Korean TV series: King of Peninsula 1997

Chapter 222: The Crucible

The charity dinner was already being prepared and began. Seeing that Li You was unwilling to reveal anything, Shi Dongchu simply did not ask any more questions and instead focused on looking at the stage.

Pastor Li still looked a little solemn. He forced a smile before going on stage. After he had adjusted his facial expression and delivered the opening speech that he had said countless times, the dinner officially began.

“Thank you.”

There was nothing eye-catching in this charity auction, and for Shi Dongchu and Li You, this kind of public auction was not important, and the private "donations" were the big deal.

They sat quietly below, watching the charity dinner progress step by step, during which time the two of them also bought a few items.

It was not until the auction was over and most of the guests had left that Shi Dongchu and Li You stood up, and Pastor Li also stood at the side attentively.

“Chairman Shi, Chairman Li,” Pastor Li said with a smile, “Please come this way.”

There were already some people sitting in the inner room. When they saw the two people arriving, they stood up and greeted them.

Antiques and valuable paintings are purchased directly, with prices ranging from 100 million to several billion, and the prices are completely for tax avoidance.

After purchasing enough artworks, Li You and Shi Dongchu got up and left.

As they were walking out the door, Li You saw Li Jiangshuo chatting with An Sangjiu with that greasy smile on his face.

As soon as he walked out, An Shangjiu nodded politely to Li Jiangshuo, then walked away and opened the car door for Li You.

Li Jiangshuo stood aside with Pastor Li and smiled until he could no longer see Li You's car. Then he frowned and left.

"Brother," Li Jiangfu, who looked 80% like Li Jiangshuo, turned around and asked as soon as Li Jiangshuo got in the car, "How was your conversation with Chairman Li?"

"Has he agreed to Golden Gate Real Estate cooperating with us?"

Li Jiangshuo nodded, somewhat depressed, "I agree, but this guy is really arrogant, which makes me very angry."

Li Jiangfu chuckled twice, the fat on his face trembling, "After all, he is the deputy of a powerful force in Seoul, and a descendant of the Jeonju Lee family. He must look down on us country folk."

"That's true," Li Jiangshuo sighed, "How is your construction team going? Can it be done? Jinmen Real Estate will send a research team."

"What research group?" Li Jiangfu waved his hand disdainfully. "They just want to make money using the name of the research group. If they want it, we'll give it to them."

Li Jiangshuo touched his smooth bald spot, feeling a little worried. "Then you better be prepared. Don't ruin things. There's a lot of money to be made in real estate right now. We must take advantage of the situation and get involved."

"I know, brother."

Li Jiangfu nodded. "Also, when the research team comes, keep an eye on those brats and don't let them cause any trouble."

"I know," Li Jiangshuo smiled, "The new teacher who came recently should be called Jiang Renhao. He has a good eye. I'll tell him some information later and see how he reacts."

He showed a cruel look on his face, "If he doesn't cooperate, it would be nice to bury him with his ex."

"Call me if you have any problems," Li Jiangfu nodded. "Gwangju is in the countryside, but the good thing is that there are a lot of uncultivated wastelands here, so we can find any place to bury the body."

Li You is quite rich now and has a lot of entertainment resources at his disposal. Jinmen Entertainment is very powerful in the entertainment industry.

But the entertainment industry is not something that everyone can handle. People in the industry are very confident in Li You's vision. After all, SM Entertainment has already been leading the entertainment industry. However, they are not optimistic about Kinmen Entertainment unless Li You starts to invest heavily to buy artists.

Fortunately, now Chen Daojun's father, Chen Yunji, was previously recruited by Li You to be the executive of Kinmen Entertainment. He is doing a pretty good job. The quality of works released by artists has improved during this period.

But after all, he is a second-generation chaebol who started out as a director. His dream is to make a real movie, but he is currently struggling to find a good script.

Li You stepped into Chen Yunji's office and looked at Chen Yunji immersed in the scripts of various TV series and movies. He couldn't help but tease, "Do you have any idea about your dream new movie now?"

After all, Chen Yunji himself and his son Chen Daojun are now working for Li You. These days, Chen Yunji has become much more familiar with Li You, and often takes the initiative to talk to Li You about his views on the development of the entertainment industry.

He found that although Li You did not have a good understanding of some of the details of the operation of an entertainment company, his analysis of the general trend of future development was quite thorough, which made this middle-aged man in his fifties admire him.

"I roughly browsed through them," Chen Yunji looked up at the ceiling, his eyes hanging loosely on his face, "50 or 60 scripts, most of them were terrible."

"Normal," Li You smiled. "Golden Gate Entertainment still has a long way to go before it can have a say in TV dramas and movies."

"Although it's a bit difficult to find the right script among them," Chen Yunji said with a smile, "I still selected a few scripts and asked the planning department to analyze them later."

"Are there any new actors with good acting skills under your management recently?"

"New actors?" Chen Yunji touched his head, "Golden Gate Entertainment has now merged with my previous company. I did bring in a few actors before, but they were not new actors."

"Not an actor who has acted in a movie before," Li You knew that in Chen Yunji's eyes, only those who have acted in a movie are called new actors.

"You mean pure newcomers?" Chen Yunji suddenly realized, "That's true, but you plan to use these newcomers?"

"Let me take a look at the list first, and see if there's anything suitable."

Chen Yunji flipped through the documents for a long time and finally pulled out a document from the thick pile. "This is the list and a simple file. President Nim can take a look first."

Li You took a quick look and didn't find any familiar names.

"Those who submit applications like this are all people who failed at other companies," Chen Yunji said helplessly, "Although Golden Gate Entertainment is very well-known, it hasn't produced any hit works so far."

"Those with talent will naturally look for companies that can professionally produce movies and TV series."

"I do have an idea," Li You said calmly, sitting on the swivel chair opposite him, "but the topic is a bit heavy."

Chen Yunji raised his eyebrows, "I know that President Nim's views on the entertainment industry are indeed very forward-looking, but President Nim will not stay at home and a good script will fall from the sky, right?" He was obviously a little unconvinced. Li You shook his head gently, "It's not that the script falls from the sky, but the script of the world."

As soon as Li You finished speaking, Chen Yunji frowned and was silent for a while, obviously realizing that Li You was not joking.

He turned serious and asked, "Is this a movie based on a real case?"

Chen Yunji pursed his lips, his habitual action was exactly the same as Chen Daojun's. "It is a tradition for the Korean Peninsula to make such movies. However, if it is a heavy subject, it depends on the polishing of the script."

“I don’t know the script, but I know how it all happened.”

Li You told the entire story of "The Crucible". Although many details and names were filtered out, a complete story appeared in front of Chen Yunji.

After Chen Yunji heard the whole story, he was silent for a while, and then he asked obscurely, "Is this a true story?"

After seeing Li You nod, he showed disbelief on his face, "Unbelievable."

"There may be more such things happening on the Korean Peninsula," Li You patted his shoulder, "Are you interested in filming them and changing them?"

Chen Yunji was in a trance for a moment, and slowly shook his head, "As a director, I can't control this work."

He rushed out the door and called in the screenwriters from Golden Gate Entertainment.

After the screenwriters finished greeting each other, they sat down on the sofa next to each other, and Chen Yunji told the story he had just recorded, "President Nim thinks that these can be adapted into a movie script."

One of the screenwriters frowned and said, "It's not that we deny this story. If this script is adapted from a real case, then the subject matter is indeed somewhat sensitive."

"You shouldn't be concerned about these things. No matter how sensitive the issue is, I'm the one who's responsible for it," Li You said expressionlessly. "I know that for sensitive topics, it's hard to say how the film will perform in the review and market, and it may even flop at the box office, but these are what I should worry about."

"What I care about is whether you can write the script well?"

Since Li You asked this, they naturally agreed by patting their chests.

After all, a movie adapted from a story like this is guaranteed to be a tearjerker for the audience, and it’s so sad and desperate that people don’t want to watch it.

Even if it doesn't get any good box office results, it can still get a share of various film awards.

If they can win the award, not only will the status of Kinmen Entertainment be raised, but they will also have a trump card to sign popular actors who want to win awards in the future.

In other words, the Kinmen Group can afford this only because it has money now. If it were any other new entertainment company, it would have probably collapsed.

Li You does not ask Kinmen Entertainment to be stable now, but asks Kinmen Entertainment to take big steps forward.

But when these screenwriters heard Li You's request to create a first draft within a month, their pupils dilated.

"President Nim," a middle-aged female screenwriter pulled her hair, "This time is too short. After all, this is just a rough outline of the story. We can't finish it in such a short time..."

Li You raised his hand to stop her from continuing, "I know I gave you a short time, but have you forgotten that this is adapted from a true event?"

The screenwriters looked at each other in bewilderment until Li You spoke again, "This matter is not over yet. The demons in those stories are still alive in the world."

He looked around at the screenwriters and said, "You guys set up a documentary team and interview the victims and some of the perpetrators in person. Do you understand?"

"No way..." Chen Yunji was also confused, "What's the ending of this story?"

"That was the ending in the past," Li You narrowed his eyes, "The ending in reality will naturally not be like this."

Li You smiled slightly, "This movie is called The Crucible."

He waved his hand and said, "Go back and arrange for cameramen and recorders. I'll send someone to pick you up in a few days to conduct the investigation."

Chen Yunji volunteered to go as the team leader, and he also felt how much importance Li You attached to this movie this time.

Maybe some of it was because of those bad guys, but Chen Yunji guessed that Li You must need this movie in the future, or need what this movie brings.

Because Li You was very decisive and strong, he decided on the film project without going to the project department and even decided on the name of the film.

Chen Yunji believed that he had grasped Li You's intentions, and he was confident that he could shape this story into a real "Meltdown".

Watching Li You leave, Chen Yunji closed the door and looked at the screenwriters, "Go home and get ready. Since Chairman Li has spoken, we have to go this time."

He looked around and said, "Remember to keep it a secret. After all, I don't think any of you want to try out President Li's real tricks."

Chen Yunji deliberately laughed twice, which made the dullness in the room dissipate a little. "When we come back, we will start the casting for "The Crucible"."

He looked at the screenwriters seriously and said, "Some of you followed me to Kinmen, and some of you are original staff of Kinmen Entertainment, but I believe that none of you are mediocre."

Fortunately, someone finally responded to him, and the silence in the room did not continue. "I just thought about the whole story carefully in my mind."

The male screenwriter had not spoken since Li You finished telling this story, but he finally spoke up at this moment.

This person is a junior that Chen Yunji is very optimistic about. He has just entered the industry not long ago. Although he is nominally a screenwriter, he also has good talent as a director.

Seriously, "I don't think all tragedy movies will fail. Haven't there been tragedy movies with high box office in the past?"

He breathed a sigh of relief. "If we can make the audience feel upset but still actively watch the film, doesn't that prove that our work is good?"

Chen Yunji clapped his hands, "Huang Donghexi is right, let's get ready and go see the demons with our own eyes."

(End of this chapter)