Chapter 129 : Chapter 129

Chapter 129: “You think I'm not good enough for you.”

Wanshu Zu and Marcus arrived in New Zealand.

New Zealand has a diverse natural landscape, with towering snow-capped mountains, vast grasslands, primeval forests, lakes, beaches, canyons...

Due to New Zealand's relatively small land area, its numerous natural landscapes are concentrated, allowing for the filming of completely different environments within a short distance, saving the crew time and transportation costs.

In addition, the New Zealand government provides significant tax rebates and subsidies for foreign film and television crews, typically refunding up to 20%-25% of production costs.

Since "The Lord of the Rings," New Zealand has become Hollywood's beloved "natural film base."

“Where is he?”

As soon as he saw the team members, Wanshu Zu asked bluntly, “How was the injury on his face handled? What's the situation with the crew? Have the director and producer stated their attitudes? Has anyone from CAA contacted you?”

Zhao Zhen had always been in contact with Gu An, and opportunities to see the big boss were few and far between.

Gu An had a good temper, and his subordinates all said he had an exquisite and transparent heart of a Buddha.

Gu An's morning motto was "I've wanted to bravely advance in the rapids with the boss since 1997," his afternoon catchphrase was "If I can do it, I'll do it, if I can't, I'll retire on the spot," and by evening, his state of mind was elevated again, transforming into the Buddha's chief disciple on the spot.

The little old man who stayed up late stopped his emotional fluctuations, focusing on one thing before the sun rose: tranquility and peace.

The big boss Wanshu Zu was also a Buddha, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, focusing on one thing: life is all about fighting.

Zhao Zhen was stunned by the big boss's life-or-death questioning, her well-prepared mental draft got stuck, and she stood with her mouth open for a long time without reacting.

Wanshu Zu: “Where is the car parked?”

Zhao Zhen couldn't explain it clearly in a few words, so she simply listened to the boss, led the way first, and would slowly explain the rest on the way.

The three of them got into the car.

After being certified by the New Zealand Transport Agency's translation service, a mainland Chinese driver's license is valid for 12 months.

Zhao Zhen spent a few weeks familiarizing herself with New Zealand's road planning and skillfully acted as the driver.

“We found a doctor, Li Yamin wasn't very cooperative, his face still looked a bit swollen this morning. The crew is all waiting for him, the director has asked a few times, the situation is what it is, even if we force the shoot, it won't turn out well.”

Zhao Zhen said, “Also, about CAA… Miss Nora is still discussing with CAA how to handle the photos, Gu An said to wait for you to arrive before making a decision.”

Gu An's original words were: Wait for Wanshu Zu.

As long as Wanshu Zu lands, everything will be alright.

Li Yamin's injury was Nora's "evidence of crime."

Marcus's expression had been grim, and hearing this made him feel as if he was being strangled, he said incredulously: “Nora was that heavy-handed?! Or... is he trying to keep the injury to negotiate with CAA?”

Wanshu Zu: “Is there any possibility that this idiot is throwing a tantrum?”

Marcus: “Because New Zealand has jurisdiction over the place where the incident occurred, I looked up New Zealand's criminal law.”

“Assuming Li Yamin had oral bleeding or facial swelling, it would fall under Section 188 of the Crimes Act, the clause for minor or moderate injury from a serious assault.”

Wanshu Zu gave him a cool glance: “Li Yamin didn't call the police, nor would he.”

Marcus nodded: “Then we'll go by New Zealand's civil law.”

“If Li Yamin files a lawsuit, he can claim compensation for economic and non-economic losses caused by physical injury and mental distress.”

Zhao Zhen didn't know who Marcus was yet, but just from hearing this, she could roughly guess his identity.

She showed an expression of having survived a disaster, only to hear the big boss sneer: “Come on, stop with that stuff, are you going to help Li Yamin sue your sister?”

Zhao Zhen: “……”

Marcus said righteously: “Work is work, I am, after all, the legal counsel for Lishou Entertainment, what's wrong with defending the reasonable rights and interests of its artists?”

Wanshu Zu didn't fall for it: “I know Nora is also considered one of my people, you don't have to remind me in a roundabout way.”

Marcus grinned, very satisfied with his partner's perceptiveness: “Actually, I don't recommend a civil suit either. Although I'm not worried about losing, I must admit, CAA doesn't lack good lawyers.”

He asked Zhao Zhen in the front row: “I'm guessing you haven't gotten a detailed medical report, or a psychiatrist's diagnosis yet?”

Zhao Zhen: “That’s right… Li Yamin refused a detailed examination by the doctor.”

“Li Yamin has a history of subjective provocation, CAA will probably bring up tort law, and according to the principle of shared fault, we won't get much of an advantage in compensation.”

Marcus said, “CAA will push for a settlement, Nora is fully cooperative now, the problem is still on Li Yamin's side.”

Wanshu Zu clearly had a plan in mind: “Mm.”

The crew of "SUNSET" rented a detached house next to the filming location in Wellington, New Zealand, and the director, main actors, and other core cast members were housed there.

As soon as they got out of the car, Marcus immediately ran to Nora's side, while Wanshu Zu first went with Zhao Zhen to see the producer.

"SUNSET" was a collaborative project, and Wanshu Zu was recently the "hottest of the hot."

No matter how much of a problem the producer had with Li Yamin, he still decided to give him face.

The prerequisite was that he had to deal with Li Yamin quickly.

Wanshu Zu's attitude left Zhao Zhen dumbfounded.

On the way, the big boss had directly called Li Yamin an "idiot," but in front of the producer, he showed no weakness as if he was in the wrong, as if Li Yamin hadn't caused any trouble for the crew at all.

When he heard the producer use emotionally charged negative words, he would wait for the person to finish speaking before politely reminding them of their wording.

In Wanshu Zu's words, Li Yamin had only done what many Hollywood stars would do, and Hollywood stars would not swallow their anger after being injured.

Li Yamin had already considered many things.

He didn't call the police, and in order not to let the news leak, he didn't let the doctor do a detailed examination, and also notified the company to suppress public opinion, otherwise the crew wouldn't even have the chance to film other scenes first.

Wanshu Zu: “In the professional field, I believe his skills are there for all to see. If you can tolerate the willfulness of geniuses of all races, why are you particularly critical of a yellow person?”

“And does anyone remember that he is the one who was injured?”

The big boss coldly threw a combination of "genius tantrum theory" and "racial discrimination," and after he was done, he left decisively.

Zhao Zhen followed behind, trembling.

She was a publicity agent, and her mind was usually full of the need to be amicable, otherwise, it would be impossible to maintain friendly negotiations with so many people at the same time.

She had heard before that Wanshu Zu was a very aggressive agent.

The combination of "aggressive" and "agent" felt absurd, but he was completely self-consistent.

Compared to others' private evaluations, Wanshu Zu cared more about the statements that could be put on the table, and the artist's public image.

You could think Li Yamin was a nuisance, but you must first expand the premise—he was a once-in-a-generation genius.

“Treat the whole crew to dinner tonight, you go arrange it.”

Wanshu Zu instructed Zhao Zhen, “Come and get me from Li Yamin's room when it's dinner time.”

Zhao Zhen noted the task in her mind: “OK.”

Wanshu Zu didn't go to find Li Yamin right away.

He first went to the room the crew assigned him—the detached house had no extra empty rooms, he was supposed to stay in a hotel, but the producer cleared a room for him.

This was also one of the reasons why Wanshu Zu dared to directly "challenge" them.

Putting aside his identity as Li Yamin's agent, he had come to New Zealand as one of the partners to advance the project.

After packing his luggage and washing off the travel dust, Wanshu Zu still ignored Li Yamin.

He went to find the director, wanting to see the rough cut footage related to Li Yamin.

During filming, the editor or editing team usually follows the crew to do a rough cut of the footage to ensure a smooth shoot and save time for post-production work.

The rough cut footage already has a preliminary combination of shots and story structure.

At the end of each day's shoot, the director would watch it with the crew members at the "daily wrap-up meeting."

The up-and-coming director had a mild temper, and Wanshu Zu's attitude towards him was much better than towards the producer, so he agreed readily.

"SUNSET," tentatively titled "Sunset," sounded very artistic, but it was actually a crime thriller.

The male protagonist is a private detective who takes on a commission from an old rich man to investigate his wife's suspected affair.

The rich man's wife is nearly thirty years younger than him.

Before marrying, she was an unknown but beautiful actress.

She used to be obedient to the old rich man, but her attitude suddenly changed recently.

The old rich man said: I cannot tolerate any scandal in my family, please help me resolve this matter.

Perhaps because of her former profession, the young and beautiful wife was very sensitive to being watched.

After the detective followed and filmed her a few times, his tracks were quickly discovered.

But the wife did not expose him immediately, instead letting him follow.

The wife had no lover.

She was different from what the rich man described, not arrogant and ignorant.

In fact, she worked very hard to manage the social circle that came with her status.

But no one liked an upstart who was younger and more beautiful than them.

The wife was always secretly ostracized by the other wives, even though her husband was their husbands' boss.

The wife's delicate tears made the detective lose his soul, and she finally exposed the fact that he was following her.

But what greeted the detective was not an angry protest.

The wife expressed her gratitude to him, it had been a long time since anyone had paid attention to her life.

Logically, the detective investigating the wife's affair became the wife's affair partner.

They were just too compatible, a tacit understanding that didn't need to be cultivated.

They put on a perfect performance against the rich man, and it was the same in bed, the passion of young people was about to ignite countless dark nights.

At sunset, they kissed passionately by the floor-to-ceiling window, separated from the rich man by only a wall.

Until the detective discovered the wife's real secret—in a villa under her private name, a recently deceased body was hidden.

The detective knew who the deceased was: the rich man's doted-on only son, who was supposed to be studying abroad.

Because the rich man remarried, there was a huge conflict between father and son, and the only son had not been home for many years.

He was utterly stunned and at the same time felt deeply deceived.

Any fool could see what was going on.

The rich man's only heir was dead.

As the legal wife, as long as the woman could hold her position, she could get everything after the old rich man died.

But the detective couldn't call the police, he couldn't even tell anyone.

As a lover, he had to admit his moral flaws, but as a detective, he was still quite professional.

In the villa where the deceased was, there were traces of someone else's life, besides him and the woman.

An accomplice?

Or the woman's real lover?

None of that mattered.

The detective failed to collect any hair or fingerprints, which meant that if the woman's matter was exposed, he himself, who frequently had trysts with her in the villa... would also become one of the suspects.

Even if he could clear his name, he slept with his client's wife, the one investigating the lover became the lover.

Once this got out, the detective would be completely finished in this line of work.

The detective found the wife and forced her to tell him everything.

The wife cried her eyes out, her tearful, pitiful appearance still beautiful and moving.

She clutched the detective's cufflink as if it were her only piece of driftwood.

The wife confessed that before she got married, she was actually the rich man's son's girlfriend.

She had already cut off contact with the son after getting married, but he was still relentless, and his words and actions became increasingly violent.

She was very scared but caught between the father and son, she couldn't fight back.

Finally, one day, the son went crazy on her, and in a fierce struggle, she accidentally killed him.

The detective was still angry, but he accepted this explanation and began to plot the aftermath with the woman.

Just imagine, now the woman was completely obedient to him.

If they could get the old rich man's inheritance, then he would be one of the beneficiaries, clean and clear.

After a series of thrilling lies, the detective handled all the details he could think of.

The son's body appeared in a street trash can, the news broke, but the woman was cleared completely.

For safety reasons, the detective temporarily cut off contact with the woman.

He took the payment from the rich man and waited at home for the situation to calm down.

In his vision, he would become a man above men, replacing the rich man.

His wealth would be enough for a luxurious second half of his life, and he would have a young, beautiful woman devoted to him.

But what came to his door was not wealth, nor the woman, but the police.

The rich man's wife couldn't stand the immense pressure and turned herself in, confessing the truth—only it deviated greatly from the detective's truth.

In the wife's testimony, the detective was the one who killed the son.

He was the lover the rich man had always suspected.

Without her knowledge, he had devised a series of plans to seize the rich man's inheritance.

That villa was the crime scene, filled with the detective's traces.

There were actually many loopholes, but the case was quickly closed.

The detective was sent to the defendant's stand, and the prosecution stated his various crimes.

The woman sobbed uncontrollably on the witness stand, finished her testimony with difficulty, and looked at the rich man in the audience.

The rich man immediately stated that no matter what happened, they would always be a loving couple.

The detective, belatedly, remembered the old rich man's words when he accepted the commission:

“I cannot tolerate any scandal in my family, please help me resolve this matter.”

The scandal was indeed resolved, by his own hands.

The case was ultimately classified as first-degree murder, involving premeditated murder and a monetary dispute.

The judge sentenced him to death, the jury unanimously agreed, and his lawyer, while saying he would appeal, made his attitude very clear.

Everyone had a tacit understanding.

The journey from the courthouse back to the prison was long.

Finally, the detective stepped into the darkness at sunset.

……

The director was very satisfied with the parts that had been filmed.

Wanshu Zu didn't say much, only expressing his thanks to the director.

He finally arrived outside Li Yamin's door and knocked.

There was no movement inside.

“Open the door,” the man said faintly.

Compared to the previous knocking, his volume was not loud, but the door opened quickly.

Li Yamin stood at the door with a listless expression.

Wanshu Zu had seen the previous cuts and roughly knew the makeup and styling requirements for the detective.

The detective was energetic most of the time, with short hair, a white shirt, and his most decent smoke-gray vest and long trench coat over it.

He should be confident, believing that he would definitely succeed in his career one day and climb to the position he dreamed of.

The current Li Yamin did not meet the requirements for playing the detective at all.

He was very dispirited, with bluish stubble on his chin.

His left cheek was still slightly swollen, and the cut on his lip had scabbed over, only to be bitten off again and again, the color a stark contrast to his lip color.

Wanshu Zu took another look.

The room behind Li Yamin was a mess, a suitcase was open on the floor, clothes were thrown everywhere, and there were several opened blister packs of medicine on the floor.

Wanshu Zu entered naturally: “Close the door, sit down.”

There were no chairs in the room.

Li Yamin pushed away the messy things on the bed and sat on the edge.

Just as he sat down, a shadow covered him, the scent of cologne filled his nostrils, and the next second, Wanshu Zu pinched his face and forced it upwards, making him look up.

Meeting scarlet and indifferent eyes, Li Yamin heard his agent say: “Open your mouth.”

The commands came one after another, with no other nonsense at all.

Li Yamin's brain, which had been shut down for days, suddenly started working again.

He realized that Wanshu Zu was in a very bad mood.

Unconsciously, he had already opened his mouth according to the command.

Wanshu Zu continued to tilt his face upwards, his thumb pressing mercilessly on the already swollen side of his face, his little finger hooked under his jaw.

Li Yamin could only follow the force and raise his head to a greater angle, his chin and neck stretched straight, with only a rise and fall at his Adam's apple.

The man stared intently for a long time, then suddenly let go, taking a step back to create distance.

“I was wondering why you were making such a fuss and refusing to see a doctor. Having a wisdom tooth is embarrassing, right?”

Li Yamin had kept his mouth open for too long, it was dry, and the place on his face that had been pressed harder was now throbbing with pain.

“It wasn't inflamed originally,” he said dryly, “Nora hit it.”

“Have you taken any anti-inflammatory medicine?”

“I have.”

“Does it still hurt?”

“A little.”

“Mm.”

Li Yamin's head was spinning.

He hadn't eaten much, and his stomach was so empty he felt like throwing up.

The way Wanshu Zu looked at him also made his heart pound with physiological discomfort.

The man's mouth asked what could barely be considered concerned questions, but his expression was bone-chillingly cold.

“You came all this way to show me that you're very unhappy, you should at least let me know why,” Li Yamin couldn't help but say.

Wanshu Zu sneered, then crossed his arms, his expressionless face slightly raised, and his chin tilted slightly as he said: “Why do you think?”

“I didn't tell Xiao Zhao I had a wisdom tooth.”

“No.”

“I delayed the crew's progress.”

“No.”

“I had a disagreement with Marcus's sister.”

“No.”

“There's more public opinion back home, and you think it's hard to handle.”

“No.”

“You just don't like me.”

“No.”

When he first started speaking, Li Yamin's voice was low due to guilt.

After being denied a few times, his voice gradually became louder, but he couldn't find any more reasons.

Nora's words were still like a thorn in his back.

When his agent first arrived in New Zealand, Li Yamin saw the message in the group chat.

He was accompanied by Marcus.

And after the two arrived at the detached house, there was no new movement for half a day.

His agent had many more important things to deal with than him, maybe he even went to see Nora first—Li Yamin remembered Marcus had said before that his sister really liked Wanshu Zu, to the point of nagging to marry him.

Looking at the cold Wanshu Zu, Li Yamin didn't have the strength to get angry anymore.

He wasn't good at getting angry with his agent either; usually, he was the one who got scolded.

Wanshu Zu still maintained his usual style of cold war; if really pushed, he wouldn't scold him at all.

What was different was that Wanshu Zu wanted him to admit certain things himself.

His stomach hurt so much he couldn't think about anything, but he didn't dare to move.

He was sure he was weak, and Wanshu Zu looked down on weakness.

His agent was probably thinking that he had an entire team to ensure every aspect of his life, and that he himself had created this situation.

As an actor, he was very unprofessional.

And Wanshu Zu looked down on unprofessionalism.

“I went to the director and watched the rough cut, it was very surprising.”

Wanshu Zu said, “I know Nora might be performing mediocrely, and Gu An has always been using the excuse that the other actors in the cast can't keep up with your pace to explain the source of your emotions to me.”

Wanshu Zu said softly: “But what kind of trash are you acting, Li Yamin.”

Li Yamin froze.

The color drained from his face, and he looked at Wanshu Zu in disbelief.

He thought he had misheard, but Wanshu Zu calmly repeated his opinion again.

“What kind of trash are you acting, Li Yamin.”

“You…”

Li Yamin gritted his teeth, the already inflamed area was squeezed even more painfully, and along with the emotions stirred up by his agent's accusation, he subconsciously clenched the bedsheet so tightly he was close to convulsing.

“It's not like you haven't played similar roles before, I know what you're capable of. The director sings your praises, right? You believed it, thinking you contributed a hall-of-fame level performance, feeling smug about it, thinking the other actors in the cast were holding you back.”

Wanshu Zu: “Did your wisdom tooth grow into your cerebellum? The first project I negotiated, and you're trying to fool me with this amateur performance?”

Li Yamin shot up from the bed, furious, and not caring about anything else, he stepped forward and grabbed Wanshu Zu's collar: “Whose performance did you say was trash?!”

Wanshu Zu grabbed his arm and easily broke his grip.

While straightening his own collar, he said: “I was talking about you.”

Wanshu Zu looked up, staring straight at him: “If you had performed like this from the beginning, I wouldn't have given you the male lead. You know which time I'm talking about.”

Wanshu Zu's eyes held contempt.

Normally, the man wouldn't spare a single glance for things he looked down on.

But he was still standing here, asking him in a steady but aggressive tone.

“Now you can tell me, why do you think I'm angry?”

Li Yamin was trapped in his gaze, his emotions still fluctuating violently, but no matter what, he couldn't break through that scarlet red, and the compulsion within it.

He was very angry, and also very confused.

The first person in the world to praise him as a genius had become the only person in the world to call him trash, he couldn't understand.

But he vaguely knew the answer Wanshu Zu wanted to hear.

“You think… I'm not good enough for you.”

Li Yamin still said it out loud.

Wanshu Zu, having gotten his answer, remained indifferent, looking at him calmly: “I didn't hear clearly, what did you say?”

Li Yamin panted heavily, his whole body shaking: “You think I'm not good enough for you.”

Wanshu Zu was unmoved: “What?”

Li Yamin squeezed his eyes shut, his voice roaring out from his dry and painful throat: “You think I'm not good enough for you!”

The room was quiet for a long time.

Li Yamin was a bit unsteady on his feet, every second was excruciatingly unbearable.

He couldn't tell if his limbs still had feeling, his internal organs felt like they were being scorched by fire.

A long time later, he felt a firm force supporting his shoulders, leading him back to sit on the edge of the bed.

Li Yamin opened his eyes.

Wanshu Zu touched his forehead, confirming he didn't have a fever, and said slowly: “Very good, now we can start to deal with this matter.”

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