Chapter 432: The Sword of the Embroidered Uniform 2

Hou Hou Hongliang called Lin Nan to say that the second round of auditions for Nirvana in Fire had just begun and asked if he wanted to come take a look.

"Currently, Hu Ge is only tentatively selected; the rest of the roles are still under consideration. By month's end, Lin Dao should see the final casting list."

"Tentatively selected? Hou Hou Hongliang's wording is quite deliberate!" Lin Nan murmured to himself.

"The end of the year is busy for everyone; I won't go over and disrupt the auditions. Just send me the final casting list when it's ready. As for Hu Ge—he's truly excellent."

Hou Hou Hongliang clearly understood the implication in Lin Nan's words: "Haha, Hu Ge is great—we all favor him. So it's settled?"

"Yeah, settled. It's him."

Originally, Hou Hou Hongliang had another purpose in calling Lin Nan.

He wanted to tell Lin Nan that the company planned to assign the newly signed actor Wang Kai to play the male second lead.

But after discussing the casting, Lin Nan hung up abruptly, giving him no chance to speak.

This caught Hou Hou Hongliang off guard; after a moment's thought, he let it go:

"Forget it. Just add him to the final casting list. Hope he doesn't cause trouble when we present it to him."

……

In Magu, Tang Ren.

Cai Cai Yinong clearly felt that Tang Ren now seemed trapped in a dead end.

This process was like boiling a frog in warm water; though they had finally realized it, it was already very hard to turn back—even correcting course seemed nearly impossible.

After years of attempts, the company hadn't succeeded in entering the film industry, and now even its basic television drama market was being steadily eroded, squeezed, and surpassed by other companies and studios.

The behind-the-scenes team had also suffered heavy talent loss due to repeated poaching and defections…

Tang Ren's current standing in the industry, compared to its former glory, was in steep decline.

Especially over the past year and a half, since Hu Ge went to perform in theater, the company's dire situation was fully exposed: artist management had severely declined, and revenue plummeted!

Relying solely on Liu Liu Shishi was utterly insufficient, but the company's prior development plan had rendered all other artists unable to command any market value!

What troubled Cai Cai Yinong most was that since Liu Liu Shishi and Wu Wu Qilong announced their relationship, her value hadn't risen much—and was even trending downward, leaving her head in pain.

In his office, Cai Cai Yinong rubbed her temples and asked her secretary:

"Has Lao Hu landed the male lead role in Nirvana in Fire?"

"He says he got it; he's just waiting for Zhongyang Guang's notification to sign the contract."

"Good he got it—after all these years, he's the only one who's ever managed to land a project from Lin Nan Pictures…"

Saying this, Cai Cai Yinong grew even more depressed.

She had repeatedly shown goodwill to Lin Nan—why, then, was she still stuck in place?

"Maybe I should've listened to Lao Hu from the start—shouldn't have marketed Liu Shishi that way…"

"What about the audition results for Yuan Hong, Jin Fu, and Na Zha?"

"They didn't receive any notice for the second round of auditions…"

Hearing this, Cai Cai Yinong's expression darkened further; she waved her hand at the secretary, her tone heavy:

"That's all. Leave me alone. I need to be by myself."

"Yes, Boss Cai."

"Sigh…"

……

Tom was right after all.

The Invisible Guest had just entered its third week, and daily box office had dropped to just over five million.

It looked like the total box office was nearing its end.

After all, during award season, there were many good films—even with a large North American market, competition was even fiercer.

"I almost feel sorry for Wang Dong—only twelve days in, and it's already dried up, nowhere near the first film's performance."

As of now, The Four Great Constables 2 has been in theaters for ten days, earning 165 million yuan, with daily revenue already below eighty thousand.

Though it made money, this result is far short of the pre-release target of 300 million yuan!

"Still, Director Ning's film is holding strong—230 million in ten days. I remember the budget was only around thirty million, right?" Yue Jun asked.

"It was 36 million. Chairman Han invested 16 million and then another 20 million."

Speaking of this, Lin Nan thought of the past two days' notice on China Film's official website: a daily-updated, highly visible bulletin on the box office of No Man's Land.

This was a film project that overachieved with a small budget, achieving both critical acclaim and box office success—a symbol of political achievement.

Though the film was funded by Han Han Sanping, the current steward is Beside La La Peikang.

Therefore, "emotionally and rationally," No Man's Land owed part of its success to Chairman Beside La La Peikang.

Hmm, very reasonable!

Of course, Ning Hao was also a smart man—he always thanked Han Han Sanping in public, but never failed to mention Beside La La Peikang as well.

"By the way, today morning saw the final press conference for The New Police Story 2013; the premiere is set for the evening of the 23rd."

Before leaving the office, Yue Jun specifically reminded Lin Nan.

"Got it. Tell them I'll be there. Still holding it at night—so flashy."

Lin Nan chuckled sarcastically; any premiere held in the evening always meant the banquet was the main event, and the scene would inevitably be grander.

……

Most companies in the film and television industry want to go public, but going public isn't easy.

Independent listing is hardest; backdoor listing is second hardest.

Right now, Xiao Ma is the focus of the entire industry.

Four months ago, they had boldly rejected Huayi's acquisition offer.

Now, Xiao Ma has only two weeks left.

Either complete the IPO and leap to become one of the leading forces in the film and television industry;

Or return overnight to the days before liberation, lose everything, and even lose the chance to start over!

In the morning, Lin Nan took the company employees and business lawyers to Sina.

Based on the principle of mutual trust, they signed the "Voting Rights Entrustment Agreement."

"Next, we will spend two or three months completing the prospectus.

Lin Dao, your shareholding percentage will be clearly and transparently disclosed for the first time, far more accurate than those figures online."

Charles Cao specifically pointed out this matter.

Lin Nan nodded and smiled: "I know. This isn't anything shameful, just a bit conspicuous."

"I thought Lin Dao would prefer to keep a low profile," Charles Cao joked.

"Isn't it over 5%? Haha..."

After leaving Sina, Lin Nan parted ways directly with the others.

He did not choose to return to the company, but drove home instead.

Liu Liu Xiaoli had prepared a huge table of dishes for her goddaughter Shu Chang, and Liu Liu Yifei had called to ask Lin Nan to come back.

The timing was spot on; when Lin Nan returned, they were just plating and serving the food.

"I've noticed you seem to be getting lazier? Since winning the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actress, haven't you taken on any roles?

In the news, you're either traveling here or taking photos at another scenic spot."

Looking at Shu Chang, dressed in a tracksuit with her hair in a bun, Lin Nan asked jokingly.

Logically, given Shu Chang's relationship with Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei, it was absolutely impossible for her to have no role offers.

"She has been quite lazy lately. The studio just called, and she turned down a role."

Liu Liu Yifei was distributing chopsticks and casually tapped Shu Chang on the head.

"Ouch, you hit me again! Auntie, Wan Qian... wuwu..."

Watching Liu Liu Yifei cover Shu Chang's mouth, the two "wrestling" looked, honestly, quite delightful!

Ten or so seconds later, a truce.

"Hmph, violent woman!"

Shu Chang pretended to be angry, first rolling her eyes at her best friend, then switching to a smile and starting to "argue":

"I've been acting since I was little; I finally got a Best Supporting Actress award, can't I play for a year?

Besides, if I want to act, I can just ask you, right? Brother."

Watching Shu Chang's "face," Lin Nan and Liu Liu Yifei exchanged glances and truly couldn't help but laugh.

"Just call me by my name directly; two days ago, under Liu Qianqian's Weibo post, she even threatened to beat me up."

Lin Nan gave Shu Chang a "you know" look.

"Oh, don't be so petty. Come, let me serve you some food..."

"You really know how to borrow flowers to offer Buddha," Liu Liu Yifei said from the side, teasing Shu Chang.

Liu Liu Xiaoli walked out of the kitchen, ready to start eating.

However, they hadn't eaten for long before Lin Nan was disturbed again; "Everyone eat first, I'll go take a call."

"Mm, go ahead."

Liu Liu Yifei nodded and said. Liu's mother looked at her daughter's demeanor with great satisfaction.

Lin Nan could mostly guess what Director Lu Yang wanted to say; sure enough:

"Lin Dao, it's done."

"The script for 'Brotherhood of Blades 2'?"

"Yes, after supplementing the script, I refined it twice over; absolutely no problems."

Director Lu Yang's voice carried a tone of confidence and impatience: "Lin Dao, when can the company officially launch the project?"

"Technically, it could be anytime, but I still suggest waiting until after the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival to launch and submit for review; we can't just skip the New Year, can we? What do you think?"

"Haha, true, then let's launch after the New Year. By then, 'Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy' will still be in theaters; we can ride that momentum to announce 'Brotherhood of Blades 2'."

Hanging up the phone, he returned to the dining table.

Liu Liu Yifei bit her chopsticks, looking at Lin Nan, "Who is it, calling in the middle of lunch?"

"Who else but Director Lu? That's his personality; he acts on impulse and can't wait a moment."

"Director Lu?" Shu Chang said softly.

Seeing that both Liu Liu Yifei and Shu Chang looked quite curious, Lin Nan simply started explaining.

"The script for 'Brotherhood of Blades 2' is ready; we plan to launch, cast, and start filming after the New Year..."

"That's perfect; Changchang is idle anyway, let's see if there's a role suitable for her."

True to being best friends, Liu Liu Yifei instantly reacted, thinking of Shu Chang.

The latter, who was peeling shrimp, heard this and immediately beamed at Liu Liu Yifei:

"Liu Qianqian is right; I am idle. Here, just peeled; is there a lead role, Brother?"

As she spoke, Shu Chang smiled and placed the peeled shrimp meat into Lin Nan's bowl, making Liu Liu Xiaoli shake her head and laugh.

Lin Nan laughed, "You're bribing me with this?"

"Hehe, I need to save money to give you wedding gifts."

Shu Chang hugged Liu Liu Yifei's arm and smiled at Lin Nan.

Lin Nan was stunned; what a powerful reason! And said right in front of Liu Liu Xiaoli!

The two girls started fighting again; Liu Liu Yifei's pink, tender cheeks looked especially beautiful. Liu's mother just smiled and ate her food.

If Yang Mi hadn't left Shanhai Media back then, the role of female lead would still have been hers.

At the end of last year, when she and Ceng Jia had it out and refused to renew her contract, Lin Nan had already told Yue Jun that they would recast when filming *Brotherhood of Blades 2*.

Now, honestly, Watching Shu Chang really does suit the role.

In Lin Nan's view, whether in looks or acting, she was stronger than Yang Mi.

"Fine, the female lead is yours."

"Huh?"

Watching Shu Chang and Liu Liu Yifei, who were still arm-wrestling, stopped in an instant.

"Really?"

"Mm."

"Thanks, bro. Hehe…"

…………

(End of Chapter)