Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 296 Helping Meng Ziyi Reserve the Female Lead for Little Broken Ball 2
Qingdao, the Oriental Movie Metropolis.

Looking at the "The Wandering Earth" crew who had visited once before, Meng Ziyi pouted and glanced at Chen Xiu.

"This is the gift you were talking about?"

"Isn't the gift already around your neck?"

"I asked you for this, and that's when you remembered to buy it for me. I don't want character-themed gifts."

"Uh-huh."

Chen Xiu nodded, and then led Meng Ziyi into the "Wandering Earth" film studio.

The two met up with Guo Fan. Meng Ziyi was about to be taken to the dressing room to prepare for her guest role when she saw an unexpected person there.

"Dudu, what are you doing here?"

Meng Ziyi looked at her best friend with surprise and astonishment. She ran over without slowing down and took her hand to ask her questions.

Upon seeing Chen Duling's appearance, Chen Xiu looked at Guo Fan with a puzzled expression: "Old Guo, what's she doing here?"

"Hehe, this is a bit complicated."

"Ok?"

Guo Fan gave an awkward yet polite smile, and then explained the reason to Chen Xiu...

"So when you were filming 'Hello, Old Times' in Qingdao, you posted a message on WeChat Moments about learning during filming, which Guo Fan happened to see, and then he dragged you over to be the female lead's tutor?"

Upon hearing Chen Xiu's summary of her presence, Chen Duling nodded with a embarrassed expression.

"Actually, it was because I lied to Director Guo back then, thinking I could help as much as possible. The two film crews were shooting at about the same time, and it wouldn't take up much time to tutor Mai Mai by video chatting at the hotel at night."

"You don't need to explain for him. Just take what you can get; it's very much in line with his personality..."

After silently criticizing Guo Fan, Chen Xiu asked again, "You've finished all your classes, and 'Hello, Old Times' has wrapped up filming, so why are you still here?"

Didn't Director Guo say anything?

“He said he had some friends coming over and he needed to entertain them, and then Wu Jing’s filming was about to start, so I came to ask you.”

"Oh."

Chen Duling pursed her lips, her eyes darting around halfway, and instead of answering, she asked Chen Xiu.

"The meaning is that you're just here to make a cameo appearance. Why did you come here?"

"Visiting the set."

"You don't seem like the type to do this kind of thing."

"What do you mean, I don't seem like the type to do this kind of thing?"

Chen Xiu frowned slightly as she stared at Chen Duling, thinking: What do you know about me?

Chen Duling looked up and met his gaze, and said sternly, "Your style of doing things has always been to pursue efficiency, so why would you specially accompany Ziyi to visit the set?"

"Heh, I'm not a work machine. After working so hard for so long, it's reasonable for me to relax a bit."

After saying that, Chen Xiu turned her gaze elsewhere.

Chen Duling followed and saw Meng Ziyi, who had finished her makeup and looked sickly, walking briskly toward the two of them.

"Brother Xiu, I've got it sorted out!"

"So fast?"

"There were no lines, just a few poses, lying on the bed, and a short scene was filmed, and that was it."

"Let's just treat it as an audition for the female lead."

Chen Xiu concluded that Meng Ziyi's cameo role was that of the adult Han Duoduo, the female lead in "The Wandering Earth 2".

Before he came over, he had already explained the situation to Meng Ziyi.

Neither of them expected that this cameo appearance would end so quickly.

Meng Ziyi seemed quite happy: "When the second season starts filming, I'll be able to act with Dudu."

"why?"

Chen Xiu glanced at Meng Ziyi, then looked at Chen Duling, wondering if she had helped Chen Duling ask Guo Fan for a role!

Meng Ziyi chuckled and explained, "Dudu will be playing the second female lead in the second movie. Didn't she tell you?"

"No."

Chen Xiu turned to look at Chen Duling, and saw her move her shoulder and curl the corners of her lips into a smug smile.

"The filming of 'Hello, Old Times' wrapped up last month. I went home to rest for more than half a month. I saw Guo Fan post a question about aerospace dynamics on his WeChat Moments. Since it is my major, I helped him look up some information."

“At that time, Wu Jing came to the set to film the space station scenes. Director Guo himself didn’t understand the principles behind many things. I thought I’d help him to the end, so I simply came over and gave him some advice.”

"In the end, Director Guo himself was probably a little embarrassed. He said that the second female lead in the next prequel would be more suitable for me, and asked if I could play the role. Of course I could, and that's how it was."

Chen Duling grinned, showing her teeth, as if she was happy with her own cleverness.

Meng Ziyi was also very happy. Holding Chen Duling's hand, she began to imagine the scene of the two of them filming together.

Seeing this, Chen Xiu silently swallowed the fact that the female lead and the second female lead in "The Wandering Earth 2" were not in the same frame.

When Meng Ziyi went to the dressing room to remove her makeup, Chen Xiu was still puzzled. When she turned to look at Chen Duling, she found that she was secretly watching her.

"Why are you looking at me?" "If you don't look at me, how would you know I'm looking at you?"

Chen Xiu nodded silently, and didn't argue with Chen Duling about who was watching whom.

"Why are you so concerned about 'The Wandering Earth'? Catching up on lessons is one thing, but coming all the way to the set to give guidance seems a bit excessive, doesn't it?"

"A little bit."

Chen Duling made a gesture that resembled a universe between her fingers, but did not explain the real reason why she did so.

Seeing Chen Xiu's puzzled look, she secretly thought to herself: Humph! I'm not blind. If you care so much about "The Wandering Earth", then this project must be a good one. What's so strange about investing in it in advance?

Since starring in "Love O2O" and enjoying the benefits of increased popularity, Chen Duling has been unable to secure any high-quality resources due to restrictions imposed by her own agency.

It wasn't until the beginning of this year, at Chen Xiu's suggestion, that she changed course and tried web dramas, and then successfully landed the lead role in "Hello, Old Times".

This experience, along with the summer blockbuster "Wolf Warrior 2" and the popular TV series "Qin Wang Po Zhen Qu", all became related to Chen Xiu.

This led Chen Duling to realize that projects favored by Chen Xiu had a higher chance of success! Since she lacked resources anyway, she might as well proactively follow his lead and strive for those opportunities!
Chen Xiu's high regard for the "Wandering Earth" project was evident to Chen Duling when she first visited the Oriental Movie Metropolis.

With these prerequisites in place, the subsequent events follow naturally.

This kind of thinking is absolutely impossible for someone without a brain.

As an outsider, Chen Xiu was unable to put himself in Chen Duling's shoes to see things from her perspective, which is why he was puzzled by the whole affair but couldn't figure it out.

Seeing that Chen Duling had no intention of explaining, Chen Xiu thought for a moment and then stopped wasting her brainpower.

Anyway, I don't know the one whose opportunity was taken away. Since Guo Fan thinks Chen Duling is suitable to play the second female lead, then so be it.

"Congratulations, you've landed the second female lead role ahead of schedule."

Chen Xiu congratulated Chen Duling in a sincere tone.

Chen Duling glanced at him with some surprise, and after a moment's thought, she took the initiative to extend her hand to him.

"If you're going to congratulate me, shouldn't you shake my hand?"

"can."

Chen Xiu gently squeezed Chen Duling's fingers, feeling a smooth, round sensation slide across her fingertips, and then saw Chen Duling smilingly point to the other side.

"Director Guo came looking for you, and he was with someone else."

"Ok?"

Chen Xiu turned her head and saw, besides Guo Fan, a middle-aged fat man with a pointed head, a buzz cut, red glasses, and a goatee.

By the time Chen Xiu realized who this person was, Guo Fan had already brought him to him.

Meeting Chen Xiu's scrutinizing gaze, Guo Fan gave a somewhat awkward smile.

"Mr. Chen, let me introduce you. This is Director Wu Ershan. He was in the first group of directors that China Film Group arranged to study at Paramount. He also went to 21st Century Fox to study later."

"Hello."

Chen Xiu nodded to Wu Ershan with a smile on his lips; he was always polite to people he didn't know well.

In response to Chen Xiu's politeness, Wu Ershan became overly enthusiastic: "President Chen, hello, hello. I just came to visit Director Guo on set and heard that you were here, so I wanted to come and get to know you."

Chen Xiu gave a perfunctory handshake to the hand that Wu Ershan had offered.

"Did you come here specifically to visit Director Guo on set?"

"Today I'm mainly here to visit the set. Starting next month, my crew will officially move into the Oriental Movie Metropolis to begin set construction and preparation work, which may take more than half a year."

Wu Ershan deliberately avoided mentioning what the project was, leaving suspense in his words so that Chen Xiu would continue to ask questions.

As a result, Chen Xiu didn't respond at all.

"Impressive! Director Wu's willingness to spend so much time preparing for the film must mean it's a work of great care. I wish you success."

"Forehead……"

Wu Ershan looked at Chen Xiu speechlessly, thinking: I didn't bring this up to get a lukewarm compliment from you; financial support is the greatest recognition.

Considering that he was not familiar with Chen Xiu, Wuershan could only wink at Guo Fan, hoping that he could speak up for him.

Guo Fan's lips curled into a bitter smile. He didn't want to cause trouble for Chen Xiu, but some social niceties were unavoidable in the film and television industry.

"Mr. Chen, Director Wu is currently preparing a movie called 'Fengshen'. It's a three-part film like Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings,' and it will be built on real sets, so it will require a lot of funding."

"The financial costs of film production are indeed enormous. This year, Datang Pictures has launched two new film projects and then made additional investments in 'The Wandering Earth.' The funds in the account can only maintain daily operations."

Chen Xiu's words both expressed empathy and approval, and preemptively shut down any talk of Wuershanla Investment.

Chen Xiu has no intention of interfering with the "Investiture of the Gods" project.

If only the first film in this trilogy is released and the second and third are not, Wu Ershan will probably be hyped up to the skies. Only if the second film is successfully released will netizens be able to truly see his worth. By then, whether the third film is released or not will no longer matter.

So let it develop as it is; investing is out of the question.

Guo Fan and Wu Ershan also understood Chen Xiu's implied meaning. Guo Fan ignored Wu Ershan's look and changed the subject, acting as if nothing had happened.

Chen Xiu gave him an approving look and continued chatting with the two of them.

Chen Duling lowered her head silently, hiding her pouting expression, thinking: Does Chen Xiu dislike Wu Ershan because he dislikes him as a person, or because he dislikes his project?

(End of this chapter)