That night Shao Yanxi had a social function scheduled, but his facial condition meant that he had to send someone else instead.
But our model exemplar of a diligent worker still goes to work the next day, and was driven there by Liu Yuâan.
His condition of course is a shock to the secretariat.
âWhatâs wrong with the boss?â
âIt feels like the aftermath of a brawl with a woman.â
âWake up, do you think boss is anyone that would do that?â Other than on very rare occasions in front of Liu Yuâan, Shao Yanxi would never appear casual or relaxed outside.
And given his prior deeds involving how he got rid of his father and associated lackeys to secure power firmly, before leading the company to skyrocket in the field and become the wealthiest man in the world himself, it canât be helped there is a fear of him.
âUnlikely,â one of the secretaries shakes her head.
But then their superior call out, âwhat are you all dithering about for at work?â
So everyone had to quiet down.
Afterwards, Liu Yuâan heads to the mall to get some more clothes for himself, as the original cannon fodderâs tastes are too abominable for him.
Itâs almost summer, and he is severely lacking in cool, loose clothing.
During his shopping spree, Liu Yuâan also sends a few photos to Shao Yanxi to ask if he wanted any.
[Which of these do you like?]
[Picture, Picture, PictureâŚ]
âŚ
[Youâre shopping for clothes?] Shao Yanxi replied rather quickly.
[Yeah, itâs almost summer] Liu Yuâan replies.
Shao Yanxi is pondering, meanwhile. When itâs time for a closet makeover, the usual partners in the industry would send magazines over for him to pick and buy before everyone else.
Though Shao Yanxi doesnât say that. Instead, he replies [Iâm fine with anything]
Shao Yanxiâs got the hardware requirements to look good, or at least alright, in any sort of clothing. In fact, sometimes he could look better than fashion models themselves in the clothes. If he werenât the richest man ever⌠There would surely have been a lot of offers for him to pose as a model.
[Alright, then Iâll decide]
And then, itâs pillaging time as Liu Yuâan sweeps over several storesâ flagship products.
âI want a set of two for all of these. One 3XL, one 2XL each, at Qingjiangshui by seven if possible,â and since Qingjiangshui is a gated community, âand call me when you arrive.â
Suddenly, he receives a message from his account. It reads [Mr. LIU YU AN: At 20xx-5-29 10:17:31 account number XXXX has transferred a total of 10000000.00 Yuan into your XX Business Bank account ending in 9807. Please confirm. This is a message from [XX Business Bank]]
Liu Yuâan can only see a bunch of zeroes at a glance. After counting, ones, tens, hundreds⌠ten million.
Liu Yuâan ââŚâ
Money sure does come by easily.
But then his phone rings. Itâs his agent, Ren Jianzhang.
As Liu Yuâan hands his debit card over to the salesperson, he picks up the call, âRen-ge, whatâs up?â
âDirector He would like you to audition today. Are you free?â Director He is the director for Evernight.
âI thought weâre confirmed?â
âHe said he wanted to see your acting,â Ren Jianzhang is also confused. Theyâve struck a deal for Liu Yuâan to be the Emperor of the Yaoguai already, so heâs been busy dealing with Yue Zhun for now.
Suddenly director Heâs assistant called to call Liu Yuâan over to audition.
And itâs by the end of the audition period too. When theyâre just a few days from starting to shoot the movie itself.
Who knows what director He is thinking about.
As for them trying to chase away Liu Yuâan? Impossible. If nothing else, their company is the sole source of funding behind them. And even with that they only ask for Liu Yuâan in the third male lead and another celebrity in the fifth female lead position. The two protagonists and other characters can all be decided by the director himself.
Itâs a steal already when they were negotiating. If someone is trying to pull something behind them it will be an exorbitantly expensive and unprofitable venture.
âAlright, I see,â Liu Yuâan has a gut feeling that this might be related to Shao Yanxi promising to âgive him resourcesâ earlier.
He chuckles as he shakes his head, slightly bemused.
Ren Jianzhang says âIâll have Xiao-Zhang pick you up.â
Xiao-Zhang is Liu Yuâanâs assistant, though he believes the assistant is probably under Shao Yanxiâs employ, but he doesnât have proof.
âNo need. Iâll go myself. Send me the address.â
After that, Liu Yuâan makes the usual lunch trip to Shao Yanxi first, and asking in the meantime about the audition.
But Shao Yanxi seems as shocked as he is, âaudition? What?â
Liu Yuâan goes blank â?â
But he isnât one to mull over things he canât understand. He faces it head-on, arriving by early afternoon at the location for the audition.
Though itâs almost the end of the selection already, but as the prospects of Evernight is too promising, there are still many people interested. Thereâs an absolute crowd present.
Liu Yuâan isnât interested in wasting time, so he contacts the directorâs assistant by phone. Then, he follows the assistant to see director He while the crowd looks on with jealousy.
Director He, or He Jianâan, is someone that is going bald with a big beer belly. But his directing work? Top-notch.
Even if they might not end up getting an award, but theyâre almost always commercial successes.
Which is why many people would fight over a chance to get into his movies.
This time, for example, the male and female protagonists are all popular top dogs with tens of millions of fans. And the deuteragonists are no pushovers either. In fact, in the whole cast, only he holds an infamous reputation instead of a famous one.
When people see someone like him not having to audition and being allowed an express path, many of them have complicated expressions and are thinking all sorts of things. But nobody is dumb enough to make a scene right in public.
Besides, this is the entertainment industry. This kind of stuff is commonplace enough. Thereâs nothing they could do.
Besides director He, there is also an elderly woman present in the room. Despite her age, she still exudes a noble aura.
When Liu Yuâan is inside they are just wrapping up with someone elseâs performance. The acting is so beyond redemption that the director is fuming.
Then, when he sees Liu Yuâan, he tells the assistant to hand the script over. He tells him to look it over and pick one.
Liu Yuâan is already a quick reader. And, he has already read the script before, so he finishes quickly. He decides to go with the scene of he praising himself after receiving his thirty-minute praise every morning, because he really is too familiar.
So familiar that both director He and the elderly woman shoot up from their chairs when seeing his âperformance,â completely shocked.
ââThis, this is the Emperor of the Yaoguai!
The true Emperor himself!
At first, the director was really worried because usually celebrities appointed directly into the cast usually have questionable talent at best, and Liu Yuâan also has his own reputation to boot.
But he is only a director. He is but a cog in the wheels of capitalism.
He agreed to Liu Yuâan as the Emperor of the Yaoguai thinking that he can cut his parts short post-production if it really ended up a disaster.
But Liu Yuâanâs performance really blew away everything.
This is even more so the case for the elderly woman here â she is actually a well-respected actress for the national theatrical team.
Yesterday, her grandson who worked in the Hengâan Conglomerateâs headquarters suddenly came home and asked her to teach Liu Yuâan acting, saying whether he could get a promotion or not hinged on it.
Sheâs too old to comprehend how it all ties together, but she really did dote on her grandson, so she agreed, but came to the scene of the audition feeling the same way as the director did.
Though Liu Yuâanâs performance really blew her away.