Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 303 Chen Kaige's Olive Branch

In September, the crew went to St. Vincent Island to film scenes of the port and docks. Every time the huge crew moved to a different location, people would constantly come and go.

However, Wu Yuchen was specifically there to welcome someone who had arrived.

"Honey~~ Mmm, did you miss me?" A woman threw herself into Wu Yuchen's arms and hooked her arms around his neck.

Wu Yuchen hugged her and laughed, "I miss you! I miss you every day, every night, day and night, I miss you so much I can't sleep!"

The person in his arms was none other than Jiang Qinqin, who had come all the way to the film set to visit him.

"I missed you so much!" Jiang Qinqin hugged Wu Yuchen tightly, reluctant to let go. She took a deep breath in his arms and greedily inhaled his scent.

Wu Yuchen stroked Jiang Qinqin's soft hair: "Then stay here a little longer this time~"

Jiang Qinqin, nestled in her arms, nodded, feeling only at peace when he was there.

St. Vincent Island has a year-round temperature of 23-30 degrees Celsius and is very beautiful. With a gentle sea breeze, Jiang Qinqin, wearing a floral dress, is walking hand in hand with Wu Yuchen on the beach.

Even after finishing filming for the day, director Wu Yuchen is usually busy. He has to organize the footage, discuss the problems that arose during filming with various departments, communicate with department heads, and continuously adjust future filming plans based on the progress of filming.

However, with Jiang Qinqin here today, he naturally wants to make time to spend with the beautiful woman beside him.

Jiang Qinqin walked barefoot on the beach, letting the shallow seawater wash over her little feet: "The sea here is so beautiful!"

“No one is as beautiful as you,” Wu Yuchen said, holding Jiang Qinqin’s hand.

"You just say nice things to coax me~" Jiang Qinqin said, but a smile couldn't be hidden on her face. Then she couldn't help but ask:

"Honey, you've been filming for almost five months now, right? How much longer?"

Wu Yuchen sighed and said, "It's hard to say. If all goes well, it will be by the end of the year; if not, it might drag on until next year."

This time, the second and third installments of "The Pirate King" were filmed back-to-back. Although many scenes could be filmed together to save time, they are still two movies with a lot more content. In addition, "The Pirate King" is a truly big production, with the combined production cost of the two movies exceeding $5 million. How could they possibly film them quickly as they pleased?
And let's not forget, there's still a lot of special effects to be done. Although some of it is already underway, the completion time for the entire special effects production will definitely be later than filming. Considering all this, to get it released by next summer, there's really no time to lose.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qinqin couldn't help but cast a somewhat resentful glance at him. Although she could understand that Wu Yuchen was managing such a large project, which was exhausting and beyond his control, she still wanted him to spend more time with her.

Wu Yuchen smiled and put his arm around Jiang Qinqin's waist, then said, "How about you stay and keep me company until the end of the year?"

Jiang Qinqin gave a haughty snort: "I don't have that much free time!"

Wu Yuchen asked with a smile, "Oh, what's our Miss Qinqin up to these days? Tell me!"

Jiang Qinqin raised her chin and said, "You don't know, do you? Quite a few people have begged me to act in their movies! Big directors!"

"A big director? Is he as big as me?" Wu Yuchen chuckled softly.

Jiang Qinqin lightly slapped his hand in annoyance. "How many directors can compare to Wu Yuchen these days? He's already the undisputed number one director in Chinese-language cinema!"
Then Jiang Qinqin added with a touch of pride, "Chen Kaige! What do you think?"

What? Chen Kaige?
Wu Yuchen was genuinely a little surprised to hear this, and turned to look at Jiang Qinqin.

"Chen Kaige is looking for you? What are you filming?"

Seeing what Wu Yuchen had expected, Jiang Qinqin was quite satisfied and said with a smile:

"He said he's preparing to shoot a brand new fantasy action movie with a romantic love story, and he wants to invite me to be the female lead! A stunningly beautiful woman!"

A brand new dreamlike action film with romantic elements? A stunningly beautiful woman?

Is this some kind of reference to "The Promise"? Are they suggesting Jiang Qinqin play Qingcheng? What on earth is going on?

"You agreed?" Wu Yuchen asked hurriedly.

Seeing Wu Yuchen's slightly furrowed brows, Jiang Qinqin assumed he was unhappy and quickly shook her head: "No, I just told him I need to think about it. See, I've already come to you about this."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen immediately pulled Jiang Qinqin into his arms, gently tickling her ribs with both hands, and said with a smile, "Oh! So you didn't come here just to see me!"

Jiang Qinqin immediately pouted: "No way! I just mentioned it casually. If you don't like it, I'll reject it right away, is that alright?"

Seeing Jiang Qinqin's expression, Wu Yuchen gently stroked her nose: "I was just joking with you, why are you getting all upset?"

"I didn't get angry! I just came to see someone, and I was misunderstood..." Jiang Qinqin said, turning her head away.

"Okay, okay, I misunderstood you~" Wu Yuchen coaxed with a smile.

Jiang Qinqin gave a soft hum, still turning her head away.

Seeing this, Wu Yuchen simply reached out, cupped her face, and lowered his head to kiss her.

After a long while, their lips parted, and Wu Yuchen looked up and asked with a smile, "Has the misunderstanding been cleared up?"

Jiang Qinqin was slightly out of breath and didn't say anything.

Receiving no response, Wu Yuchen continued, "Not resolved? Then let's try again!"

Jiang Qinqin quickly blocked him with her hand: "It's off, it's off~"

Wu Yuchen smiled upon hearing this, and then continued to hold her hand as they strolled along in the gentle sea breeze.

He then asked as they walked, "Qinqin, do you want to accept Director Chen's invitation?" Jiang Qinqin paused for a moment, then asked Wu Yuchen in return, "Don't you want me to accept?"

Hearing her ask that, Wu Yuchen knew that she probably still wanted to continue.

Although netizens often make fun of Chen Kaizi in later generations, Kaizi's status in the industry has always been very high, and almost no actor in the Chinese-speaking world has refused his invitations.

However, Jiang Qinqin also knew that among the top directors in China, she definitely belonged to Wu Yuchen's faction. Given her relationship with Wu Yuchen, if she wanted to act in Kai Zi's movies, she would definitely have to consult with Wu Yuchen first.

However, Wu Yuchen was thinking about Chen Kaizi. What was he trying to do?

Knowing Chen Kaizi's previous behavior, although it wasn't outwardly obvious, Wu Yuchen could sense that he had been holding a grudge against him.

Since Wu Yuchen rose to prominence in the Chinese-speaking world, Chen Kaizi has never attended his movie premieres, even when invited. It's as if he's a king who doesn't want to meet another king, clearly treating him as a rival!
But now, Chen Kaizi, knowing full well about his close relationship with Jiang Qinqin, still invites her to be his leading lady. What kind of signal is he trying to send?
Is he... finally convinced?

Wu Yuchen didn't think that given the current situation, Chen Kaizi would do anything to disgust him by using Jiang Qinqin. The only explanation was that Chen Kaizi was showing goodwill towards Wu Yuchen.

However, Kai is a proud man who considers himself a leader in Chinese-language cinema. Asking him to swallow his pride and bow down to Wu Yuchen is simply impossible for him. He knows that Wu Yuchen is aware of his previous attitude towards him.

So now Chen Kaizi is using this action to show goodwill to Wu Yuchen. I've already given you the leading lady, isn't that enough to express my attitude?
Thinking of this, Wu Yuchen couldn't help but laugh. Kai Zi, in some ways, is really a proud old man!

Jiang Qinqin didn't know what Wu Yuchen was laughing at, but she heard him continue to ask the next moment:
"Qinqin, you can take on Director Chen's movie if you want, but you have to tell me what the story is about first, right? Is there a script? If it's good, I'll definitely support you!"

Upon hearing Wu Yuchen's words, Jiang Qinqin couldn't help but show a hint of joy. However, the next moment, she looked troubled: "Director Chen said that his script is not yet perfect. He just gave me a brief overview, but to be honest, I didn't quite understand it!"

Then, Jiang Qinqin told Wu Yuchen about Chen Kaige's descriptions: slaves, generals, goddesses, princes and princesses, little boys and little girls, steamed buns and desires, human nature and greed...

In short, even Jiang Qinqin herself felt it was a complete mess when she talked about it; she couldn't understand what was going on at all.

Wu Yuchen smiled and shook his head, then said:
"Putting everything else aside, from your perspective as the female lead, I guess—well, just my guess—that Director Chen probably wanted to tell the story of a poor girl named Qingcheng who meets a goddess and is told that she can have everything in the world, but only at the cost of her love. Faced with the choice between love and fate, Qingcheng goes through countless hardships, but ultimately loses everything."

Through your perspective, the film showcases the capriciousness of fate and the greatness of love, prompting viewers to reflect on the relationship between destiny and choice, and whether people should bravely pursue their true love.

"Huh? You can understand this?!" Jiang Qinqin stared wide-eyed at Wu Yuchen.

Then she couldn't help but hug Wu Yuchen's arm, looking at his face with admiration, and said, "Honey, you're amazing! No wonder you're a great director. I was completely confused after listening for so long! It seems my level is far behind. It's only you great directors who have a common language!"

Upon hearing Jiang Qinqin's words, Wu Yuchen couldn't help but chuckle.

However, Wu Yuchen then said to Jiang Qinqin, "Don't praise it yet. Let me tell you, I personally don't have high hopes for Director Chen's new movie."

"Why?" Jiang Qinqin asked, puzzled.

Wu Yuchen shook his head and sighed, "Leaving aside the issues of subsequent filming and technical aspects, just looking at the starting point and concept, Director Chen's ambition is too great!"

Seeing that Jiang Qinqin was still confused, Wu Yuchen continued to explain in detail: "I was only talking about it from the perspective of your character, but Director Chen's movie also has many other characters such as slaves, generals, princes, and goddesses."

Based on what Director Chen has told you, he wants to imbue each character with a certain depth and express a theme. However, he still hasn't come up with a logically coherent story that connects these characters and prevents their themes from conflicting. That's why you find it so confusing and hard to understand what he's trying to achieve.

Hearing Wu Yuchen say this, Jiang Qinqin understood a little: "You mean, Director Chen's script might fall apart?"

Wu Yuchen gave him an approving smile:

"Other films usually focus on one theme per film. Even a three-hour film like *Titanic* primarily explores love, with humanity and freedom as secondary themes. But Director Chen seems to be trying to do so much at once; his ambitions are a bit too big..."

Whether it will be a complete failure or not, I don't know, but he wants to create a story that incorporates all of these elements, which I think is going to be difficult!

Directors are creatures who generate countless ideas during the creative process. Most directors can't handle it all, so they choose to abandon the project and prioritize other elements. But how could Kai Zi, such a proud person, choose to give up? Absolutely not!

Jiang Qinqin always trusted Wu Yuchen's judgment and had no doubts whatsoever. Therefore, she now looked troubled: "Then, if that's the case, I guess I won't act. But how can I refuse Director Chen?"

Wu Yuchen said directly, "What's the big deal? Just refuse however you want, just say you don't want to act."

Jiang Qinqin said coquettishly, "Do you think I'm your Director Wu? I already said I'd considered it, and now you're turning around and refusing. You need to have a proper reason!"

Wu Yuchen smiled and shook his head. "Do you think they value your attitude? You're just a tool for conveying goodwill. What they really value is my attitude!"

I didn't even consider all that, but you're the one who's caught in the middle...

Just then, Jiang Qinqin seemed to suddenly remember something and smiled at Wu Yuchen, saying, "Honey, I've thought of a good reason. I'll just tell him I need to take your role and don't have time, so I'll have to turn him down!"

Then she hugged Wu Yuchen's arm, staring intently at his face with her big eyes: "Honey, what do you think of my reason?"

Wu Yuchen lowered his head slightly, looked at Jiang Qinqin, and then walked slowly forward, shaking his head as he went.

Jiang Qinqin followed, chasing after him and asking, "Honey, what do you think?"

Wu Yuchen shook his head and sighed, "Sigh, he's grown up! He's starting to play tricks on me!"

Jiang Qinqin's gaze drifted, then she asked innocently, "Honey, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

Wu Yuchen glanced at her with a smile: "Keep pretending, just keep pretending. But if you're pretending you don't understand, then I'll pretend I don't understand either!"

After hearing Jiang Qinqin's words, he finally understood. After going around in circles, she was using Chen Kaige's invitation to subtly point at him!

Look at the reasons she gave for rejecting the rich guy: she wanted to be the female lead in her own movie. That's practically a blatant hint!
(End of this chapter)