Bai Yue'er pouted, sitting in the back seat without saying a word.
When they arrived at the Arts Institute, Hang Fei was already waiting at the school gate.
After getting off the car, Hang Fei opened the car door and sat in the front passenger seat.
Bai Yue'er quickly put aside her sulking mood and greeted Hang Fei.
She called out sweetly, "Hello, Director."
Bai Yue'er was always a girl with a sweet smile, her smile was like taking a bite of a pear in midsummer, juicy and sweet.
This was the first time Hang Fei and Bai Yue'er had met since the shooting of the first drama ended.
Hang Fei smiled and nodded, "Yue'er, long time no see, you've become even more beautiful."
Bai Yue'er chuckled, "Thank you for the compliment, Director."
She sneaked a glance at Xu Xiuwen from the corner of her eye.
Today, she had clearly dressed up on purpose, but after getting in the car, Xu Xiuwen hadn't looked at her directly or given her any compliments.
Although Hang Fei's compliment was nice, she really wanted to hear it from Xu Xiuwen.
The car started and drove away. Bai Yue'er quickly adjusted her mood.
She looked at Hang Fei's profile and asked, "Director, I heard you're going to shoot the second drama?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a role suitable for me?"
Hang Fei was taken aback and instinctively said, "Isn't the female lead reserved for you?"
Bai Yue'er was stunned.
When she came to her senses, she said excitedly, "Director, are you really giving me the female lead?"
Hang Fei nodded, "Yes."
Bai Yue'er kept nodding, "Thank you, Director, thank you, Director."
Hang Fei laughed, "You should thank someone else. Someone had already asked me to reserve the female lead for you, so I couldn't give it to anyone else even if I wanted to."
"Ah? The female lead was reserved for me?"
Hang Fei glanced at Xu Xiuwen, "As soon as we decided to shoot the second drama, Xiuwen told me to keep the female lead for you. So you should thank him. But let me clarify, even if he hadn't said anything, I would have reserved the role for you. I think you have great potential."
Bai Yue'er said, "Thank you for trusting me, Director."
She turned to look at Xu Xiuwen, her expression a mix of joy and doubt.
Xu Xiuwen hadn't mentioned this to her at all.
Hang Fei turned to Xu Xiuwen and asked, "Xiuwen, why didn't you tell Yue'er you reserved the female lead for her?"
Bai Yue'er bit her lip and looked at Xu Xiuwen, wanting to know what he would say.
Xu Xiuwen snorted, "I was afraid that after acting in one drama, she'd get so cocky that she wouldn't even look at us anymore. If I told her, wouldn't I be asking for humiliation?"
Hang Fei laughed, "Yue'er is not that kind of person. If I were her, I'd be angry hearing you say that."
Bai Yue'er wasn't angry.
She wasn't foolish and could tell Xu Xiuwen was teasing her.
She wrinkled her nose at Xu Xiuwen, even though he couldn't see it, and said in a coquettish tone, "Xu Xiuwen, stop slandering me. When did I ever look down on anyone? I'm thrilled to act in the Director's second drama."
Xu Xiuwen said, "Don't just be happy, remember to put in some effort."
"Got it."
Although Bai Yue'er pretended to be annoyed on the surface, she was very happy inside.
From Hang Fei's words, she realized that Xu Xiuwen had specially reserved the female lead role for her.
Even though he never mentioned this and made her worry for several days, which was a bit annoying, the fact that he had secured the role for her touched her deeply.
Xu Xiuwen then said, "There's one thing we need to clarify first. You can play the female lead, but you must sign a contract with the company. Once you sign, you'll be our company's artist, and all your activities must be approved by the company."
Bai Yue'er nodded, "I understand, I'll sign it."
Xu Xiuwen emphasized, "This contract is almost like selling yourself. If you break it, you'll have to pay a penalty."
Bai Yue'er hesitated and asked, "If I sign this contract, will I get a salary? Will there be any payment for acting?"
Xu Xiuwen chuckled, "Don't worry, you'll get a salary when not acting, and payment for acting, though not much since it's our own company's production. I hope you understand."
"Okay, I agree."
Bai Yue'er agreed decisively.
Xu Xiuwen was surprised, "Don't you want to think it over?"
Bai Yue'er shook her head, "No need to think about it, I know to repay kindness."
"Good, we'll notify you to come to the company to sign the contract once it's ready."
During their conversation, they soon arrived at Jiangsu TV station.
The interview proceeded smoothly.
During the interview, Xu Xiuwen and Hang Fei revealed their plans for the second drama.
By the time the interview ended, it was already five o'clock.
Xu Xiuwen drove Hang Fei and Bai Yue'er back to their respective schools.
Before Bai Yue'er got out of the car, she said to Xu Xiuwen, "Xu Xiuwen, thank you for giving me this opportunity."
Xu Xiuwen asked in surprise, "Didn't you already thank me?"
Bai Yue'er nodded, "But I wanted to thank you in private too. Without your help, I might never have had the chance to act."
Xu Xiuwen laughed, "Alright, I get it. Do your best and don't disappoint the Director and me."
Bai Yue'er nodded earnestly, "Don't worry, I'll do my best."
"Okay, it's late, you should head back."
Bai Yue'er opened the car door and was about to get out when Xu Xiuwen suddenly called out to her.
"Wait, are you planning to go down like this?"
Bai Yue'er was taken aback. "Is there a problem?"
Xu Xiuwen grabbed a hat and handed her a disposable mask.
"Put on the hat and mask, be careful not to be recognized."
Getting out openly like that would make it easy for her to be recognized.
Realizing this, Bai Yue'er stuck out her tongue.
She took the baseball cap Xu Xiuwen handed her, but not the mask.
Instead, she pulled out a white mask from her pocket and put it on after securing the hat.
"I'm leaving now."
Her voice sounded muffled through the mask.
"Bye."
"Bye."
After Bai Yue'er got out of the car, Xu Xiuwen stepped on the gas and drove away.
Bai Yue'er stood by the roadside, watching the car leave until it disappeared from view, then turned and walked into the campus.
Xu Xiuwen circled around and entered Jiaotong University through the north gate, arriving at the girls' dormitory building.
He walked into the building and headed straight to the duty office window.
The dormitory supervisor, an older lady, saw him and handed over a lunchbox.
"Thank you, ma'am."
Xu Xiuwen politely thanked her, took the lunchbox, and left.
Feeling the weight of the lunchbox, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly under the mask.
These past few days, he had been waking up early to make breakfast and drop it off here, then sending a message to Cheng Lu.
Although Cheng Lu never replied, the lunchbox was always empty when he came to pick it up at night.
The dorm supervisor wouldn't eat it herself, so it was clear who had been eating the food.
Xu Xiuwen returned to Jiangning Garden.
As soon as he entered, he received a call from Xu Chengde.
Xu Xiuwen immediately answered.
"Xiao Xu, it's me."
"Ah, Uncle Xu, I hear you. Is it about the distillery?"
Xu Chengde laughed. "Yang Guang just called me. The Guangming City unit has reported to the Langya City authorities. The city has formed a special negotiation team, with Yang Guang as the deputy leader. Since Yang Guang has been in charge of the distillery and knows the situation best, the city leaders have delegated the detailed negotiations to him. Yang Guang said the leaders are open to discussing the price and it might be reduced to 80 million. As for your proposal for installment payments, there's no consensus yet—some oppose, some agree. I expect Yang Guang will contact you tomorrow."
"Got it, Uncle Xu."
Xu Xiuwen chatted with Xu Chengde for a while before hanging up.
This call meant the distillery purchase was officially on the agenda.
Over the next half month, Xu Xiuwen had multiple negotiations with the negotiation team.
The leaders of the unit viewed the distillery as a hot potato and were eager to get rid of it, making them willing to compromise on price.
The only sticking point was Xu Xiuwen's proposal for installment payments.
After numerous internal meetings and significant efforts from Yang Guang, the leaders were finally persuaded to accept this condition.
Ultimately, Xu Xiuwen acquired the Guangming Distillery for 80 million.
The unit and negotiation team agreed to installment payments, with the total amount to be paid within five years.
The specifics were 10 million in the first year, 15 million in the second and third years, and 20 million in the fourth and fifth years.
On March 28, Xu Xiuwen officially signed the contract with the unit.
Buying the distillery made Xu Xiuwen happy but also aware of the pressure and burden.
From that day on, even though the distillery hadn't made any money yet, he was already 70 million in debt!
In his previous life, Xu Xiuwen couldn't have repaid such a sum.
But in this life, while 70 million seemed astronomical, it wasn't enough to overwhelm him.
He was confident he could pay off the remaining 70 million over the next five years.
Take his first drama as an example.
From preparation to release, it took half a year and earned him 18 million.
At that rate, with two dramas a year, the company could make 36 million annually.
Xu Xiuwen could take at least 28 million from that, enough to cover the distillery payments each year.
However, at the moment, Xu Xiuwen was feeling financially strained.
Since his rebirth, he had earned over 20 million from writing novels and producing TV dramas.
"Boys Over Flowers" cost over 1 million, and the budget for "My Sunshine" was estimated at 2 million.
Buying a house and car plus other expenses cost over 4 million.
Starting his company cost 3 million.
After paying the first year's 10 million for the distillery, he had only 2 million left in his account.
Although 2 million seemed like a lot, it wasn't enough to cover the employees' salaries and purchase raw materials for the distillery.
Nonetheless, Xu Xiuwen didn't plan to support so many people indefinitely.
...
During the negotiations between Xu Xiuwen and the negotiation team from the company, the entire process was kept confidential.
However, the news still leaked out. The employees at the distillery soon learned that someone was going to buy the distillery.
Initially, upon hearing the news, everyone was very happy.
But soon, many of them were not so happy anymore.
Xu Xiuwen made his first decision after buying the distillery: to fire the entire original management team and promote Xu Chengde to the position of the new factory director.
Xu Xiuwen, as the new owner of the distillery, did not understand the distillery's situation.
Therefore, he needed someone to help him take control of it.
Xu Chengde, a diligent and responsible employee of the distillery for twenty years, had always stayed away from the corrupt elements. Such a person was trustworthy.
Due to his good reputation, although the employees were surprised by Xu Chengde's promotion, no one opposed it.
After Xu Chengde was promoted to factory director, Xu Xiuwen assigned him a task: a major layoff.
Before going bankrupt, Guangming Distillery had nearly 3,000 employees.
After the bankruptcy, more than half had gradually left.
Currently, about 800 employees remained.
Xu Xiuwen did not need so many employees, especially those who were lazy, dishonest, and parasitic like leeches on the distillery, constantly draining its resources.
With such people around, the distillery could never recover.
The distillery only needed capable people; those who were dead weight or even blood-sucking leeches had to be immediately removed.
Xu Xiuwen set a personnel limit: the distillery's workers should be kept around 200, and absolutely no more than 300.
Xu Chengde faced great pressure with such a large-scale layoff, but he did not refuse or oppose it; instead, he strongly supported Xu Xiuwen's decision.
It was precisely because of his love for the distillery that he hated those parasites even more.
Xu Xiuwen gave Xu Chengde three days to think about who should stay and who should be laid off.
Naturally, those laid-off employees were unhappy and unwilling to accept it.
Many thought that with the new boss, they could continue to slack off as before.
Unfortunately, they misjudged the situation. The distillery was previously state-owned, but now it had become privately owned by Xu Xiuwen.
If he wanted to lay off people, no one could stop him.
Moreover, Xu Xiuwen had informed the company's leaders about the layoffs in advance.
The leaders were already aware and even assured him that if anyone caused trouble, they would send people to maintain order.
With the leaders' support, Xu Xiuwen had no more concerns.
Thus, the grand layoff operation began. Within three days, Xu Chengde completed the layoff task assigned by Xu Xiuwen.
The number of employees at the distillery was reduced from several hundred to just over 200.
The layoff was just the first step in changing the distillery.
The second step was to adjust the organizational structure of the distillery.
Xu Xiuwen learned that the previous Guangming Distillery had many departments and redundant personnel, with many departments supporting a bunch of idle people.
Xu Xiuwen restructured the organization into eight major departments: Security, Procurement, Production, Warehouse Management, Human Resources, Finance, Office, and Sales.
Xu Xiuwen placed Xu Qian in the Office and Zhao Yatong in the Finance Department.
Except for the Sales Manager, Xu Xiuwen delegated the appointment of the other seven department managers to Xu Chengde.