Chapter 76

The Mid-Autumn Festival passed quickly, and on the 13th, early in the morning, the cast and crew of "Blue生死恋" (Blue Life and Death) were to gather again to start shooting the next scenes.

It was just eight o'clock when Lee Jung-hui arrived, but even earlier were Park Dong-jeom and Yoon Seok-ho, who were watching TV in the KBS lounge. The TV was showing the morning news, which was still related to "Blue生死恋."

"Hmm, I've watched 'Blue生死恋,' it's really great. The visuals are stunning, clearly a step above other dramas, and the music is beautiful. Dr. Lee Jung-hui is indeed a genius, he hasn't disappointed us..."

"Ah, 'Blue生死恋,' of course I've watched it. The plot is amazing, it was so heart-wrenching, but I couldn't stop watching. Yes, I'm really looking forward to the next episodes and Dr. Lee Jung-hui's performance..."

"Jung-hui oppa, you're the best, I love you so much, keep it up, and happy Mid-Autumn Festival..."

All positive reviews, this was KBS's swift response after the first episode of "Blue生死恋" achieved a record-breaking viewership. The news had started broadcasting from noon the previous day.

From noon, evening, and then this morning, it was a continuous bombardment. Of course, it wasn't just on KBS's own platform. Due to the high ratings, advertisers flocked in, and KBS was willing to spend money, promoting on other media like the "Chosun Ilbo" as well.

Therefore, when Park Dong-jeom saw Lee Jung-hui appear, his eyes nearly squinted with a smile, and he patted his shoulder hard, laughing, "Forty point six, Jung-hui, the second episode has already broken forty point six, and in Seoul, it's even at forty-five point three..."

On the other side, Yoon Seok-ho looked at Lee Jung-hui with admiration, but his voice was slightly lower because the information he was about to share was confidential, "I really didn't expect your promotional methods to be so effective!"

Park Dong-jeom also nodded in agreement, "Yes, I was quite anxious at first," and then he joked with Lee Jung-hui, "I was afraid that the drama would flop, but you would become famous. Should I have come to your company to look for a job then!"

Lee Jung-hui chuckled, half-jokingly saying, "Really, I was thinking of poaching you too!" Seeing Park Dong-jeom's surprise, he quickly changed the subject, as it wasn't the right time to discuss this.

Park Dong-jeom didn't think much about it; he was more concerned with something else. He pulled Lee Jung-hui to sit down, then had his assistant make coffee, and said, "How about the script we talked about yesterday?"

Lee Jung-hui laughed, took off his bag, and pulled out six scripts, handing them to Park Dong-jeom, "Here they are, six of them, take a look first."

These six scripts only contained the first few episodes and the overall outline, so they weren't too many. However, the quantity was quite impressive, even Yoon Seok-ho stared at him in surprise and took one to look at.

"So many!" Park Dong-jeom still marveled, looking at Lee Jung-hui with a puzzled expression, just like Yoon Seok-ho.

Lee Jung-hui just smiled. He didn't care what others thought. When one person does something amazing, people are surprised, but if it happens often, they get used to it.

What he needed to do now was to show his seemingly extraordinary abilities early on, so people would get used to it. This was based on his excellent performance over the past half year, making it more appropriate.

"What's so strange about it," Lee Jung-hui said casually, "I told you before, I have several scripts. I've been bored lately, so I wrote some more." Then he shrugged and smiled, "Don't think I'm just messing around. I'm a genius, my speed is beyond your imagination. At the very least, I think these scripts are all great..."

His light-hearted words actually made Park Dong-jeom feel more at ease, because Lee Jung-hui was indeed a genius. Wasn't an 18-year-old Harvard economics Ph.D. enough?

So, he started to read the scripts calmly, but then Lee Jung-hui added, "Not to brag, but I'll be publishing a novel in the U.S. soon. Yes, it will be great, you'll see!"

Park Dong-jeom was speechless. What could he say? But this made him even more confident. As Lee Jung-hui had thought, the more extraordinary you are, the more people trust you. Yoon Seok-ho also sighed and shook his head, but he didn't know what to say, as he had already said too many praises.

Then, Lee Jung-hui suddenly said to him, "Director Yoon, didn't I tell you that 'Blue生死恋' is a series? This is the autumn story, and I'm already preparing the winter story. I'll need you to direct it again..."

"Ah!" Yoon Seok-ho was taken aback but quickly nodded, "Sure, no problem," "Blue生死恋" was so popular, and as long as it didn't flop, he, as the director, would also become famous.

However, how could he refuse the sequel to "Blue生死恋" and the opportunity to work with this genius?

Beside him, Park Dong-jeom grabbed Lee Jung-hui, "Hey, I'm just saying, the winter story must be for KBS, or I'll be upset with you..."

"Minister Park, you're really greedy," Lee Jung-hui teased him, "You already have six scripts, and now you're thinking about the one that hasn't even appeared yet..."

Then, the three of them laughed. With "Blue生死恋" performing so well, their relationship was as harmonious as ever.

At 8:30, the gathering time arrived. Park Dong-jeom couldn't finish reading the six scripts right away, but he wasn't in a hurry. He had them photocopied and given to the production team to review, as this was a decision that everyone needed to make together.

Moreover, he thought the same as Lee Jung-hui. If the scripts were good, he planned to take several to prepare for the schedule for the next year. He had even discussed this with Song Yong-jin the previous day after talking to Lee Jung-hui, originally thinking about whether Lee Jung-hui could write more scripts, but he didn't expect that Lee Jung-hui had already written several.

"Alright, I have some good news to share," after everyone gathered, Park Dong-jeom stood on the steps, looking quite spirited. He raised his hand to signal for everyone to quiet down, then loudly announced, "The ratings for yesterday are out. The national AGB rating is forty point six, and in Seoul, it's forty-five point three..."

There was a burst of cheers from the dozens of crew members. Some had already heard about the first episode's ratings, but they didn't expect the second episode to perform so well. Those who were hearing the ratings for the first time were even more ecstatic.

Among them was Son Ye-jin, who had just arrived in a chauffeur-driven car from home.

She had returned home for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and Park Dong-jeom and others had forgotten to notify her, so she only found out about the good ratings now.

Originally, she was quite tired after leaving at around three in the morning and traveling for several hours, but she suddenly became very energetic. She even jumped onto Lee Jung-hui's back, hugging his neck and waving her right hand in the air, shouting, "Wow, we're rich, we're rich..."

Then, she said excitedly, "Forty point six for the second episode, it looks like the final average rating will definitely reach forty!" She counted on her fingers, "In that case, I can earn 30 million per episode, 16 episodes, that's 480 million..."

"480 million, oh my God, I actually made so much money!" Son Ye-jin's delicate face turned red with excitement, almost kissing Lee Jung-hui.

Realizing she was riding on his back and that people were watching, she quickly got down and gave him an elbow, saying, "You made a lot too, didn't you!"

"No matter how much I make, it's not as much as you," Lee Jung-hui shrugged helplessly, "I'm going to donate half of it..."

"I mean the part you're exploiting from me!" Son Ye-jin glared at him, but she looked like she was pouting, her cheeks cutely puffed up, "You didn't do anything, and you're taking thirty percent from me, that's... oh my God, over 100 million!"

At first, she hadn't thought about it carefully, just saying it offhand, but when she calculated it in her head, she realized it was over 100 million. For a girl with only a few hundred thousand in assets, that was an astronomical amount.

So, she really felt the pain, grabbing Lee Jung-hui's hand and hitting him, "You shameless guy, you're exploiting over 100 million from me, you, you give it back..."

Lee Jung-hui laughed, "I don't even feel bad about donating half, and you're only giving up thirty percent," he paused, then added, "Besides, think about it, you got such a high salary because of the performance-based contract I set up. If you went to another agency, they would take at least seventy percent..."

That was true, Son Ye-jin thought. Song Seung-heon only got 15 million per episode, and even with her thirty percent, she would still get over 20 million, which was an A-level actor's salary.

Of course, she wouldn't admit it out loud. She just pulled Lee Jung-hui, pouting and trying to get him to reduce the thirty percent, knowing that the company was his and he was easy to bully...

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