Chapter 217: Value Gap Without Opportunity...

Upon hearing Lu Yiting's words, Sun Yuan, who was also trying on the costume for the role of "Xia Xiang" next to her, immediately looked at Li Sishi with concern.

Although she understood that such last-minute casting changes were not uncommon in the industry, when one of the parties involved in the controversy was her friend, Sun Yuan couldn't help but show concern while subtly reducing her presence and handing the space over to Li Sishi and Lu Yiting.

"Replaced...?" Li Sishi was momentarily stunned upon hearing this, then quickly realized what was happening and asked, "Replaced by whom?"

Seeing Li Sishi's slightly bewildered expression, and recalling her previous "loss," Lu Yiting felt incredibly sorry for her. She took another deep breath, then grabbed Li Sishi's shoulders and stared intently into her eyes: "You should know this person too, it's Kong Wei, who recently won the Best Actress award in Shuicheng..."

The reason Li Sishi "lost" to Shang Lanyu before was because Shang Lanyu was Li Sishi's rightful senior in every aspect, and a film industry miracle with multiple awards in hand. In addition, Li Sishi was too "naive" in terms of the character's personality, so she lost the competition for the female lead.

Even so, Cheng Hesheng, the director of "Big City, Small Love", highly praised Li Sishi's performance and went to great lengths to revise part of the script. He then specially invited her to play the role of the second female lead, who was a more likable character.

Although initially, casting Li Sishi as a supporting character to Shang Lanyu didn't quite align with Miss Zhuang's and her own development plans for Li Sishi, given the current film resources and experience, this lead-supporting role arrangement is actually in line with the "rules" and "standards" of the industry.

But this time, they clearly signed a contract with Rong Sheng for the female lead in the movie first, but Rong Sheng took a fancy to Kong Wei's status in the mainland and her international influence. After inviting Kong Wei, he came to them at the last minute to talk about replacing her... That's a bit unfair.

If it had been said earlier and everyone had discussed it beforehand, Li Sishi could have paired with Kong Wei, who was of a similar level to Shang Lanyu, again. But the problem is that this "Newly Compiled Three Smiles Marriage" doesn't have a female second lead like "Big City, Small Love," whose character is relatively outstanding, doesn't easily affect her own image, is of similar age, and has enough screen time.

Kong Wei's sudden arrival has undoubtedly forced Li Sishi to "step down and make way" for her.

That's why Lu Yiting was so furious upon learning of this. She immediately called Zhuang Menghua to report the situation and then rushed over to arrest Li Si before the paparazzi arrived.

Take the poem with you to prevent this precious darling from being surrounded by paparazzi.

"What exactly happened to Sister Ting?" Zhou Shengyi, who had just changed into his costume, rushed over upon hearing the news and immediately became anxious when he saw that his favorite leading actress was about to be taken away by her agent.

"Go ask your good boss. I'm giving you face this time by not arguing with you, so don't bother me!" As a professional agent, Lu Yiting is always able to control her emotions—

The premise is that you don't touch her sore spot.

As an ultimate beauty enthusiast and the manager who has been in charge of all of Li Sishi's career planning and life arrangements since her debut, Lu Yiting inevitably cherishes Li Sishi like the apple of her eye and loves her like her own daughter.

It would be strange if she didn't get angry when another company suddenly pulled this kind of last-minute casting change that's common in the industry but puts her own precious talent at a disadvantage!

Normally, if a commercial film were to give up its guaranteed box office revenue, it would be a loss, though regrettable, but not indispensable. However, it just so happens that just as they were promoting Li Sishi for the role of Qiu Xiang in "Happy in Guanghua", Rong Sheng wanted to replace Li Sishi with Kong Wei, who was more experienced and had more hype. This was undoubtedly a huge loss for Li Sishi.

Look, even this child is so shocked he doesn't know what to say for a moment...

Seeing Lu Yiting's concerned gaze, Li Sishi, unsure of what to say, sighed inwardly: Speaking of this "casting change" matter...

It was truly beyond her expectations, yet within her "understanding."

After all, in the memories of the previous life, the original actress for the role of "Qiu Xiang" was Huang Qianyan. However, Huang Qianyan had to turn down the role due to scheduling conflicts. Then, coincidentally, actress Kong Wei was visiting Hong Kong, so Rong Sheng's boss Shang Sheng spent a lot of money to invite Kong Wei, an actress who is well-known both internationally and in mainland China, to play the role.

It's worth mentioning that although Kong Wei already had an international Best Actress award and several domestic awards, Rong Sheng only spent 1 million to invite an actress of Kong Wei's caliber to star in a movie because of the economic gap between Hong Kong and the mainland at that time. This was less than double the 600,000 salary that Li Sishi received.

In Hong Kong's entertainment industry, top actresses of similar caliber to Kong Wei typically command starting fees of 2 million. Liang Zhiying and Xia Yingyun, who can perform action scenes and carry box office success, command fees exceeding 3.5 million. In comparison, Li Sishi honestly asks herself: Aside from her current appearance and age, Kong Wei seems more suited to the role of a refined lady or matriarch, perhaps better suited to playing a charming maid.

Aside from feeling a bit out of place, everything else is really great value for money.

Of course, while it's understandable, being replaced at the last minute is indeed a bit upsetting.

Especially since she had made all the preparations and cooperated with a lot of publicity to announce it to the whole of Hong Kong—it's like you've prepared all the ingredients and are just waiting to cook, but the guests say they have a banquet elsewhere and won't come. That kind of speechless and helpless frustration would make even the most open-minded person feel unhappy.

Watching Li Sishi remain silent all the way back to the TV station, Lu Yiting, as she opened the door, preemptively said, "Ms. Zhuang, this is my fault..."

“As your agent, you do bear more responsibility, but it’s not entirely your fault.” Zhuang Menghua shook her head. “Ultimately, it’s because we can’t make decisions that this kind of thing happens.”

At this point, it's impossible to blame Li Sishi, a young girl who is not yet 20 years old. Moreover, in Zhuang Menghua's opinion, the main reason for this unexpected change of actors is that they cannot fully control the film.

It's no longer the era of Zhao's films. When sending your artists out to collaborate, even if they sign contracts, the final initiative and interpretation rights are in the hands of others. In business, few can resist the temptation of a change that is particularly beneficial to them.

Their Ah May never lost because of her appearance or acting skills, but because of her age, seniority, and the "backers" behind her.

"Miss Zhuang, should I... release information about Kong Wei and that famous director?" Lu Yiting thought for a moment and then asked tentatively.

In this industry, agents have access to just as much gossip as paparazzi. The rumors about Kong Wei and the married director who brought her into the industry were already widely known in Hong Kong when they came to Hong Kong together to film "Qin Terracotta Warriors: Ancient and Modern Love".

However, the entertainment industry has always been chaotic and open, and people are used to the scandals between talented directors and actresses they have promoted. In addition, after the director divorced his wife and started dating Kong Wei, reaching a "legitimate" stage, people in Hong Kong became even more accepting of it.

However, Lu Yiting received news that Kong Wei came to Hong Kong this time because she had broken up with that famous director and came to Hong Kong alone to make her way in the world. Once this bombshell is revealed, even if Rong Sheng wants to protect Kong Wei as the leading actress, he will inevitably suffer some losses.

Ah May

What do you think?

≦

When Lu Yiting asked her question, Zhuang Menghua did not answer directly, but instead looked at Li Sishi.

Suddenly called out by Zhuang Menghua, Li Sishi raised her head, thought seriously for a while, and then said softly, "No... never mind."

Lu Yiting was clearly angry at this moment, and since they were having a private conversation, she came up with such a harmful and self-defeating trick. On the other hand, because she had memories from her previous life, she was mentally prepared and quickly adjusted after her initial displeasure.

This tactic of using a romantic relationship to entangle one party, especially the woman who is particularly vulnerable, is quite effective but also somewhat despicable. She was unwilling to treat someone who had just experienced a failed relationship in this way.

Moreover, she actually felt a bit envious and admiring of Shang Lanyu and Kong Wei: these two were absolutely top-tier figures in the North and South respectively when it came to female artists, especially actresses.

If Shang Lanyu is a natural-born academic genius, then Kong Wei is an academic prodigy who is both talented and hardworking.

As for herself, she was at best a lucky person who relied on the golden finger of rebirth and then combined her not-so-great innate talent with not-so-extreme hard work to create a "genius-like appearance".

Her butterfly wings have changed the world, but if fate wants it to return to its original path, she won't force it too much—although Zhao's films have declined and Hong Kong films are in their twilight, with her current influence and future efforts, she will have no shortage of opportunities and resources.

Even though the script Zhou Shengyi gave her had a lot more screen time for the character Qiu Xiang than in the original movie she remembered, this was ultimately a commercial film produced by Rong Sheng Film Company to grab box office revenue during the Lunar New Year season. Moreover, it already had a well-known storyline, so she couldn't explore another side of the character's personality like she had done with Zhou Shengyi before.

Of course, most importantly, this time Zhou Shengyi doesn't have the majority of the decision-making power in the film as she did last time. Instead, she has to follow the arrangements of Rongsheng Film Company. Otherwise, based on Zhou Shengyi's impression of her and Kong Wei, he would probably prefer her to be the female lead.

Since there's nothing worth arguing about, why make such a fuss over a female lead in a commercial film who doesn't get much screen time?

Wouldn't it be better to use that time to study and improve yourself, and to spend more time finding other resources or even creating your own unique resources?

By concisely and effectively expressing her thoughts, Li Sishi could feel the satisfied and approving gaze from Zhuang Menghua.

"That's right. Understanding gains and losses, remaining humble in victory and undeterred in defeat—that's the key to your future progress." Zhuang Menghua tapped the table, gave Lu Yiting a wink, and then looked back at Li Sishi. "For now, you should lay low. I'll arrange for someone to handle Rong Sheng and the media..."

Even if Li Sishi is kind-hearted and understanding and doesn't hold a grudge, as Li Sishi's "backers," they still have to get enough "compensation" from this incident.

"As for the other issue... While pondering the business negotiations, Zhuang Menghua looked at Li Sishi, whose eyes were clear, and suddenly laughed, "If there is no opportunity, then I will create one for you sooner or later."

Although times have changed, the essence of Zhao's films remains. Zhuang Menghua's tone was calm, yet it also revealed his ambition to make a big splash: "Wait patiently. I can assure you, its arrival is definitely not far off."