Chapter 2078 Christmas

Was Pan Guangming an oddball?

To Huayi or others, this guy was indeed quite strange.

He had to read the script before accepting a role and cared a lot about his image.

In his own words, he didn't want to play a character and let the audience down.

Such a person might be an outlier, but at Future Film, he wasn't really a freak.

At least, not in Yu Feihong's eyes.

After all, Future Film had so many "psycho" artists.

Jiang Wen was a case in point—his eccentricity was well known throughout the Chinese film and TV circle.

Take Ning Hao, for instance. As Zhao Fusheng's most favored young director, he had two consecutive films grossing over a hundred million—impressive, right? A bright future, no?

But!

This bastard was now mulling over a road crime film. Although Yu Feihong had only read part of the script, and Ning Hao even said, "Why don't you play the lead, President Yu?" she still tore him to shreds.

The investment would be at least ten million, maybe more.

But this film would obviously face huge difficulties in passing censorship.

Why not just keep making commercial films? Why insist on a crime film? If that wasn't being odd, what was?

As for the others, there was no need to mention them.

During "Soldiers' Sortie," they signed an actor named Zhang Yi.

They thought he'd take more roles while the drama was popular, but not only did he have a low output, every role he took, he'd get deeply immersed and couldn't snap out of it for a year or two.

"Method actors are all crazy!"

Yu Feihong defined method actors that way.

Originally, she thought Ye Jing's management of Future Film was problematic, not fitting the standard management of a regular film company.

But after joining Future Film's management, Yu Feihong realized it wasn't that Ye Jing's management was wrong—it was that the whole company was full of abnormal people.

Xu Zheng aside, just the two directors Ning Hao and Jiang Wen—which one was normal?

Actors?

Yu Feihong didn't even want to talk about them.

Whether male or female artists at Future Film, they all had to read the script first before accepting a role. If the script quality was poor, sorry, even if you offered a sky-high price and talked until you were blue in the face, they wouldn't take it.

So Pan Guangming's words put no pressure on Yu Feihong at all.

"Xiao Pan, you probably don't know the specifics of Future Film, do you?"

Yu Feihong looked at Pan Guangming and asked with a smile.

"Huh?"

Pan Guangming was startled, then nodded.

He really didn't know about this.

Although Future Film rose rapidly, to be precise, it was relatively closed off, cooperating only with a few familiar companies like Huayi and Xinbaoyuan. Now that Huayi had withdrawn, it became Guangxian Media.

Wang Changtian was a given. Ever since he connected with Future Film, no matter what film or TV series Future Film invested in, he would follow suit and invest.

In fact, Wang Changtian even said in private that he would follow Zhao Fusheng's lead.

At first, people mocked him for licking boots without dignity.

But when the Samsung family infighting and equity struggle erupted, people realized that Wang Changtian must have known something.

No one expected that Zhao Fusheng's shares in Samsung were worth billions of dollars.

Plus the data exposed after Alibaba's IPO.

Industry insiders finally realized who stood behind Future Film.

"Our company has many good actors and directors."

Yu Feihong smiled and introduced the company to Pan Guangming, finally saying, "It's useless for me to just talk. Take some time to visit the company and see for yourself."

"This..." Pan Guangming was a bit puzzled but still nodded: "Alright, I'll contact you later."

Regardless, Yu Feihong coming in person was a great honor to him. He had to go and check it out.

This was called courtesy.

Given Yu Feihong's status in the circle, her personally inviting Pan Guangming was a sign of respect and giving him face.

Even if he ultimately didn't sign a contract, Pan Guangming needed to show enough respect for this recognition and response.

Because it was given to him by the capital side.

If he took it all for granted, that would be an insult to the capital.

An artist, no matter how good their acting or how famous they are, as long as they are in this circle, must abide by one rule.

The capital side is the most powerful.

Of course, if you had the background of a certain actress, you could ignore it.

Here, it's not about Da Tiantian, who had many big names supporting her, nor the actress surnamed Han who claimed she wouldn't do kissing scenes, but the actress with the same surname as a certain camera brand—she was a genuine red descendant.

Not to mention anything else, her grandfather was a founding general.

With that alone, how could anyone compare to her?

Of course, she was also very low-key, rarely hyped, and acted purely based on the script. If she liked a role, she'd take it; if not, no one dared to force her.

Obviously, Pan Guangming didn't have that ability. So after Yu Feihong finished speaking, Pan Guangming immediately said he would consider it and would definitely visit Future Film.

Watching Pan Guangming leave, Yu Feihong returned to Zhao Fusheng's side.

"What's up? Didn't it go well?"

Zhao Fusheng asked, somewhat puzzled.

"..." Yu Feihong was speechless for a moment. She glanced at Zhao Fusheng and said, "So you're saying you always settle negotiations in one go?"

"Not necessarily," Zhao Fusheng chuckled. "There's bound to be some back and forth."

"Exactly. Same here."

Yu Feihong smiled. "He'll definitely need to go back and think it over."

Then, looking at Zhao Fusheng, she added, "Actually, if you had just gone over and dropped your name earlier, I bet he would have agreed on the spot."

That was the truth. Given Zhao Fusheng's status, if he had done that, Pan Guangming would have been flattered.

The tactic of showing respect to the worthy worked just as well in the entertainment industry.

In the end, it all came down to whether the other party's position was high enough.

...

...

With business taken care of, it was time to go home.

"Want to have dinner together tonight?"

Zhao Fusheng asked Yu Feihong.

"No, I have things to do." Yu Feihong shook her head. "Where are you going tonight?"

"Nowhere."

Zhao Fusheng shook his head. "I'm a full-time babysitter now."

Yu Feihong burst out laughing. She naturally understood what he meant.

Ever since Fan Baobao left for Italy, Zhao Fusheng had been stuck with Fan Beibei all day. At first it was novel, but now it was truly exasperating.

Wherever he went, there was a little tail. The feeling—tsk tsk!

"How about letting her stay with me for a few days?" Yu Feihong suggested with a smile.

"No way."

Zhao Fusheng shook his head. "You've got work to do, and that girl never sits still. Besides, New Year's is coming up. When Tan Kaixuan gets married, I'll leave her with Liu Yiming's sister. After she finishes her final exams, she'll go to Italy too."

"Alright."

Yu Feihong nodded and dropped the subject.

...

...

Soon, Christmas arrived.

Zhao Fusheng didn't care much for foreign holidays, but he wasn't like some internet fossils who insisted that Chinese people shouldn't celebrate them.

No matter the holiday, at the end of the day, people just wanted to have fun.

It was all about the atmosphere.

Getting too serious about it would spoil the fun.

If we were to be pedantic, shouldn't we abolish the Gregorian calendar and stop celebrating New Year's, reverting to the lunar calendar and the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches? After all, that was truly created by the Chinese themselves.

What's more, those who clamor about not celebrating foreign holidays—shouldn't they first consider kicking English out of the country?

It's fine to love Chinese cultural heritage, but not to overcorrect. Making a big deal out of a holiday—isn't that just being brainless?

Celebrate if you like; ignore it if you don't.

That was Zhao Fusheng's attitude toward so-called foreign holidays.

It might seem a bit moderate, but Zhao Fusheng felt it was the best approach.

Being too saintly isn't good, but being too sharp-edged isn't either.

We don't need to be represented by anyone, nor do we have the right to represent anyone, because every person is an independent and free individual.

A saint like Cheng Xin in The Three-Body Problem, no matter how you whitewash her, can never be cleansed.

He bought the little girl an apple, wished her a Merry Christmas Eve, sent blessings to a few friends, and then went to sleep. For him, it was just a holiday to express good wishes.

As for other matters, Zhao Fusheng didn't care and didn't intend to.

But the next day, he wasn't so relaxed.

The reason was simple: Miss Fan, Fan Beibei, said she wanted a birthday gift.

"You're just a little kid. What do you need a Christmas gift for?"

Zhao Fusheng said to Fan Beibei, annoyed. "You're too young. You don't need a Christmas gift."

"Brother, you're lying!"

Fan Beibei's eyes reddened as she glared at Zhao Fusheng. "You've changed. You weren't like this before. Is it because you have Zhao Xue and Zhao Feng now that you don't like me anymore?"

"No."

Zhao Fusheng quickly shook his head and patted her head.

Children are actually sensitive. They care a lot about how others treat them.

Many people think their only child doesn't want them to have a second child, and then some so-called experts claim it's because the only child is spoiled, and they start heavily criticizing parenting methods.

But in fact, this is a very normal reaction.

Humans are instinctive animals.

Whether animal or human, you're happily enjoying a pasture that belongs only to you, and then one day, another person or animal comes to share that pasture with you. Who could be happy?

Selfless people do exist, but they are the minority.

Just as we can't judge all men or women by the behavior of a few scumbags, we also can't determine a person's future based on a few actions.