The director of the film was Huang Ming, the director of Divorced. Yan Huan knew, from her previous life, that he would go on to be a legendary director, and play a key role in helping Su Muran win her Best Actress award.
Yan Huan had turned down all the other movie offers for Director Huang’s road trip movie: The Uncle and the Flower.
It was an unusual title, but that was not necessarily a bad thing; it was instantly recognizable and helped set the movie apart from the rest.
They seated themselves as Director Huang expressed his delight at seeing Yan Huan again.
“You’re really here! I was afraid you’d be too busy to come.” Director Huang fought the urge to wipe the cold sweat from his brow. Everyone knew that Yan Huan was a massive box-office draw now, and that naturally meant that there was a long, unending stream of offers from film directors for her to choose from. Director Huang’s new movie had a bigger budget than Divorced, but it was still a far cry from the big-budget projects starring A-listers.
He had been worried that Yan Huan would decline to meet him.
He held Yan Huan in high esteem: she was an amazing actress, a true professional.
“It’s been a while, Director Huang.” Yan Huan shook hands with Huang Ming. “It’s only been a little over a year since we last met, and look at you—your upcoming movie’s been nominated for a slot in the Chinese New Year lineup! That’s really impressive!”
“And I have you to thank for my success.” Huang Ming chuckled. He knew he had been immensely lucky: he did not have many movies under his belt, but Divorced had been such a huge hit it had helped open many doors for him. It was still up to the State Film Administration to decide whether he would be able to release his upcoming movie as part of the Chinese New Year lineup, but he was reasonably sure of getting it. Even if the movie did not make it into the Chinese New Year lineup, he knew he had an 80% chance of getting a slot for the first of January, which was the next best thing.
“Here’s the contract.” Huang Ming placed the contract on the table. “This is just the first draft. Have a look, and let me know if you’d like to change any of the conditions.”
Yan Huan picked up the contract and looked it over carefully.
The contract did not list a fixed amount for her paycheck; instead, it stated that she would receive 30% of the net profit from ticket sales. It was the same condition he had offered for Divorced.
It was obvious that Huang Ming was far from certain that his movie would be a box office success. Yan Huan guessed that he had offered her a share of the net profit because he was afraid that she would turn down the offer if she saw the meagre sum he could afford to pay out of his pocket right now.
“When do we start?” Yan Huan set the contract aside. She was entirely flexible when it came to her contract, but she had to know when principal photography would begin so she would be able to prepare for it.
Huang Ming hesitated for a moment, too embarrassed to say that he did not yet have enough money to shoot the movie. Divorced had made a killing at the box office, true, but as the director, he had not actually earned as much as he could have. Most of the profits from Divorced had gone to the investors, and a sizable chunk had gone to Yan Huan. He had money, but not enough to fund the entire project.
“Ms. Yan, I’ll be honest with you: I haven’t found an investor. I have some money of my own, but it won’t be enough. I’m sure I’ll find investors soon enough, so don’t worry. I’m confident in my skills as a director, and I’ll be acting as both producer and director for this movie.”
He had been planning this movie for a very long time, and was eager to shoot it as soon as possible, before other problems turned up. But all the larger investors had chosen to invest in the other candidates for the Chinese New Year movie lineup. He had not been able to find an investor yet, but he was quite sure that this was a problem that would be easily solved.
A bold idea began to form in Yan Huan’s mind when she heard what Huang Ming had said. She had a feeling that this was a golden opportunity for her, and and she would be idiotic to let it slip through her fingers.
“How about this, Director Huang,” Yan Huan paused as she considered what she was about to say next, “I’ll join the project, and also get someone to invest in it.”
Huang Ming was overjoyed to hear that. He had been agonizing over the lack of investors, and if Yan Huan could help him with it, well, all the better. It was a win-win situation for both of them: Yan Huan would star in his movie, and he would get an investor through her.
Yan Huan knew it was a good deal, and so did Huang Ming.
By the time Yan Huan returned to her apartment, the street lights had come on, and every window in the city shone bright. She took a moment to take in the comfortable silence, the peace and freedom that had been forcibly taken from her in her previous life. She was free to live her life, and not be taken for a madwoman or a fool.
She got out her phone and dialed a number. She had a potential investor candidate in mind.
She heard his deep voice on the other end of the line, and knew that he was still working: she could hear him typing on a keyboard.
“Lu Yi…” She whispered his name.
Lu Yi removed his hands from the keyboard. There was a flicker of warmth in his smoky dark eyes, but it was hard to tell whether it was just a trick of the light, or whether it had come from deep within him.
“How are you today?” Lu Yi’s voice was just as perfect as she had remembered it to be. He was not the talkative type, but every word he said was important and relevant. He was not as charming as men who knew how to whisper sweet nothings, but on the other hand, men like him were generally the most faithful and loyal to their significant others.
“Okay, I guess.” Yan Huan stretched herself out on her large bed.
She sat up and said seriously, “Lu Yi, have you ever thought about investing in movies?”
“Investing in movies?”
Lu Yi rubbed his brow. “I’m bad at business.” He spent most of his waking hours in the prosecutor’s office, and did not have time to dabble in business. He had a number of highly profitable investments under his name, but those were taken care of by his team of investment advisors.
He was not a big spender. He did not even know how much money or assets he had, exactly.
“There’s a movie I think you should invest in,” Yan Huan said a little shyly as she looked at the tips of her toes. In her previous life, Lu Qin had invested in movies, and his investments had earned him a lot of money every year. His sizable fortune had helped secure his power and influence within the Lu family. Lu Yi, on the other hand, had not bothered to try his hand at business as his attentions were focused entirely on his work within the government. Lu Qin and his mother had gloated about Lu Qin’s wealth at every opportunity, conveniently forgetting that they had only been able to invest because they had the necessary capital to do so in the first place—capital that had not been theirs.
The capital had come from Yan Huan. It had been her money to begin with, but Lu Qin and his mother had shamelessly taken all of it without leaving her a single cent. She remembered how Lu Qin had cleaned out the money in her bank account—over one billion dollars—and then used it to woo Su Muran. He would never have caught Su Muran’s interest or go on to win the Best Actor award, if it had not been for Yan Huan’s money.
Well, this time she was going to earn an astronomical amount of money for both herself and Lu Yi. She was going to make Lu Yi a very, very wealthy man indeed.
“All right, I’ll transfer the money to your account tomorrow. You can use the money to invest in whichever movie you like.” Lu Yi did not press Yan Huan for further details; in fact, he did not particularly care about the outcome of the investment. Win or lose, he felt it was his duty to support his future wife in her endeavors.
He was already thinking of Yan Huan as his future wife—a thought that had never occurred to him when thinking of Fang Zhu.
In other words, it had never been a compatibility issue between him and Fang Zhu. He simply could not, for the life of him, see Fang Zhu as a woman he could ever possibly marry.
