Chapter 279 Convincing Lin Jiali to Film His Movie!
Thinking along that line of thought, Su Yang looked around his home and realized that there wasn’t a single mask lying around at home.
‘That’s quite normal, isn’t it? Who’d have masks lying around at home anyway? ‘Since I don’t have a mask, let’s head out and buy one. I need to get some other things for the recipe as well.’
With that, Su Yang went out of the house for the third time.
Su Yang felt that if Sixth Liu’s broken front door had a mind of its own, it’d definitely say, “Are you trying to embarrass me?! Do you not think that I’m responsible for what goes in and out!”
Unfortunately, it was a broken door. If Su Yang didn’t give it an extra point, it wouldn’t be able to talk for the rest of its life.
Walking out of the neighborhood, Su Yang worked out in his mind where he needed to go to in order to buy these things. ‘Supermarkets should have the items, shouldn’t they? I’ll go over and check that out first.’
Just as he was heading toward the supermarket, his phone rang.
‘Who’s looking for me this time?’
Little Deeny had become much more attentive since she had parted with one of her core processors. Even before Su Yang asked, she said to Su Yang’s through his earpiece, “Master, it’s a WeChat message from Lin Jiali.”
‘Lin Jiali, the actress, is looking for me?’
Su Yang took out his phone and opened WeChat, walking to the supermarket while checking to see what Lin Jiali was looking for.
Lin Jiali asked, [Are you there?]
Su Yang replied, [No, I’m not.)
Lin Jiali sent a peek-a-boo emoji. [Are you with someone else? Or are you alone?]
Su Yang chuckled. (If only half my body is here now, I’m afraid I might scare you to death.]
Lin Jiali was speechless. [...]
After some time, Lin Jiali sent another message, [I’m telling you... You can really go to the overpass to set up a stall.] Su Yang replied with a question mark as he walked. [?]
Lin Jiali, (You remember the other day when you figured out that I’d have a new agent and a new job, right? I had an agent the next day, and now I have a new job! It was a special arrangement from the company. You’re just divine!]
Su Yang replied carelessly, [Of course, I’m Su Yang, the guy with a steel mouth that can break anything through anything.) Lin Jiali sent an emoji with a disgusted expression. (If I say you’re fat, I bet you’ll start huffing and puffing away. You’re really living up to people’s praises.) Su Yang looked at himself and saw that he wasn’t all that thin.
Lin Jiali asked, (Aren’t you curious about the kind of job I’ve been given?]
Su Yang thought about his identity. Well, a fan should probably be curious about it. (What? An advertisement?]
Lin Jiali replied with a cute emoji. (It’s a Chinese variety show that has good ratings. There’s also a slot for a guest appearance on Netbig, but I rejected it.]
Su Yang asked, (Why did you reject it?]
Lin Jiali continued, [No reason. It wasn’t compelling, and it doesn’t make money. What’s the point of getting a few thousand dollars just to show your face for the shoot?]
‘Huh...
‘Is it that cheap to get a third-tier celebrity to make a cameo?’
Su Yang stopped and started to think about this matter. His company’s investment in Netbig was close to 5 million. He had been worried but couldn’t do anything aside from trusting the ‘professionals’.
However, Lin Jiali reminded Su Yang. Since the Netbig filming cycle was so short, and he had an agency under his belt, he should take the opportunity to make use of an artist from his own company.
‘Why not use an artist from my company to make a guest appearance? ‘This way, if this drama really does well, the artists from my company would also receive exposure.
‘On the other hand, I should also be able to save tens of thousands of dollars if the drama went belly-up.’
Thinking this way, Su Yang didn’t reply to Lin Jiali but instead, he called Producer Zhao.
The call was quickly connected, and Producer Zhao’s voice came from the microphone, “Director Su, how can I help you?”
Su Yang replied, “Right. Producer Zhao, I remember you said that our drama seems to have no other roles decided except for the two main actors, right?”
Producer Zhao replied, “Right, Director Su. None of them are set in stone.”
Su Yang continued, “Then, does our drama have a female character?”
Producer Zhao thought for a moment and said, “Director Su, we do. There are five or six female characters, and there’s a female lead.”
“There’s a female lead in this movie?!’
Su Yang was surprised. ‘Isn’t this related to the Monkey King? Is the female lead a female monkey?’
Su Yang asked, “What’s the setting for the female lead? What type of actress are you looking for?”
Producer Zhao explained, “To be honest, although it’s said to be a female lead movie, it’s most often considered as a small female role in other movies. After all, this movie focuses on male characters and is a big male drama. There isn’t as much to do for the female lead.”
Su Yang felt that this was the right thing to do. Producer Zhao then continued, “What type of actress am I looking for? Hmmm... It needs to be an actress with a pretty face, and with a bit of a green tea-bitch vibe.”
‘Pretty face? Green tea bitch?
‘Huh? Lin Jiali is perfect for that role!’
In her last film ‘Carat Love’, she portrayed a seemingly unaffected, innocent, and charming girl. However, she was a dissipated and superficial whore.
‘Although... Why does this movie require the female lead to be a green-tea bitch??’
While Su Yang was still full of question marks, Producer Zhao had already begun explaining, “Our drama is about Sun Wukong, who descended into the mortal world after a thousand years. There, he meets the female host and falls in love with her. It turns out that the mistress only treats him as a spare tire, while Zhu Bajie was by his side and stayed by his side. In the end, Sun Wukong discovers that Zhu Bajie is his true love, so the two of them get together.”
Su Yang was speechless.
‘What the f*ck is this?! What’s with such a cheesy plot?!
‘And there’s an element of romantic indulgence! Are you trying to ruin our childhood?
‘But why is this play so well received by so many?
‘Could it be that I have bad taste?
“The audience nowadays likes this kind of ‘romance’ film? No way...’
Su Yang really didn’t have any hope for this movie anymore...
‘I just hope that I can spend less money and recoup my investment.’
Thinking like that, Su Yang didn’t bother to know more and asked, “What’s the approximate budget for the female characters and the cost of the female lead?”
Producer Zhao thought about it. “More female leads are needed so we have a budget of almost 70,000 yuan. We plan to find someone who is a little more famous. The other female characters don’t have as many scenes, so it adds up to only about 50,000 yuan.”
Su Yang calculated. ‘Hmm... If I placed some of the artists from my company in the movie, I might be able to save up to half of the expenses.’
So, he immediately replied, “Reserve those few female roles and the female lead role for me. I have an artist agency under me, and I’ve got a few female artists.”
What could Producer Zhao say? The boss had spoken so he couldn’t object, and could only agree. After talking to Producer Zhao, Su Yang made a call to Lin Jiali’s general manager, Miss Tan, “I remember our company has six or seven other female trainees besides Lin Jiali, right?”
Miss Tan replied, “That’s right, Director Su.”
Su Yang continued, “Oh, training all the time won’t be good for them. It just so happens that my film and television company is making a Netbig film, and there are some female supporting actress roles in it. You can let them try out. Also, I’ve reserved the female lead role for Lin Jiali, so you can look into arranging that as well.”
Tan Mei was a bit surprised. “What Netbig film?”
Facing her, Su Yang espoused all the good points about the movie. “It’s an iQIYI S-rank Netbig project. Chen Min and Lin Cong are the main stars. The IP is from ‘The Journey to the West’.”
Su Yang didn’t continue, because he was afraid of his conscience hitting back at him. “You should talk to the producer about the rest.” The general manager asked cautiously, “What about the fee for the film?”
Su Yang replied, “You can just discuss it with him. Follow the rate card.”
The general manager breathed a sigh of relief. The most feared project was one the boss owned by himself that he didn’t want to pay for. “Okay.”
After hanging up the phone, Su Yang realized that he had already arrived at the supermarket. It was then that he saw Lin Jiali’s messages on Wechat from when he was on the call. [Huh? Where are you?] [Why did you suddenly disappear?]
(What are you doing? What are you doing?]
[Are you asleep?]
So-yang was speechless
This tease...
Suyang replied, [No. I’m going to tell your fortune.]
Lin Jiali excitedly replied, [What did you calculate for me? What are the results?]
As Su Yang placed a Monkey King mask in the shopping basket, he replied, [Here you go! I’m calculating whether you can act in a NetBig movie.)
Lin Jiali was speechless
[Wha-What’s this about?]
Su Yang asked, (Don’t you want to know the result?]
Lin Jiali replied, (I don’t want to.]
Su Yang answered anyway, (Oh. I figured you’d be acting in one.)
Lin Jiali was speechless. [...]
Lin Jiali sent another message, [I’ll see you later. You fake fan!]
Su Yang laughed. ‘I see I’ve been demoted to a fake fan.’
Without replying to Lin Jia, Su Yang continued purchasing the items he needed for the recipe. 10 hula hoops, a set of clown clothes, and five fire pots...
“These strange things, supermarkets actually... They actually have quite a few options.’
With his shopping list as a guide, Su Yang put everything he needed to buy into the shopping basket and paid for them. After shopping, Su Yang looked at the list and saw that he was still missing quite a number of materials despite buying a lot of things tonight.
He looked at the time, and it was already 8:30 pm. Even if he ran to another place to buy it, he probably wouldn’t be able to make it in time. So, Su Yang decided to go home and add more to the mask before he bought the rest of the things tomorrow.
Carrying his things back home and entering the virtual space, Su Yang took out the mask and prepared to add some points to it.
The mask was a Sun Wukong mask, which fit very well with Su Yang’s company, Netda.
He bought it for this reason as well.
After all, the mask was red with only some parts white, making it look very festive and to some extent, symbolized that Su Yang’s company was hot stuff....
‘When strength falls short, superstition comes to the rescue!’
Placing the mask on the table, Su Yang turned on the system and prepared to add points.
As he turned on the addition system, the items in the room suddenly had a translucent [+] above them, including, of course, the mask on the table.
This was supposed to be a prelude to the Circus Special Item in the system store so Su Yang was in an incomparably relaxed mood.
He tapped on the [+] above the mask.
With a flicker of light, the addition was completed without any hitches, and the mask didn’t change at all.
Su Yang lay on the couch patiently waiting for the system prompt to appear. Just as he was waiting, his WeChat rang again.
He picked it up and looked. It was another amusing message from Lin Jiali. (I’m weak. I’m asking a fake fan. However, did you really see out that I’m going to act in a NetBig film?
Su Yang was happy. ‘This actress really believes that I can tell fortunes.’
He replied, (Yes, and I figured out that you’ll become a big hit with this movie).
Lin Jiali was speechless. [... You liar! Bye-bye!)
historical
Su Yang chuckled, he was indeed lying because he’d be visiting Lin Jiali’s agency at the end of this month. By then, everything would be dismantled so he didn’t care if he was lying or not.
‘I’m really looking forward to Lin Jiali’s expression by then...’
Just as Su Yang was thinking about his evil plan, the mask slowly changed.
The mask was initially a Peking Opera image of the Monkey King. However, the mask slowly softened and reorganized itself into a strange-looking mask. It had a black background and two white fish painted on it.
The two fish were connected at the beginning and end, forming the shape of yin and yang.