This director only directs blockbusters.

Xu Qin then walked over and handed Yang Ning a document.

"This is the studio's preliminary bylaws," she said. "Equity structure, decision-making mechanism, profit-sharing plan... Take a look, and sign if there are no problems."

Yang Ning opened it. The terms were detailed but clear. Xu Qin was indeed professional.

He flipped directly to the last page and signed his name.

"Aren't you going to take a closer look?" Xu Qin asked.

"I believe you." Yang Ning handed the document back to her.

Xu Qin took it, her eyes filled with complex emotions: "Yang Ning, with your personality... you're prone to getting taken advantage of."

"Believe when you should believe, and be cautious when you should be cautious," Yang Ning said. "I know how to strike a balance."

Han Duoduo leaned closer: "Sister Qin, does that mean I'm considered a full-fledged employee of the studio?"

"Sure," Xu Qin smiled. "Come sign the contract tomorrow, and I'll provide you with all the social insurances and housing fund benefits."

"Yay!" Han Duoduo jumped up. "I have a job now!"

Liu Yong rubbed his hands together, saying, "Then I..."

"You too," Xu Qin said, "but Lao Liu, your video store..."

"It's off!" Liu Yong waved his hand dismissively. "From now on, you'll work for Director Yang!"

Yang Ning looked at the group of people.

Xu Qin's competence, Liu Yong's honesty, and Han Duoduo's youthful vigor.

And then there's Chen Qiming, who's coming soon.

The team is complete.

He walked to the door and looked at the dilapidated little building.

Three months ago, he was a director working alone.

Three months later, he had his own studio and his own team.

Although it's just a dilapidated building now, and a group of people.

But who knows?

Perhaps one day, China's best films will emerge from here.

Maybe one day, something will change here.

He turned to everyone and said, "I'm treating everyone tonight to celebrate the studio's opening. You can choose the place."

"Barbecue!" Liu Yong was the first to shout.

"Japanese food!" Han Duoduo raised her hand.

"Either is fine," Xu Qin smiled, "but not too late, I have important business to attend to tomorrow."

…………

Late at night, on the third floor of Ningyuan Studio.

Yang Ning sat in front of the control panel, the screen displaying the complete timeline of "The Purple Cloud Era".

A four-and-a-half-hour movie with 473 special effects shots.

The explosions of the battle on the city walls, the light effects of the lightning awakening, and the dust particles from the ruins—all were clearly marked in yellow.

He opened the system interface.

[Special Effects Upgrade Coupon: Allows for a comprehensive upgrade of the special effects of a specified movie, achieving the ideal visual effect in the host's mind]

【use or not? 】

"use."

The progress bar on the screen began to move slowly forward.

At the same time, Yang Ning opened another window and logged into his encrypted email account.

Inside was a new email—Cayman Islands, MJY Digital Art Studio, registration complete, bank account activated.

He entered the transfer amount: 2,000,000 USD.

Verification code approved.

Transfer successful

At almost the same time, the system progress bar jumped to 100%.

Upgrade complete

Yang Ning closed all interfaces and cleared his browsing history.

The old Nokia phone used to contact overseas accounts was disassembled, and the parts were thrown into trash cans on different floors.

After doing all this, he reopened the media player and clicked on the clip of the battle at the city walls.

The moment the scene unfolded, his breath caught in his throat.

Flames, lightning, dust—every detail tells him that he used the upgrade ticket correctly.

He turned off the media player and started making phone calls.

---

The next morning at 10:00 AM, at China Film Group No. 1 screening room.

The hall, which seats two hundred people, had fewer than twenty people seated. Han Shanping sat in the middle, with Jiang Zhiqiang beside him.

Several vice presidents of China Film Group sat in the back row.

Xu Qin and her studio staff sat on the left—Liu Yong nervously rubbed his hands, while Han Duoduo held her laptop.

Yang Ning stands in front of the screen.

"Dear bosses and teachers," he said calmly, "the finished product of 'The Purple Cloud Era' is available for your viewing today."

Due to time constraints, today we'll only watch the highlights—the battle at the city walls and the final battle, totaling forty-seven minutes.

He paused.

"Before you watch, there's something I need to explain. During post-production, I contacted a foreign special effects studio through private channels to perform secondary optimization on some shots."

Han Shanping frowned: "Optimize?"

"Yes." Yang Ning pressed the remote control. "See the optimized effect for yourselves."

The screen lights up.

As soon as the first shot appeared, gasps filled the theater.

That was the opening scene of the battle on the city wall—the camera swooped down from the sky, through the smoke and dust, and finally focused on Huang Xiaoming's face.

Every drop of sweat on his face was clearly visible, reflecting the flames of the explosion.

"This..." someone in the back row whispered, "This resolution..."

"It's not a resolution issue," Jiang Zhiqiang adjusted his glasses. "It's a rendering precision problem. Look at the layering of the flames from the explosion—"

A blazing white core, an orange-red middle layer, and a billowing black smoke outer layer. Each flame has a different shape.

Han Shanping leaned forward, his eyes behind his glasses narrowing into slits.

Seventeen minutes, all in one continuous shot. The moment Huang Xiaoming fired the signal flare and the red smoke exploded in the morning mist, even the usually composed Xu Qin took a deep breath.

What follows is the final thirty-minute battle.

Lu Ran's Purple Heaven Divine Lightning covered the entire city. The lightning was no longer a simple light effect, but rather a living energy flow that meandered, branched, and exploded in the air.

The air ionization effect of each electric shock, the physical feedback of the ground becoming vitrified, and even the vapor explosion caused when lightning strikes rainwater—

"Stop for a moment," Jiang Zhiqiang suddenly said.

The image freezes on the moment lightning strikes the ground. The soil doesn't simply explode; instead, it instantly vitrifies, taking on a lava-like texture, before shattering into millions of crystals that refract the electric light.

"This glass transition effect," Jiang Zhiqiang turned to Yang Ning, "how were the physics simulation parameters adjusted?"

"That studio's proprietary technology," Yang Ning said. "They didn't reveal the specific algorithm, but you've all seen the results."

Han Shanping stared silently at the screen, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.

When the end credits began to roll, the theater was completely silent.

"That studio," Han Shanping finally spoke, "what's its name?"

"MJY Digital Art Studio," Yang Ning said, "is registered in the Cayman Islands, and we cannot disclose the backgrounds of its members. They only take on freelance work and do not operate publicly."

"What about the cost?"

"Two million US dollars," Yang Ning stated, "taken from the publicity budget."

A low murmur arose in the screening room.

"You embezzled two million yuan of advertising funds?" Han Shanping's voice wasn't loud, but every word carried weight. "Yang Ning, do you know what you're doing?"

"I know." Yang Ning met his gaze. "Adjusting the budget allocation without the investor's consent violates the contract. But if I had another chance, I would still do it."

Why?

"Because this kind of opportunity may only come once in a lifetime." Yang Ning turned to everyone.

"The studio's schedule was only open for two weeks, and that would be the end of it. I didn't have time to go through the formalities or hold meetings, so I had to act first and ask for permission later."