Chapter 59: Escalated to a Prison Sentence?

After figuring out the general situation, Li Wenyu chuckled and teased, "That's not right, Director Wang. Even if Michelle Lee doesn't go, don't you still have Ah Zhi?"

"Ah Zhi made me embrace happiness after she finished filming. Brother Rong's film has already been shortlisted for the main competition unit at Cannes, and I'm waiting to walk the red carpet there."

It was quite normal that Christy Chung had gotten married, settled down, and borne two daughters for a certain elder surnamed Shen, making her reluctant to make a comeback. Strictly speaking, though, Michelle Lee's period costume looks were not particularly outstanding.

Her stunning value in ancient costumes simply could not match her modern looks.

Without Michelle Lee, Rosamund Kwan was also turning forty, but the rising generation of actresses was still fully capable.

Wang Jing gave a wry smile, "Ah Zhi has already been added and reserved. The problem is that the female lead, Zhang Min, wants to reserve the second female lead position for Michelle Lee. If she doesn't come, I can only move Ah Zhi to the second female lead and scout for another pretty face to be the third female lead."

Li Wenyu laughed, "Fine then. I'll chat with Michelle Lee, though I can't guarantee success."

After hanging up his cell phone, he complained to Fatty Bing, "This year's summer box office is unusually lively."

With *The Piano Tuner*, which had taken the lead in sparking "Buy Another Ticket" promotional campaigns, aiming for a 1.5 billion box office starting point, the fiercely aggressive *Infernal Affairs* would undoubtedly also cause an explosive wave in the mainland.

And then there was the sequel to *The Kung Fu Cult Master*?

Regardless of how many bizarre stunts Jet Li might pull in the future to drive himself half to death, right now, he had genuine market appeal.

At this stage, Ah Jet still maintained a majestic aura destined to catch up with Jackie Chan.

These three films were enough to thrill fans and audiences alike. He had no idea how the sequel to *The Kung Fu Cult Master* would be scripted, but Fat Guy Jing had real talent in this domain.

Wasn't Jiang Yuyan—who ultimately became Yang Xue's lifelong representative role—entirely orchestrated by him?

Fatty Bing asked happily, "Then how high can the annual box office soar? If this really goes as you wish, are you trying to push the mainland box office into the 1-billion era?"

In 2001, the mainland's total annual box office for all films—regardless of whether they were Hollywood productions, mainland releases, or Hong Kong films—was 8.9 billion RMB, and 9 billion for the whole of 2002.

It wasn't until 2005 that the mainland's total box office reached the 20-billion milestone.

Fatty Bing had also once heard Li Wenyu talk about how blockbuster films stimulate the recovery of the movie market, prompting a small-town theater owner to hastily open branch locations under that stimulus.

There was also capital intrusion opening chain stores, expanding just like internet cafe chains.

She didn't quite grasp the grand blueprints or blue oceans, but she simply thought it was amazing!

Truly amazing! Old Li was truly the great genius she admired to the point of complete infatuation.

Just as Li Wenyu was about to say something, his phone rang again. It was Boss Zong of Wahaha.

After he answered, a hearty voice came from the other end, "Director Wahaha, we are all set. This summer, we will promote Wahaha Future Cola, purified water, and then Wahaha Black Tea, all utilizing the 'Buy Another Bottle' strategy across the board."

Old Li was overjoyed, "Then congratulations in advance! As long as this momentum suppresses the other brands and cultivates a loyal user base, I wish Boss Zong success in firmly securing his position as the leader of the beverage industry."

Their first talk had been in March, and now they were entering a new round of cooperation.

Fatty Bing and Ah Zhi would both join the roster of Wahaha endorsers without charging a fee.

However, this was for the promotion of *The Piano Tuner*, and the endorsement fees for the two beauties—such as Fatty Bing's 5 million pre-tax—were covered by Brother Rong, the Heung family, and Huayi.

Boss Zong also spoke candidly, "Director Li, I've been waiting for the two superstars, Fan Bingbing and Cecilia Cheung, to come shoot the commercials. They are respectively the first and second most beautiful women in Asia."

"Wahaha is honored to cooperate with the two of them. The beverages we are about to launch will have numbers and promotional copy for the movie *The Piano Tuner* printed directly on the bottles."

"I hope our cooperation will be a pleasant and win-win one!"

Having discussed this for two months and prepared so far in advance, Fatty Bing and Ah Zhi's free endorsements would only last for one year, but they could shoot multiple commercials.

After all, this involved three brands: Future Cola, Wahaha Purified Water, and Wahaha Black Tea, marking Boss Zong's simultaneous assault on three battlefields.

With a bright smile, he replied, "Everything is negotiable. Shall we have a meal together? I'll be in Shanghai these couple of days."

With the theater chains led by China Film Group taking the lead alongside Huayi and others, a great deal could be accomplished after all this time.

The new digital promotion, coupled with the movie title, was being printed on every single bottle of Wahaha beverages.

Compared to the previous online digital viral promotion, this penetrated the entire country even more deeply—it was physical beverages penetrating every corner of the nation.

Boss Zong laughed heartily, "I can head over to Shanghai tonight."

Li Wenyu was also in a great mood, "Sounds good. I await Boss Zong's gracious presence."

After exchanging a few more polite pleasantries, he hung up the phone.

He pulled his car over to the roadside directly and sealed the deal with a kiss from Fatty Bing.

After a few minutes of lively verbal sparring, Li Wenyu slapped the steering wheel and said, "This time, *The Piano Tuner* is absolutely guaranteed to break the 200 million box office mark in the mainland!"

Fatty Bing was dumbfounded, "Does cooperating with Wahaha have such a huge boosting effect?"

She had also heard about this plan long ago.

Li Wenyu nodded, "Wahaha Black Tea, Cola, and purified water sell hundreds of millions of bottles a year, and they will travel to the ends of the earth accompanying the 'Buy Another Bottle' campaign."

"This is far more hardcore than all the physical street promotions for *Hero* combined."

A 9-billion annual box office? If *The Piano Tuner* could take over 200 million during a single summer vacation, and *Infernal Affairs* and *The Kung Fu Cult Master 2* also took 100 million each, pulling the whole year's total past 10 billion would be effortless!

It would also allow Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and even Hollywood's major studios to witness the immense potential of the Chinese box office.

While the massive explosion of *The Shallows* still relied somewhat on mediocre quality and riding the winds of a booming trend, *The Piano Tuner* was completely, undisputedly worth it.

Li Wenyu smiled again, "The money you've earned recently can be used to stockpile Kweichow Moutai stocks after paying taxes, including the money from your Wahaha endorsement."

After all, that endorsement fee was still paid by the investors.

Fatty Bing asked in astonishment, "Moutai? You like drinking Moutai? And speaking of paying taxes, with a 45% individual income tax rate, if I earn 20 million, I have to pay 9 million. I forgot who I heard it from, but Liu Xiaoqing is currently being investigated for tax issues. How will that turn out?"

Liu Xiaoqing was going to be arrested and imprisoned on June 20th of next month!

It was normal for rumors to be circulating outside right now, considering she was a major star.

Li Wenyu was speechless, "Paying taxes is crucial. The reason I directly set up a company rather than a personal studio from the very beginning was to avoid being accused of tax evasion."

"This red line must never be crossed. You don't want to be dragged off to prison one day, do you?"

Opening a studio usually subjected one to tax rates ranging from 5% to 35% on audited accounts, which was the primary legal tax-avoidance method for wealthy celebrities. Paying a direct 45% personal income tax genuinely made many people's hearts ache.

Yet, he was still determined to cultivate Fatty Bing into a pioneer of tax payment!

Paying this amount ahead of time in the early 2000s would establish a precedent, making it much less convenient for capital to launder money in the future.

As for buying Moutai? That was primarily because Moutai's market hype capability was simply too monstrous.

Moutai, which currently had a market value of 9 billion RMB, would reach a market value of 2.9 trillion RMB by 2021—an increase of over 300 times.

Fatty Bing's 25 million pre-tax earnings, after paying 45% in taxes, would leave her with 12 million post-tax. Using that to buy Moutai would turn into 3.6 billion by 2021.

Even if she couldn't cash out at the absolute peak, earning slightly less at a 250-fold return would still be 3 billion!

Besides, Fatty Bing earned 6 million Hong Kong dollars per film, all of which was hard cash, and her 5 million from Wahaha would still leave her with 2.75 million after taxes.

By continuously reinvesting in Moutai to generate income, she would effortlessly become a multi-billionaire.

Provoked by his words, Fatty Bing angrily bit him a few times, "Are you cursing me to go to prison? Fine, if you push me too far, I'll take your little baby and go give birth in prison!"

She always felt that Old Li had an unusually sharp tongue. It was one thing when he used Yan Zi and A Ru to provoke her in the past, but now he had escalated to talking about prison? Absolutely absurd.

(PS: It's Monday again, time for the new recommendation ranking battle. Please keep reading and supporting~!)