Chapter 45: The Idealized Love, the Indelible Mark, and the Lingering Regret

"So, you mean after you went in, fearing they would squeeze my price too hard, you opened your mouth and asked for two million?"
Su Yingxia nodded. "Right."
"And then they gave an extra million?"
Su Yingxia nodded again. "Right."
"And then you just came out?"
Su Yingxia: "Spot on."
"In other words, they lowered their price, but based on the inflated figure you threw out, they even added another million on top of that?"
"That's the way it is."
Zhou Le couldn't help but cover his forehead.
For a moment, he didn't even know what to say.
Although he didn't have much experience in this area, it was obvious that the negotiation process for an actor's salary shouldn't work like this.
"Then what else did you say to them?"
"Nothing at all. I was afraid that the more I said, the more mistakes I'd make, so from start to finish I just told them my name, then said two million, and finally said 'okay'."
Zhou Le sighed.
"Never mind, let it be. It's quite good. I'll get thirty percent of the three million, which translates to seven or eight hundred thousand after tax. That's pretty impressive."
Zhou Le looked at Su Yingxia again. "So how much of a commission does the company give you?"
"Five percent."
Su Yingxia was startled after saying it.
"That means out of these three million, I can get fifteen thousand?"
"That should be the case."
Su Yingxia was dumbfounded.
She felt as though she hadn't done anything at all, yet fifteen thousand had just landed in her account?
"As far as I know, your five percent is considered rather low. Some managers can even get ten or twenty."
Su Yingxia hurriedly waved her hands. "It's plenty, it's plenty! This is fifteen thousand! Fifteen thousand a year is considered a lot back where we're from! Besides, if I earn fifteen thousand from one movie you do, that's thirty thousand for two. If you shoot ten movies a year, wouldn't I be able to earn one point five million?"
Zhou Le: "???"
"Hold on, do you take me for a beast of burden? Even a mule from a production brigade wouldn't work like this!"
"Hehe." Su Yingxia giggled. "I was just speaking casually."
Su Yingxia finally experienced the speed at which money flows in the entertainment industry.
If even a minor novice like herself could have this kind of income, wouldn't those major stars be even more incredible?
No wonder so many people got their parents to act as their managers; calculated this way, they could earn a lot more money.
Yet Zhou Le wasn't jealous.
After all, those were the rules. Everyone had to make a profit for others to be willing to work for you.
Otherwise, paying three to five thousand a month, only a fool would keep working continuously.
However, he also recalled the words Xu Zheng had said to him while chatting after coming out earlier.
Apart from discussing acting matters, Xu Zheng had also brought up managers.
"Zhou Le, do you know why your company arranged this manager for you?" Those had been Xu Zheng's exact words.
Zhou Le's response at the time was: "I'm a newcomer, so the company arranged another newcomer to coordinate with me."
"That's right, but that's only one aspect of the reason. After all, you're a newcomer and currently don't have many works in the market, so arranging a rookie manager for you to transition is logical. But there's another more primary reason: have you noticed that her temperament is somewhat similar to Gulnazar? Although her appearance is different and her personality is probably not the same, her figure is very similar, or rather, her figure is even better than Nazar's."
When Zhou Le heard that, it seemed to be the case.
"So, this is the innocent little flower your company arranged by your side. Her ability is sufficient, but her worldly experience is not too rich, because the image you projected previously perhaps suited this type best. If you preferred interacting with older people, your manager by your side would probably have been a thirty-something sister."
Zhou Le experienced a sudden flash of enlightenment.
Perhaps this was also a subtle method the company used to control its artists.
Of course, not control in the literal sense—after all, there was no need to play *Infernal Affairs* style games nowadays—but if he truly managed to spark a romantic connection with her, he would certainly think twice should he ever consider leaving in the future.
In other words, if he felt dissatisfied with his commission split later on, because of this underlying factor, he would definitely talk to the company first before looking outward.
And for the company, this required even lower costs.
As mentioned earlier, bringing in a mature manager from the outside meant higher commission cuts, which translated to the company earning less.
Still, the upcoming contract signing had to go through the company.
The company's legal department also had to review it.
Shortly after, Zhou Le and Su Yingxia left first.
Meanwhile, back in the office,
Xu Zheng was chatting with the other two.
"I find Zhou Le to be quite an interesting person."
Ning Hao grew interested. "In what way is he interesting?"
"Do you know what 'white moonlight' means?"
Wen Muye spoke up then: "Isn't that from Eileen Chang's books? It means unattainable love."
Xu Zheng shook his head. "Zhou Le says 'white moonlight' means you didn't get to sleep with her."
Then he asked: "Do you know what 'cinnabar mole' means?"
"Also from Eileen Chang's books—something you possessed but didn't cherish."
Xu Zheng shook his head again. "Zhou Le says it means you didn't sleep with her enough."
Before Xu Zheng could ask further, Wen Muye directly chimed in: "Just tell us how Zhou Le explains 'unresolved regret'."
Xu Zheng: "Didn't perform well."
"Hahahaha, as expected, quite interesting. This kid certainly knows how to spin things. Looks like shooting our movie won't be boring after all."
Suddenly, Ning Hao thought of something. "Right, I saw on his resume earlier that he's also from Taiyuan, Shanxi, right?"
"Correct."
"That's perfect. He's a fellow townsman of mine. I'll check later to see if he's interested in continuing our collaboration."
"What, does Director Ning have new ideas?"
Ning Hao smiled. "What new ideas could I have? It's just that project *My People, My Country*."
Xu Zheng drew a sharp breath. "What are you playing at? I'm going to shoot that too, and besides, I talked the most with Zhou Le, so he should be assigned to me."
Wen Muye couldn't interject easily on the side. After all, although he had directed some films and won awards prior to this, he still lagged far behind the two men sitting before him.
His opportunity to direct this time was also recommended by Ning Hao.
Because Wen Muye had joined Ning Hao's Bad Monkey 72 Transformations Film Project last year, becoming one of the first batch of thirteen signed young directors, coupled with the fact that Han Jianü—the screenwriter who then held the copyright for *Dying to Survive*—had sold the rights to Ning Hao, Wen Muye was brought along by Ning Hao as well.
And this was just one of four films scheduled for completion this year.
Therefore, Wen Muye did not participate in the competition between the two seniors.
He knew *My People, My Country* had nothing to do with him, but as for the other films... the two of them would most likely serve as producers, while the directors would probably be Yang Lu, Shen Ao, or himself.
Because at the time, they had planned a slate of forty-eight films in total.
He and Yang Lu were commercial film directors from the first batch who secured the two best projects.
Moreover, Yang Lu was directing the second installment of *Brotherhood of Blades*, a sequel to the film he shot three years ago.
Consequently, the next film of this genre would most likely fall to him.
Thus, he simply watched quietly.
On the other side, after returning, Zhou Le received a call from Wu Jing. Wu Jing intended to disburse Zhou Le's acting fee early, knowing full well that Zhou Le was currently rather broke.
"During the Chinese New Year, you'll be going out to social events and buying clothes, so you're definitely short on cash. Although I don't have much myself right now, I still have a few hundred thousand."
"Thank you, Brother Jing. I'll bring some good wine to drink with you later... just the two of us, don't tell Sister-in-law."
"Haha, alright then."
Two days later, nearly four hundred thousand was added to Zhou Le's bank card.
Simultaneously, Han Han's movie *Duckweed* also finalized its contract. Although this transaction bypassed his agency's accounts, the company's legal team still helped review the contract, resulting in a fee of two million.
Initially, Han Han had intended to offer one million.
Later, hearing that Zhou Le had secured three million from Xu Zheng and the others, Han Han reconsidered and bumped it up by another million to two million.
This money was solid and genuine.
Furthermore, it was distributed in the standard four installments: thirty percent paid within seven working days of signing, thirty percent within seven working days of joining the crew, another thirty percent when filming reached the halfway mark, and the final ten percent balance received three days before wrapping up.
After signing the contract,
Zhou Le calculated that he could actually become a RMB millionaire before the Chinese New Year this year!
"Just a few days ago, I couldn't even scrape together five thousand yuan from my entire body..."
"As expected, working in this industry makes money; it's faster than robbing a bank!"