Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Tuesday, morning.

Pei Qian was sleeping soundly when his phone rang.

He opened his sleepy eyes and looked at the caller ID. It was Huang Sibo.

Pei Qian picked up his phone. "Hello?"

Huang Sibo's slightly excited voice came from the other end of the line. "Boss Pei, I have good news to report to you! The movie 'Mission and Choice' has been completed. We just finished filming the last scene this morning!"

Pei Qian was still in a daze. "Oh?"

However, he reacted in the next second.

The movie was done!

The day still arrived even though he did not look forward to it.

Pei Qian did not pay much attention to the joint project of 'Mission and Choice'.

The reason was complicated. On one hand, Pei Qian was afraid that his attention would cause the observer effect. On the other hand, a subconscious suggestion of his would inexplicably have the finishing effect. Instead, it would backfire. On the other hand, this project would span two settlement cycles. Pei Qian had more important projects to deal with.

Of course, one of the reasons was that Pei Qian felt that he had made enough preparations before the project. Mission and Choice had gathered all the causes of failures. Even He An felt that it would definitely fail. Thus, Pei Qian was filled with confidence in this project.

Pei Qian only thought of going to Tengda Games to take a look at the research and development of Mission and Choice after he met He An a while ago.

As for the movie, Pei Qian had not been to the studio at all. He did not even know the story outline of the movie.

The only thing he knew was that the background story of 'Mission and Choice' was decided by him. It should be about the war between humans and Zergs.

That was because the 'Mission and Choice', which was known as 'international shame' more than a decade ago, was used in this background. Pei Qian had requested for Director Zhu Xiaoce to continue using it, and Director Zhu Xiaoce must have done so as well.

He just did not know what would happen after the movie was released.

At that thought, Pei Qian sat up straight in bed.

"It's a good thing that the filming is done. We have to celebrate!"

"How about this? We'll go to Boss Li's Ming House for lunch today. I'll treat everyone!"

"Then, you can organize everyone to play in Jingzhou for a few days. Next Monday is the 20th. We'll have another meal at the nameless restaurant!"

Previously, when Tomorrow is Beautiful was done with filming, it had received the same treatment and specifications: two high-end gatherings and a week of touring in Jingzhou. To Pei Qian, the treatment of spending money could only be increased but not reduced. He could not spend a single cent less.

Huang Sibo was elated. "Alright, Boss Pei!"

…

At noon, at Ming House.

Today was Tuesday. There were few customers to begin with, and Pei Qian had called early to book the entire restaurant. Thus, the entire restaurant was filled with crew members.

Huang Sibo, Zhu Xiaoce, Lu Zhiyao, and the filming crew, the editor, as well as the filming crew, were all present.

Logically speaking, it should be the busiest time for editing and post-production right now. However, 'Mission and Choice' was filmed part by part. They could roughly edit and do the post-production every time they finished filming a segment. Thus, the pressure of editing and post-production was not that great.

What's more, no matter how busy they were with work, they had to come and eat when Boss Pei was the one treating them!

Everyone knew that Boss Pei did not have many rules when it came to treating people to meals. Thus, they sat down casually and waited for Boss Pei to arrive.

Huang Sibo, Zhu Xiaoce, Lu Zhiyao, and the others sat at the same table, waiting for Boss Pei to arrive.

"He's here, he's here!"

"Boss Pei, over here!"

Huang Sibo stood up and waved at Pei Qian.

Pei Qian immediately said to the waiter, "What are you waiting for? Serve all the good wine and dishes. Just serve the most expensive dishes. Hurry."

Then, he sat down at Zhu Xiaoce's table.

It was only now that Pei Qian finally met the crew.

After looking around, his gaze stopped on Lu Zhiyao.

Alright, there was Lu Zhiyao again.

Pei Qian was already mentally prepared for this. After all, Lu Zhiyao and Fei Huang Workspace had a close relationship. They had worked well together, and it was only natural that they would work together again.

Previously, when he was talking about the actors, Pei Qian had requested that only one main actor could be hired. The others could only be extras. What's more, the protagonist could be anyone. It did not matter if he was a big shot, but he could not show too much expression.

How could Lu Zhiyao perform without any expression even though his acting was good?

Thus, Pei Qian did not get angry. Instead, he accepted it calmly.

It would be best if the movie died and they lost all their hard-earned money. Lu Zhiyao would return to being the 'toxicity of the box office' and cut off the possibility of everyone working together in the future. They would let each other off!

After exchanging some pleasantries, the waiters began to serve the dishes.

Pei Qian looked around and suddenly realized a problem.

That was not right. Why was Lu Zhiyao alone? Where were the other actors?

Pei Qian had previously requested Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce to only have one main lead. The rest could only be minor roles.

What about the bit-role actors?

Could it be that they did not bother about their food just because they were bit-role actors?

That would be ridiculous! It would not fit the Tengda spirit!

Pei Qian's expression turned serious as he looked at Huang Sibo. "Why aren't the other bit-role actors here? Since it's a celebratory feast, none of them can be missing!"

Huang Sibo was stunned for a moment before he quickly explained, "Oh, Boss Pei, everyone from the production team is here, including the errand managers."

"There are no bit-role actors because we did not hire any at all. Lu Zhiyao is the only actor."

Pei Qian: "?"

This Huang Sibo had actually exceeded his quota?

Pei Qian's requirement for them was that they could only have one main lead while the rest were minor roles.

In the end, Huang Sibo did not even bother with minor roles!

Was the entire movie done by Lu Zhiyao alone?

It sounded very unreliable. It was very likely that the box office would become dead!

Pei Qian could not help but raise his thumb. "Very good! Well done!"

Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce looked at each other and smiled. They could see pride in each other's eyes.

Boss Pei was indeed Boss Pei. He instantly guessed the brilliance of our one-man show script. That's why he praised us.

What a bosom friend!

Pei Qian looked at Lu Zhiyao. "How did you feel during the performance?"

Lu Zhiyao smiled with some guilt. "Boss Pei, to be honest, it doesn't feel particularly good."

"It was a one-man show the entire time. It was too difficult for me!"

"What's more, Director Zhu asked me not to have too many expressions. My facial muscles had to change as little as possible. I feel so suffocated that I'm going crazy…"

Pei Qian was elated.

Hm, not bad!

It was a one-man show, and the main actor's acting skills had not been fully displayed. It was definitely the premonition of a lousy movie. There was no escape!

Pei Qian had wanted to ask Zhu Xiaoce for a script, but on second thought, what was so good about the script of a lousy movie?

What's more, they had already finished filming the movie. The rice had already been cooked. Even if he saw the script now, he could not reshoot it. Otherwise, the settlement would be affected if the movie was not released in time.

Thus, Pei Qian did not want to make things difficult for himself. He raised his drink and said, "Everyone has worked hard for the past few months! Have a good meal today and have fun in Jingzhou for a few days. I'll treat everyone to a meal at the nameless restaurant on the 20th!"

Everyone immediately cheered.

Ordinarily, one would not be able to eat at the nameless restaurant. Everyone had been waiting for this meal for months. How could they not be excited?

Once the filming was officially done, everyone relaxed. They enjoyed the delicacies while chatting and laughing. The atmosphere was harmonious.

…

After Pei Qian had his fill, he excused himself by saying that he was busy with work. Obviously, the crew had not had their fill yet. Some of them even started drinking and chatting.

Zhu Xiaoce and Huang Sibo continued discussing the later stages of 'Mission and Choice'.

The filming crew, crew, and other staff could rest now, unless there were other scenes that needed to be filmed. However, there were still many problems with precision editing and post-production. Zhu Xiaoce and Huang Sibo could not rest just like that.

Huang Sibo's phone rang as they were discussing.

Huang Sibo took a look. It was Rui Yuchen.

"Hm?"

Huang Sibo was a little surprised because his usual work had nothing to do with Rui Yuchen.

Rui Yuchen was in charge of Fish-Catching Take-Out. Why was he calling him? Could it be that Rui Yuchen wanted to advertise Fish-Catching Take-Out in the movie?

It was impossible even if that was the case. 'Mission and Choice' was a sci-fi genre. Would it be appropriate to include an advertisement for Fish-Catching Take-Out?

Confused, Huang Sibo picked up the call.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Rui Yuchen explained his intentions. "Brother Huang, it's like this. You know that Boss Pei bought a company called Cold-Faced Lady, right? I spoke to the person-in-charge here a few days ago and found out that they want to shoot a documentary about street food."

"I heard that you guys filmed a documentary before, so I wanted to set a link for you guys. It's not impossible to find someone else to film it. The key is that I don't know how good the people outside are. I'm afraid that their results won't be satisfactory."

"The only problem is that you guys were doing E-Sports documentary previously. I wonder if you guys can handle a Gourmet documentary?"

Huang Sibo said, "Wait a moment, I'll ask Director Zhu."

He briefly repeated Rui Yuchen's words, and then got an affirmative answer from Zhu Xiaoce.

Huang Sibo said, "Sure, Director Zhu said that if we can film a movie, there would be no problem with a documentary about delicacies!"

"However, in order to achieve the best picture effect, we might need to prepare some special photography equipment. That's all easy to say. Our studio was going to use these things anyway. We just have to purchase them."

"You're quite good at picking your timing. We had just finished filming our movie and you're already here!"

Rui Yuchen was elated. "Really? What a coincidence."

"Alright, it's a deal then! I'll give you her contact details later. You can discuss with the person-in-charge how to shoot the video and how much budget you need."

Huang Sibo: "Sure, sure."

He might have many concerns if it was a cooperation with other companies.

For example, what should he do if the other party bargained with him? What if the other party was not satisfied with what he filmed? What if there was some wrangling over the expenses during filming?

All of these would be very frustrating.

However, they would not have so much to worry about if it was Tengda's internal department. Everyone would take money from Boss Pei. The money was just travelling from left pocket to right pocket depending on who was the client and who was the service provider. They would not have to worry about such a ridiculous situation happening.

It just so happened that the movie was done. Many people in the production team were free and had nothing to do. They could take the opportunity to film a gourmet promotional video. The work could not be considered tiring since they were filming roadside snacks. They could just take it as a diversion.

Thus, Huang Sibo agreed to it readily.