After all of them were reborn, who would still be an actor?

Chapter 670 Being in this world is like walking on thin ice.

Japanese-style guesthouses typically use tatami mats or sleeping mats on the floor, and many people can sleep in one room.

Because the bed is only covered with a floor mat, it is very hard, and people who are used to sleeping on a Simmons mattress will find it very uncomfortable.

In response to this problem, Li Mingyang bought the guesthouse where he was staying, as well as two other guesthouses nearby, and renamed them Bouquet Guesthouse.

Bouquet B&B is a three-unit building with no gaps between them. The buildings seem to be squeezed together, making the most of every inch of land.

The three buildings have similar structures, all being three stories high, and have similar functions.

The first floor has a modern kitchen, living and dining room, bathroom and toilet, while the second and third floors are bedrooms.

Building 19-6, where Li Mingyang lives, is the largest building. After renovation and refurbishment, it can accommodate more than 20 people. The other two buildings, 19-7 and 19-8, can also accommodate more than 15 people.

The actors and assistants were in one building, while the backstage crew was in two other buildings.

It just filled up with more than 50 people.

As soon as Li Mingyang called it a day off, Li Binghun immediately stood up and pulled Li Mingyang out of the guesthouse.

"Director Li, Zhengyu and I would like to book a hotel outside."

"What's wrong? Want to experience Kabukicho?"

Lee Byung-hun smiled and said, "I'm just going to take a look. Don't worry, it definitely won't delay the production schedule."

"Alright, let's meet at eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

"okay."

After Lee Byung-hun finished speaking, he hooked up with Ha Jung-woo, got into the car, and drove away.

Without much thought, Li Mingyang settled into the apartment.

The four actresses and their assistants lived on the second floor, each in their own room.

The male actors live on the third floor. Lee Byung-hun and Ha Jung-woo ran away, leaving only Lee Myung-yang, Baek Bin, and a maid on the third floor.

The narrow corridor had black-framed wooden lattice doors on both sides, each containing two rooms.

Shirahama has already tidied up the room. The partition between the two rooms is a wooden lattice door that can be opened to turn it into a large suite.

The room contains a double bed, a sofa and a tatami mat, a long black coffee table, and four legless tatami chairs.

The decor is simple, but it has a Japanese feel to it.

Li Mingyang entered the room and saw Bai Bin dressed in a white kimono, her fair thighs crossed at the slit, and wearing white Japanese-style stockings, exuding charm and grace.

It provided Li Mingyang with a great visual stimulus.

"Is it pretty?" Bai Bin asked Li Mingyang, his hand waving at him.

Li Mingyang gazed at the sexy and charming woman in the kimono, walked over, sat down in front of the coffee table, and squeezed her hand tightly, his heart melting.

"Hey!"

Bai Bin suddenly reached out, shaking his hand pitifully, his little finger swaying up and down. "Master, I'm not that old yet, I still want to be an actor..."

"Being an actor is never as enjoyable as it is now."

“Very happy… even happier.” Shirahama chuckled.

"We'll talk about that later. Let go."

Bai Bin didn't expect to convince Li Mingyang in one go; it would take time. But if he didn't speak up, there would be no chance at all.

On the black coffee table, Shirahama gripped the edges with both hands, his mind quickly going blank.

……

After being thoroughly soaked, Li Mingyang lay on the tatami mat, unwilling to move.

Bai Bin cleaned himself up and then used a hot towel to wipe Li Mingyang's body.

"Master, is Kim Tae-ri a maid in the house?"

"Ah."

"If maids have the opportunity to act in movies... can secretaries have the same opportunity?"

“I would be happy if you didn’t mention becoming an actor. What’s the meaning of all of you wanting to become actors?” Li Mingyang said with dissatisfaction.

We can't just catch one Huo Huo...

"Kim Tae-ri has a youthful, innocent scent about her. You haven't slept with her, have you?"

"No."

Snapped!
Bai Bin was annoyed. He threw the towel at Li Mingyang and said angrily, "So all my efforts to please her every day have been useless. You've never even slept with her, so how could you give her such an important role? You're bullying me!"

Li Mingyang remained silent.

Soon, the entire building began to groan under the strain.

……

Since the house seemed unreliable, Li Mingyang didn't dare to sleep there. He took out his script, leaned against the wall, and began studying it.

Seeing this, Shirahama climbed into bed and rested.

Li Mingyang can go three days and three nights without sleeping.

She can't do that; she can't handle Li Mingyang if she doesn't get at least eight hours of sleep a day.

Gradually, the sound of Shirahama's even breathing came from the bedroom.

Gradually, the strange breathing sounds reached Li Mingyang's ears.

What's going on? Am I hallucinating?

Just as Li Mingyang was wondering what was going on, a sound of "ah" came from somewhere.

Golden flames covered his entire body; it was unclear whether it was truly effective or just a placebo effect.

Li Mingyang heard strange panting coming from downstairs. He pressed his ear to the tatami mat and listened carefully. It was very clear that it was indeed coming from downstairs.

Goodness, the soundproofing is terrible.

I was just making a huge fuss with Xiaobai, and the people downstairs heard everything.

This dilapidated house has terrible sound insulation not only on the left and right sides, but also on the floors above and below!
Lee Myung-yang was wondering who lived downstairs, wondering if it was Kim Hae-sook, whom half of the Korean entertainment industry had to call "Mom".

Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, and Jo Yeo-jeong are all acceptable.

He wanted to try all three.

I'm just afraid of finding something wrong with it.

Exchanging unspoken rules for resources is very common.

Bai Bin and Zhong Xiaoyu didn't want to be secretaries because they felt they were being taken advantage of...

Li Mingyang was also helpless about this problem.

He prefers to use actresses as his secretaries.

That sense of accomplishment and emotional value is something that ordinary people cannot provide.

But actresses are not content to be secretaries.

Especially someone like Shirahama, who outwardly submits and flatters, but secretly wishes he would get tired of her soon so she could become an actress.

Li Mingyang could imagine how to become an actor.

Upon realizing she had been used and discarded, she resorted to crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide, but Li Mingyang used his resources to get rid of her.

She knelt on the ground, hugged his legs, and said she was willing to do anything to avoid being abandoned.

Finally, faced with Li Mingyang's resolute attitude, he had no choice but to run away in tears to become an actor...

Before they leave, they might even give you one last cup of tea...

You get tired of playing it, but you never get tired of it.

The flowering period of Shirahama is quite long.

Especially suitable for playing a teacher's wife...

Being abroad is like walking on thin ice.

Li Mingyang doesn't really trust foreign women.

Although Shirahama has his flaws and is restless, to be fair, he is genuinely good, and if you keep him by your side, he is very obedient.

Everything from food and lodging to the itinerary was arranged perfectly.

He can stand on his own two feet and handle things in a very organized and methodical way.

Countless female stars flashed through Li Mingyang's mind, but there were very few who met all the requirements.

Liu Xinyou, the good sister of my god-sister, is also quite nice.

They just won't take the bait.

This woman guarded against him like she was a thief.

Li Mingyang tiptoed out of the room, silently went downstairs, stood on the second-floor corridor, took out his phone, and stared at the two rooms on the right.

These two rooms are below my room.

Call the maid Kim Tae-ri.

The next moment, a faint vibration came from the room on the right.

"Master, is there something you need from me?"

"Open the door for a moment."

Kim Tae-ri fiddled with her collar, opened the outermost lattice door, knelt timidly at the doorway, and peered out.

Seeing Li Mingyang standing at the top of the stairs, her face instantly turned bright red.

She had just heard a symphony of lovemaking!
The soundproofing is terrible, it's too exciting... Li Mingyang walked to Kim Tae-ri's side, squatted down, and patted Kim Tae-ri's head. "Don't call me master anymore. From now on, you are actress Kim Tae-ri, understand?"

Kim Tae-ri nodded, feeling a little uneasy.

She still somewhat hoped to have some inappropriate relationship with her master.

But the owner didn't want to...

"Do you really understand?"

Kim Tae-ri tilted her head, her eyes full of confusion, as if she didn't quite understand.

"You will understand later."

After Li Mingyang finished speaking, he left, leaving Kim Tae-ri with a face full of doubt.

Actually, Li Mingyang didn't understand what he was saying either, since it wasn't him who was having a headache.

Back in his bedroom on the third floor, Li Mingyang continued analyzing the script.

Then, I got completely overwhelmed by all the noise.

The sound of someone showering; I don't know who was taking a shower in the middle of the night, it went on for over an hour.

The voices sounded like Kim Tae-ri reading a script.

The sound of footsteps; I don't know who's walking barefoot back and forth...

The sound of the wall vibrating, the door opening and closing, slamming against the wall...

In the stillness of the night, a continuous stream of noise came from all directions.

This is only if everyone else is restrained; if they weren't, it would be incredibly noisy!
The next day, Li Mingyang asked Bai Bin to find a hotel. This wooden guesthouse in Benzi looked nice but wasn't comfortable to stay in.

We had a script reading session this morning.

In the afternoon, the group moved to the Meitetsu Hotel in Nagoya, which is 8 kilometers away.

Shirahama booked an entire floor, twenty executive rooms, for ten days at a rate of 26 yen?

Add another 100,000 to that price, and you could buy B&B No. 6!
"Why is this room so expensive! You didn't take a kickback, did you?" Li Mingyang asked Bai Bin.

Shirahama rolled her eyes, then looked up and calmly told Li Mingyang about the housing prices in Nagoya.

The land in Japan is privatized, and housing prices in Nagoya are not as exorbitant as in Tokyo.

A 60-square-meter apartment in the city center costs around 90 yuan.

Small apartments in the suburbs with existing leases are priced as low as around 10.

The suburbs of the notebook are the countryside...

The Gassho-zukuri village guesthouse that Li Mingyang bought is located in the rural area of ​​Nagoya. Because it is a tourist attraction and a detached house, the price is a bit higher, costing 360,000 yen.

The three guesthouses together cost a total of 110 million yuan.

The prices of guesthouses and hotels in Japan are worlds apart.

The price can differ by more than ten times.

Therefore, even though guesthouses in Japan have a huge noise problem, they are still the preferred place to stay for tourists.

They're considered lucky in the countryside; if they were in the city, a car horn honking could wake up everyone around them.

Therefore, you can't honk your horn casually in Japan. Honking your horn to urge the car in front of you, when the light turns green, or to urge pedestrians and cyclists on is not allowed!

Honking the horn is a serious disturbance to the neighbors...

The strange and unusual regulations in the book are seen as politeness by students at the University of Tokyo, but in reality, they reflect social issues.

The unique feature of this place is that it's a detached house, which is called a villa at Tokyo University, but in Japan it's just a vertical shipping container.

With land privatization, the value of land far exceeds that of houses, leading everyone to build houses in the city. As land transactions expand, land is fragmented, and the available land for building houses becomes increasingly scarce, causing people to desperately crowd into the city.

Compared to the spacious alleys of Tokyo University, the alleys on this side of the campus are rather narrow and very deep, like a maze.

If you're trying to find a place based on an address in your notebook, and you end up on that street, it takes half an hour to find it, then you're considered lucky.

The city center and the suburbs have two different prices.

B&Bs and hotels are completely different.

Even for Shirahama, they chose a mid-to-high-end hotel, not the Marriott Nagoya Hotel, where the prices are even more outrageous...

"The price difference in housing prices in Japan is really huge..."

"If you go to Tokyo, it will be even bigger. Do you know why Japanese books are so expensive?"

"why?"

"Because the price meter calculates the room rate, not the distance."

Li Mingyang smiled and waited until everyone had chosen their houses before going downstairs for a meal.

This was Li Mingyang's first time in Nagoya, so he ordered all the local specialties and some signature dishes.

In addition, he usually eats whatever he eats, and everyone else eats the same thing.

Compared to South Korea, Japan has a lot of delicious food, and the taste is quite good, especially the signature sauce.

When it came time to pay the bill, Li Mingyang's face turned dark.

He finally understood why Baek Bin had invited the behind-the-scenes staff out to eat, and why Lee Byung-hun, who was usually very generous, hadn't offered to treat them.

I finally understand why the people behind the scenes were enjoying their meal so much and kept coming to thank him...

More than fifty people, each spending over 2000 yuan on lunch.

Over 1.9 million yen! That's a mere ten thousand yuan!
Li Mingyang initially thought the room rate was too high, but compared to the cost of lunch, it was incredibly cheap...

"Boss, there's something I've always wanted to say: Xiao Rizi upscale restaurants are very expensive..." Bai Bin muttered under his breath.

Hindsight is 20/20...

Although the meal expenses can be paid through the company account, this kind of spending is really absurd.

"No wonder so few people come to Xiao Rizi to film. Without sponsors, it's really tough!" Li Mingyang looked at the long bill. He hadn't ordered any expensive wines, just the cheapest sake, which was priced like pure food.

I had just sat down when the waiter brought me some pickled vegetables, and they cost 800 yen a serving!
Robbery!
Koreans and Japanese are really two extremes. Luo Yan is considered the most famous restaurant in Korea, with a meal costing more than 1,000 yuan per person.

The restaurant they ate at wasn't even considered high-class in Japan, and it cost over two thousand yuan per person...

The food in the book is really delicious, but it's expensive!
South Korea really doesn't have good food. The same Korean BBQ is much better in China. And of course, it's not particularly expensive either.

During the lunch break, while the others strolled around the hotel garden, Li Mingyang and Bai Bin settled accounts in their room.

The consumption of food, clothing, housing, and transportation in Japan is categorized by social class.

You can stay in a noisy guesthouse and eat rice balls and bento boxes from a convenience store for a very cheap price.

The small noodle shops along the street are all very expensive, costing sixty or seventy yuan a bowl!

Okay, the film crew rents cars, but taxi fares are not reimbursed.

The starting fare for a taxi in Japan is 500 yen, which is about 25 yuan.

Doesn't sound expensive?

The fare starts after two kilometers, and it costs 80 yen for every 274 meters!

It costs about 100 RMB for three kilometers!
The price is eight times that of Shanghai!
Even in a comfortable life with a high average wage, people still can't afford to take a taxi.

Taxis are incredibly expensive, but renting a car is a great deal... The price difference is an astonishing four times or more!
There are cheap ways to eat cheaply, and it's very cheap, cheaper than in China and Korea. The problem is that I get hungry easily... I always feel like I'm not getting enough to eat...

If you don't endure hardship, and just want to live a slightly better life, even a mid-to-low-end one, the costs will increase several times over.

The White Tiger Troupe was filming in a low-to-mid-range setting, and within just half a month, they had spent most of their money. They had to resort to a low-budget approach and pay out of their own pockets to survive.

What followed was three days of hardship followed by one day of comfort.

Li Mingyang is currently in the high-end category, and above that there is the luxury category and the super luxury category!
The difference in consumption is at least tenfold.

They don't even try to hide it! With money, you can have any kind of enjoyment!
Unlike the more conservative society in China, the people of Tianlong lead a very low-key life.

Even if internet celebrities and short videos become popular in the future, they can only tear open a corner of the sky, and then be blocked to perfectly fill the gap.

"Boss, I've calculated it. About one million should be enough in ten days." Bai Bin held a pen in one hand and tapped the calculator with his little finger in the other, calculating a number.

Li Mingyang found the number acceptable and hummed in agreement.

“Boss, we’ve already spent so much money before even starting filming. The actual number of people involved in the shoot will double, and the cost will double as well. I have a more cost-effective way,” Bai Bin said.

"We can't really make them eat rice balls..."

Li Mingyang still has some conscience.

"No, we can film in another location."

Shirahama pulled out a piece of white paper, and while doing some calculations on it, he started talking about the benefits of working in Korea.

All things considered, only 300,000 is needed in the initial stage.

When the actual filming begins, the cost will be even lower. Li Mingyang owns land and buildings in South Korea, and can build his own sets. He can also borrow outdoor locations for free.

From a cost-saving perspective, Shirahama's suggestion is excellent.

However, Li Mingyang did not accept this suggestion.

He didn't just come to the script to find locations; more importantly, he was waiting for Ms. Park to take the stage and understand the situation.

"Boss, why don't you say so? Are you not satisfied with this plan? I have a cheaper option."

"Anything else? Tell me," Li Mingyang said casually.

“Filming back in China will only cost one-tenth of the budget of a script and one-third of that of a Korean film. Bouquet Entertainment excels at interior set construction, and exterior scenes can be composited in post-production. That's good enough. Art films don't have as many requirements for exterior scenes,” Bai Bin said earnestly.

"It's impossible to go back to China. If I go back, I'll be subject to the constraints of China Film Group."

"Haha, how dare China Film Group restrict you? They'd have to beg you."

(End of this chapter)