âGreetings, mister. My name is Jiang Chunli, are you interested in furthering your acting abilities?â After Liu Yuâan has finished his performance, the elderly lady quickly says.
If she was only here because of her grandson before, now she has truly been impressed by Liu Yuâan and is definitely interested in taking him in as a disciple.
Such a promising sprout he is; if she doesnât quickly take him in before the others discover him, when the other old farts in the national theatre discover him itâd be too late for her.
Hearing what she said makes Liu Yuâan rather surprised.
He knows Jiang Chunli. In this world, she is famous for being in the national theatre, but most importantly she is an influential actress known for having starred in many monumental movies in the post-Cultural Revolution era. Even now she commands a rather significant amount of influence over the entertainment industry.
Why did she suddenly want to take a disciple here while he was auditioning?
And looking at director He hereâŚ
Liu Yuâan quickly realises that this audition may have been staged for the lady after all.
And the reason. He asked Shao Yanxi but heâŚ
No. That is not it. He asked about the audition, but he didnât ask about any disciple-scouting.
And given Shao Yanxiâs personality, if he didnât ask that exactly then he would never have divulged it himself.
So is this the actual âresourceâ Shao Yanxi prepared for him?
It is⌠Quite the surprise. Really.
Even without considering the actual status and influence she has, just the amount of potential contacts this meeting will open up is beyond imagination.
âIt is my honour to receive such an offer,â Liu Yuâan then continued, âhowever, Mrs. Jiang, do excuse me for prying, but why all of a sudden? And the audition today?â
âI do not mind the prying. It is your right to know,â Jiang Chunli replies, âI was told to come by someone else, but, it is by my own will that I want to take you under my wing. It would be a loss to pass such a promising sproutling by.â
âCan I ask who that someone is?â
âYou didnât know?â Jiang Chunli is also surprised at this point.
So not even the beneficiary knew what her grandson was up to? Will the promotion go alright?
âI didnât.â
But then, director He interjects to clarify, âitâs assistant He from Hengâan who told us about this.â Then, he looks at Liu Yuâan with a tinge of curiosity.
Does he perhaps have some sort of ârelationshipâ with the assistant?
A sugar daddy, perhaps?
He doesnât particularly look down on such relationships; itâs the entertainment industry, after all.
Liu Yuâan doesnât know what the director is thinking, so he answered with an âI seeâ and a smile.
Then he tells Jiang Chunli, âapologies, Mrs. Jiang, but I would like to look into a few things first. Is it alright if I contact you after that?â
âCertainly.â
So the three of them then exchange contact details.
After leaving, Liu Yuâan goes straight to Shao Yanxiâs company.
As he is continuing his âunemployment,â he practically visits Shao Yanxiâs company every day.
So now the employees react to seeing Liu Yuâan here the same way they do seeing the sun rise up every day.
When Liu Yuâan is there, a vice executive Shao Yanxi promoted earlier is reporting on his work. It seems he has made some mistake so Shao Yanxi is currently throwing a tantrum â his expression spells doom. He throws the document in his hand down onto the desk, âlook at it yourself. Did you seriously miss such an obvious loophole? If I sent this on to our client, do you realise how much of a disadvantage this will put our whole company at? Lin Xiaojun, I am disappointed.â
When Liu Yuâan comes in, Shao Yanxi pauses, before saying, âgo back to work now. Check it thoroughly again before sending it back to me.â
Lin Xiaojun gives Liu Yuâan a look of gratitude.
He has always hated Liu Yuâan these few years, but this is the first time⌠He felt that Liu Yuâan wasnât actually that irredeemable of a person.
Given that he can cool the boss down no matter how mad he was.
âSomething wrong?â Liu Yuâan asks, giving a glance to the door.
âMm.â Shao Yanxi replies noncommittally, staring intently at the afternoon snacks in Liu Yuâanâs hands.
âWash your hands before eating,â Liu Yuâan feels like he is single-handedly propelling the phrase into common parlance. âWash hands before eating.â
When Shao Yanxi is eating, having properly washed his hands, Liu Yuâan voices his curiosity over Jiang Chunli.
Shao Yanxi seems surprised he is asking, replying, âdidnât you say you wanted resources? I asked assistant He, who said you have lots of work offered already, but your acting skills fail to live up to that. So he got a teacher for you.â
ââŚâ Can you be any less direct, by any chance?
Besides, the one with the bad acting is the original cannon fodder. Not him. His own acting is pretty brilliant, if he may say so himself.