billion box office tycoon

Smokey blue sky, misty drizzle.

A young woman holding an oil-paper umbrella is walking slowly on the bank of a small river with weeping willows and willows. Her moon-white cheongsam perfectly highlights her exquisite body, forming a poetic scene with that beautiful face that hides sadness. Picturesque scene.

"Card--"

A rude yell to stop instantly destroyed the beauty and tranquility of this scene, and everyone's eyes involuntarily fell on the man who had been standing next to the photographic equipment, with his arms crossed and his face full of displeasure.

It was a mature man in his forties, with a face not inferior to that of a movie star, but dressed very casually, wearing crumpled casual clothes with a pair of flip flops, messy hair, bearded face, not thin Looking at his face, he is no different from a tramp.

But such a decadent person, who is as decadent as a beggar on the street, is Ye Ci, the chief director of the movie "Returning at Night from the Sea", which cost a huge investment and production.

Speaking of Ye Ci, almost everyone is unfamiliar with this name, especially now that Xiao Xianrou has frequently changed dynasties and the public is tired of aesthetics.Not to mention a little-known behind-the-scenes director, even the stars who are often active on the TV screen, there are many people who cannot be named by the public.

Ye Ci himself is also very self-aware. He is not even as famous as the third-rate young directors in China, so he has long been prepared for various situations on the set.

For example, this scene of less than 10 seconds has been repeated dozens of times.

From 6am to 9am.

Yeats believed that the reason was the actress, but no one on set seemed to agree with him, calling back Kaka, he received countless silent complaints.

Ye Ci, who had been standing for 3 hours without taking a break, also felt tired. If the rain hadn't come in time and saved the artificial scenery, he would have skipped this shoot a long time ago.

The actress on the bridge had long been unable to control her negative emotions because of shouting cards many times. Seeing Ye Ci staring at her unblinkingly, she couldn't help but stare back angrily, then turned and walked down the bridge.

The actress's unauthorized departure seemed to have pressed a tacit switch on the set, and everyone seemed to have received an order to rest, and relaxed on their own initiative.

"Director Ye...Look..." Assistant director Zhang Feng walked towards Ye Ci with an embarrassing expression on his face. Ye Ci also understood what he was saying, and he was trying to persuade him not to be so serious and let it go.

Zhang Feng's resume is much more appealing than Ye Ci's. He has participated in countless large-scale production films. Although he has served as the chief director for a few times, the first-line big names he has worked with are no less than the most prestigious directors in China. .

Compared with his resume, what is even more rare is that he is kind and friendly. Facing Ye Ci, a chief director who can be said to be his junior, he did not take Joe at all.

"Then let's have a rest." Ye Ci waved at the other party indifferently.

Although the investors paid a lot of money, and the filming location is even located in a national reserve with beautiful mountains and rivers, it is also subject to many restrictions. Even the toilets are temporary and simple sheds, and there is no distinction between men and women.

Ye Ci only had to go to the toilet, and he heard all kinds of guesses and comments about him from the people outside the door.

"What is the origin of Director Ye? Why have I never heard of such a person in the circle?"

"You don't care too much about gossip, don't you? Even if he was originally penniless, the media has already exposed his past experience with this big-budget movie he is leading now, and the gossip section of Tianya Forum is also popular with him. post!"

"I'll go, is the person inside constipated or fell into a cesspit?! Damn it! You won't come out for a long time!" The man stared impatiently at the closed door, wishing he could go up and kick it.

"Forget it, it's boring to wait anyway, so I'll tell you about it." The man took out a cigarette case from his trouser pocket, handed one to the other party, and talked about Yeats' "black history" amidst the lingering smoke.

"It sounds like Ye Ci has a rough fate. He came from a serious class. He was jointly recommended by three famous directors, Lu Jin, Chen Weisen, and Meng Dahai, to the students of Huaxia Film and Television Academy. The film recruitment was recorded in the director department, and the script created in the student days was taken by Director Lu Jin to shoot, that is Director Lu's masterpiece "Cooking Smoke", and it has won several awards abroad."

While listening to the corner of the wall, Ye Ci returned the escaped bird to its cage.

"Damn it! So he wrote the script of "Cooking Smoke"?!"

"Not only that, but have you heard of a movie called "Unstoppable"?"

"...The name is strange, I don't think I've heard of it before."

""Can't Stop" is a low-budget literary film with sensitive themes. It was never released in China. It's normal for you not to know. I didn't know before I read Tian Ya's post. This film has not made waves in China. But it has won several awards abroad, and was nominated for the top [-] best films in the world."

"Fuck! Is this related to Yeats?!"

"It's irrelevant why I mention this movie? This movie is his graduation film shot by himself. Even the actors are all classmates he recruited from the academy. The investment is pitifully small, and he paid for it himself. That's it. His films can win awards, and many people’s glasses were broken at that time, and they were also highly praised in China. If he continues to develop like that at that time, he will have become a famous director long ago.”

"Then why is it mixed up like this now?"

"I'm not sure about this. Tianya's post said that he seems to have killed someone. Someone released him on bail. He disappeared abroad for more than ten years and only recently returned to China. You said that he hasn't released a single work for so many years. And Who remembers him?"

"……kill?!"

"Some people say that he has unspoken rules..."

Hearing this, Ye Ci couldn't bear to push the toilet door open.

The two people who were gossiping outside the door were caught off guard, and their faces looked astonished.

"Can you gossip farther away? How embarrassing to be bumped into by the person involved?" Ye Ci's face was full of displeasure, and then he washed his hands in the strange silence where everyone stopped abruptly, and left as if nothing had happened.

After an afternoon of repeatedly NGing, this long shot of only 10 seconds was finally passed. Not to mention the resentful people, even Ye Ci heaved a sigh of relief.

Just as he was about to copy the shooting content back, an unexpected phone call disrupted all his next plans.

"What?! Temporary channel change?" Ye Ci's hand holding the phone was a little unsteady, and his heart kept falling with the words of the other party.

"Yes, this is the intention reached at the meeting between the investor and the company yesterday. You need to come to the company to discuss the specific matters." The female voice on the other end of the phone is sweet and polite, but with chilling news.

"I see." Ye Ci replied calmly, after being at a loss at the beginning, he had already begun to calm down.

Since you have spoken so bluntly, going or not going will not change the outcome of the matter.

However, he still had to go, because he wanted to know who had the ability to make investors and the company change overnight the candidate who had been carefully decided after several votes.

Xingchenguang Film and Television Company is a one-stop entertainment company that integrates signing artists, investing in film and television drama shooting and distribution, and is the leading entertainment giant in China.

But compared to its reputation in the industry, the headquarters building where it is located is an unremarkable ordinary commercial building with a total of [-] floors. Those who think the elevator stops slowly can even try to climb the stairs.

Ye Ci's destination was on the highest floor, so naturally he would not choose to climb the stairs.

There was only one conference room on the sixteenth floor, which wasn't too big and didn't have any extra coverings, so that Ye Ci saw the man standing by the window at first sight.

"Long time no see." The man smiled slightly at Ye Ci, his clean white shirt and gold-rimmed glasses added an elite air to him.

"It really is you." When Ye Ci saw that familiar face after so many years, he couldn't tell what it was like for a moment. He suddenly understood the ups and downs of recent times, and also felt that it was fulfilled as expected. .

He came back from abroad without notice, but immediately received an invitation to shoot a hot big-budget movie. In the highly competitive selection of the chief director, he was favored by the largest share of investors, and he defeated many famous domestic directors to win this film. Opportunity, but what surprised him was that the preparatory work for the film, which was heavily invested in, was extremely difficult. Everything from actor selection to cultural filing was full of variables. Just when he had been running around for nearly a year preparing for this, Less than half a month after starting up, I received this playful call.

Ye Ci thought it was just a small bump caused by his not being in this industry for too long, but he didn't know that all of this was secretly manipulated.

Maybe he already sensed the danger in the dark, but he fought for this one-in-a-million possibility without hesitation.

"Have you been doing well in country A these years? Why didn't you tell your old acquaintances when you returned home? I have to find you in person." The man walked slowly towards Ye Ci from the window, with a gentle expression and a familiar smile.

"How about it, are you satisfied with this gift after returning to China?"

Ye Ci didn't speak, he watched the other party quietly, staring at the man who held the "power of life and death" that he had painstakingly worked on at this time.

"Where's your proud sense of humor? You can't even smile at me?"

The man didn't take Ye Ci's non-response seriously. He knew that Ye Ci would definitely not be better off than him, and he was more aware of the lethality of the next words.

"That's right, my younger brother was also a classmate with you anyway. He didn't make a lover, but the friendship between classmates is still there. You can still laugh at his death day, so you are not a human being."

"He jumped off the building for you, if you even forget the date of his death, how can you make a movie with so much love and righteousness?"

This sentence made Ye Ci uncontrollably think of the difficult past, the young face similar to the man in front of him, the picture of calling him down to play basketball in the teaching building full of history, and the last scene ... Most of his face was soaked in glaring blood stains, a pair of eyes that were scattered but persistent and refused to close.

What was he doing at that moment?

Ye Ci recalled it in a daze, as if... as if...

No, I can't think about it anymore!

From the student days in his teens and 20s to the down-and-out middle age in his 40s, the best time of his life was ruined. The price he paid was heavy enough. He couldn't spend the rest of his life trapped in that passing away. Nearly 20 years of nightmares.

"Sorry, goodbye."

Ye Ci said the second sentence he came in, turned around and was about to leave.

"Heh." A chuckle came from behind Ye Ci, with obvious sarcasm.

"I knew that it would be foolish to expect you to feel guilty, so I will tell you one thing, hoping to awaken your conscience that was eaten by dogs."

Ye Ci didn't stop, on the contrary, he walked faster, because he knew that with that man's means, he would not be able to walk out of the company's building with peace of mind.

"Do you still remember that eight years ago, your sister became a vegetative state because of a car accident with brain damage, and you took her to country A for recuperation. After finally inviting Andrew, an authoritative heart and brain expert, to consult, she was absent a few hours before the operation for some reason, resulting in Your sister died in an operation that had a 60 percent failure rate."

"To tell you clearly, I gave Andrew a sum of money."

"That feeling is very painful, just like I did at the beginning."

"Don't look at me like that, I'm not a murderer like you, I just asked Andrew to operate on another patient who needed him that day, it was just an accident, not intentional, just like you stood by my brother that day Beside his body, he said to me in a panic with tears streaming down his face, "Brother Tang, I didn't know he would jump off the building, I didn't know..."

Ye Ci listened to the man's devil-like words with cold hands and feet, and the picture in front of him began to become distorted and wobbly.

"Ye Ci, your expression is so pretty." The man laughed wantonly.

Ye Ci felt the heat rising, his limbs trembled slightly uncontrollably, he even heard the sound of blood boiling in his body, it seemed as if the years of depression and forbearance were about to erupt completely today, and there seemed to be someone in his head who kept clamoring "Kill!" killed him."

Yes, kill him.

If you kill him, you can get back that obscure and precious time.

Killing him will take back my sister's life from the god of death.

Killing him... will prevent the starting point of the nightmare from happening again...

The man was about to take out the cigarette case, and he was enjoying Ye Ci's face full of pain in a relaxed way, but the other party rushed over and punched his glasses crookedly.

"Are you finally willing to give up your life? Well, then I'll let you go." The man smiled contemptuously, and a ruthless look flashed in his eyes under the glasses.

The man threw away the crooked glasses, and inadvertently escaped an attack from Yeats.

"Let me teach you what fighting is." The man smiled viciously, and as soon as he stretched out his long legs, he tripped Ye Ci to the ground, and his expensive leather shoes stepped on Ye Ci's soft abdomen, crushing heavily.

"Does it hurt?" The man asked with a smile. He squinted his eyes to admire Ye Ci's childlike skill no matter how he struggled, and rolled up his sleeves gracefully.

"It's definitely not painful enough, great director, let me show you the true meaning of pain, it's much more practical than you making a bad movie to teach the meaning of life."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Ci felt a sharp pull on his scalp, tingling pain and dizziness at the same time, and before he could see clearly what was in front of him, there was a violent impact and pain on his head.

"The legs of this table are really hard enough to not be crooked by your dog's head."

The man clicked his tongue regretfully, and mercilessly pushed Ye Ci's head against the table leg again.

One, two, three...

Ye Ci had long since given up struggling, and stared blankly at the top with his half-opened eyes, warm blood continuously flowed down from the top of his forehead, slid over his cracked eyebrows, broken bridge of nose and mouth with missing teeth...

The pain has long been numb, on the contrary, he now feels better than ever.

Because he saw that the cold reality was no longer in front of him, but a soft white light, which enveloped him, like the flicking and falling of feathers, warm and serene...