Chapter Ninety-Three: The Director with a Box Office of Over a Hundred Million

The two of them soon went upstairs.

At last, Chen Qi found a topic to break the awkward silence. As he led her inside, he said, “This is where you’ll be working from now on. They should be finished in another three to five days.”

He pointed to the workers busy painting the walls.

Su Xiaoxiao nodded gently without speaking.

Though she had not seen any signboard at the entrance, she could already guess that this was the Chen Qi Studio mentioned in Never Ever.

“That’s right, this is my studio. This whole floor is ours,” Chen Qi added, having guessed what she was thinking.

“Then... what exactly will I be doing?” Su Xiaoxiao asked softly.

“For now, your job is to keep an eye on the renovations here and then get the whole place set up.” Chen Qi took a key from his pocket and handed it to her. “This is the studio key. Keep it safe.”

Su Xiaoxiao hurriedly accepted it and asked, “How should I arrange everything?”

“Use your own judgment,” Chen Qi said, unconcerned. “First, buy whatever needs buying and bring it in. Desks, office chairs, computers, sofas, even plants and things like that. Don’t be afraid to spend money. Try to get good quality. As for exactly what to buy, you decide. You don’t need to ask me. If you think it’s necessary, then buy it.”

He truly did not care much about matters like how the studio should be arranged. As long as it was set up in the end, that was enough.

Besides, he was not worried that Su Xiaoxiao would do a poor job. Girls, after all, tended to have more talent and ideas in this sort of thing. No matter how she arranged or matched everything in the end, the result would surely be far better than anything he could manage himself.

If it were left to him, he would probably just put the furniture and appliances in place, line a few potted plants along the sides, and call it done.

Hearing this, Su Xiaoxiao looked up at him in disbelief, her face full of astonishment, as if she had been badly startled.

Clearly, she had never expected Chen Qi to give her such broad authority.

If she felt something needed buying, she could just buy it?

This...

Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but for some reason, she ultimately said nothing at all.

She could not understand why he trusted her so much.

Unaware of the change in her expression, Chen Qi continued leading her inward, introducing the rooms as they went. “This one is my office. You can choose whichever room you want for yourself.”

“This is the reception area. We should probably put two sofas and a tea table here.”

“That side, near the balcony, will be our own lounge area. Put another two sofas there too.”

“These two large offices are for the post-production team and the special effects team. We haven’t found the people yet, but let’s prepare the space first. Don’t worry about the equipment for these areas yet. Once we’ve hired the staff, they can choose what they need themselves.”

“The innermost room can be kept as a storage room. Later we can use it to keep fruit, snacks, drinks, and things like that.”

Keeping a step behind him, Su Xiaoxiao followed along and committed everything he said to memory. But when she heard him mention fruit and snacks, she could not help freezing for a moment.

Fruit and snacks?

She had wanted to ask why those were needed, but after thinking it over, she decided against it.

Even if she did not know what they were for, since he had said it, she would simply do as told.

“That’s about it,” Chen Qi said after giving her a general tour. “Same as before: what exactly to buy and how exactly to arrange it, you decide. No need to come ask me specially.”

“All right...” Su Xiaoxiao nodded lightly.

“Try to have it all ready before school starts.”

“All right.”

“And one more thing. After the renovation is finished, hire professionals to do the cleaning. There’s no need to do that kind of work yourself,” Chen Qi added pointedly.

From what he knew of her, he was certain that if he did not say this, she would silently clean the entire studio by herself.

“...All right.”

Chen Qi took out a bank card and handed it to her. “This is the money for buying things. The password is the last six digits of the card number.”

Su Xiaoxiao hesitated for two seconds, then silently reached out and took it.

“All right, I’m leaving. If anything comes up, call me.” With that, Chen Qi turned and walked away.

Su Xiaoxiao stood there blankly, staring at his retreating figure. Then she looked around the somewhat chaotic studio, her expression dazed.

On the way here, she had been anxious the whole time, wondering what sort of work he would ask her to do.

She had never expected that what he assigned her would be something so easy.

She could hardly believe it. She could hardly believe that this would be the place where she would work from now on.

A location like this, a work environment like this—even if she graduated normally, she might not have found anything this good.

This job was far better than she had ever imagined.

She stood there in a trance, feeling as though everything were dreamlike.

...

When Chen Qi came downstairs from the studio, he looked back once and could not help laughing at himself.

It was fortunate that he had left quickly. Otherwise, it would surely have turned into another awkward scene where neither of them said a word.

In truth, he had no idea which part had gone wrong. The way he had imagined they would get along was not like this at all.

This was far too stiff...

Still, he did not pay it much mind. They were not familiar with each other yet, and this kind of awkwardness was perfectly normal. Once enough time had passed and they got used to each other, things would probably improve a great deal.

Just then, his phone rang.

It was Xu Bunian.

A faint gleam lit Chen Qi’s eyes as he quickly answered. If nothing unexpected had happened, it should be about the matter of finding him a director.

And sure enough.

“I contacted a few people in the business yesterday. They’ve got a production shooting right now. The director isn’t especially famous, but his last film made over a hundred million at the box office. Do you want to go take a look?” Xu Bunian asked in a consultative tone.

There was no helping it. He simply could not get in touch with truly well-known directors. Any director with even a bit of fame worked for major companies, and whenever they made a move, it was for large-scale productions with investments starting at a hundred million or more.

For small-time bosses like them, those people would not even spare them a glance.

“That works. I’ll go take a look first. Where is it?” Though Xu Bunian had not said so outright, Chen Qi knew he must already have done his best.

He was not surprised by the result. The entertainment industry was, after all, a world with a rigid hierarchy. It was perfectly normal for high-level players to look down on novices.

So what if the director was not very famous? At the very least, he had made a film that grossed over a hundred million. He should have some experience.

“I’ll send you the address in a moment. Just head over directly. I’ve already spoken to them.”

“All right,” Chen Qi replied, then added, “Send me the director’s name too.”

“Sure.”

Chen Qi hung up.

Before long, Xu Bunian’s message came through. It included the detailed address, the contact person, and a phone number. Only at the very end of the message was the director’s name.

Chen Qi read it carefully, then hailed a taxi and headed straight for the set.