Reborn in the Chinese Entertainment Industry: My Childhood Sweetheart is Boss Yang

After lingering on set for a few more days, acting like a kingpin and exhausting the actors, Gu Heng finally packed his bags and decided to leave Xiamen.

"Take care, boss! Come visit again soon!"

Watching Gu Heng's car speed away, Ning Hao stood by the roadside waving his hands, his expression full of genuine emotion.

Turning his head, the smile on his face became even brighter, and he almost couldn't resist asking someone to buy two strings of firecrackers to celebrate.

Heavens above, earth below, this plague god is finally gone!

In the few days since returning from the Golden Rooster Awards, Ning Hao has felt like he's just a decoration.

Even though he was the director, the entire crew listened to Gu Heng.

My film crew isn't mine, it's so frustrating.

Now everything's fine, the sky has cleared and the rain has stopped, and Director Ning feels like he's back to his old self.

……

When Gu Heng landed in Shanghai, the weather was beautiful and sunny.

When I saw Yang Mi on Nanjing Road, she was holding Liu Shishi's arm, the two of them were as close as conjoined twins.

Although filming for "Chinese Paladin 3" hadn't started yet at this time, these two Beijing girls had already established a deep revolutionary friendship in Shanghai.

This is the power of female friendship; sometimes, just going shopping together can instantly transform strangers into sisters from different fathers and mothers.

It was just tough on Brother Hu standing next to him.

As a true Shanghainese, I also served as the local tour guide for this trip.

Old Hu was currently wearing a look of utter despair as two energetic Beijing girls strolled through the streets and alleys of Shanghai.

That means they can really walk.

Upon seeing Gu Heng, Brother Hu's eyes lit up as if he were seeing a family member; he almost rushed over to hug Gu Heng's leg and burst into tears.

"Mr. Gu...you've finally arrived!"

Brother Hu put the bag he was holding on the ground, rubbing his sore arms. "I really didn't expect that leading a tour group would be more tiring than filming! You've really worked hard."

These words clearly come from someone deeply influenced by Yang Mi's teachings.

Gu Heng smiled and patted Lao Hu on the shoulder, everything was understood without words.

Meanwhile, at Tangren Media, the auditions for "Chinese Paladin 3" were still in full swing, but most of the casting decisions had already been finalized.

Jing Tian is a must for Lao Hu, no doubt about it. Xue Jian is also Yang Mi, who was chosen long ago.

As for Longkui, Tangren gave it to their own daughter, Liu Shishi.

Although this girl just graduated this year, she is Cai Yinong's darling, and she has already signed a tight contract with her before she even became famous.

This is Tangren's old trick: keep the profits in the family. Even if the acting is a bit immature, they still have to promote it.

Xu Changqing was given to Yan Kuan. With the face of one of the Four Beauties of the World, he was indeed a formidable opponent. As long as he didn't give that wicked and arrogant smile, he would definitely be a handsome man in ancient costume.

However, there was a mishap in the casting of the role of Zi Xuan.

Tangren Media originally favored Liu Pinyan, who played Anu in "Chinese Paladin 1".

After all, we need to give an explanation to Taiwan's Softstar Entertainment, so we need to use people from there.

Just then, Gu Heng looked through the audition list and spotted a familiar name.

Tang Yan.

This girl is really stubborn; the one who came to audition was Long Kui.

At this time, Tang Yan was truly sweet, which is what is later referred to as the "naive and sweet" period. She still had a childish air about her, and she was passable as Long Kui. However, it was extremely difficult for her to snatch a role from Tangren Media.

The result was obvious: she was rejected and was not offered the role of Zi Xuan.

The key point is that Gu Heng keenly noticed that Tang Yan's profile section had no information about her agency!

Something's not right.

According to the timeline of her previous life, she should have already been signed by Orange Sky Entertainment by now, so why is she still a free agent?

Gu Heng's heart skipped a beat. If he didn't take advantage of this free lunch, he would be punished by heaven.

That afternoon, Gu Heng met directly with Tang Yan.

To avoid suspicion, Gu Heng specially brought a large fox with him.

When she met Tang Yan, the girl was a little reserved, her big eyes blinking.

"Want to act in 'Chinese Paladin 3'?" Gu Heng asked directly.

Tang Yan nodded blankly, a little embarrassed: "I wanted to play Long Kui, but I wasn't chosen..."

"Longkui, don't even think about it. That belongs to someone else."

"But are you interested in the role of Zi Xuan?"

Zixuan?

Tang Yan's eyes widened in surprise. That was supposed to be a mature and sophisticated role, completely different from her current acting style.

"Can...can I do it?"

"If I say you can do it, then you can."

Gu Heng pushed a contract from Vision Entertainment directly to him, saying, "Sign this, and Zixuan is yours. The penalty for breach of contract isn't high, and the benefits are excellent. You can ask Boss Yang next to you."

Yang Mi stood to the side, arms crossed, rolling her eyes, but still chimed in, "Sign it. This ruthless boss may not be a good person, but he's still willing to give us resources."

Just like that, before Orange Sky could even react, one of the future leading actresses of '85 was snatched away by Gu Heng with a role he hadn't even secured yet.

Having won over Tang Yan, the next step is to win over that stubborn old man, Li Guoli.

Li Guoli is a tough nut to crack. When he saw Gu Heng recommend Tang Yan for the role of Zi Xuan, he shook his head like a rattle drum.

"No, no, absolutely not! This girl is too sweet; she lacks the world-weariness and allure of Zi Xuan, who has experienced three lifetimes of love! I want a mature, sophisticated woman, not a girl next door!"

Gu Heng wasn't in a hurry and slowly poured Li Guoli a cup of tea.

"Director Li, you're the godfather of period dramas. If you just cast someone who naturally looks like the character, it won't showcase your talent. A master's touch is to transform a blank canvas into a masterpiece, right?"

Then, Gu Heng added insult to injury: "Besides, this girl is mine now, so we can discuss her salary. We can use the money we save on special effects to give Xu Changqing a few more amazing moves, wouldn't that be great?"

A few words were enough to get the old man all fired up.

Li Guoli's artistic principles crumbled instantly in the face of Gu Heng's money and flattery, and he gritted his teeth and agreed.

I thought the matter was settled, but then an unexpected obstacle appeared out of nowhere.

Softstar Entertainment has backed out.

When these Taiwanese officials saw the cast list, they were furious.

Goodness, apart from Chonglou being an artist from their side, all the other important roles have been taken by mainlanders?

This won't do!

"This is our Taiwanese IP! It's the pride of all Chinese people! How could you do this?"

"We absolutely must have artists from our area! Zixuan must use our people! Otherwise, we have the right to revoke the adaptation rights!"

Those bastards were shouting and yelling on the phone, spouting all sorts of moral nonsense, but all they cared about was business.

Gu Heng listened to the roar coming from the other end of the phone and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

Damn it, these bastards really think they're something special.

They say they're making games for Chinese people, for nostalgia, but what's the reality?

Look at the mess they've made behind the scenes.

They were fighting amongst themselves with Softstar's mainland subsidiary, treating the mainland team like thieves, and cutting off their resources, driving a perfectly good R&D team to the brink of despair.

The mainland is clearly the biggest market and R&D base for the future, but these people are blind to this and cling to their pitiful sense of superiority.

What happened in the end?

They went through so much trouble that they even sold their headquarters building; they're just destined to live off nostalgia and their past achievements.

How dare they use their trivial authority to demand the return of copyright at this crucial moment?

You're really asking for it!

……

Sorry, I got home too late yesterday.

I saw everyone's gifts.

Thank you very much.

This is an extra chapter.

Also, please be sure to mention any problems you have, as I sometimes can't see the issues myself.