Global Film Emperor

Chapter 124 Training Begins

"Is this the Shanghai Golden Tiger Boxing Club?"

After glancing at the location shown on his phone's navigation and comparing it to the signboard of the boxing club, Liu Bin helped take the suitcase down and entered the club through the gate.

As soon as he pushed open the door, he heard the sound of sandbags pounding inside. The receptionist at this club wasn't a pretty young lady, but a burly man with a lot of muscles. He got up and came over when he saw Lu Ze enter.

"Hello, are you Coach Sun Xiang from the club?"

"It's me, Mr. Lu. Director Liu Ying has already spoken to me. I hope you'll take good care of me in the coming months."

The two shook hands, and Lu Ze could feel the thick calluses on his palms and see the bulging veins on his entire arm, making him a veritable muscle monster.

Yesterday, after returning to Shanghai, Lu Ze signed a contract with the people sent by Qingguo Media on the same day. The famous director Liu Ying was not present.

This film is Lu Ze's highest salary to date. Even without considering any messy profit sharing and taxes, Lu Ze ended up with just over three million.

Firstly, the revenue-sharing agreement between Lu Ze and Qian Shijia has changed, with Lu Ze now taking the lion's share, 60%. Another reason is that Lu Ze's current market value is in line with his due income, which is considered normal to slightly higher.

Of course, this refers to film salaries, not television drama salaries. If Lu Ze were to film a television drama, his income would definitely be higher, because the salaries of television drama actors are inherently ambiguous. It is already common practice in the television drama industry for popular actors to earn more than veteran actors.

Unlike movies, where salaries are clearly defined, no matter how popular you are, you can't earn more than veteran actors or award-winning actors. That's the rule. If a newcomer dares to earn more than an award-winning actor, someone will definitely come after you.

Therefore, even if the "King of Boxing" production team wanted to offer him a high salary, Lu Ze wouldn't dare to accept it unless he won the Emperor Award and gained an honor, at which point his salary would naturally increase, and he would be able to do so legitimately.

An even more important reason is that the training for this film was so arduous in the early stages. If you don't give them more compensation, how can you live with yourself?
As for the claim that Lu Ze got the role through connections, and that his salary would definitely be lower than that of someone who joined the production crew normally, that's simply not true.

The payment is given openly, while the connections are made secretly. They shouldn't be confused. The payment given openly is what it should be, and whether there are rebates or other exchanges of benefits behind the scenes will be discussed later.

Today, he will officially begin his closed-door filming training, which will last at least four months and is very likely to be extended. This is not only because gaining dozens of kilograms of muscle in four months is very difficult, as it is not only harmful to the body, but also not easy to complete.

In addition, time was allocated for the preparation of "Hello, Mr. Tree". Since art films do not have special effects, the editing process is very fast. With the addition of submission for review, obtaining a number, and scheduling, it is expected to be officially released in four or five months.

"The King of Fighters" has to give way to "Mr. Tree" and give Lu Ze time to promote his work. You can't just say that once you join a new production team, you can't ignore the roles the lead actor took on before, right?
Lu Ze doesn't have any schedule right now, and the production crew is pressing him hard. Liu Ying is currently preparing for the production, securing the next round of investment, and negotiating some product placements. Once Liu Ying has finished everything, they can't all wait for Lu Ze alone, can they?
So the next day, Lu Ze excitedly ran to the boxing gym and began formal training.

First, Liu Bin took the luggage to the dormitory. After delivering the luggage, he left. From then on, unless Lu Ze had a schedule, he would eat, drink, and relieve himself all at the club.

Golden Tiger Boxing Club is a commercial club that not only trains professional boxers and organizes professional competitions, but also collaborates with many media companies, such as sending some boxers to film crews to work as action actors and providing action training for actors.

Therefore, the club also provides special dormitories for foreign guests. Lu Ze lives here in a single room, which is no different from a hotel suite. It has a refrigerator, color TV, washing machine, WIFI, bathtub and air conditioning. Except for not being able to cook alone, everything else is fully equipped.

After changing into athletic shorts, a vest, and running shoes, Lu Ze went outside and found Coach Sun, whom he had met earlier. Coach Sun took Lu Ze to get some professional tests, such as heart rate, lung capacity, and body fat percentage, and then gave Lu Ze the fastest, safest, and most authoritative training method.

Lu Ze pressed his arm down; he had just had a vial of blood drawn for some kind of test. After all the tests were done, Sun Xiang still took Lu Ze to the cafeteria for lunch.

The food served in the boxing club's cafeteria was quite different from what you'd find in a regular cafeteria. First, it consisted mainly of rice and noodles, high in carbohydrates. Second, it included beef, soy products, and foods containing minerals. The taste wasn't exactly bad, but it certainly lacked the aroma of heavily oiled, salty, and spicy stir-fries, and ultimately, it was rather bland.

Lu Ze wasn't picky about the food; he just wanted to ensure he had the necessary nutrition for his training, because he knew that the grueling training had already begun.

"Leg lift 80 kg, 15 reps, starting now. Don't hunch your calves in, don't tense them up too much. One, two, three. Very good, hold on."

At first, Lu Ze felt he could handle the 60-kilogram leg press, but starting from the third set, his legs began to tremble.

There is a big difference between normal weight loss and fitness exercise. Moreover, the set designed by Coach Sun was just right to exhaust Lu Ze. After each set, the feeling of the fat in his thighs jumping was indeed quite enjoyable.

Because he had just had blood drawn from his arm, he temporarily stopped training his arm and spent the whole afternoon battling leg fat.

After resting for a while, Lu Ze started jogging for thirty minutes. His legs felt very light, but running was more tiring than usual, and soon his body was covered in sweat.

Although the subsequent series of exercises were tiring, Lu Ze enjoyed them. When people exercise, they release endorphins, which gradually make them feel excited and happy. Lu Ze was now in that state.

It wasn't until dinner time that Lu Ze noticed his diet was different from the other boxers in the gym; he had cod and some vegetarian dishes that weren't usually available in the cafeteria.

"Lu Ze, here you go. Drink it now. Starting tomorrow, you'll have to make it yourself."

Sun Xiang threw two tubs of protein powder, which looked like gas cylinders, and a sports water bottle on the table, making a loud banging sound. Lu Ze had also drunk this stuff when he was an athlete in the system. He turned the tub around and saw that it was his favorite chocolate flavor.

Sun Xiang left for a short while and then returned with a bowl of rice. Who knows why he ate so much after spending the whole day working out with Lu Ze?

"The course schedule is mostly set. You'll need about a month to fully get fit, and from the second month onwards, you'll gradually add combat training. The course is a bit tiring, but hang in there. You'll start swimming tomorrow, okay?"

He picked up a large piece of noodles with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth. Lu Ze was scared by the way he ate. This big mouth could swallow three ounces of food in one bite, and he ate faster than Lu Ze.

"I can do a little bit of breaststroke and backstroke, but I'm best at doggy paddle."

"Then you have to practice. Your legs don't hurt much, right? You're quite the man, practicing this whole set without saying a word. Because of the tight schedule, we actually sped up the pace a lot. If you feel any pain, don't endure it. If there's even the slightest problem, tell us right away so we can get it checked out quickly. Don't let it become a serious problem. It's hard to say how long it will take to recover, but as you get older, you're bound to have some health issues later on. Be careful."

The two spent a good afternoon together. He was just Jin Hu's strength coach and didn't know how to box, so that was all he could teach Lu Ze. Although he was burly and looked like a lion, he was a very thoughtful person.

"Don't worry, I understand."

Sun Xiang nodded, finished the last bite of rice, while Lu Ze still had a third of his rice left in his bowl. Before getting up to leave, Sun Xiang gave Lu Ze one last instruction.

"Your physical training team will all be here tomorrow. Today was just an appetizer. Tomorrow's intensity will be even greater than today's, so get ready."

(End of this chapter)