Global Film Emperor

Chapter 42 Practice and Preparation

It was already too late last night, and Lu Ze was exhausted, so he hadn't looked up any information about "Qian Shi Jia Culture Co., Ltd." online.

When Lu Ze woke up today, the first thing he did was to use a search engine to get a rough idea of ​​the background and strength of this agency.

The first result of the search truly shocked Lu Ze: "Qian Shijia Culture" belongs to Rongchuang Group and is a new company that was only registered in September 2016, essentially the youngest son of Rongchuang Group.

How strong is Rongchuang? Simply put, its former chairman, Li Zhenghong, was the richest man in China from 2008 to 2011, and most of its businesses are in the real economy.

Primarily focused on shopping malls, real estate, hotels, restaurants, and healthcare, the company entered the internet arena after the advent of the wireless era, but has not achieved great success. Currently, its best-performing app is a video website.

Lu Ze admitted that such a large group was indeed incredibly powerful, but what attracted him most was that Rongchuang Group owned the second largest cinema chain in the country, accounting for 22.3%. It could be said that there was at least one Rongchuang Cinema in every first- and second-tier city. Such strength was enough to make the entertainment industry tremble.

Why didn't Rongchuang establish an entertainment company before? Actually, they did, but it went bankrupt, which Lu Ze found strange. However, after searching for a long time, he couldn't find any specific reason online.

The current general manager of "Qianshijia Culture" is Hu Zhiguang, who previously served as the CEO of Rongchuang Group and was a big shot on the board of directors of Rongchuang Group. Lu Ze had some guesses as to why he would step down to become the head of a new company, but this was irrelevant to Lu Ze.

Seeing this, Lu Ze was tempted. He wanted to give it a try. After all, big companies would never sign someone like him who started as an extra. Only small companies would consider Lu Ze. But which small company was as strong as Qian Shijia? With such a comparison, what was there to think about?
Moreover, one advantage of the new company is that it's easier to get ahead. They're so short of artists that they have to ask friends for help, so there must not be many people. If he really signs with Qian Shijia, then he will directly become a veteran of the company.

Thinking of this, Lu Ze quickly rummaged through his pockets and pulled out the phone number Guo Mingde had given him last night. The numbers were written crookedly, after all, Guo Mingde had just written them down while holding them in his hand, so they were bound to look terrible.

After barely managing to make out the number, Lu Ze dialed it. After ringing three times, a female voice answered the phone.

"Hello, this is Qian Shijia Culture Co., Ltd."

"Hello, my name is Lu Ze, and I am an actor. Director Guo Mingde introduced me to your company for an interview, saying that he had already recommended me to General Manager Hu."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Less than half a minute later, the person on the other end picked up the phone again and said, "Hello, the situation has been verified. When can you come for the interview?"

"I can go tomorrow and arrive in Shanghai in the morning. What documents or certificates do I need to bring?"

"Okay, Mr. Lu, tomorrow morning, right? You'll need to bring your actor's pass. You don't need your ID card unless you're signing the contract on the same day."

"Then I have no problem. See you tomorrow."

"Okay, see you tomorrow, Mr. Lu."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Ze lay back down on the bed. He wasn't particularly happy; he was more anxious about the future. Everyone feels this way when choosing a company—there's always something to worry about.

When the company is small, you worry about its future prospects, whether it will not develop well, or whether it will go bankrupt. When the company is large, you worry about whether you can stand out under the pressure of so many senior colleagues, and whether the company will value you.

Lu Ze felt the same way. He was worried that "Qian Shijia" would go bankrupt, since Rongchuang had a history of this, and he wondered what he would do then.

In short, all my worries can be summed up in two words: being overly sensitive.

In 2016, actors' incomes were already quite high. Even if you didn't become a big star, as long as you worked hard to get roles and weren't blacklisted by your company, you would generally earn much more than an office worker. It's just that people who want to be stars dream of becoming big names. When life isn't burdened by financial constraints, they pursue more spiritual fulfillment, such as being admired and adored.

Lu Ze felt the same way. He even felt that more people liked him and recognized his acting skills than he received huge income. Only then would he feel that the whip in the system space had not been in vain.

He's not going to work today, and it's fortunate that he didn't take on any group work, otherwise he'd definitely be racking his brains over scheduling.

Even at home, he can't be idle. He has to dress himself up, right? But he'd rather not do makeup. He's a grown man and doesn't understand such advanced techniques at all. Last time on set, the makeup artist was too busy, so he did his own blush application, and the result was that he looked like a paper doll made for someone who had died.

But he should at least get himself a couple of decent outfits, right? Otherwise, wearing this high-quality knock-off Adidas outfit would be a bit too cheap, and if he were recognized during the job interview, Lu Ze would feel embarrassed.

Moreover, before you reach a point where people know you're a big shot even when you're wearing a burlap sack, you still need to add some external advantages to yourself. This isn't about being vain or having too much vanity; it's about respecting yourself and others.

Arriving at the largest shopping mall in Hengdian, which was also opened by Rongchuang, the first floor sells clothing, cosmetics, jewelry and other items, which saved some time.

You can't dress too sporty for an interview, but you also can't be dressed in a suit and tie. After all, they're interviewing an artist, not an insurance salesperson.

Men rarely compare prices when buying clothes. They just pick one item, try it on, and if it looks okay, they quickly pay and take it home. Lu Ze once bought everything from his jacket to his underwear in five minutes, and today was no exception.

Lu Ze's salary for "My Team" hasn't come through yet, so he doesn't have the money to buy any luxury goods. He bought a black, loose-fitting cotton jacket with wool lining at Jack & Jones, a black and white striped thin sweater, and a white shirt underneath. He felt great.

I bought a pair of black jeans for my lower body, the looser kind. The sales assistant kept recommending this style, and it was loose around the buttocks, which was quite comfortable.

Compared to that, the shoes were much cheaper. He bought a pair of tan Camel brand Martin boots for 499 yuan. They were warm and comfortable to wear, and Lu Ze paid for them readily.

But in the end, he felt that something was missing. He couldn't quite remember what it was, but he knew that what he wanted to buy was on the first floor.

After wandering around for a while, he finally remembered what he needed: a watch, which he really wanted.

I went to a few watch boutiques and the prices weren't too high, basically around ten or twenty thousand yuan. Of course, Lu Ze was referring to mid-range watches.

He liked every watch he saw; after all, it's normal for a man to love watches. In the end, he went to a boutique and made his decision.

He bought a black Tissot watch with a leather strap. It wasn't expensive, just over four thousand yuan. He loved it because it was his first watch.

No matter how good the system's tables are, they won't give Lu Ze much pleasure, because they're fake, Lu Ze knows.

As he carried the box home, Lu Ze habitually raised his left hand to check his watch.

Lu Ze carefully wiped away any lint stuck to the watch face from his clothes, leaving it clean and shiny.

Back home, Lu Ze tossed the clothing bag onto the bed and sighed. Eight thousand yuan had been spent, which was no small sum for him at the moment. Now he just hoped that "Qian Shijia Culture" wouldn't let him down.

There are still two more updates tonight. I'm too tired, I'm going to sleep now.

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(End of this chapter)