Chapter 52: Chapter 51 Investment and Return

The project was found, but the work still had to be done.

To adapt a novel into a television drama, the first thing was to contact the author to purchase the rights.

For any novelist, that was like a blessing from heaven.

Through the novel publishing platform, Chen Pingsheng got in touch with the author of Hua Qiangu, who learned that his work was about to be adapted into a television series.

The author was even more stupefied than he was.

He almost didn’t make it through the conversation.

Overwhelmed with joy, he didn’t dare to inquire about the price, fearing that asking for too much could lead to a rejection.

Actually, the life of a novelist is quite tough.

Only one in a ten thousand makes it big; the norm is not achieving success.

Being adapted into a television series like this, that really was a stroke of luck.

Once the series became a hit, all of the author’s other novels would attract attention from the industry.

It could be said that he would become famous overnight.

Chen Pingsheng invited him to Capital City for a direct discussion, firstly, because with such a high return on investment, price was not an issue.

Secondly, adapting a novel involved a great deal of professionalism.

Having the author himself as the scriptwriter, Chen Pingsheng felt, could better ensure the authenticity of the script.

Zhao Liying was relieved to hear that he was already making contact.

After all, she was very optimistic about this script, the roles in Hua Qiangu.

There was also a gap in the market.

This kind of adaptation was very likely to be successful, it’s just that she hadn’t expected it to become as big as it did.

“Liying, I’m planning to invest a hundred million in this series. After you finish with Lu Zhen, you can go straight to this one,” he said.

A hundred million, that was an S＋ project.

It belonged to the top-tier resources in the industry, but while he had his leading lady, the other roles were still undecided.

They could decide the cast after Yang Jiancheng and the novelist arrived.

With so many female roles inside, Chen Pingsheng thought privately that if he wanted to exploit them,

he could probably sleep from the beginning to the end of the year.

From the height of yang energy to the peak of yin energy.

In the entertainment industry, having money really meant sleeping with whoever you wanted.

Unfortunately, that was not what he was here for; everything was aimed at making money.

To build up Tengying Entertainment, perhaps in the future, even going public.

If he turned out to be the founder of a public company, that would feel quite good, indeed.

However, after pouring a hundred million into this, his balance would only be a little over thirty million left; major projects were definitely out of reach.

He could still get involved in a few smaller ones.

Chen Pingsheng prepared the contract and had Zhao Liying sign it first.

With this, Tengying Entertainment formally had its first artist under contract.

At noon, the two of them went down to Guomao to have lunch together.

After Yang Jiancheng arrived, he discussed with him the investment in Hua Qiangu. Yang Jiancheng was the director he knew best, and naturally, he considered his acquaintances first for such great projects.

An investment project of over a hundred million was not on the same level as his previous two dramas.

It posed a great challenge, but if it were successfully produced,

he would be firmly established in the directors’ circle.

Chen Pingsheng still refrained from participating in any part of the scriptwriting or shooting.

Professional matters still had to be handled by professionals.

On the first day of Tengying’s opening, apart from signing Zhao Liying,

he also managed to bring Yang Jiancheng on board.

Now that he had a director and an artist, he still needed a capable agent and an operations team.

Those weren’t urgent; generally, agents were responsible for finding projects, endorsements, and pulling in various resources for actors.

As Tengying produced and filmed its own projects, there was temporarily no need for them.

As for the operations team, that could wait until Zhao truly became a big star.

A major star always needed a group of people serving behind the scenes,

from makeup to controlling public opinion, there would be dedicated personnel responsible for each aspect.

The meal solidified Tengying Entertainment’s future development direction in the entertainment industry.

Chen Pingsheng finally finished his day’s work at four in the afternoon.

He also spent an hour cleaning up; it seemed necessary to hire a secretary dedicated to cleaning.

On his way back, he turned on the carpool app again.

Whether it was luck or something else, he once again picked up Bai Xin. The first thing the girl said when she got in the car was,

“Uncle, you weren’t specifically waiting for me, were you?”

“What are you thinking about? I just finished work and I’m heading home, so I’m taking an order along the way.”

“Uncle, you get off work quite early.”

Bai Xin’s face was still a bit dirty. An actress of her level couldn’t even dream of a professional makeup artist.

Being able to have someone randomly apply some makeup on the set was already considered good fortune.

“If I don’t finish work early, how can I enjoy life!” Chen Pingsheng laughed with a ‘hehe’.

Bai Xin’s phone rang, someone sent her a video.

“Sister Wu.”

“Bai Xin, you’re taking a taxi home, right? Tomorrow there’s a scene where we play brothel women, let’s go together?”

“Brothel? Doesn’t that mean there will be intimate scenes?”

“What are you thinking? With our looks, do we even get intimate scenes? We’ll just wear a bellyband for a brief appearance before getting cut, four hundred a day, are you coming or not?”

Bai Xin’s eyes lit up, “Of course, save a spot for me.”

The two quickly made arrangements. It was obvious the other person was also a small extra, but her voice sounded so familiar.

Chen Pingsheng asked, “The Sister Wu you called, she wouldn’t happen to have the surname Song, would she?”

“How did you know?”

Bai Xin asked curiously, “Song Wu is my senior at school, and we met running as extras. Uncle, you wouldn’t know her, would you?”

It was more than just knowing her; she was none other than his sister-in-law.

After Song Yanxi bought her a BMW, she scarcely got involved in Wu’s affairs anymore.

The Song Wu of the past was as proud as an old hen.

After he entered the entertainment industry, he didn’t concern himself with her anymore, and now that he had started Tengying Entertainment, she was even less informed.

“I guess you could say we know each other.”

“What do you mean, ‘guess’? Uncle, you seem to have quite the network, huh?”

“Hehe, I used to be an extra too, so it’s pretty normal to know a few group actors.”

“You’ve been an extra before?”

Bai Xin suddenly became interested and leaned in closer to ask him about it.

These entertainment industry girls had a youthfulness that was genuine, and their beauty was only slightly less than that of his wife’s.

Chen Pingsheng shared some of his old stories with her—back then, even Zhao Liying was just an extra.

She was simply extremely dedicated to her work.

There are two widely recognized inspirational idols in the entertainment industry: one is Bao Qiang.

A true rags-to-riches story.

The other is now Liying; although she had not yet become famous,

she had already become an idol for many extras.

Bai Xin also lived in Shijingshan, and when she got off, she asked, “Uncle, are you going to go to the second ring road tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s add each other on WeChat then, contact me when I’m about to go.”

“Alright.”

An hour’s ride, accompanying a young girl wasn’t bad.

Chen Pingsheng exchanged WeChat contacts with her; he hadn’t changed his WeChat name in a long time.

It was still “Please Work Hard For The Rest Of Your Life,” with a profile picture of a family of three.

Happy and warm.

“Uncle, so you’re married?”

“What, if I weren’t married, would you consider it?”

“Pfft, I’m going to be a big star in the future. Uncle, you’re really nice.”

“Yeah, right…” Chen Pingsheng chuckled as he drove away, and Bai Xin also hummed and walked away in good spirits. The young girl was quite optimistic.