Huayu: Are you even sitting up straight? You're going to be the director?

Chapter 121 Striving for Excellence
"Hehe, Director Cao isn't even laughing."

Xu Zheng quickly realized his own humor and hurriedly tried to save face, saying, "I'll try to put this joke into the script later."

“If you’re preparing this script,” Cao Zhong said, “you can actually think about which actors to use in advance. After all, it’s an adaptation, and once you have the characters’ traits, a lot of the script content can come to life.”

"Director Cao is right," Xu Zheng said. "However, considering the cost, we'll probably choose one of the familiar faces. For example, Huang Bo, Wang Baoqiang, or Guo Tao. I'll think about it more carefully."

"Wang Baoqiang is quite popular lately, isn't he?" Cao Zhong smiled. "Soldiers Sortie has swept the television industry this year."

“Yes,” Xu Zhengdao said. “Baoqiang has also made progress. His popularity in TV dramas has increased significantly, and his movie ‘Assembly’ directed by Feng Xiaogang will be released soon during the Lunar New Year season. Moreover, I recently heard that he is dating a female college student. He has achieved success in both his career and love life.”

Xu Zheng praised it highly.

"A female college student?" Cao Zhong asked gossipingly.

"I only heard the gist of it, I think her name is Rongrong." Xu Zheng smiled. "Baoqiang is still quite conservative, he found someone outside the entertainment industry."

Cao Zhong's teeth ached instantly.

Sure enough, if the husband is conservative, the wife is not.

The name "Rongrong" almost triggered PTSD in Cao Zhong!
After finishing their conversation, Xu Zhengxing left in high spirits.

Although Cao Zhong had a well-developed script in mind, he didn't intend to provide it directly. Instead, he wanted Xu Zheng to refine it himself for two months.

This might be more meaningful for nurturing Xu Zheng.

However, the matter of adapting the original film rights can now be put on the agenda.

In my previous life, this movie caused a huge uproar due to copyright issues. It was essentially a plagiarized Chinese version, so I don't know what was so controversial about it.

Cao Zhong called Jiang Zhiqiang, hoping to use Jiang Zhiqiang to acquire the copyright and have Jiang Zhiqiang directly connect with Wang Renjun.

Then I called Wang Renjun and finished speaking.

Wang Renjun received some good news.
"Brother Zhong, we've had quite a few applicants lately, and I've sent their information to your email."

As Wang Renjun was reporting, he also mentioned an interesting anecdote.
"It's strange, but among those applying for the behind-the-scenes staff position was a talented young actress who was previously known as 'Little Liu Xiaoqing' and was classmates with Gao Lu, Wang Lei, and others."

Do you know Wang Lei? He's the son of Zhang Guoli in the super popular TV series "Golden Wedding" that's been all the rage these past two months.

Gao Lu played Princess Wenqiang in "The Mischievous Princess." That's quite interesting.

Cao Zhong's mind raced. "What's this person's name?"

"Her name is Chen Zhixi."

Wang Renjun laughed and complained, "The others before all applied to jobs related to their majors, but this one is different. He's supposed to be an actor, but now he wants to switch to behind-the-scenes work."

Cao Zhong suppressed his excitement and said, "Just do it normally, sign her, and have her come to the set to see me later."

Wang Renjun was extremely surprised and a little nervous: "Is Brother Zhong interested in Liu Xiaoqing?"

Cao Zhong spat into Wang Renjun's mouth.
"Come on, a girl who decides to change careers halfway through her career, and to a field she's not familiar with, do you think she has any perseverance? The production team needs someone like that who's willing to work hard. What are you thinking about all day?"

“You said before that you would introduce me and Jiuzhou to someone, and I like someone like Liu Xiaoqing,” Wang Renjun shouted.

“She’s almost sixty, brother!” Cao Zhong said. “Don’t you want to work hard?”

Suddenly, Cao Zhong thought of Chen Zhixi and asked Wang Renjun, "Why don't you switch careers and go after this little Liu Xiaoqing?"

"To be honest, Brother Zhong, that's exactly what I was thinking." Wang Renjun was extremely excited. "He's only a year older than me. I was embarrassed earlier."

Cao Zhong smiled. Wang Renjun was his brother. If things had followed the trajectory of Chen Zhixi in his previous life, this man would have become his right-hand man.

It wouldn't be a bad thing to play matchmaker and let Wang Renjun use his good looks to his advantage.

……

It was 11 p.m.

Jing Tian arrived at the entrance of Cao Zhong Hotel.

Cao Zhong and Shen Ao had just finished reviewing the materials for "My Disqualified Daughter" for the day when they bumped into each other. Cao Zhong was somewhat surprised to see Jing Tian coming over.

Jing Tian's attire wasn't formal either; it wasn't exactly pajamas, but rather a very tight-fitting garment.

It perfectly showcased Jing Tian's physique.

Her waist appeared very slender, her thighs were straight, and although her buttocks were not large, they were quite perky.

She had already removed her makeup, but her face was flawless, incredibly fair, and radiated youthful vitality.
"Senior, I've come here several times already. Can you tell me about the script?"

Jing Tian stomped his foot. Cao Zhong looked down and noticed that Jing Tian's toes were all clean and white.
Cao Zhong roughly guessed that Jing Tian must be entirely white.

I just don't know exactly how white she is.

“There’s still time. The set for Group B isn’t finished yet, it should take about ten more days. We still have filming tomorrow,” Cao Zhong said. “If it’s a minor issue, the crew can discuss it when they have some free time tomorrow.”

"Senior brother, are you hiding a woman in your room?" Jing Tian asked warily. "They won't even let me in."

"What are you thinking about all day?" Cao Zhong opened the door, indicating that Jing Tian could look around as he pleased.

During this period, Cao Zhong focused all his energy on filming.

Fan Bingbing came over several times, but Cao Zhong beat him away with sticks each time.

They didn't give Fan Bingbing any chance to stay overnight in their room, and made her leave after a maximum of two hours.

Moreover, Cao Zhong had to work with Shen Ao on the material for "Disqualified Daughter" these past few days, so he didn't want to waste time on women.

Jing Tian naturally couldn't see anything.

"Oh." Jing Tian seemed a little happy for some reason. "Let's discuss the lines tomorrow. You should get some rest."

Jing Tian is leaving.

"Speak quickly if you have something to say," Cao Zhong called out to Jing Tian. "Are you here to check the rooms?"

Jing Tian said timidly, "How could that be? I really came to ask about the script."

She asked a few questions.

Cao Zhong could tell that Jing Tian was really studying hard.

Cao Zhong had an in-depth discussion with her about the script, carefully explaining what Banxia needed to portray. He also required Jing Tian to have a thorough understanding of the entire plot before filming.

During their conversation, Cao Zhong truly realized that Jing Tian was indeed a bit slow-witted.
So the tone was a bit harsh.

Cao Zhong put considerable pressure on Jing Tian.

Jing Tian said, "Senior brother, you're so fierce. I've already spent a lot of money on this film."

Cao Zhong was so frightened that he quickly pushed Jing Tian out the door. "You better keep your noise down. It was supposed to be an overpaying investment, but you've turned it into a huge loss. What will the crew think of me? They'll think I did something to a young girl like you."

Jing Tian ran away shyly: "That's not what I meant, oh dear."

Half an hour later, Fan Bingbing sneaked over and knocked on the door.

Cao Zhong opened the door, speechless.

"As I said, I need to focus my energy on filming."

Fan Bingbing winked.

"I saw that little girl coming to find you. I also know Director Cao's high standards for films. Let me see if it's perfect enough!"

"What do you mean?" Cao Zhong asked in surprise. "There's no material here."

Fan Bingbing said, "You two were really interesting on set during the day, talking non-stop and enjoying yourselves. I was envious. I also wanted to talk a lot with Director Cao, but this was the only time I could do it."

(End of this chapter)