Chapter 43 The Jiang Family Only Uses Top-Tier Personnel (Part 1)

A scream piercing enough to shatter eardrums erupted suddenly. Director Jiang Ning instinctively moved her phone half a meter away from her ear, but she could still clearly feel the near-manic excitement of Song Shishi.

"Venice?! The Big Three?! Ningning, you aren't lying to me, right?! Are you joking with me?! That's Venice!" Song Shishi's voice had completely changed pitch, incoherent, and even through the screen, one could imagine her rolling around crazily on the bed at this moment.

"Why would I lie to you? Those were Director Zhang Yimou's exact words." Director Jiang Ning placed the phone back against her ear, unable to suppress the smile in her eyes. "So, Song, The Handmaiden, you'd better eat fewer sweets these days, or you'll end up bloated and won't be able to squeeze into your haute couture when walking the red carpet."

"I'm walking the red carpet?! I can go too?!" Song Shishi's voice went up another octave, carrying a trembling tone of disbelief. "Ningning... are you taking me with you?"

"Don't be ridiculous, you're the leading lady; if you don't go, who will? It would be so dry if I walked the red carpet alone." Director Jiang Ning chuckled.

The other end of the line suddenly went quiet. Only the girl's slightly rapid breathing remained.

After a long while, Song Shishi's voice came through again. This time, there was no screaming; instead, it was extremely low, soft and glutinous, carrying a trace of an imperceptible tremor, and even a touch of fatal seduction.

"Ningning..."

"Hm?"

"If I were in front of you right now, I would definitely tackle you onto the sofa and give you a fierce kiss."

It was as if a string in Director Jiang Ning's brain had been gently plucked by those words, which were so direct they were almost foul play.

This girl's usual naivety was all a calm disguise; once she played straight, the lethality was deadly. A wave of heat instantly rushed up to her earlobes, and her breathing even stalled for half a second.

She wasn't some little white rabbit at all; she was a beautiful little fox that had already locked onto its prey and was quietly closing the net.

"Ahem..." Director Jiang Ning tactically cleared her throat, forcibly suppressing the romantic flutter in her heart.

"Song, The Handmaiden, if you want to take advantage of me, please take a number and wait in line. Don't think that just because you're the leading lady, you can cut in line."

"I'm cutting in line!" Song Shishi giggled on the other end of the line, her voice sweet as syrup. "You just wait for me; I'll fly to Nanjing in the next two days to supervise the work."

"Supervise the work?" Director Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow, deliberately drawing out her tone to tease her. "Are you coming to supervise, or are you coming to 'commit a crime'?"

"Depends on your performance." Song Shishi said in a light tone, "If you don't perform well, I'll really 'bring you to justice on the spot'."

Director Jiang Ning couldn't help but laugh, her fingertips unconsciously tapping on the desk. "Fine, then you'd better apply for work-related injury insurance in advance, so you won't be unable to pay when the time comes."

"Too late." Song Shishi hummed. "They aren't accepting applications anymore."

The two of them bantered for a few more sentences before hanging up.

As the screen went dark, Director Jiang Ning rubbed her temples, forcing herself to bring her focus back on track.

Venice was no joke; Director Zhang Yimou had given her a stepping stone, and she had to produce something impeccable.

After steadying her emotions, Director Jiang Ning opened her contacts again and dialed her father, Jiang Qiming.

Going to Venice meant that post-production mixing, scoring, DaVinci Resolve color grading, and even the creation of the DCP digital master were all tasks that burned through money.

Although the black card in her hand had no spending limit, actions like this, which required mobilizing the country's top film industry resources, couldn't be done with money alone; she needed her father to step in and leverage his connections.

The call connected, and Jiang Qiming's end was a bit noisy; judging by the background sound, he was attending a dinner party at some club on the Bund.

"Nannan, why are you calling Dad at this hour? Is someone at the film set bullying you?"

"Dad, of course not." Director Jiang Ning went straight to the point.

"Director Zhang Yimou has seen my final project short film. He plans to write a recommendation letter personally to secure a spot for this film in next month's Venice Film Festival short film competition unit."

There was silence on the other end for two seconds.

Immediately after, there was the harsh sound of a chair being dragged; Jiang Qiming had clearly stood up directly from the dining table and walked quickly to a quiet balcony.

"What did you say? Venice?" The billionaire tycoon, who was usually unflappable even if Mount Tai collapsed before him, had a voice now filled with irrepressible ecstasy and excitement.

"Yes. But the film's post-production isn't up to par; the sound and score are defective." Director Jiang Ning leaned against the corridor wall.

"Director Zhang Yimou gave me the contact information for a mixing director at the Beijing China Film Group base and told me to find a professional team to refine it. The cost is estimated to be quite high, and we are racing against time."

"Cost? Is that even an issue?!" Jiang Qiming waved his hand on the other end of the line, grand and bold.

"Never mind mixing and scoring, even if you wanted to rent out the entire water city of Venice for promotion, your dad can afford it! You just stay on the set with peace of mind, follow Director Zhang Yimou, watch and learn more. Don't worry about the post-production; send the materials and contact info to your Assistant Tang Ying and let her handle the coordination. The money doesn't need to come from your card; the company will use a special account, no limit!"

Having a wealthy, powerful, and extremely protective father really made things incredibly efficient.

After hanging up, Director Jiang Ning handed the business card given by Director Zhang Yimou and the rough-cut project files to Assistant Tang Ying.

The next morning, Assistant Tang Ying walked over to Director Jiang Ning with a troubled expression.

The film set was being set up, and Director Jiang Ning was sitting on the side looking at the blocking diagram without looking up. "What's wrong, Sister Tang? Is the coordination with Beijing not going smoothly?"

"The person in charge is a director surnamed Wu." Assistant Tang Ying handed over a glass of ice water and lowered her voice.

"His attitude was very polite, constantly saying he wouldn't dare to neglect Director Zhang Yimou's instructions. But the implication behind his words was that he has two major theatrical blockbusters for the National Day slot piling up and is rushing to meet the schedule, so he really can't spare the time. He said that since it's a student project, he would send two of his apprentices to Nanjing with two sets of portable equipment to help you with it. Calculating the time, those two young people are already on the high-speed train."

Director Jiang Ning's hand holding the pen stopped.

A student project? Bringing two sets of portable equipment to Nanjing to work on it?

This was purely perfunctory, done solely for the sake of Director Zhang Yimou.

Film post-production sound mixing, especially to reach the Venice competition standard, must be done in a professional Dolby-certified mixing studio, using mixing consoles worth hundreds of thousands to millions, and mixed little by little. Bringing two computers down to the grassroots to mess around—this was just treating her like a beggar.

"Didn't you tell him that the budget is unlimited?" Director Jiang Ning frowned slightly.

"I did. But he made his stance clear; the people have already been sent, which counts as giving face to Director Zhang Yimou. If we refuse directly, it will instead make us appear unappreciative." Assistant Tang Ying was reliable and analyzed the pros and cons thoroughly.

Director Jiang Ning sneered and threw her pen on the call sheet.

It's easy to deal with the King of Hell, but hard to deal with the minor demons. He occupied the resources of China Film Group and put on airs in the industry, feeling that a project filmed by a rich girl like her wasn't worth his personal attention.

She didn't make things difficult for Assistant Tang Ying; she turned around and sent a text message to Jiang Qiming, briefly explaining the situation.

Less than three minutes later, Jiang Qiming replied.

"Don't worry, Dad will solve it. In this territory of the Yangtze River Delta, when the Jiang family needs people, we only use top-tier."

Director Jiang Ning put away her phone, no longer keeping this matter on her mind, and turned around to continue immersing herself in the work on the film set.