Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 2 Starting with a debt of yuan
Meng Bai followed the young policeman out of the interrogation room, walked through a long corridor, and came to a slightly larger meeting room.

In the conference room, a middle-aged policeman sat at one end of the table. A photo of a person was projected on the screen behind him. It was the "Producer Lin" who had run away.

On the other side of the conference table, Li Qin was sitting there in a depressed mood. When she saw Meng Bai coming in, her previous anger and excitement were gone.

"Mr. Meng Bai, please sit down."

The middle-aged policeman gestured to Meng Bai who had just entered the room, and after the latter sat down, he continued: "You two are parties to this case, so there are some situations I need to discuss with you."

"First of all, based on the questioning just now and the information we currently have, we can basically confirm that Mr. Meng Bai has no substantial connection with the suspect in this case, so he can be cleared of suspicion."

Meng Bai knocked on the table and clasped his fists towards the middle-aged policeman: "Thank you, police comrade, for clearing my name."

After saying that, he looked at Li Qin who was sitting opposite him, spread his hands and made an innocent expression.

Li Qin took a deep breath, pursed her lips and turned her head.

The middle-aged policeman continued, "This 'Producer Lin' you are talking about is actually named Zhang Wen. He has no fixed job and has been working as an extra in several film and television studios in northern Beijing. He also occasionally does work as a production assistant or a production assistant."

Meng Bai suddenly realized, no wonder this guy was so familiar with the process of setting up the crew, it turned out that he was an "insider".

"At the beginning of the year, Zhang Wen became addicted to online gambling. After losing all his savings, he borrowed a lot of money. Adding up the new and old debts, he owed more than 300,000 yuan. I guess that's why he came up with the plan to defraud some money and run away."

Meng Bai was a little shocked. When did the police become so efficient? In just one hour, they even found out the man's financial situation.

Fortunately, the middle-aged policeman quickly solved Meng Bai's doubts: "You are not the only victims. In fact, someone already reported the case yesterday, saying that they were set up for fraud using the same trick."

What a talent! He can even operate on two lines!

Meng Bai felt sad in his heart, it was a pity that this old man had run away, otherwise he would have to talk to him about the details, which could be regarded as "collecting materials on the spot".

Seeing that Meng Bai and Li Qin had no more information to provide, the middle-aged policeman said, "We have already deployed personnel to track down Zhang Wen's whereabouts. You two can go back and wait for our news. We will notify you in time if there is any new situation."

"By the way, Mr. Meng Bai." The middle-aged policeman looked at Meng Bai again and said, "You just said that Zhang Wen transferred 50,000 yuan to you as a down payment for the script, right?"

"Yes."

"According to regulations, this money is involved in the case and needs to be frozen and returned. I'm notifying you in advance."

"What?" Meng Bai sat up straight, looked at the middle-aged policeman and said, "No, comrade, this money was the advance payment he used to buy my script. Let's put it one way and the other. This money should be separate from the case, right?"

"I'm sorry, from a legal point of view, this money is also part of the evidence in the entire case, and it cannot be calculated separately. But don't worry, after we catch the person and determine the nature of the crime, we will return it to you."

"Uncle police, is there a possibility that with my financial situation, I would not be able to stay here until today after receiving the 50,000 yuan?" Meng Bai said in embarrassment.

"You spent it all?"

"It can't be said that we 'spent it all'... there is still a little left." Meng Bai spread his hands and said: "You also know that people like us in the entertainment industry spend money very quickly."

You are nothing but a nobody in the entertainment industry! The middle-aged policeman had a look of pain on his face.

After a long silence, the middle-aged policeman finally said, "Return as much as you have first... The rest will be owed first, and you need to make up for it as soon as possible."

"Well, officer." Li Qin, who had been sitting next to him in silence for a long time, finally asked, "Can I get back the money I was cheated of?"

"..." The middle-aged police officer was silent for a long time, and said helplessly: "We will try our best to arrest him, but how much money can be left... We can only hope that the suspect does not spend money as fast as your friend."

……

Walking out of the police station, Meng Bai let out a long sigh of dissatisfaction.

When I was in the interrogation room before, I was thinking that although this time I wasted some time and energy, at least I had 50,000 yuan as compensation.

Now, not only did he lose the compensation, but he also owed the police a sum of money. However, Meng Bai glanced at Li Qin who followed him out.

Compared to this girl, I seem to be pretty good.

Sure enough, happiness is achieved through comparison.

Am I being a bit of an asshole?

It doesn’t matter, just think about it in your mind and don’t say it out loud.

Meng Bai forgave himself in his heart, and then put on a heavy expression and said to Li Qin: "Okay, now we both become victims, let's go back and wait for notification."

"Wait." Li Qin stopped Meng Bai and asked helplessly, "What should I do next?"

"I'm going to sell my body or something to get the police uncle some money. As for you..." Meng Bai spread his hands and said, "I suggest you go home, take a shower and have a good sleep, then do whatever you need to do tomorrow and wait for news from the police."

Meng Bai put his hand in front of his chest and bowed to Li Qin: "My dear donor, our fate has ended. The road ahead is long, so let's say goodbye now."

After saying that, Meng Bai turned around and walked out of the police station, leaving Li Qin standing there in a daze.

Really, we don’t know each other, do you still expect me to help you find that person?
Meng Bai shook his head and put the matter behind him for the time being.

Now that it has been confirmed that "Producer Lin" is a liar, the script copyright agreement signed between Meng Bai and him is naturally invalid.

The most important thing for him now is to pay back the 50,000 yuan first.

It’s okay to owe other people money, but owing money to the police is exciting just thinking about it.

As for how to raise the money, "selling oneself" is the last resort option. Meng Bai thought about it and felt that he still had to find a way to sell the script.

But who can I sell it to?
According to Meng Bai's original idea, he wanted to find a video website platform to see if there was any opportunity for cooperation.

The reason why Meng Bai chose a video website instead of a traditional film and television company was that after many setbacks, he set his sights on the new track of "online dramas".

After all, compared to traditional movies and TV series, the online drama market is still in a wild state.

Under this situation, several video platforms are still slowly exploring the market, while traditional film and television companies have not yet begun to pay attention. This gives newcomers like Meng Bai room to grow.

However, there is a problem. Most of the current mainstream video platforms are still following TV stations and serving as supplementary distribution channels for TV dramas.

The film and television resources purchased by the website are basically movies, TV series, variety shows, sports events, etc. that have already been released.

There are a few websites that have tried to create some homemade content.

For example, Sohu imitated the German drama "Diaosi Lady" to remake the funny skit "Diaosi Man", and Youku and Wanhe Tianyi cooperated in the "Never Expected" series.

Both dramas are this year's hit online works, with a funny and silly style, accurately targeting "young audiences", the main audience group of video websites.

However, these dramas are basically low-cost, small-investment mini-series, with each episode only five or six minutes long.

Meng Bai’s forte is mainly medium- and long-length TV series.

In other words, if Meng Bai wants to persuade video websites to invest money, he needs to have a professional production team background first; and to have a team, he needs to get funds from the video website first.

It’s an endless loop!

　Before the release, there will be two updates every day, at 11:5 am and : pm. You can follow the updates regularly.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)