Hear this life

"cheers!"

Amidst cheerful laughter, everyone raised their glasses.

After taking a sip, Zhao Qingluo burst out laughing: "Did you all see that just now? The moment Wen Tingli took out the contract for the adaptation of Twin Pearls, Liu Menglin's eyes almost popped out of his head."

"Tingli, now you can tell us how you convinced Zhuang Xiaosheng?"

Wen Tingli put down her wine glass with a flushed face and pointed to her heart frankly: "Sincerity."

"Don't keep us in suspense. Does Liu Menglin lack sincerity? Compared to you, he is not only sincere, but also has a lot of silver dollars."

Wen Tingli shook her head: "No, he has silver and strength, but he lacks sincerity——"

Seeing four pairs of eyes staring at her, she straightened her expression: "Think about it, if he was sincere, why would he just send his manager to contact Zhuang Xiaosheng? He was willing to visit Zhuang Xiaosheng in person the next day only because he heard that we also wanted to buy "Double Pearls". I helped Zhuang Xiaosheng analyze the pros and cons from this perspective and spoke frankly to him.

Yan Zhenzhen looked thoughtful: "Did you talk to Zhuang Xiaosheng about your current predicament? Or did you convince him that Twin Pearls was very important to Xiufeng at this time, and then impress him."

Wen Tingli smiled and shook her head: "When discussing cooperation, the most taboo is to only talk about my own difficulties and needs. We should firmly grasp the needs and interests of the other party. From beginning to end, I never mentioned the benefits of this cooperation to our Xiufeng. I only talked about the benefits to him, Zhuang Xiaosheng. What do you think is the most important thing for Zhuang Xiaosheng right now?"

"Fame? Money?"

"Neither, it's recognition. He has been competing with Sister Yue for several years. Twin Pearls is his first film to be adapted for the screen. His expectations for this film can be imagined. I just need to convince him that without Sister Huang's Golden Company, Twin Pearls will never be a good film. In fact, people like Mr. Zhuang who show their emotions on their faces are actually easier to deal with, because their thoughts are all written on their faces."

Gao Xiaowen seemed to be thinking: "'The most important thing to avoid when discussing cooperation is to only talk about your own needs. You should firmly grasp the interests of the other party.' I think I understand why my elder brother often fails in negotiations. Wen Tingli, where did you learn this knowledge?"

"Where else could she have learned it? The old man 'Life' must have taught her." Huang Yuanshan seemed to be quite touched. He put down his wine glass and patted Wen Tingli on the shoulder. "She became an orphan at the age of 18. She has a younger sister to raise. She has to learn to solve various problems every day when she opens her eyes. Over time, she naturally learns to deal with different types of people. It's just that her understanding is better than that of ordinary people. Tingli, I toast you. Thanks to you, our Xiufeng can successfully get through this crisis."

Wen Tingli raised her glass in response: "Sister Huang, I should toast to you. Without your leadership, I might not have the courage to take this step, let alone make up my mind to join hands with you to establish Xiufeng. You have always been my role model in life."

Yan Zhenzhen and others drank a glass in silence.

"I can't drink anymore." Huang Yuanshan patted his cheeks. "I have to take a bus to Hangzhou to find Li Zhen. You guys wait for my good news."

Several people helped Huang Yuanshan get his coat. Wen Tingli called Xiangsheng Car Dealership for a taxi. Not long after, the doorbell rang again. When she opened the door, she saw that Huang Yuanshan had returned with someone by his side.

"Look who's coming." Huang Yuanshan pushed the man forward.

"Sister Yue!" Several people rushed to hug Yue Zhaoyun and asked her about everything, "When did you come to Shanghai? How did you know that we were all at Wen Tingli's house?"
"I called Sister Yue earlier." Wen Tingli smiled and snatched the suitcase from Yue Zhaoyun's hand.

Yue Zhaoyun said happily, "I heard about Yuanshan's resignation last week. I wanted to leave for Shanghai immediately, but unfortunately I was delayed for a few days by other things. I finally set off, but missed today's press conference. I heard it was a success. Tell me about the situation at that time."

"It was a great success! You don't know, Sister Huang and Wen Tingli simply overcame many difficulties and defeated many enemies."

"Sister Yue, I have to apologize to you for using your name to provoke Zhuang Xiaosheng without your consent."

"You've apologized to me so many times on the phone, and why should I blame you? I should feel honored that a certain outstanding colleague has been treating me as a rival for many years, but is this news reliable? This Zhuang Xiaosheng actually competed with me secretly for so many years, and I had no idea."

"In that case, Zhuang Xiaosheng is just a poor guy. He has been secretly comparing for so many years, but in the end it was all his own one-man show. Sister Yue didn't take him seriously at all." Zhao Qingluo said blankly.

Everyone laughed even harder.

During the chat, Yue Zhaoyun learned that there was also a film about female workers. Curious, she asked Wen Tingli for the materials and draft outline to read.

As I read, my writer's instinct probably kicked in. I couldn't help but ask my little fan Yan Zhenzhen for a fountain pen and notebook, and made corrections while reading: "Why did you think of filming this subject? This will probably not be a hit."

Wen Tingli was a little drunk at this moment. She put her head on the sofa and looked at Yue Zhaoyun: "Sister Huang is an idealist. She has wanted to make a labor film for a long time. What about me..."

She put her finger against her forehead, trying to sort out her thoughts, but the wine in her stomach had a strange power that could stir up all the deepest thoughts in a person's heart. Unconsciously, the happy mood slowly faded away like the tide, and the sad mood gradually occupied her heart. Shaking her head didn't work, and putting the empty wine glass against her lips didn't work either. Countless bitterness came out of her throat like bubbles.

"...Why did I want to make a film about female workers...Let me think about it, maybe it's for commemoration. Not long ago, a senior whom I admired very much passed away. Hiccup, Sister Yue, you don't know how shocked and sad I was at that time. She made me understand that life is short. A person in the world must have something else to pursue besides fame and fortune. These female workers are miserable, really miserable...What about me...Lu Shicheng...Why are you looking at me? Don't ask."

Yue Zhaoyun just listened silently in front, and when she heard the last part, she hurriedly took the wine glass from Wen Tingli's hand: "Xiao Wen, you are drunk."

Wen Tingli, however, held the wine glass tightly in her arms as if it were a treasure, leaned on the sofa, and murmured, "I'm not drunk..."

The hard work over the past few days had made her extremely tired. She mumbled a few words and fell into a deep sleep.

When she opened her eyes again, she felt the dazzling sunlight. The surroundings were familiar and warm. The emotions aroused by the alcohol lingering in her mind made her feel unwell. No, it was not because of the alcohol. No matter how drunk she was last night, she was sober in her heart.

She was just a little disappointed. Those people and things weighed too deeply on her heart, so deeply that she once thought she had let them go, but it turned out that nothing had changed. Everything was as vivid and tangible as before...

At first, she lay there in a daze, then suddenly remembered that she had two important things to do today: one was to find Mrs. Pan to rent a photo studio, and the other was to ask Liu Yaqiao to serve as the company's legal advisor.

Thinking of this, she jumped up. She saw Zhao Qingluo, Yan Zhenzhen, and Gao Xiaowen lying on the carpet in all directions. On the other side of the long sofa, Yue Zhaoyun was curled up alone, also sleeping soundly. Last night, everyone was too happy and slept together in her living room. Fortunately, Mrs. Zhou was considerate and covered everyone with a thin blanket.

Seeing that the quilt on Yue Zhaoyun was about to slide to the ground, she tiptoed forward to help her cover it again, and suddenly saw two notebooks fell beside Yue Zhaoyun's hands.

I picked them up and saw that one was a rough outline of a film about women workers, and the other... seemed to be a newly written script.

As she was flipping through the pages, Wen Tingli's eyes suddenly widened. Yue Zhaoyun had actually revised the draft outline of the women's workers' film overnight.

The original draft was disorganized, but the current script adds a big plot conflict in the first act, making the story full of suspense from the beginning. The second and third acts -

Wen Tingli read on eagerly. Major adjustments were made to almost every scene. All the plots in the material were connected together. The story was quite fascinating and the characters were more vivid. If the original draft was only 50 or 60 minutes, Yue Zhaoyun's polishing made it a highly watchable movie script.

The title of the film has also been decided, it is called "Spring Breeze Blows Again".

Wen Tingli felt as if she had been struck in the heart.

“Wildfires cannot be extinguished; spring breezes will bring new life.” After Sister Li died, she often used this sentence to comfort herself.

Sister Yue was so perceptive that she could actually read the belief between the lines of her own extremely rough draft.

Wen Tingli lowered her head silently. For the line "Spring Breeze Blows and Life Comes Again", for being understood at this moment, or for something else, she had to let herself stay in this turbulent emotion for a while, and then move forward with this kindness and gift between friends.

***
A week later, Xiufeng Film Company officially opened for business.

On that day, newspapers of all sizes were competing to report this news. The reason why it caused such a big sensation was, firstly, due to the "Double Pearl" rush to buy that had caused a lot of controversy a while ago. Secondly, as Wen Tingli expected, the company spent a huge amount of money to hire makeup artist Gu Jie, and the boss personally went to Hangzhou to invite Li Zhen, the former editor-in-chief of the "Hujiang Daily" supplement. All of these became hot topics of discussion among the people.

As soon as the employment contracts of Li Zhen and Gu Jie were finalized, the Minle Evening News, at the suggestion of Wen Tingli, publicized the matter widely and jokingly called them the "Four Heavenly Kings of Xiufeng" in the article.

The first "King Kong": Huang Yuanshan served as the company's general manager, responsible for directing and production business.

The second biggest boss: Wen Tingli, who is also one of the company's bosses, is responsible for actor management, company planning and external public affairs.

The famous makeup artist Gu Jie was appointed as the manager of the costume and makeup department, responsible for the actors' makeup and scene arrangement.

Li Zhen has good writing skills and wide connections, so he was appointed as the publicity department manager.

The strength of these four people is obvious to all. Once the title of "Four Heavenly Kings" was announced, people suddenly had a new understanding of Xiufeng's strength.

"Minle Evening News" also published a special issue of "Xiufeng Film Company On-site Interview Report".

The report said that although Xiufeng is a newly established film company, its scale is not inferior to other companies. The office building has been built. The main building has two floors, a basement and a garden. The first floor is the company's reception hall and administrative office, the second floor is the actors' dressing room, dining room and warehouse, and the basement is equipped with film processing room, printing room, projection room, photography room, art room, etc. In the back garden, a studio is being built "at great expense".

Half of this is exaggerated.

In fact, Wen Tingli had rented this building from Mrs. Pan’s friend for less than a week, and many parts of it had not been repaired yet, so it could barely be used for office use.

It was originally a cement factory, but closed down due to poor management. Its location in the Chinese area made it too small to be used as a factory, and the men and women thought the location was not good to use it as a garden residence. After being abandoned for almost a year, it became increasingly dilapidated.

Wen Tingli and Huang Yuanshan liked the place right away, as it was a perfect place for a film company. After renting it, they immediately started looking for someone to renovate it and build a studio. After a few days, everything had taken shape.

Coincidentally, the person sent by Minle Evening News to do the interview was none other than Wen Tingli's old acquaintance, reporter Chen Qiufeng. He chose to shoot in the corners that had been completely renovated and wrote about them in nice words. He wanted to brag about this slightly shabby film workshop in front of him into a powerful film trust organization.

As soon as this interview was published, the effect was surprisingly good. People called every day to apply for the job. Some were applying for actors, some were applying for screenwriters, props, photographers... There were even some who came all the way from Tianjin, Beiping and other places.

Huang Yuanshan was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. With so many applicants coming at once, there was no need to worry about not being able to start filming as soon as possible.

The first person to be decided was the company’s accounting office.

It was none other than Miss Cao Renxiu, who had previously taken the initiative to provide Wen Tingli with the material of female workers from the Red Cotton Textile Factory.

Miss Cao has a strong sense of justice. She graduated from the Accounting Department of Shanghai Teachers College and had worked in the accounting office of Hongmian Textile Factory for several years. She has plenty of work experience and we can rest assured having such a person helping the company with its accounting.

The key point is that once the female workers' film is released in the future, Miss Cao may not be able to keep her job. Therefore, Wen Tingli promised early on to help Miss Cao find another job.

They were not wrong about the person. Cao Renxiu worked extremely seriously and responsibly, and managed the company's accounts clearly in just a few days. As a result, Huang Yuanshan and Wen Tingli became more free to work, and gradually recruited more than 30 people, including an accounting cashier, several experienced extras, a script supervisor, an artist, a screenwriter, etc. Even the chef in the employee canteen was chosen.

As for legal advisor, Liu Yaqiao is the best choice.

The only problem was recruiting production staff.

According to the company's initial plan, "Twin Pearls" and "Spring Breeze Blows Again" will start shooting at the same time. Huang Yuanshan can serve as both director and post-production editor, but there is still a lot of on-site photography and production work that requires assistants to help, which means the more relevant professionals the better.

However, there are already very few photographers who have studied film in the market, and these people have basically been employed by major film companies. The rest are either newcomers who have just entered the industry or laymen who know nothing about directors and photography techniques. They can do odd jobs in the studio, but they are absolutely not allowed to do serious work.

After a week of interviews, Huang Yuanshan was still alone. After finishing work for the day, Huang Yuanshan anxiously looked out the window at the sunset: "Today, no one is accepted. If this continues, we won't be able to start the project until next year."

Li Zhen, one of the "Four Heavenly Kings", also participated in the company's recruitment process. He said, "The salary has been raised to 80 dollars a month. It is not logical that there are no experienced applicants. There must be something fishy. How about I ask someone to find out what is going on?"

Li Zhen has a lot of connections in the newspaper industry, and after a few phone calls, he was able to find out some clues.

"Do you have a grudge against Chen Maoqing, the boss of Huamei Film Company?" he asked after putting down the phone.

Huang Yuanshan and Wen Tingli exchanged glances quickly: "It's more than a feud, it's almost irreconcilable. He is afraid that Wen Tingli has a similar style to Yu Peiling from their company, and he has framed Wen Tingli openly and secretly this year. But we are not vegetarians either - let's not talk about this for now, what, is he playing tricks this time?"

"He and Liu Menglin have both officially said that anyone who works for Xiufeng would be openly offending them. Chen Maoqing also had people spread rumors in the industry, saying that Xiufeng is just a small workshop and will go bankrupt in three months at most. At that time, anyone who has worked for Xiufeng will not be allowed to enter Huamei again. Huamei and Huangjin are the two most popular film companies at the moment, and no one in this industry wants to offend them openly."

Huang Yuanshan was furious: "This monkey! I said there weren't any professionals applying for the job these days!"

"What should we do now?" Gu Jie was a casual and lazy person who rarely expressed his opinions. But now he couldn't help but speak up. "They don't want to come. We can't just go to the film companies and kidnap them by force, right?"

Wen Tingli didn't say anything, but was busy flipping through the journals of major film companies on the table. These were brought by Gu Jie in order to understand the recent developments of each company.

Suddenly, Li Zhen called her, "Miss Wen, what do you think?"

Ever since Li Zhen came to work in the company, he only called Huang Yuanshan "Boss Huang" and always called Wen Tingli "Miss Wen".

This time was no exception. Wen Tingli had noticed this, but she always took it calmly. Hearing this, she closed the "Huamei Film Weekly" in her hand and said thoughtfully: "I will go to Huangjin and Huamei right away."

The other three were shocked: "What are you doing? Go and quarrel with Liu Menglin and Chen Maoqing? Don't be impulsive. They are playing dirty tricks. It's useless to quarrel with them."

"No risk, no gain. I'll meet them first."

***
Wen Tingli parked her car in front of the Huamei Film Company and walked in without hesitation. The doorman stepped forward to stop her, but she took out her business card and gave it to him.

The concierge stood in awe, and saw on the business card: "General Manager of Xiufeng Film Company: Ms. Wen Tingli."

"Hello, lady boss, our boss Chen is not in the company."

"I'm not here to see Chen Maoqing. I'm here to see Miss Yu Peiling. I've already asked around. She's trying on makeup at the company today. Please take my business card and tell her that I'm waiting for her at the cafe across the street."

Half an hour later, Yu Peiling came over with a look of surprise on her face.

"I thought someone was playing a trick on me, but it turns out it was really you?" She sat down at the opposite table with a defensive look on her face, and in the blink of an eye, her face returned to her usual lazy expression.

"Miss Wen, what can I do for you?" she said with a smile.

"I'm here to recruit people."

Yu Peiling seemed to find it a little funny: "Poaching people? Who are you planning to poach, Miss Wen?"

"Dig you."

Yu Peiling lowered her head and chuckled: "Miss Wen is really good at telling jokes."

Wen Tingli was also smiling. While smiling, she drank her tea leisurely. Then she took out an old newspaper from two months ago from her bag and pushed it in front of Yu Peiling.

There was a photo prominently published in the newspaper. The camera was facing Chen Maoqing, who was negotiating diligently with Manager Xu from Lu Mansion. There was a woman sitting in the car behind him. The woman's silhouette was very blurry, but the newspapers at the time tacitly agreed that the woman was Yu Peiling.

In an instant, there was a hint of anger in Yu Peiling's eyes.

"What are you going to do?!" "It seems that Miss Yu also remembers this news very clearly. [Chen Maoqing brought female stars to visit Lu Shicheng many times, but was turned away by Lu Mansion.] Let me guess, this is the nth time that Chen Maoqing has forced you to deal with men? The last time was Mr. Ma of Dadong Bank, the time before that was the young master of Maofeng Department Store, and there are also the boss of Feidi'er and the owner of Taoxian Tea Garden - there are probably five or six of them just from what I have seen in the newspapers."

"Are you here to humiliate me?" Yu Peiling interrupted her abruptly, "Are you worthy enough?"

Wen Tingli did not argue and continued with a sympathetic tone: "I guess that every time Chen Maoqing wanted to get sponsorship, he would ask his most popular female star to accompany him. This method worked very well. In just two years, Huamei Company successfully invested in more than ten movies and made a lot of money. Chen Maoqing also successfully kicked out the other partners of the company and became the largest shareholder of Huamei. It was not until he set his sights on Lu Shicheng that he hit a wall."

"Oh..." Yu Peiling smiled and stretched out her voice, "I know why you came here. Are you blaming me for provoking Lu Shicheng? That's right, I should have guessed that there was something going on between you two. Last time, he suddenly turned his spearhead against Huamei just to help you out. I heard that he went back to Nanyang? Let me guess, who dumped whom between the two of you. You have no status, so I don't think you are qualified to be jealous of him."

She gave a chuckle.

"Put aside that ridiculous competitive thought in your head." Wen Tingli's face was as gloomy as water. "I am here to help you today."

Yu Peiling seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world: "Help me? What do I need your help with? Everyone knows that I am the most popular female star in Huamei Company. Do you think that just because you opened a small workshop, you can be a savior for others everywhere? You really overestimate your own abilities!"

Wen Tingli sighed: "I'm not a savior, I'm just a bystander. Last week, I met the young master of Maofeng Department Store at the Gao family's dinner. He has a fetish for hibiscus and his teeth are rotten and smell terrible. Boss Ma of Dadong Bank doesn't smoke opium, but he is old enough to be Miss Yu's father. Every time Chen Maoqing forces you to deal with these men, you feel very annoyed, right? But you can't not go, after all, as long as you don't obey, Huamei Film Company will immediately replace you with someone to support you - your predecessor Zhang Xiaofeng is like this. Before you, Zhang Xiaofeng was once the most popular female star in Huamei. Where is she now?"

Yu Peiling's smile gradually became a little stiff.

"After falling out of favor, Zhang Xiaofeng sat on the bench in your company for two years. She had no movies to shoot, no exposure, and no income. She was slowly tortured until she completely lost her name in the film industry. Only then did Chen Maoqing kick her out. This is his usual trick. Guess when this trick will fall on you."

"Don't exaggerate!" Yu Peiling forced herself to remain calm, "Zhang Xiaofeng is Zhang Xiaofeng, and I am me! I always know how to leave a way out for myself. Besides, my current fame is not comparable to that of Miss Zhang back then. Chen Maoqing is too busy trying to curry favor with me."

"Miss Yu is so naive. Then, what about Miss Yao Lingzhu in your company recently? I heard that Chen Maoqing has already planned to let her play the leading role in the next "The Wandering Child". She has only been in your company for two or three months. Back then, you waited for a whole year to become the leading role. This shows how much Chen Maoqing likes this Miss Yao. Maybe, within a year, it will be your turn to play a supporting role for her, just like you replaced Zhang Xiaofeng back then."

Yu Peiling put the coffee cup heavily on the table to vent her anger. She happened to be wearing a cheongsam with a white gauze lily pattern today. The black coffee splashed onto her clothes and formed clumps on the white flowers, which looked shocking.

Yu Peiling frantically tried to find a handkerchief in her bag to wipe the stain, but the more anxious she was, the harder it was to find. Just at this moment, someone at the opposite table suddenly handed her a clean handkerchief.

"Use mine."

When she raised her eyes, she met Wen Tingli's unusually sincere gaze. Yu Peiling didn't know what to say, so she took her handkerchief and wiped it twice, then threw it back.

"Don't beat around the bush. Just speak frankly about what you want to do."

Wen Tingli lowered her eyes and stirred the coffee with a silver spoon, saying quietly, "To be honest, I ran away from Huangjin this time for a similar reason. They deleted my part and forced me to act with a male actor using a script I had never seen before. At that moment, I knew that if I gave in this time, I would lose more freedom until I became a puppet step by step. So, I don't have any intention of laughing at Miss Yu's current predicament. I just feel a sense of sympathy for her. I really want to help you, please believe me."

The hostility in Yu Peiling's eyes slowly faded away.

She brushed her hair distractedly, then turned to look at the street outside the window. She looked quite lost. She didn't know how long she had been in a trance. She sighed bitterly, "I admit that I'm only interested in filming. I don't even want to look at those messy and stinky men. But since I entered Huamei, I can't help myself everywhere. Chen Maoqing--" She bit her lower lip, raised her eyes and looked at Wen Tingli with complicated eyes, "How are you going to help me? Forget about the empty talk. I've heard enough of it."

"Come to our Xiufeng."

Yu Peiling was surprised.

"I've already inquired about it. You signed a three-year contract with Huamei, and this year is the third year. That means you only have half a year left before you can terminate your contract with Chen Maoqing. When the time comes, no matter what he tries to trick you into renewing your contract, don't listen and just jump to Huamei."

Yu Peiling was overjoyed: "Why should I go to your Huamei? Can you afford my salary and support a big star like me? Besides, I'm used to being the heroine. It's impossible for me to go to a small company to play a supporting role."

"At least Sister Huang and I won't force you to entertain men."

There was silence on the other side.

Wen Tingli said earnestly: "Even if you don't trust me, you should at least trust Sister Huang, right? She has been in this industry for so many years, has she ever forced her people to do those messy things? With her around, you just need to film your drama peacefully. As for the pay, as long as you are willing to come, the company will tailor-make two high-quality films for you every year and designate you as the heroine. When you are not filming, your monthly salary will be paid. I will give you this amount-"

Wen Tingli took off the fountain pen from her lapel and wrote a number on the back of the business card.

Yu Peiling was obviously a little shaken, but her eyes were still full of doubt.

"Do you keep your word?"

"Of course I keep my word." Wen Tingli raised the corner of her mouth, "Don't forget, I'm one of the bosses of Xiufeng."

"I..." Yu Peiling touched her chest in annoyance and took a deep breath, "Let me think about it."

"In fact, Miss Yu doesn't have many choices. All crows are black. Only our Xiufeng can give you such freedom. Of course, there is no rush. Miss Yu has half a year to think about it slowly. It's just that -" Wen Tingli changed the subject, "Now that I think about it, there are many actors in our company. In order to make our boss Huang have more patience and confidence in Miss Yu, you have to help us do something."

Yu Peiling smiled sarcastically: "I knew it. Tell me what it is."

"You have to persuade Yu Hongjie from your company to switch to our company. I know you and he are from the same hometown and have a good relationship. Please arrange for me to meet with Yu Hongjie as soon as possible. Leave the rest to me. Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you."

Yu Peiling raised her head proudly: "Is this considered a token of loyalty?"

Wen Tingli smiled sincerely, "Not really, because the door of our Xiufeng is always open to Miss Yu. Besides, this suggestion is only good for you. Let your friend come to Xiufeng to explore the way first. It just happens that you can find out from him whether our company is the rumored 'small workshop'. This is good for both parties. What do you think?"

***
After coming out of the cafe, Wen Tingli looked up at the sun, then immediately turned the car around and headed for Golden Film Company.

The next evening, in the office of Xiufeng Company, Huang Yuanshan laughed out loud at Yu Hongjie's employment letter on the table.

"Chen Maoqing is trying to trip us up, so we decided to go and poach his girlfriends. But we found two big girlfriends, Yu Peiling and Yu Hongjie! When Chen Maoqing finds out, he'll be so mad!"

Wen Tingli smiled and said, "This is all Chen Maoqing's fault. The internal factional struggle in Huamei is too serious. Since Chen Maoqing became the boss, Yu Hongjie has been assigned to Group 3. He is not as respected as before. He has been looking for another way out. He believed the rumors before. Moreover, he was worried that he would not be respected after coming here. I met with him yesterday and he dispelled his doubts on the spot. He is not like Yu Peiling who has a long-term contract, so he came here without saying a word."

Huang Yuanshan was so happy that he didn't know what to say: "With Yu Hongjie, "Double Pearl" should be able to start, but we still don't have enough manpower. It would be great if we could find a senior photographer from somewhere."

Everyone was happy and worried at the same time. With Yu Hongjie's departure, Chen Maoqing must have been on guard. It would be impossible to use the same method to snatch people from Huamei again. And Huang Jin's side was even more tight, like an iron barrel.

Li Zhen said: "How about I put up a few more job ads in Hangzhou, Nanjing, Tianjin and other places?"

Gu Jie also said: "I will also contact my friends in Guangzhou and ask them to help find a suitable candidate locally. If there is really a lack of experience, Boss Huang can teach us while we shoot."

"Boss Huang, Boss Wen." Xiaotian ran in. "There's a man lingering at the gate for almost an hour. He looks suspicious. Should we chase him away?"

Wen Tingli was overjoyed that he came.

"Don't rush him, please invite him in."

Huang Yuanshan, Li Zhen and others looked at each other in bewilderment. When Xiaotian led the man to the door, Huang Yuanshan jumped up from the stool like a spring: "What are you doing here? We don't welcome you here!"

The person who came was Huang Yuanshan's apprentice Tan Guiwang.

As soon as Huang Yuanshan resigned that day, Liu Menglin immediately promoted Tan Guiwang to the company's first-class director, let him direct the new film alone, and raised his salary to the level when Huang Yuanshan was in office.

Tan Guiwang was "bribed" in this way. He was quite spineless about his master's departure and accepted the new position with almost no resistance.

That would have been fine, but for a long time after Huang Yuanshan left, Tan Guiwang never came to visit his master once, and he didn't care about the hardships his master encountered when starting his business. His indifferent attitude was really chilling. It was not until a week ago, when Xiufeng was officially established, that Tan Guiwang timidly called Huang Yuanshan, but Huang Yuanshan hung up the phone without saying anything.

He is just an ungrateful person who fawns on the powerful! Huang Yuanshan said so.

The three-year mentor-disciple relationship was broken just like that.

Seeing that Wen Tingli was about to invite Tan Guiwang in, Huang Yuanshan raised his two arms and stuck them on the door frame: "Don't let him in! He is the most favored director Tan in the Golden Company. Be careful of my cheap land, or he will dirty his expensive feet!"

Faced with Huang Yuanshan's ridicule and expulsion, Tan Guiwang did not make any rebuttal, but just stood upright at the door with his head down.

Wen Tingli stood between the two of them and tried her best to persuade them: "Sister Huang, don't be anxious. At least give Xiao Tan a chance to explain. He is your apprentice. If you don't believe in his character, don't you believe in your own judgment?"

"I was blind at the time! Get him out of here now. If he dares to step into the gate of Xiufeng again, I will beat him to death!"

During the scuffle, something unexpectedly fell out of Tan Guiwang's pocket. It turned out to be a piece of snow-white mourning cloth.

Tan Guiwang's face turned pale. He quickly squatted down, picked it up, and held it tightly in his hand, still without saying a word.

Wen Tingli took the opportunity to pull Tan Guiwang in and whispered to Huang Yuanshan, "Tan Guiwang's mother passed away last week."

Huang Yuanshan was stunned.

Wen Tingli sighed, "Do you remember that Xiao Tan asked you for leave last month to go back to her hometown to visit her family? It was at that time that Xiao Tan discovered that her mother had a health problem. It was a rare chronic disease that could not be cured locally. Only a few Western hospitals in Shanghai could perform surgery. The medical expenses were frighteningly high. It just so happened that you, Sister Huang, resigned at that time."

Tan Guiwang's Adam's apple rolled, and he interrupted Wen Tingli: "Miss Wen, you have helped me enough, let me talk to Master myself."

He walked forward and bowed deeply to Huang Yuanshan: "Master, you can scold me, I was wrong, I was too selfish, I was worried that if I went out with you to work alone, I would not have a fixed income to treat my mother's illness, so I, I was a spineless person who didn't keep my loyalty. If Miss Wen hadn't persuaded me yesterday, I still wouldn't have the courage to face you, but I haven't forgotten who taught me this skill. No matter how you scold me, you are my master. Now that she is gone, I have nothing to worry about. Let me come to Xiufeng, Master, even if you don't pay me, I will follow you to work."

"You!" Huang Yuanshan stamped his feet in anger, "Why didn't you tell me these things earlier?

"I know that starting a company requires a lot of money. When you left, you made harsh remarks to Liu Menglin. I don't want to hold you back at such a critical moment. Besides, my mother couldn't wait too long. She needed surgery immediately--" His face darkened and he quickly turned back and wiped his eyes.

Wen Tingli was moved by the scene, and her nose felt a little swollen. She stepped forward and held Huang Yuanshan tightly with her hand, and with her other hand, she held Tan Guiwang: "Okay, okay, it's good to talk about it. There is no overnight hatred between master and disciple. Let Xiao Tan come to Xiufeng to help."

All Huang Yuanshan's words turned into a helpless sigh, and his tone was still a little fierce: "You can come, but the salary will not be high. Also, have you arranged your aunt's funeral? Look how bad you look, go home and have a good rest for a few days before coming to work officially!"

***
Wen Tingli folded her arms and leaned on the railing to look at the scenery, occasionally looking back at the window behind her.

In the window, Huang Yuanshan was excitedly gesturing at something in the script, and Tan Guiwang was doing the same, dancing and singing as he listened.

Wen Tingli couldn't help but smile knowingly. The master and disciple pair returned to their old ways. When they talked about movies, there was only movies in their eyes, and they were unaware even if the sky fell.

"Miss Wen." Li Zhen walked up to her and greeted her, and also looked back in the direction she was looking. "In fact, you have wanted to poach Tan Guiwang for a long time, right?"

Wen Tingli just smiled and said nothing.

"Boss Huang has a fiery temper..." Li Zhen smiled helplessly, "It's a good thing you tried to find a solution, otherwise, I don't know when this misunderstanding can be resolved."

"Sister Huang can't tolerate any injustice, but she is kinder than anyone else. Some things just need to be said openly. Her greatest strength is that she never bears grudges."

Li Zhen turned around and looked at Wen Tingli seriously.

"what happened?"

"I was thinking that people's appearances are often deceptive. When I first met Yuanshan a few years ago, I thought she was a shrewd doer, but in fact she was a pure idealist. And you, when I first met you, I thought you were a naive romanticist, but you turned out to be -"

"A shrewd, realistic man of action?"

"No, no, no." Li Zhen lowered his head and smiled, "You can't say that... It should be said that although Boss Wen is young, he understands human nature better than many people. You know how to deal with different people. Some seemingly difficult problems, once they fall into your hands, you can find a tricky angle to solve them. Just like this time, a gorgeous Yu Hongjie and a golden Tan Guiwang, honest people would never think of using this... this way of poaching to solve the problem, but Boss Wen could think of it."

Wen Tingli noticed that Li Zhen's way of addressing her had changed. She pretended not to notice and just looked at him: "Manager Li, are you praising me or insulting me?"

"Of course it's a compliment." Li Zhen said sincerely, "To be honest, when Yuanshan came to Hangzhou to find me, although I agreed to help her, I didn't have any confidence at all. After seeing the style of Boss Wen these days, I finally felt at ease. Only with a boss like Miss Wen leading the company, Xiufeng Company can stand firm in such a competitive environment."

Wen Tingli did not comment. She raised her gaze a little higher and looked far away at the glass windows of rows of houses in the distance. Under the setting sun, the windows were as red as if they were on fire.

She said leisurely: "Have you ever thought about it, whether it's Tan Guiwang or your manager Li, the one who really attracted you to Xiufeng was not me, but Sister Huang."

Li Zhen was stunned.

"You all admire her talent, trust her character, and believe that she can lead you to create a career, so you came. This is the charm of Sister Huang's personality, and I feel the same way."

She smiled generously and said, "There are many practical people in life, but there are very few people like Sister Huang. They can burn their boats for their ideals and move forward courageously for a goal throughout their lives... Many people cannot do this, so since Xiufeng was established, I am grateful every day, grateful to Sister Huang for creating such an 'idealized' world, for me and Yu Peiling in the future. This place has inadvertently provided a way out for many people. Therefore, Sister Huang is the real spiritual power of Xiufeng. I am just an ordinary person who is willing to help her solve the thorns on the road ahead."

Li Zhen almost collapsed at these words.

"I'm sorry, my previous words were too one-sided. This world cannot do without capable people like Boss Wen, and even more so idealists like Yuanshan. Otherwise, our society cannot move forward. But I still want to say something fair. Boss Wen is by no means an ordinary person. You are a real strong man. Forgive my poor male self-esteem. I used to be reluctant to use the word 'strong' to describe women."

"Manager Li is quite frank." Wen Tingli couldn't help but laugh.

Li Zhen solemnly extended his hand to Wen Tingli and shook hands with her: "Let me introduce myself again. My name is Li Zhen. I am honored to work with such great people as Boss Wen and Boss Huang. Good birds choose good trees to roost in. From now on, Xiufeng will be my home."

As the two were chatting and laughing, they noticed that Gu Jie was smoking alone downstairs. He probably saw the two people shaking hands upstairs, so he put out his cigarette and made a handshake gesture to the people upstairs in a very solemn manner.

Wen Tingli smiled slightly. She knew very well that Li and Gu had been observing whether they had the ability to control Xiufeng these days. She had also been secretly observing them.

After this conversation tonight, she began to believe that she and Huang Yuanshan had chosen the right people. At least they knew their limits and were not arrogant.

While thinking, laughter floated behind him. It turned out that Cao Renxiu and Xiaotian came back from outside with dinner. Cao Renxiu leaned out and called them with a smile: "Do you smell the fragrance? Why don't you come in and eat?"

Li Zhen and Wen Tingli responded with a smile. The night wind was a little chilly. Wen Tingli closed the French window when she entered the house. Once again, she looked up at the row of glass windows in the distance. The red windows were gone, and the silver moonlight was reflected on the rows of windows like flowing water.

What a quiet and lovely world it is. For tomorrow and for Xiufeng, her heart is shrouded in soft light like the bright moon in front of her, and infinite hope rises quietly.

(End of this chapter)