After five bigwigs in Beijing's elite circle fell into their trap, I fled.

Chapter 178 The Crown Prince's Birthday Banquet
10 month 1 day.

Imperial Capital Hotel.

The heavily guarded hotel was filled with top billionaires from around the world, each with their own bodyguard team, which completely surrounded the hotel.

The six members of the micro-drama troupe, along with several temporarily recruited lead actors, stopped at the hotel entrance.

Jiang Tao, a member of the club, swallowed hard: "President, is the first filming location you chose really in this hotel? But I see the hotel is completely sealed off. Can we still film there?"

Nie Dingyi was also terrified: "This is my uncle's hotel. Today is the birthday banquet for the young master of FY. I called my uncle on my way here, and he told me not to cause trouble today..."

Jiang Shu asked Xu Yan, "Have Uncle Xu and the others gone inside yet?"

"We've arrived, they're waiting for us," Xu Yan sent a message. "He's coming to pick us up now."

Two minutes later, Xu Zhao, accompanied by the assistant director, strode out of the hotel. His face lit up with joy upon seeing the group waiting at the door.
"Xiaoshu, have you been waiting long? Come in quickly, Uncle has prepared some refreshing drinks for you. Let's drink them and rest for a while before we start."

After saying that, he didn't even look at Xu Yan and the others, and directly led Jiang Shu into the hotel.

Xu Yan and the others followed behind.

Nie Dingyi and the others were in a daze: "Junior Sister Xu, your father is Director Xu Zhao?"

“Yes.” Xu Yan nodded. “You should have heard of him. The shooting techniques of two of his films have been included in the directing textbooks.”

"I recognize you! The hottest director right now!" Zhang Tian took a deep breath. "I never expected my junior to have such a powerful background! Our ultimate goal in entering this industry is to become your dad!"

"Then work hard for Xiaoshu. You'll see how my dad treats her..."

Ahead, Jiang Shu was led through the bustling banquet hall. Inside, the FY Crown Prince Feng Li, dressed in noble attire, leaned lazily against the embossed screen, chatting idly with a group of wealthy businessmen surrounding him.

Jiang Tao and the others only caught a glimpse of the crowd from afar, and they couldn't help but be stunned: "How can there be such a handsome man in the world..."

Nie Dingyi: "Don't look around carelessly, or you might offend those top big shots."

The group made their way to a side hall.

Xu Zhao gave Jiang Shu a brief introduction to the crew, then pointed to the screenwriter: "Xiao Shu, I read the script you sent me this morning. Is this your first time writing one?"

Jiang Shu nodded: "I know it has many shortcomings."

“It’s normal. You have no experience, so it’s already quite good that you were able to write it from beginning to end. But if you want to study screenwriting in depth in the future, you should learn from this screenwriter Zhang in the next few days.”

“I haven’t thought about studying it in depth. My friends can’t stand the scripts I write. Once I’m done with these busy days, the company will recruit a few screenwriting majors. After we’ve recruited them, I’ll send them to the production team. I also hope Uncle Xu will be generous with his guidance and give them more opportunities to learn.”

"Oh, Xiaoshu, you're not going to write the script yourself anymore, right? That's great, great!" Xu Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, thinking about the waves of embarrassment he felt when he read the script produced by Jiang Shu with Xu Yan early in the morning!

He beckoned to Xu Yan and the others: "Yanzi has given me a brief overview of your strengths. This filming will mainly be handled by you yourselves; my entire team will only provide support and guidance when necessary..."

"Thank you, Director Xu! Thank you, Director Xu!" Nie Dingyi and the others were so excited they were almost incoherent. "We never imagined we'd have the chance to speak to you, Director Xu!"

"I'm just a director with some talent. Come here, everyone, familiarize yourselves with the filming equipment. Jiang Tao, you're good at behind-the-scenes work, so go with the props team and learn how to set up scenes and props. Nie Dingyi, you go with the cinematographer; they'll teach you some camerawork knowledge that you can't learn from books..." Xu Zhao assigned the members one by one before looking at a few innocent-looking men and women: "Is this group the actors for this drama?"

Xu Yan nodded: "They are all freshmen from the Beijing Film Academy. They were temporarily recruited by Jiang Tao and his team. After filming this drama, they will select the most talented ones to stay in the club."

Xu Zhao looked at the innocent and helpless actors and lowered his voice to hint to his daughter: "The ones you found are probably just average in appearance and talent. When you get back, just mention that the micro-drama club has reached a long-term cooperation with us, and I guarantee that those promising talents with some fame will be lining up to fill your club's doors."

Xu Yan glanced at him and said, "Dad, don't get involved. These are all actors that Jiang Shu chose herself—purely for exposure. They didn't ask for a single penny, and each of them even paid an extra three thousand as an exposure fee."

Director Xu: "..."

He changed the subject and beckoned to Jiang Shu and Xu Yan: "You two follow me, I'll personally teach you camera work and overall control."

Ten minutes later, Jiang Shu sat down in a chair, looked at the row of camera equipment around her, and asked the nervous male and female leads, "Are you ready?"

"Ready, ready!"

"Scene 1, start shooting!"

……

After thirty-six takes, Jiang Shu looked at the finished footage and frowned in dissatisfaction.

"Call the male lead over."

The male lead, looking somewhat tired and apprehensive, humbly asked, "Director, is there anything else that needs improvement?"

“You’re the richest man in the world.” Jiang Shu paused for a moment. “Be more confident, be more arrogant, and don’t act so timid. After decades of living a life of luxury, even if you’ve been betrayed in love, you shouldn’t be so timid and inferior.”

The male lead was a little bewildered: "I've tried my best to imagine myself as having hundreds of billions in assets... Director, I'm still feeling a bit naive."

"I'll give you twenty minutes. Go to the main hall next door," Jiang Shu ordered. "Go see Feng Li, Li Yubai, and Yan Yu. With their online exposure, you should be able to recognize them. Just stand aside and observe them carefully, learn from their gestures and the air they exude that comes with money."

The male lead almost knelt down: "Director, I've tried for hundreds of years and still can't learn that kind of temperament, and I don't have their stunning beauty..."

“I’m not asking you to copy it exactly.” Jiang Shu’s expression was slightly irritated. “Twenty minutes isn’t enough time to expect you to learn much. The main thing is to observe Feng Li, see how he laughs, how agitated he is, how he acts up, and how he looks straight ahead as if no one else is around. Just pick something simple to learn.”

The male protagonist left with trepidation.

Jiang Shu opened the script: "Let's shoot scene five first."

Xu Zhao immediately took out a highlighter and leaned closer: "Xiao Shu, I want to ask you what you plan to do with this place..."

Jiang Shu thought for a moment: "This is an important scene where the second male lead becomes beautiful. I'm planning to borrow a mask. What do you think, Uncle Xu?"

“Masks are a last resort.” Xu Zhao opened his phone and found a scene from a currently popular period drama featuring a handsome man making his entrance. “Why don’t you try this method of using blurred backgrounds and close-ups of facial features?”

Jiang Shu's eyes lit up: "Uncle Xu, then tell me again about the filming techniques used to portray the white moonlight's entrance..."

(End of this chapter)