“A`Yuan, how is it?”
“…”
“This is an inspirational movie. It speaks of a healing story between a man and a dog.”
“A homeless guy who is addicted to cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs would be inspirational? And it’s with a dog?”
“Yes, it’s quite good!”
“Don’t take a crooked path. We’re dignified people and won’t shoot prohibited films that have strong tastes!”
“A`Yuan, you’re wrong. This isn’t an ordinary dog, and it definitely isn’t a prohibited film. What are you thinking?” Fatty Wei rebutted firmly.
“Then what is it?”
“It’s a homeless dog who is all skin and bones. It had been lucky to come out from the dog slaughterhouse alive…”
“Inspirational?”
“Quite so!”
“Then why would you think of me?”
“It’s because you’re a smoking addict, one who has a strong addiction at that. The way you quit for one day and then go back to smoking really gives off a strong feeling of drug addiction. I feel that it wouldn’t be bad if you use that for your acting in the movie itself. You’ll be able to shine!”
“…”
Lu Yuan suddenly didn’t know how to rebut.
Lu Yuan could see intense confidence and fierceness in Fatty Wei’s eyes.
When he saw Lu Yuan, his gaze was filled with enthusiasm.
He looked like a virgin who had just gotten a taste of sweetness, sharpening his tool and raring to do a good job, endlessly without stopping.
Lu Yuan looked at the moon outside and then looked again at the slightly empty office’s main hall.
In the past, he should be calling for a celebration without asking anything. However, Lu Yuan suddenly lost interest in doing so.
“You drank?”
“A little.”
“Go to sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“A`Yuan, I’m very serious. After [Buried] goes on air, we’ll prepare for this [Homeless]! We don’t need much investment either. It can be contained within 1.3 million, and it’s totally within our capabilities. Moreover, we can use this small amount for a great gamble, coming up with a film that is tear-jerking yet inspirational!”
“I’m a little tired…”
“Take a look at the script first before you sleep?”
“Alright, alright!”
Seeing how insistent Fatty Wei was, Lu Yuan was speechless. He switched on the lights in the hall and took the script from him.
In the beginning, he didn’t have much interest in this script, but after reading for a while, he suddenly felt that it wasn’t bad.
Lu Yuan felt a sense of familiarity toward the male lead’s middle school days.
“How is it?”
“Not bad…”
“Our company will go with this for our next movie?”
“Alright.”
“You’ll be the main lead, so I’ll be the director this time around?” Fatty Wei threw a glance at Lu Yuan probingly.
“Sure, no problem!”
“Then I’ll buy this script for now?”
“How much is it?”
“$7,000.”
“Oh, wait, how much did you say it costs?”
“The asking price is $7,000, but if we were to negotiate a little, we might be able to get it for around $5,000 or so.”
“Oh,” Lu Yuan felt that this script seemed to be a little cheap.
It was possible to buy a script for $5,000?
“Erm… Can you transfer $7,000 to me?”
“Didn’t I just give you your director bonus?”
“I went to pay back the debts I had before… I returned Old Li $20,000… Moreover, this script is so good, and you’re our company’s president, so…”
“Alright, alright!” Lu Yuan was speechless to see how awkward Fatty Wei was acting, thus he had no choice but to give in to him.
“Alright! That’s our boss!” Fatty Wei was overjoyed, his face looking as brilliant as a blooming chrysanthemum as he kissed up to Lu Yuan.
He seemed to be able to see a beautiful life beckoning toward him…
Everything seemed to be so wonderful.
Huaxia’s future great director was coming!
……
The days passed by very quickly.
In the blink of an eye, late August was here.
Although the weather in August was dry and hot as usual, there was a hint of coolness compared to July.
There would be production crews of all sizes coming to Hengdian every day, and there would be countless actors, actresses, and celebrities visiting. The hotels were all fully packed, having bustling businesses. Lu Yuan felt very envious upon seeing that.
Lu Yuan had also fantasized about opening a hotel that was specially catered for celebrities.
It was a pity that it would only be a dream.
Why?
Of course it was because he was poor!
How was one supposed to open a hotel with just several hundred thousand dollars? Wouldn’t that be crap talk?
After all, reality wasn’t a dream, and fantasizing a little was enough. One would be a fool if they really put things into action.
There was Fatty Wei to worry about the movie, so Lu Yuan didn’t need to put in much effort. During this time, he had been reading all sorts of books regarding performances and would also occasionally watch television to learn from this world’s art films.
Of course…
“What did you call that person?”
“Brother. What about it?”
“…”
“Du du du.”
During this time, Wang Jinxue had given Lu Yuan a very short call. After Lu Yuan had replied to her question, Wang Jinxue hung up immediately.
Lu Yuan found this perplexing, but when he tried to call back, Wang Jinxue’s phone was switched off.
In the next ten or more days, Wang Jinxue didn’t call Lu Yuan any more. It was as if she had disappeared.
Women were really a bunch of mysterious animals.
Lu Yuan couldn’t understand and shook his head, not thinking too much into it.
Of course, he wasn’t willing to admit that his emotional intelligence was very low.
No matter how high a person’s emotional intelligence was, there would still be times in which they would be stumped, wouldn’t they?
It was very normal for one to be stumped.
Moreover, he wasn’t someone who studied psychology.
Another thing worth mentioning in August was that Lu Yuan had become famous.
Although it wasn’t something as exaggerated as having become famous overnight, various news about him had taken up the headlines on many major websites for two days…
That video of his interview, especially, had taken the second spot on Yousou Video Site for a total of four days!
The video in the first place had an overwhelming amount of views that was close to three times as much…
What was it?
The video in the first place was naturally [Subway Station]’s trailer…
After all, the popularity of Director Zhang Tong, as well as some of the involved celebrities, wasn’t to be underestimated. There was no problem for them to crush a video on Lu Yuan’s interview. Even though Lu Yuan’s video had been overtaken by a huge degree, he still managed to attract some attention.
After all, he was the singer in the trailer. Moreover, he had shown his face for several tens of seconds…
As Lu Yuan had gotten famous, the netizens slowly started to know about the movie [Buried] in August.
People knew that this movie had a small capital. The total investment in it was only one million…
However, its reputation as a movie with only one actor was extremely huge!
Many people had great anticipation, wondering how the movie was produced when there was only one actor.
Although [Buried]’s popularity as a new film was ranked 49th on the Tomato Site of the Movie Portal Web and couldn’t be compared to [Capital City] that was played by Shen Lianjie, they at least managed to get into the top 50.
Given the small investment of one million, a new producer, and an actor who had lost his popularity, it was quite an amazing feat to be able to get into the top 50.
Reality was still reality after all. There couldn’t possibly be such an amazing operation all of a sudden.
Many things required some settling down. They would require accumulation and fermentation.
To Lu Yuan, what he needed to do now was to have a good sleep. After he woke up, he would take a shower, do his hair, and then attend [Buried]’s premiere. He would then just wait for the results of the box office result.
As for the rest…
There was nothing much to worry about.
Even if it didn’t do well, he was still very calm…
Anyway, he had savings of several hundred thousand dollars in his pocket. In the worst-case scenario, he could just go back home and open a shop…
……
30 August. Sunny.
“The movie will be premiering tomorrow. Brother Sheng, are you nervous?”
“What do you think?”
“Not nervous at all.”
“Of course. Oh right, has the sample film been sent to Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards?”
“Little Wang has sent it over.”
“Oh, that’s good then.”
“Oh right, I heard that [Buried] has been sent over as well.”
“Fatty Wei’s movie?”
“That’s right!”
“There’s no need to tell me about the matters of a clown like him. It’d just be a laughing stock.”
“Brother Sheng, Fatty Wei is proclaiming that he wants to compete against you. You plan on…”
“What plan? If an ant were to challenge an elephant, would the elephant possibly care about the ant? What rights does Fatty Wei have to compete with me? It’s a movie that only one cinema is willing to accept. If I were to care about him, then wouldn’t he reap off some popularity from me?”
“That’s true. Let’s just ignore him and leave him be! Brother Sheng is really farsighted!”
“It’s good that you understand. In the future, don’t use such rubbish information to disgust me. You only need to report to me after the box office results are out. Understand?”
“I understand.”
“You can go now.”
“Alright!”
………
“Old Wang, your judgment isn’t good.”
“Old Liu, it’s your judgment that’s bad.”
“You dare put up a movie that is based on such a small capital?”
“Haha, it doesn’t necessarily mean that a small capital can’t warrant a good film.”
“You’re too idealistic. Wake up. You aren’t young anymore. It’s better to put up more shows for [Capital City]. After all, your cinema chain can only be considered a second-rated one…”
“No need. How can I change something that has already been decided…”
“It’s up to you then. Don’t come and complain to me after you suffer great losses. Tianqin won’t be so foolish. You’re a company that sells clothes but yet imitate others to start up a cinema chain. You won’t be able to succeed.”
“Haha, everyone has their own aspirations.”
“Haha, alright then.”