Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 369: Brother, you don’t want people to know about your affair with that scumbag, right?

"Mr. Meng, congratulations."

Dai Ying walked up to Meng Bai with a glass of wine in hand and said, "More than 50 million in box office revenue. This is a record high for online movies."

"Mr. Dai, that's too polite. We and our website complement each other. Without such strong promotional resources, we wouldn't have such high playback data."

Meng Bai smiled and said, "I heard that the film department has received a lot of new films recently. Are there any good projects?"

Dai Ying shook her head: "Most of the films that came in this wave were unable to be shown in theaters, so they wanted to give it a try online. The quality is average, and they basically have to rely on long-term profits."

"That's not bad either. It's the long tail effect, and the accumulated benefits are not small. Just like Netflix, out of many ordinary ones, there are always one or two excellent ones."

"I hope so. Thanks for the good wishes, Mr. Meng."

The two clinked their glasses and took a sip of wine, and Dai Ying asked about the preparations for "The Hidden Corner".

"The filming location was chosen in Zhanjiang. These few months are the hottest and most humid season of the year. The filming has started now, which is in line with the background setting of the story." Meng Bai said.

“When will it be turned on?”

"The current plan is September, but it's hard to say." Meng Bai said: "It's mainly because it's hard to find child actors. Currently only the girl 'Pupu' has been confirmed."

The actor chosen to play "Pupu" is Wang Shengdi, who has worked with Arclight before. This kid is less than eight years old this year, which is just in line with the character setting in the play, and he is also quite talented.

As for the other two boys, "Zhu Chaoyang" and "Yan Liang", they are a little older. There are several alternatives at present, but Xin Shuang still wants to look for more.

The "Yan Liang Trilogy" series was a key website project that Qiyi TV had mentioned in its IPO prospectus, so Dai Ying asked about it with special interest.

But after all, I have been working with ArcLight for such a long time, and I am quite confident about the strength of their team, so I have nothing to worry about.

After chatting for a while, Dai Ying suddenly looked behind Meng Bai.

Meng Bai turned his head following her gaze, only to find that Zhu Xudan had quietly stood behind him at some point.

Seeing that the two had discovered her, the girl quickly put on a smile and said, "Sister Dai Ying, Senior Brother, I'm sorry to bother you."

"It's okay, we were just chatting casually."

Dai Ying returned a gentle smile, looked her over, and praised: "The little dress that Zhuzhu chose tonight is good. It's very beautiful."

"This is my first time attending a celebration banquet as the heroine of a movie, so I wanted to make it a little more formal." Zhu Xudan said a little embarrassedly.

"It's okay. You're the heroine tonight, so it's only right that you dress nicely."

Dai Ying likes Zhu Xudan. A low-budget, unpromoted drama called "Chef Fang in the Flower Garden" became a hit on Qiyi TV last year.

Then this year, the record-breaking film "Soul Ferry: Huangquan" was released, which brought a large amount of traffic to the website.

Although there are many factors here due to Arc Light, she has also taken over this resource, and the conversion effect is also good.

For video websites, what they like most are artists with high cost-effectiveness.

"Although I may sound a bit boastful, my junior sister is quite capable in all aspects." Meng Bai said with a smile, "So if we have any new projects, we can consider her more."

"Boss Meng, why are you still pulling in resources yourself?"

Dai Ying smiled, then frowned slightly and thought seriously: "Well, recently, there is a 'Reboot' series of 'The Lost Tomb' that is being launched, and the role of the heroine in it is not bad. If Zhu Zhu is interested, you can come and try it."

"A reboot of the Pen Steal series?"

Meng Bai was puzzled. His impression of "Grave Robbers' Chronicles" was still on the bronze door, and he was not very clear about the subsequent new works.

After all, the copyright has already been reserved, and it has nothing to do with Arclight.

Dai Ying briefly introduced that according to the story timeline, the first chapter of the "Grave Robbers' Chronicles" series is "The Mystic Nine", followed by the main story. After the main story, there are "Flowers of the Sea", "Sand Sea" and several extra chapters, telling the story of the next generation of the "Iron Triangle".

Then there is "Ten Years of Grave Robbers' Chronicles", where Wu Xie and Fatty go to the Bronze Gate to pick up Zhang Qiling. And the "Reboot" series comes after this, and it probably tells the story of Wu Xie, who has little time left, embarking on an adventure again in order to find his third uncle.

In a sense, "Restart" can be regarded as the final chapter of the entire "Grave Robbers' Chronicles" series - if Nanpai Sanshu does not dig new holes.

"Grave Robbers' Chronicles" is one of the top IPs in domestic entertainment. Although the main film cannot be shot due to censorship, copyright, word of mouth and other reasons, its derivative works are still very popular.

For example, the recently aired "Sand Sea" has attracted a lot of discussion and re-creation online. If it hadn't happened to be paired with the hit "Story of Yanxi Palace", it would have been the champion of the online dramas of the same period.

Speaking of which, although one of these two dramas is a costume palace fighting drama and the other is a suspense adventure, they have been compared together a lot recently.

After all, "Sand Sea" invited Qin Hao to play the "middle-aged Wu Xie", and Qin Lan from "Story of Yanxi Palace" also became popular with the role of "Fu Cha Rongyin" and became the "White Moonlight Shanfeng Sister" in the hearts of countless audiences.

You know, these two were the "local specialty CP" in "Peace Hotel" not long ago, and now they have become rivals in the same period.

Especially when the performance of "Story of Yanxi Palace" surpassed that of "Sand Sea", many viewers joked that even outside of "Peace Hotel", Wang Dading was still controlled by Chen Jiaying.

Even Peace Hotel has recently regained its popularity, with a significant increase in the number of views. Tencent Video probably didn't expect that the two popular TV series would bring a wave of traffic to their platform.

Although the "Grave Robbers' Chronicles" series has always been based on a "trio", the popularity of the IP is there, so the popularity and results are sure to be good.

Zhu Xudan didn't expect that he hadn't done anything, but a big piece of pancake suddenly fell into his hands, and he hurriedly thanked Dai Ying.

Of course, she knew in her heart that the other party was probably doing this for her senior brother's sake, so she turned around and thanked Meng Bai sincerely.

Seeing that Zhu Xudan looked like she had something to say to Meng Bai, Dai Ying didn't stay here for long. She said something to the two of them and left.

"Brother~"

Seeing that there were only two people left, Zhu Xudan immediately stood in front of Meng Bai and called out softly.

Meng Bai looked at the little apprentice sister in front of him. She was wearing a pure white sleeveless lace dress, revealing her delicate arms and legs. Her hair was tied up with a white hairband in a bow, and there were two ribbons hanging down on the left and right, making her look smart and cute.

"This dress is very beautiful today."

"Really? How beautiful is it?"

"As beautiful as you are."

"..."

Zhu Xudan's cheeks turned red, and she couldn't help but feel filled with joy.

With this sentence, it is worth the two days I spent picking clothes.

"Has the filming of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber been completed?"

Meng Bai asked casually, leaning against a table nearby.

"Well, we finished filming in May, but we don't know when it will be aired."

"Let's wait and see whether it's broadcast online or on satellite TV. Online broadcasting should be faster. But if the producer wants to broadcast it on satellite TV, then we'll have to wait."

Although Jin Yong's dramas are classics, they still fall into the category of costume dramas, so the satellite TV station's "ancient drama ban" is just as effective.

But then again, with Li Yitong's "Tong Ronger" before, Meng Bai really wants to see what the effect of Zhu Xudan's version of "Zhou Zhiruo" will be.

After chatting for a few words, Meng Bai saw Tong Liya not far away and prepared to go over to say hello.

He said something to Zhu Xudan, and when he left, he happened to see the wine glass in her hand, and he casually reminded her: "The alcohol content of this wine is not low, don't drink too much, or you will feel uncomfortable later."

"Oh, I know."

Zhu Xudan responded and watched Meng Bai walk towards Tong Liya, pursing her lips in dissatisfaction.

But then, she looked at the wine glass in her hand, seemed to have thought of something, her eyes flashed, and an inexplicable smile slowly appeared at the corner of her mouth.

"Sister."

Meng Bai walked over to Tong Liya, sat down beside her, and asked casually, "I thought Lao Chen came with you." "He's not in Jingbei recently. Why, are you looking for him?"

"It's not a big deal. I just saw you and wanted to ask about the progress of "Detective Chinatown 2." Meng Bai said.

Tong Liya thought for a moment and said, "It should be about time. I heard him mention it once before. He said he was planning to ask you guys to watch the finished film this month."

"This month, that's fine."

Meng Bai had seen the rough cut of "Detective Chinatown 2" before. Compared with the first part, the plot quality of this part was somewhat lower.

After all, he only made a framework outline this time, and many details were completed by Chen Sicheng and the screenwriter team.

As early as the end of the first film, Meng Bai and Chen Sicheng had parted ways.

The film is led by Chen Sicheng, who is responsible for increasing the commercial value of the entire IP; while the web drama is led by Arc Light, whose main task is to connect the "Detective Chinatown" series and the "Green Ivy Detective Universe" and to expand the depth of the background.

As for the effectiveness of this cooperation model, it depends on the performance of the upcoming "Detective Chinatown" web drama and the second part.

The two chatted casually for a few minutes, but were soon interrupted by other guests who arrived.

As the host of today's celebration banquet, Meng Bai was naturally one of the focuses of the whole audience, and many people wanted to say hello to him.

"Congratulations, Mr. Meng."

"Mr. Meng, I'd like to offer you a toast..."

"Hu Guang's strength is well-known in the industry. Mr. Meng, please let's cooperate more when there is an opportunity..."

"..."

Waves of people came over, but fortunately no one dared to persuade him to drink, so he only took a sip each time. But even so, he drank three or four glasses of wine in a short time.

It was not until the second half of the banquet, when he had served everyone, that he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He took advantage of the break to go to the bathroom, but when he came back, he did not rush in, but stayed outside the door for a while to catch his breath.

Fortunately, although he doesn't drink alcohol normally, he has a good alcohol tolerance, so he is still sober at this moment.

He looked at the time and it was almost ten o'clock. He was about to go back to finish the show, but as soon as he turned around, a soft body fell straight into his arms.

Meng Bai first thought that he was being scammed - it's not impossible. Many small-time artists or newcomers who haven't debuted yet will find ways to get into various drinking parties, and then when they see their target, they will pretend to be drunk and pounce on him.

It would be best if it succeeds, but even if it doesn't, there's no loss anyway.

If some big boss takes a fancy to me, you might be able to rise to the top from then on.

Although today's banquet was a celebration banquet, it did not restrict the insiders of the crew and the platform. In addition, many people brought their male or female companions with them, so there were still quite a lot of people, and there might be such a person.

Fortunately, before Meng Bai could push the person away, he smelled a familiar scent of perfume. He looked down and saw the girl in his arms. It was Zhu Xudan.

However, this moment she was no longer the same as before. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked up at him with drunken eyes.

"Didn't I tell you not to drink so much?"

"Not much, I just had one drink."

"Girl, you are holding up two fingers."

"Really? A little more then."

"It's probably a little over a billion."

Meng Bai looked at the drunken girl and sighed, "Sit here for a while. I'll go find your assistant and take you back together."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xudan paused for a moment, then covered his forehead and said, "Brother, my head is a bit uncomfortable... How about you help me get a room, I'll go upstairs and rest for a while."

The celebration party was held in a hotel and we could stay upstairs.

Meng Bai narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at the girl. However, he didn't say anything, but called her assistant over.

"Zhuzhu said she felt a little headache. Go get a room and send her upstairs to rest."

The assistant girl was stunned for a moment, then looked at Zhu Xudan. Seeing her making a gesture to her, she quickly said, "Uh, Mr. Meng, I may not be able to take care of Sister Zhuzhu by myself. How about... could you come with me?"

When she said this, she couldn't help but complain in her heart. She was just a small assistant, but now she was giving orders to the big boss.

Sister Zhuzhu, please don’t mess this up, otherwise I’ll be finished.

Come to think of it, why do I always feel that Mr. Meng’s expression and eyes are weird, as if he has seen through something?

"Okay, then go get a room first."

After hearing what the big boss said, the assistant girl didn't have time to think about it. She hurried to open the room and then "helped" the drunk Zhu Xudan up.

"Well--"

After opening the door and entering the room and putting the person on the bed, the assistant finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But what should I do next? I always feel a little redundant standing here.

Just as she was hesitating whether to ask, she suddenly saw Zhu Xudan, who was lying on the bed, open his eyes a little, and then waved at her secretly.

What does waving your hands mean? I haven't mentioned this before.

Seeing that his assistant didn't respond for a long time, Zhu Xudan sighed inwardly, then pretended to be more sober and sat up.

"Hey, you're already here... Yuanyuan, don't you have something else to do? Just go first. I also have something to talk to my senior brother about."

"Oh, okay, okay." The assistant girl finally understood and said quickly, "Then I'll go back. Mr. Meng, I'll trouble you with Sister Zhuzhu."

After saying that, without waiting for Meng Bai to reply, he bowed to him and left in a hurry.

I have to run fast. I am just an assistant. The right thing to do is not to listen, not to look, and not to ask. If I stay any longer, I might be silenced.

In the room, watching the assistant girl hurried out, Meng Bai turned around and looked at Zhu Xudan who had "awake" and said, "Tell me, don't you have something to talk to me about?"

"Ah, actually it's nothing..." Zhu Xudan said hesitantly, "I just wanted to thank you, Senior Brother, for taking care of me just now."

"Okay, thank you. I got it. I see you're feeling better now, so pack up and rest. I'll be leaving first."

"ah!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xudan became anxious and stood up after shouting. He didn't look drunk at all.

But she didn't have the heart to think about these things at the moment. She pushed Meng Bai against the wall behind her and said with a puffed mouth: "Senior brother, you did it on purpose!"

Looking at the little face so close to him, Meng Bai adjusted his posture and said calmly, "Why did I do that on purpose?"

"You're deliberately hiding from me!" Zhu Xudan stared at him straight in the face. "It's been like this for a long time. I've hinted at it so clearly, but you always pretend not to know."

"Well..."

Without waiting for Meng Bai to speak, Zhu Xudan interrupted him directly: "Humph, let me tell you, I came prepared this time. I have been observing for a long time. I know everything about you, Sister Li Qin, Sister Yi Tong, Senior Sister Song Zhi, and many other people."

"so what?"

Meng Bai raised his eyebrows: "What do you want to say?"

"Now it's not about what I want to say, but what do you need to do?"

Zhu Xudan stared at Meng Bai with a domineering look, propped one hand on the wall, and then tried to tiptoe to do a wall-dong.

"Brother, you don't want Sister Li Qin and the others to know that you are a scumbag, right?"

(End of this chapter)