“National station stopping its broadcast-pie,” Zhong Yibin laughed mischievously as he happily told Chu Qin this piece of good news. This time, he would be able to earn quite a sizable sum.
The price of Shengshi’s advertisements constantly changed. Now that their status as re-broadcaster had changed to that of a primary broadcaster, the ratings slowly rose, and the advertisement fees were certain to increase little by little. Moreover, the station’s follow-up activities would also bring Shengshi great benefits.
After he finished conveying the news regarding the station, Zhong Yibin once again asked where Chu Qin was. Hearing that he was visiting someone from the crew, he said that he would fetch him at noon to have a feast as a celebration.
Chu Qin naturally didn’t object to this and after telling Zhong Yibin to work hard, he ended the call. After that, he leisurely chatted with the director for a while more. On the other side, the word ‘cut’ was yelled out. Wen Qing’s scene had ended.
“Chu Qin!” Wen Qing heard that Chu Qin had come visiting, so she lifted up her skirts and ran over.
This particular scene was filmed while standing. Having received encouragement from <The Golden Age of the Great Jing>, the crew also strove to be rigorous and got the actresses to wear the official Manchu shoes. Wen Qing had previously filmed a palace drama and was very familiar with wearing this type of shoe. She could even lift up her skirts and run a little.
She may have dared to run, but the people who were watching her were scared witless. Chu Qin hurriedly reached out to her. As expected, just as she was about to reach Chu Qin, she tripped over a power cord on the ground and lurched forward with a shocked scream.
“Careful!” Chu Qin ran up to catch her, but someone was faster than him and caught Wen Qing. This person was dressed in a gemstone blue tunic and had a fake braided hairpiece stuck to his bald head. He was the drama’s second male lead, and not someone unfamiliar to Chu Qin – he was Mo Shaoyang, the person who had been on his program the other time.
“Thank you, Shaoyang,” Wen Qing glanced at him gratefully.
“No need for thanks,” Mo Shaoyang smiled bashfully and turned to look at Chu Qin. “I just saw Qin-ge and wanted to come over to greet him.” Now that he mentioned it, he still needed to thank Chu Qin for being able to obtain this second male lead role. The last time when he was on Confusion, Chu Qin gave him an excellent opportunity to display his abilities, causing his popularity to skyrocket. Coupled with the popularity from the film’s recent screening, the crew of <Biography of the Harem’s Concubine Shu> sent him an invitation letter during their selection process.
“Mo Shaoyang! Come over!” The director held a loudspeaker as he shouted for Mo Shaoyang.
Mo Shaoyang made a loud sound of assent and apologetically waved to Chu Qin before running off in a flurry. Chu Qin watched him from a distance and saw the director’s angry outburst at Mo Shaoyang. That brat still laughed in a silly manner as he squatted beside the director to listen to his description of the scene, nodding to himself. A boy who was both sunny and eloquent would be very popular in a place like the entertainment industry.
‘You’re finally here, where’s the food you brought for me?” Wen Qing dragged Chu Qin along and looked behind him.
Chu Qin passed her the huge bag of snacks in his hand. “Continue eating, eat till you become a fatty. Let’s see how you act as the empress.”
“The empress has good food and drink in the palace, of course she’ll be a little plump,” Wen Qing said nonchalantly as she waved towards a young girl not too far away from them.
“Elder sister,” That young girl only appeared to be eleven or twelve years old. Her small face was pink and tender; very cute. She resembled Wen Qing a little.
“This is Wen Yu, right?” Chu Qin hurriedly picked out a box of gelatin dessert from the bag in Wen Qing’s hands for the young girl. She was probably Wen Qing’s biological sister, Wen Yu. He had heard Wen Qing mention her before in the past. This time, Wenqing brought along her younger sister when she filmed and coincidentally, she was allowed to act as the young version of Concubine Shu.
“Hello, Qinqin gege,” Wenyu smiled as she accepted the gelatin dessert, greeting Chu Qin.
“Gifting my things to my sister, you’re really smooth,” Wen Qing pouted. After listening to Chu Qin’s words of persuasion that day, she set her heart on breaking up with Li Ting. She had also informed her company of her decision. Her company had already prepared the script and also contacted those from the media. All preparations had been made. Thus, her heart had also calmed down significantly.
Wen Yu obediently sat beside the two of them as she ate the dessert with a small spoon.
“Do you plan to let Wen Yu yake this path in the future?” Chu Qin glanced at Wen Yu’s pretty features. When it came to making a debut, the sooner the better. If Wen Yu had innate skill, it would be better for her to start as early as possible.
“Depends on what she wants,” Wenqing rubbed her younger sister’s head. Such a young child ought to study well at school. But if she wanted to act, Wen Qing would not stand in her way.
After casually chatting for a while, Chu Qin found out that Wen Qing had already made all the preparations for the breakup, and felt more at ease. He watched the pair of sisters walk in front of the camera once again.
<Biography of the Harem’s Concubine Shu> was the story of an empress during the Great Zhuo Dynasty. The story depicted her life when she was young till her older years. The story was told from the lens of her struggles within the palace, depicting the ups and downs of this beautiful and outstanding female statesman.
The female protagonist’s name was Shen Yu and she was a literary official. Since young, she had known the son of a General’s family next door, called Xu Changqing. The two people had grown up together as childhood friends till the age of eleven. Subsequently, Xu Changqing wanted to follow his father to war and during his teenage years, said that he would propose marriage after returning.
A female official in the Zhuo Dynasty needed to first pass the general selections. After that, only after her name plaque had been discarded could she marry of her own volition. If she were chosen by nobility, she would need to remain in the palace.
“Little Yu, wait for me to come back. When I’m back, I’ll let mother find a matchmaker to go to your house,” The actor playing little Xu Changqing leapt over the wall and grabbed little Shen Yu’s hand.
“Master said that men and women should not touch hands,” Little Shen Yu shook off his hand and sat at the side with a pout.
Chu Qin observed Wen Yu’s acting and smiled slightly. This child was indeed a good seedling. After the drama started screening, he should let Wen Qing bring her sister when she came to Confusion.
“Qin-ge, you’re here too!” A slightly familiar voice echoed behind him. Chu Qin frowned a little and turned around, seeing a man dressed in eunuch’s attire coming towards him with a face full of smiles.
The eunuch’s clothing wasn’t anything elaborate. From a glance, it was obvious that it was given to those playing small roles. Furthermore, it was only the outerwear – the angle at which the gown diverged revealed the jeans below. Several actors playing small roles saw this person walking over and discretely looked over repeatedly.
“Wei Yan?” Chu Qin’s memory for people had always been rather accurate. Especially if it was a deeply impressionable person like Wei Yan. He remembered the time when Wu Wan pleaded with Zhong Yibin to squeeze this cousin of his into the crew, but he also remembered that after that, Wu Wan had quarreled with Zhong Yibin till things were no longer as pleasant. This matter had then been left unsettled, how then did this guy appear here?
“Qin-ge, you have a very good memory,” The smile on Wei Yan’s face grew even wider and he wiggled his brows at a nearby girl who played a small role. Wu Wan may have found another opportunity for him, but this drama of Shengshi’s reportedly had a large investment. It would definitely be popular. He didn’t want to give it up, so he thickened his skin and came over.
The good thing was that Zhong Yibin had indeed arranged for such a thing before, so the workers still had some impression of him. Anyway, it was just a small role and it wasn’t a major issue for them to take him in. It was only after he set foot into the industry did Wei Yan deeply feel how high Chu Qin’s status was and how many connections he had. Thinking back to the time when he faced him with such an attitude, he truly regretted it.
Chu Qin wasn’t too fond of Wei Yan, so he made a faint sound of agreement and turned around to chat with male lead one.
Seeing Wei Yan return with a face full of delight, a few actors who played small roles were somewhat envious. This person actually knew Chu Qin. His chances in the future would be plentiful then, unlike them, who continued to remain small fry even after being in the circle for so many years.
‘Wei Yan, when you blow up next time, don’t forget us brothers,” The few people who were more familiar with him came up to tease him. The gazes of the department flowers that Wei Yan had brought along also changed.
Wei Yan couldn’t help feeling somewhat elated. He waved a hand and expressed that ‘in the future, the benefits for his brothers would be plentiful’.
“Wei Yan, could you bring me to say a few words to Qin-ge?” The department flower moved to Wei Yan’s side and asked him in a low voice.
“Eh…” The smile on Wei Yan’s face turned stiff. He was not at all familiar with Chu Qin and they even had some past history. Their interaction today was nothing more than the fox exploiting the tiger’s might. If he really did bring the department flower over to recommend her and Chu Qin didn’t show him any face, he would then be embarrassed. “Chu Qin’s schedule is very tight. If we speak to him now, he wouldn’t be happy either. The next time around when he’s around, remember to follow me closely.”
The department flower stared at him and looked at Chu Qin, who was leisurely chatting on the other end with male lead one. Her lips curled. Acting like this, even pretending like he was close to the other party when the truth was that they were only on hi-bye terms.
The few small fry actors didn’t notice their conversation. Over the course of the next few days, they treated Wei Yan very politely. Within the crew, whether one’s status was high or low, and whether they had a backer or not, was all of extreme importance. Wei Yan having a backer like Chu Qin meant that his future would be limitless.
However, as time went on, Wei Yan’s treatment in the crew didn’t improve even a tiny bit. He still played random roles like guards, eunuchs, bystanders and corpses. Several actors playing small roles noticed that Wei Yan wasn’t being given any preferential treatment and their perception of him gradually changed.
“Looks like that youngster doesn’t have much connection to Chu Qin,” A small fry uncle drew out a cigarette and looked fiercely at Wei Yan on the other side, was chatting very enthusiastically.
“Acting like he’s some bigshot, so what if he can say a few words to famous people? I can also chat with Wen Qing for half a day,” Another small fry spat out. They had actually been tricked by a youngster acting as a pretentious price, how infuriating.
“Wei Yan was beaten up?” Chu Qin was drinking tea in Zhong Yibin’s office and was somewhat astonished after hearing this piece of news.
“There are too many people who see that smelly mouth as an eyesore,” Zhong Yibin harrumphed coldly. That person really had thick skin. His family’s cousin didn’t even dare to seek him out anymore, yet he still swaggered over.
Chu Qin shook his head, dismissing the news with a laugh. “What instructions does Boss Zhong have for me?”
“I heard that Chen Jiming snatched your position at the National Day party,” Zhong Yibin tapped a finger against the plan for the party that was resting on his desk.
“No, I threw it to him,” Chu Qin’s eyes narrowed. He could understand the station’s leader wanting to nurture a new host, but it was somewhat laughable to so eagerly want to replace him. He might as well let them flop around. When they suffered a setback, they would then know how to plead with him.
Zhong Yibin gazed at the man with narrowed eyes in front of him. The waves of gleaming reflection in his beautiful eyes illuminated the tinge of craftiness in them, like a little fox that had secretly done bad things. Zhong Yibin stared till his heart itched. He grabbed the hand Chu Qin had resting on the table and played with it. “As compensation, director daren will invite you on a trip to Korea, okay?”
The author has something to say:
Small theater: <Hegemonic director fell in love with turbid dynasty dramas>
Niohuru·Qinqin: I greet second elder brother
Aisin Gioro·Bing: Very good, you have already succeeded in attracting benbing’s attention
Niohuru·Qinqin: Even if you borrow imperial power to obtain my body, you will never obtain my heart
Aisin Gioro·Bing: It’s fine, I only want the body（?﹃?）
Niohuru·Qinqin: →_→