novellhall Chapter 50: You only get one chance; it's too late to regret it.
Chapter 50: You only get one chance; it's too late to regret it.
When Fan Binbin pushed open the door, Lin Dong was leaning back in his chair flipping through a document. She walked to the desk and bowed slightly.
"President Lin."
Lin Dong looked up at her. She was wearing a white T-shirt, jeans, a ponytail, and had no makeup on. She nodded.
"Have you looked at the apartment?"
"I've seen it. It's good, close to the company. My mom's packing her luggage over there, I came over to take a look first."
Lin Dong closed the document and pointed to the sofa in the reception area.
Fan Binbin sat down, his back ramrod straight, his hands clasped on his knees. He didn't look around or offer any unnecessary pleasantries.
Lin Dong leaned back in his chair, picked up his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and dialed a number.
"Director Wang, are you free at noon? Come to the company. I have a project to discuss with you. We can have lunch together while we're at it."
He hung up the phone and turned to Fan Binbin. "Wang Jing. You'll have to meet him later."
Fan Binbin nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Lin."
Lin Dong ignored her and continued dealing with his own affairs.
Less than half an hour later, Zhang Baizhi pushed open the door and came in. "Brother Dong, Director Wang has arrived."
Wang Jing followed her through the door, wearing a dark blue polo shirt that stretched his belly into a round shape, with his usual smile on his face.
He reached out his hand from afar and took two steps at a time to get to the desk.
"Mr. Lin, I canceled my dinner appointment because of your phone call—"
"Sit down," Lin Dong said, pointing to the sofa.
Wang Jing sat down on the sofa, his gaze sweeping over Fan Binbin sitting opposite him. He paused for a moment, then turned to look at Lin Dong, a questioning smile appearing on his chubby face.
"Fan Binbin. He's from mainland China and is signed with Tenda."
Lin Dong sat down in the reception area and started making tea. "You told Jiaxin yesterday about a new project?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Wang Jing pulled out a few pages from his briefcase and handed them over. "New Love Generation, an urban romantic comedy."
The second female lead is named Xue'er, a popular female celebrity who is beautiful, spoiled, quirky, and very outstanding. The estimated investment is eight million.
I've been polishing the script for a while now, and I plan to start filming after I finish shooting "Dragon in the Jianghu".
"You really don't want to be idle for a moment," Lin Dong teased him as he flipped through the script outline.
Wang Jing smiled, "I want to make money, because the brothers who follow me also need to support their families."
"Okay, I'll invest in this play." Lin Dong threw the script back on the table without hesitation.
Wang Jing's face twitched slightly, revealing a satisfied smile.
"Lin Sheng is so generous!"
"Same old rules. You get the package deal, plus two million for the director, screenwriter, and producer. Tengda will fully fund it and take the entire share."
"No problem." Wang Jing nodded crisply.
He liked this model—all the risk went to the investors, while he pocketed the profits. As for how much the box office would reach, that was Lin Dong's problem.
Wang Jing has been making films for so many years, but his greatest skill is not making movies, but making sure that the investors don't feel like their money was wasted.
"But I have one condition," Lin Dong said calmly, holding his teacup. "The second female lead is Fan Binbin, and she gets more screen time. It's going to be a dual-female lead situation."
Wang Jing's eyebrows twitched. He glanced at Fan Binbin, then at Lin Dong, his mind already racing.
Then, a hint of hesitation crossed his face. "Mr. Lin, to be honest, I'm looking for Li Ming as the male lead and Liu Jialing as the female lead. As for Miss Fan, after all..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw Lin Dong's gaze and immediately changed his mind, "After all, she's someone Lin Sheng values. I'll persuade Liu Jialing."
Lin Dong nodded in satisfaction. He knew that Fatty Wang was saying that on purpose, but it didn't matter, as long as the matter was handled well.
"Moreover, I've thought about the character of Xue'er and I think there's a lot of room for development. It can definitely be handled with two female leads. The script won't be changed much, and a revised draft can be produced in a week."
Wang Jing truly lives up to his name; his mind works incredibly fast.
"Then it's settled." Lin Dong pushed the script outline back.
Fan Binbin listened from the side, trying to keep a straight face, but his hands were already gripping his pants tightly, and he was extremely excited.
Li Ming, Liu Jialing.
What did she play before? A maid in a TV series, the second female lead.
Now, in her first film in Hong Kong, she's on par with Liu Jialing, which shows the importance of finding the right boss.
She made the right bet.
At this moment, Wang Jing stuffed a few pages of paper back into his briefcase and took out a CD. "Mr. Lin, there's something else—the rough cut of 'Prince Charming' is out. Would you like to take a look?"
I guarantee that Miss Li is so beautiful in it that half the women in Hong Kong wouldn't dare to go out. I really can't bear to cut too much out of her.
"Just put it here, I'll look at it this afternoon!"
Wang Jing placed the CD case on the coffee table.
Then he turned around and waved to Fan Binbin. "Ms. Fan, I'll have someone send the script over in a couple of days."
"Yes, Director Wang." Fan Binbin stood up and bowed.
"Miss Fan, please don't be so polite." Wang Jing had already misunderstood something, and then, without looking at Fan Binbin any further, he grinned at Lin Dong, "Mr. Lin, what about lunch—"
"I had Chen Xinjian make a reservation at Fu Lin Men." Lin Dong stood up, straightened his cuffs, and said, "Let's go."
Before long, the three of them arrived at the reserved private room. He didn't call Chen Xinjian or Li Jiaxin.
As soon as everyone sat down, the dishes started to be served. Fan Binbin thoughtfully helped Lin Dong remove the fish bones, while Wang Jing also discussed the publicity and distribution of "Prince Charming".
The release date had already been tentatively set for July 1st.
"Mr. Lin, the production team has 200 million yuan left in the budget. I've discussed it with Mr. Xiang, and we're going to spend it all on TV commercials and subway light boxes. What do you think?"
Lin Dong took a bite of the grouper, nodded, and said, "You guys are professionals. I told you before that I would leave all of this to you."
Wang Jing nodded, feeling very comfortable. He really enjoyed working with Lin Dong.
He thought for a moment, then brought up something else: "Xiang Sheng hasn't been doing too well these past few days."
Lin Dong looked up at him.
"It's nothing serious," Wang Jing waved his hand, trying to downplay the issue. "It's just that I can't sleep well at night. Mrs. Xiang said he stares at a stock chart every day, looking at it over and over again."
He did make money, millions of dollars in his pocket. But you know Xiang Sheng's temper; he felt he had disappointed his friends.
"But, well," Wang Jing paused, sighed, "he's under a lot of financial pressure. He was embarrassed to tell you, and asked me not to mention it either. I just said it casually, Lin Sheng, don't take it to heart."
Lin Dong picked up his teacup and took a sip. "There's nothing to be disappointed about."
"Yes, yes, yes," Wang Jing immediately chimed in. "I told him that Lin Sheng wouldn't care about this. But he wouldn't believe me; he still feels guilty towards you."
Lin Dong smiled but didn't reply.
Some opportunities only come once.