Chapter 24
"Why didn't you tell me in advance that there were guests at home, Mom?" Zhou Yue looked at his mother.
"You kid, are you too busy with work and confused? Didn't Mom tell you that Baochan will come to visit us tonight?" Mother Xie pretended to be angry and patted Zhou Yue's arm.
Zhou Yue: "Oh...Okay."
"Please sit down, don't stand. You young people should talk more." Xie's mother made an excuse, "I'll go see if the nanny's meal is ready."
After Xie's mother left, Zhou Yue and Rong Baochan were the only ones left in the living room.
"Hello, hello." Rong Baochan said shyly.
Rong Baochan wore a one-shoulder ruffled pink top, a pure white pink puffy skirt, and a pair of brown high boots. She was dressed fashionably and exuded youthfulness.
"Please sit down." Zhou Yue pointed at the sofa and said.
You are the host, so you can't leave your guests alone. This is the basic way of hospitality.
But he has always been quiet with strangers, let alone the blind date he resists.
The two sat opposite each other, and Zhou Yue had nothing else to say except "drink more water".
They looked at each other in confusion, but Zhou Yue was not embarrassed because he had been distracted.
"I heard that you work in the gaming industry?" Rong Baochan asked.
Zhou Yue thought about the game report in his mind: "Hmm? Oh, yes."
"What games have you played?" Rong Baochan asked with interest.
Zhou Yue mentioned a few casually.
"Oh..." Never heard of it.
Rong Baochan knew nothing about the game and asked questions purely to start a conversation. However, the man opposite her was like a gourd with a sawed-off mouth, answering every question she asked.
No matter how stupid she was, she could tell that the other party was no longer interested in her.
What's more, Rong Baochan is not stupid at all. She was born in a wealthy family in Hong Kong and has a lot of half-brothers and sisters. She has been well versed in the ways of the world since she was a child.
The only reason she agreed to the blind date was because Zhou Yue was young, handsome, and wealthy.
But the prerequisite is that this person must also like her. The proud and arrogant young lady would not bother to pursue a man.
After figuring this out, Rong Baochan put away her fake smile, put her right leg on top of her left leg, found a comfortable position to lean back, then took out her cell phone from her pink Hermès bag, raised her chin proudly, and played with her phone.
Disdain me?
I’ll give you double two!
Click-click-click——
Rong Baochan kept tapping on the screen of her mobile phone with her long nails decorated with rhinestones. She browsed Weibo for a while and then looked through her circle of friends.
Her left leg was numb, so she adjusted her posture and was about to switch legs when—
"Hey, what are you doing?"
I found Zhou Yue staring at my phone, or to be more precise, the phone case.
Rong Baochan flipped over her phone, confused at first, then suddenly realizing what was going on. She pointed at the small card tucked inside the transparent phone case and said with a hint of surprise, "You know her too?"
After Zhou Yue nodded in agreement, Rong Baochan started talking again.
Originally, the two of them were sitting at the two ends of the sofa, but ended up getting closer and closer.
Rong Baochan showed Zhou Yue the short essay she had written for Cheng Cheng: it described in detail how Cheng Cheng had come this far, from being unsuccessful when she first debuted, to being dormant on the bench, to her current success. Even the punctuation marks were filled with emotion!
.......Zhou Yue felt a little ashamed after hearing this.
When talking about the things she loves, Rong Baochan's eyes light up, no longer as reserved as she was at the beginning.
She also forgave Zhou Yue for his initial coldness. If they couldn't be boyfriend and girlfriend, being a burden-bearing partner was not bad either.
"You like Cheng Cheng too, right?" Rong Baochan said proudly.
"I...well, like her." It's just that my liking for her is not the same as yours, Zhou Yue thought to himself.
After receiving a positive answer, Rong Baochan punched Zhou Yue with confidence: "Then we are in the same boat?"
Zhou Yue: "Tongdan"? It was an unfamiliar word, perhaps referring to an accomplice. He nodded hesitantly.
"How many copies of the single did you buy?" Rong Baochan asked directly with bright eyes.
Zhou Yue was a little confused: "...Can't I just buy a copy and listen to it?"
Rong Baochan's attitude took a sharp turn for the worse.
She scoffed at the freeloaders: "One is just a passerby fan. How dare you call yourself a fan just because you bought one?"
Zhou Yue:.......Well, actually he never said that he was a fan.
But he readily accepted the advice and humbly asked, "How many tickets do I need to buy to be considered a fan?"
"Well, it depends on the situation. There's no rigid rule," Rong Baochan patiently taught him. "It depends on your personal ability. If you're a student and financially independent, just two or three tickets will be enough."
"If you have money at home or have a job, well..." Rong Baochan said a number, "then the more the better. Anyway, buying just one ticket won't do. For someone like you—"
She couldn't hide her inner contempt, and her words and actions kept saying: What a stingy person! He lives in a mansion worth hundreds of millions, but he can't bear to buy an album worth ten dollars.
Most of the male fans are stingy, but that’s not wrong, Rong Baochan thought.
She showed off the limited edition card on the back of her phone case: "Look, isn't my card pretty?"
The small card shows Cheng Cheng standing in a field of tulips, bending slightly to sniff the flowers, looking pure and beautiful.
Zhou Yue was fascinated by it and agreed, "It looks good."
"This is a limited edition photo card. I bought 300 copies of the single to get one. Oh, and you might not know this, but buying the single gives you a chance to win a photo card. If you win a limited edition photo card, you'll win!" Are you tempted? If so, buy the single quickly, haha.
Sure enough, Zhou Yue became interested and asked, "How can I draw a small card?"
Hooked!
Rong Baochan coughed twice: "I'll teach you..."
"The meal is ready." If the meal wasn't getting cold, Xie's mother really didn't want to interrupt the two of them.
Look, isn’t this a good chat? Mother Xie is very happy.
While eating, he enthusiastically picked up food for Rong Baochan.
"What are you talking about? This is so fun." Xie's mother treated Rong Baochan as her future daughter-in-law.
Rong Baochan narrowed her eyes and said with a smile, "We were talking about celebrities. We just happened to like the same person."
"Oh, who do you like? Auntie also likes watching TV dramas, maybe she knows." Xie's mother was kind to Rong Baochan, even a little flattering.
"Well, it's a newly popular star. You may not have heard of her, her name is Cheng Cheng. Look, it's her..." Rong Baochan opened her mobile phone and showed Xie's mother a photo of Cheng Cheng.
Xie's mother was horrified.
"She works super hard! She's talented and dotes on her fans. She's simply a paradise for fans." Rong Baochan gushed.
Xie's mother loosened her grip and the spoon fell to the ground.
The aunt waiting on the side quickly took out a new spoon to replace it.
Mother Xie looked at Zhou Yue, but Zhou Yue looked calm and asked his mother with concern: "Mom, what's wrong with you? Is your hand okay?"
"It's okay, it's okay. I just had a cramp." Xie's mother looked a little dazed.
She suddenly remembered many years ago.
Her son was secretly in love with a girl and didn't tell her, but she had already discovered it through her son's cell phone call records.
At that time, she met her current husband and was about to move to Hong Kong. For the better development of her son and for herself to have a support in Hong Kong, she tried her best to persuade Zhou Yue to move with her.
But Zhou Yue was still hesitant.
Xie's mother knew that her son was reluctant to part with his girlfriend.
It happened that Zhou Yue and Cheng Cheng had a quarrel during that period, so when Xie's mother secretly looked at Zhou Yue's mobile phone, she secretly deleted Cheng Cheng's text message asking for peace.
So many years had passed and Xie's mother had almost forgotten about it. Unexpectedly, she heard the name again.
So many years have passed, and Zhou Yue is no longer the penniless boy he used to be. How could he not have forgotten that woman?
————————
"Take a look at this script." Su Qing put down a thick stack of papers.
Seeing the big words on the cover, Cheng Cheng frowned: "Another fairy tale theme."
Although she said this, she still opened the script.
Still the second female role.
After looking carefully for a while, Cheng Cheng's brows relaxed and then furrowed, and his lips pursed.
She closed the book and looked up at Su Qing: "Sister Qing, this book... is quite ordinary." Not even as good as "Nine Heavens Mysterious Moon".
She became a little famous for her role as the second female lead in "Nine Heavens and Mysterious Moon".
Logically speaking, you shouldn't take on the same type of role in the next play, as it's easy to be stereotyped as being able to only play this type of role, which will lead to a narrow range of acting.
The script in hand not only has a similar theme, but also a clichéd plot. The second female lead completely serves the female lead, highlighting the truth, goodness and beauty of the female lead in all aspects, and is a background character.
Su Qing saw what Cheng Cheng was thinking and helped her finish the unspoken words: "I know, you want to say that this script is average, right?"
"I admit, this script is a bit ordinary."
“.......”
"But you haven't been on set for several months." Su Qing looked worried. "The popularity of the last drama lasted for only half a year at most. If there is no continuous output of works, the popularity will drop."
"You have decent traffic now, endorsements, and business opportunities, but the premise for all this is that brands and platforms need to see your value, that is, your future potential."
"If you don't have any subsequent works, the investors are the most powerful. They will immediately invest their resources and money in the next star who buys stocks." Su Qing analyzed the pros and cons and spoke harshly, but it was also the truth.
Cheng Cheng hesitated, clenching the coffee cup in his hand: "I understand what you said, but this play...ah, is there nothing better?"
Su Qing sighed: "Do you think I don't want to fight for a better script for you? It's so difficult!"
"It's a sluggish time for the film and television industry right now, so we're just thankful that many projects can even start filming. There aren't that many good scripts out there, and even if there were, it wouldn't be our turn to audition."
Cheng Cheng was silent: "......." She knew that Su Qing was right, but once this door was opened, would it really be a step worse than the previous one?
"This drama is just to keep you popular. As long as you are popular, you will have the opportunity to receive good scripts. Don't rush, there is plenty of time in the future."
The entertainment industry is changing too quickly, and many people disappear from the news after becoming popular. Su Qing is really thinking about Cheng Cheng.
"Your starting point for "Nine Heavens Mysterious Moon" is too high, but such opportunities are hard to come by..." There were some things Su Qing didn't say, but if it weren't for Zhou Yue, how could Cheng Cheng get that role?
"This drama is a self-produced drama of the Banana platform. The pay is very high, and the heroine is a self-employed person. Although you are the second female lead, our company has a cooperation with the Banana platform, and they promised that the later publicity and promotion will be tilted towards you." Su Qing listed the various benefits.
".......Give me some more time, I need to think about it carefully." Cheng Cheng said in a dilemma.
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