Things progressed much more smoothly than Han Tang had anticipated.
No, to be more precise, it progressed with bizarre smoothness.
Ask for an exorbitant price and settle for a fraction. This was Han Tang’s strategy.
He had planned to make an unreasonable demand first, such as directly demanding that Shen Kui be made the male lead as a condition for his investment. Knowing that Su Li would never agree, he would then take a step back.
Investing a massive amount of money just in exchange for an audition opportunity was not too much to ask, right? Just a chance to audition in exchange for a huge investment. Even if it failed, they could always eliminate him later. He believed Su Li would not refuse.
Furthermore, he believed that with the protagonist shou’s ability, he would definitely win everyone’s admiration just as described in the original novel!
Yet he never expected that the other person would agree without a second thought.
Han Tang: “…”
While feeling relieved, Han Tang was also extremely puzzled.
He remembered that the book described Su Li as someone extremely persistent and obsessive regarding his work. Ever since the initial period when he first entered the industry and gained creative control, he had almost never made any concessions regarding his works because of capital. Especially not for “The World”, a drama that Su Li regarded as his absolute white moonlight!
Why did Su Li agree the moment he opened his mouth?
Han Tang strongly suspected that the other person had taken the wrong medicine, but he had no proof.
Take advantage of his illness to finish him off. Ah, no, seize the opportunity while it lasted.
Since he could not figure it out, Han Tang refused to torture himself with it. Having experienced the close call where Zheng Qi almost snatched the protagonist shou’s role, to prevent any unexpected changes, Han Tang immediately had someone draw up the contract and signed right on the spot.
Once the matter was completely settled, Han Tang stopped pondering over things he could not understand.
Anyway, the role already belonged to Shen Kui, and all that remained was for Shen Kui to make a stunning debut in this drama just like in the plot.
Little did he expect that just as Han Tang was packing his things to leave, he heard Su Li wanting to discuss a role with him.
Discuss a role? Discuss what role? What did that have to do with him?
He was merely an investor attempting to force a back-door deal! What did script matters have to do with him?
Meeting Han Tang’s bewildered gaze, Su Li, who had just resolved his casting and funding dilemmas, felt his heart sink.
What was wrong with these two brothers? Why was each one more unreliable than the last?
He had no idea what wrong medicine Han Gui had taken. Clearly, Han Gui had previously instructed him to place Shen Kui by Han Tang’s side, yet early this morning he received a message stating that Han Gui wanted Shen Kui removed from the casting list, threatening to withdraw his investment otherwise.
If he had not yet met Shen Kui, he would have dropped him without a second thought. Originally, he had planned to let an actor named Zheng Qi give it a try. Although the other person’s acting skills had not quite reached that level yet, he believed he could coach him.
As for Shen Kui, he could just be assigned some minor background role. After all, it was just a game played by the young master of the Lu family and his little lover for amusement. However, after meeting Shen Kui, Zheng Qi seemed somewhat inadequate. Right when he was troubled because he had already handed out the script, Zheng Qi rejected it!
A god-given opportunity!
Naturally, he was unwilling to change people. Although he could continue filming even if the other person withdrew their investment, the overall quality would inevitably drop. Yet “The World” was like his own child to him. Whenever there was a chance to give his child a better life, how could he bear to watch and let it go?
He never expected that help would arrive the moment he felt sleepy.
He had originally only wanted to find out what had happened between Shen Kui and the two brothers, hoping to see if he could mediate and make Han Gui relent. He never imagined that Han Tang would show up specifically to invest in the crew and even designate Shen Kui as the male lead!
Su Li’s eyes instantly lit up.
As expected of the industry’s famous dream investor!
As for Han Gui wanting to withdraw his investment?
Then let him withdraw it! Who is afraid of whom!
Perhaps because Han Tang remained in the crew, Han Gui ultimately did not withdraw his investment after all, nor did he continue to meddle in Shen Kui’s affairs.
Han Tang actually wanted to ask Han Gui what on earth had happened behind the scenes, and why Shen Kui, who was initially designated, was later swapped out, but in the end, he decided not to ask.
Anyway, Shen Kui starred as Baili Yan in “The World” just like in the original novel, so the problem was not significant.
With the script in place, funding secured, and actors lined up, filming for “The World” crew quickly began in full swing.
As a grand fictional ancient political intrigue masterpiece that led Su Li to abandon his pampered identity and enter the entertainment industry to forge his own path, “The World” naturally had no shortage of a massive fan base.
Yet upon learning that the male lead was awarded to a practically unknown tier-eighteen minor celebrity, even Su Li’s fans, despite knowing what “The World” meant to him, could not help but start questioning things. This was especially true when they also found out that Han Tang, a wealthy good-for-nothing who only knew how to throw money around to support stars, was actually in the crew and about to play a role with a substantial amount of screen time.
Unlike the turbulent ripples on the internet, the film crew remained entirely unaffected. As a renowned director, Su Li had long since established his own trusted team, meaning no one would dare stir up trouble on set, and Han Tang was more than happy to see it that way.
Actors all cherished their reputations. Back at the Shenxing Clubhouse, he had already racked up the protagonist shou’s hatred points, and combined with the escalating online rumors, Han Tang felt that his identity as a cannon fodder sugar daddy had become even more secure. He should be able to finish his mission and return to the real world very soon.
Aside from the third male lead getting into a drunk driving accident midway through, forcing Su Li to hurriedly replace him, the filming could be described as bizarrely smooth.
“The World” told the story of how the protagonist reclaimed his imperial identity after being replaced, fought his way to the summit through a series of bloodshed, exhaustion, and sacrifice relying on his military exploits, and ultimately forged an iron-fisted empire.
Shen Kui was the absolute protagonist, so his scenes were the most numerous and filmed first.
Su Li trusted his own vision, and Shen Kui did not disappoint, nailing the very first take in a single uninterrupted shot.
Since Shen Kui was an actor personally selected by Su Li, he naturally felt pleased, though it was well within his expectations.
However, Han Tang was different.
“The World” was originally a script where the protagonist shou experienced a stunning breakout in the later stages. Prior to that, the original owner had arranged many high-level scripts for him to hone his skills in order to curry favor, allowing the protagonist shou’s acting prowess to accumulate and burst forth. He had never expected “The World” to start filming ahead of schedule. Even though Shen Kui still managed to secure the role due to his intervention, he had constantly worried whether the current Shen Kui could carry such a role.
Discovering that Shen Kui’s acting skills were just as reliable as in the original novel, Han Tang had already set half of his worries aside. The rest was tied to the sudden replacement of the third male lead and his own acting abilities.
The original book had not mentioned anything about replacing actors. He felt somewhat worried, unsure of how the newcomer’s acting skills would be, and whether it would compromise the quality of “The World” and drag down the protagonist shou’s legendary breakout battle. But worrying about it was useless, and he would only find out once the person joined the crew.
Still, he believed Su Li would not make a mockery of his own white moonlight, so he pushed his worries aside and focused entirely on honing his own acting.
Speaking of which, Han Tang felt rather distressed about this.
Previously, when playing the role of a kept sugar daddy, he merely threw properties, cars, and resources at people. Joining a film crew to act was truly his first time riding a sedan chair as a bride.
Shen Kui aside, who knew what wrong medicine Su Li had taken. He had originally assumed that even if his older brother used connections, he could at most land some nameless minor background role in Su Li’s crew, given how notoriously famous the director was throughout the industry for strictly guarding his directorial autonomy in casting.
Moreover, when he invested later on, he never intended to pad his own screen time, yet the director unexpectedly handed him a small villainous role. This small villain even had quite a few scenes.
The moment he thought about having to act, Han Tang felt overwhelmingly guilty.
Backing out was out of the question.
Putting aside whether it fit the persona of someone infatuated with Shen Kui’s looks, just looking at the original owner’s attitude of simultaneously envying and hating Han Gui while putting on an obedient front made it impossible for him to refuse this role. After all, the company was entirely in Han Gui’s hands, and the original owner could only afford his extravagant lifestyle because Han Gui was generous with his money. If he angered Han Gui, the original owner would no longer be able to maintain his lavish and decadent days.
Fortunately, he had a flash of inspiration and asked Su Li for help.
Naturally, to solidify the persona of the cannon fodder sugar daddy he was playing, he had deliberately gone to find the protagonist shou to practice lines in the middle of the night prior to that.
As expected, he was rejected by Shen Kui.
Han Tang accepted this outcome quite well. Given his previous reckless and arbitrary behavior at the clubhouse, it would have been a miracle if the other person had agreed!
Thus, the next day, Han Tang logically sought out Su Li and went to the director’s room to ask for guidance and analysis.
The role Su Li arranged for him was not difficult; he played a minor villain who bullied Baili Yan, so Han Tang only needed to play true to himself.
Since Han Tang was essentially joining the crew just to chase after someone, it was impossible for him to be assigned any crucial scenes anyway.
To his surprise, during this period, aside from staring fixedly at Shen Kui with burning eyes every single day, he literally did not do anything else, and even deliberately used his free time away from watching Shen Kui to discuss the script with the director!
As a director, Su Li was naturally thrilled. Whenever he had free time, he would explain the basic knowledge of stage positioning and blocking to him.
Seeing Han Tang treat his role with such solemnity, Su Li’s perception of Han Tang shifted somewhat.
At the same time, amid his busy schedule, Su Li would occasionally feel curious and suspicious.
Was Han Tang really here to chase after someone?
Gradually, he discovered that whenever he was coaching Han Tang on his acting, Shen Kui would always happen to bump into them.
At first, he thought it was a coincidence, but after learning otherwise, he finally realized that his own perspective was simply too narrow.
Such fluid pacing! Such an advanced push-and-pull tactic! Han Tang truly lived up to his title as the supreme dating tactics master of the sugar daddy circle!