Chapter 63: The Vacant Villa for Rent

"Damn it, Principal, you said you'd lead us to conquer the world—don't you dare break your word!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah! A movie with 130 million in box office—we haven't even toasted at your victory banquet yet!"

"Principal, I heard you started a company—I'm coming to work with you!"

"."

In a private room at the restaurant, a group of people were drunk and sloshed; Fang Hong raised his glass to respond to their cheers.

He stood on a chair, raising his glass with boldness: "Yutu isn't my company—it's everyone's company. If you have dreams and talent, come join us."

"Principal, you're so generous!" someone cried, raising his glass.

Fang Hong clenched his fist high and declared passionately: "Who still remembers our slogan?"

"Conquer the world together—Huayu is ours to rule!" The shout was perfectly synchronized.

"Exactly! Huayu is ours to rule!" Fang Hong raised his glass. "Bottoms up!"

"Bottoms up!!!"

"."

Shu Chang stared at this group of melodramatic fools, dumbfounded—this pep talk felt just like a pyramid scheme, utterly unreliable!

She glanced at Liu Tianxian beside her, who seemed perfectly normal, and asked: "You really hang out with this bunch?"

"That's called cohesion—you wouldn't understand."

Liu Tianxian picked up her glass and clinked it with her friend: "They have dreams and goals—don't look down on them."

She'd once thought like Shu Chang, but now her view had shifted slightly—if a team lacks even basic confidence, how can it achieve anything else?

Fang Hong succeeded and attracted so many people to follow him precisely because he had confidence—everyone believed he could succeed.

"I'm not looking down on them, I just feel..." Shu Chang couldn't articulate the feeling.

It just feels like a makeshift crew—nothing like a real, professional team.

The wrap party ended quickly; the crew disbanded, and Chen Zhixi would settle their payments.

As for those wanting to join Yutu, they must first screen for capable people to form a production team—too many people would be unsustainable.

Only core personnel for core positions—for now, everyone else is out.

Fang Hong was just talking big over drinks—he's not actually living in reality, and he hasn't truly struck it rich!

Twenty million won't last long, and he still plans to bring his mother to Beijing to live a comfortable life.

The night was cool; Sanlitun Taiguli shimmered with luxury, lights blazing, crowds rushing by.

Liu Tianxian wore a black coat and a wool scarf covering her face, her long black hair cascading over her shoulders—beautiful, natural, effortless.

Beijing in late October was still quite cold.

Under the dim streetlights, the two walked side by side; Fang Hong had his hands in his pockets: "Where's your good friend?"

"She went back."

Liu Tianxian turned to him: "Do you have plans for your next film?"

Given this man's personality, he wouldn't stop making movies.

"I have many plans—I just can't decide which one to direct," Fang Hong suffered from choice paralysis.

He had no intention of giving "To Our Youth" to Liu Tianxian, nor directing it himself—that script was a trashy trilogy of abortion, infidelity, and love triangles, oh, and there was even an overseas escape.

Giving it to her would harm her—she already had enough scandals; this would just hand ammunition to her enemies!

"Pfft, like you've got a ton of scripts."

Liu Tianxian didn't believe him—she figured he couldn't write one.

His first was plagiarism, his second relied on Bao Jinjin as screenwriter—so now he's out of scripts, right?

Good scripts are rare in the entertainment industry; when they exist, they're snapped up by top directors and studios—without clout, you can't even catch scraps.

That's why many directors write and direct their own films—spend years writing a script, years assembling the crew, then flop!

But even without a script, she could wait—it didn't matter.

"Don't you trust me?" Fang Hong pointed at himself.

"It's not that I don't trust you—it's just—" Liu Tianxian couldn't finish; she really didn't trust this man.

"After all these years of friendship, you can't even give me this much trust? You're breaking my heart," Fang Hong shook his head, disappointed.

Liu Tianxian hit him: "What 'all these years'? We've only known each other for about eight months!"

They met on the set of "Love Notice"; it was now October—barely eight months total.

How exaggerated!

"I feel like I've known you forever—it's like a lifetime ago!" Fang Hong sighed.

Liu Tianxian stayed silent, just staring at him steadily, waiting for him to keep bluffing.

"Alright, I'm not joking—I really have good ideas, I just don't have time to write them."

Fang Hong said seriously: "Let me tell you the story—just listen."

"Mm!" Liu Tianxian nodded.

"The plot is about a female lead who, at international exams, cheats for wealthy young masters and young misses to make huge profits..." Fang Hong outlined the basic plot.

This film required little investment—it was within their current budget.

The plot and storyline were excellent, fitting the mold of a high-quality commercial film.

Although the real international cheating scandal hadn't happened yet, that didn't stop them from making it up.

Movies are fiction anyway—they don't need to follow real events, just need to be plausible and logically tight.

If the real event ever happened in the future, this movie might even be hailed by Wangyi as a prophetic masterpiece.

That would be another leap forward!

Liu Tianxian found it compelling, but without a concrete script, the concept felt shallow: "Sounds good—but can you even shoot this? Cheating on exams? The Education Bureau won't allow it!"

"Going to Hong Kong to shoot it is fine, it was never our exam to begin with, it's the United States' exam." Fang Hong said.

He had originally planned to go to Thailand, but going abroad was too much trouble, so he dropped it.

"Then write up the script properly, let me have a look too." Liu Tianxian said.

"Sigh—"

Fang Hong had only sighed halfway when Liu Tianxian stopped walking and kicked him.

Here we go again, really never-ending.

"If you've got something to say, just say it, don't keep sighing all the time." Liu Tianxian said, all bark and no bite.

"It's not that I have no money and nowhere to live, I wanted to ask you for help." Fang Hong said.

"Don't you have over twenty million? How did you run out of money so fast?" Liu Tianxian's pitch rose a few notches.

"I need to put together a production team, and a post-production team, the company framework still needs to be set up, plus I still need to invest in the next film — where do you think the money's coming from?" Fang Hong said.

Liu Tianxian thought it over, that shouldn't cost as much as twenty million either, and she asked: "Isn't the next film you're investing in the one you just told me about?"

"No, it's another youth film. Youth films are pretty hot right now, I'm just following the trend and creating one." Fang Hong said it as if it were the most natural thing.

Ever since the youth theme was hyped up by "Those Years," it's been popular these past few years — the investment isn't high, easy money from the rubes.

Rather than letting others follow the trend, he'd rather follow it himself.

"Oh, so have you decided on the cast?" Liu Tianxian wondered if she could get a role.

The last film had earned her a great reputation, the audience was very fond of her, and she wanted to do it again.

"This one doesn't suit you, don't take it." Fang Hong cut off her thoughts.

If he wouldn't give her a role, then so be it — Liu Tianxian didn't press the matter either, and instead said: "So what you mean is, you're out of money now, and you still want to borrow money from me."

"Right, see if any of your friends have a vacant villa for rent." Fang Hong said.

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(End of chapter)