Chapter 18: *Blind Shaft*

Seeing Lu Kuan left behind only a few words before taking his leave, not caring that the three of them were furrowing their brows to ponder the news; in any case, the 200,000-yuan consultation fee was in his pocket.

*The Story of a Noble Family*, which would wrap filming in June 2002, would become the first work on Liu Yifei's path to becoming a "blood-cow" in 2003. He believed the broadcast reception at that time would give the three Red Star Dock shareholders a bit of a shock.

The director of *Noble Family*, Li Dawei, was also from a film family; his mother, Liu Guoquan, was a director at the Beijing Film Studio. It wouldn't be difficult to make a connection using Zhang Jizhong's network.

Judging by Liu Xiaoli's expression just now, it was quite possible she was already making inquiries, which would only add credibility to his prophecy.

The little Daoist priest's mobile phone rang in his pocket.

"Hello, Seeing Lu Kuan, there's news about the person you wanted to find." Jiang Qinqin's voice was slightly cold.

This bastard had slipped back to Beiping after eating his fill, leaving not a single thought for her.

She had completely forgotten that it was she who had demanded "no next time" before their intimacy.

Seeing Lu Kuan, who was craftier than a monkey once he grew a bit of fur, laughed warmly: "Thank you, Sister Jiang. I'll be back in a few days and bring you a gift!"

"What kind of gift? Is there one for me?" Zhou Xun's smoky voice came from the other end of the line. Judging by her energy, she should have already walked out from the shadows of her love triangle.

Carefree people are the happiest; in this bustling, dusty world, just treat it like a traveling troupe and be done with it—never take it too seriously.

"There is one for everyone! Everyone!"

How could the socially adept Seeing Lu Kuan miss the opportunity to climb the ladder of affection with both sisters? Zhou Xun's network in the circle was far broader than Jiang Qinqin's.

To say nothing of the distant connections, her ex-boyfriend Dou Peng was Dou Wei's cousin, and Dou Wei's wife was the diva Wang Fei. If one were to spread out the network from Wang Fei, it would be endless.

She was the leader of the entertainment circle's small collective, "Class of Six Years," and other members included the hot-headed Na Ying, the Zhao Linger (Zhao Yiniang) who had tormented Zhang Ziyi, and so on.

If one were to sort through the Hong Kong circle from this end, one could even connect with the Emperor Group, which Xie Tingfeng was involved with.

Moreover, Wang Fei was the most superstitious; Li Ao from Taiwan once commented that she was superstitious to the point of having no brain, and Fang Zhouzi said she was superstitious to the point of being unreasonable...

A metaphysical practitioner like the little Daoist priest was the easiest to connect with her. As for whether she believed in Buddhism or Daoism, that was just a matter of exchanging a few Zen riddles; it was nothing to worry about.

Jiang Qinqin's state of mind at this moment was also contradictory. She didn't want to get too involved with such an excessively young outsider, yet because of their past physical intimacy, she inexplicably wanted to seek some comfort and warmth.

This was a twenty-six-year-old woman whose emotions and body were temporarily in an empty-nest state...

"I asked around for you. Li Yang does have a movie raising funds, but it's said to be an underground film. Be careful yourself; don't let all the money you earned go down the drain."

Down the drain?

I'm more like a small pebble that's about to stir up a monstrous wave.

Underground films at most couldn't be shown in theaters, and the director might be banned, but what did that have to do with me, the investor?

That's right, the first investment opportunity Seeing Lu Kuan had his eyes on was the soon-to-be-filmed *Blind Shaft*.

Because of mid-production accidents, the total investment was 3 million yuan. It won countless awards, and its copyright was sold to 35 countries and regions in the future.

Contrary to common perception, the copyright of art films actually earns long-term revenue. Because of the crackdown on piracy, overseas DVD sales would be much higher than domestic ones, and the sales cycle would be longer.

This included television copyright buyouts, which were for a set number of broadcasts; once that number was exceeded, fees had to be paid again.

It wasn't the "one-price-for-all" fantasy found in ordinary novels; that was the way of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Of course, for Seeing Lu Kuan now, getting more cash was the absolute truth. When the time came, he could use long-term earnings to swap with the director Li Yang or other investors; that was no problem.

"Don't worry, you forgot I'm a little immortal."

Jiang Qinqin spat softly. Mentioning the "little immortal" inexplicably reminded her of the lewd words he had whispered in her ear that night about his "Golden Cudgel," and she hung up the phone with a blushing face after giving Seeing Lu Kuan the contact information.

Glancing at Zhou Xun, who was texting Li Yapeng on the side, she felt a bit guilty and fanned the air near her pretty face: "Xun-ge, turn the air conditioning down. It's really hot in here."

"Ho, Li Dao, it's really hot in your place!"

Seeing Lu Kuan sat down on the sofa in Li Yang's home without the slightest bit of restraint; after all, he was here to lead the conversation as an investor, so it wouldn't do to be too humble.

Li Yang observed this young man with firm side-profile lines in silence. At the very least, when he received the call two days ago, he hadn't expected such an investor who exceeded his imagination.

There was no lack of bosses who appreciated and supported art films, but the subject matter of his film was quite special, and even coal bosses were unwilling to get involved.

Because *Blind Shaft* exposed the profoundness and reality of human nature under the conditions of coal mine accidents.

"Boss Lu, I wonder where you learned about this film?"

Out of caution, Li Yang still wanted to probe the bottom of it first; he didn't want to find an investor who would point fingers and interfere with his creative process.

"Oh, I have a friend who hangs around the entrance of the Beijing Film Studio as an extra. He knows that little actor of yours, Wang Baoqiang, and that's how I heard about it. Haha."

Li Yang thought to himself that this must be another "second-generation" rich kid. Thinking about how he was 40 years old and still worrying about investment to the point of insomnia, while others could already throw money around, he felt the disparity.

The disparity in life made this art film director recognize reality: "Boss Lu, why don't you look at the script first?"

Seeing Lu Kuan followed the suggestion and flipped through the brand-new manuscript on the sofa. It seemed this...

At this moment, the Fifth Generation directors were the main force in the film market. Most of them were already famous and had fixed sources of investment and cooperative capital.

The Sixth Generation directors had some who had gone through ten years of underground banned films and had just returned to the market, like Jia Kezhang and Zhang Yuan;

There were also those who were growing vigorously due to family background, personal ability, and opportunity, such as Guan Hu and Lu Chuan;

Of course, there were even more dreamers still struggling in the water, looking for an opportunity to get ashore.

"Li Dao, the script is good. I'll just offer one suggestion."

Li Yang watched him flip through the script perfunctorily, pretending to be an expert, and thought to himself that this guy probably only had the level of someone who just looked at the story outline. But at this moment, he had to accept the investor's questioning with a calm expression.

"The filming of the movie carries a certain level of danger. The conditions inside the mine are complex."

"For these over-the-shoulder and long-shot camera angles, I suggest using handheld filming, for example, an Arri 16mm film camera. Filming with something slightly exceeding the 16mm specification shouldn't result in too low a contrast."

"This... you..."

Li Yang stared blankly at this "second-generation" rich kid. The contrast before and after was too great. Could you imagine a beautiful woman of refined elegance suddenly talking to you about the postpartum care of a sow?

You're not pretending to understand—you really do understand?!

Thinking carefully about his suggestion, he had to admit that what this young man said made sense. He had already inspected several private coal mines in Shanxi and Henan provinces, and gas and dust explosions were common types of accidents.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 19 =====