Chapter 14 Eating Wine

Afternoon, Anonymous Restaurant.

Lu Zhiyao, Zhang Zuting, Lin Ruyi, Zhu Xiaoce, Huang Sibao... and the backbone staff of Fei Huang Studio, including the scriptwriting team and the post-production team, gathered together, enjoying delicious food and chatting freely over drinks.

"So I still think that Boss Pei's decision to use all-English dubbing from the very beginning was definitely visionary! Otherwise, how could we have achieved a double harvest of domestic and overseas box office? Look at the blockbusters of recent years, how many have grossed over ten million dollars overseas!"

"That's right, Boss Pei definitely breathed soul into this film!"

"Of all the praise this film received from film critics, at least 50% should be attributed to Boss Pei."

"Only 50%?"

"Sorry, sorry, I underestimated. I'll punish myself with a drink."

"Director Zhu, did you bring the trophy?"

"Brought it, brought it! Come on, everyone pass it around carefully. If it gets bumped or scratched, getting another one will have to wait until next year."

"Director Zhu, that's not the right way to talk. Are you that confident about next year? What if we win the Palme d'Or next year?"

"Exactly, maybe this is the last Jury Prize we'll get at Cannes. From now on, we'll only win the Palme d'Or, so this one is very valuable and must be handled with care!"

"In any case, we still have to thank Boss Pei! It's a pity that Boss Pei is too busy to come."

"Let's all toast Boss Pei!"

"Yes, toast Boss Pei!"

Everyone raised their glasses, their faces flushed, obviously happy and a little tipsy.

However, this scene, for some reason, felt a bit like a celebratory feast for the whole village.

Lu Zhiyao also rarely had two drinks and asked Zhu Xiaoce, "Director Zhu, are you already preparing for a new film?"

Zhu Xiaoce waved his hand, "Don't even mention it, Boss Pei has already put it in 'suspended animation', and the entire department is on paid leave! But we're also taking this opportunity to accumulate inspiration and further consolidate our foundations."

"To be honest, I think that if our skills were more solid, we might have been able to make 'A Better Tomorrow' even better. I feel like our skills dragged down Boss Pei's ideas, which is a bit of a pity. We have to continue to work hard and strive to never hold Boss Pei back in the next film!"

Lu Zhiyao nodded, "If you put it that way, I think some of my acting was still not mature enough, so I have to continue to work hard. Sure enough, working with Boss Pei makes you think about how to constantly improve."

Zhang Zuting ate barbecue and asked Huang Sibao, "What exactly is Boss Pei busy with? So busy that he doesn't even have time for a meal?"

Huang Sibao smiled, "Uncle Zhang, don't you know Boss Pei?"

"He never liked celebratory events to begin with."

"Actually, Boss Pei has always been like this. He was the same when he was making games. When the game became popular and made money, everyone happily celebrated, but Boss Pei immediately went to consider the next project, never indulging too much in this kind of complacent emotion."

"That's something you can't really learn."

"Of course, besides that, Boss Pei is also really busy. Look at all the projects he has on hand now: internet cafes, takeaways, apartments, gyms, two games..."

Huang Sibao counted and counted, probably because he had drunk too much and his head was not clear, he couldn't quite count them all.

"In short, he is really busy. I think if it were someone else, they would probably be dizzy from running so many projects at the same time, and the connections between the various departments would be completely messed up."

"There's no way they could juggle it all."

"But Boss Pei is different. He can still sort out the relationships between the various departments very well, and he can also make many departments cooperate with each other and advance according to his own plans. This is not something that ordinary people can do."

Zhang Zuting nodded, "Indeed."

"But... Boss Pei doesn't have time to eat, but he should have time to meet and say a few words, right?"

"It's been a while since I've seen Boss Pei."

"Why don't we go visit Boss Pei, say hello and leave, without delaying his time, how about that?"

Lu Zhiyao nodded, "Okay! But I don't think there should be too many people, so as not to affect Boss Pei's work."

Zhu Xiaoce said, "The point is... do you know where Boss Pei is? It seems a little inappropriate to call and ask, right?"

Huang Sibao thought for a while, "It's really inappropriate to call. Boss Pei will definitely take it seriously if he answers the phone. If he makes a special effort to take time out to see us, wouldn't that disrupt his original work plan? So, let's go to the places that Boss Pei often goes to and try our luck. If we meet him, we'll say hello, and if we don't, then forget it."

"Okay!" Lu Zhiyao and the others readily agreed.

...

Around 4 p.m., Tenda Games department.

Huang Sibao was a little discouraged, "If Boss Pei isn't here, then we're really out of luck."

After the dinner, they had already gone to Moyu Internet Cafe's Handong University branch, the Managed Fitness Gym, and Boss Pei's office on the 16th floor of Shenhua Haojing to look for him, but Boss Pei wasn't there.

In the end, they could only try their luck at Tenda Games. If they still couldn't see Boss Pei, then they would have to give up.

After all, Tenda has so many departments, and it wouldn't be realistic to look for him one by one.

The group stepped into the Tenda Games office area, hoping to see Boss Pei's familiar figure here.

At this time, Hu Xianbin was scratching his head anxiously at his workstation.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of several people walking in at the door.

He looked up and was instantly shocked!

Zhang Zuting? Lu Zhiyao? Huang Sibao? Zhu Xiaoce?

Aren't these the two leading actors and director of "A Better Tomorrow"?

Hu Xianbin was overjoyed and rushed over to grab Huang Sibao's hand.

"Brother Huang! Do you have telepathy? How did you know I was just about to contact you?"

Huang Sibao was stunned, "Contact me? What for?"

Hu Xianbin said, "I wanted you to find Director Zhu and help the actors with their acting!"

The four newcomers were confused, "Acting? What acting? Is Tenda filming another movie recently?"

Hu Xianbin hurriedly explained, "It's the acting of the motion capture actors! Boss Pei's new game, 'Struggle'!"

As he explained, he flipped out the script of "Struggle" from the side and handed it to Zhang Zuting and Lu Zhiyao.

Zhang Zuting took the script, his expression becoming more and more exaggerated as he read it.

After roughly reading the story synopsis on the first two pages, Zhang Zuting slapped his thigh, "Why didn't Boss Pei make such a good script into a movie? Such a profound theme, the box office is hard to say, but it will definitely win awards!"

Huang Sibao had a different opinion, "Uncle Zhang, this game is divided into two versions, a poor version and a rich version. There should be some special meaning in this, and it's not easy to handle if it's made into a movie."

"What's so difficult to handle? Just find a way to integrate them together! A theme that exposes the gap between the rich and the poor, the upper limit is very high if it's filmed well!" Zhang Zuting still felt that it would be better to make it into a movie.

Zhu Xiaoce smoothed things over from the side, "It's okay, Uncle Zhang, if the game really becomes popular, we can still consider adapting it into a movie. I believe Boss Pei must have some arrangements."

He turned to look at Hu Xianbin, "So, what did you mean by saying you wanted guidance on acting just now? What's going on?"

Hu Xianbin said, "I'm having a headache over this matter."

"For our game this time, all the scenes are captured using real-person motion capture, striving to restore every detail of the actors' expressions."

"Moreover, according to Boss Pei's requirements, the art style of our game is relatively exaggerated, highlighting the stylized characteristics of these characters as much as possible."

"But in this way, the requirements for the actors' performance are also increased, because stylized characters require more exaggerated acting skills, and these motion capture actors are basically extras and have no experience in this area..."

Zhang Zuting immediately understood, "That's easy to say, I'll just take a trip to guide them, won't I? I've played many poor people and many rich people, and I also know exaggerated acting skills. Just leave this to me!"

Hu Xianbin said in surprise, "Really? Thank you so much! But... wouldn't this affect your original schedule..."

Zhang Zuting waved his hand, "It doesn't matter. Boss Pei has helped me so much, I'm just returning a favor. It's just pointing out some acting problems, it's just a matter of lifting a finger."

Hu Xianbin was overjoyed, "Then thank you very much, Mr. Zhang!"

Zhang Zuting couldn't help but smile.

Although he didn't see Boss Pei, it wasn't bad to have helped out by accident!

...

...

June 22nd, Wednesday.

Jingzhou Old Industrial Area.

Pei Qian looked at the Thriller Hostel and the surrounding supporting facilities that were being built rapidly, and felt a inexplicable feeling of melancholy in his heart.

The construction progress is too fast!

Pei Qian did hope that it could be built slower, but no one could hear his inner voice.

Pei Qian had already come twice in the past two days, mainly to find out the current situation of the Thriller Hostel, so as to avoid being caught off guard when the time came.

But after seeing it, he realized that the situation was indeed not optimistic!

The original Thriller Hostel was just a lonely haunted house in the old industrial area, with basically no other supporting facilities around it, which was very inconspicuous.

But now, President Li and other investors are building restaurants and hotels here, and even the ground of the outer square has been renovated. With the fountain in the center, it looks too much like the real deal!

Although they are all transformed from the original factory buildings in the old industrial area, after everyone cleaned up the surrounding environment, the accumulated construction waste was gone, and the lush weeds were gone, and it instantly became serious.

Although the Golden Maze is still under intense renovation, it is changing almost every day, and Pei Qian is even more panicked as he sees the various intricate structures that have already come out.

But fortunately, there are still a few problems that have not been solved, such as how to promote it so that tourists all over the country know about this place, and how to solve the traffic from the city to the old industrial area, and so on.

Pei Qian wandered around the Thriller Hostel for two more laps, planning to slip away.

But just as he was about to leave, he heard a happy voice.

"Boss Pei? I knew that you said that this place would lose money, but in fact you attach great importance to it. You can still take the time to come and see it in your busy schedule!"

The corners of Pei Qian's mouth twitched slightly. Without looking back, he knew it was President Li.

He had been coming secretly these past two days, like a thief, just to avoid meeting President Li and having some unnecessary plot happen.

But what you fear comes to pass, and he still ran into him!

Pei Qian sighed silently, turned around and smiled, "President Li, good afternoon."

President Li's face was full of smiles, "Did Boss Pei know that I was planning to call the investors today to discuss the promotion of the Thriller Hostel, so you came here specially? Boss Pei must have some great ideas for promotion!"

Pei Qian: "?"

That's not what happened, you completely misunderstood!

Obviously, President Li and the investors also knew that the current state of the Thriller Hostel was not profitable. Not to mention recovering the cost, it was difficult to even maintain daily expenses.

Because there is not enough traffic.

This kind of large-scale amusement park is definitely not enough to rely on the locals in Jingzhou, it needs tourists from all over the country, and even the world.

But how to promote the Thriller Hostel is a problem.

The "Great Beauty of Jingzhou" special on the All-People Review website will definitely have some effect, but it is obviously not enough.

Pei Qian chuckled, "Sorry, President Li, I have something to do and I'll leave first. You can chat slowly."

After speaking, Pei Qian got in the car and slipped away at the speed of light.

Li Shi stood there a little blankly, a little unable to figure out the elusive Boss Pei.

But there was nothing he could do, so he could only sigh helplessly and silently go back to discuss the promotion with the investors.