A meal is pretty much a gag.
Lin Yan tried to bring the topic to "The Darkest Choice", but Liang Sizhe always had a way to divert the topic. He is very handy in dealing with Yuji, and there is no need to say more about Lin Yan's clichés.
But Cao Ye was not in a hurry to get to the point, and he chatted with Liang Sizhe casually.
Lin Yan was anxious on the side. The emperor was not in a hurry for the eunuch, and he never thought that these words would fall on his head one day.
"It's useful again." He sent Cao Ye a message, then winked and motioned Cao Ye to look at his phone.
Cao Ye glanced at the screen of the mobile phone on the table, still gossiping with Liang Sizhe as usual.
The hints, both overt and covert, didn't work. Seeing that several rounds of Tai Chi had been beaten down, and the dinner was about to end, several people had already put their chopsticks away. Lin Yan had no choice but to put a trump card in front of Cao Ye: "Si Zhe, don't you know, the movie "Darkest Choice" may involve a billion-dollar gambling agreement."
When Liang Sizhe heard this, he really became interested, no longer diverted the topic, but bowed his head: "I heard something, so what's going on?"
"You let him speak for himself." Lin Yan turned his face towards Cao Ye.
"The company's listing is just a gambling agreement. It can only be said that the box office pressure of this film is a little bit bigger, but it is not realistic to count one billion on it."
Cao Ye didn't lie.
All the words about the "gambling agreement" on the Internet are actually a hundred and eighty thousand miles away from the truth. It is not the movie "Darkest Choice" that bears a billion-dollar gambling agreement, but the largest investor behind the scenes, Lomon Media.
It goes back three years, when Lomon was just starting out and ran into cash flow problems. There are two paths in front of the company: either financing, diluting the company's shares, or being acquired, backed by a big tree to enjoy the shade. Cao Ye chose the more adventurous and bolder third way and signed a gambling agreement with the Canis Group.
The content of the agreement is that the Janis Group will help Lomon to solve all the current financial problems. If Lomon is successfully listed with the signed market value after four years, Janis will use this part of the funds to become one of Lomon's shareholders and will not intervene in the future. Any internal affairs of Lomon, if the listing fails, Lomon will automatically be managed under the Canis Group.
"Janis?" Liang Sizhe raised his eyebrows when he heard these three words, "Your uncle is really not kind to you at all."
"What about business?" Cao Ye said in a normal tone, "He is also considerate to be benevolent and righteous."
In a gambling agreement, there is always one party that wins without losing.
As a well-known high-end catering group in China, under the iron fist management of Cao Ye's uncle Cao Xiuyan, Janis has become more and more prosperous in recent years.
Cao Xiuyan's ambition has not stopped, and he has taken aim at the domestic film market in recent years. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that his intention to acquire Lomon has a long history. At that time, Lomon was in trouble, and the first plan proposed by Cao Xiuyan was to invest in Janis and become Lomon's largest shareholder. Unfortunately, this plan was rejected by Cao Ye on the spot.
In fact, being acquired by Janis was not necessarily a bad thing for Lomon Media at that time or at this time. At that time, Lomon had abundant funds in the future and would never encounter the problem of capital turnover. Now, with the help of Garnis, Lomon's cinema expansion in various regions will be quite smooth. It would be much better, the road would be wider and smoother.
It's just that Cao Ye doesn't like it.
The reason is very simple and sufficient, because it is not free.
So this time too, he will not let Lomon Media easily fall into Janis' pocket.
"Actually, you could also find me at that time," Liang Sizhe's fingers pressed his chin to his chin and tapped twice, "Perhaps it wasn't as generous as your uncle, but the conditions I put forward will be much more forgiving than his.
Cao Ye smiled but not smiled: "What conditions are you going to put forward?"
Liang Sizhe leaned forward, lowered his voice, looked into Cao Ye's eyes and said, "As long as you ask me, I won't mention any conditions."
Cao Ye sneered: "How do you ask for the law?"
Liang Sizhe smiled, leaned back in the chair, raised his chin slightly and looked at him: "Zhao'er, you have to think for yourself, you can't keep your head still."
Cao Ye didn't appreciate it: "It's a pity that I can't think of this trick."
Seeing that the topic was about to turn to "Darkest Choice", the atmosphere between the two suddenly became strangely tense.
The momentum is not right, Lin Yan thought. He quickly brought the topic back to the right track: "It's all in the past, what's the point of saying this? Si Zhe, if you really want to help Cao Ye, hurry up and accept the movie "The Darkest Choice", and the rest, what do you say? It's all fake."
Cao Ye frowned and said, "Lin Yan." His tone was unpleasant, with a hint of warning.
Liang Sizhe pondered for a few seconds, and then quickly tapped several times with his bent fingers on the table: "So I'm the only one who can save this field now, isn't it?"
"Only you." Lin Yan said before Cao Ye.
Liang Sizhe looked at Cao Ye.
Cao Ye was noncommittal.
Liang Sizhe noticed that his eyes fell on his left hand, so he quickly spread his flexed fingers and placed them flat on the table. Only then did Cao Ye turn his gaze to his face.
"It seems that President Cao doesn't quite agree with it." Liang Sizhe said, "Can you answer a few questions for me?"
Cao Ye raised his chin towards him and motioned him to ask casually.
Liang Sizhe pondered for a moment, then raised his head and asked, "So the current situation is that, according to the agreement, next year will be the last year for Lomon and Janis to sign, isn't it?"
Cao Ye nodded: "Yes."
"If nothing happened to this movie, you'd expect it to hit a billion at the box office, wouldn't you?"
"This is the most ideal situation," Cao Ye thought about his words, but did not answer perfunctorily, "In fact, I don't think this film can carry such a large box office volume, but if you consider the schedule arrangement, early stage The publicity effect, the distribution scale in the mid-term, the word-of-mouth fermentation in the later period, and the performance of the film market in the same period, it is not impossible for a billion-dollar box office."
"Understood," Liang Sizhe nodded clearly, "I think Lomon won't only hold this card, after all, there is still more than a year. Let me guess, although Lomon has several cards in his hand, he can share the right The pressure of the gambling agreement, but "Darkest Choice" was cast by Lomon, and the production and publicity are mainly controlled by you, obviously before the accident, this is the card you value the most."
Cao Ye smiled: "You guessed it right."
"In other words, in this field, only I can save it now. At least this sentence should not be wrong in the current situation?"
Cao Ye said calmly: "You can say this."
"Then that's the case..." Liang Sizhe smiled at him, with a meaningful smile, "Please."
For a while, Cao Ye didn't speak, and the two looked at each other. Although Liang Sizhe always had a smile on his face, he obviously didn't intend to give in. The gazes looked at each other for no reason added a sense of confrontation.
Lin Yan, who was watching on the side, jumped in his temple, for fear that Cao Ye would say "you love me or not" in the next second. Just when he was about to propose "I beg you for me", Cao Ye suddenly laughed. : "Liang Sizhe, did you intend to repay your kindness like this?"
Liang Sizhe looked at him for three or two seconds, then smiled, and said, "Just kidding. I said I wanted to repay my gratitude, so I will consider this appointment carefully."
After this conversation between you and me, Lin Yan, who was on the sidelines, finally saw it: these two people, one is trying to get away with it, and the other is trying to refuse, so this three-person dinner on the surface has nothing to do with him at all. .
No wonder Cao Ye always looked calm. It turned out that Liang Sizhe would take over the film contract. Too bad I wanted to be a peacemaker in the first place.
In this case, he no longer forcibly shifted the topic to "Darkest Choice".
He didn't enjoy drinking too much, so he called the driver, had two drinks with Cao Ye, chatted a few times, and withdrew after a while.
After this meal, Lin Yan's impression of Liang Sizhe was really not very good. He took over the film and television business of the family business for only two years, and he has not had in-depth cooperation with Liang Sizhe.
The previous meeting at other banquet occasions was nothing more than a nodding acquaintance. At that time, I had a pretty good impression of him, and I didn't understand why there were always people saying that Liang Sizhe didn't seek the favor of the capital.
Now it can be understood that in a normal dinner, the actor has to apologize to the management, and in front of Liang Sizhe, the status of the two sides has dropped - to be honest, Lin Yan has never had such a suffocating dinner.
It's just that all circles pay attention to irreplaceability. This is especially true of the circle they are in.
Today's Chinese film industry is not short of rich and powerful capital, but in any case, Liang Sizhe is indispensable.
The audience will not agree, and the directors will not agree.
What Cao Xiuyuan said eight years ago is still valid today - "He is the dream of all directors and a gift from the creator to the screen."
There is also a saying that is widely circulated: "The actor who does Liang Sizhe's job is God rewarding him with food."
Liang Sizhe naturally has his own set of contacts and rules of doing things. Otherwise, this circle will not tolerate him being so ignorant.
Take an incident from the previous year as an example. A film and television company paid a high price to invite a senior and respected screenwriter to come out. The first request made by the well-known thorn-head screenwriter in the industry was that the protagonist should be played by Liang Sizhe. Otherwise, the matter is not negotiable.
However, Liang Sizhe only received at most two film contracts within a year, so this project has not yet started.
Probably because screenwriter He Chen and actor Liang Sizhe's partner are too tempting, so the producers are willing to wait.
Lin Yan got up and said to leave, but the other two didn't want to continue the stall.
"Have you called the driver?" Lin Yan stood up, looked at Cao Ye and asked, "Why don't you come with me and call the driver tomorrow to drive the car back."
Cao Ye's drinking capacity is not very good. After a few glasses of red wine, he was already a little drunk. He waved his hand to send Lin Yan: "Who knows where you will throw me." Drunk, Lin Yan said that he was going to take him home, but he went away happily halfway, and threw him in his gay bar. When Cao Ye woke up, he opened his eyes and looked at a man with heavy makeup who was staring at him, almost dropping his jaw. Since that time, Cao Ye never dared to let Lin Yan send him back.
Lin Yan smiled and said, "Don't worry, this time I will send you home safe and sound."
Cao Ye was about to say something when the phone on the table vibrated, and a call came in.
Lin Yan glanced at the word "Lin Huan" on the screen, and smiled meaningfully: "Yo, it seems that I really don't need to send it, then I'll go, have a nice spring night." After saying that, he didn't forget to say hello to Liang Sizhe, "Si Zhe, waiting for your news."
Liang Sizhe was holding up a water glass to drink water, and when he heard the words, he raised the glass to him vainly, probably meaning "relax your heart".
Cao Ye picked up his mobile phone and connected the call. He didn't seem to want to avoid Liang Sizhe.
Lin Huan's voice came from the phone, a little charming and a little soft: "Cao Ye, are you eating at Su Thirty?"
"how do you know?"
"It happened that I was there, and I was just about to leave, Su Tang told me." Su Tang is the proprietress of this private restaurant. Almost all the big and small coffees who come to eat here have some friendship with her. Lin Huan continued, "You are here. Which private room, should I go to you for a drink?"
"You really want to come?" Cao Ye leaned back on the chair and glanced at Liang Sizhe, "Su Tang didn't tell you that Liang Sizhe was also there?"
Lin Huan laughed a few times on the phone: "Okay, I know you don't want me to go there."
Cao Ye said indifferently: "I didn't say that, you can come if you want."
"That's fine, I'm afraid you'll be unhappy," Lin Huan changed the subject, "Do you have any other appointments tonight?"
"No," Cao Ye asked knowingly, playing with the cup in his hand, "what's the matter?"
"What do you think?" The end note is upturned, and the provocative meaning is self-evident.
The words implied that, if Cao Ye didn't respond again, it was equivalent to a showdown with Lin Huan. But he didn't have this plan for the time being. After thinking about it, he said, "Then wait for me, I can't drive after drinking. Go back to your car."
"Okay~ I'll wait for you." After Lin Huan finished speaking, he hung up the phone.
Cao Ye put the phone back on the table and drank the half glass of red wine left in the wine glass.
"Is it Lin Huan?" Liang Sizhe looked at him with interest and asked, "Does she want to come?"
"Do you want her to come?" Cao Ye asked rhetorically.
Liang Sizhe touched his chin: "It's not bad to sit down and have a drink. We haven't seen each other for a long time."
"Didn't you take disulfiram?" Cao Ye asked.
"I'll give my life to accompany you." Liang Sizhe looked at him and smiled.
"Really?" Cao Ye raised his eyebrows and said, "It's a pity that she refused to come."
"That's really a pity," Liang Sizhe said, but there was no hint of regret in his tone. He smiled and stood up, "I'm leaving too, and I wish you a happy spring evening."
Liang Sizhe took his coat and was about to go out. He held the door handle and opened the door. Cao Ye suddenly called out from behind and stopped him, "Liang Sizhe."
Liang Sizhe stopped in his footsteps and turned his face to look at Cao Ye: "Huh?"
"That appointment, it doesn't matter if you don't accept it."
"How to say?"
"I just want to remind you that Cao Xiuyuan may not appreciate it when you repay your kindness to me."
When Liang Sizhe heard this, he laughed, and when he spoke again, his voice seemed to be a little deeper than before: "What about you, Cao Ye, will you appreciate it?" After speaking, without waiting for Cao Ye's reaction, he opened the door. Step out.
A few steps away from the hotel, Liang Sizhe put on his coat and pulled up the hood of his hoodie, covering most of his face.
As soon as he came out, the paparazzi squatting and waiting on the edge of the parking lot heard the wind and raised the camera towards him, and a silent and dense flash quickly lit up above the lens.
Seeing Liang Sizhe walking towards the Maybach, a few people quickly trotted towards the van behind them, preparing for the car to follow for a while.
"Hello." Liang Sizhe suddenly turned around and stopped them.
A few people were found to be secretly filming, but they didn't feel panic, but turned around to greet him—some of them had been photographing Liang Sizhe for many years, and they could be said to be experienced. Sir, does the nightlife end so early tonight?"
"Yeah," Liang Sizhe's tone was not annoyed, but it was commonplace to talk to an old friend, "Don't follow, there will be no news tonight, go to bed early."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and continued walking towards the parking lot. He also raised an arm and waved twice at the paparazzi with his back facing away.
The paparazzi who were in the same place looked at each other in dismay, and no one shouted, "Follow, what are you doing standing there stupidly?!" The rest of the people reacted immediately and ran towards the van quickly.
Just as they opened the door to get into the car, the Maybach drove past smoothly with a dull accelerator. After a tail flick, it disappeared in an instant, leaving only the choking car exhaust in the air.
The author says:
Interview transcript:
Reporter: Mr. Liang, there is news on the Internet that you recently drove a Maybach. Do you really have the legendary A1 driver's license
Liang Sizhe: Yes.
Reporter: Uh... Did you take the test yourself
Liang Sizhe: Otherwise
Reporter: Why did you think of taking the A1 driver's license test
Liang Sizhe: Because I want to drive a Maybach~
Reporter (stunned): Oh... so...
Liang Sizhe (laughs): Do you really believe it? The truth is that Liang Yingdi has acted as a truck driver, and there will be some scenes in the back of this movie... Therefore, Liang Yingdi will not be taken away by the traffic police, he is a Yingdi with an A1 driver's license!