Global Film Emperor

Chapter 196 New Movie, Drama

"Absolutely not! There's no room for negotiation on this."

Shen Jinghan expressed her attitude with firm words: she would never allow this. Everything else was negotiable, but Lu Ze's desire to go to the movies was absolutely out of the question.

Lu Ze sat on the sofa and lit a cigarette. He needed a film to prove his conjecture. Shen Jinghan obviously didn't understand the significance of filming for him now, so it was only natural for him to refuse Lu Ze.

Is he able to get acting roles now? Yes, as long as the higher-ups at Qian Shijia agree, Lu Ze can get acting roles normally. During the months Lu Ze disappeared, Qian Shijia concealed the real reason for Lu Ze's disappearance from the outside world, and lied that Lu Ze had developed stomach problems and fatty liver due to long hours of filming and needed to recuperate for a period of time.

The real news was completely blocked, so even people in the industry were unaware of it. Song Qingmin also felt that Lu Ze's illness was closely related to the filming of "Big Boss" and would call Lu Ze from time to time, but most of the time Wang Zixuan or Shen Jinghan would answer the phone.

As for those outside the entertainment industry and Lu Ze's fans, all they can do now is send Lu Ze their blessings and hope for his speedy recovery so he can return to the entertainment circle.

This circle contains many people with mental illnesses and drug addicts who, for one reason or another, choose to hide their problems and go out to make money.

The client may know that they turn a blind eye to this, since there are too many examples of this. Many addicts time their cravings perfectly, use the drugs at home, and once the craving is over, they act as if nothing happened and go about their lives as usual.

People with mental health issues also take medication to suppress their symptoms and put on a brave face in public until their condition becomes uncontrollable and is fully exposed, at which point they leave the community.

This is quite normal. As long as you can still generate profits for investors, capital won't care what problems you have until they squeeze out the last bit of value from you and then discard you.

This is a very cold-blooded approach, but it's commonplace in the entertainment industry. They won't care if you become mentally unstable or get caught using drugs. In the end, as long as the investors say they knew nothing about it, they can get rid of all the smears.

Now Lu Ze has become one of them, but as long as he can maintain his condition and not delay filming, no one will care whether he lives or dies, except for his own people.

"I want to act, so that life will be more interesting. Staying at home all day waiting to die is too boring."

After stubbing out his cigarette, Lu Ze was still thinking about his condition. After answering Shen Jinghan's question, he fell silent. He felt that his guess was correct, but something still felt off.

"You're not just waiting to die! You're getting treatment, don't you know that?"

"Has the treatment been effective after more than two months?"

"you"

Lu Ze left Shen Jinghan speechless. She didn't understand why Lu Ze was so stubborn. Yes, it seemed that the treatment wasn't working, but it was still much better than having to work when she was on the verge of a mental breakdown, right?

"Aunt Han, I really feel like I'm just waiting to die. I have to save myself, right? I want to live. Staying in this room is really making me depressed, and I'm afraid that one day I won't be able to take it anymore."

"Why don't you go on a trip and relax? Why do you have to film movies?"

"Aunt Han, please help me."

The two stared at each other. Shen Jinghan could see a strong will to survive in Lu Ze's eyes. This kind of look was the most heartbreaking. At least Shen Jinghan didn't know how to refuse Lu Ze.

"I need to consult Dr. Lin's opinion. I can't just blindly agree with you. Besides, Lu Ze, do you know what the consequences would be if you fell ill on set?"

“I know, I’m prepared for that.”

He needed to verify his ideas, so he was prepared for the possibility that his ideas were wrong. In that case, he would naturally be kicked out of the production team, and it would be natural for the news to be completely exposed.

Lu Ze just wanted to give it a try. Right now, he was just waiting to die. If his guess was proven wrong, he would die anyway. Since he was going to die anyway, there was no harm in trying.

“Then I’ll go and ask Mr. Hu and Dr. Lin. If they both agree, I’ll keep an eye out for new scripts for you.”

"it is good."

Lu Ze wasn't worried at all that the company's higher-ups would disagree. After all, Lu Ze had no value in their eyes anymore. Could they force a mentally ill person to make a movie?

But now that Lu Ze is actively asking to film, he's actively proving that he still has value. What do they have to disagree with? Even if Lu Ze really can't film, gets kicked out of the production team, and the news leaks, causing Lu Ze's acting career to be completely ruined, wouldn't that be the same as now? The company doesn't need to have any expectations for Lu Ze anymore.

Lu Ze is essentially being sidelined now, but this is a last resort for Qian Shijia and doesn't align with the company's interests. If Lu Ze can still make films, then let him continue to generate profits for the company.

As for Dr. Lin, in his mind, intractable schizophrenia was already a foregone conclusion. If he didn't want to become addicted to large amounts of sedatives and suffer in agony for the rest of his life, then he could only tie Lu Ze up and let him fend for himself.

Lu Ze's request to go to filming will not harm Lin Yuezhu's interests at all. If he has a relapse and injures or even kills someone, it has nothing to do with Lin Yuezhu. It is only a matter of professional ethics. If the patient insists on it, he naturally cannot forcefully stop him.

After Shen Jinghan left, he also began to take action. In fact, he already had someone in mind for his new film: Zhuang Yu, the director with whom he had previously collaborated and who had won the Best Actor award for his work. A long time ago, Zhuang Yu had asked Lu Ze if he was interested in collaborating again, but at the time Lu Ze was still filming "The Boxer" and had not yet confirmed his availability.

After "The Boss" finished filming, Zhuang Yu's new project was officially launched. He asked Lu Ze again if he was available, but Lu Ze refused because he was very tired from filming.

Trusting Zhuang Yu, Lu Ze believed that Zhuang Yu's work would not disappoint him and his fans, and that there was a high probability that it would achieve a rating of 8.0 or higher.

Although he had rejected Zhuang Yu twice before, it was a bit shameless of him to come back and ask Zhuang Yu if he needed anyone. But is it even necessary to think about whether to prioritize one's life or one's reputation?

I called Zhuang Yu, and after two dial tones, Zhuang Yu answered the phone.

"Lu'er, how have you been feeling lately?"

This is Lu Ze's friend, this is Lu Ze's network of contacts. It has nothing to do with Shen Jinghan or Qian Shijia. Over the past few years, Lu Ze has built a fairly wide network of contacts. His relationship with Zhuang Yu is excellent. Zhuang Yu immediately expressed concern for Lu Ze's health, which warmed Lu Ze's heart and made him feel apologetic for hiding his illness from Zhuang Yu.

"I'm doing well, my body is recovering quite well."

"Oh, that's good. Guiyuan and I went to Shanghai to see you before, but you didn't answer the phone then. You didn't need to do that during your closed treatment, did you? Never mind, as long as you're better, what's the big deal about calling?"

"Um, I wanted to ask Brother Zhuang, has the male lead for your new movie been decided yet?"

Zhuang Yu was reading at home when he heard Lu Ze's question. He immediately closed the book, his face beaming with joy. He pulled down his glasses and laughed. He had asked Lu Ze twice before, but Lu Ze hadn't agreed, which had left him quite troubled.

After all, he had worked with Lu Ze so smoothly and comfortably before. For the second movie, since Lu Ze's image matched his, he really didn't want to consider anyone else. However, Lu Ze kept refusing to agree, which made him quite depressed for a few days.

The new movie demands a high level of acting skill, but he doesn't have much funding. He doesn't trust the new actor Zhuang Yu, and the veteran actors' salaries are too high, often tens of millions, which gives Zhuang Yu a headache. He's also worried that he's too inexperienced to keep up with the veteran actors. If Lu Ze hadn't been ill, he would have followed Liu Bei's example and planned to visit Zhuge Liang three times.

"What? You've suddenly become interested in my new movie?"

"I am interested, and after resting for so long, I really feel uncomfortable not filming. But I'm not sure if I can film now; I'm asking the doctor if it's okay."

"I'm waiting for you."

These words made Lu Ze's heart clench, and he swallowed his words. He was truly moved by Zhuang Yu.

"it is good"

"I've sent the script to your email. Take a look. Zhenzi will still be the female lead. If you're willing to film it, give me a call, and I'll come to Shanghai to see you and sign the contract while I'm at it."

"Okay, thank you, Brother Zhuang."

"We're brothers, no need to thank me. Besides, without you, I wouldn't be confident I could film it well. I'll wait for your news."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Ze stared out the window for a while, then got up and went into his study. He turned on his computer, and the script had already been sent to his email. Just by looking at the title, you could tell that this play was still dealing with a heavy subject.

"To Live"

Upon opening the script, Lu Ze realized that Zhuang Yu wasn't going for an art-house film this time. After all, art-house films don't really make money in China, and now that Zhuang Yu is signed with a company, he definitely has to consider making money.

This time, they were filming a drama. Lu Ze sat in front of the computer for more than two hours and finally finished reading the script. How to describe the script? Lu Ze thought for a moment and gave it two words.

despair.

This atmosphere of despair permeated the air after the plot unfolded, growing stronger and stronger. The subject matter was related to illness, and given Lu Ze's own experience of being tormented by the disease over the past few months, he truly felt a deep connection to it.

The male and female protagonists in the script went to unimaginable madness in order to survive, but in the end they were still in despair and could not see any hope.

After watching the movie, Lu Ze received a phone call from Shen Jinghan, informing him that he could start filming. Lu Ze was not surprised by this.

He tossed his phone onto the table, and a sigh echoed through the room.

"."

I've been really tired these past few days. I fell asleep at my computer desk and just woke up. I'm so sorry everyone.

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(End of this chapter)