After Defying the System, I Became a Genius Director

Shao Yichen scrolled to the bottom of the article, seeing the 100,000+ read count, and felt sadness pouring down in her heart like rain.

With so many readers, why recommend her film of all things!

And looking at that article, was it even stating facts? Not at all!

Well, the part about Li Xingyu might be factual. Selecting such a skilled actor was indeed her mistake due to being deceived by Li Xingyu’s appearance. Gritting her teeth, Shao Yichen could accept this part.

But! What about all that excessive praise for the film’s script!

What “incomparable talent,” what “precious cinematic gift,” what “can encounter but not seek”—what did any of this have to do with her script?

This script was something she had deliberately crafted in three hours to be the epitome of a bad film! How did it transform into some impressive work in this Cat Mint’s mouth?!

Shao Yichen certainly wouldn’t consider that her understanding of what makes a bad film might be flawed. She righteously believed that either Cat Mint’s aesthetic judgment was problematic, or this public account writer had been momentarily blinded by Li Xingyu’s acting, causing her to misjudge the entire script’s quality!

But what angered her even more was that Cat Mint wasn’t the only one with aesthetic problems. In the comments section of this post, besides viewers who hadn’t seen the film but expressed curiosity about watching it, many who had seen it agreed with Cat Mint’s view that this work was a rare gem in recent years. These Cat Mint supporters claimed that “The Last Wish” was a film they “wanted to watch again after finishing,” that “I just wanted to recommend this film to Cat Mint after watching it today, but didn’t expect you’d already discovered it,” that it was “this year’s dark horse in the film circle,” that “it deserves more box office and applause”…

Shao Yichen: No! It doesn’t deserve it! Don’t increase my box office anymore!

At this rate, she would never lose money!

In her outrage, Shao Yichen personally opened the public account’s comment section and typed out her most honest thoughts, character by character:

[You’re all being deceived! This film is clearly a terrible flop! Especially the script, which is the epitome of bad films. I really can’t understand why so many people are saying it’s good!]

To her dismay, as soon as this comment was posted, it was attacked by fans in the comment section.

[Since when do even small-budget films have haters?]

[I just watched this film last night, and even if it has some flaws, it’s definitely not a flop, right?]

[Well, well, which failed film’s fan is feeling hurt? Looking at this person’s avatar with the character for “loss,” they must be incredibly jealous?]

Suffering a brutal fan attack, Shao Yichen couldn’t fight against so many opponents and finally surrendered.

Looking at the overwhelmingly positive comments section, she sadly realized—this film might truly not lose money…

❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀

10 AM on the fourth day after the film’s release.

Although she had mentally prepared herself to some extent, when Shao Yichen saw the film’s suddenly increased box office statistics for the third day, she felt a pain in her heart that made breathing difficult.

3.03 million! A full 3.03 million yuan!

Even after splitting the revenue among theaters, cinema chains, and the distribution company, the distributor would still receive about one million! And according to their contract, after sharing profits with the distribution company, her income wouldn’t be less than 300,000 yuan!

Her money-losing plan was apparently about to end like this!

Not only that, but “The Last Wish” screening allocation continued to rise, already exceeding 5%. Looking at this trend, breaking 10% wasn’t impossible.

Shao Yichen took a deep breath, then fell straight back onto her dormitory bed, motionless in despair.

She never imagined that the path to losing money could become so difficult…

If possible, Shao Yichen would have preferred to lie in bed longer to calm her emotions, but at that moment, a phone call abruptly rang out.

Shao Yichen picked up her phone and saw “Li Xingyu” displayed prominently on the caller ID, looking painfully conspicuous.

Seeing this name, her anger flared up.

The reason this film would make money was at least half due to this person!

She initially wanted to hang up this annoying call and go back to sleep, to mend her heart that had been thoroughly wounded by the box office figures. But then she considered Li Xingyu’s personality and figured he wasn’t the type to call others without reason—this call must be about something important. So she reluctantly answered: “Hello?”

“Yesterday’s box office growth was impressive. Congratulations,” Li Xingyu delivered another heavy blow to Shao Yichen with his calm tone as soon as the call connected.

Shao Yichen: “…If you continue with this topic, I’m hanging up.”

Li Xingyu: ?

Why didn’t she sound happy?

However, their relationship wasn’t particularly close, and Li Xingyu had no intention of prying further. He tactfully changed the subject, moving to the real purpose of his call.

“A TV station has invited our production team to participate in a show, specifically requesting the lead actor and director as guests,” Li Xingyu said straightforwardly. “Does Senior Sister have time recently?”

Shao Yichen was stunned for a second, then immediately realized it was a show invitation.

She hadn’t expected such a small-budget independent film would receive a show invitation…

Naturally, she didn’t want to go—after all, she was focused on losing money, and too much fame would only create more obstacles for her next film’s money-losing efforts. But then she considered that Li Xingyu might want the publicity. So she tentatively asked: “What show is it?”

“It’s a talk show on Grape TV,” Li Xingyu’s voice remained calm through the phone as he mentioned a show name that Shao Yichen recognized.

Shao Yichen thought and recalled that Grape TV was currently an average television station, and this talk show, once in Grape TV’s prime time, had been moved to late night due to declining ratings. The TV station probably sensed their film had potential to become popular, so they wanted to invite them before they became too famous, without needing to pay appearance fees—quite fitting for a late-night show’s situation.

“Could the lead actor attend the show invitation alone?” Shao Yichen politely declined. “I’d rather not participate.”

Li Xingyu hesitated: “I can try to communicate with the production team. But does Senior Sister have something else to do right now?”

Shao Yichen understood his meaning—her inexplicable refusal of the show invitation needed a reason. She thought for a moment, then had a flash of inspiration: “Actually… I’m preparing for my next film.”

This wasn’t entirely a lie—she was indeed preparing for the normal filming of her next film.

Just mentally preparing, that is.

After all, the shadow of losing money would take time to dissipate from Shao Yichen’s heart. She felt she needed to play games for a few weeks, then be a slacker for a few more weeks, to heal her wounded spirit.

Moreover, she was well aware that although the evil film system that forced her to make films had been quiet for some time, once this film completely ended its run, the system would naturally settle the box office accounts and issue the next task. At that point, even if Shao Yichen didn’t want to prepare for the next film, the system would find ways to make her move.

Given that, what she said wasn’t really a lie!

On the other end of the phone, Li Xingyu was somewhat surprised by this response.

As the person who, besides the director, was most knowledgeable about “The Last Wish’s” filming process and costs, he knew this film would definitely not lose money when he saw today’s 3 million+ box office figures, even if others might not be clear about whether the film was profitable. Furthermore, he had been following online discussions about the film and clearly understood that the current public opinion trend considered this film a quality work—a win-win situation in terms of both reputation and box office.

He had assumed that after successfully making such a critically and commercially acclaimed film, this senior sister might take some time to relax, but she was already preparing for her next film!

Though Li Xingyu didn’t outwardly express his surprise, his admiration for Shao Yichen secretly increased. Unaffected by praise or criticism, humble and composed, not satisfied with current achievements but immediately moving toward the next goal… In comparison, perhaps he was somewhat impetuous.

With these thoughts, he said: “I understand. I’ll communicate with the production team. Senior Sister, you don’t need to worry about this matter anymore.”

Shao Yichen naturally had no idea how imaginative her junior brother was. She was about to hang up the phone satisfactorily when she suddenly had another idea.

“By the way,” she said as if it had just occurred to her, “if the production team thinks it’s difficult to interview just the lead actor, I can actually recommend two more people.”

Li Xingyu: ?

“The film’s music team!” Shao Yichen finally revealed her true purpose. “I think as the film’s atmosphere creators, they play an indispensable role in this film, and they certainly wouldn’t mind a small interview taking up their time. Even if it’s just to show their faces, they would definitely be delighted! Here’s their contact information—oh, and remember to say the director recommended them for the interview!”

Saying this, she eagerly passed the twin brothers’ contact information to Li Xingyu. After hanging up, she heaved a long sigh of relief.

She had been unsure how to apologize once the twins discovered she had deceived them into working for free, but now by giving them an interview opportunity, they probably wouldn’t mind anymore, right?

It all depended on whether they could seize this opportunity.

Shao Yichen put down her phone, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from her chest.

Author’s Note: Shao Yichen: Why is the twins’ storyline increasing rather than decreasing? Shouldn’t they have finished filming?

Nan Rongyu & Nan Rongzhou: Surprise, we have roles in the next film too!

Li Xingyu: …What about me? Aren’t I the male lead?

By the way, this book might be entering the paid subscription model soon! Thanks to all the little angels for their continued support! I’ll discuss with the editor about when to enter the paid system and decide, just giving you a heads up~

Thanks to the little angels who cast Overlord Tickets or watered with nutrient solution during the period from 2020-08-19 20:53:56 to 2020-08-20 20:56:36~

Thanks to the little angels who threw landmines: Jumping Rabbit 2;

Thanks to the little angels who watered with nutrient solution: Little Stream 5 bottles; Us in the Sunshine 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!