When the whole world had learned about Wang Yang and Jessica’s relationship, High School Musical’s sixth week of screening—the third week of its large-scale screening—had also just ended. From May 28th to June 3rd, it pulled in $32,416,200 at the box office. With this result, it remained in second place at the weekly box office. And, by grossing $161,500,000 overall at the box office, it became the new highest-grossing film in North American history, while the previous record had been held by Wang Yang himself—the $160,000,000 grossed by Paranormal Activity.
The winning movie at the weekly box office was certainly Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace again. Its popularity had not stopped rising yet. It grossed $81,614,000 in a single week. On the other hand, the newly released Notting Hill also had a great result by taking $24,406,000 at the box office in the opening weekend, ranked third. Julia Roberts was overwhelmingly charming. As a die-hard fan of hers, Zachary had invited Wang Yang to go to the cinema to watch Notting Hill with him many times.
Wang Yang was pretty puzzled by Zachary’s insistent invitations. Why would he want to go to the cinema to watch Notting Hill, a romantic film, with another man? After all, it was not Brokeback Mountain. Wang Yang expressed his doubts to Zachary. It turned out what Zachary wanted was a double date. He wanted Wang Yang and Jessica to bring Erin Elis, a close friend of Jessica’s. Zachary was trying very hard to turn Erin into his girlfriend, but Erin kept ignoring him. She only regarded him as a friend, and she had certainly refused his invitation to the cinema.
What a stupid idea! Wang Yang did not say yes to Zachary, but he offered the latter an even stupider idea. He would ask Jessica to ask Erin to go to the cinema, and then Jessica would stand Erin up. Then, Zachary would suddenly show up. The rest would be Zachary’s job.
At the same time, High School Musical’s original soundtrack was still being snapped up at record stores. Most fans’ enthusiasm was not affected by the relationship between Wang Yang and Jessica. More than 300,000 records had been sold during the first week after its release. If there were enough supplies, the figure could have been doubled. More shockingly, nine songs from High School Musical’s original soundtrack showed up in the Billboard Hot 100 in the latest week.
Nine songs were ranked in the top 100 best-performing songs, and five of them were ranked in the top 40! This was a new Guinness world record! It caught the attention of multiple big record labels, like Warner Music and EMI. They all started to ask whether Flames Films had the intention to collaborate with them in the overseas distribution of the record. This was exactly what Flames Films wanted.
Different from the overseas distribution of the movie, Flames Films did not have any experience or resources in records. They could find a small company to work together with in North America, but when it came to overseas, they had better find a tycoon in the industry to represent them in all the activities. Of course, they would have to split their profits with the tycoon.
Much of the media commented again on the updated box office gross of High School Musical. Chicago Sun-Times’s report was titled “Magic Yang x2!”. It commented this way, “The Paranormal Activity fever started in August of 1998, while the High School Musical fever started in May of 1999. With only less than one year apart between them, it is really unbelievable! So, will we see this youngest director’s third movie in 2000, the start of the new millennium? Would it be a brand-new movie or a sequel of High School Musical? Will we witness Magic Yang x3?”
New York Times paid more attention to the influence of High School Musical. It called it “a triumph of the young generation. No matter whether you like it or dislike it, no matter whether you think it youthful and positive or childish and boring, no matter what, you just have to admit it is influential.”
How influential was it? In the less important sense, for example, Salt Lake City East High, where part of the movie was shot, later announced it would rename itself East High. In the more important sense, European teenagers were all looking forward to the movie’s release in Europe in July. A craze for singing and dancing had started even before the movie was shown there.
Wang Yang, the initiator of this fever, had become the most brilliant new star in Hollywood and even across the country. In business, his company, Flames Films, also had become a new star. Once a small company on the verge of bankruptcy, it had grown into an excellent company with an annual revenue of $200,000,000. In the “Who is Your Favorite New Male Idol?” survey published in the newest issue of the Empire magazine, Wang Yang came out among the top. He was even more popular than Tom Welling, High School Musical’s leading male actor.
Why was that happening? The Empire magazine commented, “This is a rare case. Generally speaking, even the youngest directors are already in their late twenties, but Yang was only nineteen. He has a good-looking face and a wonderful body, and he is confident and mature. Besides, he is not just a director. He is also the man behind two business miracles, through which he became the youngest billionaire in the world. As a result, it is not weird at all that he has become young people’s idol.” In fact, the Empire magazine’s editor left out one thing. If that young man were white, he would even get many votes if he announced he would run for the presidency.
The tree may long for calmness, but the wind will not subside. As his fame rose, Wang Yang was experiencing a lot of changes in his life. One of them was the paparazzi. Although his relationship with Jessica had been exposed, the paparazzi did not leave them in peace. Cole, who had already earned a new car by selling Wang Yang and Jessica’s photos, followed him even closer. So people learned about the news that he had moved into Jessica’s neighborhood immediately. They also knew he would go out walking Jessica’s dog with her every morning and every evening.
However, after spending days following the two, those paparazzi only got pictures of them walking the dog, biking, or simply walking, as well as some photos of playing basketball on the basketball court of the neighborhood. No newspapers would like to publish these photos of everyday life more than once. Consequently, as time went by, fewer and fewer paparazzi were following them, and those who were still following them also stopped following them all the time. Most of them only came to try their luck from time to time.
Besides the paparazzi, another change was that Wang Yang’s life was involved with more activities—activities that he could attend. For example, he had just received a party invitation.
Looking at the strange number displayed on the screen of the cellphone, Wang Yang answered it confusedly, “Hi, who is that?”
“Hi, is that Wang Yang? I am Paris Hilton.” A female voice came through the phone. She said with a smile, “Mr. John Feldmeyer gave me your number. Yang, I watched High School Musical. It is wonderful. Actually, I have some questions about movies. I am wondering whether you can help me answer them.”
Wang Yang said, “Sure,” wondering who Paris Hilton was. He was complaining silently because John had given his number to a total stranger to him without asking him first.
At this moment, Paris Hilton went on with a smile, “I will travel to Los Angeles in a few days to throw a fun party. It will be at the Hilton, of course. That is my place. So we can do whatever we want without any supervision.” Wang Yang kind of got a clue. The Hilton, Paris Hilton. She was probably a rich family’s girl. Paris added, “Would you like to come?”
“Party?” Wang Yang curled up his lip. He refused immediately, “No, thanks. I am not going.”
Paris did not give up immediately. “Come. You can bring your girlfriend!”
However, Wang Yang refused her bluntly again, “No, thanks. I mean it. We don’t like parties. Have fun.”
It seemed a surprise to Paris that Wang Yang had refused her so quickly. She said in an unhappy tone, “Why? There are young people who don’t like partying?”
Wang Yang smiled. A party with no supervision? He said, “Yeah, I think there are quite a few.”
“Okay! Bye-bye then!” Paris sounded angry. She hung up the phone.
Wang Yang put the cellphone aside. Smiling, he shook his head. He murmured to himself, “Do young people have to love partying?” Then, he said in a pretended husky voice, “Oh, sure!” Shrugging his shoulders, he answered in his normal voice, “Yeah? Then I am not Wang Yang (Young). I am Wang… I am Old Wang.”
However, it was not that he did not go to any social events. There were some events he would have loved to attend, like the fundraising dinner party held by the United Nations Children’s Fund. He received the invitation, and he was going to attend it. On the one hand, it was for a good cause. On the other hand, he could know some people at the dinner party. He heard that Robert Zemeckis and Spielberg would attend as well. They were both his idols. He would love to meet the great directors he had admired for such a long time.
Since he could take a plus to the dinner party, Wang Yang would certainly take Jessica. However, Jessica frowned at the news. She said, “Yang, I have never been to such an occasion.”
Nodding, Wang Yang said, “Me neither. But there is always the first time. I think we will attend many similar events in the future.” He broke into a smile. He said, “Like the Golden Globe Awards, the Oscars…”
Jessica smiled as well. She said, “Okay!”
Wang Yang said with a smile, “We should contact a makeup artist.”
The fundraising dinner party was held at a luxury hotel in Beverly Hills. On the day of the dinner party, the two dressed up and then drove to the party venue. Wang Yang was wearing a black suit, while Jessica was wearing a beautiful evening dress, carrying a white handbag. Some makeup artist had helped them with the makeup so that their appearances could fit in with the occasion. In addition, there would be journalists taking photos of the guests, so they had to show a good image.
A long red carpet paved the way to the gate of the bar. There were rails along both sides. And the place was full of journalists from different media outlets. Holding cameras with long-focus or short-focus lenses, they kept pressing the shutter button of their cameras to take pictures of the party guests. Dazzling lights kept flashing.
“Hey, Yang, Jessica!” A white, male journalist suddenly showed up before Wang Yang and Jessica. The two were holding hands together. He approached them to take photos of them with his long-focus lens. At the same time, he asked them, “Yang, Jessica, how is your relationship going?” Other journalists also found them. They also shifted their cameras toward them.
Holding hands and smiling, Wang Yang and Jessica walked toward the hotel, nodding at the journalists to greet them at the same time.
However, the journalists did not want to just take some photos. They kept bombing them with questions. “When did you start your relationship? Can you tell us a little about the story between you two?” A blond, female journalist threw him another question when he was about to answer that question. “Yang, rumor has it that you were in love with Natalie, and you even wrote a love letter to her. Do you still feel anything about her? And Jessica, do you mind this history of Wang Yang’s?” Wang Yang’s brows knitted a little. Then, a black, female journalist asked, “The whole world believes you will break up in one year. What do you think about that?”
“This question is meaningless!” Wang Yang interrupted that journalist. He said, “Things are great between us.” He gave Jessica a glance, and Jessica also looked at him. The two smiled at each other. They had been spending every day together since he had moved, and their relationship had become more and more stable. He could not be happier. The prediction about their breakup in one year was nothing but ridiculous. Wang Yang added, “Thank you for your attention, but we don’t need that. I won’t answer similar questions again.”
Seeing Wang Yang so tough, the journalist turned to Jessica. Jessica looked serious. She said, “I don’t want to talk about my private life. A relationship is between two people. It is not supposed to be others’ business.”
“Tell us about it. Share some great moments of your love life with us?” The journalist would not give up. Neither of the two wanted to respond. They walked into the hotel directly. Behind them, the journalists were still asking all kinds of questions. “Yang, do you have any plan for your next movie?””It’s said Flames Films is going to shoot the sequel of High School Musical. Will it be directed by you?”
The hall where the dinner party was held was absolutely brilliant and splendid at the moment. The guests invited to the party were all celebrities in Hollywood, including famous producers, famous directors, and famous actors and actresses. Men were all in suits, while women were all elegant and pretty. The dinner party had not started yet. All guests were chit-chatting with someone. Waiters and waitresses were moving around to serve appetizers and drinks. There were also journalists invited to the party. They also got into the hall. They were taking photos of the other guests.
Wang Yang and Jessica were the youngest in the entire room. It was their first time attending such an event. Walking into the hall and looking at the famous people around them—although they were also famous, they still felt kind of nervous. They secretly took deep breaths.
A waiter approached them with alcohol on a tray. He asked them with a smile, “Mister, Miss, would you like something to drink?”
Smiling and shaking their heads, Wang Yang and Jessica said, “We are good. Thanks.” They had not reached the legal drinking age yet. If they were photographed drinking alcohol here, there would be many troubles.
The waiter said “Okay” and then left.
“Hi!” At this moment, a couple approached them. They greeted them with a smile. Wang Yang and Jessica responded politely, “Hi!” That charming couple smiled at them and then walked away.
When that couple had been far away, Wang Yang looked back at Jessica. He suddenly said to her, “Are they Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston?”
Jessica nodded. She said in a low voice, “I think they are.”
Wang Yang smiled. Shrugging, he said, “They are as good-looking in real life as in films. Jessi, you know what? I watched Interview with the Vampire five times. It is one of the few horror movies that I really like.”
Jessica said with a smile, “I like Rachel. Rachel from Friends.” She looked at Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, standing in the distance, and then looked at Wang Yang. She said with a sweet smile, “They are such a happy couple. We will be as happy as they are.”
Wang Yang was suddenly dumbstruck because he recalled another movie he had watched, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. And a report said Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie had some sparks because of that movie. In other words, he had an affair with Angelina Jolie. Anyway, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston got divorced in the end and he and Angelina were together.
Looking at Jessica, believing their relationship was great and looking forward to a great relationship like theirs, Wang Yang squeezed the palm of her hand. Smiling, he said, “We will be happier.” Jessica showed him a sweet smile.
“Yang, are they smiling at us?” Jessica was looking at a few ladies who were very well dressed. They were laughing and talking about some women’s topics. They were looking at Jessica and Wang Yang from time to time, indeed.
Nodding, Wang Yang said, “Yeah. Maybe you should go to say hello, to get to know some new friends, you know?”
Smiling at him, Jessica said, “Okay. I am going.” Then, she walked over with her handbag.
After Jessica had left, Wang Yang walked around aimlessly. The dinner party was full of celebrities. There were many A-list superstars and famous directors. He suddenly saw a familiar face in front of him. He could not help but feel nervous. That was Robert Zemeckis! This Oscar best director winner was wearing a blue-grey suit and a pair of black-rimmed glasses. He was drinking red wine from the wine glass in his hand, with a kind smile hanging on his face.
Good heavens! Wang Yang took a deep breath. Robert Zemeckis was one of his favorite directors. Romancing the Stone, the first movie he had ever watched, led him into the world of movies. Back to the Future had shown him what was science fiction. Forrest Gump was extremely thought-provoking for him. It was fair to say Robert Zemeckis was his beacon. He’d chosen to go to the University of Southern California mostly because Robert Zemeckis was a USC alumnus.
Wang Yang was eager to go to speak to him. He was organizing his thoughts in his mind. When he’d been studying at the University of Southern California, just a few days before he was expelled from the university, Robert Zemeckis gave a lecture on the campus. They had talked a little in private because he approached Robert Zemeckis as soon as the lecture ended. He asked a very stupid question back then, “Mr. Zemeckis, what do you think a good director is supposed to be like?”
Without thinking, Robert Zemeckis answered with a smile, “Any director that shoots whatever he wants to shoot is good.”
“Hey, man!” All of a sudden, a voice came from behind. Wang Yang turned his head to look. He saw Will Smith with his signature smile in a black suit. Putting a hand out to Wang Yang, he said with a smile, “Nice to meet you. Will Smith.”
Wang Yang shook hands with him. Grinning, he said, “Wang Yang. Nice to meet you, Will.”
Will Smith said with a smile, “And you. Magic Yang, you looked a little bit nervous just now.”
Wang Yang answered with a smile, “Because I saw Mr. Robert Zemeckis. He is my favorite director.”
Patting him on the shoulder, Will Smith said warm-heartedly, “I feel you. It is natural to be nervous around those who you admire. That being said, all you need to do is to go up to him and say hello. Then, everything will be fine.”
“Thank you, Will. Advice taken.” Wang Yang nodded. Will patted him on the shoulder again. Smiling, he said, “Let’s do a movie together someday.” Then, he left. Watching him leave, Wang Yang said quietly with a smile, “Sure.”
Wang Yang looked at Robert Zemeckis where he was standing again. Seeing him still drinking red wine alone, Wang Yang approached him. Wang Yang extended his hand after coming up to this fantastic director. Smiling, he said, “Hello, Mr. Zemeckis.”
Robert Zemeckis smiled at the sight of him. Shaking hands with Wang Yang, he said, “Magic Yang, hello. Your movies are great.”
“Thank you.” Wang Yang smiled back at him. He said in a sincere tone, “Mr. Zemeckis, you probably have no idea, but your Romancing the Stone is the first movie I watched in my life. You are like a mentor to me. So I am very glad to see you here today.”
Robert Zemeckis burst out laughing. He sipped some wine. Then, looking at Wang Yang, he said with a smile, “You are a great young man. If I were the one who made two films that grossed $200,000,000 at the box office at the age of nineteen, I probably would not have even looked at those old guys when I saw them.”
Wang Yang was kind of embarrassed. He said, “No, please don’t say that. The box office is just—”
Smiling, Robert Zemeckis cut in, “Young man, I know what you want to say. It is true that the box office doesn’t mean everything. However, all high-grossing movies are good movies. Both of your movies are good. I watched them.”
Wang Yang thanked him again. All of a sudden, Robert Zemeckis smiled again. He said, “But we’ve known each other for a long time, haven’t we? I still remember your question. That was a good question.”
Very surprised, Wang Yang said, “You still remember that?”
Zemeckis pointed at his own head with a smile. He said, “Yang, let me tell you what other thing a good director needs to have. A good memory. You need to remember many things in your head.”
“Yeah, I agree.” Wang Yang smiled involuntarily. If a director did not have a good memory, he could lead the crew into a mess during shooting, because the whole crew’s operation depended on the director’s direction. He added, “I didn’t know at first. But I realized that after making a movie.”
Robert Zemeckis raised his glass at Wang Yang. He took a sip. Then smiling, he said, “Yang, I must tell you this. Good job!” Thumbing up at Wang Yang, he added, “You brought ‘shame’ to us USC, but you also won honors for us.” The “shame” he mentioned certainly referred to the severe mistake the University of Southern California had made. They had wronged a good guy. The honors were because Wang Yang was, after all, a director trained at the University of Southern California.
Wang Yang smiled. He really did not know what to say. He had heard Robert Zemeckis loved joking. It was true.
“Robert.” At this moment, Steven Spielberg, wearing a black suit and a bow tie, walked over. He greeted Robert Zemeckis first. Zemeckis said with a smile, “Look who is here!”
Then, Spielberg looked at Wang Yang. Putting a hand out to him, Wang Yang said with a smile, “Mr. Spielberg, I am Wang Yang. Nice to meet you.”
Spielberg smiled back at him and shook hands with him. He said, “Young man, I have to apologize to you first. I am sorry for what USC did to you.”
He apologized to Wang Yang because he had also graduated from the University of Southern California, and he was also a shareholder of the University of Southern California.
“It is all right, Mr. Spielberg.” Wang Yang smiled. Spielberg was a shareholder, but he did not get involved in any school affairs at all. His being expelled had nothing to do with this great director. With a faint but sincere smile, he said, “It already passed. I don’t blame USC for anything. It is my alma mater, after all.”
Robert Zemeckis laughed. He said, “Let’s leave that behind and talk about something interesting.” Looking at Spielberg, he said with a smile, “I still remember last year, in the third week of Saving Private Ryan’s screening, I was shocked when I checked the weekly box office. I screamed, ‘Hell, what is Paranormal Activity?’.” He laughed. Then, he went on, “Then, I thought that Steven Spielberg was in trouble. He lost to a horror movie!”
He and Spielberg were really good friends. 1941 was his first screenplay that had become a movie, and the director of 1941 was exactly like Spielberg. Back to the Future was a classic collaboration of theirs. They were tight, so they could make any jokes they wanted to. No feelings would be hurt.
Spielberg smiled gracefully. Looking at Wang Yang, he complimented, “Paranormal Activity is really great. That is the most horrible horror movie I have ever seen. The techniques used in the movie are amazing, and the finale is really great.”
Nodding and smiling, Wang Yang responded, “Thank you.”
“Well, guys, it suddenly occurs to me that some things won’t be good!” Patting himself on his forehead, Robert Zemeckis said with a long face, “Paranormal Activity beat Saving Private Ryan. Steven was in trouble. High School Musical beat Star Wars: Episode I. George was in trouble. So will it be my turn next time?” Looking at Wang Yang, he joked, “Young man, when will your next movie be on? I will have a new movie next year. I think I had better avoid you.”
“I have no idea, Mr. Zemeckis. I don’t have any plans yet.” Wang Yang smiled involuntarily. He joked, “I will keep you informed. You will know as soon as I know.”
Robert Zemeckis burst out laughing. He said, “Deal! Steven, will you avoid him, too?”
Shaking his head with a smile, Spielberg said, “Well, I don’t have any movie to be released next year.”
Jessica had been paying attention to what Wang Yang was doing. Seeing him having a pleasant conversation with those great directors in the distance, she grinned happily. She really felt proud of him.
In the donation session of the dinner party, Wang Yang showed his generosity fully. He promised he would donate $5,000,000 to support the cause of children’s protection. His donation was almost the largest—much larger than those of many A-list superstars. This made some people unhappy. However, Wang Yang was not trying to steal anyone’s thunder. He only wanted to do some charity. Large or small, any donation would help. Since he was receiving High School Musical’s revenues, he did have some extra money. And many disadvantaged groups needed help; they needed him to help. So, he helped. Many kids would be benefitted from that. This could even be life-changing for them. Wouldn’t that be nice?
After the dinner party, Wang Yang and Jessica drove home. He’d had a great time this night at the party. He did something good for the world and got to know a few of his favorite directors. That was really satisfying!
When they were approaching the neighborhood, Wang Yang suddenly had an idea. Looking at Jessica, sitting next to him and looking great, he turned the steering wheel and drove toward his home. Grinning, he said, “Jessi, do you mind going back a little late today?” Jessica realized what he meant immediately. She flushed. Smiling, she said in a quiet voice, “Why?”
Wang Yang smiled. Looking at the road in front of them, he took her hand and kissed it. He said, “Last time we did that… It was a long time ago.” Rolling her eyes, Jessica nodded with a shy smile. “Well, suit yourself.”