266: What I voted for was a short play!

After reading the story outline and confirming it wasn't a sleazy short drama—the female lead had no intimate scenes with the male lead, and from beginning to end, they only wanted to kill each other—Ye Su decided to recommend that Chen Xinyi go to the production crew for an audition.

Of course, everything was entirely voluntary. If Chen Xinyi didn't want to earn this money, then the profit would just have to go to an outsider.

"I'll find the producer tomorrow. After negotiating and finalizing the investment, I'll ask for her opinion to see if she's willing to quit that lousy job or free up a week or two to film the short drama."

Putting this matter aside, Ye Su continued to look at the "Project Plan" provided by the copyright holder.

"The crowdfunding amount is 500,000, split into 500 shares. Together, they can get 37.5% of the total revenue. It's a period drama, and after deducting traffic acquisition costs, this dividend is about right."

Looking at the production schedule at the bottom of the page, the project had only just been uploaded to the crowdfunding platform yesterday.

Therefore, no one had subscribed to the 500,000 funding quota yet.

At the same time, the platform also restricted individual investors to a maximum subscription of 50 shares, which was one-tenth of the total crowdfunding quota.

Ye Su rubbed his chin, his mind calculating rapidly:

"Even if we don't talk about 10 million, let's assume Guang Yu Theater only gets 5 million in the end. 37.5% is 1.75 million. Excluding personal income tax, that's a return rate of over three times, which is already quite good."

"Invest!" Ye Su immediately slapped the quilt: "Investing in short dramas is exactly what I'm doing!"

The system's recommendation was indeed correct.

After making the final decision to invest, Ye Su turned off the lights and went to sleep.

...

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, the two of them got up one after another.

On tuesday afternoon, school had classes during the seventh and eighth periods, so Ye Su didn't need to rush out early in the morning.

Watching Chen Xinyi putting on her shoes, Ye Su waved goodbye to her with a meaningful look: "Goodbye, wage slave."

"Ah!!"

Not understanding the hidden meaning in Ye Su's eyes, and hearing the words "wage slave," Chen Xinyi thought Ye Su was teasing her and immediately let out a painful wail.

Seeing this typical withdrawal reaction Chen Xinyi always had on the first day of work after a holiday.

Ye Su estimated that she would almost certainly agree to go to the production crew for an audition, trying to switch to a job that paid better and didn't require a fixed nine-to-five schedule.

As for the unstable income... With him around for living expenses, and not having to pay for the house they lived in, Ye Su figured Chen Xinyi wouldn't have much pressure.

"Hmph!" After changing her shoes and seeing Ye Su looking at her with a smile, Chen Xinyi glared back at him, this "unconcerned person," with resentment. As she was about to leave, she huffed indignantly.

"Good grief, with the resentment of a wage slave like this now, even the Evil Sword Immortal would have to exclaim, 'I'm already so full I'm about to overflow.'"

Thinking about how the Evil Sword Immortal would have to take a deep, top-tier breath whenever passing by major office buildings, Ye Su remembered that famous quote: "Working for others is impossible, it will never be possible in this lifetime!"

After feeling lingering fear about working for others, Ye Su waited in the room for a while longer.

Estimating that the time was about right, he opened the intelligence details from early that morning, found the producer's contact information, and called him.

The phone rang twice before the other side answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, may I ask if this is the producer of Guang Yu Theater, Mr. Wang?"

"Yes, who are you?"

"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Ye Su."

On the other end of the line, Mr. Wang, who was just about to leave, was a bit confused after hearing this: "Mr. Ye, hello. May I ask what this is about?"

"It's like this. I saw on the short drama crowdfunding platform that you are launching a crowdfunding campaign for 'After Rebirth, I Chose to Become the Empress Myself.' Is that correct?"

This information was all public online, so Mr. Wang didn't intend to hide it: "We did launch the crowdfunding for this project yesterday. Is there a problem?"

"I want to invest in this short drama."

Hearing this, Mr. Wang frowned, convinced that the other person was just some inexplicable short drama investment novice who had called him with a nuisance call.

Trying to keep his tone steady, Mr. Wang replied: "Mr. Ye, if you want to invest in our short drama, you can directly subscribe to the shares on the crowdfunding platform; you don't need to call me."

After speaking, Mr. Wang was about to hang up, but the voice from the other end made his action of moving the phone away freeze instantly, and he immediately pressed the phone back to his ear.

"What I mean is, I want to subscribe to the entire 500,000 crowdfunding quota directly. I want to talk to you directly to confirm the investment details."

"Subscribe to the entire amount!" Mr. Wang didn't expect that the other person had called him with such a purpose.

After being shocked for a moment, Mr. Wang calmed down and asked cautiously: "Mr. Ye, are you sure you want to invest this 500,000 directly?"

"Yes. If it's convenient for you, I can come to your company this morning to finalize the investment details."

"Our project leads will all be at the company at ten o'clock. If it's convenient, shall we meet at ten?"

"Sure."

"Is this phone number your WeChat ID? I'll add you as a friend and send you our company's address."

"Yes."

"Alright, let's leave it at that. We'll talk when we meet."

After exchanging a few symbolic pleasantries, Mr. Wang hung up the phone.

Buzz— Shortly after, Ye Su received a friend request from Mr. Wang.

After accepting it, Ye Su and Mr. Wang sent their names to each other. Afterwards, Mr. Wang sent the address of Guang Yu Theater.

"It's over in Panyu. It'll take over half an hour to drive there."

After confirming the distance between the two places using navigation software, Ye Su went online to check what things individual investors need to pay attention to when dealing directly with short drama production teams.

At 9 AM, feeling that it was about time, Ye Su grabbed his car keys and left.

He first detoured to the rental house to pick up that Patek Philippe, which he could use to save face when negotiating the investment later.

He also took the two gold bars kept there, so he wouldn't have to make an extra trip later.

After gathering everything, it took over half an hour for Ye Su to drive to the cultural industrial park where Mr. Wang's company was located. After circling around for a bit, he finally found the office location of Guang Yu Theater.

"I've arrived at your company entrance."

"Mr. Wang: Wait a moment, I'll be right out."

"Okay."

Almost as soon as Ye Su finished replying to the message, a middle-aged man, roughly in his thirties with meticulously groomed hair, hurriedly walked out of the office.

"Mr. Ye?"

Greeting him with a hint of inquiry, Mr. Wang also quickly sized up Ye Su. Although he was very young, he looked like he might have some substance.

Mr. Wang had been in society for over a decade and in the short drama industry for two years; he had basically encountered all kinds of people.

The moment he saw Ye Su, he could judge that he was indeed here to invest in a short drama and had the capability to make such an investment.

Mr. Wang even wanted to judge his economic strength based on the watch Ye Su was wearing. But due to the angle, he couldn't see what kind of watch Ye Su was wearing.

"Yes." Ye Su proactively extended his right hand, smiling as he greeted Mr. Wang: "Mr. Wang, hello."