Chapter 101 Chapter 101 Spending Money Day 101
Liu Yue took out her phone and looked up some information, looking forward to her upcoming trip to Africa.
However, there is still a lot of preparation to be done before going to Africa, such as getting vaccinated and sending Lucas back to China first.
No matter how wild the Bengal cat is, it is still a pet cat. There are real leopards on the African grasslands.
It's boring to keep it locked in a pet bag all the time, but if it's accidentally left unattended on the grassland... Plus, the African grasslands are a more primitive and complex environment, so it's better to send it back home. Liu Yue will feel more at ease.
While Liu Yue was thinking, she slowed down her eating.
Qiao Yi finally caught the moment when she was daydreaming and asked her what she was thinking about.
"I'm thinking about how to get to the African grasslands."
Liu Yue asked casually, "I'm planning to go to Tanzania for a trip. Do you want to go?"
Liu Yue actually didn't mind bringing a playmate, but unfortunately Qiao Yi's schedule was very tight and all the subsequent work was under contract.
Qiao Yi expressed regret that she couldn't go, but Liu Yue didn't care, as she just asked casually.
Qiao Yi didn't know much about the African grasslands, so she turned the topic around to herself and said that she had just finished filming a play last month.
Liu Yue: "Is this the drama you recommended to me before, based on the original novel?"
"Yes, that's the one."
Qiao Yi reached out to tidy up her hair, and found that it was a little messy, so she raised her hand to signal her assistant to come over and help.
Her assistant, Xiaojun, walked over quickly. Liu Yue said, "I finished reading the original novel in about a week. It's quite long, but it's so well written. I really like it."
"The novel's heroine's upgrade framework is very complete, and the script adaptation just needs to restore it."
Qiao Yi nodded. "Yes, when I read the script, I was moved by the heroine's character and the storyline. She's a very vibrant character who fights hard no matter what adversity she faces. I really like the heroine in the script."
Liu Yue chatted with her a little more about the heroine and the highlights in the novel, which would definitely be wonderful to be presented in film and television dramas.
Hearing this, Qiao Yi was silent for a moment, as if he was hesitant to speak.
The assistant didn't think too much about it. She said directly: "That scene was added to the flyout. It's completely different from the script we saw at the beginning. We were not even allowed to shoot it..."
"Xiaojun." Qiao Yi called her softly.
The assistant fell silent in a gloomy voice. She still felt unhappy when she thought about it.
Liu Yue was confused: "What does adding flying pages mean? Aren't we all following the script when filming? Why didn't you go to film?"
When she pressed the issue, Qiao Yi had no choice but to tell her.
Fly pages refer to script pages that are temporarily added outside the formal script.
As for why she didn't shoot those scenes, there were reasons for that - she might have to make up for the scenes that she didn't perform well in before, or the director had other arrangements for her.
Xiaojun couldn't help but interrupt again: "And Sister Qiao has already finished filming, but they re-filmed it without calling her Sister Qiao. They really can't act like it."
Is this even possible? Liu Yue was shocked when she heard this.
Qiao Yi said, "It's not as exaggerated as Xiaojun said. The director just asked other actors to go over and fill in a few shots."
"Those were all fight scenes. You ran out of shots while you were reshooting."
"That's not the case," Qiao Yi said. "I still trust the director and the crew. They all want to complete this work well."
This is what Qiao Yi said, but looking at Xiaojun's expression, it was obvious that he didn't believe it, was not convinced, and was very indignant for her.
This... is this how filming is done?
When Liu Yue asked again, it turned out that the person who was frantically adding pages at the scene was none other than the male protagonist.
Xiaojun complained on the side that the male lead kept adding more and more content, so how much of the original content could be filmed in 40 episodes?
The adapted script has already been added to the male lead, and he also wants to add flyleafs, all of which are new original growth lines; Qiao Yi worked hard to shoot for several months, and I don’t know how much will be left when it is broadcast.
Hearing this, Liu Yue, who had read the original novel, found it unbearable.
This is outrageous! Why give the male lead so many scenes? After reading the novel, she was very much looking forward to the plot of the female lead in this drama!
Qiao Yi: "Maybe the crew also had their own considerations, wanting to make the male lead's character more three-dimensional and complete..."
"You can't add it to the female channel either."
Liu Yue was even more speechless after hearing this: "I've never seen a male-oriented drama work so hard to create a more three-dimensional and complete female protagonist. Why can female-oriented dramas do this?"
This crew was really too much. They even changed her favorite novel during filming, but the show had already finished filming...
Liu Yue frowned, and Ren Zhen next to her proposed a solution.
"If it's just the end of filming, you can put some pressure on the editing. The effect of the film or TV series should be based on what the audience sees."
Yes, let him add as much as he wants, just don’t broadcast it. If we are filming according to the original novel, these things should not be broadcast for him.
Liu Yue looked at Ren Zhen: "Can this be done?"
"Yes." Ren Zhen glanced at Qiao Yi and gave Liu Yue an affirmative answer.
Liu Yue is not yet fully accustomed to her identity, at least she has no idea how much influence she has.
That’s fine, Liu Yue felt relieved.
"It's done." She said to Qiao Yi beside her, "Don't worry, the final effect of this play will definitely be the same as the script you read in the beginning."
Qiao Yi's eyes moved, and after calming himself down, he replied "Okay".
She didn't bring up the topic again, instead chatting about something lighthearted and enjoyable. Her knowledge was extensive, and the stories she told were very interesting, and Liu Yue listened with great interest.
When the show was over, Liu Yue told her that she would see her again when she returned to China.
The two did not agree on a specific time, but there would always be a chance for them to meet.
Qiao Yi returned to the hotel. Xiaojun felt a little uneasy when he thought about it.
Her manager told her to keep her mouth shut around the artists, but she didn't seem to be able to keep her mouth shut today...
"It's okay." Qiao Yi comforted her, "It's nothing."
If the occasion is not suitable for Xiaojun to speak, she will not call her over at all, and she will not let her know some things.
Hearing her say this, Xiaojun felt relieved.
As she was removing Qiao Yi's hair, she sighed, "Ah, that big client said today that he would help you with the editing. I don't know if that's true..."
Although he used a question, Xiaojun's tone already implied that it was just empty talk.
It's no wonder she thinks this way; many people in the industry love to brag. They can even find loopholes in contracts written in black and white, and these casual promises made over a dinner table can go in one ear and out the other.
Qiao Yi smiled slightly and didn't explain too much, so as to avoid Xiaojun being a big sieve outside.
What Xiaojun was thinking was indeed the general situation in the domestic entertainment industry, but Liu Yue was certainly different from others.
What seems impossible to others is easy for her.
A film or TV series involves multiple parties' bargaining from the moment the project is launched, and there are also many thoughts and schemes during the filming process.
Qiao Yi couldn't compete with the resourceful people in the crew. With such good resources, she couldn't quit the show, so she had no choice but to cooperate.
She laid the groundwork months in advance, trying hard to arouse Liu Yue's interest in the original novel and the character, and then carefully arranged for Xiaojun to "let the cat out of the bag" just to get her casual words.
But this one sentence was enough to shatter the dream of the male protagonist, who had been shooting the flying pages for more than two months, to turn the heroine into a "double strong".
No matter how strong his background is, how much the company behind him supports him, how much capital interests are involved... Since the project was originally approved under her name alone, she has to edit it honestly according to the original work and the original version of the script.
Liu Yue and Ren Zhen didn't even ask the name of the male lead. It didn't matter who he was or who supported him.
If it wasn't the wrong occasion, Qiao Yi would even want to laugh out loud.
You are a Celestial Dragon, a resourceful person, so what? If you encounter a stronger opponent, you will be crushed without distinction.
Qiao Yi knew that this little trick of his could not be hidden from Liu Yue's assistant; if Liu Yue was willing to take the time to think about it carefully, she would probably be able to figure it out.
But they won't care - as long as Liu Yue's interests are not harmed, she maintains her own personality, plays some tricks, and the contrast brought by occasional "coquettishness" will only make her feel fresh and cute.
If she wants to maintain a good relationship with Liu Yue for a long time, this trick cannot be used often.
Most of the time, she had to be gentle, kind, understanding, amiable, and considerate. No matter what she was like in private, she had to be like this in front of Liu Yue.
Even though Sheng Zhou is so handsome, Liu Yue has lost interest in him. Qiao Yi took this as a warning and opened Liu Yue's circle of friends again.
Liu Yue's circle of friends is only visible for three days. Qiao Yi checks it every day before going to bed and records it. He pieces together Liu Yue's changing preferences from the fragments of information and understands what she cares about and is interested in recently.
She dared to guarantee that she was not the only one who would do this. If she wanted to make progress, she had to do better than others.
Liu Yue, who has been studied by many people, is sleeping soundly at this moment.
Before going to bed, she sent a message to Zhu Xiang, saying that the French dish of confit duck legs was truly amazing. Zhu Xiang replied with a received message, saying that she would research the recipe and prepare the most suitable mule duck legs for her, ensuring that she could enjoy a similar taste after returning to China.
That’s great! Liu Yue fell asleep with the aftertaste of this delicious dish.
She was still a little hungry when she woke up in the morning, but the French breakfast was very rich. There was a wide variety of bread on the table, including muffins and croissants. If you like a harder texture, there were also a few baguettes on the side.
Sang Yu cut a bagel for her, and Liu Yue spread some cream and jam inside. It tasted okay.
It is now eight o'clock in the morning. She needs to spend 10 million before four o'clock in the afternoon local time, and her current spending progress is zero.
Breakfast was a courtesy of the hotel, and the tips last night and this morning were cash exchanged in advance... But Liu Yue was not in a hurry. She would not watch the show in the afternoon and went directly to the haute couture studios of Chanel and Armani to place orders.
Armani’s product launch was actually in the evening, but Liu Yue could definitely see the new products in advance, and she had already seen some of them last month.
She knew the prices of these high-end custom-made items. A few hundred thousand was the minimum, and a million was not a lot. It was easy for her to spend ten million in Paris.
But she could spend some time elsewhere first—Liu Yue looked at Sang Yu and asked, "Have you made plans for the trip to Africa?"
They can travel freely in Europe and go wherever they want, but they are not so free in Africa.
Of course, her route is definitely still very free, but no matter which stop she goes to, she has to plan in advance.
The grasslands are home to wild animals, and unlike cities, they're not overrun with hotels. Furthermore, it's peak tourist season in Africa. If you don't find a good place in advance and end up staying in a poorly maintained tent lodge, not only will the living environment be harsh, but it's also far from the protected area, and most of your time will be spent traveling.
Liu Yue has determined through the system map that the location of the fragments is in the western part of the Serengeti grassland.
The bad news is that the area is a private reserve and is not open to ordinary tourists;
The good news is that she is very rich and can just spend money to stay in the best hotel in the reserve.
Liu Yue wanted to stay at Singita, the most luxurious hotel in Africa. She was not staying in the flagship store, but in a five-bedroom villa next to the hotel, which had exclusive access to an infinity pool, gym, spa and private cinema.
This sounds like the configuration of a luxury hotel. If you add the fact that the location is in Africa, you can see monkeys visiting through the floor-to-ceiling windows when you wake up, elephants coming to drink water, and hear the roar of lions... then it is indeed worth the price of 300,000 per night.
Now that she's here, Liu Yue doesn't plan to stay for just one night and leave, so she has to book for five days at least, right?
And since they were already in Africa, they definitely had to see the Ferry of the Celestial River. Liu Yue also planned to stay at the Mara River Tented Camp in the northern Serengeti. This was a Singita tent camp, and the fees were not that expensive, but for them, the total cost per night would be NT$100,000.
The crossing to Tianhe River is not available every day, so some room for error must be left. Liu Yue plans to stay here for three nights, which would cost 300,000 yuan.
Hotels are the biggest expense of an African trip, and the other is airfare. The Gulfstream G700 that Liu Yue had snatched from He Xi had already arrived in Hong Kong. He Xi had arranged a flight crew for her, first flying the empty plane to Paris, and then from Paris to Arusha.
Maintaining a private jet is very expensive. He Xi has already helped her pay the crew salaries, but she has to pay for the plane's stopovers at Charles de Gaulle and Kilimanjaro Airports, the fuel costs for this flight, and the cleaning costs after use...
Based on the principle of not too little or too much, too much will affect the mission, and too little can be supplemented, Liu Yue reserved a budget of 500,000 yuan for this purpose, which together with the hotel budget is 2.3 million yuan.
She transferred the 2.3 million to Sang Yu and asked her to arrange it, and the remaining amount went directly into her small wallet account.
Of course, Sang Yu knew that Liu Yue didn't lack this little money, so she wouldn't cut the budget on her own initiative, so as not to affect the quality of Liu Yue's travel.
Liu Yue doesn't care about spending more money. Someone who can spend billions in half a year only cares about whether she has fun and whether she is happy every day.
After fully realizing Liu Yue's strength and family background, Sang Yu no longer considered "cost-effectiveness" in any decision he made while working as an assistant.
By the way, these two hotels are very, very popular. Although they are expensive, there are a lot of rich people in this world.
If Liu Yue wanted to stay according to the normal booking process, she would have to book at least a year in advance... However, after Ren Zhen's communication, the original guests were willing to give up the room to her.
You can go to Africa at any time, and the migration season is not just these few days, but the opportunity to make friends with Liu Yue is rare.
Liu Yue just enjoyed herself and left the matter of repaying the favor to Clo and He Xi. It was so cool.
“When do we leave for Tanzania?” she asked.
Sang Yu glanced at the calendar: "I have submitted the flight application today, and I am expected to depart this Thursday night. I have contacted the hospital, and they will prepare the vaccine, and I can get it on Wednesday."
Although the environment in Tanzania was better than in Kenya, Ren Zhen and Zhang Cheng still strongly recommended that she get a few shots, just in case. Even though the hotel was experienced, they would have a stock of medicines ready to go to avoid any potential shortages.
Liu Yue is very obedient in this regard. She is not afraid of injections and safety and health are the most important things.
After getting herself in a good mood, Liu Yue set off to watch the show.
She'd expected a red carpet welcome before entering, but the world was truly a vast, makeshift stage. After receiving her gift, Liu Yue walked straight to the entrance of the show, which was dilapidated and desolate, covered in mud, stagnant water, and strewn with branches and fallen leaves.
No way, you're just going to let your couture clients go this way? This is really too disenchanting.
...From the situation on the scene, it is indeed the case. No wonder the ladies all came wearing high heels and there were no big skirts on the scene.
Liu Yue suddenly felt that this environment was not worthy of her careful dress-up today. Fortunately, the layout of the backstage was not out of place, and it finally saved some face for Chanel.
Her seat had the best view in the entire venue. After hearing Sang Yu's whispered introduction beside her, she realized that the people sitting on her right were European aristocrats. She had met some of them once in Switzerland, but they still remembered her, but she didn't remember others.
This doesn’t matter. Just say hello and get to know each other again.
As for the person on the left, it was Qiao Yi, whom she named last night.
Although she had only requested a seat at the dinner party last night, how could the clever Chanel PR have asked her to state the same request twice? She didn't need to emphasize it; someone with a heart would arrange it.
Liu Yue felt that it was good for Qiao Yi to sit next to her. No matter how good her English and French were, they were not as fluent and natural as Mandarin. It was indeed more convenient and comfortable to chat in Chinese.
These were trivial matters in her eyes, but they caused a huge uproar on the domestic entertainment internet.
Qiao Yi has no title, and her status is just so-so. How did she get such a good seat at dinners and shows? Even Chanel's official global ambassador had to sit next to her. How did she rise to such a high position?
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The author has something to say: The next chapter will be a forum-style story, focusing on entertainment from a netizen's perspective. It will focus on Qiao Yi, with some mention of Sheng Zhou. It should be relatively short (escape). Readers who don't enjoy this section can skip it.
Send it in the afternoon or evening, depending on when it is finished.
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