Huayu: Starting from managing the Mahua FunAge Theater Troupe

Chapter 22 The Romantic Knight of the Military Arts Academy

Yu Kai stayed at the Haidian Theater until 5:30 p.m., while Shen Feiyang moved on to the Yifu Theater.

It took Shen Feiyang more than 20 minutes to cover the 16-kilometer distance.

Upon arrival, Shen Feiyang first ate dinner at a nearby restaurant before heading to the Yifu Theater.

Glancing at the number of motorcycles and bicycles at the theater entrance, Shen Feiyang could clearly sense that ticket sales were decreasing.

The potential audience in Dongcheng District is almost exhausted. When He Jiong and his troupe performed here before, there were already quite a few audience members, so it's normal for the audience to continue to decline.

Stepping into the theater, Shen Feiyang saw Shen Teng, Jiang Yan, Xiong Naijin, and others standing at the ticket gate to greet the audience.

During this period, they also gained some recognition.

Some viewers who have seen both He Jiong's and Shen Teng's versions of "Mahua" even said that Shen Teng and others acted much better than He Jiong's version, especially Xiong Naijin's portrayal of Mahua, which was much better than Xie Na's.

This incident even sparked a heated argument on the Happy Twist forum.

This was also one of the reasons why Shen Teng and his group personally greeted the audience at the ticket gate.

After watching all the audience members enter, Shen Feiyang walked over and asked Shen Teng, "How did the ticket sales go today?"

"Three hundred and twenty-one."

"That's alright."

Previously, the cost of a performance at the Yifu Theater was 15,000 yuan, but as the publicity costs were shared by the Haidian Theater, and He Jiong, Xie Na, and Yu Na moved to different venues, the cost dropped to about 9,000 yuan, including venue rental, rental of five buses, depreciation of props, personnel costs, and some other minor expenses.

With an average ticket price of around 80 yuan and sales of over 300 tickets, it's enough to cover costs and generate a profit.

After a brief chat, the group headed backstage to prepare for their performance.

Shen Teng and Shen Feiyang walked side by side behind the group. He turned to Shen Feiyang and asked, "Did you see Professor Zhao Benshan? How did the talk go?"

Shen Teng hasn't called Shen Feiyang to find out what's going on these past few days, and Yu Kai hasn't told him either, so he's too lazy to ask.

"Okay, I'll tell you what to do after the performances are over in the next couple of days," Shen Feiyang said casually.

"Okay. Oh, by the way..."

Shen Teng changed his tone, glanced at Jiang Yan who was walking ahead with the others, and pulled Shen Feiyang back.

After the people in front had walked a distance, Shen Teng said to Shen Feiyang, "The day after tomorrow is Xiao Jiang's eighteenth birthday. I was thinking, let's prepare a surprise for her. We have a performance, so let's get her a cake, and after the performance, we can push the cake up and get the whole audience to sing 'Happy Birthday' to Xiao Jiang..."

Shen Feiyang nodded slightly: "You can handle it. Just get reimbursed by the company for whatever amount you spend."

"Okay, but don't try to renege on your promise later."

"When have I ever renege on a debt?"

……

Two days later.

October 2th, Thursday.

It was a little after nine in the morning.

Shen Feiyang pushed Xiong Naijin, who was clinging to him, aside.

Xiong Naijin asked groggily, "What time is it? Why are you up so early?"

"Go to the company to handle some business."

"Oh," Xiong Naijin murmured, then fell silent. She was so sleepy; she and Shen Feiyang had been up until 4 a.m. the night before she finally fell asleep.

……

It was a little after 10 a.m.

Shen Feiyang arrived at the Hepingli office.

In the office, besides Yu Kai and his three assistants, there were also a group of screenwriters who were working on the scripts for "Lost in Thailand" and "Stone," including Shen Teng, Wei Xiang, and Zhou Dayong.

Yu Kai was talking with several screenwriters.

Upon seeing Shen Feiyang enter, Yu Kai stopped talking and introduced him to everyone: "This is Shen Feiyang, the general manager of Happy Twist. The story frameworks for the two films, 'Lost in Thailand' and 'Crazy Stone,' were both created by General Manager Shen. Please introduce yourselves to General Manager Shen."

Shen Teng asked like a curious child, "Do I still need to introduce myself?"

"Let's have one."

"Shen Teng is 24 years old this year and graduated from the Drama Performance Department of the Military Academy."

With Shen Teng setting an example, the others took turns introducing themselves.

"Jiang Haibo is 18 years old this year. He is a student in the Performance Department of the Beijing Film Academy Vocational College, Class of 03, and the president and founder of the Beijing Film Academy Firecracker Comedy Club."

Shen Feiyang sized him up. This guy was going to be the producer of "Goodbye Mr. Loser" in the future, and he was a planning and management type of talent.

"Peng Anyu is 20 years old this year. He is a student in the Performance Department of the Beijing Film Academy Vocational College, Class of 03, and the co-founder and screenwriter of the Beijing Film Academy Firecracker Comedy Club."

Shen Feiyang knew his other stage name, Peng Damo, a mainstay of Happy Twist.

"Chen Wei is 22 years old this year. He is a student in the Performance Department of the Beijing Film Academy Vocational College, Class of 03, and the co-founder and screenwriter of the Beijing Film Academy Firecracker Comedy Club."

This guy also has a stage name, Big Ghost.

Shen Feiyang remembered that this guy later founded his own stage comedy troupe, which was once on par with Happy Twist, but its subsequent development was far behind Happy Twist.

Chen Wei also worked within the CCTV Spring Festival Gala system for several years, becoming Cai Ming's go-to screenwriter and creating a series of Spring Festival Gala sketches.

Zhou Dayong was the second to last to introduce himself; he was also one of the screenwriters of "Want to Eat Fried Dough Twists? I'll Twist Them for You Now".

Wei Xiang concluded with a self-introduction: "Wei Xiang, 24 years old this year, is a student in the Performance Department of the Beijing Film Academy (Class of 03), co-founder and screenwriter of the Beijing Film Academy Firecracker Comedy Club, and a contracted actor of Happy Twist."

Yu Kai added from the side, "Jiang Haibo, Peng Anyu, and Chen Wei were all introduced by Wei Xiang. Although they are young, they have a lot of comedic creative thinking."

How come Beijing Film Academy's vocational college has produced so many talented people...?

Shen Feiyang thought to himself, but raised his hand and said, "Very good, being young is a good thing, please sit down."

"These are the first drafts of the two scripts." Yu Kai handed the two scripts to Shen Feiyang.

Jiang Haibo, Peng Anyu, and Chen Wei looked at Shen Feiyang with some trepidation.

The script was spearheaded and organized by Yu Kai and Shen Teng.

Shen Feiyang reads the script very quickly, basically comparing it with the finished film version he had seen in his mind to check if the stage play version has grasped the essence.

Shen Feiyang held a pen and occasionally circled a line of dialogue, writing notes next to it.

In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed.

Shen Feiyang raised his head, looked at everyone, and commented: "Overall, it barely meets the standard, but there are still some problems, which I have marked. You can revise them later. After you've finished revising, start rehearsing 'Stone' and try to premiere it in May. Alright, let's go have lunch. It's on me."

Yu Kai took back the script.

"it is good."

The crowd responded.

……

After lunch.

Shen Teng then went to the cake shop to order a cake.

He ordered a six-tiered cake.

Next, Shen Teng went to the flower shop and ordered a bouquet of 199 roses.

"Oh, right." Shen Teng took out a letter and handed it to the florist: "Help me hide this letter in the flowers."

……

I walked out of the flower shop.

Shen Teng looked up at the sunlight and smiled.