Chapter 120 Turning the Tables
Let's rewind to the day the costume photos were taken.
Following the link provided by Tan Jingcheng, Gao Yifeng "read" several episodes of Xia Mian's "masterpiece," and his complexion grew increasingly worse.
Having been a director for so many years, he has seen all kinds of actors and has put many ugly children of capitalists into the crew, but he has never let them play such an important role in the crew.
But the contract has already been signed, so we can't just cancel it, can we? Besides, Xia Mian looks so good, where can we find a child who looks so much like Mo Yu in such a short time?
I can't find it at all!
Gao Yifeng smoked half a pack of cigarettes, his words filling the entire studio with smoke. Just as he was getting anxious, Zhu Xuanqing, whom he hadn't contacted in a long time, suddenly called him.
"Old Gao, I heard Xia Mian joined your film crew?" the other party asked bluntly.
“Yes,” Gao Yifeng said with a sigh, “It’s driving me crazy.”
"Don't you want to use him?"
It's not that they don't want to use them. Oriental Entertainment is the second largest investor in the project. It's common practice to put people in the show to balance the income and expenditure. They can't just eat the food and then complain about it.
"No, the young man looks good, but his acting skills... are really too bad."
"Hehe," Zhu Xuanqing laughed, "Take care of a minor supporting actor. Old Gao, I remember you're quite good at training actors."
Gao Yifeng: "After all, he was signed by Oriental Entertainment, and he also has close ties with Changhai Century and Shengyuan Investment. We have to think about it carefully."
Changhai Century and Shengyuan Investment are both subsidiaries of the Kepler Group. The former mainly deals in artist management, while the latter mainly invests in the cultural and entertainment sector. They are top-tier talent suppliers and cash cows in the industry.
Zhu Xuanqing: "Then let him suffer in silence for a while, and he'll behave himself after a few times."
The phrase "suffering in silence" really gave Gao Yifeng a lot of inspiration, so on the day he officially joined the crew, he came up with the good strategies of "car number eight" and "turning a blind eye".
Let's rewind to the present.
After catching up with Jiang Chun, Gao Yifeng figured it was about time and decided to "receive" Xia Mian.
Pushing open the door, they found the room empty.
Gao Yifeng called his assistant: "Where's Xia Mian?"
Assistant Lily: "It was just here a moment ago, where did it go... I'll contact it."
Five minutes later, Gao Yifeng received news that Xia Mian had left on her own, and his face turned green: He angrily ordered Lily: "Call me on the phone!"
Lily called Xia Mian as instructed. After the call connected, the first sound she heard was the bubbling of a hot pot, followed by the sounds of boys and girls chatting and laughing.
“Teacher Xia,” Lily said, “Director Gao has something he wants to say to you.”
A faint "hmm" came from the other end.
Gao Yifeng felt a tightness in his chest and couldn't hold back any longer, roaring, "Xia Mian, don't you know there's a fan meeting tonight? Where have you been?!"
"What, a meet-and-greet?" Xia Mian asked in surprise. "I'm so sorry, Director Gao, I really didn't know. I waited at the airport for almost half an hour, and then waited in your office for another half hour after arriving at the film set. Seeing that you weren't in a hurry, I thought there were no plans for tonight."
Gao Yifeng choked for a moment: "If you don't know, why don't you just ask? Besides, there are notices in the group chat, you all need to pay attention to them at all times. The film crew is a very serious place, not a vegetable market, you can't just come and go as you please!"
“Director Gao, you’ve really wronged me. I asked my assistant sister,” Xia Mian said, sounding aggrieved. “She said she didn’t know either and told me to ask you in person. As for the crew group chat, no one asked us to join.”
Creating groups, issuing announcements, and so on are all the director's assistant's work. Because Gao Yifeng wanted to "train" Xia Mian, he instructed Lili not to worry about Xia Mian for the time being.
As a result, Xia Mian ran away on the grounds of "not knowing," only to be outmaneuvered and end up shooting herself in the foot.
For almost a minute, Gao Yifeng didn't utter a single word.
Xia Mian didn't urge him, quietly listening to the heavy breathing on the other end, until the other party spoke again: "If the main cast can all arrive tonight, I'll have Lily send you the time and address in a bit. Please be sure to arrive on time."
The so-called meet-and-greet is nothing more than a gathering before filming starts, allowing everyone to get to know each other, build rapport, and make filming go more smoothly.
Xia Mian knew his place; if he wasn't on time for this kind of occasion, it would create an awkward situation where everyone at the table was waiting for him. Those were all seniors; he wasn't foolish enough to be late.
"Director Gao, I'll definitely be there on time tonight. By the way, could you please send me the driver's phone number as well, Sister Lili? We'll talk to him and ask him to come pick us up. Oh, and remember to give us the phone number for the private car, don't keep changing it. They changed the car at the last minute to pick us up, and we almost mistook it for someone else."
This remark cleverly defused the awkward situation of car number eight and put Gao Yifeng in an awkward position.
Because Gao Yifeng only wanted Xia Mian to suffer in silence, if he said "Car No. 8 is your personal nanny car", he would definitely have to break off relations.
Moreover, Xia Mian has already shifted the blame to "temporarily changing the car," which is equivalent to giving each other a way out. If Gao Yifeng doesn't take that approach, the outcome will still be a complete falling out.
Gao Yifeng clutched his chest, feeling a dull ache in the left side of his heart. He called to Lili, "Bring me my medicine, and while you're at it, send the driver's phone number as he asked... send it to car number four."
***
The driver of car number four arrived on time to pick up Xia Mian and then promptly took her to the hotel for tonight's meet-and-greet. Xia Mian entered the private room at the perfect moment, not a minute too early, not a minute too late, just in the interval between when Gao Yifeng wanted to say something but couldn't. Seeing his hesitant expression, Xia Mian was absolutely thrilled.
When he first transmigrated into the world of the book, he was alone and helpless, with no company to back him up. If something happened, he could only endure it and quietly wait for an opportunity.
He's different now. He's completely cleared his name and his popularity is soaring. He has Oriental Entertainment backing him up, and the Zhou family, a behemoth, is behind him.
Although Zhou Pingchuan certainly wouldn't get involved in dealing with this trivial matter in the entertainment industry, he could handle minor squabbles, but when it came to major issues, absolutely no one would dare to mess with that powerful figure.
He was no longer that fool who could be bullied and who could spout nonsense like "I love eating car wheels" and "Darwin's effect".
The atmosphere at dinner tonight was quite good. Apart from Gao Yifeng, the other main cast members were all very nice. Especially Jiang Chun; Xia Mian only learned during our conversation that she was actually a native of Tongshan!
“Every time I go home, I see your billboard on the roadside,” Jiang Chun said with a smile. “We’re practically from the same hometown now.”
"Ahhhhh! Don't look!" Xia Mian cried out in terror. "I'm not actually that kind of persona!"
Jiang Chun covered her mouth, amused by his words: "You're much younger and more stylish in person than in the advertisement. By the way, you haven't had your wedding yet, have you? Have you taken your wedding photos? You've been on set for over two months, you haven't had time to take care of those things, have you?"
They've already got their marriage certificate, so the wedding isn't in a rush. But dragging it out isn't a solution, so it seems I need to go home and ask Zhou Pingchuan indirectly.
Oh right, there's one more thing that requires him to return to the capital—Xu Ning's birthday party is coming up soon, and given their relationship, he definitely has to attend.
"Sister Chun, can I go home during the breaks between script readings?" Xia Mian was new to the film crew and didn't know much about it.
"Of course you can leave before filming starts, but it's best not to leave after filming starts. Multiple shots may require reshoots at any time, and the absence of actors will significantly impact the schedule. I also have business activities and a magazine shoot to attend in a couple of days, so I need to finish my work before filming begins."
Thankfully, Xu Ning's birthday party happened to fall during a break after the second study session. Xia Mian breathed a sigh of relief, at least she could see her good friend and Zhou Pingchuan before going to "prison".
But then he thought about the next two or three months of long-distance relationship and felt a little unwilling.
Sigh, how long do I have to wait before I can finally sleep with Zhou Pingchuan?
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