Chapter 71

This chapter is a bit late, continuing with the next one!! The next chapter will be around 12 o'clock. A favor for a collection, it's almost a thousand!!

The following is the main text:

In the second half of February, there were two events in the entertainment industry that attracted the most attention. One was that Girls' Generation won the top spot on Music Bank, Music Core, and Popular Song with their song "Kissing You" for the first time, even achieving a two-week consecutive win on SBS Popular Song, which had never happened before. Now, Girls' Generation had a subtle aura of a top-tier girl group. The other was a thriller movie, "The Chaser," which broke the record for the fastest one million audience members in just seven days of its release, and by the thirteenth day, it surpassed the record of "The Best Moment of My Life" which took fifteen days to reach two million audience members. In the first week, it ranked second in box office sales, just slightly behind "Jumper," and in the second week, it surged ahead of all other films, dominating the box office. By the time the box office was tallied, it firmly held the top spot, and the third week was no different, with better and better attendance, better and better word of mouth, and the box office continuing to soar.

This made one person extremely happy, another furious, and another heartbroken.

The one who was extremely happy was Choi Min-woo, the president of Showbox. When he decided to give the slots for the Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day to Lee Jong, he had to make a significant decision. However, "The Chaser" did not disappoint him. In just thirteen days, it had already surpassed two million audience members, and now it was nearing 2.3 million, with the momentum just beginning.

This was a small-budget film, and once it reached one million audience members, the investment was recouped, and everything after that was profit. With Showbox handling both distribution and screening, they would make a huge profit. And Lee Jong was already starting to make money.

The one who was furious, of course, was Liu Xiuli from CJ Entertainment. From the beginning of the film's funding search, Liu Xiuli had tried to blacklist Lee Jong. If it weren't for some wealthy relatives of Lee Jong, he might have had to slink back to the MV director's circle. Later, she even interfered with the film's rating, forcing Lee Jong to re-edit the film. Now, it was showing signs of becoming the best film of the first half of 2008.

Liu Xiuli was not without the intention to counter Lee Jong, but on February 14th, a Hollywood blockbuster, "Jumper," was also released. Directed by Doug Liman, who directed "The Bourne Identity" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," and starring Hayden Christensen from "Star Wars: Episode II" and veteran actor Samuel L. Jackson.

Although it did not perform ideally in North America, it swept through the Asian market, becoming the box office champion in South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in its first week. So Liu Xiuli thought that even if she tried to counter it, she might not be as effective as the Hollywood film. However, before the second week, "The Chaser" surged ahead and became a huge hit.

As for the one who was heartbroken, you might guess it was Kim Young-min, the president of ** Company. Initially, he had intended to distribute Lee Jong's film. Although ** Company was a giant in the music industry, it was a newcomer in the film industry. They had tried distributing some low-budget films before, but all of them had lost money. This time, they wanted to distribute Lee Jong's film, seeing his reputation as a genius PD. If it didn't work out, they could at least recruit him to shoot MVs for ** Company, which would be better than the previous ones. Unfortunately, due to the film rating issue, Kim Young-min hesitated and became timid, missing out on this great opportunity. In the future, it would be almost impossible to find such a good opportunity with Lee Jong again. Kim Young-min sighed inwardly.

Now, Lee Jong was miserably helping Zhang Xun break down the script. "Zhang Xun, this seems to be your own business, why are you pushing it onto me?" Lee Jong said helplessly.

"I have no choice, it's already early March, and we only need to finish breaking down the script. Once that's done, we can start filming." Zhang Xun handed Lee Jong a cup of coffee.

"You still have the nerve to say that. You've already sent out the script, but you insisted on changing it, and you changed it beyond recognition. You kept the part that shouldn't have been kept, and the rest you changed so much that it hurts to look at it." Lee Jong said irritably.

"Hehe, that's because I had a sudden inspiration and thought this plot was better than the previous one." Zhang Xun quickly tried to please him.

"You really are something. Forget it, let's hurry up. There are still 20 pages left. Let's finish it quickly." Lee Jong handed half of the script to Zhang Xun.

On the afternoon of March 3rd, Lee Jong finally finished the script. His phone rang, and he picked it up to see a reminder: "Today is Ji-gae's birthday, don't forget."

"Ah..." Lee Jong hurriedly ran out of Zhang Xun's place, saying as he ran, "Zhang Xun, you finish up the rest. I have something tonight, so I can't stay with you."

Lee Jong got in his car and thought about going to Lotte Department Store in Myeongdong. He had a Lotte VIP discount card from when he shot an advertisement for Lotte.

Walking through Lotte Department Store, Lee Jong was at a loss. What should he buy? Jewelry? Handbag? Clothes? Seo Ye-ri didn't lack anything, but he couldn't not buy something. Over the past two years, he had been serving in the military, and no one knew where he was, so he hadn't bought anything for these witches. Today was Seo Ye-ri's birthday, and if he didn't show up, knowing these witches, it wouldn't end well.

"What should I buy? What should I buy?" Lee Jong kept looking, and as he walked, he arrived at the Swarovski flagship store. Swarovski, an Austrian crystal brand founded in 1895, has a history of over 110 years and is one of the world's leading crystal manufacturers.

In the store, Lee Jong found a crystal piano. The purple crystal sparkled under the colorful lights, and Lee Jong was almost mesmerized by its beauty. "Sir, hello, do you need any help?" a saleswoman approached Lee Jong.

"Um, I want to ask about this crystal piano." Lee Jong pointed to the purple crystal piano.

"Oh, this is a custom-made crystal music box for our clients. If you want to customize it, we can design it specifically for you." The saleswoman explained.

"Custom-made? Is there no ready-made one?" Lee Jong was a bit disappointed when he heard it was custom-made.

"Um, let me check." The saleswoman, seeing that Lee Jong seemed interested in buying it, went to ask the on-duty manager.

"Hello, sir, I remember a client who had it custom-made but never paid in full. It seems to have passed the pick-up period. I can check for you." A man in a suit said to Lee Jong.

"Okay, check it out." Lee Jong looked at the time; it was already 4:00 PM, and he still needed to change clothes and get ready. He didn't have much time left.

"Why haven't you gone yet?" Lee Jong was already a bit anxious, seeing that the manager hadn't gone.

"Um, sir, I need to tell you the price. It's quite expensive." The man in the suit, looking at Lee Jong's attire, kindly reminded him.

"No problem, bring it over. If I like it, I'll buy it. Don't worry." Lee Jong immediately understood what the man was concerned about.

The man in the suit brought out a box after a while. When he opened it, inside was a yellow crystal piano music box. Lee Jong liked it more and more, and he thought Seo Ye-ri would like it too. "OK, I'll take it. Wrap it up and I'll pay."

"Sure, sir. The original price is 20 million won, but since it's a custom-made overstock, we'll give you a 30% discount, so the total is 14 million won." The man in the suit said to Lee Jong.

"Um... That's really expensive..." Lee Jong was a bit stunned when he heard the price. 14 million won could buy a car.

"Yes, sir, this is made from a single piece of natural Brazilian yellow crystal, and it contains the world's top music core. Even among luxury items, it is extremely famous. Do you still want it?" The man in the suit explained.

"Yes, why not. Wrap it up. Consider it as the interest for the money you lent me." Lee Jong said the last part in a low voice.

"By the way, do I get a discount with my Lotte discount card?" Lee Jong remembered to ask.

"Sorry, sir, we do not accept Lotte discount cards." Lee Jong rolled his eyes, regretting his decision.

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