Chapter 771: Is Ying Chanxi the Most Resourceful?

On Tuesday evening, in the conference room of Huayue Film and Television.

After finalizing nearly all the casting roles for "The Beginning," Wang Jun finally let out a long breath.

After seeing off several key supporting actors, Wang Jun leaned back in his chair and said to Li Luo beside him: "The auditions here are done; now we only need to choose the male lead."

"It's still a hassle for Director Wang," Li Luo said, pouring him a cup of tea and handing it over.

Wang Jun chuckled as he took it, sipped, then said: "I already had people post audition announcements at the two film academies in Jingzhao City."

"With the success of 'Little Joy' as a foundation, the number of applicants is quite high."

"If you don't have much time, I'll go ahead and do the preliminary screening for you."

"Once I've picked out the promising candidates, you can come over and take a look."

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Li Luo said with a smile. "It's a bother for Director Wang."

"What bother? " Wang Jun waved his hand. "I was going to cast the male lead anyway; I'm just顺便 helping Chongran Culture pick a few."

Li Luo's thinking was simple: since Chongran Culture planned to develop toward the cultural entertainment industry, it naturally needed to sign artists.

He now had works, connections, resources, and channels—he could absolutely build a group of high-quality artists.

Not just traditional entertainment circles, but also ideas like Douyin influencers could be incorporated into the company's development plan.

When he previously watched Xu Yinghuan's Douyin operations, he had already conceived this idea.

But how exactly to implement it would have to be done step by step.

Unlike other MCN agencies or talent agencies, Li Luo had forward-looking vision and countless works to draw from—he didn't need to cast a wide net, only focus on quality.

For such companies, out of ten or twenty artists launched, perhaps only one or two would succeed.

The sunk costs here were extremely high.

But Li Luo had none of these worries.

This was also the confidence behind his decision to take this path.

The signing of Ruan Lin and Yan Zhusheng was the first step, and the audition for the male lead of "The Beginning" was naturally included.

"I'll head to Jingzhao City next month to prepare," Wang Jun said. "When will you be able to go?"

"Let me think," Li Luo opened his Memory Palace, glanced at his scheduled calendar, then said: "On the tenth, I have to attend a writers' association congress in the city; after that, I'll be free."

"Alright," Wang Jun nodded. "So before the tenth is the preliminary screening; after that, I'll wait for you to come and arrange further auditions."

"OK," Li Luo nodded. "Next month's main task is to finalize the male lead. By December, can we start filming?"

"Ying Chanxi's side should be nearly ready," Wang Jun stroked his chin, estimating. "As long as the location permit is approved and actors are notified to hold their schedules, it won't be a problem."

"I'll ask Uncle Ying later," Li Luo stood up. "Nothing more here—I'll go visit Aunt Yuan's studio."

"Go ahead," Wang Jun stretched. "I should leave too."

After leaving the conference room, Li Luo quickly arrived at Yuan Wanqing's studio and met Lü Yilan in the business coordination office.

Seeing her talking with Ying Chanxi, she looked radiant—her mood must have been good.

Lü Yilan turned and noticed Li Luo entering, immediately smiling warmly and greeting him enthusiastically.

After some conversation, Li Luo learned that Lü Yilan strongly approved of Ruan Lin joining Douyin and was very satisfied with the price.

Honestly, without signing with Chongran Culture, where would Lü Yilan have even learned about Douyin, let alone contacted its team?

Moreover, self-recommendation would never be as effective as leveraging Li Luo's company to negotiate directly with Douyin.

Now, with an offer of 8 million, even after Chongran Culture took half per contract, the remaining 4 million was still a substantial sum.

Recall that during the summer, Lü Yilan secured two endorsement deals for Ruan Lin—totaling roughly one million.

After all, Ruan Lin's current status was neither big nor small: boosted by the popularity of "Little Joy" and the public's "national daughter" sentiment.

Even if she couldn't land luxury brand endorsements, ordinary brand deals were still accessible.

After carefully selecting, Lü Yilan chose the two products most suitable for her daughter and made a decent profit.

But now, doing nothing, 4 million just fell from the sky—this kind of good fortune naturally made Lü Yilan ecstatic.

Especially since this didn't consume Ruan Lin's commercial value.

According to the contract, the requirement was only a set number of short videos per quarter.

For a college student, this was ridiculously easy—zero difficulty.

According to Ying Chanxi's suggestion, once "The Beginning" started filming, they could even release behind-the-scenes clips—fulfilling Douyin's video quota while preheating the drama's promotion.

ottkΛno￠o

It was a win-win.

Lü Yilan naturally wouldn't reject such a good deal.

As for regretting the other 4 million… honestly, she'd still feel a twinge inside.

But Lü Yilan's mind was clear: first, they'd already signed the contract—she couldn't turn against Chongran Culture over 4 million.

Second, without Chongran Culture, Ruan Lin would never have reached this point.

Lü Yilan knew clearly: clinging to Li Luo's leg was the most important thing.

These days, in the entertainment industry, being able to secure premium resources like "Little Joy" and "The Beginning" simply by signing with a company—without selling one's body—was already enough to burn incense in gratitude.

Lü Yilan had encountered plenty of disgusting directors and investors; though she'd prepared herself entering this circle, she wouldn't casually push her daughter into a fire pit.

If Li Luo now showed interest in Ruan Lin, Lü Yilan might actually feel tempted…

But…

Glancing at Ying Chanxi beside her, then thinking of the girl named Yan Zhusheng, Lü Yilan quietly put that thought away.

One was Ying's daughter, the other Yuan Wanqing's daughter—their backgrounds were terrifyingly powerful; Lü Yilan understood this well.

Still, she was curious: which of these two girls would ultimately win out and capture such a talented man as Li Luo?

Judging by appearances, this girl named Ying Chanxi still had some finesse—she was probably the most formidable.

Lü Yilan thought this to herself, and as she conversed with Ying Chanxi, her expression grew even gentler and more submissive.

After Li Luo entered the office, he exchanged a few casual pleasantries with Lü Yilan, learned from Ying Chanxi that Yan Zhusheng was still in the recording studio, and then took his leave, heading straight for the studio.

He lightly knocked on the door, pushed it open, and saw Yan Zhusheng recording a song inside.

Luo Fei, wearing headphones, merely raised a hand in a simple greeting as Li Luo walked in.

Li Luo nodded in return, stood to the side, and waited until Yan Zhusheng finished this take before asking, "What song are you singing?"

"Here." Luo Fei handed the headphones directly to Li Luo to listen to the playback.

After putting them on, Li Luo heard Yan Zhusheng's voice—delicate, cool, and faintly ethereal. "'Under Investigation,' right?" Li Luo smiled. "Do you have Yuan Auntie's version?"

"Nope." Luo Fei chuckled. "After hearing Zhusheng's rendition, Wanqing gave up this song on her own."

"Really?"

"Zhusheng's voice suits the atmosphere of this song perfectly. Wanqing's tone is too bright—it doesn't fit." Luo Fei said simply. "The songs you brought this time don't seem tailored for Wanqing at all."

"Cough… mainly because they match the TV drama's theme." Li Luo made up an excuse; in truth, all the songs except "Under Investigation" were originally sung by men.

Though women could sing them, the original mood and tone of the tracks clearly suited male voices better.

"Displaced Space-Time" was the only one among them that didn't care much about vocal timbre.

"I feel the other songs you wrote for 'The Beginning' would suit you better to sing yourself," Luo Fei said. "Wanqing and Zhusheng have both recorded their own versions—if you have time, come record one too, for comparison."

"Alright, but my singing isn't nearly as good as theirs." Li Luo nodded in agreement.

"Zhusheng says she's been training your singing skills all along," Luo Fei glanced at him. "I've seen your performance at concerts before—you're pretty impressive."

That's because of the Memory Palace… Li Luo muttered to himself.

With enough practice, he could perfectly memorize how each syllable should be sung, piece them together, repeat them endlessly, and create the effect of a soul possessing his voice.

But this trick was mentally exhausting, so Li Luo rarely used it—only a few times during Yuan Wanqing's concerts before.

The next time he used it was during his last fist-to-fist fight with Ying Zhicheng.

Using it for recording wasn't impossible.

As for Yan Zhusheng "training" his singing… that was just talk for outsiders.

Thinking of how Yan Zhusheng usually dragged him into the piano room for her "training," Li Luo couldn't help grimacing. If that counted as singing training, then anyone with great singing skills must have swollen lips.

At that moment, Yan Zhusheng stepped out of the recording booth, saw Li Luo wearing headphones, and quietly walked over to his side, waiting until he finished listening before asking, "How was it?"

"Nice."

"So half-hearted."

"Words are too weak in moments like this—'nice' is enough." Li Luo leaned close to Yan Zhusheng's ear and whispered, "How long have you been recording? Are you hungry?"

"Hungry." Yan Zhusheng patted her stomach. "Shall we go for dinner?"

"You eat dinner with Chanxi." Li Luo said. "Uncle Ying made plans with me—he's taking me to meet some people tonight."

"Can't I go with Chanxi?" Yan Zhusheng tilted her head.

"I did consider asking Chanxi to come," Li Luo sighed with a smile. "But Chanxi's drinking capacity… better not."

"Oh." Knowing Li Luo had serious business, Yan Zhusheng didn't pout. She nodded obediently, then turned to Luo Fei. "Auntie Luo, want to have dinner together?"

"Only now do you remember I'm here?" Luo Fei rolled her eyes, unable to resist teasing. "When your little sweetheart's busy, you finally come looking for me?"

"What else should I do?" Yan Zhusheng blinked innocently. "If Li Luo were here, he'd never let you be the third wheel."

"Still so hurtful," Luo Fei sighed helplessly. "If you ever debut, don't ever give interviews—everything you say will become scandalous material."

"Zhusheng just needs to sing well," Li Luo patted her head. "I originally thought about producing an album for you."

"But then I thought—better to release songs as singles."

"In the digital age, the album mindset needs to change."

"What do you mean?" Luo Fei looked at Li Luo curiously.

"If we sign with TikTok and everything goes smoothly," Li Luo mused, "the spread of a single song matters far more than album sales."

"But we'll leave the follow-up negotiations with TikTok to Chanxi."

"We'll see how much TikTok is willing to offer."

"Whatever you say," Yan Zhusheng had no objections to Li Luo's plans—as long as he gave her good songs to sing.

Had it not been for her desire to become Chongran Culture's first signed artist, Yan Zhusheng wouldn't have bothered signing any contract at all.

Li Luo told her to sing, she sang.

Even for the songs she'd participated in before, she didn't even know how much money she'd earned.

For example, the songs from "Little Joy"—she was the original vocalist, so she should have received royalties.

But the bank card was opened for her by Yuan Wanqing, and the money went directly into it.

Yan Zhusheng never checked it; she only knew to follow Li Luo's instructions and sing well.

She rarely spent money and had no concept of finances.

In reality, if you calculated her bank account's cash flow, Yan Zhusheng was definitely a small fortune—just not as rich as Xu Youyu.

In comparison, Ying Chanxi, who relied entirely on Ying Zhicheng's allowance, was the one with the weakest finances.

Now serving as CEO of Chongran Culture, Li Luo originally planned to give her a high salary—but she firmly refused, and he ended up setting her pay at just two thousand yuan.

Why two thousand? According to Ying Chanxi, that was exactly her monthly living expense—food, car fuel, and such.

If she got more, she couldn't spend it anyway; better to save him money.

Later, after being advised and educated by Lawyer Tian, Ying Chanxi—who hadn't studied this in school—learned that taking a higher salary might actually save the company money.

After all, once the money was in her hands, she only needed to pay personal income tax.

After much back-and-forth, Ying Chanxi finally accepted the high-salary position.

"Let's go," Ying Zhicheng had now arrived at the studio door, calling to Li Luo inside. "The dinner's at six—don't be late."

"Oh, coming."

"Are you in a hurry to go home after dinner?"

"There's no rush—Uncle Ying, is there something you need?"

"I was busy this afternoon and didn't get time to work out; later, come with me."

"... Fine."

Getting beaten up.

As long as his father-in-law is happy, Li Luo is willing to make a sacrifice.

Besides, with the Memory Palace's enhancement, Ying Zhicheng can't beat him now.