Chapter 47
The invitations Xi Yanghong received were all given to him to frame him, so what good could his pledge of loyalty be?
It's a video, and it's a video taken from a hidden camera perspective.
Judging from the environment, it should be a film crew's changing room.
"That's it?" Zhou Ye scoffed.
Zhang Lan laughed so hard she fell into her new boyfriend's arms: "Hahaha, he thinks you're a peeping tom!"
Zhou Ye pinched his brow with one hand, feeling a throbbing in his head. Who on earth had lured this idiot over here to annoy him?
Whatever you do, don't let him catch you!
"Hurry up and put away all your junk. Nobody here uses such underhanded tactics."
The large-chested man who was holding Zhang Lan spoke, and his voice made Zhang Lan, who was lying on him, tremble.
Holding his favorite muscle, Zhang Lan twirled his fingers, his eyes filled with disdain as he looked at Xi Yanghong.
Compared to people like this, even they seem a bit more noble!
“We never do petty theft, and not just anyone can catch our eye. When it comes to matters between men and women, the most important thing is mutual consent.”
Reluctantly standing up from her warm boyfriend's embrace, Zhang Lan walked up to Xi Yanghong.
Seeing the person approaching, Xi Yanghong quickly straightened his kneeling posture. Putting everything else aside, at least he understood that the one truly at a zero was the person in front of him.
He'd put in a lot of effort to figure out the best kneeling posture in TV dramas. Zhou Ye watched coldly from behind as Zhang Lan stepped on the man's shoulder.
He knew Zhang Lan all too well; he could tell from her actions that she had taken a liking to her.
Rolling his eyes, Zhou Ye's initial murderous urge, stemming from being offended, subsided. Now, he was more interested in knowing just how undemanding Zhang Lan really was.
Shi Ru gave Zhu Yu a lot of scripts, and she spent two days reading them all before choosing her favorite.
They got the screenwriters involved. In recent years, the trend of adapting novels has taken off, leading to skyrocketing prices for the copyrights of highly-collected and well-known books on websites.
Even if Shi Ruzhen could buy them all, there's no guarantee that the drama, with its high level of discussion and deeply ingrained characters from the original work, would ultimately receive praise or criticism.
As a businessman, there are some things you can't do when the risks outweigh the benefits.
So some of these scripts are submitted by original screenwriters, and some are books by lesser-known authors on the website.
The script that Zhu Yu ultimately chose was written by an original screenwriter.
They arranged to meet at a teahouse.
The screenwriter was a tall, slender woman dressed in smart overalls, looking far more dashing than an artist.
"Hello." After the three stood up and shook hands in greeting, they sat down again to officially begin today's topic.
"That's right, we've read the script carefully once, and it's really good. I think if it can be made into a movie, it will definitely be a great film."
Shi Ru, as the agent, launched the first round of attacks.
"But as you know, our artists aren't very famous right now, and what female artists fear most is getting involved in scandals."
"These rumors are like a contagious disease. Whether you have it or not, as long as one person says you have it, everyone will start spreading the rumors."
This sounds like... the screenwriter is a seasoned office worker who's been rejected by clients for years, so this is definitely a rejection!
"I'll change it! I understand what you mean. All the explicit scenes in the script can be changed!"
"Hmm," Shi Ru nodded in satisfaction. The biggest contradiction in this drama is that the female lead and the male lead have a lot of romantic scenes, the kind that Jinjiang (a Chinese online literature platform) doesn't allow to be written below the neck.
The main story is about an older single woman and a young man who came to Beijing to start a business.
The plot isn't particularly original, but it has a strong artistic flair. According to his analysis, if the show is well-made, it could be a contender for awards.
After all, Zhu Yu has been working in the television drama industry since her debut, and has almost never ventured into film.
However, there aren't too many people in the TV drama field; the entry threshold for the film industry is much higher.
In Shi Ru's future plans, Zhu Yu needs to win at least one award in the year he is about to leave.
With awards to her name, even if she encounters something later, she will have a group of fans firmly by her side.
“I’m fine now,” Shi Ru said, looking at Zhu Yu.
“Me neither, I really like this script,” Zhu Yu said.
“Okay,” Shi Ru nodded, “Then let’s sign the contract formally as we discussed on the phone.”
The contract had been printed in advance and was in her bag. Zhu Yu only relaxed after the screenwriter signed it.
"Teacher, this story is so well written, and the feelings between the two are so bittersweet."
"However, there are quite a few explosive scenes involving the male characters, and based on your description... who do you think would be suitable to play them?"
Although Shi Ru bought the script for Zhu Yu to act in, in terms of screen time, it is actually a male-centric story.
The intense and tragic love story between the male and female leads is mainly embodied in the female lead – she is the one who suffers.
The male lead is initially aloof and cold, but later becomes obsessive and crazy after being abandoned by the female lead. It's quite difficult to strike the right balance in this relationship.
Zhu Yuzhen was genuinely worried for the actor who was about to play the male lead.
The screenwriter smiled shyly upon hearing this: "Actually, this drama was originally written for my boyfriend."
"Huh? Is the teacher's boyfriend an actor?" Zhu Yu paused in flipping through the script.
After all, the female lead is already cast... and the fact that the male lead is the screenwriter's boyfriend...
"Yes, but he's not very famous yet." The screenwriter seemed a little embarrassed to say it, as if her boyfriend was not very presentable.
Shi Ru and Zhu Yu exchanged a glance, and their minds simultaneously went through a series of exasperated thoughts.
"So who is your boyfriend?" Shi Ru asked.
The screenwriter picked up the teacup beside him and put it to his lips to hide his nervousness. He blew on the tea leaves floating on the surface of the water before speaking: "I don't know if you have seen the drama 'Shen Lun'. He is Cheng Xiu in it."
"Who?" Shi Ru asked in confusion. What kind of show is this? He had never heard of it before.
Zhu Yu had heard a little about it, but due to certain reasons, she could only nudge Shi Ru in the waist and then type a message on her phone for him to see.
"The drama 'Sinking of the World' is a BL drama with quite a lot of explicit content. Cheng Xiu is the 1 in it."
After showing this sentence to Shi Ru, fearing that he might not know what BL (Boys' Love) or "top" meant, he continued typing: "BL is when two men are in love. 1 and 0 correspond to the male and female in a romantic relationship! It's the kind of relationship where the characters are positioned in bed!"
Ah... Shi Ru fell silent, his gaze towards the screenwriter filled with doubt and confusion.
"Actually, he didn't want to act in this kind of drama..." The screenwriter noticed the two people's gazes and lowered his head slightly. "That's why I wanted to write a script to help him change his image."
"So you mean, you want your boyfriend to play the male lead?"
"Is that okay!?" The screenwriter's eyes suddenly lit up as he stared at the two of them.
Shi Ru remained silent, then turned to Zhu Yu and said, "You're the female lead, so you decide."
Good grief, here comes the tough problem! Zhu Yu glared at Shi Ru, but softened when she looked at the screenwriter.
What kind of drama an actor acts in is not a fault of the actor. She would not discriminate against an actor just because he or she went into business in Shanghai.
We all eat from the same bowl of rice; the only difference is how well we do. Making money is never shameful.
"I'm definitely fine, but he's still your boyfriend, and those plot points in the show..."
"Don't worry about that, I'll go back and revise the script, and delete all the bad plot points!" Seeing Zhu Yu agree, the screenwriter immediately wanted to raise his hand and swear.
--
After being discharged from the hospital, Lin Yuanyuan went straight to the airport. She wanted to return to China and would come back after she was able to contact her father.
The Zhou family, grandfather and grandson, shouldn't let this go so easily!
This time when she returned to China, her mother had originally assigned her four bodyguards, but when she confronted Grandpa Zhou that day, only this one bodyguard dared to step forward and stand in front of her.
After she was discharged from the hospital, several people simply handed in their resignation letters and disappeared.
Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. No matter how much influence her father has, he probably can't protect her from these two bandits right now.
Sensing the danger, Lin Yuanyuan booked the earliest flight and went straight to the airport with her bodyguard after leaving the hospital.
Even if her father is unable to punish them due to his official position, as long as she returns to China and tells her mother about these things, her mother will help her get revenge.
So all I need to do is go back to China.
Lin Yuanyuan went straight to the VIP lounge, where she saw an unexpected person—Zhou Ye.
"Oh, what a coincidence? Where does Miss want to go?" The entire VIP room had been emptied. There was a commotion behind her. Lin Yuanyuan turned around and saw that her bodyguard had been taken down with a knife pointed at him.
"What do you want to do?!" Lin Yuanyuan suppressed her panic, leaning half her weight on the suitcase beside her.
"What are you doing? I should be asking you what you want to do. As my fiancée, instead of going to the old house to pay your respects to Grandpa as soon as you're discharged from the hospital, you've come to the airport..."
As Zhou Ye spoke, he moved closer to Lin Yuanyuan.
"Young Miss, you're really spoiled. You have no sense of responsibility as a wife at all!"
Lin Yuanyuan's chin was gripped tightly, and the pain almost brought her to tears. However, no matter how hard she tried to pry it off, she couldn't loosen the grip that was like a pair of vises holding her down.
"Um, we're just... engaged! I'm not your... wife."
"Tch!" Zhou Ye sneered, then released her, his eyes clouded as he looked at the swollen finger marks on Lin Yuanyuan's chin.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and invite your wife into the car!"
At a command, several bodyguards stepped forward and restrained Lin Yuanyuan.
"Let me go! I want to go home!" Seeing that she was about to be taken away, Lin Yuanyuan immediately shouted, hoping that someone could hear her cries for help, or even just call the police.
"You're being a bit noisy, Miss." Zhou Ye turned around at the sound, and a small knife suddenly stabbed towards Lin Yuanyuan's eye, stopping just before it could cut her.
"ah!"
Lin Yuanyuan was so frightened that she trembled all over and dared not make a sound.
"Let's go to the beauty salon. I'm going to teach this young lady a lesson about the rules of the Zhou family!"
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