A Conversation After Dinner

"How are the Tianjin and Shenzhen talks going?" Ethan asked Chen Xing.

"Both cities have sent people to inspect the Beijing factory. They like the jobs, the wages, and the tax revenue. I've visited them too. Their offers on land, utilities, and labor are better than what we can get here. They both want to meet you."

"We'll stay in Beijing two days, then see Tianjin and Shenzhen. I'll fly home from the south."

The expanded Beijing plant was already running in part, yet even at full capacity it could not serve everything Ethan had planned. He had chosen Beijing as the first site for strategic reasons, not because it was the cheapest place to make toys. Now that he controlled Hasbro, production decisions once reserved for American plants were open for review. The wage and material gap was large enough to demand a hard look, though shifting orders would affect workers on both sides of the Pacific.

Marvel's merchandise had begun with a handful of proven names: Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man. Ethan expected the rest of the roster to follow. The X-Men films he wanted to develop would create another wave of demand. If he managed to acquire Warner, DC properties would add still more. No single factory could supply that catalog.

An inland site might eventually make sense, but transport and supporting infrastructure favored the coast for now. Tianjin and Shenzhen were the practical next stops.

Their car pulled up outside a private estate. Inside, the guests stood to greet Ethan. Han Sanping led the way, followed by Zhou Xiaopeng and Chen Ou. Jackie Chan was there too. Ethan knew him from industry events, but they had never worked together.

"Jackie heard you were coming," Han said. "He's in the country shooting The Myth and happened to be in Beijing."

"We just saw each other at the Oscars," Jackie said, shaking Ethan's hand. "I wasn't going to miss dinner with the director everyone is talking about."

The praise landed exactly where Jackie intended. Ethan still wanted a Best Director Oscar and knew the rest of Hollywood knew it too. He took the seat beside Han.

Chen Xing asked Jackie about the several names by which people knew him. Jackie explained that his family name in the ancestral records was Fang. His father had lived under the name Chan after moving to Hong Kong, so Jackie had been born Chan Kong-sang. Fang Shilong was another name tied to that family history.

"They all belong to me," Jackie said. "But most people know the face before they know which name to use."

"That's true anywhere you go," Ethan said.

Han raised a glass. He had hoped Ethan might return for the Spring Festival with the four singers from The Voice, just as Michael Jackson had drawn attention on an earlier visit. Instead, more than a year had passed.

"You've seen what happened in Hollywood," Ethan said. "It wasn't a quiet year."

"We've seen enough to know how much pressure MGM was under," Han replied. "When the six companies came at you, I worried about Eastern MGM too. Then the trouble involving Gal raised questions about whether The Meg would even reach theaters. I'm glad we're sitting here with a finished picture to discuss."

The others drank to Ethan's survival in the fight. Jackie was the only person at the table without a direct stake in one of Ethan's ventures.

"Where are we on The Meg?" Chen Ou asked.

"Principal photography's done," Han said. "Postproduction is close. Ethan is here partly to screen it. You should join us tomorrow."

"I'll have to see it sooner or later. Better to see it early."

Jackie smiled. "You could have called me when you put together a co-production like that."

"We had the lead in mind from the start," Ethan said. "I couldn't ask you to turn up as a supporting player."

"I've taken smaller parts."

"To help people you care about, perhaps. That's different."

Zhou mentioned one such film, and Jackie admitted he had done it to support his son. Ethan caught the direction of the conversation and steered it away. He had no intention of making a casting promise over dinner.

Later, when the plates had been cleared and the room had grown louder, Han asked what they should make after The Meg.

"Let this one open first," Ethan said.

"He wants the next success on his record," someone teased Han.

"I want another good movie," Han shot back, to laughter around the table.

Ethan looked at Jackie. "There is one idea worth exploring. Give Jackie a lead and bring in Jet Li opposite him. Have they ever made a film together?"

Jackie shook his head. An announcement alone would bring decades of anticipation with it. Ethan also knew anticipation could not carry a weak screenplay. The film he remembered from his other timeline, The Forbidden Kingdom, had put both men on the screen but wasted much of the chance on a confused story. Its worldwide gross had not justified a production of that size. He would not repeat the same mistake just because two names looked irresistible on a poster.

"No patchwork of legends held together by a foreign tourist's journey," Ethan said. "Find a story that gives both men something to play. Then we can talk budget."

Han slapped the table. "I've had two of the world's best-known martial artists in front of me and never put this together."

"If you can get Jet," Jackie said, "I'm interested."

Two hours later, Ethan had heard enough to know the room would keep drinking without him. He said good night before the conversation could return to anyone's son and went back to the hotel.

Judy was lying across the bed in his room, watching television. Ethan checked the number on the door.

"How did you get in?"

"The staff knows we're traveling together. And you smell like the dinner. Take a shower."

"Your room has a television."

"Mine stopped working. Go shower."

He returned feeling more awake, though no better at reading her mood. She wanted him to show her Beijing. He had planned the factory visit, a screening, and a trip south. He offered to find someone local who could take her around.

"I didn't fly all this way to tour the city with a stranger," Judy said. "A day or two won't ruin MGM."

"Two days, at most. We both have work waiting at home."

She kissed his cheek. "Then I'll work late when we get back."

Ethan studied her. They had gone home together before Christmas, and she still called him her boyfriend, but the arrangement between them had never been simple. He asked whether the trouble with Bar had unsettled her. Judy said she was done talking about Bar.

"You used to pursue me in college," she said. "Did you forget?"

"I didn't know you preferred women."

"What if that doesn't describe everything I want now?"

He stared at her. He could not tell whether she was testing him, testing herself, or finally saying something she had held back for years.