enjoyebooks Chapter 21 Setting Rules
Chapter 21 Setting Rules
"Sister Liu," Zeng Hao called out to the door, "print out a draft of Dilraba's contract."
Sister Liu responded and left. Zeng Hao looked at Dilraba again and said, "You don't need to make a decision today. Take the contract back and review it. If you have any objections, talk to Sister Liu about the details. I won't talk to you about the details."
Dilraba nodded. "Okay."
She took the contract from Sister Liu, stood up, and said, "President Zeng, I have one more question."
"explain."
"If Jaywalk Studio adds conditions to my terms, can you match them?"
Zeng Hao looked at her and said, "What I'm giving you are the conditions that I think are valuable to you, not the conditions that are comparable to those of Jiaxing. If you think it would be better if Jiaxing were added, then sign with Jiaxing." He turned his gaze back to the table. "But there's one thing: the 50/50 split and the five-year term are two things that I will not budge on."
Dilraba took the contract, glanced at him one last time, and turned to walk towards the door.
She paused at the door, but didn't turn around. "I'll give you an answer in three days."
"No rush," Zeng Hao said, "but if Jiaxing urges you, remember to read our contract before making a decision."
The door closed.
Sister Liu came in to clear the paper cups from the table and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Zeng, do you think she'll sign?"
Zeng Hao didn't look up. "Yes."
Sister Liu didn't ask any more questions, packed her things, and left.
The office quieted down again. Zeng Hao picked up his phone and glanced at the account balance—305 million. After paying out 65 for Lu Hanlu's production costs, 240 million remained. The revenue sharing from "Go Princess Go" was still arriving in installments, and there should be another settlement next week.
He updated a line of numbers in his notebook, then turned to the next page and wrote two words at the top: Power On.
All the pre-production work for "Back to 20" was piled up behind those two words, waiting for him to clear them off one by one.
Outside the window, the lights of the office buildings were still on. Night falls earlier in Qianhu City than in Hengdian. Zeng Hao turned on the desk lamp and looked down to continue looking at the budget sheet.
Three days later.
Dilraba called right on time to say she had signed.
The signing procedures were completed the following morning.
Ms. Liu printed two copies of the contract, one for each party, with each clause implemented according to the negotiation results: a five-year term, a 50/50 profit split, two confirmed resources for the first year written into the appendix, and reciprocal breach of contract clauses.
Dilraba sat opposite Sister Liu, read the contract from beginning to end, flipped back to look at the resource terms in the attachment, read it again, and then picked up a pen to sign it.
Sister Liu stamped the document, put away one copy, and pushed the other copy over, saying, "Dilraba, welcome to the team."
Dilraba folded the contract, put it into her file folder, and looked up. "Sister Liu, when can I see President Zeng?"
"Mr. Zeng is in a meeting today," Sister Liu said. "If there's anything you need, I can pass it on for you, or you can just send him a message on WeChat."
Dilraba nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
Zeng Hao did not show up on her first day at the company.
This is not a coincidence; Zeng Hao deliberately avoided appearing.
If the boss makes a point of greeting a new artist on their first day at work, it sends the wrong message—that the artist is being given special attention.
Those who receive special attention in a talent agency are either quickly promoted or quickly targeted by other artists. Neither outcome was beneficial for Dilraba in her early days.
He recalculated the funding gap for "Back to 20" in his office.
On paper: approximately 320 million. Budget for "Back to 20": 500 million, with an initial investment of approximately 200 million needed for venue deposit, equipment rental, and signing contracts with key actors.
The shortfall is 180 million.
He picked up the phone and called Manager Wang.
"Manager Wang, given our company's current situation, how much of the loan quota is still available?"
Manager Wang glanced at the document and said, "President Zeng, according to the agreement, you still have 220 million yuan of credit line left unused. However, there is a clause in the previous extension agreement that requires an application five working days in advance to apply for additional credit and go through the process."
"Apply today," Zeng Hao said, "to use 180 million and expedite the process."
"Express service will incur an extra 0.5% handling fee."
"Understood, send over the application form."
After hanging up the phone, he added the 180 million yuan handling fee to the total cost, updated a line of numbers in his notebook, turned to the next page, and began writing the last list before turning on the machine.
The loan arrived in four business days later, and "Back to 20" was officially ready to start filming.
The machine was turned on on July 15th.
The filming location was chosen to be a local film and television base in Qianhu City, instead of Hengdian. The reason is simple: the location fee in Hengdian is 30% more expensive than in the local area, and the scenes required for "Back to 20" are mainly indoor and street scenes, which are perfectly adequate in the local area.
Peng Bing and his core team spent three days building the set at the base. Zeng Hao went over to take a look and gave some suggestions on several props, mainly focusing on details that reflected the era. In some scenes set in the 1970s and 80s, the tables, chairs, wall calendars, and the color of the curtains all had to be accurate.
Peng Bing took notes in his notebook, and when he got to the fifth item, he couldn't help but ask, "President Zeng, are you very familiar with this era?"
"I've checked the information," Zeng Hao said. "I'll keep taking notes."
On the first day of filming for "Back to 20", Zeng Hao established rules on set.
At seven o'clock in the morning, he arrived earlier than everyone else and stood next to the monitor, watching Peng Bing schedule camera positions.
The first scene is a solo performance by the female lead, Yang Shanshan, in a set of a newly built senior apartment, where she portrays a seventy-year-old woman's disappointment with her reflection in the mirror.
First, Peng Bing called a halt, "Shanshan, control your emotions a little more, don't let them show so much."
Yang Shanshan nodded and started again.
The second point is still wrong; the gaze is too unfocused.
Thirdly, Peng Bing called for a halt.
Zeng Hao walked over, stood in front of the monitor and watched the playback once, then turned to Peng Bing and said, "Have her do it again. This time, zoom in and get a close-up of her hands. Let her hands move first, and let her eyes follow her hands. Don't let her act out the emotions directly; let her act out the actions."
Peng Bing paused for a moment, glanced at Zeng Hao, and did not refute him. He then adjusted the camera position as Zeng Hao had instructed.
Fourthly, Yang Shanshan touched the mirror, paused for two seconds, and slowly focused her gaze on her face in the mirror, her emotions naturally revealed.
After watching the replay, Peng Bing nodded. "This one's done."
Zeng Hao didn't say anything, turned around and walked back to the monitor to continue watching the next scene.
The story spread throughout the film crew, and the version quickly changed.
Some say Zeng Hao studied directing, some say he directed short films before, and others say he has a close personal relationship with a famous director.
At the same time, Dilraba's first schedule of appearances was sent to her by Xu Wen.
Unlike Yang Shanshan and Zhang Tianai, Dilraba's schedule is relatively relaxed, with only eight engagements this month, mainly brand meet-and-greets and small variety show recordings, without a large number of promotional activities.
Xu Wen explained to Zeng Hao on WeChat, "Sister Dilraba just signed a contract, so we need to let the market get to know her first. Too much exposure would be counterproductive. I'll lay the groundwork for exposure first."
After reading it, Zeng Hao replied with two words: "Do as instructed."
He didn't explain why Dilraba's treatment was different from the other two, nor was there any need to explain.
The logic is clear—Yang Shanshan and Zhang Tianai are readily available monetization tools that need to generate cash flow immediately; Dilraba is a long-term investment, and the core task in the first year is to establish market awareness and use resources wisely, rather than exploiting people.
On the same day, the three of them happened to be in the company's artist lounge at the same time.
Zhang Tianai had just returned from a brand event and was sitting on the sofa changing her shoes when Yang Shanshan was touching up her makeup in front of the mirror, preparing for the next event.
It was Dilraba's first time in the dressing room. She stood at the door, looked around, found a corner to sit down, and took out a script from her bag to start flipping through it.
The three people were in the same space, but no one took the initiative to speak.
About three minutes later, Yang Shanshan spoke first, her tone somewhat casual, "New here?"