He Was Just a Movie Seller!

When someone was focused on their work, time seemed to pass especially quickly.

Editing the footage, arranging the music, adding the soundtrack.

In all seriousness, Bai Youlou had somehow regained a bit of the feeling from his past life, when he had worked like a beast of burden.

The phrase "versatile and talented" was indeed very useful when showing off. It could earn him girls' admiration, passersby's shock, and all sorts of other positive emotions.

But if he was doing every job himself just to save money, it was indeed a little too damn absurd.

Fortunately, all of that had temporarily come to an end.

He glanced at his phone. A little over an hour ago, he had sent the same message to several people.

"Done. Come quick!"

Like an arrow piercing the clouds, bringing thousands of troops together.

Unfortunately, Bai Youlou did not currently have that many elite soldiers and powerful generals at his disposal.

In the end, the people he summoned were still just a few stragglers.

Old Zhou, who had been busy renting the apartment, handling the company paperwork, and submitting the film for review.

Long Ziqiang, who had continued "attending school" after finishing the film while working as a resident singer at a bar.

And Zhang Xiaorong, who had arrived long ago.

After arriving and seeing that Old Zhou and the others had yet to come, the girl had taken the initiative to help tidy up Bai Youlou's place. She had worked with such natural ease, just as she had when helping out on the set.

It was not that she had some exceptionally strong housewife instinct. The place had simply become so messy that there was almost nowhere left to put one's feet.

By the time Old Zhou and Long Ziqiang arrived, Bai Youlou's little apartment had already taken on a completely new appearance.

When those two idiots saw Zhang Xiaorong, they started winking and making faces at Bai Youlou.

"Holy crap, you really got Teacher Zhang? She stayed at your place last night?" Old Zhou asked in a low, slightly lecherous voice.

Bai Youlou chuckled without giving any answer.

But Old Zhou and Long Ziqiang both wore expressions that said, "I get it."

Men could complete an entire conversation with just one look.

Of course, Bai Youlou was only pretending.

Got her?

Forget about getting through the front door. So far, he had only touched her little hand twice.

The most recent time had been just now, when he handed the broom to Zhang Xiaorong. There might even still be a little of her scent on it.

Fortunately, Bai Youlou was not some lecherous pervert and did not sniff his own hand.

Naturally, he was interested in beautiful women. But after spending some time with her, he had realized that a girl like Zhang Xiaorong was simply too difficult to pursue. Even an old playboy like him felt completely at a loss.

With vulgar methods, such as teasing her with dirty jokes, she would simply watch him with a quiet smile. She would not get flustered, feel shy, or even respond.

With cultured methods, he could talk about Shakespeare, poetry, and art. That was something they could indeed discuss, but she genuinely only talked about those things with him. It was difficult to steer the conversation toward romance. Anyone who did not know better would think he was giving a lecture.

With the hooligan's method, Bai Youlou was worried that if he cornered her against a wall, he might really get arrested. He was rather busy these days, so it was better not to go in for the time being.

In short, Zhang Xiaorong was the type who fell for no tricks at all. No matter how forcefully you pressed forward, she remained as unmoved as a gentle breeze brushing against a mountain ridge.

After becoming familiar with her, however, Bai Youlou discovered that she was not completely unruffled.

She would occasionally say something shocking. Well, she seemed to enjoy telling deadpan jokes.

She would suddenly toss out a line, and sometimes it really did have a humorous effect.

Of course, most of the time, it was genuinely quite cold.

Instead, with Zhang Xiaorong acting as the bridge, An Luning, who occasionally conversed with Bai Youlou from afar, had been speaking more and more lately.

That tsundere flavor of hers had also grown stronger and stronger.

She cared more about the progress of Bai Youlou's editing than Old Zhou and Long Ziqiang did.

It was hard to say how much his film would earn at the box office after release, but it would definitely include box-office contributions from An Luning, even if she claimed she absolutely would not waste a few dozen yuan to watch it.

Here was a ghost story: since Bai Youlou had been "reborn," he still had not exchanged a single face-to-face word with An Luning. Yet he felt that if he used a few targeted tricks on her, he might be able to win the girl over.

Of course, that might also have been a hallucination caused by Bai Youlou's inflated confidence.

Whether he was a mule or a horse, he had to bring it out for a walk. But bragging was not against the law.

***

Now that everyone had arrived, it was naturally time to discuss the next steps.

There were really only two things: send the film to a somewhat prestigious film festival, preferably one overseas.

It was not that he worshiped foreign things. He mainly wanted to sell the rights.

Moreover, to be honest, Bai Youlou's Debuff was simply too strong at domestic film festivals. There was a considerable chance that the film would be affected by him personally.

Even if film was considered an art form.

Art had always been subjective.

The judges were people too. The judges at domestic film festivals were basically all from the domestic entertainment and film industries. That was right: he intended to "bully" foreigners who knew nothing about his "glorious achievement" of sleeping with another man's second wife.

Old Zhou had clearly done his research in advance. "Regarding the film festival, because you edited the film so quickly, the Cannes Film Festival's registration deadline happens to be this weekend."

The Cannes Film Festival was one of the world's three major international film festivals and currently one of the most influential and prestigious international film festivals in the world.

From an artistic perspective, it was practically one of the most authoritative film festivals around.

But in Bai Youlou's eyes, it was simply an exhibition for the film industry, a procurement venue for supply and demand. Its commercial nature outweighed its artistic value.

Whether they could win an award was far too damn mysterious. They would leave it to fate. If they could not get this one, they would find another way to rack up some awards.

Before making a film, it was of course best to set a grand goal.

But when it came time to carry things out for real, he had to focus on what was right in front of him for the time being.

He was just a movie seller!

"Come on, let's vote on it."

Since he had called everyone together for a discussion, Bai Youlou did not want to seem so "dictatorial," so he went through this needless little ceremony.

Old Zhou and Long Ziqiang naturally responded at once.

Long Ziqiang was even visibly excited. "Huh? The Cannes Film Festival? I can actually go somewhere that classy? Are you serious?!"

Bai Youlou could not be bothered with him and instead looked toward Zhang Xiaorong.

She froze and pointed at herself. "I can vote too?"

"Yeah!"

Hearing that, Zhang Xiaorong did not spoil the mood at all. She immediately raised her hand with a cheerful smile, using a textbook elementary-school hand-raising pose.

Adorable!

"Can we really go to Cannes? Is it that Cannes? Can we walk the red carpet?"

Long Ziqiang was still babbling on and on, while Old Zhou could only explain to him, "Do you even know what registration means? Get excited after we're shortlisted, damn it."

That was what he said, but Old Zhou's own hand was trembling slightly too.

He had graduated from the directing department.

Did he not have dreams too, just because Long Ziqiang did?

Mom, I've made it! I'm going to Cannes!

The two grown men were actually less composed than Zhang Xiaorong, a girl.

After Bai Youlou made a couple of sarcastic remarks, he heard Zhang Xiaorong ask very seriously, "What is Cannes?"

Brilliant!

"I remember you're a teacher at a film academy, aren't you?"

Zhang Xiaorong explained with slightly flushed cheeks, "I'm a physical-expression teacher, and I didn't graduate from a film academy."

"Look it up online later yourself. All right, next item."

Seeing how "heartless" Bai Youlou was, refusing even to explain it to the girl, Old Zhou and Long Ziqiang were heartbroken.

What the hell did this guy have that made such a beautiful woman fall for him?

He was just a little more talented, a little more handsome, and a little taller. Forget it, let's hear what the next item was~

"Promotion. Old Zhou has already negotiated distribution with Huaxing today. Our film should be released in about two months. Well, we have absolutely no promotional budget, so we'll have to rely on ourselves."

"How much money do you have left?" Old Zhou hurriedly asked.

Bai Youlou smiled at him. That smile made Old Zhou's heart settle: I knew you were still holding something back!

But Bai Youlou's smile vanished instantly. Expressionless, he said, "Renting equipment, recording, and arranging the music."

After listing a series of expenses, he gave the final answer.

"Sixteen thousand four hundred and eighty-five yuan."