Chapter 68: Moving at the Slightest Hint of Wind

Chen Sicheng left Solar System Pictures feeling a mixture of shock and elation.

What elated him was that Zhang Qianjun directly applied the maximum director's fee of five million yuan and converted it into investment shares.

What shocked him was how anyone could have known about his project, and why they had already registered it and obtained a license back in January of this year.

Who on earth could it be?

It couldn't possibly be his girlfriend; she was ruled out immediately. Other people shouldn't have had access to his manuscript either. It didn't make sense. Could it really be that two people had the exact same idea?

No, things didn't happen by such a coincidence. This script was entirely his own story. Even if the ideas were somewhat similar, the protagonist's name, Tang Ren, being identical was just a joke.

Who on earth was it?

Leaving aside Chen Sicheng's frantic hunt for the mole upon his return, Zhang Qianjun stared at the electronic script sent by Chen Sicheng and fell into deep thought.

The male lead, Yan Liang, would be played by himself. The other male lead, Tang Ren—the two of them hit it off immediately and both favored Baoqiang.

Right on the spot, Chen Sicheng made a phone call to Baoqiang and signed him at the maximum rate of four million yuan. Employees from Solar System Pictures had already gone to handle the contract signing with him.

As for the female lead, Ah Xiang, the two chatted for a bit, and Chen Sicheng actually started to hesitate. One look from Zhang Qianjun told him that Chen Sicheng's resolve was faltering.

Therefore, Zhang Qianjun decided that after finalizing the investment shares, they would release the news and use auditions for the female lead to stir up some hype, and they could decide who to cast later on.

As for the other roles, they would arrange them depending on the situation.

With that, the two parties signed the letter of intent and parted ways. Zhang Qianjun went to secure the investment shares, while Chen Sicheng continued to polish the script and character designs.

Bona Film Group would definitely have to be brought in this time. Judging by Yu Dong's boldness, he probably wouldn't ask for a small share.

China Film Group went without saying. Once the box office figures for *So Young* came out, everyone shut their mouths. When it broke 500 million on June 10th, Director La even called. He sounded quite happy, almost as if he had been praised by his superiors.

As for his own remuneration, the 1+2 model (base salary plus a percentage of profits) was a must this time, and Zhang Qianjun was prepared to maintain this model for the long term, only changing it whenever a salary cap regulation was officially issued.

As for the investment shares, he had to cough up at least ten percent of the funds himself, because Chen Sicheng's portion had to come out of his own share.

Having roughly sorted out his thoughts, Zhang Qianjun picked up the phone and called Director La.

"Director La, it's an action-suspense-comedy genre. The budgeted cost is 200 million yuan, filming starts in January 2013, and the shooting location is Bangkok, Thailand.

Wang Baoqiang and I are the dual male leads, directed by Chen Sicheng, who directed *Beijing Love Story*.

Are you investing or not?"

Director La picked up the phone with a head full of question marks. Wasn't this a bit too brief?

"Is there a script?"

"Nothing detailed. The general genre is just as I said: comedy, suspense, action—a story about Chinese people solving a case in Bangkok's Chinatown. The movie title is called *Detective Chinatown*.

Aren't these details enough? Besides, you're such a high-ranking leader; you just need to steer the direction. You don't need to understand every little detail."

Director La was choked up for a moment, but then he reacted,

"How can that do? A 200-million-yuan blockbuster project needs to go through an executive board meeting. If a leader doesn't understand the details, wouldn't they be hoodwinked by the people underneath?

Did you not get the details sorted out at all, which is why you can't tell me?"

Zhang Qianjun curled his lip. Weren't subordinates conspiring to pull the wool over their leader's eyes a common occurrence? They could easily make the details form a logical closed loop.

"The director went to figure out the details; I'm not good at those. With the comedy genre, plus the fact that I'm in it, there's no way we can lose. At worst, could we possibly fail to reach 600 million at the box office?"

Director La let out a hum,

"You brat are getting more arrogant by the day. Failing to reach even 600 million? Last year's top domestic film, *The Flowers of War*, barely scraped past that number."

"You said it yourself, that was last year, and aren't I already this year's number one? Stop fussing over that; you have to look forward. Last year wasn't even under your management."

After saying that, Zhang Qianjun added another sentence,

"The remuneration is 1+2, you know. You better think first about whether you can handle things internally."

Director La had just wanted to speak when he was choked up again,

"100 million plus a two-percent share of the investment profits? You're really trying to reach the stars. However, if your film *Operation Mekong* can maintain this momentum in October, the investors will definitely make a profit on a 200-million investment."

Zhang Qianjun scoffed,

"*, So Young* was just a sentimental nostalgic film. What right does it have to compare with *Operation Mekong*, into which I poured all my effort? I'll put my words right here: if the box office doesn't hit 1 billion, I'll refund my salary to Bona!"

Seeing him getting all worked up, Director La didn't mind,

"You refunding your money to Bona—why are you telling me about it? 1 billion is a hurdle, but if it hits 1.4 billion, then things really will be different."

Zhang Qianjun thought to himself, 1.4 billion? Oh, breaking *Avatar*'s record.

"I think 1.4 billion isn't a difficult feat for domestic films. The market capacity is already different. The day domestic films top the box office charts is not far away. Even without me, someone else will do it.

From now on, no matter who it is, everyone will get used to domestic films sweeping aside imported films: 2 billion, 3 billion, 4 billion, 5 billion will all become commonplace.

Because the country's economy is developing, and the national pride of our people is growing stronger. Chinese people who have found their backbone will never allow foreign films to occupy the top spot on our domestic charts."

Director La was quite pleased to hear Zhang Qianjun's speech.

"The leaders will definitely love hearing these words from you. It would be even better if you could back them up with actual actions.

I'll have Haicheng bring it up at the board meeting. No one will object this time. *So Young* broke 700 million and slapped countless people in the face.

Therefore, to forge iron, one must be strong oneself."

Seeing that his leader's lecturing streak was coming on, Zhang Qianjun hurriedly exchanged a few pleasantries, found an excuse, and hung up the phone. He figured that there were plenty of people listening to reports on him every day; he didn't need to be one of them.

After contacting Yu Dong in the same fashion, "Fatty" Yu directly stated that regardless of how much other companies took, he wanted 40 percent, and instructed his subordinates to handle the follow-up.

Zhang Qianjun had wanted to say that 40 percent might not be squeezeable out, but Yu Dong directly stated that Bona not only had theater chains, but also connections in Thailand, since it used to be called Poly Bona.

Though somewhat doubtful, Zhang Qianjun chose to believe him.

After all, Bona hadn't run into any major issues right up until *Operation Red Sea*. As long as one didn't buy their stock, it would be fine. Things started going downhill all the way after *Operation Red Sea*, but by then the overall market wasn't doing well anyway.

Besides, Bona had given him a helping hand twice before, so taking this opportunity when not many people were eyeing the project to return the favor wasn't a bad idea.

He didn't know how Director La had run the meeting upon returning, but two days later, Minister Wang called back.

China Film Group would directly invest 100 million this time, taking a 50 percent share. Distribution would be handled jointly by the two companies, with a 7 percent distribution commission.

The final outcome was: Solar System Pictures invested 20 million, accounting for 8 percent of the investment profit share (2 percent of which went to the director); China Film Group invested 100 million, accounting for 40 percent of the investment profit share; and Bona invested 80 million, accounting for 32 percent of the investment profit share.

Judging solely by the investment shares, the two investing parties were taking a huge risk this time, because the box office required to break even on the investment was a staggering 800 million!

Zhang Qianjun couldn't help marveling at just how much confidence *So Young* had given them. But considering that the two companies also had distribution commissions coming their way, the actual break-even line was probably around 700 million, and they would start making a profit once it hit 750 million.

Just as Zhang Qianjun was happily imagining another 85 million cold, hard cash rolling in, Chen Xiaoyu suddenly returned.

He thought she was here to talk about the film *Go Away, Mr. Tumor*, but a single sentence from his assistant knocked him flat.

LeTV sent an inquiry, offering 100 million to buy out his box office profit share for *Operation Mekong*.

Even with all his self-confidence, Zhang Qianjun was deeply shaken.

How could these people have even stronger faith in him than he had in himself?

Offering 100 million to buy 20 percent of the box office profit share meant that unless the box office hit 1.5 billion, they wouldn't even make their money back. Had Accountant Jia gone mad? And wasn't LeTV Pictures mainly focused on low-budget films at present?

Zhang Qianjun immediately asked a question,

"Are they paying in cash or stock?"

Chen Xiaoyu replied,

"They said it's a mix of cash and stock."

Zhang Qianjun waved his hand.

"If they want to buy, they pay in cash, otherwise there's no point talking. I don't have time to wait for their stock prices to rise."

Chen Xiaoyu nodded, but still added,

"Alright, boss, but according to market analysis, LeTV might see a 3 to 5-fold increase in the next two years. Aren't you quite big on long-term returns?"

Zhang Qianjun remained unmoved.

"With this 100 million from LeTV, we can consider buying a whole building. Wouldn't having a building within the 4th Ring Road in the capital be better than anything else? It'll be enough to feed ten kids."

For some unknown reason, upon hearing these words, Chen Xiaoyu actually began to daydream, and fell silent for a moment.

Seeing his daydreaming assistant remain quiet, Zhang Qianjun opened his computer and started searching to see where any standalone buildings were up for sale. By then, his clothing brand Junyige's flagship store in the capital could also be settled at the same time—killing two birds with one stone.

Right as he was searching, a phone call suddenly came in. Zhang Qianjun glanced at the screen, didn't recognize the number, and casually answered.

"Hello, who is this?"

From the other end of the line came a voice that sounded both coquettish, shrill, and slightly hoarse,

"Qianjun~ You didn't even save my phone number. I'm hurt."

Zhang Qianjun had no idea how many such calls he had to field every day, and instantly lost his patience.

"State who you are and what you want within three sentences."

A sound of playful protest came from the phone.

Just as Zhang Qianjun was about to hang up, the person on the other end finally started speaking properly.

"Qianjun, it's Yang Mi. I heard you started a new project and Chen Sicheng is directing.

Has the female lead been decided yet? Do you want me?"