Huayu Entertainment: It was the young actress who took the initiative.

Chapter 96 Cultivating Couple Feelings with Yitong

Chen Mo had just finished filming a GG (Girl) segment and was sitting in a van, resting with his eyes closed.

Li Xiaoyu, who was standing next to Chen Mo, received a message from Wang Lihua and turned to whisper to Chen Mo, "Brother Mo, Sister Lihua said she received a script that's pretty good and wants you to come back to the studio to talk about it."

"it is good."

Chen Mo nodded without opening his eyes.

After a while, the car stopped downstairs at the studio. Chen Mo got out of the car, walked into the studio, and sat on the sofa in his office.

"Knock knock knock".

"Enter."

Wang Lihua walked in, carrying a folder in her left hand and takeout in her right. Seeing his tired face, she asked with concern, "Haven't eaten yet?"

As she placed the takeout on the coffee table, she said, "Have some first."

Seeing that Chen Mo had almost finished eating, Wang Lihua handed him the document and slowly said, "It's a fantasy drama: adapted from Dianxian's novel, directed by Zhu Ruibin; produced by Liu Ning; the investment is publicly stated to be 300 million yuan, and it's called 'Ashes of Love'."

Chen Mo took the document and was taken aback when he heard the name "Xiang Mi".

Is it this drama?

This drama was just as popular as "Eternal Love" and "Princess Agents," and perhaps even more popular.

In his previous life, Deng Lun rose to fame with this drama.

Seeing his surprise, Wang Lihua added, "They want you to play the male lead, Xu Feng. They said the script is basically based on the original work, without major changes."

Moreover, the production team is indeed excellent, and director Zhu Ruibin has extensive experience in directing fantasy dramas.

She paused, then continued, "They want to meet with you to discuss things in detail. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo thought for a moment and then asked, "Has the female lead been decided?"

Wang Lihua shook her head: "It's not decided yet. I heard they approached Yang Zi before, but she rejected it."

Chen Mo nodded: "Let's meet them first and then talk about it."

Wang Lihua smiled and said, "Okay."

She picked up her phone, dialed a number, and the call connected: "Mr. Liu, hello, this is Wang Lihua. Yes, shall we arrange a time to meet? Tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock, at the Guomao area—"

——?

'

At this point, she glanced at Chen Mo and saw him nod.

"Okay, it's settled then. See you at 3 PM tomorrow."

The next afternoon.

Chen Mo arrived at a private club in the China World Trade Center on time, with Wang Lihua walking beside him.

The waiter led them through the corridor and pushed open the door to a private room.

Two people were already seated inside. The middle-aged man in the main seat stood up, beaming, "Teacher Chen Mo, President Wang, it's an honor to meet you."

As he spoke, he came over and extended his hand, saying, "I am Zhu Ruibin, the director of 'Ashes of Love'."

Chen Mo shook hands with him and smiled, "Hello, Director Zhu."

Zhu Ruibin stepped aside and introduced the others: "This is producer Liu Ning, President Liu."

Chen Mo nodded in greeting.

Liu Ning was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing glasses, with a shrewd smile typical of a businessman.

He looked Chen Mo up and down, then a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes: "Teacher Chen Mo, please sit down."

Everyone took their seats.

The waiter poured tea and then left the private room.

Liu Ning spoke first: "Teacher Chen Mo, let's get straight to the point. Has President Wang introduced the 'Ashes of Love' project to you yet?"

Chen Mo nodded: "I've looked into it briefly. It's a fantasy/martial arts story, adapted from the novel of the same name by Dian Xian, with an investment of 300 million yuan, and directed by Director Zhu."

Upon hearing that Chen Mo had a general understanding of the project, Liu Ning smiled and said, "Yes. Our goal for this drama is very clear: to create a high-quality fantasy drama."

It's not some cheap, low-budget special effects; it's quality achieved with real money.

He paused, then looked at Chen Mo: "So our standards for casting actors are very high. They need acting skills, a good image, and popularity."

"Teacher Chen Mo, you have two hit dramas this year. One is 'Eternal Love,' which is also a fantasy drama. The other is 'Princess Agents,' where you played Yan Xun. You played that role so well."

Our team unanimously believes that you are the chosen one.

Starting off with such flattery, it seems the talks won't go too smoothly.

Chen Mo picked up his teacup, took a sip, and didn't reply.

Wang Lihua chimed in, "Mr. Liu, you flatter me. I don't know about the script—"

Zhu Ruibin immediately responded, taking a thick folder from his bag and handing it to Chen Mo. "We brought the script. This is the script for the first twenty episodes. Teacher Chen Mo can take a look at it first. If you think it's suitable, we can discuss it further."

Chen Mo took it, opened it, and read it very carefully.

The private room fell silent instantly. The others exchanged glances and tacitly refrained from disturbing the room.

Chen Mo turned the pages one by one.

The character of Xu Feng is indeed outstanding.

The proud Vulcan, the affectionate phoenix, later betrayed, hurt, and driven to vengeance by darkness —

It is rich in layers and has a great deal of room for performance.

After a while, Chen Mo closed the script and looked up: "The script is indeed quite good."

Zhu Ruibin smiled and asked, "Is Professor Chen Mo interested?"

Chen Mo nodded noncommittally: "Interested."

Liu Ning's eyes lit up, and she was about to speak.

Seeing this, Wang Lihua slowly spoke up: "Mr. Liu, shall we talk about the remuneration?"

Liu Ning's smile stiffened. He exchanged a glance with Zhu Ruibin, then coughed and said, "Mr. Wang, it's like this. Although our project is said to have an investment of 300 million, most of it will be spent on special effects, costumes, props, and post-production."

We want to produce high-quality work, so the actors' salaries might not be too high.

Wang Lihua nodded, seemingly unsurprised by what he said, and then asked in a calm tone, "Understood. How much can President Liu offer?"

Liu Ning paused for two seconds before speaking: "Eight million."

When Wang Lihua heard the price, she raised an eyebrow, as if she wanted to object.

Chen Mo picked up his teacup and began to drink, too lazy to even speak.

Liu Ning knew that her offer was indeed low, so she quickly explained, "Teacher Chen Mo, we are not trying to lower the price."

Of course we know about your current market situation.

But the Ashes of Love project really put most of its budget into production.

You've acted in fantasy dramas before, so you know how expensive special effects are.

What we want to create is a work that can stand the test of time, not a fast-moving consumer good.

His tone became increasingly sincere: "If you play Xu Feng, this role will definitely become another representative work for you. Let's take a long-term view; we can even discuss the salary—"

Chen Mo sensed the sincerity in his tone, slowly put down his teacup, looked at Liu Ning's sincere eyes, and shook his head: "President Liu, eight million is really not enough."

Liu Ning's expression stiffened for a moment.

Seeing this, Wang Lihua chimed in, "We all know how difficult it is to film fantasy dramas. Wire work, special effects, post-production—it's definitely expensive. But what's Chen Mo's net worth now?"

"Eternal Love and Princess Agents, two hit dramas. Winner of the Magnolia Award for Best Supporting Actor."

He has 15 million followers on Weibo.

The starting price for a single GG stick is now twelve million.

Liu Ning's smile faltered.

Wang Lihua looked at him: "President Liu, you cast Chen Mo as Xu Feng because you value Chen Mo's popularity and his ability to carry a drama, right?"

Liu Ning nodded helplessly.

"How much is Chen Mo's popularity worth?"

Seeing that Wang Lihua had laid the groundwork enough, Chen Mo slowly said, "I can lower myself."

Upon finally hearing those words, Liu Ning's eyes lit up.

"But not down to eight million."

Chen Mo paused for a moment, then said, "I can try a different approach."

He looked at Wang Lihua, who took a document out of the folder and placed it on the table.

"I can accept only eight million in salary. But the rest can be converted into investment shares."

Liu Ning was taken aback, seemingly not expecting him to do this: "Investment share?"

"Yes, I want a 10% stake in the investment for this show."

97

There was a two-second silence in the private room.

Then Liu Ning smiled, but the smile seemed forced: "Teacher Chen Mo, are you joking? We invested 300 million, 10% is 30 million. You—"

This time, Chen Mo remained silent, but Wang Lihua spoke up: "President Liu, everyone knows how much of the 300 million investment is inflated."

Liu Ning's smile froze completely.

"They claim 300 million to the outside world, but how much actually came in? What was the production budget? What was the marketing budget? Mr. Liu knows more about the potential profits than I do."

Liu Ning's expression changed, and Zhu Ruibin quickly tried to smooth things over: "President Wang, what you're saying is true—our 'Ashes of Love' is indeed a big-budget production."

Wang Lihua smiled and said, "Director Zhu, I didn't say it wasn't. But everyone's played the numbers game before."

We're not here to audit the accounts; I just want to say that the 10% share isn't as much as you think.

And what level of popularity does Chen Mo have right now?

How much attention will his role as the male lead bring to this drama?

When attracting investment, will investors be more willing to invest?

These are all tangible values.

After listening to what she said, Liu Ning remained silent for a few seconds, then glanced at Zhu Ruibin.

Zhu Ruibin nodded slightly.

Liu Ning took a deep breath: "President Wang, 10% is indeed too high. We have other investors, and their shares have already been divided up quite a bit—"

Wang Lihua ignored his sob story and interrupted him, "How much can General Manager Liu offer?"

Liu Ning gritted her teeth:

3%.

""

Wang Lihua laughed, but the smile was faint, and the meaning was obvious: Are you kidding me?

She stood up decisively: "Mr. Liu, let's call it a day then. Chen Mo still has a few scripts to review, we'll contact him again later."

Liu Ning panicked a little, and Zhu Ruibin quickly stood up: "President Wang, no, no, no, sit down, sit down, we can talk this over."

Wang Lihua stood still.

"5%. That's the limit."

Wang Lihua looked at Liu Ning, but still didn't say anything.

"Damn, this woman is really difficult to deal with."

Liu Ning cursed inwardly, but still explained, "President Wang, as you know, we have other investors, and the share is really limited—"

Wang Lihua finally sat down again and looked at Liu Ning: "President Liu, let's stop testing each other. 8%. That's our bottom line."

Liu Ning's eyes widened slightly: "8%? Mr. Wang, this—"

Wang Lihua waved her hand, interrupting him: "8%, Chen Mo will play the male lead. You should go back and discuss this condition with the other investors."

If it works out, let's continue our conversation; if not, let's just consider ourselves friends.

She paused.

"But Mr. Liu, I still want to remind you of something. There are only a handful of young male actors on the market who can carry a fantasy drama role right now."

Those with better acting skills than Chen Mo aren't as popular as Chen Mo; those with more popularity than Chen Mo aren't as good at acting; and those with both good acting and high popularity are definitely more expensive than Chen Mo.

Liu Ning fell silent, because he knew that Wang Lihua was telling the truth.

He looked at Zhu Ruibin, who was silent for a few seconds before speaking, "President Liu, I think it's a good idea."

Liu Ning was still somewhat hesitant: "8% — I still need to go back and discuss it with the other investors."

Wang Lihua nodded: "Of course."

Liu Ning was silent for a moment, then looked up at Chen Mo: "Teacher Chen Mo, 8% if possible. But we have one condition."

Chen Mo looked at him, his expression unchanged: "What are the conditions?"

"You need to rehearse a scene with our provisional leading lady."

"It's not that we don't trust your acting skills, but the chemistry between Xu Feng and Jin Mi is the soul of this drama. We need to make sure that you and the female lead have that feeling when you stand together."

Chen Mo raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "Who is your tentative choice for the female lead?"

Liu Ning and Zhu Ruibin exchanged a glance.

Zhu Ruibin spoke up: "Currently, it's Li Yitong."

Chen Mo's expression paused for a moment, and he couldn't help but think to himself, "We've rolled around in bed countless times, how could we not have any chemistry?"

Seeing that he didn't speak, Liu Ning quickly explained, "Teacher Chen Mo, you and Li Yitong have worked together on The Legend of the Condor Heroes, so you must have a good understanding of each other."

But what Xu Feng and Jin Mi in Ashes of Love really want is a sense of chemistry between them. We want to see if you and her can create some sparks.

Moreover, the appearance is also very important. We want to see how you look in the costume.

Chen Mo didn't hesitate any longer, nodded, and then said, "Okay, an audition is fine. The costume is fine too. But there's one condition."

Liu Ning and the others quickly asked, "What are the prerequisites?"

Chen Mo looked at him: "Let's settle on an 8% investment share first."

Liu Ning was stunned for a moment.

"I auditioned so you could see the chemistry between me and Li Yitong, and whether my appearance was suitable. I didn't ask you to use that to lower your price."

"8% is settled. I can audition anytime. If you're not satisfied after the audition and feel I'm not suitable for Xu Feng, then the 8% is void, and we'll part ways."

Liu Ning was silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "Okay."

He extended his hand: "Teacher Chen Mo, then it's settled. I'll go back and ask the other investors, get back to you as soon as possible, and then arrange your audition."

Chen Mo grasped his hand: "Okay."

As Chen Mo walked out of the private room, Wang Lihua turned to him and whispered, "8%. If it's settled, you'll have to pass the audition."

"I know."

Wang Lihua looked at him and said, "You've worked with Li Yitong before, so you should have no problem with teamwork."

However, Jinmi from Ashes of Love and Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes are completely different people.

Whether she can act well is the question.

Chen Mo didn't say anything, but he wasn't too worried. Li Yitong's acting skills weren't great, but she still had some talent.

I also have the "emotional rendering" skill in my vocabulary, so I shouldn't have much of a problem during the audition.

However, we still need to cultivate the chemistry between them. I'll ask Yitong where she is tonight and have her come over so we can work on it properly.

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