Chapter 58 Flight Attendant

  Bid farewell to Kang Hong, Leitao and others, He Mu sat on the plane back home, this time not returning to the capital, but returning to his hometown, where Xiao Fang had already arranged a photography team waiting for him.

  At the same time as He Mu returned home, Xiao Fang invited Li Wen Hua to a quiet teahouse.

  "Director Xiao," Li Wen Hua extended his hand and shook hands with Xiao Fang, it was his first time coming to such a elegant place, he thought it suited his identity as a cultured businessman, and could come often in the future, "This place is not bad, can I come often?"

  Xiao Fang smiled: "I'm also here for the first time, just following the fashion, I heard many people in literary circles like to come here, so I invited Li to come here, are you satisfied?"

  "If six months ago, I would have liked places like bars more, but now, I like it here, quiet," Li Wen Hua sniffed the tea in his hand, "and fragrant." Since his father's incident, Li Wen Hua had become much more stable and his temperament had undergone a great change.

  Xiao nodded slightly, indeed the demeanor of a cultured person. He first expressed his gratitude to Li Wen: "Thanks for those photos, with them, we won't be so passive."

  Li Wenhua waved his hand: "It's unnecessary to say these things, considering my relationship with Mu Zi. Besides, General Xiao has already thanked us that day, so let's not mention it again. Let's talk about the main issue."

  "Alright," Xiao Fang returned to the topic, "our company hopes to obtain the film and television adaptation rights for 'The Days of Living with My Sister-in-law', and we hope President Li can help us get in touch with the author of this book."

  Li Wenxia smiled, "Xiao may not know yet, but the author has already authorized Tian Di Xuan Huang to handle the adaptation of this book when he was thirty. I can take charge and discuss this business with Xiao."

  "Oh, that's great," Xiao Fan's eyes flashed with joy. "Brother Wen must be merciful, my company is just a small business, this time to help He Mu tailor-make this play, will definitely invest a lot, so the adaptation fee... heh."

  "Alright, let's make a friendly bet! Li Wenhua gave Xiao Fang a disdainful look and then stretched out one finger: "This number, you can take the adaptation rights." He didn't plan to be too excessive, one million was not expensive for the extremely popular "Flight Attendant", considering how many book fans were eagerly waiting for the movie and TV series adaptations of "Flight Attendant" to come out as soon as possible. As soon as the filming announcement was made, a large number of book fans would spontaneously promote it online, which would save a lot on publicity expenses."

  One million plus the previous 100,000 for the TV series rights, and the three adaptation rights sold for 1.1 million, Li Wen Hua also made a decent profit of 30%.

  "This is too expensive." Xiao Fang hesitated, of course he wouldn't interpret Li Wen Hua's one finger as ten million, but one hundred million was a bit beyond his tolerance. He had planned to invest around 10 million for this play, slightly less than "Soldier Assault", which was already a relatively large investment for an urban romance drama. But Li Wen Hua alone wanted 1 million just for the adaptation rights, and he still needed to hire a screenwriter to write the script, invite famous directors, big-name stars, and ensure high-quality production, which would leave him a bit strapped.

  "Director Li, think about it this way. This book is extremely popular online, and the physical book has already sold nearly 200,000 copies. The influence of this book is not to be underestimated. Moreover, I'm selling you both TV drama and movie adaptation rights. If the TV series becomes a hit, you can then proceed with the film project, which will bring in another profit without requiring additional adaptation fees. This deal is absolutely worthwhile." Li Wenhua began his enthusiastic sales pitch; if Xiao Fang still found it difficult to accept, he could consider lowering the price by another 1 million.

  It turned out to be two versions of the adaptation rights, which wasn't too expensive. Xiao Fang thought that the company didn't have experience in making movies and he was skeptical about the film version of "Stewardess". "Do you think 'Stewardess' is suitable for a movie adaptation?"

  "I have an idea," Li Wen Hua said, leaning in. "You've also read this book, it's actually an incomplete story. There are a lot of flight attendant fans online who keep clamoring for the author to write a sequel, but he feels that he can't write it for now, so he hasn't started writing yet. So I was thinking, we could adapt the main part into a TV series, and then write a script for a movie about Lu Fei and Ruan Jing's subsequent story, it would definitely be a box office hit."

  Xiao's eyes lit up, and Li Wen Hua's idea reminded him that the ending of this story would definitely not satisfy the TV audience's requirements. If they were to film it as is, without a beginning or an end, they would surely be scolded. It would be better to make the story complete, and even add a large chunk of plot. TV dramas are sold by episode count, so the more episodes there are, the higher the price. However, the cost would also increase accordingly, and the budget would need to be adjusted again.

  Xiao Fang knew that Li Wen Hua was very knowledgeable about this research, so he revealed his thoughts to Li Wen Hua and asked for his opinion, "What do you think of my idea?"

  "If that's the case, there are two problems. Firstly, if we want to make a movie adaptation later on, it will be a bit troublesome and can only repeat the original story, which will greatly reduce its appeal to the audience unless we change to a new batch of actors; secondly, where can we find an excellent screenwriter who not only can continue writing the subsequent plot but also let the millions of readers of "Air Stewardess" buy it? Not to mention that all of them are satisfied, even if half of them are satisfied, it's already a great achievement. Even the original author dares not say that he can write a second part that satisfies the readers."

  Xiao Fang thought for a moment and replied one by one: "Now thinking about the movie version is still a bit early, we should first consider how to satisfy TV viewers. I like the current structure of this show very much and don't want to make too many changes, just write a big reunion ending casually, so it's certain to supplement this story. As for who will continue writing..." Xiao Fang hesitated for a moment, then looked at Li Wen Hua.

  "Hey, don't look at me like that, I'm not capable of writing it." Li Wen Hua thought he had some talent, but all he had written were essays and the like, and even those were mostly short pieces. He didn't know how to write a script, or what the difference was between a script and other forms of writing. In this regard, He Mu was probably better than him.

  Xiao Fang pouted: "When did I say let you write it? My intention was to have you and the original author participate in the creation of the script. Your role is to prevent the screenwriter from writing a plot that deviates from the reader's expectations, don't let him turn a happy story into a sad one."

  "Have you got someone in mind?" Li Wen Hua guessed.

  "Hmm," Xiao Fang nodded, "My screenwriter friend used to be in the army too, now he's a professional screenwriter. His output isn't high, but every one of his works is a masterpiece."

  "What has he written?"

  "He had written a TV play script 'Thinking of Love', and last year's 'Peacock' directed by Gu Changwei was also his work. Oh, right, Xie Anhua's not-yet-released 'Auntie's Postmodern Life' is also his." Xiao Fang said with some pride.

  "Oh, Li Qiang," Li Wenhua surprisingly knew this person, "I heard he just wrote a new script for Gu Changwei, is he still writing TV series now?"

  Although Li Wen Hua has not watched many movies, he prefers art-house films and commercial films. On the other hand, Li Wen Hua likes artistic films more. As an artistic youth, it's rare for someone not to have seen "Peacock" this year. Last year, this film directed by Gu Changwei not only won a Silver Bear at Berlin but also made Zhang Jingchu famous and brought attention to the late-blooming screenwriter Li Qiang. It was after watching "Peacock" that Li Wen Hua became interested in this screenwriter.

  "Although he hasn't accepted a TV script in recent years, I sent him a copy of 'Stewardess' the other day and his evaluation was very good, indicating that he still likes this one. Plus my relationship with him, it shouldn't be difficult to persuade him to help out, anyway he's idle now." Xiao Fang said, and then looked at Li Wen Hua with admiration, even knowing Li Wall's great name, indeed a cultured person.

  Li Wen Hua took a sip of tea and said, "If Li Qiang is in charge of the script, I guarantee the quality will be fine. The success of 'Good Good Talk About Love' proves that he can handle urban romance stories well. I just hope he doesn't write it too deeply, after all, this is just a simple love story, no need to give it too much social significance."

  Xiao Fang nodded in agreement: "This is also why I want you and the original author to participate in the script creation, I have the same concerns as you."

  The two of them toasted with tea instead of wine, celebrating that they saw eye to eye. Li Wen Hua thought Xiao Fang was quite a character, so he magnanimously said, "Alright, if you give us 900,000 for the adaptation fee, it's a deal. Within six years, you can make whatever changes you want, but you can't dock our script fees."

  "Deal!"

  ——————

  Two days later, He Mu returned to Beijing from his hometown in a military-plated car driven by his older brother He Zao. They arrived home almost at the same time and then left for Beijing again at the same time, which made their grandfather jump up and scold "You are all unfilial sons".

  He Zhuo's destination is the National Defense University, where he will study for a period of time before being transferred away from the front line and promoted. He Muo's destination is naturally Tiger Wolf Company, which has been oppressed by some unscrupulous media for so long that even his parents have suffered greatly, and it's time to fight back.

  ——————

  The editorial department of "Nandu Entertainment Daily" received a call from the editor-in-chief, Jiang Dawei, summoning Guo Siyuan, who is now a hot topic, to his office. "This is an invitation card sent by Tiger Wolf Company. They will hold a media meeting tomorrow night to clarify the recent false reports about He Mu."

  "Editor, what do you mean?"

  "My intention is of course for you to go, you are more familiar with He Mu, and from now on, all news about him will be handled by you."

  "Yes." Guo Siyuan took the invitation and turned to leave.

  "Wait," Jiang Dajun called out to him, "remember, we are a media with conscience."

  Guo Siyuan was somewhat bewildered and didn't know what the editor meant, so he could only nod his head repeatedly to show that he understood.

  After Guo Siyuan left, Jiang Dawei answered the call from the personnel department: "Let him settle his salary and leave after he comes back. Don't let him come see me again, I'm fed up with him."

  ……

  Thank you for the two rewards from Happiness Navigation **Silk. Tomorrow I will leave the list, asking for your last support!

  ;