Chasing the Light

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After the beginning of spring, Liang Xincheng and Xia Yuanhang joined the new drama crew one after another; one went to the south and the other stayed in Beijing.

After that, they were separated for several months and could only communicate with each other through WeChat and video calls every night. Fortunately, they were both passionate about their work. Even if they couldn’t see each other, as long as they thought about it, they didn’t find it difficult to work hard for the common goal of two people.

The premiere of ‘The Drunken Golden Tomb’ was held in Nanjing in mid-May. This was Liang Xincheng’s first major film, so he himself had high expectations, having already won a Golden Award for Supporting Actor. Although the Best Actor award was not expected anytime soon, the box office results were still worth looking forward to.

Xia Yuanhang was unable to come to Nanjing in person for the premiere so he chose another way to support Liang Xincheng.

On the first night of the nationwide release of ‘The Drunken Golden Tomb’, Lan Fengqing posted the ticket stubs on her Weibo account, respectively mentioning Xia Yuanhang and Liang Xincheng: “Thank you Xiao Xia @Xia Yuanhang for booking the cinema and inviting everyone to see ‘The Drunken Golden Tomb’. Xincheng @LiangXincheng gave a great performance and brought the role of Young Master Lin to life, it was truly amazing. If you haven’t seen it yet, go and see it, it’s definitely worth the ticket price.”

This Weibo post, unsurprisingly, sent many fans and watchers into a frenzy again. Liang Xincheng himself was surprised and called Xia Yuanhang: “You booked a cinema for my movie?”

“Well, I invited some friends to watch it. They all said you acted very well.”

“I saw the Weibo post from Lan-jie…”

“Yeah, she said you were great; your idol was full of praise for you.”

Liang Xincheng blushed at his compliment, “So what do you think?”

“Of course I think you’re the best, baby. You played the part really well. This role is perfect for you. It’s a good thing I didn’t compete with you in the first place, you’re the only one who can bring this role to life.”

“You can really speak beautiful words.”

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“I’m telling the truth.”

“Okay, I know, stop bragging, it’s embarrassing.”

Xia Yuanhang laughed and didn’t tease him any more, and instead changed the subject. But he really meant what he said. Although Liang Xincheng did not come from a professional acting background like him, he had always worked hard and was constantly improving his acting skills, looking for a style that suited him. He also put his heart and soul into each of his works. He deserved all these compliments, and he deserved better.

At the end of May, Xia Yuanhang took a day off from work and went to Liang Xincheng’s company with the materials he had prepared.

After waiting for more than half an hour, he finally saw Yu Mingxiu in the chairman’s office. The secretary brought in coffee and Yu Mingxiu gestured for him to sit down: “I’m sorry, something came up just now. Sorry to keep you waiting for a while.”

“It doesn’t matter, I came early and disturbed President Yu.”

Yu Mingxiu’s mouth held a smile as he lazily leaned back into his seat: “You came here especially to look for me, could it be that you plan to jump ship and come to my place? I remember that you have already opened your own studio, right?”

“President Yu, you’re joking. I came to see you today because I have a project in hand and I want to ask if you are interested in investing in it?”

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He handed the folder in his hand to Yu Mingxiu. Inside was the proposed project plan for the filming of Little Er Bao’s Miracle and Fantasy World: “The original author of this novel is Lan Fengqing-jie, I think you should have heard of her; she has sold several popular IPs. This is one of her earliest works, and she is now interested in bringing it to the screen. I personally love this work, I wonder if you are interested? The details are in the project book.”

Yu Mingxiu flipped through the pages and raised an eyebrow: “A proposed investment of 250 million yuan?1approximately $34.3M This kind of film requires so much money?”

“Lan-jie attaches great importance to this work and those fantasy scenes in the original would indeed require a considerable amount of money to recreate them perfectly. We plan to hire a Hollywood post-production team.”

“Since when did you switch to being a producer?”

Xia Yuanhang explained with a smile: “No, this project will be coordinated by Lan-jie herself. I will also invest a part of it, it’s me making my shot at it, but for now I really have limited funds on hand. That’s why I thought of asking if you are interested in it, President Yu.”

“Why me?”

“Because the lead actor in the film is Liang Xincheng, and Xincheng says that you are the one who discovered him. This is the work he has always wanted to do, so that’s why I thought of you first.”

Yu Mingxiu raised his eyebrows, “You invested in the film so that Liang Xincheng could film it? If I remember correctly, he seems to be a contracted artist of my company, right? Are you trying to poach me?”

“You misunderstand me, President Yu. I don’t mean anything else. It’s just because Xincheng has always loved this novel and has told me many times that he wants it to be filmed, so I want to help him realize his wish.”

Yu Mingxiu smiled and shook his head: “I really didn’t expect you to do it for him. But to be honest this project was handed to me a few years ago and I didn’t see anything worth developing in it, let alone the fact that you opened your mouth and said you wanted to invest over 200 million.”

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“I know you may think the theme is outdated and you don’t see any commercial potential, but I personally think this kind of fantasy story has a good audience base. And it has a very inspirational plot suitable for the student market. As long as it’s well made and not shoddy to fool the audience, the fantasy elements in it are actually quite eye-catching and may not be worse than those Hollywood blockbusters.”

Xia Yuanhang said after a pause and handed another piece of information to Yu Mingxiu: “This is the financial statement of my studio from its establishment last year to now. If you have any concerns, I can sign an agreement with you to guarantee that you will be reimbursed 500 million after the film is released. If the box office does not reach the expected target, I will use all the studio’s earnings for the next five years to repay you with interest.”

Yu Mingxiu was slightly taken aback. “Are you betting against me? Do you know what will happen if you lose the bet? You would’ve to sell yourself to me for five years, and then everything would be beyond your control. You’ll have to do whatever that makes money and you’ll have to do all kinds of bad movies and money-making variety shows to pay back the money. Your future will basically be over after that.”

“I know,” Xia Yuanhang said firmly, “I’m very clear about the consequences of the bet. I dare to come and talk to you because I really have confidence in this project, but if I lose the bet, I’ll accept it. I only have one request, this doesn’t need to involve Liang Xincheng, it’s just an agreement between me and you. He is a contracted artist of your company, so I don’t want this to have any bad effects on his future development.”

“I really didn’t see that you are the infatuated type of person.”

After Yu Mingxiu was surprised, he seemed to be a little emotional, but he didn’t immediately express his willingness to invest. The door of the lounge next to him was pulled open from the outside and the man who came out was Xia Yuanhang’s original boss, Du Shen.

Xia Yuanhang was not surprised to see Du Shen in this place and greeted him calmly. Du Shen nodded, walked to the table and casually flipped through a few pages of the proposal and asked Xia Yuanhang: “You want to find someone to invest in the project, why don’t you come to me? Anyway, you was in Shengxing for five years,ba.”

Yu Mingxiu smilingly shook Du Shen’s hand: “What? Are you interested in this project? You want to steal business from me?”

Du Shen drew out his hand and gave him a vague glare as Xia Yuanhang explained: “Because Xincheng belongs to President Yu’s company, I came to find President Yu. Of course, if President Du is willing to invest, it’s fine with me.”

“Have you decided on a director? And what are you going to do about the post-production distribution?”

“Lan-jie will personally invite the director, it’s a friend of hers, she trusts the other party. As for the future distribution,” Xia Yuanhang smiled cheekily, “If you’re willing to invest, I’m sure it won’t be difficult for you to help take care of the cinemas, right?”

Yu Mingxiu gave a ‘tsk’ sound: “Your calculation is very good, you not only want us to pay, but also plan to ask us to contribute.”

“But this deal is a sure bet for you and President Du, so why should you refuse?”

“I’ll discuss it with Mingxiu and get back to you in a few days,” Du Shen raised his eyes to Xia Yuanhang, “but are you really willing to go this far for Liang Xincheng? At the risk of gambling your own future?”

“If I lose the bet, I can start all over again. It’s only five years, I can afford the delay.”

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He was not afraid of losing; as long as Liang Xincheng could make the film he wanted to make and his future would be bright, he could gamble on it for five years. Besides, he didn’t think he would lose, he had confidence in this production, and even more so in Liang Xincheng; he could definitely win.

 

1approximately $34.3M