Huayu Entertainment has been quiet lately, probably because they're preparing something big.
Mingwei didn't know what she had said wrong, but Shen Huai suddenly fell silent. After a while, he came to his senses and nodded at her.
"You've worked hard, you can go back now."
Mingwei quickly said goodbye and only breathed a sigh of relief after leaving the house.
After Mingwei left, Shen Huai turned on his computer and made a few arrangements.
Although Shen Huai has the software made by Chen Chiyu, he can't rely on it all. It's better to have a few more safeguards.
Once Shen Huai finished his work, Tang Wanjun, who had been sitting obediently in the chair, quickly floated in front of him, looking very well-behaved.
Although they haven't spent much time together, Shen Huai has already gained some understanding of Tang Wanjun's personality. She is definitely not the type to be so obedient. Her current good behavior must mean she has something to ask for.
Sure enough, Tang Wanjun smiled, revealing her signature sweet smile.
"Brother Shen, I didn't know you were so important, you're the boss of a talent agency?"
Shen Huai looked up at her.
Tang Wanjun's smile grew even sweeter: "So Lu Yang and Sister Mei are both artists under your management?"
Shen Huai: "What do you want to say?"
Tang Wanjun took a few steps back and pointed to herself: "Back then, I fought my way through the fiercely competitive Hong Kong entertainment industry. My abilities shouldn't need further proof, right?"
Shen Huai nodded. Just how popular was Tang Wanjun, the queen of love songs back then? If you were to compare them, you could say that all the top celebrities today combined couldn't beat her.
“Then…” she moved closer, “If I could be resurrected like Lu Yang or Sister Mei, I would sign with your company and it would definitely bring you a lot of profits.”
Shen Huai said calmly, "I don't lack money."
Tang Wanjun was taken aback, and almost without thinking, she blurted out: "Who wouldn't be short of money?"
Seeing that Shen Huai remained unmoved, Tang Wanjun's eyes darted around, and she changed her approach: "So, what do you need?"
She rested her chin on her hand, her beautiful eyes filled with affection: "If you want me, it's not impossible."
Shen Huai's gaze remained unchanged, still indifferent: "If you're trying to test me, you don't need to."
Tang Wanjun's expression froze slightly, but she quickly smiled again and said nonchalantly, "Why would I test you?"
Shen Huai said, "Because Lu Yang treats you as a friend, I trust his judgment; you're not that kind of person."
Tang Wanjun, who was inexplicably fed a bowl of dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection), was speechless.
Tang Wanjun was heartbroken and too lazy to pretend anymore. She reverted to her carefree self and sat down opposite Shen Huai: "Okay, although I'm not that kind of person, it's really hurtful that your gaze didn't change at all. I was once the dream girl of countless young men!"
Shen Huai: "..."
Tang Wanjun had no way to deal with him, so she simply and bluntly asked, "Then what do you want for me to tell you?"
Shen Huai countered with, "Do you want to live?"
Without hesitation, Tang Wanjun replied, "Of course."
Shen Huai: "Why?"
Tang Wanjun frowned: "Why is there no reason? Don't people all want to live?"
Shen Huai remained silent.
He suddenly realized that Tang Wanjun was different from the three big shots mentioned earlier. Tang Wanjun's thinking was more in line with that of most people. Although she had once been known as the Queen of Love Songs, she was different from Ye Cang and the other two.
Ye Cang and his companions possessed an extraordinary pursuit and dedication to art, which is why they endured loneliness in this world. However, Tang Wanjun loved money, food, and pleasure; how did she manage to endure so much loneliness for so many years and still refuse to leave?
Shen Huai suddenly felt that Tang Wanjun might be hiding some secret.
So after that, no matter what Tang Wanjun said, he refused to tell her how to be resurrected. In the end, Tang Wanjun could only get so angry that she floated out of the wall.
After she left, Shen Huai rubbed his forehead. Only now did he realize that compared to Tang Wanjun, the previous three big shots were far too easy to deal with. Even Lao Guo was much more obedient than them.
As Shen Huai was thinking, he suddenly felt a tickle in his throat and couldn't help but cough a few times.
He thought he had caught a cold because he had been too busy lately, so he didn't take it seriously and went back to work.
Fortunately, Shen Huai later discovered that although Tang Wanjun was a bit too unrestrained, she was still quite sensible in her actions. For a while afterward, she behaved herself and followed Shen Huai in and out every day, occasionally giving him some pointers on the company's new employees.
She came from the fiercely competitive Hong Kong entertainment industry and was a top-tier singer. Even after decades, she could still pinpoint problems and helped Shen Huai a lot.
And so things remained peaceful for a while.
Mei Jie has entered the final sprint stage of the college entrance examination and recently moved directly to the school, while Ye Cang is extremely busy.
In the past, Ye Cang would have scoffed at these commercial activities, after all, in his view, a singer only needed to have good works. But since discovering Huayu's conspiracy, Ye Cang realized that if he wanted to remain uninvolved, this was not wrong, but if he wanted to stand by Shen Huai's side and help him share the burden, it was far from enough.
On the contrary, Song Yimian, who had just finished filming a web series and had no extra classes to attend, seemed to have nothing to do. Every day, besides going to acting classes, he would come back to watch movies and analyze them.
Shen Huai has been picking out scripts for him recently, but unfortunately, the one he finally chose is one that he finds difficult to talk about.
Because the lead actor in this drama is none other than Guo Wenyuan.
☆, Chapter 118
Guo Wenyuan's new drama is a spy drama called "East City Fog". It is an adaptation of an IP, and Guo Wenyuan himself found the original work and invested in it.
After experiencing all sorts of unreliable "domineering CEO falls in love with me" scenarios with his assistant, Guo Wenyuan lost his temper and simply rolled up his sleeves to find someone himself.
Du Yuping has been acting for so many years, so he has a good eye for talent. As an actor, he didn't have many choices back then, but now that he's an investor, he naturally wants to make up for his past regrets.
However, he did not expect that even after becoming an investor, he would still face the same predicament as before.
After all, it's either something he doesn't like, or something he does like, but the company's investment department also has their eye on it. His assistant is crying and begging him to stop him from causing trouble.
So after all this time, Guo Wenyuan still only had "Red Actress" as a resource.
Finally, Guo Wenyuan went all out and camped out in the company's copyright department, finding many works he thought were good and discussing them with Shen Huai.
Shen Huai picked out this book, "The Mist of the Eastern City," from the pile of books.
Actually, this book didn't do very well when it was serialized online. The author's writing style was rather immature. Although the plot was ingenious and there were many parts that were refreshing, there were also quite a few plot holes.
Guanrui's copyright department has also been somewhat hesitant.
However, Guo Wenyuan trusted Shen Huai very much, so he made the decision to buy the property and act as the lead actor and producer himself.
Guo Wenyuan knew that the script was the core of a drama, so after buying the rights, he spent a lot of money to find a top screenwriter in the industry. However, when it came to choosing a director, he chose a nobody named Shao Ning.
Shao Ning is not a professional director; he is just interested in the industry. During his vacation, he rented Yi Mian's film studio and shot a short film.
At that time, Du Yuping had not yet met Shen Huai. As a lonely ghost trapped in Yunshui Film and Television City, he would watch Shao Ning's films every day when he had nothing to do, and then complain about the unprofessional acting skills of the unprofessional actors in this unprofessional crew.
But he had high hopes for Shao Ning.
Shao Ning is not a professionally trained director; his passion for film stems entirely from his own love of it. His cinematic language is not as polished and refined as that of professionally trained directors, and it carries a touch of unorthodox skill.
Unfortunately, Du Yuping was also self-taught, and the wit and charm that Shao Ning's unprofessional audiovisual language revealed was exactly to his liking.
Upon learning this, Shao Ning immediately dropped out of school and enrolled in a directing training course.
This move directly caused many actors to back out, after all, it's hard to trust a director who's still in training.
When Guo Wenyuan was discussing the script with Shen Huai, he made a few complaints.
Shen Huai kept it in mind.
Later, when Shen Huai was looking for a new role for Song Yimian, he thought of this drama.
He asked Guo Wenyuan for the script to read, and he had to admit, a top-notch screenwriter is a top-notch screenwriter. He almost completely changed the overall structure of "East City Fog," making the plot more compact and exciting, while retaining the ingenious plot settings and intellectual battles of the original work. What surprised Shen Huai even more was that after the screenwriter's radical adaptation, the characters were much more fleshed out. Just reading the script, he could imagine how exciting the entire series would be.
The most unexpected villain in the story is an upright and shy student on the surface, but in reality, he is a spy planted in China by the Japanese army. He clashes with the protagonist several times, admires the protagonist greatly, but is extremely ruthless when dealing with the protagonist. The contrast between these two sides is huge, making the character full of tension.
This is the role that Shen Huai wanted Song Yimian to audition for.
Although several months have passed since Song Yimian's accident, and the two had scenes together in "The Red Performer," Song Yimian's role was small, and the actual filming time was not long. However, in "East City Fog," the two will have a large number of scenes together, which is no longer a simple matter.
That's why Shen Huai suggested Song Yimian try for "Red Actress" back then, but he hesitated when it came to "East City Fog".
In the end, Shen Huai had no choice but to temporarily put aside the script for "East City Fog" and go on to look at other scripts.
When Song Yimian returned from class, she received a call from the cook. She said she had made a stew of fritillaria and pear soup for Shen Huai, but because she had something urgent to attend to at home, she asked Song Yimian to deliver it for her.
Song Yimian readily agreed and brought the pear soup to the company.
Just then, Shen Huai was in a meeting. His assistant, knowing that he was Shen Huai's artist, let him into the office and asked him to wait.
Song Yimian placed the pear soup on Shen Huai's table. When he turned around, he accidentally knocked over a notebook. He was about to pick it up and put it back when he saw Shen Huai writing his name on the script cover with a pencil.
Song Yimian was a little curious, so he opened the script to take a look. He was so engrossed in it that he didn't even notice Shen Huai coming in.
Shen Huai hadn't expected Song Yimian to see the script for "East City Fog," and for a moment he didn't know how to explain it.
Song Yimian didn't notice his predicament. Although he tried his best to restrain himself, his excitement was still evident. He cautiously said, "Brother Shen, this script is really good. The plot is very exciting. Is it the new drama you picked out for me?"
Shen Huai hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Song Yimian's face immediately lit up with excitement, but he quickly composed himself, gripping the script tightly with both hands. As a nobody who had been struggling in the entertainment industry for two years, he knew all too well how rare it was to come across such a good script. Moreover, he had seen Shen Huai's analysis in the script; Shen Huai wanted him to audition for the villain Pu Ye, which was also the role Song Yimian most desired to play.
Seeing this, Shen Huai stopped hiding it from him: "This script is indeed very good, and I have indeed considered it, but..."
When Song Yimian saw Shen Huai's slightly furrowed brows, his initial excitement gradually cooled down. Shen Huai understood better than him what a great opportunity this role was, and there must be another reason why he hadn't told him.
Shen Huai sighed and didn't hide it from him: "The producer and lead actor of this drama is Guo Wenyuan."
Song Yimian was stunned.
Compared to how he used to turn pale at the mere mention of Guo Wenyuan's name, he is much better now, but the thought of this person still involuntarily evokes feelings of disgust and fear in him.
Shen Huai noticed his expression and comforted him, saying, "It's okay, there will be other better opportunities in the future."
Song Yimian pursed his lips tightly and didn't speak, but he and Shen Huai both understood that for a nobody like him, such an opportunity was rare and hard to come by, otherwise Shen Huai wouldn't have hesitated so much.
Shen Huai was about to say something when Tang Wanjun, who had been watching them from the side, spoke up calmly: "I have never seen an agent like you. With such a good opportunity in front of you, you don't force him to take it, but instead consider his feelings?"
Her gaze shifted from Shen Huai to Song Yimian, and she said almost inaudibly, "You're really lucky..."
Shen Huai noticed that Tang Wanjun's mood had suddenly become depressed, which he found rather strange.
Just then, Song Yimian spoke up, looking at Shen Huai with a determined expression: "Brother Shen, I've made up my mind. I want to participate in the audition."
☆, Chapter 119