Chapter 3
Zhou Pingan stared at his business partner, Li Dingshan, and spoke quickly and clearly: "I've found my direction. I want to make a movie for Liu Yifan."
Li Dingshan was slightly startled; this answer was clearly beyond his expectations. He subconsciously leaned forward, and with a tone of inquiry and confirmation, he asked the most instinctive question: "Liu Yifan? Are you... going to pursue her?"
You can't blame him for thinking too much. Spending billions of dollars on a woman is the most straightforward logic.
"No! No, no, no!" Zhou Ping'an's reaction was unusually quick and resolute. He even waved his hand impatiently, as if to dispel this overly mundane thought. "I don't know her at all, and I don't have that kind of thought at all. This has nothing to do with her."
The doubt in Li Dingshan's eyes deepened, but he did not interrupt, just waited quietly.
Zhou Ping'an took a deep breath, his gaze becoming sharp and focused again. He continued, "What I want is to create a work of art. Liu Yifan...she is just a symbol of 'beauty' in my youthful memories. What I want to do is solidify this symbol in reality in the most extreme way..."
He did not immediately continue to elaborate on the concept of "artwork", but took a deep breath, and his eyes suddenly became empty and sharp, as if he penetrated Li Dingshan and saw a distant future.
The air in the entire office suddenly froze because of this brief silence.
The stagnant air suddenly cleared up, and he spoke faster: "It can't be the garbage on the market. It has to be a true work of art. Every shot must be done to perfection."
Li Dingshan nodded slightly, his expression still as calm as usual. "The idea is very unique. With a budget of tens of millions, if you calculate carefully, it is not impossible to launch a high-quality art film project."
"Tens of millions?" Zhou Ping'an suddenly sneered. The laughter was dry and almost contemptuous, which made Li Dingshan frown slightly.
"Li Dingshan," Zhou Ping'an's voice suddenly rose, his eyes sharp as if piercing through him, "tens of millions are only enough to build a sophisticated makeshift troupe! I don't want to be frugal, I want to be regardless of cost!"
He slammed his palm on the coffee table with a "bang", and the water in the teacup splashed out. Li Dingshan's body leaned back almost imperceptibly, and for the first time, his eyes showed real astonishment.
"I want the most advanced IMAX camera, a lens that can capture starlight with texture! I want to build a real set, rejecting even the slightest hint of green screen artifacts! I want to hire the world's top colorists to polish it frame by frame! I want to form a true scientific advisory team to ensure that every prop and every beam of light conforms to physical precision and beauty!" Zhou Ping'an practically growled, veins bulging on his forehead. "Tens of millions? That's not even enough to rent this equipment!"
He stood up suddenly and paced quickly around the office like a trapped beast:
"Three hundred million? Five hundred million? Even one billion! Two billion! I don't know how much it will cost! I don't lack money, but money means nothing to me right now."
He suddenly stopped in front of Li Dingshan, looking down from above, his eyes blazing with madness, yet his tone was unusually calm, creating a strange contrast:
"Li Dingshan, don't you understand? The ultimate purpose of this money may not be to make a successful movie. It's a sacrifice! Even if the movie ends up being a failure, the project company goes bankrupt, and the 1 billion yuan is burned like a pile of waste paper, bang, there's nothing left..."
Zhou Ping'an's voice deepened, yet it carried a terrifying power:
"...But as long as the act of 'trying to use money and technology to fight against the crude and perfunctory progress of the entire era' itself exists, then the money was well spent! This is the ultimate beauty!"
The office was deathly silent. Li Dingshan was completely stunned. He leaned back in his chair, speechless for a long time. What he saw was not an impulsive young man, but a calm madman planning a shocking gamble.
His throat was dry, and when he tried to pick up the teacup, he noticed a slight tremor in his fingertips. This subtle movement did not escape Zhou Ping'an's eyes.
At that moment, Zhou Pingan felt a surge of even greater emotion, a surge of heat, rushing to his head. It wasn't anger, it wasn't paranoia, but a kind of... verified, extreme excitement.
Who is Li Dingshan? He is the most outstanding business elite and the most ruthless executioner.
But such a person was actually so shocked by the idea that had just come to his mind that he was speechless.
Even Li Dingshan thought this was crazy!
Even he was surprised!
This realization, like a powerful dose of fuel, injected Zhou Ping'an's blood. He had originally been immersed in his own conception, but now he saw the impact this conception had on the outside world, especially on the top cognitive systems.
This is no longer just an idea, this is a real, living "incredible" thing! It is so "luxurious" that it is enough to shake the existence of Li Dingshan!
The immense satisfaction brought by this kind of "success" far surpasses any material enjoyment. It is the ecstasy of completing a perfect limit leap on the spiritual level.
The enthusiasm on his face didn't fade, instead it glowed with an even more captivating brilliance. He took a step forward, almost touching Li Dingshan's desk. His voice was lowered due to extreme excitement, but it was more penetrating:
"Li Dingshan, did you see that?" His eyes were blazing, as if he were sharing a great discovery. "Even you...even you find this incredible, right?"
He didn't need Li Dingshan to answer, he had already got the most perfect answer from the other party's reaction.
"That's right!" Zhou Ping'an almost muttered to himself, but also seemed to be declaring, "That's right... Isn't that what I'm doing? Exploring the boundaries of value... Is there anything closer to the edge than 'creating a concept that even you think is crazy'?"
He stood up, looked around this office that represented real power and capital, and smiled a nearly brilliant, yet spine-chilling smile:
"I must do this. Only in this way can it be worthy of the word 'incredible'."
At this moment, Zhou Ping'an was no longer a proposer seeking recognition, but a prophetic practitioner who had already stood on the high ground of cognition, overlooking and confirming his own path. Li Dingshan's shock became the brightest beacon on his path.
Amidst this extreme shock, Li Dingshan felt a surge of sympathy and reluctance deep in his heart. He watched the fire in Zhou Ping'an's eyes, blazing with extreme excitement. Behind that fire lay the unconcealable fatigue and the cracks of a man on the verge of collapse.
This technical genius is burning the core of his personality in a way that is almost self-sacrificing to produce this incredible and imaginative brilliance.
He subconsciously pushed the cup gently toward Zhou Ping'an. This subtle movement was more of a silent, instinctive attempt to offer some support than a gesture of hospitality.
After a full minute, Li Dingshan took a deep breath and spoke slowly. His voice was a little hoarse and... painful, even he himself didn't realize it.
"Ping An...you're not spending money." He shook his head, a complex, almost admiring expression on his face. "You're...using the destruction of capital to complete an 'incredible interpretation'."
Li Dingshan leaned back in his chair, the slight trembling in his fingertips still not completely subsiding. It took him more than ten seconds to finish this sentence full of the dual meaning of destruction and creation.
He let out a long, slow breath, as if slowly expelling all the shock he had just inhaled.
The mad fire in Zhou Ping'an's eyes had subsided, replaced by a great, post-storm calm, even with a hint of exhaustion. He raised his hand and pinched his brow hard. When he spoke again, his voice was hoarse, but unusually clear:
"Dingshan," he paused, as if to confirm his next words, "I now know... what to do next."
Li Dingshan's eyes fixed and he leaned forward slightly.
Zhou Ping'an's next words were beyond his expectations: "I want to go home now and have a good sleep."
Li Dingshan was stunned. Compared to the grand, flaming declaration just now, this request seemed so ordinary.
But he immediately understood from the paleness on Zhou Ping'an's face after the extreme excitement and the fatigue hidden in his eyes that this was not a retreat, but a strategic rest.
In a quiet conference room in Haicheng, everything Su Ying arranged was low-key and efficient.
Zhou Ping'an sat at one end of the long table, his expression as calm as ever, his eyes swept calmly over the three people opposite him.
Su Ying sat behind him, recording and observing. Opposite him sat three people with very different temperaments, but all of them had a strong aura.
On the left is Chen Jing, a former film genius. Now, there are traces of time and reality between his brows, but there is still a fire that refuses to go out in the depths of his eyes.
In the middle is Wu Tong, the former founder of a visual effects company. He is dressed more like a tech elite, sits upright, and has sharp eyes.
On the right is Lin Na, a top documentary producer with a calm and gentle temperament, but her eyes have an insight that can penetrate the surface.
After a brief introduction, Zhou Pingan cut straight to the point without exchanging pleasantries. His gaze swept over the three of them, his tone steady, yet with an undeniable seriousness.
"I invited the three of you here today to discuss a project in person. This project isn't for box office success or awards, and it might not even be released to the public."
The opening statement made the three of them sit up slightly straighter.
"I want to make a movie for someone." Zhou Pingan paused briefly and said the name, "Liu Yifan."
This name surprised everyone present, even Su Ying raised her eyes quietly.
"She was my idol when I was young," Zhou Ping'an continued. His voice lacked the fanaticism of a fanatic, more like a calm statement. "A while ago, I went to see one of her new movies. It was very... crude." He chose a very restrained word, "It made me feel a little uncomfortable after watching it."
He didn't criticize the market or capital, but simply said objectively: "I understand the overall industry environment is like this. Survival is the first priority. Actors need exposure, capital needs returns, and some choices are helpless."
Changing the subject, his tone was infused with a faint, yet hard-to-ignore, hint of regret: "But Liu Yifan is 26 this year, and will soon be 27. For an actor, especially a female actor, the best years of youth are very short."
His gaze became focused, as if piercing time and space: "What I want to do is to use the best technology and the utmost patience to preserve her current state and unique beauty intact before this window closes. This is not an ordinary film, but more like... a piece of art frozen in time."
Finally, he gave the reason that truly touched his heart and was the core driving force of this project:
"This isn't just for her, it's also for myself. I want to use this method to put myself at peace...that memory of my youth."
These words are free of flowery rhetoric and exaggerated emotions, but they carry a calm insight based on facts and a special emotion hidden beneath the rationality of an engineer.
The original caution and curiosity on the faces of the three candidates were all replaced by an incredible astonishment after listening to Zhou Ping'an's explanation of the project's motivation.
Suddenly, Lin Na leaned forward slightly, frowning, her voice filled with uncontrollable disgust and a hint of excitement:
"Mr. Zhou, forgive me for being blunt. Your idea... sounds romantic, but have you ever considered whether Liu Yifan herself would agree? You want to use a film to 'freeze' her at her best, but that sounds more like... a wishful collecting addiction. Have you consulted her? Is it possible that she doesn't care at all, or even feels that such an action is disrespectful to her as an actress and an individual?"
These words hit the surface of a silent lake like a piece of ice. Even Chen Jing and Wu Tong glanced sideways, surprised by Lin Na's bluntness, yet also vaguely agreeing with her question. Su Ying's heart instantly rose to her throat, and she glanced at Zhou Pingan worriedly, ready to smooth things over at any moment.
To everyone's surprise, Zhou Ping'an's face wasn't filled with anger. Instead, a faint, almost appreciative smile appeared on his face. He leaned back, lightly touching his fingertips together, and calmly met Lin Na's sharp gaze.
"Director Lin," he said, his tone even tinged with approval, "You've touched upon the core and most vulnerable aspect of this plan. It's also the only viable breakthrough point to pull it back from fantasy to reality."
He paused to make sure everyone's attention was focused, then continued slowly:
“Respect isn’t something you give one-sidedly, nor is it something you feel moved by. Respect comes from the value you provide, whether it matches the other person’s inner needs, and whether it’s worth the other person’s precious time and reputation in exchange.”
He spread his hands and made a very frank and even somewhat awkward gesture, which formed a subtle contrast with the momentum he had just used when announcing his massive plan:
"I definitely don't have the ability to impress her directly. I'm just a battery engineer, how can I talk to a top actor about art? About the value of acting? That's like showing off my skills in front of an expert. I'm a complete amateur. That's why I need you, the best of you."
His eyes swept over Chen Jing, Wu Tong, and finally returned to Lin Na. His eyes became sharp and focused:
"The proposal you're about to come up with is the only 'stepping stone,' the only 'touchstone.' If this proposal itself, in terms of artistic conception and technical implementation, is sufficiently shocking, shocking enough to make Liu Yifan feel that this is an opportunity not to be missed, a truly unique mark in the history of light and shadow, a pure artistic expression that transcends all the current commercial flop and glitz and noise, then the question of 'respect' that you were worried about just now will no longer be an issue. She will make her own choice, and she will consider it an honor to be involved."
"On the contrary," Zhou Ping'an's tone suddenly cooled, with the cruel objectivity of an engineer, "if the final proposal is mediocre and lacks sufficient persuasiveness and creativity, then there's no point in discussing it. We don't even have the qualifications to stand in front of her and propose this idea. Because that would not only be disrespectful to her, but also an insult to our own time and abilities."
He concluded, looking at the three professionals with a burning gaze:
"So, the answer to this question lies not with me, but with you. Do you think, with your lifelong learning and ultimate pursuit, can we work together to forge a 'brick' heavy enough to open the door to her heart?"
The conference room fell silent again, but the atmosphere was different. The disgust and questioning in Lin Na's eyes gradually gave way to a solemn and thoughtful expression. Zhou Ping'an didn't resort to emotional or moral justification. Instead, he reframed the entire issue with a purely technical and artistic challenge of a higher magnitude.
He cleverly transformed an ethical dilemma into an ultimate proposition that required them to use their professional abilities to solve.
Zhou Ping'an's gaze swept across the three people, each with a different expression, taking in their contemplation, their desire for challenge, and a lingering trace of doubt. He knew the theoretical framework had been established; what was needed now was a decisive injection of fuel, enough to make any idealist irresistible.
His tone was calm, as if he was stating a common technical parameter, but then he dropped a real bombshell:
"As for the resources needed to realize this concept, you don't have to worry about anything."
He paused briefly to ensure everyone's full attention, then spoke clearly:
"For the first phase of the project, which involves proof of concept and team building, we have a reserve fund of 70 million RMB. Our goal is to fully and efficiently invest this money in cutting-edge equipment rentals, technical experiments, and feasibility studies within three months."
This figure made Chen Jing's eyebrows raise slightly. Seventy million was enough to make several medium-budget commercial films, but here, it was just a "proof of concept" budget.
But Zhou Ping'an didn't stop talking. He continued with that steady, calm tone and dropped the second bomb:
"I estimate the entire project cycle to be three years. During these three years, the project's available funding pool will have a minimum of 300 million RMB, with no upper limit. Based on actual needs, we can add 1 billion or 2 billion RMB at any time."
You could hear a pin drop in the conference room. Wu Tong subconsciously adjusted his glasses. Chen Jing's breathing seemed to stop for a moment. Even Lin Na, who had been the most sharp-tongued just now, had her pupils shrink slightly.
Zhou Ping'an seemed oblivious to their shock and made the final and most fatal promise:
"All of this investment is not premised on any commercial return. The film's ultimate destination could be a global release, or it could be sealed forever in a storage vault, or even the master tape could be destroyed after fulfilling its artistic mission. Its value lies in the perfection of the creative process itself, not in box office sales, awards, or any external evaluation."
He looked around at the three of them and concluded with a tone of almost godlike calmness:
"Money is a tool, a fuel, used to clear away all technical obstacles and excuses for compromise. In this project, its sole purpose is to help you realize your most extreme ideas, which have been abandoned in other projects due to budget, time, and review."
"Now, back to Mr. Lin's original question. We're using such determination and resources to create a project purely for the sake of 'beauty' itself. Do you think this 'sincerity' is enough for us to sit down with Ms. Liu Yifan on an equal footing and discuss 'respect'?"
The conference room fell into an eerie silence, as if the very air itself had been compressed by the sheer volume of numbers and absolute conditions. Zhou Ping'an wasn't offering an olive branch, but the key to a treasury in an ideal country where they could squander their wealth.
A few seconds later, Chen Jing was the first to break the silence. His Adam's apple rolled, his voice slightly hoarse with excitement, but his eyes were like burning charcoal:
"Mr. Zhou... if that's the case, this isn't just making a movie. It's building a church." He shook his head slightly, as if trying to digest the weight of the concept. "A temple dedicated solely to beauty itself. I... I need to think about how to design a dome for this temple."
His reaction was not ecstasy, but a solemnity that was almost reverent. For him, this meant a belated coronation, an opportunity to wash away the dust of commercialism and return to the original intention of art.
Almost at the same time, Wu Tong subconsciously leaned forward, his fingers rapidly tapping in the air, as if there was an invisible control panel in front of him:
"Three months and seventy million for preliminary verification? That's more than enough! We can directly build a 1:1 virtual shooting environment and completely scan and record Miss Liu's dynamic data. We can test the lighting without waiting for a location, simulating the light particle effects of different seasons and times in a virtual space... Mr. Zhou, this isn't a movie, it's an extreme stress test of image generation technology!"
His excitement is completely focused on the technical possibilities, and he has entered the state of "chief engineer".
At this moment, everyone's eyes turned to Lin Na, who hadn't yet expressed her opinion. She had been the most skeptical before, and now she was the most silent. She looked down at her fingertips for a long time before looking up at Zhou Ping'an with a complicated look.
"Mr. Zhou, I admit that the conditions you offer...are beyond what any artist could refuse. It's like an absolutely pure vacuum, both frightening and fascinating."
She paused, as if searching for the right words:
"If...if we could truly create such an utterly pure environment, perhaps...perhaps she could truly let go of all her guard and concerns, not as an 'idol' to be watched, but as an explorer, conducting an experiment with time, image, and self with us. This...could indeed be another, deeper form of respect."
Her attitude underwent a subtle but decisive shift, from a skeptic to a cautious participant. Zhou Pingan used her absolute resources to build an irresistible bridge on the ethical high ground she adhered to.
Zhou Pingan took in the reactions of the three and knew the time had come. He stopped discussing grand concepts and instead laid out specific requirements, as if launching a project:
"Very good. It seems we at least have a basis for cooperation. Next, I need to see your true abilities."
"Please prepare a proposal as soon as possible that will truly impress Liu Yifan and her team. They will decide who will ultimately lead this project."
After the interview, the three people left one after another, each with varying degrees of shock and contemplation on their faces.
While Su Ying was organizing her notes, she couldn't help but whisper to Zhou Pingan, "Mr. Zhou, have you really decided? This investment..."
Zhou Pingan looked out the window at the tall buildings of Haicheng, his eyes far away:
"Mr. Su, you know, the most extravagant thing in the world is not buying the most expensive jewelry, but... buying back the time that has passed. This money is not the cost, but the travel expenses."
His tone was calm, but Su Ying felt an unquestionable determination.
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