Lu Chen: The Mad Genius Of Creativity-Chapter 40 - Uncle Dong’s Cosplay Goes Viral! Breaking Ice Finds a Buyer!

Chapter 40: Uncle Dong’s Cosplay Goes Viral! Breaking Ice Finds a Buyer!

In just one night, the video amassed 80 million views, over 2 million likes, and more than 150,000 comments.

Gaining her 300,000 new followers!

Seeing these stats, Song Xiaoling was utterly stunned!

“Ahhh!!”

The next moment, she was dancing excitedly on her bed!

_____

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Meanwhile, in his apartment, Lu Chen woke up feeling extraordinarily refreshed, both physically and mentally!

It seemed his body strengthening had required extensive rest, which explained why he slept so soundly the previous night. As he casually made some breakfast, Lu Chen ate while reviewing footage of yesterday’s competition.

After watching the video, he finally realized Chen Sicheng’s prejudice against him had been evident from the start.

“No wonder he targeted me yesterday.”

Lu Chen smirked.

“Jealous of my good looks?

Or maybe he sensed my extraordinary talent and felt envious?”

Everyone knew that Chen Sicheng, nicknamed Pretentious King, was not only highly narcissistic but also immensely proud of his abilities. He had frequently boasted in public about his excellence.

As an actor, he made it to the top tier.

As a director, he was the first to direct a film grossing over 10 billion.

As a screenwriter, he was also among the best!

He was a rare, all-rounder double threat in the entertainment industry—a mix of good looks and talent!

However, precisely because of his constant self-praise, he had earned the nickname Pretentious King.

“Great… Looks like Pretentious King Chen will probably try to trip me up in the upcoming rounds.”

“And what? Just because of Beijing Love Story and the Detective Chinatown series?”

Lu Chen chuckled, “Ridiculous.”

_____

At 1 PM, Lu Chen received a call from Hong Tao. He was instructed to head to the program headquarters. The representatives from the five competing production companies had already started arriving.

In the taxi, Lu Chen sat in the backseat with his eyes closed, resting. From the front row, a girl’s fingers were tapping away on her phone.

“Who is this Lin Yaodong? Why are there so many cosplay videos of him?”

“Lin Yaodong? Uncle Dong! You don’t know him?” The driver asked.

“Nope. Is he a character from a TV show or a movie?”

“Miss, haven’t you heard of the Godlike Writing Contest?”

“Uh… I’ve heard of it. Why?”

“This Lin Yaodong is the main villain in the most buzzworthy story from yesterday—a big drug lord. He’s super charismatic!”

The driver eagerly explained.

Hearing their conversation, Lu Chen, sitting in the back, was thankful he had worn large sunglasses. Otherwise, he’d likely have been recognized.

He pulled out his phone and checked Douyin, finding countless Lin Yaodong cosplay videos. Some of them were quite well done. But since Lu Chen had the original image of Wang Jinsong in his mind,

These ‘Uncle Dong’ cosplays still fell far short. After the driver finished explaining, the girl finally understood.

“Oh, so that’s what it is! No wonder so many influencers are doing cosplay. I’ve seen over 20 of these videos this morning. But they’re pretty cool—some of them really capture the vibe!”

“Right? That Chen Sicheng guy even said yesterday this story wouldn’t be popular. Look at it now—just the cosplay trend alone is exploding. Imagine how huge it’ll be when it becomes a TV series!”

“Yeah, I’ll definitely check out this drama when it’s out!”

“Me too. Hopefully, the quality will hold up!”

Listening to their conversation, Lu Chen nodded to himself.

“I didn’t expect such high anticipation from netizens. Looks like I need to focus even more on maintaining quality!”

______

One hour later, inside the program’s meeting room, Lu Chen was seated, ready to face interviews from the five competing production companies.

“Knock, knock!”

The glass door was gently knocked.

“Hello, Mr. Lu Chen. I’m Qin Shuang, head of drama production at Huanyu Entertainment.”

“Hello, Mr. Qin!”

The first to be called in was Huanyu Entertainment. After exchanging pleasantries, Qin Shuang opened a PowerPoint presentation, enthusiastically showcasing Huanyu’s past works—Legend of Lu Zhen, Story of Yanxi Palace and Arsenal Military Academy.

Lu Chen was stunned.

“Story of Yanxi Palace? Your boss is Yu Zheng?”

“Director Yu is our company’s co-founder and lead director. Our boss’s name is Li Da, Mr. Lu,” Qin Shuang explained with a smile.

Lu Chen nodded.

So, Huanyu Entertainment was another company in the same vein as Jiaxing…

In his mind, Lu Chen pressed the pass button! Ultimately, Huanyu Entertainment offered a price of 3 million plus 15% screenwriter royalties. It was only at this point that Lu Chen’s understanding of the screenwriting industry in this parallel world suddenly awakened.

He was stunned. He hadn’t realized screenwriting was such a lucrative field here! Soon after, it was time for the next group—Aiqiyi.

Like Huanyu Entertainment, they started with a polished PPT showcasing their company’s background and portfolio. The presentation was flashy, but Lu Chen wasn’t impressed. Their offer was also 3 million, but they upped the royalties to 17%.

Let’s put this on hold for now, Lu Chen thought.

Next up was Jiaxing.

“Mr. Lu Chen, hello.”

To Lu Chen’s surprise, the team from Jiaxing was led by none other than Yang Mi herself.

“Hello, Ms. Yang. It’s an honor to meet you!”

The two shook hands warmly.

“I didn’t expect to receive Mr. Lu Chen’s favor. It seems we’re destined to work together,” Yang Mi said with a saccharine smile.

Lu Chen recognized her strategy immediately—it was a classic attempt to play on emotions and build rapport. He didn’t fall for it.

“Ms. Yang, shall we get started?”

“Of course, let’s begin…”

Yang Mi was momentarily taken aback, not expecting Lu Chen to be so serious and straightforward. She quickly pivoted to presenting her company’s strengths.

Like Huanyu and Aiqiyi, she talked about Jiaxing’s background and portfolio. But her twist was that she proposed specific celebrity casting choices for the roles. However, Lu Chen was speechless when he realized her plan.

She intended to turn Breaking Ice, a middle-aged ensemble drama, into an idol drama! This was utterly unacceptable.

“Uncle could bear it, but Auntie definitely could not!”

His earlier decision to preemptively pass on Jiaxing was now validated. Jiaxing’s final offer was 2 million in cash plus 15% basic royalties.

Any sense of sincerity completely crumbled at this point.

Once the Jiaxing team left the meeting room, Lu Chen let out a long sigh of relief.

“Finally got rid of them!”

“Next up—Daylight Entertainment!”

The glass door opened, and three tall men walked in.

“Hello, Mr. Lu Chen. I’m Hou Hongliang from Daylight Entertainment. This is Director Kong Sheng, and this is Director Li Xue.”

Lu Chen’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t expected the Iron Triangle to show up in person!

Their level of sincerity far surpassed Yang Mi’s.

“Hello, esteemed teachers.”

After some polite small talk, they all sat down.

Hou Hongliang pulled out a thick stack of documents from his briefcase.

“Mr. Lu Chen, this is the proposal we worked overnight to prepare for Breaking Ice. Please take a look.”

“A proposal?”

Lu Chen took the documents and began flipping through them. From the very first page, he was impressed.

Daylight Entertainment planned for both Kong Sheng and Li Xue to co-direct Breaking Ice!

This level of sincerity was outstanding!

The proposal covered every detail meticulously—filming locations, crew size, production scale, costumes, props, and more!

It was all thoroughly planned out. Lu Chen was incredulous.

“Mr. Hou, Director Kong, Director Li—did your team really prepare this entire proposal overnight?”

Hou Hongliang nodded with a smile.

“Directors Kong and Li worked through the night to finalize this proposal.

We hope it meets your expectations, Mr. Lu Chen.”

Lu Chen glanced at Kong Sheng and Li Xue, both sporting panda-like dark circles under their eyes, along with Hou’s own tired expression. Their sincerity deeply moved him.

Daylight Entertainment truly lived up to his expectations—they were reliable in every way. Their final offer was 4 million plus 25% screenwriter royalties, the most generous and sincere offer of all!

At this point, Lu Chen was nearly certain Breaking Ice would go to Daylight Entertainment. However, there was still one more group—Huayi Brothers. So, he had to keep Daylight Entertainment on hold for now.

_____

For the final interview, the team from Huayi Brothers entered the meeting room.

“Hello, Mr. Lu Chen. I’m Li Kai, the Deputy General Manager of Huayi Brothers Entertainment.”

“Hello, Mr. Li.”

Skipping formalities, they sat down, and Li Kai pulled out a box from his briefcase. From the box, he took out a long rectangular piece of paper and placed it on the table.

Lu Chen looked closely.

It was a blank check!

Li Kai smiled.

“Mr. Lu Chen, I’ll skip the pleasantries and get straight to the point.

We at Huayi Brothers are very interested in your story. I’m sure you’re well aware of our resources and capabilities.

Our Chairman has authorized me to give you this blank check. You can write down any amount you want. We at Huayi would be delighted to work with you!”