Chapter 409: The Right Actor

“Alright, President Chen. I’ll head back now and start preparing for the movie.”

Luo Xiao nodded, then stood up and left the office.

He took the elevator back to his own floor, sat down in his office chair, and sank into deep thought.

He recalled Wei Yan’s previous analysis.

President Chen’s performance this time seemed identical to the last. By stating that gorgeous special effects needed to be added to the middle of the film, it indicated that President Chen was dissatisfied with that portion of the script.

He didn’t want to deny him to his face for fear of discouraging him, so he used a roundabout way to offer a reminder.

That had to be it.

Luo Xiao nodded confidently and slowly flipped through the script in his hands.

Since President Chen was dissatisfied with the middle section, he would try to revise it.

………..

Beijing,

Inside a villa.

A bald man continuously flipped through the files in his hands. After a long while, he let out a heavy sigh and tossed the documents onto the coffee table in front of him with a look of helplessness.

“Director Yu, still haven’t found a suitable candidate? This is already the third batch. If we don’t hurry up and cast the role, the crew won’t be able to start filming, and I’m afraid we won’t make it in time for a Lunar New Year release^[1].”

The middle-aged man sitting to the side saw the director’s sigh and wore an equally helpless expression.

He had collected data on three batches of actors: old, young, skilled veterans, idol stars… he had prepared every kind of candidate imaginable.

Yet, not a single one met the requirements.

“No.”

Yu Zheng looked at the scattered files on the coffee table and slowly shook his head, his heart filled with anxiety.

Just as the man said, the movie they were making this time was a comedy. They planned to start filming in August and finish as quickly as possible to catch the Lunar New Year slot.

After all, the viewership and influence during that period were immense.

Furthermore, he had been preparing this comedy for a long time and had great confidence in the script. As long as he found the right actor to bring his envisioned gags and effects to life, it would definitely become a dark horse of the New Year season.

However, he had hit a wall during casting. He would be playing one of the leads himself, which was no problem.

The difficulty lay in choosing the other lead.

This character was the soul of the script. Only by fully realizing the vision for this role could the comedic effect be achieved.

Therefore, he was extremely strict in his selection.

Among all the actors he had reviewed, they either had the acting skills but lacked the right image and temperament, or they were idol stars with no acting ability at all.

In short,

Throughout this period of searching, not a single actor had met his needs.

But as time ticked away, if he couldn’t find the right person soon, he would miss the Lunar New Year release.

This left him deeply conflicted.

He now had two choices:

First, lower his standards. Choose someone who was “good enough” so the crew could start filming immediately and make the New Year deadline.

The downside was that because the actor wouldn’t perfectly fit the script, the final result wouldn’t be as flawless as he had envisioned.

Second, give up on the Lunar New Year release and keep searching until he found an actor who met his requirements before starting production.

The downside here was whether he would ever actually encounter such an actor. Even if he did, what if it took a long time? Would the movie just stay in pre-production indefinitely?

“Director Yu, if it really doesn’t work out, just pick someone who’s close enough. I think a few of those actors were decent and fit the script well enough. There’s no need to be so punishingly strict with the casting.”

Seeing that Yu Zheng hadn’t responded for a long time, the middle-aged man couldn’t help but try to persuade him.

A Lunar New Year release brought in a massive amount of traffic, and he didn’t want to miss out on it.

Yu Zheng snapped out of his thoughts, turned to the man, and spoke slowly after a moment of deliberation.

“Let’s wait another twenty days. If a suitable actor still hasn’t appeared by then, we’ll go with the one you mentioned who seemed okay.”

He was still unwilling to settle, but these twenty days were the final deadline he was giving himself.

He had estimated that even if the crew only started filming in twenty days, they could still make the Lunar New Year release.

After all, it was just a comedy. It didn’t require heavy special effects; it just needed to be filmed well and edited.

Therefore, the actual filming wouldn’t require an excessive amount of time.

“Alright then!”

The middle-aged man nodded helplessly. He knew how much Yu Zheng expected from this comedy, so he didn’t argue further.

Besides, if they really could find a perfect actor, he would be more than happy to see it happen.

…………..

August 1st,

Mingri Group,

CEO’s Office.

Chen Mo watched the System Funds skyrocketing and rubbed his brow helplessly. However, he didn’t feel too much about it anymore; after all, he had to endure this torture of surging System Funds at the beginning of every month.

By now, he was somewhat used to it, and he had already planned out the expenditures for this month.

He wasn’t overly worried.

First was the reconstruction project for the Changfeng Garment Factory; he had to inject a sum of capital into that every month.

Then there was the new branch of Nanhe Coffee in Beijing, which had already been finalized.

Additionally, the construction plan for the Elderly Apartment Complex was already in preparation and required funding.

Finally, there was Baishu Law Firm. Wang Yang had already finished measuring the space for the renovations, though the design plans weren’t out yet. Once they were, the renovation costs would be a major expense. Purchasing office supplies, desks, and chairs would also help drain a portion of the System Funds.

Of course,

Besides these major expenses, there were various smaller outlays.

For example: purchasing ingredients for the cafeteria, the monthly staff team-building dinners, employees taking driving tests, replacing glasses… a whole series of costs.

Chen Mo took out a calculator and did a quick tally of all the expenses, then calculated the total revenue from all the current companies under Mingri Group.

Finally, he compared the income against the expenditures.

Chen Mo let out a long sigh of relief. Although the overall income was slightly higher than the expenses, it didn’t really affect him.

He had plenty of ways to burn through that extra bit of System Funds.

So,

All he needed to do now was maintain the current balance of income and expenses, and this time, a full conversion of System Funds was basically a sure thing.

Chen Mo leaned back comfortably in his executive chair and took a leisurely sip of his coffee.

This time,

He truly couldn’t find anything else that could possibly interfere with his settlement.

Translator’s Notes

1. Lunar New Year release: Known as ‘He Sui Pian’ (New Year’s Greeting Films), this is the most lucrative and competitive movie season in China, similar to the Christmas blockbuster season in the West. Films released during this period are typically high-budget or family-friendly comedies. ↩