Chapter 134 : Chapter 134

Chapter 134: “What’s the situation with Shen Weidi?”

There were two ways to bring oneself a sense of security in the world.

One was to keep one’s inner self guarded.

The second was to make one’s body as solid as a rock.

The former was difficult, and the latter was even more difficult, especially for a lazy person.

After finishing the miscellaneous tasks for SUNSET, Chu Zu scheduled a meeting with the producer of the new project, who was preparing to start filming in New Zealand.

Over the phone, everything went smoothly.

The producer had an excellent impression of Wanshu Zu, and subtly hinted throughout their conversation that their crew had received multiple recommendations from the NAACP Hollywood department.

The NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was a uniquely American organization.

Its Hollywood department focused on the film and television industry, providing reviews and suggestions regarding the representation of people of color in film and television projects.

Ostensibly, it was to promote the participation of diverse talent in the film and television industry, but frankly, it was about political correctness.

However, previously, the political correctness favored by Hollywood mostly involved Black people, Latinos, and so on.

Asians found it hard to get a share of the benefits.

If one were to list the Asians favored by Hollywood, they were either directors with extremely impactful works or actors who could already represent certain cultural elements—in this broken circle, even political correctness had its thresholds.

The producer’s hint was tantamount to an invitation, actively lowering the threshold and creating a few non-essential roles that could offer exposure, to give face to Wanshu Zu and the intermediary who introduced them.

—As long as they were your people, they could be placed anywhere.

This was originally a good thing, but the producer, who somehow found out Wanshu Zu’s preferences, creatively and specifically set the meeting location.

It was a calamitous place that made the bloodthirsty mad dragon, who preferred to lounge on the sofa and not move, furrow his brows.

“There’s nothing that can be done about it!”

The System, perched on Chu Zu’s shoulder, said to him kindly, “Who would have thought that the producer of the new project was also a fitness fanatic? Meeting you at the gym isn’t too outlandish, is it?”

Chu Zu: “If this isn’t outlandish, then who will redefine outlandish?”

The System spoke earnestly, seemingly sighing for its host, but in reality, it was overjoyed: “For the sake of work, just give it your all.”

Ever since the host took over Wanshu Zu, to solidify his persona, he would go to the gym every now and then.

But whether it was strength training equipment or a treadmill, he directly used Master Wang to handle it, leaving everyone else at the gym dumbfounded.

It was well-known that gyms had all sorts of people.

High prices only stopped the penniless oddballs.

There were equipment hogs, music DJ types, stalkers, loud grunters, mirror narcissists…

But no matter how rich an oddball, none had ever seen a weapon as precise as Master Wang.

In their eyes, Wanshu Zu was not shedding sweat, but killing intent.

Master Wang did not possess communication abilities.

During its operation, Wanshu Zu remained silent, and anyone trying to strike up a conversation found it useless.

Thus, the killing intent was coupled with an inexplicable solemnity, truly living up to the mall’s description of Master Wang.

Man among men!

Male among males!

Master! Wang!

Speaking was impossible; for communication, Chu Zu had to personally take over.

Chu Zu detested all forms of exercise and naturally could not take over body control.

All movements and exertion were fully outsourced, yet he still had to endure the muscle soreness himself.

NO——!

After exercising, Chu Zu would linger in his sea of consciousness for a while, dragging his feet and refusing to leave.

The Little yellow chicken tried its best to make the host experience the endorphin-induced happiness from exercise, but ultimately, it could not overcome the host’s resolve.

Now the opportunity came.

“This is a great opportunity, Host.”

The Little yellow chicken fully displayed its wicked ugliness, “They don’t require acting skills, nor do they have a fame threshold. And it’s a proper big production by a renowned director; once this village is passed, there won’t be another shop like it!”

Chu Zu sneered: “How is this any different from selling my own body? Before, it was cyberbullying; now, it’s a casting couch situation. What Long Aotian would suffer such hardship?”

The System shrieked: “If you say strange things again, I’ll bark! I’ll bark whatever the forum barks! I’ll definitely make you restless and unable to sleep!”

Chu Zu: “…”

The Little yellow chicken’s greatest ability in this life was to make cracks appear on the host’s face, who usually remained as steady as a mountain no matter what he encountered.

It felt a little guilty, as if its behavior also fell into the category of disregarding others’ feelings and imposing its will.

But the guilt lasted only a second.

The host just didn’t like to move too much and often encountered annoying petty matters, never venting.

It was also quite good to mess around with it; being speechless was better than bottling everything up inside, right!

Finally, Chu Zu compromised and went to the gym to meet the sick producer.

Compared to exercise, negotiating with people with eight hundred tricks up their sleeves seemed incredibly easy.

His understanding was correct; the producer intended to curry favor, with the condition being distribution operations in mainland China.

Typically, Hollywood blockbusters or films with high international market popularity would seek specialized Chinese import agencies: China Film Group Corporation and Huaxia Film Distribution Co., Ltd.

These two companies were responsible for preliminary screening, applying to relevant departments for introduction, and organizing distribution.

If these two agencies were used, they could receive a share of the box office revenue, typically around 25% of the box office, with not much fluctuation.

However, there was an annual limit on imported films, capped at approximately 34 titles.

If a film wasn’t selected but still coveted the mainland market, it could only be distributed through a buyout.

Through mainland private distribution companies, such as Bona Film Group, Huayi Brothers, and Alibaba Pictures, it still needed to pass content review by the National Film Bureau.

The only income received was a one-time buyout of the copyright; all box office revenue belonged to the Chinese company, and foreign companies did not participate in box office sharing.

The producer knew his film wouldn’t make the cut and didn’t want to go the buyout route, which was why he approached Wanshu Zu, this “new dignitary.”

He was even willing to give Wanshu Zu the distribution rights for subsequent streaming platforms.

After all, the mainland market was too vast.

The 1.339 billion box office revenue of Avatar in mainland China in 2009 was simply unbelievable to Hollywood.

After multiple global re-releases, its cumulative box office reached 2.798 billion, reclaiming the throne of the global film history box office champion.

Wanshu Zu, of course, would not let go of this opportunity.

In fact, given his and Lishou Entertainment’s scale, connecting with distributors was quite challenging.

His agent’s connections might not be effective in state-owned companies, and Lishou Entertainment’s own streaming service had always been lukewarm.

His collaboration with Netflix, as well as the immense public opinion online, influenced many people’s judgments, causing them to misjudge the importance of this young Chinese man.

Wanshu Zu remained calm and composed, and with the inherent sophisticated sharpness he exuded, he effortlessly painted grand visions.

Under the intimidating aura buff of the gym that Chu Zu encountered, Wanshu Zu, who was running at a pace of 14km/h without getting red-faced or panting, quickly negotiated a preliminary agreement.

After the discussion, a time for signing the contract was tentatively set.

Wanshu Zu even extended his care to the producer who had tried to challenge his pace and almost fell off the treadmill.

Only the Little yellow chicken knew how much the host hated it in his heart and swore that he would never sell his body for work again in this lifetime.

Wanshu Zu stayed in New Zealand for seven days, and for all seven days, Li Yamin did not seek him out again.

Marcus Li words were like directly prying open his ribs and hitting his heart several times, leaving him so suffocated he couldn’t utter a sound.

It was hard to say if this was a good thing or a bad thing, as even in extreme emergency situations, doctors would choose the most effective method of direct cardiac massage for the heart.

Wanshu Zu had originally given him seven days, but even when the time was up, he didn’t force him to continue the conversation.

He wouldn’t force a patient to think; that would be too despicable.

It was difficult for people to make correct judgments when they were pathologically weak.

Moreover, he didn’t want to be like before, always ordering Li Yamin what to do and what not to do.

If the agreed-upon time passed, he wouldn’t continue to chase after him to demand an explanation.

Sherlock Holmes had a classic quote: “One can only see something if one wanted to see it.”

Wanshu Zu wanted Li Yamin to see many things, but he had to see them with his own eyes.

However, after his face subsided and his fever broke, Li Yamin stopped creating trouble for the crew.

Wanshu Zu visited the set a few times, always from a distance.

Once, Li Yamin was filming a passionate scene between the detective and the lady.

The director thoughtfully dismissed most of the people, leaving only the essential crew members.

Nora found it difficult to get into character.

She had been in relationships, but she was always the one being pursued.

The director needed her to act out a seduction that didn’t look like seduction, and the newly adult girl couldn’t quite grasp the subtle nuances.

Li Yamin, as usual, began to nitpick.

After nitpicking, he pulled Nora up from the sofa, grabbed a blanket from the side and covered her head with it, then plopped himself onto the sofa.

Nora poked her head out from under the blanket and heard Li Yamin scoff: “You can’t even do something as simple as seduction properly?”

He unbuttoned a few more buttons on his already open shirt, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Watch.”

Li Yamin then demonstrated it live for Nora.

When he acted out the seduction, he was very restrained, without overly explicit desire.

The pre-designed lighting maximized the advantages of his appearance.

This was also the director’s arrangement; there was a clear distinction between Nora’s character lighting and Li Yamin’s character lighting.

The lady knew she was beautiful, and also knew she would be even more beautiful when she looked pitiful.

She didn't rely on sexual attraction to make men devoted; it was more of an innocent, childlike quality.

People were naturally drawn to babies or puppies, not just because they were cute when quiet, but also because you knew they had a certain capacity for thought, but not much.

Compared to you, they were in a state of deficiency, at the mercy of others, and you were fully capable of filling their incompleteness.

Therefore, Nora’s lighting primarily used ring lights, with soft light sources encircling the camera.

Softboxes and reflectors were also added to ensure there were almost no obvious shadows on her face.

Li Yamin’s lighting was almost entirely backlight from the side; the light source was very harsh, creating strong, sensitive contrasts on his back and buttocks, emphasizing muscle contours.

The lighting technician also set up several lights in the background; the background light intensity was lower than the subject’s, creating layers with the muscle lines.

One didn’t need to look at the monitor; just by observing the unedited scene, one could feel the strong desire brewing within the detective’s body.

He exuded male hormones all over, an aggressive dominant force.

In summary, the director wanted Nora to sell her face, and Li Yamin to sell his body.

Li Yamin was very professional at selling his body, and also very professional at selling his face.

Once back in character, Li Yamin could effortlessly capture everyone’s attention on set.

His small movements were few, but every subtle detail would be caught by their gaze.

His lightly fluttering eyelashes, slightly trembling fingers, and eyes, slightly narrowed and brimming with tears, shimmered under the soft light, transforming into an innocent, harmless vulnerability.

No one found it strange.

Even if he was a mature man in his thirties, he could simply steal people’s thoughts within a few short seconds.

You would feel that he was born this way, an innocent flower vase, and that face and aura were uniquely his brand of sexiness.

After demonstrating, Li Yamin immediately pulled out of character and glanced at Nora: “Can you do it or not?”

Nora was dumbfounded, revealing her helplessness for the first time in front of him: “You… you…”

After "You-ing" for a long time, Nora took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, “You’re amazing!”

“You're killing it!!!”

“Luckily there aren’t many people, otherwise who knows how many poor souls would turn gay on the spot, I’m serious, Li!”

“No wonder Zu values you so much, I understand everything now!!”

Li Yamin: “Tsk.”

Nora began pestering him with a barrage of questions: which expressions to pay attention to, how to control her movements, where was the appropriate position to maintain…

Li Yamin: “Ask the director, don’t bother me.”

Nora: “I’ll ask the director, but you teach me first—! The director definitely can’t act as well as you!”

There was no shortage of people who admired strength, especially in fierce competition.

And since the other party didn't fundamentally compete for resources with her, his temper seemed to have improved now.

Nora, like Marcus, was good at seizing opportunities and did not consider it demeaning to seek advice from someone she had previously had a disagreement with.

She loved to learn, wanted to learn, Teacher, please teach!

After they had talked for several rounds, the crew’s stylist finally came to her senses and stepped forward to touch up their makeup and styling.

It was mainly Li Yamin; they needed to apply oil to his back and buttocks to enhance the reflective effect of his exposed skin.

Wanshu Zu watched Li Yamin from afar, not approaching.

He greeted the nearby crew members and then turned and left directly.

On the day of his return to China, Li Yamin didn’t come to see him off at the airport; he stayed with the crew to reshoot the scenes he had missed.

Nora was very reluctant to part.

Marcus squeezed Wanshu Zu aside, attempting to get a full view of his sister’s attachment, but failed.

Nora gave Wanshu Zu a hug: “We’ll meet again during the promotional period, right?”

Wanshu Zu patted her back: “Right.”

He said, “Yamin can teach you many things; he is a capable actor. I would advise you to observe his performances carefully; you can learn a lot.”

Nora nodded vigorously.

Finally, Wanshu Zu dragged Marcus onto the plane.

Marcus Li was very indignant, not understanding why a biological brother wasn’t worthy of a hug or a kiss.

Buckling his seatbelt, Wanshu Zu coolly said: “Have you prepared the documents for my partnership dissolution, or are you just losing your mind over there?”

Marcus Li looked at Wanshu Zu, pausing his complaints.

He carefully observed his childhood friend’s expression, lowering his voice: “Are you still going to dissolve your partnership with him? I can tell that you are very important to him, and he is very important to you.”

Wanshu Zu said faintly: “I know. But whether it’s me or him, we should both feel that we are more important.”

Marcus Li stopped persuading him.

He felt a strange sense of regret, just a fleeting emotion, unable to tell if it was directed at Wanshu Zu or Li Yamin.

What Wanshu Zu said was not wrong.

As long as you valued anyone too much, your heart could not possess true freedom and strength.

But what Wanshu Zu pursued was always freedom and strength; he needed these to consolidate and satisfy himself.

Twelve hours later, the plane landed smoothly.

It was dusk in China, and the weather conditions were good.

The afterglow of the setting sun revealed strange pink hues in the clouds.

Wanshu Zu dragged his suitcase and saw Gu An at the arrival gate.

“You handle your work; stay at my place tonight.”

With that, Wanshu Zu walked straight towards Gu An.

The twelve hours on the plane were enough for Wanshu Zu to rest; he now had ample energy to handle work.

He hoped this was just work, not trouble.

“What’s the situation with Shen Weidi?”

Gu An took the suitcase and quickly followed his boss’s long, swiftly moving legs: “He… he seems to have come to his senses.”

Wanshu Zu didn’t turn around, his long trench coat cutting a sharp arc in the air: “Clarify what he’s understood—is he going to cooperate or wash his hands of it?”

Gu An licked his lips.

An hour and a half later, it was getting dark, and the blackness swallowed the pink of the sunset.

Shen Weidi’s apartment.

Under the bright lights, Shen Weidi stood before the man as if being punished.

In the days his manager was away, the young man had taken care of himself, looking radiant, with only the tense corners of his eyes and clenched fists betraying a hint of his inner state.

When facing Wanshu Zu, Shen Weidi was always very nervous.

But his nervousness did not prevent him from vocalizing the conclusion he had come to in the past few days.

“I want to become the hottest top-tier star in your hands,” Shen Weidi said.

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