Chapter 85
"Did someone tell your fortune?"
The director was somewhat amused and exasperated. He had considered many reasons, but he never expected to receive such an answer from He Yuan.
"...So you're such a superstitious person?" he said.
He Yuan sighed and said with a wry smile, "You know me, after so many years in this industry, I'm still just an ordinary extra. I can't help but be superstitious now..."
She sighed, "Sometimes, you can't help but believe these things. Take Miss Lin, for example. I heard that she got her nose done because of someone else's advice, and then her career took off."
The director opened his mouth, but then stopped himself from speaking.
He really wanted to say that Miss Lin's career didn't take off because she got a nose job; it was entirely because she found a great sugar daddy. With a powerful backer, she could enjoy the benefits, which is why she has achieved what she has today.
However, as a director, he didn't like discussing actors' affairs, and he especially disliked talking about other people's private matters. So even though he really wanted to tell He Yuan the "truth," he held back and awkwardly took a sip of water.
"Since that's the case, there's nothing I can do about it." He said to He Yuan with some regret, and sighed, "I really wanted to work with you again."
He genuinely wanted to help He Yuan. In the drama he and He Yuan had worked together before, although He Yuan only had a small role with five or six scenes, her acting skills—that kind of mature, natural, and relaxed acting—were truly eye-opening.
After talking with He Yuan, he saw the character biography and notes she had made for the role, and felt even more sorry for her.
Therefore, when he saw the role of the second female lead in the new drama, his first reaction was to look for He Yuan.
It's a pity that He Yuan has now refused.
He Yuan also felt a little embarrassed. She could sense the director's good intentions, but it was pointless for her to film a drama that was deliberately buried.
"I hope we'll have the opportunity to work together again next time," the director said.
He Yuan glanced at the director, then at Xu Gui's reply on her phone. She breathed a sigh of relief and tentatively asked the director, "Director, how about postponing the filming of 'The Murderer' for a few months?"
The director was stunned.
He Yuan tried to reveal some information: "The fortune teller who told me said that if we were to film this drama now, the situation wouldn't be very good."
The director smiled and said, "I don't believe in these things..."
He Yuan glanced at him and whispered, "But when you turned on the camera, didn't you offer a pig's head and burn incense?"
The director's expression immediately became tense.
He Yuan simply asked, "Director, do you know Xu Gui?"
Director: "...Who is this?" The director is old and doesn't like to go online, so he had never heard of this name before.
He Yuan opened her phone, searched for Xu Gui's name, and then handed the phone to the director to show him.
"Have you seen the recent Hunan TV program '360 Trades'? Xu Gui was one of the guests... Her main profession is fortune telling," He Yuan introduced.
"She's incredibly skilled at fortune telling, practically able to predict everything perfectly. Look at these videos; they were edited by her fans. They're videos of her telling fortunes for people..."
"Just a few days ago, she saved a girl who was about to jump into the river to commit suicide!"
He Yuan had already asked Xu Gui if she could tell the director about her situation, and Xu Gui had given her an answer, so she was now introducing it to the director without any reservations.
The director squinted and held his phone a little further away to look at it.
There are countless news articles about Xu Gui online. She can be considered a big celebrity now. There are also many videos about her. However, the video edited by the netizen "I love eating houttuynia cordata" is the best and the most popular online.
What He Yuan is showing the director now is the edited version.
The director clicked on the video and watched it. After watching two videos, he looked at He Yuan and said, "Is this the fortune teller who told your fortune?"
He Yuan nodded.
The director muttered, "...They're so young."
He Yuan laughed and said, "Age is not necessarily a measure of a person's ability. Sometimes, talent is the most important factor, especially in the field of metaphysics. What do you think?"
The director nodded slightly, then asked, "Is it also her suggestion that it would be better to postpone the filming of this drama?"
He Yuan didn't want to talk about the male lead, since it was someone else's private matter, and she didn't like discussing other people's private affairs, as it seemed like she was smearing them. So when the director asked her, she just nodded and didn't go into details.
The director frowned and didn't answer He Yuan immediately, only saying, "Let me think about this some more."
He Yuan nodded in understanding.
After talking with the director, she parted ways with him at the coffee shop. After finishing the conversation, she felt much more relaxed, with a sense of relief that everything had been settled, and her mood remained good.
On her way back, she saw some duck necks for sale and bought some to eat with Xu Gui when she got back.
However, when she arrived at the dormitory, she found that Xu Gui's agent, Mr. Kuang, was also there.
"Mr. Kuang..." He Yuan greeted him, put the duck neck in her hand in the refrigerator, and was about to go inside when Kuang Ming stopped her.
Kuang Ming said, "I'm here to see Miss He today."
He Yuan: "...Looking for me?"
She glanced at Xu Gui with a puzzled look, while Xu Gui looked at her innocently.
"Miss He, please have a seat." Kuang Ming took the initiative and acted as the guest of honor—he seemed much more at ease than He Yuan, the dormitory owner.
He Yuan walked over and sat down next to Xu Gui. She was a little uneasy because she didn't know what Kuang Ming wanted to see her about.
Kuang Ming looked at her and dropped a bombshell.
“I’ve taken Ms. He’s contract from your agent, and I’ll be in charge of you from now on,” Kuang Ming said.
He Yuan: "..."
He Yuan's first reaction was that she had misheard. She glanced at Kuang Ming questioningly, then at Xu Gui, before asking uncertainly, "Me, me? Why?"
She was somewhat flattered.
Xu Gui snorted lightly, glanced at Kuang Ming with disdain, and said to He Yuan, "Kuang Ming must have seen your potential and knows you are a rising star, so he rushed to get you under his command."
She even felt that Kuang Ming might have acted so decisively because he listened to her advice.
Sure enough, she had initially thought this person looked like he was full of bad intentions and had a cunning mind. As it turned out, she was right; this person was indeed very cunning.
Kuang Ming pretended not to hear Xu Gui's mutterings. He smiled at He Yuan and said, "Miss He, you don't need to be so modest. I've been watching you teach Xu Gui acting these past two days and I've found that your acting skills are really good. After that, I also watched some of the TV series you filmed before."
Hearing this, He Yuan couldn't help but widen her eyes and ask, "You still look for my old dramas to watch?"
Kuang Ming nodded, clasped his hands on his knees, and said, "I'm interested in you and want to sign you to my company. Naturally, I need to understand your situation better. But I didn't expect that you, Miss He, have filmed so many dramas before... 135. That's really a huge project. There are probably many that I haven't seen yet."
He Yuan: "You've seen them all?"
Kuang Ming said, "Pretty much. I mainly look at the number of scenes you appear in."
He Yuan had never played an important role before, so she had very little screen time in the drama. Otherwise, Kuang Ming would have watched 135 dramas in a year. However, although she didn't have many scenes, after watching the drama, Kuang Ming gained a deeper understanding of He Yuan's acting skills.
Just as Xu Gui said, he also felt that what He Yuan needed now was an opportunity.
“I think you have a bright future!” he said to He Yuan.
He Yuan opened her mouth, and for some reason, at this moment, she felt her eyes getting hot.
In this short period of time, she has received more recognition than she has in the past twenty-eight years. Whether it is Xu Gui or Kuang Ming now, they are all telling her that her acting skills are very good, and the reason why she has not become famous is simply because she lacks an opportunity.
"What if, what if you find out later that no matter what you do, I just can't become famous?" she couldn't help but ask.
Kuang Ming chuckled. He sat in a large chair with armrests on both sides, leaned back naturally, and said with a smile, "If that's really the case, then I should reflect on myself. With a pearl in my hand, how could I let it be tarnished? What else could I be but useless?"
He Yuan was speechless, and Xu Gui couldn't help but glance at his agent again.
Kuang Ming said, "In short, from now on you will be an artist under my management, and I will arrange your work. What work do you have on hand right now?"
He Yuan snapped out of her reverie and said, "Right now, there's only one drama we're in talks for, Director He Zhao's 'The Thief,' but my role in it only has ten lines..."
Kuang Ming was initially surprised when he heard that the movie was called "The Thief," but he felt relieved after He Yuan said that it only had ten lines of dialogue.
He said that if He Yuan could play an important role in "The Thief", her former agent wouldn't have thrown her out like a hot potato.
"Take the role in 'The Thief' if you can, and I'll see if I can get you other scripts later..." he said.
He Yuan nodded.
Within two days, she realized the benefits of changing agents. Her previous agent had ignored her, and she had to do everything herself. Apart from the fixed salary of 4,500 yuan deposited into her account every month, she was practically an unsigned amateur.
However, now that she has a new agent and an assistant, she no longer needs to worry about getting scripts. Kuang Ming will naturally find them for her, and in just a couple of days, he even got her a gig.
“Acting Competition…” He Yuan looked at Kuang Ming.
Kuang Ming said, "Your advantage is your good acting skills. You've been in the industry for many years. This is a program organized by Hailan TV, which mainly tests acting skills. You will have a great advantage on this program!"
"There's just one thing I hope you can make a splash when you first compete in acting with someone, so that I can handle the rest of the process more easily."
He Yuan was a little nervous. It's funny to think about, but she's been in the industry for so many years and hasn't been on a single show yet. If she were to participate, this would be her first time.
"Can I...can I do it?" she asked, somewhat unsure of herself.
Xu Gui, who was slurping snails, said without looking up, "Of course you can. Didn't you say that your acting skills are very good and no worse than anyone else's? If that's the case, you should be full of confidence."
He Yuan smiled wryly: "That's what they say..."
Kuang Ming simply looked at her and asked, "Do you want to be famous?"
He Yuan was taken aback for a moment, then nodded: "Yes!"
Kuang Ming said, "If you want to become famous, then go all out. Shrinking back will only make you miss out on opportunities to become a big star, won't it?"
He Yuan's heart skipped a beat.
Xu Gui was sitting on the high platform eating snails. Since she became human, she has always been the most enthusiastic when it comes to eating. The snails were bought by Kuang Ming. She had just finished lunch, but Xu Gui had already opened the snails again and was sucking on one snail after another.
After Kuang Ming had He Yuan sign the contract for "Acting Competition", he turned around and saw a pile of snail shells in front of her. He couldn't help but twitch his lips.
He currently manages two artists: Xu Gui and now He Yuan. In Kuang Ming's opinion, Xu Gui is carefree, while He Yuan is too sensitive. It would be great if their personalities could be balanced.
“…You have to work tomorrow too,” he said to Xu Gui.
Xu Gui's eyes widened: "So I'm involved too?"
Kuang Ming said helplessly, "Didn't you see the schedule I gave you yesterday? The filming of 'Fashion' will be in the next two days. The time has been set, and it will start tomorrow."
"Okay." Xu Gui was quite obedient in this regard, although she was still quite clueless about what she was going to be filming and didn't know exactly what it was about. The fashion magazine hadn't explained in detail either. The only thing she knew was that the theme of this shoot was "sea".
ocean.
*
The next morning, Xu Gui was still asleep when Yuan Lu dragged her out of bed. After she finished washing up in a daze, she was stuffed into the nanny van. Throughout the whole process, her eyes were half closed and she was not fully awake.
When she finally woke up, an hour and a half had passed. She was sitting in the airport, staring blankly at the empty waiting hall.
"Where is this?" she asked Yuan Lu.
Before Yuan Lu could answer, Kuang Ming, who was sitting next to her reading a magazine, chimed in: "It's at the airport in City A. We're heading to City H now. The theme of this shoot is 'sea,' so naturally we'll be going to a place with the sea."
H City, surrounded by the ocean and islands, is the perfect place for this theme.
“I should have told you all this yesterday.” He looked at Xu Gui.
Xu Gui rubbed his eyes, yawned, and said, "I forgot just now, but you mentioned it and I remembered."
Kuang Ming asked her, "Have you memorized all the information about 'fashion'? Don't be clueless when you meet people from 'fashion'."
It would be ridiculous for someone who wants to be a brand ambassador to be completely ignorant of the brand's background and other information; they would be ridiculed if discovered.
Xu Gui said, "Don't worry, I've already memorized it all. I was memorizing it until midnight last night."
She still has a strong sense of responsibility when it comes to getting paid. Since the other party is the benefactor who gave her the money, she naturally has to be serious and responsible, and she can't let people feel that their money has been wasted. She also has to do her job in a way that is worthy of the money she was paid.
"By the way, how long will this shoot take?" she asked again. "I have something to do in five days, so I have to come back."
Kuang Ming looked at her in surprise and asked, "What is it?"
As far as she knew, Xu Gui had no other relatives or friends besides the people in the orphanage. What else could she do besides eat, drink, and laze around?
Xu Gui said, "One of the children in our orphanage is going to have surgery that day, so I have to come back to check on him."
She was referring to Dongzhi. She had given the one million she had earned to the hospital director so that he could use it to treat Dongzhi's illness. The director had been in contact with Dongzhi's attending physician, and the two sides had been discussing Dongzhi's surgery. However, due to a lack of funds, the surgery had to be postponed again and again.
Now that the money was available, the hospital director immediately contacted the hospital and scheduled the surgery for the winter solstice.
Now, the actual surgery will be scheduled for five days later.
Xu Gui felt that she still needed to go and see him. During this period of rest, she also went to the hospital to see Dongzhi. In order to ensure that her physical condition was in good condition during the surgery, Dongzhi had been staying in the hospital during this time.
When Xu Gui went to visit her, he found that she looked very well, which meant that the hospital staff were taking good care of her.
After hearing this, Kuang Ming realized there was such a thing. He nodded and said, "Don't worry, the filming shouldn't take too long, two days at most... If you really don't have time, I'll talk to 'fashion' magazine and ask them to give you a day off."
After listening, Xu Gui thanked him, saying, "Thank you."
After thanking him, she remembered something she needed to ask Kuang Ming for a favor, so she asked him, "Do you know any good renovation teams?"
Kuang Ming: "What's wrong?"
Xu Gui had just woken up and was feeling a bit lazy. Leaning back in the waiting room chair, she said languidly, "Our orphanage is planning to renovate recently, and I was wondering if you know any renovation teams... I heard that if you find a bad renovation team, the whole renovation will be ruined."
She brought this up when she was chatting with the director. Their orphanage was quite old and needed a lot of repairs, so she had mentioned it when she transferred the money to the director.
The dean was very concerned about this matter, but he didn't know how to proceed or what kind of renovation team to hire. After all, renovation is a minefield, and anyone can fall into it.
Xu Gui pondered that Kuang Ming had a wider network of connections than they did, and might know people who knew about renovations. Although he seemed cunning, he appeared reliable, and the team he found was definitely trustworthy.
Therefore, Xu Guicai has this question now.
After listening, Kuang Ming did not immediately agree. Instead, he inquired about the situation of their orphanage. He learned that Xu Gui had given all the money he earned to the director to manage, but the director had no idea how to renovate the orphanage. He couldn't help but laugh and cry.
“Here’s what we’ll do,” he said. “I’ll introduce you to someone, a professional. You can give him the money, and he can handle all the repairs to the orphanage.”
Xu Gui's eyes lit up. She looked at Kuang Ming happily and said, "I knew that asking Mr. Kuang would definitely be helpful for these matters." No wonder the dean and the others said that Kuang Ming was an "elite."
Kuang Ming mocked her: "You're not calling me Kuang Ming anymore?"
Xu Gui then laughed.
...
After waiting in the waiting room for about half an hour, Xu Gui and his group finally started boarding.
Ticket check-in, boarding, takeoff.
It was Xu Gui's first time on a plane. At first, she was a little excited, but when she realized that she couldn't fly away from the plane, she lost interest and fell asleep as soon as she sat down.
Kuang Ming, who was sitting next to her, was talking to her just two minutes ago, but when he looked at her again two minutes later, he found that she had fallen asleep.
Kuang Ming: ...It's really hard not to envy Xu Gui's sleep.
Only those who have experienced insomnia know how enviable Xu Gui's sleep is. The ability to fall asleep as soon as he leans his head back is something I only had back in my school days.
Kuang Ming sighed.
What he envied even more was that Xu Gui slept straight through until the plane landed, and he was the one who woke him up. As a result, when Xu Gui was awakened from his sleep, he met his envious gaze as soon as he opened his eyes.
Xu Gui: ? ?
Xu Gui was somewhat bewildered: he had only taken a nap, but it felt like a year had passed. Even his manager's gaze towards him had changed.
Putting all that aside, their flight went very smoothly. When they came out of the exit, they found the staff of "fashion" waiting for them.
The two sides met.
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