"If it were easy to get the hang of, then what would be the point?"
"It seems I lack awareness, you sure know how to play!"
Meng Changkun picked up the cell phone from the table, deciding to cut today's interviews short, "Let's go, Old Wu plans to treat us to dinner."
Lu Liang nodded and stood up to leave.
"Mr. Meng, Boss Lu, your private room is ready..."
A group of several people left the Land King Building by car and arrived at a private restaurant along the banks of Yangpu River.
Inside the private room, Lu Liang saw Zhou Xiaoqi, whom he had just interviewed, along with several models and artists under the employ of Good Dream Film Company.
Zhou Xiaoqi greeted Meng Changkun with a big smile, hugging his plump waist, "Darling, how did I do just now?"
"Mary, Mary, Good!"
Meng Changkun beamed, giving a thumbs-up in praise. Although he was a bit shorter than Zhou Xiaoqi, it didn't hinder him from wrapping his arm around her slender waist.
"This is Mr. Lu, Boss Lu."
Wu Tianzheng called a girl over to pour wine for Lu Liang and then took out a document, "Boss Lu, here are some films that are currently seeking investment. See if there's anything you like."
A stack of documents with twenty project proposals piled up to about half a basketball in height.
"That many? All initiated by your company?"
Lu Liang casually wrapped his arm around the young model's slim waist and casually picked up a few proposals to flip through.
"Horror Archive Room," "Star's Summer," "Xia Luo's Worry," "Disaster of Two-headed Snake"...
Web movies, web series, cinema films—the genres varied, and the required capital ranged from one million to tens of millions.
Lu Liang was surprised; if all these were initiated by Good Dream, then Wu Tianzheng's capabilities were even more formidable than he had imagined.
"You must be joking, Boss Lu. Currently, we have only one project, 'disc fairy,' and we owe a lot to Mr. Meng's generous support."
Without changing his expression, Wu Tianzheng smoothly paid a compliment and then explained that these were all film and television projects in urgent need of funds within the industry.
Their few companies shared resources and helped each other out. If Boss Lu wasn't interested, he could always bring in a new batch.
"Okay, then I'll take these back and have a look. If I'm interested in any project, I'll give you a call."
Lu Liang understood the situation well. It was similar to when he used to work as an intermediary. He had clients, but the properties the clients were interested in weren't in his hands.
In such a case, one could either refer clients and earn a referral fee or acquire the desired properties and pay a referral fee.
Wu Tianzheng was playing the role he used to perform.
"Come on, everyone eat, eat..."
"Qingqing, don't just sit there, pour some wine for Mr. Lu. Who knows, if Mr. Lu is pleased, you might be the female lead in the next film."
Wu Tianzheng was the life of the party. At his prompt, the models around Lu Liang also reacted, vying to be close to him.
...
After three rounds of drinks and a variety of dishes, Meng Changkun 'couldn't hold his liquor' and left the private room with his young lover.
"Mr. Wu, thank you for the hospitality. I've also had a bit too much," said Lu Liang, his head spinning, planning to take the opportunity to leave.
"Boss Lu, let me have someone take you home. Mr. Meng's driver just left with them."
Wu Tianzheng called over a young man, his assistant: "Xiao Qu, you can take Boss Lu home first."
The model called 'Qingqing' quickly came forward to support Lu Liang, "Boss Lu, let us take you home."
"Thanks, Mr. Wu." Lu Liang, his face showing signs of inebriation, raised his hands above his head, and bowed in thanks without further refusal.
As soon as he got into the car, he provided the address and then lay down on Qingqing's lap, "This alcohol is really no good thing."
"Men always say one thing and mean another. Drinking is one thing, but what comes after is quite another," said Qingqing with a blooming smile, extending her fair fingers to gently massage Lu Liang's temples.
```
Based on where a person lives, you can gauge their wealth.
Lu Liang lived in Tangchen Yipin, so even if he wasn't worth ten billion, he still had three to five hundred million at least.
It proved that Wu Tianzheng wasn't bluffing, as long as Qingqing made Lu Liang happy, she was going to be the leading lady in the next movie.
"Not old, but you sure understand men's hearts," Lu Liang said with his eyes closed, feigning sleep, as a faint scent of perfume wafted into his nostrils.
"What do you mean 'not old'?" retorted Qingqing in a petulant tone, not satisfied, she proudly pushed up her cleavage.
"Indeed, not small," Lu Liang smirked with his eyes open, reached over to pull her closer by her neck, feeling her size.
"Mr. Lu, you're so naughty~"
Qingqing's playful laugh echoed in the car.
It was almost dawn when Lu Liang brought the model Qingqing and driver Xiao Qu back home.
"Boss Lu, I've left the documents on the table for you. If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way," the driver said.
"Hmm, be safe on the way back, and say thanks to Mr. Wu for me," Lu Liang walked over to the bar area and made himself a lemon tea as a hangover remedy.
"Living in such a big house, don't you get scared at night?"
Qingqing was amazed and envious, like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden for the first time.
She walked through each room and ended up on the balcony, captivated by the unrivalled river view outside the window.
She had spent hundreds of yuan to take a night cruise on the Pujiang River, a view ordinary people paid to see, but Lu Liang could see it every night, and from an even better angle and a wider perspective.
"What's there to be afraid of? If a female ghost were to knock on my door in the middle of the night, I'd be more than pleased," Lu Liang said, joining her on the balcony with his cup of lemon tea.
As the weather got hotter, he grew fonder of coming to the balcony in the middle of the night, enjoying the river breeze and the Modu nightscape.
At this moment, his mood was very serene.
Qingqing acted coquettishly and gently nudged Lu Liang, "Ew~ don't say such things in the middle of the night, it's kind of scary."
"With me here, what's there to be scared of?"
Lu Liang wrapped an arm around her slender waist, which was bony rather than plush like Zhang Qian's, but had a charm of its own.
His hand gradually slid down, undoing the button at her waist...
Qingqing moaned softly and grinned as she broke free from his embrace, "I'll go take a shower first."
Suddenly Lu Liang stiffened up, distracted, and said, "Go ahead."
He frowned, turned to look at the wall clock; it had just passed twelve, marking the start of a new day.
Qingqing sensed something was amiss, thinking she did something wrong, she had barely reached the bathroom before turning back.
She hugged Lu Liang, running her fingertips along his forearm, then whispered into his ear, "How about we shower together?"
"You go ahead, I just remembered something," Lu Liang returned to the room to search for the project proposal Wu Tianzheng had brought.
He found the proposal for "Xia Luo's Worry," produced by Happy Mahua, with Liu Hongtao as the producer and Yan Fei as the director.
It was a mainstream movie with a production budget of 20 million, currently short 5 million in funds, and it told the story of a reborn school student turned pop star.
Lu Liang mumbled to himself, "Is this movie really that great?"
Just moments ago, he had heard a voice from the future again, not about stocks, but about a movie.
[On November 30th, "Xia Luo's Worry," box office 1.441 billion]
Wu Tianzheng had talked to Lu Liang a lot about investing in film projects during dinner, including the box office revenue splits of movies.
For a mainstream movie to be profitable, the final box office needed to be at least three times the production cost.
For a movie with a 20 million production budget, a 60 million box office would break even, with anything above that giving the production company a 35% cut.
Taking a 1.441 billion box office for example, after deducting the 60 million production cost, there would be 1.381 billion in box office share remaining.
If Lu Liang took on the 5 million shortfall alone without any further investment, he would get 25% of the 35% box office cut.
That would be a net profit of about 115 million.
```