Chapter 42
"Boss, bro, could you give me a day off this Saturday?"
Turning to the second page, Lu Xiaoxiao almost suffocated under the weight of her brand-new class schedule.
Because of Zhu Yu's constant praise, Shi Ru made a special effort to learn more about Kazama Academy.
Although she studied acting professionally, who says singers can't act? Shi Ru planned a path for Lu Xiaoxiao to develop in film, television, and music.
"Hmm?" Shi Ru's eyes held a question that seemed to say, 'At your age, how dare you ask to rest!'
Just as Lu Xiaoxiao was feeling ashamed and about to change her mind under Shi Ru's gaze, Shi Ru nodded: "Okay, since your current focus is mainly on music, then I'll replace your acting class on Saturday with a vocal class."
?
What do you think? Lu Xiaoxiao's feelings for Shi Ru have almost died.
You call this rest?
"Any other comments? You can bring them up, and I will make the necessary revisions."
"..." Lu Xiaoxiao had something else she didn't understand, so she asked, but she wasn't sure if her answer would be accepted, right?
Okay, okay.
"No, boss." I like your fatherly demeanor because I want you to be steady and responsible, not because I want you to actually be my father, Lao Deng!
Lu Xiaoxiao whispered.
After sending Lu Xiaoxiao back to school, Shi Ru went to Connor. Although he had now started his own independent studio, there were still some projects to finish at Connor.
Holding the documents on his desk, he turned and entered the conference room at the end of the corridor.
The long table was already full of people, with only the head seat at the very top remaining empty.
Shi Ru looked around: "Is everyone here?"
As his gaze swept across the corner, he didn't notice Tan Lingling hiding in the back row of the crowd at all.
When the producer saw him ask a question, he quickly stood up and pulled out a chair for him: "Everyone is here. Would you like coffee or tea? I'll have my assistant prepare it."
"No need, let's get started."
Without further ado, Shi Ru looked at his assistant standing in front of the computer and gestured for her to begin.
Today is the preview screening of the TV series "Blue Dress in the Daytime". The actors, post-production team, and the entire publicity team will quickly go through all the currently edited episodes together.
Shi Ru's job is to review the overall editing bias.
The filming period for this drama was not short, and it was adapted from a well-established work.
The cost investment is huge, so if the return is not ideal, even if Shi Ru now has his own independent studio, he will definitely be ridiculed by industry insiders as "a rich young master throwing money around."
Fortunately, the pilot episode received a good response. Apart from a few places where the editing logic was not rigorous enough and the actors needed to add a few more shots, there was basically nothing that needed to be modified.
After the event ended, a stranger stopped Shi Ru.
"Hello, we've met before, do you remember me?"
The person who came was Tan Lingling.
Zhou Ye kept her word; she tricked Zhu Yu into going to the beauty salon. Whether the video was deleted or not is unknown. But she certainly never asked Zhu Yu to go there again after that.
However, this was followed by her increasingly difficult access to resources.
In fact, her agent found her a lot of opportunities, but most of them were supporting roles in web dramas, such as second or third female lead.
When she was working with Zhou Ye, she always got leading roles in web dramas. Suddenly having to go back to playing supporting roles was a huge blow that Tan Lingling couldn't accept.
Even though her agent advised her that her current acting skills and popularity were not enough to carry the lead role, she insisted that her agent had given all the good resources to others.
It must be because she didn't give her agent any advances. Aren't men all driven by their lower instincts? Maybe he gave away his resources in someone else's bed!
Tan Lingling had a vicious thought.
"Hello, is there something you need?" Shi Ru was busy with his affairs, and things that were not important to him would soon be erased from his memory, so when he saw Tan Lingling, he only felt that she was a stranger.
"You helped me before, and I've been thinking about how to thank you, but you seem very busy and I can't find you."
In fact, when they first met, Tan Lingling had carefully tested Shi Ru and was both happy and sad to find that he did not recognize her at all.
The good thing is that she still has a chance to make a good impression, but the bad thing is that after playing games with him for so long, he didn't even remember her name.
I'm afraid that to him, her name is still just "Zhu Yu's roommate"!
"It's so nice to see you again! Let me treat you to dinner tonight!"
Tan Lingling blocked Shi Ru's only way back to his office, completely blocking the path, as if to say, "You have no choice but to agree."
Even Shi Ru, who always showed extra patience towards girls, couldn't help but frown.
"No need, please move aside, I need to go back to my office."
Tan Lingling wasn't one to give up so easily. She grabbed Shi Ru's wrist, trying to shift the blame onto herself: "But I really want to thank you! If it weren't for you, how could I have filmed such a great drama!"
"?"
Shi Ru suddenly took a big step back and put his hands behind his back: "If I remember correctly, this role was secured for you by your agent."
Tan Lingling persisted: "Without you, this drama wouldn't have had such a large investment!"
The restless man stepped forward, speaking politely, and reached out to hook Shi Ru's belt.
Startled, Shi Ru took a large step back and crashed straight into the wall.
"Please have some self-respect!" Shi Ru didn't care about being a gentleman, he pushed Tan Lingling aside and strode forward.
His office is at the end of this corridor, around the corner.
Like being chased by a dog, Shi Ru returned to the office seemingly walking but actually running faster, and locked the door without delay.
It was as if they were afraid that Tan Lingling would relentlessly pursue them to the office.
I don't know what's wrong with this woman's thought process. She doesn't even know who he is, so how did she get so attached to him?
Is this person in this drama?
This kind of behavior... could he be some kind of risky celebrity?
Thinking this, Shi Ru took out his phone and contacted the human resources department: "Go and check the name of the girl who stopped me in the corridor just now, and which agent she works for."
Human Resources Department: "Okay, Mr. Shi."
Fortunately, he came to this meeting today with the intention of standing firm in his post until the very end; otherwise, given the extent of this actress's recklessness, a major scandal might have erupted when the drama airs.
If the problem is with the male and female leads, you could say it's because the casting process wasn't done properly. But if it's because of a minor supporting character who doesn't even have many lines...
With so much money invested, hundreds of people involved in the entire production lost everything because of her.
That would truly be a situation where one wants to cry but has no tears left.
"Mr. Shi, that person is a newly signed girl by Agent Wang, a recent graduate, named Tan Lingling."
"Who is this person? He doesn't seem to be mentally stable."
The HR department responded quickly; Shi Ru received a reply in less than half an hour.
"It's from the university next door, the performing arts department. His grades were very good in his first and second years, and he even received scholarships. But his grades plummeted in his third year."
"By the way, I found out that Tan Lingling filmed two low-budget short dramas before signing with our company, and she played the female lead in both of them."
"The female lead in a short drama? Was she auditioned at their school?"
"No, one of them is produced by the Zhou family. The Zhou family's lead actors are always appointed internally without auditions."
Tan Lingling... Zhou Shi...
"Okay, I understand."
When everything is connected, everything that seems illogical becomes logical.
Could this Tan Lingling be Zhu Yu's roommate? The one who tricked Zhu Yu out and handed her over to Zhou Ye?
"Hey, Zhu Yu,"
When she received the call, Zhu Yugang was being lowered from the wire harness. Her training session today involved completing designated movements while on the wire harness.
This is the training schedule that Shi Ru sent to Zhu Yu after he finished assigning Lu Xiaoxiao the annual plan.
The quality of the resources they've received so far isn't very reliable. Shi Ru's advice to Zhu Yu is to take a break for a while and focus on improving herself. Once the drama she's finished filming airs, Zhu Yu's market value will increase, and the quality of the resources will naturally improve.
The most important thing for an actor is to cherish their reputation; they can't prioritize quantity over quality. The quality of the script is crucial.
"Hmm, what's wrong? Why are you calling me at this hour?"
Zhu Yu was quite surprised to receive the call, since Shi Ru was more familiar with her schedule than she was. If it weren't for the break, Zhu Yu wouldn't have been able to look at her phone at all.
Shi Ru never contacts her during her training time.
What's your roommate's name?
"Tan Lingling, what happened?"
Shi Ru hesitated for a moment, unsure whether he should tell Zhu Yu about this.
"It's nothing. I ran into her today. I was looking up something."
"Okay, I need to continue training now, I'll hang up now!"
After a brief chat, Zhu Yu put down her phone at the coach's urging and began stretching.
Is this really Tan Lingling? Why would someone who hangs out with Zhou Ye appear in Connor?
Is it that kind of meaningless friendly cooperation again, just like my uncle said?
Shi Ru was somewhat annoyed; for the first time, he experienced what it felt like to be powerless.
"Director, which role does Tan Lingling play in the drama?"
Thinking about it, Shi Ru made another phone call.
For someone like Tan Lingling, he cannot allow her to continue staying in the drama, whether out of sentiment, reason, public interest, or private considerations.
Like I said before, what kind of good people can hang out with Zhou Ye?
What kind of good person would betray their benefactor and deceive them into going out?
"Uh, it's Su Yue'e. She doesn't have a lot of screen time, but she's not a small one either. She's probably a mid-game boss."
Although it's unclear why Shi Ru suddenly brought up Tan Lingling, the director still emphasized the importance and screen time of the character to avoid any unexpected additions from investors.
You really can't add that! The editing is almost finished, and if you suddenly add a scene, those editors will definitely fight her to the death.
Moreover, this is a villain. Giving villains more screen time is just asking for book fans to criticize them and make it to the trending topics!
"Don't worry, I'm not asking you to give her more screen time."
Shi Ru sensed the director's concerns and comforted him, "I meant for you to cut all of her scenes."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com