159: Chapter 160 Heading to Hengdian

And this wasn't even the most absurd part.

The most absurd part was that the children she had raised alone through all her hardships were all ungrateful wretches.

When she grew old, a series of events unfolded, such as fighting over the family inheritance and shirking their duty to support her.

Reading this, Chen Sheng really wanted to say, "How much of a failure must one's parenting be to raise a whole nest of ungrateful wretches?"

However, one had to admit that for this novel to have over a million likes, it must have some real appeal. The appeal lay in her rebirth and her heavy-handed strikes against the ungrateful wretches. In An Xiaonuan's words, "Seeing these ungrateful wretches get dealt with one by one until they're in such a miserable state, it's so satisfying it even clears up my stress."

Regarding this comment, Chen Sheng, standing behind An Xiaonuan, couldn't help but secretly curl his lip.

They say a child shouldn't despise a mother's ugliness, a dog shouldn't despise a home's poverty, and furthermore, even a tiger doesn't eat its own cubs. Yet in this novel, there were ungrateful sons, and then the mother, reborn, went straight to dealing with them, even forcing the eldest to go pick up trash.

He really wanted to comment, "Couldn't she have just raised them properly?"

That was hard to judge.

After spending an hour finishing this short novel targeted at women, An Xiaonuan put down her phone. After a moment of thoughtful silence, she said, "The novel's theme is a currently popular period piece. Given the original novel's popularity, the short drama has the potential to be a hit. However, I've heard that whether a show becomes a hit depends on many factors, and we don't really know about those. Anyway, I think rashly investing in short dramas seems a bit unreliable."

"And also, who is this 'big brother' you mentioned? Do I know him? Just because someone says you should invest, you're going to do it?"

This question stumped Chen Sheng for a moment.

Where would he have a 'big brother'... No, if he had to talk about a big brother, he did have one—his System big brother—but could he say that?

Although the System hadn't explicitly told him what the consequences of exposing its existence would be, his years of experience as a veteran bookworm told him that it was best to keep the secret of the System to himself. The fewer people who knew, the less risk there was of being sliced open for examination.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Sheng said vaguely, "I met him back when I was working part-time as a ride-hailing driver. It's been many years, and we often chat online. Based on our interactions over the years, I personally feel I have a decent grasp of his character."

"Besides, I'm not stupid. If I really decide to invest, I'll definitely conduct a site visit before signing any contracts or handing over money."

An Xiaonuan was silent for a long while before she spoke, "Are you sure you want to invest?"

Chen Sheng nodded, "I want to try. I've realized something during this time: living life by the book only makes things harder. Conversely, taking an unconventional path and constantly tinkering and trying things out actually makes life better."

"Now there's an opportunity in front of us, and we have the money. If we win, we'll have another way to make money in the future. If we lose, it was unexpected wealth anyway. 500,000 is a lot, but we can afford to lose it now."

"You're certainly open-minded about it." An Xiaonuan huffed impatiently. "Anyway, the money is in your hands, do whatever you want. But I'm stating this first: don't you dare think about eyeing my money again."

"How could I! I have enough money on my end." Chen Sheng laughed sheepishly.

The next second, his eyes widened abruptly, "You, you agreed?"

"If I didn't agree, wouldn't you just go anyway?" An Xiaonuan countered.

"Of course not~" Chen Sheng immediately stood up straight and patted his chest in assurance.

An Xiaonuan turned her head and curled her lip at Chen Sheng with disdain, "Hehe~"

...

The next day, having received authorization from An Xiaonuan, Chen Sheng called Yi Wei directly in the morning. He stated that he had learned through certain channels that Yi Wei was filming a short drama and that the crew was currently facing funding difficulties. He expressed that he was very optimistic about the drama and was willing to help resolve their funding issues.

After Chen Sheng explained his intentions, Yi Wei, on the other end of the line, thought of the desperate days he had spent over the past few days, begging everywhere with no results, and his eyes instantly turned red.

"Thank you! Thank you so much for your trust, Mr. Chen. The crew is indeed facing some difficulties. If Chen Sheng is willing to provide help, I thank you on behalf of the entire crew." After expressing his gratitude, Yi Wei hurriedly asked for Chen Sheng's address, stating that he would bring the script and filming plan to meet as soon as possible.

Chen Sheng politely declined, stating instead that he would personally travel to Hengdian, where Yi Wei was located.

With the rise of the internet, he had heard plenty of rumors about Hengdian and the 'Hengpiao' over the years. Now that he finally had a legitimate reason to go to Hengdian, he didn't want to let this opportunity slip away.

After ending the call, Chen Sheng first checked online for a guide on traveling from Shu City to the Hengdian Film and Television Base. Following the guide, he bought a discounted flight ticket for tomorrow morning from Shu City to Xiaoshan Airport.

After the 'mythical beasts' returned to their cages in September, tourism in various places entered the off-season, and prices for accommodation, flights, and high-speed rail also saw a significant drop.

After booking the ticket, Chen Sheng called Lawyer Wang, whom he had previously entrusted to handle the appraisal of the necklace's material, and made an appointment with him to handle the contract either tomorrow evening or the morning after.

At Chen Sheng's speed, even An Xiaonuan couldn't help but give a thumbs up. "Hmph, I see it now. You had this planned all along!"

"Absolutely not!" Chen Sheng raised a finger to swear, "I'm just this fast."

Noticing the strange look An Xiaonuan gave him, Chen Sheng quickly added, "Except for certain times, after all, you know."

"Pah!" An Xiaonuan spat impatiently, thinking to herself, "Men, they have to include some dirty jokes within three sentences."

When the 17th arrived, accompanied by streetlights and music, Chen Sheng boarded the plane to Xiaoshan Airport, and then took the airport bus directly to Hengdian.

As one of China's famous film and television bases, Hengdian's first impression on Chen Sheng was that there were many people—those here for tourism, those looking for opportunities... and those here to ride the wave of popularity.

On the way from getting off the bus to the booked hotel, Chen Sheng saw at least six people holding gimbals, chattering away non-stop at their phones.

Of course, there was no shortage of celebrities either.

Fortunately, on the way to the hotel, Chen Sheng ran into a celebrity being escorted ostentatiously by eight 'Vajra' bodyguards and twelve 'Arhats'. The only regret was that he didn't recognize this person, but listening to the rising decibels around him, he reckoned they should, probably, possibly be very famous.

Upon arriving at the hotel and settling in, Chen Sheng immediately called Yi Wei. When Yi Wei learned that Chen Sheng had arrived in Hengdian, he immediately offered to host a welcome dinner for him that evening.

Yi Wei was likely truly at the end of his rope; the meeting place for the evening was arranged at a barbecue stall. However, he stubbornly added, "There's a saying where we're from: if you meet someone for the first time, treat them to barbecue, and you'll be friends. If you're already friends, then you should definitely take him for barbecue; with beer and barbecue, you're brothers."

Not to mention, this sentiment was actually quite artistic; he truly lived up to being someone who worked in the arts.

But as for his appearance, he lacked a head of flowing hair, which definitely deserved a bad review; the buzz cut he wore was an even worse review.

He was dressed very simply, so simply that there was dust on his clothes. If Yi Wei hadn't said he came directly from the film set, Chen Sheng would have thought he came from a construction site.

After getting to know each other, the two sat down. Yi Wei asked about Chen Sheng's dietary restrictions, then called the owner over and "generously" ordered a huge pile of food and a case of beer. When the owner went back to the grill to prepare it, Yi Wei couldn't wait to say, "Mr. Chen, this drama is adapted from a highly talked-about novel for women on Yanxuan last year. There is a base of potential viewers, so Mr. Chen, if you invest, I won't say it's guaranteed to make money, but I dare to pat my chest and guarantee it absolutely won't lose money."

"Director Yi, although I haven't had much contact with the short drama market, I do know this industry. There's no such thing as 'absolute' when it comes to making or losing money; everything is still up to the market."

"Director Yi, this is our first time dealing with each other. I'm the type of person who doesn't like to beat around the bush; I've always been straightforward. So, Director Yi, let's talk about something practical. How much funding does your drama still lack? How much do I need to invest, and what share can I get?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Wei's cheek couldn't help but twitch. He secretly put away the casualness and slight contempt that he hadn't even noticed himself, which had arisen because he saw that Chen Sheng was young, and said seriously:

"The total investment for the crew is 1 million. Now 3/5 of the script has been filmed, but due to some reasons, the second female lead quit the crew halfway through. Currently, the crew needs to find a new second female lead to re-film the previous scenes. Adding in post-production, promotion, and distribution, there is a funding gap of about 500,000. As for the specific share, it depends on the investment amount from you, Mr. Chen."

Chen Sheng tapped his fingers on the table. After pretending to think for a moment, he said, "What if I invest the whole amount?"

...