Pirates began to dominate the Chinese entertainment industry.

Naza stared blankly at the somewhat familiar, pretty woman and asked, "Huh? Do I need to buy tickets? Didn't they just say on the street that it's free to see a play at the Central Academy of Drama?"

Yu Da Yu Jie was amused by this.

Looking at Nazha, whose appearance was exceptionally striking, she couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you a student at the Central Academy of Drama?"

Naza waved his hand sheepishly, "No, no, I didn't go to university. I'm here to represent Xinjiang Province in the ethnic costume display at the Olympic Games gala. We'll be rehearsing in a few days."

Yu Feihong looked the girl up and down, admiring her "angelic face and devilish figure," and remarked, "You don't look very old. You could try applying to the Beijing Film Academy if you have the chance."

Ji Yun recalled that Nazha actually went there later and passed on the first try... Beijing Film Academy still judges people by their looks as always.

"Really?! Thank you, Teacher Yu." Nazha had already recognized Yu Feihong. Hearing the big star's praise, he couldn't help but grin foolishly. Then he sighed and said, "However, I still want to earn some money myself first..."

"It's about to start, let's go in," Ji Yun urged, seeing the two beauties praising each other.

……

After entering, they casually found a corner to sit down.

The stage play version of "Crazy Stone" is adapted from the original movie's story of three groups of people fighting over a stone. However, after being adapted for the stage, the jokes are more concentrated.

Ji Yun soon met several veterans of Mahua FunAge, including younger versions of Shen Teng and Ma Li, on stage.

The group had rehearsed countless times, and their tacit understanding in throwing and catching jokes was already beginning to show.

They are in the perfect state right now; any earlier and they would be too green, any later and they would be too mature.

To be fair, the original Charlotte Brontë was a bit too old to play a high school student, and coupled with his status as a newcomer to film, many people missed out on a great movie when it was released.

Uncle Shen is only 28 now, which is indeed much younger, just somewhere between an older man and a high school student in the story.

As a teacher at the Beijing Film Academy, Yu Feihong has watched the classic Chinese film "Stone" countless times.

Naza also seemed uninterested in this kind of suspenseful comedy film, appearing drowsy. Beautiful women seem to attract each other, and the two happened to huddle together, whispering casually about the Olympics and Xinjiang province.

The play lasted for about an hour, until all the actors went on stage, lined up, and began to bow to the audience in all directions to take their bows.

The few dozen audience members who hadn't left yet offered a few scattered claps before getting up and heading home for dinner.

The theater market is small these days, and survival is difficult. Happy Twist won't attempt to tour other major cities until next year. But to truly change the situation, they'll have to wait for the breakout performance of "Hao Jian" on the Spring Festival Gala.

After most of the audience members had left, Ji Yun got up and headed backstage.

Yu Feihong was linked arms with Nazha and followed behind. Yu Feihong said that she would treat Nazha to dinner later and asked Nazha to help her find an authentic XJ restaurant.

At the backstage entrance, Ji Yun first encountered "Big Fool Chun," a tall man nearly 1.9 meters tall who was quite eye-catching. To be honest, he was quite handsome when dressed up, but for some reason, he was exceptionally good at playing fools.

"Hello, I need to talk to your boss," Ji Yun called out to Allen.

When Allen heard Ji Yun call his name, he paused for a moment, looked him up and down, and said apologetically, "Then you may have made a wasted trip. Our big boss isn't here this time. And... we don't have the money to hire new actors right now."

Ji Yun smiled and said, "It will be soon. I am an investor and I would like to invest in your theater troupe."

To avoid resistance from the other party, he did not immediately mention the acquisition.

"Investment?!" Da Sha Chun's eyes lit up.

He rubbed his hands together excitedly, then bent down and raised his hand, asking Ji Yun to wait in the lounge while he contacted the boss immediately.

Allen, leading Ji Yun, pushed open the door to the Mahua FunAge break room first, then quickly grabbed his phone and headed out. Before leaving, he called out to everyone in the break room:

"Hurry, a distinguished guest has arrived! Someone wants to invest in us!"

In the lounge.

Shen Teng, Ma Li, and seven or eight others had just finished a high-energy performance and were exhausted. They were each holding a white fast food box and eating heartily around the small table in the middle.

Several takeout containers on the table contained braised chicken, steamed pork ribs, and stir-fried bok choy—a standard fast-food meal.

They froze, stunned, after hearing Allen's words, until they looked at each other, confirming they hadn't misheard...

Shen Teng slammed down the lunchbox, smiled warmly and obsequiously, and walked over to welcome Ji Yun inside to sit down.

Ma Li cleverly poured Ji Yun a cup of hot water, but then remembered that there was no tea. After thinking for a moment, she quickly took out a bottle of cola from her bag and placed it next to her.

Shen Teng clasped his hands together, his face beaming with a smile: "Boss, have you tried it yet? Would you like to have some?"

Ji Yun glanced at the dishes on the table. Although no one dared to touch them now, the situation looked rather pitiful after their recent scramble for food.

"Ahem~" Shen Teng turned his head and glared at his colleagues, "I told you not to fight over it, give it to me... Now that the guests have arrived, are you dumbfounded?"

Ma Li instinctively wanted to retort, but after glancing at her prospective sugar daddy present, she held back.

Ji Yun glanced at Nazha and Yu Feihong, who hadn't eaten dinner yet either, then picked up the phone and asked Manager Liao to arrange for dinner for ten people to be delivered.

……

After half an hour.

The door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man walked in, looking travel-worn.

He looked around excitedly and quickly locked his gaze on Ji Yun, who was surrounded by the crowd.

"Are you the one who wants to invest?" Zhang Cheng, the major shareholder of Mahua, suppressed his excitement and asked cautiously.

"It's not an investment," Ji Yun shook her head.

Shen Teng and the others were so shocked that their eyelids twitched and their faces fell.

Does this mean we have to continue living a hard life?

The company is almost unable to pay salaries. If this continues, how many employees will be left at Mahua FunAge? Everyone needs to eat and pay rent.

Shen Teng was one of the earliest members of Mahua FunAge, but he is the only one left in the group who is still struggling to stay afloat. This is only because he has a girlfriend who is willing to support him... However, the thought that he is almost thirty years old and is still living off his girlfriend makes him even more worried and wrinkles appear on his face.

Allen glanced at the dumbfounded boss and anxiously tried to go up to Ji Yun to ask her what was going on.

"I want to buy Happy Twist directly," Ji Yun said casually.

Huh?! Uncle Shen suddenly came to life again.

"That's impossible. Mahua is the culmination of our hard work." Zhang Cheng frowned.

Ji Yun borrowed a laptop from Allen and printed only half of the script for "Goodbye Mr. Loser" that had been registered with the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

He was able to show the script directly to Cai Yinong because he knew that Tangren Media was facing internal and external troubles and wasn't good at making movies, let alone modern ones; given Cai Yinong's conservative style, showing the script to them would just be for fun. Besides, he was about to start filming and release the film in six months, even the big companies couldn't keep up with him.

But Mahua FunAge is different. If they don't register, they'll give them the complete script, and they can use it to perform in a stage play.

"I have a notebook here, take a look," Ji Yun said, distributing it to everyone.

"A notebook?" Zhang Cheng and the others took it and flipped through it casually.

To think they can buy their company with just a notebook is ridiculous.

But unexpectedly, the opening scenes were full of laughs.

Charlotte borrowed a luxury car and drove around the hotel to show off, but her brother-in-law, who was driving, was in a hurry to get back to her girlfriend's 60th birthday party. Then, he was wearing an expensive rented suit when he opened the door and found that he was wearing the same outfit as the emcee.

Then came a series of messages: "Teacher Wang, the calendar I gave you", "Teacher Wang, you're still alive", "Qiuya got married, and you [illegible]", "My district chief father".

...There are just too many memorable scenes.

Shen Teng, who has a low threshold for laughter, couldn't help but smile and his face wrinkled just thinking about that scene.

Ma Li was initially reserved, but eventually she was infected by the others and burst into hearty laughter.

Yu Feihong and Nazha didn't get the notebooks, so they could only watch them and laugh, their hearts itching to keep glancing over there.