novellhall Chapter 13: 3 flowers have arrived.
Chapter 13: 3 flowers have arrived.
On March 26, a red Ferrari was parked downstairs in a commercial building in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Li Jiaxin turned off the engine, her hands still resting on the steering wheel, a smirk playing on her lips. The excitement she'd felt since last night hadn't subsided.
Amazon closed at $77.93, up $2.63 from the day before yesterday.
She mentally calculated it again—with a principal of HK$70 million and double leverage, in just three days, the unrealized profit had already exceeded US$2 million.
Seventeen million Hong Kong dollars.
Lin Dong opened the car door. "Let's go."
She then came to her senses, picked up her bag and got out of the car. Her high heels touched the ground, and her steps were as light as if she were walking on clouds.
Her hand naturally landed on his arm, and she leaned closer, her perfume carrying an undisguised air of smugness.
The studio is on the sixth floor.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, Xiang Yeqiang was already standing in the corridor. Wang Jing was next to him, his belly bulging out of his shirt, a wide smile plastered on his face from afar. Andy Lau stood a step behind, dressed casually, his hair unstyled.
"Lin Sheng!" Xiang Ye strode forward, grasped Lin Dong's hand, and said, "You must be tired from your journey."
Wang Jing rubbed his hands together and leaned closer: "Mr. Lin, I went through the script again last night. Take a look at it later."
Andy Lau bowed slightly: "Mr. Lin."
Lin Dong nodded, and Li Jiaxin smiled and greeted everyone.
Xiang Yeqiang's gaze lingered on Li Jiaxin's face for a moment. Her complexion was unbelievably good today—not the kind of good that comes from makeup, but a radiance that emanated from beneath her skin, as if she had been ignited by something.
Xiang Yeqiang subtly shifted his gaze, smiling as he gestured, "Mr. Lin, please come in. Jiaxin, the dressing room is on your right; the costume and makeup artist are waiting."
Li Jiaxin released Lin Dong's arm and followed the staff into the dressing room. Before the door closed, she glanced back at Lin Dong, a smile playing on her lips.
Lin Dong, Wang Jing, and Xiang Yeqiang took their seats.
Wang Jing pulled a stack of scripts from his briefcase and handed them over with both hands; the stack was twice as thick as the last time they met.
"Mr. Lin, please take a look. This is something I've polished over the past few days, to make sure all 30 million is spent, and also to make Miss Li look—" Fatty Wang paused, then found what he considered a precise word, "unprecedented and unparalleled."
Lin Dong opened the script.
Wang Jing kept talking.
"I chose four filming locations: Temple Street in Hong Kong, the Bund in Shanghai, Ginza in Tokyo, and casinos in Macau. I've included top-notch scenery from all four cities. The budget for location shooting alone is this much."
He held up a few fingers to indicate the direction, and before Lin Dong could react, he continued speaking.
"The female lead, Bo Bing, is the daughter of a wealthy businessman from Shanghai, searching for her mother in Hong Kong. I've completely redesigned her character. She's not just a simple rich heiress; she's a queen. In every scene where she appears, the camera has to revolve around her."
The script alone lists over thirty costumes, and I've already commissioned Hong Kong's top designer, Yin Taiwei, to personally design the patterns. Each costume will only be worn for one scene, and there won't be any repeats.
When Wang Jing said these things, his tone was as certain as if he had already finished editing the film.
Lin Dong continued flipping through the pages.
When he flipped to the middle, he noticed something—the scenes featuring Andy Lau's character, Wah Dee, were sparsely marked, while the scenes featuring Bo Bing were densely marked, with even the lighting positions, camera positions, and costume numbers for each scene clearly marked.
This isn't a script with two main characters; it's a female-centric story. Andy Lau's screen time is at least half that of Li Jiaxin's.
He looked up and glanced at Wang Jing.
Wang Jing was staring at his expression, his chubby face filled with anticipation and a hint of nervousness.
Lin Dong closed the script.
He racked his brains—he'd seen plenty of Hong Kong films in his past life, but the title "Prince Charming" was completely foreign to him. Either it flopped quietly, or it wasn't even released in mainland China.
This script is clearly tailor-made by Wang Jing for 30 million. With his abilities, he can easily polish a complete female-centric script in a few days.
Therefore, previous memories are no longer a reliable reference, but Lin Dong doesn't believe that the box office can explode with Li Jiaxin as the absolute protagonist.
"Okay." He put the script on the table. "Wait for Jiaxin to come out."
It didn't take long.
The curtain to the dressing room was lifted, and Andy Lau came out first. He sported the look of a Temple Street youth—an old T-shirt, jeans, a strand of dyed yellow hair, and a slightly roguish air about him.
Wang Jing looked him up and down and nodded. Andy Lau is Andy Lau; he can pull off any look.
Lin Dong glanced at it, his expression unchanged. He really didn't care much about the male lead's makeup and styling.
Then the curtain moved again.
Li Jiaxin came out.
A black satin maxi dress, extremely narrow at the waist, with the hem reaching to the ankles; with each step, the fabric flows.
Her hair was styled in an updo, revealing her entire face and a neck that was almost translucent white. Two pearls adorned her earlobes, small in size, but with a perfectly warm and lustrous sheen.
The makeup on her face was so light that it was almost invisible—not that she wasn't wearing makeup, but that the makeup artist knew this face didn't need much makeup.
She stood in front of the curtain in the dressing room, the light from the crystal chandelier shining down from above, casting a small shadow on her collarbone.
Lin Dong sat up straight.
He leaned forward slightly from the back of his chair, then raised his hand and clapped twice. Not hard, but very slowly.
Li Jiaxin's lips curved into a smile.
Seeing Lin Dong's reaction, Wang Jing's chubby face broke into a wide grin that stretched from the corners of his mouth to the tips of his ears.
"Mr. Lin, this is the outfit for her first appearance—Bo Bing flies from Shanghai to Hong Kong and gets off the plane. I'll use a long shot to follow her, from her back to her profile, then zoom in to her front. The lighting will be the golden light of dusk, backlit, with her skirt billowing in the wind—"
He didn't finish speaking. Because Li Jiaxin had already turned around and walked back behind the curtain, preparing to change into her next outfit.
Over the next hour, she changed seven outfits.
The second outfit is a costume from the Temple Street Night Market. It consists of a denim jacket paired with a white dress, and her hair is down with slightly curled ends.
When she walked out from behind the curtain, she looked like a college student straight out of the streets of Mong Kok, impeccably clean.
The third set is a drama set on the Bund in Shanghai.
She wore a dark green velvet cheongsam with gold trim, and the slit went up to mid-thigh. She stood sideways, one hand on her waist, her chin slightly raised.
Wang Jing jumped up from his chair, circled around and looked at it twice, muttering, "This light position, this light position, side-reverse, it must be side-reverse."
The fourth set. The fifth set. The sixth set. The seventh set.
Each outfit was more exquisite and daring than the last. The final one was a white backless evening gown with a slit that extended all the way to her waist.
When Li Jiaxin turned around, the entire studio was silent for about three seconds.
Xiang Yeqiang's hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air, and Hua Zai looked away—not because he didn't want to look, but because he knew he should avoid suspicion.
Lin Dong watched her retreating figure and let out a soft breath.
Thirty million. Worth it.
Fatty Wong's ability to direct films featuring women is truly unmatched in all of Hong Kong.
Li Jiaxin changed back into her own clothes, sat down next to him, and naturally placed her hand on his arm, still carrying the lingering feeling of having changed clothes.
Wang Jing rubbed his hands together and leaned closer. "Mr. Lin, the costumes are still being designed. Thirty sets are the minimum, and there might be fifty later. But it won't affect filming—we'll make them as we film, ensuring that every single one makes Miss Li look absolutely stunning—"
Lin Dong nodded in satisfaction, "Film it well. If you need more money, I can invest more!"
Wang Jing nodded repeatedly, unable to hide the smile on his face.
Lin Dong then casually asked, "Has the start time been set?"
Wang Jing immediately became serious. "Three days later. March 30th. I consulted a master fortune teller; that day is the best day of the first half of the year, auspicious for starting filming, breaking ground, and getting married—"
Lin Dong waved his hand. "Okay. I'll definitely be there."
Wang Jing laughed so hard his eyes disappeared.