Chapter 696: Luo Mo: I Refuse

Ning Dan: "Ah, how comfortable."

In recent days, Ning Dan has regained that sense of dominance she had within a team.

When she used to handle variety shows, Ning Dan was always the one whose word was law.

But when producing a gala for CCTV, there were a few too many constraints.

Many times, Ning Dan couldn't fully stretch her limbs, and in some areas, she even had to make concessions.

But with Luo Mo's strong backing, everything has become different.

——It's top-tier!

Over at Octopus TV, they are truly granting complete authority.

Even the entire budget provided is very high, much higher than the New Year's Eve Galas of previous years!

Clearly, Octopus TV wants to make a big gamble this time.

Succeed or perish!

Xu Guan is a very bold station head; he knows well that even a clever housewife cannot cook a meal without rice.

Some people have broken brains, thinking that as long as you invite professional people, you can just figure out the rest yourself—after all, aren't you the professional?

If you don't provide money, things are hard to get done!

Wanting the horse to run while also wanting the horse not to eat grass is unrealistic.

Having let go of her inhibitions and intending to have a big go at it with Luo Mo, Ning Dan has sprouted many ideas.

Many of her ideas, even to the knowledgeable Luo Mo, seem truly excellent.

This makes Luo Mo realize that, in fact, he only needs to do some things to add flowers to the brocade.

Of course, because Octopus TV's foundation is relatively weak, the difficulty coefficient for wanting to become an overnight success is not low.

Therefore, Luo Mo does not intend to just put effort into the singing stage this time.

For other types of programs, he also intends to come up with some that can hold down the fort!

Fortunately, the film team at Luo Mo Studio are all skilled workers now.

For some initial preparatory work, Luo Mo no longer needs to do everything himself like in previous years.

With one word of instruction, they can get things done well.

A person's time and energy are limited after all; it is still necessary to cultivate more talent and backbone staff.

Looking at efficiency, the early preparation for Let the Bullets Fly has been exceptionally efficient.

Because this is a film directed by Luo Mo himself, all parties are giving the green light.

It is like a scenic spot that, while not particularly booming on ordinary days, is not exactly deserted either, belonging to an upper-middle level.

If it were an ordinary film crew wanting to "occupy" this place for a period of time to film, they would likely need to conduct various negotiations, the time would be hard to set, and the costs would be on the high side.

But once they hear it is Luo Mo coming to film a movie, and directing it himself, good heavens... our scenic spot is going to be famous!

This allowed Luo Mo's own crew to be ready to start filming not long after the Peerless crew began.

Just as Luo Mo was preparing to take Chen Zuhe and Zhao Huan to film scenes without Huang Silang first, an "accident" occurred over at the Peerless crew.

……….

……….

Hua Jiaqun is very angry, extremely angry.

Not just him; within the entire Peerless team, there are quite a few others who are also in a state of extreme annoyance.

At this moment, Hua Jiaqun is sitting in the room, with three large silver boxes neatly placed on the table.

His anger comes from the things inside the boxes.

With a displeased expression, he opens the boxes, which are filled with banknotes.

Hua Jiaqun picks up a stack of money and runs his thumb along the edge of the bills, making the stack emit a "Swish—" sound.

Immediately after, he wishes he could tear them all up.

Some time ago, wasn't Hua Jiaqun leading his gang to produce counterfeit money together?

After actually making them, he became inflated.

This gang with a talent for crime conceived an idea.

Let's film some behind-the-scenes footage related to the counterfeit money and find a few Hong Kong police officers to cooperate!

As mentioned before, before the entire production of the counterfeit money, Hua Jiaqun had specifically reported it to the Police.

Otherwise, if he were suddenly caught one day, he wouldn't even be able to explain it clearly.

"Shocking! Following the decline of Hong Kong films, the President actually does this kind of thing"!

Why film any more movies, why want box office?

I can clearly print it myself!

This daring film team specifically invited the Hong Kong police a few days ago to take a look at the counterfeit money they produced.

Then, police and citizens cooperate to film an anti-fraud advertisement about counterfeit money.

This is both beneficial to the film's subsequent promotion and counts as engaging in public welfare, thereby covering up that I have a talent for crime—I really am a good person!

However, once the Hong Kong police arrived, these experienced officers only took one look and couldn't help but laugh.

——This counterfeit money isn't made very well; the details aren't up to par.

At that moment, Hua Jiaqun and his gang's world collapsed.

Their faith also collapsed at that moment.

This group of old men's inexplicable desire to win was actually triggered!

Damn it, Laozi must make ones that are indistinguishable from the real thing!

If this isn't done well, when the movie is released, won't they be ridiculed by "peers" in the counterfeit money industry?

"Do it! We have to do it all over again!"

This time, we will learn from our mistakes!

At this moment, Hua Jiaqun looked as if he had truly become the 【Painter】 from the script of *Peerless*.

Xu Gangsheng, who had only been filming with the crew for a few days, was stunned.

He repeatedly urged Hua Jiaqun: "Qunzai, stop!"

But Hua Jiaqun felt that as the president of the 【Hong Kong Film Workers Association】, he had to lead by example and bring out a spirit of striving for perfection!

The reason Hong Kong films are declining is that we haven't yet transitioned from that era of shoddy, quick-fire production!

Xu Gangsheng: "......"

Criminal! You are truly a criminal!

The way you're living your life, you're really heading toward a prison sentence.

In order to make Hua Jiaqun turn over a new leaf and avoid affecting the film's shooting schedule, Xu Gangsheng contacted Luo Mo privately.

After learning about this, Luo Mo was...... deeply moved!

"What is the spirit of a craftsman?"

"This is the spirit of a craftsman!" he said to Xu Gangsheng over the phone.

I was right to choose President Hua for this collaboration!

This is exactly the kind of drive I wanted!

Xu Gangsheng suddenly felt like retiring from acting again.

What's the point of this comeback!

My later years should be spent on a yacht, not on a pirate ship; wouldn't it be better to just keep sea fishing?

In reality, Luo Mo could roughly understand Hua Jiaqun's thinking.

One reason is that he is under real pressure, so he is nitpicking details with a stubbornness that has become almost obsessive.

The other is that Hua Jiaqun didn't intend to rush the schedule too much; *Peerless* won't be joining the fray of the Spring Festival slot.

Now that Hong Kong films are gradually declining, even *Two Gun Kings*, which he starred in alongside two other Best Actors, had fewer screenings in the Mainland than Tian Ou's *Car King 3* back then.

The current situation on Blue Star is that Hong Kong films have an advantage in screenings here in Hong Kong, or rather, in the Yue Province area, compared to other places.

However, outside of these regions, Mainland films certainly have a greater advantage in early screenings.

Of course, because the script was written by Luo Mo, the major theater chains will certainly be more optimistic about it.

But in Hua Jiaqun's view, profits still cannot be maximized!

In his heart, this is the first battle for the resurgence of Hong Kong films, and it must be handled with extreme caution!

Don't forget, although the Spring Festival slot is very explosive every day, its golden period is relatively short, and there aren't that many golden days.

It's not like the Shuji Dang, which is so long-term and stable.

Therefore, early screening allocation is very important.

Naturally, the more screenings in the first few days, the better.

Besides that, President Hua also truly feels...... making fake money is very fun!

It's fucking addictive!

This actually made Luo Mo feel that everything was quite easy to arrange.

Just let Xu Gangsheng go film *Let the Bullets Fly* first.

In fact, Xu Gangsheng himself is more interested in *Let the Bullets Fly* and has long been impatient to start.

It just so happens that he can use this to step away, so he doesn't have to stay on the *Peerless* set and feel wronged if he gets arrested one day.

The originally scheduled start-of-filming ceremony for *Let the Bullets Fly* was to be held in three days.

The entire plan remains unchanged.

Luo Mo is also looking forward to seeing the three Best Actors acting together on set.

On the other side, the ambitious Director Li Dongliang had already drawn up the 【Special Invitation List】 for this year's New Year's Eve Gala.

Once the invitations are sent out and consultations with everyone are finished, the registration channel will be opened; those who want to participate in the New Year's Eve Gala can register on their own, and then be screened by the director team and CCTV.

When Li Dongliang was making the 【Special Invitation List】, writing down the two characters "Luo Mo" was the most difficult part.

Clearly, Luo Mo had never taken the initiative to provoke him; it was always him provoking Luo Mo.

But once the number of times he had been slapped in the face increased, the grudge grew as well.

Being specially invited is considered a great honor in the industry.

With Luo Mo's current status, it is indeed not surprising that he is specially invited.

But being specially invited every year is a different matter.

Clearly, this matter could have ended in his own hands, yet he did not have that authority.

Because Director Chen gave repeated instructions that Luo Mo and his group must be on the Special Invitation List.

It looks like they are highly valued, but in reality, they are very wicked.

CCTV invites you, you refuse, and then you turn around to participate in another satellite TV station's gala; no one dares to do such a thing.

Still the same saying, he wants Ning Dan to become a lone commander!

Today is the day Director Li Dongliang sends out the special invitations.

His director team began contacting various companies, various teams, and various studios.

Honestly, looking at it, most of the replies were accepting the invitation.

But on Luo Mo's side...... it was all refusals!

This made Director Li Dongliang's gaze turn cold.

Honestly, having Luo Mo work under him, following his commands—thinking about it carefully, it was actually quite satisfying.

There is no Director Luo here, only me, the General Director of this gala!

But the attitude from Luo Mo's side was very clear—are you dreaming?

How bold of Li Dongliang to actually dare to daydream during work hours!

And it must be said, the current Luo Mo possesses immense energy.

Once he issued this order, it meant that a large portion of today's popular Singers had all rejected the invitation.

What a joke; if I stomp my foot, the music scene will suffer a major earthquake.

For this year's singing stage, Director Li, you should think of some clever tricks yourself.

This invisibly added extra pressure to Li Dongliang.

Director Chen would only continue to pressure him; he certainly wouldn't come to help share the burden.

In any case, I'll just assign tasks and set targets for you, and you go find a way to complete them!

Director Chen was currently enjoying the joy of his scheme succeeding.

It was just a New Year's Eve Gala; even if this year's viewership ratings and online data were worse than last year's, it wouldn't be enough to cause someone of his level any real harm.

Failing once in a while is normal; there are so many holiday galas in a year, right?

What's more, the biggest blame would definitely be borne by Li Dongliang.

………

………

Three days later, the crew of *Let the Bullets Fly* officially held their startup ceremony.

The entire process was no different from other crews; it was actually just to seek good luck.

Luo Mo was quite willing to do things that sought good luck; let the crew have some fun, and incidentally, hand out startup red envelopes to everyone.

There is a saying that if your left eye twitches, you'll get wealth, and if your right eye twitches, you'll face disaster.

Luo Mo was the type who, if his left eyelid twitched, would feel like he was about to get rich, but if it were his right eyelid, he would definitely snort, "Hah, feudal superstition!"

And today could be considered the first time Luo Mo and the three Best Actors in the crew met in full.

His first impression of Xu Gangsheng was that he was indeed quite tall.

He and Luo Mo were about the same height.

Placed in that era of the past where the average height wasn't high, Xu Gangsheng would definitely be considered tall and powerful.

As for Chen Zuhe, although he wasn't as tall as Xu Gangsheng, his aura was not the least bit weaker.

At the same time, he looked quite sturdy.

This was also one of the reasons Luo Mo chose him to play Zhang Mazi.

On Earth, *Let the Bullets Fly* was directed and starred in by Jiang Wen; in order to better fit the character of Zhang Mazi, he had worked very hard at fitness before the film started shooting.

As for Zhao Huan, his whole body was full of comedic appeal; he was simply the Blue Star version of Old Man Ge.

In this movie, even roles that didn't appear on screen very often were played by well-known Actors.

In the current climate, many Actors still care a lot about their billing, as this affects their commercial value.

But since the leads were Xu Gangsheng and the others, then playing supporting roles for them was naturally no problem.

What's more, the director was Luo Mo!

And precisely because of this, the group photo from the startup ceremony could be said to be filled with stars.

That night, Luo Mo Studio posted this group photo on Weibo.

Following Luo Mo's instructions, they used this to create the first wave of hype for the movie.

And once this group photo was released, it quickly topped the Hot Search list.

"Wow! Luo Mo is finally directing a new film himself."

"*Let the Bullets Fly*? The name is quite interesting, huh."

"Looking forward to it, looking forward to it! Hope it releases soon!"

Because there were too many people in the photo, each person didn't occupy much space in the picture.

Many netizens who wanted to see which Actors were participating had to zoom in to look.

At this moment, Director Tian Ou, who was far away in Beijing, was zooming in on the group photo and starting to look from left to right.

"Liu Xia is also here to act, but why is she standing so far to the side?"

"Why is Xu Long also standing so far to the side?"

"Are they all just making guest appearances?"

"Hiss, there's also Ji Dong, Meng Xiaojun... tsk tsk tsk, all of them are acting powerhouses!"

The more Tian Ou looked, the more envious he became; the more he looked, the more envious he became.

He definitely couldn't assemble a lineup like this.

At this moment, he was holding his phone, his finger dragging across the zoomed-in photo.

Now, he had almost dragged it to the middle of the group photo.

After seeing one person's face clearly, Tian Ou's pupils instantly dilated.

"Zhao Huan! Zhao Huan actually came!"

"Hasn't he already semi-retired? He's very hard to invite!"

"Eh, the person standing next to Zhao Huan is... Chen Zuhe!?"

It was hard for Tian Ou not to be shocked; two semi-retired people coming together was too exaggerated.

These two acting against each other—that's incredible!

And standing beside Chen Zuhe was Luo Mo, whom Tian Ou both felt Evil towards and already held a measure of awe for.

Hmm, as the screenwriter and director, he naturally stood in the very center of the group photo.

A person about the same height as Luo Mo stood on Luo Mo's other side with a smile on his face.

After Tian Ou saw his face clearly, he once suspected that his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"Xu Gangsheng!!!"

"How could it be Xu Gangsheng!?"

"Hasn't he retired from acting for many years, having already left the film and television industry!"

It would have been one thing if the semi-retired Zhao Huan and Chen Zuhe had both come.

Did Xu Gangsheng choose to make a comeback for Luo Mo's new film?!

In an instant, Tian Ou only felt his scalp go numb!

(End of this chapter)