It was dark outside the car, and Xu Keke could only see a dark shadow outside the car from the back seat.

"Drive!" Zhou Zian said succinctly.

Sun Cheng reversed the car, turned the steering wheel, and left the person behind. He could hear Ji Mingkai shouting something outside, but the wind was too strong that night to make out what he was saying.

Just as Xu Keke had thought, the Zhou family kept the grandmother and granddaughter. The old woman was very skillful and helped Sister Hua with needlework. Yuegui's daughter was only two years old, so to save trouble, they often left the two of them together.

But I don't know who taught him, but the little guy will also take the initiative to help with chores, like opening the door to get the newspaper or milk every day, or passing on a message.

However, the little guy wasn't very talkative, mostly communicating through eye contact unless forced to. Fortunately, the Zhou family wasn't overly enthusiastic, and no one actively tried to coax the child into speaking, so the little guy became more and more comfortable in the Zhou family.

The day after the banquet, several news stories were reprinted and published on the front page of various newspapers for several days in a row.

First, Mingyu came out to apologize, saying she had been married before and had a child. However, this news didn't cause much of a stir. Besides the fact that Mingyu herself hadn't reached her peak yet, the public wasn't particularly interested in whether she was married or had children. Also, other news stole the spotlight from her.

One was the Morning Post, which issued a tiny apology for reporting Zhou Shaoqiu's alleged affair with Ji Mingkai. They also completely shut down the columns of two film critics. Then, the Morning Post and Qingfeng Film Industry donated all the damages to Ms. Zhou Shaoqiu's reputation to an orphanage.

Following closely on the front page of the Morning Post, the photo used was no smaller than the still from the drama featuring Mingyu that day. It showed Tang Wan in a suit, her hair parted to the side. The headline read, "[Tang Wan, a Modern Woman, Appointed General Manager of Qingfeng Film Industry]." This news was even more shocking than the others, like a small bomb.

Not long after Qingfeng Film Industry was established, everyone thought that even if Lin Qinghai didn't manage it personally, one of his six sons would definitely be involved.

No one expected that Lin Qinghai would not only hand over the company to an outsider, but also to a woman. People no longer cared whether the woman dressed as a man or whether she was managing the company. Everyone was only concerned with one thing: what was the relationship between this woman and Lin Qinghai?

As a result, all sorts of speculations and versions emerged. Lin Qinghai didn't come out to explain, and when asked by reporters, he only smiled faintly and remained silent. So this news was constantly featured in the pages of major newspapers, attracting public attention by reporting on the interactions between Lin Qinghai and Tang Wan every day.

Following this publicity stunt, Morning Post officially announced its integration into Qingfeng Film Industry. This confirmed the Zhou family's suspicions that Tang Wan was the one who tried to create public opinion to harm Zhou Shaoqiu last time.

Xu Keke approached Zhou Xiangnan and discussed with her her idea of ​​adapting her novel "Hyacinth" into a movie.

The reason Xu Keke was so confident that Hyacinth could be made into a film was because the scriptwriter for Hyacinth was from Zhou Xiangnan's drama troupe. Zhou Xiangnan was also planning to adapt it into a stage play.

In his past life, Zhou Xiangnan did stage plays just for fun and didn't think much of it. In the end, the screenwriter of this novel gave the script to Tang Wan, who then made it into a movie.

Over time, this screenwriter became the go-to screenwriter for Qingfeng Film Company. Later, after Qingfeng Film Company sided with the Japanese, the screenwriter stopped writing and was assassinated not long after.

When Xu Keke mentioned making a movie, Zhou Xiangnan assumed she was going to challenge Tang Wan.

Making a film was an incredibly easy task for Zhou Xiangnan. Besides having screenwriters in her drama club, she also happened to know several directors who had returned from abroad. As for funding, that was even less of a problem. So many people wanted to invest that she didn't have to put in a single penny of her own money.

Without hesitation, Zhou Xiangnan established the Huazhong Drama Troupe. He even entrusted Xu Keke with their first play.

The screenwriter was readily available, but among the several directors recommended by Zhou Xiangnan, Xu Keke still chose Pete, whose Chinese name is Zhao Jiacheng, who directed this film in her previous life.

Originally, the screenwriter and director both agreed that Xu Keke was the most suitable candidate for the female lead. However, Xu Keke declined. In his previous life, Zhou Shaoqiu certainly had some talent for acting; as for her, well, forget it.

Just as Xu Keke had predicted, the female lead from her previous life had already signed a contract with Qingfeng Film Industry. Since she had also agreed to Li Yu's request, she arranged to meet the director and screenwriter at a coffee shop, and also invited Li Yu along.

The screenwriter was a young man with glasses. When Li Yu heard that this southerner named Wei Wei was the screenwriter who wrote *Hyacinth*, her eyes lit up. Unfortunately, he wasn't captivated by her beauty. Instead, he repeatedly said that Li Yu was too beautiful, completely different from the female lead he had in mind.

Xu Keke's heart skipped a beat. Just a few days ago, this screenwriter was trying to persuade her to play the female lead, but today he repeatedly stated that the female lead in his mind shouldn't be too beautiful. Even though she wasn't the screenwriter himself, she felt a little strange about what he was saying.

The screenwriter's pessimism made Li Yu nervous. Fortunately, Pete, who was in his thirties, held the opposite opinion from Wei Wei.

He believes that Li Yu is a perfect fit for the role in terms of both temperament and appearance. Li Yu's beauty will make the scenes more aesthetically pleasing, especially when the female lead is down on her luck and poor, the contrast will be stronger, and the character will be highlighted more effectively.

Xu Keke, holding her coffee and gazing out the window, listened to their discussion but didn't offer any opinions. In her view, Li Yu would only truly excel if she worked hard to get the role, and only then would she put in the effort to prove herself. Wei Wei and Pete also needed time to gel as a couple to achieve better results.

Just then, she saw Tang Wan, dressed in a light gray suit and wearing a top hat, get out of a black sedan and stride towards the coffee shop. Soon after, two men also got out of the car and jogged to catch up with her.

One was Ji Mingkai, dressed in a long gown, and the other was Lin Qinghai's son, Young Master Lin.

Tang Wan entered the coffee shop but didn't rush inside. She stood at the entrance, craning her neck to look inside. Young Master Lin, annoyed that the waiter was disturbing her, rudely shoved him aside.

Xu Keke didn't look away, and soon her eyes met Tang Wan's. Tang Wan didn't hesitate when she saw her, and started walking towards them.

Judging from this situation, Xu Keke didn't even need to think to know that Tang Wan was coming for them.

“Miss Zhou, what a coincidence! I was just saying I’d find a chance to apologize to you last time. I’m so sorry you had to suffer because of me and Mingkai.” Tang Wan took off her hat and held it to her chest, then bowed to Xu Keke.

"Please forgive us both."

Pete, Wei Wei, and Li Yu all looked at the group along with Xu Keke.

Seeing that Xu Keke ignored her, Tang Wan still smiled and said, "I wonder if we have the honor of sitting with you all."

Xu Ke put the coffee cup back on the saucer, then looked up at her again, shaking her head and saying, "You don't have that honor."