Chapter 1836: Winning Over

It's often said that making money is as hard as eating shit.

This saying, in fact, applies equally to both the successful and the failed.

The rich have people they need to bribe, and the poor have problems they need to solve; everyone is just a pitiful soul struggling in this world.

What Zhao Fusheng was striving to do now was simply make his life a little more comfortable.

And Dong Chenxi, as his friend and subordinate, naturally understood the reason for Zhao Fusheng's choices.

At the end of the day, it was all about caution.

Hanging up the phone, Zhao Fusheng rubbed his temples with some headache, instructed Wu Sijie to go home, and simply closed his eyes to rest in the car.

When he got home, the family was watching TV, and they saw Zhao Fusheng walk in with a tired face.

"What's wrong with you?"

Mother Zhao looked at her son with some surprise.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head: "Just a bit tired, it's nothing."

"Then you should rest quickly."

Mother Zhao said to Zhao Fusheng with some concern.

She also knew that although Zhao Fusheng's business was growing bigger and bigger, the pressure was also increasing. Although Zhao Fusheng didn't show it very obviously on ordinary days, the family actually knew that he was really tired.

Looking at Zhao Fusheng's back, Fan Baobao furrowed her delicate brows.

"Mom, what do you think, maybe we could let him stop doing business?"

Fan Baobao hesitated for a moment and said to Mother Zhao.

Mother Zhao didn't say anything but looked at her husband.

Father Zhao shook his head: "Easy to say, but impossible to do."

"Ah?"

Fan Baobao and Mother Zhao were both startled; obviously, as women, they didn't quite understand this matter.

Father Zhao explained with a wry smile: "In the business world, it's easy to enter, but leaving is not so easy. Especially with Fusheng's large scale of business, it can't be wrapped up all at once."

The few of them fell silent but had to admit they had oversimplified things.

"Don't worry about it. I'll go talk to him."

Father Zhao said to them after pondering for a while.

Anyway, at this moment, only he could have a chat with Zhao Fusheng.

……

……

Father Zhao went upstairs, and Zhao Fusheng was sitting there reading a book.

"What's wrong with you?"

Seeing his son looking a bit tired, Father Zhao asked puzzledly.

Zhao Fusheng gave a wry smile, recounted the whole story, and finally said helplessly: "I'm a bit tired."

"You."

Father Zhao suddenly laughed and patted Zhao Fusheng on the shoulder: "What can I say about you?"

"Ah?"

Zhao Fusheng was stunned, looking at Father Zhao with wide eyes; obviously, he didn't understand his father's meaning.

"Do you think, in this place called China, you can break away from all this?" Father Zhao said to his son with a smile. "Even if you go abroad, do you think there won't be problems to face? Besides, even if you stop doing business now and buy a small island, you'll still encounter all kinds of problems. What then, keep hiding?"

Zhao Fusheng was silent; his father's words suddenly made him realize that he might have been overthinking.

"Living is sometimes like this. You always have to face all kinds of problems. If you choose to escape every time, can life still go on?"

Father Zhao, for a rare occasion, said something quite philosophical, then smiled at Zhao Fusheng: "Man, just take it day by day, live well, and don't let your mind wander all the time, got it?"

"Ah..."

Zhao Fusheng was a bit dumbfounded, looking at his father, not knowing what to say.

He had truly never thought that his dad could have such an open-minded view.

But on second thought, it wasn't necessarily that his dad had become open-minded; perhaps it was because he himself had been overthinking.

Overthinking is indeed not a good thing sometimes.

……

……

Perhaps comforted by his father, or maybe he had figured things out on his own, in the following days, Zhao Fusheng's mood became much lighter. He either spent time with his family or went to the company to look over documents, and he wasn't as depressed as before.

With nothing to do, Zhao Fusheng even accompanied Fan Baobao to visit the filming set.

That's right, a visit.

The movie "Lost on Journey" co-starring Wang Qiang and Xu Zheng had officially started filming. Zhao Fusheng and Fan Baobao, having nothing better to do, came out for a stroll.

Filming set.

Since it was winter, they were mainly shooting indoor scenes.

Xu Zheng stood there, instructing the lighting technician about something.

"The shadow is very important. The local lighting must give the actor a sense of three-dimensionality..." Xu Zheng spoke very seriously to the lighting technician, and the two were discussing the technique of front-side lighting.

Zhao Fusheng didn't understand much and looked at Fan Baobao beside him: "Do you get it?"

Fan Baobao nodded: "This technique is also called side lighting. It's a technique for character light source scripts. The light source forms a ninety-degree angle with the subject, and the shadow falls on the other side. Got it?"

"Impressive!"

Zhao Fusheng exclaimed sincerely.

Obviously, this explanation sounded to him like something high-end and classy.

But Fan Baobao rolled her eyes and said to him helplessly: "This is a very basic operation, just like you casually writing an advertising plan. Understand?"

Zhao Fusheng was speechless; this analogy was really... a bit annoying!

But he could understand that lighting is always a top priority in a film crew. Especially during filming, to make the画面 more layered and the characters more vivid, lighting often requires quite a long preparation time.

Details determine success or failure, and this applies to every industry.

Especially in the film and television industry, it's even more so. It's the accumulation of details that edits together a perfect work.

Of course, if the details aren't good enough, the work might still be perfect, but that would be pure luck.

The combination of director, lighting, and cinematography often determines the visual effect of a movie or TV series. The reason why many movies and TV series in the future are unwatchable is largely because the producers ignored these basic elements and only invested money in those young idols.

To put it bluntly, even when using green screen and special effects, Hollywood can produce the "Avengers" series, raking in billions of dollars at the box office.

And us?

Heh, the "Pride and Not Prejudice" with the face worth eighty million?

Or the idol with a hundred million salary?

Zhao Fusheng had always felt that in the film and television industry, there should be some bottom line.

But as he became more familiar with the film and television circle, he understood more and more why many people, after going through this industry, could only give a wry smile when recalling those days.

The film and television circle is really a big mud pit; once you get in, you can't get out unscathed.

Those who engage in art and those who do entertainment often look down on each other, and the root of it lies here.

The latter despises the former for being falsely aloof, while the former thinks the latter harbors filth.

There's no way around it; different circles are not easy to merge.

"By the way, what do you think this movie will be like after it's released?" Fan Baobao, watching Xu Zheng explaining the script over there, suddenly asked Zhao Fusheng.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "It should be pretty good."

This was his honest opinion. In the original history, this movie's box office was indeed very good, and it was considered a successful transformation for Xu Zheng.

Most importantly, this film established Xu Zheng's reputation as the comedy king of China, allowing him to create the "Lost" series and later make a fortune.

Of course, the reasons behind this are complex. From a later perspective, the rise of the Chinese film market had specific historical backgrounds and causes.

Maybe at a different time and place, such a situation wouldn't occur.

But regardless, Xu Zheng indeed became a major figure rising in the Chinese film circle.

Even Zhao Fusheng had to admit this.

It's often said that times create heroes. Xu Zheng, Wang Qiang, and this group are the entertainment industry heroes who rose after the millennium.

Even in Zhao Fusheng's view, for the Chinese film and television circle to develop better in the future, how to make these choices would be of utmost importance, which is why he wanted to win them over.

Zhao Fusheng was just an ordinary person. Although he had foresight, he still didn't know what to do when faced with choices. The safest approach was undoubtedly to try not to change the history he was familiar with.

After all, that way, he could still get what he wanted from it.

It might sound a bit selfish, but as a small figure, this was all Zhao Fusheng could do.

"Sis, why are you here?"

As Zhao Fusheng and Fan Baobao were talking, Wang Qiang's voice sounded from the side. The guy was wearing an army coat, looking at Zhao Fusheng and Fan Baobao with surprise.

It seemed he had just come back from outside.

"I came to see you."

Fan Baobao said softly to Wang Qiang: "How is it? Tired from filming?"

"It's okay."

Wang Qiang looked very happy; obviously, seeing Fan Baobao made him quite delighted.

"How's the director?" Seeing that Zhao Fusheng didn't seem to want to speak, Fan Baobao asked.

"Very impressive!"

Hearing this question, Wang Qiang nodded seriously: "The jokes and gags are all really interesting. This movie is more fun than any I've filmed before."

"Is that so..."

Hearing Wang Qiang say this, Fan Baobao raised an eyebrow. She really hadn't expected Xu Zheng to receive such high praise from Wang Qiang. It seemed that during this time, Wang Qiang had learned a lot under Xu Zheng.

She knew her sworn brother too well.

Although Wang Qiang was always cheerful and seemed to take nothing to heart, acting indifferent to everyone, it wasn't easy to truly win him over.

And now, obviously, Xu Zheng, with his talent, had won Wang Qiang over.