“Achoo!”

On his way back from Fei Huang Studio, Pei Qian sneezed.

“Why do I have this vague sense of foreboding…”

“Is there another department about to cause problems? Should I check?”

“…Never mind.”

For just a second, Pei Qian thought about checking if something had gone wrong with any of his businesses, but this thought only lasted for a second before he suppressed it.

It was impossible to keep track of everything!

Up to now, Pei Qian had too many businesses under his control; it would be too troublesome to check them all.

After thinking about it, Pei Qian was more inclined to believe it was just his imagination and decided to continue focusing on the matter at hand.

With this in mind, Pei Qian dialed Zhang Zuting’s number.

The call connected quickly, and they exchanged a few pleasantries, with the atmosphere being quite good.

Although the “Hot Blood Battle Song” advertisement had brought Zhang Zuting some troubles, it had also brought him considerable attention.

Especially with the success of the “Hot Blood Battle Song” mobile game version, which had washed away many people’s stereotypical impressions of the game as “pay-to-win, money-grabbing, money from fools.” This had caused many people to change from hating to liking Zhang Zuting.

Zhang Zuting, who had already faded from popularity, had seen a rise in his popularity recently!

So, Zhang Zuting was quite grateful to Boss Pei.

“Mr. Zhang, do you have availability in the coming months? I have a film here and would like to invite you to join.”

“We’ve worked together before, and you can rest assured about the remuneration. You definitely won’t be treated unfairly.”

On the other end of the phone, Zhang Zuting was taken aback.

Making a movie?

Wasn’t Boss Pei’s company a game company? How did they suddenly start making movies?

Were they expanding into a new field?

Zhang Zuting didn’t ask much; after all, many wealthy companies wanted to make movies these days. Even coal bosses and rich second-generation heirs liked this. There was nothing to be surprised about.

Since Boss Pei could even run a high-end restaurant, wasn’t it perfectly normal for him to invest money in making a movie?

Zhang Zuting said, “No problem, Boss Pei. My schedule happens to be free. Since we already know each other well from our previous cooperation, the remuneration is negotiable. I can give you a friendship price. However, can I see the script first?”

Pei Qian was silent for a moment: “I’ll make up the difference in the friendship price for you. Could you not ask me for the script first?”

Zhang Zuting was stunned for a moment, then laughed: “Boss Pei, you’re such a joker. Is the script not completed yet? Fine, let’s not discuss the script for now. I’ll honor Boss Pei’s request. I’ll arrange things on my end and then come to Jingzhou.”

“Good, I’ll give you the director’s contact information, and he can contact you directly when the time comes. Oh, and I’m looking for a young male actor for the lead role in my film. Do you have any good recommendations?” Pei Qian asked.

Zhang Zuting thought for a moment: “There are too many young male actors. Do you have any specific requirements?”

Pei Qian answered without hesitation: “Preferably someone expensive.”

Zhang Zuting chuckled: “Expensive? Then I don’t know anyone. I’m just a has-been actor; how would I know so many popular young actors? Boss Pei, if you just want to find someone expensive, there aren’t that many very expensive male actors in the country. Why not just ask each one individually?”

Pei Qian nodded: “That’s true. I’ll keep looking.”

He hung up the phone just as he arrived back at Tenda.

Pei Qian got out of the car, went to his office, and did a quick search on Thousand Degree for currently popular male actors.

Many fields in this world have changed, such as the development of smartphones and the mobile game industry, which was three to four years faster than in his memory.

The film industry also had some differences from his memory.

According to Pei Qian’s memory, traffic films began around 2011, became popular around 2013, peaked in 2014 and 2015, and then gradually declined afterward.

The situation in this world was slightly different; traffic films appeared a bit earlier than in his memory.

Pei Qian guessed that this might be one of the effects of the advanced development of mobile phones and communication technology.

In any case, traffic films in this world should be at the stage of gradually becoming popular, with the remuneration of many traffic fresh meat actors rising rapidly and becoming increasingly outrageous.

Of course, besides fresh meat actors, some big-name male actors also demanded high prices.

Pei Qian was torn.

Who should he choose for the male lead?

Finding an unknown small role would cost too little.

Finding a big-name male actor? These people may demand high prices, but their acting skills are generally up to par, and they also have a certain box office appeal.

Finding a fresh meat actor?

That would be good in many ways, but Pei Qian had some aversion to fresh meat actors. The money would be spent one way or another, but benefiting fresh meat actors and further increasing the heat of the “big traffic era”…

It felt somewhat unpleasant.

Pei Qian suppressed his decision paralysis while searching for relevant information, hoping to find a suitable candidate with a bit of luck.

Suddenly, he saw a keyword.

Box office poison!

“Hmm?”

Pei Qian became interested immediately. This was a hot post on a forum, with the title: “Lu Zhiyao is the Ultimate Box Office Poison!”

The post was quite popular, with many netizens discussing in the comments.

“Indeed, even with this cast, it still flopped. That’s just ridiculous!”

“Even someone as strong as Director Liu couldn’t carry him, just couldn’t carry him!”

“The two female leads in this are considered very lucky for male actors, yet it still flopped terribly…”

“I just want to ask, why does he still get such good resources after flopping so many times?”

“To be honest, his acting is decent, and he seems quite hardworking. People who have worked with him all speak highly of him, and I haven’t heard of any scandals coming out. He’s quite handsome too, but for some reason, I just don’t want to see him on screen…”

“Indeed, when I see his name in a movie, my first reaction is not to go see it.”

“I think it’s firstly because he doesn’t have audience affinity, and secondly, his face is too handsome, which makes it very distracting. He shouldn’t be taking these serious films; he should be taking some fan-oriented traffic films.”

“There’s no way around it. He debuted a bit early and is already past the age of being a fresh meat actor. And he’s quite ambitious, not wanting to make that kind of trashy money, just focused on getting good scripts and honing his acting skills.”

“Please! Stop ruining good scripts!”

“I think after this flop, no director will find him anymore, right? Expensive and can’t drive box office, the cost-effectiveness is explosively low.”

Seeing everyone’s discussion, Pei Qian’s eyes lit up.

This guy called Lu Zhiyao seemed to fit his needs perfectly!

He quickly searched for his representative works.

Pei Qian discovered that this Lu Zhiyao was considered among the top five popular young actors in the country, with quite good recognition and some decent works. Especially when he first debuted, he had acted in several critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful films. Although the box office wasn’t high, his performance in the films was quite impressive, so audiences had high expectations for him.

But as he made more and more films, things suddenly went wrong.

Lu Zhiyao’s acting skills hadn’t declined; in fact, they had steadily improved. He was quite hardworking, and he was a good person. But the problem was that his films were doing worse and worse at the box office!

At first, fans thought the films were dragging him down and spoke up for him, which kept his price rising. But gradually, people found that this guy wasn’t being dragged down by the films, was he?

The mark of a good actor is being able to carry the box office alone, but not only was Lu Zhiyao unable to carry the box office, he was having the opposite effect!

In his most recent film, there was a veteran award-winning actor and two actresses with very good audience rapport, yet the film still flopped, and flopped quite badly!

So, the assertion that Lu Zhiyao was “box office poison” became more and more prevalent.

Pei Qian also found that he had studied abroad when he was young, so his spoken English should be quite good.

Boss Pei made an immediate decision: it would be him!

This was simply the perfect candidate in his mind!

Then, Pei Qian sent Lu Zhiyao’s name to Zhu Xiaocai: “Go contact him. This is the perfect male lead in my mind!”

……

……

The next day.

Not long after Pei Qian had gotten up, he received a call from Zhu Xiaocai.

“Boss Pei, I have two things to report.”

“I’ve already contacted Mr. Zhang Zuting, and he should be coming to Jingzhou in a few days. The crew’s matters are also in preparation, so you don’t need to worry about these.”

“As for Lu Zhiyao, that you mentioned yesterday… I contacted his agent and also spoke with Lu Zhiyao on the phone. But he seems quite depressed recently and has declined the invitation, saying he doesn’t want to participate in any films for the time being.”

Pei Qian was stunned: “Didn’t you tell him we could add more money?”

Zhu Xiaocai was momentarily speechless: “Uh… At the time, I felt his mental state was very low, and I didn’t have the heart to be too explicit. I only hinted simply that we could add more money, but he didn’t pick up on my hint, and I didn’t have the heart to ask more.”

Pei Qian silently shook his head.

Ah, it seems that spending money also requires talent.

Someone like Director Zhu Xiaocai, even after learning for so long, still hadn’t grasped the essence of Tenda’s spending spirit.

“Adding money” as the ultimate trump card for solving all problems had a very simple usage: it had to be direct!

No matter what excuse the other party comes up with, just directly give them more money, and that’s it. It must be specified as a concrete number, not vague or ambiguous.

However, sincerity was indeed insufficient over the phone; it would be better to have an opportunity for a face-to-face meeting.

Pei Qian thought for a moment: “Alright, have you represent Tenda to send an invitation to Lu Zhiyao, telling him to come to Jingzhou to relax, with all arrangements handled by us. After he arrives, I’ll chat with him and offer him more money in person!”

Zhu Xiaocai: “Alright, Boss Pei.”

Pei Qian was determined to get Lu Zhiyao; since he was box office poison, he must be invited to join his crew!

Of course, considering that this gentleman had been going through a rough patch recently, with his new film flopping and his mood being very low, it undoubtedly matched the state of the male protagonist in the script.

Given the toxicity of the script, giving him more remuneration as compensation for mental distress was also reasonable.

After about half an hour, when Pei Qian’s Slackin’ takeout had already arrived, Zhu Xiaocai called back.

“Boss Pei, it’s done. Lu Zhiyao has agreed to come to Jingzhou!”

Pei Qian nodded: “Good. I’ll have someone arrange for his reception. You continue to busy yourself with the crew’s matters. Leave Lu Zhiyao’s matters to me.”

Pei Qian guessed that since Lu Zhiyao’s new film had just flopped, he must be very dejected and couldn’t get interested in anything.

At this time, when a studio with an unfamiliar name approached him to invite him to act in a film, he definitely wouldn’t want to accept.

Pei Qian invited him to Jingzhou to relax and chat, and once they met in person, it would be easier to persuade him.

At that time, he would treat him to a grand meal at Mingyun Private Kitchen, and at the dining table, he would crazily add to his remuneration. He didn’t believe he could secure this “box office poison”!