Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

Hong Kong Island.

After saying goodbye to Chris Liu, Link began to get busy with other work.

This included participating in the Phoenix Chinese Channel's program to discuss boxing, Hollywood films, and Huaxia films, as well as attending a boxing exchange event organized by the Hong Kong Island Culture and Tourism Bureau. He went on stage with Morales to exchange and discuss boxing with the Huaxia boxers.

There were also Miss Hong Kong judging and charity dinners for "Purple Bauhinia" magazine, among other events.

These activities seemed rather dull, but he couldn't refuse them.

Promoting boxing wasn't just about fighting in the ring; the off-ring publicity was equally important.

To attract more boxing fans in Asia and win more prize money in the next match, it was necessary to participate in these promotional activities.

After he finished with boxing, he turned his attention to films.

On June 24, "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" was released in the Mainland, and the premiere was held in Dahai City.

At that time, Link was busy preparing for a boxing match and did not attend.

The film earned 20.77 million in box office revenue at Huaxia's major cinemas over the first three days of the weekend, which was about 3 million US Dollars. For a production cost of 8 million US Dollars, the performance was rather decent.

At the end of June, Wendi Deng brought the "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" crew to Hong Kong Island for promotion. Link, just having finished his match, attended the premiere ceremony at the Presidential Theatre in Causeway Bay.

Outside the cinema on the red carpet, Link met up with Wendi Deng and others.

"Hi, Link, congratulations on becoming the super champion boxer. You're getting more charming. I often hear girls talking about you at gatherings back home. In Huaxia terms, now you're really a 'heartthrob'."

Wendi Deng showered him with compliments after meeting him, and ever since she had followed Link's advice and made a fortune from Tesla stocks, their relationship had grown closer, though it was not romantic but based on trust.

'Heartthrob'? I like that title, Wendi. I read the reports, 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' topped the Mainland box office this weekend. Congratulations, you've invested in a decent movie," Link said with a light laugh.

Wendi Deng, hearing his words, shook her head, looking not too pleased.

Link asked her what happened.

Wendi Deng reluctantly told him that while the film's first-week box office performance was good, the public reception was rather mediocre.

Firstly, the theme—LGBT movies have a narrow market in the Mainland and not a broad audience. Additionally, the plot was problematic—complex and hard to understand.

Moreover, during the movie's promotion, the promoters, seeing Link's fame, placed him between Alice Lee and Jun Ji-hyun on the movie poster, leading people to believe he was the main character in a love triangle-themed romance, which drove them to support the movie at theaters.

However, after watching it, viewers realized it was an LGBT-themed film with Link appearing for less than ten minutes, nearly a cameo.

The movie poster was accused of deceiving the audience, drawing considerable criticism in the media.

It was foreseeable that the movie would not perform well in the box office next week.

What disappointed Wendi Deng the most was 20th Century Fox, the distributor of "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan," had a very average review of the movie at an internal screening and decided to do a limited screening in a few cinemas to see the performance before deciding on a general release.

Wendi Deng had hoped to use this film to make a splash at the Oscars and make a name for herself in the entertainment industry.

But with average box office takings and poor reviews, the attempt was a dud.

Wendi Deng had been involved in this film for two to three years, only to see this result—it was impossible not to be disappointed.

Link consoled her, advising her not to take it too hard.

The entertainment industry is a highly competitive deep-water zone where many filmmakers experience multiple failures and even bankruptcy before achieving success.

For Wendi Deng's first time as a producer, ensuring that the box office didn't lose money was already commendable. It would be difficult to produce a film that was both a critical and commercial success on the first try.

Wendi Deng pointed at him, enviously mentioning that Palm Beach Films had invested in two movies.

The first movie had a production cost of 8 million and grossed close to 170 million US Dollars worldwide—a return on investment over twenty times. The second had a production budget of over 30 million and has already broken 300 million US Dollars globally, a return many times over.

Not only were these movies box office hits, but they also received great reviews.

The key here is that these two films were the first and second projects of a film company.

This success rate was extraordinarily high.

Not only was Wendi Deng envious, but everyone in the circle was jealous of Palm Beach Films.

Link humbly smiled and said that the success of the films was due to Catherine and the production team's efforts and that he didn't have much to do with it.

"Hey, Link, long time no see."

Alice Lee, also present, was wearing a stylish, fitted Prada summer dress, showing off her fair arms. She stood beside Wendi Deng, greeting him cheerfully with a bright gaze. At thirty-eight years old, she still blushed while greeting, which was quite charming.

"Hi, Alice, your dress is lovely."

Link smiled lightly, briefly chatting with her and others nearby, including the director Wang Ying, supporting actress Wu Junmei, supporting actor Jiang Wu, and minus Jun Ji-hyun, who was busy in South Korea. Most of the main creative team was present.

After a short talk, the group went into the theater for the premiere ceremony.

Aside from the crew, the distributor Media Asia Films had also invited over twenty actors from Hong Kong Island, including couples Leung Chiuwai and Chen Xiaochun, Ada Choi, Gu Letian, Chen Weiting, Ah Sa, Zheng Xiuguan, and others.