Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

Upon arriving at the company, Jiang Fan went into his office and closed the door behind him.

Penguin Music sent over last month's copyright settlement statement, and the figures are quite substantial.

This number would have been unimaginable six months ago, but now it's something you can just glance at and scroll past.

After processing several emails, he brought up the system's online store.

Tang Yingxue owes a song.

Since this diva took the initiative to connect, resources naturally followed.

By completely binding her to their network, Xinghuo Media's future path will be much easier.

He searched through the Chinese-language section of the mall.

Tang Yingxue's voice has a natural magnetic quality, with a captivating mid-to-low range that's perfect for singing love songs.

But it absolutely cannot be that kind of saccharine, girly style.

After flipping through a dozen or so songs, my gaze stopped.

"later".

Jiang Fan clicked to listen to the audio.

In his previous life, Tuo was a god-level figure who dominated the KTV song request charts for over a decade.

There were no heart-wrenching cries, only a sense of relief and regret after experiencing the vicissitudes of life.

When you're drunk, you can't yell a couple of lines like, "Later, I finally learned how to love."

exchange.

[Lifespan Consumption: 200 points]

[Obtain the complete lyrics, music, and arrangement for "Later"]

I've been busy these past few days. Once the movie roles are finalized, I'll spend another two days polishing the music arrangement and handing it over to Tang Yingxue.

The next morning, Jiang Fan arrived at the company at 8:40.

As soon as they entered the gate, Zhou Yutong peeked half her head out from behind the reception desk and whispered, "Brother Fan, Director Ning arrived at eight o'clock and has been in the conference room for almost an hour."

Jiang Fan paused for a moment.

It was supposed to be nine o'clock, but this old guy is here so early.

Push open the meeting room door.

Ning Yuan sat at the end of the long table, with a stack of A4 papers spread out in front of him, covered with dense writing.

Hearing the door open, he looked up and threw the pen in his hand onto the table.

You're late.

Jiang Fan pulled out a chair and sat down.

"I'm not late, you're just too early."

Ning Yuan was too lazy to argue with him and simply pushed the stack of papers over.

"I've drawn up a casting list, take a look. These days, when making comedies, you either have to act crazy or force emotional scenes. Audiences aren't buying that anymore. If your script is good, but the actors can't carry it off, it's all for nothing."

Jiang Fan glanced down at it.

Each role is followed by the names of three or four potential actors, with their strengths, weaknesses, and availability clearly indicated.

Ning Yuan pushed the chair back half a foot and propped one leg up.

"The core of the character Xia Luo is 'despicable'. Those delicate-skinned idol drama male leads in the industry are absolutely no good; putting them on would disgust the audience to death."

Jiang Fan put the stack of papers back on the table and tapped the paper with his fingers.

"So we can't hire those wooden puppets who can only pose for the camera. We need people who have been through the ups and downs of stage performances and know how to connect with the audience. I have a few candidates I'd like you to meet."

Ning Yuan raised his eyebrows.

"Who?"

"Come on, I'll take you somewhere."

Li Cheng acted as the driver, taking the two of them all the way to the west of the city.

The car swayed along the road for forty minutes before turning into a dilapidated old street.

The streets were deserted.

Aside from a shoe repair stall and a nearly empty noodle shop, all the other shops on the roadside had their shutters rolled up.

The car was parked in front of an old three-story building.

Ning Yuan got out of the car and craned his neck to stare at the plaque above the main entrance.

"Mahua Drama Troupe".

"A drama troupe?" Ning Yuan turned to look at Jiang Fan.

"right."

"You dragged me all this way just to see a play?"

His tone already betrayed his impatience.

Jiang Fan didn't respond. He stepped forward, pushed open the iron door whose handle had rusted off, and walked straight in.

Inside is a small theater, not very spacious, able to fit at most two hundred people.

The row of chairs were old-fashioned folding wooden chairs, with red velvet surfaces worn smooth and shiny, and the paint on the edges of the armrests mostly worn off.

On the stage, several people are arguing together.

"Brother Shen, it's not that I'm being disloyal, but I'm two months behind on my rent. The landlord is blocking the door every day, and if this keeps up, I'll have to sleep on the street."

The tall man who spoke looked worried and was clutching a tattered canvas bag in his hand.

The man standing in the middle was around thirty years old, wearing a T-shirt with a wrinkled collar.

Regimental Commander, Shen Feng.

He sighed and rubbed his hands on his trouser leg twice.

"Rinko, give me another week. There's a performance next Tuesday. If we can sell half the tickets, I'll pay you all the wages I owe you."

"You said the same thing last month. And what happened? There were only eight people in the audience, two of whom came in to escape the rain!"

A short, thin man next to him chimed in, his tone quite aggressive.

A woman with short hair sat on a prop box at the edge of the stage, holding a needle and thread, mending a torn suit.

Ma Yue.

Her fingers were wrapped in bandages, and the needle and thread moved through the rough fabric.

While sewing, he complained, "Brother Shen, if this suit gets patched a few more times, it'll look like a patchwork rag. We might as well switch to playing members of the Beggars' Sect."

Shen Feng smiled bitterly.

The drama troupe is really on the verge of collapse.

Jiang Fan stood in the last row of the audience and watched for two minutes.

Ning Yuan watched coldly from the sidelines.

"These are the actors you found? Some amateurs who can't even afford to eat?"

"Your biggest flaw is that you are too superstitious about experience."

Jiang Fan walked forward, following the aisle toward the stage.

Hearing the commotion, the people on stage stopped arguing and all looked over.

Shen Feng's eyes lit up, and he quickly went to the front of the stage, putting on a professional, polite smile.

"Gentlemen, would you like to view the venue or book the entire place? Our place is a bit old, but fully equipped, and the price is guaranteed to be fair. A private room for one person costs—"

"I don't watch plays," Jiang Fan interrupted him.

Shen Feng was stunned.

"So what are you doing...?"

Jiang Fan looked at him, his tone calm.

"I'll buy your entire drama troupe."

The theater was completely silent.

The canvas bag in Rinko's hand fell to the ground with a thud, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Shen Feng blinked, assuming there was something wrong with his ears.

"Boss, you're kidding, right?"

"I'm not one to joke around."

Jiang Fan pulled over a flip-up chair and sat down; the wooden chair creaked as it did so.

He pointed at Shen Feng.

"What's your name?"

"Shen Feng."

"You can make decisions about those people on stage?"

Shen Feng looked back at his brothers and nodded through gritted teeth.

"I'm the leader, I can make the decisions."

Jiang Fan took out the first half of the script, which he had printed yesterday, from his bag and threw it on the edge of the stage.

"Turn to page twelve, the scene where Charlotte disrupts the wedding. You have ten minutes to prepare, then perform it for me. If you do a good job, I'll take over the theater troupe, and I'll pay off all your debts."

Ning Yuan frowned as he stood to the side.

He walked over and lowered his voice: "Are you crazy? Let these people play the main characters? This is a 40 million yuan project."

"Shut up and watch the show."

Jiang Fan didn't even turn his head.

Ning Yuan laughed in exasperation, pulled out the chair next to him, sat down again, and crossed his arms.

Jiang Fan thought to himself, "You look down on them now."

When these people generate billions in box office revenue in the future, you'll have to kneel down and call them "daddy."

On stage, Shen Feng picked up the script.

Turn to page twelve.

His gaze swept across the paper, and his previously relaxed shoulders slowly tensed up.

"Ma Yue, come here for a second. You'll play Ma Dongmei. Lunzi, you'll play the emcee and Da Chun. A Zheng, you'll play Yuan Hua."

Shen Feng quickly assigned roles.

Several people huddled together, heads close together, quickly going over their lines.

"Cheer up, everyone. This is our last chance. Regardless of whether these two are mentally ill or not, even if they're just here to make us laugh, we have to put on a good show."

Shen Feng lowered his voice to encourage his teammates.

Ma Yue stared at the lines in the script, muttering to herself as she tried to get into the right mindset and adjust her posture.

Lunzi was still trembling, and Azheng slapped him on the back: "What are you trembling for? Treat it like a regular rehearsal."