45. Undercurrents

"Don't tense your shoulders, good, steady."

"Very good, don't lean forward...very good!"

"Alright, take a break and practice again later?" Gu Tingshen stood next to Ye Zhenzhen, occasionally reminding her to adjust her movements.

After she fired several arrows, it became clear that her movements were becoming distorted due to insufficient muscle strength, so he promptly called for her to stop.

He took the bow and arrow from Ye Zhenzhen's hand, watched her turn her neck and shoulders, smiled and stepped forward, placing his hand on her trapezius muscle to massage it and relieve the muscle tension.

"Zhenzhen," a gentle male voice sounded behind the two of them, "You shot those arrows quite well just now."

"Ah, William, you're here too?" Ye Zhenzhen looked at the arrows on the bullseye and raised her chin happily. "I think it's pretty good too. Old Gu is a great teacher."

Gu Tingshen watched as Ye Zhenzhen unknowingly stabbed her cheap cousin in the heart, and smiled without saying a word.

“Mr. Gu, would you be interested in a match with me?” Ye Qinglan turned to the tall man beside her, her tone provocative.

"How do you want to compete?" Gu Tingshen replied casually.

“These fixed targets are no fun. Let’s compete with moving targets.” Ye Qinglan pointed to the electronic moving targets under the sunlight outside, her voice cool and clear. “Each person gets 10 arrows, and the one who hits the bullseye the most wins.”

"How can your competition be without a prize?" Jiang Anna, always eager for excitement, offered suggestions.

Jiang Cheng, who had rushed over, overheard this and quickly interjected, "I'm the host. Of course, I'll sponsor this prize! The winner will receive a thoroughbred horse from the racecourse, and I'll cover all its upkeep!"

After saying that, he glared at the eager Jiang Anna and said, "You dare say another word?!"

"Hmph." Jiang Anna turned her head away and muttered, "This is boring."

---

"Zhenzhen, help me adjust the straps at the back, they're a bit tight," Gu Tingshen said to Ye Zhenzhen after putting on the chest protector.

"How is it?" Ye Zhenzhen loosened the crisscross straps on his back a little.

"Much better."

He turned around, picked up a sun hat and put it on Ye Zhenzhen, adjusted its position, and carefully tucked the stray hairs on the side of her face behind her ears.

Ye Zhenzhen tilted her head back and let him do as he pleased, clearly quite used to his care.

"Oh~" Jiang Anna looked over there, then at Ye Qinglan, who was all alone, and shed a tear of sympathy for him.

Not only did his beloved girl get married, but she also flaunted her relationship in front of him. Poor Ye Qinglan!

"Go for it, bro!" She stepped forward and patted Ye Qinglan's arm, "Watch me give you the first-mover advantage."

"Zhenzhen, over here!" Jiang Anna raised her hand and shouted, "Let's play rock-paper-scissors to decide who goes first, okay?"

Ye Zhenzhen lost two games in a row and looked at Gu Tingshen apologetically.

“It’s alright,” Gu Tingshen comforted gently, “Leave it to me.”

In a short while, everyone who came to play somehow learned about the competition and gathered in the surrounding stands to watch.

Archery is already quite entertaining, and with the challenging moving target, everyone watched the field with great interest.

Ye Qinglan stepped onto the field and signaled to the staff to activate the mobile target device.

The first target flew out, and Ye Qinglan drew back the bowstring, quickly aimed, and with a "whoosh," the arrow shot out. The target landed in the distance, and everyone craned their necks to look, only to see it hit the bullseye!

The target then moved randomly along an irregular trajectory, with its speed varying from fast to slow.

But without exception, they were all shot down by Ye Qinglan, and whistles and cheers rang out from the field.

Amidst the whistling of arrows, the figure drawing the bow and shooting the arrow stood tall and straight, his movements fluid and graceful, captivating the hearts of the girls present.

"Wow, so handsome! And with those green eyes, he looks like an elf..."

"Yes, yes, the muscle definition is so beautiful when he draws the bow, just like an elf prince!"

Ye Qinglan put down her bow and looked at Gu Tingshen, only to find that the man was not paying attention to the situation on the field at all. He was just playing with the gold jewelry on Ye Zhenzhen's wrist, and the smile on his lips was extremely irritating.

Ye Zhenzhen looked at the man who was about to go on stage with some worry, and the man rubbed his hot, red cheeks with the back of his hand.

"Wait until I win you a horse." The man remained calm and unmoved by Ye Qinglan's provocation.

Ye Zhenzhen didn't really want horses; they already had three.

But seeing the man's fighting spirit, he didn't say much, only raised his fist and said "Go for it!"

After Gu Tingshen left, Zhao Nanqiao leaned close to her and whispered, "How's your archery skill, Mr. Gu?"

“I’ve only ever seen him shoot at stationary targets before, and he’s pretty accurate.” Ye Zhenzhen looked at the field. “It’s okay if we lose. With Zhui Feng, we’ll have three horses now.”

"Dad is really good at archery!" Gu Sinan, Dad's number one fan, said firmly, "Dad will definitely win!"

Zhao Nanqiao verbally agreed, but remained silent inwardly.

My dear Peach, is this a question of whether you want it or not?!

This is a man's dignity!!!

Looking at Ye Qinglan over there, displaying her charm like a green peacock spreading its tail feathers, I suddenly felt a little sorry for her. This whole thing was just flirting with a blind man.

Silence returned to the field as the staff started the moving target.

Gu Tingshen stood there dressed in black, his dark eyes as sharp as a hawk's. After moving his arms up and down, he drew back the bowstring, the muscles on his back bulging, the lines clear, like undulating mountains, containing terrifying power.

Compared to Ye Qinglan just now, his posture was more casual, but he shot the arrow extremely quickly. The process of drawing the bow, aiming, and releasing the arrow was completed in one go, without any hesitation.

The sounds of "thud, thud, thud" echoed continuously as all ten arrows were shot out in the blink of an eye without any pause. Only then did a commotion break out on the sidelines.

Wow, that was fast!

"The target was hit as soon as it flew out of the air, that's incredible!"

"I didn't even see several arrows clearly, they were so cool! I want to learn archery now!"

"Come on, Mr. Gu's bow weighs at least 80 pounds. If you pulled it a couple of times, your arm would be ruined."

...

Jiang Cheng, acting as the referee, stepped forward to check the scores of the two players.

Both men hit all the moving targets, but Gu Tingshen was clearly superior, hitting the bullseye with all 10 arrows, and his speed, power, and rhythm were flawless.

Ye Qinglan's arrows missed slightly, resulting in a regrettable defeat. However, she still stepped forward and shook hands with Gu Tingshen with great gentlemanly manners.

The two exchanged pleasantries and compliments in Jiangcheng before parting ways.

"Daddy is so handsome, I want to learn how to be like him too." Gu Sinan rushed into Gu Tingshen's arms as he walked over, her eyes full of admiration.

Gu Tingshen grabbed him and lifted him up. Meeting Ye Zhenzhen's bright, sparkling eyes, his sharp aura softened instantly. "Handsome, isn't he?"

"Wow, so cool! Such a fast arrow!!" Ye Zhenzhen nodded vigorously. So cool!!

On the other side, Jiang Anna patted Ye Qinglan on the back, "Hey, stop looking, everyone's gone!"

She took two steps forward, but found no one was following. She turned around and saw Ye Qinglan still standing there, looking down at the bow in her hand.

“Let’s go, my brother.” Jiang Anna waved in front of him and pointed to the phone on the bleachers seat. “Your aunt just called you; your phone has been ringing.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Qinglan clenched her fist. After a few breaths, she turned around and put the bow and arrow back in the equipment area. When she returned to the stands, her phone rang again.

He hesitated for a moment when he saw "Mom" on the caller ID, then immediately turned off the vibrating mode on his phone.

---

After returning to City A from her vacation, Ye Zhenzhen threw herself into her busy work.

Fengming's work is on track, the design department is coming up with new ideas one after another, and they are cooperating with new media platforms such as C-site, using a variety of publicity methods, and their market share has greatly increased.

However, Tao Yao's situation is somewhat complicated.

"President Ye, the most pressing problem our company faces right now is a shortage of manpower!" Li Hong, the bald-headed head of the production department, sat in the conference room and earnestly analyzed the situation for Ye Zhenzhen. "Before, when business was simple, the few people we had were enough. But if you want to expand Taoyao and venture into film and television investment and production, this small team is simply not enough! We can't even set up the platform!"

He was a senior executive that Song Chengcheng poached from a major film and television company. Due to disagreements with the higher-ups and his father's serious illness, he urgently needed money and thus jumped ship to Taoyao, which at the time had nothing but money.

The other managers who were poached also had similar experiences.

He thought his career was over, and he was just going to play house in the entertainment industry with the prince while he was paid a high salary.

To everyone's surprise, the boss suddenly became ambitious and prepared to invest a lot of money in making movies, which rekindled the enthusiasm of his old friends.

It's like an old man suddenly feeling young again; I'm rolling up my sleeves, ready to get down to business!

Then I discovered that this company really had nothing but money!

"I was too presumptuous before." Ye Zhenzhen slumped in her office chair, staring blankly at the ceiling.

I thought that even though I was a novice, I could still make money and manage investments, right?

To everyone's surprise, reality slapped them in the face. Taoyao was short-staffed in its management team, and even more so in its lack of experienced production teams and creative talents.

High-quality directors, screenwriters, and actors are scarce resources in the entertainment industry, and there is a lack of trust in this fledgling, makeshift team.

Even with the money, she couldn't assemble a reliable team. Established and capable directors looked down on Taoyao's small company, and she wasn't comfortable with up-and-coming directors who hadn't proven themselves...

For a period drama like "The Legend of Yang Guifei," the script is solid and well-researched. If you want to capture the historical feel and the charm of the Tang Dynasty, you will inevitably have to invest a lot of money and have very high requirements for the filming team.

The mind-bending plot and multiple twists in "Lost City" are destined to flop if the suspenseful core of the story isn't captured in a web series.

These two scripts will have to be put on hold until a suitable director is found.

He thought he had a golden touch and would dominate the entertainment industry, but he suffered a great setback.

“Neither of these are popular IPs, and we didn’t spend much when we bought the rights, so filming can be postponed,” Song Chengcheng said, trying her best to comfort her, afraid that she would feel depressed. “Taoyao Films is just starting out, and it’s inevitable that we will encounter difficulties. We are in contact with headhunting companies to find high-end talents in film and television investment and production. With the support of senior figures like Minister Li, you don’t need to be too pessimistic.”

“Yes, yes, once you recruit people and work on a few more projects, their experience will gradually increase.” Seeing that her expression had darkened, Li Hong was afraid that the boss would quit, so he quickly advised her.

“We’re short of people and experience right now, but we’re not short of money!” Ye Zhenzhen suddenly had a flash of inspiration when she heard his words, and sat up straight. “I may not be able to start my own projects, but I can invest in existing ones, right?”

The more she talked, the more she realized it made sense. As an outsider, building a team from scratch and directing a group of experts in a completely unfamiliar field, she knew she wouldn't be able to produce anything worthwhile. She might even ruin the classic work from the original book.

It's better to just become an angel investor, choose reliable projects, and invest money!

Just like the C-site she invested in before, she was only responsible for providing funding, and now it's doing quite well, isn't it?

“We should keep hiring! I’ll leave this professional work to you, Minister Li! As long as they’re talented, the compensation is negotiable!” Ye Zhenzhen turned to Song Chengcheng, “I want to launch an investment plan targeting emerging directors. As long as their films appeal to me and their scripts are engaging, I’ll invest in them. The first phase will be 50 million!”

Upon hearing that everything was entrusted to him, Li Hong felt a surge of heroic spirit, akin to "a scholar would die for one who understands him." His blood boiled, and he suddenly stood up. He didn't want to sleep at all that night; he was determined to fight for President Ye and poach talent.

Upon hearing the next sentence, my foot slipped, and I almost fell off the sofa. Such is the familiar extravagant spending power of a nouveau riche...