Chapter 1 Tuesday Morning

裴谦 was sound asleep when he was suddenly awakened by the ringing of his phone.

He opened his bleary eyes and looked at the caller ID. It was Huang Sibao.

裴谦 answered the phone. "Hello?"

Huang Sibao's slightly excited voice came from the other end. "Boss Pei, I have good news to report! The movie *Mission and Choice* has wrapped up filming! We just shot the last scene this morning!"

裴谦 was still half-asleep, his mind a bit foggy. "Oh?"

But the next second, it immediately dawned on him.

The movie was finished!

Though he was reluctant, the day had arrived.

After deciding on the joint game and movie project of *Mission and Choice*, 裴谦 hadn't paid too much attention to it.

The reasons were complex. On the one hand, 裴谦 feared that his attention would trigger the observer effect, or that one of his subconscious suggestions would inexplicably have a magical effect, backfiring on him. On the other hand, the project spanned two settlement cycles, and 裴谦 had more important projects to handle.

Of course, part of the reason was also that 裴谦 felt he had done enough preparation before the project was launched. *Mission and Choice* almost embodied all the elements of failure. Even He An thought it was bound to fail, so 裴谦 was full of confidence in the project.

It wasn't until he happened to meet He An recently that 裴谦 thought to go to Tenda Games to check on the development of the *Mission and Choice* game.

As for the movie, 裴谦 hadn't visited the studio even once, and he didn't even know the movie's story outline.

All he knew was that the story background of *Mission and Choice* was decided by him, and it should be about the war between humans and the Zerg.

Because the original *Mission and Choice*, which was called the "shame of domestic games" more than a decade ago, used this background. 裴谦 asked Director Zhu Xiaoce to follow suit, and Director Zhu Xiaoce certainly complied.

He just didn't know what the specific situation would be after the movie was made.

Thinking of this, 裴谦 did a salty fish flip and sat up in bed.

"It's a good thing that the filming is done, we definitely have to celebrate!"

"How about this, let's go to Manager Li's Mingfu Family Banquet for lunch today, my treat! Everyone in the crew goes!"

"Then you guys organize everyone to have fun in Jingzhou for a few days. Next Monday is the 20th, let's have another meal at the Nameless Restaurant!"

When *A Beautiful Tomorrow* wrapped up, it was the same treatment and standard: two high-standard dinners + a week of local Jingzhou tour. For 裴谦, the treatment for spending money could only go up, not down. He couldn't skimp on the money that should be spent.

Huang Sibao was very happy. "Okay, Boss Pei!"

...

Noon, Mingfu Family Banquet.

It was Tuesday, and there were already few customers. 裴谦 had called early to reserve the entire restaurant, so it was filled with people from the crew.

In addition to Huang Sibao, Zhu Xiaoce, Lu Zhiyao, and the on-site staff such as the cinematographer, the editors and post-production crew were also there, gathered together.

Logically speaking, the editors and post-production should be the busiest right now, but *Mission and Choice* was filmed in segments. Each segment could be roughly edited and have post-production done after it was filmed, so the pressure on the editors and post-production wasn't particularly high.

Moreover, even if the work was busy, they still had to come to eat when Boss Pei was treating!

Everyone knew that Boss Pei didn't have many rules when he treated people to dinner, so they all casually sat down, waiting for Boss Pei's arrival.

Huang Sibao, Zhu Xiaoce, Lu Zhiyao and others sat at the same table, eagerly waiting for Boss Pei's arrival.

"He's here, he's here!"

"Boss Pei, this way!"

Huang Sibao stood up and waved to 裴谦.

裴谦 immediately said to the waiter, "What are you waiting for? Bring up all the good wine and good food! Directly order the most expensive ones, hurry."

Then, he sat down at the table with Zhu Xiaoce and the others.

Only now was 裴谦 able to see the people in the crew.

After looking around, his gaze stopped on Lu Zhiyao.

Okay, as expected, there was Lu Zhiyao again.

裴谦 had already prepared himself for this. After all, Lu Zhiyao had a close relationship with Flying Yellow Studio, and they worked well together, so it was only natural for them to cooperate again.

When talking about the issue of actors before, 裴谦's requirement was that only one lead actor could be hired, and the rest could only be extras. Moreover, it didn't matter who the lead actor was, even a big name was fine, but they absolutely couldn't have too many expressions.

Lu Zhiyao's acting skills were good, but without expressions, how could he display his acting skills?

So 裴谦 wasn't very angry, but accepted it calmly.

It would be best if the movie flopped miserably and lost all its money, and Lu Zhiyao returned to being "box office poison," cutting off the possibility of future cooperation and letting each other go!

After a few words of greeting, the waiters began to serve the dishes one after another.

裴谦 looked around again and suddenly realized a problem.

Something wasn't right. How come there was only Lu Zhiyao? Where were the other actors?

The requirement that 裴谦 had given to Huang Sibao and Zhu Xiaoce before was that there could only be one lead actor, and the rest were all extras.

Where were the extras?

Could it be that because they were extras, they weren't even being provided with food?

That was too outrageous! Too inconsistent with the Tenda spirit!

裴谦's expression turned serious, and he looked at Huang Sibao. "Why aren't the other extras here? Since it's a celebration banquet, everyone must be present!"

Huang Sibao was taken aback, and then hurriedly explained, "Oh, Boss Pei, everyone in the crew is here, including the errand runners.

"There are no extra actors because we didn't hire any extras at all. Lu Zhiyao is the only actor."

裴谦: "?"

This Huang Sibao, he actually overfulfilled the task?

The requirement that 裴谦 gave them was that there could only be one lead actor, and the rest were all extras.

As a result, Huang Sibao even saved on the extras!

So this movie, from beginning to end, was all Lu Zhiyao's one-man show?

It sounded very unreliable and very likely to flop at the box office!

裴谦 couldn't help but give a thumbs up. "Very good! Well done!"

Huang Sibao and Zhu Xiaoce smiled at each other, and they both saw a sense of pride in each other's eyes.

Boss Pei was indeed Boss Pei. He instantly guessed the brilliance of their "one-man show script," which was why he praised them so much.

A true soulmate!

裴谦 looked at Lu Zhiyao. "How did you feel during the performance?"

Lu Zhiyao smiled somewhat guiltily. "Boss Pei, to be honest, it didn't feel particularly good.

"It was a one-man show the whole time, it was too difficult for me to act!"

"Moreover, Director Zhu also required that I couldn't have too many expressions, and the changes in my facial muscles had to be minimal. I felt like I was suffocating, I was almost going crazy..."

裴谦 couldn't help but beam with joy.

Yes, not bad!

A one-man show, and the lead actor's acting skills weren't fully utilized, it was definitely a bad movie in the making, no doubt about it!

裴谦 was originally thinking of asking Zhu Xiaoce for the script to take a look, but on second thought, what was the point of looking at the script of a bad movie?

Besides, the movie had already been filmed, the rice was already cooked. Even if he saw the script now, it would be impossible to reshoot it, otherwise the movie wouldn't be released in time, which would affect the settlement.

So 裴谦 didn't want to make himself uncomfortable, and raised his drink. "Everyone has worked hard these past few months! Eat and drink well today, have fun in Jingzhou for a few days, and I'll treat everyone to a meal at the Nameless Restaurant on the 20th!"

Everyone immediately let out a cheer.

It wasn't easy to get a meal at the Nameless Restaurant. Everyone had been busy for several months waiting for this meal, how could they not be excited?

With the official wrap-up, everyone relaxed. They enjoyed the food, chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

...

After 裴谦 had eaten his fill, he made an excuse that he was busy with work and left first. The crew was obviously still not satisfied, and some people had opened wine, drinking and chatting.

Zhu Xiaoce and Huang Sibao continued to discuss the post-production of *Mission and Choice*.

The crew's cameramen, production assistants and other staff could rest, unless there were a few individual shots that needed to be reshot. But there were still many issues with fine-cut editing and post-production, so Zhu Xiaoce and Huang Sibao couldn't just relax yet.

As they were discussing, Huang Sibao's phone rang.

Huang Sibao took a look and saw that it was Rui Yuchen calling.

"Hmm?"

Huang Sibao was a little surprised, because his work didn't usually intersect with Rui Yuchen's.

Rui Yuchen was in charge of Lazy Cat Deliveries. What was he calling for? Could it be that Rui Yuchen wanted to place an ad for Lazy Cat Deliveries in the movie?

That wouldn't work. *Mission and Choice* was a science fiction movie. Would it make sense to insert an ad for Lazy Cat Deliveries?

With some doubts, Huang Sibao answered the phone.

After a few words of greeting, Rui Yuchen explained the reason for his call. "Brother Huang, it's like this. You know Boss Pei bought a company called Cold Noodles Girl before, right? I talked to the person in charge there a few days ago and learned that they want to shoot a documentary about street food."

"I heard that you guys have shot documentaries before, so I wanted to connect you. It's not impossible to find someone else to shoot it, but the key is that I don't know what the level of outsiders is, and I'm afraid that they won't be satisfied with what they shoot."

"The only problem is that you guys have shot e-sports documentaries before, so I don't know if you can handle food documentaries?"

Huang Sibao said, "Wait a moment, I'll ask Director Zhu."

He briefly repeated Rui Yuchen's words, and then received an affirmative answer from Zhu Xiaoce.

Huang Sibao said, "Yes, Director Zhu said that if we can shoot movies, of course we can shoot food documentaries!"

"It's just that in order to achieve the best picture quality, we may need to prepare some special photography equipment. But that's easy to say, our studio was going to use these things anyway, we'll just go buy them."

"You have a good sense of timing. You came to us right after we finished filming the movie!"

Rui Yuchen was very happy. "Really? Then it's really a coincidence."

"Okay, then it's settled! I'll give you a contact information later, and you can briefly discuss with the person in charge there how to shoot it and how much budget is needed."

Huang Sibao said, "Easy, easy."

If they were to cooperate with an outside company, there might be many concerns.

For example, what if the other party bargained? What if the other party was not satisfied with what they shot? What if there were some disputes over expenses during the filming process?

All of this would be very annoying.

But if it was a department within Tenda, there wouldn't be so many concerns. Everyone was getting money from Boss Pei anyway. Whether they were the client or the contractor, the money was just changing hands, and they didn't have to worry about such disputes.

Just right, the movie was finished, and many people in the crew were free and had nothing to do. They could take this opportunity to shoot a promotional video for the food program. Anyway, it was just shooting street snacks, so the work wasn't too tiring. They could just take it as a change of pace.

So, Huang Sibao gladly agreed.