Chapter 19: Giving a Gift

"Boss Lu, what is it that you do, how come..."

Lu Kuan laughed: "Director Li, you are more than twenty years older than me, just call me Little Lu."

"I am not any kind of boss, I am also an insider, an actor, but I am quite interested in the directing profession and know a little bit about it."

His suggestion for Li Yang to use handheld photography came from his learning experience at USC in his past life; it was a mockumentary teaching shoot imitating *The Blair Witch Project*, which required visiting several slums where Black people lived.

Due to the complex and ever-changing shooting environment, large-scale equipment could hardly meet the flexibility requirements, and handheld photography was instead better at highlighting authenticity.

"To be honest, we had considered it before, but we were just afraid the clarity would be too poor, and there is too much dust under the mine, plus lighting is also a problem."

Lu Kuan laughed: "Director Li, you are standing in the mountain without seeing the mountain; lighting is the least of your problems."

"You mean...?"

Li Yang’s brows were tightly furrowed; he had completely forgotten his previous disdain for this excessively young investor and was treating him as a filmmaker of equal standing to converse with.

"Right, it’s exactly the miner’s headlamp!"

"The dusty environment and the requirements of the oppressive atmosphere make using 16mm film with an ISO of only 500 more suitable; although it doesn't have the high definition of 800, pairing it with the searchlights on the miners' helmets should be extremely appropriate."

Lu Kuan described to him a world at the bottom of a mine with no sun or moon, where dust drifted about.

The slightly shaky shots from the handheld camera, the rough graininess, and the dim lighting revealed a real and dark conspiracy in the mining area before the audience's eyes.

Brilliant!

Li Yang excitedly slapped his thigh and looked at the investor in surprise: "Boss Lu, could I invite you to be the producer of our film?"

Having such insight after only skimming the script, he believed that with the two of them working together, they could definitely brainstorm even better suggestions for the film.

Lu Kuan pondered without speaking; the shooting cycle for this film was not long, but it was full of twists and turns, and working at the bottom of the mine also carried a certain level of danger.

"Director Li, my schedule probably won't allow for the time, but if you have any needs, you can come to me at any time. I will invest 1.5 million in this film!"

Li Yang’s heart, which had gone quiet due to his refusal, became lively again. 1.5 million—this almost solved all his worries!

With the extra budget, they could be more at ease regarding film testing and the safety of the creative team, without worrying about it falling through halfway.

The remaining money could also be used for promotion at film festivals; in his later life, Li Yang had mobilized a group of old friends in Berlin to generate buzz for love, handing out flyers in person.

"In these two days, I will first transfer 400,000 to you, we will sign the contract, and the subsequent funds will arrive very quickly according to your shooting progress."

Film production funds have special accounts; under the Hollywood-standard industrial process, they are even monitored by the investor and the completion guarantor company, and the funds are not provided in a lump sum—this, Li Yang understood.

He sighed heavily; although he hadn't managed to invite this knowledgeable young man to help out, he had at least solved the bulk of the budget.

Lu Kuan, sitting in the taxi, also sighed heavily. Where could he find the rest of the money?

Just like pyramid schemes and insurance, one has to slaughter acquaintances; for the remaining million or so, he would still have to find his senior fellow student, Sister Jiang, Sister Xun, and the others to stir up some business.

The compensation at China International Capital Corporation was generous; the author’s cousin joined with an undergraduate degree in 2004 and received a compensation package of 180,000 plus bonuses that year, and in some years, this bonus was even higher than the annual salary.

And that year, the average annual wage for urban employees nationwide was 16,000...

By the time the sponsor system was introduced later, it became as common as drinking water for investment banking elites to have a net worth of over a million overnight; this system was also jokingly called "a production line for the middle class."

Having worked for over four years, borrowing 500,000 from his senior fellow student to spend should not be a problem.

Having finalized the investment intent, Lu Kuan rushed to Wuxi without stopping, preparing to find a good opportunity to "solicit alms" from his two good sisters.

If a bald monk can solicit alms, why can't I, a Daoist priest?

After getting off the plane, Lu Kuan specifically found an exquisite, high-end Western restaurant, not worried about the two actresses being surrounded and disturbed while eating, and it was also convenient for the few of them to talk.

"What is this?"

Jiang Qinqin and Zhou Xun exchanged a glance, looking at the two elegantly colored gift boxes on the dining table.

"A gift! Open it and see."

"Tiffany?" Jiang Qinqin opened the packaging in surprise; it was a pair of diamond stud earrings.

The platinum-set round brilliant cuts had exceptional size, color, and clarity, and the style was vastly different from the jewelry currently available domestically.

Zhou Xun’s was a classic 80s Tiffany graffiti series rose gold pendant necklace, which was still at the cutting edge of fashion even twenty years later in 2001.

Jiang Qinqin had signed with a Taiwan agency early on and had studied jewelry more than Zhou Xun.

At this moment, she was playing with the earrings, unable to put them down, and asked with a smile: "Little Lu, where did you buy this Tiffany? It wouldn't be a fake, would it?"

Lu Kuan feigned anger: "How can you look down on people! This store just opened, I queued for a whole night in Jingcheng to buy these!"

This was half-true and half-false.

Tiffany had just opened its first mainland store in Wangfujing, Jingcheng, this year, officially entering the mainland market as a jewelry brand claiming a century of heritage.

Saying he queued for a night was pure flattery; the two pieces of jewelry, totaling over 30,000, were not yet accessible to the average consumer at this time, so there was no need to queue.

Zhou Xun had already let Jiang Qinqin put the pendant on for her; stroking the unique heart-shaped design with a small arrow, she found it quite interesting.

For the two actresses, these were light luxury embellishments for daily wear; they couldn't be paired with evening gowns for formal occasions.

"Why did you give your Sister Jiang earrings and give me a pendant?"

The little Daoist priest started being mysterious again: "Sister Xun, you belong to Metal and Fire, Sister Jiang belongs to Water; this is matched for you from the perspective of the Five Elements, which is beneficial to your fortune!"

"Also, the day you got drunk, Sister Jiang and I were exhausted from taking care of you, and her earring was lost that night because we weren't careful."

Two red clouds flew onto Jiang Qinqin’s pretty face; she gave him a charming, coquettish glare, and remembering the intimacy of that night, a trace of itchiness rose in her body again.

Little Daoist priest, it was clearly bitten off by you...

She calmly stretched her jade foot under the table and lightly stepped on Lu Kuan, telling him not to talk nonsense; Zhou Xun was an experienced person and could easily see the clues.

Lu Kuan chuckled, the waiter served the appetizers, and the three of them chatted while eating.

"Little Lu, did you invest in Li Yang’s film?"

Jiang Qinqin had always been a rather indifferent person, but she didn't know why she was always so concerned about the little Daoist priest’s spending.

"Yeah, I invested 1 million."

Lu Kuan was skillfully cutting his steak, not avoiding the destination of his expenditures.

"What? Where did you get the money?"

Now Zhou Xun couldn't stay calm either; in this day and age, coal bosses and internet capital had not yet entered the market on a large scale, and the salaries of top actors were nowhere near as exaggerated as the later "one Shuang = 160 million."

Some famous actors in the country around the turn of the millennium, such as Li Baotian who was filming *The Divine Doctor Xi Lai Le*, were getting 80,000 per episode, Wang Zhiwen was getting 60,000, and Ning Jing was getting 60,000.

In *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*, Zhou Xun and Li Yapeng received the top rate of 80,000, while Jiang Qinqin and Zhou Jie were both around 60,000.

This 1 million was not much for Zhou Xun, but it was far from something Lu Kuan could spend easily without blinking an eye.

(End of chapter)