After nabbing the contract, following the rules of the industry, Ye Shuang very successfully earned her commission fee from Miss Bai. Eighty percent of it belonged to Han Chu while the rest was Ye Shuang’s. The talents, though, needed to start working before they could get their salary.
After telling the lawyer and golden retriever that they would sign the contract in San Lin City, Ye Shuang’s official business was considered over and done… but not her private business.
“Dinner‽” Ye Shuang gasped on the phone as she surfed the internet. “Is that really necessary? The contract has been signed, and we’re not really friends, why is Miss Bai so kind?”
She is definitely up to something. Maybe Director Zhou or someone from the industry will be at the table
Han Chu’s voice drifted out from the phone. “Actually, the main focus isn’t the dinner. Miss Bai said that she had invited Director Zhou. Since he has been looking for you for so long and you’re both in Shanghai, she thought it’s a good chance to meet up.”
F*ck! Since she has stated this so openly, it’ll be hard to reject the invitation tactfully.Ye Shuang laughed drily. “Is it about that legendary extra character again?”
“Indeed.” Han Chu was calm. “I’ve mentioned this before. If you do not wish for the focus to continue, you had better start to keep a low profile, but if Director Zhou continues to be this insistent, you are not going to escape the spotlight until the shoot is over.”
Unless, of course, Director Zhou found someone even more fitting for the character.
“Won’t the focus be larger if I accept the offer‽”
“You’re right,” Han Chu agreed calmly. “So, I do not know how to handle this situation either, but this is your problem and not mine.”
“…Couldn’t you use a different way of putting it so that I’ll feel better?” Ye Shuang felt injured.
Han Chu was in no mood to take care of other people’s feeling. “Whether you end up accepting it or not, from the perspective of the client, Miss Bai has just invited us to dinner; rejecting it blankly will appear rather rude. With regard to Director Zhou, I feel that openly talking about it will be better than you hiding like a fugitive.”
Ye Shuang knew that, but she hated the feeling of being dragged to this dinner. Furthermore, it would be better if Brother Shuang did not get more popular because what would happen after her male form disappeared?
Make a report that said that he had gone missing‽ Then again, from another perspective, since Brother Shuang was going to evaporate from this world eventually, shouldn’t I have fun with it‽ No wait, too high of a popularity will lead to an infringement of privacy, so I had better not.
The more Ye Shuang thought about it, the more conflicted she felt. To be fair, it was rare for a woman to not be a little vain. In fact, males also liked to have the world’s anticipation or else how could face-slapping web novels dominate the popularity charts for so long?
However, Ye Shuang’s rationality won out. She knew she had a big secret that she needed to protect, and if this secret was exposed, the consequences were unimaginable. Therefore, everything was unimportant before the threat to personal safety.
…
The dinner was booked at a reclusive restaurant. Many celebrities would patronize the place when they wanted to avoid the prying eyes of the public. There was nothing called the dining hall. The moment they stepped into the restaurant, the waiter would lead them to their booked private room.
The chef was famous as well or else no matter how secluded the place, people would not have come. Naturally, the price there was high—the price of a simple dish was multiple times a normal price, and that did not include the service charge. Han Chu was part of the guest list as well; after all, he was Ye Shuang’s boss and the reason Miss Bai knew Ye Shuang. Therefore, both left the hotel at 6 pm.
When Han Chu got into the taxi, he came with his luggage other than his usual laptop and phone. When he saw the curiosity in Ye Shuang’s eyes, he explained, “I’m flying to Chao Hai City later tonight.”
“Right, that computer expert.” Ye Shuang nodded, being reminded of the schedule. If not for this sudden case, Han Chu would still have been holidaying at San Lin City.
“Yes, so I’ll be leaving after dinner.” Han Chu nodded. “They might want you to stay and talk, so you had better come up with what you’ll say then. Remember the rules of our profession require that we treat all with kindness.”
Treat all with kindness was not equal to bending over to help others, but at least she could not offend others for no reason. Other than Ye Shuang and Yao Zhixing, who had done this for half a year, there were three other regional agents under Han Chu, and they were all over the age of forty.
Therefore, other than the issue of experience, one more important thing was temper. Aged individuals were not easily angered and had a way with people. For example, a young person might retaliate when facing people that they did not like, but aged individuals would just smile. It was not that they did not have a temper, but they had realized that getting angry would not solve anything. Unless there was something to be gained, getting into argument over face was a waste of time. The raging emotions of young people would make things worse because they would not think things through before taking action.
This was what Han Chu was trying to tell Ye Shuang. No matter what he was thinking, be it impatience or anxiety, these were not emotions a good agent should have because she would never know who her next client might be. A temper might cause her to lose an important case.
“So, do not offend anyone.” Ye Shuang scratched her chin. “I’ll try.”
Han Chu shrugged and kept his mouth shut. After all, he had already given up on San Lin City since he was willing to give it to Yao Zhixing to manage. The jury was still out on whether this Ye Shuang would become a worthy agent, but even if he failed… it would not matter that much. Han Chu would just ask the next agent to take care of the mess; he would not be the one to deal with it.
Han Chu had intended to use this meeting to test Ye Shuang’s mettle, and Ye Shuang thought it was better to just solve the problem once and for all, but to their surprise, when they arrived, there was no Director Zhou, only Miss Bai sat there alone.
“There’s an emergency at the filming set, and Director Zhou had to leave,” Miss Bai explained awkwardly.
“It’s okay, but it sounds like things aren’t that good.” Ye Shuang sat down beside Han Chu and added this comment. When she realized it, she wanted to slap herself and swallow back the sentence. Han Chu glanced at Ye Shuang. If you do not want Director Zhou to meddle into your life, why are you meddling into theirs?
Ye Shuang almost cried. I’m sorry, I merely wanted to get some gossip.
“Yes, it is quite serious.” Miss Bai nodded. “I hear it’s because of an accident from the car chase scene they’re doing today. Luo Mingxin has gotten himself into an accident and shattered some bones. He’s resting at home now, and Director Zhou had to rush back to check on the situation. If there’s no mistake, that will be the headline tomorrow morning.”
Ye Shuang was impressed. “He didn’t even use a stunt double‽ So professional!”
Miss Bai smiled. “Luo Mingxin rarely uses stunt doubles in his movies unless it involves something physically impossible for him to do. However, Luo Mingxin likes to race in his free time, so he probably believed that he would be able to complete the scene on his own.”
Using a stunt double for dangerous scenes was common practice, but everyone knew that the effect of the real actors and stunt doubles was different. To create the illusion, certain angles had to be taken when shooting the stunt double, and that would greatly affect the editing process, thus influencing the production of the movie.
Director Zhou was a serious director, but of course, if his star could not do it, he would not force it on him. However, if Luo Mingxin himself was willing to do it personally, then Director Zhou welcomed it. He was not going to treat Luo Mingxin like a china doll.
The possibly awkward situation did not occur. Since they knew Director Zhou was not coming, the atmosphere relaxed, and the dinner ended in a relatively peaceful mood. After dinner, Han Chu dragged his suitcase and rushed to the airport while Ye Shuang returned to the hotel. She was scheduled to return to San Lin City the following afternoon.
The next morning, all the papers reported on Luo Mingxin’s accident during the shoot. Even Ye Shuang saw the news report it when she was at the airport. Ye Shuang was a bit stunned by how big the story was. She was no longer that much of a star-chaser, so she just felt things might not be that peaceful for Luo Mingxin.
However, this was not completely bad either. Even though it was a bit heartless, Ye Shuang realized happily that after Luo Mingxin’s news appeared online, it completely overwhelmed people’s interest in her.
The world had gotten so quiet suddenly!
There was no longer any need to wear sunglasses when going out!
Mingxin, you’re the greatest; Mingxin, you’re the best.
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