Rebirth of Chinese Entertainment, the Diary of a 95 Flower

Lemon Pictures meeting room.

“Jiang Yang, you wouldn’t sell me the production rights to the ‘Rose Boy’ music video for a million dollars, which is equivalent to the fee you paid for acting instruction in ‘Fighter of the Destiny’.”

"It's really not worth much money, Mr. Xu, you're losing out," Jiang Yang said with a smile.

I don't plan to sell the music video copyrights.

Lu Han is currently at the peak of his popularity. If he can make this song a hit, he will have many ways to make money from the music video alone.

Advertising revenue sharing on short video platforms in the future.

Music platform revenue sharing, and even karaoke session fees.

In addition to overseas copyright sales, the producer can continuously earn a cut.

If Xu Xiaoou really gets involved, she might just slip other newcomers into the music video.

Who knows, Huang Lei might try to use Xu Xiaoou's connections to force Huang Duoduo into the program, but that would be ridiculous.

"Haha, okay, I get it," Xu Xiaoou laughed.

Unable to fool Jiang Yang, he could only settle for second best: "Let's stick to what we agreed before. I'll arrange the filming teams for your two music videos, 'Starry Sea' and 'Rose Boy.' You can order them around as you please. It'll be hard on you, though. Once filming starts, you'll not only have to teach Lu Han and Gulinazha acting, but you'll also have to compose an opening theme song for 'Fighter of the Destiny.'"

After chatting with Xu Xiaoou.

As he pushed open the conference room door, Xu Xiaou called out to him again: "Jiang Yang, wait a minute, do you still have any thoughts on the equity swap you mentioned last time?"

"Yes, Mr. Xu."

"Chat?"

Xu Xiaoou opened the drawer and took out a new contract.

Not a moment later.

Jiang Yang took the contract, sat back in the old man's Mercedes S-Class, and began to read through it.

There is an equity swap plan.

Lemon Pictures exchanged 1% of its shares for 40% of his company's shares, and he received an additional 500 million yuan in cash difference, or he could make up the difference with the remuneration from his future films.

Then there are intellectual property arrangements.

Lemon Pictures can participate in the copyright development of all songs created in the future.

Next are the clauses regarding the transfer of artist contracts, which are even less of a topic to consider.

Jiang Yang didn't even bother to negotiate the contract, let alone sign it.

Just like Yang Chaoyue quoted Li Yitong and Meng Ziyi a price of 1 billion yuan, how can you negotiate the price?

Not in a hurry.

You could sense that, although he was still asking for an exorbitant amount, Xu Xiaou was more restrained this time than last time.

Because there is no longer a performance-based agreement.

Jiang Yang returned to the Xingying Film and Television Base in the afternoon.

Lu Han still has a lot of fans.

I still can't get in through the front door, so I have to go through the back door.

The entire creative team has made their appearance, and the media interviews have concluded. Now it's time for the final group photo.

The background of the main stage screen is a huge poster of the TV series "Fighter of the Destiny".

The LED screens on both sides continuously play the main actors' costume photos.

Below the stage, there is a jib camera that scans the audience seats, and the image is simultaneously projected onto the screen.

The media cameras were positioned with a dozen DSLRs in the front row, equipped with telephoto lenses, while reporters in the back row held up their phones to broadcast live.

All the important actors and leading actors, as well as the main creative team, took to the stage.

As soon as Lu Han and Gulnazar, the male and female leads, stood in the middle of the first row, the host stirred up the atmosphere: "Where are Lu Han's fans? Let me hear your screams!"

A tsunami of cheers erupted from the audience: "Ahhh!!!"

Lu Han turned around and made a heart shape with his hands towards the fans, which triggered another round of screams. Security guards had to raise their hands to maintain order: "Don't push! Watch out for the steps!"

Jiang Yang stood next to Lu Han in the first row, while Yang Chaoyue, who also had a significant role, stood on the other side.

She raised one hand and gave a peace sign to the camera.

With her other hand, she gently hooked Jiang Yang's fingers together, saying, "Brother Yang, do you know that this morning in front of the live broadcast camera was the first time I said these words to my father?"

"Don't you usually talk to your father like this back in your hometown?" Jiang Yang asked.

"I do it back home too, but not in such a formal way, you know? Anyway, after saying it, I felt like all the hardships I've endured these past few years were worth it. I don't know if my dad saw it, and I'm a little worried..."

"What are you worried about?"

“I’m worried that if my father sees this, he will be sad and feel even more guilty for not having the money to let me finish my studies. I really don’t blame my father, but he has felt guilty about this for a very long time.”

Just finished.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

Yang Chaoyue trembled, as if he had suddenly anticipated something.

He put down the peace sign he was making for the camera, took out his phone, and saw that it was indeed a message from his father.

"Brother Yang, my dad sent me a message!" Yang Chaoyue excitedly patted Jiang Yang's hand.

What I saw from my father was a ten-second voice message.

Jiang Yang didn't say anything, but just smiled.

Yang Chaoyue held up his phone to his ear to listen. A stage manager in the audience saw this and pointed at Yang Chaoyue: "Chaoyue, put your phone away."

He had just uttered the word "leap forward".

Noticing Jiang Yang's gaze, he immediately fell silent, then smiled and said, "It's alright, Chaoyue. The people in the back row haven't taken their positions yet, so it won't be time to take pictures."

Yang Chaoyue didn't notice what the field manager below was saying.

All I could hear was my father's Yancheng dialect: ["Yueyue, Daddy saw it. I turned the phone volume up all the way to watch it. I just went to the village store and bought a bottle of beer. The owner asked me why I was willing to spend money today. I said my daughter was on TV, so we had to celebrate."]
Then came another voice message from Daddy: ["Yueyue, you sang 'Calorie' every day at home for the past month or so. I was so tired of it, it sounded like a crowing rooster. But today, when you sang it on stage, it wasn't bad at all!"]
A few seconds later, I heard my father laughing.

Yang Chaoyue laughed along with him.

After singing Calories on stage, many people praised her.

Lu Han's fans said they sang well, the host said they sang well, and Zhao Lushi, holding up a light stick, said, "Yang Chaoyue, you sang so well, damn it!"

I heard a lot of praise.

None of that can compare to my father's words in his hometown accent, "My daughter's singing is actually quite good."

Yang Chaoyue sent a message: ["Drink less alcohol, it's easy to get high blood pressure and diabetes."]
The father sent a voice message: ["I know, I know, I listen to everything my daughter says."]
Yang Chaoyue sent a message: [“But you can drink a little more today, because so many people saw my daughter today.”]
My phone vibrated; Dad had sent another voice message: ["Your mom just said the same thing. You said exactly the same thing as your mom."]
Yang Chaoyue was stunned.

I almost thought I heard it wrong.

I opened the voice message and listened to it several times.

I couldn't believe it and sent a video call invitation to my father.

Video connected.

My father was smoking in the main hall of our old home. His fingers, holding the cigarette, were slightly yellow and his knuckles were thick.

You can see the rough cement floor, the Spring Festival couplets that I put up with my father during the New Year, and a few bags of fertilizer piled up in the corner.

Father sat inside, against the wall, next to a dark red wooden table with an incense burner on it.

In the corner of the video, there's a new LCD TV that we bought for my dad for Chinese New Year, and a refrigerator. My dad would put all the leftover food he couldn't finish each day, along with the bowls and chopsticks, into it.

"Yueyue, there are so many people at your place!" Daddy said with a grin, revealing his gap-toothed smile.

Yang Chaoyue wanted to ask if his mother had arrived, but he didn't dare to speak.

She just said she missed home and asked her father to hold up his phone and walk around the house.

I didn't see my mother.

Upon exiting the courtyard, one can see the wishing tree at the entrance, with red ribbons swaying on its willow branches.

The text above contains a prayer I wrote for Yang Ge.

Yang Chaoyue tilted the camera towards Jiang Yang: "Brother Yang, look, this is my father."

Jiang Yang put down his phone and waved and smiled at Yang Chaoyue's father in the video.

Chaoyue's father paused for a moment, then quickly threw his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. He steadied the camera, appearing reserved, and switched from his Yancheng accent to broken Mandarin, grinning as he asked, "Boss Jiang, have you eaten yet?"

"I've already eaten." "Hehe, I'm almost eating too, I ate a little late today."

Jiang Yang didn't want to talk any more.

I noticed that Yang Chaoyue was staring at the ground with his eyes down, looking lost in thought.

I understand what's going on.

He took Yang Chaoyue's phone and chatted with Chaoyue's father casually.

After they started chatting, the father couldn't help but ask a few more questions, all of which were out of concern for his daughter.

I'm worried that my straightforward personality might offend people.

I'm worried that if I lose too much weight, my body won't get enough nutrition.

They were worried that Chaoyue's disrespectful speech might anger Jiang Yang.

Jiang Yang responded to each sentence.

They said Chaoyue was doing very well outside.

He said that Chaoyue has a great relationship with his fellow actors.

It's said that Chaoyue is being seen by more and more people, and he's working very hard.

Yang Chaoyue didn't pay attention to what Jiang Yang was talking about with his father.

Looking up, I saw the talent coordinator holding a walkie-talkie, adjusting the actors' positions.

The security captain used his body to block the fans who were trying to push forward.

A makeup artist is touching up the actors' makeup.

Behind him were Xiwei and Haochun, chatting quietly.

Before the Lunar New Year, Xiwei, Haochun, and I auditioned for roles in "Fighter of the Destiny" in front of Xu Xiaoou. Xu Xiaoou's audition requirements were extremely difficult, and without Yang Ge's help, we wouldn't have passed at all.

Filming is about to begin.

It's noticeable that Yang Ge and General Manager Xu's relationship has become closer.

Suddenly, I remembered that during the audition, we performed a family photo. Yang played my father, and Xiwei played my mother... Did my mother really come home? But at this time, isn't my mother working at a zipper factory in Jiaxing?

Yang Chaoyue turned his head to look at Jiang Yang.

Seeing in the video on the phone that his father and Jiang Yang were chatting more and more happily, becoming less reserved, he laughed heartily, revealing a gap in his teeth.

She took the phone.

Speaking in the Yancheng dialect, I chatted with my father for a few words, and then said, "Father, come and take a look in my room."

When my mother was at home, she couldn't stand her room being even a little messy, and she would clean her room frequently.

Even the Kirby body pillow that was askew on the headboard would be tidied up and put away neatly.

The door opens in the shot.

Yang Chaoyue saw that the messy room before he left had been cleaned up spotlessly.

The blue and white school uniforms that were haphazardly stuffed in the closet were straightened and hung on the hanger.

The bedding on the bed was folded into sharp corners.

When the camera focused on the Kirby body pillow on the bedside table, Yang Chaoyue was slightly taken aback.

It's placed upside down.

When I was little, ever since my mom bought this pillow, she always thought the two red feet on the Kirby pillow were ears when she tidied her room.

I always put things upside down when I tidy up.

As soon as I return to my room, I know that my mother has been here and cleaned it.

"Daddy, Mommy really came home?"

Just as Yang Chaoyue was about to ask a question, he saw a middle-aged woman carrying groceries walk in through the door from the corner of the camera.

Skin is dark yellow.

There are fine lines at the corners of my eyes.

She wore a low ponytail, her hair was dry and split at the ends, and there were a few obvious gray hairs at her temples. She had neither the time nor the money to take care of it.

Lean but muscular, with slightly forward-leaning shoulders, the physique of someone who spends long hours bending over on a factory assembly line.

The top was a floral shirt with a slightly loose collar and the cuffs rolled up to the elbows for easy work.

The pants were dark blue polyester trousers, worn shiny at the knees and with mud spots on the cuffs; he had just come back from picking vegetables in the garden.

She called out to Chaoyue's father, "I picked some vegetables, time to eat."

Upon discovering that Chaoyue's father was video chatting with Chaoyue, he smiled and said, "Chaoyue."

Yang Chaoyue froze for a moment, gripping his phone tightly, his voice trembling as he said, "Mom, you're back!"

"Your mom's back. She's been watching your live stream the whole time. After you finished singing, she checked again but didn't see you, so she went to pick vegetables," Dad said with a smile.

Father carried the vegetables to the stove in the courtyard to pick and wash them.

Sitting in Yang Chaoyue's room, her mother continued video chatting with her: "Actually, I didn't want to come back. It was in Jiaxing that my supervisor told me I could have a day off. That's when I found out it was your boss, Mr. Jiang, who contacted my factory and even reimbursed my travel expenses. He said it was your first time on this kind of stage, and that so many people in the live stream would see you. He wanted me to come back and watch the live stream with your father so you could feel at ease."

Hear the words.

Yang Chaoyue understood what was going on.

Yang Ge had never told me these things.

I suddenly felt very guilty.

Yang paid his mother to come home and watch his live stream with his father, but she was still thinking about taking Yang's money.

I received an extra zero in my salary, and I've kept it a secret from Yang Ge until now.

I am so awful.

But I still want to keep it a secret.

Yang Chaoyue's eyes reddened slightly.

I chatted with my mom about things from the past.

I've always known that my mother is still working on the assembly line.

During the Lunar New Year, I would visit my mother's new family in the next village to pay my respects. I would call my mother's new husband "uncle," but we never talked about these things.

I used to blame my mother for leaving so abruptly, for not even wanting me anymore.

But now I understand that my family was too poor, so poor that my parents were always arguing.

My mother was clutching her last train ticket, selling her future to the assembly line.

After I started working, I was always worried about not having enough money, so I would transfer some money to myself from time to time to help myself.

"Mom, please don't leave this time, okay? I have a lot of money in my account now, enough to pay for my sister's tuition until college. You can stay here in our hometown, or live at your house, and take care of my sister's studies. Don't let her go astray. I'll pay you a salary. When I come back, you can come back to my and Dad's house, and we'll take a family photo together, okay?"

At first, Mom refused.

After Yang Chaoyue pleaded with him, he finally tried to agree.

Knowing that their daughter has become successful, they are now willing to use her money.

Chatted for a while.

Hang up video.

He put his phone in his pocket, rubbed the back of his hand against Jiang Yang's, and gently hooked his fingers around Jiang Yang's palm: "Brother Yang, my mom and dad are at home, watching the live stream. They're watching me together, my mom..."

She was smiling as she looked up at Jiang Yang, but somehow, as she spoke, her lips twitched, and she said in a choked voice, "My mother has come home. This is the first time she's come home since the divorce and is having dinner with my father."

Zhao Lushi, who had been staring at them from below the stage, couldn't hear what Yang Chaoyue and Jiang Yang were talking about.

All you could see was Yang Chaoyue's hand hooking and tugging at Jiang Yang's hand.

She shouted, "Jiang Yang! What the hell are you doing, holding Chao Yue's hand like that? Chao Yue is crying!"

Jiang Yang didn't even glance at Zhao Lushi.

He raised his hand and wiped Yang Chaoyue's eyes.

Then he put his arm around Yang Chaoyue's waist, and Yang Chaoyue snuggled into Jiang Yang's arms, resting his forehead on Jiang Yang's shoulder.

Zhao Lushi froze for a second, then shouted anxiously, "It was holding hands, not hugging! You son of a bitch, let go of Chaoyue!" (End of Chapter)