I'm really good at this.

Chapter 17 Hong is a bird by the river

Inside the room, Lin Muqing was sitting in front of the computer, arranging the layout of a document on the screen.

Under the table, a pair of long, black-stockinged legs were crossed, their high heels dangling from their toes.

Hearing the door open, the wobbling high heels stopped.

She turned around, her delicate brows slightly furrowed: "Why did you come here? Aren't you supposed to be keeping an eye on things on set?"

She said this while looking at Zhang Hong.

As for his older brother...

He had already initiated stealth, so the girl with the high ponytail naturally pretended not to see him.

Zhang Hong yawned, sat down opposite her, and then opened his notebook: "It feels the same whether I'm there or not."

Anyway, I felt like an outsider.

It would be better to just stop causing trouble.

He glanced at the girl's wrist; it was a watch he didn't recognize. "By the way, why aren't you wearing your Patek Philippe today?"

"That's too eye-catching, it's better to keep a low profile." Miss Lin, from an "ordinary family," answered calmly.

Lin Chuan, who was lurking nearby, had his eyes twitching.

A Patek Philippe worth hundreds of thousands is eye-catching, while a Richard Mille worth millions is low-key.

Is there really such a saying?

But upon closer inspection, it doesn't seem to make any mistakes.

Many people recognize the Patek Philippe brand, but not as many people recognize Richard Miller.

Lin Muqing didn't bring it up again. She just looked up at Zhang Hong and asked again, "Are you sure it's okay if you're not on set keeping an eye on things?"

"What's the problem?" Zhang Hong shrugged. "It's the same whether I'm here or not."

"I hate people like you the most." Lin Muqing's expression visibly turned cold. "You're clearly talented, but you insist on pretending to be so ordinary. Do you feel like watching them perform is like watching a monkey show? Does that make you happy?"

She disliked Zhang Hong.

Such talented people waste their talents and stand aside, secretly mocking those who work hard.

God is indeed unfair.

Even if those people work ten or a hundred times harder than Zhang Hong, their ultimate goal is still just to stand at Zhang Hong's starting point.

As an ordinary person, it's normal for Lin Muqing to dislike Zhang Hong.

"But I don't have any talent," Zhang Hong sighed. "If I had talent, I would have been making movies long ago. Why would I be chatting with you guys here? I just feel like I'm doing nothing and don't belong on set. I feel really uncomfortable."

Lin Muqing's face darkened even more.

From now on, will you call yourself "Zhang Hong, who has no talent"?

She discovered that this was even more disgusting than the kind of girl who says, "Oh dear, I didn't do well on the test this time either,"—this was the student!

What is a "learner"?

A hypocrite when it comes to studying!

You have no talent, yet you consistently get the highest grades in the entire grade?

Excessive modesty is just hypocrisy!

Lin Chuan was speechless.

He used to think this guy was arrogant, aloof, and looked down on others, but after spending the last two days with him, he found him to be quite approachable.

I never imagined he was even more disgusting than just being arrogant, aloof, and looking down on others!

That's so hypocritical!

He now feels absolutely no remorse for betraying Zhang Hong.

The beautiful, wealthy young lady with long, straight black hair and black stockings said in a cold voice, "Stop making excuses. You just look down on them and then arrogantly watch the show from the sidelines."

No, I'm not!

I didn't!

I......

"Alright, then I'll be honest." Zhang Hong raised his head and said seriously, "I'm dissatisfied! I'm dissatisfied with everything!"

He said this as if venting his frustration:

"I'm dissatisfied with movies because nowadays they dare to make movies out of any kind of garbage to scam money! They dare to call any kind of trashy variety show a 'big movie' and then openly release it in theaters!"

"I'm so dissatisfied with TV dramas! Why are all the dramas these days just about romance?! Or they're just love stories disguised as fantasy, martial arts, palace drama, professional, or spy dramas! And the worst part is, the romance is all so awful! Who acts like that in a normal relationship? Huh?"

"I just want to see sweet romance, isn't that enough? What's with all this 'I love him, he loves her, she loves him, she loves her' stuff? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts? What rubbish! Aren't there plenty of these kinds of things in real life? Why put them on TV to disgust people?"

"A workplace drama? What, doctors and nurses in hospitals are exhausted every day, yet they're all glamorous, falling in love, sporting slicked-back hair, looking polished, and driving sports cars around town?"

"A doctor friend of mine spent five years on his undergraduate degree and several years on his master's degree, and by the time he graduated, he was almost thirty! He finally got into a top-tier hospital and did three years of residency training! His monthly salary is only two thousand yuan! With all sorts of subsidies, it's four thousand a month! His night shift pay is only a few dozen yuan! He's always unkempt, and he even wears slippers when he's on night shift! That's how tiring it is!"

"And lawyers! Those 'elite lawyer' TV dramas that are all hype! Are elite lawyers just reciting legal verses from a textbook? Are they just focusing on trivial family matters and how people make mistakes? What about court hearings? What about evidence gathering? There are so many potential conflicts, why can't they portray them? Is it really that hard to find a professional lawyer as a consultant?"

Actually, there was so much more he wanted to say...

But... he can't say anything more now.

Back when he was a keyboard warrior, he could boast, "I could do it, I'm really good at it!" But now that he's actually a director, he realizes he's not really good at it.

He knows nothing.

After all, he's not like Zhou Dian, the kind of keyboard warrior who says, "I can't do it, but I'm going to keep talking."

He's another kind of keyboard warrior.

Lin Muqing was stunned.

Then, she suddenly laughed.

She raised her hand to tuck the stray strands of hair that had mischievously slipped out from her temples behind her ear, then took Zhang Hong's notebook and pen and flipped through the script he hadn't finished revising.

No, this cannot be called a script; it can only be called a story.

After reading it, she lowered her head and wrote a sentence in the book.

The swan is a bird found by the river.

"The entertainment industry is like a murky river; it may contain a lot of filth, but it also has clear streams. Like a wild goose soaring high in the sky, I understand your goals."

After finishing writing, the young lady gazed intently at Zhang Hong: "Indeed, this is the kind of goal someone like you should have, a great artist!"

But this makes you seem more like a three-dimensional person. Don't worry, I'll help you. You just need to film according to your own ideas, and leave the rest to me.

Zhang Hong was also a little confused.

It's not because she has a particularly beautiful smile—she's already very beautiful.

No, no, no, it's because Zhang Hong didn't understand what she understood or why her attitude suddenly changed.

Does this mean I'll never see that look of disdain or that expression again?

He seemed a little annoyed.

At this moment, Lin Chuan, who was stealthily moving nearby, interjected, "Wait, what does this mean?"

"A couplet." Lin Muqing didn't even glance at her elder brother, but instead gazed at Zhang Hong with a smile in her eyes as clear as autumn water. "If it were you, you would definitely be able to come up with a matching couplet."

"Two is one plus one," Zhang Hong replied.

"..." Lin Muqing looked at him quietly, "Are you serious?"

Zhang Hong asked cautiously, "Are you angry?"

No.

"This must be what anger looks like..." Zhang Hong chuckled awkwardly.

Lin Chuan, standing beside him, rubbed his chin and said, "I don't think it'll work. If you ask me, it should be... *chuckle*..."

Lin Muqing, who had punched his older brother in the stomach, remained calm and said, "Are you serious?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Zhang Hong glanced at Lin Chuan, who was lying on the ground convulsing like a shrimp, clutching his stomach and foaming at the mouth. A bead of cold sweat trickled down Zhang Hong's forehead.

He started racking his brains, and then... a flash of inspiration struck him!

"I've got it! The man from Xiannai Mountain!"

"The people of Xiannai Mountain... Even if you're an artsy youth, you still need to be down-to-earth. Is this your answer...?" After pondering for a moment, Lin Muqing picked up the notebook and wrote as she spoke, "It's not bad, but it's still lacking something."

After saying that, she pushed the notebook in front of Zhang Hong.

"The silkworm is the insect of the world? That's right, that's right!" Lin Chuan, who had gotten up at some point, came over and wiped the white foam from the corner of his mouth.

Then, without making a sound, he stuffed the tube of toothpaste that was sticking out of his pocket back into it.

So it's toothpaste! How the hell did you put this on your lips? I didn't even see it... Zhang Hong's eyes twitched, then he looked up at Lin Muqing with a questioning gaze.

Lin Muqing shook her head slightly and chuckled, "Aren't you going to the film set?"

"I see."

Zhang Hong took a deep breath, turned around and left the office.

Even though he didn't understand anything at all, that's how he had to answer when the teacher asked.

And you must leave quickly, not giving her time to say, "So what do you understand?"

But he also rediscovered his true self.

They were forced into this situation anyway! So why not just do it entirely according to their own ideas?

Since I have absolutely no expectations for grades, I should definitely make myself feel good! At the very least, I shouldn't have any regrets!

After he left, Lin Muqing shrugged and said, "Cut."

Lin Chuan grinned, pulled out a bank card, and placed it in her hand: "There's five million in the card, and the PIN is six 6s."

This is the investment he promised.

Now all the money in the production crew goes through Lin Muqing's hands.

But he still didn't understand: "Xiao Qing, how do you plan to spend this money? And what exactly does 'the silkworm is the insect of the world' mean?"

He understood the literal meaning and the parallelism, but he didn't understand the deeper meaning hidden within them.

But for some reason, Zhang Hong and his younger sister both seemed to understand.

This made him feel like an outsider.

He felt a little jealous, like he had watched helplessly as his own precious daughter was taken advantage of.

Are you all so in sync already? Then what's the point of having me as your brother-in-law?

"The wild goose soars high, overlooking the filthy river of the entertainment industry. Agriculture is the foundation, and those who bring warmth to the world should be like insects in the sky." Lin Muqing explained calmly, "He is the wild goose soaring high, looking down at this great river because he can't stand the entertainment industry. And I told him that since he has the idea of changing this industry, he should humble himself and use his talent to change it."

She tilted her head slightly and smiled beautifully: "That's all we can do when communicating with a talented and artistic young man like him."

However, this did allow her to understand Zhang Hong better.

It turns out... he wasn't the "other people's child" his parents were talking about.

He has flaws too... but he's good.

"So I also need to use my abilities." Lin Muqing opened the spreadsheet on her computer. "I will spend all the money where it's needed so that he can achieve his goals."

It's not a dream.

Dreams are just dreams, while goals are things that can be seen and touched.

Zhang Hong is a genius, so this is a goal, not a dream.

So just like she said.

Zhang Hong just needs to continue being his artistic youth.

He can go and film his movie; she can handle the rest of the trivial matters, like dealing with businessmen and communicating with the film crew.

Lin Chuan craned his neck to take a look at the table on the screen from afar.

An investment of thirteen million! The cost per episode is two million!

Does that mean... there won't be any money left after six episodes?

Nice, sister!

Lin Chuan looked at his younger sister, who was typing away on the keyboard, from behind, his eyes filled with emotion.

He never expected that his own younger sister was actually another traitor in the film crew besides himself!