Chapter 103: New Film
But Lu Huanong looked quite well. Her body didn’t go out of shape even after childbirth. Instead it enriched her charm.
One thing though, her makeup was slightly heavier now. Who knew what she was trying to hide.
Yun Xiangxiang didn’t feel any animosity toward her. What should have ended had come to an end. She didn’t live another life just for the both of them.
But of course there was no affection for them. The staff backed off due to Wen Lan’s reprimand. Yun Xiangxiang acted like she didn’t know them. She only greeted them with a nod before marching to the lift.
Wen Lan’s group followed closely. Yun Xiangxiang pressed the twenty eighth floor; they went for the eighteenth floor.
“h.e.l.lo, Yun Xiangxiang. I’m Bo Yan. I’m under Sister Lan now. You look prettier than you do in your films,” The new actor that signed with Wen Lan used this chance to introduce herself to Yun Xiangxiang.
“h.e.l.lo, Yun Xiangxiang here,” She answered curtly. It was polite but distant.
Huan Yu Century Entertainment was a big company. The boundaries between actors belonging to different agents were made clear. There would be clashes when it came to resources. In this case, even though every agent in Huan Yu Century Entertainment looked up to He Wei and Xue Yu, Xue Yu had that capability. No one would dare to question them.
But Yun Xiangxiang was different. She was a newcomer. Even if it looked like everything was going well for her now, she still lacked experience. Anyone would think that she didn’t have the chips to play the game.
It was obvious just by looking at the staff down there who were afraid of Wen Lan, but crowded around Yun Xiangxiang. She still didn’t have any prestige in the company. Everyone also thought that she was young.
No matter what they had in mind, they wouldn’t mind approaching her.
But Bo Yan didn’t expect Yun Xiangxiang to turn a cold shoulder like that. She didn’t know what to say in this situation.
Trying to ingratiate herself with Yun Xiangxiang would be a slap in Wen Lan’s face. She could only give a polite smile awkwardly. It was fortunate that they reached the eighteenth floor quickly.
After they went out of the lift, Lu Huanong’s gentle, soothing voice rang out even before the door even closed completely, “Don’t feel upset. Even though both of you are newcomers, she is still someone who has a reputation and films. You’ll get better after this…”
“She…” Coco was infuriated when she heard that. Did their Xiangxiang offend that wench? She accused Yun Xiangxiang of looking down on Bo Yan in such a roundabout way.
The door closed at this moment and they went up. “Excellence usually bears the envy of mediocrity,” said Yun Xiangxiang.
“Pfft,” Coco couldn’t keep her laughter in when she heard those words.
Lu Huanong’s enmity was to be expected. Yun Xiangxiang entered Huan Yu Century Entertainment out of nowhere and became He Wei’s first actress just like that.
She had He Wei helping her the moment she entered the company. She took the spot of the global amba.s.sador of the top brand, MonRoe. She already wasn’t a threat for Bo Yan who was a newcomer like her.
It was obvious that they weren’t on the same level. The resources they came into contact with would also be different.
But she was a great menace for the pretty female stars in Huan Yu Century Entertainment. Because they were on the same level.
Not to mention that Yun Xiangxiang was younger and luckier than them. It would make them feel even more unfair.
Naturally, they would not hope to see Yun Xiangxiang being popular and having a good image in the company.
“Please have a seat, Xiangxiang. Brother Wei is in a meeting now,” He Wei’s secretary, Xu Qin, poured a gla.s.s of warm water for her.
Xu Qin wasn’t exactly a beautiful woman, but she had great ability at work. She was thirty years old this year and was married.
Xu QIn was already taking a few scripts and placed them down in front of Yun Xiangxiang when she just sat down. “These are the scripts Brother Wei shortlisted. He said that you’ll choose it yourself. All of them will start filming this month. Most of it is because they lack a female protagonist for some reason.”
‘For some reason’ meant that the female protagonist was already confirmed. They probably signed the contract too. That was why the team had already prepared everything else.
However, in some cases, the actress was unable to play the role later on because of accidents like getting wounded. Just like how Qin Yue lost out to Yang Qi in “Caring Love.”
In other cases, the team dissolved the contract with the actress due to some damage to their image after getting embroiled in a scandal.
Some happened because of the terms in the contract. The actress would quit for reasons like being unable to accept the pay or some rules during filming.
Teams that suddenly changed the acting staff for their character; teams that suddenly lack a lead was commonplace.
He Wei had already shortlisted once. All the scripts that were sent here were the ones he personally thought well of. Yun Xiangxiang looked through two of them. They were quite decent.
All of them were film scripts. One of them was about the battle of wits and courage between a criminal and a criminal psychologist. Yun Xiangxiang took a liking to that.
But the one that attracted her the most was the one at the bottom: “The King’s Plan.”
It was taken from real events in history that revolved around King Wen of Chu. It was an epic that centered on wars and acquiring of power led by males.
The screenwriter was a famous historical literary author who specialized in writing works about the Warring States: Xiong Ao.
Xiong Ao was true to his name. He was arrogant and picky [1]. He was so fussy during filming, he even requested the expression of every acting staff to be accurate during group scenes.
He would always appear in the news because of disputes between him and the director during filming. The producer would always be the mediator in the end.
But his works were true cla.s.sics. Not only were they historically accurate; the protagonists were depicted in such a way that they looked magnificent, yet they lost nothing in perfection at the same time.
Like “The King’s Plan” in Yun Xiangxiang’s hand.
It was a story about King Wen of Chu immediately displaying his talents and great plans after he ascended the throne. The first thing he did was to relocate the capital despite strong objections from his ministers.
He did not allow a moment of rest after the capital’s relocation. He ordered his army to go on a crusade to take down the Shen Nation in the north.
King Wen of Chu was an ambitious man. The Shen Nation wasn’t the only thing in his plans. There was also the Zhen Nation standing between the Shen Nation and Chu Nation. He was determined to acquire the Zhen Nation in his hands.
But it wasn’t easy for him to make a move against the Zhen Nation, since the Zhen Nation and the Chu Nation were diplomatically related. The ruler of the Zhen Nation was his uncle. He planned to crush the Shen Nation before slowly planning Zhen Nation’s takedown.
However, Zhen Nation’s ministers thought that King Wen of Chu was being savagely ambitious when he asked for permission for his army to march to the Shen Nation through Zhen Nation.
They tried to stop the Zhen Nation’s ruler from helping him destroy the Shen Nation. They would share the fate of the Shen Nation if that happened.
In the end, the Zhen Nation’s ruler still agreed to let him pa.s.s under King Wen of Chu’s manipulation. He successfully conquered the biggest outsider nation [2] during the Southern Zhou Period. He turned it into the Chu Nation’s county.
King Wen of Chu still pa.s.sed through the Zhen Nation during his return trip. The ministers of Zhen Nation didn’t dare to go against him now. However, King Wen of Chu didn’t plan to let them go.
To justify his act of invasion, he laid a trap. He leaked some news about deploying his army in his plan of taking over the Zhen Nation. When this news reached the ears of the Zhen Nation’s ministers, they sent someone to a.s.sa.s.sinate him. King Wen of Chu got them exactly where he wanted.
Using this as justification, he destroyed the Zhen Nation without hesitation and expanded his territory. The Chu Nation became incomparably strong with this.
But King Wen of Chu’s ambition of conquest and killing didn’t stop there. He was already thirty years old [3]. He didn’t like beauties; he didn’t like wine. The only thing he liked was big territories. He wasn’t just a great warlord. He was also talented in administration.
He established the prefectural system and paid great importance to the land and water transportation between counties and prefectures. He chose great officers and treated the people whose nation was crushed kindly.
So even if he eradicated other nations, n.o.body could really hold a grudge against him.
Once he stabilized his home nation, he started eyeing his next target – the Cai Nation.
His plan was to capture the whole of ancient China. He had to have a solid rationale every time he deployed his army. He couldn’t afford to give other countries a reason to band together and concentrate their firepower on him.
He was waiting for the right chance to deal with the Cai Nation. The chance appeared along with the female protagonist.