Chapter 189: Parental Guidance If I were to hand her over to…
"Really?! Thank you so much!" Li Sishi was overjoyed to find such a pleasant surprise while playing cards. Although she knew that this might not guarantee her the acquisition of the resources, she still thanked Tang Jingwen with great delight.
Seeing Li Sishi's genuine and sincere gratitude, Tang Jingwen felt even more favorably disposed towards her: In the entertainment industry, "giving away" resources is not easy. If it were some two-faced people who are two-faced and have one face in public but another in private, Tang Jingwen would easily incur their resentment for helping to connect them with resources, thinking that she was looking down on them and that's why she was giving away resources she didn't want...
Fortunately, Li Sishi wasn't the kind of person who couldn't see things clearly. Even though she might have understood that it was a mutually beneficial arrangement, Li Sishi genuinely expressed her gratitude to her. She knew that this resource wasn't something "given away because others didn't want it," but rather something that was available because she was really unable to take it herself, which is why she was so happy and grateful.
Tang Jingwen smiled and said, "No need to be so polite, it was just a small favor. If you really want to thank me, just continue to 'take care' of your cousin later..."
"Are you kidding me!" Before Tang Jingwen could finish speaking, Rong Juezhang, who hadn't won a single game all night, immediately shouted angrily, "You can't gang up on me like this!"
“Even if I don’t ‘take care’ of you, you still won’t achieve anything…” Li Sishi looked at his almost shameless behavior speechlessly. “You can’t blame me for suppressing you just because you can’t finish. You’re my next player, so who else can I keep an eye on if not you?”
In mahjong, the usual practice is to keep an eye on the player to your left, block the player to your right, and guard against the player opposite you. Compared to the player to your right and the player opposite you, who are difficult to control directly, the player to your left plays after you. Therefore, Li Sishi wasn't deliberately targeting Rong Juezhang, who was to her left. It was just that he had terrible luck drawing seats tonight, and ended up sitting in the very position where she needed to "take care" of him the most...
Just as Rong Juezhang was about to grumble and say something more, Li Jinhao, who was making tea in the kitchen, came out and said, "Ah May, try the tea Daddy made for you. The tea leaves here are quite palatable, better than tea made from tea bags."
Seeing Ling Chen looking at her half-full cup of Earl Grey tea with a pitiful expression, Li Sishi picked up the cup and put it aside, while secretly giving him an apologetic smile.
Then the wronged cat head turned into a tearful cat head again. Although he could never cry like a tearful cat head in reality, the way he pursed his lips was quite charming.
"Daddy, there are some pastries I brought over from the cabinet last time. You can have them with this tea, okay?"
"Could you help me get it?" Unable to bear such pitiful, animal-like eyes, Li Sishi, who always responded to gentle persuasion but not force, raised her voice and said.
Seeing that Li Jinhao followed the instructions to rummage through the cabinet without any suspicion, Li Sishi quickly picked up the Earl Grey tea cup that was placed aside, tilted her head back and drank the remaining half cup of tea in one gulp. Then she raised her hand, wrinkled her face and gently exhaled, looking as if she had burned her tongue with the still warm tea.
Ling Chen suddenly became anxious: "Did you get burned? Should we get some ice...?"
"It's nothing—" Li Sishi quickly stopped him from standing up, then looked up at the two people next to her who were watching the show with amusement, and explained with a self-righteous but not entirely justified tone, "Waste is bad behavior!"
Tang Jingwen covered her mouth and gave a soft "tsk," showing some consideration by not laughing out loud on the spot.
As for Rong Juezhang, he didn't hold back much. He laughed heartily and, as if afraid Li Jinhao wouldn't hear him, shouted, "Hey, although wasting food is obviously not good, you don't have to be in such a hurry. Nobody's rushing you here. You can just drink whatever you want..."
“These two teas have many differences, and mixing them will definitely not taste as good as drinking them separately.” Although Li Jinhao was very unhappy about the empty tea cup, he would not let his precious daughter be teased, so he had no choice but to swallow his anger and speak up to defend her.
"I'm sorry..." Ling Chen quickly apologized.
“What’s it to you? I just drank a little too fast, it’s nothing, it’s nothing—” Li Sishi waved her hand, deliberately changing the subject, “By the way, can I ask about that movie? Anything I can tell you.”
Although she had watched this movie, which was undoubtedly one of Shang Lanyu's masterpieces, many times in her previous life, there were rumors that the script had been modified for Shang Lanyu after she joined the movie as the female lead. Therefore, Li Sishi wanted to learn as much as possible about the original script that had not yet been modified.
It is unknown whether Shang Lanyu has any plans to return to acting, but since she has the opportunity to try her hand at acting in a classic film, Li Sishi certainly does not want to give up before even entering the scene because she "foresaw" the outcome. If she had that mindset, she would not have gone to such lengths to rewrite her life and ultimately realize her dream of becoming the 21st Miss Hong Kong.
Therefore, even if this time she might face a formidable opponent like Shang Lanyu, one of the top actresses in terms of acting skills, she still wanted to give it a try: even if she ultimately lost to Shang Lanyu, at least she wouldn't let fear of taking a chance prevent her from sacrificing her future.
He regretted it for the rest of his life.
Tang Jingwen nodded, recalling the script she had read, and briefly explained to Li Sishi: "It's roughly a story about new immigrants. The male and female protagonists are young people from the mainland who come to Hong Kong to work hard. They meet by chance and then comfort and warm each other in the lonely metropolis."
"But the male protagonist couldn't let go of his childhood sweetheart and fiancée in mainland China, while the female protagonist didn't want to ruin other people's relationship and was unwilling to give up her dream of striving to change her life, so the two eventually separated and went on to start their own families and careers..."
"However, after they separated, the two gradually realized that their relationship was not just about finding comfort in each other during difficult times, but a profound and unforgettable love..."
When Li Sishi goes to audition, she will definitely get this kind of plot outline, and Tang Jingwen will naturally not mind doing her a favor.
After all, if Li Sishi can pass the audition, it will be a way for her to give back to Director Cheng.
"Old Cheng has wanted to film this kind of 'extramarital affair' theme for a long time. He couldn't make a film about it before, so he added this kind of extramarital affair theme to my film 'Suddenly a Man, Suddenly a Woman 2' which I was going to film later..." Rong Juezhang complained.
The film he starred in before, "Suddenly a Man, Suddenly a Woman," was actually a commercial film that the director surnamed Cheng compromised with investors to produce in order to raise funds for another film he wanted to make.
As a result, after the success of "Hanging Man, Hanging Woman", the movie that Director Cheng wanted to make flopped so badly that he could not continue to make "Big City, Small Love" as originally planned. Therefore, Director Cheng had to compromise with the investors for the second time and start "Hanging Man, Hanging Woman 2" in exchange for them investing in "Big City, Small Love".
Of course, Rong Juezhang didn't come away empty-handed either—because Director Cheng was too busy and the production schedule for "Suddenly a Man, Suddenly a Woman 2" was tight, he was put in charge of the assistant director position, which allowed him to experience what it's like to be a director...
"Thank you," Ling Chen added at this point.
This drew a meaningful glance from Tang Jingwen, who was explaining things to Li Sishi.
Although his gratitude in the early morning was for finding the female lead for the movie, he was probably so surprised and excited because the female lead might be Li Sishi...
He always looked like a cool guy when the two of them worked together before.
Although inside he's actually just an adorable, silly guy.
"Oh right, I almost forgot you're the male lead—your script probably has a different focus than mine. Why don't you continue talking to Ah May about your thoughts on the script and the character?" People immersed in love probably also like to play matchmaker for others.
Even someone as unique as Tang Jingwen was no exception. "That pastry looks good. I'll go eat a couple of pieces to try it."
Knowing that Tang Jingwen was creating an opportunity for him, Ling Chen nodded shyly, pulled up a chair and sat closer to Li Sishi, and whispered to her about his thoughts on the movie script and the male lead.
On the other side, knowing that his beloved daughter was busy with important matters, Li Jinhao couldn't keep a close eye on her any longer. After hesitating for a while, he could only sit down on the sofa and silently tell himself that out of sight, out of mind...
"Sigh—I'm a little tired after playing for so long. I'll go eat a couple of pieces of that cake and try them..." Rong Juezhang stretched, got up and walked over to the sofa to sit down, still quite familiarly sitting next to Li Jinhao.
Looking at that gentle, smiling face, which seemed to embody the beauty and charm of early autumn, he reached out and put his hand on Li Jinhao's shoulder as if they were good buddies: "No wonder you were watching so closely, this 'Matroshka' is indeed much more precious than the one from back then..."
"If I entrust her to you, can you take good care of her?" Li Jinhao suddenly turned around and asked very seriously.
Seeing Rong Juezhang's surprised expression, Li Jinhao, realizing he had misunderstood, quickly added, "It's not what you think. I just want you to help take care of her—like I do, to guide her as she navigates this industry."
"Oh, I was so scared..." Rong Juezhang exaggeratedly patted his chest with his free hand, then nodded very generously, "No problem, you and I both like her so much, not to mention I'm Ah May's 'Oh dear cousin'..."
Li Jinhao breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, but as he nodded, he suddenly seemed to remember something and asked again, "Wait, you wouldn't... embezzle from your post, would you?"
"What do you take me for? I've always been a man of my word, don't worry!" Rong Juezhang waved his hand confidently.
Seeing how confidently he answered his question without hesitation, Li Jinhao thoughtfully recalled: "I remember you've never really cared much about gold since you were little..."
Both came from good families and had been used to a life of luxury since childhood, so they didn't really care much about money and other material possessions—which made Rong Juezhang's guarantee seem a bit unreliable.
"Ugh, talking to you is such a pain in the ass. If I'm not careful, it'll feel like you've got something on me. People will think I'm in court..." Rong Juezhang glared at him with disdain. "Attorney Li, do you even remember that you're asking for help right now?"
Although it was indeed my fault for being unreasonable and trying to take his beloved possession back then, and I feel I have wronged him; now that so many years have passed, the interest has compounded into such a heavy "responsibility," shouldn't Li Jinhao at least show some appreciation first?
Li Jinhao was silent for a few seconds before speaking in a low voice: "Sorry..."
"It's really not easy to wait for your 'Sorry'..." Rong Juezhang sighed with deep emotion, then earnestly assured Li Jinhao once again, "I will do my best."
Moved for a moment by the pitiful love of parents, Rong Juezhang then turned his gaze forward again, landing on the two young people whispering to each other.
He's taken on the responsibility and made the promises, but if the girl is outgoing and childlike, she's already at the age where she wants to date—as an enlightened elder, he can't "give too much parental guidance," right?
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