"I don't have any grudge against Tiandu."
Chu An's teasing words made Lu Mingze feel uneasy inside.
What does that mean? "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't," huh?
Staring straight at Chu An for a while, Lu Mingze suddenly asked seriously, "Little Chu, you're not going to screw me over like Tiandu, are you?"
Director Lu had been burned before and, on top of that, everything happening right now was beyond his understanding.
In fact, among all the capable people Lu Mingze knew, including those powerful figures in the entertainment industry from Tiandu Culture, no one would do something this outrageous.
That fear of the unknown made Lu Mingze uneasy, which is why he asked such a childish question.
Chu An thought he was quite naive. What's the point of asking? Who would honestly tell you if they were going to screw you over?
In his previous life, Chu An would have habitually given a long, polished, and confident reassurance speech.
Would he really trick Lu Mingze? That was uncertain.
The real issue was that this guy was just too easy to fool. Not teaching him a lesson would be an insult to any scheming businessman's principles.
But now...
Chu An smirked, "Do exactly as I say, and I'll help you get through this."
Lu Mingze: "..."
Why doesn't he just say something grand and solemn?
The thing is, this nonsense coming out of a fresh-faced seventeen-year-old's mouth sounded nothing but childish and silly.
With a resigned sigh, Lu Mingze said, "Fine, I'm betting on it! I accept!"
Chu An had an inexplicable sense of accomplishment.
Not because he had assembled all the pieces for a miracle and felt smug about it—
But because
Being trusted by an idiot actually feels pretty damn good!
"Don't forget your promise."
Lu Mingze had said that as long as Chu An helped him get through this, he would give him anything he wanted.
The director's mind was spinning, and he blurted out, "Y-you finish it first, then we talk!"
Pointing at the two contracts worth 25 million each, he added, "This money can't be touched, got it?! Fine, then I won't touch it!"
"But where will The Best of Us get its funding!?"
Chu An immediately gave the answer: "Next, call together all your friends in the industry—directors, actors, crew—and set up a meeting."
Lu Mingze: "????"
Chu An said, "Tell them that You Are My Glory has a production cost of 45 million, and you're willing to share 10% with everyone to participate together!"
Lu Mingze: "!!!!?"
Chu An reassured, "Don't worry, with the groundwork laid, whether from the perspective of profit or fame, they'll all be willing to invest."
Why was Lu Mingze so distrustful?
30 million turning into 45 million— a 50% markup — who in their right mind would fall for that?
Then, the director realized something: He'd made some very poor friendship choices. One by one, they were all clueless!
The moment they heard he was offering shares, they went crazy throwing money at him — and 10% wasn't even enough.
If Chu An hadn't held them back, Lu Mingze's circle of friends alone could have raised tens of millions.
And these people were outright fools. They paid to be in Lu's movies, even eagerly begging to cameo or help on set.
Spending their own money to act, spending their own money to join production and work hard — these guys were something else.
Chu An welcomed it all. His only limit was to take no more than 10% — not one point more.
Lu started crunching numbers again: 10% of 45 million is 4.5 million. If he sold his house, that'd cover the cost of filming The Best of Us.
To "comfort" those "fools" who couldn't get more shares, Chu An said:
"Don't worry! I'll make sure everyone earns back their money before shooting even starts!"
"Now, everyone can privately contact some trusted industry investors and tell them that Director Lu is pricing You Are My Glory at 60 million, and The Best of Us at 20 million—80 million total for the two dramas combined—and is selling 10% of the shares."
Lu Mingze: "..."
The directors and stars in the industry: "..."
This math wasn't hard.
The estimated production and marketing cost of The Best of Us was 20 million. Chu An hadn't marked it up at all; it was basically a straight sale.
You Are My Glory went from 45 million to 60 million, a 33% markup!
That meant the shares they'd just gotten hadn't even been paid for yet, and their value had already increased by 33%.
And Lu Mingze...?
Where was he?
After looking everywhere, they finally found him in the bathroom.
There he was, clutching his ancient phone—like a Nokia 3310 from another universe—calculating numbers!
10% of 80 million... 8 million!?
Add the previous 4.5 million... 12.5 million!!
Not only did he have the filming costs covered, but also the marketing funds ready to go, plus selling his house...
Damn it! Director Lu was flying high.
Now the question: Would investors in the industry be interested in the 80 million price tag?
Of course! Even if it was just You Are My Glory priced at 80 million, they would invest.
They were professionals. After reading the script, they didn't need the talk about CCTV premieres or sky-high game sponsorships. The product placements alone could bring in 20 or 30 million.
There were so many of them. To capital, this wasn't a drama at all—it was basically a series of commercials wrapped in a story.
Investors only complained that Director Lu was too stingy with only 10% offered.
So the hungry capitalists turned their sights on the directors and stars who'd brought them in.
"Do you want to sell your shares?"
Some sold immediately, pocketing a third profit, and thanked Lu, promising to cameo or help even without shares.
Others wanted to wait, suspicious that Chu An, the sly merchant, had other motives, releasing shares little by little.
Turns out...
They were right!!
As the dinner with the investors was wrapping up, Chu An smiled brightly.
"Directors, big shots, beautiful people, bosses…"
"Don't you know some friends outside the industry? Like those in energy, mining, foreign trade shipping? If not, real estate works too!"
"Invite them to talk!"
"Tell them about Director Lu's two upcoming dramas."
"CCTV premiere! Joint production with the Aerospace Bureau!! 10 million sky-high sponsorship!! Starring Xu Shu (tentative)! Half the entertainment industry involved!!"
"Our goal is to create an unprecedented mega-production."
"Total production cost: 160 million!"
"And we can share 20% equity with everyone!"
Chu An looked innocent and harmless.
But the crowd was stunned.
Clink
A wine glass slipped from someone's fingers.
Thud!
Someone collapsed into their seat.
Gulp!
That was Director Lu choking back a sob before fainting.
"Calm down, calm down! We're all distinguished people; why so nervous?"
Chu An muttered to himself watching the chaos unfold.
Of course, he didn't forget the mascot:
"Come on, help Director Lu up."
...
Now do you know how those super-expensive, multi-hundred-million-dollar disasters in the industry come about?
It's not just money laundering.
Sure, money laundering exists, but it's not the main factor driving up production costs.
In reality, most sky-high production costs in another universe are hyped like this.
Chu An's already being decent — marking up 30 million to 160 million isn't too ridiculous.
In the other universe, after eight rounds of financing, a 10 million production could balloon to 700-800 million. That was normal.
Even when industry capital and hot foreign money couldn't keep inflating the bubble, they'd go public and rake in shareholders' money.
This is what's called film capitalisation!
It's also the main cause of bubbles in film investment.
Of course, if the real investment was 10 million and the film was actually made, then whether the books show 400 or 800 million, that would be honest.
Sometimes, the real goal isn't filming, but hyping. Early investors cash out quickly.
In the end, the project becomes a flop or a colossal failure.
Money laundering? If every big production was a laundering tool, Uncle Hat would have investigated long ago.
Getting off topic.
In short, this style of film capitalisation is only possible in this era—and only Chu An can pull it off.
And only a script like You Are My Glory, with so many strengths, allows for such operability.
Three days later, when the final share purchase funds hit Lu Mingze's account, aside from the 10 million sponsorship from Greenwild and a 15 million bank loan, 44.5 million in available funds lay quietly in his hands.
Yes, this 44.5 million was profit from selling shares in the two dramas, and he could spend it however he wanted.
Completely legal and above board!
At this moment, Director Lu was lying on his hospital bed in a patient gown, hooked up to oxygen.
He had been admitted three days ago—his fragile heart simply couldn't handle such a huge life upheaval.
The number 44.5 million kept echoing in his mind.
Thinking back to over ten days ago, when Tiandu had pushed him to the edge of a cliff...
44.5 million...
Thinking about You Are My Glory and The Best of Us...
44.5 million...
And thinking about Chu An—damn it, what the hell kind of person was that?
He couldn't make sense of it at all!
However, Director Lu grew more and more convinced of one thing:
Talent cannot be begged for.
Some people can turn a single script into 44.5 million real cash in just ten days.
And others, like himself, nearly fifty years old...
Still overflowing with talent, of course!
Alright, he didn't think he was worse than Chu An. While he couldn't compete with his business mind, at least as a director, he was still better than himself!
Thinking that, his mood lightened.
Just then, Chu An returned from the cafeteria and pushed open the door.
Chu An had just come to the hospital to relieve Malan's shift today. After wrapping up the financing, he'd thrown himself onto his hotel bed and slept for a whole day and night.
No one knew what was going through his mind after pulling this off.
In his previous life, surrounded and besieged by capital, he had also been stubborn and unyielding like Lu Mingze.
Chu An still remembered standing with people from a giant company at sunset, helpless and angry just like Lu Mingze.
He had gone even further than Lu Mingze, releasing all the management contracts of his artists.
"If I can't have the good stuff, no one else will!"
Sure, he was only about a hundred pounds, so he accepted defeat. But anyone wanting his artists or his company? Dream on!
Many might think of Nezha's line, "Whether I live or not doesn't matter; I just want you to die!"
Haha.
That didn't apply to Chu An because he didn't have the power to kill anyone.
That was just the petty revenge of a small man—harmless and insignificant.
After that, Chu An started from scratch, climbing step by step.
Yes, he originally had nothing to lose, so starting over scared him the least. He was most accustomed to the hardships of climbing up.
Until just before crossing over, though things had improved, he was still far from his peak.
Wasn't there regret or dissatisfaction?
Of course!
Sometimes Chu An thought, what if back then he had a project like You Are My Glory?
Or if he had someone to give him a hand, even just to accompany him for a while, it would have been great!
Placing the lunchbox by Director Lu's bedside, he said, "Awake? The doctor says you can be discharged. So when are we heading back to Ningyuan?"
That's why he chose to help Lu Mingze.
...
At this moment, Chu An had transformed back into that sunny, handsome young man—as if the greedy, beast-like person from before was someone else.
Lu Mingze looked at him in a daze.
Removing the oxygen tube and tossing it aside, the director sat up.
He didn't rush to eat, but said to Chu An, "Chu Ten, we should settle the accounts between us."
As he spoke, he slid a bank card across to Chu An.
"This is what you deserve."
(End of Chapter)
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