Chapter 1834: Following One's Heart

Old Jiang, though a bit of a stickler in his artistic pursuits, had to be admitted to be among the top domestic directors in terms of directing skill.

This was the truth; even figures like Guoshi and Kaige couldn't overshadow Old Jiang's achievements in directing.

This wasn't Zhao Fusheng blowing smoke for Old Jiang, but a solid fact.

As one of the mainland's top male actors, Old Jiang could stand alongside Guoshi, Xiaogang, and Renboqie; if he didn't have something going for him, he'd have been torn to shreds long ago.

Moreover, unlike those others, Old Jiang came from an acting background and was a true scene hog and drama maniac.

Clearly an actor, but he meddled in the director's affairs, loved to argue his views with the director, and even made the director shoot according to his ideas.

Back when shooting 'The Missing Gun,' director Lu Chuan, son of the great screenwriter Lu Tianming, was still pushed to tears by Old Jiang several times.

That's right, tears.

A grown man, a director, and a future first-tier film director in China, was made to cry by Old Jiang.

Tsk tsk!

A miserable sight!

Speaking of which, Zhao Fusheng felt that only Guoshi had the ability to suppress Old Jiang.

In fact, during a chat with Ye Jing, Zhao Fusheng secretly thought that Jiang Wen, that guy, was clearly crushed too hard by Guoshi when they shot 'Red Sorghum,' which led him to become a director, legitimately taking control of the whole crew and playing the tyrant.

But to be fair, Jiang Wen was really strange; if you let him shoot a movie his way, it would almost certainly bomb at the box office, just like his previous works.

However, if he felt the pressure and urgency of failure, and seriously studied what the market needed, then the movie would generally succeed.

In other words, this guy was like the Great Sage Equal to Heaven; put a tight band on him, and he could accomplish anything. Let him run wild, and hah, losing two or three hundred million on a film was no big deal.

Therefore, this time Zhao Fusheng gave him power while also making Yu Feihong co-producer and co-director.

Old Jiang could be overly blunt sometimes, but it depended on who he was dealing with.

Yu Feihong was someone Zhao Fusheng treated like an elder sister and a close friend; no matter how much trouble Old Jiang stirred, he wouldn't go too far with her.

Moreover, this time Zhao Fusheng had pinned the big hat of company development on him, so Jiang Wen was bound to give his all.

As Zhao Fusheng and Jiang Wen were talking, Ye Jing pushed the door and walked in.

"Old Jiang... Fusheng, you're here too. Good, saves me from reporting to you."

Ye Jing was startled to see Zhao Fusheng, then said to him, "Come, come, take a look at this."

"What is it?"

Zhao Fusheng asked curiously.

"Well, Xinhuamian sent a fax wanting to cooperate with us..." Ye Jing said to Zhao Fusheng.

"Xinhuamian?"

Zhao Fusheng frowned, then looked at Ye Jing: "Guoshi Zhang's company?"

"Ah, yes."

Ye Jing nodded: "The boss is Zhang Weiping."

"I know him."

Zhao Fusheng smiled; he still had some impression of this guy.

This Zhang Weiping was not that Zhang Weiping—naturally not the Bryant of the basketball circle, Teacher Zhang Heli, but a genuine big shot in the film and television circle.

He started out in the late 1980s, first as a manager for Siemens' Beijing office, then a year later went into the airline catering business with a friend, monopolizing boxed lunches at the entire Capital Airport and Guangzhou Airport, making a good amount of money.

Later, he ventured into pharmaceuticals and real estate, also making a lot.

You see, in China's real estate industry in the 1990s, as long as you had connections, making money was too easy.

First, you didn't need cash for land; with a proposal and approval, the land could be granted. Once you had the land use certificate, you could hire designers, who were also paid after the fact. Once the blueprints were drawn and a showroom built, you could start selling properties and collecting money.

Under these circumstances, Zhang Weiping quickly amassed a fortune and turned his attention to the film and television industry.

His first collaboration with Guoshi was the film 'Keep Cool,' which reportedly cost 26 million yuan and grossed 46 million at the box office. According to him, it lost over 10 million.

This later became his constant refrain after they parted ways: without his support, Guoshi could never have succeeded.

But was that really the case?

Around the same time, 'The Dream Factory' cost 4 million, and 'Cell Phone' in 2003 cost 13 million.

Even Old Jiang's 'The Missing Gun' with Lu Chuan cost only 6 million.

Not to mention that 'Keep Cool' was a damn urban light comedy with no big scenes.

So where did the money go?

How did the cost suddenly become 26 million?

Lead actor Old Jiang, male lead Li Baotian, and female lead Qu Ying—did these three take home 20 million in salaries?

Surely it wasn't that Director Zhang, not yet Guoshi, took a 10 million fee.

The answer was obvious: someone was lying.

That someone was Zhang Weiping.

As for the reason, it goes back to Guoshi's directorial path.

Before shooting 'Keep Cool,' most of Guoshi's works were art films.

Moreover, they were the kind that won international awards, with a bunch of foreigners waving checks to buy the rights.

Under such circumstances, he didn't care about domestic box office; foreign rights alone could recoup the investment and even turn a profit.

In this context, Zhang Weiping approached Guoshi to collaborate, and even went so far as to sow discord, bouncing around to separate Gong Huang and Guoshi.

Only then did their multi-year partnership begin.

Although Zhang Weiping often told the media that this film lost money and that film lost money, Guoshi never denied it.

It wasn't until they completely fell out over 'The Flowers of War' that Guoshi clarified that except for that film, all his previous collaborations with Zhang Weiping had been profitable.

As for why that film failed, even an outsider like Zhao Fusheng could see that the producer forcibly interfered with the female lead selection and added random scenes; it would be strange if it didn't bomb.

Comparing it to Guoshi's later works, one had to say that film was indeed of low quality.

As for Guoshi, you could say he had poor character, a messy private life, and was a jerk, but you had to admit his artistic achievements were unmatched.

As for Zhang Weiping, his biggest hobby was hype—using every means to promote his company's works and also to slander his enemies.

Although this was a common tactic among later film and TV production companies, Zhao Fusheng had to say he really disliked this guy.

For someone who liked to stab others in the back, Zhao Fusheng felt it was better to keep his distance.

With that in mind, he looked at Ye Jing: "Better forget it. Cooperating with Zhang Weiping, I'm afraid he might leak my relationship with Fan Baobao to the media at any time. I don't want to be used as his hype tool."

Jiang Wen and Ye Jing were stunned, then thought about Zhang Weiping's character and found that he might indeed do such a thing.

He was a mad dog, and utterly unscrupulous at that.

"Alright, I'll turn him down then."

Ye Jing then nodded to Zhao Fusheng: "But do you really dislike Guoshi that much?"

He wasn't stupid; over the years, Zhao Fusheng had never collaborated with Guoshi once, not even on future film projects.

There must be a personal reason behind it.

Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly: "Guoshi's talent is beyond doubt, but his character? Hah..."

He didn't continue, but Jiang Wen and Ye Jing, who knew him well, understood that Zhao Fusheng wasn't praising Guoshi.

The two exchanged helpless glances, at a loss for Zhao Fusheng's occasional inexplicable stubbornness.

That was just how Zhao Fusheng was: if he disliked someone, even if that person knelt before him, he remained unmoved. If he liked someone, he would eagerly go out of his way to befriend them.

This kind of personality could really lead to big losses in business.

But this guy was now one of the top tycoons in the country, and few could make him lower himself to associate with them.

So everyone just let him be.

In a sense, at Zhao Fusheng's level, he was indeed entitled to live by his own whims.

"Do you think Fusheng really dislikes Guoshi as a person?"

Watching Zhao Fusheng's retreating figure from the company, Jiang Wen rubbed his chin and asked Ye Jing curiously.

Jiang Wen shrugged: "How would I know? Don't you know his temper? When has he ever told anyone what's on his mind?"

Ye Jing was speechless; thinking about it, it was true.

From the day they met Zhao Fusheng, he had shown a composure and depth beyond his years. Even now, no one could claim to be able to fathom his thoughts.

That was probably the reason for his success.

"Alright, don't worry about it too much." Jiang Wen waved his hand at Ye Jing: "He said, except for this Chen Yao, we can pick whoever we want for the rest."

"Ah?"

Ye Jing was taken aback, then nodded: "Alright, we'll do as he says."

A role was nothing to Ye Jing; though it was the female lead's friend, it was still a role opposite Yu Feihong. Since Zhao Fusheng didn't like it, they'd just replace her.

As for whether Chen Yao would have any objections, hah, did it matter?

Though they were submissive in front of Zhao Fusheng, outside, Ye Jing and Jiang Wen were no pushovers.