Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Upon learning that Yang Che had invested in "Spring Bright Pigsy", Gong Beibi was pleasantly surprised: "What a coincidence, I've even been to that film crew before."

"Oh?"

"I'm going to see Tao Hong's show; it's quite funny."

Wu Shixian explained, "She and Tao Hong are classmates."

"Yes, our class monitor."

Yang Che understood; their class also included Duan Yihong, Gao Hu, Yin Xiaotian...

Xia Yu, who will be coming for an interview soon, is a year younger than them, and Hu Jing is two years younger.

Okay, they're all from the Central Academy of Drama.

So, Haibo, you really have to live up to expectations!

After chatting for a while, Yang Che learned something else: Gong Beibi's current manager is Cai Yinong, and when she debuted in 97, her slogan was "Little Gong Li"...

Yang Che almost burst out laughing. Damn, it really is exactly the same. Isn't Sister Xia the "Little Fairy"?

However, Yang Che was increasingly puzzled. Gong Beibi had such good resources and was one of the earliest Tangren's top actresses. Why was she nowhere to be found for a long time?

Looking at Wu Shixian, I thought to myself: Well, it must be because of him.

.........

As we were talking, she arrived, alone.

As soon as she knocked and entered, she instantly attracted everyone's attention.

White sleeveless top, white casual pants, and a pair of sandals.

She was incredibly fair-skinned, with striking features, bright, expressive eyes, and a face full of collagen.

With a small, oval face and no heavy makeup, and a simple short hairstyle without any exaggerated styling, she was breathtakingly beautiful with just her bare face, yet her beauty was non-threatening, just like the girl next door.

Not to mention the group of men, even Gong Beibi stared wide-eyed. As for Qin Lan, her gaze was equally fixed on her, though her expression wasn't very pleasant.

The private room was silent for 1.5 seconds.

She stood gracefully at the door, pursed her lips, and waved with a slightly awkward smile: "Hello everyone."

With a whoosh, people stood up one after another.

Yang Che naturally stood up as well, and waved casually: "Sit down and eat first. We're all from the crew, and we're all young people, so please don't take offense or be shy."

As soon as she finished speaking, Yang Che could clearly feel her breathe a sigh of relief, and he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Sure enough, her smile became much more natural, and she took a few steps forward to the table: "You must be Brother Che."

"It's me, please address me as such. Everyone, please sit down, let me introduce myself."

Qin Lan gave a forced smile, stood up, gestured for her to sit in her seat, and then went out to ask the waiter for more bowls and chopsticks...

She thanked him and sat down.

Yang Che glanced at him a few more times. He was indeed quite sturdy, especially compared to the other two women present.

"This is Cheng Er, the director. He was the one who initially contacted you."

"Hello, Director!"

"This is Ning Hao, the production manager."

"....."

"This is Wu Shih-hsien, the executive director."

"..."

"This is Qin Lan, my assistant."

"Hello there."

"Hello there."

She was quite anxious; she had to go back to filming that afternoon, but for the moment she could only patiently eat without tasting anything.

Yang Che didn't have any frivolous tests in mind; he just wanted Cheng Er, Wu Shixian, and Ning Hao to see how important it was to reach a consensus.

Through eye contact, Yang Che knew that the three men were satisfied with her appearance.

The atmosphere at the dinner table didn't become dull because of her arrival. Qin Lan and Wang Baoqiang frequently spoke up, asking about all sorts of gossip from the Huan Zhu film crew.

Judging from her words, the three of them are currently on good terms.

Having regained her composure, Qin Lan asked questions related to QY.

Knowing that Qin Lan was Che Ge's assistant, she answered with exceptional care.

"I've only met Auntie three times. Twice she came to visit the set, and once at her home in Taipei. She held my hand and kept telling me to act well."

Her house is so beautiful; it's a six- or seven-story building that belongs to her family. The building is magnificent inside, with rooms of all kinds of functions, and even a professional film and television editing room.

Her husband adored her. He called her "baby" in front of us, held her hand as they walked around the house, and always put food on her plate and fed her during meals. The three of us were stunned. We all said we wondered if we'd ever have a husband like that in our lives, haha.

Everyone was dumbfounded; what the hell?

Gong Beibi looked constipated as he listened, and subconsciously rubbed his arms.

"My maternal grandfather named me Beibi, which is a homonym for 'baby.' Hearing this, I even want to change my name..."

To Yang Che's horror, however, Qin Lan's eyes showed longing. Holy crap! This woman is totally love-struck!

Wang Yuan, who had been silent until now, spoke up: "Do you know why this person's works are always full of sympathy and tolerance for third parties?"

For a moment, everyone was at a loss for words, since the reason was common knowledge. But here was the man who had mentored her.

Yang Che chuckled, "Because she rose to power after being a mistress for ten years."

"what?"

Qin Lan looked utterly incredulous, her faith seemingly crumbling; clearly, she was unaware of this matter.

She smiled and continued to shovel rice into her bowl.

Wang Yuan continued, "This person has serious problems with her values. When she was a mistress, she said: 'I have children, and the Ping family also has children. As long as we maintain the status quo, both families' children can enjoy their father's love. Why not?'"

Her child was born to her ex-husband; by the way, she had an affair during her marriage. However, her first divorce wasn't due to infidelity, but rather because she cried uncontrollably after learning of her first love's death, which her ex-husband couldn't accept.

Her first love was her high school Chinese teacher, twenty years her senior. Her family caught them in the affair, and the teacher was dismissed and sent to the countryside...

This was the first time Yang Che had heard such gossip, and it was indeed shocking; his thought process was truly different from that of ordinary people.

Not only him, but everyone except Wang Yuan was hearing about it for the first time and was completely dumbfounded.

Ning Hao asked with a smile, "Really?"

"It's true, she said it herself, and some of it was said by her husband's ex-wife. There are so many novels with similar storylines to corroborate this."

Ning Hao asked curiously, "Wang Yuan, you seem very resentful. What's wrong?"

Wang Yuan slammed his hand on the table and sneered, "There's a line in the script... (Anyway, TV stations can broadcast it, but novels won't allow it)."

Everyone was startled by Wang Yuan's actions, though some were slow to realize what was happening.

Wu Shih-hsien said thoughtfully, "Could it be a coincidence?"

"Impossible. Her father is a historian. How could someone from such a family not know what that means?"

Yang Che put down his chopsticks and his smile faded. "I'm done eating. Are you full?"