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

Chapter 435 Hello Comrades, Thank You for Your Hard Work

"Is this Hetian blue-white jade?"

"Wow, I didn't realize you really understand."

"I've studied it before, but I couldn't afford it at that time, so I could only look at it." Li Yitong stroked the delicate feel of the bracelet and smiled, "I can afford it after filming, but it's not convenient to wear it on the set."

"It sounds a bit like work. I have money but no time, or I have time but no money." Meng Bai said, "Take it and try it."

Li Yitong picked up the bracelet, put it on her hand and tried it out. It was just the right size, and her eyes immediately narrowed again.

"How about it?"

She stretched out her arm in front of Meng Bai and swung it. Her slender wrist looked like a piece of white and tender lotus root against the backdrop of the emerald green jade bracelet, making people want to take a bite.

Thinking of this, Meng Bai couldn't help but grab her wrist and bite it lightly.

"You, what are you doing?" Li Yitong was frightened by his actions and asked with blinking eyes.

"Show me your appreciation."

"Uh - your way of expressing yourself is quite unusual... and quite strange.

Under Meng Bai's sight, Li Yitong wisely chose a suitable adjective.

Meng Bai withdrew his gaze with satisfaction and looked at the gift box again: "You haven't finished looking at the gift yet."

"And what's more! You plan to give out three years' worth of gifts all at once, so you don't have to give out gifts for the next two years, right?"

Li Yitong muttered something, but still took the gift box. As expected, there was something like a certificate at the bottom of the box.

"What is this?"

She took out the certificate and turned it over to the front: "Real Estate Certificate... What, Landlord Meng doesn't want to rent it out anymore, so he plans to sell it to me directly? Let me make it clear first, I can't afford it."

Meng Bai pointed at the certificate with his chin: "Take another look at what it is?"

"Yes, isn't this the property certificate? Could it be another house...eh? Wait, Shuangyushu, HD District, Beijing North...why does this address sound familiar?"

Li Yitong looked at the location on the certificate, and some memories from many years ago gradually emerged in her mind.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, with a look of surprise on her face: "You bought back our teahouse?"

"It's your teahouse." Meng Bai said with a smile, "How can you be considered Boss Li if you don't even have a shop?"

The house on the property certificate is not the large flat that Li Yitong lives in now, but the teahouse that she failed to run.

It was because the teahouse business was not doing well that the girl switched careers and became an actress.

Meng Bai had asked around and found out that the shop had been vacant not long ago, so he went straight to the owner and bought it.

"This land is empty anyway, you can open a teahouse again. You can also find some friends to go with you, take some photos and post on Weibo, etc., to help you attract business."

Li Yitong frowned: "But I don't have time."

"I'm not asking you to look after it by yourself. Just find two people to manage it. You don't rely on it for a living anyway. Just treat it as your own private space." Meng Bai said.

Li Yitong suddenly realized, yes, she was just dwelling on a dead end. This is not like starting a business right after graduation. Anyway, the shop has been bought and the cost is not much. Just find someone to look after it. It doesn't matter if there is business or not. It's just for fun.

Most importantly, this teahouse records the memories of when Meng Bai and I first met.

That should have been around 2011 or 2012, when Meng Bai was still a newly graduated young screenwriter. Occasionally, he would discuss scripts with people, but coffee shops were crowded and expensive, so he would take them to teahouses, calling it elegant.

Because he was the most frequent visitor and his good looks helped, they became familiar with each other. There were not many customers in the teahouse, so the owner Li Yitong would stay behind the counter and secretly watch him, and then gossip with Hua Yan after the people left.

Li Yitong showed a reminiscing smile on her face. Who could have imagined at that time that the situation would be like this a few years later.

She raised her head and looked across, smiling with crescent eyes: "Meng Bai, thank you for your gift, I'm very happy."

Meng Bai touched his chin and said, "That's it? Just thank you and that's it?"

"Then what else do you want?" Li Yitong said in a rare coquettish tone.

Meng Bai didn't say anything, but hooked his finger, motioning her to sit over.

Li Yitong's cheeks flushed, but she did not refuse. She walked over obediently and then sat on the other's legs face to face.

"Now it's all right, you want to... ugh!"

Before she could finish her words, Meng Bai grabbed her waist and pulled her into his arms, then blocked her mouth.

The river breeze blew gently, and the bustling noise from the Bund in the distance had dissipated by the time it reached the center of the river. The deck was silent, leaving only the sound of soft clicking.

Besides them, there were other boats on the river. Although they were far away from each other, who knew if they had telescopes like their yacht, so it was not really safe.

"I know." Meng Bai leaned close to her ear and whispered, "The cabin is downstairs, and the stairs are closed, so no one will come up to disturb us."

"Well, let's go down then."

"But my brother said that he is feeling a bit uncomfortable and may not be able to leave for the time being."

Meng Bai's fingers brushed across Li Yitong's lips and raised his eyebrows: "How about you help him first?"

"Huh - I knew you were planning this..."

Li Yitong rolled her eyes at him, but didn't refuse.

The girl rolled her eyes at him.

"Tsk, what a bargain for these fish and shrimp." Meng Bai sighed.

"It's okay. The Huangpu River doesn't flow north. It doesn't matter."

"Haha, then I thank you on behalf of the people of Shanghai."

"It should be done."

Ignoring Li Yitong's sidelong glance at him, Meng Bai stretched out his arms comfortably and then picked her up horizontally.

"Ah! What?"

"The appetizers are over, and the main course will naturally follow."

Meng Bai walked into the cabin holding Li Yitong, and waves of charming voices floated out from the window and spread into the moonlit night over the autumn river.
-
They had a New Year's Eve party on their birthday and both of them felt great.

In the next few days, one of them went to a meeting during the day, and the other went to the crew. At night, they returned to the hotel and continued to spend time together.

Pinduoduo's shareholders' meeting and board meeting lasted for three days. Meng Bai stayed for another day before saying goodbye to Li Yitong and returning to northern Beijing.

As soon as he came back, he received an invitation that surprised him. "Watch the National Day ceremony?"

Compared with those technology companies and physical companies, these companies in the film and television industry are not as good as others. In comparison, only the young man Meng Bai has the best performance, so the cultural department recommended him.

This is the National Day viewing ceremony that happens once every ten years, not to mention that he was invited as an industry representative. What a grand occasion!

"That's great. Should I stand on the city wall too?" Meng Bai asked.

Tsk, thinking back to when I was in school, I learned that the founding ceremony was also held under the same city wall. It makes me a little excited just thinking about it.

Unfortunately, Director Nie ruthlessly destroyed his fantasy.

"What good things are you thinking! Standing on the tower?" Director Nie scolded with a smile: "Among the entrepreneur representatives, only Mr. Xu from Evergrande can go up, and the others are all below. The area where you watch the ceremony is behind the national flag in the square, which is also a very close location."

"Oh, I see." Meng Bai smacked his lips. It was a pity that he couldn't go up and feel it. "That's fine."

"Your tone sounds a bit reluctant, how about I change someone else?"

"No, no, Director Nie, I won't force you at all. I'll go." Meng Bai said with a smile: "Thank you, leader, for still thinking of me."

"You're welcome. We complement each other."

After a few words, Director Nie gave some additional instructions and then hung up the phone.

Not to mention, the Radio and Television Bureau was quite quick. In just two days, they sent Meng Bai's invitation letter and guest certificate.

The guest card is about the size of an ID card, all red, with the words "70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" written on the top. Below is Meng Bai's photo, name, and information code. One card per person to prevent someone from sneaking in.

In fact, this guest certificate is not only available to people like Meng Bai. Those with some connections can ask someone to get it, and ordinary citizens can also apply for it on the official website - of course, you can imagine how low the probability of getting it is.

Looking at the invitation letter and guest certificate in his hand, Meng Bai was still very satisfied, and even posted a circle of friends after a long time.

He was usually too lazy to send out ordinary things, and only things of this level were worthy of President Meng's showing off.

Sure enough, as soon as this circle of friends was posted, it was filled with likes and comments.

Meng Bai's WeChat friends are either familiar practitioners in the industry, celebrities, or bosses of cooperative companies. These people have seen everything, but when faced with such a high level as "National Day Ceremony Invitation", they also half-jokingly expressed envy.

However, he was not the only one who was invited. Among the people he knew, there were Wu Jing and Tong Liya.

Senior sister Tong Liya even called him and said they could go together. But then he found out that the two viewing areas were different, so he had to give up with some regret.

Although many people in the circle of friends called out "Mr. Meng, please take me with you", most of them were just joking. However, there were still some people who didn't think of being polite and called directly.

"Uncle, please help me get a viewing pass as well." Meng Ziyi's voice came over the phone with a bit of a coquettish tone.

"You want everything?" Meng Bai said, "Besides, aren't you going to join the group?"

"The filming will start after the National Day, and I have a lot of free time recently." Meng Ziyi's sweet voice came over, "Okay, little uncle?"

"I'll ask for you, but it may not work."

"I understand, I understand. If I get it, I'm lucky. If I lose it, I'm doomed."

In order to avoid having to bother two people with the same matter, Meng Bai called Director Nie again and asked if he could give him another spot.

Unexpectedly, there really were some. Director Nie directly gave him two, but they were both ordinary spots, and the viewing area was relatively outside, not as good as his invited one.

Naturally, Meng Bai would not be picky. He thanked Director Nie solemnly and said that he had just returned from Shanghai and brought some local specialties with him. He would visit him when it was convenient.

After getting two places, Meng Bai was about to contact Meng Ziyi, but then he stopped and sent a message to Li Qin and the other girls to ask if anyone wanted to participate.

Of course, he asked them one by one, and only moved on to the next one after he determined who would not participate.

Li Qin, Li Yitong and Song Zhi were all filming. Zhu Xudan was originally very interested, but when she heard that she couldn't be with Meng Bai, she immediately lost interest.

In that case, the only benefit would be given to my eldest niece.

"Wow, it really exists!"

Meng Ziyi said excitedly on the phone: "I love you, little uncle!"

"Don't come on, it's disgusting." Meng Bai said, "There are two places. If you have friends, you can invite them to come along."

"Friends..." Meng Ziyi thought for a while, "Hey, I haven't seen Chaoyue for a long time, I'll ask her if she has time then."

"Come on, Xiao Yang's schedule is even busier than yours. How can she have the time to join in the fun?" Meng Bai said.

Meng Ziyi was not giving up: "Let's try it first. If she doesn't have time, I'll find someone else. Otherwise, if she finds out, she'll accuse me of cheating or something."

"Tsk tsk, I didn't realize that our sister Meng is also a passionate person."

"I've already told you not to call me Huahua." Meng Ziyi said, "Besides, when it comes to being a playboy, I'm no match for you, little uncle."

"Comrade Meng Ziyi, I hope you can be careful with your wording. The quota is still in my hands."

"I'm sorry, uncle, I was wrong!"

After giving away the quota, Meng Bai no longer cares who Meng Ziyi invites. This girl has many friends, so she doesn't have to worry about no one to accompany her.

Taking advantage of the few days left before National Day, Meng Bai dealt with several of ArcLight's current projects.

This year's two films, "The Accidental Murderer" and "Famous", have both finished filming and are currently in post-production. If all goes well, they will be released during the summer of next year. Of course, in order to avoid cannibalism, the specific release dates must be staggered.

In terms of film and television dramas, the post-production of "The Undocumented Crime" at the beginning of the year has basically been completed, and Qiyi TV is preparing to start broadcasting before the end of the year, which just matches the atmosphere of heavy snow in the story.

"The Silent Truth" has also been completed, and post-production will take some time, so it will not be released until next year at the earliest.

With the success of "The Bad Kids", Meng Bai is very optimistic about this drama with a similarly large storyline. In addition, he himself likes this story very much, so he pays extra attention to it.

When "The Bad Kids" was being broadcast, the BGM "Little White Boat" in the film also became popular, which made Meng Bai and others begin to pay attention to the additive effect of music on the drama.

Actually, when Soul Ferry 2 was filmed, the song "Red Ling" was also very popular. However, because the first part performed well, it was hard to tell whether it was the effect of this song or the appeal of the IP "Pendulum", so I didn't pay much attention to it later.

Although efforts were made in the soundtracks of subsequent works, most of them were pure music that matched the plot, and there was no song like "Red Ling" that could stand alone.

Maybe you can start with "The Silent Truth".

The inspiration fragments in Meng Bai's mind were mainly plot stories, with a few variety show plans interspersed, but there were really not many songs. Therefore, he specifically asked the crew to find someone to cooperate with for a suitable promotional song.

In addition to these completed and prepared projects, Arc Light has also recently been working on registering several previously released films for this year's Golden Rooster Awards.

According to the requirements of the Golden Rooster Awards, "The Wandering Earth", "Detective Chinatown 2" and "City of Lights" are all within the registration scope for this year.

Since they meet the requirements, Arclight submitted all three films at once. As for which awards will be nominated in the end, it depends on the preferences of the judging panel.

(End of this chapter)