At his wife's urging, Chen Chengrong finished the entire bowl of noodles.
Then his wife said, "What if we sell the house too? We can rent a place for now. That should scrape together some money, right?"
Chen Chengrong shook his head. "Even if we sell the house, it still won't be enough. We already sold the car, and we've borrowed from everyone we could... If it really comes down to it, I-I'll sell the foundation plot back in my hometown too."
Chen Chengrong gritted his teeth, but his expression was filled with reluctance.
That foundation plot in his hometown had been left to him by his parents. It was one of their keepsakes, carrying too much of his past—his childhood memories, every little moment he had shared with his parents, and more. The place was small and shabby, but it was Chen Chengrong's refuge whenever he was exhausted. If he could, he wanted to keep that old place for the rest of his life. How could he bear to sell it?
But there was not enough funding to shoot the film, and he had no other choice.
When his wife heard him say that, she urged him not to sell it either. She said he would definitely regret it afterward, and buying it back would not be easy.
"Is there really no other way?" his wife asked. "What about those people who invested in your films before? Shouldn't you try asking them..."
Before she could finish, Chen Chengrong's face darkened. He immediately said, "No. They were the ones who ruined my film! There's no use asking them... We parted on bad terms over what happened before. It was no different from completely falling out. We haven't been in touch since, so why would I go looking for them?"
In truth, Chen Chengrong had already approached them in private. If the result had been good, he would not have been worrying now.
He had called them and humbly begged for investment, but they had proposed demands and conditions he could not accept—stuffing people into his film again.
Without even thinking, Chen Chengrong had been unable to suppress his temper and cursed them out on the spot. How could that possibly win him any investment?
But after hanging up, he could not help feeling a little regretful.
Then he remembered what had happened before, and that trace of regret vanished without a trace.
He had become famous early. Though young, he was exceptionally talented, and throughout his career, he had never lacked flowers or applause.
He treated films and scripts as though they were his own children. Perhaps he had not even been as meticulous with his children as he was with making films.
He pursued perfection when selecting scripts, and during filming, he was thorough and exceptionally rigorous. From the arrangement of a set to an actor's makeup, from a line of dialogue to even a single word, he kept a constant eye on everything. If anything was even slightly wrong, it had to be redone.
Once, when the construction of a film set did not match what he had envisioned, he had personally built it himself and even injured his hand. But he had been immensely satisfied with the final result.
If an actor's makeup was not up to standard, it would be redone. If it still was not good enough, he would replace the makeup artist, continuing until it achieved the effect he wanted.
He was strict with himself and meticulous in everything, even to the point of being nitpicky. He was the same with others, if not more so.
As a result, quite a few actors who had worked with him privately said that he had an odd temper and was difficult to get along with. Yet they also had to admit that Chen Chengrong was capable. It was precisely because of that that every film he directed had achieved tremendous success.
One of his films had once been made on a very small investment, yet it earned an astonishing box office after its release. Through audience word of mouth and organic buzz, the film caught fire and exploded in popularity. It also pushed Chen Chengrong's name to the very top, making his reputation soar. Everywhere he went, people respectfully called him Director Chen.
Even passersby said that any film produced by Director Chen was guaranteed quality, and that they would definitely go to the cinema to support any film he directed.
The name Chen Chengrong had become a mark of quality, a symbol that any film he made would be popular and worth watching.
For that name alone, no matter what the film was like, they had to go see it.
Back then, Chen Chengrong had been radiant with success, practically at the peak of his life. He did not need to seek sponsorship or investment; bosses would come to him waving money. He did not need to look for actors either; countless people who wanted to appear in his films would come forward to recommend themselves. Nearly everything had reached an ideal state.
Thus, Chen Chengrong had been high-spirited and full of confidence as he prepared to make a script he had carefully polished for a long time. This film was aimed at winning awards. As soon as the news came out, even before anyone knew what the script was like, plenty of investors had rushed in wanting to fund it. Many actors also sent him résumés and recommended themselves, even writing letters and filming short videos to send him in hopes of getting an opportunity.
At the time, Chen Chengrong's mind was filled entirely with his work. He wanted every aspect to be the best it could be, so naturally, more money was needed.
But just as he had prepared everything and was about to begin filming with great ambition, the investors started forcing people into the cast. There were both men and women, and they demanded extra scenes and important roles in his film. If he refused, they would withdraw their funding.
More than one investor made such demands. The production team had already been assembled and filming had begun. They could not simply stop, or they would be in breach of contract. Besides, there were so many people in the crew waiting to make a living, not to mention the actors' schedules and other issues.
Chen Chengrong was proud and had no desire to compromise. He thought that if they wanted to pull their funding, then let them. He would just find other investors. But misfortune never came alone. At that very time, his entire family was involved in a car accident. In an instant, he was overwhelmed and desperately needed money.
On one hand, there was the film. On the other, he had to handle his parents' funeral arrangements and care for his wife and daughter, who were still in the hospital. He was heartbroken, miserable, and utterly exhausted, crushed until he could barely breathe. How could he have had the energy to argue over whether investors were forcing people into the cast?
He also had to borrow money to pay for his wife and daughter's treatment, so he began running back and forth between the production set and the hospital.
He went back and forth to the hospital while squeezing in time to film whenever he could. But midway through production, his wife's condition became critical. He stayed awake all night, consumed by worry and unable to put his suffering into words. How could the film have continued under those circumstances?
In the end, Chen Chengrong could only temporarily hand over the heavy responsibility of filming to the producer at the time. He told him to keep a close watch on the crew, monitor the actors' performances, and not let them casually add plotlines or scenes. If anyone got any ideas, he was to hurry to the hospital and inform him.
The producer had agreed readily enough in front of Chen Chengrong, but once Chen Chengrong left, things changed. He took control, was bought off by the investors, secretly altered the script and added scenes behind Chen Chengrong's back. When Chen Chengrong called while caring for his wife, he even assured him that everything was normal and nothing was wrong.
Later, after his wife was out of danger, Chen Chengrong wanted to return and continue filming, only to suddenly discover that no one listened to him anymore. The crew listened only to the producer and no longer recognized him as the director. Everyone had been blinded by the benefits before them. Not one person had even told him that the script had been changed.
It was easy to imagine what happened to that film.
Yet when the film was released, his name was still listed as the director.
And so, at that time, he was cursed to hell and back.
Chapter 10
Wasn't it said that any film made by Director Chen was guaranteed quality?
Wasn't it said that any film Chen Chengrong made would be popular and worth watching?
They went to watch it. They went to support it. But what was the result?
This film was a pile of shit. No matter how pretty or sweetly it was packaged, it could not conceal the fact that at its core, it was still a disgusting, foul-smelling pile of shit.
Everyone who walked out of the cinema cursed furiously. Some people could not even endure until the end and left halfway through, because it was truly too awful to watch. Watching any further would have been an assault on their eyes and an insult to their intelligence.
What the hell was this supposed to be? The plot made no sense, the story was a complete mess, and the characters suddenly went crazy for no reason at all. There was no logic whatsoever. Most importantly, what kind of actors had they hired? Their acting was dogshit! They smiled happily during crying scenes, their lines were stiff, and their expressions unnatural. A random passerby dragged in off the street might have acted better than the actors in the film.
What was Chen Chengrong doing? How could he have made a film like this?
The audience felt deceived, so they swarmed online to curse him out.
In fact, some people in the film had decent acting skills, and the plot was not so terrible that it had completely fallen apart. There was still a bit of a core to it.
But this film had been directed by Chen Chengrong, and before filming, he had declared that it was aimed at winning awards and would definitely be an excellent movie. That led netizens to have immense expectations. Even ordinary people had heard about it and kept the thought of seeing it in the cinema.
The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. They had all gone in believing they were about to see an outstanding film, only to find a terrible one after watching it. The enormous gap naturally enraged them. They felt they had been tricked into the cinema to be fleeced, wasting both time and money. If they were not going to curse Chen Chengrong, then who were they going to curse?
The more popular and successful Chen Chengrong had once been, the more viciously the entire internet turned against him then.
Some said he had been corrupted by investors, that he had brought in a bunch of people who could not act and ruined his script for money. What carefully crafted, polished over many years? Pah! It was just a cash grab.
Some said this film was the Waterloo of his life, that he had run out of talent and wanted to make a quick buck before he became incapable of making good films.
Others said Chen Chengrong only knew how to make grand claims. Win awards? More like win a Golden Broom Award.
This film instantly became a stain on Chen Chengrong's life.
Some even claimed that he had gotten carried away from all his previous successes. He had been showered with flowers and praise all the way through, achieved success too easily, and the very first film he made after graduation
became a hit, with impressive box office returns. He had never stumbled afterward, made too much money, started indulging in extravagance, lost the determination he had once had for making films, joined forces with investors, crammed people into the cast without caring whether they suited their roles, randomly added scenes, and filmed the plot into a complete mess. Therefore, this film was destined to fail. They even declared that Chen Chengrong might never make another good film again, and that this was the turning point where his life began to decline.
At the time, many people online agreed with that statement and liked it. They all believed Chen Chengrong had definitely gotten carried away.
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