This actor has something

Chapter 382 Flexible Lower Limit
He Daqi realized that he wasn't the only one becoming lax; Ning Hao was doing the same.

When the two of them called each other during the Chinese New Year, they tacitly avoided mentioning the movie preparations. They exchanged New Year's greetings with laughter and then quickly hung up the phone.

After the New Year, no one contacted each other, as if they had forgotten about the movie that needed to be prepared. It wasn't until the company reopened after the New Year that Liu Ying and Wang Jinghua realized something was wrong.

Are you kidding me? With the market so good right now, how can we let them dawdle?

Actually, Liu Ying and Wang Jinghua's urging of He Daqi and Ning Hao is not very effective. If they really wanted to find an excuse, these two could go on and on to the ends of the earth. However, they still have some ambition, so they both said that the Crazy Stone project will definitely be completed this year.

Fortunately, the Crazy Stone 2 project is a concern not only within the company but also outsiders.

The most worried party is China Film Group, because the investment amount is all in their hands. Now, people with connections are trying to find people to squeeze a share out of China Film Group. When the time comes, whether it's negotiating distribution or trying to get people into the film crew, as long as they get into the project first, everything will be easy to talk about.

Han Shanping was very busy after the New Year, with so many things on his hands. In particular, the long-awaited film "Red Cliff" was about to start filming this year, and Han Shanping's mind was focused on it. He had to put other things on hold. The investment in "Red Cliff" was the largest investment in China Film Group's history, so he couldn't help but worry about it.

However, both projects are equally important to him. Red Cliff was invested in by China Film Group, and Crazy Stone 2 was also invested in by China Film Group. If there are no problems this year, he is counting on these two projects. So, when he had some free time, Han Shanping still inquired about Crazy Stone 2 with his subordinates.

When he heard that there was no movement from Ya Yue, he started to overthink things.

The funniest thing is that during the celebration banquet for "After My Flowers Bloom, All Other Flowers Wither" before the Lunar New Year, Han Shanping tested He Daqi, and He Daqi's response was very perfunctory. In addition, Ya Yue was not very attentive in preparing for Crazy Stone 2, which made Han Shanping overthink things.

Could it be that this brat He Daqi doesn't want to cooperate with China Film Group anymore? That won't do!
So, right after the Lantern Festival, on the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, March 5th, Han Shanping stormed into Yonghui Qiming and called He Daqi and Ning Hao to come over.

In the small conference room, Han Shanping looked at the leisurely He Daqi and Ning Hao, and felt a surge of anger.

"Tell me, what difficulties have you encountered? Why haven't you started preparing for the production team yet? I remember the initial investment has already been transferred, right?"

Han Shanping's last question was asked when he turned to Liu Ying and Wang Jinghua.

"Yes, they called." Wang Jinghua nodded with a smile, indicating that the problem was not with Ya Yue, or rather, not with the company's intentions, but with the people involved.

Han Shanping turned to look at He Daqi, wanting to hear how He Daqi would explain.

He's probably been so busy lately that he's forgotten what kind of person He Daqi is.

When He Daqi saw Han Shanping looking at him, he seemed to suddenly realize something, looking completely clueless, and exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Not ready yet? I didn't know, I haven't been paying much attention to this."

This dismissive attitude finally made Han Shanping remember something, and he cursed himself for asking the wrong person.

He ignored He Daqi. There were people at China Film Group who could play the fool better than He Daqi. If Han Shanping cared about everything, he wouldn't be able to do anything productive all day.

"Xiao Ning, I've always had high hopes for you. Tell me, have you encountered any difficulties? Has someone approached you to recommend actors? Or has someone made some promises and wants you to inquire about investment amounts?"

They're just bullying honest people. Han Shanping deliberately made up two unreliable stories to try and trick Ning Hao and see what the real situation was.

"No, no, the production team hasn't even started preparing yet, how could we possibly start recommending actors? I don't have the authority to decide the investment amount either, and even if someone approached me, I wouldn't agree." Ning Hao was taken aback and quickly explained.

Ok?
His explanation caused He Daqi, Han Shanping, Liu Ying, and Wang Jinghua to look at him in surprise.

What do you mean by saying he wouldn't answer even if someone approached him?

Is there really someone blind enough to think they can find a breakthrough by targeting Ning Hao and squeeze out some investment funds?
Han Shanping is now much more at ease. That's good. At least it's not that Asia-Pacific is trying to pull any tricks, or that they're planning to stop cooperating with China Film Group or renegotiate the investment.

Han Shanping's smile brightened, and he found Ning Hao particularly pleasing to the eye now, at least much more so than that little brat.

"Then tell me, what exactly is the problem?"

What's wrong? What else could it be? I just want to take a break. I've been working non-stop on film sets for the past two years, like a mule. Now that my film has hit the box office top in China, I want to take a break for a while.

Thinking of this, Ning Hao glanced at He Daqi without showing any emotion. Damn it! Everyone was tacitly slacking off, but you turned around and started pretending to be stupid!
"Actually, I plan to start filming Crazy Stone 2 around June or July. It will be hot then, and the characters in the story are all wearing short sleeves. If we start filming too early, it will be cold at night during night scenes, and I'm afraid the actors won't be in the right state of mind. Hmm... I think two months of preparation time is enough for this project, so... This month I want to take my wife on a trip. It's been almost three years since we last went on a trip. The last time we went on a trip was when I won a minor award through incense offerings, and we took a detour to Hong Kong."

Upon hearing Ning Hao's answer, Han Shanping realized what was going on. He knew He Daqi's character and knew he must have sensed Ning Hao's thoughts, so he went along with it and started to slack off.

How can young people indulge in comfort? You must strive!

That's what I think, but I certainly wouldn't say it like that. Han Shanping nodded kindly: "You really should go on a trip to relax. You can't always be so tense. But you're still young, and you can't put your career aside for too long. I think a trip of ten days or so would be enough. How about we come back in late March to prepare for the film crew?"

“…Okay.” Ning Hao hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

I originally planned to take a trip abroad, but since I only have about ten days, I'll just travel around the country instead.

"Daqi, Xiaoning is only in charge of Crazy Stone 2, so Crazy Stone 2 will be a little late. I understand what's going on. What about Painted Skin?" Han Shanping changed the subject and started to disgust He Daqi.

You little brat, keep pushing me! You're just pretending to be stupid, anyone can do that, right?

"Uh...it'll be soon, it'll be soon. My current idea is to go to the Beijing Film Academy and find a teacher to give me some guidance." He Daqi said, touching his nose, trying to brush off the doubts he himself didn't believe.

Han Shanping laughed and patted He Daqi's arm. Knowing that He Daqi was a lazy person, he couldn't push him too hard, otherwise he would easily become rebellious. So he said, "I have a lot of faith in the level of Beijing Film Academy. Your school has produced quite a few famous directors."

His words suddenly made Wang Jinghua, who had been absent-minded, brighten up. She glanced at He Daqi subtly, as if she had thought of something.

After learning that the two young people were just trying to slack off, Han Shanping was in a great mood. It was also his fault for overthinking things at first, so he was unusually easy to talk to now. He chatted with He Daqi and Ning Hao for a while before happily leaving Yonghui Qiming.

After watching him enter the elevator, He Daqi smacked his lips, stretched lazily, and wanted to turn around and chat with Ning Hao for a bit, but Ning Hao waved his hand and refused: "Don't talk nonsense to me. I'll sort out the script and then leave. I need to hurry up and figure out where to go for fun."

You think you can just stop talking nonsense? He Daqi, admitting he was going through a rebellious phase, cheerfully followed behind Ning Hao and asked, "Senior brother, where were you originally planning to travel to?"

"...Go to Europe, travel around Europe, and then go to the United States. After all, 'When My Flowers Bloom, All Others Wither' did well at the box office there, so I want to take a trip there. But I don't need to think about it now. Let's study the domestic situation first."

"You could go to Macau and experience the thrill of spending money like water," He Daqi suggested, offering a bad idea. "I'm not crazy yet!" Ning Hao rolled his eyes and continued, "I'm thinking of going to Dali, where it's spring-like all year round, and I'd also like to visit Lijiang, which has become quite popular in recent years."

"What are you afraid of? Just tell Yan Jiu when you go to Macau. Do you think you'll come back naked?" He Daqi teased with a grin.

Ning Hao ignored him and focused on organizing the documents.

He Daqi was quite bored because he didn't respond. It was still early, the two children weren't home, and Zhou Huimin probably hadn't gotten up yet. Going home was a bit boring, so he wandered around and saw Yan Jiu leaning on the desk chatting with Li Yixin. So he went over to listen to the gossip.

Before He Daqi could reach her, Yan Jiu's phone rang. Yan Jiu then spoke to the other person in a polite and respectful tone, speaking in Korean.

He Daqi walked over and nodded to Li Yixin in greeting. After Yan Jiu hung up the phone, he casually asked, "Who was that? And so respectful?"

"My father-in-law," Yan Jiu explained with a smile.

So it was my father-in-law, no wonder... Wait, something's not right!

He Daqi looked at Yan Jiu in surprise: "Back when you were in Bald Eagle, you didn't..."

He didn't say what he meant next, but Yan Jiu understood what He Daqi meant.

Yan Jiu scratched his head with a simple and sincere expression and explained with a smile, "I am currently learning to respect the elderly and care for the young."

He Daqi squinted at him, saying nothing, his face full of disbelief.

Yan Jiu coughed awkwardly, smiled at his wife, and then gestured to He Daqi to the side, indicating that he wanted to go to a corner to explain.

He Daqi's curiosity was piqued, and he wanted to hear the gossip, so he went with Yan Jiu to the window in the corridor.

"Hey, do you remember that smartphone we saw in Bald Eagle?" When the two got to the window, Yan Jiu asked a completely unrelated question.

“I remember, I even allocated funds for Vivian to open an account and buy a lot of their stock.”

Yan Jiu's eyes widened in surprise. "Damn! Didn't you say it was hard to buy? Where did you get it?"

After thinking for a moment, he was too lazy to ask He Daqi for specific details, so he continued to explain: "Ever since I learned about smartphones, I have been paying attention to this matter. Didn't you say that there wouldn't be much fluctuation in the domestic market in the next year or two? So I went to investigate the market and found that our domestic manufacturing industry is quite impressive, especially the mid-range electronic assembly industry."

Yan Jiu spoke in a very sophisticated way, about the mid-range electronic assembly industry, which left He Daqi stunned and speechless.

After a while, seeing that Yan Jiu was not speaking, he realized that he should be the straight man.

"What are you referring to as the mid-range electronic assembly industry?"

"It's just rebranding and assembling mobile phones."

"Weren't we talking about your father-in-law?"

"Yes, after I discovered this industry, I also found out that my father-in-law's company was upstream in the industry," Yan Jiu explained innocently.

Alright, He Daqi has figured out what to do next.

He clicked his tongue as he looked at Yan Jiu, and couldn't help but chirp, "I didn't expect you to have such a flexible bottom line."

"There's no other way. If I don't be flexible, I can't let Yixin be caught in the middle and suffer. Besides, it's not shameful to have the opportunity to build a career and make money."

"Yes, not at all shabby." He Daqi nodded seriously. This melon is good. He'll tell Zhou Huimin about it when he gets back.

"So... Mr. He, could you lend me some money? I had a pretty good chat with my father-in-law during the Chinese New Year, and he agreed that I could buy two low-end production lines from him at a discount to assemble and rebrand in China," Yan Jiu said with a grin.

Good heavens! They're trying to take advantage of us?
He Daqi was both amused and exasperated, feeling that this whole thing was pretty ridiculous.

"Why don't you ask Brother Rui? He's got plenty of money."

“He… I’m afraid he’ll tell my biological father. Also, he doesn’t have much money to work with, and I don’t want to use that money to invest in real industries.”

That's true," He Daqi nodded, then asked, "How much are you planning to borrow? Let's be clear first. Even close brothers should keep clear accounts. You need to offer something as collateral. I know you have some assets, but there are some that I can't use as collateral. You understand?"

"Is two hundred million okay?"

Wow! You own so many businesses?

"No, it's not that. I was just thinking of mortgaging half of it, and then you could consider the other half as your investment," Yan Jiu explained with a grin.

"Brother, you've lost your mind!" He Daqi turned and left.

"Mr. He! Mr. He! Don't rush, there's still room for discussion." Yan Jiu anxiously followed behind He Daqi.

"Two low-end production lines, valued at 200 million yuan. I feel like your father-in-law is trying to teach you a lesson."

Yan Jiu quickly grabbed He Daqi's arm: "It's really not what you think, Mr. He. How about this, I'll show the proposal to Mr. Wang, but you have to promise me that Mr. Wang won't tell my family."

He Daqi turned around and carefully examined Yan Jiu. The fact that he agreed to let the proposal go through Wang Rui's hands meant that Yan Jiu had a certain level of confidence.

"Let Rui take a look first, and we can talk about the rest later. But even if I lend you money, I won't invest it in my own name. We'll discuss how to proceed later."

(End of this chapter)