Chapter 239: Signing the Contract

As night fell, the entire Guangxiang Jie scenic area became brilliantly illuminated, the flow of people like countless delicate silk threads, intertwining and wrapping around each other, weaving into a huge and complex web that tightly enveloped the entire scenic area.

Tourists were either taking photos as souvenirs, savoring various delicious snacks, or being attracted by the exquisite skills of street performers.

In front of a large, open-air stage, a group of four was watching the performance of scenes from film and television works with great interest; they saw a pink-clad lady standing in the center of the stage holding an umbrella, swaying gracefully, humming Lu Yiping's signature song, "Little Enemy."

"Little enemy, what are you doing, acting like a fool, I ask you, why, you don't answer, you said..."

The cheerful and melodious tune left the crowd below spellbound.

Only Yu Youwei, that little singer, was there sighing that it was sung just so-so, not as well as she could, and even boasted that if Chen Shanni went up to sing, she would surely win thunderous applause.

Chen Shanni modestly replied, "Not at all, actually she sings quite well."

At this moment, the phone in Shen Yan's pocket vibrated, and he picked it up to look.

He discovered it was a call from Xu Zheng.

After a brief exchange, Shen Yan said to the three women, "I have some business to handle, you all go ahead and play on your own for a while."

Yu Youwei looked bewildered; they had just arrived, were unfamiliar with the place, and what business could he possibly have to handle? Shen Yan said he had a friend here and was going over to catch up.

"Be careful, and call me if anything happens."

The three women didn't think much of it; Shen Yan even knew celebrities, so it wasn't strange for him to have a friend here, they only told him to come back early.

Shen Yan nodded in agreement.

Watching his back disappear into the vast sea of people, Yu Youwei felt a bit lost; the introverted and shy boy from before was gone forever, and the current Shen Yan made friends widely, becoming increasingly difficult to understand.

Fifteen minutes later.

Inside a private room at a cafe on Guangxiang Jie.

Xu Zheng walked in, dusty from his travels, and upon seeing Shen Yan, immediately greeted him warmly, "Sorry, Brother Shen, there were a lot of people on the road."

"It's a small matter, it certainly couldn't have been fast for you to rush over from the hotel."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Xu Zheng took out a contract and placed it in front of Shen Yan, starting straight on the topic: the estimated investment for the movie "Tai Jiong" was 35 million, and because it was Xu Zheng's first time directing a film, investors were not optimistic about the project.

Currently, Guangxian Media had invested 15 million, leaving a funding gap of 20 million; besides filming costs and actor salaries, a portion of the funds needed to be used for promotion and distribution.

Upon learning this situation, Shen Yan couldn't help but be extremely surprised: "Why aren't you investing? Do you have so little confidence in yourself?"

Hearing this, Xu Zheng couldn't help but show a look of resentment, saying: "You also know I'm not some big star; the little money I had in my pocket was used to buy a house in Shanghai, and the remaining few million is definitely not enough to invest in a movie, and I can't find other investors."

"I originally thought about going to Macau to give it a shot, but I didn't expect to run into a freak like you, and I almost lost my pants; where would I get the money to invest in a movie?"

Uh...

Shen Yan awkwardly rubbed his nose; he really didn't know there was such a backstory.

In his previous life, Shen Yan paid little attention to the entertainment industry and knew nothing about the investors of this film, though he indeed hadn't heard news of Xu Zheng investing.

However, when the film was released, this guy suddenly became a billion-dollar director, and the news spread far and wide.

Additionally, the contract included an agreement between Xu Zheng and Guangxian Media; Xu Zheng only received a director's fee plus a box office bonus, with no share of the box office revenue.

Xu Zheng knew that as a director without an investment, it was inevitable that people would have doubts, so he hurriedly promised: "Brother Shen, although I didn't put up money to invest, this is my first time directing a film, and the final result of the movie is crucial to me; I will definitely devote myself to it entirely."

In fact, Shen Yan didn't have many concerns about this; with such a large sum of money invested, he would certainly be there to supervise, and if the quality wasn't up to par, he could just withdraw the investment.

The contract contained clauses explicitly requested by Shen Yan that allowed him to withdraw his investment at any time if he was dissatisfied.

Then Shen Yan continued to browse the contents of the contract; Xu Zheng said there was no rush to sign and told Shen Yan to go back and have a lawyer look at it slowly, but Shen Yan smiled and said, "I am a law student, I am very clear about these clauses."

Xu Zheng was slightly surprised, but didn't say anything more.

After reading through the entire contract, Shen Yan didn't find any loopholes, so he decisively signed his name, in duplicate.

Next, they only needed to wait for the funds to be in place to begin assembling the crew.

During this time, Shen Yan also learned that out of respect for Xu Zheng, Bo Ge and Bao Qiang were making guest appearances, with one only charging a salary of 3 million and the other 2 million.

There was actually a small episode regarding this; in his previous life, when filming "Tai Jiong," the crew encountered a problem with insufficient funds, and after Bo Ge learned of the situation, he very generously said: "I don't want the salary either, just treat it as an investment, even if it loses money, I'll accept it."

Unexpectedly, the movie became a huge hit later, and Bo Ge received 50 million through profit sharing, while Bao Qiang only got his 2 million salary; the huge disparity in treatment led to a rift between Bao Qiang and Xu Zheng.

This also led to the lack of Bao Qiang's participation in the later "Gang X," which ultimately lacked a certain something, and the box office failed to meet expectations.

Perhaps with Shen Yan's intervention in this life, the situation could be different.

With the business finished and the dust settled, the smile on the corner of Xu Zheng's mouth could not be suppressed at all, and he said happily: "Brother Shen, don't worry, I will definitely do my best in this filming, and at the same time, I am very confident in delivering a great result."

"Then let me wait and see!" Shen Yan grinned.

"By the way, don't expose my identity as an investor; I don't want my peaceful life to be broken."

Xu Zheng naturally agreed.

As everyone knows, some entertainment gossip reporters have no professional ethics or moral bottom line; once they discover a trace of a clue, they start wantonly fabricating some untruthful words or exaggerated reports to attract attention.

So much so that the originally peaceful life rhythm of many innocent ordinary people is turned into a mess.

"Hey! Where are you all?"

After asking for the location of the three women, Shen Yan headed straight for Victoria Port.

At this time, the port was performing a flyboard show; the performer was seen stepping on a jetboard, like a seabird spreading its wings, quickly shuttling across the rippling lake, going up and down, left and right, and occasionally doing a few stylish backflips, the movements light and skillful.

For a time, mist rose on the water, beautiful water chains danced in the air, and screams, applause, and cheers rose one after another.

However, facing this grand occasion, the three women felt not a shred of joy in their hearts, but rather felt incomparably annoyed.

The reason was none other than the fact that four young men were standing beside them, like a group of annoying mosquitoes, making bursts of ear-piercing buzzing sounds that were unbearable.