Huayu: Just started as a stagehand, but the director's comeback system

Jiang Huai decided to keep his promise to the Song family, after all, he was now a director with a certain reputation.

If someone were to reveal that he had an affair with a certain actress at this time, the audience's first reaction would be, "I told you so!" With this kind of negative news, attention would be more focused on the actress. He just needs to play dead and do whatever he wants once the storm has passed.

But if it's revealed that he slept with actresses for free, then his reputation will be completely ruined. Forget about making movies, it will probably be very difficult for him to continue working in the industry.

Therefore, the actress was selected by the Song family after only one round of auditions. Huang Bo's expression changed quickly, from doubt to envy, and finally to sadness after being slapped on the head by Jiang Huai.

The male actor casting process was slower, but after several rounds of auditions, Jiang Huai finally decided on Liao Fan to play the male lead, Zhang Zijun, based on Ning Hao's recommendation.

The only remaining issue in the preliminary preparations is finding a suitable location. Jiang Huai doesn't plan to look for a film studio anymore; the script for "Black Coal, Thin Ice" clearly describes the location as Northeast China.

Jiang Huai, who hadn't been away from home for very long, had to go back, but this time he had a lot of people with him, so he obediently took a plane.

After returning home and looking around, Jiang Huai managed to contact the biggest figure in Northeast China through his maternal grandfather's connections.

Even though it's almost April, the weather in Tieling, the "center of the universe," is still quite cold.

Jiang Huai really didn't expect that Zhao Benshan, who has now achieved great success, would still be able to live in this small place.

Following the navigation, Jiang Huai drove Ning Hao and the other person until evening before arriving at Zhao Benshan's village.

Contrary to expectations, the two were welcomed inside by Zhao Benshan's apprentices as soon as they arrived.

"But the first time I met Teacher Zhao, she was even more dignified than she appears on TV."

"You're too kind. Come and sit on this kang (heated brick bed). I was still in Shenyang when you two came a few days ago. Now you're suffering."

Many of Zhao Benshan's apprentices were inside, making it a lively place. Upon hearing their master's words, they quickly made way for the two who were still declining.

"I heard that Director Jiang is also from Northeast China. He's a real young talent."

"You're too kind, Teacher Zhao. I grew up watching your TV shows."

Seeing Zhao Benshan's enthusiasm, Jiang Huai also acted like a familiar face and even took a frozen pear from the table for Ning Hao to try.

Holding the cold, blackened frozen pear in his hand, Ning Hao's first impression was that it wasn't a tasty fruit.

But when he looked up slightly, he noticed that everyone's eyes were on him. He swallowed hard, thinking that the movie couldn't be ruined by him, and took a big bite.

I couldn't taste it at first, but after another bite, mmm, it's actually quite delicious.

Everyone in the room laughed when they saw Ning Hao's behavior.

"If you guys go and pack some frozen pears for Director Jiang to take to his car, how can anyone else ask for anything?"

"That's not urgent, Teacher Zhao. I actually came here to find a venue for the film. Could you help me find one?"

Taking advantage of the fact that there were fewer people in the room, Jiang Huai quickly got down to business with Zhao Benshan.

After Jiang Huai gave a general outline of the plot, Zhao Benshan lowered his head and thought for a while.

"Don't call me Teacher Zhao anymore, just call me Uncle. There really is such a place. The area around Bingcheng is quite suitable. If you don't like it, you can also go to Fushun. That place isn't far from Bingcheng, and it probably won't cost much."

"Then I'll take the liberty of calling you 'Uncle,' and thank you regardless of whether it works out or not."

"You're too kind. Stay here tonight and experience the countryside of Northeast China."

Jiang and Huai made a few polite refusals but didn't refuse. They drank quite a bit of alcohol that night and found a room to stay in.

The next morning, Jiang Huai still had a headache. He shook Ning Hao, who was still talking in his sleep, awake and then got up to say goodbye to Zhao Benshan.

The two were still feeling unwell from their hangover, so they accepted the other party's arrangement for his apprentice to drive.

Sitting in the back seat, Jiang Huai was still thinking about what happened last night. He was too drunk to remember clearly, but he remembered that Zhao Benshan had agreed to make a cameo appearance in the new movie, and he seemed to have directly added the role of the police chief to the other party's resume.

Forget it, we'll discuss adding a character that won't affect the plot with Ning Hao later. It would be best if he came, but it won't matter if he doesn't come, just because we're having a few drinks.

Back in the city, the two didn't rest. They immediately had their staff book the earliest flight to Harbin.

Ning Hao originally wanted to go back to the hotel to get some more sleep, but Jiang Huai was still worried about the system's rating. If the rating was low, they would have to change locations.

Jiang Huai slept for a while on the plane and arrived in Harbin. The staff had already contacted the local officials, who were very cooperative about their filming.

Accompanied by local officials, Jiang Huai and his entourage first toured the old town of Harbin. Many places received excellent reviews from the system, so Jiang Huai made the decision immediately.

Following Zhao Benshan's recommendation, Jiang Huai drove for almost six hours to Fushun, where the remaining locations in the script could be found, and it was even cheaper than in Harbin. Jiang Huai confirmed the details with local officials.

[Beep, Task 2, the prerequisite for Task 2, has been completed. System rewards are being generated.]

The rewards have been distributed to a randomized national script library.

Jiang Huai didn't rush back to Harbin that night. He was exhausted after a day of traveling. After lying down in a hotel, he had a few more wrinkles on his head.

Jiang Huai lay down and carefully examined the new rewards from the system, which quickly appeared on the screen.

Korean script library, unlock progress 0%.

Jiang Huai felt the so-called script library in his mind was completely black. At present, he could only see two scripts, "The Beauty Inside" and "Parasite", but he could only see the cover and nothing else.

Jiang Huai was still mentally criticizing the system for getting something for nothing when, thankfully, the electronic voice reappeared in his mind.

[All prerequisite tasks for Task 2 have been completed. Please complete Task 2 to receive a 10% unlock of the Korean script library and the unlock of any script.]

Although there was no prerequisite task three this time, the rewards for completing task two were still quite generous, so Jiang Huai gave up any thoughts of slander.

As for which scenario to choose later, we'll decide after that 10% is unlocked.

If no more interesting script comes along, Jiang Huai prefers to focus on unlocking inner beauty first, even though the script is likely to be a romance film.

Parasite is clearly a science fiction film, and these days, science fiction films with too little investment are unlikely to have good results.

However, if the investment is too large, even China Film Group might not be able to trust him. Or if several companies jointly invest, he will probably be subject to the constraints of the investors in every way, and it will be difficult for him to treat the film crew as a one-man show as he does now.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Jiang Huai lay down on the bed in a daze without thinking about anything else.

Although they only spent a few days together, he was still a little unaccustomed to not having the Song family by his side, but fortunately, they would be coming in a few days.