Chapter 608: My Rules Are the Rules

After Tian Ou walked into the room, he simply nodded at Guan Fei, which counted as a greeting.

In his view, Guan Fei was nothing more than a lackey-level character trailing behind Luo Mo's backside.

I can't afford to provoke him, but you, a mere errand boy, do you expect me to show you much respect?

Box Office Poison is unwelcome everywhere in the film circle.

These past few years, it's actually been a bit better, but many of the older generation in the entertainment industry are still particularly superstitious.

They have deep, unwavering faith in fortune-telling, feng shui, and destiny.

Many people even feel that coming into contact with someone like Guan Fei is bad luck.

Seeing that Tian Ou had no intention of interacting with him, Guan Fei couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind either.

Guan Fei had long since grown accustomed to people with an attitude like Tian Ou's over the past few years.

His films' continuous flops were a thorn in his heart.

And these people, were they not the same?

At this moment, the sound of footsteps came from the corridor outside the door.

A rising director surnamed Sun walked in.

Tian Ou was clearly very familiar with him, and the two immediately began chatting and laughing as if no one else were around.

This director, named Sun Meng, glanced at Guan Fei, then stopped looking at him and continued chatting with Tian Ou.

Previously, one of his films had been released at the same time as one of Guan Fei's crime films, and he had directly crushed Guan Fei's film into the dirt; he didn't even need to look him in the eye, as he wasn't even worthy of being a competitor.

Sun Meng's thoughts were identical to Tian Ou's; they both felt that Guan Fei was just basking in Luo Mo's reflected glory.

In fact, this point... Guan Fei himself admitted it!

"That's right, I am just basking in Luo Mo's glory," the working-stiff Fei knew very clearly.

The reason he was able to come here and participate in next year's 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】 was for only two reasons.

First, *Forensic Qin Ming* and *White Night* were both hit web dramas that remained high in popularity this year, sweeping the entire internet and allowing him to regain a wave of audience base, even spawning a large number of die-hard fans.

Second, it was because the film *Legend of the Concubine* was almost finished filming, and since this film also had some suspense attributes, a bit like playing a Script Kill, plus the screenwriter was Luo Mo, the audience's expectations were extremely high!

Yes, Luo Mo's influence right now was just that terrifying.

In the music scene, the songs he wrote lyrics and music for could immediately attract a crowd of fans.

Now in the film industry, the scripts he wrote could similarly bring extremely strong Box Office Appeal!

Because of Guan Fei's unique situation, the Review Department had held several meetings to argue over whether to let *Legend of the Concubine* enter the list.

After all, this person's track record was truly too "dazzling."

Many people in the Review Department insisted that Guan Fei was only suited for filming dramas and was not skilled at filming movies.

In the end, he was selected for the plan list by a narrow margin, not because everyone trusted him, but simply because—we trust Luo Mo!

We aren't betting on Guan Fei this time; we just hope that Luo Mo can create another miracle.

At this moment, Guan Fei, who was standing in a Corner, felt his phone vibrate; it was a WeChat message from Luo Mo.

"Brother Fei, have you arrived? I'll need about five more minutes; Guang Shu is already downstairs," Luo Mo said.

"By the way, tell me, who has already arrived?" Luo Mo added.

"Tian Ou, Sun Meng," Guan Fei typed in reply.

Seeing these two names, Luo Mo smiled and said, "Alright, I'll be there soon."

Just at this moment, He Yuanguang walked into the conference room.

As an Animation director, he also appeared somewhat out of place here.

But his arrival officially announced that *Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child* had also been selected, becoming the first animated film to be included in the 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】!

This was equivalent to the Review Department's recognition of animated films and their full expectations for the animation industry.

Sun Meng whispered to Tian Ou, "He Yuanguang is here; I reckon that when the time comes, the Fan Hua Award side will have even less Face to show."

He hadn't said it very clearly, but Tian Ou understood immediately.

Luo Mo had refused to accept the award at the Fan Hua Award ceremony back then, with the reason being that the judges of the Fan Hua Award must have made a mistake, as *Monkey King: Hero is Back* was his debut work, not *Dying to Survive*.

It was one thing for you to divide the cake, but to go as far as to look down on or even ignore a whole wave of the animation industry—what kind of behavior was that?

Now, the masterpiece *Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child*, created with passion by the same team, had been selected for the list as an animated film and was highly valued.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Fan Hua Award still hadn't given everyone an answer regarding this incident.

………

………

Ten minutes before the meeting officially started, Luo Mo strode into the conference room.

As soon as he entered, everyone's gaze converged on him.

Luo Mo scanned the room and counted the number of people, discovering that everyone had arrived.

Interestingly, He Yuanguang and Guan Fei were standing together chatting, while the other directors were standing on the other side chatting.

The leaders of the Review Department hadn't arrived, so no one was taking their seats.

Even if they were to take their seats, the entertainment industry was very particular about the order of seating, and they would likely push and defer to one another when the time came.

As soon as Luo Mo arrived, many people greeted him.

He took a look and discovered that this 2.0 version of the 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】 was indeed different from the previous one!

Everyone present was a rising director currently in the limelight; not a single director of the older generation was there.

Regarding this, Luo Mo could roughly guess some of the reasons.

"The older generation has almost all suffered a crushing defeat this year; they have no Face left."

"Also, among the older generation of directors, there aren't actually many left who can support the box office now."

"Looking closely at the annual box office charts, you don't see many old faces anymore."

"Many people end up lowering their status the more they film, and it would be better to just live off their past Glory."

"Plus, making movies is very exhausting; many people are older, and they might not even make one in several years."

Of course, there might be a deeper meaning behind this from the Review Department, perhaps wanting to concentrate energy and resources to support the new generation of directors.

"Each generation produces its own talents, and each leads the way for hundreds of years," Luo Mo thought to himself.

In the current situation, Luo Mo actually feels more at ease.

Because he has a merit, which is respecting the elderly.

Of course, only respecting good old men; rotten old men don't count.

If a bad person grows old, they are just a bad old person.

Now there are some who aren't too old, so it's relatively easier.

"Among these people, could Guang Shu be the oldest?" Luo Mo wondered.

Luo Mo walked to the side of Guan Fei and He Yuanguang, and as soon as he arrived, the two small groups that were originally clearly divided showed a strong trend of merging together.

Quite a few directors walked over to shake hands with Luo Mo, saying it was their first time meeting and they had long admired his name.

Even though he had only made one live-action movie, there was no helping it; he was the champion of the all-time box office list, and he had simply become the leader among the new generation of directors!

After all, if the first place doesn't lead, should you guys who can't even make the top ten lead?

For this year's 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】, before *Dying to Survive* was officially released, Luo Mo was seen as someone who used back-door connections, seen as a connected person, and seen as a substitute player there to make up the numbers.

But what about now?

He is the top seed!

Amidst the chorus of flattery from the crowd, footsteps echoed in the hallway.

The people from the Review Department have arrived!

Everyone immediately stopped chatting and looked toward the door in unison.

Leading the meeting this time was still Team Leader Zhong Lin, who had regular features and a good temperament.

As soon as she entered, she sat down in the main seat and said, "Sit, everyone sit."

The ritual of deferring to one another had begun.

The two seats closest to Zhong Lin were the primary targets for everyone's deferral.

Many people told Luo Mo to sit in the front, and he didn't decline, just sat right down.

Once he sat down, He Yuanguang and Guan Fei also sat down right next to him.

Zhong Lin smiled as she looked at the handsome young man before her, finding him quite interesting.

She liked this kind of straightforward demeanor.

And one must know, at the last meeting, he was sitting in the very Corner.

This time, he sat at the very front of the directors.

And only a few months had passed.

And he, relying on just one movie—that was enough!

………

………

After everyone was seated, the meeting officially began.

Zhong Lin gave a standard self-introduction; the two men sitting beside her were also familiar faces from the last meeting.

Before getting straight to the point, Zhong Lin still spoke some relatively official words.

She summarized this year's 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】 a little, and then mentioned the differences between next year and this year.

In passing, she also complimented everyone present: "The films of all the directors here were carefully selected by us from a vast sea of movies."

It was just that because of Zhong Lin's special status, the more she praised them, the more pressure many people felt.

After saying these things, Zhong Lin glanced at Luo Mo, then looked at Tian Ou, and smiled at the two of them in a friendly manner.

"I am very happy to see these two familiar faces, Director Luo and Director Tian, again this time, and I welcome you both to participate in the 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】 once more."

"The fact that we could achieve a complete success this year is largely due to your contributions."

"Director Tian's *Car King 2* had very stable box office results, no worse than *Car King 1*; I hope *Car King 3* can continue to build on this success."

"As for Director Luo's *Dying to Survive*, there is no need for me to say much; one movie alone supported over four billion in box office."

Up to this point in her speech, everything was still normal.

But Zhong Lin's next words made many people present feel a great shock.

"As for next year's 【Hundred Billion Box Office Plan】, I have already communicated with Director Luo in advance to consult him, and I have also listened to a few points... *cough cough*, a few suggestions from Director Luo? Yes, they are all very good."

Zhong Lin continued to speak, but many people could no longer hear a word.

This is fatal; the Review Department actually takes the initiative to consult others for their opinions?

What's even more fatal is that this Luo Mo actually dared to offer suggestions to the Review Department?

The most fatal thing is that, listening to her, it seems they were all adopted?

Does this not equate to saying—he is not only a participant for next year, but also one of the rule-makers!

(PS: First update, asking for monthly tickets.

It seems the Chapter Discussion isn't showing up these past few days.)

(End of this chapter)