Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 37 Senior's Treat
"I heard you're making waves in the film and television industry right now. A lot of people are calling me, asking about your roles and praising you."

Inside the horse farm, Chen Shouzhe and Yu Qian's family sat together chatting and eating. Meng Hetang would occasionally glance up at Chen Shouzhe before continuing to eat. His wife supervised her son's meal while listening to the conversation between the master and apprentice.

"Praise me?" Chen Shouzhe almost burst out laughing, but quickly held it in and said, "You're the one who should be criticizing me, not praising me."

"What exactly did you do? Several female celebrities have come to ask me about it these past few days," the teacher's wife gossiped softly.

"I'm collaborating with Hong Kong on a new film, and I plan to share a portion of the profits with other companies. As for actresses, forget about it; they might as well go after Stephen Chow instead of me," Chen Shou said.

"Isn't this fine? Why would I scold you?" the teacher's wife asked, puzzled.

Meng Hetang also pricked up his ears to listen, while Yu Qian picked up his wine glass and took a sip.

"Because I plan to not spend a single penny and take a quarter of the share," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Huh? How is it possible to do this without spending a single penny?" the master's wife said incredulously.

“Selling a quarter of the investment share at a 100% premium is equivalent to someone else paying me that quarter.” Chen Shou smiled.

With this explanation, they all understood. The master's wife suddenly realized, while Meng Hetang looked at his senior brother with admiration.

Only Yu Qian frowned and asked, "You gave a premium to the mainland companies, but didn't you give a premium to the two companies in Hong Kong?"

“There’s no premium on the investment share, but they’re responsible for other aspects. For example, Emperor Entertainment will provide equipment and venues, while Star Overseas will provide the director, actors, and post-production. I don’t need to do anything; I just have a script, and the subsequent copyrights belong to my company,” Chen Shouzhe said.

"Your eating manners are a bit unseemly," Yu Qian said after thinking for a moment.

“There’s nothing I can do, Master. I’m short of money too. The company has made some big strides this year, and I don’t have much money left. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have given them so much to share. If you want what’s mine, you naturally have to pay a price,” Chen Shou said.

"You shouldn't be a director, you should go into business. You've mastered the art of getting something for nothing."

"You need to be capable to get something for nothing. They all took the bait willingly. I didn't ask them for anything. I already explained it to them. They chose to walk into the trap themselves. Can you blame me?"

"Be careful, don't botch the movie. If it does, they'll hate you."

"Don't worry, I'm very confident in my script. Besides, even Stephen Chow, who originally didn't want to act, is willing to star in it. With him there, the box office is guaranteed."

Yu Qian sighed inwardly, realizing that his apprentice had truly taken off. Society had begun to test him, and he knew how to leverage his strengths to build connections.

Yu Qian himself also likes to organize gatherings, but his are drinking parties. He has a bag of charcoal at home, so he starts making phone calls, asking this person to buy meat, that person to bring sauce, that person to bring some seafood, and that person to bring some wine. Soon everyone arrives, and a barbecue is ready.

The person who organizes the gathering doesn't necessarily have everything, but they need connections and one crucial element they're lacking.

Without charcoal, you can't start a fire. Even if you have a lot of ingredients, would you dare to eat them raw?
So charcoal is the key, and besides, Yu Qian also has a horse farm and a venue. Where else can you find that?
Carrying a piece of pork belly, looking for something to eat everywhere?

Restaurants charge processing fees for cooking, but you can eat your fill just by bringing pork belly to my place. That's the importance of the person who organizes the gathering, because they have what you all need.

After finishing their meal, they took a walk at the horse farm. It was September, and it was getting cold in October. Chen Shou went back to school early in the morning.

He was immediately pulled away by the head of the acting department as soon as he appeared at the Beijing Film Academy.

"Hey, Shou Zhe, I heard your company is making a new movie soon?" Inside the acting department, a bunch of professors were staring at Chen Shou Zhe.

They had found out that Chen Shou was directing the company's new movie, and although Stephen Chow was the director, he was the one who provided the script.

Stephen Chow's movies are famous for making people shine, regardless of whether they are playing a role big or small.

Chen Shouzhe understood what the teachers meant and smiled, "Teachers, you don't need to look at me like that. Just tell me what you need, and I'll do my best to help."

Have you cast a female lead for your movie yet?

"Not yet. I'm not involved in casting; I've left it all to Stephen Chow."

"Aren't you the producer? You also wrote the script, why did you hand it all over to outsiders?" "That was a condition of the collaboration, otherwise why would Stephen Chow be willing to be the lead actor?"

"That's true. He's very successful as a director, so why can't he get a female lead? I heard that Stephen Chow likes to use newcomers. Could we have him audition at the Beijing Film Academy?"

"I can ask him about that. He really likes to use new people, and they'll be signed into the company. After all, nobody wants to do the work for someone else."

“I understand that. Try to communicate with him. It would be best to cast actors at the Beijing Film Academy.”

"I can't guarantee this time, teacher." Chen Shou was both amused and exasperated. Finally, harassed by a group of teachers, he 'miserably' fled back to the directing department.

After leaving the directing department, Chen Shou bumped into an acquaintance around a corner, though no one knew who had leaked his information about his time at the school.

"Yang... Senior Sister Mi?!" Chen Shou asked in surprise, looking at the person in front of him.

"Director Chen," the woman in front of him said with a smile to Chen Shou.

She has long, jet-black hair and a delicate face; it used to be a bit square, but now it's becoming more and more refined.

Yang Mi is a 05 graduate of the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy. She debuted as a child star and later participated in many TV series. She was already a popular figure when she was in school. The only one who could surpass her was that "Fairy Sister" from 02.

Chen Shou heard some rumors in the industry that although his senior sister is now very famous, she has basically lost the opportunity to appear on the big screen.

Last year, she did something incredibly stupid and offended a big shot. She became a sensation last year because of a TV series, but in front of a true big shot, she will always just be a celebrity.

"Director Chen, are you free?" Yang Mi asked with a smile.

"What's up, Senior?"

"I'd like to invite you to dinner. What's wrong? Are you afraid I'll eat you up?"

Chen Shouzhe glanced at his watch. He was very punctual and had to meet someone this afternoon. Someone had already invited him to dinner, but with such a beautiful woman in front of him, it wouldn't be appropriate for Chen Shouzhe to refuse.

"No, not at all. Let's make it clear first, you're treating," Chen Shouzhe nodded.

"OK."

Yang Mi's face immediately lit up with a happy expression. She had driven herself and hadn't brought anyone else. Chen Shou had also driven himself and followed her car all the way to a nearby private restaurant.

The two entered the restaurant one after the other. The waiter in the private room was already used to seeing them, as the restaurant was owned by people in the entertainment industry and offered a high degree of privacy.

After ordering several dishes, Chen Shouzhe was also hungry. Now is the age when he eats the most, so he didn't hold back and kept eating. Because he had to drive, he didn't drink alcohol.

After eating, Chen Shouzhe wiped his mouth, picked up the cigarette case and handed it to Yang Mi. She waved her hand to indicate that she didn't smoke, so Chen Shouzhe picked one up himself, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a lighter.

"Senior, is there anything I can help you with?"

Yang Mi took a deep breath and said, "You can still call me Yang Mi, or Mimi. You're a big director, and calling me 'senior' all the time makes me feel old."

Chen Shou smiled. A few days ago, when he was performing a stand-up comedy routine at the Beijing Exhibition Center, he saw that besides Albert Yeung and Huo Wenxi, the person waving at him was Yang Mi.

Chen Shouzhe also knew that Yang Mi had tried to find his contact information through his godfather Guo Degang several times, but he was too busy with the "Kung Fu" project in Hong Kong to pay attention to it.

He was quite surprised that they would come knocking on his door.

"It doesn't matter what you call me. I heard from my godfather that you were looking for me. Is there something you need?"

"Do you know that I offended Director Chen last year?"

(End of this chapter)