, “Zhao, I want to know what you think about the Iron Man movie.”

“Oh?”

Zhao Fusheng laughed and said to Kevin Feige, “What, Mr. Feige thinks I should have some particular opinion?”

“Zhao, although we have some differences, I think we share common interests, don’t we?” Kevin Feige said earnestly.

This was true; regardless of any other plans Zhao Fusheng or he might have in mind, at least they agreed on making Marvel better.

After all, no one would refuse to make more money.

Especially since Zhao Fusheng was an investor.

“That’s true.”

Zhao Fusheng chuckled, not objecting to Kevin Feige’s words.

He wasn’t stupid. Since Kevin Feige came to see him first thing in the morning, there must be something going on. Whatever tricks the guy had up his sleeve, he would just quietly watch him perform.

As the one in control, Zhao Fusheng had plenty of time to keep playing along with Kevin Feige.

It couldn’t be helped—Zhao Fusheng was simply richer.

Kevin Feige took a deep breath, looking at the Eastern man before him.

Though reluctant to admit it, Kevin Feige had to say that this guy was truly a formidable opponent, whether in their earlier negotiations or in his current judgment. Zhao Fusheng was hard to deal with.

“It’s like this: Robert and I came to recommend someone to you,” Kevin Feige said to Zhao Fusheng.

“Oh?”

Zhao Fusheng was taken aback, then smiled. It seemed it was about Captain America.

More precisely, Chris Evans.

Sure enough, Robert Downey Jr. quickly explained Chris Evans’ situation and finally suggested to Zhao Fusheng that this man was very suitable to play Captain America.

“Captain America?”

Zhao Fusheng tilted his head, thinking: “What, you want to make movies other than Iron Man?”

If he remembered correctly, this should be an Avengers character.

Kevin Feige nodded: “Yes. After Iron Man wraps up, Sean and I discussed that we could set our sights further…”

Clearly, these two were no longer just thinking about Marvel recovering its strength; they were considering the direction of its rise.

“I have no objections.” Zhao Fusheng shrugged and said to Kevin Feige, “I’m a businessman. I only care whether Marvel can make me a profit. How to achieve that profit is something for you, Mr. Feige, to consider. As for the casting, I have no objections either.”

Having said that, he paused, recalling a certain figure from the previous night, and smiled: “But if I may be blunt, I previously promised Miss Scarlett Johansson that although she didn’t get the role in the first Iron Man audition, I would help her secure another role. That Black Widow Romanoff you just mentioned—has anyone been cast for it? If possible, I’d like Miss Scarlett Johansson to play it. Is that okay?”

Regardless, he had promised the woman; he had to keep his word.

Hearing Zhao Fusheng’s words, Robert Downey Jr. was startled and then looked at Kevin Feige.

Kevin Feige was even more surprised. He looked at Zhao Fusheng with some astonishment, knowing that Zhao Fusheng rarely interfered with his control over the films.

With that in mind, he nodded and said with a smile, “No problem. Miss Johansson was already one of our candidates for this casting. The role of Black Widow suits her well.”

In truth, he had considered others before, but since Zhao Fusheng had spoken, he didn’t mind doing him a favor.

After all, their collaboration had been quite pleasant, and it wouldn’t be worth creating a rift over a single role.

Moreover, Kevin Feige suddenly remembered that Scarlett Johansson was a beautiful woman, and this Eastern man Zhao Fusheng probably found it hard to resist the temptation of a beauty.