Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Despite her words and curses, Li Bingbing's voice trailed off. This was a drama on Hunan TV, and Qiong Yao was the empress dowager of this station; she was too weak to offend her.

In the time that followed, Fan Bingbing and Li Bingbing, who had ice packs over their eyes, and Ren Quan, who had come over, discussed their countermeasures.

After listening to Fan Bingbing and Yang Che's phone conversation, Ren Quan tentatively said, "Xiao Fan, if I were the producer, I would definitely accept Zhao Yanzi's offer to lower her fee. If the character's attributes don't fit, I'll change it immediately."

Li Bingbing said irritably, "What did you say?"

"Don't blame me for being blunt, but your commercial value is different."

Fan Bingbing blinked: "Brother Ren, you mean this Yang Che...?"

"You're so beautiful..."

At this moment, Li Bingbing realized that Ren Quan was referring to the unspoken rules. For her, if the script was truly good and could elevate her career, it wasn't a big deal.

But how could she say such a thing in front of Ren Quan? So for a moment, she didn't know what to say.

Unexpectedly, Fan Bingbing shook her head with great embarrassment: "The person who sent me the script told me that their crew is almost entirely composed of recent graduates from the Beijing Film Academy, all young people."

Li Bingbing suddenly realized: "So, are they going to make some kind of art film?"

He even gestured as he spoke.

Ren Quan couldn't help but tap Li Bingbing on the forehead: "If it were that kind of movie, would Zhao Yanzi, who's at the height of her popularity, fight for it?"

Fan Bingbing also explained, "No, it's a romance film, there aren't even any kisses... but it's really, really well written."

Just as Li Bingbing was about to say something, she heard the assistant director shout "Ready!" The three of them had no choice but to stop their unresolved topic and go to film.

Some things are useless to discuss with others; you can only decide for yourself.

Just like Li Bingbing's unspoken acceptance of unspoken rules.

Fan Bingbing also thought about it a lot. After much deliberation, she decided to call Yang Che back after resting for a while to ask for his opinion before making a decision. She was undecided.

Meanwhile, Cheng Er had arrived at the studio and saw Yang Che and everyone else watching a guy assemble a computer, including screenwriter Wang Yuan, so he greeted him.

Yes, the computer is DIY, with a Pentium 3 450 CPU, MSI 6163 motherboard, 128MB Gstar memory, IBM hard drive, LG Future Window monitor... and Windows 98 Chinese version system.

The mouse is Microsoft's latest optical mouse, and a group of people looked at the flashing red light below the mouse and exclaimed how awesome it was! After all, they had only ever seen ball-bearing mice.

The computer's performance is inferior to Xiaomi's first phone, and the total price of 26,000 yuan is exactly the annual rent for these two apartments...

Yang Che was also very excited, wondering to himself how many digits a QQ account would have if he registered at this time. If there weren't any 5-digit accounts, should he ask Pony Ma for a few?

Ning Hao and his friends were studying several game discs given to them by the computer store. They were all pirated, costing five yuan a disc at the overpass. The discs included "Road Rash," "Red Alert," "The Legend of Sword and Fairy," "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," "Age of Empires III," and "Counter-Strike," all popular games in computer stores.

Oh, nowadays internet cafes aren't called internet cafes, they're called internet cafes, computer rooms, internet access rooms... In 1999, hardware and software prices dropped drastically, making it a year of rapid expansion for internet cafes. Prices also dropped to half of the previous year, with most internet cafes charging only 15 yuan per hour.

Cheng Er also reached out and touched the bulky monitor: "With this thing, we won't have to go to the print shop anymore."

Qin Lan laughed and said, "Director, you touched the wrong thing. You should touch the printer."

Cheng Er opened her mouth, unsure how to respond, then turned to Yang Che: "I got another call on my way here..."

Yang Che raised his hand to stop them: "Let's go inside and talk."

So the two went to the reception room, which was empty except for a water dispenser, tea and coffee casually placed on the floor, and a few plastic stools.

Cheng Er pulled up a red plastic stool, sat down, and complained, "Brother Che, do we really have to wait to find old furniture to fill this place?"

"What do you mean 'old stuff'? That's an antique."

Well... In 1999, a large number of old houses in Beijing were renovated and demolished, and the Panjiayuan shantytown was redeveloped, resulting in a large influx of old furniture into the Chaowai secondhand market.

Yang Che wasn't that interested in this place; he just wanted to find a few pieces of furniture that he could use and were relatively inexpensive. Well, old tables, chairs, and benches made of elm, beech, and cypress wood were cheaper than mid- to high-end furniture in the furniture market.

Of course, the expensive ones will still be expensive. Don't expect to buy rosewood at the price of elm wood; the ancients weren't idiots...

Cheng Er stopped arguing and started talking about the phone call from Qiong Yao's company, which was to inquire about the results.

After all, Cheng Er's tone and attitude when he first received the other party's call made him think that if he hadn't remembered Yang Che as the "person in charge," he would have agreed on the spot.

"I guess they also felt that they hadn't handled things properly, and they even told me, an outsider, that they would use other resources to compensate Fan Bingbing."

Yang Che scoffed, "You actually believe that? What kind of industry is this? Where is the other party's company? What sense of morality and shame is there in the entertainment industry there? I'm only telling you that to ease the lingering guilt in your heart as a young director."

Cheng Er opened her mouth, gritted her teeth, and finally said, "I still don't understand. From any perspective, Zhao Yanzi is the most suitable candidate. Brother Che, you wouldn't happen to have your eye on Fan Bingbing, would you?"

Yang Che squinted at him, then pointed to his own face and grinned: "A man who is good-looking, talented, rich, responsible, and possesses any one of these excellent qualities is a killer for women of any age."

Before Cheng Er, whose lips were twitching, could reply, Yang Che continued in a deep voice, "Old Cheng, speaking of which, do you think someone like me would joke about my first work? Am I like King You of Zhou, who only did this to win a smile from Bao Si?"

Cheng Er was stunned. Right, these self-important people admired Yang Che, was it only because he was the producer?

Of course not. It's because their abilities are superior to theirs, and they always have a higher perspective on problems. After spending a few days with them, you naturally become convinced.

Why do I have reservations about this? Well, besides the fact that Zhao Yanzi is indeed more suitable, I seem to have always felt a bit unconvinced. It's like how I always felt a little awkward calling him "Brother Che" in front of others; someone else always had to do it first...

After disdaining his own petty thoughts, Cheng Er said, quite moved, "Brother Che, I understand. Should I give them my answer?"

When faced with doubts and accusations, never try to prove yourself immediately. Instead, use counter-questions to control the pace of the conversation.

Therefore, Yang Che was very satisfied with Cheng Er's reaction and waved his hand, saying, "No need, just say you're in a meeting to discuss it and drag it out. Let's wait until Fan Bingbing finishes her call before we talk about it."

"Understood."

After a while, Fan Bingbing didn't call, but Fan Xiaotian called, saying he had arrived at the gate of the residential area.