I really didn't intend to make a living based on my looks.

Spring comes late to Yanjing; green buds only sprout along the roadside in April.

The magnolias on the Beijing Film Academy campus are in full bloom, with white and purple petals scattered all over the ground. The cleaning ladies sweep them up again and again.

Jiang Chen's life is very regular.

During the day, he attended classes, but the acting teacher stopped having him do basic training and started having him independently complete character sketches and scene rehearsals.

His dialogue teacher's evaluation of him was "steady breath control and clear pronunciation, but his emotions could be better controlled."

He never missed a physical education class. He could do leg stretches, back bends, and barre work, and while he couldn't compare to the dance students, he was considered one of the best among the male students in the performing arts department.

The homeroom teacher, Zhang Hui, was extremely meticulous in his work, not even missing the slightest difference in the actors' eyes.

Wang Jinsong's diction lessons are rigorous; he can make a single line practice twenty times.

Hu Qiang's physical education classes are extremely intense, leaving students drenched in sweat after each session.

Chen Jing taught camera angles and stage presence, Zhang Jianxin practiced lifelike acting, Jiang Bin rehearsed dramatic rhythms, and Xu Xiaodan explored inner emotions.

Each and every one of them is a veteran who has been deeply involved in the industry for decades.

The reason why it's called "classical" is because students can learn systematically from these top teachers.

A newcomer, without the help of a school, simply cannot access such resources and connections.

Even with the experience of being reborn, Jiang Chen is willing to calm down and hone his acting skills to a more solid level.

After school, he would stay in his rented room in Huangtingzi Community and continue writing other scripts.

Yang Zi still hangs out with him whenever he has free time.

She's recently become obsessed with "The Temptation of Going Home," playing "The Pain of All Love" at Jiang Chen's house every day. Jiang Chen is getting a headache from listening to it, and he can't get rid of it no matter what he tries.

Zhang Yisan hasn't appeared for a long time.

He was filming "The Founding of a Republic," playing Deng Enming, a delegate to the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

This guy has been showing off a lot in QQ groups. Today he posts a costume photo, tomorrow a selfie from the set, and the day after tomorrow he posts, "I acted with Liu Hua today. An actor is an actor."

Yang Zi relentlessly teased him in the group chat: "You only have two lines, can't you be a little more low-key?"

Zhang Yi replied, "Even two lines can leave a mark on history. Do you have that?"

Jiang Chen smiled as he watched the two bickering in the group chat and put his phone aside.

In April, a lively event also occurred at the school.

Jiang Chen's senior, also known as Da Tiantian, will have her movie "The Warring States" released on April 15th.

They even held a special internal screening at the school. The posters at the entrance of the auditorium have been up since last week, and passing students would take a second look.

Sun Honglei, Jin Xishan, and Wu Zhenyu acted alongside her, giving her a very prestigious role.

Jiang Chen has been enrolled for almost a year and hasn't run into her at school. This rich girl spent most of her junior and senior years filming outside, and she could count the number of times she returned to school on one hand.

Da Tiantian was in Class 1 of the 07 undergraduate program in Performing Arts.

Their class was known as the "star class," and besides her, there were Zheng Shuang, Kan Qingzi, Chai Biyun, Lu Shan...

The neighboring Class 2 wasn't bad either; Tan Songyun and Zhang Ruoyun were both in that year's class.

The 07 class of the Performance Department is the class with the most stars in recent years at Beijing Film Academy.

Jiang Chen didn't participate in any of this; he was staring at the computer screen.

The backend page of Yinshang Times is open, and a new number pops up in the data column.

Settlement received: ¥488,750.00

This is the first settlement after "The Power of Love" was launched a month and a half ago.

GG's share is 18, and the ringback tone share is 30.5. After deducting the 15% agency fee, the net amount is 48.875.

With the 30,000 yuan he received from selling "Anhe Bridge" to Chen Sicheng, he had 510,000 yuan in his hands.

The money may not be much, but it will continue to come in.

Jiang Chen leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.

I can finally go home.

At the end of April, Jiang Chen rushed back to his hometown of Jinan.

When he showed the bank message to his parents, the elderly couple were completely dumbfounded...

510,000.

For an ordinary family, this amount of money is not astronomical, but it was enough to keep the two of them silent for a long time.

That evening, Jiang Chen had an open and honest talk with his parents.

He didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his plans.

I will definitely develop my career in the entertainment industry in the future; I won't just drift along, I will do something meaningful.

He hoped his father could go out and start a business with Kong Sheng, so that he could help him in crucial moments.

Jiang Daqiang didn't respond, and Wang Qinqin remained silent.

The two went back to the bedroom and kept the door closed for a long time.

Jiang Chen sat in the living room, quietly waiting for them.

About two hours later, the door opened, and Jiang Daqiang came out, having changed into a clean shirt and combed his hair.

"Let's go to Director Kong's house."

For Shandong people, a stable government job has always been more precious than anything else.

But in the parents' hearts, even the most secure job is not as important as the future their son is determined to make.

Jiang Chen stood up, didn't ask anything, picked up the two bottles of Moutai that had been prepared on the table, and went out the door.

Kong Sheng lives in an old residential area in the east of Jinan. It's a six-story slab building without an elevator.

The house was small and simply decorated. In the living room hung a few black and white photos he had taken himself, and on the coffee table lay a script that was half-read.

His wife opened the door. She works in post-production coordination at Shandong Film Studio. She has a gentle personality and doesn't talk much. After inviting the father and son to sit down, she went to the kitchen to make tea.

Kong Sheng, wearing a dark gray sweater, sat on the sofa, glanced at Jiang Daqiang, and then at Jiang Chen.

"Uncle," Jiang Chen got straight to the point, "my dad wants to work for you."

Kong Sheng glanced at Jiang Chen, but didn't reply. He picked up his teacup and slowly blew away the foam.

They originally planned to leave Shandong Film Studio around August and start their own team.

Recruiting people hasn't been going smoothly!

The Shandong people's obsession with government-affiliated positions is not just empty talk. Who would be willing to give up a secure job to embark on a path with unknown risks?

Kong Shengsheng was happy that Jiang Daqiang had come to her door, though she didn't show it on her face.

Jiang Chen seized the opportunity and briefly mentioned the matter of investing funds.

Kong Sheng didn't respond to that. He put down his teacup and said that this wasn't something he could decide on his own; he had to discuss it with Li Xue and Sun Molong.

Jiang Chen nodded and didn't mention it again.

The conversation then turned to the script.

Kong Sheng flipped through the outline, his brows furrowing slightly.

In recent years, he has mostly filmed serious dramas like "Crossing the Guandong" and "Life and Death Line," and he has never touched fantasy dramas before, so he is not confident about it.

But Jiang Chen's script is indeed well-written, with a solid framework, believable characters, and the added bonus of a popular game copyright and Yang Mi's top-tier star status.

It is indeed a very high-quality project.

More importantly, he was also held hostage!

I just accepted someone's father as a partner and was ready to start a business together, but then I turned around and refused. It's really hard to save face.

"I'll direct, I'll assemble the team," Kong Sheng said, closing the script. "The fees will be based on market rates."

"Okay." Jiang Chen nodded readily, since it wasn't him who was paying for it anyway.

The next morning, Jiang Chen went straight to the airport and flew to Guangzhou.

His goal was clear: Tencent Video.

On April 18, 2011, Tencent Video officially launched and began operations, with its headquarters located in Shenzhen.

Jiang Chen flew to Guangzhou first because the person he needed to meet, Sun Zhonghuai, the general manager of Tencent Online Video Department, was attending an industry forum in Guangzhou that day.

He obtained the assistant's contact information through his connections at Shandong Film Studio and arranged to meet at a coffee shop near the forum at 3 PM.

Tencent Video has just launched, and it's currently lacking in content.

Major video websites are still burning money to grab copyrights; whoever can secure exclusive rights will gain an advantage in the battle for users.

Jiang Chen has the complete project proposal for "Gu Jian Qi Tan" in his hand. The combination of a popular game IP, Kong Sheng, and Yang Mi should be very attractive to the fledgling Tencent Video!

He wants to attract investment, and incidentally, he can also establish a cooperative relationship with the other party in advance.

After all, iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video are the mainstays of the future!

……