After Transmigrated as a Black-Hearted Entertainment Boss [Transmigration] - Chapter 44

With Gu Nan’s next job confirmed and his schedule packed with courses and training, half of Tao Zui’s heart was finally at ease; the other half began to labor for Su Jiqiu.

After being shut down for over ten days, The Case Files of Dali Temple finally resumed filming. Fangyuan Culture injected capital just in time, preventing the project from being shelved due to a broken capital chain.

However, even though Fangyuan rescued the project, they remained cautious, providing only a trickle of funds, which didn’t change the crew’s tense financial situation. To save on expenses, Yao Qiang could only push the schedule forward as much as possible. Now, the entire crew was working day and night, starting work before dawn every day and filming until late at night.

After a week of such frantic labor, The Case Files of Dali Temple finally wrapped up on the afternoon of October 2nd. Tao Zui even made a special trip to Hengdian, partly to pick up Su Jiqiu to bring him back to North City, and partly to chat with Yao Qiang about the project’s situation.

“The release window shouldn’t be an issue. The benefit of filming at a studio lot is that it significantly shortens post-production time. I’ve also tried to minimize long-range and overhead shots, so there’s very little need for special effects. We should be able to make the summer release window,” Yao Qiang said, scratching the back of his head. The dark circles under his eyes were clearly visible.

It wasn’t just him; everyone on the crew had dark circles, looking so haggard that at a glance, they resembled a wandering group of ghosts.

Tao Zui looked at Su Jiqiu, who was closing his eyes even while removing his makeup, his face thinned down to the size of a palm, and said in a low voice: “That’s good. However, the summer release window is divided into early, mid, and late slots. I feel that for a low-budget period drama like ours, the earlier the release, the better. The summer window is already a battleground for historical idols; a pile of dramas are queuing up to air. When the S-rank dramas bunch up, what place is there left for us? Releasing early might allow us to seize the initiative and benefit from the novelty.”

The original plot never specified when The Case Files of Dali Temple was released, only stating that it was a dark-horse hit of the summer window, crushing a pile of S-rank blockbusters with its A-rank production.

The more Tao Zui experienced, the more he felt that the original plot might not be some immutable gold standard. It was more like a possible future that existed in this world; one could use it to understand some people or gain information in advance, but real-world execution still required integrating it with reality.

These remarks were insights he had summarized after studying the summer release windows of previous years.

If The Case Files of Dali Temple had a budget above A-rank, Tao Zui felt it would have no problem charging into the hottest slots from late July to early August. But as a B-rank drama, charging into such a hot window risked being drowned out by the promotion of other dramas.

Yao Qiang nodded, but immediately shook his head: “Determining the release window isn’t something we can decide just because we want to. Don’t forget, this is a self-produced copyright drama; it’s not even certain if it can be sold. Once the drama is sold, it’s up to the platform to decide which window it airs in. We can only pray for good fortune.”

Tao Zui frowned upon hearing this and couldn’t help but sigh: “I forgot about that.”

Yao Qiang laughed: “I think you’ve been getting a bit carried away because of the smooth development of your company’s artists lately, haven’t you?”

Earlier, Tao Zui had used recent company events as conversation fodder to chat with Yao Qiang, primarily with the goal of fishing for information about Fangyuan’s projects to seek new collaboration opportunities for Su Jiqiu. He hadn’t expected to actually find some!

Fangyuan was currently discussing a “Suspense Theater” collaboration with Panda Video. If successful, they would film at least two to three suspense miniseries. He couldn’t hope for a lead role, but a supporting role was something he could strive for. After all, to confuse the audience, suspense dramas usually featured a large cast of characters; even a small role could be a standout.

Tao Zui waved his hand: “That’s barely anything yet. By the way, if the Suspense Theater project goes through, can you get a piece of the pie? If they’re launching three shows at once, they surely can’t use the same director for all of them, right?”

Yao Qiang sighed gloomily: “I wish… anyway, don’t even think about the first season. After Dali Temple airs next year, if the data is decent, maybe I can catch the second season. Of course, the prerequisite is that there is a second season.”

Tao Zui said nothing more, merely patting Yao Qiang’s shoulder in encouragement.

After Su Jiqiu finished removing his makeup, Tao Zui walked around the set with him. After bidding farewell to the creators one by one, they headed straight for the airport, prepared to catch the last flight back to North City.

It wasn’t that Tao Zui was stingy and wouldn’t give his artist rest time; it was that Su Jiqiu was insisting on leaving. It was already nearly eight o’clock in the evening, and it would likely be past twelve midnight by the time they reached North City.

The Blueberry Music Festival that the three younger boys were attending started at 1:30 PM. If Su Jiqiu rested for one night and flew back the next day, there was a high probability he would miss Infinite’s debut stage.

The five of them had joined the company together, practiced together, worked hard together, been blacklisted together, and supported each other through the most difficult times. Their bond was deep—closer than real brothers—and Su Jiqiu had no intention of missing this commemorative moment no matter what.

By the time they returned to the company dormitory, it was nearly two o’clock in the morning. Su Jiqiu was walking so unsteadily he was in a state where his body was walking in front and his soul was chasing behind.

Seeing that he knew where to go despite his condition, Tao Zui couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile. He turned to Long Feifei and assistant Zhu Zheng and said: “It’s too late today; you two just make do in the dormitory. Feifei, go to 1702. I told Zhang Ling in advance; she should have sent you the password. Zhu Zheng, go to 1705. That apartment was just vacated; I had Li Shengping prepare the sheets and quilts for you. He sent you the password, right?”

There were six apartments on this floor. 1701 and 1706 were three-bedroom, two-living room, two-bath units located exactly at the ends of the corridors on either side of the elevators, while the other four were distributed symmetrically on either side of the hall.

Tao Zui had already sold the two units closest to the elevators, 1703 and 1704. 1702, where Zhang Ling lived, was originally a two-bedroom unit; allocating one room to Long Feifei was just right.

As for 1705, he intended to keep it as a backup—a temporary landing spot for situations like today to avoid accidents caused by excessive fatigue.

Zhu Zheng was very happy to hear this and went to 1705 after expressing his thanks, but Long Feifei showed hesitation.

Tao Zui understood the moment he gave it a little thought; Zhang Ling had likely told Long Feifei about his intention to arrange for her to live in 1702.

For most people, hearing that the company was arranging dormitory accommodation would be cause for joy, as it would save a large sum on rent. But for some, sharing a space was a very difficult thing. They valued their personal sphere and disliked sharing—the more strong-willed a personality, the more this was true.

Tao Zui didn’t force the issue, saying gently: “I just feel that taking a taxi home at this hour isn’t very safe for a girl; it wasn’t meant to force you to move in. You can consider it slowly; the decision is yours, but for tonight, just make do and sleep here, then go back tomorrow.”

Long Feifei finally broke into a smile, thanked Tao Zui, and turned toward 1702.

Having a subordinate with too strong a personality is also a test… Tao Zui shook his head with a bitter smile and turned toward 1706.

He had expected Su Jiqiu to have fallen asleep by the time he reached his room, but who would have thought the room would be brightly lit, with heads crowding the room near the entrance? Gu Nan, Su Jiqiu, Fifth Zou, Zeng Yinuo, and Chen Xing—not a single one was missing.

“Who, who says I’m nervous? I’m just worried Qiu-qiu wouldn’t make it back!” Fifth Zou’s voice drifted through the door gap, only to be promptly shot down by Zeng Yinuo:

“I don’t know who spent all day today buried in the dance studio. If I hadn’t dragged you out, I’m afraid your legs would have snapped from dancing. It’s just a solo dance, look how nervous you are.”

Fifth Zou: “Chen Xing was also buried in the recording studio all day, why don’t you mention him?”

Chen Xing: “Because Brother Inuo was with me the whole time.”

Zeng Yinuo: “……”

Fifth Zou: “Ha! Turns out you’re the same, yet you’re lecturing me!”

Zeng Yinuo: “You…”

“Alright, enough arguing,” Su Jiqiu said, his temple veins throbbing from their bickering, and he quickly intervened. “It’s our first stage, after all; it’s normal to be nervous.”

“Actually… this doesn’t really count as a debut stage,” Zeng Yinuo whispered. “A year ago, the five of us took the stage together, but it seems we were just excited back then, not nervous.”

“That’s right, a year ago we were still Pentacle.” Fifth Zou also remembered the days when the five of them were a group.

At that time, he and Zeng Yinuo were sixteen, and Chen Xing was only fourteen, debuting together with the newly adult Gu Nan and Su Jiqiu. Compared to him, who had practiced dance since childhood, and Zeng Yinuo and Chen Xing, who had been internet singers for a long time, Gu Nan and Su Jiqiu had started learning singing and dancing from ground zero, practicing along with them most of the time.

In the dance studio, they were teachers; once out of the dance studio, the two older brothers took on the responsibility of looking after their daily lives. From tutoring them in homework to doing the laundry and changing sheets, they quickly cemented their status as “older brothers” in the trio’s hearts. Unconsciously, a sense of dependency developed—as if as long as they were around, the three of them had nothing to worry about. The subsequent days of being blacklisted only deepened this feeling.

And tomorrow would be Infinite’s brand-new departure—whether the future was good or bad, they would have to rely on themselves.

Perhaps this was why the three of them were still awake so late, insisting on waiting for Su Jiqiu to return? Even knowing they wouldn’t be accompanying them on stage again, seeing them felt reassuring.

Suddenly feeling sentimental, Fifth Zou rubbed his nose in embarrassment, his eyes darting around until they landed on Tao Zui at the doorway.

“Papa Tao!”

This yell from Fifth Zou instantly grabbed everyone’s attention. Tao Zui didn’t stand on ceremony; he pushed the door open and leaned against the doorframe, checking his watch under everyone’s gaze:

“It’s two o’clock. We need to enter the venue at ten tomorrow morning and go on stage at one-thirty in the afternoon. You have… eight hours of rest time. No, that’s not right; the venue is a bit far, it takes an hour to drive, plus the time to wash up and eat breakfast… Congratulations, in just six hours, you’ll be stepping onto Infinite’s debut stage before the whole country. Surprised? Unexpected?”

Fifth Zou: “……”

Zeng Yinuo: “……”

Chen Xing: “…W-we’re going to sleep right now!”

The three younger boys sprang up like springs. Just as they bolted to the entrance and were about to open the door, they heard Tao Zui say: “Don’t be nervous. Whatever happens, the company has your back. All you need to do is enjoy the stage and unleash your talent.”

The three younger boys froze. The next second, they turned around almost simultaneously, raised their hands, and offered an unconventional military salute to Tao Zui—

“Yes, Boss!”

“Alright, scram and get some sleep!”

“Okay——!”