Chapter 0862: Storm Rising

Zhao Fusheng had a good friend named Tan Kaixuan, who always claimed to be a virgin every day. Tan Kaixuan once said: 'When you fail, there will always be a group of people who care about you. They ask what happened, listen to your failure experience, and then leave contentedly.'

Zhao Fusheng always thought this saying made a lot of sense.

People are like that: it's easy to add flowers to brocade, but rare to send charcoal in the snow.

For Zhao Fusheng, although he wasn't in a difficult situation now, he felt that sometimes one should still do some good deeds.

The fact that Zhang Guorong would commit suicide a year later was known to no one but himself. Even Zhang Guorong himself might not have imagined that within the next year, he would endure so much unbearable torment, ultimately like the last straw that breaks the camel's back, leaping from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on April Fool's Day, playing a not-so-funny joke on the whole world.

Zhao Fusheng's goal was simple: he hoped to use this film to give Zhang Guorong hope and change his fate.

Of course, he couldn't explain this reason, so Fan Baobao became the best scapegoat.

Sure enough, after Zhao Fusheng gave that reason, neither Dong Chenxi nor Bai Jie, nor Zheng Yao, had any doubt about his explanation.

In their eyes, this was so Zhao Fusheng.

This guy had always been the type who liked to stir things up for his girlfriend.

"You're actually letting Baobao star in this film?"

Zheng Yao asked Zhao Fusheng after Dong Chenxi and Bai Jie left.

She was more familiar with Zhao Fusheng and Fan Baobao, so she could say some things more directly.

Zhao Fusheng smiled: "What's the big deal? It's just a movie."

Zheng Yao frowned slightly, shrugged, and said nothing more.

Since Zhao Fusheng had already decided, she naturally couldn't say anything else. After all, Fan Baobao was Zhao Fusheng's girlfriend, and more importantly, Zhao Fusheng was not only the company's ace planner but also its real boss.

"As for the rest, I won't get involved. Zhang Guorong said he'll handle the director and such himself. What we need to do is get the script out as soon as possible," Zhao Fusheng said to Zheng Yao.

Zheng Yao nodded: "I'll do my best. But do you really think this film can win awards?"

Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng laughed: "Winning awards is definitely not a problem. The reason? I can only tell you that Zhang Guorong said this is his last film."

Zheng Yao's eyes lit up. Although she was a fan and liked Zhang Guorong, that didn't mean she forgot she was now a businesswoman. Zhao Fusheng's words instantly made her realize that the mere gimmick of Zhang Guorong's farewell to the film industry would be enough to attract a large number of fans to the cinema.

Moreover, Zhang Guorong's own experiences actually shared some commonalities with the protagonist's in the film. Although this gimmick had the suspicion of exploiting Leslie, it had to be admitted that it was too valuable for hype.

"But, will he be upset..." After the excitement, Zheng Yao looked at Zhao Fusheng hesitantly. She was worried that doing this might displease Zhang Guorong, since the film was to be released in Hong Kong.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Fusheng smiled slightly: "You're overthinking it. We don't need to worry about that. We're just investors. Zhang Guorong will handle it himself and contact the film companies in Hong Kong."

This was Zhao Fusheng's real trump card. He had never intended to put Future Film in the position of the main investor.

Films are risky, investment requires caution. Such a fun thing is more interesting when you get more people involved.

Watching Zhao Fusheng leave her office, Zheng Yao was speechless. She never expected that this guy Zhao Fusheng was already planning to set people up.

But on second thought, this was actually the best choice. After all, Future Film was just starting out and needed some shields to weather the storm.

The principle of 'let the fellow disciple die, not the poor Taoist' seemed quite fitting to Zheng Yao.

One should live kindly, but in business, it's better to be shrewd.

In this regard, Zhao Fusheng was a qualified businessman.

Zhao Fusheng didn't know that because of this incident, he had left the impression of a qualified businessman in Zheng Yao's mind. If he knew, he would have been overjoyed, because from start to finish, he hadn't thought that much. His idea was clear: this kind of literary film that wouldn't make much money—sharing a piece of the pie with others was no big deal.

If it were a blockbuster like 'Wolf Warrior,' Zhao Fusheng would never share it.

Driving home, Zhao Fusheng called Zhang Qian and asked, learning that Zhang Qian would come to the capital next week. He finally felt relieved.

After all, not having his own people around didn't feel too comfortable—Zhao Fusheng was sure of that.

Zhao Fusheng decided not to bother with Zhang Guorong's matters anymore. The film was just starting preparation; the crew, director, actors, and even investors hadn't been confirmed. According to Zhao Fusheng's plan, filming wouldn't start until at least the end of the year. Before that, Zhang Guorong, as the lead actor and needing to help attract investment, would probably be extremely busy.

Once people get busy, they sometimes unconsciously ignore certain things. Sometimes this neglect is bad, and sometimes it's good.

For example, between spouses, if one neglects the other, it's definitely bad and affects their relationship. But conversely, for a depression patient like Zhang Guorong, keeping him busy might actually be a good thing.

At the very least, he wouldn't have the time or energy to dwell on dark thoughts.

But this was Zhao Fusheng's inner calculation, naturally something he couldn't tell others.

As for Fan Baobao, after finishing 'Beijing Bicycle' and taking a break, she could join this new crew. He believed that with this opportunity, she would learn even more.

A few days later, Zhao Fusheng received a call from Jiang Wen.

"I heard you tricked Zhang Guorong into coming to the capital?" Old Jiang's first words startled Zhao Fusheng.

"What do you mean 'tricked'? Familiar or not, I can still sue you for defamation."

Zhao Fusheng retorted without hesitation: "We call it reaching a consensus, sharing the same artistic pursuit."

"Heh..." Old Jiang sneered at Zhao Fusheng without mercy, then said: "Has the cast for that new film been decided?"

"What are you up to?" Zhao Fusheng blinked, suddenly wanting to tell Old Jiang that even if he was one of the best actors in the country, he might not necessarily get a role in this film.