Xu Pingqiu looked at Jiang Yue standing in front of him.
The young man stood with his spine perfectly straight.
His eyes were clear, and his composure was steady.
It was completely impossible to tell that just moments ago, he had been lying on the floor, tracing a word stroke by stroke with his finger with absolute obsession.
Xu Pingqiu leaned back against his chair and turned to Zhao Gang.
“Go get the contract.”
He tapped his finger lightly against the table.
“The fourth male lead, Chu Yan. Put him on the Special Starring tier. Thirty thousand yuan per episode.”
Zhao Gang snapped his head up.
Special Starring tier.
Thirty thousand per episode.
《The Grand Game》 currently had forty-five finalized episodes, and Chu Yan's role was expected to span twenty-five episodes.
That was a total of seven hundred and fifty thousand yuan.
For a newcomer who had no agency, no representative works, and wasn't even a drama school graduate, this figure was somewhat absurd.
“Director Xu.”
Zhao Gang lowered his voice and took half a step forward.
“Isn't the pay a bit too high? Xinghui invested quite a lot to secure the third male lead for Zhang Yu. Giving a newcomer such high treatment might make it hard to justify to the investors.”
The third male lead, Lin Zhaonan, was a very popular character in the protagonist's camp.
Born of a noble family, carrying a righteous heart, he was childhood friends with the wronged protagonist, helping him navigate the imperial court along the way.
A role like this, if played well, would quickly attract fans and had heavy screentime. It was a guaranteed win for whoever got it.
Xu Pingqiu's face darkened, and he cut him off directly.
“Xinghui invested to make money, not to tell me how to cast.”
“They want the third male lead? As long as Zhang Yu is passable, they can have it.”
“But for the role of Chu Yan, I call the shots.”
“If there's an issue, have Wang Jin call me directly.”
Zhao Gang shut his mouth immediately, picked up his tablet, and turned to go print the contract.
In this crew, Xu Pingqiu was the law.
Jiang Yue stood in place. Hearing them finalize the pay, his face showed no fluctuation, and he merely nodded slightly.
“You'll join the crew in over a month. The filming location is in Hengcheng.”
Xu Pingqiu picked up his thermos, his gaze never leaving Jiang Yue.
“For the next few dozen days, keep yourself in the state you were in just now.”
“Understood. Thank you for your guidance, Director Xu.”
Half an hour later.
Having signed the papers, Jiang Yue walked out of the Blue Ocean Hotel with his copy of the contract.
The afternoon sun was a bit glaring.
He stuffed the contract into his backpack. He had barely taken two steps when the light blue screen in the bottom right corner of his vision began to refresh frantically.
【Detected Xu Pingqiu's shock and recognition, Prestige points +100】
【Detected Zhao Gang's amazement, Prestige points +50】
【Current Prestige points: 1325】
Jiang Yue paused in his tracks.
In less than an hour, the one thousand prestige points he had spent on the High-Tier Draw had all been earned back, and even doubled.
The entertainment industry was indeed a sacred land for farming points.
Slinging his backpack over one shoulder, Jiang Yue turned and walked toward the subway station.
Over the next few dozen days, he practically "went off the grid" from the entertainment industry.
Donghai University, the computer lab of the School of Computer Science.
The clattering of keyboards merged into a single hum.
Jiang Yue sat at the computer in the furthest corner, lines of code scrolling rapidly across his screen.
The secondary screen on the left showed CNKI, filled with dense English literature.
With less than a week left before joining the crew, he had to rush out the first draft of his graduation thesis.
“Brother Yue.”
Lu Ming squeezed past from behind with a bowl of instant noodles and pulled out a chair to sit down.
He glanced at the title on Jiang Yue's screen and almost choked on his soup.
“《A Deep Learning Emotion Recognition Model Based on Local Facial Micro-Expression Capture》?”
Lu Ming read it out, his expression turning very odd.
“Why the hell are you writing this? Didn't the seniors from previous years all write things like online store systems or inventory management?”
Jiang Yue typed the final semicolon and hit run.
A program window popped up, capturing the twitching muscle around Lu Ming's eye caused by his surprise.
“I got some inspiration from my part-time job on set,” he replied casually.
With the purple-tier trait 【Micro-Expression Master】 as his foundation, he was indeed more familiar with facial muscle analysis than many of his professors.
By breaking down the instinctual reactions of the trait into algorithmic logic, this paper could be considered a clever shortcut.
“When is your show actually going to air?”
Chen Haotian walked over as well. He happened to be passing by and came in to say hello, holding a thick stack of postgraduate entrance exam prep materials.
“It's been two months, and there hasn't been a single peep.”
“Soon.”
Jiang Yue glanced at his phone.
Li Cheng had just sent him a message saying the show had passed censorship and was currently being scheduled for release.
An episodic detective web drama like 《Manhunt》 was edited as it was filmed.
Although he had only filmed for a single day, the post-production, dubbing, and censorship process for the entire unit had still taken nearly three months.
At the same time.
Xinghui Entertainment Headquarters.
Manager's office.
Wang Jin hung up the phone, unable to suppress the smile on his face.
Zhang Yu sat on the opposite sofa, playing with a lighter, still looking a bit impatient.
“Brother Wang, the table read is tomorrow. Is the third male lead in 《The Grand Game》 secured or not?”
“What's the rush?”
Wang Jin opened a drawer, pulled out a schedule, and tossed it onto the table.
“The character is Lin Zhaonan. The setup is likeable, and the role is heavy. It'll be your springboard to aim for awards next year.”
He lit a cigarette and took a slow drag.
“Although Xu Pingqiu didn't give me any face, he ultimately relented for the sake of the investment.”
“Pack your bags over the next two days and get ready to go to Hengcheng.”
Zhang Yu's hanging heart finally settled, and he couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.
“Li Cheng didn't know what was good for him and kicked me out of 《Manhunt》. Now that I've joined a major production like 《The Grand Game》, his crappy web drama is probably still waiting in line to go online. I'll see who gets slapped in the face then.”
Wang Jin didn't reply, chalking it up to youthful competitiveness.
He didn't care about Li Cheng or that young man at all.
In his eyes, this was merely a minor, harmless friction in his career.
In a circle built on capital and connections, an unrepresented amateur couldn't make any waves.
The only thing he didn't know was that what Xu Pingqiu had relented on was merely a replaceable third male lead.
Meanwhile, the toughest and most brilliant piece of the pie had long been quietly snatched away by the young man he looked down on.
Night fell.
Donghai University dormitory.
Jiang Yue uploaded his first draft and let out a long breath.
His phone vibrated. It was a message from the Assistant Director, Zhao Gang.
【Teacher Jiang, the high-speed train to Hengcheng is tomorrow at ten in the morning. Your ticket has been booked. The hotel address and the table read schedule have also been sent to your email. Please check them.】
Jiang Yue replied with a “Received.”
He shut down his computer and began to pack his bags.
A few changes of clothes, a laptop, and a professional tool bag containing screwdrivers and diagnostic tools.
Lu Ming watched him stuff the tool bag into his suitcase, his eye twitching.
“Brother Yue, are you going to act, or are you going to be the crew's IT support?”
Jiang Yue zipped up the bag and smiled.
“Better safe than sorry.”
The next day, at the high-speed railway station.
Wearing a baseball cap and carrying his backpack, Jiang Yue went through ticket control and boarded the train.
What he didn't know was that in the VIP waiting room, Zhang Yu, wearing sunglasses, was boarding the very same train, flanked by a crowd of assistants and bodyguards.
At the same time.
Penguin Video Platform Headquarters.
The operations director looked at the final cut report of 《Manhunt》 in his hands, along with the attached internal screening feedback, his expression slightly peculiar.
Because the feedback for this drama was incredibly consistent.
“Highly recommend increasing promotional resources!”
“The actor playing Ghost has exceptionally strong screen presence and massive potential to go viral!”
Rate on N.U.
