Chapter 2108: Are You Apologizing to Me?

Wu Jing was the kind of somewhat traditional Chinese man. Calling him chauvinistic would be a bit biased, but he was the type who, once he took something on his shoulders, would carry it out meticulously.

The same went for doing things.

Even though he knew full well that the film Wolf Warrior might lose money, he still bet his entire fortune to make it.

Failure was failure.

Start over from scratch.

That was Wu Jing's life creed.

But the problem was, he never expected to attract Zhao Fusheng's attention.

Although he had met Zhao Fusheng once before in Hong Kong, at that time Zhao Fusheng's identity had not yet been exposed; he was not the super-rich man living in so many legends as he was now. And he himself was just an action actor who had come from the mainland to make it in Hong Kong. By today's standards, their meeting had been fairly pleasant.

But the thing was, times had changed, and it had been many years.

Wu Jing didn't think he had any capital to make Zhao Fusheng remember him.

You see, in Zhao Fusheng's business empire, Future Film and Television was definitely the least conspicuous.

That wasn't belittling, it was a fact.

Even though Future Film and Television was about to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in the eyes of the outside world, among all the subsidiaries under the Future Group, Future Film and Television's influence was still the lowest.

Future Investment went without saying. Someone had calculated online that if all the shares of various companies held by Future Investment were converted into cash, it would be an incredibly terrifying number. Samsung, Alibaba, Facebook—these were all household names now, not to mention other shares.

And Future Advertising was now one of the top advertising companies in China, with resources that could even determine the fate of a celebrity.

After all, celebrities also had to eat and needed to shoot ads and tear up resources.

There had been rumors that Future Advertising might list on the ChiNext this year, but in the end, nothing came of it, for unknown reasons.

Then there was Future Real Estate. Though it kept a low profile, with the development of the real estate industry in the capital this year, people suddenly realized that this company had hoarded a large amount of land.

Moreover, in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, they had land awaiting development in their hands.

And the prices at which they had acquired the land were very low.

That was quite impressive.

And Future Technology—the Dungeon & Fighter co-developed with Tencent Technology was now the hottest internet game in China. With Tencent's penchant for monetization, no one knew how much money they could make from this game. Not to mention World of Warcraft, which had been a huge hit back in the day and was first introduced to China by Future Technology.

Overall, among these subsidiaries of the Future Group, Future Film and Television really didn't amount to much.

After all, everyone knew that investing in films and TV dramas carried high risk. If funds couldn't be recovered or several works failed in a row, the entire company could be affected.

The reason Future Film and Television could throw its weight around in the industry was, frankly, because everyone knew that this company wouldn't face a funding crisis due to investment failure.

After all, they had an extremely wealthy boss.

As long as Zhao Fusheng didn't go bankrupt, he could divert funds from any subsidiary to support Future Film and Television.

Of course, that was assuming he was willing to do so.

...

...

"Besides Director Zhao, who else is inside?"

Wu Jing asked Zhou Xiaoou as they walked.

The two had known each other for so many years, they were true childhood friends, so naturally they spoke without many reservations.

Zhou Xiaoou looked around, then said in a low voice, "Who else could it be? The one who thinks highly of you, of course."

"Ah?"

Wu Jing was dumbfounded.

It was actually Zhao Fusheng!

He never imagined that Zhao Fusheng would come to see him in person.

What an honor that was!

Come to think of it, if it weren't for Zhao Fusheng, why would Zhao Baogang go to the trouble of being the intermediary and having Zhou Xiaoou call him over?

After all, given his current status, Zhao Baogang was a big shot in the Beijing circle, the boss of Xinyuan Entertainment.

To put it bluntly, in the film and television circle, Zhao Baogang was among the top tier, not only as a director but also as one of the capital players.

And Wu Jing was still just an actor, just a performer.

The gap was enormous.

It was like a peasant and a landlord.

You had to rely on others to give you land to farm so you could eat.

And Zhao Fusheng, needless to say, was someone who stood above capital.

The two walked one after the other to the door of the private room. Looking at the several bodyguards standing there, Wu Jing blinked. He had trained in martial arts, and although he had been busy filming over the years, his martial arts foundation remained, and he still had some discernment.

He was a hundred percent sure that these men were definitely from the military.

And they had killed before!

Because the aura about them couldn't be faked.

"Mr. Wu Jing?"

At that moment, a chubby man standing at the door asked Wu Jing with a smile.

"I am. And you are?"

Wu Jing looked at him curiously.

"I'm Liu Yiming, assistant to Mr. Zhao Fusheng, Chairman of the Future Group." Liu Yiming smiled and said, "The Chairman is waiting for you inside. Please come in."

With that, he knocked on the door and opened it.

Wu Jing took a deep breath, tried to calm himself as much as possible, and walked in with Zhou Xiaoou.

He knew that the person in the room might determine whether he could continue in the film industry.

But he had no choice; that was the tragedy of a small figure.

As a small figure, you could never decide your own fate, because the power of decision always lay in the hands of those stronger.

Clearly, Zhao Fusheng was such a person.

"Chairman, Mr. Wu Jing is here."

Liu Yiming said to Zhao Fusheng.

Inside the private room.

Zhao Fusheng was chatting with Zhao Baogang, with Yu Feihong accompanying them.

Seeing Wu Jing enter, Zhao Baogang smiled and said, "Xiao Wu, you're here. Have a seat."

Wu Jing quickly bowed and greeted them, "Hello, everyone."

"We meet again."

Zhao Fusheng smiled and said to Wu Jing, "I remember our last meeting was in Hong Kong, right?"

"Yes, yes."

Wu Jing quickly nodded, surprised that Zhao Fusheng remembered that.

That had been several years ago.

"So, how was it over there in Hong Kong these past few years? Did you go through a lot?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Wu Jing with a smile.

Liu Yiming and the others had already withdrawn, and Liu Yiming instructed the waitstaff to start serving the dishes.

"It was okay, just that I didn't have many friends there." Wu Jing smiled and said to Zhao Fusheng.

"Different circles, that's normal."

Zhao Baogang then said with a smile, "Many actors from the mainland go there and can't get used to the atmosphere. The Hong Kong film and television circle is too exclusive."

That was the truth. As a big shot in the Beijing circle, Zhao Baogang knew more than the average person, so he was qualified to say such things.

Yu Feihong also nodded in agreement.

Many of the big-name mainland actors she knew had worked with the Hong Kong film and television circle, and what Zhao Baogang said was indeed true. Many people in the Hong Kong entertainment industry were still living in the 1980s and 1990s, thinking that Hong Kong was still the center of the Chinese film and television circle.

Little did they know that was already in the past.

Now, the center of the Chinese film and television circle had long become the mainland.

"I heard that when you were filming before, even the staff was broken?"

Zhao Fusheng looked at Wu Jing with interest and asked slowly.

He was referring, of course, to an incident involving a so-called "action superstar" from Hong Kong and Wu Jing during filming. Wu Jing played a killer, and they had a fight scene in an alley.

Wu Jing's expression immediately became somewhat awkward, but he still nodded and quickly explained, "It was just an accident."

"An accident?"

Zhao Fusheng smiled but said nothing more.

Some things didn't need to be said too clearly; everyone knew in their hearts.

The waitstaff quickly brought the wine and dishes. As the host, Zhao Baogang urged everyone to start eating and drinking.

With Zhou Xiaoou there, the atmosphere was very relaxed. From time to time, he shared gossip from the rock and film circles, making everyone laugh heartily.

Zhao Fusheng was in a good mood too. Hearing these stories was a bit of a diversion for him.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, Zhao Baogang made an excuse to go to the restroom, and Zhou Xiaoou naturally followed him out, being smart.

In the room, only Zhao Fusheng, Wu Jing, and Yu Feihong remained.

"A while ago, there were a lot of rumors. They must have affected you quite a bit, right?" Zhao Fusheng smiled and asked Wu Jing.

Wu Jing gave a bitter smile.

He hadn't expected Zhao Fusheng to be so straightforward, bringing up the matter directly.

Nodding, Wu Jing said, "To be honest, I never thought that you and I could be connected."

That was the truth. For him, the gap in status between himself and Zhao Fusheng was too great; there was no possibility of any intersection. When the news suddenly broke that Zhao Fusheng thought highly of him, Wu Jing's first reaction was not excitement, but shock and fear.

He even less expected that Zhao Fusheng would come to see him.

All of this made Wu Jing feel like he was dreaming.

"About this matter, I need to apologize to you."

Zhao Fusheng looked at Wu Jing and said slowly, "Because of a word from me, others misunderstood."

"Apologize? Misunderstood?"

Wu Jing was somewhat surprised and looked at Zhao Fusheng in confusion, clearly not understanding what he meant.

Then, Zhao Fusheng smiled and looked at Yu Feihong.

Yu Feihong shot him a helpless glare and explained to Wu Jing, "Actually, it's like this: he thinks highly of your development and had someone look into your recent situation. But somehow, word got out that he wanted you to join our Future Film and Television. Don't worry, we'll definitely give you an explanation."

After hearing Yu Feihong's words, Wu Jing was completely bewildered. What was going on?