280: Successfully won the leading female role

Chen Xinyi recalled Mr. Wang and Jiang Hongzhi's reactions to her performance during the audition earlier, and then said with some uncertainty:

"It should have gone quite smoothly..."

"As long as it went smoothly, that's fine."

Worried that Chen Xinyi was under too much pressure, Ye Su changed the subject:

"Anyway, what's done is done. There's no use dwelling on it. Let's find a place to hang out and wait for dinner."

"What do you mean 'what's done is done'..." Chen Xinyi was completely speechless at Ye Su's choice of words.

"The general idea is the same."

After saying that, Ye Su pulled Chen Xinyi along to wander around the shopping mall before having a sumptuous dinner.

It was already past eight in the evening by the time the two returned home.

Buzz, buzz, buzz—

Just as they stepped into the house, Chen Xinyi's phone rang.

"Hello?"

Mr. Wang's voice came from the other end of the line: "Is this Miss Chen?"

"Yes."

"I am Mr. Wang."

"Hello, Producer Wang."

Confirming that it was indeed Mr. Wang calling, Chen Xinyi's heart instantly began to thump wildly.

This situation was just like when she used to look for a job—after the interview, the HR would call to extend an offer.

Seeing Ye Su curiously eyeing her phone, Chen Xinyi turned on the speakerphone so that Ye Su could also hear their conversation.

Sure enough, Mr. Wang's next words confirmed Chen Xinyi's suspicion.

"I'm calling this time to let you know that you have passed this afternoon's audition."

"Thank you, Producer!"

Passing the audition for the female lead on her very first try.

A starting point like this was enough to surpass over ninety-five percent of short drama actors.

No matter how much Chen Xinyi tried to stay calm, her tone still betrayed her excitement.

"Haha, there's no need to be so polite. This is a mutual cooperation, after all." Mr. Wang chuckled heartily before getting straight to the point:

"For our short drama, there are two ways we can pay the female lead's salary.

The first is a flat rate of 5,000 yuan a day for an eight-day shooting schedule, totaling 40,000 yuan. If the shooting runs overtime, an additional 10% overtime fee will be paid per day.

The second is to take only half of the flat rate, which is 2,500 yuan a day, totaling 20,000 yuan for eight days. The remaining 20,000 yuan can be converted into a 5% share of the distributable profit pool.

In other words, after deducting the production costs, channel service fees for platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou, corporate income tax, and other expenses from the short drama's total revenue, you can take a 5% cut of the remaining net profit."

The second payment method Mr. Wang mentioned was also the [low base salary + high profit-sharing] model currently adopted by some short drama projects.

Since most short dramas produced nowadays lose money rather than make a profit, upfront costs are naturally cut as much as possible.

If the money earned after the short drama goes online doesn't even cover production costs, the profit-sharing promised to the actors naturally won't have to be paid out.

If they were lucky and the short drama made money,

Chen Xinyi would still need the short drama's net profit to reach 400,000 yuan after deducting all expenses just to get the remaining half of her flat salary.

Only after that, as the short drama continued to make money, could Chen Xinyi receive profit-sharing that exceeded her original salary.

No matter how they calculated it, Guang Yu Theater wouldn't lose out with the [low base salary + high profit-sharing] model Mr. Wang offered Chen Xinyi.

At most, if the short drama became a massive hit, they would just make slightly less money.

"So there are two payment methods..."

After listening, Chen Xinyi's indecisiveness flared up, leaving her with no choice but to cast a pleading look at Ye Su for help.

Receiving the signal, Ye Su held up two fingers to Chen Xinyi, indicating that she should choose the [salary + profit-sharing] model.

The 40% profit share Ye Su bought for 500,000 yuan only required deducting traffic acquisition costs before payouts could begin, without needing to deduct production costs. Thus, the money he would get per 1% was definitely much more than what Chen Xinyi would get.

However, for Chen Xinyi to exchange 20,000 yuan of her salary for a 5% share was a great deal no matter how one looked at it.

Ye Su refused to believe that an investment lead refreshed using a Tier 4 intelligence report would yield a net profit share for Chen Xinyi of less than 400,000 yuan.

"I think I'll go with the second option, the salary plus profit-sharing method."

Out of trust in Ye Su, upon seeing his two fingers, Chen Xinyi chose the profit-sharing option without the slightest hesitation.

"No problem."

All major platforms were currently promoting this [salary + profit-sharing] partner model, shifting a portion of the upfront production costs into back-end revenue.

Therefore, Mr. Wang was more than happy to see Chen Xinyi make this choice.

"Great. We will draft the contract tomorrow. Please find some time to come over and sign it, and you can take the final script back with you at the same time, alright?"

"No problem."

"Great."

After a brief chat, Mr. Wang hung up the phone.

"I really got chosen!"

Once the call ended, Chen Xinyi could no longer contain her excitement. With a thrilled squeal, she jumped right onto Ye Su, bouncing up and down while giving him a faceful of her chest.

Finally breaking free from Chen Xinyi's embrace right before suffocating, Ye Su praised:

"Not bad! Landing the female lead on your very first audition. Don't forget your bro when you make it big in the future."

"Ohohohoho—"

Chen Xinyi covered her mouth with one hand, laughing smugly just like Jessie from Pokémon:

"Easy, easy. Once I become famous, I'll keep you as my sugar baby instead. I'll definitely feed you well and keep you nice and plump."

"It's a deal. When that time comes, I won't do anything else and will just work hard to serve you every day."

Hearing this, the smug grin on Chen Xinyi's face vanished instantly, and she became deadpan: "Actually, you don't have to work that hard."

"We're dudes, why are you being so polite with me?" Ye Su said righteously. "I will definitely work hard."

"You really don't have to work that hard!"

Sensing something amiss beneath her, Chen Xinyi instantly leaped off Ye Su and fled toward the master bedroom, trying to cover her tracks as she walked:

"Oh my, I've had such a tiring day. I'm going to grab my clothes and take a shower first."

"Don't go yet, I haven't even started working hard—"

Hearing this, Chen Xinyi took even wider strides with her long legs, almost running.

Watching Chen Xinyi flee into her room in a panic, Ye Su burst out laughing.

Splish, splash—

Once the sound of Chen Xinyi showering came from the master bedroom's bathroom, Ye Su, who had been absentmindedly playing with his phone, immediately got up. He walked quickly to the spare bedroom and took out the Lucky Dice from the ornament.

[Host's Intelligence Revenue Details for Today:]

[Over-the-back Golden Dragon Fish: 580,000 yuan]

[gold bars: 305,200 yuan]

[Working Cat: 25,200 yuan]

[Secondhand Shop: 1,329 yuan]

[Total: 911,729 yuan]

[Today's [Lucky Dice] Usage Status: Unused]

"Over 910,000 yuan!"

Looking at today's intelligence revenue statistics, Ye Su's breathing couldn't help but quicken a little.

At the same time, he also noticed that the sunscreen clothing was no longer generating revenue. It was likely because Ye Xin had cleared out all the remaining stock at a low price.

And the Secondhand Shop had also begun to be factored into the intelligence revenue of the Lucky Dice.