Chapter 7 Great Problems

Pei Qian paced frantically in his office.

There was a problem, and it was a big one!

He knew very well that *Wanwan Didn't Expect* and *Zhu Yidan's Boring Life* were both top-tier short videos, the very successful kind!

And now Zhu Xiaoce was making *President Pei's Daily Life*, which was very consistent with those two in its core, and was very likely to become popular as well!

What to do?

"System, I want to withdraw my investment! I won't invest that one million in Huang Sibo, okay?"

A line of text appeared on the system's light screen.

[Withdrawal requires a legitimate reason, otherwise it will be judged as a violation.]

Pei Qian: "..."

A legitimate reason?

He didn't have one!

He couldn't possibly say that he was withdrawing his investment because he thought the project might make money, could he?

Other reasons?

Huang Sibo embezzling funds? Not working hard? He didn't like Zhu Xiaoce, he thought he was too ugly? No reason, just simply didn't want to invest?

None of these counted as legitimate reasons!

Pei Qian racked his brains.

No way!

He couldn't convince the system!

He had no choice but to think of another way.

"Calm down. Apart from withdrawing the investment, there should be other ways."

"I won't film it, okay?"

"I won't be the lead actor! They can find whoever they want!"

"At least it can make this project earn less..."

Pei Qian decided to turn down the job on the grounds of being too busy!

Then Zhu Xiaoce and the others would have to find other actors, and it would be difficult to recreate that feeling. Even if they could find someone, it would slow things down and delay the video's release!

Change the lead actor, and maybe it won't be popular?

Having made up his mind, Pei Qian prepared to refuse.

Although he was very reluctant to part with the 30,000 yuan salary, Pei Qian felt that he couldn't afford to be penny-wise and pound-foolish!

As long as he achieved a loss at the time of settlement, losing six or seven hundred thousand wouldn't be a problem. There was no need to haggle over this small profit of 30,000 yuan.

He was about to call Huang Sibo to turn down the job.

But as soon as he picked up his phone, he suddenly realized another problem.

He had already signed the contract!

The contract stated that the penalty for breach of contract was three times the salary!

Ninety thousand yuan!

Pei Qian's hand trembled, realizing that the situation was a little off.

"System, can the penalty for breach of contract come from the system funds?"

[The contract is a contract signed by the Host personally, and the income belongs entirely to the Host personally. The penalty for breach of contract must also be paid by the Host himself.]

"Clang."

Pei Qian's phone fell on the table.

He was done for!

Where the hell was he going to get 90,000 yuan to pay the penalty!

He couldn't withdraw the investment, and he couldn't not act!

Pei Qian's heart turned cold.

There was no way out! He had to film it!

After being dazed for five minutes, Pei Qian finally slowly came back to his senses.

"Calm down, think of the positives. Short videos shouldn't make too much money..."

"Yeah, that's the only way to think about it..."

Pei Qian felt a little dazed.

Now he could only comfort himself that things weren't that bad.

Even if a low-cost video became popular, it would be difficult to recover a million-dollar investment, even if it got some ad placements.

Even if it broke even, it shouldn't make too much money.

At that time, the game project and the physical store project would lose a little more, which should still ensure that he would lose money at the time of settlement!

"Phew, luckily I made three preparations."

"I almost crashed again!"

"I'll go and tell Lu Mingliang to have him increase the intensity of the voice-over in the game and mock the players a few more times!"

……

……

The next day.

Zhu Xiaoce came again.

"President Pei! The footage from yesterday is almost edited, and we're still considering when to post it online."

"Because we need to discuss cooperation with video websites to see if they can give us better placement for promotion, which may cost money, and we have to negotiate the price."

"But don't worry, I have a senior sister who works at Fanshu.com, and she should be able to get us some good promotional resources!"

"We won't delay our work. Let's film another episode today. Let's be a little busier before the New Year, so that we can release them in a planned way during the New Year, be more productive, and make it easier to gain attention."

"President Pei, you don't look too good. Are you working too hard?"

Pei Qian's face was indeed a little dark.

Of course, it wasn't because he was working too hard!

There were no more classes at the school now. All he did all day was roll around on the sofa and surf the web and play games in his office. Others did the work, so how could he be working hard?

He was mentally exhausted!

"It's okay, let's film."

Pei Qian was weak and listless.

He couldn't withdraw his investment, and he couldn't breach the contract. He had to honestly film all thirty episodes.

Of course, Pei Qian hadn't given up.

He was still trying to think of other ways.

Soon, the staff were in position.

The theme of the second episode was "Giving nine consecutive awards to hardworking employees."

Seeing this title, Pei Qian's heart turned even colder.

Sure enough, the last script wasn't a fluke!

This director Zhu Xiaoce really had something, he was very talented!

If nothing unexpected happened, this episode would easily get millions of views.

If he could, Pei Qian would like to get rid of him right now!

What to do now?

Pei Qian felt very uneasy.

At this rate of updating, posting a video every two days, three seasons would be...unimaginable!

No, he had to save the situation!

Suddenly, Pei Qian had a flash of inspiration and thought of a good idea.

He would slack off!

He would use shit-like acting skills to ruin the reputation of this short video!

At the moment this brilliant idea appeared, those little fresh meat actors with no acting skills seemed to be possessed by souls at this moment!

Pei Qian tried hard to recall those wonderful acting skills.

For example, the Stare-Eye School, the Pout-Mouth School, the Deadpan School, the Smile-Worse-Than-Crying School, the Self-Cheering School, what was that School again...

Well, he would use his acting skills to lower the quality of this season of short videos!

Although the profitability of this video would probably be difficult to stop, he could earn a little less if he could...

Pei Qian tried to mobilize his facial features, preparing to greatly disappoint director Zhu Xiaoce!

After all, he wasn't a professional actor, and if he acted badly, Zhu Xiaoce wouldn't have much to criticize!

Plan complete!

Zhu Xiaoce set up his SLR camera and officially started filming.

Pei Qian was ready.

He was going to wait for a crucial moment to offer the most rotten acting skills in history!

Zhu Xiaoce was still completely unaware of this and was still directing the filming as he had yesterday.

"Okay, President Pei, give us a blank expression."

"Another blank expression."

"A blank expression with a slight smile, or no smile is fine."

"A blank expression with a hint of doubt."

"Pat his shoulder with a blank expression."

"Hand over a business card with a blank expression."

"Blank expression..."

One take, finished at light speed.

Pei Qian was still waiting to show off his little fresh meat-level acting skills, but today's scene was already filmed.

Zhu Xiaoce gave Pei Qian a thumbs up while packing up his equipment.

"President Pei, your acting skills are too superb! As expected, you're a natural!"

"Compared to yesterday's performance, you've made even greater progress!"

"You were actually able to express this kind of expression that is outwardly calm but inwardly rich in emotions so well, it's really beyond my expectations!"

"Every pore seems to be acting!"

"Then I'll go first, President Pei. Tomorrow we'll film the last episode before the New Year!"

"With President Pei's superb acting skills, the video will definitely be a hit!"

Zhu Xiaoce left happily, not forgetting to thank Pei Qian profusely before leaving.

Only Pei Qian was left alone, silently contemplating life.

Did I... show off any acting skills?

Why does it feel... like something's not right???