[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-playboy-of-huayu-how-did-a-celestial-immorta":3,"chapter-the-playboy-of-huayu-how-did-a-celestial-immorta-the-playboy-of-huayu-how-did-a-celestial-immorta-chapter-18":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Playboy of Huayu: How Did a Celestial Immortal Transform Me?",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2297644,4495,"Chapter 18: 《Blind Shaft》","the-playboy-of-huayu-how-did-a-celestial-immorta-chapter-18",18,"\u003Cp>Lu Kuan left behind only a few words before taking his leave, not caring that the three of them were frowning as they pondered this news; in any case, the two-hundred-thousand consultation fee was in his pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The Noble Family,\" which wrapped filming in June 2002, would become the first work on Liu Yifei’s path to becoming a cash cow in 2003; he believed the broadcast reception at that time would give the three Red Star Dock shareholders a small shock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The director of \"The Noble Family,\" Li Dawei, also came from a well-connected background, and his mother, Liu Guoquan, was a director at the Beijing Film Studio, so it was not difficult to make a connection through Zhang Jizhong’s network.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at Liu Xiaoli’s expression just now, it was likely she was already acting as an intermediary, which just happened to add some credibility to his own prophecy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The little Daoist priest’s cell phone rang in his pocket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hello, Lu Kuan, there is news about the person you wanted to find.\" Jiang Qinqin’s voice was slightly cold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This dog of a man had wiped his mouth clean and snuck back to Beijing, leaving not a single thought for her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had completely forgotten that it was she herself who had demanded \"this is a one-time thing\" before their intimacy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Kuan was craftier than a monkey; he laughed gently, \"Thank you, Sister Jiang, I’ll be back in a few days and will bring you a gift!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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 seemed to have already walked out from the shadows of her love triangle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Carefree people are the happiest; in this chaotic, mundane world, just treat it like a traveling troupe and be done with it—never take it too seriously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There is one for everyone! Everyone!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could the socially adept Lu Kuan pass up the chance to climb higher in his relationships with both sisters? Zhou Xun’s connections in the circle were far broader than Jiang Qinqin’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not to mention the distant ones, 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 and expand a network starting from Wang Fei, it would be vast indeed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was the leader of the small entertainment circle clique \"Class of Six Years,\" and other members included the hot-headed Na Ying, Zhao Linger—who had tormented Zhang Ziyi to no end—and so on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If one were to sort through the Hong Kong circle from this end, even the Emperor Group faction that Xie Tingfeng was involved with could be connected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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-like riddles, nothing to worry about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qinqin’s state of mind at this moment was also contradictory; she neither wanted to get too involved with such an excessively young outsider, nor could she help but inexplicably want to seek some comfort and warmth because of their past physical intimacy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a twenty-six-year-old woman whose emotions and body were both temporarily in a state of empty-nest syndrome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I asked around for you; Li Yang does have a film in fundraising, but it is rumored to be an underground film. You should be careful yourself, don't let your money go down the drain.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Down the drain?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I’m more like a small pebble that’s about to stir up a monstrous wave.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An underground film at most can't be shown in theaters, and the director might be banned, but what the hell does that have to do with me, the investor?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s right, the first investment opportunity Lu Kuan had his eyes on was the soon-to-be-filmed \"Blind Shaft.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to mid-production accidents, the total investment was 3 million; it won countless awards, and in later years, the rights were sold to 35 countries and regions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Contrary to common perception, the rights to art-house films actually earn long-term revenue; overseas DVD sales, due to the crackdown on piracy, would be much higher than domestic ones, and the sales cycle was also longer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the buyouts for television station rights were for a specific number of broadcasts; once that number was exceeded, they had to pay to renew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn't the one-time lump sum that people fantasized about in novels; that was the way of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, for the current Lu Kuan, getting more cash was the golden rule; when the time came, he could use the long-term earnings to swap with Director Li Yang or other investors, that was no problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't worry, have you forgotten I'm a little immortal?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Qinqin secretly spat; at the mention of \"little immortal,\" she inexplicably recalled the lewd words he had whispered in her ear that night about a \"golden cudgel,\" and after giving Lu Kuan the contact information, she hung up the phone with a blushing face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Glancing at Zhou Xun, who was texting Li Yapeng on the side, she felt a bit guilty and fanned her pretty face: \"Xun-ge, turn the air conditioning down, it’s really hot in here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Whoa, Director Li, it’s really hot in your place!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Kuan sat down on the sofa in Li Yang’s home without the slightest bit of reserve; after all, he was there to lead the conversation as an investor, so it was not appropriate to be too humble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yang observed this young man with the firm jawline in silence; at the very least, when he received the call two days ago, he had not expected an investor who exceeded his imagination like this.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Generally, there was no lack of bosses who appreciated and supported art-house films, but his film’s subject matter was quite special; even coal bosses were unwilling to get involved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because \"Blind Shaft\" exposed the profoundness and reality of human nature under the backdrop of coal mine accidents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Boss Lu, I wonder where you learned about this film?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Out of caution, Li Yang still wanted to get to the bottom of it; he didn't want to find a financier who would point fingers and interfere with his creation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"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 where I heard it, haha.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yang thought to himself that this must be another second-generation rich kid; he thought about how he was 40 years old and still losing sleep over investment, while others could already wield money like a club to roam everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The disparity in life made this art-house director recognize reality: \"Boss Lu, would you like to look at the script first?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lu Kuan followed the flow, flipping through the brand-new manuscript on the sofa; it seemed this...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>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.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some of the sixth-generation had just returned to the market after ten years of underground banned films, such as Jia Kezhang and Zhang Yuan;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others were growing vigorously due to family backgrounds, personal ability, and opportunity, such as Guan Hu and Lu Chuan;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, there were even more dreamers still struggling in the water, looking for a chance to get ashore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Director Li, the script is good, I just have one suggestion.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yang watched him flip through the script perfunctorily, secretly criticizing that this person was likely only at the level of reading a story summary, but at this moment, he had to accept the investor’s questioning with a calm expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There is a certain danger in filming the movie; the situation in the mines is complex.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"For these over-the-shoulder and long-shot camera positions, I suggest using handheld shooting, for example, an Arri 16mm film camera; shooting slightly beyond the 16mm specification shouldn't result in too low a contrast.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This... you...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Yang stared blankly at this \"second-generation\"; the contrast was too great. Can you imagine a beautiful, elegant woman suddenly talking to you about the postpartum care of a sow?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You’re not pretending to know, you actually know?!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking carefully about his suggestion, he had to admit that what this young man said made sense; he had already been to several private coal mines in Jin Province and Yu Province to investigate, and gas and dust explosions were common types of accidents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1481,"2026-06-20T06:05:17.358Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","bdff0c23406bc9040a01516c8250466b1a8ba546a6b1d0dec4a486d14f298b36","the-playboy-of-huayu-how-did-a-celestial-immorta-chapter-19","the-playboy-of-huayu-how-did-a-celestial-immorta-chapter-17",343,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-playboy-of-huayu-how-did-a-celestial-immorta-cover.jpg"]