Chapter 10: Holiday and Casting

As National Day approached, Huang Bai and Wei Jin seized the time to finish recording the song.

Through some of Huang Bai's connections, they found a small local record company in Beijing.

This company, named Tianyu Records, was founded by a few local Beijing second-generation wealthy music enthusiasts; its operations were very rough, and its business status could only be described as dismal.

However, the founders were wealthy and didn't rely on this to make money, and with the infiltration of various local networks, they still had the capability to handle distribution within Beijing.

After settling the cooperation method and revenue sharing, Wei Jin resolved a major matter in his heart.

Huang Bai easily pocketed 20,000, feeling quite satisfied, and invited Wei Jin to go drink at the bar where he used to perform, saying he wanted to thank him.

Wei Jin found it hard to refuse such kindness and could only risk his life to accompany the gentleman.

He had thought that Huang Bai, being from Qingdao, could hold his liquor, but he didn't expect the lightweight to collapse after just three or five rounds.

Wei Jin had forgotten that his current body could no longer be described as that of a normal person.

The drunken Huang Bai was picked up by a friend, and Wei Jin returned to 501 facing the evening breeze; just as he prepared to take out his key to open the door, the door opened.

"You're back."

The great beauty leaned prettily against the door frame.

Ceng Li had been unemployed at home recently, spending every day like a housewife in a Japanese film, seeing her husband off in the morning and welcoming him back in the evening.

"Yeah, I'm back late; I had some drinks with a friend."

Actually, he had already called ahead, but looking at the gentle beauty, Wei Jin couldn't help but pull her into his arms to explain.

After a moment of tenderness, Wei Jin went to the living room to sit down and share the joy of the past two days with Ceng Li.

"So you'll be busy filming your first movie after National Day? Are you confident? Is the money enough?"

Hearing the news, Ceng Li was very happy for her boyfriend, but also felt a trace of worry.

Feeling the beauty's concern, Wei Jin told her all about his preparations.

Under Shen Haobo's management, the physical books for the first and second volumes of Sword Snow Stride had already been published for over half a month.

The cumulative sales had reached 200,000 copies, and the growth trend was gratifying.

The book was priced at 18 yuan per copy, and both parties agreed to settle accounts monthly; barring any accidents, besides the deposit, Wei Jin could expect to receive around 200,000 in copyright earnings and royalties after National Day.

Regarding the song, they had already set a strategy with radio and internet channels as the primary focus, supplemented by offline retail; he believed that by the end of this holiday, they would be able to initially open up the market.

As for the movie, Teacher Jiang Wei, acting as Producer, had initially calculated the production cost to be around 800,000, excluding actor salaries.

Currently, Wei Jin had less than 300,000, but it wasn't a big problem; he just needed to be friends with time.

Because the money wouldn't be spent all at once, the expenses needed in the early stages were nothing more than prop production and equipment rental, and Wei Jin could still come up with that portion of money.

After listening to Wei Jin's analysis, Ceng Li's hanging heart settled; she had originally intended to take out her savings to support Wei Jin.

Now seeing her man so outstanding—writing books, releasing songs, writing scripts, and filming movies—Ceng Li was even more filled with joy, her eyes shifting as she said, "Xiao Jin, you're amazing."

"There's something even more amazing."

Wei Jin swept her up in a bridal carry and strode into the bedroom; before long, a high-pitched song rang out, like heavenly music.

Because of the many miscellaneous tasks during this holiday, Wei Jin didn't return to his hometown, which drew a round of complaints from Wei Xingbang.

Ceng Li was much the same; only after promising to go home for the Spring Festival did her old mother stop the "chanting sutra" method.

Starting from the 1st, Wei Jin took Ceng Li to the suburban counties in all directions of Beijing to find a filming location for Buried, while enjoying their time together; the two traveled along, looking at flowers while riding horses, with mutual affection, and didn't feel tired.

Three days later, Wei Jin finally found a satisfactory location and prepared to head home.

On the way back to the city, Wei Jin sat in the driver's seat himself, insisting on not letting Ceng Li drive, which made Li Jie pout in annoyance.

Ignoring Ceng Li's pitiful pride, Wei Jin turned on the car radio.

"Hello listeners, this is Classic FM Beijing FM969, I am your host Xiaofeng."

"I am host Mingliang. Xiaofeng, do you know? There is a song that has suddenly become a hit in the last two days, playing in every street and alley."

"Mingliang, are you talking about the song Who Do You Really Love?"

"Yes, I am very curious, what kind of person is the lyricist and composer, Wei Jin?"

"Then let us listen in the singing to see what kind of person the author is."

"Getting drunk alone, I really want to find someone to keep me company~~"

"There are too many misunderstandings between us~~"

"Love can no longer sleep~~"

"Is it pathetic, is it destruction~~" "I don't want to shed tears for anyone anymore~~"

As the singing started, Wei Jin knew that this song was a hit; he seemed to see banknotes flying toward him.

Yes, the song was a hit, and Huang Bai was a hit too.

The owner of the bar he frequented had already raised his performance fee to 20,000 a month, with tips from customers calculated separately.

There were even record companies that had sent invitations to sign Huang Bai, but he hadn't agreed yet; he was preparing to talk to Wei Jin.

This man was truly magical.

With the filming location settled, Wei Jin put finding actors on the agenda.

The atmosphere of this movie relied entirely on the lead actor's acting skills; recalling the domestic actors he was familiar with in his past life, he found himself unable to choose for a moment and couldn't help but feel troubled.

He patted his head, cursed himself for being muddled, and asked Ceng Li:

"Li Jie, do you know any male actors?"

"Hmm... around thirty years old, with exceptionally good acting skills; for this movie of mine, if the acting isn't good, it won't hold up."

Ceng Li recalled the male actors she had worked with, and as if thinking of something, she spoke with some hesitation:

"When I was filming The Road Home in the first half of the year, there was a male actor in the crew whose acting was quite good; he should meet your requirements."

"Oh? What's his name?"

Wei Jin became interested.

"His name is Fu Dalong; when he was acting, the director praised his acting as explosive, but..."

Wei Jin had heard of this name in his past life; it seemed he had even won a Best Actor award, had good acting skills, was relatively low-key, and was a suitable choice.

Seeming to notice Ceng Li's hesitation, Wei Jin asked again, "But what?"

Ceng Li's expression was a bit poor at this moment.

"What's wrong, Li Jie?"

"When he was on the film set, he seemed to have some feelings for me, and he even called to ask me out two months ago."

Ceng Li felt a bit unnatural.

"Oh? Then let's not consider him."

Wei Jin remembered; if not for his own appearance, this guy would likely have had a relationship with Li Jie. It seemed the timing of his own intervention was truly ingenious, and he immediately began to have a headache over the actor selection again.

Watching Wei Jin fall into deep thought, Ceng Li also continued to ponder in her mind. After a long while, she suddenly said, "Right, we have a classmate in our class named Qin Hao. He was very diligent when we were studying, and he has been honing his acting skills in the drama club for the past few years. We can let him come and try out."

"Qin Hao, hmm... that's possible."

Wei Jin knew this actor and had seen his plays; his acting skills were indeed quite good, but he did not know if he could meet his requirements.

"Li Jie, please help me contact him; we will prepare for auditions after the holiday."

"Next, we should talk about the matter of Fu Dalong."

Wei Jin said with an expressionless face.

"..."

"He pursued you, why didn't you tell me? Do you have me in your heart at all?"

Ceng Li lowered her head and did not speak, as if feeling she was in the wrong, and for a moment, she could not say a word.

"It seems I have to enforce the family rules."

Wei Jin dared not tease Li Jie any further; he scooped her up in a bridal carry and carried Ceng Li toward the bedroom.

"Oh my, it's still broad daylight..."

How could Ceng Li not understand? Her little boyfriend was teasing her, and she let out a cry of surprise.

"I'm disciplining my wife, what does the time of day matter?"

Wei Jin was overflowing with domineering aura, vowing to enforce the family rules and teach the beauty a lesson.

As a new author writing a book for the first time, I humbly beg for your attention, follow-up reading, and recommendations. Thank you all.

(End of this chapter)