My Life with Narration

Chapter 528 - 519: Why Are You Still Here?

It’s one thing to chug a beer, but if Director Wang does a shot of Chinese liquor, he’ll be in the hospital that night.

This is because he was so happy. After all, before coming here, the film crew was on the brink of disbandment, but just coming here for a meal, hey, it got sorted out. Isn’t that miraculous?

Originally, we just wanted to see if we could discuss a collaboration, maybe make some money on the stock market to cover the crew’s expenses. Unexpectedly, we didn’t manage the collaboration but found an investor. It’s truly a case of unintended consequences working out beautifully.

After all, even if the stock market collaboration had succeeded, he wouldn’t have been able to put up much money, and those who had both money and intention didn’t catch a thing. Instead, he, someone on the fringes, gained the greatest benefit. This kind of unexpected turn of events felt wonderful to Wang Fan.

In the end, it took quite a bit of persuading to quash Wang Fan’s impulsive desire to chug a bottle of white liquor. Everyone chatted for a while, exchanged contact information, and finally dispersed.

When Wang Fan returned, he felt as if he was floating, almost unable to believe what had just happened. He asked his companion, Han Zhuo, several times for confirmation before finally breaking into a smile.

When he returned to the crew, Assistant Director Yu Gang approached him.

"Brother, it’s not working out. We can’t hang on any longer. Without money, our crew is about to disband. Why don’t you go... um, persuade Jing to have another drink with you? He’s been guest-starring for a month, hasn’t asked for pay, and if he could put up some money, it would be reasonable."

The others might not know, but as an assistant director on the crew, he was fully aware that this crew, described generously as a crew, was essentially gathered by persuasion.

Before filming started, Wang Fan spun all kinds of grand tales, promising A-list stars would join, promising easy filming. But upon arrival, not only was there no sign of A-listers, but actors had to wear dozens of kilos of equipment daily, even fainting from exhaustion. The crucial point is, several of Old Wang’s friends were persuaded to give up their paychecks.

The most miserable one had been guest-starring for a whole month without pay, leaving Yu Gang thinking that since the director’s reputation was already gone, he might as well shamelessly throw some more spirit into the mix, maybe their crew could still be saved; what if Jing suddenly agreed?

He even had it all planned out: alcohol first, get Jing drunk and muddle him into agreement. By the next day when things were already decided, there’d be no backing out. Worse comes to worst, have him play the lead role; after all, he’s guest-starred so many days.

Upon hearing this, Wang Fan laughed: "That won’t do. He’s not even asking for pay; how can we expect him to put up money?"

"Relax, I have a solution for the money, and not only that, I can add on the pay. Jing’s pay can just be forgotten for now. I’m thinking of adding a few special effects, and if worst comes to worst, I can share my portion with him."

At the end of the day, Director Wang didn’t forget to calculate some gain for his good brother.

"Solved? What happened?"

"You don’t need to worry about it. Tomorrow, I’ll get the money, and the whole crew will have a feast!"

Soon after, Director Wang drank himself to sleep, leaving Yu Gang puzzled as he walked out, thinking Director Wang was talking nonsense due to drunkenness.

Meanwhile, Su Qing was sitting on the couch drinking tea prepared by Shen Yi specifically to sober him up.

Though he hadn’t drunk much, he had a low tolerance. In the first half, the ladies pushed him to drink, and in the second half, every now and then Director Wang wanted a shot. By the time he got back, his legs were already wobbling.

At the same time, Tang Nan was complaining to Shen Yi:

"Xiao Yi, your boyfriend now thinks big, investing a hundred million just like that, without restraint. You might not understand, but I, being in the circle, know that domestic sci-fi movies have been a mess these past few years, and this time we’ll probably lose. You need to keep an eye on him in the future."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yi showed no particular expression, instead saying calmly: "No problem, if he loses everything, I can always support him. I’m not lacking money."

Young people should naturally let loose and take risks. We have the conditions, and even if he really loses it’s considered gaining experience, nothing much.

After the stock market incident last time, Shen Yi shifted her attitude, realizing her man isn’t lacking funds. If he loses, so be it. What young man hasn’t experienced a few setbacks? Even when she started her business, it wasn’t all smooth sailing.

Besides, over time, her young man continued to surprise her. He’s already shown his capabilities, and if she continued like last time, it wouldn’t be supporting him anymore but restricting his development.

Step back and ask, who’s to say that Su Qing’s investment this time will definitely lose? What if it earns?

With the worst possibility in mind, you’d find that this is hardly a problem.

Tang Nan rolled her eyes vigorously: "You... you two, it’s hopeless, you’re both done for. I’m starting to suspect that your brain is fried by love; this isn’t like your previous self. Is love really this all-consuming? How did I not notice before?"

"Precisely because you didn’t get all-consumed, you ended up breaking up!" Shen Yi frankly retorted.

Immediately, Tang Nan was laid flat out, a fatal strike.

Watching President Tang, who was speechless, Shen Yi chuckled, and then turned to Su Qing on the couch: "I say it like this, but whether it’s a hundred million or fifty, sixty million, it’s still not a small amount. Do you have any views on this film?"

Upon hearing this, Su Qing shifted his focus from the laptop on the coffee table: "It’s an excellent story, logically clear, massively imaginative and expansive. The key is, the author is a top-notch sci-fi writer domestically and internationally. As long as the crew’s editors don’t mess around, stick to the original, even with lower-end effects, it definitely won’t be a bad movie."

Just moments earlier, he searched online for basic information about the novel "Wandering Earth", even found some vloggers who’ve analyzed it, and within ten minutes had a clear understanding. It’s quite shocking.

In modern times, for someone like him who used to be a video blogger, understanding a work isn’t hard. If you don’t have time to read the original, you surely have the time for a ten-minute analysis, right?

Although not very detailed, it was already enough for him.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with the original author of this novel, but he hadn’t read the original work, so he needed to quickly brush up on the related knowledge.

As she spoke, Shen Yi glanced at the information on the computer and quickly understood, "Mr. Liu’s work has even made it into textbooks; naturally, he’s an outstanding writer."

"Since you’ve decided, when do you plan to implement it?"

"Tomorrow, at your company. I can provide the money, but I don’t know much about the other stuff. I’ll have to trouble you to help me out," Su Qing said a bit awkwardly.

"Sure, but if you make a profit, you have to pay me a salary."

"That’s not a problem, I can even give it all to you."

Although she knew it was a joke, Shen Yi still chuckled, finding it amusing. Then she said to Tang Nan:

"It’s fine to do it individually, but it’s better to do it under the company’s name. You’re in the industry, so you can just keep an eye on things tomorrow."

Hearing this, Tang Nan gave the two of them a sidelong glance: "I don’t care. He’s not my man, so I’m not in charge!"

"Oh come on, aren’t you a shareholder? You’re already involved, so helping out is only expected," Shen Yi said with a smile.

"Nonsense, when you need me, I’m a shareholder; when you don’t, you want to kick me out of the shareholders’ meeting. You’re really shameless."

"So are you going to help or not?"

"Fine, I’ll help, okay? I’m really stuck with you two, having to put up with all your love talk and still have to work for you."

He and Shen Yi exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.

"Oh right, I forgot to tell you, the matter with Huayue Company has been resolved."

Upon hearing Shen Yi’s words, the two were taken aback.

"So fast? It’s only been two days!"

"How was it resolved?"

Shen Yi didn’t hide anything since they came back for this matter. She recounted how Huayue’s general manager personally came over today, including the compensation and conditions, leaving the two puzzled.

What kind of conclusion is this? A weak start and a weak finish?

"There’s no need for those expressions. Huayue is about as large as our Baihua. If we really clash, it’s not beneficial for either side. Since they chose to admit their mistake and made concessions, there’s no need for us to push further. We can’t just crush them in one strike; if we really start a fight, we might not come out on top, and it’s likely both sides would suffer losses," Shen Yi explained when she saw their expressions.

"Isn’t this too easy for them? They tried to mess with us, we fought back, and in the end, just an apology solves it?" Tang Nan was dissatisfied, feeling it was too lenient.

Hearing this, Shen Yi turned to Su Qing and asked, "What do you think?"

It seemed like a question, but she was actually asking for his stance. If he didn’t think it was acceptable, Shen Yi wouldn’t mind helping out her man to settle the score, rather than letting it end so perfunctorily.

But with Su Qing’s insight, he immediately knew her intention and shook his head, "Let’s leave it at that, it’s fine. They tried to fool me, but I didn’t fall for it. We didn’t suffer a loss, so there’s no need to make it a big issue."

As it stands, there’s no need to cause losses on Shen Yi’s side over this small matter, especially since Tang Nan and the landlady were also involved.

"Alright, then we’ll let this matter rest," Shen Yi said with a smile.

Seeing this, Tang Nan could only sigh. There’s no helping it; the company listens to others. If she was the one dealing with it, she truly wouldn’t know what to do. If she really had a way, Shen Yi wouldn’t have needed to come back.

After saying this, Su Qing and Shen Yi turned their gaze to Tang Nan in unison.

Feeling their gaze, Tang Nan paused, "Why... why are you two looking at me like that?"

Hearing this, Su Qing responded, "We’ve finished eating, you’ve lodged your complaint, and the issue has been resolved. Why are you still here? Didn’t you notice it’s already dark?"

"Leave? Why should I..." Before she could finish, she realized why they were staring at her.

"Damn, you two... shameless!"

...