Chapter Fifty-Seven: I Have a Condition

The scenes at the film studio took two full days to shoot. At last, the ten episodes Chen Qi had painstakingly selected were finally completed, taking exactly ten days. Considering he had rented the venue for three days but only used two, and not wanting to waste anything, Chen Qi decided to use the last day for dubbing.

So many episodes had already been filmed, yet Wang Da Hammer’s internal monologue scenes still needed voiceover. Since his dubbing was simple and didn’t require professional equipment, and he had nowhere else to go, he thought he might as well do it there. The dubbing process went smoothly; under Chen Qi’s guidance, Bai Xiao Ke delivered the internal monologues with both emotion and depth, finishing all the voice work in just half a day. In addition, the theme song was recorded as well.

“All right, this production is more or less complete. If anything needs to be added later, I’ll contact you.” After organizing all the materials and confirming nothing was missing, Chen Qi transferred half a month’s salary to Bai Xiao Ke and the others.

Looking at the payment Chen Qi sent, Zhao Wu, Bai Xiao Ke, and the rest felt a mix of emotions. They had only worked ten days, yet received a half-month’s salary—this was the kind of treatment only big productions offered! More importantly, they found themselves reluctant to leave.

They felt attached to the casual, unstructured atmosphere of the crew, and to the sense of being valued. To be frank, after so many years in the industry, it was the first time they’d truly felt a sense of belonging—of existence—in their profession.

If not for this show, they might have forgotten they were actors at all, or that one of them was a photographer…

Busy with the transfers, Chen Qi didn’t notice the shift in their mood until he finished organizing everything and was ready to leave, then he realized the atmosphere was off.

“…Why the long faces?” Seeing the subtle sadness on their faces, Chen Qi couldn’t help but smile wryly. “No need to look so down. We’ll definitely have a chance to work together again.”

Bai Xiao Ke and the others forced smiles, tactfully not taking his polite words to heart. Everyone thought Chen Qi was just comforting them.

Work together again? How could that be possible? With no surprises, after today’s farewell, they probably wouldn’t even see each other again.

Though they didn’t know exactly who Chen Qi was—director, screenwriter, or something else—it didn’t really matter. What mattered was that he had produced such a peculiar show, and even they couldn’t help but worry for him.

This might well be his last production; the company called Future Films surely wouldn’t invest in him again. With this show in his portfolio, it would be difficult for him to secure funding in the future.

“All right, I’m off. I’ll be in touch.” Seeing their disbelief, Chen Qi laughed and didn’t explain further, simply waved goodbye and went off to get the security deposit refunded from the studio.

……

The next morning.

Chen Qi and Xu Bu Nian arrived together at a reasonably large post-production company. This company had always worked with Blueprint, and perhaps because previous collaborations had gone smoothly, when Chen Qi needed post-production, this was his first choice.

Thanks to Xu Bu Nian, the general manager of the company personally received them. After some brief pleasantries, they quickly got down to business.

Chen Qi explained the special effects he needed.

“No problem. Our company may not claim to be the very best in special effects, but we’re certainly among the top in the country.” The awkward thing was, before Chen Qi had even finished explaining, the general manager confidently gave his guarantee.

Frost effects? Flame effects? No problem—realistic and worth every penny!

However, that wasn’t the effect Chen Qi wanted.

“Just put text on the screen?” When Chen Qi specified his requirements, the general manager’s eyes widened in shock, almost thinking he’d misheard.

He was stunned!

What kind of special effects were these—just adding text on the screen? And two little stick figures fighting with moves and swords? What on earth was this?

They’d never done anything like this.

Once Chen Qi confirmed his request, the general manager looked at him, wounded, and fell silent for a long time.

No one knew the struggle he went through or how complicated his feelings were. Chen Qi only noticed that during the silence, the general manager looked up at them at least four or five times, each time seeming about to speak, but ultimately saying nothing.

During this silence, Xu Bu Nian appeared calm, but inside, he was truly seeing something new.

With only a hundred thousand yuan invested, it made sense to keep the effects simple—but this simple?

Yes, it was novel.

“We can do it!” After a long pause, the general manager finally seemed to accept the reality and looked up, saying, “But I have one condition.”

Chen Qi nodded, signaling him to go ahead.

“You must keep this confidential. You can’t tell anyone that these effects were made by our company. If your show actually sells, there can be no information about our company in it.” The general manager was very serious.

“What?” Chen Qi was visibly taken aback.

“You must agree to this condition, or I really can’t take the job.” He looked desperate.

He’d seen productions cut corners to save money, but never anything quite like this. If it weren’t for Xu Bu Nian’s sake, he wouldn’t have accepted the job.

Who does special effects like this? If word got out, would their company’s reputation survive? It was embarrassing, to say the least. Those in the know would realize it was a deliberate cost-saving measure; those who didn’t might assume their skills were just this poor.

With Xu Bu Nian right in front of him, he didn’t suspect sabotage from competitors, but otherwise, he’d have wondered.

“…All right!” After a couple of seconds, Chen Qi understood what the general manager was worried about.

On reflection, his concerns weren’t unfounded. After all, Chen Qi himself had no idea how the show would turn out.

“This must be written into the contract,” the general manager emphasized.

“No problem,” Chen Qi had no objections.

Seeing Chen Qi agree, the general manager finally breathed a secret sigh of relief.

They then signed a simple contract. The production and special effects fees were given a small discount, thanks to Xu Bu Nian’s influence.

After signing, Chen Qi took the filmed material to the editing room.

Of course, these scenes needed his full guidance.

Awkwardly, when it came time to add the effects, the special effects artist, upon hearing Chen Qi’s instructions, also stared at him wide-eyed in disbelief for quite a while.

Are you serious?

His eyes seemed to ask this question.

Chen Qi gave him an affirmative look, urging him to get on with it.

The special effects artist hesitantly withdrew his gaze and began his work, nervous and uncertain.

In all his years doing special effects, this was the first time he’d had such an easy job.

Strangely, though it should have been a cause for celebration, he felt anything but confident as he worked.