After hearing Zhu Xiaocai’s speech, everyone became energized.
Yes, what a great opportunity! Staying home every day, wasting time seemed too wasteful!
Director Zhu Xiaocai was professionally trained, and besides Mr. Pei, he had contributed the most to the film “Beautiful Tomorrow.” If he wasn’t becoming complacent and continued to push himself to improve, they had even less reason to indulge themselves!
With Zhu Xiaocai taking the lead, the other members of Fei Huang Studio quickly understood this principle.
Logically, paid vacation should be about resting well and relaxing.
Thinking about learning, improvement, and progress during vacation was truly foolish behavior.
That wouldn’t be called paid vacation but paid study.
But then again, each situation needed to be analyzed specifically.
For others, paid vacation came after busy work when their bodies were about to develop problems from exhaustion, so they needed rest.
But the members of Fei Huang Studio didn’t lack rest time at all!
Everyone had indeed been quite tired during the filming, post-production, and promotion of “Beautiful Tomorrow,” but in the latter half of the month after the film’s release, everyone had already rested enough!
Every day at work, they did nothing but stare at the box office figures on the Dog’s Eye app and grin stupidly.
Although they were still going to work during those two weeks, they spent their days playing games, watching dramas, and eating snacks—their previous fatigue had long been relieved.
At this point, everyone was hoping to find something to do.
And Mr. Pei’s so-called “shock” only meant they couldn’t work, but he hadn’t restricted anything else!
With the company still paying their salaries, using this time to learn and improve themselves was a rare opportunity!
If they resigned and then pursued further education, they would have to consider living expenses and savings pressure, making it difficult to focus completely on learning.
But now? Their salaries continued as usual, without any worries!
Moreover, Zhu Xiaocai’s words had awakened everyone’s sense of crisis.
“Beautiful Tomorrow” had indeed succeeded, but this success contained certain elements of chance. It didn’t mean that the team truly deserved the box office of over 200 million.
What if the next film failed?
Most of them had just reached the peak and were unwilling to imagine quickly falling into the valley.
So, they had to improve themselves!
To become more successful and not disappoint Mr. Pei’s expectations, they had to use this time to study and improve, striving to make blockbuster films in the future without relying on Mr. Pei!
The atmosphere in the group chat heated up.
“Where should we go for further studies?”
“I heard some universities offer advanced director programs specifically for people with film and television experience. They compress four years of undergraduate professional courses into one year, and the professors are all excellent. You can truly learn a lot!”
“That won’t work; this course seems to require a year, but we only have a few months.”
“Umm, it might be useful for us, but not for Director Zhu, right? After all, in terms of box office, not just his fellow students but even professors might not have achieved as much as he…”
Zhu Xiaocai spoke up: “Everyone, please don’t have this mentality. We have indeed achieved some success, but those professors and teachers are industry veterans. Never think you’ve become arrogant just because you’ve been lucky enough to make a couple of films. We must respect our seniors.”
Huang Sibo also agreed: “Right, ‘among any three people, there must be one who can teach me something.’ Even ordinary people have admirable qualities, let alone film and television professors.”
Zhu Xiaocai: “Considering the time frame, I suggest everyone enroll in the Han Dong University’s part-time Director Advanced Course for working professionals. Classes are on Saturdays and Sundays, and the program takes two years.”
“This way, even after Fei Huang Studio’s ‘shock’ period ends, we can still attend classes on weekends.”
“Of course, these so-called ‘advanced courses’ have more water content than you might imagine, so besides attending classes, I’ll arrange some additional related studies for everyone.”
“When there are no classes, each person must watch and study one film every day, write a review analysis, and read one book on film and television every week, write reading notes, and also…”
“For specific arrangements, I’ll consult with my teachers at the university, and after finalizing the content, I’ll assign it to everyone.”
With Zhu Xiaocai making the arrangements, everyone felt reassured.
After all, he was professionally trained, and even if there were some unclear areas, he could return to Han Dong University to consult with his mentors and professors.
Moreover, having already directed a film like “Beautiful Tomorrow,” the school had repeatedly invited him back to give lectures to junior students. This kind of request was nothing.
Huang Sibo also had this need.
Having transitioned from the gaming industry, he deeply felt his lack of foundational knowledge throughout the filmmaking process, with many areas he didn’t understand.
Previously, he had been busy with various aspects of work, coordinating miscellaneous matters for Director Zhu Xiaocai, so he never had time to study or pursue further education.
Now he could finally make up for his shortcomings!
Thinking about this, he even felt a bit excited.
While Huang Sibo was feeling enthusiastic, he received a message.
“Hmm?”
“The payment has arrived!”
…
In the office, Pei Qian yawned, preparing to leave work and go home.
After arranging matters with Rui Yuchen and Slackin’ Delivery, Pei Qian felt the pressure to make money had decreased somewhat.
However, just as he was about to leave the office, he received a message from Huang Sibo on his phone.
“Mr. Pei, the film’s payment has arrived!”
Pei Qian’s heart instantly skipped a beat.
So quickly?!
Although he had resolved the issue with Fei Huang Studio using shock therapy, the film’s box office hadn’t been resolved!
In an instant, more than 70 million yuan had been added to the company’s account.
Pei Qian became despondent again, feeling the burden on his shoulders grow heavier.
This Fei Huang Studio just knows how to cause me trouble!
Although he had long known that this sum of money would arrive, it came two or three days earlier than expected, which still made Pei Qian feel very displeased.
He simply stuffed his phone into his pocket, pretending not to have seen the message.
“Huang Sibo, that harbinger of bad luck, whenever he contacts me, it’s never for anything good! I’ll ignore him.”
“Hmph, fortunately, I’ve already prepared a destination for this money.”
“Otherwise, I would truly be discouraged.”
Pei Qian decided to go out tomorrow and resolve this sum of money at lightning speed—out of sight, out of mind!
…
Half an hour later, Huang Sibo glanced at his phone.
Mr. Pei still hadn’t replied.
“Sigh, Mr. Pei seems to be busy again.”
Huang Sibo felt somewhat dejected. He had originally wanted to briefly report their learning arrangements during this period when Mr. Pei replied.
But as Mr. Pei hadn’t responded for so long, all of Huang Sibo’s words remained bottled up inside.
After calming down and thinking carefully for half an hour, Huang Sibo changed his mind.
He felt that perhaps he shouldn’t and didn’t need to report these matters.
If it were an ordinary boss who learned that employees were quietly studying and improving their professional skills, there would only be two reactions: first, they’re not fully occupied with work and have free time for other things; second, they’re planning to change jobs.
This would only result in even more ruthless exploitation.
Of course, Huang Sibo knew very well that Mr. Pei was not that kind of boss.
Mr. Pei was a good boss who highly valued employees’ rest time and personal space, and none of Tenda’s employees wanted to change jobs.
If that was the case, each employee improving themselves in their spare time was not only to better complete the tasks assigned by Mr. Pei but also to realize their value.
But still, there was no need to report it.
Because Huang Sibo felt that at Tenda, such things should be taken for granted. What was the point of reporting to Mr. Pei?
It would only make it seem like he was seeking credit.
Mr. Pei didn’t like employees who sought credit.
Thinking of this, Huang Sibo resolutely abandoned this idea and began discussing the upcoming further education plans with others in the Fei Huang Studio group chat.
…
…
April 12th, Tuesday.
Pei Qian sat in the car, with his phone map displaying the destination for this trip: Jingzhou Shengjing City Dawn.
This was a mid-to-high-end residential development in Jingzhou.
Pei Qian was interested in it mainly for two reasons: first, it was quite close to the company, just a twenty-minute walk away; second, it had a building that particularly suited Pei Qian’s intentions.
Of course, whether it truly suited him could only be confirmed once he arrived at the site.
Regarding the money earned from “Beautiful Tomorrow,” Pei Qian had long decided on its destination.
Buying property!
Of course, Mr. Pei’s property purchase was not buying property in the ordinary sense.
The System didn’t allow property speculation, but it didn’t prohibit Pei Qian from buying property using system funds in the company’s name. The distinction lay in whether the purchased property was used for production and business activities.
Like the commercial-residential villa for Mingyun Private Kitchen—if purchased and left unused, that wouldn’t be allowed, but purchasing it to open a restaurant was acceptable.
This time, Pei Qian planned to buy a building to create a rental housing brand.
He had already thought of a name: “Sloth Apartments.”
Creating this new industry had three benefits:
Buying property could quickly consume large amounts of system funds. Currently, Pei Qian’s initial system funds were 20 million yuan, and fixed assets were calculated at 10%, meaning Pei Qian’s spending 60-70 million yuan on property was within an acceptable range;
This apartment could serve as an employee benefit, and at the same time, Pei Qian himself could move in, using system funds for reimbursement.
Decoration, furniture purchases, daily cleaning, maintenance, utilities, etc., could further create more losses.
Of course, there were risks too.
The risk was that if this brand became popular and everyone scrambled to rent, then it would make money again.
Pei Qian had, of course, considered this issue early on and thought of ways to prevent profitability.
The first was the apartment layout, and the second was the price.
From the floor plan on his phone, Pei Qian could see that this property at Jingzhou Shengjing City Dawn had an extremely rare “high-end” layout.
A 360-degree, no-blind-spot lighting design with east, west, south, and north all transparent—the “Sun Never Sets” layout!
Sunlight during the day, moonlight at night, and the entire building was a cylindrical structure.
Gathering the essence of heaven and earth, shining with the sun and moon, it could be called the fighter jet of fully-lit floor plans.
When Pei Qian saw this floor plan, he wanted to mock it, saying this layout was perfect for growing sunflowers, which could rotate in circles, soaking up sunlight every day, not missing a single minute of sunshine.
But the more unique the layout, the more it met Mr. Pei’s requirements!