Chapter 976 Scheming and Strategizing
Regarding who had previously rented the magic mirror, Lumian and the others had various guesses, but they never imagined it would be Peng Deng.
Where did Peng Deng get so much money?
Why did Peng Deng want to rent the magic mirror Arrodes?
What exactly did Peng Deng want to do?
Lumian, Jenna, and Franca looked at each other, all feeling it necessary to adjust the order of questions and temporarily add some related to Peng Deng renting the mirror.
At this moment, the pale white text on the silver mirror"s surface twisted and writhed, turning blood-red again and stretching into individual ancient Feysac words:
"Based on the principle of reciprocity, it"s my turn to ask a question.
"If you answer incorrectly or lie, you will be punished."
Jenna nodded slightly, beginning to think about what question to ask next.
The blood-red words on the mirror changed to new content: "Have you considered how you would intimately get along with Lumian and Franca if you switched to the Hunter pathway in the future and became male?"
That"s quite a subtle way of asking… Jenna sensed Arrodes" goodwill.
Although it was still quite embarra.s.sing, for someone who was once a Showy Diva, she could answer with her eyes closed. "I have thought about it."
Franca"s mind suddenly flashed with a thought: Thought about being on top or on top?
She steadied herself and looked at the mirror.
"The fourth question, what did Peng Deng do with the help of the great Arrodes?"
On the surface of the ancient silver mirror, the blood-red words quickly faded away, the watery sheen receded, and it no longer had a deep, dark feel.
Franca"s question went unanswered.
"So it"s only three questions…" She sighed in disappointment.
Lumian thought for a moment and said, "Let"s try asking again before returning it to Star Dream Provisions Store this afternoon. Perhaps the interval between inquiries is calculated by time, not by rental frequency."
"Mm." Jenna nodded.
Of course, she would be responsible for returning the rental.
…
Friday morning.
Zhou Mingrui, busy at his workstation, felt his phone vibrate beside him.
He picked it up and saw a message from Luo Shan: "I might be losing my job. Let me treat you to dinner again tonight."
"What happened?" Zhou Mingrui asked, both puzzled and concerned.
Luo Shan sent a "?" emoji:
"I"ll tell you when we have dinner. Oh, and Luo Fu will be there too."
"Alright, should I choose what to eat, or will you?" Zhou Mingrui politely asked.
"It"s my treat, so of course I"ll choose!" Luo Shan quickly replied.
After putting down his phone, Zhou Mingrui focused on his computer screen, as if seriously evaluating his previous work results.
In reality, he was thinking about Luo Shan"s situation.
How could she suddenly lose her job? The last time we had dinner, Luo Shan was praising Mr. Huang for paying well and the relaxed work atmosphere. She didn"t seem to have any intention of quitting…
Is it because of her special circ.u.mstances that she must change her workplace, or does the company want to fire her, or both?
About half of the administrative department came because of Mr. Huang. Luo Shan is considered a very qualified employee. There"s no reason for the HR department to actively fire her. Moreover, the company"s overall revenue and profits have reached new highs, and they even said the administrative department was short-staffed, specifically hiring Luo Fu…
Has Luo Shan shown any unusual behavior or done anything problematic recently?
Zhou Mingrui thought back and forth, feeling that after Luo Shan discarded those original paintings, everything seemed normal, except for secretly forming a group with Luo Fu and Li Ming, and warning him to be wary of Zaratulstra.
The group is in talks with Zaratulstra"s company about a merger and restructuring… Luo Shan has warned me twice to be careful of Zaratulstra… Luo Shan then gets suddenly being fired…
Is there a connection between these events?
Well, after Luo Fu warned me last time, she was off for a few days. Tonight, she and Luo Shan might hint at something again… Because his previous interactions with Luo Shan and Luo Fu hadn"t brought any abnormalities or led to attacks or difficulties, Zhou Mingrui wasn"t averse to having another meal with them and listening to what they had to say.
Frankly, if it weren"t for Luo Shan and Li Ming hinting three times since Sunday to be wary of Zaratulstra, he would have felt that everything around him was calm and normal, without any issues, as if he had never drunk the a.s.sa.s.sin beverage.
But the more it seemed so, the stranger Zhou Mingrui felt, as if he were trapped in a coc.o.o.n, with various abnormalities lingering outside, waiting for a chance to invade, yet invisible to him.
So he was trying hard to probe, and contacting Luo Shan and Luo Fu was part of that effort.
…
Hall Film Company, Talent Department.
The young employee who had previously introduced various situations to Jenna smiled at her.
"I"m Jiang Yue. I"m responsible for helping you new recruits connect with various departments of the company. You can come to me for anything."
"What a coincidence." Jenna, who had changed into a short-sleeved chiffon blouse, smiled back.
Jiang Yue looked around and said, "This isn"t a coincidence, it"s destiny.
"Why was I waiting outside the conference room to take the interviewees out? It"s because I"m responsible for these matters later on. Well, I"m not the only one in charge of you new recruits. When selecting, I chose you first. I have high hopes for you, keep it up!"
Whether Jiang Yue was sincere or not, these words made Jenna quite pleased, giving her a feeling of being valued and affirmed, naturally generating a happy mood.
Jiang Yue continued, "I thought you"d only report to work on Monday. The physical training courses and media response courses arranged for you are all next week. Well, today let"s just chat casually. I"ll give you a tour, and if we happen to meet a producer or director, you might get a chance to audition soon."
If I had come next week, Jia Yu might have already paid the penalty and left… Jenna followed Jiang Yue, walking forward in the Talent Department.
She glanced at Jia Yu"s studio and said, "Jia Yu isn"t here? I have a friend who"s his fan. I wanted to get his autograph."
"He"s not here. After The Great Pirate 3 blew up, he"s been coming to the company less and less," Jiang Yue said with a complex tone. "Today he said he was going to attend a film-related event."
Jenna showed a disappointed expression on her face and nodded, saying, "The Great Pirate 3 is quite popular, with high box office numbers."
"Yeah, although those film critics all say it"s just a qualified popcorn flick, audiences love watching popcorn flicks. What can those that don"t even qualify compare with us?" Jiang Yue said, somewhat indignantly.
Jenna took this opportunity to ask, "So, is the company planning to make The Great Pirate 4?"
Jiang Yue lowered her voice. "There is such a plan, but the problem is that the romance queen is too slow. We"ve already finished filming and released The Great Pirate 3, but she still hasn"t written The Great Pirate 4!"
After all, the person herself has been completely kicked out… After all, the dream manifestation"s pen name is "Salted Fish Without Dreams"… Jenna continued Jiang Yue"s conversation for a few sentences and then said, "Moreover, I see that The Great Pirate 3 is popular mainly because of the adventurer image of German Sparrow. If the next one doesn"t have him as the main character, I think there will be big problems. The box office might even be a disaster, just like how The Great Pirate 1 and The Great Pirate 2 movies didn"t have much fame."
This was laying the groundwork for the team"s alternative awakening plan.
Jiang Yue was stunned for a moment. "The Great Pirate 1 and The Great Pirate 2 were never made into movies."
"Huh?" Jenna was stunned for two seconds and then said, "Then why is this movie directly called "The Great Pirate 3"?"
"I don"t know either," Jiang Yue answered with a bewildered face. "The big boss personally decided it, and no one else raised any objections. If you hadn"t mentioned it, I wouldn"t have remembered that the previous parts of "The Great Pirate" series hadn"t been made into movies…"
What"s going on? How can they skip The Great Pirate 1 and The Great Pirate 2 and directly make The Great Pirate 3? Even if they skip, why not change the name instead of adding "3"? Amidst her confusion, Jenna vaguely grasped a key point.
This was related to one of Anderson Hood"s reminders.
The master of the dream city is a symbol of loopholes and errors, so no matter how real this dream is, there will still be inconsistencies, loopholes, and places that make people feel terrified upon deep thought. It will still express the "dream" aspect!
A dream normally operates smoothly, but if outsiders do something beyond the norm and pointing to loopholes in between, could it create problems? For example, being illogically accepted by the ma.s.ses, or being absurd and horrifying in the underlying realization of things…
After Madam Justice forcibly named this movie "The Great Pirate 3" instead of "The Great Adventurer", the dream manifestations naturally accepted it, and only outsiders could discover the discrepancy, while dream manifestations could perceive the problem after being reminded?
Madam Justice didn"t mention this point because it was linked to An Xiaotian"s car accident, and she forgot after being forced to leave the dream?
The reason for the loophole of The Great Pirate movie having 3 but no 1 and 2 is because Mr. Fool"s subconscious believes this book series should indeed be made into movies? Jenna thought a lot in an instant.
She didn"t delve deeper into this topic, fearing that Jiang Yue, as a dream manifestation, would become more confused and conflicted, leading to chaos in the corresponding dream and affecting herself.
"Since it can"t be filmed later, The Great Pirate 3 can be made into stage plays, animations, TV series, games, and such, taking full advantage while the movie"s popularity is still high." Jenna acted like an enthusiastic and kind-hearted audience member.
Jiang Yue nodded in agreement. "True."
She then said self-mockingly, "Is this something we can decide? Wait until the next meeting, and suggest it to our boss, Mei Xin. Let her whisper it to the big boss."
…
In a high-end hot pot restaurant with a proper stage.
In a private room on the second floor, Mr. Huang introduced to Zaratulstra beside him, "This hot pot restaurant has a unique feature. Later, there will be a face-changing performance, one of the local intangible cultural heritages…"
Zaratulstra, sitting next to the window, glanced at the large screens behind and around the stage, smiled and nodded slightly. "I"m looking forward to it."
Just as Mr. Huang was about to say something more, his phone suddenly rang.
The caller was "Bernie".
"Excuse me, I"ll take this call first." Mr. Huang stood up with his phone and walked towards the door of the private room.