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Zhou Yi was a very pure sort of businessman. Born into a middle-class family, he had received an excellent education from an early age. After graduating from a prestigious overseas university and returning home, he first worked in foreign trade, where his business ventures did quite well.
After earning the first pot of gold in his life, he swiftly switched into the financial sector. Having gone through Hong Kong's 2002 stock market crash and the property market boom that began in 2005, his assets rapidly accumulated to over a hundred million, making him a fairly well-known financial investor.
After 2010, Zhou Yi established his own investment fund, with numerous investment projects in both the real economy and the internet industry, most of which turned out profitable.
In Hong Kong, Zhou Yi definitely was not among the very richest people, he did not even quite rank among the second tier, but within the industry, he enjoyed an excellent reputation, known for his sharp judgment and brilliant methods.
According to Chen Wenqiang, Zhou Yi was a trustworthy business partner, but absolutely unsuitable as a friend.
Because he always placed profit first. If his own interests were harmed, he would fall out even with friends of many years. As a result, this director of Jiayang Film Industry had a highly divided reputation within show business circles: some people thought highly of him, while others deeply disliked him.
When Lu Chen first saw Zhou Yi, his immediate impression was that the man did not resemble a profit-obsessed businessman at all.
In his forties, Zhou Yi had a tall, refined appearance and wore black-rimmed glasses. He carried a strong scholarly aura, with fair skin, no beard, and slightly delicate features. His narrow eyes concealed a restrained gleam.
And besides Zhou Yi, there was also a man and a woman seated in Lu Chen's office.
The man was presumably Zhou Yi's attendant or bodyguard. Dressed in fitted clothing, he looked extremely capable and sharp, his eyes glinting with intensity as he stood silently in the corner.
As for the woman, Lu Chen's gaze lingered on her for three extra seconds.
It was not because Lu Chen was being lustful or rude, but because this beautiful woman in a long dress, with picturesque features, possessed a quiet and indescribable elegance. Sitting there silently on the sofa, she resembled a frozen painting of a classical beauty.
"Mr. Zhou, sorry to have kept you waiting."
Lu Chen stepped forward and proactively extended his hand. "Please forgive any discourtesy on my part."
Zhou Yi smiled casually and firmly shook Lu Chen's hand. "You flatter me, Mr. Lu. I'm the one who came rather abruptly."
Normally, meetings between the two of them should have been scheduled in advance. Both Zhou Yi and the Madam Jin from earlier had arrived very suddenly, almost like surprise visits.
Lu Chen asked, "And these two are?"
Zhou Yi smiled. "Let me introduce them. This is my cousin, Nie Mingzhu."
The woman in the white dress rose gracefully and extended her hand toward Lu Chen. "Hello, Mr. Lu."
Her voice was very pleasant, carrying a slight softness and sweetness, and she spoke flawless standard Mandarin.
There was a distinct Jiangnan flavor to it.
"Hello."
Lu Chen lightly shook her delicate hand, somewhat surprised. "Miss Nie, have you lived in the Suzhou-Zhejiang region before?"
Nie Mingzhu smiled faintly. "I was born in Hong Kong, but I spent both high school and university years in Jinling. I also worked in Suyang for a year, so I suppose I count as half a Jiangnan native."
A smile lingered at the corners of her lips, tinged with a trace of playful charm, and it made her whole person seem suddenly vivid and alive.
Lu Chen secretly marveled inwardly. Among all the women he had met, only Chen Fei'er and Qin Qing could compare with her in terms of beauty and temperament. She seemed to embody the very grace and elegance of heaven and earth.
Lu Chen inferred that her family background must be extraordinary. An ordinary household could never cultivate such an outstanding young lady.
Keeping his thoughts to himself, Lu Chen invited the two of them to sit back down and had Li Zhen bring over fresh tea.
The atmosphere of the conversation between both sides was very pleasant. Zhou Yi did not directly state the purpose of his personal visit this time. Instead, he chatted with Lu Chen about Hong Kong's current film and television industry, including its existing problems and future direction of development.
He focused especially on the industrial support policies that the Hong Kong government had recently introduced and the impact they would have on the entire industry.
Zhou Yi was obviously not the sort of person who spoke grandly or endlessly. He did not say much, but every sentence struck at the heart of the matter, and many of his viewpoints gave Lu Chen a refreshing new perspective.
Following this topic, Zhou Yi then brought up A Chinese Ghost Story with Lu Chen. He believed that Lu Chen had chosen an excellent time to come develop in Hong Kong, and that the success or failure of this film was of critical importance, especially in terms of quality, where not the slightest carelessness could be tolerated.
According to the current information available, among films produced in Hong Kong, only twenty-four movies were tentatively allowed each year to pass through the support policy's "green channel" and be directly released in the Mainland, exactly two films per month.
Compared to the number of films produced annually in Hong Kong, the competition for those slots was truly a case of too many monks and too little porridge. The competition would inevitably be extremely fierce. Securing one of those quotas depended not only on relationships and connections, but even more importantly on the quality of the film itself.
If some crudely made, shoddy production passed the review process and was still released in the Mainland, it would only disgrace Hong Kong cinema. The Hong Kong government certainly would not agree to that.
Lu Chen deeply agreed with this point. He already understood the relevant policy conditions, though not nearly as thoroughly as Zhou Yi did.
At this moment, Nie Mingzhu, who had been quietly playing the role of listener the whole time, also joined the discussion, though what she talked about was the script for A Chinese Ghost Story.
The Lu Chen Workshop had long since sent the script over to Jiayang Film Industry, so it was perfectly normal for Nie Mingzhu to have read it. She was obviously very interested in this story adapted from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, and she had quite a lot of questions about it.
Lu Chen patiently answered them one by one.
By now, he already understood Zhou Yi's true purpose. The reason Zhou Yi had not brought it up directly was undoubtedly because he did not want to fall into a passive position during subsequent negotiations, but instead wished to leave the initiative on Lu Chen's side.
Finally, Zhou Yi said, "Mingzhu graduated from Jinling Film and Television College, majoring in acting. Originally, she planned to stay in the Mainland for her career development, but her family was worried, so she returned to Hong Kong instead."
So that was the case.
Lu Chen nodded, indicating that he understood.
There was no need to speak too bluntly when dealing with smart people. After this exchange, although they had not discussed a single negotiation clause, the two sides had in fact taken a major step closer toward successful cooperation.
What followed proved exactly that. Over the next several days, Lu Chen Workshop and Jiayang Film Industry launched a new round of negotiations, and finally, on the seventh day after Lu Chen arrived in Hong Kong, they reached an agreement.
Both parties were very satisfied with this agreement. Lu Chen had firmly protected his own bottom line, while Jiayang Film Industry, besides obtaining a share of the profits, also secured the heroine role in A Chinese Ghost Story, along with another important supporting role, the Tree Demon Granny.
The actress playing Nie Xiaoqian was none other than Nie Mingzhu.
The day after signing the cooperation agreement with Jiayang Film Industry, Lu Chen handed the remaining matters over to Chen Wenqiang and Wan Xiaoquan to handle. He himself took his assistant Zhang Xiaofang and flew to Huhai, then transferred flights onward to Wumeng City.
(End of Chapter)