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After the meal, Suning drove Zhuangzhuang back to her dormitory.

They did not take advantage of Zhuangzhuang, nor did they use their power to coerce her.

Suning has long passed the age of being impatient; countless experiences across the universe have elevated Suning's thinking.

Zhuangzhuang, however, felt respected from Suning's attitude, which deepened her goodwill towards Suning.

"President Su, thank you so much for today."

"It was nothing! Actually, I'm also a Beijing drifter, so I know how tough it is to be one."

"President Su, you're not a migrant worker in Beijing. Migrant workers in Beijing don't have your kind of ability."

"Good night."

"Good night."

After returning to her dormitory, Zhuangzhuang didn't sleep well all night.

Lying in bed, she tossed and turned, recalling the words Su Ning had said at the dinner table. Every sentence was stiff and unyielding, yet she couldn't refute any of them.

Su Ning is right. Shen Ranran is not related to him at all. Why should he pay for Shen Ranran's dream?

Zhuangzhuang lay awake in the darkness, her heart filled with a mix of disappointment and resentment, but mostly with a sense of powerlessness after being lectured by reality.

The next morning, when Zhuangzhuang washed her face, she stared blankly at the mirror for a while.

I feel that I am still too inexperienced in front of Suning, so inexperienced that I don't even know how to ask for help properly.

Next, Zhuangzhuang arranged to meet Shen Ranran.

When Shen Ranran finished filming and rushed over, it was already dark, but the fatigue in her eyes was still there, as if she hadn't had a good night's sleep for many days.

The two met at a small noodle shop and each ordered a bowl of beef noodles.

After the noodles were served, Zhuangzhuang didn't rush to eat. Instead, she took the business card out of her pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it over.

Shen Ranran glanced down at the business card, then looked up at Zhuang Zhuang: "Artist agent? Who's this?"

“It was given to me by Suning. He said this Brother Zhou has been in the industry for over ten years and has managed several well-known actors. He’s a very professional artist manager. He told me to contact him myself and just mention Suning’s name.”

Shen Ranran picked up the business card, turned it over to look at the back, then flipped it back to look at the words on the front: "Your CEO Su is really nice."

"Huh? What nonsense are you talking about! What do you mean, 'my CEO Su'? I had to beg him for this.

"Don't worry! I won't let you down."

“Suning is not from our world! He doesn’t meddle in everyone’s business, and it’s not easy for him to give you this business card. You should contact him quickly and not waste this opportunity.”

"it is good."

……

Shen Ranran acted immediately.

The next day, she dialed the number on the business card.

The person who answered the phone was a middle-aged man. After Shen Ranran gave her name and mentioned Su Ning, there was a two-second silence on the other end of the line. "President Su has already spoken to me. I know a little about your situation. Come to my studio tomorrow and we'll talk in person."

"Okay, Manager Zhou, I will definitely be there on time."

"Okay! See you tomorrow."

Shen Ranran hung up the phone, her heart still filled with excitement.

The next day, Shen Ranran arrived at Manager Zhou's studio on time.

Manager Zhou is a middle-aged man in his forties, tall and thin, with sharp eyes when he looks at people, but he doesn't have the kind of empty politeness that people in the industry have when he speaks or acts.

Shen Ranran couldn't help but think of that Xiao Cui from back then, who had never been able to help her land a role.

"Manager Zhou, hello! I'm Shen Ranran."

"sit."

"Thank you."

"Ms. Shen, may I ask about your relationship with President Su?"

"I used to work at the sales office of Mingju Real Estate, but I resigned and joined Chuhe Film and Television Culture Company."

Manager Zhou flipped through some sample clips and stills that Shen Ranran had filmed before, then had her read a line aloud on the spot. He then said bluntly, "With your talent, you were indeed held back by Chu Caiyuan. But there's no use talking about that now. Look ahead. I have several production teams that are recruiting supporting roles. The roles aren't big, but they're all legitimate production teams with reliable directors. They're the kind of shows that can be broadcast. Are you willing to take on multiple projects at once? If so, I can arrange it for you."

Shen Ranran nodded repeatedly: "Yes, I'm willing. Supporting role it is, as long as it's a real film, I'll take it."

"Okay! That makes things much easier."

In the following days, Shen Ranran began to travel between various film crews, following the connections that Manager Zhou had made for her.

Today I'm playing a nurse in this production with only three scenes, tomorrow I'll be playing the male lead's ex-girlfriend in that production with only two lines and a gruesome death, and the day after tomorrow I'll be playing a maid serving tea and water in a period drama, standing in the background for three whole scenes.

Although the characters are not large, they are all serious characters with lines and names, and some even have close-ups.

Shen Ranran didn't mind the hard work. She would get up before dawn every day to rush to the film set, and after finishing work in the evening, she would go back to her rented room and practice her lines for the next day in front of the mirror.

After all, I no longer need to attend those awful banquets every day; I only need to hone the role I'm playing.

Gradually, people began to notice Shen Ranran.

Some assistant directors would say during casting, "Let's find that Xiao Shen from last time to give him a try."

Some production crews even proactively called Manager Zhou to inquire about Shen Ranran's availability.

Although she is far from being famous, Shen Ranran has solidly established her own reputation among these supporting actors, and is no longer the "Ranran" who would only be called over to the sofa at dinner parties.

That's how it is in the entertainment industry. If you don't have the luck to become an overnight sensation, or the courage to give up all your self-respect, then you can only endure loneliness and hone your acting skills.

……

While Shen Ranran was gradually making things easier on the set, Chu Caiyuan was making moves.

Chu Caiyuan certainly knew that Shen Ranran was taking on acting roles on her own.

Although Manager Zhou is an independent agent, the industry is only so big. Sooner or later, news of which group Shen Ranran is in today and which group she is in tomorrow will reach Chu Caiyuan's ears.

Chu Caiyuan didn't take it too seriously at first. He thought Shen Ranran was just a young girl throwing a tantrum and would come back after a couple of days of hardship.

But to Chu Caiyuan's utter surprise, Shen Ranran not only didn't come back, but she also ran more and more energetically, and her running became more and more impressive.

That day, Chu Caiyuan finally couldn't resist calling Shen Ranran. At that moment, Shen Ranran was filming a hospital scene on set, still wearing a nurse's uniform.

As soon as the call connected, Chu Caiyuan's voice was as usual, with a fake warmth: "Ranran! There's a gathering tonight, come over."

When Shen Ranran heard the words "dinner party," several images flashed through her mind at the same time.

The private room was filled with the smell of smoke.

The white wine poured into her glass.

The boss patted the sofa and gave her a lewd smile as he gestured for her to sit down.

Chu Caiyuan said from the side, "Ranran, pour wine for President Chen."

And the agonizing feeling of kneeling in front of the toilet and vomiting until only bile remains.

"President Chu, you don't need to invite me to dinners anymore. I'm currently filming and don't have time."

Chu Caiyuan paused for a moment on the other end of the phone, "Filming? The odd jobs you take, only a few shots per episode? You call that an opportunity? When you come out to dinner with me, you meet real investors. One meal there is worth three months of your odd jobs."

Shen Ranran raised her head, and the pent-up emotion in her chest finally burst forth as she spoke: "These three months of odd jobs were all roles I earned myself, and I acted in every single scene. Is what you call an opportunity at a dinner party? That's selling your face and your body. Mr. Chu, I will never attend any more banquets again."

Chu Caiyuan was silent for several seconds. "Shen Ranran, don't forget that your contract is still with my company. You know the nature of those roles you took on outside without the company's approval."

However, Shen Ranran did not back down this time. "Of course I understand. It's clearly stated in the contract that the company will share the profits from any performance activities arranged by the company, while I will keep all the fees for any activities I arrange personally. Mr. Chu had better not be mistaken. If you think I have breached the contract, you can take legal action. I'm waiting for your lawyer's letter."

Chu Caiyuan sneered: "Hmph! It seems your wings have really hardened."

Shen Ranran hung up the phone, finally venting her resentment.

Then, Shen Ranran immediately told Zhuangzhuang about it.

After hearing this, Zhuangzhuang looked at Shen Ranran in surprise, "You just went and stood up to him like that?"

Shen Ranran said, "What else can we do? Should we still be polite to him?"

Zhuangzhuang said, "Aren't you afraid he'll really sue you?"

"Manager Zhou helped me get a lawyer to review the contract. Chu Caiyuan's contract was never properly drafted; his company doesn't even have a proper legal counsel, and many clauses are vaguely written. Manager Zhou said that if he dares to sue, we'll countersue him for fraud. He tricked me into signing the contract with the role of the second female lead, and after signing, he didn't arrange any filming for me, only making me attend dinner parties. If this matter really goes to court, it's hard to say who's afraid of whom."

Zhuangzhuang was stunned: "Manager Zhou is so tough?"

Shen Ranran said, "Manager Zhou's exact words were that he'd seen plenty of people like Chu Caiyuan, who just bully young girls because they don't know any better and won't dare to make a scene. If you just stay silent and put up with it, he'll devour you until there's nothing left. But if you dare to bang your fist on the table in his face, he'll back down."

Zhuangzhuang laughed: "Did Chu Caiyuan react later?"

"They called me a few more times, but I didn't answer. They also had someone from the company send me a letter saying that I was disobeying company management and that they would hold me accountable for breach of contract. Manager Zhou sent me a lawyer's letter in response, which was very strongly worded. The gist of it was that if I wanted to pursue this matter, I should go to court and not send these things to scare people. Then nothing happened."

"So you've completely broken up with him now?"

"The contract hasn't been officially terminated yet, but Manager Zhou said it's not a big problem. Chu Caiyuan is feeling guilty right now; he's afraid I'll expose the fact that he made me go to dinner. He still needs to maintain his career in the industry. If this kind of thing gets out, which respectable actor would dare to sign with his company in the future?"

Zhuangzhuang looked at Shen Ranran and felt that the way she spoke was different from before.

In the past, when Shen Ranran talked about Chu Caiyuan, it was as if she were talking about a monster whose name she couldn't mention.

Now, when he talks about Chu Caiyuan, there is no fear in his eyes, only a cold disdain.

Zhuangzhuang said, "Ranran, you've really changed."

Shen Ranran looked up at her: "What's changed?"

Zhuangzhuang thought for a moment, "You used to be like a pitiful newcomer, afraid of everything and swallowing everything. Now you can talk back."

Shen Ranran was silent for a long time. "Zhuangzhuang, do you know what made me change? It was that night I cried in your dorm. After I finished crying, I looked at myself in the mirror for a long time when I was washing my face the next morning. I thought, Shen Ranran, you've already ruined yourself like this, can you get any worse? You can't get any worse. So what's there to be afraid of? From that day on, I felt that no one could force me to do anything I didn't want to do."

Zhuangzhuang didn't say anything, but reached out and patted Shen Ranran's hand.

Shen Ranran took her hand in return, "Zhuangzhuang, thank you for helping me so much."

"If you become a big star in the future, just don't forget me."

……

Mingju Real Estate has been growing like a snowball in Suning's hands for two years.

By the beginning of 1996, it had become a well-known real estate company nationwide.

In the four first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Mingju Real Estate has acquired countless prime land parcels.

From land acquisition to the opening of sales, the pace of each project is tightly controlled. Sales begin before construction starts, and payments are collected immediately after sales. The process of collecting payments is then repeated to acquire more land, creating a cycle as smooth as an engine with lubricant.

Moreover, Mingju Real Estate's ambitions have long since expanded beyond first-tier cities.

Starting in the second half of 1995, Suning had its investment department conduct a thorough investigation of the land market in second- and third-tier cities across the country.

Which cities have net population inflows, which cities have industrial support, and which cities have land prices that are still at the bottom but have room for growth? We should pull out all the data and do a comparative analysis.

Mingju Real Estate's land acquisition team cast a wide net, expanding into more than a dozen cities.

The land transfer contract was just signed here, and the negotiation team was already sitting in the land bureau conference room in another city.

The reason they can do this is, of course, because of financial leverage.

Suning's use of financial leverage has been summarized into a standard approach within the company.

First, use your own funds to acquire a prime piece of land, and then immediately mortgage it to a bank for a loan after obtaining the land certificate.

The loaned money was split into three parts: one part was used to start the development and construction of the project, one part was used as the down payment for the next plot of land, and the remaining part was kept as a reserve fund to deal with emergencies.

Once the second project obtains the land certificate, they continue to mortgage, take out loans, and acquire more land, one step leading to another, like dominoes falling.

This approach demands extremely high levels of cash flow management, but Suning's finance department, which is monitored by AI robots, has managed to accurately calculate every single inflow and outflow of funds, and there has never been a risk of a broken cash flow.

In particular, the move of pre-selling is truly a game-changer in the real estate market.

Sometimes, a project is sold out in a short period of time as soon as the main gate and sales office are completed.

Mingju Real Estate's rapid expansion has made its peers envious yet baffled.

Some people are saying behind Suning's back that they are walking a tightrope and will inevitably suffer a major fall sooner or later.

However, Suning is well aware that its land reserves are sufficient for Mingju Real Estate to continue developing for the next five to eight years.

Land prices are rising at a visible rate, and the increase in land value alone is enough to cover all the leverage risks.

...(End of this chapter)