Chen Yiyang finally understood why a piece of jewelry that could be considered a national treasure in Russia ended up in a film props company.

Everyone knew this thing was made of diamonds.

The problem is that diamonds aren't worth much now.

You buy a diamond ring for your wedding, spending tens of thousands.

Later, if you need money and want to sell it, when you take it to a buyer, they'll only pay you for the ring's setting.

As for the diamonds, sorry, they're really worthless.

Moreover, the design of this piece looks too much like the jewelry props used in Europe and American films.

There's no such cultural background domestically, so it's normal for it to be mistaken.

This led to the famous necklace once worn by Catherine the Great being used as a stage prop in Huaxia.

To avoid continuing to discuss the diamond necklace, Chen Yiyang changed the subject and asked, "What work are you doing recently?"

"I'm editing my second film," said Dong Nanrun, "The shooting stage is complete, and the editing is almost done; now it's just a matter of finding a good release date."

That's impressive.

Chen Yiyang didn't expect that there were still people investing in this guy's film.

The last movie had a total investment of 230 million and only returned 70 million in box office.

Almost none of the investors got back any money.

Yet now the second movie is already completed.

"There are no financial gaps, right?" Chen Yiyang said casually.

"To be honest, there's a big gap now."

Chen Yiyang felt like slapping himself.

Why bring it up for no reason?

"Because my last movie lost money badly, I even sold my house and borrowed a lot of money to join in this one and pulled in a lot of investment,

Though the movie is almost edited, several investors want to back out for various reasons.

So the entire film project not only needs to return the investors' money but the related distribution costs haven't been settled either."

"Investors can still get their money back?" Chen Yiyang's eyes widened.

"Because it wasn't easy to gather investment at the time, we agreed to some terms with the investors.

If investors aren't satisfied with the rough cut, they can get their investment back. Without repaying now, my movie can't premiere."

That makes sense.

Chen Yiyang nodded.

If not for those terms, based on the performance of this guy's last movie, no one would invest in him.

"So the investors saw the rough cut and thought the movie was doomed to lose money?"

"They didn't even watch it; they just wanted an excuse to get their money back," Dong Nanrun said helplessly.

He actually had confidence in convincing these investors with the rough cut's quality.

But these investors' withdrawal was purely because they had financial shortfalls in other projects, so they found a reason to retrieve their money from Dong Nanrun.

"Oh." Chen Yiyang nodded, pretending not to get involved further.

Seeing Chen Yiyang had nothing more to say, Dong Nanrun awkwardly continued, "I heard, Mr. Chen, you're like Song Jiang from 'Water Margin,' always there to lend a hand. You invested in 'The Wandering Earth' and 'Unknowns' when they were short on funds."

"I saw their rough cut and the quality was undeniable, so I invested," Chen Yiyang quickly said.

He definitely wasn't someone to be easily taken advantage of.

The film industry, you lose money nine out of ten times, faster than gambling.

"So, would you be interested in seeing our rough cut?"

"Alright." Chen Yiyang thought for a moment, then agreed.

Just scored a huge bargain from this guy.

Might as well give him a bit of face, it's just watching, not investing.

If the movie turns out terrible, he can always walk away.

Chen Yiyang's flight to Russia was scheduled for the next evening.

So he had time during the day.

And the flight was from Imperial Capital to Moscow.

Dong Nanrun's company was also located in Imperial Capital.

Chen Yiyang made it just in time.

After parting ways with Dong Nanrun, Chen Yiyang packed the Butterfly Diamond Necklace, planning to sell it in Russia for a good price.

Although it's worth a fortune, not many people in the country were willing to buy it.

But the Russians would definitely pay a high price.

On the next day, during daytime, Chen Yiyang took the high-speed train to Imperial Capital.

Then he headed to Dong Nanrun's company.

Upon arriving at Dong Nanrun's office, Chen Yiyang saw a familiar face.

"This is Dapeng." Dong Nanrun introduced.

"Hello, hello." Chen Yiyang immediately shook hands with him.

Dapeng, although starting out with low-brow web series,

now he's quite a significant figure.

His disastrous film "Jian Bing Man" from years ago earned him a bad reputation, which he had to repay with subsequent films,

But those films actually made a small profit.

Dapeng's film company was the main investor in those movies, so he rose along with them.

In terms of status, he's significantly higher than Dong Nanrun.

"I've been wanting to meet you," Dapeng said enthusiastically, grasping Chen Yiyang's hand, "I heard from Brother Dong that you were coming today, so I rushed over."

"Dapeng is also the lead actor in this movie," Dong Nanrun added.

A director who lost a lot of money on his last movie, Dong Nanrun, and Dapeng, continuously repaying his reputation debts.

Chen Yiyang immediately felt a sense of despair about the movie's prospects.

But since he already agreed to watch, Chen Yiyang sat down, signaling to Dong Nanrun to start the movie.

"This movie is called 'Johnny keep walking.'" Dong Nanrun briefly introduced the movie.

It's a satire about the current workplace in internet companies.

Chen Yiyang watched it thoroughly.

And then he had to admit,

It's best not to have preconceived notions.

Dong Nanrun's last movie was a flop indeed.

But the quality of this film was surprisingly good.

The satirical parts about internet companies even made Chen Yiyang laugh out loud.

As a comedy film, it's definitely competent.

It should probably make a box office of around five to six hundred million.

"How much investment is still needed for this movie, and how much has been invested so far?" Chen Yiyang asked.

"The total investment is less than a hundred million, and there's a shortfall of about thirty million now."

Upon hearing Chen Yiyang seemed interested in investing, Dong Nanrun immediately said, "The original investors pulled out twenty million, and then there's another ten million or so needed for promotional expenses before the movie can premiere."

The total investment is less than a hundred million.

The cost is indeed very low.

However, this movie certainly doesn't star any big names.

Although Dapeng is well-known, he doesn't have much box office appeal, and his fee isn't high.

The other lead actor is Bai Ke.

Maybe because Dong Nanrun felt bad for the last movie dragging this young man's career into film, he brought Bai Ke along this time.

The fee was given at a friendly rate, not expensive.

Another actress was appointed by the investors. She basically didn't ask for any fee, and her performance in the movie didn't disappoint.

So, investing in this movie should not lose money at the very least.

That's enough.

Consider it returning the favor of a huge bargain.

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