Chapter 316: "Millionaire Painter" begins recording
At this moment, the card-operated public telephone on the wall near the dormitory door rang. Yan Mingjiang's bed was on the upper bunk to the left of the telephone. He leaned forward slightly, picked up the receiver, yawned lazily, and said, "Hello? Who is this?"
A soft female voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hello, I'm Zhao Yutong. Is Xin Yongsheng in the dormitory? If he is, please ask him to answer the phone. Thank you."
Yan Mingjiang covered the receiver and called to Xin Yongsheng, "Hello, your wife is calling."
“Here I come.”
Xin Yongsheng picked up the receiver.
"Hello? Yutong."
Zhao Yutong's excited voice came over the phone: "Ah Sheng, I have good news for you. I just saw a news report that a company called Shi Jin Ji is offering a reward of one million to find an artist. Hurry up and sign up for the competition. If you win the championship, we can set up the comic studio you've always wanted. Then your comics can be published, and maybe even have a chance to be made into a comic-adapted movie."
Compared to his girlfriend's joyful mood, Xin Yongsheng showed a bitter smile. He grinned slightly and said, "A prize of one million? Did you see a few extra zeros? One hundred yuan is about right. Last time I submitted a four-frame comic to Story Club, they only paid me ten yuan, which is not enough for our next visit to the restaurant."
As a senior, although he has fewer classes, he is busier than ever, writing his graduation thesis, preparing for defense and internship, and has no time to pay attention to the outside world. Therefore, Xin Yongsheng and his roommates did not know about this event held by Shijinji.
Moreover, Xin Yongsheng simply didn't believe in such a high bonus.
People in the industry naturally know more about what is going on in the industry. Chinese animation has no sense of existence now. What everyone is chasing after are those Japanese and Korean mechas. Moreover, it is only the TV stations that are importing them on a large scale, which does not give Chinese animation a soil to survive.
Seeing that even survival is extremely difficult, how could there be such a good thing as a million-dollar reward? Where did the fools come from in China?
In fact, the present time is the darkest time for Chinese animation, with a lack of young talents and poor quality of works.
It will not be until 1999, that is, next year, that the most classic animated series "Journey to the West" and "The Lotus Lantern" will be released, thus bringing about a wave of domestic animation craze.
"It's really one million! Why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, I'll give you that newspaper later and you can read it yourself. Ah Sheng, hurry up and participate in the competition. With your talent, you will definitely win the grand prize!"
After so many years of drawing comics, the money he earned was not enough to buy a roast goose, and Xin Yongsheng's spirit had long been worn out. Although the million-dollar reward is high, there will definitely be countless masters competing;.
Therefore, even if the reward was real, Xin Yongsheng didn't think he could win it.
"In fact, I think my level is just average, especially in terms of artistic conception. I definitely don't have any advantage over those professional painters. I can't win any awards, so why bother joining in the fun? I'd better pay attention to the latest job search trends and find a relatively stable job."
When Zhao Yutong heard that her boyfriend wanted to give up, she tried to persuade him: "You have to have confidence in yourself. You are obviously a good painter. I don't understand the artistic conception. I only know that you paint very hard and your works have a strong personal style. Didn't you always say that Chinese comics have no soil to survive? Now is your chance! Ah Sheng, take part in the competition. I believe you can do it!"
Xin Yongsheng was deeply moved by Zhao Yutong's words.
Moreover, in the final analysis, he was just a young man in his early twenties, and he still had the spirit of not admitting defeat. He thought about it, and finally nodded vigorously: "Okay, I'll listen to you and participate in the competition."
Zhao Yutong was very happy and immediately said with a smile: "I will call and sign up for you right now. They also need a sample of your work. Find one and I will go downstairs to your dormitory to get it and mail it to you."
Zhao Yutong was very happy that she finally convinced Xin Yongsheng. At this time, several roommates who were dressed fashionably came back from shopping and saw Zhao Yutong on the phone, and they all teased her.
"Are you hanging out with that painter boyfriend of yours again?"
"I say, you are so beautiful, isn't Wang Wentao from the 95th Political Science and Law School pursuing you? I think you should just agree to him."
"That's right, his family is very rich. He didn't come after me, otherwise I would definitely dump my boyfriend and follow him."
"You've been dating for more than two years. Has he ever gone shopping with you? Has he ever bought you new clothes? I really don't understand you."
"Let me tell you, a woman's youth is very short, only a few years. If you don't find a good partner during these years, it will be too late later."
Faced with the persuasion of her roommates, Zhao Yutong put down the phone with a cold face and said to them seriously: "That's enough. I am very satisfied with my current life. I don't want to hear such words again in the future."
"Tsk, the dog bites Lu Dongbin, and he doesn't know the kindness of a good person."
"Silly girl, if you follow a poor boy, you will have to live a hard life in the future. You will regret it one day."
Zhao Yutong's eyes were firm: "I like him because he has his own ideas, he has his own passions and he keeps working hard. Although we are a little poor now, as long as we work hard together, we will always be able to live a good life in the future."
Seeing that persuasion was of no use, the roommates became too lazy to try to persuade him anymore. After muttering a few words, they went about their own business.
Food Notes.
The original office has now changed drastically. All the desks have been put together to form a circle, and the middle is filled with letters from all over the country, which are all entries submitted by the preliminary contestants.
Lei Peilin has a headache. He is overwhelmed with mail every day. The key is that after receiving all the mails, he has to open them one by one and screen them manually.
There are more than a dozen employees in the company working on this job with him.
They used to think that working on the assembly line in the workshop was hard work, and being transferred here to open letters was a huge promotion.
However, after opening the mail for two days, they no longer thought so. Instead, apart from wanting to beg their boss to let them go back to their workstations, their only pleasure was to point fingers at the works that were mailed to them.
"What the hell is this? Just pass it."
"This person sent me a blank piece of paper and told me to let the cow eat grass. Where is the cow? Where is the grass?"
"To be honest, if I just sprinkled a handful of rice on the paper and put a chicken on it and walked a few steps, the result would be better looking than this painting."
Most of the works are badly drawn, but some people are so confident that they don't care about their face for a million. Some are even more outrageous. What they sent was not a painting, but a letter. Some said they wanted to teach Shi Jinji to make a fortune, while others said they had a great project in their hands and wanted to attract investment...
It can be said to be a scene of demons dancing wildly, which is eye-opening.
One employee was so dizzy from opening the mail that he could not help but suggest to Lei Peilin, "Boss Lei, why don't we let the mailers pay for it? If we pay for it ourselves, those people will just send us all kinds of stuff as if it were a joke. Not only will it be hard for us to open the mail, but the postage company will also lose money."
Lei Peilin smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Free shipping was Mr. Lu's decision. In fact, we didn't lose much money. The main reason is that there are too many spam emails. It's a bit overwhelming."
The employees complained bitterly, but they still had to review things carefully.
In fact, this is only the first step. They need to get rid of those things that are obviously troublesome. But anything that looks like a painting should be kept and sent to the second round of review.
What no one knew was that dozens of cameras had been placed in the office, recording the contents of the letter openings and complaints in 360 degrees.
These most realistic images will eventually become the material for the program "Millionaire Painters".
Yes, from now on, the show has actually entered the recording stage.
It is equivalent to the auditions for Super Girl.
In addition to this program that no one knows about, Lu Yiming actually gave everyone a hidden easter egg - whoever of them wins the top eight in the final competition will receive a corresponding bonus.
So, even though everyone complained a lot, for the sake of the bonus, they still opened the boxes very seriously, recorded everything meticulously, and prayed for good luck in their hearts.
Fishing?
It doesn't exist at all.
After all, whoever dismantles more has a greater chance of winning the championship!
Lei Peilin was very pleased to see that everyone was working so hard. He picked up a piece of mail next to him and started opening it.
The mail was very light because there was only one piece of paper inside. Lei Peilin yawned as he took out the work, and his eyes lit up.
This is a simple drawing with smooth brushwork and both spirit and form. With just a few strokes, a cute and honest cartoon character comes to life on the paper.
“This is a nice painting.”
He didn't really know how to appreciate art, and he couldn't see the artistic conception or anything like that. He just felt that the work in front of him was very much to his liking.
Putting aside the fact that he had aesthetic problems due to watching too much garbage before, Lei Peilin felt that this work was very professional. Even a layman like him could see the details. He solemnly wrote down the author's name and contact information, and then put the work into the oversized file bag next to it.
There is no doubt that this work passed the preliminary review.
Just at this moment, a call came from the front desk of Shijinji.
"Boss Lei, there 's someone ."
"Is there someone causing trouble at the front desk?"
Lei Peilin frowned.
Shi Jin Ji’s previous candy business has already been sold, and new products have not yet been released. Who would come to Shi Jin Ji to cause trouble at this time?
However, since someone was causing trouble, he, as the person in charge, of course had to deal with it. He stood up and said to the person next to him, "You continue to demolish, I'll go out and take a look."
Lei Peilin stood up and walked out of the office, and a camera followed him. He knew the program shooting plan, so he naturally filmed it openly.
Lei Peilin came to the front desk and saw the depressed look on the girl's face, so he asked, "Xiaoyu, what's going on?"
Xiaoyu pointed at a few gray-haired old men sitting on the sofa next to her and whispered, "They claimed to be from the Baiyun City Calligraphers and Painters Association and came to participate in the competition with their own works. I asked them to follow the procedures, but they insisted on meeting the boss and explaining their creative ideas to him in person."
Lei Peilin's face was full of questions: "I have heard of the Calligraphers Association and the Painters Association. What is this Calligraphers and Painters Association?"
Although he said so, Lei Peilin did not dare to neglect the person with the title of XX Association. Although he had never heard of the name of this association, what if he was just ignorant?
Over there, Ji Wenzhe, who was sitting with his legs crossed and drinking tea, asked impatiently, "How are you doing your job? Didn't I tell you to go call your boss? Why hasn't he come in such a long time?"
Another member of the association said quickly: "That's right, do you know how valuable our Calligraphers and Painters Association is? It's just a small factory, why is the boss playing cards? He made us wait so long."
Obviously, they are proud of their status and consider themselves artists and cultural figures. They look down on businessmen who are full of money and think they are superior to others.
After listening to the girl at the front desk explain the whole story, and hearing the people shouting, Lei Peilin came over and said, "Everyone, I'm Lei Peilin, the manager of Shijinji. Are you here to participate in "Millionaire Painter"? If so, hand your work to me and it will count as your entry."
"You? The manager?"
Ji Wenze was used to looking down on others. He looked Lei Peilin up and down and immediately mocked him with disdain: "You? What art do you, a manager, know? Call your boss over. I want to talk to him in person."
After saying that, he turned his head away and ignored Lei Peilin, perfectly interpreting the four words "arrogant".
Such an arrogant attitude really made Lei Peilin, a usually good-tempered and honest man, unable to suppress his anger.
No matter what association you belong to, even if the king of heaven comes today, you won’t be in the right!
"Sir, please be respectful. I am in charge of this project. If you want to participate, you can give your work to me or submit it according to the process. If you don't want to participate, please leave here immediately!"
Before Ji Wen Ze could say anything, the people around him jumped up.
"How do you talk like that? Do you know who this is?"
"Who are you and who are we? What qualifications do you have to talk to us like this?"
"We are submitting our work to give you face, you should be grateful!"
Lei Peilin frowned. Although he wanted to beat up these old guys severely, he was afraid of something going to happen, so he turned around and left, going to a corner to call Su Yunjin.
After Su Yunjin heard what happened, she was also very angry, but because these people had official status, she didn't know what to do for a moment, so she said: "Call Lu Yiming and ask for his opinion."
