A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 29 Born Beautiful
The next day, Zhang Zien took the initiative to contact them by phone, and they met at the New Grand Hotel.

After discussing the script and ideas, he quickly understood Lin Jianlu's requirements. It wasn't complicated; it was a short story of about four minutes, with a rather thin main plot, far less substantial than "Fairy Tale." However, it was sufficient for a music video. So Zhang Zien confidently assured him that he would bring in the team, and filming could begin in two or three days, and be completed in about three days as well. The camera would be rented from the Beijing Film Studio, and the location would be enough for two days at the Feiteng Studio in Huairou, which would be much cheaper than renting a studio and setting it up himself. They even had some period costumes and props for rent there.

He said that many scenes of his TV series "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" were filmed there.

Lin Jianlu has no objection to this; he agrees with everything.

In reality, it's still the same; film stock is the main expense, and these are all minor details.

But Lin Jianlu no longer cared about the expenses; he didn't need to worry about them anymore. This time, Xue Zhongding would definitely be the producer, in charge of managing the money, and the money would be provided by Rock Records, within the normal budget, with almost no limit.

Besides that, there's something else. "Old Zhang, you're a director, you know a lot of people. Recommend a pretty girl to me. She has to have a pure and innocent look, just young and fresh! Like... when she's in period costume, she has to look like a refined lady from ancient times, so delicate and fresh!"

Old Zhang thought for a moment, "Does Chen Hong count? Diao Chan, she's quite young."

Lin Jianlu was surprised, "Huh? Chen Hong? How old is she?"

This time it was Zhang Zien's turn to be surprised. "How old could she be? She... twenty-six or twenty-seven? Definitely not thirty! Oh, I see, let me think, so young... There's a girl at the Beijing Film Academy named Jiang Qinqin, either a sophomore or junior. CCTV really likes her. Director Yang Jie cast her in a film called 'Xi Shi.' She's beautiful and young! Oh right, she should also have a background in Peking Opera, I think she studied martial arts or female roles, she definitely fits your requirements!"

Lin Jianlu thought for a moment, and seemed to have a vague impression. He seemed to have seen her on some variety show in his past life. Oh... he suddenly remembered. He seemed to have seen her on Douyin in his past life. It was one of those "How amazing were you when you were young, the old lady you thought you were?" series... That should be pretty close!

And she's only a sophomore or junior in college, so her age is obvious, she's definitely young!
"Then let's tentatively choose her. Contact her later and ask her to come over so I can take a look before making a final decision!"

With the agreement reached, everyone went their separate ways.

Xue Zhongding and Zhang Zien were busy renting equipment and checking out locations, but before filming started, Lin Jianlu was still leisurely. After leaving the New Dadu Hotel, he pushed his old bicycle and, after many days, once again leisurely rode his bike around the capital.

No rush to meet friends, let's go see our brothers first.

He had three close friends, all left over from his exes, but nowadays, there was really no need to distinguish between his exes' and his own. It's not easy to have a few close, life-or-death brothers in a lifetime, especially friends formed during times of poverty and hardship, or childhood friends. Lin Jianlu cherished them quite a bit.

Like Zhao Hou'er, whose real name is Zhao Fang, he is thin and his family runs a small restaurant, the kind that serves home-style stir-fries. After graduating from high school, he failed all the exams and went back to his hometown to work. By the time Lin Jianlu returned from his military service, his cooking skills had become quite good, and he was now the head chef. Recently, Lin Jianlu had been treating people to meals at his house quite often.

At that time, that was all he could do to help.

There's also Hu Jianlin, a tough guy who would go to great lengths for Lin Jianlu. He claims he's not afraid of anyone except Lin Jianlu. He works as a security guard now, earning 350 yuan a month.

Then there's Lu Xiaoming. His dad was a street vendor repairing bicycles, tires, and shoes. He couldn't get into university, and since he felt that tire repair wasn't profitable, he used his connections to get his son a job at a car repair shop. And sure enough, in recent years, there have been more and more cars in the capital, including private cars, making car repair a good business. Business was good, and there was a shortage of people. He really learned a lot there, and now he can diagnose and solve most problems on his own. Don't be fooled by how dirty the work is; it's quite lucrative, earning over a thousand a month, more than many office workers earn.

To be frank, all of them were bullied when they were in school. Being poor, not having formal employment, and being weak were all reasons for being bullied. Even Hu Jianlin, who was not afraid of death, was surrounded by more than a dozen people and beaten until his head bled and he needed seven or eight stitches.

Lin Jianlu fought his way up almost entirely with his fists. His ex was a real fighter since childhood. He had a big appetite, was strong from a young age, and grew tall and fast. He could beat up junior high school students at ten and high school students at thirteen or fourteen.

Zhao Hou'er and the others had all been protected and helped by him, and they all respected him, followed him, and became his closest friends.

I took a bike ride around and notified everyone that we should find a place to get together and drink that night.

Then, he rode his bicycle to Fangcheng Garden.

He'd been eyeing this apartment for a while now, mainly because it was one of the few affordable apartments in the capital that could be bought with money in this day and age. But when he finally went inside, he was utterly disappointed. He was even reluctant to sign a form for the saleswoman—it was only 81 square meters, a three-bedroom apartment with a really poor layout, and to make matters worse, the nine-story building had no elevator. In a decade or so, this kind of apartment would be considered old and run-down.

Of course, prices will definitely rise. If you sold your property in the capital after 08 when prices skyrocketed, you could easily have made tens of thousands of yuan per square meter in 11 or 12. But I'm not very interested in buying it for my own residence.

…………

I invited my buddies to go drinking.

Lu Xiaoming has a way to buy a driver's license, so I told him to go home and get the money to buy one for him.

Then he met friends, far more than brothers. During the month or so he was recording, he made at least a hundred friends in the capital's social circles. He didn't need to know them all; he just picked those he got along with and could chat with, and arranged to meet up and get together.

I took some time to look at houses and also asked friends to help me find a suitable small yard.

In addition, I also took the time to meet with Jiang Qinqin.

Wow, I have to admit, she's fucking beautiful! So fucking young!

It was decided on the spot!

This girl has a peculiar, youthful yet radiant quality.

Well, some girls look pretty with just a little tidying up, but there are other girls who, no matter how they dress up or not, even in tattered clothes, you can tell at a glance that they've been beautiful since they were little.

Jiang Qinqin is the latter type.

…………

"Yes, even though you're not in Hong Kong, you've been on the front page for several days in a row! Many newspapers have published that photo of you embracing Ms. Brigitte Lin and Ms. Sylvia Chang. Everyone says you're 'a true gentleman, naturally charming,' and 'you're charming even in your youth.' They've also reported that Mr. Leslie Cheung praised your creative talent, saying that a work like 'Ten Years' only comes around once every five years in Hong Kong. In short, the newspapers really like you!"

"Also, Mr. Huang Zhan praised you in an interview, saying that you are the most interesting young person he has met in the last ten years, both talented and fun-loving!"

Suddenly, Lin Xilei called, her voice filled with flattery and coquettishness. Lin Jianlu was indifferent, but definitely not entirely convinced. "Really? All praise? No negative reports? Don't talk nonsense! You know I have many informants in Hong Kong! If you lie, I'll have Sister Ge fire you!"

"No, I'm not making this up. Well, there are negative reports, of course, but they're all from small newspapers. They're digging up stories about your love triangle with Ms. Brigitte Lin and Ms. Leung Wing-ki, but there's no evidence at all. Everyone can see that it's all just guesswork from beginning to end, and nobody believes it."

"Brother Lu, I'm currently unemployed. I guess Sister Ge is probably going to send me back to Taiwan. Could you please have some mercy and let me continue being your assistant? Can I go to the capital?"

Ah... coming to the capital...

My house has two rooms, totaling 30 square meters, which I use as two bedrooms and a living room. I don't even have a chance to stay in a hotel. How will you stay when you come? Do you want me to book a hotel room for you?

The key point is that you're a Taiwanese compatriot, so you have to stay in a hotel catering to foreigners!

"Okay, okay, stop whining. I'll call Sister Ge and ask her not to rush you back to Taiwan yet! But there's no point in you staying in Hong Kong, no film crew wants you!"

"Hey, Brother Lu, don't discourage me!"

(End of this chapter)