Long-term mutual benefit and win-win situation

"Isn't it supposed to be buying a house first?" Chen Mo asked.

"The sales office isn't open yet. I asked around, and they won't be back to work until the fourth day of the Lunar New Year. For now, you should choose a girl first."

His mother said this as she picked up a small notebook from the coffee table and handed it over.

"Take a look and see if there are any girls you like on it."

Chen Mo took the notebook and flipped through it, discovering that it contained the profiles of various girls. A quick count revealed there were a full 15 of them.

He had no idea where his mother had found information on so many girls.

"Hurry and take a look. Is there any girl you fancy?" his mother urged.

"Oh!" Chen Mo had no choice. To get a new house for his family, he could only play along for now. Even if it turned into a real blind date, he could just be clear with the girl, just like the last time.

Thinking this, he randomly picked someone from the notebook.

"This girl seems nice. Let's go with her. I have things to do, so I'm going into my Room."

Chen Mo handed the notebook back to his mother and walked straight toward his Room. He didn't want to continue this conversation.

…

Beijing, Lexi Film and Television,

"Director Yu, this is the premiere box office data for [long journey] from yesterday." The assistant placed a document on the desk in front of Director Yu Zheng.

Seeing this, Director Yu Zheng picked up the document from the desk, a hint of anticipation in his eyes. Upon seeing the figures, he visibly relaxed, his face lighting up with joy.

The premiere box office for [long journey] was 120 million.

120 million!

It had far exceeded his expectations. In his heart, he would have been very satisfied with a target revenue of around 70 million. Now, it was actually 120 million.

Director Yu Zheng calmed himself down, quickly opened a web browser, and went to the Yuanban website.

Achieving a premiere box office of 120 million was largely due to their effective promotion and the attractive promotional short film. That was why so many people went to see their movie on the premiere day.

But whether they could maintain the box office performance would depend on the movie's word-of-mouth. So, he needed to go onto Yuanban to check the rating for [long journey] and see the audience's reviews.

He entered Yuanban.

Searching for [long journey], the movie's information quickly appeared on the page.

Director Yu Zheng's eyes first landed on the rating: 8.2 points. A premiere rating of 8.2 was already very good.

Then he looked down at the movie's reviews. The rating only roughly reflected the quality of the movie; the reviews were the most direct reflection of how the audience perceived it.

[Seriously, so funny, recommended, recommended!!!!]

[Wang Qiang is really too funny. I noticed him during [demon subduing record], but I didn't expect him to be the lead.]

[Funny, yet a bit heartbreaking. Every Spring Festival, how many people go through the Spring Festival travel rush, just wanting to go home for the New Year and reunite with their families.]

[Funny, it's good.]

[The scene where Wang Qiang drinks milk really cracked me up.]

[Very good. If you want to watch a comedy, highly recommended!!]

[…]

After a while, Director Yu Zheng exited Yuanban, completely relaxing. Based on the reactions in the Yuanban comments section, the reception to the movie was very good. With this kind of word-of-mouth, he believed that today's box office wouldn't be too bad either.

He turned to look at the assistant who had been standing to the side.

"Notify the screenwriters to immediately start preparing the script for [long journey 2]."

"Also, speed up the preparations for the [Chinese Detective] crew. I want to start shooting the new movie at the beginning of March."

"Understood, Director Yu." The assistant nodded and then quickly turned to leave the office.

Watching the assistant leave, Director Yu Zheng picked up his phone and made a call. It was answered quickly.

"Congratulations, Director Yu, on the 120 million premiere box office." The voice of Director Luo Xiao came through the phone.

"Thank you, Director Luo. However, I'm not calling you today to talk about these things."

"What else is there, Director Yu?"

"It's about the contract we discussed earlier. Given [long journey]'s current box office and the reviews on Yuanban, it's certain that [long journey]'s box office performance won't be bad."

Director Yu Zheng spoke slowly, finally stating his purpose directly.

"So, that detective movie I mentioned is already in preparation. When shall we sign Wang Qiang's contract?"

"About that, no problem. I'll contact Wang Qiang and we can set a time to meet and sign the contract." Director Luo Xiao said slowly.

He had also gone to the cinema to watch [long journey] last night; it was a very successful comedy. Wang Qiang's performance in the movie could be described as outstanding, with some comedic segments that were very memorable. He believed that after this movie, Wang Qiang could basically be considered famous. This was undoubtedly a very good thing for Lanpian Film and Television, as Wang Qiang was one of their actors.

As for the detective movie Director Yu Zheng mentioned, it had been agreed upon beforehand, so he accepted it directly. After Wang Qiang finished shooting the detective movie, there was still [long journey 2] waiting to be filmed. Wang Qiang's schedule for the new year was basically already full.

"Good, then I'll trouble you, Director Luo, to coordinate the time with Wang Qiang." Director Yu Zheng said.

"It's no trouble. We can consider this mutually beneficial." Director Luo Xiao smiled.

…

The fourth day of the Lunar New Year, City Central District Community.

Chen Mo and his parents walked into the sales office of the City Central District Community.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?" A sales agent greeted them directly.

"Looking at apartments." Chen Mo looked at the sales agent and said calmly.

"May I ask what type of layout you are looking for? I can take you to see them." The sales agent asked.

"Three bedrooms or more, a larger layout."

"Very well, sir. We have two types of large units here, both are garden houses."

"One is a three-bedroom, and the other is a four-bedroom. The three-bedroom is 120 square meters, and the four-bedroom is 160 square meters. Let me take you to the model Room to have a look first." The sales agent hurriedly said.

"That works." Chen Mo nodded.

"Please follow me." The sales agent led the way, heading upstairs. Soon, they arrived at the model Room upstairs.

"This is the three-bedroom large unit. The master bedroom faces south and includes an en-suite bathroom. The other two sides are secondary bedrooms…" The sales agent walked around the Room, continuously introducing the layout.

Chen Mo followed along, observing simply; the overall layout of the Room was standard.

"Let's go take a look at the four-bedroom layout."

"Very well, sir." The sales agent nodded, leading them away from the three-bedroom unit and straight to the four-bedroom one.

"Sir, for this four-bedroom layout, besides each Room being slightly larger than the three-bedroom, the balcony area here is included for free, which is about 10 square meters. So, the total area of this four-bedroom layout is around 170 square meters."

"Miss, how much per square meter is this four-bedroom unit?" Mother Yang Xiulian asked cautiously.

"Oh, ma'am, this four-bedroom unit is 4,800 per square meter, but we have a promotional event running until New Year's Day, so you can get it for 4,600 per square meter." The sales agent replied.

"It's 4,600 per square meter!" Yang Xiulian and Chen Jingrui looked at each other, both seeing hesitation in the other's eyes. This four-bedroom layout was indeed very good, but it was a bit over their budget.