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IPCFS: Chapter 32

The division of Chaoying Culture was very detailed. It was said that it was a simple meeting with the people of various departments but there were more than a dozen people present.

Ji Li was coming to the company for the first time. He might know nothing about these unfamiliar faces but the others already knew his information very well.

Yu Fuya returned after three years to sign Ji Li and took him back to the old boss, Chaoying. The boss Tao Mingyang didn’t explicitly say it but everyone knew it.

As long as Ji Li didn’t act like a demon in private, the company was sure to hold him and it wouldn’t be difficult for him to be popular.

The group of people discussed Ji Li’s future plans for more than an hour and only announced the adjournment of the meeting near the end of the day.

Baozi flipped through his records and sighed. “Brother Ji, the company’s plans for your future are too detailed. My brief notes alone are enough to fill 12 pages.”

Ji Li’s eyes moved slightly and the heartstrings that had been tense for a long time finally loosened.

Chaoying Culture could be described as dedicated to him compared to the indifferent attitude of Dream Media. He had such a company as help and could devote himself wholeheartedly to filming in the future.

“Ji Li, you rest at home for 10 days. After 10 days, I will take you to the company to shoot some daily materials as well as an electronic magazine shooting and interview.”

Yu Fuya confirmed Ji Li’s itinerary for nearly half a month and walked in to tell him.

Due to his collapsed mood after filming yesterday, she deliberately extended the rest time by a few more days.

“Okay,” Ji Li responded.

10 days was enough for him to rest and play. In addition, he could study the script again.

Ji Li glanced at the movie script on the table before remembering something. “Sister Yu, can you help me contact the screenwriter? Once I arrive at the crew, I want to talk to him in person about the motivation for his creation.”

Yu Fuya understood. “…Do you think the characters in this movie have prototypes and it isn’t completely fiction?”

“Yes, I felt that way when I read the script.”

Yu Fuya shook her head slightly and expressed her thoughts. “This script involves several reincarnations. Even if there is a prototype, it might be far from the script.”

“I understand what you mean but I still want to talk to the screenwriter in depth.” Ji Li insisted.

He was used to thoroughly knowing the script and characters before filming.

“It is a simple thing. I’ll contact you again when you enter the crew,” Yu Fuya replied before calling out to Baozi. “You should rest early today. Call us if you need something.”

“Yes, be careful on your way.”

After the two of them left, Ji Li picked up the script on the table and sat back on the sofa. Snowcake saw the opportunity onto his lap and called out softly.

Ji Li ran a hand down his fur and opened the script with his other hand.

Yu Fuya was right to say that this wasn’t an ordinary youth movie. It combined the concept of infinite time and reincarnation and was somewhat detached from ordinary logic.

The most ingenious and attractive thing to Ji Li was its narrative angle—

It wasn’t the male or female protagonists that people usually recognized, nor was it the second male lead or second female lead. It was from the perspective of the third male lead, Xiang Suian.

The opening scene of the script was dark and tragic.

After marriage, the heroine was brutally abused by her husband. She couldn’t bear it and chose to commit suicide.

At her funeral,  the long-disappeared male protagonist suddenly appeared and stabbed the scumbag husband in front of the mourning guests.

Xiang Suian arrived and squeezed through the panicked crowd.

In the torrential rain, the scumbag husband struggled to crawl away while clutching the wound on his abdomen. Blood washed red and stained the entire cemetery. The male protagonist stomped on him and raised his knife with murderous intent, striking a fatal blow.

Xiang Suian saw everything in front of him. He knelt on the ground and asked bitterly, “Why? You said you would listen to  me!”

The male protagonist came to him like a walking corpse. “Suian, I’m sorry. I couldn’t go back from the moment she died.”

The torrential rain blurred the vision of the two men looking at each other.

The sound of heavy breathing was accompanied by a slow heartbeat. Then he collapsed toward Xiang Suian like a lost soul.

There were flashbacks of past scenes.

They were all scenes of their student days buried deep in their memory.

The moment the scenes changed, the 18 year old Xiang Suian suddenly woke up, his forehead covered with sweat. His longtime friend gathered around and asked with concern, “Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?”

The young and vivid face in front of him overlapped and blurred with the hate-filled face from before.

“Forget it, you just woke up. Fang Huai has already bought breakfast.” The male protagonist Chen Yu patted his face and urged him. “Hurry and pack up. We will be waiting for you downstairs.”

Xiang Suian watched him leave before his gaze fell on the calendar on the wall.

He was silent for a long time before muttering miserably, “…Is it starting again?”

Yes, the gears of fate were rapidly turning back and the doomed cycle started again.

Several reversals in the movie were unexpected and buried deep. They required careful digging. As for the friendship and love portrayed by the protagonist group, it was equally clear and moving.

The third male lead had fewer scenes than the protagonists but it was difficult to shape.

The two detailed timelines in the script required the actor to express Xiang Suian’s completely different state of mind in the same scene and story background.

From the tone of speech and body movements to the small details of the eyes and fingertips, everything needed to be changed.

Ji Li stayed at home and immersed himself in studying the script.

In less than 10 days, the script was filled with his marked notes.

In the makeup room, Baozi looked at Ji Li’s script and admired it. “Brother Ji, your research is too detailed, right?”

It was obviously the same character but after reading Ji Li’s notes, Baozi felt like he could follow the ‘essence.’

Ji Li smiled as the staff members put makeup on him.

Today’s work wasn’t too busy. It was to shoot the makeup photos of the movie characters.

A staff member came with a few drinks and said casually, “I just met Mr Qi An in the elevator.”

“Qi An? How can he be here?” Ji Li was obviously surprised to hear the familiar name.

“This studio belongs to Yuexing and the headquarters of Yuexing is 20 floors up. It isn’t surprising to meet Mr Qi An.” The makeup artist casually explained while giving Ji Li a faint silhouette.

Ji Li was unfamiliar with the distribution of entertainment companies and was even more surprised upon hearing this.

The makeup artist was very fond of him and asked with a smile, “Teacher Ji, don’t you know that Yuexing is now the biggest investor in the movie?”

The moment she finished talking, Yu Fuya came back in from outside.

Ji Li looked at her through the mirror and asked directly, “Sister Yu, did Yuexing invest in the movie? When did this happen?”

“I just learned about it. The crew called me. Yuexing just confirmed the investment a week ago. Qin Yue personally looked at the project.”

Ji Li’s eyes lit up slightly when he heard this.

That day in the lounge, QIn Yue flipped through several pages of the script. He originally thought this man was just flipping through it casually. He didn’t expect that Qin Yue actually recognized his vision when reading the script and also invested a large sum of money.

Yu Fuya continued, “The newcomer actors originally scheduled to be the first and second male leads have all been replaced. Only your third male lead hasn’t changed.”

Qin Yue’s vision had always been accurate and people regarded his investments as a box office success. Once he invested, Time Lobbyist suddenly went from a low-cost movie that no one cared about to a sweet pastry that everyone wanted.

Many actors ‘followed the smell’ and took the initiative to ask to participate. The producers didn’t hesitate to replace the unknown newcomers for the sake of the future box office.

The larger the investment, the larger the tier of the actors. The bigger the tier of the actors, the more guarantee there was for the future box office.

The entertainment industry was a typical ‘law of the jungle’ and the competition was far more terrifying than the outside world imagined.

Ji Li understood the law of survival and frowned slightly. “Who was replaced?”

“The first male lead has been changed to Cai Yushua of Jincheng Pictures and the second male lead was replaced by Wen Lai of our company.” Yu Fuya had itchy teeth as she mentioned Jincheng Pictures.

Zhu Xusheng had a fierce fight with her and jumped to Jincheng Pictures. He had now become a shareholder of the company.

For Yu Fuya, her ex-boyfriend’s actions in that year made him an existence she hated. This affected people and things, including Jincheng Pictures.

She let out a long breath. “Forget it, it is just a change in actors. It is fine to have a big investment. In any case, you are the third male lead and half the soul of the movie script. We won’t suffer losses.”

Yu Fuya paused and changed the subject. “By the way, is it just Ji Li shooting today?”

The staff member stopped the movement of her hand and replied, “The two actresses took the makeup photos yesterday and your company’s Wei Lai will only be available tomorrow. Cai Yishu’s makeup photos are arranged for 3 o’clock in the afternoon and you shouldn’t meet him.”

“The crew will start the day after tomorrow. There is always a chance to meet.” Ji Li replied calmly while taking the white school uniform handed over by the costume master. “I’ll go and change first. Let’s hurry up and shoot.”

Baozi remembered the gossip about Cai Yishu’s personality and there was faint disgust in his eyes.

However, he didn’t want to disturb Ji Li’s work so he had to temporarily suppress the true emotions in his heart.

The shooting of the makeup photos was a piece of cake for Ji Li.

Before 3 o’clock, he finished his work and sat back in the car.

“The day after tomorrow, the opening ceremony is at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. We will take the morning plane over.” Yu Fuya told him a bit of the itinerary and clicked on her mobile phone. “Ji Li, the producer said that the script has been changed. The new version has been sent to you.”

Ji Li responded to her and casually clicked on the latest version of the electronic script in his inbox.

In a moment, his eyes froze. The screenwriter’s signature in the lower right had changed.

Ji Li vaguely felt that something was wrong and quickly scanned the contents of the script. Time passed minute by minute and his eyes gradually became more complicated.

10 minutes later, Ji Li closed the script with a cold face.

Baozi and Yu Fuya looked at each other and asked in unison, “What’s wrong?”

Ji Li looked at them calmly and shook his head. “The contents of the script have been changed extensively. Several highlights of the third male lead have been deleted.”

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