Chapter 71: Too Difficult
After spending a long excruciating night on her bed, Ning Meng finally saw past a few things. “Shifting to Mars” was a near-perfect movie and she had the chance to help it move one step further to realize its full potential. What was there to regret? Indeed. There was nothing to regret.
Realizing this, she was finally able to sleep soundly. When she reached the company, her eyes were sparkling with energy. On the other hand, her father, Ning Wentao, had dark circles under his eyes—they were so dark that one would have thought that he had turned into a panda.
“Had trouble sleeping, dad?” Ning Meng asked.
“No. No trouble at all.” Ning Wentao replied woefully.
“?”
“Because I’ve not slept a wink at all.”
“…”
As Ning Meng was about to say something, someone knocked on the door.
Ning Wentao sat up straight to hide his weakness. “Yes?”
“Mr. Ning, the box office result is out. Ms. Cao asked for you.” His secretary entered his office and reported.
“Alright. I’m on my way.”
Ning Wentao then stood up and walked out with Ning Meng.
His secretary cautiously asked, “Mr. Ning, aren’t you worried?”
To which, Ning Wentao replied calmly, “Worried about what? I’ve weathered through worse storms than this. Heh, you young people are so weak-minded.”
The secretary responded respectfully, “Mr. Ning, you are an extraordinary man.”
“It’s nothing, really.”
“…” Ning Meng, who had been watching him weeping into his hands just moments ago, was rendered speechless.
When they arrived at the meeting room, they saw that many investors and board directors of the company were already there. They appeared thrilled and exultant—as though they were awaiting some tremendously good news to come their way. When they saw Ning Wentao, they all threw cold, delighted grins at him.
One of them said, “Mr. Ning, if you need any help in moving your house, I am always at your service.”
Ning Wentao replied with a stern face, “The result isn’t even out yet. Be serious or get lost.”
“I’m just joking, Mr. Ning. Why so serious?”
A frown was plastered on Ning Wentao’s face. He could not say that he did not mind what this man had just said because if he did, it would mean that he was just as petty as these backstabbers.
Suddenly, Ning Meng pouted. “Dad, this uncle is so generous. If I’m going to open a restaurant, I must ask for his help.”
“Help? Help how?”
“He can sit at my competitors’ restaurants every day. That way, their customers will all lose their appetite in those restaurants and flock to mine!”
Then, she mockingly gave a “Oh, my bad” look and smiled at the man earlier. “Uncle, dear, I’m only joking. You won’t take it to heart, right?”
The man’s face turned red, his body shaking furiously. Well, he did take it to heart, but he could not retort at all—because “why so serious”?
Smiling smugly, Ning Wentao straightened his coat and asked, “Alright, is the box office results out yet?”
“It’s out.”
Following which, the results from the night before was shown on the huge screen in front of them:
Number 1—”The Hero”. 1 billion yuan.
Number 4—”Shifting to Mars”. 40 million yuan.
As soon as they saw the results, everyone looked at Ning Wentao. Seeing this, shades of disappointment tainted Ning Wentao’s eyes, but he still needed to appear strong.
“Well, it’s 40 million yuan on the first day. It’s not too bad.”
Cao Xuehua replied with a smile, “Yes, it can’t be helped. Tiantian’s “The Hero” is quite a contender. It has a good cast, and more importantly, it is much more popular. Otherwise, we could have gotten better results and seen some returns in our investment.”
Usually, the movie producers only had a 30% claim from the box office. They had invested 1 billion yuan in this movie, acquiring 50% of the film’s shares. In other words, unless the movie made 6 billion yuan, they would not see any return in their investment.
Not only that, this was the first day.
Usually, movies only had their best results on the first day. After that, ticket sales would decline gradually. This, in turn, meant that it would be much more difficult for them to achieve that goal of 6 billion yuan.
Cao Xuehua and her fellow backstabbing directors were grinning in joy. However, they did not see Ning Meng’s sigh of relief!