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

Chapter 433 Boss Li at the Age of Thirty
Shanghu, Chedun Film and Television Base.

In a retro Republic of China-style villa, people were coming and going at this time, and the hall was full of filming equipment. There was a sign hanging on the door frame at the entrance, which read "Filming of "The Rebel" crew".

"Den!"

In the lounge, Li Yitong opened her mobile phone screen for the tenth time. Looking at the still empty message notification bar, she couldn't help but pursed her lips.

I clicked on Meng Bai’s avatar on WeChat, and the chat box was still stuck on the message I sent that morning: “Are you busy tomorrow?”

It's okay, she comforted herself in her heart. That childish guy always liked to come up with some surprises, and this time would definitely be no exception - maybe he has already come to Shanghai, and just wanted to wait until she was anxious before suddenly appearing.

"call--"

Thinking of this, Li Yitong calmed down a little and breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, she opened the screen for the eleventh time and confirmed again that Meng Bai still hadn't replied to her message.

The main reason why she cares so much is because tomorrow is her birthday. As her last birthday before turning 30, Li Yitong still hopes to spend it with the man she loves.

It’s just that this annoying guy hasn’t replied to her messages since morning, and no one knows what he’s doing.

The crew had just finished filming a scene and it was time for a break, so she could only look at the script for the next scene bored.

Just as he was half-dazed, the door of the lounge suddenly opened, and his assistant ran in.

"Sister Tongtong." The assistant said with some excitement, "It seems someone is here."

Li Yitong was instantly cheered up when she heard this.

"Did you see him?"

"No." The assistant shook his head, and then hurriedly said under the boss's gaze: "I saw Director Zhou received a call, and then he and the production teacher went out together, saying that they were going to pick someone up. I thought that the only person who could let them go together should be President Meng."

Li Yitong was stunned. What the assistant said seemed to make sense.

"Let's go out and take a look."

Whether you have come or not, just go and take a look and you will know.

……

On the other side, at the entrance of the villa studio.

"Haha, Senior Brother."

Meng Bai looked at the man wearing glasses in front of him and said with a smile: "After so many years, we can finally work together again."

"Yes, I finally have the opportunity to work with President Meng."

The man who was speaking was Zhou You, and he had known Meng Bai for a long time. When Meng Bai was filming his first web drama "Soul Ferry", he asked Wu Bailai, who he introduced to him, to direct it.

But at that time, Zhou You was an executive director of Noon Sunshine, and Meng Bai was a rookie screenwriter who had just attracted investment.

Unexpectedly, after just a few years, their respective situations have changed drastically.

"I remember when we were filming The Pretender, I said that I would call him President Meng from now on." Zhou You said with emotion, "I didn't expect that he is really President Meng now."

Meng Bai smiled and said, "It's okay. If you're not used to it, I can accept you calling me boss directly."

"No, just call me Mr. Meng, haha."

Although they had not seen each other for many years and their statuses were very different now, they still had a close relationship, so Meng Bai did not put on airs. After exchanging a few pleasantries at the door and greeting the producer and others, he walked in with them.

As he walked, Meng Bai also asked about the situation of the crew.

The drama currently being filmed is Arclight’s third spy project after “Peace Hotel” and “Secret and Great”, and is called “The Rebel”.

The story begins in 1936. Lin Nansheng, a student of the Fuxing Society's Special Service Training Class, is spotted by Chen Moqun, the station chief of Shanghu District, and is tasked with capturing underground party members lurking in the Fuxing Society. Later, during the course of many missions, he is inspired by Red Party members such as Gu Shenyan, Ji Zhongyuan, Zhu Yizhen, and Zuo Qiuming, and thus finds the true way to save the country.

Speaking of the "Fuxing Society", this name is relatively unfamiliar. This organization was an external organization of the "Lixing Society" established by the Kuomintang in 1932. Later, with the continuous reforms of the head Dai Yunong, it slowly evolved until the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War. In 1938, it was finally reorganized into the Investigation and Statistics Bureau of the Kuomintang Military Commission.

Alternatively, it could be replaced by a more well-known name - Military Control Commission.

Just looking at the plot of "The Rebel", it is actually no different from other spy war dramas. But the most special thing about this drama is that the protagonist Lin Nansheng's motivation for transformation from a staunch Kuomintang spy to truly identifying with the party's ideas and willing to follow the same path is very rare.

In most of the previous spy war dramas, if the male protagonist was from the Kuomintang, the initial reason why he eventually embarked on the red path was mostly because of the inspiration and sacrifice of a female protagonist or supporting role.

This design was originally intended to show the hero's humanity. After all, in the spy war dramas of the old days, the protagonists either appeared with firm beliefs or awakened immediately after hearing the call. After watching too many of these characters, the audience felt that these characters were very "fake".

However, as the saying goes, "anti-routine" becomes a new routine after watching it for a long time. After watching too many spy dramas with "humanized male protagonists", the audience gradually got tired of it.

In addition, as this group of young people in the Internet age began to grow up and mature, they gradually began to understand the spirit of "patriotism" and "red" that they once sneered at, and naturally began to feel dissatisfied with the setting of this "humanized protagonist".

Just like the cycle of trends, the new generation of young audiences have once again begun to demand the feelings of "spiritual inspiration" and "faith identification".

Just like the male protagonist Lin Nansheng in "The Rebel", although there are many Red Party members around him and he sympathizes with them, he always believes that the Kuomintang is the real way to save China.

But when he saw that the stationmaster Chen Moqun was wrongly accused of internal strife and then defected to the enemy, and when he discovered the various discords among the top leaders of the Kuomintang, he finally wavered in his persistence.

It was not until he heard Comrade Desheng's "On Protracted War" on the radio while recuperating in Hong Kong that he had a new spiritual guidance. At the same time, it also made him understand why the Red Road was the only way to save the country.

It was from that time that the male protagonist Lin Nansheng finally decided to join the Red Party to overthrow the rule of the Japanese invaders and the Kuomintang and establish a new country.

This is also the biggest difference between "The Rebel" and other spy war dramas at their core - only faith is the most profound power.

This drama was produced by Tianqi Entertainment, and Meng Bai was not the producer. When I saw that the director was Zhou You, I thought it was the same name at first. It was not until I asked clearly that I found out that it was the same person.

Like most other film and television companies, Noon Sunshine has been affected by the film and television winter, and the number of projects launched since last year has also been greatly reduced. Although it is a "top brand" of Chinese dramas like Arc Light, it cannot resist the fact that the TV drama market itself is also on a downward trend.

A few years ago, Noon Sunshine tried web dramas, which had good reputation but average returns. In addition, the quality of web dramas was relatively low at that time, so they later returned to the field of TV dramas. But now the entire TV drama market is declining, and it is said that Hou Hongliang and others have begun discussing whether to restart the web drama project.

Of course, before that, we have to ensure that the company's revenue is normal. Since there are not many projects of our own, we can take on external projects.

So starting from the second half of last year, except for the top directors such as Kong Sheng and Li Xue, the rest of the creative staff began to connect with external resources.

The same is true for "The Rebel", which is the second "Non-Noon" foreign film directed by Zhou You.

Walking in with Zhou You and others, Meng Bai could see a few familiar-looking staff members from time to time. After all, half of the staff in the entire crew were from the Arc Light team.

The main actors are similar. The male lead Lin Nansheng is played by Zhu Yilong, who previously played the male lead Lin Mo in the web drama version of "Detective Chinatown". The second male lead Chen Moqun is played by Wang Yang, who also played the actor in "Arc". And the female lead Zhu Yizhen. When preparing for the film, Li Yitong had just finished filming "The Great Girl" with her bestie Jin Chen, so Meng Bai gave her the role.

Thinking of this, Meng Bai couldn't help but recall the WeChat message the girl sent him in the morning.

"Are you busy tomorrow?" This approach of not wanting to say it clearly but at the same time playing it straight is really in line with Boss Li's character.

Of course Meng Bai deliberately didn't reply to her message, just wanting to give her a sudden surprise.

But then again, after knowing each other for so many years, she could probably guess what I was thinking.

Just as he was thinking this, Meng Bai suddenly stopped.

Not far from the set, Li Yitong, wearing a retro Republic of China dress, was standing there, looking at him with affectionate eyes.

Meng Bai couldn't help but smile, and then he quietly said "wait for me".

Li Yitong naturally understood the silent message. She smiled with her crescent-shaped eyes and nodded, then opened her mouth and silently lip-synced, "You go ahead and do your thing first."

Meng Bai smiled back and then regained his focus.

He patiently watched the filming situation of the crew with Zhou You, and checked the financial records of the production team. Fortunately, everything was fine.

He greeted Hua Yan behind him and announced that all the crew members would be treated to an extra meal in the evening. Only then did Meng Bai end his "temporary raid" amid the cheers of the entire crew.

"Hey, isn't this Mr. Meng?"

Li Yitong looked at Meng Bai who came in, smiling, but still teasing, "It's such an honor that you condescended to come to the crew to visit us young actors in person."

Meng Bai was not moved at all. He waved his hand to let the assistant who was trying not to laugh go out, and then closed the door of the lounge. He then looked at the other party and said, "Since you know it's an honor, why don't you come over and let Mr. Meng hug you? Maybe this little actor can get more resources for the female lead."

"Wow, it turns out that there is a heroine in Hug!"

Li Yitong walked over slowly, then suddenly pinched Meng Bai, trying to look vicious and said, "Teacher Meng is very skilled in this business. It seems that he often uses this excuse to deceive other girls."

"There are so many." Meng Bai held her hand, talking nonsense while pulling her into his arms, "Isn't there one right in front of you?"

Feeling the familiar and warm breath, Li Yitong's attempt to suppress her joy suddenly failed.

"This is not something you tricked her into doing. She wanted to do this herself."

The two hugged for a long time before they finally ended it, but they did not separate. Meng Bai found a chair to sit down, and Li Yitong sat on his lap facing him, hugging his neck.

"Why didn't you reply to my WeChat?" Li Yitong stared at him and asked.

"I was busy getting on the plane at the time, and when I was about to call you, a call came in, and I forgot about it for a moment." Meng Bai said: "When I remembered it later, I thought that since I was about to arrive in Shanghai, I might as well come to see you directly."

"I thought you weren't coming."

"How could that be?" Meng Bai said in an exaggerated tone, "Boss Li's 30th birthday is such a big event, how could I not come?"

"Twenty-nine! Twenty-nine!"

Li Yitong patted him twice in anger: "You are obviously 29 years old, how can you be 30?"

"We Shandong people are very particular about our age."

"In a place like this, we can ignore these traditions!"

"Ok."

Only after Meng Bai swore never to mention "thirty years old" and admitted that "Boss Li is always twenty-nine years old" did Li Yitong smile again.

"I have two more performances this afternoon, so I might not finish until the evening."

"I know. I just asked your director." Meng Bai was not surprised. "It just so happens that I have to go out this afternoon. I'll pick you up after you finish filming in the evening."

"That's okay too."

Li Yitong nodded and asked casually, "What are you going to do this afternoon?"

"I had an investment project in Shanghai before and made some money this year. I happened to come here for a meeting these two days." Meng Bai replied in a flat tone.

Li Yitong knew that Arc Light had a lot of investments besides film and television, so she didn't take it seriously and instead started talking about where to go for dinner in the evening and celebrating her birthday at midnight.

"Don't worry, just follow me when the time comes." Meng Bai smiled mysteriously.

Li Yitong knew that this guy must be deliberately keeping the secret, so although she was curious, she resisted the urge to ask.

It’s just one afternoon, I can still hold it in.

Meng Bai thought of another thing: "You didn't ask Daxi to come with you now, did you?"

"No, she took on a new drama a while ago and is still filming. She told me yesterday that the crew is on a tight schedule, so she probably won't be able to come. She'll make it up to me after she finishes filming."

"What kind of role did she take?" Meng Bai asked casually.

"It seems to be a costume drama, I didn't ask too much." Li Yitong said.

Because she was delayed by the company for nearly two years, Jin Chen's popularity dropped sharply. Although she has signed with Taiyang Chuanhe, it is still difficult for her to get resources for the female lead, so she can only start over as a supporting role.

Li Yitong was afraid that her best friend would feel uncomfortable, so she didn't ask any further questions.

"It's just a supporting actress, it's good to have a role to play." Meng Bai said: "Let's see if there is a suitable role later and introduce it to her."

"Why are you so concerned about Daxi? Are you trying to attract my best friend's attention again?" Li Yitong looked at him suspiciously.

"...Didn't I tell you already, who is interested in her plain appearance?" Meng Bai said in a natural tone.

"Don't say that about my bestie!"

"Hey, you've said all these good and bad things, right?"

"Yeah, I am just such a hypocrite, hehe... Hey, I was wrong, I was wrong! Don't stay here, wait until night..."

(End of this chapter)