Luo Hao said he would treat Wen Ying to dinner and also invited the female lead who had just finished filming.
The small restaurant near the crew was lively and bustling. Luo Hao went to negotiate with the proprietress and secured a small private room.
The tables and chairs were old and worn, but this was already a high-standard treat. Ordinary minor actors would not bear to eat here.
The female lead looked down on such a place, but Wen Ying had great fame in the industry. The female lead wanted to get closer to her. Who knew if Shui Mingyue’s drama would explode after airing? It would be great if she could play the female lead in Wen Ying’s next script.
With this in mind, the female lead put on no airs in front of Wen Ying and kept smiling while chatting with her.
Wen Ying dealt with the beautiful young lady’s enthusiasm while observing Luo Hao’s words and actions.
Wen Ying already viewed Luo Hao with some preconceived bias.
After watching for a long time without spotting anything unusual, Wen Ying wondered if she should play the naive sweet girl again.
Shui Mingyue’s adaptation rights were valuable relative to other authors. Currently, Shui Mingyue’s works had not yet achieved success in film and TV adaptations. The two TV dramas Wen Ying scripted had been big hits. The adaptation rights for “Teen Idol” and “Seeking Yong” had more market value than Shui Mingyue’s.
If Luo Hao really wanted to scam adaptation rights from Shui Mingyue, why not try to scam her instead?
During dinner, Wen Ying deliberately let her silly side show, proactively revealing her intention to sell rights while acting as if she viewed money as dirt, “The price is secondary. It mainly depends on the final product.”
Shui Mingyue agreed strongly, “I think the same as you. Anyway, I do not plan to rely on selling adaptation rights to make a living. Novel royalties are enough to earn money.”
Wen Ying was pretending to be naive and sweet. Shui Mingyue was genuine. She truly did not care much about revenue from selling film and TV adaptation rights. Shui Mingyue even cited the famous wuxia master Mr. Jin as an example, saying that in 1999, he transferred TV adaptation rights for one of his novels to CCTV for just one yuan.
“Mr. Jin only made one request: he hoped CCTV could film his book with the quality of the Four Great Classics.”
Shui Mingyue’s tone held longing.
If Mr. Jin’s adaptation rights were sold at market price, how many tens of thousands of “one yuan” would that be?
Though Shui Mingyue’s wealth was not comparable to Mr. Jin’s, she already showed signs of emulating his actions.
Wen Ying was starting to get a headache.
After all, Wen Ying’s indifference to money was an act. Shui Mingyue’s probably was real.
“I do not care much about the sale price either, but selling adaptation rights for one yuan is too cheap. After all, I am not Mr. Jin. I fear a film company buying my book’s rights for one yuan would not cherish it.”
Wen Ying had to emphasise the difference between herself and Mr. Jin, as well as the weight of “CCTV”.
Shui Mingyue smiled, “I did not say sell for just one yuan. It was just an analogy.”
While playing naive and sweet, Wen Ying kept a close eye on Luo Hao’s reactions.
Wen Ying thought Luo Hao would be tempted, but he did not interject from start to finish. Instead, the female lead frequently chimed in. Hearing Wen Ying did not care how much her works’ adaptation rights sold for, the female lead wished she could immediately introduce a film company to Wen Ying.
Wen Ying: … Heart tired.
The female lead was beautiful. Wen Ying was not ugly either.
Yet Luo Hao’s gaze stayed on Shui Mingyue the whole time.
Perhaps Wen Ying’s stare was too direct. Luo Hao smiled embarrassedly, “I did not read many books. I do not understand what you are talking about, so I will not give random advice.”
Though he could not follow Wen Ying and Shui Mingyue’s conversation, Luo Hao’s expression said “cultured people are amazing”.
Shui Mingyue said softly, “This has nothing to do with reading many books. Your comprehension is very strong.”
Shui Mingyue’s approval added more sparkle to Luo Hao.
The two had not known each other long but already had a rapport others could not insert into.
Wen Ying’s naive sweet act failed. She silently ate the dishes on the table.
After dinner, Wen Ying played at the crew all day. With her searchlight-like gaze, she spotted nothing wrong with Luo Hao. Instead, the female lead misunderstood, thinking Wen Ying was interested in Luo Hao.
“Luo Hao often asks Teacher Mingyue for script advice. Teacher Mingyue praises his insight. The whole crew knows they are good friends.”
The female lead wanted to please Wen Ying without offending Shui Mingyue, so she proactively reminded Wen Ying.
If Wen Ying, knowing Luo Hao liked Shui Mingyue, still did something, the female lead would not care.
“No, you misunderstood. I think Luo Hao somewhat fits a role in my book. That is why I keep looking at him.”
The female lead’s eyes lit up, “Does Teacher Xiao Yu have a new project to film?”
Wen Ying said vaguely, “I have the idea, but it is not approved yet.”
The female lead wanted more details. Wen Ying glanced at her watch and said she had to go, “I will tell Mingyue. That is enough for today. I will come play again tomorrow.”
The female lead smiled and nodded, “If you come, Teacher Mingyue will be happy, and our director will too.”
This was Wen Ying’s first visit today. The director was reserved and did not chat with her. If Wen Ying came again tomorrow, the director would likely drop the reserve.
Previously, besides publisher promotions, Wen Ying spent time in school classes. Industry people had no way to meet her.
Now Wen Ying proactively visiting the set gave industry people an opportunity. Everyone wanted to know her.
In others’ eyes, Zhang Guangzhen was a hot commodity. Wen Ying was too.
Actors wanted to star in Wen Ying’s scripts. Directors felt the same.
Wen Ying visited the crew for two consecutive days. Not only did she find nothing wrong with Luo Hao, she spotted many of his strengths.
The man had not read many books, but his emotional intelligence was quite high.
Moreover, with ambiguous feelings towards Shui Mingyue, he ignored other women in the crew.
Yet in the previous life, Luo Hao was exposed as a promiscuous playboy, not only cheating and sleeping with fans but also paying for call girls.
Could it be the entertainment industry’s big dye vat turned him bad?
…
Yuan Fenghui thought it over. From Tianjiao director’s standpoint, signing a profit-sharing contract with the author was not worthwhile. Tianjiao did not lack money for rights now. Why leave a troublesome tail for the future?
But purely as Wen Ying’s agent, profit-sharing maximised protection for Wen Ying’s interests.
Yuan Fenghui pondered two days and called Wen Ying to the company.
“If signing profit-sharing, what ratio do you want?”
Wen Ying looked wary, “Before answering, I need to confirm: Teacher Yuan, are you my agent now or Tianjiao director?”
“Is there a difference? As your agent I will not cheat you. As Tianjiao director I will not either… Have you forgotten you are a Tianjiao shareholder? Conceding to Tianjiao is conceding to yourself.”
Yuan Fenghui made sense, but Wen Ying shook her head, “Big difference. Conceding to Tianjiao means most benefits go to other shareholders. Better I take more as original author first.”
“You really did not choose the wrong major.”
Seeing the little fox hard to fool, Yuan Fenghui changed tack, “How about 5%? For ‘Teen Idol’ film and TV adaptation rights, whether TV or movie, you get 5% of revenue.”
“I need to think.”
Wen Ying looked unhappy. Yuan Fenghui wondered, “Who upset you?”
“No one. It is just… let us say a friend of mine likes a guy. I heard the guy is quite a playboy, but I have no evidence.”
Yuan Fenghui tapped the table, “Using elimination, this friend is not you, right?”
“Of course not!”
“Li Mengjiao?”
“No.”
“Then not Zhang Yangning either. I know. The friend is Shui Mingyue! No wonder you kept running to her crew these two days.”
Yuan Fenghui did not know what to say, “Playboy or not, young girls like handsome guys. Handsome guys face many temptations. You cannot expect them all to be as steadfast as Xie Qian. Playboy guys have charm. Shui Mingyue dating a few times will learn to spot them.”
As long as it was not Wen Ying, Li Mengjiao, or Zhang Yangning falling for a playboy carrot, Yuan Fenghui did not want to meddle.
Yuan Fenghui herself would not interfere and advised Wen Ying not to.
Wen Ying had no intention of meddling in Shui Mingyue’s romances.
As Yuan Fenghui said, girls’ judgment comes from experience.
The key was Shui Mingyue’s romance not only likely to hurt her emotionally but with high probability lead to her vanishing from the scene!
A writer stopping writing might simply not want to write anymore.
Or perhaps… want to but cannot.
“You fear she gets more than just emotional scam? Simple. That Luo guy, what was his name? Oh, Luo Hao. He is a performance major student, right? I will send someone to his school to inquire about him.”
If truly a scumbag, he would not scam only Shui Mingyue. There must be other victims.
Wen Ying trusted Yuan Fenghui’s efficiency. Her expression brightened immediately.
“Thank you, Teacher Yuan.”
“Do not thank yet. Back to the adaptation rights sharing ratio.”
“Not good. Public is public, private is private. Not a good negotiation time now.”
Yuan Fenghui laughed in anger, pointing at the office door, “Not even crossed the river yet and you want to dismantle the bridge. Fine, get out. I do not want to see you now.”
Wen Ying obediently left, even thoughtfully closing the door for Yuan Fenghui.
When Wen Ying called Xie Qian, she shared her worries. As half-insider now, she could not see clearly and needed Xie Qian’s guidance.
Xie Qian did not call her nosy like Yuan Fenghui. Instead, he seriously asked, “What do you think Luo Hao would scam from Shui Mingyue? Directly money?”
Bestselling authors seemed quite wealthy.
Wen Ying earned over ten million a year. Shui Mingyue at least several million.
For an entertainment newcomer, Shui Mingyue was indeed well-off.
Wen Ying denied Xie Qian’s idea, “Luo Hao probably wants fame. Scamming money is not worthwhile for him. If he becomes famous, he will have endless money later. So for him, the most valuable thing on Shui Mingyue is probably her works’ adaptation rights… Of course, this is just my guess. Perhaps Luo Hao simply wants close relations with Shui Mingyue for future male lead roles in her adaptations.”
On the phone, Xie Qian paused three seconds and gave Wen Ying a decisive solution, “Then buy all Shui Mingyue’s works’ adaptation rights. Without those, we can see if Luo Hao has ulterior motives.”
Wen Ying: …!
“Who buys? Shui Mingyue has many books. Over a million each. Taking all her novels’ rights would cost ten or twenty million!”
Wen Ying’s voice rose two tones.
“Of course Jiaxin buys.”
Over the phone, Xie Qian calmly soothed Wen Ying’s anxiety, “You said Shui Mingyue’s works are good with great adaptation prospects. I trust your judgment.”
Problems solvable with money are not problems!
Ten or twenty million to buy all Shui Mingyue’s works’ rights. No need every one to profit. As long as one drama succeeds, it covers costs.
No matter how Xie Qian looked, it was a sure-win deal.
Moreover, it solved his hamster’s worry. Huge win!
