A leisurely life starting in a bar after being reborn

He walked over with his wine glass in his hand.

"Would you two mind sharing a table?"

Director Yang and Xu Zheng both looked up at him at the same time—a young man wearing a dark gray turtleneck sweater, holding a strangely colored glass of wine, with an inscrutable smile on his face.

"You are...?" Director Yang looked him up and down.

"The owner of this bar," Fu Yan pulled out a chair and sat down, "I heard what you were saying just now. Sorry, we were sitting too close."

Director Yang's expression changed slightly—being overheard for so long was never a pleasant experience.

"Are you the owner here?" Xu Zheng looked at Fu Yan, his gaze now more scrutinizing. "You look quite young."

"How many of the bar owners are older?"

"Uh, it really is." Xu Zheng's lips twitched slightly, not exactly a smile, but he seemed more relaxed than before.

Fu Yan pointed to the briefcase in Director Yang's hand: "Could I take a look at that script from earlier?"

Director Yang paused for a moment, then instinctively clutched his briefcase—this is a creator's instinctive reaction when facing strangers; the script is their lifeblood, and showing it to just anyone is like handing over their lifeblood.

What do you do for a living?

"He owns a bar."

"...Why would someone who owns a bar read scripts?"

"I'm just bored." Fu Yan said this with particular sincerity. "I opened a bar to keep myself occupied. If your script is good, I can invest in it, just to have some fun."

Director Yang and Xu Zheng exchanged a glance.

Xu Zheng's eyebrows twitched slightly—he was used to all kinds of people, and the young man in front of him spoke casually, but his posture was relaxed and his eyes were steady, so he didn't seem to be joking.

"Let him see it," Xu Zheng said.

Director Yang hesitated for two seconds, then took the script out of his briefcase and handed it to Fu Yan.

"Don't tell anyone."

"Don't worry, who would I send it to? The bar patrons?"

……

Fu Yan opened the script and glanced at the cover—

"supermarket"

Screenwriter: Yang Qing

He turned to the first page and started reading.

In a supermarket one night, a few thieves, a cashier, a store manager, a girl who has a crush on the store manager, and an unlucky guy who comes to pay off a debt—all of them are entangled in the same enclosed space because of an absurd robbery, and in the end, they are led to an unexpected ending.

Fu Yan read faster and faster.

He wasn't reading a story—he already knew the story.

Memories of my past life flooded back like turning the pages of a book: a low-budget comedy set in a confined space, filmed in a supermarket, with an investment of less than three million, and a box office...

He couldn't remember the exact number, but he was told he made a considerable amount.

And he remembered that the movie wasn't called "Supermarket," it was called—

Nightclub.

Yes, it's "Nightclub". When it was released in my previous life, it caused a little controversy because the name could easily lead to inappropriate thoughts, but it received good reviews and exceeded box office expectations, making it a dark horse among low-budget comedies.

At this moment, it is still called "Supermarket".

No wonder no one voted for it—just the title sounds like a documentary about discounts and promotions.

……

Fu Yan closed the script and looked up.

"I can vote."

Director Yang opened his mouth slightly, but didn't close it.

Xu Zheng's gaze also changed, from scrutiny to vigilance.

"What did you say?" Director Yang thought he had misheard.

"I said I could invest." Fu Yan put the script back on the table, "but on one condition—the name has to be changed."

"Change your name?"

"'Supermarket' is no good name, it's too old-fashioned, it sounds like a place that sells things."

Director Yang's face twitched—that's what the fat guy said earlier too.

"Change it to what?"

Fu Yan thought for a moment. The movie in his previous life was called "Nightclub". However, the word "nightclub" was easily confused with bars and nightclubs in 08. But from another perspective, this confusion itself is a kind of marketing - the audience thinks it is that kind of nightclub, but when they go in they find that it is a supermarket. The contrast is interesting.

"How about calling it 'Nightclub'?"

"Nightclubs?" Director Yang frowned. "Wouldn't that make things even easier to misunderstand?"

"That's a misunderstanding, that's for sure. People go to the cinema expecting a 'nightclub,' only to find it's a supermarket comedy. Isn't that better than calling it 'supermarket' and making people not even want to buy a ticket?"

Director Yang was stunned, his mouth agape, wanting to say something but unable to utter a word.

Xu Zheng watched Fu Yan from the side, his wariness not diminishing but intensifying.

"Who exactly are you?" he asked.

"I told you, the bar owner."

"Can a bar owner invest in movies?"

"Can't bar owners invest in movies?"

"How much are you betting?"

"It depends on your budget."

Director Yang finally came to his senses, but his first reaction wasn't surprise, but suspicion—this seemed too much like a scam. A young man who owned a bar, overhearing them chat for a few minutes, offered to invest—wasn't this one of those "I have a friend who's an investor" scams?

"This... boss," Director Yang's tone became polite but distant, "I thank you for your kindness, but making a movie is not a joke, and the investment is not a small amount..."

"How many?"

"The initial budget is... around three million."

"Three million?" Fu Yan picked up his wine glass and took a sip. "I thought it was a much larger sum."

Director Yang and Xu Zheng both fell silent.

Fu Yan put down his wine glass and looked at them: "Have you been scammed before?"

Xu Zheng's eyes flickered.

"So you don't believe me?"

"It's not that we don't believe it," Director Yang said with a wry smile, "it's that we dare not believe it. We've encountered this kind of thing too many times—they talk a good game, but in the end, either the person can't be found, or they have a bunch of conditions that are even more unscrupulous than investors."

"I understand." Fu Yan nodded. "How about this, come to my office at 10 a.m. tomorrow—it's on the street behind the bar. I'll send you the address. We'll sit down and talk then, discussing the contract, the amount, the terms, one by one. If you think it's okay, we'll sign it; if not, we'll pretend we never met tonight."

He took out a business card and placed it on the table—it was printed for him by Lin Xiaochen. It only had his name and phone number on it, not even the company name; it was extremely minimalist.

Director Yang picked up the business card, looked at it, and then looked at Xu Zheng.

Xu Zheng stared at Fu Yan for a few seconds, then nodded slightly.

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Director Yang put away the business card, but his tone still carried seven parts doubt and three parts curiosity.

"Okay, see you tomorrow. Oh, by the way, this drink is on me, you can go now." Fu Yan raised his glass to them.

The two got up and left. Director Yang walked in front, clutching his briefcase tightly; Xu Zheng walked behind, taking two steps and then looking back—Fu Yan was leaning back in his chair, holding a wine glass, looking relaxed, as if nothing had happened.

……

After the two left, Fu Yan leaned back in his chair and looked at the empty thermos on the table.

Nightclub.

In his past life, he was laughing so hard he almost fell over watching a movie on a shabby sofa in his rented room, in front of the computer screen.

Now, the script for this movie is right in front of him, with an incredibly corny title, carried in a director's briefcase as he searches the world for investors, and has already been rejected six times.

For the seventh time, she crashed into the bar he owned.

Fu Yan picked up his wine glass and drank the last sip of "Houhai Morning Mist".

"Interesting," he muttered to himself.

From the bar area, Fu Xiao's voice came again: "Brother Zhou Lei, what's this cup called?"

"The Collins Cup! I've taught you three times already!"

"Oh—what about this one?"

"That's a water glass! Not a wine glass! Don't you even recognize a water glass?!"

Fu Xiao retorted confidently, "A water cup? Do you really need a special cup to drink water? What's so special about it?"

Zhou Lei clutched his chest, feeling that his career had been hit like never before.

Hearing the commotion, Fu Yan couldn't help but laugh.

……

He took out his phone and sent Lin Xiaochen a text message:

"A guest will be coming to the office at 10 a.m. tomorrow to discuss a collaboration. Please get ready."

Two minutes later, Lin Xiaochen replied:

"What kind of cooperation?"

Fu Yan thought for a moment and typed a few words:

"I want to invest in a movie."

After sending the message, he threw his phone on the table, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

The bar was warmly lit, and Chen Hui on stage was singing an old song with a soothing melody like a gentle, unhurried river.

Making movies.

In his previous life, Fu Yan would never have dared to dream of such a thing—back then, he didn't even have time to go see a movie.

Now, sitting in his own bar, he casually agrees to an investment from a director.

Money is just a means; life is the goal.

He said that.

But occasionally, one can use tricks to achieve a slightly different life—

It seems like it's quite fun.