Director Lu's naivety was truly infuriating.
Li Chunhua's words, though seemingly considerate and noble, actually had an underlying message:Tiandu has pulled out its investment, and this lousy film is no longer associated with Tiandu.
From now on, all subsequent production, including funding and personnel, would be up to Lu Mingze to manage.
Damn it, he had been promised two films by Tiandu, but he had risked everything and mortgaged his entire fortune for them. In the end, they were washing their hands of the responsibility for producing this crappy film.
What was worse was that Li Chunhua had only mentioned the filming part. What about post-production? Distribution? Promotion?
Not a word was said!
Well, maybe in Li Chunhua's eyes, this film would never even make it past filming, let alone post-production or promotion.
And yet, Lu Mingze still thought Li Chunhua's willingness to agree was a sign of loyalty and considered it as being truly righteous. He even thought to himself, "The company should still be able to return about 3 million."
"I also have two properties in Shengjing, with decent locations. I should be able to sell them for around 3 to 4 million."
Lu Mingze had two villas in Beijing, but at this time, they were only worth that much.
He calculated that with these 6 or 7 million, plus the actors' salaries and equipment rentals, which were already paid for...
It meant that if he was careful, this could still work out.
He thought, "Chu An really saved me this time. One script has pulled me out of this deadlock!"
Excited, he rushed back to his room after seeing off Li Chunhua. Chu An, Ma Lan, and Tong Meng were all waiting for news in the room.
As soon as he entered, he shouted, "It's done!"
Ma Lan and Tong Meng were already accustomed to him. Ma Lan had been Lu Mingze's long-time collaborator and trusted him completely. Tong Meng, on the other hand, had always been nosy and disillusioned with Tiandu's cold-blooded actions, so naturally, she stood by Lu Mingze's side.
Earlier that day, Tong Meng had even gotten into a heated argument with Jia Chenglin and Li Chunhua.
As for how Ma Lan and Tong Meng viewed Chu An...
They had become numb to it.
There was nothing they could do. Some things were simply beyond their understanding, things that weren't for them to judge.
In Ma Lan's eyes, Chu An's sunny and handsome image was clearly just a facade.
She realized that the deal he had struck with her was just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, she had finally understood: renting the property wasn't a favor, it was a transaction!
Then came the revisions to the script, his ideas, and now the creation of a new script... now he had turned into their "military advisor." Ma Lan didn't know how to evaluate this anymore.
She even started to wonder: "Is this guy possessed by some demon?"
Tong Meng's answer: "Even if he's possessed, it's probably not just any ghost. He must be someone of high rank, at least a provincial-level official."
Otherwise, nothing would make sense.
At this point, both of them had become numb to the whole situation. Whatever happened, happened. They were too tired to care anymore.
Besides, who cared? Whether he was possessed by a ghost or was a genius prodigy, as long as he could challenge Tiandu, that made him a good guy.
At this moment, Director Lu was still basking in the joy of closing the deal and started recounting the negotiation process to everyone.
Ma Lan and Tong Meng both sighed in relief after hearing it.
Chu An remained calm and said thoughtfully, "Only by halting the audit and completely severing ties with Tiandu will we have room to move forward."
Lu Mingze thought he was talking to himself and replied, "Right, then we can safely film the new project."
Chu An, however, just sighed.
Lu Mingze still sounded a bit regretful, "It's just that I promised them two films. I can't help but feel a bit unwilling!"
Chu An, with great restraint, didn't want to crush him too much. "That's still pretty good."
The only thing that wasn't a weakness in the Tiandu trap was—the scandalous reputation it would generate!
Lu Mingze, with his one-track mind, didn't realize that what Li Chunhua feared most was the possibility of Director Lu going all in with Tiandu and confronting them head-on.
If that happened, the media would definitely swarm in and the reports would be everywhere.
Tiandu could use its industry connections to suppress things, but the damage would still be done.
In simple terms, reputation isn't worth much, but it's still important. Tiandu didn't care, but if they could maintain a positive image, why not work towards that?
Chu An had cleverly exploited Li Chunhua's psychology and achieved the current outcome.
In Li Chunhua's eyes, it was like someone giving him a pillow just when he wanted to sleep.
Lu Mingze had quickly softened.
Notice this: a little later, and the audit would've come back, and Lu Mingze wouldn't have even had the chance to soften.
Now that everything Tiandu wanted had been achieved, what was there to hold back from cutting ties!?
The crew had barely started filming when Tiandu had already relinquished control.
And even more ridiculous was that it was Lu Mingze himself who proposed putting the film under his personal studio's name. He wanted to take full responsibility and gain full profit, so that in the future, whether the film turned out bad or the media caught wind of it, Tiandu wouldn't be implicated.
What was even more heart-wrenching was that Li Chunhua was also planning to transfer all of Tiandu's investments in "My High School Days" over to Lu Mingze.
How righteous was that!?
Who could still criticize Tiandu now?
Could Lu Mingze turn the tables? How could they possibly give him that opportunity?
Chu An poured a bucket of cold water on Lu Mingze's delusions, shattering all his fantasies and almost pushing him to despair.
"Cutting ties is indeed a good thing, but if you want to make the film, you'd better start early!"
"Huh?" Director Lu still didn't get it.
Chu An sighed, "Do you believe it? The shares that Tiandu gives you are a loss. Your investment will only get you back debt. You want to make money? Don't dream."
"That's impossible!" Lu Mingze stared at Chu An in disbelief. "You don't know what you're talking about!"
The total investment in "My High School Days" was 15 million.
Tiandu had invested 10 million, taking 60% of the shares.
Lu Mingze had contributed 5 million in cash, plus his director's fee, taking 40%.
This 15 million was real, hard cash.
Based on Director Lu's experience, from the early prep to filming, he could easily spend no more than 5 million.
The rest, even if Tiandu deducted a bit, would still leave him with 300 thousand.
At this point, Chu An just smiled faintly. You can't teach a naïve person to be cautious.
Even if he kept stepping into one pit after another, losing more than eating meals, it wouldn't matter.
Sigh.
My dear Director Lu, you really need me.
"Director Lu," Chu An said with a touch of pity, "Fire your agent! Pay me a high fee! I'll consider it."
Lu Mingze replied, "I was planning on firing my agent! Tiandu's contract is too restrictive!"
Chu An: "..."
He didn't want to speak anymore.
Perhaps to prove that Chu An was right, the settlement of Tiandu's exit was incredibly fast.
They had already prepared for this before coming to Ningyuan.
When Lu Mingze saw the settlement statement, he froze for a moment, his face expressionless.
"Heh! Looks like Chu An was wrong!"
Tiandu wasn't as bad as he said. They didn't bring back debt, and the numbers showed they weren't at a loss.
Was he just thinking ill of them?
The financial report clearly showed:
As of August 17, 2001:
Actor salaries: 6.847 million
Other crew wages: 943,682
Pre-production publicity: 2.3 million
Script adaptation: 800,000
Pre-production setup: 1.19 million
Materials & venue fees: 350,000
Equipment rental: 970,000
Travel and accommodation: 270,000
Miscellaneous: 1.327 million
Remaining balance: 1,056.84 yuan.
Look at this!!
Let me see it!!
Chu An was wrong, right? There's no damn loss, and no debt! Tiandu even left him with over a thousand yuan!
Lu Mingze was about to cry. Is this how you guys play the game? Aren't you bullying honest people?
He was ready to go after Li Chunhua.
But then Chu An, Ma Lan, and Tong Meng stepped in and stopped him.
Chu An's words cut deeply, "Not bad. This is much more considerate than I expected."
In truth, Chu An was relieved. He had feared Tiandu would throw out a huge sponsorship contract with an astronomical penalty.
If they breached it, he wouldn't even have had a chance to stage the counterattack.
But this "break-up fee" wasn't high either.
It was just a strategic retreat for Tiandu, designed to give them the upper hand.
In the end, Chu An won.
This was a chess game between two major forces, with careful calculations at every step. One mistake could have resulted in a huge loss.