Chapter 572: Chapter 303: I Don’t Play With Fools, But If It’s You…_2
She felt that Xu Qingyan’s words made a lot of sense, but she just couldn’t bring herself to make a choice.
“Then I… What should I do?”
At the dining table, the fire Xu Qingyan was about to stoke subsided when he heard her question asked with a sobbing tone. Forget it, it’s already silly enough to give the child up.
Don’t destroy the last straw, that would really be a heinous crime.
After thinking for a bit, he said, “Let’s think about it more carefully, what you said is right, after all, he is your father. Don’t provoke him too much, there’s still plenty of time, so take your time to think about it.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Jinyue nodded.
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“Okay.”
In the end, perhaps feeling that it wasn’t very polite to always be taking but never giving, Shen Jinyue added, “Xu Qingyan, you’re really kind.”
Xu Qingyan’s eyelids twitched slightly, struggling to keep his composure. What’s wrong with her? She gives him money, and it’s not a small sum; she’s counting the money for him even after being sold.
She’s stupid to the extreme!
“Alright, you don’t need to say so much, we are friends after all,” Xu Qingyan said somewhat awkwardly, waving his hand, “Just give me a call if you need anything.”
“Yeah! We’re good friends!” Shen Jinyue smiled without a care in the world.
In fact, she had her own schemes. Everyone called her foolish, but she didn’t think she was foolish at all—she was as cunning as they come, and she only trusted Xu Qingyan.
Others might deceive her, but Xu Qingyan definitely wouldn’t.
Speaking of which, her judgement in people was pretty accurate. Xu Qingyan’s moral bottom line wasn’t high, but he would generally try his best to fulfill the things he promised to others.
Mainly because Xu Qingyan didn’t want to deceive a fool in the first place; she was so innocently stupid…
In any case, the money was successfully transferred to her account, and she didn’t even ask for an IOU or anything of the sort. This didn’t mean she was stupid; to Xu Qingyan, the lack of a written note meant he owed her even more.
Just as Xu Qingyan could glance at her and know what she wanted to say, Shen Jinyue, no matter how slow, had after all this time also come to understand Xu Qingyan a little.
Back at the film set, Xu Qingyan threw himself back into the hustle of his work.
He directly put the matter of Shen Jinyue out of mind, after all, worrying was of no use; the decision still rested with Shen Jinyue herself. Perhaps she would come to a realization one of these days, and that would be that.
After all, based on his understanding of Shen Jinyue, he guessed she had probably never done anything too rebellious, if you counted posting covers online or appearing in a romance reality show.
To Xu Qingyan, these activities were simply child’s play.
In mid-July, Wei Wufeng invited Xu Qingyan to review a film together; the procedures were already in place. Including Wei Wufeng himself, who had watched it several times, this would be the last one.
A group of people found a screening room and huddled together to watch “Underground Transit Station” from start to finish.
This film was a war scenario comedy, a unique existence no matter where it was put. The background took place during the outbreak of a full-scale war in an enemy-occupied area, revolving around the Ding Xiang Building, where special operations were conducted behind enemy lines.
Every character in the film, including the shopkeeper and head chef of the Ding Xiang Building, was well fleshed out, despising the Japanese and puppet soldiers. But when under someone’s roof, one has no choice but to bow one’s head.
Xu Qingyan didn’t make too many changes to “Underground Transit Station,” as the original film, although a comedy, had a background and historical references that were true to life.
In other words, although it was a comedy, it was indeed made with the seriousness of a drama.
The depiction of some details in the film was also quite realistic. For example, after 1943, the other side was already running short on supplies. Many elderly people and children entered the battlefield, and were sent to the least important frontlines.
According to some elderly recollections, at that time, you could hear the enemy child soldiers cry all night long. The defeat was irreversible, making it clear they were running out of food and manpower.
Not everyone in the enemy country was a fool either, all cut from the same cloth.
In the latter part of the war, one of the most bizarre things happened: one of our soldiers traded chicken eggs for a type 38 rifle cap from one of those losers.
They weren’t seasoned troops, just conscripted soldiers, even bartering in the market? They didn’t even shoot their guns, just hid in bunkers and shouting a couple of times was enough to justify their poor-quality rations.
This was also portrayed in the drama.
For instance, during that time, there was rampant inflation; even traitors worried about getting a piece of meat to eat. This set the stage for later epic scenes, the largest-scale battle, “The Pheasant Battle.”
To rescue Wen Ruoming, who was being watched by the investigation team, the protagonist Shui Gen told one of the two leading forces among the puppet troops, the security brigade, that he had snagged two pheasants.
For the brigade leader Huang Jinbiao, this was an irresistible temptation; after all, who could refuse the game of a pheasant from a restaurant, especially in days when luxuries were scarce?
Meanwhile, they intentionally let the rival faction of the puppet army’s surveillance team, led by Jia Gui’s three men, catch a whiff of the pine chicken’s aroma. The plan was to drive a wedge between the two factions, causing internal conflict, so they could seize the opportunity to rescue Wen Ruoming.
In the courtyard, the leader of the surveillance team, Jia Gui, was drinking er guo tou, but his snack was pickled vegetables.
“Put it down.”
Waiter: “Commander Jia, that won’t do, I still need to hurry over to the elegant room.”
Jia Gui, with a sidelong glance: “That’s too much trouble, just leave it there.”
When Huang Jinbiao, who was in the room, learned that his pine chicken had been intercepted, his irritation was irrepressible. Were the pickled vegetables fuming with anger, and the pine chicken that was almost in his mouth now gone?
Huang Jinbiao: “Gone? Who is the grand dame culprit?”
Shui Gen waved his hands, explaining, “It’s not a grand dame.”
Hearing this, Huang Jinbiao wore a defiant look, “Then it will be easy to handle, here in Anqiu City, as long as they are from the Xia country, I dare to beat anyone! Except for eunuchs.”
After learning it was Jia Gui, Huang Jinbiao led his men out in single file, ready to start a fight.
Jia Gui: “Today, I have urgent official business to attend to, if you cause me any delay…”
Huang Jinbiao: “Alright, alright, today your most urgent official business is to take this beating!”
As he spoke, Huang Jinbiao’s men didn’t bother with explanations and dragged Jia Gui and his lackeys to the side for a ruthless beating. Wen Ruoming, who had been confined in the room, came out, only to be mistaken for a bystander enjoying the commotion.
Huang Jinbiao glanced at him impatiently, “What are you looking at, scram!”
Wen Ruoming was overjoyed, “That’s what you said.”
With that, he lowered his head and hurried off.
A feeble roar came from the beating pile, Jia Gui: “Hey! Keep an eye on that old man! He is a criminal!”
Laughter erupted in the projection room, even though some of them had seen the scene before. Watching it again, they still found it amusing each time.
“Where did you find these actors? Their images are spot on.” Wei Wufeng chuckled.
Xu Qingyan didn’t respond and continued to watch the screen. Aside from the soul of the character, Jia Gui, he hadn’t meddled with casting the other actors.
“Just picked them from the masses of resumes that came in during casting, happened to choose the right ones.”
His way of selecting was not quite like others. He already had templates in mind. Hence, his selection process was highly efficient, discarding those whose images didn’t fit or those without acting skills.
After much choosing, the actor for Jia Gui was finalized.
…
Time flew, it was August.
Lately, Xu Qingyan was in high spirits; the money from Shen Jinyue truly had saved his life. Uh… half a life, as he had already prepared himself to face failure.
He could afford to lose twice before burning through a year’s worth of efforts.
That’s the advantage of farming—you keep building up from lyrics, to singers, and then to screenwriters. Along the way, you accumulate wealth, connections, and the funds you can mobilize.
Now, a year has passed, and he has reached a terrifying figure.
Most people only knew about Xu Qingyan’s “The Legend of Martial Arts,” but some, like Wei Wufeng’s own father, the famous director Wei Darui, and Luo Yuexiu, were aware of more.
Even Lin Chuan had heard about Xu Qingyan’s audacious move of launching three dramas at the same time.
Of course, this kind of thing wasn’t really worth talking about. The film and television industry is full of outrageous stories anyone with enough daring could pull off almost anything.
Some actors after becoming overnight sensations, accept almost every role offered to them, juggling four to five different dramas at the same time. Or consider a director who is simultaneously directing a movie and hosting an evening gala.
The bolder you are, the longer your bank account balance.
In the entertainment industry, such deeds are just a drop in the ocean, provided Xu Qingyan wasn’t a novice. Currently, most people were skeptical about his move.
After all, history has shown that actors juggling multiple projects eventually faded away, becoming mere gossip fodder for others.
During a casual phone chat, Wei Darui expressed his surprise, “He has money again, where did he get the funding from?”