"Someone told your fortune?"
The director was somewhat amused and exasperated. He had considered many reasons, but he never expected to receive such an answer from He Yuan.
"...You're such a superstitious person?" he asked.
He Yuan sighed and smiled bitterly, "You know me. After so many years in this industry, I'm still just an ordinary extra. I can't help but be superstitious now..."
She sighed, "Sometimes, you can't help but believe in these things. Wasn't Miss Lin like that? I heard that she got a nose job because someone told her, and then her career skyrocketed." The
director opened his mouth, wanting to say something but then stopped.
He really wanted to say that Miss Lin's career didn't skyrocket because of a nose job; it was entirely because she found a good sugar daddy. With a powerful backer, she could enjoy the benefits, which is why she achieved what she has now.
However, as a director, he didn't like discussing actors' affairs, and even less so about other people's private matters. So even though he really wanted to tell He Yuan the "truth," he held back and awkwardly took a sip of water.
"Since that's the case, there's nothing I can do," he said to He Yuan with some regret, sighing, "I really wanted to work with you again."
He genuinely wanted to help He Yuan. In the previous drama they worked on, although He Yuan only had a small role with five or six scenes, her acting skills—that pure, natural, and relaxed performance—were truly impressive.
After talking with He Yuan and seeing the character biography and notes she had made for that role, he felt even more sorry for her.
So, when he was preparing for the new drama and saw the role of the second female lead, his first reaction was to approach He Yuan.
It's just a pity that He Yuan has now declined.
He Yuan also felt a little embarrassed. She could sense the director's good intentions, but it was pointless for her to participate in a drama that was deliberately being buried.
"I hope we'll have the chance to work together again next time," the director said.
He Yuan glanced at the director, then at Xu Gui's reply on her phone. She breathed a sigh of relief and tentatively asked the director, "Director, how about postponing the filming of 'The Murderer' for a few months?" The
director was taken aback.
He Yuan tried to reveal some information: "The fortune teller who told me that if we were to film this drama now, the situation wouldn't be very good."
The director smiled and said, "I don't believe in these things..."
He Yuan glanced at him and whispered, "But when filming started, didn't you offer a pig's head and burn incense?"
The director's expression immediately became tense.
He Yuan simply asked, "Director, do you know Xu Gui?"
The director: "...Who is that?" The director was old and didn't like going online, so he had never heard of this name.
He Yuan opened her phone, searched for Xu Gui's name, and then handed the phone to the director to look at.
"Have you seen the recent Hunan TV program '360 Trades'? Xu Gui was one of the guests... Her main profession is fortune telling," He Yuan introduced.
"She's incredibly skilled at fortune telling, practically infallible. Look at these videos, they're edited by her fans, videos of her telling fortunes..."
"Just a few days ago, she even saved a girl who was about to jump into the river to commit suicide!"
He Yuan had already asked Xu Gui if she could tell the director about her, and Xu Gui had agreed, so she was now introducing her to the director without any reservations.
The director squinted and held his phone a little further away to look.
There were countless news articles about Xu Gui online; she was practically a celebrity now, and there were many videos about her. However, the best and most popular video was the one edited by the netizen [我爱吃臼耳根]. The
one He Yuan was showing the director was her edit.
The director clicked on the video and watched it. After watching two videos, he looked at He Yuan and said, "The fortune teller who told your fortune, is this the one?"
He Yuan nodded. The director muttered, "
...He's too young."
He Yuan smiled and said, "Age isn't necessarily a measure of a person's ability. Sometimes, talent is the most important thing, especially in the realm of metaphysics. What do you think?"
The director nodded slightly, then asked, "Is it also her idea that it would be better to postpone the filming of this drama?"
He Yuan didn't want to talk about the male lead, as it was someone else's private matter, and she didn't like to discuss other people's private affairs, as it seemed like she was smearing them. So when the director asked, she just nodded and didn't elaborate.
The director frowned, not answering He Yuan immediately, only saying, "Let me think about this some more." He
Yuan nodded understandingly.
After talking with the director, they parted ways at the coffee shop. Having finished discussing the matter, she felt much lighter, a sense of relief that everything had settled, and her mood remained good.
On her way back, she saw a stall selling duck necks and bought some, intending to eat them with Xu Gui.
However, when she arrived at the dormitory, she found Xu Gui's manager, Mr. Kuang, there as well.
"Mr. Kuang..." He Yuan greeted him, put the duck necks in the refrigerator, and was about to go inside when Kuang Ming stopped her.
Kuang Ming said, "I'm here to see you, Miss He."
He Yuan: "...See me?"
She looked at Xu Gui in confusion, who looked at her innocently.
"Miss He, please have a seat." Kuang Ming immediately took the initiative—he seemed much more at ease than He Yuan, the dormitory occupant.
He Yuan walked over and sat down next to Xu Gui, feeling somewhat uneasy because she didn't know what Kuang Ming wanted to see her about.
Kuang Ming looked at her and dropped a bombshell.
"I've gotten Miss He's contract from your agent. From now on, I'll be in charge of you," Kuang Ming said. He
Yuan: "..."
He Yuan's first reaction was that she had misheard. She looked at Kuang Ming questioningly, then at Xu Gui, before asking uncertainly, "Me, me? Why?"
She was somewhat flattered.
Xu Gui, however, snorted lightly. She gave Kuang Ming a disdainful look and said to He Yuan, "Kuang Ming must have seen your potential, knows you're a rising star, so he rushed to get you under his wing."
She even suspected that Kuang Ming might have acted so decisively because he listened to her advice.
Sure enough, she had initially thought he looked like he was full of bad intentions, his mind as cunning as a sieve; it turned out she was right—he was indeed very cunning. Kuang
Ming pretended not to hear Xu Gui's mutterings. He smiled at He Yuan and said, "Miss He, you don't need to be so modest. These past two days, I've watched you teach Xu Gui acting, and I've found your acting skills to be truly excellent. Afterwards, I even watched some of your old dramas."
Hearing this, He Yuan's eyes widened in surprise. "You even watched my old dramas?" she asked.
Kuang Ming nodded, clasped his hands on his knees, and said, "I'm interested in you and want to sign you to my agency. Naturally, I need to understand your situation better. However, I didn't expect that you, Miss He, have filmed so many dramas... 135! That's a huge undertaking, and there are probably many I haven't seen."
He Yuan asked, "You've seen them all?"
Kuang Ming replied, "More or less. I mainly watched the scenes where you appeared."
He Yuan hadn't played any major roles before, so her screen time was limited. Otherwise, it would have taken Kuang Ming a year to watch all 135 dramas. However, although she didn't have many scenes, after watching them, Kuang Ming gained a deeper understanding of He Yuan's acting skills.
Just as Xu Gui had said, he also felt that what He Yuan needed now was an opportunity.
"I think you have a lot of potential!" he said to He Yuan.
He Yuan opened her mouth, and for some reason, at that moment, she felt her eyes welling up with tears.
In this short time, she received more recognition than she had in the previous twenty-eight years. Whether it was Xu Gui or now Kuang Ming, they all told her that her acting was excellent, and the only reason she hadn't become famous was because she lacked an opportunity.
"What if... what if you find that no matter what you do, I just can't become famous?" she couldn't help but ask.
Kuang Ming chuckled, sitting in a large chair with armrests on both sides. He leaned back naturally and said with a smile, "If that's really the case, then I should reflect on myself. With such a gem in my hands, how could I let it slip through my fingers? What else could I be but useless?"
He Yuan was speechless, and Xu Gui couldn't help but glance at his manager again.
Kuang Ming said, "Anyway, from now on you'll be an artist under my management, and I'll arrange your work. What work do you have on hand right now?"
He Yuan snapped out of her reverie and said, "Right now, there's only one drama I'm in talks for, Director He Zhao's 'The Thief,' but I only have ten lines..."
Kuang Ming was initially surprised to hear about "The Thief," but then he felt relieved when He Yuan said she only had ten lines.
He knew it; if He Yuan could get a significant role in "The Thief," her former manager wouldn't have thrown her out like a hot potato.
"Take 'The Thief' if you can, and I'll see if I can get you other scripts..." he said.
He Yuan nodded.
Within two days, she realized the benefits of having a new manager. Her previous manager had completely ignored her; she had to do everything herself. Aside from the fixed salary of 4,500 yuan deposited into her account each month, she was practically an unsigned amateur.
However, now that she has a new agent and an assistant, she doesn't have to worry about getting scripts anymore; Kuang Ming will naturally find them for her. In fact, within two days, he got her a gig.
"Acting Competition..." He Yuan looked at Kuang Ming.
Kuang Ming said, "Your advantage is your acting skills. You've been in the industry for many years. This is a program hosted by Hailan TV, mainly about comparing acting skills. You'll have a huge advantage on this program!"
"There's just one thing: I hope you can make a splash in your first acting competition. That way, it'll be easier for me to handle the rest."
He Yuan was a little nervous. It's funny, really; she's been in the industry for so many years and hasn't been on a single program yet. This would be her first time participating.
"Me...can I do it?" she asked, somewhat unsure. Xu Gui,
who was slurping snails, didn't even look up and said, "Of course you can! Didn't you say your acting is excellent, no worse than anyone else's? In that case, you should be full of confidence."
He Yuan smiled bitterly, "That's true..."
Kuang Ming just looked at her and asked, "Do you want to be famous?"
He Yuan was taken aback, then nodded, "Yes!"
Kuang Ming said, "Since you want to be famous, then go all out! Shrinking back will only make you miss opportunity after opportunity to become a big star, won't it?"
He Yuan's heart skipped a beat.
Xu Gui was sitting on a high stool eating snails. Since becoming human, she's always been the most enthusiastic about eating. The snails were bought by Kuang Ming, and even though they had just finished lunch, Xu Gui had already opened them again, slurping snail after snail.
After Kuang Ming had He Yuan sign the contract for the "Acting Competition," he turned around and saw a pile of snail shells in front of her. His lips twitched involuntarily.
He currently manages two artists: Xu Gui and now He Yuan. In Kuang Ming's opinion, Xu Gui is carefree, while He Yuan is too sensitive. It would be ideal if their personalities could be balanced.
"...You have to work tomorrow too," he said to Xu Gui.
Xu Gui's eyes widened. "So there's something for me too?"
Kuang Ming said helplessly, "Didn't you see the schedule I gave you yesterday? The filming for *Fashion* is in the next couple of days. The dates are set, starting tomorrow."
"Okay." Xu Gui was quite obedient in this regard, although she was still quite clueless about what she was going to be filming. *Fashion* hadn't given her any details, the only thing she knew was that the theme was "sea."
The ocean.
*
The next morning, Xu Gui was still asleep when Yuan Lu dragged her out of bed. After she groggily finished washing up, she was stuffed into the van. The whole time, her eyes were half-closed, completely not awake.
When she finally woke up, an hour and a half had passed. Sitting in the airport, staring blankly at the empty waiting hall, she was completely bewildered.
"Where am I?" she asked Yuan Lu.
Before Yuan Lu could answer, Kuang Ming, who was sitting next to her reading a magazine, chimed in, "We're at A City Airport. We're heading to H City now. The theme of this shoot is 'sea,' so naturally we need to go somewhere with the sea."
H City, surrounded by the ocean and archipelagos, was the perfect location for the theme.
"I should have told you all this yesterday," he said, looking at Xu Gui.
Xu Gui rubbed her eyes, yawned, and said, "I forgot just now, but you mentioned it and I remembered."
Kuang Ming asked her, "Have you memorized all the information about *Fashion* magazine? Don't be clueless when you meet with them."
It would be ridiculous for someone going to be a brand ambassador to be completely ignorant of the brand's background and other information; they'd be laughed at if discovered.
Xu Gui said, "Don't worry, I've memorized it all. I was studying until midnight last night."
She still had the spirit of doing her job for the money. The other party was her benefactor, so she naturally had to be responsible and not let them feel that their money had been wasted. Her work also had to be worthy of the money they paid.
"By the way, how long will this shoot take?" she asked again. "I have something to do in five days, so I have to come back."
Kuang Ming looked at her in surprise and asked, "What is it?"
As far as he knew, Xu Gui didn't have any other relatives or friends besides the people at the orphanage. What else could she have to do besides eating, drinking, and loafing around?
Xu Gui said, "One of the children at our orphanage is going to have surgery that day, so I have to come back to see."
She was naturally referring to Dongzhi. She had given the one million she had earned to the hospital director to use for Dongzhi's treatment. The director had been in contact with Dongzhi's attending physician, and the two sides had been discussing Dongzhi's surgery, but due to lack of funds, the surgery had been repeatedly postponed.
Now that she had the money, the director immediately contacted the hospital and scheduled Dongzhi's surgery.
The surgery was in five days.
Xu Gui felt she should go and see her. During her rest period, she had visited Dongzhi in the hospital. To ensure her physical condition was optimal for the surgery, Dongzhi had been staying in the hospital.
When Xu Gui visited her, she found her complexion to be very good, clearly indicating that the hospital staff were taking excellent care of her.
Kuang Ming, upon hearing this, realized there was such a thing. He nodded and said, "Don't worry, the filming shouldn't take too long, two days at most... If you really don't have time, I'll talk to *fashion* magazine and ask them to give you a day off."
Xu Gui thanked him, "Thank you." After
thanking him, she remembered something else she wanted to ask Kuang Ming for, so she asked him, "Do you know any good renovation teams?"
Kuang Ming: "What's wrong?"
Xu Gui had just woken up and was still a bit lazy. Leaning back in the waiting room chair, she said lazily, "Our orphanage is planning to renovate recently, and I was wondering if you knew any renovation teams... I heard that if you find a bad renovation team, the whole renovation will be ruined."
She had mentioned this to the director when they were chatting. Their orphanage was quite old, and many places needed proper repairs, so she had mentioned this when she transferred the money to the director before.
The director was also very concerned about this matter, but he didn't know how to proceed or what kind of renovation team to hire. After all, renovation is a minefield, and anyone can fall into a trap.
Xu Gui pondered that Kuang Ming had a wider network of connections than they did, and might know someone skilled in renovation. Although Kuang Ming seemed cunning, he appeared reliable, and the team he found would definitely be fine.
That's why Xu Gui asked him this question.
After listening, Kuang Ming didn't immediately agree, but instead inquired about the situation at their orphanage. He learned that Xu Gui was giving all her earnings to the director to manage, but the director, despite having the money, didn't know how to renovate the orphanage, which made him both amused and exasperated.
"How about this," he said, "I'll introduce you to someone, a professional. You can give him the money, and he can handle all the renovation issues for the orphanage."
Xu Gui's eyes lit up. She looked at Kuang Ming happily and said, "I knew that asking Mr. Kuang would be helpful for these things." No wonder the director and the others called Kuang Ming an "elite."
Kuang Ming teased her, "Aren't you going to call me Kuang Ming anymore?"
Xu Gui laughed.
...
After waiting in the departure lounge for about half an hour, Xu Gui and her group's plane finally began boarding.
Boarding, check-in, takeoff.
It was Xu Gui's first time flying, and she was initially excited. However, once she realized that she couldn't actually fly from the plane, she lost interest, tilted her head, and fell asleep.
Kuang Ming, sitting next to her, had been talking to her just two minutes before, but when he looked back, he found her asleep.
Kuang Ming: ...It's really hard not to envy Xu Gui's sleep.
Only those who have suffered from insomnia know how enviable Xu Gui's sleep is. Falling asleep so easily, just by leaning her head back, is something he only experienced back in his school days.
Kuang Ming sighed.
What made him even more envious was that Xu Gui slept until the plane landed, and he was the one who woke her up. This meant that when Xu Gui opened her eyes, she met his envious gaze.
Xu Gui: ? ?
Xu Gui was somewhat bewildered: she had only taken a nap, but it felt like a year had passed. Even their own agent's gaze towards them had changed.
But putting that aside, their flight went very smoothly. When they emerged from the gate, they found the *fashion* magazine staff waiting for them.
The two groups met.