Huayu: Serious director, who's eavesdropping on your thoughts?

"That's it! If you ever have a period drama to film, feel free to come back and shoot it. I'll give you the approval, the location fee will be waived, and the county guesthouse will give you a 20% discount on all your food, drinks, and other necessities. Whenever you're out and about, no matter where you go, always remember to promote your hometown. Your hometown is your strongest support!"

Zhao Huaiyuan looked at Director Sun's eager eyes, then at the camera next to him, and at his parents who were standing cautiously to the side, not daring to breathe, yet feeling extremely proud.

A sense of absurdity welled up inside me.

Besides, filming on that fake antique street? Wouldn't that ruin their reputation?

But what could he say? That your place was too fake, or that he didn't care about the venue fee?

However, at his level, he naturally wouldn't embarrass his superior in person.

"Definitely, definitely. If there's a suitable subject matter, my hometown will be my first choice." Zhao Huaiyuan remained expressionless, playing the tai chi card.

"Okay! Just hearing that is enough."

Director Sun was very satisfied. After another round of handshakes and pleasantries, he led his group away in a grand procession.

After the Buddha statue was removed, the courtyard finally became quiet.

My mom happily carried the oil to the kitchen, saying, "This brand of oil is really expensive; the boss is so particular."

Zhao Huaiyuan shook his head. This was truly troublesome; he would inevitably have to deal with these people in the future, and for now, he would need to be obsequious and ingratiating.

But he believes that everything will change as his status improves across the board in the future.

He was just about to go back to his room for a nap when his phone rang.

The caller ID showed Han Sanping.

"Mr. Han, Happy Chinese New Year!"

"Haha, Huaiyuan, how have you been these past few days? Hopefully, the matchmakers from your family haven't been blocking your door!"

"President Han, please stop teasing me. I just saw off the county leaders, and I'm having a headache right now," Zhao Huaiyuan said with a wry smile.

"That's normal. It's an inevitable step on the road to fame. Alright, let's get down to business. I have some good news for you."

Zhao Huaiyuan perked up: "Go ahead."

"A letter has arrived from a certain TV station. The station's leaders have watched the film and are very satisfied. Given that your film has a strong patriotic orientation and is a benchmark that we support and trust, CTV6 has decided to grant special approval to purchase the first television broadcast rights."

"Special approval? What does that mean?"

"It means we're not going through the usual procedures; the price is the maximum, 80. Money is secondary, Huaiyuan, you understand the value of this, right?"

"I understand, thank you for your guidance, Mr. Han."

Zhao Huaiyuan understood, of course. In this era, 80 was a high price for Princess Six's procurement. Keep in mind that in 2000, Feng Xiaogang's "Endless" only cost 40.

That being said, it's actually not bad for a dark horse film that grossed over 10 million yuan in a single day and whose future potential has not yet been fully realized.

The most important thing is that CTV6 specially approved these words.

This means it's officially certified Z/Z correct. If you want to get by in this industry, having this kind of protection is more useful than earning any amount of money.

This is a real talisman.

"It's not over yet. Film distributors from Singapore and Malaysia have contacted China Film Group. They want to buy the Southeast Asian rights."

"What's the price?"

"After several bids, the agreed-upon package buyout price was $55."

Zhao Huaiyuan did the math.

$55, at the current exchange rate of 8.2, is more than 450 million.

Not high.

However, since Han Sanping said that, it must have been China Film Group that negotiated the deal. Although the price was a bit low, it wasn't too bad, considering that these two small countries have markets far smaller than China's.

Now we have 450 million, plus 300 million for audio-visual copyright, and 50 in advance payment for Ghost Blows Out the Light.

This means he now has 800 million in cash flow.

This doesn't even include the subsequent box office revenue sharing; that's the real money.

Finally, I have money.

With some spare money in hand, Zhao Huaiyuan didn't stay idle for the next few days.

First, he wired 2 yuan to his sister.

He took some time to go to the city and bought three mobile phones, two for his parents. After that, he went to Beijing so that he could stay in touch with his family.

He planned to give the other copy to Gu Man, since the two would be meeting on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Gu Man is a promising talent, there's no doubt about that. Zhao Huaiyuan is just giving her the office equipment he's providing in advance... no, he's giving the employees.

He believed it was worth it.

During his free time at night, Zhao Huaiyuan would often receive calls from Liu Yifei, and the two would chat about random things.

Two more days passed just like that.

On this day, the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, the sky was very overcast.

Zhao Huaiyuan was at home, cracking sunflower seeds and watching TV, where a rebroadcast of the Spring Festival Gala was playing.

Suddenly, an extremely loud and exaggerated laugh came from the courtyard...

"Oh my, Auntie, busy at home? What a joyous occasion!"

Zhao Huaiyuan looked out the living room window and saw Aunt Wang.

Aunt Wang was carrying two small gift boxes, and behind her followed a young woman dressed in a flamboyant manner.

The girl was quite pretty; she must be Chen Linlin.

"Oh dear, Sister Wang, what's this...?" Mom was sweeping the yard when she saw Aunt Wang leading people over and went up to speak.

"I brought Linlin along to explain this to you." Aunt Wang placed the small gifts on the table and affectionately took her mother's hand.

"That was all a misunderstanding, a huge misunderstanding."

Linlin chimed in, her voice slightly coquettish: "Happy New Year, Auntie. I was being silly before; I didn't hear Director Zhao's call because my phone was on silent. Then I threw a little tantrum. When I got home, I thought about it and felt really bad. That's why I came here specifically to apologize."

Zhao Huaiyuan, who was inside the room, almost burst out laughing when he heard this.

It's not that they feel bad; it's that after seeing the TV show, the fame, and those ten million+ box office earnings, they must be kicking themselves.

However, at this point, he naturally wouldn't bother with such matters.

He pushed open the door and went out.

"Oh dear, Xiao Yuan is out! Linlin, quick, say a few words to Xiao Yuan."

"Brother Huaiyuan..." Linlin stepped forward and said sweetly.

"..." Zhao Huaiyuan, it seems we're not that familiar yet.

"It was my fault that day. I shouldn't have been late. Actually... I wanted to test your patience, but I made you angry. It was my fault. But my dad said that it's a good thing for a man to have a temper. It means he's capable."

"I cried all night after you hung up the phone that day."

Zhao Huaiyuan: "..."

Chen Linlin said with admiration, "Brother Huaiyuan, you know what? I loved the way you hung up on me that day, it was so cool!"

..

After much persuasion, they finally managed to drive away this group of people who wanted to go back to their old ways.

Zhao Huaiyuan thought he could finally have some peace and quiet, but little did he know that this was just the beginning.

in the afternoon.

Aunt Wang from the third team rushed in again, leading her son who had just dropped out of school.

"Xiao Yuan, Xiao Yuan, come out quickly."

As soon as Zhao Huaiyuan stepped outside, he saw a spirited young man with a head of frizzy yellow hair, wearing tight pants and loafers, looking at the sky with his eyes slanted and his legs shaking incessantly.

"What's wrong, Aunt Wang?"

"Look at my child, isn't he wonderful? Why don't you take him to Yanjing? He'll follow you from now on, okay?"

The energetic young man flicked his bangs, revealing his eyes, and gestured with his chin towards Zhao Huaiyuan:

"Brother, I want to be a star too, can you help me out?"

"..."

At night.

When Zhao Huaiyuan got up to use the restroom in the middle of the night, he noticed several dark figures lurking suspiciously around the courtyard outside the gate.

I only found out after I went out and asked.

These are things the village shaman told me. She said that the Zhao family's ancestral graves are emitting auspicious smoke, which means the house has good feng shui.

These people are here to absorb some good luck...

"They're all crazy... They're all fucking crazy..." Zhao Huaiyuan couldn't take it anymore.

This place is uninhabitable for the time being.

He was afraid he would go crazy if he stayed any longer.

Buy a house.

This idea sprouted in Zhao Huaiyuan's mind.

Logically speaking, with the nearly ten million yuan in cash flow he currently holds, buying a large villa in the local small county town wouldn't cost much.

But then he thought again, no.

The two elderly people have lived in the countryside their whole lives; their social circle and old neighbors are all here.

If we really bring them to the city, they won't even have anyone to talk to, and they'll probably still suffer.

"We need to think this through."

The next day was the fourteenth day of the first lunar month.

My mom brought out steaming hot millet porridge and pickled radish strips. She had dark circles under her eyes, so she obviously didn't sleep well last night.

"Dad, Mom."

"What's wrong?"

"I've booked my ticket. After the fifteenth of tomorrow, I'll finish my business and head back to Yanjing."

My mother was a little reluctant to let me go, and said, "So soon? Won't you stay a few more days?"

The father scolded from the side, "Son, you're busy, but important things are important. How can you stay at home all the time instead of going to school?"

Zhao Huaiyuan took out a bank card and placed it on the table.

"There's 500,000 in this card."

"Five hundred thousand? What are you going to do with so much money? Mom and Dad don't need that much. You keep it."

"This is for buying a house; I'm thinking of buying one for you."

"Why buy that? We're living perfectly well at home. No, no, we're not going." Mom waved her hands repeatedly.

"It's not that I necessarily want you two to move in. This is what I'm thinking: given our current situation, things definitely won't calm down anytime soon. If we buy this house, and someone comes to our house to cause trouble again, you can stay there for a couple of days if you find it annoying. Then you can come back when you want some excitement."

My parents thought about it and realized it made sense, so they agreed.

After spending another peaceful day at home with my parents, the Lantern Festival arrived in the blink of an eye.

For the people of Jicheng, this day was even more lively than Lunar New Year's Eve.

From the moment dawn broke, Century Square, located in the south of the city, was already occupied by small vendors from all around.

All sorts of stalls were packed to the brim.

The Culture and Tourism Bureau also strung up red ropes around the square and hung slips of paper with riddles written on them. Those who guessed the riddles correctly would receive a bar of soap or a toothbrush as a reward.

The items weren't expensive; it was just for fun.

Zhao Huaiyuan originally wanted to meet with Gu Man in a quiet place to discuss matters concerning the studio.

Unexpectedly, Gu Man exclaimed on the phone, "No way! Today is the Lantern Festival, and there will be a huge fireworks display tonight. I'm so bored at home. Let's meet at the square, watch the fireworks and chat. Isn't that great?"

Zhao Huaiyuan had no choice but to agree.

At this moment, he stands at the base of a landmark stone sculpture in Century Square.

Waiting for Gu Man to arrive.