Hear this life

Huang Yuanshan listened to Wen Tingli's story with a trembling heart, and let out a low cry from time to time. At the end, she took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead, and said with gritted teeth: "You are such a petty-minded Liu Menglin! Just wait for me!"

Then he patted his chest in relief and said, "Fortunately, you used the empty city plan to stabilize Ding Hengjun. Now the focus is on Zhuang Xiaosheng. How is it? Is he willing to see you?"

Wen Tingli shook her head: "I'm still trying to figure it out. Zhenzhen won't be back from Tianjin until midnight, but I've already contacted Zhuang Xiaosheng's niece Zhuang Xiaolan. She's a friend of Sister Yaqiao. I'll try my luck with her."

Due to a change in plans, Huang Yuanshan had to change his ticket to Hangzhou from tomorrow morning to the evening, and at the same time prepare for tomorrow's press conference.

Wen Tingli continued to contact Zhuang Xiaosheng. With the introduction of Zhuang Xiaolan, Wen Tingli's business card was finally successfully delivered to the Zhuang Mansion.

Wen Tingli drove to the gate of Zhuang Mansion with full confidence and waited until after ten o'clock in the evening.

Suddenly, she heard laughter coming from the door of Zhuang Mansion. Wen Tingli hurriedly put on a smile and went to greet them. Unexpectedly, she ran into an acquaintance - Manager Liu from Golden Pictures.

Manager Liu is responsible for most of the script adaptation work at Golden Pictures. She was also present when she was arguing with Liu Menglin yesterday.

Manager Liu was obviously as surprised as Wen Tingli. "Ms. Wen? Are you here to visit Zhuang Xiaosheng as well?"

Wen Tingli rolled her eyes, pretended to be surprised and smiled: "Zhuang Xiaosheng also lives here? I'm here to look for Zhuang Xiaolan."

Manager Liu didn't seem to doubt this, or perhaps he never thought that Wen Tingli had started to prepare for her own new company just one day after leaving Golden Pictures.

His thoughts were obviously still on Wen Tingli's departure. He didn't say a word the whole time yesterday, but today he half-truthfully advised, "Miss Wen, although Boss Liu has a bad temper, he's not a bad person by nature. Don't take his angry words seriously. You were made famous by Golden Pictures, so what can you do if you leave the company? Don't be angry anymore. Come back and admit your mistakes to Boss Liu before the situation gets worse. We can help you persuade him, and the matter will be over."

Wen Tingli deliberately waited for him to leave before approaching, but the concierge said, "Mr. Zhuang doesn't see guests after 10 o'clock, Miss Zhuang? Miss Zhuang can't persuade Mr. Zhuang, you should come back tomorrow."

Wen Tingli was at a loss as to what to do, so she had to go to Yan Zhenzhen overnight to find out about the case of Zhuang Xiaosheng and Yue Zhaoyun.

The next morning, Huang Yuanshan set off for Dingxiang Hotel to arrange the press conference at noon. Wen Tingli took the company's newly hired clerk Xiaotian to visit Zhuang Xiaosheng. To her surprise, Liu Menglin and Duan Miaoqing arrived earlier than them.

The most surprising thing was that Zhuang Xiaosheng, who usually kept people at a distance, actually saw them off to the door in person, and stood on the steps watching Liu and Duan get into the car before turning back inside.

Wen Tingli thought to herself, it seems that when Old Liu returned home last night, he told Liu Menglin about what happened to her last night. Liu Menglin wanted to pull out her tendons and peel off her skin, so he would naturally do something bad. She greeted them openly as usual: "Boss Liu, Sister Miaoqing, what a coincidence."

Duan Miaoqing nodded with her, but Liu Menglin laughed strangely, "Isn't this the famous Miss Wen Tingli? Why, Huang Yuanshan has no movies for you to shoot, so you are so idle so early in the morning?"

In his expectation, Wen Tingli should be extremely regretful and even panic-stricken at this moment. However, after a day and a night of "escaping", she was as energetic as before.

The more she did this, the angrier Liu Menglin became.

"If you are here for Twin Pearls, I advise you to give up on this idea as soon as possible." Liu Menglin said proudly, "Zhuang Xiaosheng is a senior fan of Duan Miaoqing. When he heard that she could play the heroine of his book Twin Pearls, he immediately agreed to sell the adaptation rights to Golden Pictures. Manager Liu will come over on behalf of the company to sign a contract with Zhuang Xiaosheng. You should just go back to where you came from."

Wen Tingli stood still, but Xiaotian panicked. Seeing Liu Menglin driving away in a cloud of dust, he said in a panic, "Miss Wen, what should we do?"

Wen Tingli stepped onto the stairs: "Let's do what we have to do."

Because he accepted her business card last night, he didn't get turned away again today. Zhuang Xiaosheng received them in his study.

Before this morning, Wen Tingli had assumed that he was an old-fashioned, pedantic scholar in his fifties or sixties. But when they met face to face, she found that he was only in his early thirties. He wore a pair of very thick glasses on his nose, his eyelids drooped, and his expression was a little dull, as if he had not yet woken up.

Zhuang Xiaosheng didn't look at the several valuable gifts that Wen Tingli brought. Instead, he stretched his neck like an egret and looked down at her business card: "Ms. Wen-Ting-Li. I remember that your posters have been posted at the entrances of several cinemas recently. No wonder you look familiar."

"Have you seen my movies?" Wen Tingli was pleasantly surprised. "I'm so honored. Which one do you think is the best?"

Zhuang Xiaosheng suddenly frowned and said, "Sorry, I haven't seen any of them."

This person is indeed moody. Xiaotian looked at Wen Tingli worriedly. Wen Tingli immediately asked another question: "Then you must have seen the movie made by my partner. Guess who she is? Here's a hint: The movie "Legend of the Spirit Pearl" starring Duan Miaoqing that you like very much was directed by her."

Zhuang Xiaosheng raised his hand to interrupt her, "Miss Wen, you don't have to continue. I have already guessed your intention. To be honest, before you came, five companies had already visited me. Among them, Golden Pictures showed the most sincerity. I have already planned to sell "Double Pearls" to them."

***
Lilac Hotel.

Huang Yuanshan was busy greeting the first group of reporters who arrived at the scene. Suddenly, someone came over and patted her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw that it was Gao Xiaowen, Zhao Qingluo, and Yan Zhenzhen. Gao Xiaowen scolded her, "Sister Huang, do you and Wen Tingli consider us as friends? If Yan Zhenzhen hadn't called us early in the morning, we wouldn't have known that you were planning to start your own business."

Huang Yuanshan hurriedly gathered them aside and said, "Don't mention it. Wen Tingli and I were just pushing the issue. It was a mess. I'll tell you in detail later."

Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen looked up happily at the red banner above the venue: "Xiufeng Film Company, what a great name!"

Suddenly, someone hurriedly pushed through the crowd and came over here. It was Oda.

Huang Yuanshan knew something was wrong and pulled her into a corner.

"We can't come to an agreement." Xiaotian said breathlessly, "This Zhuang Xiaosheng is more difficult to deal with than we thought. He is like a stone in a toilet, smelly and hard. No matter how Miss Wen persuades him, he just won't sell "Double Pearls" to us."

Yan Zhenzhen asked hurriedly: "I have told Wen Tingli everything I know, but there is still nothing I can do to him?"

"No, I guess Liu Menglin has said a lot of bad things about us to him. Zhuang Xiaosheng said that he already knows the situation of our new company. It is said that even the studio has not been built yet, and the relevant actors have not arrived. He can't think of a reason not to sell "Double Pearls" to the wealthy and powerful Golden Films, but to a small-scale troupe like us. He also said that he has never seen Miss Wen's play before, so how can he know whether she will ruin his work."

Huang Yuanshan didn't have time to scold Liu Menglin for a moment: "What should we do?! If we can't come to an agreement before noon, I'm afraid we won't be able to finish today."

It was the first time that Gao Xiaowen saw Huang Yuanshan so flustered, and she couldn't help but get nervous too: "Is this man dissatisfied with the price you offered? It's not that simple. I'll go meet him and I'll pay him whatever he wants. Just consider it as my investment in your and Wen Tingli's company."

Xiao Tian's face turned pale and he shook his head: "Miss Wen had mentioned these words a long time ago, but Zhuang Xiaosheng said that Liu Menglin promised him before he left: no matter what price Miss Wen offered him, Golden Pictures would pay double."

Everyone gasped.

Huang Yuanshan looked around and saw more and more reporters entering the venue, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

***
"I hope to have the opportunity to cooperate with your company in the future, but it is impossible this time. After drinking this cup of tea, please do as you please." Zhuang Xiaosheng served the tea to the guest with a cold face.

Wen Tingli had no intention of leaving. Instead, she took out two old newspapers from her bag with a smile on her face.

"Mr. Zhuang, the writer you admire most is Yue Zhaoyun, right?"

Zhuang Xiaosheng's face turned pale: "You are getting more and more outrageous. I don't have time to listen to your rambling. Alang, come in and see you out." Wen Tingli, however, started reading an old article in the newspaper.

"'An unknown writer named Zhuang Xiaosheng expressed disdain for Yue Zhaoyun's recent popularity. He thought that Yue Zhaoyun's story was boring and the characters were as dull as puppets. She became popular only because of the right time and the right situation. If it were written by another writer, it might cause a bigger sensation than her. Nowadays, with the increasingly fierce competition in the social novel market, more and more outstanding writers are emerging. Yue Zhaoyun will be out of fashion within a year."

Just as Zhuang Xiaosheng was about to get angry, Wen Tingli held up another newspaper and read, "Regarding the fact that Yue Zhaoyun's new book has once again achieved a sales miracle, Zhuang Xiaosheng still holds the view he held half a year ago. In his opinion, Yue Zhaoyun is just good at pleasing the public. She writes whatever people like to read. She is a clown who is good at sensationalism in the book world. She also knows how to use her connections in the newspaper world to build momentum for herself. She doesn't act like a writer, but more like a businessman... He believes that blindly using words to please people is not a long-term solution. Within a year, Yue Zhaoyun will run out of ideas."

After reading these two pieces of old news, Wen Tingli smiled and said, "Three years have passed, and Yue Zhaoyun has not lost her talent. Instead, she is more popular than before. This year, the film "Beauty of the South" adapted from her new work is even more popular. Mr. Zhuang, what do you think of this?"

Zhuang Xiao was so angry that his face turned blue: "What on earth do you want to say?!"

"Before visiting you, I specifically looked up a lot of relevant information. Your road to fame was much more bumpy than Yue Zhaoyun's. You published a novel a year earlier than her, but you remained unknown. When Yue Zhaoyun's novels repeatedly set sales records for social novels of the year, your royalties remained at a relatively low level of one dollar per four thousand words. Two years ago, you finally became famous with "The Female Head of the House", but this novel only occupied the headlines of major supplements for a week before it was beaten down by Yue Zhaoyun's new work "Voice of Freedom". Although you once again achieved impressive results in the next two years and became famous in the book world, in the hearts of book fans, your name seems to always rank behind Yue Zhaoyun. I think you probably often feel the hatred of "Since Yu was born, why was Liang born?"

"That's enough!" Zhuang Xiaosheng was shaking all over. "You, you are judging others by your own standards. Those two old articles in the newspaper that discussed Yue Zhaoyun's works were just nonsense I made up when I was young. My writing style is completely different from hers, and I have my own loyal readers. Why should I regard her as an opponent? If you keep talking nonsense, I will have you beaten out with sticks."

"'Nanqi loves to wear pastel-colored clothes' - 'Lingzhu hates pastel-colored clothes the most, thinking that this color is frivolous and only shallow people like to wear them'; 'The older Nanqi gets, the more she likes sweet things, and she always thinks that sweet things can fill the emptiness in her heart' - 'Bah, this thing is so sweet, leave quickly, be careful that the more you eat, the stupider you will become'; 'The Taizhou restaurant that Nanqi often goes to is called 'Lishanfang' - 'This Lishanfang is a newly opened foot washing pool, and the pedicure masters have good skills.'"

Every time Wen Tingli read a sentence, Zhuang Xiaosheng's forehead twitched.

Wen Tingli solemnly handed the excerpts she had made to Zhuang Xiaosheng, asking him to read it himself: "The first part is all lines from "The Beauty of the South", and the ones at the back are sentences from "The Twin Pearls", which you recently published. These words are like looking in a mirror. You wrote them subconsciously to belittle her works. Her characters like Pearl, so the characters in your works must hate Pearl. She goes east, but you go west. If it were someone else, they might not notice these descriptions. It just so happens that I played the role of Nan Qi in "The Beauty of the South."

Wen Tingli smiled and said, "In order to play this role well, I memorized almost every word of the script, and I even read the original novel more than ten times. So when I borrowed "Double Pearls" from my classmate last night, I understood it as soon as I read it: you are not like what you said, you never regarded Yue Zhaoyun as a rival. It is clear that she has become a thorn in your side."

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'll have someone kick you out. Go ask around, my novel 'Twin Pearls' is the most popular social novel this year, with far more sales than Yue Zhaoyun's 'Prosperity in the Old Times' published last year. Don't say I don't bother to compare myself with her. Even if we really did, Yue Zhaoyun would have been defeated by me!"

"Isn't it because Yue Zhaoyun has not published any new works this year? As long as she takes action, your "Double Pearls" will still be quickly defeated."

"Bullshit! It's obviously--" Zhuang Xiao was so angry that he was shaking all over, "I almost fell into your trap. Whatever you say, I won't argue with you. Anyway, I won't sell you the adaptation rights of "Double Pearls". Alang, Alang, please get this unreasonable lady out of here."

"Of course you don't dare to sell it to us, because you are afraid of showing your weakness." Wen Tingli sighed leisurely, "How can a person who has read the original novel of "Southern Beauty" word for word not pay attention to the development of "Southern Beauty" after it is made into a movie? The moment you got my business card, you recognized me as the lead actor of "Southern Beauty", but you said right away that you have never seen any of my movies. Firstly, you used this to express your disdain for people and things related to Yue Zhaoyun. Secondly, you know that I became famous with this movie, and you made up your mind not to hand over "Double Pearls" to us. With the same lead actor and director, if the box office performance of "Double Pearls" in the future is far worse than that of "Southern Beauty", doesn't it prove that you are still defeated by Yue Zhaoyun?

"Shut up!" Zhuang Xiaosheng became furious.

"If I were you, I would let us make the film. Just think about it. If we let Golden Film make the film, no matter how successful it is, the outside world will either attribute the credit to Golden Film Company or to the director and the leading actor. Not many people will notice Zhuang Xiaosheng's name. Only by starting the original team can people compare the original works of the two films objectively.

"Once your Twin Pearls performs better at the box office than Southern Beauty, you can prove to the world that your story is more appealing than hers. Your lack of success over the past decade is not because you are inferior to others, but because you are not as lucky as others."

She changed the subject and said, "Of course, if you lose again, from now on, you will have to accept the defeat even if you don't want to. Do you dare to take a gamble?"

Zhuang Xiaosheng began to scratch his head like a monkey. Seeing this, the servant named Alang came in and pulled Wen Tingli: "Don't provoke our master anymore, please leave."

Wen Tingli was quick to hand over a prepared copy to Zhuang Xiaosheng: "Say a few more words and I'll leave. Mr. Zhuang, this is a list of social novels that the Golden Company has purchased in the past two years. There are more than twenty of them!
“Among so many books, only The Beauty of the South directed by Huang Yuanshan became popular!
"Others either failed miserably at the box office due to shoddy production or were completely forgotten in the script cabinet. If you sell Twin Pearls to them, you will suffer the same fate. Liu Menglin's price this time is a little higher than ours, but considering the long-term interests, you must not give the book to him!"

As she was talking, she was pushed to the door. A Lang called two more people to help. Wen Tingli clung to the door frame tightly. "It will be different if you leave it to us. The company has just been established, and Twin Pearls is our first work. Director Huang and I will definitely cherish your hard work! You haven't seen Beauty of the South, but you must have heard about how well-known this film is. Whether to let Twin Pearls gather dust in the cabinet of the Golden Company or let it shine in our hands, it depends on your choice. Don't lose the big picture for the small! Mr. Zhuang! Mr. Zhuang?!"

***
At the venue, reporters from all parties had already taken their seats. Huang Yuanshan was facing the crowded reception seats, and sweat was pouring down his back.

In a corner not far away, Ding Hengjun from Minle Evening News was staring at her. If Wen Tingli didn't show up, Ding Hengjun might openly attack her.

Xiao Tian was so scared that his legs went limp. "Boss Huang, Miss Gao and the others may not be able to help. Are you really not going to go there in person?"

Huang Yuanshan closed his eyes. There couldn't be no one in charge here. Her presence could at least help stabilize the situation.

Besides, she knew very well how strong Wen Tingli's personal abilities were, so she had to have confidence in her.

But——it was already past twelve o'clock. Not to mention Wen Tingli, Gao Xiaowen and the others were nowhere to be seen.

Huang Yuanshan's heart sank like a weight.

Man proposes, God disposes. Perhaps, some things cannot be reversed by personal ability alone, and ultimately it depends on fate.

Could it be that even God is not going to stand on their side this time?

There was a commotion coming from the direction of the gate. Huang Yuanshan was overjoyed. He looked over and saw that it was Liu Menglin who came with his men. The reporters at the venue greeted him one after another: "Boss Liu."

"I heard it's very lively here, come and take a look."

As he spoke, Liu Menglin walked to the front row and sat down, looking at Huang Yuanshan with a gloating look.

Huang Yuanshan had no choice but to put on a smile and greet him: "Boss Liu, how come you have time to come today?"

"Why can't I come? Two of my subordinates are planning to start their own business, so of course I, as their old boss, have to come personally to give them a big gift."

He gestured to his left and right, and someone immediately started to make a noise: "Boss Huang, didn't you say that you would announce a major news item at 12 o'clock? We are all here for your sake, it's already 12:05, why haven't you started yet?"

"That's right. How can a press conference go by without any action after the scheduled time? Is Mr. Huang really trying to fool me?"

Huang Yuanshan raised his hand and pressed it down: "Everyone, be patient, three minutes, at most, and the show will begin."

"You just said that. How many three minutes have passed? I wonder how many news stories we have to write. The weather is so hot, I don't have time to keep wasting time with you. I have to go now!"

More and more people echoed: "Let's go, let's go together."

Just as the scene was about to fall into chaos, a clear voice rang out from outside: "Sorry, Mr. Zhuang and I are late."

The smile on Liu Menglin's face froze instantly. The person who came was not only Wen Tingli, but also Zhuang Xiaosheng.

Huang Yuanshan walked towards the two of them in ecstasy.

Wen Tingli was in high spirits. Under the collective gaze of nearly a hundred people, she smiled and led Zhuang Xiaosheng towards the platform.

(End of this chapter)