Chapter 814: Chapter 220: Establishing Contact
But Adrian wasn’t in a hurry. After all, as long as he didn’t relent, the Wang Brothers had no better options; they couldn’t just flip out, could they? If they did fall out over something like this, it would only prove they weren’t good partners, and Adrian would immediately pull out and activate his backup plan. Don’t think he only invested in Huayi, New Pictures, and Bona in mainland China.
Eggs should never be placed in one basket, so there are backup plans as well. For instance, like with Huayi, he also secretly holds stocks in Enlight Media, and the video site he’s preparing, as well as the two entertainment-related community sites already launched in the mainland, are not intended for Huayi to operate.
Of course, the Wang Brothers were unaware of this. Adrian threw out Bona and New Pictures at first to catch their attention. Moreover, although Huayi seemed to be doing well on the surface, there were definitely no small conflicts within. Nepotism alone was enough to make many employees dissatisfied. Adrian, who had some understanding of Huayi’s internal affairs, was sure of this, not to mention he also recalled a certain incident.
Watching their frenzied and indulgent manner, Adrian smiled contentedly, sliding into the water to start a new round of battle; the night was still long.
In the next two or three days, Adrian both haggled with Wang Zhongjun and enjoyed the service of the two Binlins, living quite leisurely. Well, seemingly leisurely, since while negotiating, what needed attention still required attention, some arrangements still required his decisions, and he often had to exchange opinions with Claude on the phone.
Besides, he also spared some time to visit New Pictures, where Zhang Yimou was busy with his new movie. The good performance of “Hero” in North America was a strong boost of confidence for him, and he devoted more to his new film. Adrian didn’t necessarily agree; the interest in kung fu films wouldn’t last much longer, especially under such overstretched circumstances, but he still teased them a bit.
“How much time do you plan to use to depict this? Ten minutes? Twenty minutes? Not worried the audience might complain in their hearts, ‘Why hasn’t the female lead died yet?'” Adrian asked Zhang Weiping in a joking, teasing tone, pointing at that famous “Little Sister Doesn’t Die” part in the script. Zhang Yimou wasn’t there, so Zhang Weiping could only smile awkwardly.
However, although the two Binlins served him well, there were still some regrets. At least he couldn’t walk around with them, one on each side. Their fame was much greater than Gao Yuanyuan before; if recognized, it would be very troublesome. So, at most, they would go to Tongzhou, not far from Beijing, to play at some lesser-known spots. However, frolicking in the RV on the way back was quite nice.
The two women were entirely at his disposal, leaving no tricks or uniforms unused. Unfortunately, role-play time was too short to try out. But as compensation, Adrian explored new territory with them, and it was Binlin who proposed it—though Little Binlin was more often in control, this move immediately wiped out her advantage.
This pleased Adrian greatly. Even more satisfying was that neither of them had been touched there before, which was excellent.
“What do you take me for?” She coyly complained in a dissatisfied tone, as if insulted. “I admit I initially came for money, but later I didn’t think about it at all. I don’t care who you are, some Hollywood mogul or whatever. At least for these few days, you’re just a man, a very great and outstanding one, a man who fascinates me.”
Quite appealing words, aren’t they? And very courageous too, considering that if the check were converted into RMB, it would be over ten million, but she could return it without batting an eye. Of course, Adrian knew Big Binlin’s choice as well; taking the money equaled clearing everything up, but not taking it left some sentiment between them, making it necessary to consider her for future opportunities.
After playing for a few days, Big Binlin more or less grasped some of Adrian’s thoughts, although he was just playing, he wouldn’t skimp a penny he should give; in this regard, he was quite principled. Of course, he might forget her right after leaving, but she wasn’t short of money. Even though she didn’t expect to become another Gao Yuanyuan, it was still worth betting on it, and the underlying message of those words was: If needed, you can contact me anytime.
A smart, decision-making, risk-taking woman.
Little Binlin was equally straightforward, accepting the check, as she didn’t have Big Binlin’s fame and earning power. It was evident she needed the money, and thinking about years down the road, it was clear she’d considered starting her own studio long ago. Yet it didn’t mean she would give up maintaining a relationship with Adrian.
“You’re a gentleman who understands women, Ed. I’m very happy. If you want to meet anyone, I can help you.” She said this bluntly, very directly, even a bit arrogantly, truly deserving the title of “Master” that could be added before her surname in the future.
Well, it’s a good idea. If Adrian returns in the future, he can’t always have Wang Zhongjun play pimp, can he? Though saying so arrogantly, having him pimp would be giving him face, but that’s not Adrian’s way of doing things. There’s no need for such a pretentious attitude. So having Little Binlin fronting things fits quite well. Of course, regarding her intention to use this opportunity to network, that’s fine; she would thrive regardless, giving people favors couldn’t hurt, right?
You can see from this that their brief success in the circle and the ability to achieve it also have a certain inevitability.
For now, let’s leave this aside. After a few days of haggling, Wang Zhongjun finally compromised on RENN.
“You really are persistent, Mr. Cowell,” Wang Zhongjun somewhat reluctantly said in the hotel conference room.
“You’ll find that my judgment is correct,” Adrian said with an unconcealed indifferent expression. He knew what he had done. After realizing he wouldn’t support the proposal, Wang Zhongjun tried to gain something from other matters while still dragging this issue out.
However, though Adrian was average in this area, don’t forget he had a team behind him. Accompanying him, Ivanka was slightly stronger than Charlize in this regard, as having a wealthy father made a difference. Therefore, Wang Zhongjun had to expend a lot of effort each time to gain little. This was one of the predetermined strategies: benefits aren’t impossible to give, but they must not come easily. Even though entering the Chinese market required their cooperation, it didn’t mean they could have complete control. More importantly…
“Alright, I have no objections now, but you should still look at these.” Wang Zhongjun said, pushing some documents towards Adrian and intentionally or unintentionally tapping on the last one.
Adrian raised an eyebrow, casually scanning the people Wang Zhongjun had brought along. Though they looked no different than before, he knew there was something hidden beneath. Wang Zhongjun had brought three people, and they had been involved in every meeting over the last few days. Two of them he had seen when he came here last time, but the other was a completely new face, which was interesting.
Generally speaking, whoever Wang Zhongjun brings along is his own business. However, such an opinion meeting hardly requires bringing three people. Adrian had only brought Ivanka, so this new face was intriguing. Of course, it could be he’s overthinking, but Adrian never considers thinking too much a bad thing in such situations. He had anticipated the appearance of certain people, not to mention his observation skills aren’t weak—the new face clearly doesn’t seem like an assistant.
With these few pieces of information, Adrian flipped through the completely Chinese-written documents with a relaxed expression, slowly looking through them until he finally picked up the piece that had been given special attention. There wasn’t anything particularly special; it mostly assessed “Battlestar Galactica,” most of which he’d seen before in bits and pieces. Then, turning to page six, he finally saw what he wanted, something very inconspicuous in the corner, just a few sentences written in traditional characters—their intelligence work was well done.
Adrian looked up and smiled at Wang Zhongjun, who also smiled back, then adjusted his glasses and quickly glanced at that new face. Although it was discreet, it couldn’t escape Adrian’s discerning eye, who had already guessed much.
He chuckled softly, then closed the document in his hand and handed it back: “I have no objections, everything looks good.”
A smile quickly appeared on Wang Zhongjun’s face, and he had a vague sense of relief. When Adrian said this, he was essentially telling them he had no objections and fully agreed, allowing him to gain more policy support.
But Adrian’s voice soon rose again: “To be honest, I really like China, from the culture to the food, from the scenery to the women. I love Tang poetry and Song ci, these block characters twisted together due to the fixed structure, and there’s a distinct rhythmical beauty when recited…”
He spoke while getting up and walked over to Wang Zhongjun’s side.
“Indeed, we have a history of thousands of years,” Wang Zhongjun said with a smile, even though he didn’t quite understand what Adrian wanted to say. “But the United States is great too; I still remember the flourishing scenes from when I studied media in New York more than a decade ago, that’s precisely the prosperity we now pursue.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t find many people to converse with domestically,” Adrian sighed after earlier praise. “My best friend Claude occasionally chats about these things, but only a few words at most. Others aren’t even interested; and combined with my preference for innovation and pointing out things without wanting to handle specifics, film-making is what I truly want to do, which is why I enjoy traveling to China quietly—it’s freer this way and makes communication easier.”
At this point, Wang Zhongjun understood his meaning, immediately glanced at the new face again and, seconds later, smiled: “It’s okay, as long as you like it. You’re welcome to come to China for vacation and exchange more often.”
With that, the meeting was basically over. In a pleasant conclusion, Wang Zhongjun led his people away, and Adrian, along with Ivanka, returned to the hotel’s suite.
“What were you talking about at the end? Though I didn’t quite understand, it seemed like you and Wang were guessing some riddle,” Ivanka couldn’t help but ask curiously.
“Yes, some riddles regarding the requirements from the Chinese government and my attitude,” Adrian poured two glasses of champagne. “Nothing major.”
“The Chinese government?” Ivanka raised an eyebrow. “What do they want?”
“They need a media mogul with influence in Hollywood to positively promote them a bit,” Adrian replied with a smile.
Ivanka initially wanted to say something but furrowed her brows and kept quiet, merely looking at him with some concern.
“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” Adrian chuckled, pinching her chin slightly. “Get ready; in two days, we head south, and it’ll be tough on you again.”
Upon mentioning this, he chuckled mischievously: “Truthfully, every time you come here it’s tough on you. How should I…”
“Oh, stop it, Ed,” Ivanka interrupted, rolling her eyes at him. “You’ve been having fun, haven’t you? Anyway, you can indulge as much as you want in Asia, just don’t bother me!”
After finishing, she turned away from the suite with visible displeasure. Watching Ivanka’s graceful departing figure, Adrian couldn’t help but burst into laughter. After all these years, their mutual understanding was second only to Charlize. How could he let this bit of dissatisfaction bother him? Besides…
Adrian chuckled softly to himself, poured another half glass of champagne, and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window to look outside. Fortunately, there was no sandstorm or anything; it was essentially blue sky and white clouds.
Though he had considered several scenarios mentally, he didn’t expect them to use such means to establish contact. But it’s good—it won’t leave any leverage or anything. It’s beneficial for both him and them, and he can see sincerity in it. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to cast recommendation votes, monthly votes at Qidian (). Your support is my greatest motivation.)