CHAPTER 183: CHAPTER 178: A HUNDRED FORMS OF DORM LIFE

"Brother Lu, aren’t we going to Director Xiao Wu’s dinner gathering today?" Lan Yening, freshly dressed and ready in the morning, was informed by Lu Tianxiang who had hurried over.

"Not going. Director Xiao Wu’s situation has escalated; the company is planning to withdraw its investment." Lu Tianxiang spoke while carefully sizing up Lan Yening.

The latter was wearing a thin linen casual outfit, freshly dressed that morning.

Lan Yening’s skin was already fair to the point of not needing makeup, and under the backdrop of this outfit, he looked particularly captivating.

Lan Yening didn’t mind his agent’s scrutinizing gaze; he had grown accustomed to stares that would make the average person shiver with unease.

What bothered him more was the movie the company had pulled its investment from – his hope for fame.

"It’s just a so-called ’reference’ issue, isn’t it? How did it blow up this big?"

"Someone’s targeting him, and some of the old veterans in the industry have spoken out. While those people hold no commercial value, they wield absolute power in approvals."

Lu Tianxiang was also quite annoyed by the situation. For this collaboration, not only had he run around to exhaustion, but he’d also sacrificed considerable gains.

Many people think investing in films is simple, that a big director will shoot for you as long as you have money. In reality, that’s far from the truth.

A good movie involves three main stages: investment, production, and release.

Investment involves navigating the funds of multiple enterprises, requiring approval from the company’s board of directors. It impacts stock prices and introduces endless legal procedures for budget evaluations.

Additionally, major productions never bear all risks themselves, necessitating joint investments with clearly defined rights and obligations for each party, which involves countless rounds of negotiations.

Then comes finding a director, another significant challenge. Films with heavy investments must have renowned directors to gain investors’ trust, but top directors are often busy, and even submitting scripts doesn’t guarantee they’ll ever see them.

Of course, some may say, "Pay enough money, and it’ll work."

But how much is "enough?" Scenarios of paying outrageous sums like one or two billion to compel a director are utter nonsense. In reality, no one squanders funds like that, even for talent promotion.

While Zhang Shuya was genuinely determined to support Lan Yening, financial interests had to be meticulously calculated.

Then comes the release process – if your film isn’t screened, or gets minimal showtime allocation, what can you do?

You’d have to negotiate with cinema chains to secure adequate screening slots.

Back in the day, Director Gangpao clashed with the son of the wealthy tycoon Wang due to insufficient show volume.

These processes are enormously draining. The release of a major production isn’t decided impulsively but takes a long, complex cycle.

This time, with Director Xiao Wu’s mishap, there’s no suitable replacement in a rush, other investors have pulled back, and Zhang Shuya doesn’t want to take risks either. So, she decided to withdraw.

"Brother Lu, is there truly no room to turn this around?" Lan Yening felt deeply dejected.

"From insider information, he won’t be blacklisted outright, but the films he directs won’t pass approval," Lu Tianxiang revealed.

Seeing Lan Yening’s despondent appearance, Lu Tianxiang’s heart ached. He offered comfort: "Xiao Ning, you shouldn’t lose hope just yet. I’ve secured some magazine cover shoots for you, plus an actor competition reality show. You should join."

"Alright. Thank you, Brother Lu."

"What are you thanking me for? I’m your agent! This actor competition program is decent; it even has renowned directors participating. Make sure you put in your best effort then."

Lu Tianxiang had been fretting nonstop over Lan Yening.

Lan Yening nodded in agreement and added, "Brother Lu, thank you. It must’ve been challenging to land that show."

"Xiao Ning, you only need to know Brother Lu’s heart is in the right place for you." Lu Tianxiang stepped over and gently took his hand.

Lan Yening offered a faint smile. "Brother Lu, you haven’t eaten yet, have you? I heard there’s a good Cantonese dim sum place nearby." Saying this, he subtly pulled his hand away.

Lan Yening felt so nauseated he didn’t want breakfast, but he knew this world wasn’t a novel; he didn’t yet have the capital to sever ties with Lu Tianxiang.

Shenghai

The furious Wu Jingxiang almost shattered his coffee cup. "That scumbag Xiao Wu is still stubbornly denying everything at this point!"

Wu Hao sat silently. He knew better than to interrupt his cousin when he was raging.

"Cousin, go find this person and ask them to investigate Bang Entertainment’s tax issues," Wu Jingxiang said, calming down after his outburst.

Wu Hao was startled. This was moving toward an all-out destruction of Xiao Wu. If any tax problems were uncovered, the repercussions would ripple far – Xiao Wu’s company wasn’t used solely by him.

"Cousin, doing this will antagonize many people. We still need to invest in this industry. Targeting a major director means no big-name directors will ever collaborate with us again."

"I know. This is just to scare him for now. If he’s truly dead set on resisting, then I won’t hold back," Wu Jingxiang acknowledged, knowing he lacked the leverage to dominate the industry.

Wu Hao relaxed upon hearing his cousin’s reasoning.

"Cousin, do we also leverage this chance to report the culprit we uncovered behind sabotaging our drama?"

"Who is it?"

"Galaxy!"

Wu Jingxiang didn’t immediately understand why Galaxy would pull such a stunt.

Seeing his cousin’s questioning look, Wu Hao explained, "It might be because our affiliated idol group in Natural Idol is threatening their roster."

Wu Hao never would’ve guessed the incident stemmed from a chaotic fan war.

As someone with a rational mindset, he naturally approached it from a practical perspective.

"Old Mu is nothing but mediocre. Go check if their shabby group has any external gigs; sabotage them all," Wu Jingxiang decided, revealing his vindictive nature.

Base

The girls’ lives seemed to have returned to their original rhythm of daily dance practice.

Lv Fangxin noticed the astounding versatility of the girls here.

Some could cook, some played musical instruments, others danced various styles, spoke multiple languages, acted – it was truly a pool of talents.

Whenever they had free time, they organized performances and even formed two bands.

During this period, many friendships among the girls deepened, evolving from unfamiliarity to closeness, sometimes even intimacy.

"Jiang Mengqi, your cooking is amazing. Can you make spicy pork tonight?" Luo Tiantian said, finishing off the last spoonful of seafood fried rice from a wooden bowl.

"Big Sis, where would I even get pork?" Jiang Mengqi replied, slightly exasperated with her friend.

"Why don’t we ask the chefs at the restaurant next time for some?" Fan Lei suggested eagerly.

"I think we should take back some raw ingredients and prep them ourselves," Liu Jiaying chimed in.

Although the cafeteria food was decent, it didn’t suit everyone’s palate.

The girls hailed from all over the nation, with diverse taste preferences that were hard to balance.

Some of the girls, particularly those from north of the Yangtze River, found the local cuisine least agreeable.

Girls who were proficient in cooking bought kitchen hardware and rice so they could cook for themselves.

The most skilled chef among them was none other than Jiang Mengqi, whose sunny smile and fastidious personality made her a favorite.

Many girls flocked to her dorm to share meals, jokingly dubbing it "Little Canteen."

"Lai Ruoxuan, could you draw a manga portrait of me?" The elegant and poised Zhang Yuxin asked the bunny-ear-wearing artist, whose face had already recovered.

"Of course!" Lai Ruoxuan nodded with a smile. Then, drawing close to Zhang Yuxin’s ear, she teased, "Actually, we could make it spicier – like Titanic!"

"Oh gosh! Who knew someone as small and pure-looking as you could be so, so..." Zhang Yuxin protested jokingly but couldn’t help laughing uproariously.