Hua Rong raised her hand to stop him, and sneered, "I don't have time to listen to your nonsense right now. Go change your clothes later, and I'll take you to apologize to President Guo. If he's not appeased, don't come back."
The light on Song Yimian's face dimmed. He seemed to struggle for a long time before whispering, "Sister Hua, I... don't want to go..."
"What did you say?!"
Song Yimian pursed his lips: "Sister Hua, I'm really not good at those kinds of occasions. Can I stop going in the future?"
Hua Rong looked at him in disbelief, then sneered, "You don't want to renew your contract? Without anyone promoting you, do you think you can become famous?"
"I don't care about being famous, I just want to act well." Song Yimian looked at Hua Rong pleadingly. "Sister Hua, I can sign the lowest contract. As long as I can continue acting, I will work hard..."
Hua Rong slammed the notebook at him: "Song Yimian, can't you understand human language? Do you know how many actors there are in Zhongjing City? There are tons of good-looking and talented actors out there. If you can't become famous, what's the difference between me signing them and signing you? They're even more sensible than you!"
After she finished speaking, she softened her voice, "Yimian, the competition in this industry is fierce and cruel. If you don't want to be trampled on, you can only keep climbing up, even if it means using any means necessary. Once you succeed, no one will care about these things!"
“I brought you into this industry myself, would I ever harm you? President Guo is really good-looking, not even thirty years old, and he’s not bad-looking either. He’s also known for his generosity in the industry. If you can make him happy, you might not only get a supporting role, but even a leading role.”
Hua Rong thought she had already considered Song Yimian's feelings very much, but to her surprise, Song Yimian's face turned ashen after hearing this, and his last glimmer of hope for Hua Rong vanished.
Song Yimian took a half step back, then raised his head again. There was no hesitation on his face. He shook his head and said, "Sister Hua, I'm sorry. Although I like acting, I also have my bottom line. If this is the only way to get a contract renewal, then I give up. Let's terminate the contract."
Hua Rong's eyes widened; she simply couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"You want to terminate the contract?!"
Song Yimian nodded, then bowed solemnly to Hua Rong: "Thank you for your tolerance and guidance over the past two years, Sister Hua. I'm sorry I've let you down."
After he finished speaking, he walked over, opened the office door, and left without looking back.
Hua Rong watched his retreating figure, furious. Over the years, she had only ever rejected artists, never anyone had ever dared to treat her like this!
Hua Rong gritted her teeth and cursed Song Yimian.
Just then, her phone rang. Hua Rong picked it up impatiently, but her expression changed immediately when she saw the number on the screen. She quickly answered the call.
"Hey! Mr. Guo, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault for not guiding him properly..."
"This...this isn't appropriate, is it? Okay, okay, I understand."
Hua Rong hung up the phone, her gaze icy, and said in a low voice, "Since you're going to terminate the contract, then don't blame me..."
Chapter 84
The celebration party for "Honey" surpassing 1 billion views was held on the top floor of the Morden Hotel. For a web series, this was quite a high-profile event, but the investors were happy.
Shen Huai was driving, and Chu Meibo was in the passenger seat. Both of them were looking straight ahead and did not speak.
The screen in the back seat was playing movies released in recent years, but besides the movie sounds, there was also a grumbling voice.
"This acting is so shoddy! Can't they speak properly?! Is there steel bars buried under their tongues? The lines are so stiff, it's unbelievable! And these actors! It's one thing to have no expression on their faces, but at least move your eyes! Their eyes are so empty, I thought they were playing blind people!"
"This group of people could walk out here, put on some makeup, and play zombies in a Lam Ching-ying movie! They'd be dug out of the same coffin, and they'd only ever show the audience half their faces. What's with the other half of their faces—maggots or something?!"
"This kind of lousy comedy is so bad, I could die years ago and still not find it funny. Our whole society is almost out of poverty! How come our films are still struggling below the poverty line?! What did the audience do wrong?! What are the film censors doing?! How did this eye-polluting stuff even pass censorship?!"
Just before Du Yuping was so angry she almost jumped out of the car again, Shen Huai finally drove the car safely to the hotel.
Du Yuping's body swayed forward slightly with the stopped car, then he sat back down: "How did we get here? I haven't finished cursing yet!"
He rubbed his forehead, ignored him, and walked towards the elevator with Chu Meibo.
Du Yuping quickly followed, saying, "You've gone too far! Can't you be a little nicer to the old man? Couldn't you at least open the door for me?"
Shen Huai kept his eyes straight ahead. Even he couldn't imagine opening the back seat door when there was no one there, and then closing it again—something that would make him look like a lunatic.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Du Yuping snorted twice and began to look around the hotel again: "Hey, the feng shui of this hotel isn't very good. It's easy for something to happen..."
Shen Huai: "..."
Shen Huai and Chu Meibo pretended not to hear and immediately stepped out when the elevator arrived.
Once inside the banquet hall, the director and producer were already exchanging pleasantries.
"Xiao Chu is here. Come, let me introduce you. This is our investor, Mr. Tao, and our leading lady, Xuanxuan, is Mr. Tao's daughter."
Mr. Tao is probably around fifty years old, looks very prosperous, and has a kind smile.
"This must be Xiao Chu. Xuanxuan has been talking about you ever since she got home. It's rare for her to meet such a compatible friend. Director Li said that Xuanxuan's acting skills have improved so quickly, all because of you. She's now interested in acting. You two should keep in touch more often in the future!"
Chu Meibo nodded and exchanged a few pleasantries.
Du Yuping: "They call it a celebration party, but it's really just a way to suck up to the investors."
Chu Meibo: "..."
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching, Du Yuping kept muttering comments to himself.
Seeing the veins bulging on Chu Meibo's forehead, Shen Huai worried that she might not be able to bear it and say something inappropriate that would be misunderstood by others. So he said to Director Li and the others, "Xiao Chu has been busy with the new variety show and studying lately, and she's a bit tired. I'll take her over to rest for a while."
Director Li: "I've heard about that. It's Director Yu's new variety show. Director Yu is very strict, so it's rare to be able to catch his eye. Xiao Chu is truly a promising young man!"
Shen Huai gave a few perfunctory words, agreed to cooperate again next time, and then led Chu Meibo to the side.
Du Yuping was still a little reluctant to stop: "I'm already tired, my stamina isn't very good. If we film again in the future..."
Now that there was no one else around, Chu Meibo no longer needed to hold back and directly said to Du Yuping, "Shut up!"
Du Yuping sensed the murderous aura emanating from Chu Meibo and immediately shut his mouth.