Huayu: This director is pretty strong.

Chapter 185 The Order Across the Hemisphere, the Green Light of Red Capital

In the VIP suite at Taiyuan Wusu International Airport, the air conditioning blew out of the vents, causing the edge of a disposable paper cup on the coffee table to tremble slightly. Su Wan closed her encrypted briefcase, the lock making a dull click.

The check for fifty million was firmly pressed in the innermost layer. Even through the leather and metal, the weight still sank onto her knees. Su Wan lowered her hands, her fingertips pausing at the corner of the bag before she tightened her grip on the clasp.

From a young girl hiding from debt collectors to a producer handling hundreds of millions of dollars, she has progressed so quickly that she sometimes looks down at her hands to make sure her palms haven't been replaced by someone else's.

Chen Yan sat on the sofa opposite, the satellite phone pressed against his palm. The number had already been dialed, the signal crossing the Pacific Ocean, waiting for the other end to pick up.

The phone is on.

"Boss."

Wu Gang's voice was accompanied by the sounds of wind and waves, with a blank white background. He was in Wellington, New Zealand, and the cold, damp sea breeze was probably still blowing under his feet.

Chen Yan leaned back into the sofa and lightly tapped the edge of the phone with his fingertips.

"The funds have been secured."

"Go see Richard Taylor. The first advance payment of US$15 million will be transferred from the Hong Kong offshore account to Weta Digital's corporate account within 24 hours."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone, followed by the sound of shoes rubbing against the ground.

"The contract terms remain unchanged."

Chen Yan continued speaking, his pace slow but each word deliberate and steady.

"Weta Digital must send Richard personally to lead a core technology team of no less than thirty people, along with a complete set of motion capture equipment, server architecture diagrams, and core algorithms."

"I want them to board the plane to Beijing before sunset tomorrow."

Wu Gang asked a question on the other end, his voice slightly muffled by the sea breeze.

"What if the equipment gets stuck at customs?"

Chen Yan turned his head to look out the floor-to-ceiling window. In the distance, takeoff and landing lights were lit one by one, and the white trails left by the aircraft disappeared in the night.

"Tell Richard that the Chinese authorities will provide the highest level of customs clearance facilitation, and the special plane is already waiting at Wellington Airport."

He paused for half a second, then removed his fingers from the phone case.

"This is a war, and I don't want to delay."

After hanging up the phone, he casually placed the satellite phone on the coffee table. The metal casing made a crisp sound as it hit the glass, like a nail falling into an empty shell.

Su Wan raised her head, her lips moved, but she finally put the bag down beside her lap first.

"Yan Haishan's money could cover the construction of the special effects factory and the pre-production preparations, but for 'The Wandering Earth' to obtain a filming permit in mainland China, it still needs the approval of China Film Group. President Han has always kept the science fiction genre open."

Chen Yan stood up, buttoned up his suit jacket, and tightened the cuffs against his wrists.

"He kept it because he hadn't seen the cards yet."

Just as he finished speaking, a waiter pushed a cart past the door of the private room, the wheels making a very soft thud on the carpet.

Three hours later, at the China Film Group building in Beijing.

In the chairman's office, President Han was wearing reading glasses. A thick stack of documents was piled on the table. The top document was a joint submission from the five major cinema chains, titled "A Better Tomorrow," which outlined the project approval and scheduling guidelines for the film. Paperclips were pressed against the edges of the pages, and the corners were frayed from repeated handling.

The meaning of that document couldn't be clearer: the five major cinema chains wanted to use this 200 million yuan martial arts film to kick China Film Group out of the distribution profits and monopolize the domestic market.

The door was knocked twice.

The secretary pushed open the door and stepped aside to make way.

When Chen Yan walked in, his shoes made no extra sound on the wooden floor. Su Wan followed behind, carrying the black combination lock suitcase, the corners of which were illuminated by the light, revealing a cold white line.

"Xiao Chen is here."

Mr. Han took off his reading glasses, pointed to the document on the corner of the table, and had faint dark circles under his eyes.

"The five major cinema chains have jointly submitted a proposal. Director Zhang's 'A Better Tomorrow' has already started building sets and is asking for 70% of the screenings during the National Day holiday."

He pressed his fingertip on the paper and looked up at Chen Yan.

"Your sci-fi project is too risky, and the market may not accept it. I'll say it again, take it slow for now, make a low-to-medium budget film, and establish a foothold."

Chen Yan did not respond to that sentence.

Su Wan placed the combination lock box on the table, entered the password, and the lock popped open. She took out three documents from inside, arranged them in a row, and the corners of the papers were perfectly aligned.

The top document is the 300 million RMB investment agreement signed by Yan Haishan, with the bank transfer voucher for the first installment of 50 million RMB also placed next to it.

The second document is a draft contract for the transfer of 500 mu of industrial land in the suburbs of Beijing.

The third document was a letter of intent for cooperation with Weta Digital, along with flight information for the core team's trip to China.

Mr. Han's hand touched the transfer voucher first, his fingertips paused on the string of zeros, then he put his glasses back on and leaned closer to check each line, even scrutinizing the edge of the official seal several times.

"Three hundred million."

The two words came out of his throat with a noticeable dryness.

He flipped through the papers to the second and third copies, and when he saw that Weta Digital was willing to move its entire technical team and equipment to Beijing to build a special effects factory on-site, the thin layer of sweat on President Han's palms had already slightly softened the edges of the documents.

"This isn't a movie shoot."

President Han raised his head, his gaze passing over his glasses and landing on Chen Yan's face.

"I'm building an arsenal."

Chen Yan braced his hands on the edge of the desk, his shoulders and back suppressing any excess curvature.

"President Han, with China's entry into the WTO next year, Hollywood's warships are already docked outside the port. The movie 'Titanic' alone can rake in more than 300 million yuan at the box office. Once the country opens its doors, there will only be more of this kind of thing."

He spoke slowly, but his words flowed smoothly and deliberately, making the air in the office seem heavy.

"The five major cinema chains spent 200 million to make martial arts films. That was the last hurrah of the era of cold weapons. It couldn't stop Hollywood's digital industry."

"We need our own heavy industry film system, our own special effects rendering center, our own motion capture studio, and our own industrialized film production process."

At this point, Chen Yan pointed to the documents on the table.

"I got the money from the coal mine owner."

"I bought the technology from New Zealand."

"The land is already going through the process."

He looked up at President Han, and then stopped beating around the bush.

"What I want now is a ticket to the national team."

The office was so quiet you could hear the low hum of the air conditioner compressor.

Mr. Han leaned back in his chair, not answering immediately, but instead got up and took two steps behind the table, his shoes brushing against the carpet, leaving a short, sharp rustling sound.

Outside the window, traffic flowed continuously along Chang'an Avenue, with car lights forming thin lines that stretched into the distance along the road below.

A moment later, he turned around, walked back to the table, picked up the red landline, and dialed an internal number.

"Notify the approval department to raise the project proposal for Director Chen Yan's 'The Wandering Earth' to the highest priority."

"I want to see the approval document on my desk before I leave work today."

After hanging up the phone, Mr. Han pressed his hands on the table, the veins on the back of his hands clearly visible.

"I'll handle the customs matters myself."

China Film Group will cover all the tax exemption quotas for the equipment.

He looked at Chen Yan, his voice deepening, each word delivered with conviction.

"Xiao Chen, China Film Group will fight alongside you in this battle."

Chen Yan picked up the documents on the table without any hesitation, and the edges of the documents made a soft rubbing sound as he closed his palms.

When I left the China Film Building, it was already completely dark. The wind blew through the buildings, carrying the chill unique to late winter. It crept into my collar, and my skin immediately broke out in a layer of tiny bumps.

The car door closed, leaving only the low rumble of the engine inside the cabin.

Su Wan started the car, and a pale blue light lit up the dashboard.

"Back to the company."

Chen Yan leaned back in his seat, his gaze fixed on the rapidly receding street scene outside the window. Neon lights and streetlights flashed by, cutting out segments of light and shadow on his profile.

"China Film Group and Yan Haishan are both secured, and Weta Digital's team will be arriving soon. Shouldn't we start setting up the studio?"

Su Wan turned the car onto the main road, holding the steering wheel very firmly, with red marks still visible on the back of her hand from when she was moving the boxes.

"not enough."

Chen Yan's answer was brief, but the air in the front row seemed to be pressed down an inch.

"Special effects are the brain, but you also need the bones and flesh. Without a physical factory to build it, a planetary engine will forever remain just a blueprint."

Su Wan glanced at the rearview mirror, her lips twitched, but she didn't finish her sentence.

"Then where do we find a factory that can make this kind of thing?"

Chen Yan gave an address.

"Go to Shougang and find an old engineer named Wang Yuanchao."

The car headlights swept across the road sign ahead, the white paint flashing briefly in the night.

"He possesses the dragon-slaying technique we need."