Huayu: Returned Overseas Chinese

Not long after Yang Jie said goodbye and left, Wang Shuo knocked on the office door.

"Mr. Chen, you wanted to see me?"

"Senior brother, you can just call me Jingming." Chen Jingming looked up and saw him come in, gestured to the seat opposite him, and said with a smile.

Wang Shuo nodded gently upon hearing this. Seeing this, Chen Jingming did not press the matter and took the opportunity to inquire about the other party's private affairs.

"Senior brother, how is your wife's condition? Has everything been arranged?"

When asked about his family's recent situation, Wang Shuo immediately smiled with relief.

"Everything is arranged. I've hired a professional caregiver to accompany me around the clock during my treatment. With someone taking care of me, I can focus on my work with peace of mind."

"That's good. If you encounter any difficulties or need any help later, just let me know."

Chen Jingming casually agreed, and after a few pleasantries, the conversation naturally shifted to more serious company matters.

"By the way, how's the departmental restructuring going? Is the process going smoothly?"

When the topic of work came up, Wang Shuo's expression immediately became serious, his back straightened, and he gave a serious report.

"Mr. Chen, currently, apart from the scriptwriting department, human resources, and finance departments which remain unchanged, all other positions have been re-recruited. Some new employees have already started working, while the remaining staff will not be able to officially start work until after the New Year."

"Then proceed steadily according to your plan."

Chen Jingming nodded slightly. Wang Shuo was a professional, and he would never interfere casually. After all, different fields are like different worlds, and he wasn't good at these trivial matters.

"With the Lunar New Year just around the corner, when does the company plan to give us a holiday?"

"We should be able to gradually stop working and take leave this week."

Wang Shuo followed up by saying that with the end of the year approaching, it was indeed time to put the holiday arrangements on the agenda.

"Also, the year-end bonus you mentioned before has been fully calculated by the finance department. Since you're here today, I'll have the finance department send over the report later, which you'll need to sign for confirmation."

After explaining the work arrangements, he remembered the backlog of projects in the scriptwriting department and took the opportunity to ask questions.

"By the way, Mr. Chen, I checked the archives, and the scriptwriting department has several high-quality scripts with excellent foundations. Why have they been holding back from starting filming, and haven't even submitted the filing?"

Chen Jingming was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, then asked in return with great interest.

"Oh? Which ones have you chosen? Tell me more."

"The three books: Jianghai Industrialists, Old Shanghai, and War-Torn Merchants."

Wang Shuo listed them one by one, his tone full of confusion.

"The themes are all set in the Republican era, revolving around saving the country through industry, patriotic businessmen, and prominent literary families. The themes are solid, the stories are complete, and the potential is huge. I really can't understand why you've been putting it off and delaying the filing process."

Chen Jingming quickly recalled the core plots of the three scripts in his mind, secretly admiring Wang Shuo's sharp eye. As expected, a professional can grasp the core of a script at a glance.

These three works are exactly the same as the hugely popular "Oriental Merchant", "The Story of a Noble Family" and "The Grand Dyeing Workshop", all of which are period dramas with extremely high market recognition.

"We have finalized the contract for 'Bright Sword' this year, and filming will begin on time after the New Year."

Chen Jingming slowly explained the current project plan.

"In addition, I just arranged for General Manager Yang to submit 'Plowing the Court and Sweeping the Cave' for review and filing. As long as it passes the review, filming will begin immediately. Right now, there are a lot of projects coming up, and the schedule is very tight. The remaining scripts will have to be postponed for the time being."

Upon hearing the title of the play, "Plowing the Court and Sweeping the Cave," Wang Shuo's expression instantly turned serious. His brows furrowed, he leaned forward slightly, and reminded him in a solemn tone.

"Mr. Chen, I've read the entire script. Although it's based on true history, the content is sensitive, and with current censorship standards, it's highly unlikely to pass."

These words left Chen Jingming puzzled, and he couldn't help but frown.

"Why is it stuck? The script respects historical facts throughout, without distorting or falsifying history, and contains no negative or harmful content. Why won't it be approved?"

"Think carefully about the core targets of the campaign in the script."

Wang Shuo looked at him, his tone tinged with helplessness at this obvious oversight.

"These kinds of special topics are already under key control, so it's very difficult to get them approved smoothly."

After a moment's thought, Chen Jingming instantly understood his unspoken meaning and let out a long sigh.

"Even if the filing and approval process fails, I'm still determined to make this film. At worst, I'll skip theatrical releases and satellite TV broadcasts, and sell it on DVD later. That's not illegal or against regulations."

Seeing his stubborn attitude, Wang Shuo shook his head helplessly and patiently offered a compromise suggestion.

Instead of saying these angry words, let's try a different approach. You're a student at the Beijing Film Academy, so you can take the script with you and use your connections on campus to submit it for review. Your chances of success will be much higher.

"Is this method feasible?"

Chen Jingming's eyes lit up. He had been anxious about the review issue, but now that he heard about a feasible solution, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I can't guarantee a 100% success rate, but having Nortel's platform and connections is definitely much safer than submitting the application on your own."

Wang Shuo casually pointed out that it would be a real shame not to make use of the excellent resources one has.

"Okay, we'll do it your way."

Chen Jingming immediately made the decision, picked up the office phone, and notified Yang Jie to send over the complete script of "Plowing the Court and Sweeping the Cave" as soon as possible, so that he could take the opportunity to find someone to smooth things over when he went to the school the next day.

The two finalized all the follow-up arrangements, and the work communication was completely over. Wang Shuo still had a lot of things to deal with and couldn't stay any longer, so he said a brief goodbye and got up to leave.

Chen Jingming waited patiently for the script to arrive, but to his surprise, it was the finance staff who knocked on the door first.

He casually flipped through the year-end bonus calculation report, saw the proposal to give all employees an additional three months' salary, and without any objection, quickly signed his name.

Not long after seeing the finance department off, Yang Jie came to the office with the script.

Chen Jingming took the script and truthfully communicated the latest situation to her.

"I just spoke with Mr. Wang. This script is too risky, and it would be difficult for us to get it approved through our own filing process. He suggested that I rely on my connections at the Beijing Film Academy and try to submit it through internal channels."

Yang Jie nodded calmly, offering no further argument. As a seasoned screenwriter, she was fully aware of the script's sensitive points and censorship risks. However, since the project was entirely decided by the boss, she could only comply, even with her concerns.

After confirming that there were no other matters to attend to, Chen Jingming glanced at the time; it was already around 5 p.m.

"I'm leaving now, I have dinner plans tonight. You should also pack up and leave work early."

The two walked out of the office together, and Chen Jingming took the elevator downstairs alone. Outside the first-floor entrance, Xu Hu was already waiting in his car at the company gate.

After getting into the car and settling in, Chen Jingming took out his phone, pulled up the address of the dinner party from the text message, and showed it to Xu Hu. Xu Hu nodded in response, smoothly started the car, and drove towards the destination.

After a smooth drive, the vehicle slowly came to a stop in front of a secluded courtyard half an hour later.

There were no conspicuous shop signs outside the courtyard, only a simple house number, low-key and hidden. Chen Jingming shook his head helplessly; people in the industry always preferred to choose such secluded and secretive places when meeting in private.

I got out of the car and knocked on the door. Someone was already waiting in the yard and politely led the way.

The group arrived at the door of a private room. A waiter knocked lightly on the door and pushed it open. Three people who had been waiting were already seated inside. Chen Jingming smiled and took the initiative to greet them.

"Yifei, Aunt Liu."

Liu Xiaoli and Liu Yifei responded with smiles, creating a warm and harmonious atmosphere. Then, Liu Xiaoli turned to introduce the middle-aged man beside her to Chen Jingming.

"This is Yifei's godfather, Chen Jinfei. You're young, just call him Uncle Chen."

"Uncle Chen," Chen Jingming greeted politely.

Chen Jinfei showed no airs of an elder, taking the initiative to stand up and shake hands with him, speaking in a friendly and approachable tone.

"I'll call you Jingming. It's quite a coincidence that we share the same surname, which is a rare kind of fate."

"Yes, it's really fate that we met Uncle Chen."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Chen Jingming sat down next to Liu Yifei and got straight to the point.

"Aunt Liu, Yifei mentioned that you have something you'd like to discuss with me?"

Liu Xiaoli and Chen Jinfei exchanged a glance, understanding each other without saying a word, and slowly revealed the purpose of their visit.

"Jingming, I'm sure Yifei has already briefly mentioned it to you. I'm planning to set up a separate studio specifically for her to support her future acting career. I'd like to ask your opinion on whether this is feasible?"

After a moment of careful consideration, Chen Jingming gave an objective answer.

"Aunt Liu, setting up a studio isn't difficult in itself; the key is industry resources. As long as the new studio can connect with high-quality channels in film, television, business, and publicity, and gain a foothold in the industry, then this matter can definitely be realized."