At the celebration banquet, the main creative team members had to toast each other.
Shang Yechu is now the top female entertainer at Qingping Entertainment and the gold-medal spokesperson for Renxing Mobile. She wields considerable influence. Normally, when toasting, she would offer genuine red and white drinks. However, at this celebration banquet, the red drink was pomegranate juice, and the white drink was coconut juice. Many of the staff members present, who couldn't hold their liquor, were extremely grateful to the top female entertainer.
Renxing Mobile was keen to establish a new year's cooperation with Shang Yechu, and they readily agreed. Since their leader wasn't concerned about such matters, the rest of the underlings naturally wouldn't nitpick over a few drinks. The celebration banquet proceeded in a harmonious atmosphere. Of course, there were those who enjoyed drinking, and Shang Yechu had instructed his bodyguards beforehand to remove anyone showing signs of drunkenness immediately.
Although an invitation was sent to Mr. Xin Gui, the original author indeed did not attend. This was quite natural. Who knows, he might be hiding somewhere else, perhaps even dropping a pearl. Shang Ye Chu couldn't help but laugh whenever she thought about it.
After several rounds of drinks, the seat next to Shang Yechu at the head of the table remained empty. Gu Wenhua whispered, "Isn't Teacher Sheng coming?"
Gu Wenhua felt quite guilty towards Sheng Wenzhi regarding the drastic alteration of "Rules Street" into "The General Store of Rules." After all, he was Shang Yechu's accomplice and had made a significant contribution to concealing this from Sheng Wenzhi. During the filming of "Rules Street," Sheng Wenzhi visited the set several times, wanting to see what the crew was shooting. Each time he arrived, Gu Wenhua would immediately stop the fight scenes and chase scenes, filming some trivial dialogue scenes instead, or simply ask the crew to take a few minutes' break and then pull Sheng Wenzhi aside for a long chat. He also sternly instructed the other crew members not to talk to Sheng Wenzhi too much.
Actually, Gu Wenhua became friends with Sheng Wenzhi much earlier than he became "friends" with Shang Yechu. Back during the time of "The Mute Woman," the two already shared a mutual appreciation and were quite compatible in their artistic tastes. However, later, for Shang Yechu's sake, Gu Wenhua reluctantly betrayed his brother.
If life could be lived again, Gu Wenhua would still choose to sell Sheng Wenzhi, and then nervously ask Shang Yechu the same question again.
"Who knows if he'll even come?" Shang Yechu said sarcastically. "We've already given him a share of the film revenue, and he didn't answer our apology calls. What else can we do? He's a big writer now; he probably won't care about this little bit of nano-trauma."
Gu Wenhua sensed a hint of sarcasm in those words. She wondered when Ye Chu's attitude towards Teacher Sheng had become increasingly hostile. She figured it was Teacher Sheng's arrogance that had angered her.
If they continued talking about these things, Ye Chu would get angry again, so Gu Wenhua changed the subject and asked, "By the way, how's business on Happiness Commercial Street?"
When this topic came up, Ye Chu finally smiled: "It's very good, even better than expected. President Kang didn't think that semi-finished products would be so profitable."
"That's good." Gu Wenhua nodded. "It would be great if it could last a long time. I learned in school that the hype surrounding a movie for its derivative products usually lasts for about three months. I wonder how long this street can maintain that momentum."
Thinking about this, Shang Yechu was also worried. Although online interpretations of "Happiness Street" were very popular and persistent, most of the interpreters were middle-aged male users—in short, this group was clearly not the main consumer group for escape rooms, cultural and creative products, or murder mystery games. Therefore, the economic boost to Happiness Street was not as significant as expected.
Qingping Entertainment's mystery-solving variety show is still in production and is expected to be released this summer. The animation project hasn't even had its files created yet. This means that there will be a huge gap in popularity for Xingfu Commercial Street between the New Year's season and the summer holidays.
Don't be fooled by the current booming business on Happiness Commercial Street. In three months, the glory will vanish, and business will plummet in no time. Mr. Kang is no philanthropist!
How can we fill this gap?
As Shang Yechu was pondering, Gu Wenhua glanced around and slowly said, "Yechu, actually..."
"Actually what?"
Gu Wenhua said, "That TV series you mentioned during your roadshow the other day..."
"You mean that?" Shang Yechu frowned and said in a low voice, "I'm about to start filming a new movie, so I don't have time to film a TV series. Besides, even if others don't know the progress of that TV series script, don't you know?"
Shang Yechu had considered making a TV series to revive Happiness Commercial Street. However, firstly, her schedule didn't allow it; secondly, it wouldn't be a permanent solution; and thirdly, where could she find a suitable screenwriter so quickly?
“I know, I know.” Gu Wenhua’s voice rose slightly, drawing everyone’s attention. Fortunately, there were only five people in the private room: Shang Yechu, Gu Wenhua, Mei Yaohong, Huang Feizhang, and Fatty Zhang. The representative from Renxing Group and the other two investors were both heavy drinkers. Unable to stand the clinking of juice glasses in the room, they exchanged pleasantries and then slipped away to the private room reserved for heavy drinkers.
Since everyone in the room was family, Gu Wenhua didn't stand on ceremony and simply asked in a loud voice, "Do you still remember 'The Tale of Clouds'?"
Shang Yechu's heart skipped a beat: "You want to recruit more screenwriters, like you did with 'Yun Qing Ji'?"
“Yes. We also make episodic dramas, and sitcoms at that!” Gu Wenhua clapped his hands. “That way, we don’t have to worry about the screenwriter’s ability to construct long-running storylines. Anyway, episodic dramas are like those Japanese ones, you know…”
Fatty Zhang interjected, "Instant noodle anime."
“Yes, they’re similar to short-form anime. They’re all good for watching while eating. They don’t require too much brainpower,” Gu Wenhua said. “I’ve read all your works. The screenwriters of ‘Yun Qing Ji’ really have a great sense of humor. Their so-called cheesy dramas are flaws in serious dramas, but they’re strengths in sitcoms.”
Certain scenes suddenly flashed through Shang Yechu's mind.
Ah, the male and female protagonists flew up to the white clouds and gave birth to their child there.
Ah, Hou Yi was the Jade Emperor's illegitimate son, and he shot down the suns to help his nine sons fight for the throne.
Ah, even after the princess had her heart and liver ripped out, she still spent the rest of her life happily with her husband…
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