Chapter 34
Xu Ying is preparing to go to Beijing.
Zhou Xingyun is based in Beijing, where the headquarters of Feihong Novel Network is also located. In the past, she signed both copyright contracts and screenwriting contracts.
She turned off all the appliances in the house, moved the remaining food in the refrigerator to Grandma Wang's house, and then packed her bags to head to Beijing.
She didn't actually plan to stay in Beijing any longer. After signing the contract, she would only stay for a few more days before heading back, since she needed to start writing the script from scratch and the production crew would definitely have to wait a while before filming could begin.
Who knew Zhou Xingyun would be so enthusiastic? When he learned that she had nowhere to go in Beijing and could only stay in a hotel, he gave her his friend's vacant villa to stay in without saying a word.
"I need to start preparing for the film crew's affairs. You shouldn't leave either. Let's write the script in Beijing. That way, it'll be easier to discuss any issues we encounter later..."
Zhou Xingyun picked Xu Ying up from the station and chatted incessantly the whole way.
Her central idea was simple: to keep Xu Ying in Beijing writing scripts. Having her under her watchful eye would make it easier for her to urge Xu Ying to finish her work.
To be honest, she did spend a lot of time choosing scripts in the early stages. If her father knew that she had only bought an empty shell of a script and had to wait for the scriptwriter to write it down, he would be furious.
Therefore, the pressure had to be placed on Xu Ying.
She urged Xu Ying every day to write down the story of the Tang Dynasty as soon as possible.
Xu Ying: "......."
Sure enough, capitalists are all like Zhou Bapi (a notorious exploiter).
However, since she was offered a free villa to live in, she was happy to stay in Beijing, though she needed to call Grandma Wang and Grandpa Li to let them know.
She initially told them she would be gone for a week at most, but now it seems like that's going to be a long time coming. Writing the script and filming the later episodes will take at least three to five months.
"It's alright, it's alright. Just focus on your work and take good care of yourself," came Grandma Wang's strong voice from the other end of the phone. She was happy for Xu Ying that she could go out and earn money.
"Yes, Grandma, don't worry."
Xu Ying gave Grandma Wang a brief explanation, then hung up the phone and got off the bus.
Zhou Xingyun led her into a magnificent restaurant: "You've come all this way, so I have to treat you to a meal to welcome you back. Don't be shy, Eryue!"
Compared to Xu Ying's real name, she, as a reader, still prefers to call her Er Yue, as it sounds more affectionate.
Xu Ying followed her lead and called her that too; the name was just a code.
She followed Zhou Xingyun through several turns before finally entering a private room. There was already someone in the room, and as soon as he saw the two of them come in, he immediately got up and walked over to them.
Zhou Xingyun pointed at him and said, "Xu Ying, this is my childhood friend Luo Ying. Hey, I just realized your names are quite similar!"
They all have the pronunciation "ying".
"It does look somewhat similar. Hello February, I've read your novel, it's very good," Luo Ying said with a smile, her eyes revealing a carefree and nonchalant air.
"Hello, my name is Xu Ying."
The two shook hands and then took their seats at Zhou Xingyun's invitation.
At the dinner table, Xu Ying learned from Zhou Xingyun's introduction that Luo Ying was an investor in their drama. There were only two investors in the drama, the other being Zhou Xingyun himself.
Xu Ying: "......"
It seems the situation is not looking good.
"Hehe," Zhou Xingyun rubbed his hands together with Xu Ying, "To be honest, our production team has limited funding..."
An unknown producer in the industry somehow picked up a script with a serious drama style, and then found a complete new screenwriter. With these three factors combined, what others saw as a sure-fire flop was a film or television masterpiece.
“Any investor with even a little risk awareness probably wouldn’t risk entering the market,” Zhou Xingyun blurted out his true thoughts.
Luo Ying glanced at her upon hearing this: "What do you mean? Are you saying I'm stupid?"
He invested in this drama, putting in tens of millions of yuan, almost his entire fortune. Of course, he wasn't optimistic about the drama's prospects; he was simply spending money to play along with Zhou Xingyun.
"......."
Mistake. We forgot that our benefactor is still here.
Zhou Xingyun turned his head and said with a grin, "That's not what I meant. I meant that there aren't many investors like you who have such good judgment and are willing to take risks. So we must be very careful with our money for this project and make sure we don't waste a single penny of your money."
"Yeah?"
"yes."
Xu Ying felt as if she had witnessed a flirtatious exchange.
She silently buried her head in her food, and only after the two had finished talking did she look up and say, "Although I'm very happy that you bought the rights to my novel, it's true that historical political intrigue films and television series are quite niche, so please consider it carefully."
It's best to make things clear beforehand, otherwise, if you end up losing money, it will be hard to explain.
Zhou Xingyun turned his head and said solemnly, "We were just arguing. Don't worry, Eryue, I've already thought it through. That's why I asked you to buy the copyright. Whether we make a profit or a loss, I will bear the consequences of my own choice."
Xu Ying hummed in agreement.
"I'll write an outline of the script as soon as possible for you to review."
In an instant, a multitude of thoughts flashed through her mind.
However, she needs to sort out these conflicting thoughts when she gets back, and then she can talk to the two of them about them in detail once she has cleared her mind.
*
the next day.
Xu Ying and Zhou Xingyun went to the headquarters of Feihong Novel Network. The company headquarters was a little dilapidated than she had imagined, but this did not affect the professionalism of the company.
Xu Ying quickly signed the copyright contract, and Zhou Xingyun also brought the screenwriting contract, which the two of them signed as well.
After the contract was signed, Zhou Xingyun had other things to do, so she said goodbye. Xu Ying did not leave with her; she arranged to meet Yue Yin downstairs for coffee.
As her editor, Yueyin must have had a tough job.
Since she started writing, she has been constantly bombarded with trolls, hate posts, and reports, all of which Yueyin has to deal with, seemingly increasing her workload considerably.
Since she's come all this way, she definitely wants to ask her out for a chat.
This was the first time the two had met in person, and Yueyin was somewhat surprised by Eryuetian's youth and beauty: "Eryue, you are so beautiful!"
"You're cute too."
Yueyin wore black-rimmed glasses and looked adorable.
"Thank you," Yueyin said, holding her coffee cup a little embarrassed. "Um, the official website should be announcing that you sold the copyright soon. Please forward it when you see it."
"Okay, I understand."
"Also, I heard that the other side intends to drastically rewrite the script..."
"Don't worry, we've explained everything clearly," Xu Ying explained to Yue Yin in detail, and Yue Yin finally felt relieved.
"As long as it's not a drastic alteration of 'The Great Tang Female Painter,' it's fine. This is basically asking you to rewrite the script!"
......
The two chatted for a long time downstairs at the company before parting ways.
Before parting, Xu Ying took out a small gift she had prepared in advance from her bag and gave it to Yue Yin, who was somewhat flattered.
Xu Ying: "Please accept this. You've worked hard these past few days, and I'm afraid you'll have to continue to work hard in the future."
"It's okay, this is what I should do."
Yueyin accepted the gift and returned to the company with light steps.
Xu Ying watched her leave, then took a taxi back to her villa in the suburbs of Beijing.
The villa was large and decorated in a Scandinavian style, looking simple yet natural and grand. Perhaps because of Zhou Xingyun and Luo Ying's behavior last night, she now seriously suspected that the villa actually belonged to Luo Ying.
After all, he had already invested tens of millions for Zhou Xingyun, so what was contributing an extra house?
"Ah, love..."
Xu Ying muttered to herself, but without delay, she quickly went back to her bedroom, opened her suitcase, and grabbed her computer in one go.
She is very busy right now, as she not only has to update "The Great Tang Female Painter" on time every day, but also has to write a brief outline for "Empress Wu Zetian".
That's right, it's "Empress Wu Zetian".
Since we're going to start writing from scratch, why not just write a more dramatic and engaging story?
Yesterday at the dinner table, what flashed through her mind was actually the story of the transformation of an empress.
Wu Zetian, a lowly concubine in Emperor Taizong's harem without even a title, rose step by step to the position of empress and even emperor after Taizong's death.
The plot, including a woman serving two husbands, becoming a nun in a temple, and returning to the palace to be crowned empress, is incredibly dramatic. Xu Ying thought that Zhou Xingyun might change his mind after seeing this outline.
In short, she still had to write it down for her to see. After all, to be fair, filming a story from the Taizong era was indeed quite risky, as it could easily be critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful.
Xu Ying buried herself in writing at home for three days.
For three whole days, even though she was sitting right near the bed, she stayed up all night.
"Finally finished writing!"
Xu Ying looked at the script outline on her computer with a sigh of relief. She called Zhou Xingyun and asked her to come over and take a look at the script when she had time. Then she collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
Zhou Xingyun was startled when he arrived.
Xu Ying lay sprawled on the bed, looking as if she had really fainted. Since she didn't respond to several calls, Xu Ying almost called an ambulance.
Xu Ying slowly stood up.
She rubbed her red eyes: "I'm fine, I'm just too sleepy."
She did this so as not to delay Zhou Xingyun's time.
She knew Zhou Xingyun was in a hurry for the script, which is why she rushed to write the story of "Empress Wu Zetian". If the other party was not satisfied, she could stop in time and focus on writing about Emperor Taizong of Tang.
"Take a look at this one."
She pointed to the computer and gestured for Zhou Xingyun to come and take a look.
“I’ve thought about it, and I still feel that it’s a bit risky to film a story about the early Tang Dynasty. It could easily be good but not popular. What do you think of this story?”
Zhou Xingyun sat down at his desk, raising an eyebrow at the document in front of him: "You've rewritten another story?"
"Um."
Zhou Xingyun stopped talking and focused on reading the rough version of the script. As she flipped through it, the expression on her face gradually became strange.
How could Li Zhi, who looks so honest and simple, have gotten involved with his father's wife?
Xu Ying's novel "The Great Tang Female Painter" has been updated to the part where Emperor Taizong of Tang deposed the crown prince and made Li Zhi the crown prince, so she knows about Li Zhi.
As for Wu Zetian, she has not yet appeared in the novel.
Xu Ying had other plans for this.
However, she plans to wait until Zhou Xingyun has finished reading the script before deciding whether to tell her her plans based on her feedback.
Zhou Xingyun's eyes widened as he read the script.
Isn't this a bit too dramatic? One is a crown prince, the other a concubine, and they actually fell in love while attending to Emperor Taizong during his illness. Even after Emperor Taizong's death, the concubine was sent to Ganye Temple to become a nun, but the crown prince, who had become emperor, specially brought her back to the palace...
But I have to say, it's so cool!
Zhou Xingyun's expression gradually became agitated and distorted.
After a while.
After reading the script, Zhou Xingyun turned to Xu Ying and slapped his thigh, saying, "Let's film this!"
Xu Ying, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, was startled by her in her dazed state.
Are you sure?
"I'm sure that compared to this, simply filming the story of Emperor Taizong of Tang does lack some excitement. This is different; it's full of exciting moments. The female lead's life has so many turning points, and every step of the film is a climax!"
Zhou Xingyun was already imagining the grand occasion when the TV series aired. She even called her childhood friend, reminding the investors that the script change should be communicated to them.
When Luo Ying heard on the phone that she wanted to change the script, she was immediately speechless: "How can you be so unreliable?"
It's just that he's not a proper investor, otherwise he would have run away with the money long ago.
"Oh dear, this time it's really different, and you can't blame me. I'm a producer, my brain is definitely not as good as the screenwriter's, right? Actually, the story of Emperor Taizong of Tang is also very interesting, but the story of Empress Wu Zetian is just too interesting. If I had read the story of Empress Wu Zetian first, I would have chosen it long ago..."
Zhou Xingyun kept talking nonstop.
Once Xu Ying saw that the matter was settled, she simply lay down on the bed and went back to sleep.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
