Chapter 37: Planning Film and Television in Advance
Wei Xu didn't expect to receive a call from Lin Ruoyan today. Although she only said that she wanted to talk to him and wanted to consult him about some intricacies of the film and television entertainment company, shouldn't this kind of thing be discussed with more professional bosses?
Miss Lin asked him to have dinner in a five-star hotel, without anyone else, just the two of them. The ambiguity between them was self-evident, which made him think more.
They were clearly at the hotel to eat, but facing someone like Mrs. Liu, Wei Xu had no appetite at all. He thought he would be ashamed of such a paid date, but he found himself subconsciously fantasizing about what he would talk about with Miss Lin after meeting her that night to get her to talk to him more.
He even hoped to see her smile tonight. He wondered anxiously if she would leave in a hurry again, making it impossible to get a room. His wishful thinking was too dirty.
Wei Xu didn't have any other plans for the evening, having finished filming his previous TV series, so he had a free time. When he mentioned it to his company boss, he immediately agreed and thoughtfully let him shower and change clothes at the company, pick out a nice outfit, and get his hair done before going to his appointment.
After all, the price of an appearance is not low. If this handsome guy spends a night with a beautiful rich woman, and the other party is in a good mood, she can bring a large amount of investment to the company with a wave of her hand. Their company's performance this year will definitely be even better.
In fact, this X Entertainment Company was once glorious and made several first- and second-tier stars famous. However, after becoming successful, they went out on their own and failed to bring greater profits to the original company. They even became a strong competitor.
Even a very capable partner was poached. Boss Dai is now alone and his resources are dwindling. He has no choice but to mobilize his artists to participate in other business activities in addition to their regular film projects.
When Wei Xu graduated, he was unfamiliar with Beijing. It was Boss Dai who hired him and signed him to a five-year contract, a gesture of gratitude he has never forgotten. Now that Boss Dai is in trouble and the company is in decline, he feels heartbroken.
In this industry, doing business in a completely clean manner is definitely not as fast as taking shady routes or relying on wealthy financial backers to rise to prominence. The company currently lacks financial backers and patrons, and its resources are very limited. Even Boss Dai himself has abandoned his artistic aloofness, acting like a grandson, attending drinking parties, and finding connections for his artists.
How could he not be understanding?
What's more, the person who asked him out this time was Lin Ruoyan.
Lin Ruoyan told her brother she wouldn't be home for dinner that night and had made an appointment with Wei Xu to chat. Her brother immediately dropped his usual lecturing tone and specifically reminded her not to worry about Mengxi, saying the Yu family elders loved her more than their own grandson. In the end, her brother almost hinted that it was okay for her to stay out all night; they were adults, and love was more important than anything else. If she liked someone, she should pursue him.
The money-spending system continued to spout advice: [When you're dating a guy, just having dinner isn't enough. With a wave of your hand, buy him a diamond ring. No, buy him a motorcycle worth hundreds of thousands, a car worth hundreds of thousands, or even just a house.]
Lin Ruoyan soothed him, "Don't worry, System. I'm going to spend much more money on him than this."
The Prodigal System inquired flatteringly: [Host, do you intend to give Wei Xu all of the above?]
Lin Ruoyan snorted coldly: "Vulgar, where is the pattern I mentioned before? If you don't understand, take a good look."
Could it be that they weren't buying a house, but land? The prodigal system admitted that it had been shocked by Lin Ruoyan's lavish spending of 80 million on land. But it was really cool, especially seeing Fang Yue's forced smile as she tried to cry.
Lin Ruoyan disdained to explain her plans to the system, nor did she have the heart to tell the truth to her brother, who was daydreaming. After all, she had no plans to date or get married. If it affected her brother's outlook on love and caused him to remain single, she would be letting her biological parents down.
So her brother could only misunderstand that she was having a good time with a male star.
When they arrived at the agreed five-star hotel, Wei Xu was already waiting in the private room.
Only then did Lin Ruoyan realize that Wei Xu looked more refined than when they met by chance in the hotel that day. He had changed his suit to a high-end brand, and even his hair was styled in the popular male star style.
Is he here for a blind date or a job interview? Well, just consider it as a sign of respect for paid chat users.
After ordering the dishes, there was no wine on the table. Lin Ruoyan didn't like drinking, and she was afraid that Wei Xu would think she was going to do something inappropriate, so she simply served juice and yogurt.
The book describes Wei Xu as someone who worked so hard on his acting that meals were often prioritized over work. Sometimes, due to filming and preparation, mealtimes were irregular, and he ate whatever he wanted. This led to him developing stomach problems at a young age, which only began to improve after he married Li Yiqi and underwent meticulous care.
In fact, the root of the problem already existed, and drinking would definitely irritate his fragile stomach. In order to maintain the health of the future movie star, Lin Ruoyan of course did not order any wine.
This isn't a charity reception. A single man and woman are having a meal in a private room, discussing serious matters, and doing whatever feels comfortable to them.
Seeing that Miss Lin had no intention of ordering anything, Wei Xu speculated that after dinner, perhaps there would be other activities, perhaps a nightclub or something, where they could have a proper drink. Although his stomach ached after every drink, what man wouldn't drink when entertaining guests? He'd just bear with it and it would pass.
It was not until they actually ate that Wei Xu realized that Miss Lin's topic was really serious. She was just asking him about the various ins and outs of the circle, and there seemed to be no follow-up arrangements. Could it be that they were just going to have a simple dinner?
Miss Lin asked about his current contract with the company, where he got his films from, which directors he worked with, and whether he had any business difficulties, otherwise his artists would not be so free to let her invite them out for dinner.
Wei Xu could only recount the company's past glory and discuss the current market environment. The year 1999, just past, was a cold winter for the domestic film industry, with annual box office revenues of only 800 million yuan. This is how the market works: the colder the market, the less willing investors are to invest in films, leading to widespread criticism of the domestic film and television industry.
In fact, it all comes down to the lack of money. No one thinks that making movies can make money.
Another thing is that Boss Dai was too arrogant in the past and was unwilling to flatter the big resource parties. He would be selective about the scripts before filming. If he found that the content of the script was not good or the director's character was questionable, he would directly reject it on behalf of the artists.
There were some newcomers in the company who didn't care whether they made bad movies or not. They always felt that Boss Dai was too picky. Although he told them to relax and cater to the various needs of the film owners, in fact, if they really met that kind of bad person who didn't care about anything, Boss Dai would definitely be the first to stand up and help the artists avoid more disgusting entanglements.
However, this kindness wasn't rewarded; several new hires couldn't hold on and left. How many more years can one wait to make a living while still young? So the company was in a period of transition.
It would be very difficult for Boss Dai to humble himself and ask for a chance from those he had offended in the past.
How should she bring up the investment? It sounded like Boss Dai was quite a man of character. Wei Xu had told him about a former partner who, after becoming successful, had offered to buy Boss Dai's company, only to be rejected. So, directly asking him to sell the company to her didn't seem like a good idea.
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