Huayu: This celebrity doesn't follow the rules.

Chapter 106 Night Cruise on the Huangpu River and Career Planning
"Hey, are you even listening to me?"

Chen Duling's voice had a slightly aggrieved nasal tone. Jiang Ye turned his gaze back, the light falling on his eyes, and said in a soft but unusually serious voice, "Dudu, do you believe me?"

She paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

“Then remember, whatever choice you make,” he leaned closer, “don’t argue with your aunt out of spite, and don’t lose your judgment because of anyone.”

Chen Duling looked at him and suddenly whispered, "Actually... I just want to be closer to you. If I'm in the studio... it seems like I won't be able to see you."

The Ferris wheel was slowly rising to its highest point. Outside the cabin, the Huangpu River was dyed a deep blue by the night. Cruise ships trailed long ribbons of light as they glided slowly across the river. The neon lights on both banks resembled an overturned galaxy. The Bund's international buildings were outlined with exquisite contours under the lights, and even the evening breeze carried a gentle coolness.

Jiang Ye turned his head and his gaze fell on Chen Duling's face.

The light streaming through the window fell perfectly on the tip of her nose, her long eyelashes fluttered gently like butterfly wings, and her cheeks glowed with a rosy hue from the lamplight.

Her most distinctive feature is her lips, which have a natural rosy hue. Her whole appearance is clean and soft, like a precious gem carefully wrapped in the night.

Jiang Ye felt a surge of warmth in his heart and almost instinctively leaned closer.

Before Chen Duling could react, his kiss had already landed on her.

He first gently touched her lips, tentatively and cautiously, and then felt her stiffen instantly, but he couldn't bear to move away.

The girl had a faint scent of gardenias on her, mixed with the refreshing evening breeze, and her lips were as soft as cotton candy.

Chen Duling froze, instinctively trying to turn her head away, her hand resting on his chest. But when her fingertips touched his warm shirt, her heartbeat suddenly went off-beat, and even the strength to push him away went limp.

Jiang Ye sensed her relaxation, gently wrapped his arms around her waist, and deepened his kiss.

Chen Duling closed her eyes, slowly withdrew her hand from his chest, gently tugged at his shirt, and finally tentatively and gently hugged his back.

ten seconds...

Thirty seconds...

One minute……

"Um...don't..."

Just as she was becoming increasingly engrossed, Jiang Ye's hands started to wander.

Chen Duling snapped back to her senses, her cheeks burning even hotter, and she pushed him harder.

But Jiang Ye was about to succeed and was unwilling to let go easily.

She tried to push him away twice but couldn't budge him. Frustrated and embarrassed, she impulsively opened her mouth and gently bit his lips.

It wasn't heavy, but it carried a clear warning.

Jiang Ye winced in pain and finally stepped back. Looking at her reddened eyes and tightly pursed lips, he couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Jiang Ye! What are you doing!"

Chen Duling raised her hand to wipe the corner of her lips, glaring at him with a mixture of anger and embarrassment, "Can you be honest for once?"

"Who told you to hug me so tightly just now?"

Jiang Ye reached out and pinched her burning earlobe, his voice low and husky with a hint of amusement, "I thought... you liked it."

"You fart..."

Chen Duling was so anxious she almost wanted to jump off the Ferris wheel...

"Oh? It's a misunderstanding..."

Jiang Ye looked at her flushed face and knew he needed to stop.

This girl is extremely shy...

The Ferris wheel slowly began to descend, and the lights outside the window gradually became blurry.

Jiang Ye looked at her puffed-up but flushed profile and squeezed her hand: "Alright, I won't tease you anymore."

"But that kiss just now was serious."

Chen Duling suddenly looked up at him, meeting his star-filled eyes. Her heart skipped a beat, and the rebuttal that was about to come out of her mouth suddenly turned into a soft mutter: "...But you can't be so dishonest."

As the Ferris wheel landed, the evening breeze, carrying the dampness of the river, rushed towards us.

Jiang Ye naturally took Chen Duling's hand and they walked slowly along the path by the Huangpu River. The streetlights cast long shadows of the two of them, which swayed gently with their steps.

"Were you scared up there?" Jiang Ye shook her hand.

Chen Duling kicked at the pebbles under her feet and muttered under her breath, "Yes, you went too far."

Despite saying that, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly.

A roadside vendor was selling candied hawthorns. Jiang Ye bought two skewers and handed one to her, saying, "When I was little, my mom always said that eating sweets makes you happy."

Chen Duling took a bite of hawthorn, the sweet and sour juice spreading on her tongue, and suddenly said softly, "I didn't have this much freedom when I was a child."

She gazed at the night cruise ships passing by on the river. "My grandfather and father were both university professors. The bookshelves in our house were bigger than wardrobes. I was taught from a young age that girls should be quiet and sensible."

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow: "So you've always been a good girl?"

"Hmm." She nodded, a helpless smile in her voice. "The path they always plan is to study hard, get into a prestigious university, and find a stable job."

"My decision to study aerospace engineering was actually my father's idea. He thought it was a respectable and stable field."

She paused, then kicked away a small pebble at her feet. "I always say I like airplanes, but it's not true. I find those mechanical principles and aeronautical theories incredibly boring, but I always force myself to get first place in every exam because of the expectations they have for me."

Jiang Ye listened in silence, then suddenly chuckled softly: "I bet you've been secretly keeping your own little world to yourself, right? Like cosplay... a hobby you haven't told your family about?"

Chen Duling was stunned for a moment, then her cheeks flushed slightly.

She took Jiang Ye to comic conventions!

"In high school, I was a big fan of anime. I would secretly save up my allowance to buy comic books and hide them behind my textbooks to read them. I also did cosplay with like-minded people I met online and went to anime conventions in costume. That was the only time I dared to disobey them."

"Oh? What role will you play?"

"Like... Takashi Natsume from 'Natsume's Book of Friends' and Hinata from 'Naruto'."

Her voice trailed off, but carried a nostalgic smile. "I would always stuff my wig and costume at the very bottom of my schoolbag, then after school I would sneak off to a classmate's house to change, and then go to the comic convention. If my dad knew I was running around in weird clothes, he would definitely burn all my comics."

She kicked at a pebble with her head down, her tone tinged with a hint of smugness: "Once, a comic convention ended too late, and I was afraid of getting scolded when I got home, so I told my classmate I was doing my homework at her house. Actually, I was wearing Hinata's kimono and watching the new anime all night at an internet cafe."

"I went to class the next day with dark circles under my eyes and was criticized by the teacher for not being in good condition. I stubbornly insisted that I had stayed up all night doing homework. I still find it funny when I think about it now." "I never would have guessed that this good girl had such a rebellious side."

"It felt incredibly exciting back then."

Chen Duling looked up at the cruise ships on the river, her eyes shining. "The stricter my family is, the more I want to secretly hide some of my own things. Those anime characters and the friends I met at anime conventions are the only places where I can breathe outside of studying hard."

"How did your family agree to your role in 'The Left Ear'?"

“When Teacher Rao Xueman contacted me, I was traveling abroad with my family. When I received the call, I hid on the hotel balcony and cried secretly, I was both shocked and scared.”

"That was the first time I realized that there could be another possibility in life."

"Do your uncle and aunt object?"

“My dad immediately turned hostile and said, ‘Why are you not studying properly and instead becoming an actor?’”

"Luckily, my mom secretly spoke up for me. She said if the child likes it, let her give it a try. If it doesn't work out, she can always go back to school. In the end, my mom withstood the pressure and helped me get a leave of absence from school before I dared to go to the film set."

Jiang Ye stopped and turned to look at her.

Her profile was gentle in the night, and her eyes shone as she spoke of this past event.

"So when you were filming 'The Left Ear,' you were always secretly memorizing vocabulary on set?" He suddenly recalled the details from that time. "I thought it was a habit of yours because you were a top student."

Chen Duling was amused by him: "Back then, I was afraid that my dad would suddenly change his mind, so I carried my textbooks with me every day, just in case he called and asked me to go back to take the exam."

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with relief. "Looking back now, I'm so glad I didn't give up. Otherwise... I might never have met you."

The evening breeze lifted her long hair, and Jiang Ye reached out to tuck it behind her ear. Their eyes met, and they smiled at each other.

The aroma of grilled sausages wafted from the night market stalls ahead, and Jiang Ye pulled her over: "Boss, two grilled sausages, extra chili."

Chen Duling quickly waved her hand: "I can't eat spicy food!"

"Then I'll have sweet sauce, with extra sesame seeds."

Holding steaming hot sausages, the two strolled slowly along the riverbank like any ordinary couple.

Chen Duling recounted the embarrassing incident of being punished by her grandfather to copy the Analects of Confucius when she was a child, while Jiang Ye talked about his experience of being caught by his mother when he secretly went to an internet cafe to play games during middle school. Laughter mingled with the river breeze and scattered in the dazzling lights.

“Actually, you’re doing quite well as you are now,” Jiang Ye suddenly said. “You have a path you want to take, and you have the courage to fight for it.”

Walking to the bench by the river, Jiang Ye pulled Chen Duling to sit down. The evening breeze carried the coolness of the river tide. He first took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders before getting down to business.

“We can go over the details about your studio. Your mother wants you to open your own studio because she’s afraid you’ll be tied down by a company and wants you to be in control.”

"But you're worried about not having enough resources to go it alone, and you want to be closer to me, right?"

Chen Duling pulled her coat tighter and nodded: "Yeah, my mom is always worried that I'll get taken advantage of, but she's just like me, she doesn't understand business operations or the rules of the entertainment industry at all. I think she's too optimistic."

“So there’s no need to choose one side.” Jiang Ye picked up a sycamore leaf from the ground, twirling it between his fingers, his tone relaxed yet clear.

"Everyone in the entertainment industry wants to be their own boss and go solo!"

"But that method of playing is not suitable for beginners!"

"Newcomers who try to monopolize resources won't get access to good ones!"

"You can open a studio, but don't make it a one-man show."

"You keep 40% of the shares. This part is your autonomy. You have the final say on the core decisions of the studio, what scripts to take, and how to build the team."

"Then I will invest 40%. This part is not for control, but to provide you with support. My team will help you monitor the finances, review contracts, and build connections. You will no longer have to deal with those messy reports or those unavoidable drinking parties."

"We'll keep 20% of the shares and find a reliable film and television company to invest in us."

Chen Duling blinked, a hint of doubt appearing in her eyes: "You've already invested, isn't that enough? Why do you have to give up another 20%?"

"Isn't having you enough?"

Jiang Ye pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head, his voice low and gentle: "Of course I'm enough, but I want to broaden your path. I can protect you, but resources and opportunities need stronger ties to help you seize them."

"On the surface, it seems like you're giving up 20% of the shares, but the resources and opportunities you gain will allow you to grow your pie even bigger."

"If you run a studio all by yourself, no matter how hard you try, you can only access so many resources."

"But if a large company invests, their script library, cooperating directors, and distribution channels are essentially open to you directly, which cannot be measured by a 20% stake."

"The key is that you have to figure out which path you want to take in the future, which will determine who you choose as your partner."

Chen Duling pursed her lips in thought, the evening breeze blowing her long hair against her cheeks.

She is actually very smart, but she has been too well protected by her family and has only recently entered the entertainment industry, so she lacks understanding of the industry's deeper resource logic and survival rules.

More importantly, being able to play the lead role in her very first film was such a smooth start that it led both her and her mother to make a misjudgment of the path forward.

They mistake their initial luck in the industry for absolute recognition of their personal abilities by the market, ignoring the reality that newcomers need to rely on platforms, teams, and industry rules to continue to advance in the competition for resources.

Once Jiang Ye explained it to her, she naturally understood.

“If you want to delve deeper into the film industry, Guangxian Media is the best solution.” Jiang Ye listed them off, “They have been very strong in the past two years. From last year’s ‘My Old Classmate’ to this year’s ‘The Left Ear’, they made them. No one understands the market better than them in the youth film sector.”

"Moreover, they have a few good scripts in hand. For example, director Xu Zheng's 'Lost in Hong Kong' was a hit as soon as it was released. There will definitely be many more commercial film projects after that. If you get involved with them, you will have many more opportunities to audition for movies, and you may even be able to get in touch with good scripts in advance."

He paused, then said, "If you want to establish a firm foothold in the TV drama field, Huace is also a good choice."

“Their subsidiary, Juku Culture, has produced many hit dramas in the past two years, such as ‘Boss & Me’ last year and ‘My Sunshine’ at the beginning of this year. Whether it’s modern romance or urban dramas, they have done a very solid job.”

"They also have 'Love O2O' and 'Eternal Love' coming up..."

"Huace has close relationships with major TV stations and has access to many mainstream scripts, as well as resources for serious dramas. This is especially helpful for you to build audience appeal and solidify your position as a newcomer."

Looking at the lights on the river, Chen Duling asked softly, "Then... will they genuinely help me? Or do they just want the shares?"

"In the adult world, interests are the strongest bond."

Jiang Ye spoke frankly, "If they take a 20% stake, they have to help you secure resources, otherwise the studio won't be able to get off the ground, and their investment will be wasted. This isn't about sincerity, it's about a win-win situation."

He looked at her, a gentle smile curving his eyes. "Of course, there's also my 40% stake. I can give you priority access to any suitable resources I have."

"Moreover, you must immediately film two more movies to solidify your status by leveraging the popularity of Xiao Erduo!"

(End of this chapter)