*Chapter 367: The Thirteen Beauties of Jinling*

"She's inside!"

"Can I see her alone?"

In the dimly lit corridor of the hospital, Nina Lily paused in front of a ward door. Joseph glanced at her and slowly walked into the room. Lying on the bed was Sophia Snowflake, who had recently miscarried—a woman he had once loved.

Joseph quietly gazed at the unconscious Sophia, sorrow etched on his handsome face, with a faint melancholy lingering in his deep eyes. The light from the ceiling poured down, and the outline of his profile resembled a finely crafted piece of art.

Seeing Link's performance, Director Wang Ying nodded in satisfaction. For a boxer to hone his acting skills to this level was indeed impressive.

"Cut!"

"Perfect!"

After joining the "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" production team, Link continued filming, completing Joseph's scenes in about six days.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

After the final scene, the crew members put down their work and applauded him.

On one hand, it was because of his dedication during these days. As a world-class superstar with a busy schedule, he never arrived late to any shoot. He also never missed a rehearsal, which left a good impression on the entire crew.

His attitude toward the staff was also commendable. When cast or crew members asked for his autograph or a photo, he never refused, showing no hint of a superstar’s ego. This earned him a great reputation among the crew.

On the other hand, his acting was outstanding. He took his performance seriously. Whenever he felt a scene wasn’t up to par, he would approach Director Wang Ying to discuss it, hoping to reshoot and deliver his best. This level of dedication also showed his responsibility toward the film.

When Link saw everyone clapping for him, he joined in, bowing to thank them and taking a group photo with the crew.

"Link, there's a renowned director who would like to meet you. Do you have some time to chat?"

After the photo, Deng Wendi approached with a smile, accompanied by a thin, white-haired director with bright, sharp eyes.

Link looked over and instantly recognized the man—Director Zhang Damou, known for numerous works such as Ju Dou, To Live, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, The Story of Qiu Ju, and Curse of the Golden Flower.

If one were to select a director with the greatest global influence and who best represented the development of Chinese cinema, it would undoubtedly be him.

He was also the chief director of the 2008 Olympic Games opening ceremony.

Link had seen him at the Beijing Olympics back then but had never greeted him. Now, seeing Deng Wendi bringing Director Zhang to the set, Link was surprised. What could he want from him?

He took the initiative to step forward, shaking the director's hand. "Nice to meet you, Director Zhang," he said.

"Nice to meet you," Director Zhang replied with a smile, causing Deng Wendi to chuckle at their exchange.

With Deng Wendi’s help, the three of them moved to a nearby teahouse for a chat.

Director Zhang, a straightforward man, wasted no time revealing his intention as soon as they sat down. He was looking to cast Link in his new film, The Thirteen Beauties of Jinling. The film tells the story of a group of Chinese people who, during the 1937 Japanese invasion of Nanking, courageously resisted the invaders, sacrificing their lives in the process.

In the film, there is a foreign character—a mortician who, despite being a money-grubbing drunk, disguises himself as a priest at a critical moment to save "The Thirteen Beauties of Jinling" in a church. He is somewhat akin to an "Oskar Schindler" figure.

Director Zhang believed that Link would be perfect for the role and invited him to play the lead.

"Director Zhang, do you think I’m suited to play a priest?"

As Link flipped through the script, he hesitated. He had played a boxer, a writer, a diver, a student, a groom, a mercenary, and a businessman. Now, taking on the role of a priest felt like a lot of pressure.

"Mr. Baker, I think you are very suitable. Although you’re a foreigner, you possess a certain Chinese humility and harmony in your demeanor. Standing among a group of Chinese, you wouldn’t seem out of place, which is very rare.

"Moreover, John Miller isn’t a real priest; he’s a character who disguises himself as a priest under special circumstances. If you agree to take the role, we can redesign the character to suit your image. For example, we could make him a playboy who came to China for business or a wandering musician searching for opportunities in China. These are all negotiable."

Director Zhang spoke sincerely.

It sounded promising, but Link still had some concerns.

First, his schedule for next year was overwhelming. Besides boxing matches and his fourth album, he had a slew of movies waiting to be filmed, including The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Time Bureau, Captain America, Friends with Benefits, You Are Still Here, and Rust and Bone. Adding The Thirteen Beauties of Jinling would likely leave him no time to breathe.

But turning down the role would be a shame.

First, it’s a patriotic film. Although he’s now a foreigner, being part of a movie that promotes Chinese cinema on a global scale would be meaningful.

Second, the film seems to have a good reputation, being the box office champion of the year.

Additionally, Director Zhang is an internationally renowned director with excellent directing skills. Collaborating with him would also help improve Link’s acting abilities.

Link asked Director Zhang about the filming schedule.

Director Zhang said it would roughly take place in February or March, with Link's scenes being few and likely taking about half a month to shoot.

Link thought for a moment and said the script was excellent, but his schedule was packed. He’d need to check his work commitments before confirming. He promised to give a final answer by next week.

Director Zhang understood.

After sending Director Zhang off, Link called Mandy and Anna to discuss the invitation. He asked if he had any availability in February or March.

Mandy informed him that Captain America was scheduled to shoot from October to February, and February to March would be for Friends with Benefits and The Time Bureau.

Also, he would release a new album at the beginning of the year, and February to March is awards season. If he took on The Thirteen Beauties of Jinling, he would have no rest at all.

Listening to this made Link’s head spin. He considered discussing with Director Will Gluck about possibly delaying the filming by a month or two. If that wasn’t possible, he might have to find another lead actor.

Palm Beach Pictures is one of the producers of this film, so as the boss, he had no problem asking the crew to delay filming by a month or two.

If the crew was already prepared, and delaying would be costly, they could also consider finding another lead actor.

For a commercial film like this, the requirements for the lead aren't too high—being handsome and popular would suffice, and there are many in Hollywood who could fit the bill.

Ms. Mandy said it was fine as long as he didn’t mind the extra work. Since he was the core of the entire team, his hard work would allow everyone else to earn more bonuses and shares.

Ms. Anna mentioned on the phone that the promotional work for the Korea leg of the world tour had already begun. According to the agreement between Universal Records and the Korean side, the originally planned five concerts in Korea had been increased to eight.

Link couldn't help but feel exasperated. He already had a heavy workload, and now Universal Records was piling on more responsibilities, seemingly intent on working him to exhaustion.

Anna continued, saying that Universal Records had also promised an additional $500,000 appearance fee per show for both him and the performance team for each of the newly added concerts. They also guaranteed that each concert would have an audience of at least 30,000 people; for any shows with fewer than 30,000 attendees, they would still be paid based on a 30,000-person ticket share.

Hearing this, Link fell silent.

Each additional concert would bring in an extra $1.5 million in appearance fees, with ticket revenue sharing amounting to over $300,000 per show. Adding three more shows would bring in over $5 million—more than what he'd earn from filming a movie.

Moreover, the more concerts he performed in a region, the more tickets sold, which indicated high local popularity and recognition for the singer.

In fact, adding concert dates is something most singers hope for.

Many singers claim they will hold a hundred concerts before the tour, but when it comes time to perform, they often end up canceling after just a few shows due to lack of fan support.

Additionally, concerts serve as a way to promote both the singer and their albums. Before and after a concert, the singer's fame and album sales in that region typically increase.

During Link’s concert tour in China, excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan, the total legitimate sales of his three albums in mainland China reached 620,000 copies—over thirty times more than in July, showing remarkable results.

Reportedly, the pirated versions of his three albums sold over eight million copies, with many middle school students buying them as English listening practice tapes.

Link wasn’t too concerned about this, thinking that once these fans had more disposable income, they might turn into legitimate customers. Maybe one day, like a famous comedian, he could claim that "everyone owes Link a legitimate album."

Before heading to Korea for the concert, Link visited his two Japanese teachers and spent a day learning Japanese in his apartment.

At the same time, he arranged for his company’s staff in Japan to buy a luxury apartment in a prime location in Tokyo in advance.

On the one hand, it would be a place for him to stay when visiting Tokyo in the future. On the other hand, it could also take care of Nozomi Sasaki-chan.

Nozomi Sasaki-chan was beautiful, with a sexy figure and skin that seemed as smooth as if she bathed in milk. Her voice was sweet when she spoke, and she had that gentle demeanor typical of Japanese women, offering a great deal of both emotional and physical satisfaction.

Link thought having a Japanese lover wasn’t a bad idea.

In addition, to thank Yui-chan for her help, he composed a piece of music based on his impressions and handed it over to a musician under Link Music to refine. The result was a duet in English called "Good Time," which he planned to perform with Yui-chan at the Tokyo concert.

Yui-chan had a few English songs in her two albums, and her sweet, warm voice was well-suited for a song like "Good Time."

Yui-chan was thrilled by the invitation and always flashed a big smile whenever she saw him. She even apologized to him, saying that when she made him learn Japanese at the low table, she was just playing a prank and asked for his forgiveness.

Link laughed and said it was no big deal.

Yui-chan felt bad about it and prepared a large table full of Japanese dishes to make amends, promising to treat him to another meal when he arrived in Tokyo.

Link asked her if she wasn’t worried that being friends with him, a notorious playboy, would lead to misunderstandings by the media and fans. Didn’t she mind?

Yui-chan said she didn’t care, praising him as a genuinely good person and not the playboy the public perceived him to be.

She said it was an honor to be his friend.

A few times, Yui-chan almost blurted out their purpose for being there, but each time, Nozomi Sasaki-chan would interrupt and change the subject.

Seeing how sweet and innocent Yui-chan was, Link sometimes felt a bit guilty, as if he was being a little bad.

Before flying to Korea, he also made a stop in Beijing, staying at Chris Liu’s place for two days. He accompanied Chris and Jennifer to visit the courtyard house under renovation and spent two nights at a high-end apartment in Chaoyang District.

But due to a lack of discretion, paparazzi snapped photos of the three of them holding hands while shopping and watching a movie.

After the photos were leaked, negative opinions of him spread on the Chinese internet. Many netizens were outraged, calling him a "scumbag" and a "womanizer," telling him to leave China and never come back.

When he first came to China, netizens warmly welcomed him, calling him "Wen Zige" and "Quan Ge."

But now, they were all clamoring for him to leave.

Truly, fortunes rise and fall in thirty years.

Despite this, before leaving China, he and Link Music donated 50 million yuan each to the China Charity Federation, the China Youth Development Foundation, and the Chinese branch of the Link Charity Foundation to support charity work in China, essentially leaving all the money he earned during this trip in the country.

This was quickly reported by many official media outlets in China, praising him as a philanthropist passionate about charity, and welcoming him to return for more exchanges and activities.

Netizens’ attitudes toward him softened a bit, acknowledging that while his personal life had some flaws, in every other way, he was nearly the perfect idol.

So, when he bid farewell to his Chinese fans on Weibo before leaving, the comments section was in an uproar. Within three days, there were over 120,000 comments, with some welcoming his return, some not, and others saying they’d welcome him back as long as he stopped womanizing.

He became a highly controversial foreign celebrity with a mix of both positive and negative attention.

However, this controversy also gave him immense popularity and recognition among the Chinese public. In the subsequent Weibo poll for the most famous foreign celebrity, he surpassed big names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Lady Gaga, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Avril Lavigne to take first place.

Even domestic advertisers raised their endorsement offers from 7-8 million dollars to over 12 million dollars after taxes.

Moreover, many Chinese companies, seeing the potential for profit due to his fame, actively contacted Wang Chao Promotions, hoping to secure the rights to host his next boxing match.

They even offered him over 20 million dollars for the appearance fee.

This was the highest appearance fee ever offered to a foreign boxer in a domestic match.

——

The plane took off, and as Link gazed out the window at the land of China, he softly said, "I'll be back."

(End of this chapter)