Hong Kong Variety Show: Let you eat melons, eat melons on your sister-in-law

Chapter 72: The Casting Issue – Good Turns Evil

Now that the two main roles have been decided, the preliminary preparations have been completed.

So now it's up to Director Wang to do the work.

Since this guy can help Hong Ye become famous, his skill level is naturally not a problem.

Moreover, Lin Yao has already provided a complete script and storyboard.

If he can't even film this well, Lin Yao will definitely have someone kill him.

With the director's involvement, the production team began to get started.

Lin Yao didn't have time to stay on set all day. He left Director Li and some of his underlings who had infiltrated the crew to keep an eye on things and prevent them from causing trouble.

As for Lin Yao, he was preparing to attend the charity show organized by Peng Zhiwei.

This would also help expand his network of contacts, and Lin Yao also needed to find a way to buy a piece of land that Mingda Group had its eye on.

So they brought Jimmy and Lok Wai-ching along to the venue.

It was clear that this wasn't Lok Hye-ching's first time attending such a banquet, so she had specially prepared an evening gown.

She was truly stunningly beautiful, so much so that Lin Yao was completely mesmerized.

This made Lok Hye-jung feel a little proud.

After the three entered the venue, Peng Zhiwei came over to greet them: "Mr. Lin, thank you for coming!"

I learned from Xu Wenbiao that although Lin Yao had a triad background, his main business was running a magazine, and his influence was quite considerable.

Who knows, we might be able to collaborate in the future.

Therefore, Peng Zhiwei was quite polite and even helped introduce many people of high status.

Lin Yao naturally accepted all comers, after all, he was just starting out and had to deal with all sorts of people.

However, a moment later, Ye Rongheng called him away.

"Excuse me!" Peng Zhiwei said to Lin Yao, then turned and left.

Then Lin Yao saw Peng Zhiwei chatting enthusiastically with Ye Rongheng, while her boyfriend Xu Wenbiao was left standing aside.

"Wenbiao, you're here so early?" Lin Yao asked with a smile.

Xu Wenbiao was a little disappointed: "I haven't come this early in a long time! It's so boring!"

"Haha, of course it's boring if you're not the center of attention!" Lin Yao patted Xu Wenbiao on the shoulder and said, "Look at the center of the banquet, there's no time to be bored!"

Lin Yao deliberately provoked Xu Wenbiao, saying, "A person needs to have some ambition, otherwise how will others notice you!"

Xu Wenbiao said somewhat indignantly, "Mr. Lin, aren't you the same?"

"This isn't a gathering I organized, right?" Lin Yao gave Xu Wenbiao a meaningful smile and said, "Interested in coming to my company?"

Xu Wenbiao frowned and said, "Is Boss Lin trying to poach someone?"

"Consider this a chance for you. I'm not trying to sow discord, but it's best for good brothers not to start a company together; it's not a good thing for anyone. If you're ever unhappy at Litian, just call me anytime!" Lin Yao handed Xu Wenbiao a business card, then put his arm around Le Huizhen and left.

Xu Wenbiao looked at the gold-embossed business card in his hand, thought for a moment, and then put it back in his pocket.

Seeing Xu Wenbiao's action, Lin Yao couldn't help but smile.

The main target of this charity show is not Xu Wenbiao. That kid hasn't completely turned to the dark side yet; he's still in a relatively idealistic state. Even if Lin Yao poached him, it wouldn't make a difference.

On the contrary, it would slow down the development of his own company. Lin Yao's main target was a big boss with a strong rural flavor.

A real estate developer named Deng Weng.

In Genesis, this guy was Ye Rongtian's mentor, and he gave him a lot of help.

After getting close to Deng Weng, Ye Rongtian bought the land from him at a low price and then resold it to Mingda at a high price, making a huge profit.

However, this opportunity now belongs to the prescient Lin Yao.

"Hello, Mr. Deng, this is Lin Yao from Guangyao Real Estate Company!" Lin Yao walked over directly and handed over a business card.

When Deng Weng took the business card and glanced at it, he immediately laughed: "So it was you! I heard that the whole frenzy about speculating on pre-sale apartments was started by you?"

Lin Yao said modestly, "It was just a little trick, I hope you won't laugh at me, Elder Deng!"

"They managed to raise tens of millions of yuan with just a few tricks and even managed to create a business like speculating on pre-sale apartments. That's no small feat!"

As the two were chatting and laughing, Ye Rongtian also came over.

"Mr. Lin, Mr. Deng!" Ye Rongtian greeted them as he came over.

Mr. Deng said with a smile, "And those three housing estates recently, weren't they also something you and Mr. Ye from Litian Company did? Young man, you have a sharp eye!"

"Not at all, how could I compare to you, Elder Deng!" Ye Rongtian immediately flattered.

Lin Yao, however, was even more astute. He said with admiration, "I heard before that Mr. Deng bought a piece of land in Tseung Kwan O for two million and immediately made a profit of more than ten times. His vision is something that we small-time players can't match!"

Before Lin Yao arrived, he had already had someone investigate the matter, which was Deng Weng's proudest achievement.

Therefore, Lin Yao's words hit a nerve, greatly increasing Deng Weng's goodwill towards Lin Yao.

Coincidentally, Deng's mobile phone rang at that moment. He heard that he had won a lot of money betting on horses, which made the old man's laughter even louder.

"You're such a lucky star! Are you free later? Let's play cards together!" Deng Weng invited.

Lin Yao readily agreed, but Ye Rongtian was left out of the deal.

Seeing the two chatting and laughing, Ye Rongtian felt a little uncomfortable for some reason, as if something important had been taken away from him.

After the charity gala, Lin Yao had Jimmy take Lok Wai-ching back home.

He then went to play cards with Uncle Deng. At the card table, he casually asked, "Uncle Deng, do you own a piece of land in Sheung Shui?"

Deng nodded and said, "Yes, I'm unlucky. The land I bought has a sinkhole underneath, so I can't do anything, let alone lay a foundation! The surrounding land was bought by Mingda and several other development companies, so I'm stuck with it, and I can't get a good price if I keep it or sell it!"

The other two card players joked, "Uncle Deng, I never thought you could be so wrong!"

Old Deng, however, said nonchalantly, "In business, who doesn't make a mistake sometimes? What a disaster! Hahaha!"

Seeing that Deng Weng was in high spirits, Lin Yao took the opportunity to give Deng Weng a few more sarcastic remarks.

Deng Weng was even happier.

When the card game ended, Lin Yao took the opportunity to say to Deng Weng, "Deng Weng, if you have no use for that piece of land in Shangshui, why don't you sell it to me?"

"You?" Old Deng asked with a smile, "What do you need that place for?"

Although he was very happy at the moment, and Deng Weng looked like a nouveau riche.

But anyone who can achieve this level of success in business is a shrewd and calculating individual.

Lin Yao deliberately said, "The land is naturally useless, but as you know, I'm not just in the real estate business. I have a way to make this money-losing land a little profitable!"

Lin Yao was telling the truth; this piece of land would be worthless in Deng Weng's hands.

However, with proper packaging and hype, Lin Yao could indeed make a fortune.

Moreover, Lin Yao also knew that Mingda Group had been eyeing Dengweng's land for a long time.

The reason I didn't buy it was entirely to lower the price.

Deng Weng naturally knew that Lin Yao was also the owner of a magazine, and that he might actually be able to make a fortune through media hype.

However, it would be quite troublesome to let him do it himself.

Moreover, Deng Weng found Lin Yao rather agreeable, and said with a smile, "So how much are you prepared to offer? Don't tell me it's twenty dollars a square foot, I wouldn't sell it even if I put it there to build a parking lot!"

Lin Yao said with a smile, "Uncle Deng, do you think I'm the kind of person who's stingy? I'll put up a million for this land, I absolutely won't let you lose money!"

This price is almost the same as when Deng bought it.

This immediately piqued Deng Weng's interest: "Okay, I'll give you an answer tomorrow!"

"Of course, no problem!" Lin Yao said with a smile.

Lin Yao was taking advantage of an information gap; he knew a lot of "insider" information in advance.

For example, Mingda Group is eyeing this land!

Having achieved his goal, Lin Yao got up to take his leave.

Back at his bar, Jimmy asked curiously, "How did things go?"

"It's all settled!" Lin Yao said with a smile. "I guess that old man Deng will investigate the value of his land carefully when he gets back, but it doesn't matter, he should be able to sell it to me soon!"

"By the way, how's it going on set? I heard the progress is pretty good?"

Jimmy nodded: "It's really good, but Director Wang said there's something he wants to talk to you about and would like you to come to the set tomorrow!"

"I understand!" Lin Yao picked up his wine glass and took a sip.

The next morning, Lin Yao arrived at the ATV film set early.

Both TVB and ATV have their own film studios; ATV's is located near Tai Po Industrial Estate in the New Territories.

This place preserves many of the film sets left behind from when ATV was shooting TV dramas.

Lin Yao directly used his connections with ATV to rent the film set here for filming.

Since it's a period drama, set design is essential.

Upon arriving at the film set, many staff members came up to greet Lin Yao.

"Where's the director?" Lin Yao asked a staff member casually.

The staff brought Lin Yao to the film set, but it seemed that filming had not yet started.

At this moment, the two main actors, Xiao Fu and Gao Gang, were both here, and they had even changed into their costumes.

However, Director Wang seemed to have a headache.

Upon seeing Lin Yao arrive, he immediately said to him, "Boss, you've come at the right time. I have something I'd like to tell you!"

"What's the rush?" Lin Yao asked, somewhat puzzled. "Is there some trouble with filming?"

"No, it's about casting!" Director Wang pulled Lin Yao in front of Xiao Fu and Gao Gang and said, "Don't you think there's something wrong with Xiao Fu playing Dong Tianbao?"

Lin Yao really felt something was off, especially after he changed into the costume. Xiao Fu's demeanor was just too upright, to the point of being wicked!
His honest smile didn't make him look like a villain at all.

Gao Gang also looked a bit too young; even with the makeup artist's help, it still fell short of expectations.

Lin Yao stroked his chin and said, "How about we switch their roles, so that Xiao Fu plays Zhang Junbao and Gao Gang plays Dong Tianbao?"

Director Wang thought for a moment and said, "Okay!"

Although Lin Yao initially wanted to promote Gao Gang, it's just that their personalities don't match!

Moreover, the villains are often well-acted, sometimes even more so than the protagonists!

With the boss speaking, the two naturally had no objections, and after swapping their appearances, they did indeed look much better.

However, Gao Gang's acting skills are still immature, and he can't play a villain with a charming and arrogant demeanor.

Lin Yao suddenly had a flash of inspiration and remembered a reward given by the system. He decided to try and give it to Gao Gang.

(End of this chapter)