Chapter 28: The Fallen Child Star (28) Part 2

After hanging up the phone, Yao Rong went next door to find Xu Weiheng and asked if he wanted to go to L City to see some excitement.

“What excitement?”

Yao Rong kept it mysterious.

Seeing that he couldn’t get an answer, Xu Weiheng didn’t press further. After all, following Ms. Yao was always bound to be interesting.

As soon as they exited L City Airport, Yao Rong spotted a man in his late twenties wearing thick black-framed glasses, standing in the crowd, holding up a sign that read, “Welcome Sister Yao.”

She waved at the man and pulled along a fully equipped Xu Weiheng. This man was, of course, Pei Rou.

Pei Rou, overwhelmed with excitement, awkwardly shook hands with both Yao Rong and Xu Weiheng. “You’ve had a long journey!”

Yao Rong smiled, “Not at all. You haven’t been waiting long, have you?”

“Not really, I just got here a little while ago,” Pei Rou explained. “I came alone to pick you up; the others stayed at the company, saying they wanted to surprise you.”

Pei Rou eagerly helped Yao Rong with her luggage, even asking, with a fawning tone, if she was thirsty and if he should buy some water.

Xu Weiheng muttered to himself, “Who is this guy? He seems a bit unreliable.”

However, as soon as Yao Rong and Pei Rou started discussing business, that feeling of unreliability vanished instantly.

When it came to his professional field, Pei Rou appeared particularly composed.

Sitting in the back seat of the car, Xu Weiheng gradually realized something was off: What was this about stereoscopic 3D technology? What kind of investments were they talking about?

Oh, Ms. Yao had indeed mentioned she was going to invest her money. But he hadn’t expected her to invest in a special effects company, let alone that this company would have achieved such remarkable results!

Still somewhat dazed, Xu Weiheng followed Yao Rong and Pei Rou to Tiangong Vision.

Upon getting out of the car, both Xu Weiheng and Yao Rong received a warm welcome from everyone. Of course, at this moment, Yao Rong was the star of the show, while Xu Weiheng was just tagging along.

Seeing himself being edged out from Yao Rong’s side, Xu Weiheng simply shook his head and moved to a corner, giving up his spot.

He was puzzled, though: why did everyone, including Pei Rou and the others at Tiangong, show such overwhelming enthusiasm towards Ms. Yao? It seemed far beyond the typical gratitude an investor would receive from a company.

After being warmly welcomed by everyone, Yao Rong and Xu Weiheng headed to the top floor of the company.

The heavy metal doors slowly opened, revealing a new cinematic era before Xu Weiheng’s eyes.

It was a world of flowers and grass.

In the spacious indoor area, without the aid of any glasses, Xu Weiheng immediately saw vibrant, lifelike flowers swaying in a vast grassland, so real that he instinctively reached out to touch them. But it was like grasping at the moon reflected in water—his hand came up empty.

Looking at his empty palm, Xu Weiheng snapped back to reality.

“So, how is it?” Seeing Xu Weiheng’s reaction, Pei Rou and the others were satisfied.

Xu Weiheng clenched his fist and sincerely praised, “It’s incredible.”

Yao Rong circled the room and also complimented, “Your efficiency is even faster than I imagined.”

She had originally thought that, even with the model she provided, Pei Rou’s team would need at least two years to achieve this result. Yet, in just over a year, they had delivered such a huge surprise.

Receiving Yao Rong’s praise, Pei Rou and his team could barely contain their smiles.

Pei Rou then began to explain some details of the technology to both Yao Rong and Xu Weiheng, though mainly for Xu Weiheng’s benefit.

However, after listening attentively for a while, Yao Rong realized that this era did not lack intelligent people; what they lacked was the vision to view things from a higher perspective. Pei Rou and his team had not completely followed the model she provided but had made significant innovations based on it, which had shortened the development time.

After touring all the technology, it was time for lunch.

During lunch, Xu Weiheng quietly asked Yao Rong, “Why are they so full of admiration and gratitude toward you?”

Indeed, their enthusiasm seemed more like reverence and gratitude.

Yao Rong answered only halfway, “Before I invested in Tiangong Vision, they had already decided to sell the company.”

Ah, so that was it.

Xu Weiheng understood, then heard Yao Rong ask, “Aren’t you curious how much of this company I own?”

“How much?”

“Thirty percent.”

Thirty percent…

Suddenly, a thought struck Xu Weiheng, and his heart raced.

He swallowed, “So, how much is this 3D technology worth?”

Yao Rong teased, “It’s worth a lot. If you ever get tired of acting, you can retire and come back to inherit the family fortune.”

Xu Weiheng: “…”

That was a future he had never envisioned.

After lunch, Pei Rou eagerly asked, “Sister Yao, should we announce this achievement to the public right away?”

Yao Rong asked, “This technology isn’t fully mature yet, is it?”

Pei Rou scratched his head, surprised that Yao Rong could tell. “You’re right. It can’t be applied to films just yet. Based on the current progress, it will take at least another six months before we can successfully produce a stereoscopic 3D movie.”

An idea struck Yao Rong, “Why don’t we collaborate with a film company?”

“Collaborate how?”

“Collaborate on making a new movie,” Yao Rong explained. “From project approval to shooting completion, it will take at least half a year. That should be enough time for our technology to mature.”

Pei Rou’s eyes lit up. “Which film company?”

“How about Blue Shadow?”

Blue Shadow was one of the largest film production companies in the country. Moreover, if Yao Rong recalled correctly, Blue Shadow was also the arch-rival of Director Chen’s company.

…

Yao Rong contacted Blue Shadow as an investor in Tiangong Vision. For this reason, she stayed in L City for a while longer.

When Blue Shadow got wind of this, they immediately took action and requested to visit Tiangong Vision, which Yao Rong gladly agreed to.

With the core technology in her hands, Yao Rong had no doubt that Blue Shadow’s executives would be tempted.

That very evening, Blue Shadow’s executives arrived at Tiangong Vision.

After a brief tour of the top floor, they immediately pulled Yao Rong aside to discuss a new film project.

Their negotiations went smoothly. Yao Rong’s side would provide the script and special effects technology, while Blue Shadow would handle filming and secure additional investment.

“I heard Director Chen Shuangqiu is preparing for a new film?” Yao Rong casually stirred her coffee and asked.

As their competitor, Blue Shadow’s executives were well-informed. “Yes, they just approved a project a few days ago. I think it’s called ‘Endless Darkness,’ another post-apocalyptic disaster movie. By the way, what’s the genre of your new script?”

“My new script…” Yao Rong dragged out her words, teasing before revealing, “is also about the apocalypse. If everything goes smoothly, our film might just clash with ‘Endless Darkness.'”

Same genre, same release window. Blue Shadow’s executives glanced at Yao Rong, suspecting it was intentional.

Yao Rong sipped her coffee, her smile giving nothing away.

“No problem at all.”

After some thought, Blue Shadow’s executives nodded in agreement.

…

After seeing off Blue Shadow’s executives, Yao Rong left L City amidst the reluctant farewells of Pei Rou and his team and returned to D City.

Back home, Yao Rong began preparing the movie script “Sunken Dust”:

In the year 2100, after a month-long rainstorm sweeps across the globe, all plants on Earth wither in an instant.

Upon investigation, it is discovered that the rain brought with it a kind of dust.

The dust, merging with the air, altered the very genes of the plants.

Soon, indoor plants also began to die, and with the ecological balance severely disrupted, a widespread animal die-off followed.

Thus, humanity embarked on a quest to find new plant life.

The male lead, a former special forces soldier, the female lead, a botanist, and an 18-year-old computer genius form one of the expedition teams…

The plot wasn’t overly complicated. Working overtime diligently, Yao Rong finished the first draft of the script in just over two weeks and spent another few weeks polishing it.

After receiving the script, Blue Shadow moved swiftly to form a production team.

Once the team was assembled, the director personally invited Xu Weiheng to play the supporting male role.

Since it took quite some time to gather the crew, “Sunken Dust” was set to begin filming in the heart of winter. As long as Xu Weiheng’s scenes were condensed, they could wrap up all his parts during the winter break.

So, without even reading the script, Xu Weiheng accepted the role.

Yao Rong teased, “Aren’t you worried the script might be unreliable?”

Xu Weiheng confidently retorted, “It’s your script. How could it be unreliable?”

He was a devoted fan of Ms. Yao’s writing!

“Director Chen is currently filming ‘Endless Darkness.’ How does it feel to miss out on the lead role there and only get the supporting role in ‘Sunken Dust’?”

“I feel very happy!”

Xu Weiheng closed his physics book, turned sideways in his chair, rested his arms on the back, and laid his head on his arms, his eyes fixed on Yao Rong.

“The supporting male character in ‘Sunken Dust’ is an 18-year-old computer genius, just like in ‘2050 II.’ Is this a coincidence or intentional?”

Yao Rong spread her hands: “Would you believe me if I said it was a coincidence?”

“…Well, of course not.”

Yao Rong smiled and then said seriously: “When I decided to become a science fiction writer, I actually had another plan.”

“What plan?”

“When the time is right, I would choose to invest in filming an apocalyptic disaster movie. I would use this movie to tell Director Chen, to tell all the audience, what kind of result can be achieved when an apocalyptic disaster film brings together an excellent director, writer, and special effects technology.”

And now, the 3D technology has been successfully developed.

This moment is the most suitable time.

As Xu Weiheng was stunned, Yao Rong leaned down slightly, and like every time before, ruffled his soft hair.

“I will use this movie to tell Director Chen, to tell the world, that you playing a supporting role in a movie will not only not drag the movie down but will become the movie’s greatest highlight.”

This was her personal wish.

It was also the reason why she strongly promoted this collaboration.

Xu Weiheng’s lips were tightly pressed together. After a long while, he gently held the hand Yao Rong had placed on his head.

“I definitely won’t let you down.”

…