A hospital in HD District served as one of the filming locations for Love Call Transfer.
On set.
The male lead, Xu Lang, entered the hospital for the third time in the story, this time accompanied by a curvy blonde. Unfortunately, his injuries were more severe this time, with one arm in a cast.
Once again, he encountered a certain female doctor.
Seeing the doctor's playful gaze, Xu Lang instinctively blurted out, "Listen, I..." Halfway through, he seemed to recall the string of misfortunes that had followed his encounter with a mysterious love phone. Before the doctor could deliver her usual line, Xu Lang suddenly snapped, "I don't owe you an explanation. Why should I explain myself to you? What gives you the right to demand an explanation?"
The doctor calmly averted her gaze.
However, the blonde beside Xu Lang wasn't having it. With a mix of curiosity and determination, she glanced between Xu Lang and the doctor before demanding in fluent Mandarin, "Xu Lang, what do you need to explain to her? Why should you explain anything to her? Hey, you owe me an explanation now!"
Xu Lang, sitting in a wheelchair and on the verge of a breakdown, raised his cast-covered arm to block the blonde while fumbling for his phone with his other hand, quickly dialing a number.
"Cut! Lao Li, your body language was great, but your expression needs more desperation. You need to look more crushed. And Miss Sorvino, you need to be more aggressive... I mean..."
"Director, I understand what 'aggressive' means."
"Oh, sorry. Specifically, you need to get closer to Lao Li. Also, we'll need to adjust the camera angle slightly to capture that sense of oppression. Lao Zhang..."
After re-explaining the setup, they started filming again.
The new version of Love Call Transfer had several key changes made by Simon himself, aside from the theme song. These included the opening monologue, the protagonist's repeated hospital visits during his romantic misadventures, and the fact that the male lead's name remained Xu Lang.
However, this time, the lead wasn't the young Xu Ludan but Li Dakuan, the real estate tycoon from the end of Big Shot's Funeral: "How much do you think a square meter of such a house should sell for?"
This was a carefully considered choice.
The film's director, Feng Xiaogang, initially leaned toward casting actors from the Beijing circle, many of whom he had worked with before. Ge You, a well-known actor with a calm and reserved style, was the first recommendation but was quickly ruled out. Ge's understated acting style would have made the film feel too much like Dream Factory or Big Shot's Funeral, whereas Simon wanted a more outwardly comedic and lively tone.
After auditioning a wide range of actors, including Gong Hanlin from outside the Beijing circle—"I miss you all so much!"—they found that Gong was too over-the-top and, frankly, not attractive enough. Plus, his frequent appearances on Spring Festival Gala since the 1980s had typecast him in the public's mind, making it hard for audiences to buy him as a romantic lead surrounded by beautiful women.
Finally, they settled on Li Dakuan.
Simon personally reviewed the audition tapes before giving the green light. Li Dakuan's audition piece was the opening monologue about the seven-year itch, which was essentially a toned-down version of his Big Shot's Funeral monologue.
It was still impressive.
In terms of appearance, although Li was in his forties, he hadn't yet adopted the bald look he would later become known for. With some grooming, he still resembled the dashing middle-aged man from Ermo three years earlier, with his sharp suit and jet-black hair. He could easily pass for someone in his early thirties, perfectly fitting the script's description of Xu Lang as a successful, good-looking man in his thirties.
As for the scene being filmed.
The setup was that after encountering a woman desperate to move to the U.S., Xu Lang, who had always felt that China was just fine, became curious and decided to try his luck with a foreign woman.
Enter Barbara, played by Mira Sorvino, a university foreign language teacher whose Mandarin was better than her English.
The screenwriter had put a lot of thought into this segment. Despite the societal tendency to idolize foreigners, the story struck a careful balance, avoiding any potentially sensitive details and instead focusing on the characters' personalities.
Xu Lang, in his thirties and moderately successful, had a "close enough is good enough" attitude toward life. Barbara, on the other hand, was the type who wouldn't settle for anything less than perfect, whether in life, love, or anything else. She demanded precision and clarity in everything.
This natural opposition created strong dramatic tension.
Add in some cultural differences between East and West, and the chemistry between the two characters was electric.
Finally, while helping Barbara move, a disagreement over furniture placement led to a domino effect of falling cabinets and tables, sending Xu Lang to the hospital for the third time and making him realize that this foreign beauty wasn't his type.
He couldn't handle her.
The final scene took five takes before Feng Xiaogang was satisfied. He stood up from behind the monitor, clapped to get everyone's attention, and announced, "Everyone, Miss Sorvino's scenes are officially wrapped. Let's all thank her for her hard work over the past few weeks."
He started clapping, and the crew followed suit. Someone handed Sorvino a pre-prepared bouquet.
After some group photos and small talk, Feng Xiaogang signaled for everyone to get back to work and led Li Dakuan and Mira Sorvino over to where Chen Qing was waiting nearby. Chen Qing had just arrived and was accompanied by another Chinese actress, Xu Qing, who shared her name but not her surname. Xu Qing, a well-known figure in the Beijing circle, was also part of Love Call Transfer, playing the role of the woman desperate to move abroad, which Mira Sorvino's character had replaced.
As soon as Feng Xiaogang approached, he started laying on the charm: "I was saying the other day while filming that Xiao Xu looked familiar. Seeing you, Miss Chen, it all makes sense now. You two look so alike, and you even share the same name. What a coincidence! It's like you're twins, and both so beautiful."
Chen Qing seemed to enjoy the flattery but posed a tricky question: "So, Director Feng, who do you think is prettier, me or her?"
Feng Xiaogang, known for his silver tongue, wasn't fazed: "Miss Chen, that's like asking which side of a mirror is prettier. You're both stunning beauties; there's no comparison."
After some more banter, Chen Qing greeted Li Dakuan and then Mira Sorvino.
Mira Sorvino found the unassuming Chinese director quite charming. Standing across from Chen Qing and Xu Qing, who were dressed identically and had similar hairstyles and features, she also thought they looked alike.
However, upon closer inspection, there were noticeable differences. Chen Qing's lips were thinner, and her face was slightly slimmer, so her smile didn't show pronounced laugh lines, whereas Xu Qing's did.
The differences in demeanor were even more striking.
Chen Qing was the epitome of a strong, confident woman, naturally drawing everyone's attention. In contrast, Xu Qing, who was clearly trying to ingratiate herself with Chen Qing, came across more like a lady-in-waiting.
Chen Qing was there to pick up Mira Sorvino.
Today was July 15, a Tuesday.
Chen Qing had originally planned to attend the handover ceremony at the beginning of the month and then return to the U.S. However, due to the situation in Southeast Asia, she had been called to Beijing to help coordinate various matters with her boss and had ended up staying for half a month.
Now, she was finally heading back to the U.S.
Since Mira Sorvino's scenes were wrapping up, and her boss had instructed her to look after the actress, Chen Qing had arranged to travel together.
They didn't linger long on the Love Call Transfer set. After picking up Sorvino, Chen Qing's group hurried off to the airport in northern Beijing.
For Xu Qing, this was her first time on a private jet. Even after the Gulfstream V leveled off at cruising altitude, she was still buzzing with excitement. Over the past few days, she had deliberately befriended Chen Qing, only to find that Chen seemed even more interested in her. They had been practically inseparable, even sharing a bed, and Chen had taken to dressing them alike.
When it was time to leave, Chen Qing had invited Xu Qing to come to the U.S., saying that Chinese actors were in high demand in Hollywood lately and that she could help Xu Qing break into the industry.
Xu Qing was thrilled.
When Chen Qing mentioned introducing her to her boss, saying he would definitely be interested, Xu Qing thought about the courtyard house in Mao'er Hutong and the people and events Chen Qing had been involved with recently. It was hard to feel any resistance.
Especially after some discreet inquiries led her to guess who Chen Qing's boss might be.
Unbuckling her seatbelt, Xu Qing wanted to chat more with Chen Qing but was stopped by a female attendant when she tried to head to the front cabin's office. She ended up staying in the middle cabin with Mira Sorvino, who also didn't have any special privileges, and tried to pump her for information about Hollywood.
Meanwhile.
Once the plane stabilized, Chen Qing retreated to the front cabin to organize her work from the past few weeks.
Aside from helping coordinate matters in Southeast Asia, since she had to stay in Beijing, Chen Qing had also been involved in several projects.
First was the official launch of the Beijing data center for eGroups.
Chen Qing attended the opening ceremony.
Following the Chinese government's massive investment of tens of billions of yuan last year to promote the internet industry and the significant reduction in internet access fees, the number of internet users in China had begun to grow exponentially. Compared to the end of 1996, when there were just over 2 million internet users, the first half of 1997 alone had seen an increase of more than 3 million users. It was estimated that the total number of internet users in China would exceed 10 million by the end of the year.
Even if each internet connection served an average of three users, by the end of 1997, China would have 30 million internet users—equivalent to the entire population of some small countries.
Moreover, the internet bubble burst earlier in the year hadn't slowed this growth. Anyone with a bit of foresight could see that this was an unstoppable trend.
Next was the Westeros system's strategic layout for China's internet industry.
Aside from the data centers in Beijing and Shanghai, other aspects had seemed somewhat lagging to Chen Qing—until her boss personally explained the reasoning.
After some thought, Chen Qing fully agreed with the Westeros system's localization strategy for China's internet. Taking advantage of the Beijing data center's launch, she quietly set up several venture capital funds and continued to invest heavily while other investors were still reeling from the internet bubble burst.
At this stage, the Westeros system in China had multiple startups in areas like portals, email, and e-commerce, ensuring a diversified portfolio.
Second, during this time, Chen Qing also facilitated a joint venture between CCTV and the French data research giant Sofres.
The Westeros system, through a subsidiary fund based in Hong Kong, acquired a 20% stake, with CCTV holding 50% and Sofres 30%.
According to her boss, this was just a strategic move.
But Chen Qing saw its potential.
Once all major provincial TV stations gained satellite coverage in the next year or two, competition in the TV industry would intensify. Ratings data would become increasingly important for both TV stations and advertisers, and the company controlling this data would essentially act as the referee.
The benefits of being both a player and a referee were obvious.
Initially, Chen Qing had wanted to approach Nielsen, which was far more renowned than Sofres. Nielsen had entered China in the 1980s but had remained a minor player.
However, her boss vetoed the idea without explanation, telling her to figure it out herself. After some research, Chen Qing realized her boss was a genius.
The key was that Nielsen's methods were too scientific and rigorous, involving direct monitoring through user-end devices. Sofres, on the other hand, relied on more primitive methods, like having users fill out viewing diaries.
Primitive was good.
The more primitive the method, the more room there was for manipulation.
Moreover, her boss revealed that Nielsen and Sofres were in merger talks, which were likely to succeed. Under Western antitrust laws, a data research company couldn't operate two entities in the same market, so this merger could push Nielsen out of China.
Leaving Sofres as the sole dominant player.
Finally, there was the routine follow-up on various other projects.
One recent proposal from Jinshu was to build a film studio in Beijing. This would serve two purposes: securing land and catering to the cultural differences between the north and south. The proposed studio would primarily support projects like The Grand Mansion Gate.
Chen Qing was also keen on the idea, and they had even picked a location.
Changping.
This was modeled after Los Angeles.
Why had Beverly Hills flourished? Because of Hollywood.
If a large film studio were built in Changping, it could spur the development of surrounding industries, boosting the value of the Westeros system's Rose Garden villa project in the area.
Unfortunately, the proposal was rejected.
The reason given was that it wasn't the right time for such a major move.
Chen Qing quickly understood. Her boss had just secured a significant favor in Southeast Asia. It was like a freshly brewed jar of wine—drinking it immediately would be a waste. It needed time to mature.
At this critical juncture, Jinshu's proposal to build a film studio in Beijing might end up consuming that freshly acquired favor.
The authorities would likely agree, perhaps even happily, as it would allow them to repay the favor immediately. But for the Westeros system, the cost of using up that favor for a film studio was hard to quantify.
Lastly, there was Xu Qing, whom Chen Qing had brought along.
During the casting process, Chen Qing had noticed her boss's interest in Xu Qing. Combined with the fact that Xu shared her name and resembled her, Chen Qing had taken the opportunity to bring her into the fold. Bringing Xu Qing to North America was like bringing a gift for her boss.
What kind of traveler returns home empty-handed?
In fact, Chen Qing's gifts weren't limited to Xu Qing.
From the ongoing Super Girl competition, Chen Qing had also selected a group of young women with outstanding looks and charm. She hadn't brought them along this time, but she had their resumes ready for her boss to review.
Chen Qing had noticed that her boss valued loyalty and familiarity. The more women around him, the harder it was for him to focus on any one of them. Those who had been with him longer, bound by past connections, tended to receive more attention. Moreover, catering to her boss's preferences was an effective way to stay in his good graces.
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