Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 450 Absurd Logic
After seeing off the timid Liu Zhenwei and Zhou Xingchi.

When Zhang Yan returned to his office, he saw Wang Luyao had already come out of the lounge. She asked with a surprised look, "Was that Zhou Xingchi who didn't talk much just now?"

"Otherwise, many comedians are actually quite introverted and shy in real life—except for crosstalk performers, of course."

"I did not mean that."

Wang Luyao explained, "I've heard Gong Li talk a lot about Stephen Chow lately, saying that he's a strange, arrogant, and difficult person, but just now... why did I feel like he was so well-behaved?"

"That depends on who you're with."

Zhang Yan disagreed: "Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake, let alone him, who can hardly be considered a powerful dragon."

After reviewing the script again, Zhang Yan was still undecided, so he decided to have each department discuss it first and see how the collective wisdom could lead to the best decision.

Since it was only a little past 5:30, he said to Wang Luyao, "I'm going home for dinner tonight, what are your plans?"

"Me? I made plans with Wang Yan and Li Xiaoran."

As Wang Luyao spoke, she pouted slightly and said, "I knew all along that you only use people when you need them and discard them when you don't."

“Nonsense, those who use people who turn their backs are just scoundrels.” Zhang Yan slapped her shapely buttocks and casually shoved the script into her hands: “Have Cao Fang print a few more copies and distribute them to Wang Jinghua, Chang Jihong, and…”

Just then, the landline rang again.

After the call connected, I heard the voice of music director Zhang Weining on the other end: "Mr. Zhang, has a 'A Chinese Odyssey' crew come here recently?"

"What, even you've been alerted?"

Zhang Yan was quite surprised. Zhang Weining usually only focused on music, and this was the first time he had brought up a movie on his own initiative. It seems that "A Chinese Odyssey" truly lives up to its reputation as a classic; its charm is undeniable...

"Our company absolutely must not invest any money in them!"

But Zhang Weining said, "I heard from Teacher Zhao Jiping that the things this crew is shooting are a mess. When they asked him to provide the music, he only had one request: don't put his name on it."

"what?!"

Zhang Yan was stunned for a moment before he realized, "It can't be that bad, Zhou Xingchi has had a great reputation these past few years..."

"Anyway, that's what Teacher Zhao said. When he heard they came to Tianjin, he even called me specifically to remind you."

This……

Zhang Yan put down the microphone and frowned. Zhao Jiping was a veteran composer, so he must have an appreciation for film and television dramas.

But the future he dreamed of was not like that. What went wrong?
"Brother Yan?"

Wang Luyao was about to go to the logistics department when she saw Zhang Yan staring blankly after finishing his phone call. She went over and gently nudged him, asking, "What happened?"

"nothing."

Zhang Yan came to his senses and decided to send someone to keep an eye on the situation. If the drama really ran into problems, there might be a chance to pick up another bargain like with "In the Heat of the Sun".

The two parted ways in the elevator. Zhang Yan went downstairs, drove home, and went to have dinner with his parents and Chen Hong.

Wang Luyao first completed Zhang Yan's instructions, and also ordered a copy of the script for herself, before returning to her office upstairs.

Li Xiaoran, who had been undergoing training at the company recently, was already waiting at the entrance of the office building—which reminded Wang Luyao of the scene when she was waiting for Zhang Yan earlier.

"Wang Yan probably won't arrive for a while. Let's go inside and wait." As she unlocked the door, she asked, "How have your preparations been going these past few days?"

"It should be alright."

Li Xiaoran answered uncertainly. She originally thought she would start with a supporting role, but she didn't expect to be the second female lead right away. Actually, she was the fourth female lead, but because she was the female lead's rival, she had quite a few scenes, so it was fair to say she was the second female lead.

"Relax, this role suits your appearance and personality very well, and doesn't require great acting skills."

After Wang Luyao led Li Xiaoran into the office, she did not sit in the executive chair behind the desk, but instead sat down on the sofa next to Li Xiaoran.

Seeing Li Xiaoran's obvious nervousness and restraint, Wang Luyao's expression became serious: "But you must also try your best. After all, I put a lot of thought and effort into securing this role for you." Hearing that she had been secured, Li Xiaoran couldn't help but show joy, and then nodded her head vigorously like a chicken pecking at rice: "Captain, don't worry, I will definitely do my best to play this role well and will never let you down!"

"As long as you know."

Wang Luyao reiterated, "If I get the lead role myself, no one in the company can find fault with it. But it's different if I help you get the role. There are only so many resources. If our dance troupe gets more, others will have fewer resources."

This isn't child's play, where you can just ask and someone will hand over the benefits to you—you know, Wang Yan almost killed someone to climb the ladder!

It has to be said that after hanging out with Zhang Yan and Chen Hong for a long time, her PUA skills have improved a lot. In addition, with Wang Yan's personal testimony, she managed to coax Li Xiaoran to tears of gratitude.

The two talked for an hour before Wang Yan finally arrived.

Seeing Li Xiaoran there, she felt a little uncomfortable, but still forced a warm greeting.

Li Xiaoran felt even more uncomfortable around Wang Yan.

If it weren't for Wang Luyao being caught in the middle, the two of them could have awkwardly managed to scrape together a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment.

When going downstairs.

Wang Luyao suddenly said to Wang Yan, "Don't count on that. President Zhang isn't interested. Just focus on your acting."

These words made Wang Yan a little flustered, afraid that Li Xiaoran would find out something was amiss.

But soon, a huge disappointment enveloped her. The biggest reason why Wang Yan wanted to throw herself into Wang Luyao's arms was that she did not want to be bound to the confession in Wang Luyao's hands for the rest of her life.

The simplest and most direct way to solve this problem is to get into Zhang Yan's bed—after all, it's common knowledge that President Zhang is always quite generous to his women.

She was originally quite confident in herself, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to replace Rosamund Kwan as Yu Ji.

Unexpectedly...

Undeterred, Wang Yan pressed on, "Commander, didn't General Zhang say anything else? I actually... I actually..."

She wanted to highlight her strengths, but considering Li Xiaoran's presence, she had to hold back and prepare to have a better private conversation with Wang Luyao later.

However, this hesitation aroused Li Xiaoran's curiosity. So after arriving at the restaurant, taking advantage of the opportunity when the two were alone, Li Xiaoran couldn't help but ask Wang Luyao what exactly she had been talking about.

"What do you think?"

Wang Luyao's smile was extremely ambiguous. In fact, the purpose of what she said in front of Wang Yan was to make Li Xiaoran willingly fall into the trap.

Although Li Xiaoran was a bit more naive than Wang Yan, she wasn't an ignorant girl who knew nothing. Seeing her smile, she immediately understood what the two of them had meant.

She couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Mr. Zhang refused?"

It's said that it's easy for a woman to pursue a man, let alone a beauty like Wang Yan. And how could anyone refuse such a generous offer?

"Of course."

Wang Luyao said righteously, "She thinks that just because she played Yu Ji, she's qualified to eat Tang Sanzang's flesh. She doesn't even look at herself to see if she has that much flesh!"

As she spoke, she reached out and pinched Li Xiaoran's chest, saying in a half-joking tone, "If it were someone like you, there might be a chance—how about it, want to give it a try?"

Li Xiaoran was speechless, feeling as if her entire worldview had been shattered.

So it turns out Wang Yan didn't offer the favor willingly, but rather actively asked for it?!
After a long while, she realized that Wang Luyao was questioning her, so she stammered in a panic, "I, I, I..."

"Look at you, you silly thing."

Seeing her stutter, Wang Luyao waved her hand dismissively and said, "I was just saying it casually, and you actually took it seriously—do you think it's so easy to become Mr. Zhang's mistress? If I didn't think you were so obedient and well-behaved, I wouldn't have given you this opportunity!"

As he spoke, he patted Li Xiaoran on the shoulder again: "Don't tell Wang Yan what I just said, otherwise she'll get jealous and might turn around and do something drastic to you, which would be troublesome."

Li Xiaoran nodded quickly, beginning to accept this absurd logic, since Wang Yan truly couldn't get what she wanted from President Zhang.

(End of this chapter)