Chapter 41
After the winter break, some netizens inadvertently discovered that many people were discussing the TV series "Home and Country," from the director and actors to the plot. Even the investors were brought up for discussion.
As the drama continued to air, its popularity had only increased. Tonight, after the first two episodes aired, the viewership rating jumped from 1.051% at the start to 1.368%, taking the top spot in drama ratings and leaving the second-place drama far behind.
The TV series reached number one in ratings in less than ten days after its premiere.
As the director, Director Lu was naturally more excited than anyone else. The first thing he did was call Chen Ze to stop him from worrying all day that the drama would flop and affect the box office of the movie "I Am a Robot," or even worrying about changing the release date. He was even considering whether to withdraw from the Spring Festival release and release it next summer. By then, "Home and Country" would have finished airing, and people would have forgotten about Director Lu making TV dramas.
It was his first time filming a TV series, and he was on tenterhooks until the series premiered. When the ratings steadily increased for several days in a row, he knew the series was on track.
He had kept quiet all along, waiting for the ratings to soar to number one. Today, his wish came true. The show became a hit, a phenomenal hit. For the past ten days, discussions about "Home and Country" have filled major websites.
He not only preserved his reputation, but also added a significant chapter to his directorial resume. He could finally hold his head high and call Chen Ze with his puff chest.
It went without saying, Chen Ze kept a close eye on the TV series' ratings. When he learned that it had soared to number one, even far surpassing the second-place show, he felt a sense of relief and grinned foolishly.
Upon seeing the call from Director Lu, his previous dejection vanished: "As expected of Director Lu, you certainly didn't disappoint me."
Director Lu snorted: "Who was it that doesn't believe in me and keeps badmouthing me from behind?"
Chen Ze felt guilty: "Oh, well, I was just blind. Please forgive me, you're a magnanimous person."
Director Lu naturally wouldn't let him off easily: "Didn't you say you were going to change the movie's release date?"
Chen Ze reassured him at once, "No more changes, no more changes. It's for the Spring Festival slot. Even if it's raining knives, we won't change the schedule. The company has a TV series coming out soon, and I'm thinking of having you direct it. Would this work?"
Director Lu rolled his eyes. Now they know how to curry favor with him? Too late. He had a temper. He said disdainfully, "You're too late. I've already agreed to make Mrs. Luo's move next."
Chen Ze sat up straight, stunned: "What movie? I don't know anything about it?"
There was nothing to hide, so he said: "It's an art film, a movie about marriage."
Chen Ze frowned: "You're going to make art films?"
Director Lu sensed the doubt in his voice and couldn't help but retort, "Is that not allowed?"
Chen Ze tried to persuade him: "You've only ever made commercial films before, you've never made an art film..."
Director Lu interrupted him: "You said the same thing when I was filming 'Home and Country,' and what happened in the end?"
Chen Ze: "...So you really want to make art films?"
Director Lu said firmly, "I promised Mrs. Luo, and I will keep my word."
Chen Ze simply gave up trying to persuade him: "Fine, go ahead and make it. Anyway, art films don't require much investment, so it's not a big deal if you lose money. You already have a few representative works, so even if you lose money, it won't affect anything."
Director Lu's response to him was to hang up the phone immediately.
Chen Ze shook his head: "Still have such a big temper."
After saying that, he couldn't help but feel worried. Director Lu had almost become Luo Zhengzheng's go-to director. If he wanted to hire him to make a movie, he had to wait in line. What kind of situation was this? In such a large entertainment industry, he actually couldn’t find a suitable director.
Liu Hanyue jumped up excitedly when she saw the ratings and immediately picked up her phone to call Luo Zhengzheng.
Gu Xian’s gaze followed her retreating figure with a bitter taste in his mouth. The TV series this woman starred in had become a hit. He thought that since she had few scenes, there wouldn't be much discussion and she wouldn't attract many fans. But this show was miraculous. Almost everyone from the main actors to the supporting actors became famous. He had read the comments. Many people said they liked her portrayal of the Empress. They said she could manage the harem and go to the battlefield. She was the most domineering Empress. It was a pity that she didn't live long. If she had lived longer, would there be any place for the Noble Consort? Some men even called her their wife. It was really unbearable. But she was like a bird released from its cage. The sky was high and she could fly freely. There was nothing that he could do to her.
Luo Zhengzheng was also reading online reviews of the TV series when she received a call from Liu Hanyue. Liu Hanyue congratulated her with a smile, saying, "You've achieved such great success in your first acting role. That's fantastic."
Liu Hanyue laughed triumphantly: "Congratulations to you too, your first TV series investment has become a huge hit."
After exchanging congratulations, Liu Hanyue glanced at Gu Xian and said to Luo Zhengzheng on the phone, "What are your plans for the future? I've been staying at home for so long that I'm practically moldy. I desperately need some work to get rid of this mold."
Luo Zhengzheng smilingly said, "I've found another script that I like and bought it. You can take a look and see if there are any characters you like."
Liu Hanyue asked her curiously, "What type?"
Luo Zhengzheng said, "It should be considered an urban art film, called 'Half a Lifetime.' At the beginning of the movie, the male protagonist ran into his college girlfriend at a partner company and found that she was still as beautiful as ever, and the wonderful feelings he had when they were in love immediately came back to him. At this time, the male protagonist was successful in his career, but he was married and had children, while his ex-girlfriend was still unmarried, and a sense of melancholy lingers in his heart."
Liu Hanyue snorted: "He already had a wife, yet he still couldn't forget his first love. What a scumbag."
Luo Zhengzheng chuckled and continued, "Unexpectedly, a few months later, the male protagonist's career suffered a blow and he went bankrupt. To make matters worse, his mom also fell ill."
Liu Hanyue felt a sense of satisfaction, secretly cursing the scumbag for deserving of it: "And then? The male protagonist's wife divorced him? His ex-girlfriend helped him?"
Luo Zhengzheng continued, "No. The male protagonist's wife didn't divorce him. Instead, she cared for him, comforted him. Not only did she help him take care of his sick mother, but also helped him out of his career slump."
Liu Hanyue shouted, "Why?" If it were her, she wouldn't easily let this man off the hook. Help him? Forget it.
Luo Zhengzheng said with a smile, "Actually, I also feel sorry for the male protagonist's wife and imbalance for her. She accompanied her husband from the highs to the lows, and then accompanied him from the lows back to the highs, but she never knew that her husband had a white moonlight in his heart. She had once thought about divorcing him."
This was also what Liu Hanyue couldn’t accept.
Luo Zhengzheng said, "But then I thought about it, and there are actually many women like this in reality. They accompany their husbands from poverty to wealth, but they don't know who their husbands like in their hearts and dare not ask their husbands if they, who are no longer young, have already become nothing more than mosquito bites in their husbands' hearts."
Liu Hanyue thought of her mom, who had accompanied her father through thick and thin, from nothing to great wealth, and bearing countless scars along the way. But she knew her father had other women. All of a sudden her eyes welled up with tears for her mom.
Luo Zhengzheng, unaware of her thoughts, continued, "As investors, we don't just make movies and TV series to make money. There must be something to convey. Filming the movie is to tell people that while roses and moonlight are beautiful, they are not necessities. We can survive without them. Although the wife's beauty is not what it used to be, she is not like mosquito blood. She is water, any form of water. When thirsty, she could quench it. When cold, she could be heated to keep warm. When hot, she could be cooled. Without her, we cannot live."
Liu Hanyue wiped away her tears: "That's so well said. You should go and film this movie. I want to play that wife."
Pulling herself back to reality, Luo Zhengzheng grinned: "That won't do. The director of this movie is still Director Lu. If you want to play the wife, you'll have to get Director Lu's approval."
Upon hearing that the director was Director Lu, Liu Hanyue became even more eager to play the wife, saying, "Don't worry, I will definitely prepare diligently. If I can't play the role in the end, I can only blame myself for not being as capable as others."
"Second Elder sister-in-law has always been great. Never uses her status to get resources." Luo Zhengzheng was very satisfied with Second Sister-in-law's self-awareness in this regard. She didn't make things difficult for her just because she was the investor. She got the role based on her own abilities.
Hearing her praise, Liu Hanyue puffed out her chest: "From a young age, my mom taught me to be an upright person and to do things properly. People could be delicate, but they can't be delicate when it comes to work. Either do nothing and stay at home like a pampered young lady. Once you go out to work, you have to be conscientious and know what you should and shouldn't do. Otherwise, you'll be eliminated sooner or later. I don't want to be eliminated. I still want to be famous and become a movie queen, so naturally I have to do my job well and follow Director Lu's rules."
Luo Zhengzheng encouraged her: "With your talent and hard work, your dream will come true sooner or later."
After hanging up the phone, she found that Gu Shi was standing behind her at some point, looking at her with a mysterious expression.
She touched her face: "Why are you staring at me like that? There's nothing on my face."
Gu Shi gave her one last look, took his pajamas, and went to the bathroom.
Luo Zhengzheng thought to herself, "Is this person crazy?" She didn't pay heed to what he was thinking and continued reading the comments online.
When Gu Shi came out of the bathroom, she was still wearing a face mask while reading the comments. After reading them, she was extremely satisfied.
Gu Shi dried his hair and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at her inquisitively: "Mosquito blood and white moonlight?"
Luo Zhengzheng threw down the face mask and looked at him, puzzled: "What do you mean?"
Gu Shi hung up the towel in his hand and looked at her: "You just said that the wife is like a mosquito bite, and the first love is like a white moonlight?"
Luo Zhengzheng glanced at him, somewhat speechless: "I was talking about the movie, and besides, the wife is not a mosquito bite."
Gu Shi lay calmly on the bed: "Not necessarily."
Luo Zhengzheng looked at him: "What do you mean?"
Gu Shi looked at her and said, "I agree that the wife isn't like a mosquito bite. But what about the husband?"
Luo Zhengzheng: "......."
Gu Shi remained silent.
Luo Zhengzheng glared at him irritably and said angrily, "You're not a mosquito bite, you're a man-eating flower that eats people without drawing blood."
Gu Shi patted her puffed-up face, a teasing look on his face: "A man-eating flower wouldn't be bad either, I'd chew you up and gnaw you in, bone and blood..."
Luo Zhengzheng pried his hands away: "This is too bloody. No, no, even if it's a man-eating flower, it can't eat its partner, otherwise it will become extinct."
Gu Shi looked at her with a complicated expression and asked, "You've taken a fancy to another book?"
Luo Zhengzheng nodded: "Director Lu had already agreed to make this movie."
Gu Shi smilingly said, "Chen Ze just called me to complain that you stole his director, and now he has no director to direct his films and wants to settle accounts with you."
Luo Zhengzheng raised her head: "The business world is like a battlefield. His social fate is not good, why blame me?"
Gu Shi patted her head: "Yes, blame himself."
Luo Zhengzheng muttered, "He only knows to go to you to complain. Look, did Director Lu even listen to him? He doesn't even know why Director Lu is unwilling to film his movies. When Director Lu originally said he wanted to film 'Home and Country,' his attitude was so bad that Director Lu couldn't possibly be comfortable with it. I have 100% trust in Director Lu. He thinks he's a thoroughbred horse who has met me, his muse, so naturally he's more willing to work with me."
Gu Shi smilingly said, "Our muse, it is getting late. Time to go to sleep."
Luo Zhengzheng: "......"
She hadn't finished complaining yet.
But Gu Shi had already turned off the lights.