How many steps are there before shooting a TV series? Jian Jing got to witness it this time.
As the "devil" producer, Sun Producer has to be responsible for raising sponsorship, finding investment. Feiniao Entertainment is not a huge company that can afford the full funding for such a big IP.
It's inevitable to have other capital come in.
Kang Mu Cheng took advantage of his locality and got a share of the pie. Other investors who got wind of it did not want to fall behind either. Today, Director Huang and others are here for business rather than just dining.
Most people who should know the news actually know it already.
So they swarmed over.
Wan Boss mainly came to invest, and also wanted to get a role for his girlfriend by the way. From the conversation, Jian Jing learned that Zhang Hongchun was already a veteran who had acted in very popular dramas, but never became popular, lingering until now as a third-tier actress.
With the huge success of The Devil, she wanted to get a role to ride the coattails.
Wan Boss implied money was not an issue, but could the script be tweaked to increase the female lead's scenes?
Xue Xiaosheng was brought by Sun Producer. He's an actor signed to another company, with some fame and a considerable fanbase. He has played male leads and second male leads in idol dramas, but has never acted in a hugely popular drama.
He targeted The Demon Hunter as well.
By the second half of the meal—mainly Jian Jing and Xu Scriptwriter were still eating—another guest arrived.
She took off her sunglasses, revealing her gorgeous appearance that stunned people.
Compared to her, Zhang Hongchun's looks were clearly outshined.
Surprise flashed across Director Huang's face, unexpected that she would come too.
Jian Jing recognized her, a top actress named Tao who had played many female leads and was a familiar face on screen. But she fell from grace now.
The reason was simple, indecent photos of her were exposed.
Now hardly any directors dared to hire her, but she was unwilling to fade away and wanted a comeback.
The person who recommended her to come was an executive of Feiniao Entertainment.
But after Tao Actress entered, she looked around and chose to sit next to Kang Mu Cheng, pouring him a drink right away, plus a charming smile.
The others' expressions: =口=
On second thought it was understandable. Director Huang was married, Xu Scriptwriter sat between him and Jian Jing, Wan Boss brought Zhang Hongchun, and Xue Xiaosheng was an extra himself. Only the unmarried Kang Mu Cheng.
Peace brings wealth. Although Kang Mu Cheng was decent, he couldn't openly make things difficult for others. He nodded at her and introduced himself.
"Mr. Kang, nice to meet you," Tao Actress spoke softly and gracefully. If not for her lowering herself today, it was hard to imagine she was asking people for help.
Jian Jing looked at her, then the others, feeling the meal wouldn't end anytime soon. She sneaked off, "I'm a bit stuffy, going out for some air, sorry."
With her agility at 7, she was quite nimble and got away swiftly.
The others naturally wouldn't get angry, knowing she was young and had a special status. Wan Boss even joked self-deprecatingly, "Our chat is a bit boring huh, haha."
See, worldly affairs were so realistic. As long as one's weight was heavy enough, no need to follow the rules of the game anymore.
Jian Jing escaped outside and took a deep breath.
"Meow~" a short-haired cat passed by.
The sliding door at the entrance opened again and someone else came in.
The short-haired cat changed direction and meowed at him.
"Hey," the man squatted down and scratched under the cat's chin.
Jian Jing recalled Xue Xiaosheng hugging a cat in the afternoon, lying on his back. Clearly he didn't know how to hold a cat and was just posing to chat her up.
"Teacher Jingjing." A familiar voice.
She turned and saw Jiang BaiYan's pale face, surprised, "Why did you come?"
"This is my sincerity." After winning best actor for Hide and Seek, Jiang BaiYan's worth skyrocketed, but it was well known that award-winning male leads didn't necessarily earn as much as popular idols. And now many movie stars were returning to the small screen, competition was fierce. He didn't want to appear arrogant, and remained as cautious as before.
"Though I'm a bit late, my plane was delayed." He smiled apologetically.
Jian Jing smiled, "No problem, they're still eating." She was about to go back in.
But Jiang BaiYan grabbed her sleeve and said softly, "Mr. Kang will introduce me, don't go back." He reassured her, "This was agreed, don't worry Teacher Jingjing."
Jian Jing was puzzled, "I can't recommend actors I like?"
"Just praise me some, Teacher." Jiang BaiYan's attitude was very firm. "Big Sis Lin and Mr. Kang have agreed this is best for you and me."
Jian Jing realized, "Oh, really?"
He smiled and made a shushing gesture, then knocked on the door outside the private room and waited for permission before entering.
Cheerful laughter sounded inside again.
Jian Jing thought about it and didn't go back in, heading straight to the hot springs instead. Since it was an inn with natural hot springs, the amount of actual hot spring water was limited and the pools were separated by gender.
With others not around now, she could enjoy the whole pool alone.
She asked the owner's wife for a bottle of sparkling wine, and entered the water in her swimsuit. The warm water flowing over her skin was mildly hot, opening up her pores instantly, very comfortable.
The steam rushed to her cheeks, speeding up blood circulation, a blush appearing on her fair face, she was feeling hot already.
Jian Jing popped the cork on the sparkling wine barehanded, stuck in a straw, and sucked some.
The cold drink entering her stomach formed a huge contrast with the steaming pool.
*Hiccup* So comfortable.
Jian Jing leaned on the edge of the pool, relaxing her body.
Faint voices could be heard from the men's pool next door.
It was too quiet so she could make out it was Shao Meng's voice, but the content was intermittent.
He said, "...is here too? How come?"
His assistant said, "Maybe he heard the news too. A coincidence."
Shao Meng: "Maybe... Should be... Don't know..."
Assistant: "Might backfire..."
The voices stopped abruptly.
Then footsteps and chitchat sounded from both pools.
More people coming over.
Zhang Hongchun, Tao Actress and Sun Producer entered one by one, the atmosphere friendlier than imagined.
"Nice environment here."
"It's natural hot springs."
"When did Teacher Jian come?"
"Just now."
The three mature women laughed and took off their robes, entering the water in swimsuits too.
Tao Actress displayed the social skills of a veteran top actress, relaxing her body as if just chatting leisurely: "The hot springs here are really good, not worse than the ones I found in Japan."
"Mainly it's near, just drive over on weekends for a soak." Sun Producer let out a satisfied sigh, the makeup on her face unable to hide her fatigue either, "I really need to relax and unwind now."
Zhang Hongchun said, "There's a blind masseuse here, great technique, my bones all loosened after the massage." Looking at Jian Jing, she added, "Teacher Jian, you gotta take care of your shoulders and waist when writing scripts."
Her features weren't top-class, but her tone and demeanor were very gentle and virtuous. Steam rose up, blurring her brows and eyes.
Sun Producer chimed in, "That's right, gotta start preserving yourself while young. It'll be too late to make up for it when you're older. I didn't care before and ruined my stomach. It hurts whenever I eat cold stuff now."
"Me too, couldn't eat properly when filming, lots of stomach issues." Tao Actress sighed, then joked self-deprecatingly, "Now I have time to cook every day at least."
Sun Producer smiled meaningfully without responding.
Zhang Hongchun even less likely to pick up that thread, quiet as a flower.
Tao Actress' gaze fell on Jian Jing, naturally continuing the topic as if the earlier implication was mistaken: "I tried several recipes with sesame but they didn't work. Is Teacher Jian's hair naturally like that? Still so healthy after dyeing."
Jian Jing touched her braided hair and smiled, "It's natural."
"So pretty, like silk." Zhang Hongchun looked very envious. "My hair gets damaged and loses color quickly after dyeing, it became so dry and coarse that I don't dare dye it anymore."
She paused, then added, "Even if I could dye it, I don't have Teacher Jian's fair skin, wouldn't dare choose such a light color either."
Jian Jing looked at her and said, "You're very fair too."
Zhang Hongchun stroked her neck and laughed, "I have foundation on."
"Some people are born fair, never tan no matter how long under the sun." Tao Actress said too, "I was shooting a commercial on the beach before, just one afternoon, my skin split into two colors. Still haven't gotten as fair as before."
Hearing her say that, Jian Jing looked over accordingly.
Tao Actress wore a deep V swimsuit, her figure was gorgeous, her skin was very white, no tan lines could be seen. Only the area covered on her chest revealed a section of red tattoo, which was very special.
She noticed Jian Jing's gaze and slightly turned her body, smiling, "I'm old, can't even cover my little belly."
Jian Jing couldn't help but chuckle.
She knew their intentions were not pure, but to be honest, when beautiful older sisters tried to please someone, it was really hard to dislike them. Especially when they were so gorgeous themselves, being praised by them could easily give one a wonderful sense of vanity and superiority, making one feel very comfortable being flattered.
No wonder the big bosses didn't dislike dining events. The flatterer and the flattered felt worlds apart.
On the other side of the wall, the men chatted even more happily than this side.
They talked very loudly. Wan Boss was an investor who had always disrespected actresses. After drinking, without ladies present, he inevitably made some vulgar remarks.
"Tao Peach is still very beautiful, white skin, [beep] big breasts, although Xi Xi is not bad either, she lacks that kind of charm after all, she's not popular!"
The women's side fell silent.
Director Huang couldn't offend the investor, "Hehe."
Xu Scriptwriter played dead.
Xue Xiaosheng came to ask for a role, offending the investor would lose the role at the minimum, and at worst the fire could burn himself.
As for Shao Meng, although he was the male lead, what's a male lead? When even the director didn't speak up, there was no way he could stick his head out.
Only Kang Mu Cheng could say something, "Wan is drunk."
Jiang BaiYan worried the same as Xue Xiaosheng, but he was smarter, immediately got up, "I'll pour some water."
In theory, these two sentences, one after the other, should have changed the topic. However, Wan Boss treated Huang and the others completely differently from Kang Mu Cheng. The latter was his equal.
He wanted to make friends with Kang Mu Cheng and deliberately tried to get on his good side.
How to get on his good side? By imparting "men's experiences".
"Not much, not much." Wan Boss laughed loudly, deliberately lowering his voice, "Mr. Kang entered the circle not long ago right? Let me tell you, actresses on TV are one thing, in private they are another."
Kang Mu Cheng frowned.
He didn't like Wan Boss's behavior, but such were the customs in the entertainment industry. Being chaste was fine, but he couldn't interfere with others' interests.
Abiding by the rules of the game was the primary condition for becoming a player.
He was thinking about how to change the topic when Jiang BaiYan came over with several glasses of iced lemon water, smiling, "Just made lemon water, added honey, great for sobering up."
"Thank you." Kang Mu Cheng had an idea. He picked up the glass, "The alcohol is quite strong today."
Wan took a sip. His mood didn't diminish. He continued, "If you ask me, Japanese liquor is just like little Japan, sweet and greasy, unlike Moutai. But Japanese women are fine. Last year when I traveled to Japan, those young girls were so charming, about the same age as Teacher Jian..."
Clank, Jiang BaiYan accidentally smashed the glass and spilled ice water everywhere.
"Sorry," he said very sincerely and innocently, "my hand slipped."
Wan was a little annoyed, but he wasn't stupid either. Looking up and seeing the iron expression on Kang Mu Cheng's face, he realized his mistake.
"I misspoke, Teacher Jian is a woman of culture. Look at this mouth of mine." Wan still had a big mouth. He looked down on actresses but wouldn't look down on a writer. This had nothing to do with income. "Mr. Kang, don't blame me, don't blame me."
However, Kang Mu Cheng did not give him a way out. He couldn't care less about Wan insulting actresses, but he absolutely could not tolerate it when it came to Jian Jing.
"Sorry, I'm a little tired." He got up in irritation, "Excuse me."
Knowing he was in the wrong, Wan didn't dare stop him.
But even more frightening things were yet to come.
When they came out of the hot spring, they saw Jian Jing walking towards them. She stopped in front of Wan Boss, facing him, "Wan, I heard I look Japanese. Is that true?"
Wan wanted to play dumb and gloss over it, but when pinned by her eyes, he felt as if stripped naked, secrets nowhere to hide. Cold sweat broke out on his neck.
"Hehe," he was sober now. Embarrassed, he said, "No, nothing like that."
