Bonus Kofi chapter
Xu Cheng was stunned by Ye Zhou’s generosity. Staring at the card in front of him, he felt as if he were dreaming.
What kind of heavenly investor was Brother Ye!
Even the ever-confident Xu Cheng had to admit that the project proposal he had originally submitted to Jing Zhe was truly nonsensical.
He was already surprised that someone was willing to invest in the project back then. Now, upon hearing that he was short on funds, Ye Zhou didn’t even ask why and instantly offered to give him a card!
Seeing that Xu Cheng didn’t take it, Ye Zhou took the card and directly stuffed it into his hand, saying very readily, “Recruit a few more people. We have plenty of money, you know.”
Xu Cheng: “…Ah?”
Ye Zhou patted his shoulder, seemingly very satisfied with the current situation.
In his previous life, he had heard that running an esports team was a money-burning endeavor. Now that Ye Zhou was truly involved, he found it was indeed well-deserved of its reputation, an absolute model of money-burning activities.
After looking around the indoor environment, Ye Zhou thought for a while and added, “I heard other teams have their own training facilities. This place seems too shabby. Why don’t you guys rent a base too?”
“I’ve heard there are coaches, managers, practice partners, nannies, and whatnot. There are quite a lot of miscellaneous roles. So, go find people first, get everything sorted out, then calculate the total cost, and I’ll reimburse you all at once.”
Ye Zhou’s heavenly words left the still-dazed Xu Cheng even more bewildered.
His voice was a little hoarse as he waved his hands frantically, “That, that’s not necessary, Ye-ge…”
The other few people who heard the commotion were also stunned by Ye Zhou’s wealth. When Ye Zhou’s gaze turned towards them, they quickly shook their heads in unison.
Only the vice-captain, who was organizing the competition footage, paused in his actions, turned around, and calmly thanked Ye Zhou, “Thank you, Mr. Ye1The raw says 谢谢江先生, which is Thank you, Mr. Jiang. I am assuming this is a mistake because JTY is nowhere near this scene. Unless CM is actually called YZ as Mr. Jiang, and YZ is became happier because of that lol, my delulu self believe the second one, but I firmly stand with my choice of correcting that in my tl..”
Hearing his acceptance, Ye Zhou became even happier.
“It’s settled then. You guys pick the base yourselves. Once you’ve chosen, just tell me the location and price, and I’ll reimburse you.”
After he left, the room fell into a deathly silence.
When the vice-captain finished organizing the footage and closed his laptop, he turned around to find the three people, including Xu Cheng, staring at him intently.
“What?” the vice-captain asked.
The three spoke in unison, glaring at him, “You still have the nerve to ask!”
Wei Xun stood up, walked over to him, and quickly pinched his face, clicking his tongue in wonder, “Look at our vice-captain’s thick skin!”
“So ill-mannered!” The vice-captain slapped his hand away.
Fatty was amused by their antics, clutching his belly in laughter. After laughing, he couldn’t help but agree wholeheartedly with Xu Cheng, “Lao Wei may run his mouth all the time, but he’s quite sharp when it matters, isn’t he? Hitting the nail right on the head!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he received a glare from the vice-captain and shrank back, shutting his mouth obediently.
Except for Xu Cheng, the entire team was simply unreliable.
Unable to watch any longer, Xu Cheng interrupted their laughter and slapped the card Ye Zhou had given him earlier in front of the vice-captain, asking, “Does Ye-ge’s money not burn your hands?”
Although short, his words were barbed, indicating that Xu Cheng was in a foul mood and had grown somewhat angry.
The vice-captain looked at him before responding, “No.”
Xu Cheng’s already unpleasant expression became even worse due to his answer, and he turned to leave.
However, he hadn’t taken two steps before his wrist was grabbed, and he heard the vice-captain’s voice from behind him.
“I believe we have the ability to earn this money back for him.”
His voice was somewhat deep, and his volume wasn’t loud, but the determination in his words was enough for his teammates to understand his resolve.
Indeed.
Since Ye Zhou was willing to trust them, from the moment they accepted the money, they had a reason to win the championship.
Only by winning, again and again, could they be worthy of this unconditional and heavy trust.
…
After leaving the esports team, Ye Zhou went to the ‘ Starlight Youth Development Program’ project team next door, but it seemed he didn’t come at a good time as the person in charge, Xu Wei, wasn’t there.
Her assistant said she had gone to confirm the locations for provincial preliminaries herself and had been extremely busy lately, flying all over the country with hardly any rest.
Naturally, with ample funding and Ye Zhou’s complete trust, the project was progressing smoothly. It had already started venue selection and preliminary promotions. If there were no unexpected issues, the preliminaries were expected to officially begin in early November.
Since Xu Wei wasn’t there, Ye Zhou didn’t linger long since he was just an investor. He didn’t know if Xu Wei had said anything to the others, but the staff seemed quite cautious around him.
Not wanting to make them uncomfortable, Ye Zhou tactfully left.
Without much expectation, he then headed to the ‘Tears Behind Bars’ crew that he hadn’t been able to meet last time. As he approached the door, he could faintly hear voices from inside.
Ye Zhou raised his brows and knocked on the door.
After a moment, the door opened from the inside. The person who opened it wore a wrinkled black hoodie, his hair disheveled, and heavy dark circles under his eyes, showing clear signs of fatigue and haggardness.
Ye Zhou hadn’t seen the person in charge of ‘Tears Behind Bars’ since the project was approved, and at first glance, he almost didn’t recognize this person.
Fortunately, although Ye Zhou didn’t recognize the other party, the other party recognized him.
“Mr. Ye!”
He Feiyang was still a little tired at first, but upon recognizing Ye Zhou, his weariness vanished instantly, and he perked up almost immediately.
After all, the man before him was their major financier! In front of the sponsor, one couldn’t be lazy and had to be fully alert to face the sponsor’s inspection.
If he offended the sponsor and upset him enough to withdraw the investment, He Feiyang wouldn’t even know where to cry.
Ye Zhou was warmly invited into the office by He Feiyang. Having already drunk quite a bit of tea at the esports team, Ye Zhou’s face immediately turned sour upon seeing another large cup of tea placed before him.
However, not wanting to reject their kind gesture, he could only carefully push the cup slightly further away from himself.
“Mr. Ye, I watched the movie you filmed a while back. It was really well done! Lao Liu and I went to see it together, and I even cried watching it!”
Ye Zhou hesitated, “But that was a comedy.”
He Feiyang showed no embarrassment at being called out and responded quite frankly, “Yes, yes! You’re truly amazing to have filmed a comedy to such an extent!”
“?” For a moment, Ye Zhou couldn’t tell if he was praising or insulting him.
Beside He Feiyang, Liu Zhao, who heard his old friend’s response, felt a bit helpless and explained on his behalf, “Mr. Ye, please don’t take offense. Lao He is talking about the character No. 3. He’s been obsessing over that character and discussing it with me for days.”
“Oh?” Ye Zhou froze for a moment before his tone rose slightly.
“I spent a long time looking for those Easter eggs you planted. I found thirty-six in total. Linking all those Easter eggs together basically covers that assassin’s whole life. It’s truly brilliant!”
As a director himself, He Feiyang had always been obsessed with and loved films, possessing a patience for them that others could hardly imagine. Whenever he encountered a good film, he would watch it over and over again, sometimes up to ten or more times within a few days.
Undoubtedly, Ye Zhou’s critically panned film had caught his eye.
Although his initial intention for watching it was because Liu Zhao had dragged him along for impure reasons, He Feiyang started to become engrossed not long after the film began playing.
During the seven-day National Day holiday, He Feiyang went to the cinema almost every day. Sometimes, when he wasn’t busy, he would go twice a day, all in an effort to piece together the clues and Easter eggs Ye Zhou had left in the film.
He Feiyang smacked his lips, looking at Ye Zhou with admiration, “Mr. Ye, if I may ask you a question.”
“Go ahead,” Ye Zhou replied.
“Did that assassin die in the end?”
Ye Zhou was taken aback by his question. After a long pause, he suddenly smiled, nodding in a very pleased manner, “Yes.”
He Feiyang also smiled, delighted that he had guessed the ending correctly and that he had understood Ye Zhou’s work.
The two chatted about ‘A Farce’ for a while longer until He Feiyang felt Liu Zhao tugging at his sleeve. Only then did he reluctantly close his mouth and start discussing business.
“Mr. Ye, we’ve already secured the filming location and prepared the script. The crew has more or less been assembled too, but…”
As he spoke, Liu Zhao hesitated, unsure of how to broach the subject with Ye Zhou.
Noticing his unease, Ye Zhou said, “Don’t be nervous. I’m a director myself, so strictly speaking, we’re colleagues and part of the same circle. Just say what’s on your mind directly. No need to beat around the bush.”
His words warmed Liu Zhao’s heart. After hesitating for a while, he finally spoke, “It’s about casting the roles. The other actors have more or less been decided, but we haven’t been able to satisfy Lao He with the lead role after several attempts.”
After Ye Zhou nodded, Liu Zhao continued, “This role has very high acting requirements. We’ve tried inviting many people to audition, but Lao He still feels something is missing.”
“You know, we…” At this point, Liu Zhao clearly felt uncomfortable, but under Ye Zhou’s gaze, he continued, “We just got out of prison, so we’ve become a bit out of touch with the industry. Within our limited capabilities, we’ve basically invited all the actors we used to know, some were willing to come, others weren’t.”
“Among those who did come, Lao He still wasn’t satisfied. He kept saying something was missing from their performance.” This was quite blunt, and Liu Zhao felt rather embarrassed, but for the sake of his old friend’s dream, he said it anyway, “Since you know many people, I was wondering if you could recommend some actors to us.”
Actually, midway through Liu Zhao’s words, Ye Zhou had already more or less understood his meaning.
Directors recommending actors to each other was extremely normal, so Ye Zhou was about to readily agree without hesitation.
However, He Feiyang spoke up before him, straightforwardly telling Ye Zhou, “Mr. Ye, I actually already have an actor in mind.”
He interjected so quickly that Liu Zhao didn’t even have a chance to stop him. Liu Zhao’s expression stiffened as he knew there was no way to prevent his old friend now. He slowly raised his hand to cover his face.
He could only hope that Mr. Ye’s reaction wouldn’t be too extreme after hearing this.
They were courting disaster!
Caught off guard, Ye Zhou simply asked, “Who is it?”
“Zhong Bai.”
Upon hearing this name, Ye Zhou was taken aback and immediately broke into a violent coughing fit.
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.
