After Going Bankrupt, I Got Clung To By A Canary Omega - Chapter 4

The villa’s tea room.

Tang Lin watched as Fu Qingli unhurriedly lifted the purple clay teapot. With a light press of her wrist, a stream of water spun and poured down, striking the wall of the fairness pitcher and forming an apricot-yellow cascade.

“No need to rinse the tea?”

Fu Qingli’s hand was very steady as she poured tea for Tang Lin, and when she cut off the stream, it was clean and decisive.

“This is Silver Needle.”

She did not explain much.

Tang Lin felt that the Fu Qingli before her was somewhat unfamiliar.

Gone was the usual frivolity and self-importance. All of a sudden, she had become gentle, steady, and composed.

Could it be that the situation on Fu Qiqin’s side was truly that dire? Dire enough to make this second-generation rich girl, whose entire mind had been set on messing around with acting, suddenly see the light?

“Young President Fu really does know a lot. I’ve heard this tea isn’t cheap. Letting me drink it is a bit like feeding peonies to an ox—such a waste.”

Fu Qingli took a sip of tea. Silver Needle was indeed different from the cheap white tea she used to buy.

The directors she had worked with while filming in the past had mostly loved drinking tea. Although she had good acting skills and was easy to work with, she still had to build relationships with directors, so she had deliberately learned a little about tea brewing. As for Silver Needle, she had also been fortunate enough to drink it at a director’s place a few times. It suited her taste very well.

“If you know it isn’t cheap, then you’re not someone who knows nothing about tea.”

Tang Lin covered her mouth and laughed. “Young President Fu has a good background and has seen much of the world. How would I dare show off before an expert? I’d only heard the name before. If I hadn’t come here today, who knows when I’d ever have gotten to drink it. Yours is top-grade high-mountain tea too, a little different from what’s usually sold on the market. It’s lucky I didn’t embarrass myself in front of outsiders.”

Listening to Tang Lin call her “Young President Fu” over and over, Fu Qingli understood at once what role the original body had played in Tang Lin’s eyes. If Tang Lin had not valued Fu Qiqin, she probably would not have joined Fu Entertainment at all.

To Tang Lin, the original body was nothing more than a useless rich girl playing around in the entertainment industry. In fact, Tang Lin was probably very satisfied with the original body being a hands-off boss.

Fu Qingli did not intend to change that.

After all, she knew Tang Lin’s abilities better than anyone.

Seeing that Fu Qingli completely ignored her usual flattery, Tang Lin did not feel awkward. She directly took out the variety-show proposal and placed it in front of Fu Qingli.

“Romance Adventure?”

Fu Qingli was a little surprised. When it came to work, she did not think Tang Lin would casually find some random proposal just to brush her off.

Tang Lin nodded. She also thought the name was tacky, but that was not a major issue.

“This proposal was sent over two months ago. To be honest, I’m not optimistic about it.”

Fu Qingli flipped through the project proposal. Although it was so immature it looked like a brainstorming draft, she was certain this was that variety show.

Love’s Number Tag, the starting point of the original novel’s female lead.

But she was a little surprised. If things followed the original plot, the original body should already have died by now. And according to Tang Lin, this variety show had not yet received investment. Then what exactly had happened in the original book, where the female lead picked up the variety show opportunity?

Tang Lin’s words interrupted Fu Qingli’s thoughts. Fu Qingli refilled Tang Lin’s tea. “How so?”

Listening to her gentle, unhurried voice, Tang Lin suddenly remembered the scene when she had first come to Fu Entertainment. It had also been in a similar tea room, when Fu Qiqin had entrusted Fu Qingli to her care.

Once the restlessness was washed away, there was still unpolished jade underneath. She really had been reborn into someone completely different.

Tang Lin straightened her back. “Putting investment cost aside, there are at least three reasons I’m not optimistic.”

“First, no celebrity is willing to publicly date. That’s cutting off their own path. This means they’re destined to only find eighteenth-tier people trying to make quick money, or even ordinary amateurs. But that also means this variety show won’t have traffic. It’ll be hard to attract advertisers or sell the rights, so the possibility of turning a profit is destined to be low.”

After Tang Lin finished, she paused. But Fu Qingli did not express any opinion, so she could only continue.

“Second, if it’s positioned as a couples’ variety show, then its competitors are idol dramas and romance films. Whether in terms of actors or script, it’s bound to lose. Audiences are more willing to chase idols and ship couples in well-produced dramas.”

“Last point. The director of this variety show isn’t very well-known. She’s only filmed a few travel variety shows before, and none of them made any splash. When she came to speak with me, her idea was reality television without a script. But reality TV tests both the guests and the director even more. It can easily expose a lot of things.”

After saying this, Tang Lin lifted her chin slightly and leisurely picked up the hot tea Fu Qingli had refilled, taking a sip.

In her heart, she secretly thought, President Fu, I haven’t failed your expectations. As long as Fu Qingli listens this time and doesn’t act foolishly, they can at least save twenty million.

Fu Qingli tapped the proposal with her fingertip. “Avoid the official label of couples and handle it more vaguely. Those so-called CPs are already half real, half fake. Tell me, do fans and even gossip media prefer romance stories they know have scripts, or stars walking into a reality show and revealing those ambiguous interactions that might actually be real?”

The tea in Tang Lin’s cup swayed. Her shoulders and back stiffened, and her gaze froze.

That was right. Although there were flaws, they were not unsolvable problems.

Before coming here, she had spent a long time painstakingly preparing her persuasion. But in the face of Fu Qingli’s single sentence, it had completely collapsed.

She had only analyzed the issue from feasibility, yet had failed to see the project’s potential.

Fu Qingli had merely glanced at the proposal for barely half a minute, yet she had directly pointed out this variety show’s explosive selling point.

An opportunity that could almost have helped Fu Entertainment make its name had nearly been buried in her hands.

Under the table, Tang Lin’s fingers curled. Her index fingernail scraped again and again across the inside of her thumb.

Fu Qingli looked at Tang Lin’s reddening ears and, thinking of the impression the original body had left on people, understood.

Tang Lin had accepted her argument.

But she could not accept that she was inferior to a useless rich girl.

Especially for someone who had spent more than ten years in the entertainment industry, with an excellent reputation as a former senior agent and now general manager of Fu Entertainment, this was a problem of professional ability and judgment.

Fu Qingli picked up the teapot and reached toward Tang Lin. “Silver Needle tastes better while it’s still hot.”

Tang Lin’s body was still stiff. She had not yet thought of how to explain her oversight.

Seeing Fu Qingli’s movement, she hurriedly held up her teacup with both hands and brought it forward toward the spout. In the rushed movement, a trace of embarrassment still showed.

Tea struck the cup wall, the gentle trickle seeming to carry a touch of Zen.

After those few seconds of calm, the stiffness on Tang Lin’s face had already melted away. The corner of her mouth lifted into a perfectly appropriate smile. Her neck lowered slightly, and both hands loosely cupped the now-filled teacup.

Taking the opening, she said, “President Fu, I contacted the director of this proposal yesterday to learn more about it. No one else paid attention to this proposal, and she hasn’t received any inquiries. She’s already given up on it. I think we can secure a producer identity based on our budget. As for the guests, I’ll confirm suitable candidates from within the company as soon as possible. I interviewed a newcomer today who was pretty good.”

Tang Lin took her bag, pulled out Cheng Die’s résumé, and handed it over.

Fu Qingli took it. She glanced at the unfamiliar name. It should be someone like an NPC.

But when she swept her eyes to the photo attached at the back, Fu Qingli’s gaze instantly froze.

She had read the original novel of Breaking the Cocoon over and over until the edges of the pages curled, but deep in her heart, there had always been a faint sense that something was out of control.

So the root of those inexplicable details was here!

It was not some Cheng Die.

The person in the photo

was none other than

the actress

from the real world

who had replaced her as the female lead, Shu Man’er!

She had not transmigrated into the book.

She had transmigrated into that movie—

the movie she had regretted to the end.

And movies

could be adapted!

Listening to the sound of paper trembling, Tang Lin set down her teacup and lifted her eyes to look over.

She saw Fu Qingli staring fixedly at Cheng Die’s photo. The thicker-than-usual A4 paper had already been pinched into wrinkles by her fingers.

Tang Lin secretly thought, could this person’s love-brain be acting up? Did she want to transfer her affections?

To be honest, in terms of looks alone, Cheng Die was obviously no match for Shen Chaomu. Or rather, there was no need to compare them at all.

One was a bright, pretty face that counted as eye-catching in a crowd.

The other was a divine beauty who had been out of the industry for half a year and still got brought up from time to time.

Fu Qingli came back to herself, released Cheng Die’s résumé, and returned it to Tang Lin.

“This newcomer isn’t suitable.”

Tang Lin was a little surprised. Fu Qingli had stared at this newcomer’s photo for so long, yet the moment she spoke, she meant not to sign her?

And she did not even mention a reason. Could Cheng Die perhaps be some cinnabar mole who had once hurt Fu Qingli in love?

Tang Lin felt a little regretful, but this was a small matter. It might also have been because of Fu Qingli’s decisive tone, but for some reason, she did not want to speak up against it.

Fu Qingli tapped the proposal for Romance Adventure with her fingertip. “Change the name. Fu Entertainment will be the exclusive producer. You negotiate the amount, and I’ll handle the investment. It’ll be a reality show with no script, but we need to film and livestream at the same time, then release an edited version later. You decide the guests. I only have one requirement: start filming next month.”

Tang Lin quickly took out the notebook she carried with her and wrote down every point Fu Qingli said.

Although starting filming next month was rushed, her selection of the variety-show proposal today had already revealed a serious lapse in professional ability. In terms of execution, she did not want Fu Qingli to doubt her abilities again.

After all, with such a major investment, Fu Qingli was practically handing full authority to her. If she did this well, then with Fu Qingli’s support, she could completely let loose and make great moves at Fu Entertainment.

After Tang Lin finished writing, she looked up at Fu Qingli and spoke frankly. “Regarding the guests, although I lean toward using people from our own company, to ensure popularity, we still need a few well-known and trending figures to carry the show. We may need to cooperate with other companies. Actors are heavily bound by their companies, but I also know some people from other circles. We can try inviting them.”

Fu Qingli was very clear that she knew absolutely nothing about these things. She was only benefiting from familiarity with the original novel.

But now, she did not yet know how the plot had been adapted. Whether being familiar with the original novel was a blessing or a curse remained uncertain.

“You decide those things. I’ll participate.”

Tang Lin rapidly set down her teacup, covered her mouth, turned her head, and went into a bout of urgent, muffled coughing.

She had been careless!

She really had been fooled by Fu Qingli’s proper, serious appearance.

It really was as she had guessed before. Fu Qingli had finally given up on film and intended to switch to variety shows to continue chasing her entertainment-industry dream, right?

Tang Lin could not help being shocked by Fu Qingli’s persistence in walking one path all the way into darkness.

Was she planning to take the route of being so thoroughly hated that she became famous for it?

Tang Lin asked, “Then for your partner, should we arrange for Chaomu to join?”

Fu Qingli’s hand paused around her teacup. As if nothing had happened, she lifted it and took a sip, refusing. “Arrange someone else from the company.”

“Someone low-maintenance. Preferably someone who loves cleanliness, doesn’t play games, isn’t greedy for food…”

Meeting Tang Lin’s teasing gaze, Fu Qingli suddenly realized she had said too much. She gave a light cough, turned her head to admire the lake view outside the window, and continued drinking tea.

From the bottom of her heart, Tang Lin did not want the two of them to partner up on a variety show either. One of the reasons she allowed Shen Chaomu to live like a salted fish was that Fu Qingli would definitely never agree to let Shen Chaomu partner with someone else in filming, especially for emotional scenes.

But she wanted Shen Chaomu to partner with Fu Qingli even less.

She knew very well that although Shen Chaomu had not come from a formal acting background, she had some acting talent. She was the type who needed a good scene partner to lead her along. Often, she could quickly enter the scene and perform beyond her usual level.

If she acted opposite Fu Qingli, she would only be dragged into the water and collapse along with her.

Tang Lin also did not want Shen Chaomu’s “canary” label to become solid fact.

In Tang Lin’s mind, she swiftly sifted through suitable candidates in the company.

“How about Xie Mian? Her appearance fee isn’t high, and she’s quite obedient. Since the company is fully investing this time, we won’t take a cut. Giving her three hundred thousand for the appearance fee should be enough. That way, we can reduce the investment budget a little.”

The tea swayed lightly. Fu Qingli set down her cup without showing anything, then wiped the water droplets on her fingertip with her thumb.

“Let Shen Chaomu appear after all. We’ve lived together for so long. Partnering would be smoother, and we have tacit understanding.”

Tang Lin’s vision went dark. She deeply felt that she had miscalculated. She had failed to understand that Fu Qingli was advancing by retreating. Not only had Fu Qingli wanted Tang Lin herself to bring up letting Shen Chaomu partner with her, she even wanted Tang Lin to be the one to persuade Shen Chaomu, that salted fish, to join the show.

“I’ll personally discuss the participation and appearance fee with her. You don’t need to mention it.”

Fu Qingli did not want to find Shen Chaomu a strategist. With the relationship between Tang Lin and Shen Chaomu, Shen Chaomu’s pay would definitely not be low.

Right now, Fu Qingli did not have a single cent.

Tang Lin: “…”

Fu Qingli had already become a spirit after breaking out of her cocoon, hadn’t she? In terms of delicacy of thought, even a seasoned corporate schemer like Tang Lin could only admit defeat.

Discussing the appearance fee personally?

This favoritism could not be any more obvious!