Chapter 1650
Exceeding Standards
Upon returning to the mainland, I first visited Shanghai.
In a small 50-square-meter office, the three otaku men signed an investment agreement.
At the same time as signing, Zhang Yuan made the payment on the spot.
These people exclaimed how generous he was, and were almost moved to tears.
From barely having enough to eat, they suddenly had plenty of ammunition.
What the others didn't know was that it wasn't because he was particularly generous; 200 million was simply not a large sum for him.
"I asked someone to buy some gifts."
Zhang Yuan asked his assistant to get three gift bags from the car.
"Here, one for each of you."
"Wow!" The group exclaimed in surprise after pulling the items out of the bag.
Zhang Yuan bought some of the latest and trendiest tech products as gifts to address the specific needs of the recipients.
Each person received a pair of Google Glass.
This thing is technically called Google Project Glass, but it's commonly known as Google Glass.
Although it wasn't the first, it's the most well-known AR glasses device.
Those born later in life may not even know about this thing.
Tears of an era.
500-megapixel camera, capable of shooting 720p video, bone conduction headphones, supports Bluetooth and WIFI.
It can connect to various Android devices, including smartphones.
It can also be controlled by blinking and voice.
Zhang Yuan obtained the second-generation product, which also features compatibility with both sunglasses and prescription glasses lenses.
Because the first generation was a laboratory product, it was never publicly released.
This second-generation product is not sold in China.
Only core users who paid a full deposit early on can purchase it.
The price is $1500, not including any accessories.
$1500 is worth a lot of money now; how many people in China earn over 10,000 yuan a month?
He bought these paintings as original secondhand items for an extra $500.
There are scalpers in North America too.
This thing was touted as something amazing back then, with claims that the future had arrived.
Tech bloggers both at home and abroad are enthusiastically praising it, believing that this is the future technological path.
In a few years, cell phones will be replaced by glasses.
Google itself is very confident and is treating it as its number one project.
The CEO firmly stated that they will continue to update and upgrade the product.
Then... he died a few years later.
The same situation occurred later when Apple developed its own head-mounted headset.
And it wasn't just these two companies; in the 90s, Nintendo also developed a gaming peripheral called Virtual Boy, which was considered the gaming industry's first attempt at virtual reality technology.
Dead. Utterly dead.
Sony also had a VR project, but it failed.
No matter which major company it is, whether in Asia or the Americas, all those who have ever made a big splash in AR or VR have failed.
Ultimately, it's a niche product.
Perhaps in a few decades, materials, chips, and batteries will have advanced to unimaginable levels, and this thing will become mainstream.
But not now.
The only use Zhang Yuan could think of was wearing it to shoot some first-person videos and then watching them in first-person perspective.
It's very immersive.
If Teacher Chen had been exposed a few years later...
Whether it's useful or not, these otaku were overjoyed when they received it.
I immediately took a photo with him.
Zhang Yuan stood in the middle, surrounded by three strange guys who looked like they had stepped out of "Dragon Ball" and were wearing power level testing devices.
And those who can change the world are often these strange guys.
I flew back to the capital and locked the contract in a safe.
I pulled out a bunch of yarn from my bedroom closet and started knitting to clear my head.
Before I could even get started, I was called to a company meeting.
Preparing for the IPO is a huge undertaking, and we can't afford to relax.
After being tormented by financial planning for several days, I finally received some good news.
Zhang Shaohan called him personally to express her gratitude and to inform him that she had met with her parents, accompanied by a lawyer.
The other party, accompanied by a group of relatives, demanded that the younger brother return to the family and never mention leaving the family again.
She agreed and requested the return of some of her cash assets, while also unconditionally giving her mother an apartment in downtown Taipei to live in.
The other party must not harass them further, nor spread rumors in the media, and is even prohibited from giving interviews.
Once these requirements are met, she will pay each of her parents NT$100 million annually for retirement.
However, the other party cannot interfere with her career, nor has the right to inherit any of her future property.
The two sides reached a settlement.
Zhang Shaohan has not completely escaped her family of origin, because no one can completely escape it.
At least it brought temporary peace.
After settling her family affairs, she can come to the mainland to sign a contract with him.
"You should contact our company's Manager Yang, Manager Jia, and Teacher Huang to handle these matters."
"They will send me the contract, and I will sign it."
"However, I'm not in the country right now, see you later."
He also had to rush to Hollywood.
Although he had only recently left, having just finished filming "G.I. Joe".
But now he has to participate in another film project.
He has to be there for "Fast & Furious 6" to start filming.
The films have already been sold; it wouldn't be right not to make them.
First, we'll meet at the Universal Studios photography studio.
"Hi, we meet again."
As soon as he arrived, a thick, dark arm was draped over his shoulder.
“Yes.” Zhang Yuan looked at the boulder and bumped fists with it.
This is the third film they've collaborated on.
Boulder is a very sociable person with a good personality.
The two walked arm in arm, chatting as they went.
"Hey, you two seem to get along really well." Gadot arrived early.
He was holding a girl with a pink bow in her hair, and a middle-aged man was standing next to him holding a toy.
It was clearly her daughter and husband.
Zhang Yuan stepped forward to greet his fellow travelers.
Paul arrived shortly afterward, and the group gathered together to chat about their recent lives.
Those who consider themselves big shots must appear last.
When Vin Diesel, who had gained even more weight, arrived, he stepped down from the ultra-luxury RV, took off his sunglasses, and his expression darkened.
He noticed that a group of the film crew's lead actors were chatting and laughing around Zhang Yuan.
Everyone's surrounding him, so what am I?
After Justin Lin and the producer arrived, they held a brief meeting and distributed the latest version of the live script, marking the changes.
We will have a script reading tomorrow, and everyone can provide feedback before filming begins to check the parts that need to be revised.
"Gadot, I'm so sorry."
After the meeting, Zhang Yuan gave Gadot a generous hug.
Because in this part of the story, her character Giselle will "die".
It's only a temporary death.
After all, as long as capital wants to make money, it will find all sorts of reasons to pull you out of your coffin.
Starting with this film, the Fast & Furious series entered a new vicious cycle.
That's just filming for the sake of filming.
Universal Pictures saw that this play was so profitable that they started using it as a mass-produced product.
The design of opposing forces began to follow a formulaic pattern.
The main characters' team has been upgraded from a group of motorcycle thieves to "external experts" in a special department.
This is actually quite unreasonable.
Previously it was all about thieves fighting thieves, but now the main characters have been redeemed. What's going on?
And fictional high-tech equipment began to appear, increasingly resembling Mission: Impossible.
It actually lost some of its original unique flavor. It's like a Sichuan meal suddenly becoming too business-like.
In addition, starting from the fourth installment, they adopted the formula of "dying" one of the main characters in each movie.
Lady Gilligan, the female lead in the fourth installment, is gone.
Vince, the protagonist's best friend in the fifth movie, is gone.
Giselle is doomed in the sixth installment.
If the same formula is used too many times, the audience will get tired of it.
Then they all came back in a row to revive, which made it even more tedious.
Zhang Yuan could also tell that Justin Lin was not satisfied with the script.
But they still have to film in order to make money.
Especially during the script design stage, Universal required him to make long-term plans and leave room for sequels from the script design stage.
This is how the character Xiao and his family came to be.
Later, in a nested fashion, the villain Cypher was introduced behind the Shaw brothers.
These are still within Lin Yibin's plans.
Later, they added two villains: Don's little brother and the son of the drug lord in the fifth movie, as well as sequel content, and the plot and action design became more and more exaggerated.
They went to great lengths to make money.
In Zhang Yuan's view, the peak of this series is the fifth and seventh installments.
The rest was just about making money by forcing jobs when there were none available.
"Looks like I'll have to find a new job," Gadot said helplessly.
For her now, as long as she has roles to play, especially big productions, she doesn't care if they're bad or not.
The character's death was a last resort; she had no power to resist.
“Maybe I can offer you a new job right now.” Zhang Yuan patted her back and then let go of her arm.
"However, there are some conditions."
"My daughter and husband are still here," the woman said softly, raising her eyebrows.
Zhang Yuan: ...
That would be even more exciting... No, wait!
"What I mean is, I have a movie here."
“You can act in it, but the pay won’t be too high, and the role won’t be too big.”
"Of course, it won't take up too much of your schedule."
"And you can work with Keanu Reeves."
"Wow!" Gadot exclaimed, nodding vigorously.
“Interesting, continue.”
The job he was referring to was the "John Wick" project.
Those familiar with the first season of this show know the plot.
Wick's home is broken into by the son of a Russian gangster who steals his beloved Mustang and also kicks to death the dog his deceased wife gave him.
He then returned to the martial world to exact his revenge.
The young master's father knew John and had worked with him before, so he was well aware of his abilities.
He first arranged for a group of his own men to protect his son, but after that failed, he gave John's old friend a bounty, asking him to kill John.
The old friend did not carry out the plan and was not killed by the gang leader.
The gang leader had no choice but to issue a public bounty in order to save his own life.
For money, hitmen will do anything.
There was a female assassin who knew John, Miss Platinum, who secretly accepted the mission.
They also launched a sneak attack inside a hotel in mainland China.
Of course, the male lead is more skilled.
This female assassin violated the principle of the Mainland Hotel being an absolutely safe zone and was subsequently surrounded and killed by the High Table.
Platinum Silk is considered the female lead, but gender is not important in this play.
The actor must be able to fight; otherwise, close-quarters combat scenes cannot be filmed.
With a limited budget, we can't hire actors who are too expensive.
Zhang Yuan knew that the blame would originally fall on Adelina.
That's the blonde lady from G.I. Joe.
But given that she not only craved my body, but also forced me to taste several bites.
Although my body felt great, I was very unhappy.
Therefore, Zhang Yuan decided to use his power as an investor to reject the casting.
It would be better to do Gadot a favor.
She's not expensive now, and her only notable work is "Fast & Furious," where she played a supporting role.
She's good at fighting, has a great image and presence on camera, so playing an assassin wouldn't be a problem for her.
"Really?" Gadot was incredulous after hearing his words.
Good things happen as soon as we meet.
It's not easy to have a job.
But for Zhang Yuan, this level of work was something he could easily arrange.
The life and death of young actors are as easily manipulated by him as an ant.
I took some time to visit a local real estate agent in Los Angeles to inquire about land and house prices in the surrounding area.
I still have a lot of investment dividends in my account in North America. I haven't spent my salary and subsequent film revenue. It's several million dollars. I can't just leave it in the bank to wait for it to grow.
A well-known local Chinese agent gave him a large amount of information.
Several high-priced luxury residential areas were highlighted.
There are also emerging residential areas worth investing in.
The following evening, the governor, now the former governor, treated everyone to dinner.
Vin Diesel was his little brother, and The Rock and others were considered to have paid their respects to him.
Zhang Yuan went along with them, as did Sylvester Stallone, to celebrate how much money "The Expendables 2" had made.
My brother is already planning to film a third installment and asked him if he'd be interested in participating again.
"Forget it, I've had enough of playing supporting roles," Zhang Yuan replied bluntly.
"Haha, our Asian friends are getting more and more ambitious," Stallone joked.
"The main reason is that I don't have time. I have several films in China that I star in that are scheduled for release."
“I don’t have time for small roles.” He spoke more and more directly.
Even in front of these Hollywood bigwigs.
Damn it, once the company goes public, who will be the boss is still anyone's guess.
"But if you two invite me to make a cameo appearance, and it doesn't take up too much of my time, I'm fine with it."
We still have to give face to those with seniority.
He then pulled out some real estate documents.
"Hey Arnold, can you help me see where there are good investment opportunities?"
This man was formerly the governor of California, and Los Angeles is his home base; no one knows the place better than him.
Find a local to take a look.
The Terminator, with a cigar between his fingers, squinted at the documents before pulling a pair of reading glasses from his pocket.
Time waits for no one.
"These places are all good, except for the high prices."
"Sufficient police force, complete facilities, and potential for appreciation."
Zhang Yuan nodded.
Then they pulled out an advertisement for the new community.
Because it's new, it's cheap.
It's relatively inexpensive and has great potential for future promotion.
"what about this?"
The governor glanced at it a few more times.
"This place is nice."
"That's good."
“There’s just one minor flaw.” The governor took off his glasses and looked at him.
"What's the problem? Is there a dispute over land ownership, or is the area planning poor?"
The site is located in a relatively quiet suburb of Los Angeles.
"No, no, no, it's not the problems you're talking about."
"That is?"
The governor calmly told him.
"It's just that this plot of land has slightly excessive nuclear radiation."
Zhang Yuan: ... (End of Chapter)