After my divorce, I started to have good luck-Chapter 725 - 393 Late Night Script Discussion

The performance Yang Wenqi demonstrated during the audition left everyone impressed, and she undoubtedly passed the audition, being internally designated as the second female lead.

As for the third female lead, it was also internally decided to be Luo Yingying, leaving Xin Yuqing out of the running. The second male lead was tentatively set to be Zhang Hang, but the final decision hasn’t been made yet. It will depend on his willingness and how well he fits the role.

After the internal auditions concluded that afternoon, Chen Feng, Lu Sijia, Wu Mengting, and Sun Xiaorui sat down for a genuine company executive meeting in the conference room.

The main topic was the selection of the leading male and female roles. As for the director, it had already been narrowed down to two candidates pending interviews.

Lu Sijia leaned towards inviting the Best Actress Yang Ziyin for the female lead, but Wu Mengting opposed.

The reason for opposition was simple: Yang Ziyin is a bit old, and the female lead of "Green Jade Case" is set to start at fifteen or sixteen years old, never exceeding twenty-five throughout the series, with most content focused between fifteen and twenty years.

However, Yang Ziyin is actually thirty-one, and no matter how youthful she tries to appear, it’s hard to maintain an authentic girlish vibe.

Moreover, Yang Ziyin has acted in too many period dramas, leading to some audience fatigue.

Additionally, her salary is too high.

This last point is the most critical. It’s said that Yang Ziyin’s pay for her last TV series was around fifty million. Even if they manage to lower it, it won’t go below thirty million, while this series initially had a total investment of just thirty million, and even if increased, it wouldn’t exceed fifty million, making hiring her unfeasible.

Lu Sijia wasn’t unaware of this issue. She said, "What if I can negotiate her fee down to twenty million, would you consider it then?"

"That’s impossible," Wu Mengting shook her head and said directly, "Why would she lower her price so much?"

Lu Sijia gave a mysterious smile and said, "Perhaps you guys don’t know. Yang Ziyin is about to end her contract with her current agency, and she doesn’t plan to renew it. She intends to make her studio independent. Besides, she hasn’t acted in almost a year. It’s not that she doesn’t want to film; there just haven’t been any roles for her. Like Mengting worried, other companies and investors are also worried about audience fatigue since she has been acting in period dramas consistently, and everyone’s concerned they are tired of seeing her. Also, her asking price is high, or she didn’t accept poor scripts.

Therefore, she urgently needs a high-quality new series now.

In fact, based on online surveys, she is still among the most audience-favored stars domestically. As long as the series is good, people won’t get tired of watching. Similar to those Hong Kong stars back in the day, didn’t any of them film tens to hundreds of films and series? Did we ever grow tired of them? No.

So, the audience getting tired of her work doesn’t really exist. As long as the series’ plot is enticing and the quality high, there will still be plenty of people watching. And our "Green Jade Case" script is excellent. Once she sees it, she’ll certainly be tempted.

We can lower her fee using this leverage. I’m somewhat confident I could lower it to twenty million. Her last series declared a five million fee to the outside world, but I know she actually got a little over twenty million. We could operate similarly, claim externally her fee is forty million, but actually give her twenty million should suffice."

After hearing Lu Sijia’s words, Wu Mengting didn’t argue further. After all, Yang Ziyin is a Best Actress awardee, her previous period dramas all achieved excellent viewership ratings, with several even topping the charts.

If they truly could hire her as the lead for twenty million, many TV stations would be willing to buy the show, and many viewers as well. Yang Ziyin has a huge fanbase, bringing in traffic and buzz.

Her age and lack of youthful vibes aren’t really big issues. Proper costumes, makeup, and camera effects can supplement that girlish feel.

"If you really can lower it to twenty million, it’s not that we can’t consider her for the female lead."

Wu Mengting finally compromised.

Lu Sijia nodded with a smile, and this matter was settled.

The next day, Fengmang Film and Television Company publicly released the audition invitation, officially recruiting cast members for the drama.

In the afternoon, Lu Sijia brought in a partially good news: Yang Ziyin became very interested after reviewing the "Green Jade Case" plot summary and portions of the script, agreeing in principle to take the role.

However, her agent was adamant about the fee during negotiations with Lu Sijia, who debated with them extensively, but they wouldn’t budge below 26 million.

This fee aligns with what Yang Ziyin received for her previous series.

After hearing this from Lu Sijia, Chen Feng directly dismissed it: "If her fee is that high, then we won’t hire her. I have a candidate, Zhang Yuxi, know her? I think she’s well-suited for the female lead role. She led a period drama before, which also rated quite well."

"Zhang Yuxi? Her appearance is indeed satisfactory, but she’s primarily focused on singing and hasn’t acted in two or three years, right? Also, I recall her acting skills were just average."

Lu Sijia’s evaluation was fair. If not for Zhang Yuxi personally messaging her with a soft plea, Chen Feng hadn’t considered letting her lead this major company production.

As Lu Sijia mentioned, Zhang Yuxi hasn’t acted in two to three years, and her acting is somewhat ordinary. Moreover, she’s slightly short of being a true first-tier star, particularly in audience affinity, which doesn’t entirely fit the company’s original intention of having a first-tier actress for the lead role.

"I think her acting is alright. Plus, this series doesn’t demand deep acting skills; she’s quite adaptable. We can gradually guide her during filming. She also has a substantial fan base, bringing her own traffic. Besides, her fee is lower; about thirty thousand per episode may suffice."

After hearing Chen Feng, Lu Sijia reconsidered and in a businesslike tone said, "Then have her come to our company for an audition first. We’ll discuss it in detail after the audition, especially with Mengting, who’s both the screenwriter and production director, valuing this drama greatly. It’s best you convince her first."

After saying this, Lu Sijia hung up the phone immediately.

Upon putting down the phone, Chen Feng felt a bit troubled. Convincing Lu Sijia wasn’t working; convincing Wu Mengting seemed even harder.

Yet, he had made a promise to Zhang Yuxi before.

He had promised Zhang Yuxi she could invest in whatever drama she liked in the future, as long as it was within thirty million. Now she wanted the lead in "Green Jade Case," is that too much? Not at all.

That evening, as Wu Mengting returned home from work and the three of them were having dinner together, Chen Feng was still pondering how to start persuading Wu Mengting.

Unexpectedly, Wu Mengting spoke first: "Brother, Zhang Yuxi contacted me today. She’s already in the know and is self-recommending for the female lead role in ’Green Jade Case.’ What do you think?"