Chapter 294 A World Without Thieves, Gong Li

In classrooms.

Cao Sheng, who was sitting in the last row, was listening to the teacher’s lecture.

But I can’t quite listen to it.

It’s not that he couldn’t understand what the teacher was saying, but his mind was no longer on studying. Before his rebirth, he was already middle-aged, and all he had in his mind were novels and trivial matters in life. If he had been asked to go to school to listen to the teacher’s lectures at that time, he would definitely not have been able to concentrate.

This is not a problem of comprehension ability, but a problem of not focusing on learning.

The situation is similar now.

He came to this undergraduate class and wanted to learn something new, but he always found it difficult to concentrate on his studies.

He laughed to himself.

He subconsciously took out the draft book from the drawer. This was a detailed outline of the fifth volume of “Honghuang Romance” that he had recently written.

Since he couldn’t concentrate on the class at this moment, he wanted to continue writing the detailed outline of this volume.

My mind was quickly immersed in the plot of this volume.

A few minutes later.

Xu Yuanyuan, the class beauty sitting in the middle of the classroom, habitually turned her head slightly to look at Cao Sheng.

Ever since Cao Sheng came to this class, she couldn’t help but look back at him. In fact, it was not just her. Many people in the class glanced at Cao Sheng from time to time, always unable to help but want to see what he was doing?

She saw Cao Sheng lowering his head and writing something on the manuscript paper with a pencil.

Every time she saw him writing with a pencil, she always found it hard to understand: he was not poor, he was already a college student, why did he always like to write with a pencil? The quality of things written with a pencil was much worse! Moreover, as time passed, the handwriting would gradually become blurred.

Cao Sheng, immersed in the plot of the novel, had no feeling about the outside world.

The way he wrote quickly and without stopping, the pencil in his hand caught the attention of the professor at the podium.

But the professor just glanced at it.

Cao Sheng had already been the most famous student at Huizhou Teachers College.

The school and professors all knew that allowing Cao Sheng to upgrade from a junior college to a university and continue his studies was the school’s support for Cao Sheng, not to allow him to learn more knowledge, but to improve his diploma.

It is rare for a school to have such a student, who has become a business card of Huizhou Teachers College. However, he is always ridiculed for his academic qualifications. He loses face, and the school loses face too.

But the school also knows that Cao Sheng will not work for others in the future and will not need the knowledge learned in textbooks.

Therefore, when Cao Sheng was promoted from junior college to university, the leaders had already warned him not to be too strict with Cao Sheng, and as long as he did not affect other students’ studies, he could do whatever he wanted.

Cao Sheng was not even forced to come to school every day.

But Cao Sheng still comes to school every day.

……

at the same time.

Beijing.

In a private room of a hotpot restaurant, Feng Xiaogang was concentrating on eating mutton hotpot, and from time to time he looked up at Gong Li who was reading a script opposite him.

Sitting next to him was his wife Xu Fan.

Xu Fan was eating too.

But he would also glance at Gong Li from time to time.

The script Gong Li is reading is “A World Without Thieves” brought by Feng Xiaogang.

This script was sent to him by Cao Sheng via email when he recently contacted Cao Sheng.

After reading it, he felt that it was a very good script, with both thrilling scenes of the duel between thieves and kings and reflections on human nature.

Moreover, he thought the name of the script was very interesting.

It is clearly a story about a showdown between two gangs of thieves, but the name of the script is “A World Without Thieves”.

Also, there is an important character in the script – Sha Gen. When Sha Gen got on the train, he had tens of thousands of yuan on him, and when he got off, the money was still there. So, in Sha Gen’s eyes, there is no thief in the world. But in fact, during the time he was on the train, the tens of thousands of yuan on him had been lost several times, but when he got off the train, the money was returned.

Such a script aroused Feng Xiaogang’s ambition.

He knows that his movies in the past two years have done very well at the box office, but are looked down upon by many mainland directors.

Some people said his films were vulgar and flattering to the audience, and that his films were not art. They also said that his films could not win any major awards abroad.

Every time he heard such voices, he would retort that if he was going to compare, he should compare the box office. As a director, he should make money.

but……

In this era, the mainstream approach in the mainland film industry is to make art films and win awards abroad.

Even if the film cannot be released in the country, as long as it wins awards abroad, the media will deify the director.

When everyone was doing this, Feng Xiaogang, who only focused on making commercial comedies, became an outlier.

The higher the box office of his movies, the more criticism he will receive from the industry.

Of course he felt suffocated.

I really want to prove myself.

The script of “A World Without Thieves” gave him hope.

So, he wanted to find some big-name actors to act in this play.

Gong Li, he has never worked with her before.

I can’t invite you either.

But this time he invited.

On the phone, he said this was Zhongyuan Yidianhui’s notebook.

Successfully invited Gong Li here to read the script.

Feng Xiaogang, who was chewing mutton hotpot, looked up at Gong Li from time to time with complicated feelings.

In this era, Gong Li is the most famous actress in mainland China.

His acting skills are also obvious to all.

She used to be Zhang Yimou’s favorite heroine.

It is difficult for other directors to invite her to act.

But after she broke up with Zhang Yimou a few years ago, she started to appear in more and more films directed by other directors. But even so, Feng Xiaogang still had no chance to work with her.

One reason is that she doesn’t usually do comedies.

The second reason is that her status is too high. Even if she wanted to act in a comedy, the one she chose before was “A Chinese Odyssey: Part One” in which she collaborated with Stephen Chow.

However, this time Feng Xiaogang is somewhat confident that he can convince her to cooperate with him.

There are two reasons.

First, his movies in the past two years have performed very well at the box office.

Second, the script of “A World Without Thieves” was written by Zhongyuan Yidianhui, and the quality is quite good.

He didn’t believe that Gong Li hadn’t heard of Zhongyuan Yidianhui’s name in the past two years.

This young screenwriter who has emerged as a rising star is, if nothing else, already the highest paid screenwriter in the Chinese film industry.

Finally, Gong Li finished reading the script and closed it. She looked up at Feng Xiaogang and Xu Fan with her signature smile and said with emotion: “Director Feng has got another good script! Congratulations!”

Feng Xiaogang smiled, quickly swallowed the mutton in his mouth, and took a tissue to wipe the oil stains on his mouth. When he was about to reply, Xu Fan beside him spoke first, “He! You know, he is good at flattering! He flattered Cao Sheng, and Cao Sheng gave him another script. It’s not a big deal!”

Feng Xiaogang: “???”

He knew his wife was being modest on his behalf.

But when his wife said this in front of the beautiful Gong Li, he almost vomited blood.

Where is face?
Doesn’t he want to lose face?
Who is Gong Li?

She used to be Lao Mouzi’s woman!
Zhang Yimou has always been his target, and he doesn’t want to lose face in front of Gong Li.

“Haha, is that so? Director Feng?” Gong Li laughed and asked him with a smile.

Feng Xiaogang waved his hands quickly, “Don’t listen to her nonsense! What do you mean I’m good at flattering? Cao Sheng and I have always been brothers! He and I are friends regardless of age! Yes! Friends regardless of age! He regards me as a confidant, which is why he sold his masterpieces to me at low prices twice. Fanzi doesn’t understand the brotherhood between Cao Sheng and me. Seeing that Cao Sheng and I are chatting well, he thinks I’m flattering him. In fact, this is all nonsense! How old is he? How old am I? Can I flatter him? Right? He and I really hit it off from the first sight, and we really can piss in the same pot!”

Gong Li and Xu Fan couldn’t help but chuckle when they heard this.

Both of them were trying not to laugh.

But I just couldn’t help it.

Because I was trying to hold it in, my shoulders were shaking from laughing so hard.

This scene made Feng Xiaogang feel very embarrassed.

He glared at his wife in dissatisfaction.

He felt that she was the one who was trying to sabotage him.

Not wanting to dwell on this topic any further, he coughed twice and asked Gong Li seriously, “Since you think this script is good, then… are you interested in playing the leading female role? Don’t worry! I will definitely not ask a minor actor to play with you. I have already talked to Liu Dehua on the phone, and he also likes this script. If you agree to play the leading female role, I am 100% sure that I can invite him to play with you. How about it?”

“Liu Dehua?”

Gong Li raised her eyebrows slightly, quite surprised.

Because Feng Xiaogang seems to have never worked with a superstar.

She felt that the script of “Zhongyuan Yidianhui” made Feng Xiaogang bolder, and he even dared to add sausage to his instant noodles. Not only did he have the confidence to invite her to play the leading female role, he also had the courage to invite Liu Dehua.

That’s a real superstar.

The kind with countless fans.

Feng Xiaogang nodded repeatedly.

Xu Fan also encouraged her, “Sister Li! It seems that you haven’t acted opposite King Liu before, right? Don’t you want to give it a try? King Liu’s popularity is no joke. If you act with him, the box office of this movie will definitely be good. Why don’t you give it a try!”

Gong Li was a little tempted.

The screenwriter of Zhongyuan Yidianhui, the director Feng Xiaogang, and the starring actors are Liu Dehua and I. This lineup is very strong, and…

She lowered her head and looked at the script in her hand again.

It makes me think that although the heroine in this script is a female thief, she is also a pregnant woman, a prospective mother who wants to accumulate some virtue for the baby in her belly.

A female thief with a kind heart…

This kind of role allowed her to see the space where she could develop herself.

She has never liked taking roles that don’t allow her to perform well.

At my age now…

Born in 1965, she is 36 years old this year.
Although she is still very beautiful and has maintained a good figure at this age, issues such as marriage, family and children have flashed through her mind again and again in recent years.

There was always a voice in her heart telling her: You are not young anymore, it’s time to get married and have children.

Therefore, she was confident that she could play this role.

Just by thinking about the baby in her belly, she could fully understand the choice made by the heroine in the script.

It is reasonable to do any good deed to accumulate virtue for the baby in your belly.

Her mind raced, and she nodded to Feng Xiaogang, smiling and saying, “Sure! As long as you can really invite Liu Dehua, I can play the leading female role.”

Feng Xiaogang looked surprised.

He subconsciously looked at his wife beside him.

Xu Fan’s face was also full of joy.

If Gong Li could play the leading female role, the film “A World Without Thieves” could at least save a lot of publicity costs, and countless domestic media would spontaneously promote the film.

And since she plays the leading female role, there is no need to worry about her acting skills.

……

Huizhou.

sunset.

The last class in the afternoon is over.

Cao Sheng walked out of the teaching building with his textbooks and notes, and took out his mobile phone to check if anyone had contacted him this afternoon.

As expected, there were several more text messages and missed call records on the phone.

Among them were several calls from Xinchang boss Lan Tianhu.

There are also records of Feng Xiaogang’s calls.

There are also text messages from my girlfriend Huang Qingya.

He first clicked on the message sent by Huang Qingya – “There is a new roast duck restaurant near my home. The taste is very good and the skin is very crispy. I heard that it is the same way your hometown makes it. I will buy half a duck and send it to you later. Remember to take a shower after class.”

Do I need to take a bath before eating roast duck?
Cao Sheng wanted to laugh.

Of course, he understood her real intention of asking him to take a bath.

He replied: “OK”

Then, he dialed Lan Tianhu’s number.

“Boss Lan, when you called me, I was in class and my phone was on silent. What do you want to talk to me about?”

When the call was connected, Cao Sheng spoke first politely.

Lan Tianhu: “Haha, I see! I understand! Actually, I have nothing important to talk to you about. I just finished reading your new book and wanted to discuss the follow-up content of this new book with you to satisfy my curiosity. Also, I also want to talk to you about the remuneration for this book. If you have any requirements, just tell me! I will definitely satisfy you if I can.”

Cao Sheng felt very comfortable listening to these words.

He had this feeling every time he communicated with Lan Tianhu on the phone.

It’s true that the other party always gives him face.

We also made repeated concessions to him regarding royalties.

This made him feel embarrassed to be so fussy.

He immediately asked, “As for the royalties, can you increase the share a little bit this time?”

In his cooperation with Xinchang, the remuneration had long been changed to royalties sharing.

Lan Tianhu: “…”

After two or three seconds of silence, Lan Tianhu said, “Sure! No problem! Is that all you ask? Anything else?”

Cao Sheng: “No, that’s all. If you want something, I can buy it myself.”

Lan Tianhu chuckled.

“Okay! That’s right. Do you have more manuscripts on hand? Don’t get me wrong! I’m not urging you to submit. I personally really want to read the rest of the article. Can you satisfy my curiosity?”

Cao Sheng smiled.

He did have tens of thousands of words of manuscripts in reserve.

But it’s not enough for the second episode.

After a slight hesitation, Cao Sheng said, “Wait for me for two days, okay? I will send you the manuscript for the second episode in two days.”

Lan Tianhu: “Okay! Okay! Of course no problem. Haha, I didn’t expect that you still have so many manuscripts in hand. You have already written so many words for your new book before submitting it to us. I admire your determination!”

He made a rough calculation and figured out that before Cao Sheng submitted the manuscript, he had at least hundreds of thousands of words in stock for the new book.

This amount of words is equivalent to the total number of words in some novels.

As far as he knows, many authors who write online novels fail to reach the required word count when submitting their works to publishing houses.

……

After a while.

Cao Sheng came to the bicycle parking shed, stopped, and dialed Feng Xiaogang’s number.

(End of this chapter)