The meeting with Mickey Kante ended at seven o'clock in the evening.

Seeing off the other party, Simon did not go upstairs, turned around and came to the hall on this floor used to hold the cocktail party, and still chose a sofa by the glass window to sit down.

It overlooks most of New York.

It's already in full bloom.

The rows of urban buildings are densely inlaid with large areas of lights of different brightness and hue, like an inverted sea of stars.

Suddenly I felt like a fish.

Fish ashore.

Just like the one I read in my previous life, the fish that went ashore was no longer a fish.

These days, every time Simon meets with people, the most frequently asked question is why he wants to go to China. Or, to be more precise, why bring a large number of executives from the Westeros system to China?

Because everyone understands that Simon's doing this is actually equivalent to standing up for China's economy. A super-rich man standing at the top of the world's wealth clearly expresses his optimism about China's economy, and the effect achieved by capital's pursuit of profit is more effective than the Chinese government's 100 times of reform and opening up.

Simon Westeros is bullish on China and is investing heavily, so why shouldn't anyone else follow suit, or who thinks they're more profitable than Westeros?

It is conceivable that this visit can almost be used as a new starting point for China's economy.

However, in the minds of most Western elites, China certainly cannot rise, just as Japan is not allowed to rise. Because everyone knows that the resources of this world are not unlimited, and if others are strong, it may mean that they are weaker. What's more, there are deeper considerations such as skin color, race, and so on.

So a lot of people really don't understand.

Even if Simon is very optimistic about China's economic prospects, there is no need to be so obvious about low-key investment. With the current size of the Westeros system, the various concessions given by China for Simon's visit can only be regarded as small favors. If a true Westerner is in Simon's position, he may not even look at it.

A waitress walked lightly, handed a cup of coffee, hesitated for a moment, and saw that her boss did not respond, so she had to retreat quietly.

Simon held the warm coffee in his hand, his eyes still looking out the window, but the book was remembered again in his mind.

The actor with a bumpy fate is the fish that came ashore.

Before leaving, he refused to swear allegiance to humanity because he had not experienced any joy, happiness, or love in his short life, and therefore he did not recognize his responsibility to humanity. However, at the end of the story, he still took a huge risk to leave three fairy tales for the earth that implied a way out for humanity.

Now, Simon is equivalent to giving a set of curvature engines directly.

In comparison, he could have asked for more, but Simon didn't do it. Just like the three film industry reform clauses that Mickey Kanter has just been instructed, if China can do it, it will benefit more from the Chinese film industry, which has been in the doldrums to the extreme. As for financial technology and other aspects, Simon didn't mention it at all, but just asked Mickey Kanter to express his attitude and put some pressure on the other side of the ocean.

There is pressure to be motivated.

Otherwise, with China's fragile technology and financial strength at this time, even a small gap opened at this time may be a levee collapse in the future.

But that's not all.

After all, the position is different after all, it is not Simon's position as an American at this time, but the position of 'Westerosian', standing on this side, whether it is China or the United States, or even other individual stock countries on the planet, it is Simon's hunting ground.

Because Simon is the most special fish in the world.

Not only across space, but also across time.

In this world, the fish that have crossed time, at least Simon only knows one of himself, perhaps, if he finds the second one in the future, he will not be happy, but will make a decisive move in order to ensure his uniqueness.

It's like the lion king of the steppe who never allows other male lions to step into his territory.

Girl A entered the hall from the door, and the first thing she saw was her boss leaning against the window on the sofa and couldn't help but stop. The man not far away was not any boring empty and lonely at this time, for she knew that he had been enjoying the feeling, like a god on high looking down on all beings indifferently.

After following him for so long, Girl A confirmed that her judgment was correct.

And he does have the qualifications to look down on all beings, and Girl A can't help but be immersed in it whenever she sees her boss so distracted.

Suddenly I realized that so many years have passed before I knew it.

At first, I applied for this job just for a better salary. Then, the heart for him is not so pure, just like a man sees a beautiful woman and is a super rich beautiful woman, but the mentality of men in the face of this situation is often to conquer and possess, but women are often the one who is possessed.

And he seems to have everything as a matter of course, and he also has enough financial strength and even charm to make women fall into the middle and can't extricate themselves.

They could get anything from him but love.

In fact, he originally wanted to leave him and recreate his own life like BCD, but he never insisted on it.

When exactly did this change?

Probably, it should have been the night of Sundance two years ago, or maybe it was just a qualitative change after a long period of accumulation, and she took the initiative to ask for it, and since then she has no idea of leaving at all, just hoping to stay by his side, become a tiny vine wrapped around him, and accompany him to feel the wind, frost, rain and snow, and the cycle of the four seasons.

In fact, I know that Stockholm syndrome has gradually been determined over the years.

I don't think so.

Because in her opinion, most people in this world have a hostage complex to a greater or lesser extent, or are bound by family, or bound by interests, or bound by life, and no one can be truly free. According to the theory of genetic instinct that he often mentions, this is a kind of instinct of the weak to cling to the strong in order to make their genes more likely to survive.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but curl the corners of my mouth slightly.

In this world, there really seems to be nothing that his theory of genetic instinct cannot explain.

Walking over with light steps and coming to his side, the man naturally handed over the coffee cup in his hand, took it and put it on the coffee table next to him, his body was hugged by a big hand, snuggled into his arms, and kicked off his high heels, leaned up and kissed him lightly on the lips.

Simon withdrew his gaze from the window to look at the night view of the city and saw the girl in his arms: "I'm naughty again today." ”

Girl A rubbed her cheek against Simon's chin, "yes, but Ms. Hilton said she needs to be home by nine o'clock, boss, are you still going up?"

"What do you say?"

"The boss can do whatever he wants. ”

Simon smiled, hugged the girl leaning in his arms, and looked out the window again: "A, have you thought about leaving?"

"The boss wants a new assistant?"

"Just thinking about it, you may think that following such a man is destined to lead to nothing, and it is definitely better to leave and pursue a life you want more. ”

Alison's head rested on Simon's shoulder and she looked out the window at the brilliant lights: "Boss, what kind of life do you want?"

"It's life now. ”

"Coincidentally, so did I. ”

"Huh. ”

Girl A gently kissed Simon on the cheek again: "Boss, go up quickly." ”

"Well," Simon got up and picked Allison up, "you too." ”

Early the next morning.

Ang Lee drove from his home to the Upper East Side, and it was only seven o'clock.

In a café on East 62nd Street, Simon was already waiting here, not counting the bodyguards and the boss and his wife who were guarding inside and outside, he was the only one in the café that was supposed to be busy breakfast time.

After greeting, Ang Lee sat down opposite Simon with some restraint, and although he hadn't eaten breakfast yet, he only ordered a coffee.

The eye also quickly noticed a book that Simon was reading when he first entered the door: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

I immediately understood the reason why Simon Westeros suddenly asked him to meet.

Seeing the other party looking over, Simon smiled and said: "It seems that you have already guessed, Li, I know from the memo on the side of Gaomen Pictures that you are interested in this film, to make a long story short, Gaomen Pictures can provide you with all the necessary conditions, I hope you put down the "Ice Storm" you are preparing and shoot this movie first." ”

Since "The Wedding Banquet", Ang Lee's cooperation with Daenerys Entertainment has been very pleasant, if it is other cases, the big boss of Daenerys Entertainment personally speaks, and he doesn't mind which one to shoot first and which one to shoot later.

This time was different.

Because Ang Lee also happened to notice Simon's upcoming visit to China, he hesitated a little, but still said: "Simon, I am indeed very interested in this project, but at present, I don't have any clue about this project, compared to "Ice Storm", "Ice Storm" has already started casting, or, can I start preparing for this project next year?"

Simon looked at the middle-aged man opposite, who was actually not very good at words, and said, "Li, let's be frank, you should also know that I am going to visit China soon." ”

Li An nodded honestly.

"So, I guess you're worried about the project being labeled political, right?"

Li An paused, but still nodded.

Even though he has lived in the United States for many years and won a series of top honors in film, it should be logical, but Ang Lee has always insisted that he has not been naturalized, which in Simon's opinion is a hundred times stronger than those double-faced guests who have quietly changed their nationality and shouted at home that I am Chinese.

Speaking of which, Simon has never underestimated the influence of his big butterfly, but a major event that should have happened on the other side of the ocean in March this year, no matter why, did not happen, however, cross-strait relations still fell to the freezing point again.

All in all, Ang Lee doesn't want to get caught up in any political maelstrom himself.

Simon, of course, understood the other party's concerns and said: "Li, I don't deny that this project is related to my trip to China, but you can rest assured that there is no political factor in it. Moreover, now that preparations are underway, writing scripts, setting scenes, selecting actors, determining the shooting plan, etc., and really starting filming, it may already be the end of the year, I hope that this project will be released in the summer next year, and there will be a year between them, and there will be no public statements from Daenerys Entertainment in this process that link these two things, so you can rest assured. ”

It's a good statement.

It's just, how can you rest assured?

Li An thought for a while and said, "Simon, since you ...... So, why did you insist on shooting this movie ahead of time?"

Simon looked at each other and said seriously: "First of all, Li, I am very optimistic about your strength, I believe that the effect of this film will definitely not be worse than that of "Sense and Sensibility", and then secondly, I hope that through the success of this film in the North American market next year, I will indirectly promote the Chinese government's attention to the film industry." ”

These are the truths.

In fact, it can be regarded as another 'fairy tale' given by Simon to the Chinese side.

At this stage, China's domestic film market is almost in a state of collapse, taking the number of moviegoers as an example, in the 80s, China's official annual moviegoers reached a maximum of 29.3 billion, and by the 90s, this number has plummeted to about 300 million. Even if the former adds data such as free screenings in rural areas, and the latter has a serious underestimation of box office evasion in the market, the data gap between the two data is nearly 100 times shocking.

In 1995, even with a string of Hollywood blockbusters, China's total annual box office was only a measly $970 million.

Among them, there may be reasons such as the large-scale popularization of television sets and the proliferation of video halls and pirated films and television, but it is undeniable that China's domestic film market has basically collapsed.

How has this changed?

In the original time and space, "Titanic" was a node, with a global box office of more than 1.8 billion US dollars, equivalent to nearly 15 billion yuan, which made the Chinese side see that the movie could be so profitable. Immediately afterwards, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", released in 2000, once again let the Chinese side see that Chinese films can also make so much money on a global scale!

Thus, around the turn of the millennium, the Chinese government finally made up its mind to revive the film industry.

Not only have measures such as cinema chains, cinema networking, and the introduction of foreign investment in cinemas been rapidly promoted, but the success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" has also ushered in the era of blockbuster films in China.

This time, the super high global box office of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" has given enough stimulation to the Chinese side, and what Simon has to do is to take out "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in advance, another powerful medicine. This, combined with a series of film industry reform terms that Simon instructed Mickey Kanter to negotiate with the Chinese government, is enough to allow the Chinese film industry to enter a period of recovery about five years ahead of schedule.

Simon couldn't say it too thoroughly after all, so Ang Lee obviously still didn't quite understand, and he was a little unconfident: "Simon, I'm ...... I don't think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has that much energy. ”

Simon affirmed: "Lee, all you have to do is do your best, and Daenerys Entertainment will take care of the rest." ”

Li An thought about it for a while, knowing that he had no room for bargaining with the young man opposite, so he nodded and said, "However, Simon, if you want to make a good movie, maybe ...... It's still best to shoot on the mainland. ”

Simon said: "If you feel the need, everything will be kept secret until the project is completed, including your trip to Chinese mainland filming, all in all, Li, I only hope that you can make this film that shows traditional Chinese culture in advance, and I think, you should also be happy to see this." All, are there any questions?"

Ang Lee originally wanted to say no, but remembering a detail just now, he hesitated a little and said, "Simon, don't you think my project is more suitable for the year-end file, so that it will be easier to impact the awards season." ”

"Lee, schedule is important, but it's never the deciding factor. Moreover, this project is more focused on commercial nature, and it can be seen by more people in the summer file. ”

"In this case, the production cycle may still be a little tight. ”

"It will be released at the end of July and early August next year, and the time is still very generous, although I don't know June or July, but you understand, this is more suitable for a word-of-mouth movie to go long-term. ”

Li An quickly combed through his mind again, and finally nodded: "Then, I have no problem." ”