After Transmigrated as a Black-Hearted Entertainment Boss [Transmigration] - Chapter 27

No matter how much Tao Zui turned it over in his mind, he failed to see anything wrong with their earlier conversation. Ultimately, he could only attribute Gu Nan’s sudden spike in temper to an inability to take a joke, and promptly tossed it to the back of his mind.

It wasn’t a big deal anyway, and Gu Nan wasn’t the type of person to obsess over petty squabbles; there was no need to take it to heart.

But before long, he realized he was wrong—disastrously wrong.

Gu Nan was exactly the type to obsess over petty squabbles!

Sitting in the back seat of the taxi, Tao Zui looked at the back of Gu Nan’s head in the front passenger seat, feeling entirely speechless.

To make communication easier, Gu Nan usually sat in the same row as him whenever they traveled together. Who could have anticipated that when they were getting ready to return to North City after lunching with Zhou Fanghong and the others today, this guy would pull open the front passenger door without a single word? He then maintained a posture of staring fixedly out the right window at the passing scenery the entire way, making it blindingly obvious that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

It was just a casual jest; is it really worth all this?

Tao Zui muttered a couple of complaints internally, feeling a bit irritated yet helpless. Children had the right to throw tantrums, while adults could only carry on under the weight of the world.

If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain, right?

With that thought, Tao Zui asked as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred, “How did you sleep last night? Director Zhou mentioned that the hibernation pod is extremely narrow and only has a single layer of foam padding. It must have been quite uncomfortable to lie on, right?”

Gu Nan said nothing. An awkward silence filled the taxi.

Tao Zui took a deep breath, suppressing his rising irritation, and gave it another shot. “If it’s truly uncomfortable, just have Director Zhou add another layer of foam padding. It shouldn’t affect the shot anyway. You can’t ruin your lower back just for a movie role, can you?”

Silence.

The taxi driver stole a glance at the persistently silent Gu Nan, then checked the rearview mirror to look at Tao Zui’s darkening face. The curiosity that had flared up upon hearing keywords like “director” and “filming” instantly died out; he didn’t dare breathe too loudly.

Being ignored yet again, Tao Zui felt the suppressed irritation surge straight to his brain. The excellent temper that had allowed him to remain unfazed even when facing clients deliberately making things difficult in his previous life vanished into thin air. He snapped, “Gu Nan, that’s quite enough! I just cracked a small joke yesterday. It was already incredibly impolite of you to throw a tantrum in front of Director Zhou, and today you’re still sulking with me—aren’t you being incredibly childish?”

Hearing this, Gu Nan could no longer keep his composure. He turned halfway around and glared at Tao Zui. “How am I being childish?”

Tao Zui glared right back without a shred of politeness. “How are you not being childish? It was just a joke telling you not to break the props! What on earth are you throwing a fit for?”

Gu Nan’s brow furrowed. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Seeing that the confusion on his face didn’t look feigned, Tao Zui froze as well. “It wasn’t because I joked about you? Then what are you angry about?”

Gu Nan’s expression shifted slightly. He whipped back around and spat out a stiff, single-word response: “Nothing.”

Nothing, my foot! Tao Zui ground his teeth as he stared at that perfectly round back of the head. If it wasn’t because of the joke yesterday, then what was it?

He meticulously reviewed every single event that had transpired over the past day once more. Suddenly, a stroke of inspiration hit him, and he spoke up hesitantly, “Could you possibly be… angry because I’m accompanying Su Jiqiu to his set and not you?”

The moment the words fell, Tao Zui watched the youth in the front seat visibly stiffen. Those ears, highly prominent because his back was turned, flushed a deep red at lightning speed.

…It actually was that?!

Tao Zui’s eyes widened. In the next second, he slapped the seat, laughing until he doubled over. “Gu Nan! And you still claim you’re not childish! Are you a toddler in kindergarten? Getting mad just because Papa isn’t accompanying you to camp? Hahahahahaha~”

Gu Nan: “……”

Tao Zui laughed hysterically in the back seat while Gu Nan stiffened his neck in the front, nursing his silent fury. The vibrant crimson color gradually spread from his ears to his cheeks and down his neck—he had clearly flown into a rage out of sheer shame.

Yet even at this exact moment, Gu Nan hadn’t fully deciphered why he was so furious.

From childhood to adulthood, he had handled countless things entirely on his own. He had even achieved Level 10 on the International Solitude Scale—”undergoing surgery alone”—so what else was there that he couldn’t accomplish by himself?

But the moment he heard that Tao Zui would be accompanying Su Jiqiu to his set and couldn’t be with him, a massive knot forms in his chest.

He could actually rationalize why Tao Zui chose to do so.

To put it nicely, Su Jiqiu was innocent; to put it bluntly, he lacked a filter. He wasn’t the kind of idiot who would follow just anyone who tried to scam him, but he easily let his guard down around people he knew.

For instance, the moment Zhang Ling asked for his bank details, he handed them right over, never once considering the possibility of being thrown out on the street.

Facing a situation where they were both about to enter an unfamiliar environment, it was glaringly obvious who required more looking after.

But while his logic could comprehend it, emotionally, Gu Nan simply couldn’t smooth it over.

He should have been used to it by now—used to being the one left behind, the one abandoned, used to shouldering responsibilities and expectations that shouldn’t belong to him. Yet when Tao Zui made an unassailable choice, he was plunged into a wave of despondency so severe he couldn’t control his emotions.

Tao Zui laughed until he wiped away the physiological tears peeking from the corners of his eyes. Shifting to the center of the seat, he reached out to pat Gu Nan’s shoulder.

Seeing that the kid still kept his head stiffly turned away, his irritation completely vanished. He spoke up with a smile, “You know Su Jiqiu’s personality better than I do. He’s got a sensitive nature paired with a brain that hasn’t fully awakened. He hasn’t suffered much or faced hardship since he was small, and after finally running away from home, he managed to run right into you—tsk, that luck is truly unmatched.”

“Originally, I assumed Dali Temple wouldn’t begin filming until July, which would have meant your schedules were perfectly staggered. I could have accompanied you to your set first before heading down to Hengdian. Who could have anticipated such a terrible coincidence that both crews would clash? Aside from me, there is currently no one available to use at the company. If I hire someone on a whim, I still have to evaluate them first, right? An assistant is fine, but if something goes wrong with an execution agent, we’re completely finished.”

Hearing Tao Zui’s explanation, Gu Nan finally showed a hint of a reaction. He turned his head and asked, “An execution agent?”

“Yeah. Because you two are joining your crews, the company has been recruiting lately—two assistants plus one execution agent. You and Su Jiqiu get an assistant each to handle your daily lives, while the execution agent will be solely responsible for Su Jiqiu.”

Upon hearing this, Gu Nan turned not just his head, but his entire torso around. He pressed with surprise, “The execution agent is responsible for Qiu-qiu? Then what about you?”

Tao Zui looked even more surprised than him, his eyes widening. “I’m solely responsible for you, of course!”

He hadn’t anticipated this answer, nor had he expected Tao Zui to deliver it with such absolute matter-of-factness. Along with Gu Nan’s immense shock, a wave of unsuppressable joy surged into his heart, making his eyes grow increasingly bright—as if two bonfires had been lit inside them, burning brighter and hotter by the second.

Because of the angle, Tao Zui didn’t catch Gu Nan’s expression, continuing, “Besides, I’ve sunk so much money into that production; how could I not keep a close eye on it? Film crews are notorious for finding all sorts of creative excuses to embezzle funds.”

The fiercely burning bonfires in Gu Nan’s eyes instantly dwindled. He turned his head back around, offering a casual, flat “Oh.”

Oh? Oh what? Whatever, as long as he’s talking to me.

Tao Zui patted Gu Nan’s shoulder again, speaking with profound earnestness, “Now you realize just how hard your Papa works, right?”

Why is this man constantly trying to act like a father figure to people?

Gu Nan felt somewhat speechless, but the knot in his chest had indeed dissipated significantly. Still, he wasn’t willing to just accept Tao Zui’s words and step down the ladder so easily, so he pivoted the topic directly. “Have you found anyone?”

Tao Zui let out an “Mm,” his tone carrying a slight hint of abnormality. “You could say we found someone. The interviews are arranged for tomorrow.”

Gu Nan failed to detect the oddity in Tao Zui’s tone. After giving an affirmative response, the two chatted a bit more revolving around the topic of recruitment.

Seeing the atmosphere inside the vehicle return to normal, the driver felt a wave of relief while his gossiping impulses began to flare up again. Just as he was looking for an opportunity to chime in, Gu Nan suddenly let out a massive yawn halfway through a sentence, tears welling up in his eyes.

Seeing this, Tao Zui understood instantly. “You didn’t sleep well last night, did you?”

Gu Nan hesitated for a fraction of a second before nodding with an “Mm.”

“A capsule prop bed that’s less than two meters long and ninety centimeters wide at most—it must be hard to even roll over. It’d be a miracle if you slept well,” Tao Zui remarked with a twitch of his lips. “So, did you manage to find the character’s headspace?”

Gu Nan: “……”

I was entirely occupied with being furious; how could I have any mindset left to ponder a character? He had simply felt the bed was too hard and too narrow, feeling an inexplicable wave of immense grievance in his heart. Even after falling asleep, he had repeatedly dreamed about the day he was discharged from the hospital… In short, the experience was abysmal.

“Ahem,” Gu Nan cleared his throat uncomfortably. “The window of time was too short. I’ll try again after officially joining the crew.”

Tao Zui didn’t suspect anything else, echoing his statement. “That works too, but don’t become overly obsessed with this either. Poor sleep takes a massive toll on your condition. Trying it once or twice just to memorize that sensation is enough; don’t lose the greater for the less.”

Gu Nan nodded. “I know…” Before the words could fully leave his mouth, he let out another yawn.

“Alright, look at how exhausted you are! We’re still a long way from the airport; hurry up and close your eyes for a bit to rest your mind.” With that, Tao Zui sat back behind the driver’s seat, cutting off the conversation through action.

Gu Nan didn’t refuse, adjusting the seatback slightly before closing his eyes.

The driver beside them cast a regretful glance at the two, swallowing his bellyful of gossip back down. The interior of the taxi instantly fell quiet, with only the faint hum of the engine remaining.

Tao Zui held his phone to reply to a few WeChat messages, scrolled through his feed, and recorded the accumulated core work points into his memos. After that, he found himself with nothing much to do.

Scanning his surroundings, Tao Zui’s gaze ultimately landed right back on Gu Nan, falling into deep contemplation as he stared at the boy’s hair.

The assistants and the execution agent had indeed been found, and the interviews were arranged for tomorrow. Everything else was fine, except one of the candidates was a bit peculiar.

It was a girl named Long Feifei—twenty-three years old with one year of industry experience—applying for the position of artist assistant.

Yet in the original novel, Long Feifei was Gu Nan’s execution agent.

She made her grand entrance a year later, right after Gu Nan severed ties with Taoli Entertainment and entered Shengshi Entertainment—the agency where the Protagonist Shou was signed. She was the execution agent assigned to Gu Nan by Shengshi.

The original novel described her as slightly plump, highly shrewd, silver-tongued, and intensely ambitious. It took her a mere two years to climb from an artist assistant to the position of execution agent. She was a smiling tiger of a figure who didn’t let minor technicalities restrict her actions, and whose moral compass was highly fluid.

While she didn’t sound like a particularly good person, she was fiercely protective of her own. Because Gu Nan was the first artist she ever managed, she dedicated her absolute utmost to him. The two built a profound bond of friendship, and she ultimately left her original company alongside Gu Nan to co-found a studio.

Logically speaking, having such a capable individual extend an olive branch should make Tao Zui ecstatic. However, he had broken out in a full layer of goosebumps the moment he saw Long Feifei’s resume.

According to the original novel trajectory, Long Feifei should currently be a part of Shengshi Entertainment. Now that Gu Nan’s destiny had been altered by his own hands, the two theoretically shouldn’t have any further intersection.

Yet reality now sat directly before Tao Zui. With a mere wave of his small hand, these two would still end up working together.

This left Tao Zui feeling somewhat lost, unsure of whether this counted as a manifestation of the plot self-correcting.

But if the plot truly possessed a capacity for self-correction, then why did Gu Nan lose the role of Bone? What did his own existence even signify? And what on earth was the deal with Xincan’s Lu Junhao?