Huayu: This director is pretty strong.

Chapter 182 The Capital of Arrogance, Fangs in the Dark

Only the low hum of the central air conditioning remained in the reception room.

Yan Haishan looked at Chen Yan, waiting for him to say a number.

For this wealthy man who rose from the coal mines, all artistic pursuits and sentiments ultimately come down to money.

Chen Yan did not avoid his gaze.

Su Wan's prepared business plan was still in her bag, beautifully packaged and quite thick. Chen Yan didn't touch it, nor did he, like other directors, start by talking about box office prospects.

"I can't make money."

Chen Yan spoke.

Yan Haishan paused for a moment while scraping the tea foam.

Su Wan stood to the side, her hand clenching tightly around the edge of her briefcase.

"Currently, the total annual box office revenue of the domestic film market is no more than one billion yuan."

Chen Yan's voice echoed in the hall, "The production cost of 'The Wandering Earth' is 400 million RMB. According to the current box office revenue sharing rules, this film needs to gross 1.2 billion RMB to break even. In other words, it must break the highest box office record in Chinese film history and double the existing market size for me to guarantee that you won't lose money."

Chen Yan looked at Yan Haishan.

"As for making money, that's something to consider after 1.2 billion. And in the history of Chinese cinema, the highest-grossing domestic film so far has earned less than 200 million."

Chen Yan placed his hands on the table. "So, Mr. Yan, this is a gamble with a slim chance of survival. If we're only considering return on investment, Mr. Li's martial arts film is indeed a better choice."

Yan Haishan tapped the purple clay teacup on the golden nanmu wood table.

The tea spilled out, leaving a small brown stain on the table.

"Director Chen, you flew all the way from Beijing just to tell me that your project is a money-loser?"

Yan Haishan's voice deepened; a man accustomed to issuing orders naturally possesses an imposing presence when he speaks.

"I'm just stating the facts."

Chen Yan replied, "Science fiction films are a wasteland in China. There are no ready-made special effects teams, no mature industrial system, and no audience viewing habits. Everything has to start from scratch."

Yan Haishan sneered and stood up.

He walked to the French windows and looked at the bronze statue of Guan Yu in the courtyard.

"I, Yan Haishan, am a rough man and haven't had much formal education. But I know one principle: in business, don't do what you don't know. I don't understand movies, but I know how to do accounting."

Yan Haishan turned around and pointed to the martial arts picture book on the table. "Director Zhang's name is a golden brand. The five major cinema chains monopolize the screenings, that's a guarantee. If we invest 50 million, I can see a real impact."

His finger then turned to Chen Yan.

"You want me to spend 400 million to fill an insatiable hole? To film a subject that even Hollywood wouldn't dare touch?"

Yan Haishan shook his head. "Director Chen, President Li is right, you really are crazy. My money, Yan Haishan's money, was dug out truckload by truck from a mine hundreds of meters deep, it didn't come from a gust of wind."

Yan Haishan returned to the table and pressed the call button.

"I appreciate Director Chen's honesty. Let's consider this a chance to make friends."

Yan Haishan picked up his teacup. "Butler, see the guest out."

The door to the reception room opened.

The butler stood outside the door and gestured with his hand.

Chen Yan stood up.

He didn't explain further, nor did he show any embarrassment at being rejected. He simply nodded and led Su Wan away from the reception room.

Outside the door, Li Jianguo was holding a cup of coffee.

Seeing Chen Yan come out so quickly, Li Jianguo put down his cup, stood up, and slowly straightened his tie.

"Director Chen, how did the talks go?"

Li Jianguo asked the question knowingly, his words carrying the composure of a winner.

Chen Yan didn't look at him, walked past him, and headed out along the corridor.

Su Wan followed behind Chen Yan.

She only relaxed after the two of them got into the Mercedes S600 and the door closed.

"Director Chen, why did you say such harsh things just now?"

Su Wan placed the briefcase on the seat, her tone urgent, "We could have used Weta Digital's letter of intent to appease him first, or at least made the box office forecast look better. Telling him directly that it would take 1.2 billion to break even is like blocking his path entirely."

The Mercedes started and drove out of the manor gate.

"You can't fool Yan Haishan with empty promises."

Chen Yan looked out the window at the receding scenery. "He's a ruthless tycoon who rose from the bottom, and his sense of risk is sharper than a wolf's. If I use fake box office data to lure him into the project, he'll withdraw his investment without hesitation once the subsequent funding chain runs tight, and might even resort to extreme measures to swallow the entire project."

Chen Yan turned his head and looked at Su Wan.

"More importantly, the profits from the film itself simply cannot satisfy his appetite."

Chen Yan tapped his finger on the car window. "You mentioned in your report that he urgently needs to transform his business and needs a 'clean' industry to clean up his image. Li Jianguo's martial arts film can bring him 50 million in profit, but that 50 million won't change his 'coal boss' label. The authorities won't stop cracking down on his mining operations just because he invested in a martial arts film."

Su Wan was stunned: "Then we..."

"What he wants is a talisman."

Chen Yan gazed ahead. "The film is too thin a shell; it can't protect him. We need a different bargaining chip. Something that can make him a VIP guest of the local government."

Chen Yan took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts.

At the same time, in an abandoned repair shop on the outskirts of TY city.

Wang, the comprador, sat on a tattered sofa covered in grease. He toyed with a military dagger in his hand, the blade grooved with blood.

His face was sallow, and his eyes were sunken; he had long lost the air of a CEO he had in the Jinghai Film and Television Building.

After Lu Haiming's downfall, East Asia Trust was quickly dissolved.

Wang, the comprador, had handled too many dirty tricks for Lu Haiming, and the police were constantly looking for him. Wang fled with the remaining money he had, eventually hiding in Shanxi, a region teeming with illegal coal mines.

He hated Chen Yan.

If Chen Yan hadn't overturned the table in Venice, and if he hadn't taken over all of Lu Haiming's connections after returning to China, he would still be drinking tea and collecting money in the Beijing film and television industry.

The roller shutter door of the repair shop was pulled open.

A burly man walked in, wearing an old jacket and carrying a black canvas bag.

"Brother Wang, everything's arranged."

The burly man threw the canvas bag on the ground, unzipped it, and inside were bundles of hundred-yuan bills. "Two heavy coal trucks and one fully loaded dump truck. The drivers are both fugitives wanted for murder. The resettlement allowance has already been paid out."

Wang, the comprador, stopped wielding his dagger and stood up.

"Has the route been confirmed?"

Wang, the comprador, had a hoarse voice.

"Confirmed. Chen Yan's car just left Yan Haishan's manor and is driving on the mountain road, preparing to get on the highway back to the airport."

The burly man pulled out a hand-drawn map and circled a red circle on one of the bends. "We'll make our move at this 'King of Hell's Nose' bend. One side is a cliff, the other a precipice. Heavy trucks are blocking the road, dump trucks will crash into us from behind. The bulletproof glass of the Mercedes can stop bullets, but it can't stop a fifty-ton iron lump. If you crash into it, the car will be destroyed and you'll die. We won't even need to collect the body."

Wang, the comprador, stared at the red circle on the map for a few seconds.

"Make it clean."

Wang, the comprador, sheathed the dagger. "I want him to leave not even a single bone intact."

On the winding mountain road, a black Mercedes-Benz S600 is driving forward.

This road is difficult to drive on, with one bend after another, making it hard to pick up speed.

To the right is a mountain wall, to the left is a canyon, and the guardrail extends out along the roadside.

Chen Yan is editing a newsletter.

The car suddenly stopped.

The driver slammed on the brakes, and the tires screeched as they dragged across the asphalt.

Chen Yan looked up.

Thirty meters ahead, at a sharp bend, two heavy trucks fully loaded with raw coal were parked side by side in the middle of the road, blocking the already narrow road.

The truck was still running, and black smoke was billowing from its exhaust pipe.

"What happened?"

Su Wan grabbed the back of the front seat.

The driver didn't answer, quickly shifted into reverse, and prepared to back up.

Just then, the sound of an engine came from behind.

A heavy dump truck rushed out from behind the bend without slowing down and crashed directly into the rear of the Mercedes.

The front of the dump truck grew larger and larger in the rearview mirror.

A 50-ton vehicle, combined with the inertia of going downhill, would crush this Mercedes S600 into scrap metal if it were to crash into it.

The distance is less than fifty meters.

"Hold on tight!"

The driver yelled and turned the steering wheel all the way to the left, trying to find a gap by hugging the edge of the road.

The dump truck driver also turned left, blocking the Mercedes' retreat route.

The distance is thirty meters.

The engine noise made the car windows rattle.

Su Wan unbuckled her seatbelt and lunged at Chen Yan, trying to shield him with her body.

Chen Yan grabbed Su Wan's shoulder and pushed her back into her seat.

"Bump it to the right!"

Chen Yan stared at the two coal trucks in front of him, his voice steady.

"What?"

The driver paused for a moment.

To the right is the angle between the mountain wall and the truck; rushing over there would be tantamount to suicide.

"There's a half-meter gap between the rear wheel of the truck on the right and the mountainside!"

Chen Yan stared at the very narrow gap. "Step on the gas! Screw over the guardrail!"

Ten meters away.

The shadow of the dump truck had already loomed over the rear window.

The driver gritted his teeth, released reverse, shifted directly into drive, and floored the accelerator.

The Mercedes S600's engine roared, and the black body charged toward the two heavy trucks in front.