Chapter 762

Tuesday, the third audition session for "The Beginning" ended.

Li Luo stayed in the conference room and, with director Wang Jun, completed the final selection, firmly deciding the candidates for the month-end final auditions.

Among them, actress Liu Yundan, who auditioned for the role of Tao Yinghong, had already been pre-selected by Li Luo and Wang Jun, so she only needed to go through the motions when the time came.

As for other roles, they still needed to choose among two or three actors who all felt promising.

At that point, a more comprehensive audition would be required, including makeup applied in advance to match the characters' appearances, followed by another performance to assess how well the actor fit the role.

Sometimes, when acting alone couldn't determine superiority, selection had to rely on the actor's makeup, aura, and overall image.

Perhaps just a single glance, the contour of a profile, or even a wrinkle on the forehead could become the decisive factor.

In short, it still came down to feeling.

The soul of a character might be hidden within these details.

In this regard, Li Luo and Wang Jun were unquestionably the ones in charge.

They were the screenwriter and the director, respectively.

Legally speaking, domestic screenwriters didn't wield that much power, but Li Luo was also an investor.

Moreover, given the talent he'd demonstrated over the years, no one dared underestimate him because of his age.

Wang Jun, in particular, deferred entirely to Li Luo, showing none of the arrogance typical of a big-name director.

"Hm?"

At Yuan Wanqing's studio, after finishing the audition matters, Li Luo came over and found Ying Chanxi still busy, tapping her shoulder.

Ying Chanxi turned her head, saw him, and smiled, "Done already? Going home?"

"Yeah, how's it going over here?"

"I'm fine—next negotiation's on Friday," Ying Chanxi leaned back in her chair, stretched, then stood up and said, "We've nearly wrapped up the discussions; by the next or the one after that, we should finalize all contract details."

"What's the final deal?" Li Luo asked.

"Hehe, I can tell these big companies really have money," Ying Chanxi grinned happily. "Originally, under the first three proposals, Douyin should've paid at least 25 million just to secure Yuan Auntie's exclusive agency agreement."

"But now, if they agree to bundle Zhusheng and you together, the separate payment to Yuan Auntie can be negotiated up to 23 million."

"But if there's no bundling, it's only 20 million."

"Still, that's way higher than the second proposal's 15 million."

Li Luo whistled, thinking Douyin was truly throwing money around—willing to spend heavily for future promotion.

After all, with Yuan Wanqing's current influence, her joining Douyin would be more effective than hiring ten lower-tier celebrities.

But stars of Yuan Wanqing's caliber wouldn't casually agree to sign with Douyin.

Even though Douyin was already showing its edge, most people still weren't willing to bet directly.

This thing was too new; many, being conservative, preferred to wait and watch.

But the more they waited, the greater the era's dividends the first mover would gain.

In a few years, the domestic entertainment circle, once a star-making machine, would gradually lose steam.

What good was just topping Weibo's trending list?

A hard-earned young idol might have less fame than a single Douyin content creator.

If Yuan Wanqing wanted to keep leading trends in the next era, she had to get on the next风口 first.

With Li Luo involved, none of this was a problem.

"What about our side's price?" Li Luo asked curiously.

He mainly wondered if his own value had risen on Douyin.

The result was pleasing—but only half so.

Douyin agreed to raise their offer to three million for Chongran's joining.

But Yan Zhusheng's fee was raised to four million, still one million higher than Li Luo's.

Ying Chanxi saw his skeptical expression and laughed, then said, "Actually, there's another good piece of news for you."

"Although your signing fee is only three million, Douyin is willing to pay sixty thousand for the new song 'Misaligned Space-Time'—covering its exclusive release rights, subsequent user cover rights, and related background music copyrights."

"So altogether, you're only forty thousand less than Zhusheng."

"Thanks a lot," Li Luo smirked. "You're really good at comforting people."

After teasing her, Li Luo thought for a moment, then told Ying Chanxi, "Since Douyin wants us bundled together so badly, why not bundle even more?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ruan Lin," Li Luo chuckled. "She's already signed to our company—can't just leave her sitting idle forever."

"Next negotiation, tell Douyin we want to bundle one more actor—see if they're willing to pay extra for the signing fee."

"With 'Little Joy' still somewhat hot, Ruan Lin has some name recognition—perfect timing to ride this wave."

And it'll bring in extra revenue for Chongran Culture.

Right now, Douyin is like lice on a dog—too many to care; as long as someone with fame joins and brings traffic and buzz, they'll take anyone.

It's all just a matter of price.

Ruan Lin's asking price won't be high—probably just a few hundred thousand.

But at this moment in time, her name recognition is solid.

If the contract specifically requires her to appear in the exact look from "Little Joy" and post a few videos, it could spark a great topic.

Ying Chanxi thought it over briefly, realized it had potential, and immediately jotted it down in her notebook, planning to consult Lawyer Tian in a day or two, and have Xiao Wen notify Ruan Lin.

"Let's go, let's go, home~" After finishing, Ying Chanxi stood up and followed Li Luo out of Yuan Wanqing's studio, down to the underground parking lot, and got into her Audi A8.

Li Luo climbed into the front passenger seat; beside him, Ying Chanxi immediately leaned over to fasten his seatbelt, then leaned in and kissed him.

Watching her settle back contentedly into the driver's seat, Li Luo couldn't help but laugh. "Feels like we switched roles—shouldn't I be the one sitting here doing this?"

"What can I do?" Ying Chanxi huffed. "Someone bought me this car, then refuses to drive when we go out—what am I supposed to do? Want to switch and let you drive?"

"Then forget it, you drive." Li Luo leaned the seat back and lay down comfortably, sighing with satisfaction. "Xiao Ying, let's go."

"Hmph, who are you calling Xiao Ying?" Ying Chanxi rolled her eyes at him, but still started the car and drove Li Luo toward Qianjiang University.

… On Tuesday evening, Xu Qingling dragged him off to band practice again; by Wednesday, Ying Chanxi pulled him along to that astronomy elective.

Ying Chanxi said she had already coordinated the details with Lawyer Tian and informed Ruan Lin; when Lü Yilan heard the quote Ying Chanxi prepared, she immediately nodded in agreement, saying the TikTok joining was no problem at all.

It's just shooting short videos in daily life—it won't take much time, and won't affect Ruan Lin's studies or acting.

It might even help build early buzz for the new drama "Chongran," serving a bit of promotional purpose.

Time passed quietly to Thursday, another Online Novel elective class.

This time, as Li Luo walked into the classroom again, he felt every pair of eyes in the room turn toward him.

Li Luo cleared his throat, forcing a calm expression, and sat down in his usual corner seat beside Xu Youyu.

Before class began, several readers who had been following "Da Gan Xunye Si" eagerly gathered around, grinning as they greeted Li Luo.

One of them even pulled out a newly bought kitchen knife, laughed heartily, and placed it on Li Luo's desk.

"Shen Ran, can you hold the knife while I take a photo?" the boy grinned. "I promised my fellow readers in the group I'd deliver this knife—they didn't believe I'm in the same class as you."

Li Luo sighed helplessly, raised the knife, and let his beloved fan take a photo as proof.

Fortunately, the class bell rang, sparing him further torment.

As everyone returned to their seats, Li Luo stared at the still-sealed kitchen knife in his hand, unable to suppress a twitch of his lips: "Never thought my first knife threat would come in a university classroom."

Beside him, Xu Youyu had been holding back laughter, her shoulders shaking with suppressed mirth—if she let go, she'd have burst out laughing long ago.

"Are you laughing a little too hard?" Li Luo reached under the desk and slapped her thigh a few times, annoyed. "Don't force me to go all out—I'm up to present today."

Hearing this, Xu Youyu gasped in alarm and clung to his arm, pleading: "No no no! My lord, have mercy~ Just let me off this time~"

"But your behavior just now disappointed me," Li Luo sighed deeply. "I feel my heart is shattered—deeply wounded."

"No no, how could that be? You're perfectly fine!" Xu Youyu patted his chest, soothing him quickly. "I'm sorry, okay? Just deliver a good talk today—don't bring up any nonsense."

"But the chapters I highlighted in the car last time… haven't been tried yet, look…"

"Fine, when I go running tonight, I'll satisfy you," Xu Youyu huffed, reluctantly agreeing. "Is that enough?"

"At least stick to three chapters?"

"Who are you insulting?"

"Then it's a deal." Li Luo grinned, stood up at the call from Shi Hua Nian, and walked toward the podium.

"Since our Chongran teacher is finally up to present," Shi Hua Nian said with a smile, moving aside, "I've pushed all other students back—today, we're giving Chongran teacher all the extra time to speak freely, for as long as you like."

"Cough… Teacher Shi, don't do that," Li Luo said helplessly. "Please don't call me teacher—I'm not worthy."

Shi Hua Nian smirked, unbothered by lowering his stance.

As a disciple of Xu Rongsheng, Shi Hua Nian knew well Chongran's standing with Xu Rongsheng.

Rumor had it Chongran had a close personal relationship with his teacher; though the exact reason was unknown, it was certainly safe to flatter him.

Li Luo didn't waste more time. After stepping up, he opened his long-prepared PPT, which clearly displayed the four characters: "Gu Dao Changqing."

"Today, I'll be presenting a representative work of the Qi Revival genre—'Gu Dao Changqing.'"

"I have quite a history with this author."

As he said this, Li Luo deliberately glanced at Xu Youyu below.

Xu Youyu caught his gaze and shot him a hard look—reminding him to keep his promise.

Li Luo chuckled and continued: "This author was my fellow newcomer three years ago—we debuted our first novels together."

"I greatly admired her previous work, 'Literary Era,' but today I'm mainly here to discuss 'Gu Dao Changqing.'"

Below, Xu Youyu finally relaxed slightly as he finally got to the point.

Meanwhile, Jiang Feiya, after hearing Li Luo's remarks, wore a strange expression and quietly glanced at her roommate, then chuckled softly.

Li Luo naturally didn't notice Jiang Feiya's odd look—he was now fully focused, eager to recommend "Gu Dao Changqing" to everyone.

After briefly explaining the meaning of Qi Revival, he narrated the novel's plot in detail, then delivered a penetrating analysis.

"The extrapolation from modern society to a cultivation society is one of this book's greatest strengths."

"Unlike other Qi Revival novels that copy the trend and cut corners on this aspect."

"This author truly put in the effort—describing in great detail how cultivation power reshapes government structures, the relationship between cultivators and authorities, shifts in overall societal production, and even changes in ordinary people's psychology."

"You can truly feel that if Qi Revival ever happened in the real world, societal transformation and development would unfold just as she wrote."

Li Luo spoke with meticulous care, praising Xu Youyu so lavishly she felt euphoric—it was pure emotional massage.

After speaking nonstop for over twenty minutes, Li Luo finished listing all the strengths of "Gu Dao Changqing."

After finishing his presentation, Li Luo stepped down, returned the stage to Shi Hua Nian, and sat back beside Xu Youyu, whispering in her ear: "How was that? Are you satisfied, Youyu-jie?"

"I-I guess it's okay," Xu Youyu said insincerely.

"I saw how seriously you listened—I thought you'd be thrilled," Li Luo smiled.

"Hmph, just wait," Xu Youyu, now emboldened since his presentation ended, smirked. "Next month, it's my turn to present your book."

"Wow, I'm so scared," Li Luo pretended to tremble, then chuckled. "The whole class knows who I am now—do you really think I'm afraid?"

"Tsk." Xu Youyu couldn't help but make a sound of annoyance.

After his identity was exposed, Li Luo had no weaknesses left.

On the contrary, if she kept hiding her identity, she was completely at his mercy—helpless against his bullying.

"Youyu-jie, don't forget tonight."

"I know, I know," Xu Youyu muttered softly. "Where this time?"

The way she said it, Li Luo could almost hear the hidden anticipation in her tone.

"How about on campus? Dare you?"

"What's there to fear?"