Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 264 [Celestial Official Saves Lives] (6600)

Chapter 258 [Celestial Official Saves Lives] (6600)

In the parking lot of the high-speed rail station, Zhao Shanhe led Chen Yan into a dirty-looking second-hand Buick sedan.

He opened the car door and smiled at Chen Yan, "Brother, let's make do this time. Our business is doing very well right now. Next time you come, I'll pick you up in my Maybach!"

Chen Yan laughed, patted his brother on the shoulder, and opened the passenger door to get in.

Zhao Shanhe told Chen Yan that after the company was established, his parents were very supportive of his business and gave him a sum of start-up capital. With this money, plus the money Chen Yan invested, Zhao Shanhe started the company, hired a few people for operations, and contacted several online platforms for promotion.

His parents also provided him with some resources, mainly filming opportunities in Hengdian.

Zhao Shanhe's parents were both local strongmen, born and raised in Hengdian. They made their living off the land and water, working as a casting director for over twenty years, dealing with various film crews and being familiar with many film and television resources in Hengdian.

Through the parents' efforts, they were able to rent filming equipment, costumes, and props at the lowest possible prices. They were also able to rent filming locations and venues at the lowest possible prices.

It can be said that Zhao Shanhe's original idea of ​​a "live-action immersive script-based murder mystery film shooting tour" quickly entered a period of rapid development after its opening.

The novel model, unique experience, and positive word-of-mouth have even created a climate of word-of-mouth recommendations among users.

Given the Zhao family's unique local resources, even if others want to get involved and make a profit, they won't be able to compete with Zhao Shanhe in the short term.

Your costs for renting filming equipment, venues, costumes, props, and hiring filming crew are all higher than Zhao Shanhe's! So how can you compete with the Zhao family?

In the long run, some people with local resources may enter the market, but in the short term, before the market reacts, this track is almost entirely dominated by Zhao Shanhe.

"We should be profitable by the end of the year at the latest." Zhao Shanhe said to Chen Yan with a smug smile as he drove, "If it weren't for the promotion and publicity of this new tourism model on the platform, which cost a lot of money, we could have made a profit much earlier. But I'll be making a big splash at the end of the year!"

Chen Yan sat in the car listening, a genuine smile on his face, truly happy that his only close friend from university had found a starting point for his career.

Zhao Shanhe was in high spirits when he took out his phone and tossed it to Chen Yan, telling him to open the photo album and watch the videos.

After Chen Yan opened the phone, he saw that there were many videos on it, all of which were the finished products of some tour groups filmed in previous business.

A group of women in their forties and fifties, dressed as imperial concubines from the Qing Dynasty, were filming a classic scene from the TV series "The Legend of Zhen Huan".

Chen Yan opened the app and saw a middle-aged woman, heavily made up and dressed in the attire of an imperial concubine, kneeling on the ground and loudly reciting her lines:

"Your Majesty, I hereby accuse Consort Xi of committing immoral acts within the palace; her crime is unforgivable!"

Chen Yan almost burst out laughing when he saw it.

"Wow, there are actually people willing to do this kind of business!"

"That's right. Right now, the most popular tour group in our company is the one featuring the TV series 'The Legend of Zhen Huan.' The price for a regular tour has already risen to 8,000 yuan and up. And for those who want to experience the main characters, the customized premium tours, such as the Four Wolves, Zhen Huan, the Empress, and Consort Hua, cost at least 20,000 yuan and up to book."

Chen Yan thought for a moment: "What if everyone wants to play the lead role, but no one wants to play a supporting role? How can we form a group like that?"

Zhao Shanhe laughed heartily: "Brother! Have you forgotten what my family does? My parents are among the most senior extras here! They can mobilize thousands of extras at any time without any problem!"

Finding someone to play a supporting role and act in a few scenes isn't difficult, is it? An extra only gets a hundred yuan a day! Someone with some acting skills, what we call a "special guest" in this industry, only gets two to five hundred yuan a day.

Everyone wants to play Zhen Huan? No problem! Just pay up! Pay a 20,000 yuan troupe fee, and then an extra 5,000 yuan. I can find ten and a half extras in no time to play the Empress, Consort Hua, and the Fourth Prince! They'll let her indulge in all the scenes she wants to film!

As he spoke, Zhao Shanhe grinned and said, "Just last week, there was a client who was determined to play Zhen Huan, another client who was determined to play Consort Hua, and I specially paired them up with a client who was willing to play the Empress."

That's 60,000 yuan in customized tour fees!

For the other roles, I found a few extras to fill in.

After three days of filming, and deducting all costs, I made a net profit of 38,000 yuan, though I was tearful!

Zhao Shanhe has really taken off. According to him, his travel company, which operates on a model similar to "Good Dream Day Trip," has already expanded several times over.

At its peak, six film crews were shooting simultaneously in the film studio on the same day.

Although he only gets paid to accompany tourists to film some self-entertaining, pretend videos, Zhao Shanhe now talks about "several groups," "director," "who to find for the cameraman," and "props group" all the time.

They act just like some kind of film and television mogul.

"Last month, the company's revenue exceeded two million."

Zhao Shanhe, full of vigor, laughed and said, "I've already considered purchasing a batch of equipment myself—since the business revenue growth curve is very stable and the prospects are good, it's not cost-effective to lease equipment long-term. It's better to purchase a batch myself, which can also be converted into fixed assets and operating costs for the company..."

Along the way, Zhao Shanhe explained his business acumen in detail, and even planned to take Chen Yan back to the company to take a look.

"As the second-largest shareholder, you should at least take a look at the accounts!"

Chen Yan politely declined with a smile—he could sense Zhao Shanhe's sincerity, but Chen Yan didn't care about the money at all. He had only invested in Zhao Shanhe to support his brother's business venture, and had no intention of making any money from it.

"Well, we'll be profitable by the end of the year, which will cover all the initial investment costs. We'll also gradually reduce our online platform promotion expenses—mainly by starting to deploy promotions in stages, instead of the initial massive spending. We'll be more targeted in our advertising, which will reduce promotion costs."

I still need to negotiate with the platform to try and get some preferential treatment and resource allocation from them..."

Watching Zhao Shanhe speak eloquently, the last trace of his student-like demeanor had almost completely faded away—if back in school, calling him "General Manager Zhao" was somewhat of a joke, now, calling him "General Manager Zhao" felt like the title was truly fitting.

Zhao Shanhe talked the whole way, and Chen Yan barely interrupted, just smiling as he watched his brother talk with a smug look on his face.

Finally, Zhao Shanhe noticed Chen Yan's silence, turned to look at him, and found that he was just smiling at him. Zhao Shanhe couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed and smiled, "Brother, why aren't you saying anything?"

"Yes, you've changed a lot." Chen Yan sighed. "You give me the feeling of being full of vigor and high spirits now! You don't seem to have the heartbroken look you had before you left Jinling Prefecture."

Zhao Shanhe quieted down. After a moment of silence, he said in a low voice, "Brother, the person I'm most grateful to in this life is you! If I hadn't met you in Jinling these past few years, I would have died in the river long ago. If you hadn't given me that final wake-up call, I would have been ruined by that scumbag woman."

Chen Yan took a deep breath: "Then live well! Live a wonderful life."

"...Yes, that's for sure!"

The car finally arrived at the film studio.

Chen Yan had never been to this place before, but he had seen some short videos online, which said that entering the film studio required some kind of certificate or procedure.

However, Zhao Shanhe was indeed a local bigwig. He simply asked someone to make a call, got some kind of ID, put it around Chen Yan's neck, put his arm around Chen Yan's shoulder, and swaggered into the film studio.

"Brother, how about we go check out our own 'film set' first? The company has two sets right now, one of which is filming 'Princess Returning Pig' not far from here. Want to go visit the set? Let's see the empire I've built for you!"

Chen Yan smiled and waved his hand, his tone calm: "I'm not going. Take me to Lin Xianyu's film crew instead."

Zhao Shanhe's eyes widened in surprise: "No way, bro, are you serious? You're really here to see Lin Xianyu?"

"correct."

Zhao Shanhe stood still, hesitated for a moment, and seemed conflicted, but he still gritted his teeth and gently patted Chen Yan's shoulder: "Brother, don't blame me for talking too much. Because of my family's business, I've been around Hengdian since I was a child. I've seen a lot of female stars and actresses in the film and television industry... I've seen all kinds of gossip and scandals circulating in Hengdian since I was a child."

It's best to avoid talking about female celebrities in the entertainment industry if possible. That circle is very chaotic and murky; most people can't handle it.

I know you're rich and powerful, but... female celebrities are just something to look at; don't get too caught up in them.

Besides, I think Lu Sisi is a really good person to you. As for you, I can tell she's given you her whole heart, brother, I think…”

Chen Yan smiled.

He knew that only a true brother or friend would say such things to Zhao Shanhe.

"You're overthinking it. I'm not here to pick up female celebrities. I really have business to discuss with Lin Xianyu on that set. I know her, and we've already made an appointment."

Zhao Shanhe was taken aback, then suddenly a thought struck him, and he laughed, "Brother, you're not looking for Lin Xianyu, planning to collaborate with her on some kind of charity project, are you?"

Chen Yan smiled...

There's nothing wrong with doing charity projects, but the problem is that we need to protect Lin Xianyu, this tool for accumulating merit, first.

However, since Zhao Shanhe had misunderstood, it saved Chen Yan some trouble, so he simply went with the flow and said, "That's about right, hurry up and take me there."

Zhao Shanhe, being a local expert, quickly found out the location of Lin Xianyu's film crew.

I heard they're shooting interior scenes today, in some kind of studio.

Zhao Shanhe led Chen Yan all the way there. After they arrived, Chen Yan sent another message to Lin Xianyu, but Zhao Shanhe refused to leave, as if he was still a little worried about Chen Yan and stayed there to accompany him.

A while later, a bright-looking young woman, probably an assistant, rushed out of the studio. After recognizing Chen Yan, she bowed repeatedly and greeted him, "Teacher Chen Yan, right? Um... Sister Xianyu is currently filming and couldn't come out to greet you, so she asked me to come and invite you in."

As she spoke, she glanced at Zhao Shanhe and asked, "And this gentleman is..."

"I'm Zhao, the Director of the Content Division at Shanhe Media," Zhao Shanhe replied, maintaining a haughty demeanor.

"Yes, this is my friend, we're together." Chen Yan looked at Zhao Shanhe's pretentious self-introduction and added, suppressing a laugh.

Shanhe Media?

Upon hearing this, the assistant mentally went through a list of companies in the industry that he knew and was familiar with.

I've never heard of this company.

Well, new companies are constantly emerging in the entertainment industry, so maybe this one just popped up recently.

She dared not be negligent—in this industry, many seemingly unknown companies might just be shell companies temporarily set up by some big capital behind them for some project. Their names may be unfamiliar, but their actual strength is terrifying.

The assistant quickly greeted Zhao Shanhe politely, bowing and scraping, "Hello, Teacher Zhao!"

Well, Chen Yan is also speechless about the custom in the entertainment industry of calling everyone "teacher".

With the assistant leading the way, the two entered the photography studio area. Chen Yan and Zhao Shanhe walked behind, with Zhao Shanhe still holding Chen Yan's shoulder, and said in a low voice with a smile, "You'll have to get used to it... In the entertainment industry, everyone is a 'teacher.' If a brick falls, it can hit eight teachers!"

Because Lin Xianyu was still filming, the assistant took the two of them directly to a luxury RV.

This RV belonged to Lin Xianyu herself and was used on set—as a top-tier actress and the biggest star in the crew, this kind of treatment was standard. After Chen Yan and the other person got into the RV, they found it had a sofa and chairs, a separate bathroom, a makeup artist, and even a rest room.

The assistant prepared drinks and tea for the two of them, and after politely staying with them for a few minutes, made an excuse to leave.

Chen Yan and Zhao Shanhe sat in the car. Zhao Shanhe took out a cigarette, hesitated for a moment, looked at the exquisite and high-end interior, and finally felt embarrassed to light it.

Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside. Then the car door was opened, and a fragrant figure jumped out quickly. Upon seeing Chen Yan, she suddenly knelt down on the car floor with a thud!

"My lord! Help me!!"

click!
Zhao Shanhe crushed the cigarette pack in his hand! His eyes widened as he stared at the stunningly beautiful, radiant top-tier actress kneeling on the ground, looking pitifully at his good brother…

The moment Lin Xianyu knelt on the ground, she saw Zhao Shanhe sitting to her side.

However, the fox demon reacted extremely quickly. After her expression changed several times, a smile spread across her face. She scrambled to her feet and grinned at Chen Yan, saying, "How was it? My acting was pretty good, wasn't it? That was a scene from the play. Did it give you a fright?"

Chen Yan looked at the skewered demon in front of him with a half-smile, without saying a word.

"Is...is this a joke..." Zhao Shanhe swallowed hard and forced a smile, "Um, Miss Lin, are you very familiar with my brother?"

Lin Xianyu glanced quickly at Zhao Shanhe, then quickly at Chen Yan, and the two exchanged a look...

Who is Lin Xianyu? A fox demon!
At the same time, she's a top-tier actress in the entertainment industry, so she's seen it all.

"We're close! He and I... are partners in doing charity work. Yeah, we've known each other... for quite a while."

Lin Xianyu spoke very casually.

Zhao Shanhe looked at Chen Yan: "I had no idea you knew such a big star."

Chen Yan waved his hand: "Just netizens."

As he spoke, Chen Yan asked Lin Xianyu, "I came in a hurry, do you have any work to do today?"

"That's it. The coordinator rescheduled all my scenes. Filming ended today, and I don't have any scenes until the day after tomorrow." Lin Xianyu shook her head quickly, then picked up a cup from the table, poured herself a glass of water, and drank it.

Zhao Shanhe was stunned for a moment—this was the cup Chen Yan had drunk from.

Outside the car, the assistant caught up and handed Lin Xianyu a thermos. Lin Xianyu drank the water while waving at the assistant. After gulping down the water, she exhaled and said to the assistant, "Cancel all my schedules and social engagements from today to the day after tomorrow. Just say I'm sick from filming."

After saying that, without waiting for the assistant to stop talking, he waved his hand to send her away.

The assistant pleaded pitifully, "Um, Sister Xianyu, you should at least go see President Zhang first, right? He came all the way from the company to visit the set; it wouldn't be right if you didn't show your face..."

"trouble!"

Lin Xianyu sighed, rubbed her temples helplessly, and said apologetically to Chen Yan, "Xian... Teacher Chen Yan, Mr. Zhang is the boss of my agency. He came to visit the set today, so I have to go and say hello. Wait here for me for a while. I'll be back in half an hour at most... um, fifteen minutes at most!"

After saying that, she lifted her skirt with both hands, jumped out of the car in a flash, and ran away like the wind, ignoring her assistant's disheveled pursuit.

The car fell silent. Zhao Shanhe swallowed hard before finally looking at Chen Yan with a complicated expression: "...Brother, tell me the truth...when did this happen?"

"..." Chen Yan shook his head: "Don't talk nonsense, I only have one girlfriend, Lu Sisi."

"Got it, not the legal wife, but a mistress kept in the entertainment industry, right?" Zhao Shanhe suddenly became excited, but lowered his voice: "Brother, tell me the truth... just how powerful and rich is your family!"

"A top star like Lin Xianyu would be willing to be your mistress without a formal title?"

Looking at Chen Yan, Zhao Shanhe suddenly couldn't help but imagine a typical plot in his mind.

The heir to a wealthy family lives a low-key life, keeping a low profile while secretly investing heavily in the entertainment industry to make his mistress a top star...

What kind of female-oriented plot is this?!

"Alright, alright, I won't ask any more questions." Zhao Shanhe chuckled, but shook his head and said, "I'd better go first, brother. It seems I don't need to make any arrangements for you today."

"Delete all those messy thoughts from your head. I'm here to do serious business," Chen Yan shook his head.

"Understood! Understood! Get down to business!" Zhao Shanhe rolled his eyes.

Getting down to business?

I think you're here to deal with Lin Xianyu!

"Brother, I still have to remind you, don't get too deeply involved with women in the entertainment industry," Zhao Shanhe sighed.

Chen Yan felt helpless, but didn't want to explain too much, so he simply changed the subject: "Why are you so concerned about my private life? What about yours?"
It's been a few months since I returned to Hengdian. Has another junior sister or something appeared in my life?
"You hang around here every day on various film sets, surrounded by actresses and beauties, haven't you ever had any designs on them?"

"Forget it!" Zhao Shanhe shook his head repeatedly: "I would never touch a woman in the entertainment industry."

He looked at Chen Yan and said in a low voice, "Brother, it's not that they're all bad people, there are good ones too, but... I've seen and heard too many disgusting things."

There are lots of beautiful women in this circle.

For example, Lin Xianyu, I have to say: Beautiful!

That's fucking beautiful!
With her looks, figure, and alluring eyes, she deserves a 95 out of 100!

But why should we do that?

Such top-tier looks and figure are truly rare.

But if you go to a club, you won't find someone with a 95-point appearance.

Those who score 80 are everywhere, you can just find them anywhere!

I'll find two people who get 80 points! If that doesn't work, I'll find three! Four!
Two scores of 80 make a total of 160!

Three scores of 80 make a total of 240!

It's definitely higher than 95 points!

Zhao Shanhe seemed to have truly seen the light, and said firmly, "At least until I'm forty, I will never consider any real feelings."

Even if the God of Love himself turned the red thread into steel wire and wrapped it around me, I would still take a pair of pliers and cut it!

With that, Zhao Shanhe stood up to say goodbye, winking at Chen Yan as he left: "Brother, be careful! Call me if you need anything, and I'll have someone bring it to you."

Zhao Shanhe then left, departing decisively.

After Chen Yan waited in the car for a while, Lin Xianyu returned again, but when she came back, there was a hint of impatience in her eyes.

"My lord... wait, where's your friend?"

"I'm leaving." Chen Yan shook his head.

"Sorry, the boss of the agency is too annoying." Lin Xianyu shook her head: "My agency contract expires in a year, and they're keeping a close eye on me for the next year."

"Then how dare you treat them so poorly?" Chen Yan asked with a smile.

"I'm not afraid. I'm at the peak of my career right now. They're the ones begging me to renew my contract." Lin Xianyu shook her head.

Then she respectfully bowed deeply to Chen Yan, brewed tea herself, and presented it with both hands: "My Lord Immortal, only you can save my life this time!"
I listened to you before and spent so much money donating everywhere, giving away all my wealth! Wasn't it all just so I could stay in this world and be accepted by the natural order of things?
I've already paid such a high price, I don't want to go back to any realm!

"Or, could you talk to the higher-ups and ask them not to take me back to the realm? Okay?"

As she spoke, Lin Xianyu gritted her teeth: "Sir, please see who you need to find, or if you need to spend money to pull strings, I can pay for it! I..."

"The currency used in this realm is not the Dragon Kingdom Coin," Chen Yan said with a smile and a shake of his head.

Lin Xianyu's face paled, startled: "Then...you don't mean I have to sleep with you?! I, I can't do that!! My primordial yin is still intact! I'm not old enough; losing my primordial yin too early will affect my cultivation!!"

Chen Yan observed Lin Xianyu's behavior—he could tell that Lin Xianyu's manner of speaking and tone were slightly exaggerated.

"Alright, don't put on that act in front of me. Now that I'm here, I'm naturally willing to help you."

Now, tell me the whole story honestly—don't exaggerate, tell me the truth, and don't mislead my judgment!

Lin Xianyu's expression was somewhat strange. After hesitating for a while, she finally spoke.

"Well, someone contacted me, saying he was from the Inspection Division, and showed me some kind of official jade slip from the Domain Inspection Division, saying he wanted to assimilate me back to the Domain."

This person contacted me twice; the first time, their attitude was just to discuss it.

The second time, they told me directly that I had been put on the list and that I had to undergo naturalization and gather at the boundary wall at a specified time…

After a pause, Lin Xianyu seemed somewhat dissatisfied and muttered, "That person was acting suspiciously; his eyes didn't look like those of a good person!"

"What do you mean?"

"When he looked at me, his eyes were lecherous."

Chen Yan was silent for a moment, then frowned and asked, "Did he come to see you in person? What does he look like?"

"Old man! Pervert! A perverted old man!"

Chen Yan suddenly had a thought.

The Patrol Division!

What a lewd old man!

Amorous!

Huh?
I think I actually know someone like that!
(End of this chapter)