Chinese Entertainment: Directors Start with the Fairy Sister

Chapter 67 Affection Moved, Liu Yifei = Xiao Wei?! (More to come)

"no."

"Um?

'

Liu Xiaoli was stunned, then said somewhat angrily, "A small production of one million yuan asked you to fill in; a big production of 1.6 million yuan, and you think your acting skills are no good??"

"Mother!"

Liu Yifei suddenly looked up at Liu Xiaoli, pouting with a displeased expression.

"Look, you're still unhappy." Liu Xiaoli's tone was still dissatisfied, but her voice had unconsciously softened.

"You've let slip what's on your mind," Liu Yifei said with a hint of accusation. "Deep down, you just think my acting is bad."

"No way—"

Liu Xiaoli instinctively wanted to defend herself, but the words caught in her throat—she suddenly realized that she did indeed harbor such a worry in her subconscious.

Speechless for a moment, he fell silent.

"You're still young. Acting skills need to be honed. Improve through acting, and in less than two years, you'll definitely have the talent to win an award."

"Absolutely!"

Liu Yifei certainly wouldn't really be angry with her mother. After a playful pout, she got back to the point: "Yan Xi said that the lead and second lead roles in 'Painted Skin' aren't really suitable for me, but I could give the third lead role a try."

"If you want to act, you can try for the third female lead. If you don't want to act, you can take a break. Next year, they will tailor-make a big-budget movie for me with an investment of over 100 million!"

"Mom, what do you think?"

"Act, why not act?"

Liu Xiaoli made a decision immediately, and said with a teasing smile, "It's more good to hone your skills in a good production than to be the lead in a small production."

"Besides, we gave him a discount for 'You Are the Apple of My Eye,' and now that you're worth more than before, this fee will make up for it—"

—"

As she spoke, she lightly tapped her daughter with her fingertip and chuckled, "All those cats and dogs you keep in your house, don't they all depend on you, this great actress, to earn money for their food?"

At Yanxi Company, Zhao Yanxi couldn't help but smile knowingly as she read the message sent by Liu Yifei.

"Haha, don't worry, our top-tier actress is lowering herself to play the third female lead, that's giving Director Zhao face, her salary will definitely be high, two million, how about it?"

"Hehehe, isn't two million a bit too much? (chuckles)"

"Not much, the popular actress Xiaolongnu is worth the price!"

If Liu Yifei plays Xiao Wei, two million is definitely not high, and may even be a bit low.

This is not the past life. In the past life, two youth dramas flopped, and Liu Yifei had no foundation when she switched to the big screen.

But now that "You Are the Apple of My Eye" has been a success and "The Return of the Condor Heroes" has become a huge hit, it's no wonder Liu Yifei's salary is so high.

Of course, considering the amount of screen time for the third female lead, a salary of two million is a bit high.

However, neither China Film Group nor Wanda Group interfered with Zhao Yanxi's use of funds. It was understandable to hire a popular young actress at a high price for the sake of box office success!

In mid-May, after undergoing numerous inspections, the office building was finally handed over to the renovation company for use.

The second floor stores equipment and materials, and also serves as a place for editing and post-production. The third floor houses various meeting rooms and audition rooms. The fourth floor contains employee offices, and the fifth floor contains the offices of senior executives such as Zhao Yanxi and Yang Siwei.

The other floors are not needed yet, but they should be soon.

There will definitely be more special effects teams, TV series teams, animation teams, and so on to follow.

The first thing to do upon entering the new building was to finalize the audition candidates for "Painted Skin".

The executive director has already shortlisted a large number of actors and artists whose image and temperament are a good fit, and is just waiting for Zhao Yanyue to confirm the audition candidates.

The most iconic character in "Painted Skin" is Xiao Wei!

In the original work, Zhou Xun played the role of Xiao Wei. Those who liked her felt that she captured the charm of a fox spirit; those who disliked her felt that she lacked both a bust and a buttocks, and was not sexy enough to be a fox spirit.

Zhao Yanxi didn't have any particular preference for Zhou Xun. Xiao Wei was a good actress, but her figure was indeed somewhat lacking.

The criteria for casting Zhao Yanxi are actually very similar to those for You Jianming—image fit is more important than acting skills.

Zhao Yanxi believes that as long as he doesn't take on roles with terrible acting skills, and his image fits the role, he can improve his acting skills to over 80 points.

Moreover, he has works in his mind that he can draw inspiration from.

By leveraging each other's strengths and compensating for each other's weaknesses, we can create an even more perfect [Xiao Wei]!

"Liu Yifei, Fan, Li, Gao Yuanyuan, Yan Danchen, Zeng Li..."

'

"XiXi!" Zhao Yanxi murmured.

To be honest, although Zhao Yanxi initially told Liu Yifei that she would play the third female lead, she had actually considered having Liu Yifei play Xiao Wei!

Alluring, innocent, and passionately devoted to love—except for the slight imperfection of open-chest surgery, Liu Yifei perfectly fits the criteria, or rather, could perfectly meet them.

Although there is a slight age difference, it does not affect the overall situation.

In the Han Dynasty, it was quite normal for girls to marry at the age of thirteen or fourteen, and for an eighteen-year-old "young married woman" to be quite normal!

Xiao Wei's image isn't the typical sexy and provocative fox demon type, nor does it affect Liu Yifei's pure and innocent image.

However, Zhao Yanxi never considered the issue of image, but rather the issue of acting skills—if other people played the role and performed poorly, Zhao Yanxi could be less temperamental and put pressure on them when she was coaching them.

But with Liu Yifei starring, how could I bear to put so much pressure on her?!

"This is really a dilemma."

After thinking for a while, Zhao Yanxi decided to let Liu Yifei give it a try!

This "simp" of his, aside from being able to scold Xiao Liu on set, probably wouldn't be willing to say a harsh word to him off-screen;

Since that's the case, why not just vent your anger during filming and experience what it feels like to be a man in charge!

Now that you're an adult, you should play some roles that adults should play!

Wang Sheng's resume is much longer than Xiao Wei's. Most male artists in the industry with some talent and fame don't want to miss this opportunity.

"Nie Yuan, Jiao Enjun..."

Turning to the second resume, a familiar phrase from Qingdao inexplicably popped into Zhao Yanxi's mind.

"Jun-ge is so handsome..."

I recalled Liu Yifei and Shu Chang's feelings while watching "The Lotus Lantern," and looked at the still of Erlang Shen in the resume.

Whether dressed as a god of justice or as a scholar visiting Chenxiang, it must be said that this man, though nearly forty, is still incredibly handsome.

Second only to himself in terms of handsomeness!

Based on his face alone, Zhao Yanxi thought he could give him a try for the role of [Wang Sheng].

With the two lead actors confirmed, the rest are much easier to choose from.

[Pang Yong] It's impossible to give it to Zhen Zidan; Zhang Jin, Yu Bo, or Zhao Wenzhuo, who submitted their resumes, are all acceptable.

"Sissi!"

In the airport parking lot, as soon as Shu Chang saw that familiar figure, she immediately jumped up and rushed over.

"Sing a song!"

Liu Yifei was equally delighted, pushing her luggage to her assistant and opening her arms to greet her best friend.

Two bright and beautiful girls hugged each other affectionately, and their laughter immediately attracted the attention of many people in the parking lot.

"It's Shu Chang!"

"Isn't that Liu Yifei next to you? Quick, take a picture!"

Liu Xiaoli immediately noticed the growing attention around her. Having barely managed to escape the media frenzy at the exit, she didn't want to get caught up in another mess.

"Get in the car quickly, we'll talk about it when we get back!"

As soon as she got into the car, Shu Chang couldn't help but reveal a sly smile, leaning close to Liu Yifei's ear: "Qianqian, where's your Director Zhao this time? Too busy to even come pick you up?"

She deliberately dragged out her words, "Now you know who truly cares about you, right?"

"Hmph, of course you're the best!"

Liu Yifei smiled and cupped Shu Chang's face in her hands, her eyes curving into crescents: "But I didn't tell him his flight time. He's been so busy lately, keeping an eye on the costumes and props for the new movie and auditioning actors."

She nuzzled Shu Chang's shoulder affectionately and said softly, "Anyway, with you here, why would Yan Xi need to be the one carrying the bags?"

"Oh, you!" Shu Chang poked her forehead, feigning anger. "Now that you have Director Zhao, you're using me as free labor?"

"whee"

A burst of cheerful laughter immediately filled the carriage.

"Let me tell you, it's been so tough for me over there. I have to practice dancing, sing, record albums, do promotions, give interviews, and get to know other singers there. I haven't been able to sleep in late in ages."

"I'm going to sleep in all morning tomorrow!"

"Have you finished your graduation thesis?"

"Ugh—don't talk about things that are annoying!"