Chapter 461: Before Departure (8,000-Character Update!)

In the evening, Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi were having dinner at a newly opened restaurant.

The restaurant had specifically sent an invitation letter to Jump Up, inviting them to come and taste-test.

On Jump Up's self-media channels, there were dedicated food reviewers with considerable influence, and they frequently received invitation letters from restaurants.

Halfway through their meal, Chen Siqi suddenly made an "eh" sound after seeing a scene at the entrance.

"What's wrong?" Lu Yan He asked.

Chen Siqi said, "I saw Yu Jiang."

"Ah?" Lu Yan He instinctively turned his head to look.

"Don't turn around," Chen Siqi stopped Lu Yan He. "She has invited someone else too."

"Who did she invite?"

"Yin Xincheng," Chen Siqi said.

Lu Yan He was somewhat surprised. "Is that so?"

Yin Xincheng was a male actor in Six People; he and Yin Xincheng had just met once on the program Young Days.

Chen Siqi nodded: "There are others too, probably their assistants, but I'm not sure if it is Yin Xincheng; he was wearing sunglasses and a hat, so I couldn't confirm."

Lu Yan He: "I'll take a look later."

"But why would Yu Jiang still have the mind to go out for dinner at this time? Flowers on the Stars is releasing this Friday," Chen Siqi said.

The Qixi Festival was coming soon.

It happened to be this Friday.

Lu Yan He asked, "How are the pre-sales for Flowers on the Stars?"

"Not bad; for now, it ranks first for Friday," Chen Siqi said. "However, Exploding Flower Needle is currently doing very well at the box office, so it's hard to say whether Flowers on the Stars can take the box office champion title for that day."

Because the early promotion was done very well, all the data for Flowers on the Stars was currently quite good.

"Is Yu Jiang planning to film with Yin Xincheng?" Chen Siqi asked, somewhat curious.

Lu Yan He: "It's possible. After she opened that Love Like a God Godly Film and Television Company, it seems she has launched several projects, and she also has a film project with Lang Xia."

"After all, her novel audience is still quite large, and now Flowers on the Stars is performing very well. I heard Ruyi Film and Television wants to sign another cooperation framework with her to further deepen their collaboration."

"Is that so? Does this mean they are going to bind themselves together?" Lu Yan He was somewhat surprised.

Chen Siqi: "I don't know if they are binding themselves together, but if Yu Jiang really shifts her focus to film and television production, perhaps I will have many dealings with her in the future."

The projects Yu Jiang participated in were all youth romance themes. This happened to be the area Chen Siqi wanted to venture into. Jump Up's positioning was still that of a literary magazine; every issue had one or two youth romance stories. Now, the submitted works received by the "Accumulate Strength Plan" were basically short films with a youth campus background, of course, also because such short films were easier to shoot.

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Lu Yan He said, "The tracks are different."

Chen Siqi said, "There will always be points of intersection. As content providers, the phenomenon of homogenization is becoming more and more serious."

Lu Yan He nodded.

Chen Siqi suddenly thought of something and asked, "By the way, weren't you talking to me about film and television production before? Although a person cannot become a fat person in one bite, they can be cultivated slowly. Regarding this 'Accumulate Strength Plan', if there are indeed people who have a director's mindset but lack experience, do you want to sign them and find opportunities for them to learn within the film crew and accumulate experience?"

Lu Yan He made a surprised "ah" sound.

Chen Siqi: "What do you think?"

Lu Yan He said, "I was thinking, if we sign someone, will we be able to give them the opportunity to become a director in the future? Once a person is signed, we must be responsible for them. I don't want to be like Star Entertainment, raising scorpions like a gu, signing so many trainees every year, where who grows and who doesn't all depends on luck."

Chen Siqi said, "Of course, we cannot guarantee one hundred percent that he will definitely have the opportunity to become an actor in the future, but at least we are opening this door for him, aren't we? You need such people, and others need such opportunities. By your side, at least they have the chance to join top-tier film crews and witness how the most top-tier crews operate. And putting aside other things, some of the stories on my Jump Up side are also going to be developed into short films. If we don't find directors we cultivate ourselves, we will have to cultivate directors outside."

"Turning a magazine into a theater, no one else would do that," Lu Yan He couldn't help but sigh. "Once you succeed, I estimate all major film and television companies will establish their own magazines."

Chen Siqi: "To be honest, in the film and television industry, such a money-burning industry, why not cooperate with those magazines that publish short stories? Not to mention literary and artistic value, whether a story is accepted by everyone, whether readers like it, can be tested in the form of text. Especially in the film industry, with such a small volume, adapting long novels is inherently difficult and unrealistic; the best source for story adaptations is still medium and short stories. But now, except for a few pure literary magazines that rely on state funding, there is no soil for publishing medium and short stories. Currently, only our Jump Up is still publishing some medium and short stories that are not so purely literary. Oh, Star! counts too, but the stories published on it are almost entirely youth campus love stories, completely girly-oriented; even works by Teacher Ming Yin, who mainly writes youth growth stories, probably couldn't get on Star!."

Lu Yan He asked, "The style of stories published in Star! is so unified; how is the audience?"

"Actually not bad; it has indeed attracted many girls to become their regular readers. After all, besides Star!, there is no other place providing them with concentrated girly romance novels," Chen Siqi said. "Online novels are all too long; there are still some readers who like to read short stories."

Lu Yan He realized and nodded.

Indeed, given the population base in the country, no matter which field you are engaged in, as long as you do well, you can attract a group of supporters.

Star! seemed to have walked its style down a very narrow path, but because of this, it formed a unique flag and brand, and people interested in this type of novel were slowly attracted over.

Chen Siqi took a sip of lemon juice and suddenly made a light "eh" sound.

"What's wrong?" Lu Yan He asked.

Chen Siqi said, "Yu Jiang is coming over to our side."

Lu Yan He frowned slightly.

"Is she coming to find us?"

Chen Siqi: "It should be; she is just looking at me."

Lu Yan He: "Why would she come to find us on her own initiative?"

"Who knows," Chen Siqi asked. "Should we pay attention to her?"

"Can we choose not to pay attention?" Lu Yan He asked.

"In public, if we ignore her, it seems a bit excessive," Chen Siqi considered. "This woman really can never understand what her brain circuitry is."

Lu Yan He: "Should we leave?"

"We haven't even finished eating yet; why leave? It would make it look like we are afraid of her," Chen Siqi rolled her eyes at Lu Yan He. The next second, she changed her face at light speed, looking at Yu Jiang, who had already walked up to them, with a smile on her face. "Yo, Teacher Yu, we actually met here; what a coincidence."

Lu Yan He didn't know how to describe the Chen Siqi in his eyes at this moment; he was afraid that if Chen Siqi found out, she would beat him up badly.

Yu Jiang smiled, looked at Chen Siqi, and said, "I heard that your 'Accumulate Strength Plan' is not going very smoothly?"

Chen Siqi put on a face of fake surprise. "Who said that? Who is misleading you again and sending you artillery fire? Oh my god, Teacher Yu, you wouldn't believe it and start firing at us again, mocking and ridiculing us, would you? Sigh, why do you always have no trust in us at all, get fooled so easily, and then get slapped in the face frequently?"

Lu Yan He took a deep breath.

The aggressive state Chen Siqi presented in front of Yu Jiang was completely that of a hedgehog, with no concealment at all.

Lu Yan He immediately looked at Yu Jiang.

Yu Jiang indeed took a deep breath, swallowed it, and then said, "I'm not here to argue with you today."

Chen Siqi: "That's truly rare. Besides arguing, what else could you possibly want from us?"

Yu Jiang said, "Flowers on the Stars releases this Friday. We're preparing a special screening event for Thursday night and inviting you to attend."

Chen Siqi's expression dropped. "What?"

Yu Jiang: "We did have many unpleasant incidents before, but I think those are all in the past. From now on, I won't treat you as my enemies anymore. Let's shake hands and make peace, how about that?"

"Oh, please." Chen Siqi said bluntly, "Is there something wrong with you? You're the one who started the trouble, you're the one who opened fire, you're the one who nags endlessly and picks fights every time. Now you suddenly run over here out of nowhere saying let's shake hands and make peace. Do you think I'll believe you? Besides, do you think we can just make peace because you say so? All those things you did and all those words you said before, are they just wiped away like that?"

Yu Jiang's face tightened again and again, but finally she couldn't hold it back anymore and it turned ugly. She said, "Chen Siqi, don't push your luck."

"The true colors are out." Chen Siqi smiled brightly, "What were you pretending to be, a big bad wolf, up until now?"

Yu Jiang's cheeks turned very, very red.

She glared angrily at Chen Siqi, turned around, and left.

The smile on Chen Siqi's face immediately faded, leaving a look of bad luck.

"Out of nowhere, running over here saying these things, thinking I'm a fool? Immediately shaking hands and making peace with her happily?" Chen Siqi rolled her eyes.

Lu Yan He made a confused "Hmm?" sound.

"What?" Chen Siqi looked at him.

"Yin Xincheng is gone." Lu Yan He said, "Wasn't he just here a moment ago?"

Chen Siqi and Lu Yan He watched together as Yu Jiang returned to her own seat.

"Probably went to the restroom." Chen Siqi said.

But, until Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi finished eating together, they didn't see Yin Xincheng again.

"He refused?"

Yu Jiang looked at her assistant, her face looking somewhat ugly.

The assistant nodded.

"This is a movie! He's refusing the lead male role in a movie?" Yu Jiang said, "In Six People, he was only one of the six main actors. Besides me, who else could give him a lead male role to play."

The assistant said, "Yin Xincheng said he accepted another drama afterwards, Fan Hua Jing. I checked, and it is indeed so. This drama starts filming in March next year and will shoot for seven months, which exactly clashes with our filming schedule."

Yu Jiang: "The schedule clashes, huh."

Actors clashing schedules is a common occurrence, and there's nothing to be done about it.

She frowned and thought for a moment, "Then who else? We've contacted them one by one among the top-tier male stars now. Who else is available?"

The assistant suggested, "Actually, we haven't asked Ma Zhiyuan yet. I heard he is currently in contact with Long Yan Pictures. Long Yan Pictures has a project there that seems prepared to give Ma Zhiyuan the second male lead role."

Yu Jiang's frown deepened even more.

"A scumbag like Ma Zhiyuan? Letting him play our lead male role? How would we sell movie tickets?"

The assistant said, "But he still has a group of die-hard fans."

"No." Yu Jiang said, "This isn't a TV drama. For movies, the audience has to spend money to buy tickets and enter the cinema. Who knows what his market value is right now."

"Then—top-tier male stars have indeed all been contacted, and no one is available." The assistant asked, "Or should we change our thinking, find a popular female star to carry the top billing, and find a newcomer to play the male lead?"

Yu Jiang: "That won't work. My movie is over eighty percent female audience. Finding a female star to play the female lead is useless too. Who wants to see a female star having a campus romance with someone else?"

The assistant silently sighed.

If it weren't because your relationship with Lu Yan He got so strained, why would so many people refuse you?

"Maybe after Flowers on the Stars releases, the situation will change." The assistant gave up on giving suggestions and instead said, "Once everyone sees the results your movie achieves, maybe they'll change their minds."

Yu Jiang currently doesn't have a single movie released yet.

If the box office for Flowers on the Stars can exceed one hundred million, there will definitely be male actors in the industry who become interested in the male lead role of Yu Jiang's new film.

If it weren't for Yu Jiang insisting on finding a popular male actor with high popularity and many fans to play the male lead, the cast of this movie wouldn't be so hard to assemble.

Because the salary budget must be reserved for the male lead, the actress for the female lead can only be a newcomer or a young star who debuted not long ago.

Yu Jiang, serving as Producer, is very strict on the production cost aspect. Just like Flowers on the Stars, for one movie shoot, Lang Xia's salary was two million, and the salaries of the others added up to less than two million. The total production cost of the whole film was only ten million, while the promotion and distribution cost actually reached nearly twenty million, adding up to a total of around thirty million. Actually, if it weren't for the excellent reputation of Flowers on the Stars at the Hexi Film Festival, which caused Ruyi Pictures and Yu Jiang's A Ru Tian Shen Company to both increase their promotion budgets, its cost would have been between ten million and twenty million—thus, one can actually calculate that the initial expected target for this movie was around forty to sixty million.

Compared to the online discourse where a box office of hundreds of millions is equated to failure, actually, in this industry, most movies, under the inflated costs, only need to reach a target box office of roughly this figure to be profitable.

Truly, there aren't that many films aiming to be blockbusters from the start. A top-tier film company can at most produce one or two such films a year. Most of the time, so-called films with costs reaching seventy or eighty million actually have a production cost of only twenty or thirty million, or even lower. On one hand, it's a general industry exaggeration, to create the impression that the film was made with a huge sum of money and is worth the audience spending money to enter the cinema. On the other hand, many film companies also convert some non-film-shooting expenses into the film cost, inflating the cost, thereby both covering many expenditures and transferring these losses to the investors through settlement.

Why do many film companies show losses as soon as they release financial reports? Are they really losses? The economic issues inside are worth many masters and PhDs studying carefully, even writing a thesis on it.

I digressed, let's get back to the point.

A film like Flowers on the Stars, even if you find a high-traffic star to play the female lead, is limited by the film genre; its basic audience base is only this big. Even if both the male and female leads are top-tier big stars, they cannot make the basic audience base of this film larger. So, Yu Jiang's strategy for her own film is actually very simple: have a popular star actor serve as the main attraction to give the film some star power, so it won't be silent in the media and online; the rest of the budget, she'd rather spend on promotion and marketing, on how to awaken passersby's interest in youth romance films and get them to enter the cinema. This is the key to whether the box office can truly grow effectively.

Stars are just a lever for promotion for cinema managers, for investors, and for the media.

Unable to find a male lead for the new film, Yu Jiang could only temporarily give up.

She can only wait for Flowers on the Stars to release first.

Generally, movies chosen to release during the Qixi slot won't be blockbusters; most likely, they are aiming for the overall market on Qixi day itself.

On Qixi day, Lu Yan He and Chen Siqi didn't go to the cinema; instead, they went together to a mountain inn to cool off and vacation.

However, although they went into the mountains, someone still timely conveyed the situation of the film market to them.

This Qixi slot, the most anticipated beforehand was Flowers on the Stars, followed by the drama actor Zhang Ding and art film goddess Qin Sangwen starring in Swimming Upstream, and an animated film adapted from the Chinese traditional myth story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, Queqiao.

Pre-sales had Flowers on the Stars leading far ahead with thirty-seven million.

On Qixi day itself, occupying the top spot of the box office was the old film Exploding Flower Needle, Flowers on the Stars ranked second, Swimming Upstream ranked third, and Queqiao fourth.

Lu Yan He lay on a bamboo chair by the stream, cooling off.

Chen Siqi sat on a stone by the stream, her two legs directly stretched into the stream water, gently swaying.

"Flowers on the Stars box office has broken fifty million."

It was exactly two in the afternoon. Chen Siqi held her phone and told Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He made an "Hmm" sound.

Chen Siqi asked, "Do you think the box office for 'Flowers on the Stars' can exceed one hundred million?"

"With such a massive promotional campaign, it would be hard to argue it won't exceed one hundred million," Lu Yan He said.

"I didn't expect this movie to be quite so profitable," Chen Siqi said. "I heard Icefield Video spent twelve million to buy the five-year online streaming rights for this film."

Lu Yan He did a quick mental calculation.

"For a movie with a box office exceeding one hundred million and high topic popularity, this price isn't high," he said. "It seems 'Flowers on the Stars' has already started turning a profit."

"Mm," Chen Siqi said. "This movie has sold streaming rights to over a dozen countries and regions in Asia. Its move to screen at the Hexi Film Festival was a very correct strategy."

"Yes," Lu Yan He said. "However, it's a pity the male lead still died in the end; it's a tragic ending. Otherwise, with such results, perhaps a sequel could be developed."

Chen Siqi: "Why can't a sequel be developed just because the male lead died? The sequel could say the female lead met a boy who looked exactly like the male lead, and the two would start a new story from there; it could still be filmed."

Lu Yan He: "That's so melodramatic."

"It is a commercial film after all; Ruyi Pictures certainly won't miss such an opportunity to make money," Chen Siqi said. "Basically, as long as a movie has good box office and profitability, Ruyi Pictures develops a sequel; mixed reviews don't affect their approach."

"I can't stand it; not every movie is suitable for a sequel."

"Who says otherwise?" Chen Siqi said. "By the way, the 'Burning Fire' series you signed with Long Yan Pictures—is that three films?"

"I don't know if it will only film three, but I only signed for three," Lu Yan He said.

Chen Siqi: "You basically didn't enter a production to film this year. In 'Love Letter', although you were nominally the male lead, your actual screen time was very little."

"I consciously wanted to stop a bit; last year I kept entering productions, constantly entering one character, then entering another, and I felt a bit exhausted," Lu Yan He said. "Furthermore, the scripts I received from outside this year didn't move me much; without a suitable script, I might as well not force myself."

Chen Siqi asked, "You haven't received any suitable scripts?"

In Chen Siqi's view, the best scripts currently on the market must all pass through Lu Yan He first.

Lu Yan He nodded and said, "I haven't seen any good ones; Sister Ziyan says so too."

Chen Siqi was somewhat puzzled: "Has your taste become more picky? That shouldn't be the case, right?"

"Huang Tai just called me; Liu Bige's new film's female lead is set as you."

The Agent said happily to Ji Miao.

As a leading figure among young female actors this year, Ji Miao, who won the Best Supporting Actress Award at a young age, has always been smooth sailing in films.

Ji Miao was not surprised to secure the role herself.

If she hadn't secured it, that would have been surprising.

Ji Miao said, "It would be great if the male lead of this movie were still Lu Yan He."

The Agent didn't expect Ji Miao to suddenly say that.

"Lu Yan He? He probably wouldn't accept this kind of movie, even if the director is Liu Bige," the Agent said. "He accepts roles almost exclusively for serious dramas or art films; it seems he has never accepted this kind of light comedy before. 'Six People' doesn't count; he was the Screenwriter himself, and it was obvious at a glance that he wasn't playing the most core role; he gave that role to Yan Liang to play. It feels completely like a script written just to boost his friend."

Ji Miao sighed, nodded, and said, "True."

The Agent looked at her and said, "Among the entire entertainment circle, only he accepts roles like Lu Yan He does."

Ji Miao said, "I don't know if there will ever be a day when I can accept roles like him."

The Agent said, "Your status is not yet solid. How many people are eyeing your position hungrily? Moreover, so many new people have emerged in the entertainment circle these past few years. Wang Jing, the actress who acted with Lu Yan He in 'Late Spring', is competing with you this time; it is said many people support her to play the role. If you don't solidify your position, who knows when someone might overtake you on a bend."

Ji Miao nodded.

"You have seen this script too; if acted well, it is absolutely a likable good role, and it might even become your representative role in the future," the Agent said. "Audiences very much like this kind of character image with a very distinct personality, with a sense of contrast, and somewhat cute amidst the neuroticism; you can shape her very well."

"Li Zhibai has never acted in a movie before."

"He indeed has never acted in a movie; this is his first time acting in a movie," the Agent said. "However, you don't need to question his situation; whether it is acting skills, popularity, or past work achievements, they are all very impressive."

Ji Miao: "I am not questioning him; of course I know he is also very good. I am just a bit regretful; if Lu Yan He were the lead, perhaps this movie could still go around the international film festivals."

The Agent: "Going around has no meaning; this kind of movie is destined not to be nominated for the Main Competition Unit; at best, it just makes some noise."

"Making some noise is fine too; look at 'Flowers on the Stars'; the noise it made at the Hexi Film Festival was very worth it," Ji Miao said.

The Agent: "I heard Yu Jiang is preparing a new movie. Since 'Flowers on the Stars' has good box office, why don't we actively contact them to see if the female lead role suits you?"

"Forget it; if I go act in her melodramatic movies, the reputation I have painstakingly accumulated will probably be gone immediately," Ji Miao said. "Didn't you see how many people online are scolding 'Flowers on the Stars' for being so melodramatic?"

"Let those people online scold as they wish; the fact that melodramatic movies sell so well only proves one point: the general public who don't often speak up online are very interested in this movie; they just like this flavor. 'The You Against the Current' has a very good reputation; the rating on Yema Network was unlocked after half a day of release, with a score of 8.1, yet its box office is not even half of 'Flowers on the Stars'."

Ji Miao: "The promotion for 'The You Against the Current' was originally not as good as 'Flowers on the Stars'. If it weren't for Zhang Ding and Qin Sangwen starring, probably not many people would know such a movie. 'Flowers on the Stars' was just short of putting posters at everyone's doorstep."

The final report for the Qixi slot came out; 'Flowers on the Stars', relying on a counterattack during the evening golden slot, topped the daily box office chart with a first-day box office of 87.56 million.

The old film 'Bao Hua Zhen' ranked second with 68.12 million.

'The You Against the Current' ranked third with 42 million.

The animated film 'Queqiao' flopped directly, ranking fourth with 13 million.

On the day of the Qixi slot, the overall market broke 200 million, performing mediocly, and the industry was somewhat disappointed.

But this does not affect the victory celebration for 'Flowers on the Stars'.

It was obvious this movie would break one hundred million; even though there were many voices online scolding the movie for being melodramatic, that did not affect the movie making money.

Yu Jiang happily posted the first-day battle report poster and simultaneously announced another new film of hers.

Yu Jiang actually had quite a few film projects currently being pushed forward. She still had one collaboration with Lang Xia, and besides that, there were others she was preparing. Now that 'Flowers on the Stars' is performing so well at the box office, her other several projects will certainly accelerate their progress too.

When people encounter happy events, their spirits are refreshed.

That night, Yu Jiang argued with netizens who scolded her movie as melodramatic on Weibo until two in the morning, then exited Weibo with a satisfied heart.

On WeChat, there were still many congratulatory messages she hadn't replied to.

She was too lazy to look at them; it was clear.