I’m so sorry for the long break. To make up for it, I will be uploading two chapters a day for this week. And bonus chapters will also be posted on Saturday.
After briefly relaxing and resting from his trip with Boss Jiang to Jingzhe’s Dream Incubation Building, Ye Zhou threw himself into a new round of work.
With the wrap of filming for A Farce, editing and post-production were next on the agenda. Some relatively rich production crews would even start promotional campaigns as soon as filming ended.
Although Ye Zhou had sufficient funds, he didn’t do this. He was very clear on the positioning of their film. Even though they had Zhu Ning as one of the leads, Ye Zhou didn’t want to push Zhu Ning to the forefront to create hype.
Using actors to help create publicity and topics for the crew had already become common practice in the industry. Directors usually tacitly accepted it, and some would even proactively ask their actors to stir up popularity.
But Ye Zhou disliked this approach. Ever since his past life, he had detested these kinds of publicity tactics.
He could lower himself and flatter investors to raise funds, but he would never make his actors release all kinds of messy news just to attract attention for the promotion of his films.
So, when his assistant director subtly suggested getting Zhu Ning to help with promotions, Ye Zhou rejected the idea almost without thinking.
Fortunately, after nearly a year of working together, the assistant director was already used to Ye Zhou’s temperament. Seeing that he was unwilling, the assistant director simply didn’t bring up the topic again. Instead, he turned the conversation to editing and post-production.
In his past life, with limited funds, Ye Zhou had to spend every penny on the essentials. To save money, he preferred to handle everything himself whenever possible.
Additionally, the final quality of a film depended heavily on the editor. A good editor could elevate a mediocre film from a 3/10 to a 6/10 through editing techniques.
Likewise, it was also not uncommon in the industry for incompetent editors to ruin potentially great films.
Editors who could understand the director’s vision and desired expression were invaluable in the industry.
Ye Zhou didn’t trust subpar editors with his work, but good editors were too expensive for him to hire in his past life. Left with no choice, Ye Zhou taught himself editing and handled the entire process personally for his films.
This habit persisted even after transmigrating to a world without money troubles. Ye Zhou still insisted on personally editing the entire film.
When the assistant director first heard this, he was quite anxious, worrying that Ye Zhou was overreaching. He privately contacted a few editor acquaintances to be prepared, just in case.
But two months later, when the assistant director came to see Ye Zhou’s rough cut, he immediately realized his concerns were unnecessary. Those editors he had contacted ended up not being needed after all.
The post-production was handed over to Jingzhe Pictures’ professional team, who were not only efficient but produced excellent quality.
Ye Zhou had originally planned to let Jingzhe handle the opening and ending songs too. But when Zhu Ning heard about it, he somehow found time in his busy schedule to compose the songs himself. He even offered to be responsible for performing the ending song.
The songs were not particularly outstanding but fit the style of the film perfectly. It was clear he had put his heart into them.
After listening, Ye Zhou agreed almost without hesitation.
Per Zhu Ning’s intention, the two songs were free gifts to the crew. But Ye Zhou was afraid it would cause trouble for him at his company, so he still paid him a fee to purchase the copyright.
The final cut passed censorship in early September.
Normally, this would be when production teams started preparations for promotions. But Ye Zhou had filmed this movie just to practice his skills. He didn’t lack money, nor did he expect the film to earn much at the box office.
So, the promotions for A Farce were extremely perfunctory, with almost no publicity other than posting the screening times on the official Weibo account.
Thanks to the scandal from a few months ago, A Farce’s official Weibo account gained over 100,000 free followers. But even so, its promotional effect was still very limited.
The day before the preview screening, to show his gratitude to Boss Jiang, Ye Zhou specially set aside a movie ticket for him. But unfortunately, Boss Jiang was away on a business trip and couldn’t make it back in time.
Despite this, Ye Zhou still reserved a seat for Boss Jiang to demonstrate his sincerity.
Yes, he was just that adorable and sincere!
On the night of the preview screening, Ye Zhou arrived at the theater early to go over the flow for the evening with the crew and theater staff.
Ten minutes before the movie was set to start, Ye Zhou was chatting with Xie Gefei when his phone suddenly vibrated with a notification.
He took it out and saw it was a text from Boss Jiang.
“Come to the theater entrance.”
Seeing these words, Ye Zhou’s eyebrows jumped as a faint idea rose in his mind. But thinking about it carefully, he felt it was unlikely.
Noticing Ye Zhou’s odd expression, Xie Gefei asked with concern, “Director Ye, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” Ye Zhou shook his head to clear it and waved his phone, “I have something to take care of. I’ll be right back.”
Xie Gefei was puzzled. “But the movie is starting soon.”
“I’ll be quick!” Ye Zhou said as he picked up his pace and ran towards the entrance in large strides.
He jogged through the theater and pushed open the glass doors. There, he saw a familiar figure standing at the entrance.
The man wore an ash-grey knee-length overcoat. Tall and straight-backed, he stood like a proud pine amidst wind and snow.
His exceptionally handsome features attracted the gaze of passing pedestrians. He simply stood there on the steps, yet his brilliance made it impossible for others to look away.
When Ye Zhou saw him, the man also saw Ye Zhou.
Faint bloodshot lines showed in his eyes under the fatigue. But the cold, sharp edges softened the moment he met Ye Zhou’s eyes.
Jiang Tingyuan extended a hand toward Ye Zhou, waiting by the door, and said gently, “Come here.”
A strange urge overtook Ye Zhou, robbing him of reason. He obediently ran towards Jiang Tingyuan and threw himself into his embrace.
Jiang Tingyuan’s embrace contrasted starkly with his usual aloofness, imparting warmth – so much warmth that Ye Zhou was reluctant to lift his head from Jiang’s chest.
They had never been this close before. Close enough for Ye Zhou to distinctly hear every heartbeat, every breath Jiang Tingyuan took.
Ye Zhou fiercely pinched himself. The pain instantly cleared his mind. Almost as soon as he came to his senses, he hurriedly pulled away to put distance between them.
At the same time, he chanted to himself, “I’m not swayed, I’m not swayed!” After repeating it dozens of times, reason finally prevailed. Ye Zhou exaggerated his delight and exclaimed, “Jiang-ge, weren’t you only coming back the day after tomorrow?!”
Jiang Tingyuan looked at Ye Zhou with amusement as expressions flitted across his face. He didn’t have to guess to know what sorts of wild drama this little drama king1小戏精 literally means “little drama spirit” and is used here as an affectionate nickname for Ye Zhou, poking fun at his dramatic tendencies. was cooking up in his imagination.
“I came back early because I didn’t want to miss your preview screening,” Jiang Tingyuan said lightly. What he didn’t tell Ye Zhou was that he had compressed his schedule to the limit these past few days in order to make it back two days early to accompany Ye Zhou. He had barely slept.
All that exhausting work just for his embrace to be hastily pushed away after rushing back.
What a… heartless little guy.
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please consider supporting the author directly.
You can also follow me on Ko-fi to get the latest updates on my translation progress and new projects. I appreciate your love and feedback.
