"No, I just want to understand it a bit more deeply," Zhou Yun said. "If you’re willing, that is."

"I’m willing."

Having clarified this intention in advance, Zhou Yun felt relieved.

That night, Song Chi called.

"What’s the deal with that script you sent me?"

"I received a script, and I think the male lead is really suitable for you," Zhou Yun said. "Are you interested?"

Song Chi said, "I saw the female lead is a woman in her forties. Are you going to play her?"

"Of course not, that would be completely inappropriate," Zhou Yun said. "It’s a script written by a young guy. He wants to direct it himself, make this film, but he’s never been able to find investors. After I got the script, I felt you could play the male lead. If you’re willing to act in it, I’ve decided to personally invest in the film."

Song Chi was a bit surprised.

"You’re going to invest yourself?"

"Yeah." Zhou Yun said, "I talked to Sister Lan before, I want to support good films that can’t find investment."

Song Chi hesitated.

"I might not have time to shoot this movie, I’ve still got a lot of projects lined up," he said. "Also, the script is very good, but I don’t think it really suits me."

"Mm? It doesn’t suit you?" Zhou Yun was stunned.

While she was reading it, she’d actually felt it was quite suitable for Song Chi.

But since Song Chi had said so, Zhou Yun didn’t try to persuade him anymore.

"All right, I’ll think about it on my own."

After hanging up, Zhou Yun thought of the way Zhou Lan had hesitated and said "okay then" when she’d told her she wanted to send the script to Song Chi.

Obviously, at that time Zhou Lan already didn’t think there was much chance Song Chi would take the film.

Zhou Yun quickly figured it out.

This film really wasn’t suitable for the current Song Chi.

Low budget, an art-house film, the box office might not even reach ten million, and the director is a newcomer, with no seasoned producer at the helm.

From an idealistic standpoint, as long as this new director is talented, they really should support him. But from a practical standpoint, this is a very unreliable film project.

Even if this role has a good chance at awards—but for the current Song Chi, what he lacks most right now is not awards.

He’s already got major awards under his belt.

Zhou Yun gave a self-mocking little smile, mocking her own idealism.

She didn’t blame Song Chi; in fact, once she’d thought it through, she immediately understood his decision. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

She was just a bit disappointed.

A talented young man, a woman in her forties, the story of two people living at the bottom, who meet, support each other through hardship, and then part ways.

A combination like that makes very high demands on the actors. That’s also why the first person Zhou Yun thought of was Song Chi.

Because Song Chi could carry this role, and it would be far too hard to find another male actor with that level of skill.

Zhou Yun hesitated for a long time, torn over whether to invest in this project.

If she invested in this project, it wouldn’t just be a simple matter of putting in money. The fate of this film would become closely tied to her.

During a break in the shooting of Female Assassin, Zhou Yun talked to Wen Bing about it.

When Wen Bing heard that Zhou Yun wanted to invest in a film herself, she was a bit surprised.

"You’re not afraid of losing money?"

"If I lose money, I lose money," Zhou Yun said. "I’ll just count it as supporting the art of film."

"You’re something else," Wen Bing said. "But have you thought it through—are you only putting in money, or do you also want to get involved in the actual production?"

"Definitely not just putting in money, but I haven’t figured out exactly how I’d participate," Zhou Yun said. "I don’t even know what this film will turn into in the end."

"If you’re asking for my opinion, I’ll support you," Wen Bing said. "I’ve always felt you shouldn’t be limited to only being an actress."

"I really do like this script, but all of this is too unfamiliar to me. I’m afraid I’ll mess everything up."

"Then if you mess it up, you mess it up. Take it as a lesson learned. But since this is a script you really like, and it’s moved you enough to want to invest, if you don’t do it now, I think you’ll definitely regret it later. The key is, if you do this, are you prepared to accept that it might fail?"

"Honestly, I haven’t thought that far. It’s purely an impulse—wanting to do something for film, to do something for those films that might not easily find investment," Zhou Yun said.

Wen Bing glared at her and said, "How come when I was making my first film, I didn’t run into an actor like you?"

Zhou Yun smiled and sighed.

"First go find out how much it would cost to shoot this film, then talk more with that director, Li Rui. Make sure he’s not a fraud."

"Could a fraud have the talent to write a script like this?" Zhou Yun didn’t believe it.

—

It’s getting close to two million characters now, and I’m feeling a bit worn out.

These past few days the writing has felt really off, I just can’t stay focused.

Tired.