Chapter Ninety-Five: Are You Foolish?

After Cheng An finished the introductions, Chen Qi extended his right hand very politely to greet Director Jiang. Jiang Yang glanced at him without expression, then shook his hand with obvious perfunctoriness, his attitude icy to the extreme.

Chen Qi could barely suppress a frown, though he kept the courteous smile on his face.

“You want to make a film?” Jiang Yang looked at him and asked in a flat, almost dismissive tone.

Chen Qi merely smiled and said nothing.

At that moment, he already felt like taking his leave. He planned to exchange a few polite words and then find some excuse to go.

It wasn’t that he was being delicate or felt slighted. It was simply that the other man’s attitude made it clear he was not very welcome here.

Yet to his surprise, when Chen Qi stayed silent, this Jiang Yang actually let out a contemptuous laugh and said, “Do you think making a film is as easy as making the web series you do? You think you can learn it just by wandering around and taking a look?”

Chen Qi’s eyes widened slightly, and he felt a little unwell all over.

What was wrong with this guy?

What was this supposed to be?

Some kind of legendary hierarchy of contempt?

Did he look down on people who made television dramas because he himself made web series?

Or did he think that because he had made a film that broke a hundred million at the box office, he could act so arrogantly? Or maybe he was jealous that Chen Qi, still so young, had created the wildly popular Wildly Unexpected?

But that didn’t seem right either.

If he didn’t welcome him, he could have simply refused to let him come. What did it mean to agree to the visit and then start sneering and making cutting remarks?

Could Xu Bu Nian have failed to greet him in advance?

Impossible.

Chen Qi trusted Xu Bu Nian’s way of handling things. Since he had dared to let him come directly, everything must already have been arranged.

Then what was this about?

Hearing Jiang Yang’s disdainful tone and seeing the faint look of contempt on his face, the staff nearby all drew a quiet breath, their expressions turning odd.

They looked at one another, each face showing a trace of blankness and awkwardness.

This outcome... was a little different from what they had imagined.

Then, in unison, they turned their eyes toward Chen Qi, wanting to see how he would answer.

“Don’t think that because you made a web series that got pretty popular, film amounts to nothing. Making a movie isn’t as easy as you imagine. If you really want to enter this industry...”

“Hold on, hold on!” Seeing Director Jiang growing more and more enthusiastic, Chen Qi quickly raised a hand to interrupt him. He looked at him with a mix of exasperation and disbelief and asked, “Director Jiang, we’re not exactly familiar with each other, are we?”

“...”

Interrupted so bluntly, Jiang Yang stared at him in confusion. After a couple of blank seconds, he nodded somewhat uncertainly.

He didn’t quite understand what that meant.

“See?” Chen Qi made an exaggerated face and said helplessly, “Under the premise that we don’t know each other, you say all this to me. That’s really rude of you.”

“Ah—!”

At those words, the nearby staff could not help drawing in another sharp breath, their faces twisting.

So this is what young people are like! Not a shred of face given!

In that instant, everyone began to wonder whether they should excuse themselves and leave for a moment.

This scene... was truly unbearably awkward.

“You... what did you say?” Jiang Yang stared at him in disbelief, almost convinced he had misheard.

He said he was rude?

Me, a grand director, and he says I’m rude?

Chen Qi looked at him irritably. After opening his mouth several times as if to say more, he finally gave up.

“Forget it. Farewell.”

With those words, he turned and left.

He felt that speaking another word to him would be a waste of his life.

At that moment, he thought the ancients had indeed been right: in the same trade, there can be no friendship, only enmity.

Watching him leave just like that, Jiang Yang widened his eyes in astonishment, his mind not quite able to turn the corner.

He left?

He just left like that?

Didn’t he say he came to see how he made films?

He couldn’t even take a couple of words?

What Jiang Yang did not expect came next.

“Brother Zhao!” As Chen Qi strode away, he suddenly shouted in a certain direction.

“Right here!” Zhao Wu, who was in the middle of makeup, hurriedly answered and instinctively looked over.

“Let’s go. We’re not filming.”

“Ah?” Zhao Wu, who had no idea what had happened, was visibly stunned.

“Oh!” But after two seconds of daze, he quickly reacted, yanking off his costume and jogging after Chen Qi. Even as he ran, he kept glancing back curiously, as if trying to figure out what he had missed.

Behind him, the staff who witnessed this scene again gaped in disbelief, their expressions full of incredulity.

They could understand Chen Qi leaving, but Zhao Wu following him out too was a little shocking.

Didn’t he know this would offend the director here?

Impossible. Even a fool would know that.

And yet he still left, all because of one sentence from Chen Qi. He stood up and went without the slightest hesitation!

At that moment, the way they looked at Chen Qi became somewhat profound.

For Zhao Wu to leave at Chen Qi’s call without even knowing what had happened could only mean that Chen Qi’s place in his heart was far more important than this Director Jiang’s.

They subconsciously glanced at Jiang Yang, and seeing his face alternating between green and white, they quickly withdrew their gazes and busied themselves with random tasks, pretending they had seen nothing.

“Oh dear, what on earth is going on?” Cheng An, who had remained silent at the side, also seemed only then to react. “Director Jiang, you get on with your work. I’ll go take a look.”

With that, he hurried after Chen Qi.

Nearby, Jiang Yang’s expression had become ugly beyond measure. Especially after sensing the occasional sidelong glances from the staff around him, he felt like finding a crack in the floor and crawling into it.

Embarrassing.

Too embarrassing.

He had actually been ignored by a little director who made web series?

And not only had that little director ignored him, he had even openly undermined him?

Was this reality at all?

He didn’t even know where Chen Qi got his confidence from.

If you came to learn, shouldn’t you at least have the proper humility of someone who’s learning? Didn’t he even understand such basic common sense?

You’ve offended me.

You truly have offended me.

Jiang Yang gritted his teeth inwardly.

Outside the crew, Cheng An caught up and offered a string of awkward apologies, saying not to mind it and not to take it to heart.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. You all get back to work. I won’t disturb you anymore.” Chen Qi, unable to make sense of what scheme Cheng An was playing at, didn’t bother with more polite talk. He waved with a smile, then got into the taxi with Zhao Wu.

“Director, what was that about?” Zhao Wu was still completely bewildered.

Chen Qi laughed and said, “Nothing. I just didn’t go along with Director Jiang’s act of showing off his superiority.”

Zhao Wu blinked in confusion, looking as though he understood and yet did not.

“After you get back, tell your President Xu...” Chen Qi had only spoken halfway when he seemed to remember something and suddenly stopped.

Zhao Wu looked at him blankly.

“Forget it. I’ll give him a call myself.” Chen Qi took out his phone and dialed Xu Bu Nian, but after thinking it over he hung up again.

“???” Zhao Wu could only stare at him, dumbfounded by the changing thoughts on his face.

“Never mind. I’ll make a trip to your company.” Chen Qi now looked thoughtful.

“Oh.”

More than an hour later, the two arrived at Future Pictures.

Seeing Chen Qi, Xu Bu Nian was surprised. “Didn’t you say you were going to the set?”

Chen Qi sat down on the sofa, poured himself a glass of water, and drank it all at once before saying, “I came back. The director there put on too much of a big shot act. Not worth it.”

“What happened?” Xu Bu Nian immediately realized something had gone on.

“Nothing.” Chen Qi waved a hand, too lazy to waste words on something already past. Then he looked at him with a half-smile. “President Xu, interested in investing in a movie?”

Xu Bu Nian froze, then asked blankly, “What do you mean?”

“I’m planning to write a script.” Chen Qi, clearly energized, told him about the idea that had just occurred to him.

Wasn’t it just a film?

He could invest in one himself and make it.

If he couldn’t direct, that was fine. Hire someone who could.

Put up the money, find an experienced director, and he could watch however he pleased and learn however he liked, and do it openly and with perfect justification.

He had no idea what had possessed him before to come up with the foolish idea of running off to another crew just to observe.

Was he stupid or what?

Why spend money solving a problem when he could owe someone a favor instead?

“Sure!” After hearing him out, Xu Bu Nian’s eyes lit up as well.

He had no idea what sort of script Chen Qi would come up with, but as long as it was a project Chen Qi made, he would dare invest in it.

“Good, then let’s discuss it.” Chen Qi analyzed things calmly. “We have no experience, and we don’t understand distribution, promotion, or any of that. We don’t even know the exact process of producing a film, so we should find one or two experienced companies to collaborate with.”

“Right.” Xu Bu Nian nodded in agreement. “I’ll handle that.”

“No, I’ll do it.” Chen Qi shook his head. “I have some name recognition now, and the popularity of Wildly Unexpected is still there. It’ll be more effective if I handle the approach.”

“Works for me.” Xu Bu Nian didn’t mind.

“But help me screen them. Don’t choose companies that are too powerful. First, they’ll look down on our little venture. Second, if they’re too strong, even if we do manage to cooperate, we won’t have much say. But don’t choose ones that are too weak either. It’s best to find medium-sized companies capable of handling film distribution on their own.”

“Got it!”

“And the director—make a list of some directors with a bit of a reputation too. Ideally ones whose schedules you can confirm for this period. Then we can study it and see who to bring in.”

“Sure.”

“That’s it for now.” Chen Qi took another sip of water and stood up. “I’ll go back and think about the script.”

“Wait!” Xu Bu Nian hurriedly stopped him and asked, “At least give me a rough budget for this project. I’ll get the money ready.”

“Right now I have no idea either.” Chen Qi could only laugh and cry at the same time. “I’ve never dealt with a proper crew before. How would I know how to calculate the budget?”

“...”

“Don’t worry about that for now. We’ll have the director calculate it after we find one. My guess is the total investment will be at most twenty to thirty million. We can definitely scrape that together by then.”

“Fair enough.” Xu Bu Nian did not press further.