Ji Juntao held a cup of coffee, stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the tall buildings below.
After Qingping Entertainment relocated, CEO Ji moved to a bright and spacious office. It was grand and imposing; standing by the window, one could see most of the city. At sunset, it felt as if one could reach out and pluck the sun from the sky.
Ji Juntao liked standing at high places. The tallest building she had ever seen was the headquarters of Tianding Entertainment. Qingping Entertainment's current building was even shorter than that.
It was a sunny and breezy afternoon, the weather was lovely. But Ji Juntao's mood was far from cheerful; it was clouded with worry, his emotions fluctuating wildly.
Of course, it's for Shang Yechu.
His subordinates reported that Shang Yechu was having a great time dating in Xiatan. However, this wasn't General Ji's real worry.
Ji Juntao never thought that Shang Yechu and Yang Huanyi's relationship would be an obstacle to her career.
Ji Juntao knew Shang Yechu's family very well. As for Shang Hongxuan's father, he was nothing special; in Ji Juntao's opinion, whether he was a billionaire or a dead man, Shang Yechu wouldn't care.
The problem lies with Ji Ya's mother.
There's a saying that goes, "It's not the good that's scary, it's the bad, it's the inconsistency between good and bad." If it were purely good, Shang Yechu wouldn't be who she is today; if it were purely bad, Shang Yechu wouldn't have any lingering concerns, and there wouldn't be any problems. It's precisely this inconsistency between good and bad that's the most troublesome.
Bad things aren't enough to sever a relationship, but they can cause pain; good things aren't enough to cover up the pain, but they can stir up fantasies...
Logically, after severing ties with her family, Shang Yechu will undergo a long recovery period. It's like slowly wringing out a wet cotton coat. She might spend a year or two licking her wounds in seclusion before gradually picking herself up.
But in the entertainment industry, new faces replace the old, and new waves of talent keep coming up. There's no time to let the old ones heal.
The market forgets newcomers very quickly. For example, the new batch of young actors and actresses that the company has cultivated, although they can only follow behind Shang Yechu and pick up scraps, are becoming famous at a frightening speed.
As the pillar of Qingping Entertainment, Shang Yechu cannot afford to be weak or ineffective for even a moment!
Therefore, Ji Juntao did not hesitate to lie to Shang Yechu.
Ji Juntao had already finalized the manuscript for "The Heavenly Emperor".
Copyright threats, pressure from Qingping Entertainment, the indifferent original author, and scheduling conflicts with other actors in the production crew… Under this pressure from all sides, Shao Guangji finally couldn't hold on any longer. —If this dragged on any longer, even a good script would be ruined.
Nevertheless, this stubborn veteran director didn't make his promise lightly. Instead, he chose the most common path in this situation within the industry—
Qingping Entertainment signed a performance-based agreement with Shao Guangji's company.
If the final box office of "Happy Street" (including only the box office in mainland cinemas) exceeds 1.2 billion RMB, then Qingping Entertainment must voluntarily release the copyrights of the works that were stitched together by Shao Guangji and authorize them to "Tianjun"; Shang Yechu must play the lead role in "Tianjun" for a fee not exceeding 80% of the market price, and the director cannot refuse on the grounds of creative differences; in addition, Qingping Entertainment can also intervene in the investment and other matters of "Tianjun".
If the final box office of "Happiness Street" is lower than this amount, then Qingping Entertainment will need to purchase a share of the investment in "Tianjun" at a high price (in other words, give away a large sum of money); it will also need to compensate for the losses incurred due to the delayed start of filming of "Tianjun" (again, give away a large sum of money). If Qingping Entertainment refuses to compensate in cash, it will have to use the copyrights of Ai Xiaodong's other works as compensation.
To put it bluntly, if "Happy Street" meets its box office targets, Qingping Entertainment will reap the rewards, and Shang Ye will make her debut as a leading actress, riding the wave of success. If "Happy Street" fails to meet its box office targets, Qingping Entertainment will either lose money or lose the copyright, ending up with nothing.
High-stakes gambling happens every day in this circle. Such gambling is nothing unusual.
Shao Guangji was no pushover either; he had accurately calculated Shang Yechu's thirst for "The Heavenly Emperor." Shao Guangji held the bone in his hand regarding the copyright of "The Heavenly Emperor," while Shang Yechu held the flesh; neither could do without the other. If he simply stood by and waited, refusing to start filming, Shang Yechu would be helpless!
Furthermore, Shao Guangji exploited Shang Yechu's lack of box office success, effectively placing Qingping Entertainment in a precarious position. This is an undeniable fact. Several second-tier actors within Qingping Entertainment have better box office records than Shang Yechu. At least they have one or two box office flops.
Every time Shao Guangji brought up Shang Yechu's box office numbers, Ji Juntao had nothing to say in response. The film industry values real money; things like TV drama popularity, Weibo followers, and magazine sales are insignificant compared to billions of dollars!
This betting agreement was the only clause that Shao Guangji was willing to accept after several days of negotiation with Qingping Entertainment.
The contract hasn't been officially signed yet; it's sitting on Ji Juntao's desk, waiting for Shang Yechu to return and make the final decision. After all, the copyrights to those novels are in Shang Yechu's hands.
In fact, a draft of this performance-based agreement had been prepared more than a month ago. However, at that time, Shang Yechu had just severed ties with her family and was like a plant that had just been uprooted, going through a period of extreme emotional turmoil. Ji Juntao thought long and hard and kept the performance-based agreement a secret.
What would Shang Yechu do if she knew that Ji Juntao had already secured the rights to "The Heavenly Emperor"?
He immediately jumped out of bed, completely forgetting his biological mother, and excitedly and happily threw himself into his work.
No, it won't. Humans aren't machines; they can't simply input some code and erase all unpleasantness in a second.
The most likely scenario is a brief period of excitement followed by a rapid decline in spirit. While filming "Anna Doria," he was simultaneously thinking about his lost mother and trying to figure out how to act in "The Heavenly King," ultimately creating a hodgepodge. He failed to address either aspect effectively: he hadn't recovered from his trauma, "Anna Doria" wasn't filmed well, and "The Heavenly King" wasn't properly developed.
What's most effective when you're feeling down and have no interest in anything?
A top student, who had just had a huge fight with her parents, was hiding in her room wiping away tears. If a friend brought her a piece of cake to comfort her at that moment, she wouldn't cheer up; instead, she would feel even more aggrieved: "My friend is so good to me, how could my parents be like that?"
But what if, at this moment, a friend bursts in, clutching a summer homework book, looking utterly terrified, yelling, "Oh no! School starts tomorrow! Why haven't you finished your summer homework yet? The teacher said that if you don't finish your summer homework, you don't have to go to school!"
So, even if this top student is wiping their nose and crying, they will still finish their summer homework while crying.
"The Heavenly Emperor" was that summer homework assignment.
Pressure is the greatest motivator, far more effective than encouragement, comfort, or expectation. Ji Juntao wanted to create immense pressure for Shang Yechu, so much so that Shang Yechu would completely forget all the messy things of the past, leaving only the lawsuit on his mind!
After careful selection, Ji Juntao chose Yang Huanyi as the tool.
Shao Guangji is meticulous by nature and extremely serious about casting. How could he possibly be interested in an actor who was officially reported for being unprofessional and taking on multiple projects at once? The entire script, "Yang Huanyi met Shao Guangji, and Shao Guangji's eyes lit up. They hit it off immediately, as if he had found a treasure," was written by Ji Juntao.
Ji Juntao persuaded Yang Huanyi with the promise of benefits, and had Yang Huanyi repeat this pitch to Shang Yechu. This led Shang Yechu to believe that Shao Guangji wanted to cast Yang Huanyi in "The Heavenly Emperor".
This rhetoric was very effective.
First, Yang Huanyi and Shang Yechu are currently filming "Anna Doraemon," so what kind of ridiculous relationship do they need to cultivate? To maintain this precarious relationship, Shang Yechu can't openly use any means to prevent Yang Huanyi from starring in "The Heavenly Emperor" (unless she's prepared to give up "Anna Doraemon"), and can only watch helplessly. That anxious helplessness is the best catalyst;
Secondly, Yang Huanyi's appearance and acting skills are both up to par, enough to convince Shang Yechu. If Su Ge were to try to fool him with these words, Shang Yechu would only think that Shao Guangji had gone mad.
Finally, by making Yang Huanyi a rival of Shang Yechu, Shang Yechu will be more focused during the filming of "Anna Doriya" and strive to surpass Yang Huanyi.
Shang Yechu is highly competitive. If she knew that Shao Guangji intended for Yang Huanyi to star in "The Heavenly Emperor," she would definitely do everything in her power to prove that she is better than Yang Huanyi. Ji Juntao believes in Shang Yechu's potential and acting skills. With this fighting spirit, there's no need to worry about filming "Anna Doriya."
As expected, after receiving this false news, Shang Yechu felt immense pressure and was so anxious she was almost out of her mind. Her entire family seemed to have vanished into the South Pacific. Forgetting all her melancholy and self-pity, after a day of IV drips, she rushed back to Xiatan to film.
A message came from his men in Xiatan that Shang Yechu's acting skills had improved by leaps and bounds, and Director Luo Yao had praised him to the skies. See? This is all the result of immense pressure.
This ingenious plan to kill two birds with one stone worked so well that Ji Juntao was very pleased. However, his good fortune was short-lived, and new troubles soon came knocking.
First, Shang Yechu actually started having an affair with Yang Huanyi in Xiatan.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
