Chapter 137: Let Him Be As Strong As He May, The Breeze Still Brushes The Mountain Ridge (3/4)

Sumu Studio.

Sun Liaojun sat in the operations department office, listening to the sound of sweeping coming from the front.

A broad-shouldered figure was meticulously clearing away every speck of dust with a broom. Watching the diligent Master Zhu, Sun Liaojun suddenly understood why he, the director of the operations department, didn't have his own private office, while this man before him did. More importantly, his office had a bed, a computer, and, for heaven's sake, a refrigerator!

Xiao Li emerged from Master Zhu’s office holding a few drinks. As he passed by, he thanked him with a smile. He had intended to offer him a cigarette as a gesture of gratitude—after all, it felt awkward to keep drinking the beverages Master Zhu provided—but seeing two brand-new cartons of Huazi cigarettes on Master Zhu’s bed, he ultimately refrained.

Back at his workstation, Xiao Li handed a Red Bull to Sun Liaojun and tossed another to Xiao Zhang behind them.

"Boss, did you speak with the owner? What did he say? What does he want us to do?"

Sun Liaojun snapped out of his thoughts, shook his head, and his expression grew solemn. "The boss only said three words: 'Leave him be.'"

Xiao Li: "Huh? What does 'leave him be' mean? Are we just ignoring it?"

Xiao Zhang: "That Lin Haoming is getting arrogant, and his Weibo post is already filled with veiled insults. If we wait a few more days, won't he be climbing over our studio to defecate on our heads?"

Sun Liaojun narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "Do you really think the boss would just ignore this? That’s not his personality, definitely not. So, these three words he left us must have a deeper meaning, but I haven't quite figured out what he wants us to do..."

The atmosphere in the operations department shifted. The three men huddled together, brows furrowed, attempting to decipher the hidden meaning behind Su Mu's message.

*Leave him be...*

Xiao Li: "Boss, is it possible he really means for us to do nothing?"

Xiao Zhang: "Or... maybe he means we can handle it however we want?"

Sun Liaojun shook his head. "It’s definitely not that simple. Lin Haoming is the one who provoked us this time. A couple of years ago, our boss even went head-to-head with Li Xinjie from Giant Elephant on Weibo, eventually settling it at the peak of the Huaxia entertainment industry. There’s no reason for him to let Lin Haoming be arrogant now."

After Sun Liaojun finished, the three fell into silence. Just as they were pondering, Master Zhu walked over, sweeping dust from beneath their feet. Xiao Li and Xiao Zhang hurriedly moved to make room, but Master Zhu waved his hand with a smile. "It's fine, do as you please; I'm just doing my sweeping."

*Hmm?*

As soon as Master Zhu said those words, Sun Liaojun’s eyes widened. *Damn it... I get it!*

"Master Zhu!" Sun Liaojun stood up and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect.

Xiao Li: "???"

Xiao Zhang: "???"

Master Zhu was left confused, but after a moment, he politely replied, "Smoke?"

Sun Liaojun: "In a bit."

Master Zhu: "Sure."

With that, Master Zhu walked away. Xiao Li and Xiao Zhang looked at Sun Liaojun, completely bewildered.

"Boss, what's going on?"

"Did you figure something out?"

Sun Liaojun smirked, looking profound. "I knew this wasn't as simple as it looked. Xiao Li, Xiao Zhang, today your boss is going to teach you another lesson: in the workplace, you must know how to interpret and grasp the boss's words if you want to go the distance."

Xiao Li: "Tell us, boss!"

Xiao Zhang: "Hurry up, boss!"

Sun Liaojun: "Did you see Master Zhu sweeping just now? The boss means that it doesn't matter what Lin Haoming posts; we should just focus on generating our own buzz. As the saying goes, 'Let him be strong, the breeze blows over the mountain.' Brilliant!"

Xiao Li: "Our own?"

Xiao Zhang: "What do we have?"

Sun Liaojun smiled. "We have the gossip master."

...

Beijing.

Su Mu had arranged a time to meet Zhang Huaimou. The next day, he rose early and headed to the Huayi Media Building with Qian Jida.

In the car, Qian Jida was dressed very formally and seemed quite excited.

Su Mu: "Director Qian, does your ex-wife work at Huayi?"

Qian Jida: "Get out of here~."

Su Mu: "Then is all this necessary?"

Qian Jida rolled his eyes. "What do you know? This time, Zhang Huaimou is introducing us to the boss of Huayi, Wang Jun. He is one of the biggest leaders in the entire Huaxia film industry. Doesn't dressing formally show professionalism?"

Su Mu shrugged, unbothered. He had naturally heard of the name Wang Jun. He was the one who had taken Huayi from a small film company and built it step-by-step into one of the strongest film investment enterprises in the country. He was indeed a very capable and visionary figure. Basically, any film that passed through his hands—whether in terms of commercial capacity or box office—would reap huge profits.

That day, after Zhang Huaimou had seen Su Mu's script, he had been so excited that he rushed to meet him. After their conversation, they decided to meet with Su Mu. After all, this production was a bit different. It wasn't about the subject matter, but rather that the profit-sharing method for this film was a bit complex.

The normal logic would be for Su Mu to sell his script to Zhang Huaimou, who would then secure investment, assemble a team, start filming, and hire Su Mu to act in it for a salary. But in that scenario, Su Mu would only earn his acting fee. That, naturally, was not what Su Mu wanted, because he knew what kind of box office results this film would achieve. Even if it was a small percentage, he had to have a cut.

That was why he came today—to negotiate this matter. Only when the money was settled could the subsequent work proceed smoothly. Of course, Su Mu had considered just investing in it himself; he could afford tens of millions. But the problem was that there were many aspects he couldn't handle. Even if he forced Xu Jiang to take over, Xu had only ever worked on television dramas, had almost no film experience, and lacked the resources of Zhang Huaimou and Huayi. After weighing his options, teaming up with "Old Zhang" was the safest bet.

Half an hour later, the car pulled up in front of the Huayi building.

Someone was already waiting at the entrance to escort Su Mu and Qian Jida upstairs. In the reception room on the upper floor, Zhang Huaimou and Wang Jun were already waiting.

Wang Jun: "Old Zhang, you’ve helped this Su Mu more than once. Although I’ve heard of him, and the dramas you collaborated on had good results, is he really worth this much attention? I’m genuinely curious about what kind of actor he is."

Zhang Huaimou smiled. "He is a dragon still in the shallows; his time to tower over the rest hasn't arrived yet."

Wang Jun: "Good grief, he’s on the trending topics for eight out of twelve months a year, and you call that a dragon in the shallows?"

Zhang Huaimou pointed to the documents on the table. "You’ve seen it. From the years he started until he worked with me on *The Knockout*, there was no transition period. It only proves he had this talent all along."

Wang Jun nodded. He agreed with that. Putting aside Su Mu's acting, the script itself was truly excellent. He had read *Joy of Life* before, and he had read this *Goodbye Mr. Loser* yesterday. So, it wasn't strange that Zhang Huaimou would agree to Su Mu’s request.

Before long, Su Mu and Qian Jida entered. Zhang Huaimou stood up and smilingly introduced them to each other. After the pleasantries, they took their seats. Wang Jun sized Su Mu up, thinking he was indeed a bit special. In truth, most actors were somewhat restrained when meeting him, but Su Mu was not. He spoke with neither servility nor arrogance, and his effortless air made Wang Jun feel he was quite interesting.

Wang Jun: "Su Mu, the reason I invited you here today, aside from getting to know each other, is mainly to discuss your script. So, I’ll be direct."

Su Mu: "Alright, Mr. Wang."

Wang Jun: "Huaimou has told me your intentions; you want a cut of the box office. I can interpret this as you being unable to produce the film yourself, so you came to us, yet you still want a share of the production profits. You should know that any production company, including investors, will buy out a script upfront. A situation like yours is almost unheard of."

Su Mu nodded with a smile. "I understand. So, buying out the script is fine too—it'll be at least 100 million."

Qian Jida: "!!!"

Zhang Huaimou: "..."

The conference room suddenly fell silent. Qian Jida felt like his toes were curling into the floor; he almost fell out of his chair. *A 100-million-yuan script... you really dare to say that.* The production cost of this film might not even reach that much.

At this moment, Wang Jun looked at Su Mu, but he couldn't see any hint of a joke in his eyes.

"Are you serious?"

*The box office might hit one or two billion, do I look like I'm joking...* Su Mu shook his head. "I'm not joking."

Wang Jun: "Actually, it's not impossible for you to get a cut, but regardless, there must be a compelling reason."

Su Mu: "Alright, then I’ll say a few words."

Wang Jun: "Go ahead."

Qian Jida: "..."

Zhang Huaimou: "..."