This director is so innocent.

Chapter 103 Dinner Party

Zhou Xiaoou's studio is located in Chaoyang District.

It's not big, but it's not small either, just over 200 square meters, and it has all the basic music equipment.

After Su Jin entered the studio, she greeted the receptionist and went straight to Zhou Xiaoou's office.

Knock on the door, push the door open, go in, and exchange pleasantries.

Afterwards, the two went to the recording studio to listen to the demo, which is a music sample.

"The Brightest Star in the Night Sky", "Fragrance of Rice", "Just Once", "Prose Poems Written by My Father"

The five songs in "Because of Love" have already had their demos for the first two songs completed.

Zhou Xiaoou has almost finished the other two songs as well, and said she can get them done this month.

"Because of Love" was given to Xiao Ke, who was originally the composer and lyricist of the song.

Su Jin put on her headphones, and Zhou Xiaoou signaled to the staff to start playing the demo.

Four minutes later, "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky" ended. Su Jin did not comment and signaled Zhou Xiaoou to continue playing the next song.

Four minutes later, "Rice Fragrance" ended. Su Jin still didn't offer any comments and listened to it twice more before taking off her headphones.

Overall, Zhou Xiaoou did a great job with both songs. Although they are slightly different from the original versions, they each have their own merits and are in no way inferior to the original versions.

"Hey bro, how's it going?" Zhou Xiaoou looked at Su Jin expectantly.

Su Jin looked up at Zhou Xiaoou and smiled, "It's very good, just a little polishing is all it takes."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiaoou grinned, her smile was exceptionally bright, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes trembled slightly.

"Little brother, how have I been treating you?"

They need something from him!

Otherwise, Zhou Xiaoou wouldn't have suddenly said that.

Su Jin looked at Zhou Xiaoou with a half-smile and deliberately teased, "That depends on how big the favor you're asking me to do next, brother."

Zhou Xiaoou touched his bald head, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face, but he quickly smiled again.

"It's nothing major, it's just that I'd like to know if I could get permission to sing the song 'The Brightest Star in the Night Sky'?"

After saying that, Zhou Xiaoou probably still felt unsure, so she added, "As long as you authorize me, I can waive the production fees for your four songs."

"Are you sure?" Su Jin asked in surprise.

It's worth noting that the composition and production fees he paid to Zhou Xiaoou for the four songs were not low, at 15 yuan per song, totaling 60 yuan for all four.

"I'm sure." Zhou Xiaoou nodded emphatically.

Su Jin smiled slightly, put her arm around Zhou Xiaoou's shoulder, and said in a feigned displeasure, "Brother, what's our relationship? We'll do what we always have. I've given you the license for free. You can sing whenever you want, and you can even do commercial performances. I'll still pay you the production fee."

"No, no—" Zhou Xiaoou quickly declined, saying, "Brother, you've already sung for me for free, how can I take your money? Where would I put my face then?"

"Brother, let's talk business. You've been working day and night for two months. If I don't pay you, how will I face people?"

Outsiders would surely say that I, Su Jin, am a stingy and greedy person.

"If I take your money, how can I face anyone?"

"I don't care, you have to take this money."

"Buy my ass—Su Jin, if you give me money, I'll fight you. We'll be brothers, and you can forget about me composing music for you in the future."

"Zhou the Bald, don't push your luck. I'm still going to pay you this money."

"Damn it—Su Jin, come out here! Today I'm going to show you how many eyes the Horse King has!"

"Come out if you want, do you think I'm afraid of you?"

The staff member standing nearby was a bit confused. Why did he suddenly get so angry? He's completely out of his mind.

If you don't want it, you can give it to me!

Seeing that the two were about to fight, he quickly stepped forward to stop them.

"Boss, Ms. Su, calm down, calm down—"

"I have a way, a way that satisfies both sides."

"Speak." Zhou Xiaoou glared at Su Jin, while Su Jin stared back defiantly.

"Teacher Su, you authorized my boss to produce it for one dollar, and my boss will also charge one dollar for the production fee."

"What do you think of this method?"

Zhou Xiaoou snorted coldly, neither agreeing nor objecting, and Su Jin did the same.

The staff looked at the two of them with a helpless expression. They were really too proud to admit it and suffered for it. Would it kill them to make a sound?

He went out, brought back four contracts, filled in the amount of one yuan, and handed them to the two men.

Su Jin took the contract and looked down at it. The contract was very simple, less than three pages long.

Swish swish————

He signed his name and handed the contract to Zhou Xiaoou.

The same applies to Zhou Xiaoou.

Su Jin touched her pocket, paused for a moment, and said, "Zhou Da—"

"Um?"

"Hey bro, do you have a dollar? Can you lend me some?"

"Oh my god—it's strange that the big star Su doesn't even have a dollar." Although Zhou Xiaoou said sarcastically, he had already tossed a dollar coin over.

Su Jin took the coin, handed it to him, and then took back the one-yuan coin.

Then, the two pretended nothing had happened and began discussing the composition of the two songs, "Just Once" and "Father's Prose Poem".

Of course, Su Jin was only there to offer some suggestions; Zhou Xiaoou was the one who had to handle the main tasks.

They worked until after six o'clock before Su Jin said goodbye and left.

Zhou Xiaoou wanted to invite him to dinner, but he declined, saying he had a dinner engagement that evening.

A private restaurant in Haiding District.

Two men and two women were sitting in a private room with an elegant ambiance.

Two men, one middle-aged and one elderly.

The middle-aged man is Zhuang Liqi, the vice president and head of the film department of Chengtian Entertainment.

An elderly man, wearing black-rimmed glasses, with his hair neatly combed, seemed unfazed by the summer heat, dressed in a dark suit.

There were two women. One was a sophisticated urban woman in her thirties, dressed in light-colored business casual wear. She was very well-maintained and looked like a girl in her twenties.

Her name is Huo Wenxi, Xie Biwang's agent.

The other one was a young woman in her early twenties, wearing a floral print short dress, with long hair draped over her shoulders, fair skin, and an innocent and lovely appearance.

Her name is Asa, and she is also one of Huo Wenxi's artists.

Old Yang asked Zhuang Liqi, "Mr. Zhuang, what kind of person is Su Jin?"

"A genius," Zhuang Liqi exclaimed. "In all my years in this industry, I've never seen anyone so talented. He can write books, direct, screenplay, and run a company—he can do it all."

Old Yang nodded, then asked, "What are his hobbies?"

"This one—" Zhuang Liqi smiled slightly and glanced at Asa.

Old Yang understood and already knew what was going on.

Having hobbies is fine; the worst thing is when he has none.

He felt 20% more confident about what was going to be discussed next.

"Click."

The door to the private room opened, and a strikingly handsome man walked in.

When Old Yang and his three companions saw that the person in question had arrived, they stood up to greet him.

Su Jin glanced at the four people and said softly, "Sorry, there was some traffic on the way."

Zhuang Liqi quickly waved his hand, a warm smile on his face, and replied, "It's alright, we just arrived early."

Then, he introduced Old Yang and his two companions to Su Jin.

"This is General Manager Yang."

Su Jin took the initiative to shake hands with Old Yang and greeted him politely, "Hello, Mr. Yang, I am Su Jin."

He had long heard of Old Yang's reputation.

"President Su, you're so promising at such a young age!" Old Yang said, extending his hand in admiration.

"Not at all, compared to you, Mr. Yang, I'm far inferior."

"When you were my age, you were quite famous in Hong Kong." Su Jin said with a smile and a humorous tone.

"Hahaha—" Old Yang laughed heartily, but in his heart he became more wary of the young man in front of him.

The young man in front of me, though young, showed no arrogance whatsoever that comes with early fame. Instead, he was calm, reserved, and polite.

His speech was so impeccable that no one could find a single flaw in his words.

If he had been this composed back then, he wouldn't have gone bankrupt and almost failed to recover.

"President Su, let me introduce you." Old Yang stepped aside to make room for Huo Wenxi and Ah Sa, and introduced them to Su Jin: "This is Huo Wenxi, the top agent in my company. She has managed many outstanding artists. If your company needs artists for new projects in the future, you can contact her."

Huo Wenxi secretly sized up Su Jin. He knew Su Jin was handsome before he came, but after seeing him in person—

These are terrible photos; they can even make people look ugly.

I wish Su Jin were her artist.

"President Su, I've heard so much about you." Huo Wenxi smiled and extended his hand to Su Jin.

"Hello, Miss Huo." Su Jin shook hands with her.

With Huo Wenxi's looks, being an agent is a bit of a waste of his talent. Even compared to Asabi next to him, they each have their own merits.

"Mr. Su, it's a pleasure to meet you," Asa said, extending his hand in a Hong Kong accent.

"Hello." Su Jin shook hands with her briefly, then let go.

Then, everyone took their seats, following the host's lead.

Zhuang Liqi ordered six or seven dishes and started chatting.

Soon the food arrived, and we ate and chatted, mostly about things within the industry, such as the film industry.

We chatted for a long time, but didn't get to the point.

Su Jin wasn't in a hurry and kept chatting with them.

He knew why Old Yang had approached him: to invest in "Painted Skin," Zhuang Liqi revealed.

As for why Old Yang wanted to invest in "Painted Skin," that's not quite clear.

Logically speaking, if Yinghuang went north, it would be to seek refuge with Huayi, or at the very least, there would be Polybona, a traitor. How could it possibly be the turn of Jianmu Media, a newcomer from the mainland?

Actually, Su Jin was overthinking it. Lao Yang's idea was very simple: cast a wide net and invest in many young people.

He had to admit that the once-glorious Hong Kong film and television industry was declining, while the mainland was like a bright pearl, rising rapidly.

After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,

Old Yang finally got to the point, saying, "President Su, I heard your company has recently developed a major film project?"

"Yes, Painted Skin." Su Jin knew they were familiar with the Painted Skin project, so she decided not to introduce it further.

"Do you still need funding?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yang, the funds are already full." Su Jin refused directly.

He might have agreed before the project was approved, but there's no need for that now. He's not counting on the Hong Kong Film Awards or the box office in Hong Kong, so what else is there to care about?

He vaguely remembered that "Painted Skin" only grossed around ten million at the Hong Kong box office, and after deducting theater revenue, it probably only made three or four million.

Based on Jianmu Media's 30% share of the revenue, that's 90 yuan. He could earn that much in just two commercial performances, after tax.

Old Yang was slightly taken aback. He hadn't expected Su Jin to speak so directly, without even considering it.

Generally speaking, when it comes to projects, it's not a problem to have a lot of money, especially for big projects; the more money, the better.

Su Jin's attitude clearly showed that she didn't want him to share in the profits and was very confident that she could make money, which further solidified his decision to invest.

His investment wasn't solely for profit; he also wanted to befriend Su Jin.

The main purpose is to have the company's name listed in the film production company section, which helps to boost investor confidence and increase the stock price.

How much does a movie's box office revenue really amount to?

Tens of millions, hundreds of millions, that's a lot!

Compared to stock prices, this is nothing; a rise of billions is easily achievable.

Many listed film and television companies in the industry do this.

In order to invest in a hot project, they would give away money to others for free, without even asking for returns, just to have their company's name listed in the film's production company section.

Old Yang glanced at Zhuang Liqi, who understood and stood up, saying, "Um—excuse me, I'm craving a cigarette. I'll go out for a smoke. You guys chat."

After Zhuang Liqi left, Old Yang said, "President Su, I can invest 20 million, only needing a 10% share, and I can also help 'Painted Skin' win a Hong Kong Film Award."

Su Jin looked at Old Yang in surprise, "Why are you so persistent?"

He didn't believe that Old Yang didn't know the cost of "Painted Skin" from Zhuang Liqi.

2000 million, a 10% share, but that's an extra 1200 million.

However, since Lao Yang was so sincere, he naturally agreed.

Why wouldn't you take money that's free?

Of course, the share wouldn't come from his own 30% share; he's not stupid.

When we got back, we asked Huang Jiaqiang to redo the cost budget, and then everyone would share the costs.

Su Jin stood up, smiled, and extended her hand, saying, "President Yang, it's a pleasure to do business with you."

"It's a pleasure to cooperate." Old Yang stood up and shook hands.

After the two sat down again, Old Yang spoke up, "Mr. Su, what do you think of Asa?"

"Very good, she has a sweet appearance and is a potential star."

"Thanks for Mr. Su's auspicious words, I wonder what happens in 'Painted Skin'—"

Damn it, this is how you take advantage of people!

If I had known—if I had known he would take it too, 1200 million, not 120 million, that's no small sum.

"Don't worry, Mr. Yang, there's also a role for a little fox, a subordinate of the female lead Xiao Wei, which would be quite suitable for Asa."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Su."

"Thank you, Director Su." Asa raised his glass and said with a smile, "Director Su, let me toast you."

Su Jin smiled slightly, raised her wine glass and clinked it with hers, then drank it all in one gulp.

Not long after, Zhuang Liqi, who was smoking, returned. Seeing the harmonious atmosphere in the private room, he knew that the deal had been reached.

The drinking party ended around 9:30.

At the entrance of the private restaurant, Old Yang said to Huo Wenxi, "Mani, President Su has been drinking and can't drive. Could you drive Asa and take President Su home?"

Holy crap!

Old Yang is really something else!

One wasn't enough, so they sent two.

He's been in the industry for so long, and he's never tried being with two women at once!