Li Qianqian followed Shao Yichen down the hallway leading to the office, her emotions oscillating wildly.
Though she had only been with the company for three months, during that time her work had exposed her to considerable news from the film industry.
—Including rumors about a certain rising director who was currently making waves.
It was said this young director had consecutively released two low-budget suspense films within half a year. Despite the poverty evident in everything from actors to equipment to sets, both had unfailingly become dark horses in their release periods, with box office returns exceeding ten million or even one hundred million yuan, and estimated profit rates above tenfold. After analyzing this person's films, industry insiders were astonished to discover that not only were the screenplays innovative, but even the promotional methods took unconventional approaches, breaking from conventional reasoning yet consistently achieving results beyond expectations—truly deserving the titles of directorial genius and marketing wizard.
Despite achieving such impressive results, this genius maintained an extremely low profile, rejecting all interviews and not accepting signing offers from any media companies. Not even a single photograph could be found, leaving the outside world unable to determine even the mysterious director's gender. Furthermore, according to insiders from the production team, this director had peculiar temperament and unusual behavior, particularly disliking when others praised their films, only being satisfied when flaws were pointed out—truly extraordinary.
Li Qianqian typically heard these industry rumors and promptly forgot them, not remembering the protagonist's name. But after hearing the new chairman's name today, it felt increasingly familiar. Unable to resist, she secretly searched the new boss's name online.
She discovered that this new boss's name matched that of the genius director perfectly!
The film industry was only so big—could there possibly be two people with identical names?! Absolutely impossible!
This new boss must be that director!!
This discovery thoroughly shocked Li Qianqian, leaving her both surprised and delighted.
She was pleased because seeing the new boss's tremendous capability had restored her confidence in the company's development. Having seen the industry's analysis of this director's rise to prominence, she naturally knew that although this director sometimes behaved unusually, they frequently employed brilliant strategies, even rescuing a film's reputation from desperate circumstances. The company's reputation couldn't possibly get worse anyway, so having such a boss who dared to break conventions might truly present an opportunity to rescue the company from rock bottom.
Her surprise stemmed from being unable to comprehend what this genius saw in this small company. Whether in terms of company scale, reputation, or employee quality, Morning Star Media Company clearly held no advantages—it could even be said that no media company had worse conditions.
Could the new boss simply enjoy charity work?
As Li Qianqian's thoughts wandered, the two arrived at the chairman's office located on the company's top floor.
Just after closing the door, Li Qianqian was eager to explain to the new boss how limited her experience was—but before she could speak, a notebook thrust in front of her interrupted her words.
"This is the screenplay our company will focus on in the second half of the year," Shao Yichen maintained her posture of offering the script, seemingly waiting for her to take it. "You can look at it now and then provide your feedback. Remember, don't force yourself to mention any merits, just express your most honest feelings."
Li Qianqian had mentally prepared what she wanted to say next, but the chairman's words stopped her, leaving her somewhat dazed. Taking the notebook, she realized what she was holding—this was a screenplay! The screenplay this genius director would be filming in the second half of the year!
The company's work tasks for the next half year would almost certainly revolve around this screenplay!
Not daring to be negligent, she hurriedly opened the screenplay.
Instantly, she was blinded by Shao Yichen's eye-searing chicken scratch handwriting.
—In this day and age, someone was still writing screenplays by hand instead of typing on a computer?!
And the handwriting was truly ugly, with crossings-out and revisions, circles and marks, making the already unattractive writing even harder to decipher.
Li Qianqian pushed up her glasses, her eyes beneath the lenses revealing a trace of bewilderment.
But then she recalled the director's reputation for genius in the industry and the rumors of their eccentric temperament. On second thought, perhaps the handwritten screenplay and the flamboyant handwriting were simply manifestations of genius eccentricity.
Working with a genius, she should prepare herself mentally and strive to adapt!
With this mindset, Li Qianqian opened the screenplay and began reading it carefully.
A quarter of an hour later.
Li Qianqian looked up, meeting Shao Yichen's patient gaze.
Her heart jumped.
This was bad—she had been so engrossed in the screenplay that she'd completely forgotten to engage with the boss sitting before her, leaving the chairman waiting for fifteen minutes!
But she secretly observed more carefully and found that the new boss didn't seem particularly angry.
Perhaps watching someone become immersed in one's screenplay was also quite satisfying.
Li Qianqian couldn't possibly know that during the time she was absorbed in the screenplay, Shao Yichen had secretly taken out her phone to open a game, played three ranked matches, drawn from the card pool twice, opened a gift package, and even obtained a limited-edition skin. Only when she noticed Li Qianqian was nearly at the end of the screenplay did she hurriedly put away her phone.
Her mind still filled with images of the beautiful limited-edition skin, she naturally wore a smile.
In good spirits, the new boss Shao Yichen asked: "How do you feel about the screenplay?"
Li Qianqian's purely objective assessment of the screenplay was actually quite high. In her view, though there were some issues with the writing style, the screenplay had interesting premises and distinctive characters. Despite being a comedy, it didn't abandon depth, instead offering both laughter and tears. Even if it couldn't be called a classic masterpiece, its quality was at least guaranteed. Moreover, this was almost certainly the boss's work, so it certainly deserved lavish praise.
But then she recalled the rumor that Shao Yichen disliked hearing praise, and suddenly feared that flattery might backfire...
After much consideration, Li Qianqian decided to speak honestly, mentioning both strengths and weaknesses while carefully observing the boss's expressions, adjusting her evaluation based on the reactions, and adapting as needed.
"I think the screenplay has brilliant concepts. Although it's a comedy film, it doesn't abandon the pursuit of depth—"
At this point, Li Qianqian glanced at Shao Yichen's expression and internally thought, not good.
The boss wasn't very satisfied!
She quickly changed tactics: "But as a comedy film, some content is too heavy and not very appealing. Also, if this film is released in six months, it should fall within the Spring Festival season. Some of the heavier content might not be well-received by entire families, and with many concurrent films, it might struggle to stand out."
Shao Yichen's expression brightened like clouds giving way to sunshine.
Li Qianqian breathed a sigh of relief.
That rumor about "the boss only liking to hear about flaws" was actually true!
Thinking this, her respect for Shao Yichen deepened.
Even after achieving such success with her films, she still focused on improving her own standards—truly something everyone should learn from.
She pressed her advantage: "Another regrettable aspect is that since the screenplay is handwritten, some of the writing is difficult to decipher. It would be better if it were formatted as a text document."
Then she noticed that Shao Yichen's expression changed again.
This time, however, it wasn't "happy" or "unhappy," but more like... embarrassment.
Li Qianqian: ...
A bad premonition rising in her heart, she quickly adjusted her approach: "The handwritten screenplay issue is actually easy to solve! I'll assign staff to convert this content into an electronic version!"
Only after hearing this did that hint of apparent shame vanish from Shao Yichen's face, returning to satisfaction.
She clapped her hands, full of ambition: "Good, in that case, we've decided to proceed with filming this screenplay!"
Li Qianqian: ?
I pointed out so many flaws, the boss seemed quite pleased, yet we're still filming this screenplay and insisting on releasing it during the Spring Festival season.
Is she playing with me?
A genius's thoughts are truly unfathomable.
Though Li Qianqian had a mountain of complaints in her heart, thinking of her increased salary instantly restored her equanimity.
Pushing aside her doubts, she continued her analysis: "To complete filming such a movie within six months is extremely tight. This means we need to finish casting this month—no, preferably within this week."
"Given that, boss, do you have any preferences regarding character selection? Do you already have actors in mind? If not, we can convene a casting meeting and make selections openly..."
Hearing this question, Shao Yichen froze.
Her previous lead actors had all been connections; she had never considered the issue of selecting actors before.
But she definitely couldn't hold open casting—she absolutely couldn't select an actor with both popularity and acting skills!
She hurriedly said: "Wait, of course I have preferred actors, but I've forgotten the names, let me look them up..."
She took out her phone and quickly searched for actors online, but accidentally clicked on a spam website that instantly bombarded her with eye-searing s.
With Shao Yichen's volume turned up, the trash ad's sound echoed throughout the office, making the atmosphere momentarily awkward.
"If you're a brother, come play True Journey to the West! One slash deals 9999 damage! Kill gods who block your path, slay Buddhas who stand in your way!"
Fortunately, the pop-up ad wasn't as outrageous as adult content, but even so, it was quite ridiculous.
This also happened to be riding the popularity of Journey to the West. An actor whose name Shao Yichen couldn't recall but who looked somewhat familiar was wielding the golden cudgel and wearing Sun Wukong's clothes, woodenly reciting his lines.
Remarkably, the ad copy did have something of the Victorious Fighting Buddha's flavor.
Looking at this comical web game , Shao Yichen had a flash of inspiration.
Wasn't this type of washed-up, vaguely familiar actor who lacked representative works demonstrating actual acting skills perfect for the role of Old Tang in this comedy film?
She quickly recovered from the embarrassment of opening the spam ad and took control of the situation, confidently showing the trash to Li Qianqian and asking with an air of complete justification: "What do you think?"
Li Qianqian: "...Huh?"
Shao Yichen asserted rightfully: "I mean, what do you think of this actor?"
"He's the actor I believe is most suitable for the lead role!"
Author's Note: First update!
Thank you to the little angels who cast sovereign votes or watered with nutrient solution during the period from 2020-09-05 19:08:15 to 2020-09-06 12:00:47~
Thanks to the little angels who watered with nutrient solution: 3292221, A Promise Worth a Thousand Gold 10 bottles; Making a Little Heart 2 bottles; Ali, gaial, Laugh Small Words, Little Jing, Doraemon 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!