Chapter 34 – Mysterious Recommendation Letter (1)
Li Qi knew that this matter wouldn"t be so simple. About a month after he"d agreed to be Chen Meimei"s Agent, that fat woman had immediately told him that she wanted to have a role in A Thousand Years Of Tears.
The shooting for A Thousand Years Of Tears was just around the corner, but inserting a new minor supporting role wouldn"t be an issue. The main problem, however, was Chang Sheng, the Director of this drama. He was known as extremely upright, serious, and conscientious when it came to his work. As long as it was something he directed, even if the Emperor were to ask him, it would be impossible to add a new role.
Taking advantage of his friends.h.i.+p with Chang Sheng, Li Qi decided to give it a try anyway. Even if the final result wasn"t satisfactory, he could at the very least give Chen Meimei an explanation as thanks for sending the roses.
Chang Sheng was a busy person. After Li Qi had called him a few times, Chang Sheng finally agreed to meet at a famous restaurant in the city. The moment Li Qi entered the restaurant, he looked at the signboard by the entrance and clutched his wallet in despair. Then, he stared at Chen Meimei in sorrow.
"Today, Big Bro"s going to be spending lots of money for you, so, you must make sure to put on a good show. Don"t let your Brother spend all of his money for nothing."
Lan Jinyao nodded repeatedly. "I promise I"ll work hard!"
Spiritedly walking into the restaurant, the determined expressions on their faces frightened the waiters.
"Y-you guys, what do you want?"
Li Qi was confused. "We"re here to get something to eat, of course. We"ve got an appointment with someone in one of the private rooms upstairs."
The frightened waiter patted his chest, still feeling some doubt. Then, he extended his hand and made an inviting gesture. "Please, follow me."
When they entered the private room, Chang Sheng had already ordered enough dishes to cover the large table and had happily started eating. There was a plate of roast duck bones, some vegetables, and several plates with only a smear of oil remaining. They were unable to make out what those dishes had once been.
Seeing the two people enter the room, he enthusiastically smiled at them and patted the seat beside him. "Li Qi, doing this type of thing is wrong. Since you were the one who took the initiative to organise this meeting, why would you be late? I"ve been busy recently, so I decided to order the food and start eating first."
Li Qi laughed awkwardly while cursing silently. You"re clearly a glutton!
After Li Qi and Lan Jinyao were seated, Chang Sheng called the waitress over. "Pretty girl, please clear all these plates away and send in a few new dishes."
Li Qi"s eyes widened at this, and he almost blurted, "You still want to eat more?!" Lan Jinyao quickly pinched his thigh, causing a sudden pained howl to fill the room.
"What"s wrong with you?"
Li Qi quickly waved his hands. "Nothing, nothing!"
Chang Sheng s.h.i.+fted his gaze back to the menu, failing to notice the sharp glare that Li Qi was aiming at Lan Jinyao. However, Lan Jinyao wasn"t willing to lose and glared back at him. Then, she meaningfully glanced at the basket of flowers on the table to remind him of the red roses that she"d sent for him.
Li Qi gave her a thumbs up. You win!
There"s no doubt that this was the most famous restaurant in the city, yet the dishes were currently being served slower than the pace of a snail. Chang Sheng beckoned the waitress and asked jokingly, "Hey, beauty, does this restaurant employ snails to serve us? With this speed, the food I ate previously will be completely digested before the second order reaches the table. What"s going on?"
The girl smiled apologetically. "I"m very sorry. The restaurant is currently very busy, so please wait a moment."
Li Qi"s gaze briefly swept over the girl, and an idea came to mind. He quickly said, "No rush, no rush, don"t scare the girl. Since it"s like this, just bring us a pot of tea to drink for now. While waiting, let"s talk about business."
It was only then that Chang Sheng recalled what he was there for and asked Li Qi, "Boy, since you invited me here to eat, then you must have something to ask me. Spit it out! If I can help you with something, then I don"t mind helping you!"
"The person beside me is Chen Meimei. I"m sure you must have heard of her before, as she"s an artist signed on with our company. Unfortunately, even though she"s been signed on with our company for quite a while, she hasn"t had many opportunities to perform. Since it just so happens that you have a new drama starting filming soon, we wanted to borrow this chance to ask you to add in a role for her…"
Li Qi was interrupted before he could finish. Chang Sheng frowned and thought for a while, then had a sudden look of realisation on his face as he said to Li Qi, "Oh, I remember who Chen Meimei is now! Of course, I know who she is! I read about her in the news a few days ago; she was stood up by her man on her wedding day. Tsk tsk, that whole situation was horrid. I feel shame as an older man. Why does Chen Meimei want to act anyway? Don"t people say that she can"t act well?"
Lan Jinyao felt that this man was deliberately saying all this. It seemed like her emotional wound had split open again, and that blood was starting to drip from it.
She fiercely stepped on Li Qi"s foot under the table and motioned for him to say something quickly.
Li Qi endured the pain and fiercely glared at her. Then, he faked a smile as he said to Chang Sheng, "We"re not after an important role; just a supporting role. It won"t take up more than a few scenes in the whole drama, and it also won"t delay production. If you check what roles are available, can we settle on it now?"
The skin on Li Qi"s face felt stiff as he kept smiling, and he was unsure if he could pull this off. If he couldn"t, he thought that they would leave once they were denied.
Chang Sheng sipped his tea and smiled at Li Qi. Then, he slowly shook his head, and firmly said, "That"s not possible!"
"d.a.m.n it!!" Li Qi was so angry that he was about to flip the table. "There"s no need to serve those extra dishes anymore!"
Li Qi"s threat was a good move that bore fruit. Lan Jinyao wanted to applaud him.
Chang Sheng wasn"t happy. "What the…when you invite someone over to eat with you, how can you leave midway?! It"s impossible to have a role in my drama. How about I give you another role? I can even let Chen Meimei be the second female lead! How about you see what it"s about and if it"ll do first, huh? After all, a second female lead is better than a supporting role, right? Although that drama is going to be directed by a newcomer, that person has potential. In the future, he"ll probably be a big hit!"
Everyone in the entertainment circle knew that if they didn"t get recognition, it would be difficult for a newcomer to make a big hit. Unless, of course, they started with an extraordinarily big production. It looked like Chang Sheng didn"t want to trouble himself with Chen Meimei, but that he was also unable to act impartially after accepting her treat of food. So, he"d decided to help her by foisting her off to someone else. As for newcomers, what they lacked the most were actors.
Lan Jinyao thought that this person was indeed a glutton, but unfortunately, this meal wasn"t enough to make him change his mind. Therefore, she had to find another way.
With that in mind, she immediately responded, "A new Director? That"s not out of the question, but in that case, I want the female lead role!"
Chang Sheng seemed to release a sigh of relief before he patted Lan Jinyao"s shoulder and smiled as he said, "Good! Li Qi, it looks like your artist is wiser than you!"
Li Qi nodded gloomily. Didn"t she say that it had to be a role in A Thousand Years Of Tears? Now she"d made him waste so much money for nothing. If he"d known that an upcoming Director"s new drama would do, then he could"ve settled this differently and obtained the role with much less trouble!