Chapter 49: Just Stubborn

Fang Hong, on the other side, stared at the automatically disconnected phone, hesitated, then dialed again.

He figured Liu Tianxian was busy.

Liu Tianxian's phone rang again; this time she didn't hold back, but cleared her throat lightly and answered calmly: "Hello, what is it?"

"Happy birthday!"

Fang Hong had no extra words—just that one sentence, spoken with genuine sincerity.

Liu Tianxian fell silent; neither side spoke, and the phone line grew quiet, filled only with the faint sound of their breathing.

A strange emotion stirred; for some reason, Liu Tianxian felt a surge of warmth inside.

She steadied her composure, suppressed that inexplicable feeling, and said sarcastically: "Oh my, thanks so much, great Principal, for remembering my birthday—I'm truly honored!"

Only this way could she hide her true emotions.

Fang Hong sighed helplessly; this woman really—couldn't she go a day without teasing him?

He wasn't joking; he said: "About what happened on set—thank you—"

"Don't bring up that matter again."

Liu Tianxian cut him off; she didn't want to hear any thanks.

What's done is done—why bring it up?

Besides, he did all that for her, and did her many favors—so thanks weren't needed at all.

"Alright, then rest up," Fang Hong said, saying no more.

"My drama wraps on September 1st."

Liu Tianxian wanted to say more, then added: "How's your drama's preparation going?"

"Almost done—you can start shooting as soon as you arrive," Fang Hong said.

A modern romance drama doesn't need much preparation—just pick the shooting location.

Props and costumes are all contemporary—no design needed!

As for actors, any non-famous ones aren't busy—just grab a few.

There are too many skilled actors with no roles!

Liu Tianxian asked again: "What about funding? Still a gap?"

"Yeah!" Fang Hong joked: "What, you wanna lend me more money?"

"Nope, I've already raised all the funds for you—you've got zero pressure now," Liu Tianxian refused.

"True enough—thanks to you, I've got no ambition," Fang Hong said.

"Exactly!"

"."

That night, they talked a lot—it was the longest phone call they'd ever had.

Before, they'd just exchanged a few words, stated their purpose, and hung up.

September 1st, in a rented office.

The office was rented using money taken from the five million, serving as a temporary base.

Having no fixed base was never acceptable!

The behind-the-scenes crew and actors of "33 Days of Losing Love" met here to get acquainted.

Liu Tianxian didn't come—she'd just wrapped today!

The core team remained mostly the same, but the cinematographer changed: Yu Xian no longer served as cinematographer, but as Executive Director.

Wang Ran was deputy director—though in truth, he was just Fang Hong's assistant.

As for actors, Fang Hong reprised the male lead, and Liu Tianxian remained the female lead.

Their second collaboration would make for great publicity!

Audiences felt strong identification with the movie "Those Years"—that enthusiasm hadn't faded yet, and they wanted to see the leads reunited.

The materialistic, gold-digging female in the film was played by Yang Zi—the same actress from "Home With Kids."

She's entering Beijing Film Academy next year and is still a nobody.

Her role is a Henanese character speaking with a Baodao accent.

Pan Yueming plays the "Phoenix Man"—the rich guy who, for convenience, chose the gold-digger as his fiancée.

In the original, it was Wang Yaoqing!

He came on board as a main character mainly because he's especially close to Chen Zhixi—no effort was needed to get him.

Guo Jinfei still plays Liu Tianxian's ex-boyfriend, unchanged from the original.

Zhang Songwen plays Lao Wang—the role of Liu Tianxian's boss, originally played by Zhang Jiai!

This is a second collaboration!

These days, this actor has no good roles—he's glad to land a main part on the big screen.

These are basically all the actors; other minor roles have little screen time and can be handled with a little money.

Except for Liu Tianxian's free ride, all other actors and crew are paid normally—why exploit others who spend one or two months without work just to film your drama?

Without financial ties, loyalty is unreliable!

Liu Tianxian is currently hot—her value has skyrocketed; we can't afford her price!

"That's the situation, that's the deal—shooting starts tomorrow at 7 a. m. Go home tonight and get a good night's sleep—don't be late."

Fang Hong finished speaking, and everyone dispersed.

"P, Principal."

Just as Fang Hong was about to leave and everyone was rising, someone raised a hand.

Fang Hong turned to look—the man was the cinematographer, who had followed him from the last project; he asked: "What is it?"

Everyone present watched, no one left.

The man paused, then said: "Sorry, Principal, I may not be able to shoot this film."

"Why? Is it about the pay? We can increase it. If you have family matters, you can go handle them first—delaying your start by two days is no problem," Fang Hong said.

We have two cinematographers for this film; if they're overwhelmed, we can have Yu Xian step in—no issue.

"No, it's because I've already made arrangements with another company—they won't let me shoot this film. Sorry, Principal."

The man lowered his head, clearly embarrassed.

He felt he had let the Principal down, quitting at this critical moment—it was uncouth.

Those present exchanged glances, stunned.

Fang Hong showed no expression: "Which company?"

"Huayi!" the man said.

"Their internal competition is fierce—they already have a mature production team. Even if you go, there's no guarantee you'll get a chance. Think carefully," Fang Hong tried to persuade him again.

"I've thought it through clearly. They offer stability, more opportunities, and they're a major company—I've decided to go there," the man said.

Here, it's always a workshop model—we only start one film every few months; the last one ended two or three months ago.

During this gap, we still need to eat!

As I said, anyone who can join a big company won't stay in a workshop—just like anyone who can join a foreign enterprise won't enter a domestic one. It's the same logic.

"Fine, do as you wish."

After saying that, Fang Hong left, expressionless.

The actors and crew stared at each other, shocked by this unexpected turn—would the film still start on schedule?

Since Fang Hong didn't announce a delay, he definitely intended to start on time.

The departing cinematographer, too embarrassed to stay, lowered his head and walked out.

No one said anything to him—everyone has their own path.

In a room, Fang Hong sat with one leg crossed over the other and said to Chen Zhixi: "Huayi is giving me a warning."

"Then what will you do? Still use Liu Tianxian?" Chen Zhixi asked.

The last film gave Liu Tianxian too many advantages—it blocked resources for a host of rising actresses, including Huayi's many top-tier female stars' fashion opportunities.

We had suppressed Liu Tianxian tightly, but suddenly someone emerged to lift her up—who else would get a warning if not you?

Those so-called Four Dan and Double Bing, Teddy Jie Mei Tuan, and the Three Beauties of Immortal Sword—all compete with Liu Tianxian.

Do you really think no one knows who leaked those scandals?

Fang Hong knew perfectly well—he tapped his own head and said: "Let me tell you, I have one flaw I can never change—I'm stubborn."

Please vote for me, thank you!!!

(End of Chapter)