Chapter 32

"Go, go, goal! Ale, ale, ale!"

The ringtone of "The Cup of Life" echoed through the room, and Ye Wei, who was juggling a soccer ball, immediately stopped and ran to the table to pick up his phone. It was a call from Lily!

"Hey, how's it going?" Ye Wei's slightly panting voice was filled with barely contained excitement and anticipation.

"What's wrong with you?" Lily seemed puzzled. Ye Wei sat down in a chair and smiled, "I just beat up Willis and forced him to agree. It's a kind of black magic." Lily remembered his "superstar punching bag" and laughed, "Maybe it really works."

It seems things went well! Ye Wei hurriedly asked, "How, how?"

"After I called Lamo, I introduced her to who you are, some of your recent achievements, and your production plan. She knows about it all. She was shocked by your ideas, but to be honest, she thinks you're a foolish, crazy, and arrogant guy. Her exact words were, 'He must be high.'"

"Maybe."

"Then I said some good things about you, but I couldn't change her attitude. She still said you're 'immature, stupid, and crazy, and there's no chance of success.' I don't think anyone can blame her; she doesn't even know you. If it were me, I would probably think the same. Lamo also said she knows her father well. While Willis is adventurous and likes trying new things, he's not to the point of making a movie with a group of middle school students."

Lily paused, "I haven't told her yet that you want to be the director of the project."

"It's better not to for now." Ye Wei knew even Lily disagreed.

"Yes, so I had to change my approach to something she could accept. I said you're a crazy fan who did all this just to meet Willis, and I begged her to help you realize this wish. I didn't dare ask Lamo to relay this to her father; that would definitely be a disaster."

"Absolutely, thank you, Lily. You handled it very smartly and well." Ye Wei praised. Lamo wasn't much help right now; she also needed to be convinced.

"Okay, then I kept repeating this request, giving you a chance to meet your idol. It went pretty smoothly, ha, we got it! But not a special meeting just for you. It's tomorrow morning, Lamo and her father will be having breakfast at the Ivy in West Hollywood. If you show up at the right time, you can meet them."

"Tomorrow!?" Ye Wei couldn't help but exclaim.

"Yes, tomorrow, around 8:00 AM." Lily's voice carried a hint of apology, "Wei, I can only do so much. I know this opportunity isn't great, and you probably aren't prepared. I told Lamo, and she said it doesn't have to be tomorrow; it can be a few days later, but still in the same way."

"Let me think..."

Ye Wei got up and started pacing, thinking. No matter how the meeting goes, meeting such a big shot should always be as well-prepared as possible, showing your professionalism, talent, and seriousness, like your production plan, script analysis, and storyboards...

It would be best to have a solid short film. You say you can make movies? I could say I can build a space rocket! A good short film that people can see with their own eyes is worth a thousand words.

But tomorrow's opportunity is really rare and could be a good start.

He thought and said, "Tomorrow is fine. This won't be successful with just one or two meetings and conversations. The key now is... not who I am or what Dream Alliance is, but what the script is! If Willis has no interest in it, we should end this goal; but if he has even a little interest, we should continue, trying to impress and convince him!"

This is the current situation. What you need to tell Willis is not "I can be a director" or "We can produce a film," but "This is a great script for you!"

This is the most important thing, getting Willis to read the "Little Miss Sunshine" script and spark his interest!

"You're right, I agree, that's it." Lily also understood the situation and reminded him, "Don't mention your idea of being the director; that will ruin it."

"I know, I know, I'm not a fool." Ye Wei laughed, step by step, only when Willis falls in love with the script is the right time to talk about these things.

"Then I'll reply to Lamo, it's tomorrow?"

"It's tomorrow."

At that moment, they ended the call. After a while, Lily called back after talking to Lamo, confirming everything.

Tomorrow morning around 8:00, Willis will drive Lamo and her two sisters to the parking lot in front of the Ivy, and then the four of them will have breakfast at an outdoor table. According to their usual pace, it will take about half an hour.

During this half hour, Ye Wei can appear and ask for an autograph, not as a stranger but as a friend of a friend of Lamo. But be quick and don't talk about serious business, as this is a time for Willis and his daughters to enjoy a warm moment. If someone disturbs them for too long, they will get angry, and the restaurant security will kick Ye Wei out.

After Ye Wei introduces himself and acts as a fan, he should step aside and not bother them.

After the four finish breakfast, they will pay, get up, and walk to the parking lot to leave. This process usually takes about five minutes, during which Ye Wei can approach Willis and say what he wants, but it also depends on luck!

Since the Ivy is a place frequented by celebrities, there are often paparazzi nearby. If someone happens to be taking non-stop photos, Willis will get annoyed and leave quickly with his daughters, making it a bad time for a conversation unless Ye Wei wants to be told to go away.

So, throughout the process, Ye Wei needs to be adaptable. Lamo won't help him; it all depends on himself.

With Lamo's permission, Lily gave Ye Wei her number.

After talking to Lily, Ye Wei called, speaking quite formally, "Hello, Miss Willis, thank you for your help."

"Say thanks to Lily. I'm only doing this for her." Lamo-Willis's slightly hoarse voice came from the phone, her words blunt and clearly full of disdain, "You better not mess this up. Lily said you're a good talker, but that old man isn't a kid. He won't go crazy just because of a few words. Don't get your hopes up."

"Thank you, I'll be careful." Ye Wei responded, thinking, we'll see. No matter what, I'll try my best.

"Okay, I have other things to do. Bye."

The call was hung up. Ye Wei shrugged; this girl's temper was as fierce as her appearance! He called Lily back and said, "It's settled, let's see how it goes tomorrow."

"Wei, how about... I go with you tomorrow?" Lily suggested a new idea, not for a date, "I'm free, and with me there, Willis should be more patient. My parents are friends with him."

"No, some things should be done alone." Ye Wei felt that such polite patience might make Willis internally unhappy and make him seem like a wimp.

"Okay." Lily didn't insist, knowing the downside, and encouraged him, "Good luck, go forward, Wolverine, change their minds!"

"Wow, you know, I've been waiting to hear 'Go, Wolverine' from a beautiful girl for more than two years. Too bad it's not during a soccer game."

"Ha... You'll hear it in the future, maybe, maybe not..."

They chatted for a while, and Lily really had to do her homework. Ye Wei also needed to prepare, so they said goodbye. But he hadn't flipped through a few pages of the script when his phone rang again, this time from an unknown number. He answered, "Hello?"

A polite voice of a stranger came through, "Hello, is this Mr. Ye Wei? I'm Michael Arndt, the screenwriter of 'Little Miss Sunshine.' I'm sorry to bother you."

"Oh, hello, hello!" Ye Wei immediately stood up from his chair and walked to the window, a bit excited, "Michael, you wrote a great story. I want to tell you that your previous persistence was absolutely, absolutely correct. Ensemble is the soul of 'Little Miss Sunshine.' Six characters, none can be missing!"

"Thank you... thank you." Michael Arndt was clearly surprised, seemingly not expecting Ye Wei to be so enthusiastic.

Ye Wei also noticed this, looking at the starry night sky, and smiled, "Sorry, we've had the script for two days and haven't contacted you yet. I planned to wait a few days until things settled down and I had a detailed production plan, then we could have a dinner meeting."

"That's fine, I only found out today." Arndt's tone was self-deprecating. Screenwriters in the film industry are often in a low position. Once the script is sold, they have no control over what happens next, and it seems like nothing is related to them anymore.

After some formalities, Arndt couldn't help but ask, "Wei, can you tell me about your production plan?"

"Of course, I plan to use overseas pre-sale copyright financing... We are actively looking for big stars to join. There has been some progress, but I can't reveal who yet. I hope everything goes well."

Arndt was speechless, his already anxious heart plummeted to the icy bottom. Finished, it's a reckless kid and a bunch of kids fooling around! Finished, the script will either be delayed for another two years or end up as a pile of paper. Maybe that's a good outcome because it could be messed up and turned into something unbearable... Finished!

"What?" Ye Wei heard the other side sigh, filled with unrestrained sorrow. It wasn't hard to guess why, but now wasn't the time for more explanations. "You find it hard to believe, right? Don't worry, I'm serious. Anyway, after Thanksgiving, I'll contact you for a dinner meeting. For now, I need to prepare for an important meeting, so that's it?"

Arndt said "goodbye" with a voice close to tears, making Ye Wei make a face. Buddy, you'll see.

After hanging up, Ye Wei got busy again, analyzing the script, writing a story summary, studying Willis's potential interests, and preparing a one or two-minute pitch...

Actually, during the "script fever" in the early 90s, Hollywood had a creative boom of "how to get big shots to read my script." Everyone came up with unique ideas, and some even used air drops to deliver scripts to big shots, just to get their attention and interest.

However, in 2003, if someone did this, they would be considered a weirdo. But the principle remains the same: you must show your sincerity!

This was the most challenging part for Ye Wei: finding a way to deliver the script that is both suitable for the current situation and can leave a lasting impression on Willis...

Time passed at its own pace, and the night gradually gave way to dawn.

Very early in the morning, just after 6:00, Ye Wei got up on his own, did some morning exercise, took a shower, and changed into a neat, youthful outfit. He put the prepared script and other items into a black briefcase and was ready to leave.

Although it only takes half an hour to drive from home to the Ivy, and the restaurant doesn't open until 7:30, with the meeting at 8:00, it's better to be early than late.

"Dad, Mom, I'm going out!"

Thump, thump, thump, Ye Wei shouted as he went down the stairs, with Toto happily following.

He looked around and saw his mother taking care of Dodo, who had just woken up, in the dining room. His father, already dressed in his work clothes, was walking towards the door and asked, "Where are you going? Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'm going to West Hollywood, it's not on the way... Dad, you really shouldn't work on weekends."

Ye Wei frowned because the recent increase in workload had made his father look more haggard, with tired eyes. His mother had also found some translation work, and the dining table was almost covered with stacks of documents to be translated, which looked exhausting.

"That's not possible, I have a few clients scheduled." Ye Haogen smiled, but when he saw the briefcase in his son's hand, his smile froze, "You're busy with work too?"

"No, I can't find anyone to work with on Sunday. It's a breakfast date, and this outfit makes me look more mature." Ye Wei lied without blinking, holding up the briefcase and striking a few cool poses.

"That's good." Ye Haogen relaxed and smiled, "Really don't need a ride? It's still early in West Hollywood."

"No, it would be embarrassing if a girl saw me getting a ride from my dad."

"Ha, I understand. Dad's off, be careful and have fun."

As his father walked out the door, Ye Wei let out a deep breath, feeling both pressure and drive. He absolutely couldn't mess this up today!

He straightened his collar and stepped out the door, the morning sun shining brightly. When you first set out, you're just a nobody, but when you come back, you'll be a superstar!