Chapter 3

Surprisingly smooth.

Sheng Quan thought Wan Bao, the director, would be accommodating, but she didn’t expect him to be so accommodating that he kept smiling warmly, his face nearly blossoming like a chrysanthemum.

In her previous life, she hadn’t paid much attention to the entertainment industry, especially since “Starlight” was a fictional work with many differences from her previous life. Fearful of being taken advantage of as a novice, she spent several days studying diligently at the hotel during this time, now barely able to claim a superficial understanding of the entertainment industry in this world.

This was also Sheng Quan’s typical approach. Despite having a godly system and being transmigrated, she would never rush ahead without fully grasping the current situation of the world.

She first read the original novel of “The Road of Life,” then confirmed that Yan Hui, the intended funding recipient, matched the character she wanted to assign him in terms of temperament and appearance before finally contacting Director Wan Bao.

And when Wan Bao heard that Sheng Quan had a good understanding of the characters in “The Road of Life,” and even quite in-depth knowledge, he had a sudden realization: “Are you a fan of the book?”

He thought, how could a wealthy individual investor suddenly appear? If she was a fan of the book and wanted to invest in the drama after reading it, that would make sense.

Rich book fans, he understood.

Although he had never encountered such a young and beautiful wealthy woman before, that didn’t matter. Money was what mattered.

Sheng Quan also welcomed Wan Bao’s misunderstanding: “Sort of. I particularly like the character Qin Heng. I heard that your crew hasn’t cast the actor for Qin Heng yet?”

Wan Bao immediately perked up, knowing that the juicy part of the conversation had arrived: “That’s right. We had someone cast before, but his schedule had some issues, so the role is currently vacant.”

It was quite common for investors to specify actors for the cast. The specific level of actor they could get depended on how much money the investor offered and how famous and assertive the director was.

And now Wan Bao, who was left with nothing but equipment, was very self-aware. He used to be very against having investors specify actors for the cast, but after being slapped in the face by reality, he had transformed from “I’d rather not take this money if it means having to accept a condition like that” to “As long as it doesn’t affect the main storyline, it’s fine even if you want to send a dog to play a cat.”

The character Qin Heng happened to be one that was popular with fans and wouldn’t significantly affect the viewing experience of the TV series. If he was portrayed well, it would help boost ratings, but if not, it wouldn’t matter much overall.

Why did Wan Bao understand this so well? Because the actor who was previously cast as Qin Heng was specified by the investor, but when the investment fell through, the actor left too, leaving the role vacant.

Asking about Qin Heng was much stronger than he had imagined asking about the main characters. After all, having “sold” once already, selling a second time was much less psychologically stressful.

Wan Bao immediately took the initiative: “Miss Sheng, do you have any recommendations for the role?”

He didn’t even ask if she was sure about investing. If she really specified an actor, why worry that Miss Sheng wouldn’t provide the money?

“Yes, I do.”

Sheng Quan couldn’t help but admire it. Indeed, those who had been in the entertainment industry for a long time were all sharp-witted. Without her having to say it, they brought up this topic themselves.

She didn’t beat around the bush either. In the entertainment industry, money was king.

Sheng Quan put down the “Project Presentation Material” in her hand and got straight to the point: “I’ll invest ten million. The specific details of the rights and profit sharing will be discussed with someone else. The necessary condition is that the actor for Qin Heng must be someone I specify. If Director Wan has no objections to this, then we can proceed.”

Wan Bao was completely stiff.

His mind was swirling with “ten million, ten million, ten million, ten million.”

Ten million RMB!!!

Here, let’s talk about the typical investment amounts in the entertainment industry of this world. Unlike the overall inflation in Sheng Quan’s previous life’s entertainment industry, in the setting of “Starlight,” the situation in the entertainment industry was extremely polarized, with prices directly linked to fame.

This included the fame of directors, actors, singers, composers, and so on.

Cheap was dirt cheap, expensive was ridiculously expensive.

In the current situation, ten million RMB could be considered an incredibly hefty sum.

For an ordinary director like Wan Bao, in an ordinary crew, getting a five million investment would be considered hitting the jackpot. And because the actors were mostly unknown and thus cheap, four million would be enough for the entire production.

Of course, he wouldn’t be satisfied with just four million. After all, the quality of this drama was very high. And as everyone knew, there were many ways to improve the quality of a TV series, but the most essential was to spend money.

Good composition, numerous retakes, production sets, prop purchases, custom costumes, actor fees, crew salaries, shooting, post-production, editing, dubbing, everything cost money.

It could be said without exaggeration that every director’s dream in the entertainment industry was to spend as much money as they wanted once they started shooting.

Directors with no money could only reluctantly reduce the quality, but for someone like Wan Bao, who had no money but refused to compromise on quality, he had to tough it out. Even the rights to the novel were only secured because this novel was relatively niche and unpopular. Although it was of high quality, its performance wasn’t great, which made it easier for him to negotiate.

And now! Sheng Quan told him she was investing ten million!!!

The previous investor only put in four million!

“Miss Sheng, I’m willing, of course I’m willing! You can decide on the actor for Qin Heng. I’m willing to sign a Level 6 contract with you. I… as long as you invest, I’m open to everything…”

Wan Bao was so excited he was incoherent. This was the first time since graduating that he had encountered such a huge investment, especially as a lifeline. If he weren’t afraid of scaring Sheng Quan, he would have wanted to jump up and thank her.

Sheng Quan had read the novel and researched for days, so she knew what Wan Bao meant by the highest-grade contract. In this world’s entertainment industry, investment contracts were classified into seven levels.

The higher the level, the greater the benefits and privileges for the investor. Usually, investments were only signed up to Level 4. From Level 4 onwards, the investor benefited more, while from Level 4 downwards, the production side benefited more. Wan Bao proposed a Level 6 contract, showing his sincerity.

However, although Sheng Quan wanted to make money, she didn’t want to strip Wan Bao of too many rights. Her investment was indeed significant in the current market, but fair was fair. Signing a Level 5 contract was already in her favor. It was obvious that Wan Bao was afraid she might walk away, so he tried to tie her down with benefits.

Sheng Quan liked dealing with honest people like this, but she wouldn’t take advantage of them: “Level 6 is too much. Let’s stick to Level 5. Is the crew already shooting? I wonder if it’s convenient to arrange an audition in the next few days?”

Wan Bao was surprised that Sheng Quan didn’t accept the Level 6 contract. When he heard about the audition, he was even more surprised.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked quietly, “Is the audition open to the public?”

Some investors liked to do this. Even though the role was already assigned, they insisted on holding auditions to show that the actor for the role won fairly against competitors.

Wan Bao didn’t say it aloud, but he didn’t like this approach. After all, if the role was already assigned from the beginning, why invite other actors? They would come with expectations and prepare seriously, only to have no hope of being selected from the start. Wouldn’t that be misleading?

Fortunately, this bold new investor didn’t have a penchant for misleading. She casually said, “No, it’s just for him.”

“Although I think he fits the role, we still need an audition to see if he’s really suitable. What do you think, Director Wan?”

Although Wan Bao’s mind was thinking, ‘Ten million RMB! Even if he’s not suitable, I’ll praise him to the skies and make him seem perfectly suitable,’ it didn’t stop him from wholeheartedly agreeing: “Yes, yes, yes, I think the same. We should earn our roles with our abilities. We’re not afraid of auditions.”

Sheng Quan didn’t notice the rich inner turmoil of Wan Bao. Although she had made a lot of preparations and was confident of success, after successfully negotiating, she was still in a very good mood.

Next, she just needed to contact the hotel to lead the negotiations, and she would immediately have access to a professional negotiation team.

She didn’t need to worry about money this time because she was investing in “The Road of Life” to “support” Yan Hui and help him get the role. Therefore, all related expenses could be covered from the system’s account.

Sheng Quan made a few phone calls, wrote a few checks, and the next day, she received a sincere contract.

After all these days of being transmigrated, she felt the joy of spending lavishly for the first time. When she read novels about wealthy individuals before, she didn’t think ten million was a lot. But after getting her own system, she truly realized that this money was indeed a huge sum, and the feeling of spending such a huge sum… was really great!

As the recipient of this huge sum, Wan Bao was naturally more eager to finalize everything. When everything was done, this director in his thirties, who looked like he was in his forties due to his chubby face and stubble, was about to take off.

Holding the contract that was signed at lightning speed, Wan Bao was immersed in the joyful mood of “Ah, I’m so happy I could faint” and couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.

When everyone else didn’t believe in him, when he was at his wits’ end, Sheng Quan, like a fairy descending from the heavens, believed in his talent, recognized his ability, and gave him such a huge sum. The overflowing feeling of gratitude and emotion in Wan Bao’s heart was about to burst out, and he almost wanted to swear to the heavens that he would definitely shoot this TV series well, even if it meant giving his all, to make it shine brightly in a perfect state and to repay Sheng Quan, this investor, with generous profits.

“I will definitely shoot it well. Thank you, really thank you very much…”

Sheng Quan, who hadn’t slept all night but was filled with excitement, sent Director Wan off every now and then to express her loyalty. After watching him leave, she immediately had the driver take her to buy a new phone.

She used the system funds because she was worried that she might run out of life before receiving the rebate. The first task came with a newbie package, and the system generously provided 12 million RMB. After deducting the ten million and various expenses, the remaining one million plus was quite substantial.

When she didn’t have money, it was okay, but now that she had money in her account, Sheng Quan naturally wanted to spend it.

While buying the phone, the system had some doubts because according to the rules, she could only use the money in events related to the sponsored person until she received the rebate.

Her reason was quite sufficient: [I need a phone to contact Director Wan and discuss the audition for the sponsored person. How can I follow up without a phone? Right?]

System: …It seems so.

Then Sheng Quan bought a computer: [This computer can receive emails from Director Wan. Nowadays, everyone works with emails. It’s very reasonable.]

System: …Seems reasonable too.

Then Sheng Quan went on a spree, happily shopping all afternoon. Finally, she bought a bunch of beautiful clothes, shoes, matching bags, accessories to wear when meeting Yan Hui.

The system, watching her shopping spree and successfully subverting it, became anxious: [Host, friendly reminder, you only have one month of life left.]

[No hurry.] Sheng Quan was calm. Since she could spend a few days understanding the situation and laying the groundwork, she was naturally fully confident: [Thirty days may be short in other industries, but in the entertainment industry, it’s enough. Similarly, in other industries, you can rush, but in the entertainment industry, we can’t rush and quickly complete everything.]

Not to mention anything else, just the filming and release of a TV series took a long time.

After selecting her clothes and bags, Sheng Quan looked at her long hair in the mirror. Since she stopped staying up late, her hair seemed to have become more glossy. Of course, it might also be because of the expensive hair care products in the hotel.

Now that she had all these things, in order not to be rude, she had to do her hair. After all, a good hairstyle was also suitable for discussing cooperation, and the presence of a wealthy investor in brand-name attire would boost the morale of the invested crew.

Sheng Quan: [006, is this reasonable?]

System: …Reasonable.

Sheng Quan praised it with a smile: [Our 006 is getting smarter and smarter.]

It was the first time the system had been praised, after all, it was less than a month old. Being praised by Sheng Quan in such a cheerful tone made it feel a bit shy, and it immediately threw its minor concerns aside and even actively started giving advice:

[Host, buy these shoes, they look good.]

As Sheng Quan happily shopped and successfully persuaded the system, Yan Hui, who was busy at the construction site, received a phone call notifying him of the audition.

He was stunned for two full seconds before confirming the information about the crew and the audition time and place. Only then did he calmly hang up the phone.

The audition location was in Wuzhou because the crew was shooting there, so naturally, the audition location was also there.

That night, Yan Hui sat in his room alone, thinking for a long time.

It took two and a half hours to fly from Wuzhou to Shanghai, and even longer by train. For him now, this was a journey that would affect his current work and shrink his wallet.

Yan Hui didn’t think the distance of the audition was a problem for the crew. After all, many auditions were like this, and not every crew held auditions in the same place. Actors had to find a way to get to the audition if they wanted to get the role.

He used to rush over without hesitation, but now…

Yan Hui looked down at the address written on his phone, his slender fingers tightly gripping it, as if he was holding onto his lifelong dedication to the acting career.

For some reason, he thought of the young girl who had handed him the paper and pen with a smile that day.

The admiration in her eyes was evident, although their contact was only for a brief moment. Yan Hui could tell that she truly believed he deserved this audition opportunity.

If Director Wan knew that Yan Hui might hesitate because of the distance, he would definitely feel extremely unjust. From his perspective, as long as Yan Hui was willing to come for the audition, he would definitely get the role. He could arrive the same day and stay at the crew’s residence.

How could he have known that the wealthy investor who invested in the crew hadn’t informed Yan Hui at all!

The system had predicted this: [Host, what if Yan Hui thinks it’s too far to go?]

[He will go.] Sheng Quan, who tried on new clothes in front of the mirror all day after buying them, was tired and not at all anxious. She looked radiant and full of energy.

She smiled at herself in the mirror, completely without the anxiety that a person with only thirty days of life left should have: [If a person wants to succeed in their career, it’s not enough for me to just spend money. It’s up to him to work hard and make choices.]

[What I want is not just a few days of life extension. It’s true that I can push him up now, but how long can he stand? Achievements must be made step by step on his own. Of course, the most important thing is that I am a fan of books.]

If the outwardly gentle Yan Hui didn’t have a bit of edge, how could he be liked by so many readers?

After choosing her clothes, Sheng Quan picked up her new bag. She used to think spending tens of thousands on a bag was a waste, but after she had the means: Bags worth tens of thousands are really good-looking~

[Okay, let’s go.] Sheng Quan opened the door.

The system was puzzled: [Go where?]

[Of course, to audition in person. As a big investor, I have to see the crew and gain some insight… oh no! Gain some experience~]