Becoming a Movie Star, System Only Finished Loading After Ten Years
Chapter 134 - 131: Go in Peace (Seeking Double Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 134: Chapter 131: Go in Peace (Seeking Double Monthly Tickets)

Upon hearing Qi Hao accuse her of faking, Li Xiaomeng’s eyes widened: "How can you falsely accuse someone out of thin air..."

She looked quite youthful, with a bit of baby fat on her cheeks.

When she widened her eyes like that, she appeared very innocent.

Unfortunately, the change in her sitting posture, with her chest out, completely altered her aura.

"Innocent? If you’re 1.6 meters tall, I’ll eat your resume."

Qi Hao suspected that if Li Xiaomeng sat in his office chair, others sitting on the sofa might not even see her.

"I’m 1.52 meters, but with shoes, I’m definitely 1.6 meters!"

Li Xiaomeng felt a bit wronged; was it her fault she was short?

Shouldn’t the interview focus more on work ability, why harp on her height?

Ever since she graduated from elementary school, she hasn’t grown, and has constantly faced height discrimination.

"Alright, with eight-centimeter heels..."

Qi Hao decided to give this girl a chance, to see her performance during the probationary period.

Fortunately, this new assistant has a good figure like Yang Liu, so no one would doubt he hired child labor.

Hehe, certainly Old Tian’s taste.

No matter if you’re the flamboyant type or the pure type, tall or short, as long as you’re Xiong Da, you’re fine.

It’s utterly distasteful!

"If I wrote 1.52, I might not even get an initial interview opportunity. It’s good now that I have work experience; back when I started, just threw my resume out for months."

Li Xiaomeng almost teared up from saying too much.

"I need to leave for Northeast this afternoon, can you follow along?" Qi Hao sighed inwardly, unable to suppress a lot of sympathy.

Height is indeed not the main issue.

"Of course!"

This meant she was hired, so naturally, Li Xiaomeng wouldn’t refuse.

Usually, people say start working tomorrow here turned into start working this afternoon.

"Alright, go handle the onboarding, remember to get the handover from Yang Liu."

Qi Hao called Old Tian over to give some instructions.

"Old Tian, these are my letters, help me send them out."

Qi Hao frequently received letters from sponsored children, and after replying, he would let Old Tian handle them.

Everyone in the company knew Qi Hao writes letters.

These days, not many people write physical letters sincerely.

Later, knowing that Qi Hao sponsored impoverished children, naturally earned him a lot of admiration.

"Ao Bai..."

"Go worry-free, I’ll take care of Ao Bai."

Old Tian said nonchalantly. Qi Hao doesn’t stay home much all year round, previously entrusting Ao Bai to others while they traveled, now it’s all mostly handled by him.

"Don’t forget that’s my cat." Qi Hao reiterated his ownership of Ao Bai, adding a complaint: "I say Old Tian, when you hire female employees next time, please stop picking the chesty ones. Placing such people beside me, everyone thinks I’m a pervert."

Malicious ones might even say he’s not weaned.

Even non-malicious ones would suspect an unclear relationship with his assistant.

Had he known earlier, he would have insisted on only male assistants.

"You think you’re any better? I only picked her because her resume looked decent, an associate degree, with work experience, and several certificates. How could I possibly tell from a resume whether someone’s Xiong Da?"

Old Tian felt very wronged.

Some people’s minds are filled with dirty thoughts, so they see perversion in everything.

"Alright, have Yang Liu follow up on ’Let the Bullets Fly’ and ’The Legend of Zhen Huan’. If there are no issues, we can disburse the first payment."

Investing doesn’t result in immediate full payment; it usually gets split into batches.

"How do we fund Old Ye?"

Old Tian was talking about Ye Weimin, the director of ’Lost on Journey’.

Currently, he’s doing post-production on ’Lost on Journey’, but since Qi Hao promised to invest in shooting the sequel, he’s considering working on the script for ’Lost on Journey 2’ while still doing the post-production.

Hiring someone to write a script costs money, and he didn’t want to front it, so he asked Qi Hao for funds.

"Ask how much he needs, give it to him, and remember to sign an agreement and keep accounts."

Qi Hao believed you shouldn’t only expect a horse to run; you must also let the horse eat. For such comedies, the script truly is crucial.

However, people from Xiangjiang are known for being tricky, so one should be cautious.

"Don’t worry, your album is likely to go on sale these days, do you want to hold a fan meeting to promote it?"

Old Tian knew Qi Hao spent a lot of money producing this mini-album.

Over a million on the album, and three million buying a script...

This wasteful fellow~

"Where’s the time for promotion, leave it for later."

Qi Hao wasn’t too concerned about the album; the better the promotion, the less likely he’ll get a newcomer award.

"You... you’re simply insane!" Old Tian said, clutching his stomach in frustration.

In the afternoon, Qi Hao set off to Northeast Tieling, which is Zhang Meng’s hometown, and the filming location is also chosen there.

Qi Hao didn’t fly but drove directly.

Tang Chuan, who served as an auto soldier for eight years, had outstanding driving skills.

The company moved three cars: a business van, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, and a Santana 2000.

’Steel Piano’ is a project invested by Feiyang Media, so they would certainly dispatch production, finance, and legal to join the crew.

Qi Hao’s insistence on riding in the Santana 2000 was really puzzling.

The new driver and assistant don’t understand either.

It makes sense to suspect Qi Hao is crazy.

While resting with his eyes closed in the car, Qi Hao was contemplating directing a film in his mind.

Last night, he chose Jiang Wen and spent the whole night filming "Sunny Days" under Jiang Wen’s guidance.

Unlike acting training, directing training focuses more on details.

And Qi Hao is directing for the first time, so he doesn’t know a lot of basic things.

Therefore, an entire night of eight hours wasn’t enough to finish filming "Sunny Days," and they would have to continue shooting at night upon arrival.

In Anshan, Zhang Meng had the assistant check on the hotel room situation.

Even if the crew’s budget isn’t very generous, it can’t be so stingy towards Qi Hao, a major investor. Upon learning the number of people coming with Qi Hao, they arranged a suitable hotel.

"The startup is too rushed."

Gao Bo, the executive director who came from outside, almost bumped into the assistant. Because of the rush, everyone was hurrying.

"There’s no choice, the director wants to film quickly, so everyone’s a bit stressed."

Zhang Meng mostly sought out old acquaintances he had previously worked with for this project.

"What kind of director is that? Isn’t it Meng who does the work? This kind of person is just here for fame."

Gao Bo, with a formal education background, looks down on Qi Hao, who took a different path.

Qi Hao might have some skills as an actor, but directing is entirely different from acting.

Furthermore, Qi Hao’s approach is problematic.

Graduates like Gao Bo from the Beijing Film Academy’s directing department usually start as a director assistant, doing the hardest work and learning cutting-edge things.

After working with several groups, they start as associate directors or executive directors.

Once they’re well-trained, they then move on to independent filmmaking.

So, how did Qi Hao do it?

He bought someone’s script for three million, and directly used it.

Not only that, but he also hired the original author as the producer and threw all the work onto the producer.

It’s like totally taking over the nest.

"You can’t say that, Gao, in this circle, money and connections are more useful than skills."

Zhang Meng looked at the bustling crew base, feeling a bit unsettled inside.

Actually, he’s the one who wrote the script, scouted locations, cast roles, and organized the team. When it comes to filming, he’s probably the one directing too.

Qi Hao just used three million to take the title of director.

Leaving Zhang feeling like he was exploited for money.

"Are you really planning to teach him everything?" Gao Bo internally cursed the wealthy.

"As long he’s willing to learn, I’ll teach him."

Zhang Meng chuckled; he could understand Gao Bo, even he, being a second-generation director, was actually jealous.

Millions casually thrown around.

It’s said all roads lead to Rome, but some are born in Rome while I’m still searching for the way.

When Qi Hao and the others arrived at the hotel, Zhang Meng welcomed them with a group.

It was a bit more formal than necessary.

"Meng, what are you doing, making me embarrassed? Do we need to do this fancy stuff with our relationship?"

Qi Hao pretended to be upset.

Indeed, Zhang Meng felt much better inside.

"I’ve been looking forward to your visit every day. Now that you’re here, let’s go over my work from these days."

"What go over, let’s eat and drink, can’t I trust you?"

Qi Hao pulled Zhang Meng out, and Tang Chuan perceptively found a military jacket from the trunk to put on Qi Hao.

The temperature in the Northeast is very low.

"This is executive director Gao Bo, this is..."

Zhang Meng introduced the team members to Qi Hao.

Sort of implying whether they could all go together.

"Everyone should go, it’s on me, I’m personally inviting, not using the crew’s money."

Qi Hao waved his hand, and led a group of people to eat.

He wasn’t that hungry.

But if you start checking work right after arriving, it would seem impersonal.

As they say, investment doesn’t go past Shanhai Pass.

Over here, various forces are tangled, and outsiders often face all kinds of difficulties.

Qi Hao sought Zhang Meng as a producer to not only help with the work but also to seek a local’s help in dealing with various issues.

That evening, Qi Hao built a rapport with the people Zhang Meng brought over dinner.

If someone was unconvinced, they’d drink until satisfied.

On the second day, filming officially began.

This time, Gao Yang didn’t come, he’s a busy businessman with various industries under his name: energy and mining, real estate, dining, clubs, a whole lot.

He simply doesn’t have the time to attend every film startup.

However, he did send Daoist Suiyun by his side.

He said that he could perform a ritual at the startup ceremony to ensure smooth shooting without troubles.

As for ensuring the box office hits big, that’s obviously not realistic.