Chapter 600

"*Co-renting Men and Women* is indeed different from other projects in our company. This is the only wholly-owned project in our company. Other projects basically have Beijiguang's investment, a little more or a little less."

After Hu Siwei came to report the relevant situation to Chen Ziyan, Chen Ziyan took it to discuss with Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He himself supported letting *Co-renting Men and Women* be aired according to Beijiguang Video's "guaranteed + sharing" model.

But Chen Ziyan had a different opinion.

"Yan He, at the beginning, Hu Siwei only used 12 million to produce this play, just to reduce the risk of loss. This play is a brand-new cast, without a single big star with high fame. The actor's remuneration budget doesn't even account for one-sixth in this play."

Chen Ziyan continued: "In this case, if *Co-renting Men and Women* is made to face the risk of loss to adapt to Beijiguang's new model, this will cause the subsequent bonuses of the entire project team of *Co-renting Men and Women* to be subject to great unstable factors. You must know that for our Linghe, the most critical point of this play is that this is a film crew we pulled together ourselves, a play made entirely by ourselves. In case the airing results of this play are not ideal and the expected profitability is not achieved, even if it is a little bit of profit, but not that much, the subsequent bonuses of the key technical departments of the entire crew will not be realized. We either have to pay for it ourselves, or we can only let them suffer. Then, how many people can we keep in the first film crew we pulled together to continue to do the second project?"

Lu Yan He was suddenly enlightened and understood what Chen Ziyan meant.

Chen Ziyan asked: "Do you want the company to pay for it? To bear the risk of having to pay another sum of money after this project is not profitable."

Lu Yan He shook his head.

Even if he doesn't understand the company or finance, he knows that this is not a benign practice.

"Therefore, I quite understand Hu Siwei's concerns," Chen Ziyan said. "I will let Chen Yin study the market prospects of *Co-renting Men and Women* with Hu Siwei seriously, and then connect with Bingyuan Video and Dengta Video to see what price they offer, including traditional TV stations. In fact, based on my positioning of this play, as long as it doesn't lose money, I will be very satisfied. If it weren't for hiring Bai Jingnian as the director, the production cost of this play might not even need half of what it is now. And we need Bai Jingnian to be the director, just to let such a senior director not only for the play itself, but more importantly, to bring out a shooting team for us."

"As long as it doesn't lose money, then we are making money. We have earned the production experience of the first wholly-owned project and also cultivated a production team belonging to Linghe. More importantly, with the basic results of the first season, the cost of our second season can be lower, and this project can also continue to support the team."

"Moreover, don't forget, if *Co-renting Men and Women* cannot be sold before the third quarter and get a return of funds, it will affect the production of our next project *Chinese Paladin*."

Lu Yan He nodded.

"It's not that we can't find projects to cooperate with Beijiguang Video's model, but it's not a new project like *Co-renting Men and Women*," Chen Ziyan said. "Our long-term cooperative relationship with Beijiguang Video is actually an agreement you signed with Beijiguang. *Co-renting Men and Women* is not your project. You just hung a producer name on it. We don't necessarily have to put *Co-renting Men and Women* on Beijiguang Video to air."

Chen Ziyan's words made Lu Yan He suddenly enlightened.

Hu Siwei did not expect that Chen Ziyan and Lu Yan He would take the initiative to propose that *Co-renting Men and Women* could find another broadcasting platform, and even less did he expect that their tolerance for this project was so great, proposing that as long as it doesn't lose money, the second season can be developed.

This made Hu Siwei's mood, which had been tangled for several days, immediately relieved.

However, a romantic comedy without any famous stars, even if it bears the name of Linghe Production Company and Lu Yan He serves as the producer, but Lu Yan He does not direct, write, or act, and the "Lu content" is too low, it still cannot make this project get attention.

The only selling point of *Co-renting Men and Women* in the eyes of the film party is the director Bai Jingnian.

The director of *Friends* and *My Own Swordsman*.

This makes *Co-renting Men and Women* not easy to sell on other platforms either. Bingyuan Video still looked at the cooperative relationship with Linghe and was willing to offer 2 million per episode, but the requirement was exclusive broadcasting, not just exclusive broadcasting on the whole network, but exclusive broadcasting in the entire mainland China. This means that if it is sold to Bingyuan, this play cannot be sold to TV stations again.

2 million per episode, this price is actually not low. It has already reached the expectation in Hu Siwei's heart, higher than Beijiguang Video's initial intention price of 1.5 million. Plus there are several advertising placements in this play itself, it is not difficult for *Co-renting Men and Women* to achieve profitability.

It's just that Bingyuan Video does not intend to give *Co-renting Men and Women* A-level promotion resources, and hopes to have the priority purchase right for the development of the second part of *Co-renting Men and Women*, which makes Hu Siwei feel uneasy.

The main problem is still the former: this play itself has no stars, and now there is no good promotion. Can the results be good? -

While Hu Siwei was constantly communicating with various platforms, Lu Yan He also joined the crew of the Jump Up Theater's play *The Silent Staircase*.

This is a play he promised to star in last month, also adapted from Liu Jiazhen's short story.

The current Jump Up Theater is steadily advancing various projects.

Because *The Silent Staircase* is starred by Lu Yan He, the production budget and various aspects of this play are much more sufficient. At that time, when the plan of the Jump Up Theater was announced, many advertisers found Yuehu TV and Beijiguang Video, wanting to be the title sponsor of this play.

Everyone knows very well that although the Jump Up Theater is a fresh thing, the results of the play starred by Lu Yan He will definitely not be bad.

The Jump Up Theater may flop, but *The Silent Staircase* definitely won't.

The director of *The Silent Staircase* is An Jian. He is not a new director. He has already directed two plays, but these two plays belong to the type that is well-received but not popular. Although the reputation is good, few people have seen them. So much so that he has not directed any works for five or six years.

This time, at the beginning of the preparation of the Jump Up Theater, Luo Yuzhong recommended An Jian to come over.

After several exchanges, it was finally decided that An Jian would serve as the director of the project *The Silent Staircase*. After that, it was Lu Yan He who decided to act in this play. Strictly speaking, An Jian can already be considered a senior director, but because of the commercial failure of the previous two plays, he only has such a name.

An Jian also did not expect that not only did he have the opportunity to be a director again through Luo Yuzhong's recommendation, but he also had the opportunity to film with Lu Yan He.

A great joy from heaven.

"Yan He, hello." An Jian is in his forties and is already a middle-aged director. In the past few years, not to mention living in a strapped way, but indeed not living as well as ordinary directors, and he doesn't look very calm.

Before Lu Yan He met him, he didn't know much about him, but he watched two episodes of the play he directed. In short, he felt that An Jian should be a director who cares very much about his own ideas. The style is very "authorial" and "literary," so the play is not very good-looking, and it pays too much attention to the word "deep meaning."

Filming TV series like this, it is no wonder that the reputation is high and the viewership is poor. Until now, not many people have watched these two plays, and they don't even appear much in those collections of "niche reputation plays."

However, such a style is quite suitable for the theme of *The Silent Staircase*.

The story itself is about a storm caused by murder in a small family.

The chaotic relationships and secrets between the characters are a major highlight of this suspense story.

The characteristics of different characters and different facets of human nature are filmed well, and with the story of the original work as the foundation, it is hard to be bad.

Moreover, Lu Yan He noticed that in the director contract signed by the Jump Up Theater with An Jian, he was not given the right to edit.

Generally speaking, the right to edit is the standard configuration of a director.

The need of the Jump Up Theater for An Jian is actually that his good shooting themes and techniques are compatible with *The Silent Staircase*.

However, they also did not want An Jian to edit *The Silent Staircase* into a long and boring human anatomy film, so the final editing right was held in their own hands.

"Hello, Director An."

After the two met, Lu Yan He greeted An Jian politely.

An Jian also politely called out President Lu.

Lu Yan He said: "Director An, you can call me Yan He or Little Lu."

An Jian said: "When I accepted the director position of this play, I didn't expect that this play would invite you to act. This really surprised me."

Lu Yan He laughed.

"Very happy that we can cooperate."

After exchanging pleasantries with An Jian, Lu Yan He went to the lounge to prepare and memorize the script. An hour later, everyone would hold a meeting together to study the script and listen to An Jian sort out the shooting ideas.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door.

Wang Biao went to open the door. Standing outside the door was an actor of *The Silent Staircase*, named Peng Yufan, who played the role of the sister in the family in the play. This role was auditioned and personally appointed by An Jian.

"Hello, may I ask if Yan He is here?" Peng Yufan was holding a paper bag, and her smile was very kind. "I am one of the actors in this play, Peng Yufan. I heard that Yan He is here, so I came to pay a visit."

Wang Biao smiled at her and said: "Hello, Brother Little Lu is reading the script."

"Oh, sorry, then am I disturbing you? Then I will pay a visit when we have a meeting later. These are some cookies I baked myself. Please taste them." Peng Yufan smiled and handed the paper bag in her hand to Wang Biao.

Wang Biao: "Give it to Brother Little Lu in person later. I mean—please wait a moment."

He smiled slightly at Peng Yufan, turned and went in to tell Lu Yan He, and then invited Peng Yufan in.

Lu Yan He's lounge is divided into inner and outer rooms. Lu Yan He sat in the inner room, and he was the only one.

Peng Yufan only then knew what Wang Biao meant by "please wait a moment."

Their lounges are all single rooms. Whoever comes, the people inside know, so Peng Yufan subconsciously reacted that Lu Yan He did not want to see her when she heard Wang Biao say "Lu Yan He is reading the script."

When Peng Yufan came in, Lu Yan He had already stood up.

"Sister Yufan, hello." Lu Yan He shook hands with her.

"Oh my, do you actually recognize me?" Peng Yufan asked in surprise.

"Director An Jian has already introduced everyone to me just now." Lu Yan He smiled and invited Peng Yufan to sit. "Because I have had other work in the early stage and have not rehearsed with everyone in advance, I feel very sorry."

"Your acting skills are so good, where do you need to waste time rehearsing with us? As long as we don't hold you back," Peng Yufan waved her hand heartily. "Being able to act with you, we are all envied by friends in the circle."

"I dare not accept it." Lu Yan He quickly waved his hand. "Sister Yufan, when did you start rehearsing together?"

"We only met half a month in advance, and later rehearsed three times," Peng Yufan said.

After a while of pleasantries, suddenly someone knocked on the door again.

Wang Biao went to open the door. It turned out to be another main actor of *The Silent Staircase*, Zhang Yuan, who played the role of the father of the family.

He was also someone who came to pay a visit to Lu Yan He, and he was also carrying a small bag in his hand.

Wang Biao smiled and explained, and Peng Yufan was still inside.

Zhang Yuan gave an surprised "Oh," "Yufan is also here."

Wang Biao was about to say "please wait a moment," but Zhang Yuan walked inside with a smile, carrying things, "That's just right, it's a coincidence."

Wang Biao was stunned, looking at Zhang Yuan who had already walked past him.

This is... entering without being invited?

Wang Biao has been by Lu Yan He's side for so long. Except for some crazy paparazzi and fans, he really hasn't encountered Zhang Yuan's situation.

"Zhang Laoshi." Wang Biao's face sank, and he shouted.

Zhang Yuan turned his head, with a bright and kind smile on his face, pointing to the half-open door of the inner room, "Are they inside?"

Wang Biao: "Please wait a moment, I'll go in and say hello first."

Zhang Yuan: "Oh, don't bother you, I'll just go in and say hello."

He patted Wang Biao on the shoulder very familiarly and walked inside without saying a word.

At this moment, what Wang Biao was pondering in his mind was "if I pull my face down and stop him now, will it affect the normal filming later?"

If it were before, how could he think of these things.

As a result, just thinking about this, Zhang Yuan had already walked in with fast steps.

"..." Wang Biao couldn't catch up even if he wanted to.

He stood behind Zhang Yuan with full resentment and looked at Lu Yan He.

Lu Yan He signaled that it was okay.

Zhang Yuan asked about Lu Yan He's well-being, very concerned.

"You must be very busy recently, right? I originally wanted to ask Songfan to introduce me as soon as I knew you would star in *The Silent Staircase*, but seeing that you have many things recently, I just forgot it. Don't disturb you, anyway, we can meet when we film." Zhang Yuan smiled. "But I didn't expect that the action was still not as fast as Yufan."

Lu Yan He said politely: "Zhang Laoshi, you are too polite."

Peng Yufan rolled her eyes at Zhang Yuan in feigned anger. "Coming to pay a visit to Yan He, you still divide the speed of action. You, why are your thoughts so heavy?"

Zhang Yuan: "I hope Yan He doesn't mind, don't think I don't respect him."

"How could that be." Lu Yan He said.

Peng Yufan: "That's why I said your thoughts are heavy. How could Yan He mind such a small matter? You think everyone is like you, with such a small heart."

Zhang Yuan: "You have to be responsible for what you say. How is my heart small again?"

"I proposed to change a few lines yesterday, and you felt that you had two fewer lines, and you were yin and yang for a whole day. Is your heart not small?" Peng Yufan rolled her eyes at Zhang Yuan and said to Lu Yan He, "Yan He, I'm leaving first, see you later."

? C〇

Zhang Yuan: "You are also interesting. You leave after saying it. Are you guilty?"

"I don't want to disturb Yan He's rest. You knew Yan He was tired before, and now you want to quarrel in front of him, right?" Peng Yufan rolled her eyes at Zhang Yuan for the third time. "You are really interesting."

Peng Yufan left.

Zhang Yuan stood awkwardly in place for a few seconds before saying awkwardly to Lu Yan He: "Yan He, don't listen to her nonsense. I won't disturb your rest either. I'll leave first, see you at the meeting later."

"Hmm, see you later." Lu Yan He smiled and sent the guest away.

Wang Biao walked in.

"I feel that neither of them is easy to deal with." Wang Biao sighed. "However, that Zhang Yuan is really too much. He didn't even say hello and rushed straight in. He has no manners at all."

Lu Yan He smiled, was silent for a moment, and said: "As long as it doesn't affect the normal shooting, you can let them quarrel."

He has been in many crews, and the relationship between most crew members is quite harmonious. If you want to say that there are undercurrents and private discord, there are also many. However, it is rare to be able to make a scene like Zhang Yuan and Peng Yufan. Lu Yan He learned one thing: interfere less in other people's affairs, especially disputes. This kind of thing is the easiest to get yourself covered in trouble.

For Lu Yan He, he is more wary of getting involved in such things. Because I don't know when it started, once everyone has a disagreement, they start to want to see his opinion. His opinion suddenly became the key evidence for Bao Gong to judge the case.

Wang Biao said worriedly: "Brother Little Lu, why do I feel that the shooting in the next week will not be peaceful?"

Lu Yan He: "Relax, there won't be any big problems."

In the meeting afterwards, just as Lu Yan He thought, although there were some undercurrents between everyone, on the surface, they could still maintain harmony and cooperate and communicate normally.

Especially between Zhang Yuan and Peng Yufan, there is no meaning of being at daggers drawn and fighting at every turn, just occasionally snapping at each other.

Wang Biao was quite puzzled. He originally thought that the atmosphere at the scene would definitely not be very harmonious.

Afterwards, Wang Biao asked Lu Yan He: "Brother Little Lu, why are you so sure that they won't make any big problems? Obviously Zhang Yuan and Peng Yufan broke up unhappily."

"Didn't you notice that they were about to quarrel, Peng Yufan left immediately, and Zhang Yuan didn't get emotional and still entangled?" Lu Yan He smiled. "Zhang Yuan rushed in to find me so anxiously because he was worried that Peng Yufan would push all their disputes onto him in front of me. The two of them deliberately quarreled in front of me to see my opinion."

Wang Biao was enlightened, "So that's how it is!"

Lu Yan He: "I didn't express any opinion, indicating that I didn't want to interfere, so they withdrew. Everyone is on the same boat when filming a play, and everyone hopes that this play can be filmed well and aired well, which will help their careers. Everyone has a common goal. Before filming is finished, they generally won't quit."

Wang Biao was thoughtful.

"The creative atmosphere of *The Silent Staircase* crew is quite good, but Director An Jian cares too much about my opinions, and he has to ask me about everything."

When talking to Chen Siqi on the phone, Lu Yan He was a little helpless. "Although I know he respects me, if I have to listen to my opinions on everything, I might as well be the director myself."

Chen Siqi: "I'll let someone talk to him."

"Forget it, I'm just complaining to you. If you find someone to talk to him, the situation will be a bit awkward," Lu Yan He said bluntly. "It's better for me to communicate with him myself. He may also be because the previous two plays failed commercially, so he is a bit timid and doesn't quite believe in his own judgment."

Chen Siqi: "That's in front of you. He himself is a director with very firm ideas. According to the news we learned in the early stage, it's not that he hasn't had the opportunity to continue to be a director in the past few years, but his communication with film and television companies has not been very pleasant. You can see from the two plays he filmed before that what he wants to film is completely different from what film and television companies want to film and what is popular in the market."

Lu Yan He asked: "Then why did you choose him to film *The Silent Staircase* at the beginning?"

"Because we watched his previous works seriously, we believe that his plays are good in all aspects, but they are edited too boringly," Chen Siqi said. "Therefore, we retained the final editing right. If we are not satisfied with the final cut he makes, we will re-edit it. To tell the truth, our communication with him is not very smooth. He is a bit cynical and sneers at many popular dramas on the market now. Although he praised your dramas very much in front of us, we don't know what he is thinking behind his back."

"It's okay, since he was recommended by the teacher, at least his character is definitely passable. Whether he is cynical or talented but unrecognized, who doesn't have some problems?" Lu Yan He said. "As long as he can film *The Silent Staircase* well, it's fine."

"That's true," Chen Siqi smiled. "There is one more thing. Do you know that he wants to sign with Linghe and become a signed director of Linghe?"

Lu Yan He was stunned, a little surprised, "I don't know, no one told me."

Chen Siqi: "When he was chatting with us, he mentioned it, saying that among the current film and television companies, he only wants to cooperate with Linghe, hoping to film *The Silent Staircase* well this time, and have the opportunity to join this company in the future."

"Meeting him today, apart from being more diligent, he didn't express such meaning."

Chen Siqi: "Then people won't tell you they want to join your company on the first day."

The two talked and laughed.

He didn't know that at this time, in the corridor outside his room, Zhang Yuan and Peng Yufan suddenly met.

The two looked at each other, and for a while, no one spoke.

The crew arranged a luxury suite for Lu Yan He, so it was at the end of this floor. In the two rooms next to this suite were the rooms of Wang Biao and Zou Dong.

Except for the three of them, the crew did not arrange anyone else on this floor.

Zhang Yuan and Peng Yufan looked at each other.

At this time, they didn't need to ask each other to know what the other was doing.

But no one said it.

"Coming over so late, aren't you afraid of being seen and causing scandals?" Finally, Zhang Yuan spoke first. "Don't cause trouble for Lu Yan He when the time comes."

Peng Yufan rolled her eyes. "Do you want your face? Why don't you say that you entering Lu Yan He's room late at night will also be rumored to have a scandal?"

Zhang Yuan: "... You are unreasonable."

"Don't think I don't know what you are planning." Peng Yufan looked at Zhang Yuan. "Your contract should be expiring soon, right?"

Zhang Yuan showed surprise.

"How do you know?"

Peng Yufan: "Your actions to change agencies are so big, asking everywhere where is good, and asking people to recommend, who doesn't know?"

Zhang Yuan: "..."

Peng Yufan: "Do you want to follow Jiang Jun's path?"

Zhang Yuan was silent again.

Every word of Peng Yufan was like a sharp arrow piercing his heart.

Zhang Yuan: "What about you? You came to find him so late, what is it for?"

"Heh, none of your business." Peng Yufan retorted unceremoniously.

Zhang Yuan: "Your temper is so bad, no wonder you have never been popular."

"Then how good is your temper, how popular are you?"

Zhang Yuan: "..."

He found that he really couldn't talk to Peng Yufan well.

Just then, someone suddenly walked over from the other end of the corridor.

Zhang Yuan and Peng Yufan turned their heads to look.

? co

The other party also looked at them with a puzzled face.

They didn't know each other.

The person who came was actually Hu Siwei.

Hu Siwei had an appointment with Lu Yan He to come over and chat with Lu Yan He about *Co-renting Men and Women*.

The man and woman in front didn't know who they were, standing near the door of Lu Yan He's room, looking not very harmonious.

Did the husband and wife living on the same floor quarrel?

Hu Siwei looked at them with some doubt.

He didn't stop, took out his mobile phone, and sent a message to Lu Yan He: Yan He, I'm here, but there seems to be a couple quarreling at your door.

After less than half a minute, Lu Yan He came to open the door.

He: "Brother Siwei."

After greeting, Lu Yan He noticed Zhang Yuan and Peng Yufan who were also looking here with a puzzled and curious face.

"Zhang Laoshi, Teacher Peng, why are you here? Are you looking for me?"

Zhang Yuan and Peng Yufan saw that Lu Yan He had guests.

The two shook their heads immediately, in unison.

"I was walking around in the hotel to digest," Peng Yufan explained first. "As a result, I saw Zhang Yuan sneaking at your door, and I was a little curious, so I came over to see."

She sold Zhang Yuan out without hesitation.

Zhang Yuan stared with wide eyes, looking at Peng Yufan in disbelief.

Peng Yufan turned her head to look the other way and ignored his questioning gaze at all.

Zhang Yuan's face was dark: "... I wanted to come and chat with you about the script, but it seems you already have an appointment, so I'll find you tomorrow."

Lu Yan He nodded and smiled, "Okay."

Hu Siwei looked at them thoughtfully and entered the room with Lu Yan He.

The door closed again.

Zhang Yuan glared at Peng Yufan angrily.

Peng Yufan turned and left, still ignoring him.

Recommend the new book *Sword of Hunting Demons*, which is not necessarily finished, cannot be updated daily, and is purely for changing the feel.