In this world, it's either you die or I die. She remembered best what Huaiyu said: "—Besides, I already have someone."
She knew she was powerless; how could she possibly strive for advancement? It must be someone who flattered her. She wasn't unaware that without the support of power, she would forever remain a tiny bubble in the vast sea of humanity.
Jin Xiaofeng kept staring at her, calculating, and then deliberately said:
"However, you're not one of my people. If I invest too much, how will I recoup my losses?"
"How about I ask you to be my godfather?"
"Haha!" Jin Xiaofeng laughed loudly:
“I won’t accept you. If I accept you as my goddaughter, I won’t be able to say a single word to you in the future. That would be such a spoilsport! It’s really not worth it.”
Upon hearing this, Dandan's face changed drastically, turning pale and red, and she was at a loss for what to do, wondering what "profit" meant.
She's like an angry kitten; when things are calm, it's alright for her to throw a little tantrum. But once she's enraged, her tail bristles, her eyes flash with a hint of ferocity, and she bares her teeth in self-defense.
"I refuse! Don't bully me! If you don't want my stick anymore, I'll just leave. What's the difference between you and those thugs on the overpass?..."
As she spoke, she was overcome with grief and burst into tears. She had fallen into a trap from the start and was being forced into prostitution: "Let me go! Let me go! I won't!"
"Don't cry," Jin Xiaofeng laughed, "What's there to say and not say? You're really silly."
"You're all like this! Shanghai is full of bad guys!"
Jin Xiaofeng watched her commotion for a while without reacting, and once she calmed down a bit, he seized the opportunity and said:
"Huh? You're eighteen too, not eight. I'm going to all this trouble to make someone famous, of course I have a reason. — You can refuse, but am I going to force you to agree? Pfft, what's going on here?"
Dandan sobbed, "I'm sorry, Mr. Jin."
"Xiao Dan, dancing like this a few times is like running a horse in a shoe—it doesn't lead to much. In Shanghai, there are probably ten thousand of them, dancing until they're thirty. Even selling your thighs doesn't last past thirty. A girl's career only lasts a few years." Jin Xiaofeng was very interested in cultivating her, to see what kind of flower she would become. She had potential—perhaps she would later reveal her true colors. Just look at that daring courage. A beautiful woman with courage is always more attractive than one without.
"I'll just pay up, Xiao Dan. You can use me as a stepping stone. I have too much money to spend."
“I refuse.”
"We'll talk about it later," Jin Xiaofeng smiled, "Only one condition: you're committed and won't switch jobs?"
"Won't!"
"Okay, it's a deal."
After Dandan left, full of doubts, Jin Xiaofeng was also a little confused. Why did he promote her? Did he want her to agree step by step, voluntarily? It was a long and complicated game, spanning past and present lives.
Loving someone is always an adventure. Of course, buying someone is easier. —But not everyone can buy someone.
Dandan couldn't sleep all night.
The dormitory at Lili Girls' School was packed with beds on the third floor, one next to another, seemingly endless. Out of ten thousand talented girls who could sing and dance, only one would become a star. Didn't she realize she was beginning to sink into a quagmire?
However, she also began to admire authority figures immensely, loving them to the point of wanting them to live and hating them to the point of wanting them to die, promoting them to fame and trampling on their evil deeds. Why did she receive such favor? She herself felt a somewhat bewildered sense of pride. If she wanted to climb higher, she had to borrow the power of others, relying on heroes or beauties to gain influence. To be honest, not many of these paths were the right ones, as the stories and songs she had heard since childhood had taught her.
Shanghai is a film capital. Nowhere else in the country is the film industry more developed.
As the trend was inevitable, silent films were transitioning to sound films. The "first" sound film, which was made with a large investment, was able to record the sound onto a wax disc during filming, which everyone thought was remarkable.
Filming for "The Peach Blossom and the Human Face" has been underway for half a month, but the major scenes haven't been filmed yet. The story is about a singing girl, played by Duan Pingting, who is poisoned by feudal ethics and suffers severe torment and oppression; yet she remains unyielding and falls in love with a Peking Opera singer, played by Tang Huaiyu. Utilizing the audio format, the production intersperses segments of Peking Opera, all of which are his signature pieces: "Burning Pei Yuanqing," "Lu Wenlong with Double Spears," "Jiepai Pass," and "Killing at the Four Gates."
Today's filming is for the scene from "Killing the Four Gates." To match the film's style, Huaiyu's makeup can't be as heavy as it is on stage. Duan Pingting is with him, constantly looking in the mirror. She asks:
Do you remember our dialogue?
Huaiyu focused intently on applying the red pigment, and then said:
"I shared half a pear with you, and you were a little sad, whispering, 'Oh no, I don't want to share a pear with you!' right?"
Duan Pingting smiled:
“You know what? In the past, if you forgot your lines, you could just say, ‘One, two, three, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven!’ — But you can’t do that now, and it’s not easy to be lazy.”
The set in the film studio was backstage, and Huaiyu's character was dressed in mourning attire, in black and white. Duan Pingting straightened the irregular hem of his shirt, giving him a disapproving look.
There's a saying: "When a man is quiet, he's dressed in black; when a woman is quiet, she's dressed in mourning." Oh, so you get to enjoy all the glory?
When it was time to rehearse, Duan Pingting tried her best to deliver that line with deep emotion:
"I don't want to. I don't want to share a pear with you!"
The sound was too low, and the recording was unclear. The director shouted, "Hey! Move the fishing rod closer!"
Then, before he could finish speaking, the director shouted again, "Ahem! In the shot! In the shot!"
The microphone, tied to a long bamboo pole and secured with a cord, swayed and bounced. After seven tries, their emotions had dried up. Duan Pingting and Tang Huaiyu, with weary smiles, reluctantly raised their voices, barely managing to shout:
"I don't want to! I! Don't want to share a pear with you!"
It's really suffering.
After a long and arduous day of filming, the stars could finally leave, but the director still had to consult with the arrogant and domineering sound engineer from America about the desired sound quality. He had no choice but to humble himself, because although he had a boss who was paying him, he didn't have any skilled technicians available, so he had to rely on foreign help.
But then he put on airs again, knowing that the Chinese would beg for their help, and always treated the recording studio as a top-secret location, not letting the director in easily.
Aside from the entanglements between Chinese and foreigners, as soon as Huaiyu finished her makeup, Duan Pingting had Mary bring over a cardboard box labeled "Shangmaimai." Inside was a beige three-piece suit, white socks, and a pair of white openwork leather shoes with black lace trim.
To everyone's surprise, Huaiyu smiled slyly and pulled out another cardboard box, which was a gift for her.
Night fell, and the dance at the Jiangzhong Hotel began. Originally, Chinese people were not allowed to attend, but since its reopening, well-dressed "elite Chinese" were welcome. The lights of the hotel were bright and cheerful.