Chapter 769
Something's Wrong
This time, Sui Lingfang answered seriously: "No, we don't need a large investment of 100 million."
She paused for a moment and said, "Even if the total investment in the production reaches hundreds of millions of yuan, it's impossible for you to cover it all by yourself. We need to bring in other investors."
She turned to look at President Yang, their eyes met, and then she said:
"I can offer you a maximum of 3000 million, and the shareholding percentage will be relatively small. See if you're willing to accept it. If not, we can cooperate again next time."
Zhou Yuan pondered for a moment, then asked, "Is there no room for maneuver?"
Sui Lingfang and General Manager Yang both shook their heads, "No."
Zhou Yuan immediately agreed: "Thirty million it is, I'll invest!"
After the meeting ended, Zhou Yuan did not leave immediately, but stayed to wait for Sui Lingfang.
Sui Lingfang realized something and told General Manager Yang to leave first.
Mr. Yang glanced at her with a rare hint of envy, then looked at Zhou Yuan, and left with a touch of reluctance.
This is a very generous investor!
He talks about a hundred million all the time.
He has been a prominent figure in the business world for a long time, and there are very few people who can casually take out 100 million.
The conference room door closed again, and Sui Lingfang looked at Zhou Yuan, speaking in a businesslike manner:
"Mr. Zhou, please feel free to say anything else. The contract has already been signed, and we are now in the same boat."
She initially thought Zhou Yuan wanted to keep her around to gather intelligence.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Yuan asked, "What other investments has Jinli participated in? Can you tell me? I want to follow her lead and invest."
Sui Lingfang was stunned for a moment, then shook her head: "You can't keep up. She only participates in small investments, a few million at most. She can cover all the investments by herself."
Moreover, she's very cautious and rarely participates in large investment projects. Actually, it's not just you; many people have asked me what other investment projects Jinli has, hoping to get a piece of the pie.
“I talked to her, and she said that for the time being she will only participate in personal investments and does not intend to share the profits with others.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan said with some regret, "I thought she could mentor me."
Sui Lingfang's lips twitched slightly. If Zhou Yuan could casually throw out 100 million yuan, his status in the industry must be extraordinary.
He might just be a shrewd investor.
As a result, this big shot wanted to follow Jinli around and pick up the scraps.
Is this scientific? Is this reasonable?
Sui Lingfang said, "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
"Wait, there's one more thing." Zhou Yuan's voice came from behind her, and she turned around.
His face showed some hesitation, as if he was wondering whether to speak up.
In the end, he chose to speak out.
"If you have time, please thank Jinli for me. Thank her for not investing in 'The White Lotus's Guide to Success' so that I could extricate myself in time and avoid disaster."
Sui Lingfang was stunned. “The White Lotus Strategy, I remember that the filming of this drama has been going smoothly for more than a month. A few days ago, a paparazzi even leaked information saying that the actors were very dedicated and the director had a great sense of control over the camera.”
Zhou Yuan sighed, "Of course we have to say that to fool outsiders. Otherwise, if we reveal the true situation of the crew and they see that the crew is a mess, the audience will be scared away. How can we expect to reap the box office profits after the film is released?"
Sui Lingfang hesitated for a moment: "Can I know some information?"
Zhou Yuan: "This news has already spread in some investment circles. You can know about it, but don't spread it outside."
The director of "The White Lotus's Guide to Conquest" was heavily involved in taking kickbacks, and the actors he hired were all terrible at acting. After only one month of filming, the plot had completely fallen apart.
Other investors are busy finding someone to take over the project or reorganizing the production team, but fearing outsiders will notice, they've deliberately asked paparazzi to leak information so netizens won't suspect anything.
Zhou Yuan said gratefully, "If it weren't for the fact that no matter how I tried to persuade Jinli to invest that day, she wouldn't budge, which made me realize that there might be a problem with the show, and I decisively withdrew my investment, I would also be a victim deeply involved in it now."
I am an investor, I do not participate in the management of the production team, and I do not act. The only thing I can do is provide funds.
Who would have thought that this drama was specifically designed to scam investors out of their money, with the main goal of causing them to lose everything?
Sui Lingfang: ...
She had seen the production team behind this drama; while not the best, they weren't bad either.
A decent production team, paired with an excellent and dedicated actor, can easily create sparks.
Many so-called "blockbuster" products are actually developed by ordinary teams.
That's why she thought Jinli was a good candidate for the role and showed it to her specifically.
But she quickly rejected it, believing the script was somewhat unclean.
I didn't expect this script to take two years to start filming; it really isn't very good.
-
Jinli had just finished dinner on set and was about to read a book when her phone rang.
She answered the phone; it was Sui Lingfang who had dialed.
Fangjie said, "Today went surprisingly smoothly, and the project is progressing very quickly. Once you come out of 'Dawn II,' you'll probably be joining the 'Invisible Secrets' crew very soon."
Jinli raised an eyebrow: "Seamless transition? Can you give me a few months to go back to school?"
Sui Lingfang: "Of course, Chenxi Entertainment wants to maintain its voice, which is why it's worried about this situation."
We now hold the majority of the shares. You can rest whenever you want, and film whenever you want.
Jinli chuckled: "You don't need to give me that much freedom. I reckon that after filming Dawn 2 is over, I won't have many days left to study after I return to school."
With only one week left before the start of the summer semester, she will be a junior starting this semester!
Unbeknownst to them, the original owner of this body had already completed most of the dream path he envisioned.
"Jinli, do you know an investor named Zhou Yuan?"
I hadn't contacted him before, but he somehow heard about our recruitment of investors and volunteered himself, readily signing an investment agreement with us.
"Zhou Yuan?" Jinli thought for a while, then shook her head: "I don't remember him."
Sui Lingfang: "You met at the dinner party last time. He wanted to give you the opportunity to participate in the supplementary shareholding agreement recruitment, but you refused, saying you weren't interested."
"You might not believe it, but just because you didn't invest in 'The White Lotus's Guide to Success,' he actually thought it was some kind of omen, that even God thought the show wouldn't succeed."
Otherwise, why are you so resistant to this obvious opportunity to make money?
She cleared her throat; the story was reaching its climax.
"So, he decided to withdraw his 100 million investment and came to you hoping to invest in your new drama..."
Days passed by, and Tsinghua and Peking Universities officially started their semester!
Unfortunately, Gu Cheng and Jin Li were both absent on the first day of school, as they were still filming on set.
Since neither of them returned, the campus forum that evening was abuzz with discussion about their situation among both freshmen and upperclassmen.
[In theory, what are Jinli and Gu Cheng's positions within the inner fish?]
Have they reached the top?
[Wouldn't you call this someone who's successful in their career, at the peak of their looks, and incredibly intelligent?]
So, when will students from Tsinghua and Peking Universities finally roll up their sleeves and become good-looking, talented, and wealthy individuals?
[Gu Cheng missed most of the last semester, and Jin Li hasn't come to school since the start of the semester. Will they be able to keep up with the pace?] [Anyone who knew their grades wouldn't ask if they could keep up.]
……
Jinli and Gu Cheng had no time to pay attention to the discussions on the school forum.
They were once again engrossed in filming.
The production team added many special effects scenes this month, and the actors had to film inside a green screen.
Sometimes they also have to wear special motion capture suits to capture the movement of characters, and their faces are covered with a dense array of instruments to reproduce their expressions in the film.
Gu Cheng had only recently left the set of "Desperate Counterattack," but he quickly got into character for performing without props in special effects scenes.
In comparison, Bai Jiang was a bit slower to get into the zone.
Once all the filming was done using green screens without any scene support, Bai Jiang recalled the nightmare he had when filming the first part of Dawn.
It was because his green screen special effects shooting was terrible that Director Chu gave him and Xu Ting a few days of emergency training.
Those days were like a nightmare for him.
I would always wake up to Director Chu's angry shouts, only to find out it was just a dream.
Fortunately, I managed to get through that period and gained Director Chu's approval.
At least compared to Xu Ting, he was in the filming of the second part.
Bai Jiang originally thought he had overcome his fear of shooting against a green screen.
I had been involved in filming from time to time before, and there had never been any problems.
Now that the filming has been done entirely against a green screen, he has become very tense.
I'm afraid of making a mistake, and I'm very anxious.
Gu Cheng noticed that something was wrong with him, not from his daily life, but from observing him while he was filming in front of the camera.
As fellow actors, we understand each other's situations very well.
Gu Cheng immediately told Director Chu about her discovery and asked, somewhat puzzled:
"He was fine when shooting against a green screen before, so why is he having problems now that he's shooting so frequently? His expression is too tense, and his whole body language is very tense."
Director Chu hasn't noticed this problem yet, because the scenes being filmed are already quite tense and exciting.
He thought about it and arranged a few gentler scenes.
After filming several times, he also discovered that Bai Jiang had some problems.
So he called Bai Jiang over to talk.
Gu Cheng left at the opportune moment and went to find Jin Li.
Jinli was still studying her junior year textbooks, and Gu Cheng, who always carried his DSLR camera around, decided to take pictures of her reading.
The set was entirely set up using green screens, so the background wasn't actually very attractive.
But when photographing Jinli's face, Gu Cheng felt that the background was just a backdrop, and it actually highlighted Jinli's tranquility while reading.
Chen Qin slipped outside, found Gu Cheng's assistant, and asked him:
"Is Brother Gu's filming about to wrap up?"
The assistant said, "Yes, but according to the production team's schedule, we won't be filming so soon."
Chen Qin frowned: "What do you mean?"
Assistant: "The production assistant told us yesterday that after filming the last scene at the base, Brother Gu can leave the crew first, and come back to continue filming when it's his turn to film his scenes later."
After all, Brother Gu has to appear in the final battle; he won't be gone anytime soon. Judging from the production crew, the director doesn't plan to film the final battle so quickly.
The assistants were discussing this matter, and Jinli and Gu Cheng were also discussing it.
Jinli heard the sound of a camera taking pictures, looked up, and saw Gu Cheng.
Gu Cheng noticed her gaze and gently showed her the photos he had just taken. The composition, lighting, and figure were all perfect.
It would be even better if the backdrop wasn't a green screen.
But even so, it doesn't matter.
Jinli looked through a few photos and asked with some surprise, "Has your photography skill gotten even better?"
Gu Cheng shrugged: "Really? I don't feel anything."
Jinli said confidently, "Yes, look, this is a picture you took of me two months ago."
And this one, it was taken of me half a year ago… And look at this one you just took, you've made me look more and more beautiful.”
Gu Cheng smiled and said, "Is it possible that it's not because of my technique, but because you've become more and more beautiful?"
Jinli glared at him: "I'm not aging in reverse!"
The two chatted about the upcoming filming schedule, and Gu Cheng mentioned the director's plan for him to return to school first.
“I won’t have any scenes for at least the next month. I actually told Director Chu that I could stay on set and do odd jobs.”
But Director Chu said that the directing departments at Tsinghua and Peking Universities have some talent, and he wanted me to go back and learn from them. He said he would call me back to direct the final film and was willing to give me a chance to direct.
"Director? He really said that?" Jinli was somewhat surprised.
That's a grand final battle, not the small-scale testing of the waters before.
Gu Cheng nodded emphatically and said with a sly smile, "But it's not an important scene for the director. It's just that there are a few side cameras that need someone to control. You can give me one to film them later."
Jinli suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. Otherwise, I would have suspected that you were Director Chu's child. Why are you so nice to me!"
Gu Cheng: "So I plan to go back to school the day after tomorrow."
Jinli looked at him enviously: "I don't know when I can go back yet. It will take at least two months."
The second part of Dawn was filmed with more detail than the first part, using more scenes and more footage.
In addition, the later parts of the film will lean towards ensemble scenes, and in order to keep up with the performance schedule of other actors, she will not be able to speed through the scenes.
Seeing her charmingly melancholy expression, Gu Cheng found it truly adorable and gently moved his hand, wanting to pat her head.
He had just stretched out his hand when he suddenly realized that he was on a film set and there were many people watching him.
So halfway through, he changed his action and went to get the bottled water on the ground.
Bending down to get a bottle of mineral water, Gu Cheng slowly straightened up, suddenly getting very close to Jin Li.
"I'll come to see you tonight." Gu Cheng's voice was low and hoarse, with a hint of unspoken longing.
Jinli's eyes flickered slightly, and she nodded gently at him.
-
Director Chu had a detailed talk with Bai Jiang to try and figure out why he wasn't in the right state of mind.
Bai Jiang didn't dare say it was because he was afraid of being rejected, and only said, "I've been having trouble sleeping lately, which is affecting my energy during the day."
Director Chu said, "If you're really nervous, I can arrange a few dialogue scenes for you that don't require a green screen to calm you down."
Bai Jiang hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, Director Chu." (End of Chapter)