Chapter Forty-Five: Hurry Up, Another Update Please

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“What’s the story? Hua Yi kicked you out? That’s great news. Just come work with me; your investment will definitely come in handy.” Xu Ming teased casually. The other party still had a certain knack for commercial direction, especially in urban romance dramas.

The key was to keep him from diving into sci-fi—or rather, this guy was only suited for low-budget projects.

He lacked the ability to handle high costs.

Some directors can take one dollar and make it look like three; give them ten, and they’ll still only deliver the effect of three.

Others can only squeeze out an effect worth one dollar twenty from a single dollar, but give them ten, and they can create the impact of fifteen.

“Today, Wang Zhongjun specially came to see me. He asked how ‘Love Is Not Blind’ was doing, about our relationship, and what we usually talked about.”

“Obviously, he suspects me. I’m in deep trouble now—once mud stains your pants, everything looks like filth.”

Teng Huatao didn’t even respond to Xu Ming’s banter. As someone from the Beijing circle, joining Benshan Media would be pure folly.

He hadn’t even considered working for Xu Ming.

Nor had he imagined that the film he impulsively agreed to direct, which hadn’t even been released, would bring him such significant repercussions.

And all negative.

“You’re something else, directly wiping out that Du fellow. The administration hasn’t said anything yet, but any footage of him will never appear domestically again—an indefinite ban.”

Teng Huatao recalled how, back at a dinner party, Xu Ming—a fresh rising star at the time—had dared to confront Wang Zhongjun head-on. He should have seen the signs then.

But who would have expected the kid to go this far?

“Ahem, I declare that the ‘See You on Monday’ account has nothing to do with me. It was purely some enthusiastic netizen’s doing. Besides, that guy brought this on himself—had he not posted those comments, none of this would have happened,” Xu Ming interrupted.

Why did everyone seem so sure he was behind it?

Though, to be fair, he was—but at least it was under a pseudonym.

Was it that obvious?

“Hmph, do you think I’ll believe that?” Teng Huatao sneered.

“Hmph, do you think I care if you believe it?” Xu Ming shot back with a cold smile.

Ridiculously childish.

Teng Huatao admitted defeat and returned to business: “The songs are almost ready; the trailer will be out tomorrow. How do you plan to proceed on your end?”

“Send everything over to me. Don’t worry about the arrangements. I’ll launch a full-scale combo attack and guarantee our movie will be a hit before it even premieres,” Xu Ming said confidently.

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He had seen how modern films pulled out all the stops in marketing.

Dogs have cried watching movies—have you ever seen that?

After watching a film, some people would perform martial arts routines, others would dance, and some even stood up to recite ‘Man Jiang Hong’—have you ever witnessed that?

Old Mozi was stunned by various acting performances; imitators made tens of thousands a month just by mimicking expressions—seen that?

Though these tactics might be outdated nowadays, that doesn’t mean they’re useless.

With some rebranding, they can still draw crowds to theaters.

Add to that the film’s own quality, and Xu Ming was confident that this summer’s box office would see his movie break through seven rounds of competition.

Not just taking on Hua Yi, but also competing against Hong Kong and Taiwan studios.

At least he could snatch some market share from those two.

As for Hollywood, no offense, but there was a clear gap.

Avatar was set to release this December, while ‘The Wandering Earth’ only came out in 2019.

Xu Ming could only do his best to help China establish its own film industry sooner.

He then called his assistant, Xiao Yuan: “Xiao Yuan, contact a few writers to polish the script of ‘Love Is Not Blind’ into a novel. Make sure they sign confidentiality agreements.”

Indeed, he planned to serialize ‘Love Is Not Blind’ as a novel on his blog.

Originally, the author published the web novel first, then the print version, followed by the adaptation.

Xu Ming was doing it the other way around.

“Also, see if any of them want to work for our company. If they do, offer contracts at market rates.”

He realized he’d need plenty of revisions in the future. Better to have a team of writers and screenwriters on hand.

After all, the company wouldn’t rely on him alone for projects.

When the web drama market took off, he could provide direction, and these writers could produce content assembly-line style and sustain themselves.

“Got it,” Xiao Yuan replied.

Hiring ghostwriters and substitute screenwriters was nothing new in the industry.

Newcomers entering the field were often exploited this way.

Yu Zheng had worked as a ghostwriter for three years in the studio of Hong Kong screenwriter Li Huimin, even fighting a lawsuit later for credit on ‘The Legend of Jing Ke.’

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After hanging up, Xu Ming turned to the room: “How’s the discussion coming along? Fill the program over the next few days. Soon, I might not have time to discuss it with you anymore.”

“You’re just in time. I think the juicy parts should go to Xiaobao. Not all three of us can be cracking jokes; I’ll play a more serious role,” Xiao Shenyang suggested.

The group inside the room dove back into lively debate.

……

For three consecutive days, the entertainment section was calm.

So much so that many netizens gathered under the ‘See You on Monday’ blog, urging the poster to keep updating.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, Zhang Weijian, seeing his friend’s dismal fate, also fell silent.

Just as everyone thought the storm had passed quietly,

Wang Jing, who was always loud-mouthed, fired off again during a reporter’s interview.

“Don’t bring up Xu Ming again. Aren’t you tired of it? My ears are almost calloused. As an actor, if you don’t focus on your craft and resort to dirty tricks, I don’t see what good it does him.”

“Everyone knows that ‘See You on Monday’ was set up by him. If you’ve got the guts, come at me. Others fear him, but I don’t. A clear conscience fears no shadow.”

“Besides, didn’t he brag about his self-written, self-starring film hitting over 100 million box office this summer? Well, I have a self-written and directed movie, ‘The Secret Agent Lingling Dog,’ coming out this summer too. Let’s see what the box office says. What’s the use of playing dirty?”

He dared to take a stand against Xu Ming at such a time because he wasn’t afraid of being exposed.

He had never crossed any moral lines.

As for backstage dealings, womanizing, or making bad films—those wouldn’t harm him.

Everyone in Hong Kong knew he was a lecherous fat man who kept the local film industry afloat by shooting so many lousy movies.

Moreover, as a commercial director with several notable works, he was far from lacking investment—plenty of producers begged him for money.

The media and netizens had also learned their lesson—not bothering to interview Xu Ming directly.

They went straight to the ‘See You on Monday’ blog.

“Wake up, it’s time to get to work. The domestic entertainment industry is counting on you to uphold its reputation.”

“Take down Fat Wang. Just thinking that my goddess Qiu might have been bothered by him makes me want to die.”

“Update faster, just one more post, just one. I can’t feel at ease until I read it.”

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