Huayu: This director is so eager to improve.

Chapter 75 A Shared Vision

"Boss... you didn't really want to play Mei Changsu, did you?"

Bai Mengyan carefully placed a cup of coffee on Qi Yue's desk, hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help asking.

Qi Yue looked up from the screen. "Why do you ask that?"

"Isn't it...obvious? The script revisions you suggested to Director Guo are unlikely to be approved!"

Qi Yue smiled, picked up his coffee and took a sip. "Xiao Bai has become much smarter today."

"hey-hey……"

Bai Mengyan rarely received a compliment from Qi Yue, and she scratched her head, her curiosity growing even stronger.

"But boss, why? You... don't like the character Mei Changsu? I think he's great—smart, patient, and loyal..."

"I like it," Qi Yue answered readily.

"Huh? You like it?" Bai Mengyan was even more confused. "If you like it, why don't you act in it? And..."

She muttered to herself, "And I think the boss would look especially good in period costume, playing the elegant and shrewd Mei Changsu."

"What did you say?" Qi Yue didn't hear clearly.

"Boss, why don't you want to act?"

"Because this is Van Gogh's film."

"Um?"

"Nirvana in Fire is your director Guo Fan's first project after his comeback, so it should bear his mark. If I were to act in it, especially as the male lead, then no matter how hard I try, the outside world's attention and the hot topics of discussion will inevitably focus on me. This would weaken Guo Fan's presence and control as a director, which is unfair to him."

Bai Mengyan listened in a daze. She seemed to understand a little, yet she also seemed not to understand. Before she could utter a single word...

The office door was pushed open with a bang, and Guo Fan strode in, his face filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"Qi Yue! Qi Yue! I just got a call from President Cai! Tangren Media has agreed to all the script revisions we proposed!"

"???!"

......

In a slightly old office building near Zhongguancun, the sign for "Zhaowen Technology" hangs at the entrance of a small office.

It exudes the unique atmosphere of a startup, a mixture of dreams and predicament.

The founder, Shao Wenzhao, is in his early thirties, but his hair has turned quite gray. He is staring blankly at a pile of unpaid supplier bills on his computer screen.

The office was empty, with only a few employees quietly debugging code in a corner, the air filled with the smell of coffee and instant noodles.

Two years ago, he was a key technical staff member at a leading internet company in China, with enviable stock options and salary.

Because he was optimistic about the future of mobile video, and especially dissatisfied with the bloated and poor user experience of existing video platforms, he resolutely resigned, gathered a few like-minded brothers, and founded "Zhaowen Technology".

The goal is to develop a lighter, smoother mobile video application that is more focused on the viewing experience.

However, the reality is cruel.

High bandwidth costs, fierce market competition, pressure from industry giants, and difficulty in obtaining high-quality copyrighted content...

In two years, he mortgaged his house and car, and emptied all his savings, but still could not reverse the decline.

The company is on the verge of running out of resources and could be dissolved at any time.

"Mr. Shao," the assistant said, pushing open the door. His voice carried a hint of uncertainty. "There's a Miss Bai outside. She said she was supposed to come over to discuss some business."

"Miss Bai?"

Shao Wenzhao rubbed his aching temples, trying hard to recall.

In his recent search for investment, he has met with too many so-called "investors" and "middlemen," but most of them are either perfunctory or impose unreasonable conditions.

Miss Bai? Never mind.

"Please let her in."

Shao Wenzhao forced himself to straighten his wrinkled shirt.

The door was pushed open, and a girl who looked very young walked in.

Wearing simple jeans and a down jacket, with her hair tied in a ponytail and carrying a canvas bag, she looked more like a college student who had just graduated or a student from a nearby school who had wandered into this area by mistake.

The faint flame of hope in Shao Wenzhao's heart was almost extinguished in an instant.

"Hello Mr. Shao, I'm Bai Mengyan from Tongfan Studio. Our boss parked downstairs and asked me to come up and talk to you first."

Shao Wenzhao was slightly taken aback. This company was really strange; the boss parked the car but let his assistant get in first? But when he asked her to sit down,

"Hehe, parking is indeed not very convenient here, Miss Bai, please have a seat."

After Bai Mengyan sat down and calmed herself down, she took out a tablet computer from her canvas bag.

"Mr. Shao, we at Tongfan are very interested in your team's expertise in mobile video underlying technology, especially in high-definition streaming adaptive transmission, low-latency playback, and client resource optimization. The key projects you and your core team worked on during your time at the big company demonstrate solid technical capabilities."

Her voice was clear and steady, and her speaking speed was not fast, but every word hit the key point, which was completely unlike her "casual" appearance.

Shao Wenzhao paused for a moment, then put away his contempt and looked carefully at the document on the tablet.

It was a brief analysis of his team's technical capabilities. Although it wasn't very in-depth, it hit the nail on the head and even pointed out several little-known optimization highlights in their current demo version.

"So you want to..." Shao Wenzhao asked cautiously.

Bai Mengyan recalled Qi Yue's words, "Our boss said that Tongfan doesn't pursue short-term comprehensiveness, nor does it pursue fancy social functions or complicated UIs. He has his own ideas about future content distribution channels. He hopes to create a mobile application platform that is completely controllable, offers an ultimate user experience, and reserves enough space for future interactive content formats."

As Shao Wenzhao listened, his eyes widened and his heart began to beat faster and faster uncontrollably.

These requirements precisely hit his vision and technical strengths at the beginning of his business! Especially the last point about the framework for "future interactive content", which was even more advanced and bold than his original idea!

"How much money does Tongfan plan to invest?" Shao Wenzhao felt his voice was a little dry.

At that moment, Qi Yue's voice came from the doorway.

"The initial intention is that we will invest cash in exchange for a portion of the equity in Zhaowen Technology and sign an exclusive technology cooperation agreement. The team will operate independently, but the research and development direction will follow the technology roadmap we jointly develop."

Shao Wenzhao took the letter of intent from Bai Mengyan, his breath catching slightly. Although the required equity stake was not low, the cash amount... was enough to pay off all debts and bring the company back to life!

"What are the conditions? Besides equity and R&D direction, what else?"

"The conditions are the technical specifications and framework requirements I just mentioned, which need to be met within the agreed timeframe. Furthermore," Qi Yue paused,

"The intellectual property rights of this app, including all derivative technologies developed based on this framework in the future, will be held by the newly established joint venture, with Tongfan having the leading role. Of course, the team will enjoy corresponding rewards for technological achievements and long-term revenue sharing."

"Finally, the tentative name for the app is 'Tongfan Vision'."