Chapter 40
Xiang Jing didn’t dare offend Meng Qiuran. After all, she had Meng Xiayan behind her, and both were major financial backers for the show. Offending the Meng family over a single dinner would be a losing bargain.
However, tonight’s gathering wasn’t just an ordinary dinner; the people from Xinghe had an agenda. The station leadership was easy enough to handle—she could just explain it to them later—but she had to check with Xinghe beforehand.
Meng Qiuran sat directly across from her desk, looking relaxed and certain, as if she were convinced her request would be granted. Xiang Jing calmed her down, signaled that she needed to coordinate, and then stepped out of the office with her phone.
“Min Shuang, Meng Qiuran suddenly said she wants to go tonight. I couldn’t talk her out of it.”
The female voice on the other end rose noticeably: “What is she doing joining the fray?”
Xiang Jing glanced back at the office door and walked two steps further away, afraid Meng Qiuran might suddenly come out and overhear. “She says she wants to invest in movies too, and has an ample budget.” When the eldest Miss Meng says she has money, she definitely has money.
Li Minshuang had also heard that this young lady was difficult to deal with and felt a surge of irritation. “Fine. Tonight is just a feeler session anyway; we probably won’t reach a concrete result. Let her come.”
Xiang Jing breathed a sigh of relief. If Xinghe was okay with it, then everything was fine. But she didn’t forget to ask one more thing: “And President Xie…”
“He’s not going,” Li Minshuang paused. “He won’t mind an extra person tonight.”
Relieved, Xiang Jing hurried back into the office. “My apologies, Miss Meng, for keeping you waiting.”
Meng Qiuran swiveled her chair halfway and then turned it back as Xiang Jing moved. “It’s fine, not too long.” Despite saying so, there was a hint of impatience in her tone.
She hadn’t originally been like this, but given the original host’s reputation, even if she improved, people wouldn’t necessarily believe it. Besides, some things really did require the original host’s willful personality to get done quickly; otherwise, she’d be waiting forever.
Xiang Jing gave her the location and time. Meng Qiuran was stunned again: “It doesn’t start until eight?”
Recording ended at 4:30. Why such a long gap?
Xiang Jing explained: “Since it’s not an official station-organized event, everyone is heading over separately. Staggering the time makes things easier. Besides, everyone is tired after a day of recording and needs a break to freshen up.”
With that explanation, Meng Qiuran had no reason to doubt. These were details she hadn’t known before.
Gu Ruolan left immediately after recording. When Meng Qiuran stepped out of Xiang Jing’s office and passed the stage, she saw only the overhead house lights were still on. Yuan Yi hadn’t left; she didn’t want to sit alone in her seat, so she was waiting near the exit.
“Sister Qiu, is everything settled?” Yuan Yi only knew Meng Qiuran had gone to handle business, not the details.
Seeing her still there, Meng Qiuran was surprised. “I told you to head back if you were done. Why are you still here?”
Yuan Yi laughed brightly. “You seemed in such a rush; I was afraid it was an emergency. It wouldn’t be convenient if you needed a hand and couldn’t find anyone. I didn’t have anything else to do anyway.”
Meng Qiuran didn’t know what to say for a moment. On the way to the parking lot, Yuan Yi mentioned something: “I was sending a message near the exit just now and saw Xie Zixuan go looking for Gu Ruolan.”
Meng Qiuran paused. “Who?”
“Xie Zixuan.”
“I know it’s her, but she went to find Gu Ruolan?” Meng Qiuran didn’t think those two had any private connection. “Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?”
“I heard her announce her own name. How could I be wrong?”
That was rare. Meng Qiuran imagined a melodramatic scene: “Did she go to take revenge?”
Yuan Yi looked at her speechlessly. “Is that even possible?”
Meng Qiuran pouted. She didn’t have high hopes for Xie Zixuan’s brainpower.
Yuan Yi recalled: “I was a bit far away, couldn’t see clearly. It seemed they only spoke a few words. Gu Ruolan was in a hurry to leave, so she just chatted with her briefly.” Finally, based on her knowledge of her idol, she concluded: “It seemed pretty perfunctory.”
Given Xie Zixuan’s attitude toward acting, being perfunctory was polite. Meng Qiuran thought to herself that if it were her, once the cameras were off, she wouldn’t even give her a second glance. I care so much about this craft and you treat it like a game—and you want me to be nice to you? Dream on.
Before Meng Qiuran could say anything, Yuan Yi grew indignant first: “If I were her, I wouldn’t have the face to go look for Teacher Gu!” It seemed she was also disgusted by Xie Zixuan’s lack of progress.
Meng Qiuran suddenly thought of something and gave her a meaningful look. “You’re quite upright.”
Yuan Yi wasn’t boastful. “Most normal people are, right?”
Meng Qiuran had a thought: it would be great to arrange for Yuan Yi to be by Gu Ruolan’s side. She was genuinely good to Gu Ruolan and honest with her; it would make gathering information much easier. Unfortunately, there were no vacancies for now.
She planned to go home and change, but she happened to run into Meng Xiayan, who had just returned from his business trip.
“Brother, you’re back so early?” She remembered him saying he would land at night.
Meng Xiayan looked exhausted, barely lifting his eyelids. “Yeah, changed my flight.”
“Then get some rest.”
As she was heading to her room, Meng Xiayan asked, “Are you going out tonight?”
“Ah… dinner with Xiang Jing.”
Meng Xiayan narrowed his eyes, thinking for a moment before remembering who Xiang Jing was. “Are you that close to her now?”
Meng Qiuran feigned helplessness. “Close? Not really. It’s just that since you big bosses are busy, I’m the one who goes there the most. She has to show some courtesy to a big client.”
Meng Xiayan hummed. Just as he was about to ask something else, Meng Qiuran cut him off: “Xie Yuzong isn’t going, don’t worry.”
Meng Xiayan relaxed and didn’t bother asking for more details, only telling her to drink less and stay out of trouble.
Tonight’s dinner was at Zilan Pavilion, which was a bit more elegant and refined than Qidu Mansion. Gu Ruolan and Yu Youqing arrived ten minutes early. Everyone else was either on the road or just arriving at the parking lot.
Yu Youqing was worried about this dinner. Xinghe couldn’t be without an agenda, yet Gu Ruolan had agreed without consulting the company. This was rare; usually, Gu Ruolan would decline if possible or let the company handle it.
When she first heard the news, she gave a heavy sigh. “Ruolan, you agreed so suddenly. President Xin doesn’t even have time to make it.” Xin Qi had important guests to receive tonight and couldn’t pull herself away. Yu Youqing was free to come along, but the person coming from Xinghe was Li Minshuang. As just a manager, her status wasn’t high enough.
Perhaps sensing the faint blame in her tone, the usually indifferent Gu Ruolan suddenly retorted: “It’s not exactly business, just a meal. Do I not even have the right to decide that now?”
Yu Youqing was stunned, not expecting this attitude from her. Reacting with anger would only ruin the atmosphere. Knowing Gu Ruolan, something must have made her unhappy for her to act this way. She softened her tone. “I’m not blaming you. I just think it’s safer to discuss things beforehand. After all, Xinghe and President Xin are competitors; we have to consider her feelings too, right?”
Gu Ruolan didn’t want to fight; she just wanted to emphasize she wasn’t a puppet. “I didn’t say I was collaborating with Xinghe tonight. President Xin shouldn’t be so petty that she won’t even let me eat a meal.”
With that, Yu Youqing couldn’t say anything more. If she did, President Xin really would look petty. She sighed and reminded her: “Lin Mengjia just made her comeback; everyone will be catering to her tonight. Pay attention and don’t offend anyone.”
During the recording today, everyone could see Lin Mengjia intentionally “cueing” Gu Ruolan. Yu Youqing couldn’t guess her intentions, but since she couldn’t ask directly, she told Gu Ruolan to stay sharp.
Meng Qiuran arrived on the dot, and after waiting about ten minutes, everyone was present. Aside from the two station leaders in charge of variety, almost everyone was female, so there was less pressure to drink.
Meng Qiuran was initially tense, but after seeing that no one was in a drinking mood, she relaxed. She was seated between the station leader and Xiang Jing—VIP treatment. She was directly across from Lu Youyou, but Gu Ruolan was sitting to her side; she had to intentionally turn her head to see her.
The dinner started as Xiang Jing said, with catching up and casual chat centered on Lin Mengjia, since she had been away for so long. Eventually, the topic turned to new movies. Xiang Jing was full of praise for the demonstration Lin Mengjia and Gu Ruolan gave today.
“I guarantee, once this episode airs, clips of your demonstration will flood Bilibili.” She knew too well the hobbies of young fans who “ship” characters. The chemistry between the two Movie Queens had so many noteworthy points.
Lin Mengjia remained humble: “Mainly it was Ruolan acting well. I just helped her with a supporting role; she was the real highlight today.”
Gu Ruolan was even more humble, saying sincerely: “It was Teacher Lin’s guidance.” This wasn’t the first time Lin Mengjia had praised her today; everyone noticed.
Li Minshuang took the opportunity to suggest: “Since you both appreciate each other’s acting so much, have you considered collaborating on a movie?”
The moment she said this, almost everyone’s chopsticks stopped. Even Meng Qiuran, who hadn’t been interjecting, paused. Sure enough, tonight’s dinner isn’t simple.
She was glad she had come, even feeling a bit smug. Before that smugness could last, she realized someone was looking at her. The gaze came from the side; she knew it was Gu Ruolan. When she looked back, Gu Ruolan had already turned her head—she only saw the dangling pendant earring.
She couldn’t tell why Gu Ruolan had looked at her. Was it to invite her into the topic? Or did she want her opinion? But that didn’t make much sense; aside from being rich, she didn’t have the professional expertise of anyone at the table. Why would Gu Ruolan care about her opinion?
Yu Youqing was the first to respond: “Ruolan has always been waiting for a suitable script. We are definitely looking forward to such a collaboration, but it mainly depends on whether the project is right.”
Li Minshuang was very sincere: “The funding currently in place is nearly nine figures. The script quality is beyond reproach; our Movie Queen Lin has already approved it.”
The implication was that Lin Mengjia had no issues with the script. It seemed the rumors were true: Xinghe was using a new movie to entice Lin Mengjia out of retirement.
But one movie, two Movie Queens—who would be the lead?
Meng Qiuran had this much alertness. Her mission was to help Gu Ruolan win Best Actress; she couldn’t do that without a lead role. Yu Youqing asked the question for her, and Li Minshuang smiled.
“This film is tentatively set with Sister Lin as the first lead, but the second lead role has a lot of room for performance—it’s not inferior to the lead.”
This meant Gu Ruolan would be playing a supporting role to Lin Mengjia. It wasn’t impossible; in terms of seniority, it wasn’t unacceptable. However, Gu Ruolan had just won the Silver Glow not long ago, and Lin Mengjia was just returning; this felt like an intentional attempt to suppress Gu Ruolan.
Yu Youqing was dissatisfied. Just as she was about to give a polite refusal, Li Minshuang added: “But our investment plan includes more than one movie. The next production will be even larger in scale, almost tailor-made for Ruolan.”
She was basically laying her cards on the table: let Gu Ruolan support Lin Mengjia for one film, and in exchange, she’d get a high-budget lead role. If they kept their word, it wasn’t a bad deal.
Gu Ruolan didn’t care about playing a second lead; collaborating with Lin Mengjia was a dream of hers. When she first debuted, the other woman was already semi-retired; she had deeply regretted it at the time.
Meng Qiuran secretly observed Gu Ruolan’s reaction. Although she didn’t say anything, her jaw was relaxed and there was a tiny curve to her lips; she was clearly happy.
Meng Qiuran felt a bit disgruntled. If Gu Ruolan agreed to Xinghe, wouldn’t both movies be arranged by them? What about her? She’d be third in line!
She hadn’t offered an opinion, but she took everything in. Aside from observing Gu Ruolan, she had her own calculations. Xinghe produced high-quality work, and the chances of winning an award weren’t low, but it wasn’t as secure as her own investment. But if Gu Ruolan was willing, she couldn’t very well force her.
Meng Qiuran hesitated over whether to speak up to indicate she was willing to invest or to hint that Gu Ruolan should reconsider.
“I’d like to see the script first.”
Gu Ruolan spoke suddenly, repeating her usual requirement. Meng Qiuran chuckled inwardly; she really was stubborn. Even with such good terms, she stuck to her “script first” principle. At the same time, she felt a slight relief; a “script first” stance meant no decision would be made tonight. There was still a chance.
Relaxing, she felt an itch in her throat and gave two light coughs before taking a sip of tea. Perhaps because those coughs followed Gu Ruolan’s words, it was easy to draw associations. Not just Xiang Jing and Gu Ruolan, but even Lu Youyou—who hadn’t looked at her much all night—turned her head.
The others were fine, but Lu Youyou’s eyes were full of scrutiny and a hint of hostility.
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