Huayu: Starting with living with a girl from Taiwan

Jia Jingwen forced a smile, her lips twitching slightly.

"I think... Taipei suits me better."

She paused, as if she had found someone to confide in, and continued speaking to herself:

"To be honest, I'm quite confused right now."

I just went to Shanghai last week to promote my new drama, "Sing a Song When You're Sad," and the ratings... were pretty bad.

I'm thinking of shifting my focus back to Taipei to give it a try.

"Sing a song when you're sad?"

Lin Mo didn't recognize the title of the drama. "Who did you act with?"

"Huang Sanshi, Teacher Huang."

Oh, Breaking Bad.

Lin Mo still had no recollection of it.

A show he doesn't remember is bound to flop.

However, Lin Mo felt that Jia Jingwen was indeed quite inspiring.

After the turn of the millennium, she became a huge star in mainland China with dramas such as "The Emperor of Han Dynasty", "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber" and "The Empress of China".

This period should be considered a low point in her career.

However, Lin Mo vaguely remembered that Jia Jingwen later went from being a discarded wife of a wealthy family to flying against the wind again, turning a bad hand into a winning one.

Lin Mo: "Actually, Sister Jingwen could really consider 'You Are the Apple of My Eye'."

Jia Jingwen smiled upon hearing this, a hint of self-deprecation in her voice: "What am I supposed to play? A high school student? With a face like mine, how could I possibly look young?"

Lin Mo shook his head. He wrote the script, so of course he knew the characters in it.

"I think the role of the English teacher in the movie would suit you very well."

Who says that your school days were only about the girls you chased? There were also... unforgettable English teachers.

Jia Jingwen smiled again.

With her current status, she'd be the lead actress in any drama, or at the very least, the second lead.

Even if she's down on her luck, she wouldn't need to play a supporting role in a movie.

Jia Jingwen took Lin Mo's joke and took a sip of red wine:

"Hehe, so how much will you pay me?"

"President Chai will set the fee," Lin Mo shook his head.

"My money is useful."

Jia Jingwen: "..."

She was taken aback, shook her head, and didn't continue the topic. Instead, she sighed.

"Actually, I'm really lost right now. I have no resources, no connections... and those connections have faded away."

She glanced at the young Lin Mo beside her, but didn't say the rest of her sentence—

No one else has the talent to create opportunities like you.

If it weren't for her two-year hiatus, she wouldn't have had to take on a doomed flop like "When Sadness" after her comeback.

"I feel that I might be better off staying in Taiwan right now."

She seemed to be asking Lin Mo, but also seemed to be asking herself.

Do you think I have a better option right now?

Lin Mo was silent for a few seconds: "I actually don't like giving life advice to others."

"Then can you make an exception for me this once?" Jia Jingwen turned her head, her eyes filled with seriousness and a hint of curiosity.

I'd like to hear it.

Lin Mo pondered for a moment, "It depends on what level you want to reach, whether you want to be content with the present or make a breakthrough and continue to climb higher."

Upon hearing this, Jia Jingwen's eyes flickered slightly, clearly intrigued.

She hasn't heard anyone talk to her about "climbing the ladder" in a long time; most of the comfort she receives is "don't push yourself too hard" or "relax a bit."

Lin Mo then repeated that same explanation to Jia Jingwen.

"I didn't know you had such good taste."

Jia Jingwen agrees with this, as she was among the first group of people from Taiwan to benefit from the mainland's development.

Of course, I was even more surprised that Lin Mo could have such insights at his age.

She couldn't help but sigh again, realizing that this young man from the mainland truly had a different perspective and mindset than many local artists.

Seeing that she seemed to be listening, Lin Mo continued:

"The movie 'You Are the Apple of My Eye' is a film that I, Mr. Chai, and Mr. Ge planned to focus on promoting in the mainland market."

Jia Jingwen was initially surprised. "There's also President Ge?"

Then, after some hesitation:

"Curse of the Golden Flower and The Banquet are the big-budget period dramas, war films like Assembly, or art films."

"You're making a coming-of-age film..."

She was being very subtle; it was clear she wasn't optimistic.

"This represents a market gap."

Lin Mo's tone was firm.

"What the market doesn't have isn't necessarily bad; it's just that everyone is stuck in a fixed mindset and doesn't dare to try new types easily."

"But we have a population base of over a billion, which is a huge and unified market, enough to accommodate a wide variety of film genres."

"Sister Jingwen, you've been developing your career in mainland China these past few years, so you should be able to feel that the changes are tremendous, especially this year."

Jia Jingwen nodded unconsciously.

She was truly amazed by the rapidly changing cityscape and development speed of the city during her trip to Shanghai and Beijing for promotional activities.

There were some places she almost didn't recognize.

"The faster we develop and the more dynamic our economy becomes, the greater the demand for cultural consumption will be."

"With our profound cultural heritage and huge market potential, the film market will easily reach tens of billions of RMB in the future."

Lin Mo spoke calmly.

Hundreds of billions?

Jia Jingwen was somewhat dazed as she listened.

This number was too far away, too crazy for her.

In today's Chinese-language film market, breaking 100 million yuan is considered a big hit, and several hundred million yuan is a phenomenon.

Hundreds of billions?

Jia Jingwen found it unbelievable; she had never even dreamed of doing something like this.

However, considering what Lin Mo had said before, and that this was a policy that Ge Fuhong had agreed to, it made her feel that it was very convincing.

She asked, "Do you want to be the top star in this industry?"

Lin Mo nodded.

Jia Jingwen felt as if her chest was about to explode, and it seemed that Lin Mo's bold words had also ignited the wildness in her heart, and she was about to say something.

"What are you two chattering about? Come and drink!" Lan Xinmei interrupted.

She had clearly drunk quite a bit; her cheeks were flushed. She came over and grabbed one of them with each hand, saying, "Come on, come on, let's go play! Don't whisper here!"

Lan Xinmei pulled the two back into the lively crowd.

However, Jia Jingwen seemed somewhat absent-minded for the rest of the time, her gaze occasionally drifting towards Lin Mo, who was chatting and laughing with Fei Lunhai and the others.

The so-called victory celebration banquet didn't end until after 10 p.m.

Lan Xinmei, completely drunk, embraced Jia Jingwen and asked:

"Ah Wen, how are you getting home? Should I call a designated driver or should I take you?"

Jia Jingwen was also slightly tipsy and shook her head:

"I drove here, it's fine."

She looked at Lin Mo, who was about to make a phone call, and said, "Lin Mo, where do you live? If it's on your way, you can take my car back."

Lan Hsin-mei: "Hey, you two do live not far apart."

Lin Mo: "Jingwen, let's call a designated driver, it's safer."

Jia Jingwen smiled:

"Please, I'm a celebrity, isn't it even more unsafe to call a designated driver?"

"You happen to be going the same way as me, and you don't have a car, why don't you give me a ride?"

"and......"

Jia Jingwen paused, her slender legs swaying beneath her skirt as she took two steps forward, and whispered in Lin Mo's ear:

"If you give it to me, I might consider playing that... English teacher role you mentioned."