Ma Yuan was taken aback, showing a hint of helplessness and a trace of displeasure in his expression.
He had just raised his evaluation of Zhou Wang in his mind, but in the blink of an eye, Zhou Wang was displaying the "naivety" of a young person again?
He felt that his hint was already obvious enough.
Yes, as a director, Xu Youguang having inappropriate relations with a female actress wasn’t the issue, but causing controversy within the crew was indeed a dereliction of duty.
However, Xu Youguang was a director whom he personally promoted, an old hand at Daxia Film and Television. Even if he didn’t care about other considerations, he still had to honor some old ties.
In any case, it wasn’t a big issue. To Ma Yuan, abruptly changing the director for this reason seemed a bit rash.
Zhou Wang should have understood, yet he still insisted, naturally leaving Ma Yuan slightly irritated.
"Mr. Zhou..."
"Mr. Ma, let me introduce someone to you."
Just as Ma Yuan was about to speak, Zhou Wang suddenly smiled and waved toward the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling window. Ruan Jingwei, who had been waiting for some time, quickly walked over.
Zhou Wang stood up first. Ma Yuan had no choice but to follow suit and looked at Ruan Jingwei with confusion, "And this is..."
"Mr. Ma, hello, my name is Ruan Jingwei. I’m the Deputy General Manager of Xinghui International Travel’s Li City division."
After shaking hands with Ma Yuan, Ruan Jingwei handed over his business card.
"Xinghui International?"
Hearing these four words, Ma Yuan was visibly surprised.
Because most of the filming for "Endless Horizons" needed to be completed in Yunan Province, involving multiple locations like Shangri-La, Xishuangbanna, Li City, Jianshui besides White City.
Beyond seeking support from local cultural and tourism entities, collaborating with local travel companies in some respects was inevitable.
For example, coordinating mass extras through official channels was often less effective than using these well-connected travel companies.
And as one of the top three industry giants in Yunan Province, Xinghui International was among the few companies that could provide comprehensive conveniences across the province.
Ma Yuan had heard about this from the production team during the early setup phase, so it left an impression.
Looking at Ruan Jingwei’s youthful appearance, then at the "Deputy General Manager" title printed on his business card, Ma Yuan seemed to realize something and tentatively asked:
"Mr. Ruan, is Xinghui International..."
"A family business, I’m learning and taking over simultaneously."
Ruan Jingwei naturally understood what Ma Yuan wanted to ask and smiled unabashedly.
"Mr. Ruan, you are modest. At your age, being able to stand on your own, most people would want to learn from you instead. No wonder you are friends with Mr. Zhou, both young talents!"
Ma Yuan burst into laughter.
Zhou Wang invited the two to sit again, refilled their tea, then smiled at Ma Yuan:
"Mr. Ma, I called Wei over today to see if we can foster a collaboration between Xinghui Travel and the ’Endless Horizons’ crew, to achieve a certain degree of win-win?"
"Oh, how so?"
From the moment they began, Ma Yuan’s mind was racing. He couldn’t help but sit up straight.
"In fact, our Xinghui Travel has had similar cases before. We can offer many conveniences to the crew, such as..."
Ruan Jingwei took up the conversation, smiling, "Mr. Ma, I heard the ’Endless Horizons’ crew is staying at the Pinewood Hill Hotel by Erhai in White City?"
"Yes."
"Well, just so happens that Xinghui International has an annual agreement with Pinewood Hill Hotel. I’m quite familiar with their owner. If we, Xinghui International, intervene, conservatively speaking, we can reduce your hotel costs by at least 40%."
"40%?"
Ma Yuan was momentarily stunned.
Due to the ample budget, the crew was currently staying at this high-end hillside hotel in White City, with a monthly full-rental fee reaching two million.
Yes, two million...
Considering White City’s generally high hotel prices, this was already a discounted result based on the original price, initially secured after the production team paid an intermediary fee and coordinated through a local travel agency to get an "internal rate."
Reducing another 40% would save eight hundred thousand.
With a three-month filming schedule, saving over two million just on hotel expenses alone.
"Mr. Ruan, are you aware of the current rental price we settled on..."
"I know, the travel agency you went through negotiated a rate of two million one hundred thousand, correct... As I said, we can reduce it by another 40%."
Ruan Jingwei maintained his smile, appearing exceedingly composed.
"But we’ve already signed the agreement..."
"Re-sign."
"..."
Ma Yuan opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say for a moment.
How could you be so confident?
Actually, Ma Yuan wanted to ask that very question, but he knew that the backing of Xinghui International was precisely Ruan Jingwei’s confidence...
"Accommodation is just one aspect, our Xinghui International can do so much more."
At this point, Ruan Jingwei continued to smile, "For instance, costume and prop production, I can connect you with contacts who can provide everything at cost."
"For example, I heard last week that when your director team scouted the ancient city, they were refused filming due to conflicting with the city’s protection measures, is that right? But with our professional guides, that’s not a problem."
"In short, no matter what issues you encounter during filming, we can help you solve them. Whether it’s non-public scenic spots, quick coordination of a large number of extras, or eliminating safety hazards due to local customs..."
"Everything I’ve mentioned isn’t limited to White City. Across the entire Yunan Province, and even more broadly, in any region of Southeast Asia, we have strong coordination capabilities, ensuring that your entire crew can move seamlessly wherever they go..."