Superstar's Development Diary
Chapter 224 - 225 Are you ready?

Chapter 224: Chapter 225 Are you ready?

Sister Xiao Hua’s exaggerated scream still echoed in He Jinxia’s ears when she arrived at the audition site arranged by the director.

As He Jinxia entered the abandoned factory, she deliberately shivered, feeling that Sister Xiao Hua’s scream and the desolate, decaying environment were actually... quite fitting.

The factory looked like a hazardous building from the outside, but once inside, it seemed a bit better.

Okay, it was still run-down inside, but at least the walls weren’t too old, the floor had been swept clean, not much dust had accumulated, and only from the whitened floor tiles could one sense the traces of time.

Enter the door and turn left, the second room on the right hand side... Luo You led them to the room and knocked on the door from the outside.

Soon after, a crisp male voice responded, and the door was quickly opened.

He Jinxia saw three young men appear in the room and was taken aback, a bit perplexed.

The young man standing in the middle with glasses spoke first, looking like a fresh graduate: "Hello, I’m Duan Yu, the director of this film, not the renown from ’renown,’ but the jade from ’jade stone.’"

He Jinxia politely greeted him.

Following that, Duan Yu introduced the other two men beside him. She had thought one of them would be the screenwriter and the other the producer, but it turned out neither was the case—they were all directors!

He Jinxia blinked and turned to Luo You, signaling with her eyes—

"Can directors even do that?"

Luo You coughed lightly and turned his face, replying silently with his gaze—

"Maybe it’s the main director, assistant director, co-director?"

Just as they had communicated this, Cheng Xiaohua on the side slapped her forehead and suddenly said, "Oh, I get it, you’re all directors but with different responsibilities!"

Duan Yu quickly nodded, "Right, all three of us are the main directors. This movie was jointly filmed by us, and the final visuals are satisfactory to all three of us."

He Jinxia frowned lightly and asked, "All three are... main directors?"

Duan Yu candidly said, "Yes, the director’s credit will be for three, after all, this film is also our graduation projec—" With a "smack," one of the men quickly raised his hand and slapped Duan Yu on the head, causing him to swallow the words that followed.

Duan Yu, catching his friends’ warning glances, coughed violently and quickly corrected himself: "After all, this film is also our creation, funded by the three of us, so, so we settled on three main directors."

He Jinxia, Luo You, and Cheng Xiaohua exchanged glances, their eyes filled with suspicion.

The atmosphere grew tense for a while; He Jinxia and her companions kept silent, and the three young directors did not dare to speak out of turn.

After a pause, He Jinxia’s clear, pleasant voice broke the silence: "May I ask the directors which scene you would like me to audition?"

Duan Yu hastily shook his head and gestured with his hands, "No need, you don’t have to audition, just come over to shoot when you’re available. The scenes involving the other two actors have already been shot, so it’s, it’s just yours that’s left."

Not only did he use honorific language at the end, but his hands were also both directed towards He Jinxia, bowing at a ninety-degree angle, with utmost respect, making them look more like the hosts instead.

He Jinxia blinked and turned her head to look towards Luo You, her expression indescribably complex.

A bit tangled, a bit troubled, yet filled with anticipation... the script was excellent, but she was far from confident in such a directorial team.

Luo You’s face darkened as he took a step forward, standing in front of He Jinxia like a menacing enforcer and said,

"You all know that Jinxia has limited time, and lately ’Chen Xiaohui’ has been somewhat of a box office success. She has many scripts to choose from, but she chose yours, which means she sees potential in you."

The three novice directors all nodded in unison, their synchronized movements as uniform as triplet brothers.

"But you are all new directors, and three of you directing one film, I seriously doubt your professional competence. I’m worried about Jinxia just coming over to shoot like this.

As you know, a star’s rise depends on luck and opportunity. Jinxia already has some fame, and now is the time to strike while the iron is hot by taking on some high-quality, big-budget productions to solidify her popularity, and yet she chose you—"

Luo You paused, speaking earnestly, "Are you ready?"

Duan Yu and the other two new directors shivered under Luo You’s gaze and promptly nodded, replying, "Don’t worry, we will not let Jinxia down!"

"That’s right, this film is also our blood, sweat, and tears. We cherish it and wouldn’t dare ruin it. If it’s not good, we absolutely won’t release it!"

Luo You’s brow furrowed, his expression growing even more somber, "So there’s a possibility it might not be released?"

Then the person who had spoken was smacked on the head by the other two, repeatedly assuring that the film would definitely be released, even to the point of including this condition in the contract—that if the film couldn’t be released, they would compensate one million in reverse!

Seeing their solemn promises, Luo You was a bit skeptical and cautiously insisted they add this clause into the contract, and he requested to see some of the footage they had shot.

This request posed some difficulty for the three young directors.

After all, this was the completed film. It was one thing to come and watch the shooting, but quite another to show the content of the film prematurely...

Seeing their hesitation, He Jinxia smoothed things over, "Brother Luo isn’t asking to see the whole thing. Just randomly picking two or three minutes of footage to look at should be enough. You haven’t done the post-production yet, right? Even if we watch, it will just be the rough cut. That won’t be a problem, will it?"

With her mediation, the three directors discussed it and then decided to let them see... three minutes.

After viewing the footage and discussing the schedule, they left as evening was approaching.

Against everyone’s expectations, the three young directors looked unreliable, but the footage they shot was surprisingly at odds with their appearance.

It was also because of the quality of the footage that He Jinxia decided to trust them this once.

Cheng Xiaohua sat in the car with a frown, muttering a few words repeatedly, "Graduate project, graduate project, what exactly is it... graduate work... wait, ah! Could it be their graduation project!"

Suddenly shouting, Cheng Xiaohua startled Luo You, who was driving, causing his hands on the steering wheel to tremble a little.

She turned to look at He Jinxia excitedly and said, "Jinxia, do you think the three of them are making this film as their graduation project? Look, all three of them are very young, I could tell from their fresh young faces at a glance."

He Jinxia pondered for a moment and said uncertainly, "Can film school students these days really be so affluent that they can invite stars to shoot films? And also afford to invest in a whole movie?"

"No," Luo You asserted with certainty.

He glanced at Cheng Xiaohua, cutting off what she was about to say, "Even with school subsidies, it’s impossible. This movie, at the very least, must cost one million, considering post-production, editing, and marketing expenses."