Chapter 042
In the next few days, Yan Xi would go to the crew to supervise.
Because of the previous black hot search storm, "Bottom Line" became well-known. At the same time, because Shen Xinghe's makeup photos and audition videos were good, it attracted many advertisers to invest.
It can be said that "Bottom Line" has started making money even before it was aired.
But Jiang Tao has a strong opinion on the issue of advertising placement, "No! Advertising cannot be placed. It will affect the viewing experience and make the audience lose interest! How can a good work be full of advertisements?"
Fang Yue advised earnestly, "One more ad means one more dollar! You can also film some scenes better!"
But Jiang Tao still insisted.
It’s not that he is pedantic. Jiang Tao thinks there is nothing wrong with product placement in some daily life advertisements.
But past experience has taught him that once this door is opened, investors will go crazy and insert advertisements into the drama! They may even let the actors read the advertisements!
Instead of doing this, it is better to nip these thoughts in the bud at the beginning!
Fang Yue was so angry that she didn't know what to say. You know, as long as "Bottom Line" took those advertisements, it would quickly make its investment back. This was clearly a very profitable business.
How can a small B-grade production really hope to compete for awards?
But Yan Xi actually supported Jiang Tao, "If Director Jiang thinks these ads will affect the work, then we won't accept them."
Fang Yue's eyes widened, "Do you know what you are talking about?"
Yan Xi: "The production costs are enough! Even if we can't make money now, we can still make money after the show is finished and sold to video platforms and TV stations!"
Fang Yue: "Then you have to buy a website first! And you want to sell it to a TV station? Why don't you want "Bottom Line" to win an award?"
Yan Xi nodded seriously, "I think it's possible..."
Fang Yue:?
Fang Yue was speechless, but Jiang Tao's eyes were filled with tears, and he was extremely excited. "Yan Xi, I didn't expect you to think so highly of me! In fact, it's okay to product placement, as long as it doesn't affect the picture effect, but letting the actors speak is absolutely not allowed!"
That was how it was decided. After a screening, the project department finally kept two ads, one for cars and one for home furnishings. Both were daily necessities and were only used as props and background boards, so they would not affect the filming.
As for food items, they were too advertising in nature and many people could tell they were advertisements at a glance, so Yan Xi rejected them all.
When signing the contract with the advertiser, Fang Yue looked regretful, "Generally, film and television investors are eager to have advertisers placed in their films, but only you and Director Jiang are pushing the money away!"
"Sister Fang Yue, you have to have confidence in our drama!" Yan Xi patted Fang Yue on the shoulder, "You are the producer. Maybe in the future, "Bottom Line" will win you an award. Then when you see that it is full of advertisements, you will find it irritating!"
Fang Yue rolled her eyes, "I'd never trust you!"
The project department had other things to do, so after dealing with the advertising placement, Fang Yue went to work on other projects. But Yan Xi, when she was bored on the crew, would look through other project materials in the company's cloud disk to learn a little.
Xingyao invests in many projects every quarter, with both losses and gains. Fang Yue has a good eye for investing in film and television dramas, and overall he makes a lot of money.
It's just that when ordinary entertainment companies invest in film and television projects, they also have the idea of promoting their own artists, but these resources were given to Tianhui by Zhou Qingyu, resulting in poor development of Xingyao artists, and Qiao Yan's Ministry of Economy suffered a lot.
As for Wu Liao’s public relations department, this department spends money and is also losing money.
Fang Yue could not move the big ship of Xingyao with just the strength of a small department. Xingyao was established two years ago, and the financial statements showed losses for two years. It was only because of the Zhou Group that it did not go bankrupt.
System Tucao: [With Zhou Yanci's temper, if he didn't shut down Xingyao, he would be doing charity! ]
Yan Xi sighed in her heart, isn't it? Looking at Xingyao's financial statements, she felt the pain of losing hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
She suddenly understood Fang Yue a little bit. With the vampire Pei Yubai around, Fang Yue would of course want to make more money!
After scanning through a series of investment lists, Yan Xi's eyes finally fell on a movie.
Her eyes lit up, and the light of money shone in her pupils.
"Crazy Summer and Winter" is a realistic film.
Zhou Qingyu gave the project department the project proposal. After Fang Yue reviewed it, he also thought it was okay to invest, but not in full. He would only invest in it and get dividends. The amount of investment was 200 million, which was too large and required approval from Zhou Group, but the group refused to approve it.
Yan Xi looked regretful.
Fang Yue noticed Yan Xi's expression and came over to take a look. "There's nothing to regret. The eldest lady wanted to invest in this project, but Pei Yubai wanted to insert someone in this movie. President Zhou probably knew this and deliberately refused to give it a pass."
Yan Xi said seriously, "But I think... we can persuade Mr. Zhou again!"
Fang Yue spread her hands, "It's difficult. Do you think this movie can be a big hit and worth investing in?"
Yan Xi nodded vigorously, "Of course!"
After all, in the novel, "Crazy Summer and Winter" is one of the top ten movies in Chinese box office history. The initial investment was less than 500 million, but it ended up taking in 5 billion at the box office!
Fang Yue stroked his chin and thought, "You can't impress Mr. Zhou with the idea of making money. We invested 200 million yuan and got 300 million yuan in dividends, and we made a lot of money. But Mr. Zhou invested in two start-up companies in the first half of the year, and now both have become unicorns. He has made hundreds of millions of yuan. He doesn't care about the entertainment industry..."
"If he cared about these small amounts of money, he wouldn't have let the eldest lady set up the company."
Yan Xi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What you said makes sense, but I don't care about these small amounts of money. It's okay to play with two hundred million, right?"
Fang Yuechong winked at her, "I think this movie is worth investing in. Why don't you persuade Mr. Zhou to give it a try?"
That being said, it was impossible for Yan Xi to go and talk to Zhou Yanci.
With the plots of the novels she knows, she can make a lot of money just by investing in the projects that Fang Yue can decide. And by avoiding the dramas that may flop or go bankrupt in the future, Xingyao can almost break even this year.
Yan Xi was still in the crew in the afternoon, and Fang Yue returned to the company.
In the evening, Zhou Qingyu came to visit the crew and brought Michelin three-star afternoon tea.
On the dining car that looked high-end, there was a banner that read: "Thank you for the hard work of the crew! Thank you for cooperating with Yan Xi's work~"
Yan Xi covered her face.
How can she be treated like a star? She is obviously just a staff member!
Zhou Qingyu turned a deaf ear to her words and said, "My people, what's wrong with a bit of pomp and circumstance?"
The staff were very happy because the afternoon tea brought by Zhou Qingyu was very high-end and delicious. They received the afternoon tea, took photos and posted them on WeChat Moments to enjoy the food.
Yan Xi was embarrassed but also reminded, "Staff can eat as much as they want, actors can only take one piece of cake! You can't get fat if you eat too much!"
Actors: "..."
The supervision is too strict!
During afternoon tea, Jiang Tao chatted with Zhou Qingyu, "Miss, we are now in a cooperative relationship. You can reconsider the role of the gangster's daughter. But we are all family, so don't charge me..."
Zhou Qingyu looked at Jiang Tao with a smile, "Do you believe that I will withdraw my investment now?"
Jiang Tao's hair stood on end and he ran away with the cake.
Yan Xi smiled and said, "Why are you teasing Director Jiang? I read the script and the role is not bad."
Zhou Qingyu put her hands on her hips, "He said my acting is bad! I won't guest star in his drama!"
The eldest daughter is the most vengeful.
Zhou Qingyu pulled Yan Xi and sat on the director's chair at the side, "I came to see you for something else~"
She waved her hand and Xiao Meng handed her a tablet.
"Grandpa Pei's birthday banquet is coming soon. Please help me choose a good gift for him!"
Yan Xi glanced at the tablet, which was filled with a wide variety of goods. It should be the catalog of an auction house.
"Grandpa Pei? Grandpa of the second young master Pei?" Yan Xi took the tablet.
"Yes!" Zhou Qingyu took Yan Xi's arm, "It's your 70th birthday! Brother Yubai told me that this birthday banquet is very important, and that Master Pei will announce something big!"
Yan Xi rolled her eyes.
In the novel, Zhou Qingyu attended the birthday banquet. The big announcement Pei Yubai mentioned was their engagement.
Only the Pei family and the Zhou family knew about Zhou Qingyu and Pei Yubai's engagement, but after this birthday banquet, many people in the wealthy circle knew about it, and Ye Luoyi even had a quarrel with Pei Yubai.
But this is not the core. At this birthday banquet, while Master Pei announced the engagement of Zhou Qingyu and Pei Yubai, he also gave Zhou Qingyu 3% of Pei Group's shares as a betrothal gift.
You know, Pei Hanli is the eldest son of the Pei family. He holds 3% of the Pei Group's shares, while Pei Yubai is an illegitimate child, so he only holds 1% of the group's shares.
Zhou Qingyu was not interested in Pei's shares, so the betrothal gift eventually fell into Pei Yubai's hands. Pei Yubai instantly owned 4% of Pei's shares and had the capital to suppress Pei Hanli.
Later, he was able to mobilize the Pei and Lu families to acquire the Zhou family together, and this 3% stake played an indispensable role.
Attending the birthday banquet and announcing their marriage means that 3% of Pei's shares will fall into Pei Yubai's hands, and Pei Yubai will be able to officially join Pei's board of directors.
Yan Xi looked at Zhou Qingyu: "Qingqing, can you not go?"
"Of course not! He's Brother Yubai's grandfather!" Zhou Qingyu rejected Yan Xi without hesitation, but she didn't think much about it and continued to browse the product catalog on the tablet. "Help me choose a gift."
Yan Xi was not interested and chose a purple clay teapot.
——Mr. Pei loves drinking tea, so this would be the right gift for him.
With a quick glance, Zhou Qingyu had already placed the order and paid for 10 million.
Yan Xi: “…”
Mr. Pei’s birthday banquet is in three days.
This is an important plot in the novel, and if you participate, there is no way to undo it.
[Host! I have a way to prevent the young lady from attending the birthday banquet!] The system popped up, its big round eyes gleaming with brilliance.
"What method?" Yan Xi asked.
[Didn’t I tell you before that if you accumulate 60 points of luck, you can get rid of Pei Yubai’s pua. Similarly, if you accumulate 30 points of luck, you can also temporarily get rid of the plot control! ]
It's only temporary and for a limited time.
But the birthday banquet only happens once a year.
Therefore, it was enough to just let Zhou Qingyu escape from the control of the plot for a short time.
Yan Xi quickly checked Zhou Qingyu's current luck value, which was 27.9 points, which meant that it would reach 30 points after adding another 2.1 points!
But Yan Xi was in trouble again. "At present, it seems that the only way to obtain a higher luck value is to change the plot, but the next plot point in the novel is the birthday banquet!"
"Looking at it this way, 2.1 points may not seem like much, but it's hard to make up."
The system said: [There is no other way! Only by gaining 30 points of luck can I temporarily stop the young lady from being controlled by the plot. This is not an easy task. If the vicious female supporting role can easily counterattack, can the protagonist still be the protagonist?]
Yan Xi stroked his chin and thought for a moment, "How about finding someone to kidnap Qingqing on the day of the birthday banquet?"
System:?
[Host! We are a society ruled by law! This cannot be allowed! ]
It's just talk. Yan Xi also knows that kidnapping is wrong. She doesn't have the ability to do it. If she wants to kidnap someone, she has to ask Zhou Yanci for help. Only a big boss can do it perfectly... Forget it, this is against the law.
Zhou Qingyu placed an order for a purple clay teapot, which was an item on sale at Christie's auction house in Hong Kong today. Zhou Qingyu asked a professional auctioneer to buy it. It will take another two days for the purple clay teapot to be delivered to Haicheng.
As for her, Zhou Qingyu stood up and patted the corners of her clothes, "I'm going back to my old house for the next two days."
"What's wrong?" Yan Xi asked.
Zhou Qingyu pouted unhappily, "My dad doesn't want to go to Master Pei's birthday party! Really, I'm getting married to Brother Yubai, how can he not go! I plan to go back and stay for two days to see if I can convince him!"
Yan Xi said nothing.
Father Zhou doesn't like Pei Yubai, he likes Pei Hanli more, so of course he won't go to the birthday banquet. This is his silent protest!
"Oh, it's inconvenient for you to go back to the dormitory, so you can continue to live at my place!" Zhou Qingyu said, "Anyway, you have fingerprints, so if you need anything, just tell the nanny."
Zhou Qingyu picked up her fat boy and took two steps when Yan Xi caught up with her, "Qingqing!... Can I go to the old house with you?"
Yan Xi rolled her eyes and said, "I've never lived alone before. I'm afraid..."
Zhou Qingyu didn't even think about it, "No problem! I was worried that you would find the old house boring!"
"Of course it won't be boring with you here!"
——
Yan Xi and Zhou Qingyu came to the Zhou family's old house.
The old house is located in the suburbs of Haicheng. It is a garden-style house. It is said to have been built by a gardener named Chen. There are pavilions, towers, small bridges and flowing water in the old house, as well as a pond and three mountains, which are classic ancient garden features. It has the artistic conception of Penglai Fairy Island.
Entering the old house and passing through the undulating climbing corridor, Yan Xi and Zhou Qingyu arrived at a waterside pavilion.
Father Zhou sat on the huanghuali lounge chair in the waterside pavilion, sipping tea and fishing leisurely.
Seeing the two people coming, Zhou's father put away his fishing rod and said, "Are you willing to come back? Did you spend all your money outside?"
Zhou Qingyu held her father's arm and said, "Dad! How can you say that to me? I don't have time to come back... I'm busy making money!"
"Making money?" Zhou's father raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it spending money? You spent a lot on the trip to Licheng, right?"
Zhou Qingyu touched the tip of her nose and said, "Not much."
Father Zhou looked at Yan Xi again, "You went too?"
Yan Xi nodded obediently, "Yes."
Zhou Qingyu knew that her father had never liked her being in the entertainment industry, and was worried that her father would embarrass Yan Xi, so she quickly said, "I wanted to be on the variety show, Xi Xi was just accompanying me!"
Father Zhou glanced at Zhou Qingyu and asked, "What are you worried about?"
Father Zhou looked at Yan Xi again, with some praise in his eyes, "I watched your variety show, you performed well."
Zhou Qingyu was surprised, "You can actually exaggerate?"
"If you don't bother me like Yan Xi, I will praise you. But -" Father Zhou nodded and patted the back of her hand, "You did a good job on the variety show this time."
"well?"
Zhou Qingyu was so shocked that her jaw dropped. You know, she had fought with Zhou's father a lot to enter the entertainment industry, and finally she managed to snatch Xingyao from Zhou Yanci. But Xingyao suffered losses year after year, which made her feel uneasy.
Now that her father actually praised her, she began to suspect that there was something wrong with her ears.
"Lao Yu has cooked some Tremella fuciformis soup. Go ask him if it's done." Father Zhou instructed Zhou Qingyu.
Zhou Qingyu was in a good mood, so she was naturally willing to do things. She happily went to the kitchen to find housekeeper Yu.
Only Yan Xi and Zhou's father were left in the pavilion. Zhou's father's kindness faded a little, but he was still gentle. "Yan Ci told me that you didn't go as an exchange student, nor did you go to Zhou's company, but joined Xingyao? You want to help Whisper?"
There was a hint of surprise in Yan Xi's eyes. She originally thought that Zhou's father disliked Zhou Qingyu entering the entertainment industry, but now listening to his tone, he didn't seem to be so disgusted?
Father Zhou saw Yan Xi's doubts and said calmly, "I make money at home and I also have banquets. Qingqing just needs to enjoy herself. Whatever she wants to do, we support her."
"But I hope that entering the entertainment industry is her own decision and not for any other reason."
Yan Xi understood. In the first few years when she knew Zhou Qingyu, she had never heard Zhou Qingyu yearning for the entertainment industry. Zhou Qingyu learned cello since she was a child, and her dream was to hold a concert and perform cello on a world-class stage.
Bernardus University is famous for its music. Zhou Qingyu was admitted to Bernardus to study music.
But after meeting Pei Yubai, Zhou Qingyu's goal changed.
"I want to help Qingqing." Yan Xi said frankly, "I'm not sure if I can succeed, but I want to help her."
"As for going to Zhou's," Yan Xi said with a smile, "I think Mr. Zhou has so many capable people around him, so he doesn't need me!"
Zhou's father nodded in approval. In the past two years, he insisted on not letting Zhou's public relations department help Zhou Qingyu deal with the scandals, just to force her to give up the entertainment industry.
He failed, and the more he opposed, the more Zhou Qingyu insisted.
He didn't know why his daughter was like this. He was clearly doing this for her own good, but she always disobeyed him.
After watching "The Journey", Zhou's father discovered that Yan Xi had used many tricks in secret. Zhou's father hated people who were scheming, and this would definitely be detrimental to Zhou Qingyu, such as a certain Pei. But Zhou's father could see that all of Yan Xi's tricks ultimately benefited Zhou Qingyu.
In Zhou's father's eyes, being scheming is not scheming, but intelligence.
"That's good," Zhou's father said slowly, "Xingyao is a subsidiary of Zhou Corporation. The contract you signed with me will still be valid even if it is replaced by Xingyao."
Yan Xi's eyes suddenly lit up.
Good guy!
It is ten thousand times better than Zhou Yanci's abominable capitalism!
So there is a reason why dad can become the richest man! Look at him! This pattern!
Brother, you are still a long way behind!
Father Zhou looked at Yan Xi's expression of uncontrollable joy and smiled charitably, "Actually, 10 million is not a difficult thing for you. You can pay it back in one month, not to mention ten years, including the principal and interest."
Yan Xi said politely, "Uncle, you are kind. I was able to make so much money in a short period of time because I stood on the shoulders of giants. Without Zhou's resources, I would not have been able to succeed so quickly."
Butler Yu came over with the Tremella soup, so Yan Xi said goodbye to Zhou's father and went to find Zhou Qingyu.
After Yan Xi left, Father Zhou looked at the direction she was going and said, "The little girl is good, sensible, and tactful. The Lin family is unlucky, raising such a good girl, but throwing her away."
As Butler Yu poured tea for Zhou's father, he glanced at Yan Xi's disappearing figure and said, "She looks like an ordinary little girl. You must be good at judging people, old man. Ordinary people don't have your ability!"
Father Zhou pointed at Butler Yu and said, "You are also a smart person. You can talk!"
——
There was some distance from the waterside pavilion to the residential villa. Yan Xi was unfamiliar with the place. After walking for a while, she heard the sound of quarreling coming from the courtyard ahead.
Zhou Qingyu visited the set of "Bottom Line" today. Wu Liaohui took promotional photos, so she wore a suit from C. After returning to the old house, she changed into a comfortable silk long skirt. When she came out, she saw Zhou Yanci, who was wearing a suit and looked exhausted.
Zhou Qingyu frowned, "Why are you back too?"
Like her, Zhou Yanci also owns a property in Haicheng. They both usually live in the city and rarely go back to their old house except during holidays.
"I've been living at home recently." Zhou Yan paused for a moment, then spoke word by word, "
Discuss the matter of Zijin Garden with my father."
It's so heartbreaking!
Yan Xi saw that Zhou Qingyu’s face turned pale.
She even felt that Zhou Yanci emphasized the words "Zijin Garden".
So, when Zhou Yanci passed by Zhou Qingyu with one hand in his pocket, Yan Xi saw that Zhou Qingyu was making a threatening gesture towards Zhou Yanci's back.
"Is it a big deal that I won the bid? It's just a Zijin Garden, worth a few hundred billion. Do you think I care about it?"
Yan Xi said faintly, "Don't you want it? Hundreds of billions..."
Zhou Qingyu glared at Yan Xi and straightened her back, "I don't care! People should have backbone!"
——
In the evening, Yan Xi and Zhou Qingyu's family had dinner together.
The Zhou family does not have the habit of not talking while eating or sleeping. Zhou's father and Zhou Yanci would occasionally talk about the Zijin Garden project at the dinner table, because the wetland plan proposed by Zhou Yanci really hit the Haicheng government's idea of beautifying Haicheng, so the prospects of this project are very good.
At the dinner table, in addition to talking about Zijin Garden, Zhou's father and Zhou Yanci also talked about some other projects, which were worth hundreds of millions.
Yan Xi suddenly felt that the millions of sponsorships she had battled with those advertisers this morning were not enough to see here.
Not even a fraction of what others have!
Zhou Qingyu listened to their conversation and could occasionally interject a few words, but she didn't understand most of it.
Yan Xi could also understand that Zhou Qingyu had always felt that she had enough time. Zhou's father was 55 years old this year and was not yet at retirement age, so Zhou Qingyu could just jump around in the entertainment industry, and then return to the Zhou Group after three to five years to officially declare war on Zhou Yanci.
But in reality, Zhou Yanci had less than a year to live, and his death indirectly caused his father to suffer a cerebral infarction, so Zhou Qingyu had no time.
She now has only a vague understanding of Zhou's business, and the collapse of the building in the future is a foregone conclusion.
It’s still important to improve your luck value as soon as possible!
[Host, I would like to remind you that you are still 2.1 points short of your luck value! Even if you ask the young lady to give you a gift, you probably won't be able to reach this number.]
Yan Xi: "I know, I'm trying my best, otherwise why would I go back to the old house?"
System: [You returned to the old house for the luck points? The old house has little to do with the plot, how do you get it? ]
Yan Xi looked at Zhou Yanci who was eating properly, her eyes gleaming, "Isn't there a ready-made one here? As long as we can prevent Young Master Zhou from staying up late and dying suddenly, we can also earn some luck points, right?"
As he spoke, Yan Xi tightly gripped the bottle of wine in his hand.
System:?
【Wait! What are you going to do? 】
[Kidnapping is illegal, and so is knocking someone unconscious! ]
[Host! You need to think this over carefully! ! ! ]