Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 92 Helping to Seize Resources
Chen Shouzhe glanced at the script and found no problems; it was still the same old military stuff, which showed how much effort Wu Jing had put into military themes.

"No problem, what's the budget for the movie?"

After finishing reading the script in the living room, Chen Shou asked Wu Jing, who looked apprehensive.

Xie Nan, who had been helping in the kitchen, kept looking up in this direction, and a smile appeared on Chen Shou's face when he heard this.

“The budget is forty million,” Wu Jing said.

How much have you prepared so far?

"I plan to sell the house and raise 20 million."

"So you're saying you're still short about 30 million?" Chen Shou asked.

"Mm." Wu Jing nodded.

“Thirty million isn’t much. This is Tao Le’s phone number. I’ll talk to him and we can coordinate with him later. I’ll invest the thirty million,” Chen Shou said.

"Really?" Wu Jing asked excitedly.

"Would I lie to you?" Chen Shou chuckled.

"Thank you, Director Chen, thank you!!" Wu Jing excitedly grasped Chen Shouzhe's hand, while Chen Shouzhe grinned at her.

"Ouch, let go of me, it hurts so much!" Chen Shou, with his delicate skin, was no match for someone like Wu Jing who was skilled in martial arts.

Wu Jing then calmed down, apologized repeatedly, and then hugged his wife and spun her around.

"Put me down, put me down quickly!" Xie Nan was startled and kept patting Wu Jing.

"Are you that happy?" Chen Shou asked, shaking his hand as he looked at them.

"Back then, some people ran themselves ragged trying to earn a few million, even crying while eating," the teacher's wife said as she walked over.

"Who is it?" Xie Nan asked after coming down.

"But he had it much harder than you did back then.

"Master's wife, it's all in the past," Chen Shou said with a blush.

"Yes, it's all in the past. Those who have been caught in the rain will hold an umbrella for others. My son has grown up," the teacher's wife said with a smile.

"What a startle! I wondered who it was. What brings you all here?" Just then, a voice came from upstairs, and Yu Qian appeared at the top of the stairs, his eyes still sleepy.

"I'm sorry, Brother Qian, I disturbed your rest," Wu Jing said immediately.

"It's nothing, I'm already awake and watching the news," Yu Qian waved his hand and said.

"What news are you watching?" the teacher's wife asked curiously.

"What else could it be? You went to the bookstore to tell stories last night!" Yu Qian said, looking at Chen Shou.

"Yeah, I went and had some fun," Chen Shou nodded.

"Storytelling can be addictive?" Xie Nan asked in surprise.

“Performing crosstalk can be addictive. Otherwise, how could he have persisted when he wasn’t making money? It’s all a hobby. After all, it’s something he’s been doing since elementary school. It’s impossible to make him give it all up. Storytelling is quite good,” Yu Qian said.

"What's going on online?" the teacher's wife asked curiously.

"It's nothing," Yu Qian waved his hand.

"Hmph, I'll see for myself." The teacher's wife picked up her phone and looked at it herself. "The food is in the kitchen. It's your breakfast. There's not much meat. Wu Jing and Xie Nan, you can have some too."

"Okay, sister-in-law." Wu Jing nodded, while Xie Nan and his teacher's wife had already picked up their phones and started browsing Weibo.

Sure enough, there was a lot of news about Chen Shouzhe, all about him telling ghost stories.

The three of them each finished a large bowl of noodles and agreed to drink together that night. They said they wouldn't drink since they stayed up late the night before, but they would drink a little since there was no performance that night.

Wu Jing said there was no problem, and he was happy that Chen Shouzhe had invested. He was finally relieved and started talking about the movie.

After finishing their meal, Master's wife and Xie Nan finally finished watching the news. Master's wife frowned and said, "These netizens are making a mountain out of a molehill. Gods, demons, and monsters are part of our culture. The West has God and ghosts too. Why do they say ours is superstition and theirs is faith? If that's the case, wouldn't we have to smash all the temples in the country first?"

"Ignore those people, Master's wife. If I hadn't been the one saying that, there wouldn't be so much trouble. No matter how good the Heavenly King's songs are, they're not as loud as their farts. There are plenty of people like that, so just ignore them," Chen Shou said indifferently.

If he's so petty about these things, he might as well die. If movie fans are cursing him, that's one thing, since they paid for tickets to see the movie, so they can curse him however they want. But to curse someone who just watched a pirated copy, it just means he doesn't have a mother, and he's only cursing because he's jealous that others do.

"But these people are going too far. They're manipulating public opinion as if you've committed some heinous crime," the master's wife said angrily.

"That's why I told you not to watch it. You'll just get angry afterward. There are all kinds of people online. Who hasn't been criticized under the spotlight?" Yu Qian picked up a cigarette and offered it to the two of them.

His master's wife glared at him and said, "Xie Nan is pregnant."

"Then I'll go outside," Yu Qian said, standing up.

Chen Shou and Wu Jing went out together. They decided to drink here that night. The three of them were a bit few, so Yu Qian called Yu Entai and invited a few of his friends who played music over as well.

It's unclear who leaked the word, but more and more people came, eventually numbering over twenty, including members of the rock music scene and the film and television industry.

Wang Banbi and his girlfriend Zhang Ziyi also came, and Zhou Xun also came with her boyfriend.

With so many people, it was hard to control them. Soon, photos of their gathering appeared on Weibo. Yu Qian sat in the middle, and Chen Shouzhe sat in the corner. They were all smoking and drinking. If you didn't look closely, you couldn't even recognize Chen Shouzhe, since his hair had grown long and his beard had come out.

The photo immediately sparked heated discussion, with many expressing envy for their gathering, enjoying meat and drinks. "Isn't that Director Chen grilling in the corner with his head down?"

"Wow, is the big director in charge of the barbecue?"

"I didn't hear Director Jiang Wen say that everyone has their own opinions. In Yu Qian's family, Chen Shou is like an apprentice or a son."

"Why doesn't Director Chen dress up a bit? He's so handsome, why does he have to be sealed away?"

"It's not like I make a living off my looks."

"Wu Jing is so happy, but her singing is really awful."

"I want to join."

"Smoking in public places, don't you have any sense of public morality?"

"I knew this would happen. Let me explain: that's Yu Qian's horse farm, his home. It's not big, just a few dozen acres."

"The merchant girl knows not the sorrow of losing her country, and still sings the song of Houtinghua across the river."

"Nine-year-old fish?"

……

After a lively day, those who had business to attend to the next day were picked up by car, while those who didn't stayed overnight at the horse farm.

Chen Shouzhe spent the night at the horse farm, and the next day he continued working.

In April, Warner Bros. announced that The Matrix had been officially greenlit and casting had begun.

Domestic media reports have also undoubtedly put Chen Shouzhe in the spotlight once again.

Everyone knew that Chen Shouzhe was definitely involved, but they could only watch him eat meat and drink alcohol without being able to do anything about it.

Many companies have wanted to go global, but their capabilities were limited, and they were simply unable to make money overseas.

Only Chen Shou continued to release one film after another, reaping huge profits in the US dollar box office.

Chung Lai-fan was in charge of operations, and she felt this was a good opportunity to promote "The Martian," both of which are science fiction films.

Previously, some people questioned Chen Shouzhe's science fiction films, but now that Hollywood giants have taken a liking to Chen Shouzhe's science fiction scripts, it naturally proves how excellent Chen Shouzhe's science fiction films are.

Under Zhong Lifan's management, a lot of media outlets emerged to publicize this matter.

The overwhelming publicity has attracted even people who don't follow movies. Just how hard is China's first hard science fiction film?

Spoilers have started to appear in the form of rumors. In order to film the movie, the crew and the Academy of Agricultural Sciences simulated the Martian environment to grow potatoes. They actually grew potatoes. The whole process was filmed. In the end, the potatoes were even cooked and eaten by the crew.

Several lead actors are promoting their films. Liu Yifei, who has been absent from the public eye for a long time, has two movies scheduled for release this summer: one is the fourth installment in Enlight Media's series, and the other is "The Martian".

Although she was the lead actress in that movie, it couldn't compare to the second female lead in "The Martian".

The first three films in the series only grossed a little over 500 million at the box office, while one of their movies had an investment of 400 million. How can you compare them?

Can martial arts films compare to science fiction blockbusters?
So Liu Yifei's fans are all looking forward to it, and they are really crazy about it, creating a huge online marketing campaign that has added a lot of buzz to the movie.

Good actors enhance a film, especially those starring Gong Li; many people say they'll go to the cinema to see them.

It's still a few months before it's released, but people are already getting impatient.

"You see, this is one of the advantages of having an operations director in the company," Chen Shou said to Tao Le with a smile.

"I truly admire her," Tao Le said without reservation.

The two are getting along better and better, and have a clear division of labor, with the man taking care of the home and the woman taking care of external affairs.

Tao Le is in charge of the company's internal operations, while Zhong Lifan is in charge of external business.

The two had a clear division of labor, which reduced a lot of pressure on Chen Shouzhe, allowing him to devote himself fully to the film's production.

Inside Chen Shouzhe's villa, Yang Mi, who had been married for six months, brought Reba to the villa. The car drove straight into the villa, providing excellent privacy.

The two had already told Chen Shouzhe about their return. When Chen Shouzhe returned to the villa, the two were watching a movie in their room, "The Day After Tomorrow".

The movie "The Day After Tomorrow" will be released in the country in a few days, but Chen Shou already has movies to watch here.

After they finished reading, Chen Shou was already drinking and reading at the bar.

"There's a project that would be perfect for Hot Bar, and I hope you can step in and secure it," Yang Mi said directly to Chen Shouzhe.

"What project?" Chen Shouzhe looked up at the two of them.

Seeing Chen Shouzhe's wet hair, Reba's heart pounded. At this moment, Chen Shouzhe was a completely different person. Only up close could you see how handsome he was. Although he was not old, he looked like a middle-aged man, exuding a mature charm.

“It’s a variety show, the rights to which Blueberry TV bought from South Korea, RM, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it?” Yang Mi said.

"No, I don't know much about variety shows."

"Let me put it simply. There are seven regular celebrities on the variety show, six men and one woman. This show is very popular overseas, and I would like you to help Dilraba get the only female role on it."

"Let me ask, Blueberry Terrace, that's Shanghai Film Studio's territory."

(End of this chapter)