"Oh, mom and dad." Ji Ruochu suddenly said, "Shang the director just called me."
The father with a silly grin on his face froze: "Shang the director?"
The mother with a gentle motherly smile was startled: "Shang the director!"
The couple spoke in unison. It took Ji Mochen a few seconds to realize that this was the general director of the melodramatic TV series they had found through Brother Qin.
Although, with his acting skills, he basically had no chance of encountering such a renowned director, but since the other party hoped to invite his daughter to star in a TV series, Ji Mochen had investigated it.
Shang Chuan was respectfully known as "Old Shang" in the industry.
More than twenty years ago, at the age of thirty-five, Shang Chuan became famous as the "melodramatic TV series director" and successively directed several top-notch melodramatic idol dramas, launching numerous stars.
Later, when melodramas were no longer popular in the TV market, the forty-year-old Shang Chuan transitioned to movies.
As the old saying goes, gold shines wherever it is.
Even when transitioning from TV series to movies, Shang Chuan still relied on his past connections from TV dramas to invite well-known actors and screenwriters.
With his own talent, good scripts, outstanding actors, and numerous sponsors, Shang Chuan quickly made a name for himself in the film industry as well.
Hence, he earned the title of "Old Shang" in the industry at the age of over sixty.
Logically speaking, at Old Shang's current age of nearly seventy, it should be time for him to enjoy his retirement.
However, as a lifelong winner like Old Shang, when looking back on his past glory, there was still one regret that stuck in his throat - the TV series adaptation of the novel "Surprise! The Good-for-Nothing Girl is Actually a Bigshot," which was a hit twenty years ago but has yet to be filmed to this day.
"Did Shang the director contact you directly?" Ling Chujin was somewhat surprised.
After all, her late idol with exceptional acting skills, White Moonlight, once lamented missing out on this very drama.
Now, her own daughter said she received a call from the even more renowned Old Shang himself?
What was this?
Fans seeking revenge, not too late after twenty years?
Well, thinking about it, she felt a tinge of pride.
Hmph! In the past, you ignored my idol, but now my daughter is out of your league!
Of course, this was just Ling Chujin's inner monologue.
After all, the mere fact that the other party personally called her daughter was already quite surprising.
"Yes." Recalling what the other party said on the phone, Ji Ruochu's expression was also somewhat complicated, "Old Shang wants to invite me to visit the crew."
"Visit?" Ji Mochen was puzzled, "Have they started filming? Have they found the female lead?"
"That doesn't make sense. If they've already found the main actress, why would they invite our daughter? To show off? To flaunt?" Ling Chujin was confused, "Is that old bone still so childish?"
"No."
Ji Ruochu took a sip of water to moisten her throat before continuing slowly.
Apparently, over the past few years, Old Shang, who was originally planning to retire, couldn't get over this hurdle and decided to restart this script.
He had even mentally prepared himself for being mocked when it aired, with his sole purpose being to avoid having an unproduced TV series in his directorial career.
Don't ask, it's the stubbornness of an OCD director.
But to restart this drama, finding capital and revising the script was easy, and finding the main, supporting, and minor roles was also manageable.
The only difficult part was finding the core of the entire series - the female lead.
She had to be talented in both arts and martial arts, but also young, with decent acting skills.
The last condition was easy - as a big shot in the directing circle, Old Shang was more than capable of training acting skills.
The key was the first two requirements. Such a rare talent could hardly be found in the industry, and outside...
Those people probably wouldn't even look at the meager income from acting, let alone enter the entertainment industry.
This troublesome set of conditions finally had a glimmer of hope after Ji Ruochu caught everyone's attention.
At such a young age, her martial arts foundation was so solid, not bad.
Her acting skills were also not subpar, even better than most actors, excellent!
She was also an International Mathematical Olympiad gold medalist, from a wealthy family background, played musical instruments, had an impeccable demeanor, and was said to be proficient in multiple languages - simply perfect!
In the words of Director Qin Xinhui, who strongly recommended Ji Ruochu:
Such a suitable candidate was simply tailor-made for this series.
Initially, Old Shang felt this evaluation was too exaggerated. After so many years in the industry, he knew that only one percent of what others said could be taken at face value.
Until... he saw Ji Ruochu's performance in "Roaming 2."
Until... he confirmed with Qiu Xuetong that her martial arts scenes were performed in person, and many brilliant shots were done in a single take.
Until... he saw Ji Ruochu's perfect score at the International Mathematical Olympiad in the relevant materials.
At this point, Old Shang could no longer sit still. He immediately had someone contact her, and... was quickly rejected.
Shang Chuan: ... Great, his directing career has met its second Waterloo.
Worse still, the reason for the rejection was truly impeccable:
The young lady currently had no interest in acting and only wanted to focus on her studies.
Shang Chuan: ...
Fortunately, the nearly seventy-year-old Old Shang had seen his fair share of ups and downs, and this setback was hardly anything.
It's just that her priority is studying? Understandable!
After all, this child was admitted to Peking University as the top scorer in the national college entrance examination, she loves learning!
Besides, didn't Qiu Xuetong's "Roaming 2" also wait three years for this child?
If Qiu Xuetong could wait, how could he not wait? He could just scout for actors while waiting.
Over twenty years had passed, what's another three years - no... university is four years, isn't it? No... this child would probably pursue a master's degree, right?
With a rough calculation...
Hmm, Old Shang started to worry if his old bones could last until this child completed her studies.
Moreover, even if he could last, the adaptation rights to the novel wouldn't wait. At most two years, and the rights would revert to the author.
Thinking of this, Old Shang was so worried that he immediately had someone try to contact the child again.
But in the blink of an eye, the prospective female lead was unreachable. When asked about her whereabouts, oh... she had gone for freshman military training for a month.
With no choice, he could only continue waiting.
While waiting, he didn't neglect casting.
He invited the actors originally considered for the male lead, male supporting roles, and female supporting roles twenty years ago.
Although they couldn't play their original roles, they could portray the parents of the original characters!
In this way, while scouting for actors, the old man kept counting the days until the end of Peking University's military training, clutching his phone day and night, waiting.
This was the reason for the timely unknown call he received, even more punctual than Ji Mochen's calls.
"Our daughter wants to go take a look?" The old father held back his comments and asked.
He understood his daughter. If she didn't want to go, she wouldn't have mentioned it.
