Chapter 775: Something Is Wrong

This time, it was Sui Lingfang who answered solemnly: "No, we do not need a single large investment of one hundred million."

She paused, then said, "Even if the film crew's total investment eventually reaches over one hundred million, it is impossible for you to fund it all alone; we need to bring in other investors."

She turned her head to look at Yang Zong, exchanged a glance with him, and then continued:

"We can offer you at most thirty million, and your share of equity will be relatively small. See if you are willing; if not, we can cooperate another time."

Zhou Yuan pondered for a moment before asking, "Is there no room for negotiation?"

Sui Lingfang and Yang Zong shook their heads in unison. "No."

Zhou Yuan immediately agreed: "Thirty million it is; I will invest!"

The meeting ended, but Zhou Yuan did not leave immediately; instead, he stayed behind to wait for Sui Lingfang.

Sui Lingfang also realized something and first asked Yang Zong to leave.

Yang Zong rarely looked at her with a hint of envy, then glanced at Zhou Yuan, and departed with considerable reluctance.

This was indeed a generous investor!

Speaking casually about one hundred million.

Having navigated the business world for so long, he knew that people who could casually produce one hundred million were quite rare.

The conference room door was closed again; Sui Lingfang looked at Zhou Yuan and spoke in a purely professional tone:

"If President Zhou has anything else to say, please speak directly. The contract is signed; we are now in the same boat."

Originally, she thought Zhou Yuan had kept her behind to fish for information.

Unexpectedly, however, Zhou Yuan asked: "What other investments is Jin Li involved in? Can you tell me? I want to follow her lead and invest."

Sui Lingfang was momentarily stunned, then shook her head: "You cannot keep up with her. The investments she participates in are all small-scale, a few million at most, which she can cover entirely on her own."

"Moreover, she is very cautious and rarely participates in large investment projects. Actually, it is not just you; many people have asked me to probe what other investment projects Jin Li has, hoping to get a share of the profits."

"I have spoken with her, and she said that for now, she will only engage in personal investments and does not intend to share the benefits with others."

Hearing this, Zhou Yuan said with some regret: "I thought she might be able to take me along."

The corner of Sui Lingfang's mouth twitched slightly. Someone who could casually throw out one hundred million must hold a significant status in the industry.

Perhaps he was a master of investment.

Yet such a master wanted to follow behind Jin Li to pick up scraps.

Was this scientific? Was this reasonable?

Sui Lingfang said, "If there is nothing else, I will take my leave."

"Wait, there is one more thing." Zhou Yuan's voice came from behind; she turned to look.

His face showed a hint of conflict, as if he were hesitating whether to speak.

Ultimately, he chose to say it.

"When you have time, please thank Jin Li for me. Thank her for not participating in the investment for 'The White Lotus Strategy,' which allowed me to withdraw in time and avoid disaster."

Sui Lingfang was stunned. "'The White Lotus Strategy'? I recall that drama started filming over a month ago. Wasn't it said that filming was going smoothly? Just a few days ago, paparazzi specifically leaked news saying the actors were very dedicated and the director had excellent control over the camera."

Zhou Yuan sighed, "Of course, we must say that to fool outsiders. Otherwise, if we revealed the true situation of the film crew and everyone saw what a mess it is, the audience would be scared away, and how could we wait for its release to reap box office profits?"

Sui Lingfang hesitated slightly: "Can I know some details?"

Zhou Yuan replied, "This news has already spread in some investment circles; you may know it, but do not spread it further."

"For the work 'The White Lotus Strategy,' the director is seriously taking kickbacks, the hired actors have terrible acting skills, and although filming has only been underway for a month, the plot has already completely collapsed."

"Other investors are busy finding someone to take over or reorganizing the film crew, but fearing that outsiders might detect something amiss, they specifically hired paparazzi to leak some rumors to keep netizens unaware."

Zhou Yuan said gratefully, "If I hadn't tried so hard to persuade Jin Li to invest that day and she had remained unmoved, I wouldn't have realized there might be problems with this drama and decisively withdrawn my funds. Otherwise, I would now be a victim deeply trapped in it."

"As an investor, I do not participate in crew management, nor can I act; the only thing I can do is provide money."

"Who could have imagined that this drama was specifically designed to swindle investors' money, aiming solely to make them lose everything?"

Sui Lingfang: ...

She had reviewed the production team for this drama; while not excellent, it was not bad either.

An average film crew paired with an outstanding and dedicated actor could easily spark something special.

So-called blockbusters are often polished out of ordinary teams.

That was why, at that time, she felt Jin Li could take on this drama and specifically showed it to her.

But Jin Li quickly rejected it, believing the script was somewhat unclean.

She never expected that after being delayed for two years before filming, the script would indeed prove problematic.

After having dinner at the film set, Jin Li was about to read a book when her phone rang.

She answered; it was a call from Sui Lingfang.

Sister Fang said, "Today went unexpectedly smoothly, and the project is advancing very quickly. Once you finish with 'Dawn II,' you will likely soon enter the set of 'The Invisible Secret.'"

Jin Li raised an eyebrow: "Seamless connection? Could you leave me a few months to return to school and study?"

Sui Lingfang replied, "Of course. Chenxi Entertainment wants to retain control precisely because they worry about such situations arising."

"Now that the majority of shares are with us, you can rest if you wish to rest, and film if you wish to film."

Jin Li chuckled: "There is no need to give me such great freedom. I estimate that after filming for Dawn 2 concludes, there won't be many days left for me to study upon returning to school."

There was only one week left until the summer semester began, and starting from this term, she would be promoted to her third year of university!

Unknowingly, the dream path envisioned by the original owner of this body had been mostly fulfilled.

"Jin Li, do you know an investor named Zhou Yuan?"

"I originally did not contact him, but somehow he heard news that we were recruiting investors, volunteered himself, and very readily signed an investment contract with us."

"Zhou Yuan?" Jin Li thought hard, then shook her head: "No impression."

Sui Lingfang said, "You met him at the banquet last time. He even wanted to yield the good deed of recruiting for the supplementary share agreement to you, but you refused, saying you were not interested."

"You might not believe it, but simply because you did not participate in the investment for 'The White Lotus Strategy,' he actually took this as some kind of hint, believing that even heaven thinks this drama will not succeed."

"Otherwise, this is clearly a chance to come and make money; why are you so resistant to it?"

She cleared her throat; the story was entering its climax.

"So, he also decided to withdraw his investment of one hundred million, and came knocking on your door, hoping to invest in your new drama..."

Day by day passed, and Qingbei University officially opened for the semester!

Regrettably, on this first day of school, both Gu Cheng and Jin Li were absent; they were still rushing to film scenes at the production set.

Because neither of them had returned, that evening on the campus forum, both freshmen and upperclassmen were discussing the situation of these two.

[Let's discuss rationally: what status do Jin Li and Gu Cheng hold within the domestic film industry?]

[Have they already reached the pinnacle?]

[Does this count as having a successful career, peak beauty, and great intelligence?]

[So, when will the students of Qingbei start competing fiercely to become people who are beautiful, talented, and wealthy?]

[Gu Cheng missed more than half of last semester's classes, and Jin Li didn't even show up at the start of this semester; can the two of them keep up with the academic progress?]

[Anyone who knew their grades wouldn't even ask whether they could keep up with the progress.]

Jin Li and Gu Cheng had no time to pay attention to the discussions on the school forum.

They had once again plunged into busy filming.

This month, the production team added many special effects scenes; all the actors had to film inside constructed green screens.

Sometimes they even had to wear specialized motion-capture suits to track their movements, and their faces had to be covered with dense arrays of sensors, which would allow their expressions to be reconstructed in the film.

Gu Cheng had only just left "Desperate Counterattack" not long ago, so he quickly entered the state required for object-less performance in special effects scenes.

In comparison, Bai Bai entered the state somewhat slowly.

Once everything switched to green screen filming without any physical sets for assistance, Bai Bai recalled the nightmare of filming the first "Dawn" movie.

It was precisely because his green screen special effects performance was so lackluster that Director Chu had put him and Xu Ting through several days of emergency training.

Those days felt like a nightmare to him.

Each time he would jolt awake amid Director Chu's furious scolding, only to realize it had been just a dream.

Fortunately, he had ultimately endured that period back then and earned Director Chu's approval.

At the very least, compared to Xu Ting, he had secured a spot in the filming of the second installment.

Bai Bai had originally thought he had overcome his trauma regarding green screen filming.

He had occasionally taken part in filming since then without encountering any problems.

But now, with the shift to entirely green screen filming, he instead found his whole body becoming extremely tense.

He feared making mistakes and felt very anxious.

Gu Cheng noticed his abnormal state; this wasn't something he detected from daily life, but rather observed while standing before the camera during filming.

As fellow actors, they understood each other's states very well.

Gu Cheng immediately reported his discovery to Director Chu and asked, somewhat puzzled:

"Clearly, his green screen filming was quite good before; why are problems arising now with frequent filming? His expressions are too tense, and his entire body language is rigid."

Director Chu had not yet noticed this issue, since the scenes currently being filmed were inherently tense and thrilling.

He thought for a moment and arranged a few gentler scenes.

After filming them a few times, he too realized that Bai Bai was indeed having some problems.

So he called Bai Bai over for a talk.

Gu Cheng took the opportunity to leave and went to find Jin Li.

Jin Li was still reading content for her junior year; Gu Cheng, who carried his DSLR camera everywhere, simply decided to photograph her while she read.

The entire set decoration consisted of green screens; in truth, the background was not pleasant to look at.

But when capturing Jin Li's face, Gu Cheng felt that the background was merely a foil, which instead highlighted the tranquility of Jin Li as she read.

Chen Qin wandered outside, found Gu Cheng's assistant, and asked him:

"Is Brother Gu's filming schedule about to wrap up?"

The assistant replied, "Yes, but according to the production team's arrangements, they won't be filming his parts that quickly."

Chen Qin frowned: "What do you mean?"

The assistant said: "Yesterday, the floor manager told us that after filming the final scene at the base, Brother Gu can leave the set first; when his scenes come up later, he'll return to continue filming.

After all, Brother Gu must appear in the final battle at the very end, so his exit isn't that soon. Judging by what the floor manager said, the director doesn't plan to film the final battle anytime soon."

While the assistant was discussing this matter, Jin Li and Gu Cheng were also discussing it.

Jin Li heard the sound of the camera shutter, looked up, and saw Gu Cheng.

Gu Cheng noticed her gaze, gently and warmly brought up the photos he had just taken to show her; whether in composition, lighting, or posture, they were all perfect.

If only the backdrop weren't a green screen, it would have been even better.

But even so, it didn't matter.

Jin Li flipped through a few pictures and asked, somewhat surprised: "Has your photography skill improved even more?"

Gu Cheng shrugged: "Has it? I don't feel any difference."

Jin Li stated affirmatively: "Yes, look; this one you took of me two months ago.

And this one, you took half a year ago... Now look at this one you just took; you're making me look more and more beautiful."

Gu Cheng smiled at the corners of his mouth: "Is there a possibility that it's not due to my skill, but rather that you've become more and more beautiful?"

Jin Li gave him a playful glare: "I'm not going to undergo reverse aging!"

The two of them began discussing the upcoming filming schedule, and Gu Cheng mentioned the director's plan for him to return to school first.

"For at least the next month, there won't be any scenes involving me; I actually told Director Chu that I could stay on set to help with odd jobs."

"But Director Chu said the directing department at Qingbei has some real substance, told me to go back and study, then call me back to shoot when the final battle arrives; he's even willing to give me a chance to direct."

"Direct? He really said that?" Jin Li asked, somewhat surprised.

That was the grand spectacle of the final battle, not the small-scale trial scenes from before.

Gu Cheng nodded heavily, a cunning smile on his face: "But it's not about directing the important scenes; rather, there are several side-angle cameras needing operators, and by then, he can assign one to me to handle."

Jin Li suddenly understood: "So that's how it is; otherwise, I'd start suspecting you're Director Chu's child, given how well he treats you!"

Gu Cheng said: "So, the day after tomorrow, I plan to return to school."

Jin Li looked at him enviously: "I still don't know when I'll be able to go back; calculating it, it will be at least two months."

The filming of Dawn Part Two was more meticulous than Dawn Part One, utilizing more sets and generating more footage.

Furthermore, since the post-production phase would lean toward ensemble scenes, she could not rush through it to accommodate the performance progress of the other actors.

Seeing her adorable expression of innocent melancholy, Gu Cheng found her truly lovely; his hand moved slightly, wanting to pat her head.

Just as he extended his hand, he suddenly realized they were on set, with many people watching around them.

So, midway through, he changed the motion, reaching instead for the bottle of mineral water on the ground.

Bending down to grab the mineral water, Gu Cheng slowly straightened up, suddenly finding himself very close to Jin Li.

"Tonight, I will come find you," Gu Cheng said in a hoarse voice, carrying an unspoken confession.

Jin Li's eyes flickered slightly, and she gave him a gentle nod.

Director Chu specifically arranged a detailed talk with Bai Jiang, wanting to figure out the reason for his off state.

Bai Jiang didn't dare admit it was fear of being NG-ed, saying only: "I've had some insomnia lately, which has affected my energy during the day."

Director Chu said: "If you are truly too nervous, I can arrange a few dialogue scenes without green screens for you first, to help you ease into it."

Bai Jiang hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Alright, Director Chu."

?? Double monthly tickets open after midnight~