Chapter 81: The Choice of Character

Gao Yuanyuan walked out from the suite, and everyone in the room was momentarily... stunned.

She paired her knee-high boots with a cream-colored coat, like a ray of sunshine in winter; the tailoring of the garment perfectly outlined her figure, highlighting her charming, slender waist.

Slung over her shoulder was a leather bag, which harmonized well with the color of the coat.

These were all quite good.

However, she had applied light makeup to her face, and her hair, which wasn't long to begin with, had been permed into instant-noodle curls—the young girl had transformed into a married middle-aged woman in a second!

The maturity was there, the "married woman" vibe was there, and being able to pull off this hairstyle without it looking like a bird's nest meant her life must still be somewhat privileged...

Teacher Huang... had completely fulfilled Cao Yang's requirements, but it just felt a bit strange.

"This film is about a married woman who has a child; her husband cheated and then died in an accident. The woman refuses to face it, and to escape, she takes her child back to a small town..."

Cao Yang had only just reached this point when he saw Gao Yuanyuan lower her head, seemingly wiping away a tear; when she looked up again, her eyes were a bit red.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry Director Cao, I... I think this story is too sad, I couldn't help it, I'm truly sorry."

You aren't feeling like you're in her shoes, are you? You're really sensitive right now.

"It's alright, I'll give you a rough outline of the plot, and then you can try a bit of acting for me to see."

"Okay, okay, please continue, Director Cao."

Gao Yuanyuan took the tissue handed to her by Teacher Huang and whispered a thank you.

"In that small town, the woman opens a piano training class and sends her son to kindergarten, but then her son is kidnapped and killed because the ransom wasn't enough..."

Then, he saw Gao Yuanyuan's tears start to flow uncontrollably again. Are you made of water? This mental state... is actually very suitable.

"I... I'm sorry, I'm sorry Director Cao, I... I..."

Gao Yuanyuan apologized hurriedly, thinking to herself that it was over, she had ruined the audition. For a moment, she felt disheartened, and so her tears became even more unstoppable.

"Do you think you can play this character?"

Once she had calmed down a little, Cao Yang asked.

"I... I think so?"

Gao Yuanyuan felt she definitely couldn't play such a complex character, especially since she had botched the audition, but even if there was the slightest bit of hope, she didn't want to give up—this was, after all, a film by Director Cao.

"Hmm, go back and wait for news. When you have time, think more about what I said."

Cao Yang gave the instruction, feeling that Gao Yuanyuan would understand his meaning—since he had told her to ponder the character in the story, this role was basically hers.

Gao Yuanyuan returned home feeling a bit dejected; she felt her chances weren't high, and then she began to think about the meaning of the words Cao Yang had said.

"Which words did Director Cao want me to think about?"

So, she went through every sentence Cao Yang had said today from beginning to end, and suddenly she shuddered, understanding a little.

"Was Director Cao giving me advice while telling me the plot of the film? After all, we've known each other for a while, and Director Cao is a very good person."

"In the script, the woman is betrayed by her husband and cheated on—this plot is like my own... And because of the woman's avoidance, it ultimately leads to the child's death. So, was Director Cao telling me that avoidance doesn't solve problems and only makes things worse?"

Her reading comprehension skills were still quite good.

Unconsciously, Gao Yuanyuan's tears flowed again; deep down, she both wanted to escape and wanted to firmly break up.

However, Director Cao was such an impressive and intelligent person; what he said must make sense. She couldn't just keep avoiding things—avoidance wouldn't solve any problems, it would only make them worse.

Thus, Gao Yuanyuan summoned her courage and solidified her resolve to break up.

Break up—immediately, right now, she must break up; she couldn't be a hesitant, muddled woman. The film Cao Yang wanted to shoot was called *Secret Sunshine*; *Milyang* is a small town in South Korea, but in the film, it represents secret sunshine.

Actually, "hidden sunshine" would be more accurate—the places where the sun cannot shine.

So this is a tragic film, from beginning to end; the female lead is a corner where the sun cannot reach, someone forgotten by happiness, someone abandoned by luck.

Cao Yang hadn't even finished casting the roles yet when Sony Pictures Classics and MK2 came looking for him.

They wanted to buy out the overseas rights in advance.

From this, one could see that Cao Yang's status was truly different now.

It was only because Cao Yang hadn't released news that he was selling the rights; otherwise, it wouldn't just be Sony Pictures Classics and MK2—presumably, every company in Europe and America with even a little bit of strength would have joined the competition.

But for an arthouse film like this that aims for awards, you can't just get the rights by offering more money; what's valued more is the strength behind them and the effort they are willing to invest.

That's the one good thing about selling rights early: if you want the film to make more money for you, then you have to campaign for more awards, make the film more influential, and only then can you sell more tickets and earn more dollars.

This time, to show his sincerity, Bellman directly offered 3.2 million dollars for the rights. MK2 was a bit behind; box office returns for award-winning European arthouse films are long-term gains, but after all, the market can't compare to the US, and they don't have as many ways to profit as the Americans, so they only offered 2.6 million dollars.

!

Not bad; it was a huge increase from before he won the Golden Lion. In Europe, it increased by a million, and Sony Pictures Classics directly doubled their offer.

Ever since *3-Iron* won the Golden Lion, Wu Qihua's salary as one of the main actors had been skyrocketing, with his asking price jumping from the previous 300,000 to 1.5 million—a fivefold increase.

He was now among the top tier of second-line actors.

Furthermore, ever since *3-Iron* was released in Xiangjiang, the offers had been constant, with several scripts even directly inviting him to play the lead.

Wu Qihua's agent had been very happy during this time, feeling that the initial choice had been incredibly correct.

He was just discussing with Wu Qihua which script to take when Wu Qihua's phone rang.

"Hello, Producer Cheng."

"Is that so? Yes, I do, I've said it before—as long as it's Director Cao's film, I have the schedule anytime."

"Okay, okay, thank you Producer Cheng, sorry for the trouble, Producer Cheng."

"Goodbye, Producer Cheng, I'll treat you to a meal when you come to Jingcheng."

After hanging up, the agent looked over with expectant eyes.

Wu Qihua couldn't help but grin, "Director Cao's go-to producer, Cheng Jianye."

"Does Director Cao have a new film?" the agent asked happily, his spirits lifted.

Wu Qihua nodded, his grin widening, "Producer Cheng said this time it's a lead role, though most of the screen time is still on the female lead. Producer Cheng told me to be mentally prepared."

"Don't worry about that."

The agent waved his hand dismissively and said with some emotion: "A while ago, the Four Heavenly Kings and Liang Chaowei were all calling out in public, wanting to work with Director Cao, even joking that they'd do it for no salary. That Director Cao thought of you the first moment he had a new film shows that he is a person who values old ties."

"Yeah, Director Cao is super nice. Aside from on set, I rarely see him get angry. He's polite to everyone; his character is truly top-notch."

The agent nodded in agreement, then discussed: "How should we charge for the salary this time? Still at the previous price?"

Wu Qihua replied without hesitation: "Just let Director Cao decide. If he gives too much, we'll return it; at most, we'll take the 200,000 from last time."

The agent nodded, "No problem, the company won't quibble over this."

Thanks to "Ruqian Nian Yihou Zai Liao" for the tip, thanks to the brothers for the monthly tickets and recommendations, I sincerely thank everyone for your support, thank you!

(End of chapter)