Although they were holding hands now, Wang Hao still knew when to call it quits.
Yaning was, after all, experiencing her first love; the young girl had barely even touched a man’s skin before, and her shyness was a given. If he really wanted to press his advantage now, one could pretty much predict what kind of scene would unfold next...
"Let’s just watch the movie," Wang Hao vigorously nodded, watching the movie with Yaning—of course, without letting go of her hand...
The film they were watching, "Dragon Fire 3," was relatively run-of-the-mill. In Wang Hao’s opinion, it was indeed quite mediocre. It told the story of a demonic dragon suppressed in the South Sea, hating the Heavens, killing the Turtle Immortal, stealing the Divine Pill, and ultimately transforming into a hundred-zhang-long demonic dragon that unleashed Hellfire to burn the world. As disaster loomed, the great immortals and their disciples, obeying the Heavenly Emperor’s decree and aided by the gods, finally captured the demonic dragon.
Now, this kind of theme was relatively mainstream, but the problem was that the film’s pacing was all over the place, and it was pretty much unwatchable. Wang Hao only watched for a bit and felt that... it was better to focus on the feeling of Yaning’s delicate hand...
"Wang Hao," Yaning’s hand felt cool in his, prompting her to shift the conversation: "How do you feel about the movie?"
"That?" Wang Hao glanced casually at the big screen, shook his head, and said, "It’s just speechless, I could fall asleep watching it. With such a storyline, it’s no wonder there are so few people here..."
"Oh..." Yaning nodded and continued watching.
However, with her hand in Wang Hao’s, her heart thumped uncontrollably.
Is this what first love feels like? It seems... not too bad...
The two of them sat in the theater just like that, with the movie’s plot unfolding as if in a stream of consciousness, but quite obviously, no one had the mind to watch it after a while...
"Um..." Wang Hao stealthily leaned closer to Yaning, whispering, "What should we do after the movie is over?"
"Let’s go for lunch, I’m a bit hungry," Yaning said with a wry smile, then decisively turned to give Wang Hao a look: "What are you up to, you rascal?"
What am I up to? Does she even need to ask?! Alone in a movie theater with a single gentleman and a lady, what could they possibly be thinking of?!
Of course, it’s to...
"Ah, nothing. I was just worried you might be cold," Wang Hao chuckled awkwardly, then promptly sat up straight: "Ah, the movie’s finally over, I wonder which company made it. This is quite tragic, they’re definitely going to lose a fortune..."
And then he saw the subtitles:
Producer: Bai’s Film and Television Entertainment Company...
"Um..." Wang Hao glanced at the subtitles, then looked at Yaning, and then back at the subtitles, gulping down, "This Bai’s Film and Television Entertainment Company... wouldn’t happen to be... your family’s company, right?"
"It seems... like it is," Yaning covered her forehead and said: "What on earth was my cousin thinking shooting this film..." Then she stood up and said, "Let’s go, we’ve got nothing else to do. Let’s visit my cousin’s company!"
Eh? Cousin?! Yaning’s cousin? Wouldn’t that make him my future uncle by marriage?!
Uh-oh... Having just criticized the movie, isn’t this a bit awkward?
"Um, what," Wang Hao asked cautiously, "are you taking me to see my future uncle? Hey, I didn’t even buy a gift; how embarrassing is that? What should I prepare?"
"There’s no need to prepare anything. Let’s just go there and see," Yaning was surprisingly not letting go, pulling Wang Hao by the hand and heading out: "My cousin’s name is Bai Ze, he has always been very nice to me. There aren’t many in the family I can talk to, but he’s one. It seems like the movie flopped badly; I plan to see how things are over there. Are you coming with me?"
"Of course, I am!" Wang Hao decisively nodded: "Let’s go, let’s go, let’s check it out. It’s also a good opportunity for me to visit my future uncle, heh heh..."
Since they were going to visit the uncle, the two set out.
They went to the underground parking lot to get the car and drove straight to the location of Bai’s Film and Television Entertainment Company.
"Here we are. Let’s get out," Yaning parked the car, and then both of them got out. Wang Hao looked up and saw the prominent "Bai’s Film and Television Entertainment Company" sign a hundred meters away, in a prime location, with the building blending seamlessly into its surroundings, spacious parking lot, luxurious decor... indeed befitting a Bai family enterprise, everything about it exuded grandeur.
"Let’s go," Yaning gathered a lock of hair and gently tucked it behind her ear, then took the initiative to hold Wang Hao’s hand as they entered the building.
Upon entering the company doors, Wang Hao saw several employees bustling back and forth with files, their expressions so serious it seemed they were afraid to speak and anger someone.
The security guards at the entrance were listless; upon seeing Wang Hao and Yaning enter, they glanced over and then let them pass.
"Something’s off!" Yaning turned her head, brows deeply furrowed, looking at Wang Hao with a face full of concern.
"It does seem like it," Wang Hao nodded, looked around, and asked, "Was your brother’s company not before?"
"Of course not," Bai Yaning replied, "my brother’s film company is one of the big ones in the country, with assets around 10 billion or so, and they have no less than twenty A-list celebrities, not to mention the B and C-listers. The producers who invest here also include billionaires. Like the war-themed movie ’The Beacon’ from five years ago, it created a super box office of 1.5 billion, breaking multiple historical records. And ’The Beacon 2’ from two years ago even reached a box office of 1.8 billion, ranking first in our Heavenly People’s Republic’s film history. But now, it seems to me there’s a bit of a depression."
Wang Hao shrugged his shoulders, "It does seem a bit off indeed!"
Bai Yaning also shrugged, "Let’s go, my boyfriend has always had extensive powers. He’s my cousin, and he’ll see for himself in a moment!"
Ah, that’s what I like to hear!
When the wife’s cousin is in trouble, as a husband, I’ve got to step up, right? I’m still holding her hand even now!
The two then walked side by side into the elevator. A minute later, they reached the 16th floor.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, a cold draft hit them in the face, causing both of them to shiver involuntarily.
This atmosphere feels kind of off...
Looking up, they saw a vast space more than a thousand square meters large, with greenish-gray floor tiles extending as far as the eye could see, the reflected soft light from above making one instinctively tighten their clothes.
The walls on both sides were plastered with posters of movies that were about to be released — ’Red Spring Square’, ’Beihai Love Story’ // ’My Youth My Dream’, ’Good Magistrate of the Tang Dynasty’...
Damn, what the hell are these? Can such movies even make money?!
They continued to walk down the corridor, and just as they reached a small conference room, they heard a loud "bang bang" of someone pounding on a table inside!
"Trash! Nothing but trash!"
The voice inside was clearly very angry, shouting, "Before shooting, you all told me that this script was based on folk myths and legends! It was compiled after consulting books and conducting field investigations and adaptations! You also said something about the storyline being tight and the scenes being grand! Grand my ass! Look at this box office! We invested a total of 1.6 billion in this film, and the box office is only 80 million! 80 million! The ’Dragon Fire’ series is now completely ruined! Ruined!"
Wang Hao and Bai Yaning exchanged glances — investing 1.6 billion for a box office of 80 million, that’s really...
Isn’t that a bit too brutal?
"Sis," Bai Yaning pushed open the door to the conference room, taking Wang Hao with her as they walked in.
"Why are you here?" As Bai Yaning and Wang Hao entered, a young man in his thirties wearing thick black-framed glasses was momentarily stunned: "And this is..."
Wang Hao glanced around. At that moment, about a dozen people were seated in the conference room.
This one speaking must be Bai Yaning’s cousin Bai Ze, and those sitting below were most likely members of the ’Dragon Fire 3’ crew. I just don’t know which idiot is the director...
Wang Hao," Bai Yaning looked at Wang Hao. It wasn’t appropriate to introduce him as her boyfriend now, so she picked an identity for him quite frankly: "He’s a screenwriter."
Upon hearing this, ten pairs of eyes instantly focused on Wang Hao, and the murmurs began —
"This is Miss Ice Princess, isn’t it? Who is this young guy?"
"A pretty boy hanging onto someone’s coattails, who knows how he got hooked up with Miss Ice Princess. Maybe he hopes to pull in some investment to film a movie and make a name for himself."
"What could a pretty boy like that bring to the table, heh..."
"Sis, bringing a screenwriter over at this time..." Bai Ze looked at Wang Hao, frowning so hard his eyebrows formed a ’川’, then pulled Bai Yaning aside and whispered, "Do you want him to write a script for me? He’s quite young, isn’t he? You know how it is in the domestic market. Hooking you up because of our relation is no issue, and I wouldn’t worry about tens of millions. But these past two years, our company has been losing money on every film we make. ’Dragon Fire 3’ had an investment of 150 million but only made back 80 million at the box office. If he manages to produce another flop, our company’s reputation will be utterly smashed!"
He was actually putting his reservations upfront. Funding a movie was no issue, and thanks to their close relationship from childhood, tens of millions were really not a concern. But if the film turned out to be a dud and it broke the company’s reputation...
"Brother, you’ve misunderstood me," said Bai Yaning with a pursed smile, then glanced at Wang Hao and added: "I don’t know about others, but if he makes a movie, I’m sure it won’t lose money."
The moment Bai Yaning spoke out, the few people present immediately hissed disapprovingly, and a portly middle-aged man snorted: "Miss Ice Princess, I don’t mean to disrespect you, but can something written by such a young fellow even be worth watching?"
"That’s right, that’s right," another person chimed in: "I know Miss Ice Princess you’re not short on money, but once the reputation takes a hit, it’ll be hard to gather such a following again!"
"Exactly, we all put our hearts into making a movie and the attendance is still not good. If this young man writes something, wouldn’t it be utterly fruitless? Surely it would mean throwing whatever you invest straight into a black hole!"
Brothers! Begging for monthly tickets here!