Chapter 200 - 168: Ascent Phase: 04

Words : 1383 Updated : Sep 23rd, 2025

Chapter 200: Chapter 168: Ascent Phase: 04 "Hesitation?" "New Shield wants to produce the movie ’Life’, not because they suddenly changed their strategy wanting to make an art film, but because they want to cultivate their own directors. Over the years, the changes in the movie market have not been smaller than in the TV drama market. More and more new directors have burst out with new box office records, and the veteran directors seem a bit lacking in stamina, unable to keep up with the changes of the times. Currently, the hottest commercial film directors were all signed by film companies when they were still unknown. New Shield wants to cultivate their own direct affiliates and have set their sights on Wen Bing." Zhou Lan and Zhou Yun briefly explained the situation of Wen Bing and New Shield. "Wen Bing wants to make the movie ’Life’, and New Shield, who wants to sign Wen Bing, will definitely support him. But their initial intention was only to meet Wen Bing’s demands, shooting an art film at a low cost. Making a profit was not their primary consideration, as long as they could break even, after all, they had not planned to invest much in this movie, nor did it require a large investment." "The problem lies here, if they use you as the lead actress, not to speak of market price, even a friendly-negotiated price would far exceed their budget." Zhou Yun understood. "Even if I act in this movie, films are not like TV dramas. I might have the fame and popularity of a celebrity, but in their eyes, I have no box office appeal, which won’t help increase the film’s revenue much, after all... this movie is just an art film." "That’s the point." Zhou Lan nodded, "Films carry much greater risks than TV dramas and are harder to control." "What if I’m worried about my salary being too high, can we lower the salary even more?" Zhou Yun asked. Zhou Lan: "Don’t even mention lowering it again, even if it’s a friendly price, the company is utterly reluctant, because a friendly price means the company earns less money too." Another tricky problem. In the afternoon, Zhou Yun met with Wen Bing. Wen Bing’s attitude was neither cold nor warm, only exchanging perfunctory greetings with Zhou Yun. What Zhou Yun did not expect was that as soon as Wen Bing spoke, he said: "You are not the ideal lead actress I have in mind." This statement brought the atmosphere to a freezing point. Zhou Yun and Zhou Lan looked at each other. At this moment, Zhou Lan could only try to smooth things over. "Director Wen, Xiao Yun indeed still hasn’t had any works broadcasted, and..." "That’s not what I mean." Wen Bing quickly gestured to stop Zhou Yun from continuing, "I don’t want to cast a famous celebrity for this film, I want a newcomer, someone who hasn’t been exposed before." Zhou Lan had nothing to say. After a moment of silence, Zhou Lan said, "I’ve seen the advertisement you directed and liked it very much, so after seeing it, I downloaded it and showed it to Xiao Yun. I excitedly told her that I found a very talented director who is preparing a new movie. You surely know that Xiao Yun has a lot of projects offered to her, but after watching your short film, she decided that she wants to act in your new movie." Wen Bing frowned, not saying a word. "Director Wen, may I ask why you want to find a newcomer to play the role?" Zhou Yun asked. Wen Bing was surprised that Zhou Yun would speak up at this point and looked at her with astonishment. Zhou Yun smiled openly and said, "Forced fruit isn’t sweet. If I really can’t meet your requirements, then we will just cooperate next time. But I’ve also put a lot of effort into lobbying the company for the chance to act in this movie, so I don’t want to give up just like that; I’d like to hear the reason." Wen Bing’s expression was a mixture of surprise and complexity, apparently not expecting Zhou Yun to be so persistent. Eventually, he told the truth. "To be frank, this movie is my directorial debut, and I want my girlfriend to play the female lead." - After meeting with Wen Bing, Zhou Yun and Zhou Lan got in the car and left. Zhou Yun got into the car without taking off her sunglasses, hugged her arms in front of her chest, looking out the window without uttering a word. Zhou Lan gave Zhou Yun a glance, wanting but hesitating to speak. "Ah, he wants his girlfriend to play the female lead, there’s nothing we can do about that," Zhou Lan said, "Don’t take it to heart." Zhou Yun didn’t reply. After a while, Zhou Yun said, "Sister Lan, tell He Yong not to bother having dinner with the people from New Shield." Zhou Lan sighed and concurred. This matter was... "It’s actually quite common for directors to want to cast their own girlfriends as the lead actress," Zhou Lan explained, "But not taking on this movie might not be a bad thing, to be honest. I myself have been worried that if this art film ends up performing poorly at the box office, it would still affect your reputation." Zhou Lan was worried that Zhou Yun would be upset, so she started to console her. Zhou Yun took off her sunglasses, shook her head, and laughed lightly. "Sister Lan, do you think I’ve just spent too much luck earlier, and now my luck has taken a downturn? After setting my sights on ’Luoyan’, I found out ’Luoyan’ was already taken by someone else.", and then again with the movie, the director already had his heart set on someone else." "That’s not the way to say it, in the entertainment industry, if you encounter ten roles you want to play, being able to act in one of them isn’t bad," Zhou Lan said, "Even the top actresses can’t just get any role they want; there’s always competition. Not to mention others, just look at Lew Qingqing and Su Yan, these two have been openly and secretly competing, fighting fiercely, you could say that every movie has stories of their battles, and more often than not, both of them get interested but neither gets the role, casting a movie involves many considerations, more factors than one can count, nobody can guarantee they’ll get the part." "Alright, I’ll be prepared to miss out from now on." "Don’t overcorrect, we’re not talking misses here; of course, you still have to be confident and strive for it, you can’t be indifferent unless you are Gong Li; otherwise, you don’t have the luxury to be indifferent." Zhou Yun: "..." Such a strict agent. "Should I drop you off at the apartment, or what?" Zhou Lan asked. It was only three o’clock in the afternoon, Zhou Yun had arranged to meet Chen Fusi at night, so there was still some time. Let’s head back to the apartment; it’s inconvenient to stay out," Zhou Yun said. "Okay." Zhou Lan nodded, "I won’t come over tonight, Xiao Cao will come to pick you up." Xiao Cao is the new driver. Zhou Yun agreed. After dropping Zhou Yun off at her apartment, Zhou Lan got back into the car, taking her time before taking out her phone and making a call. "Hello, President Tong, that’s really unfair of you... You still ask what’s wrong? Director Wen Bing already had his own preferred actress for the female lead, and you didn’t tell me, keeping us in the dark. Today we foolishly set up a dinner with him, do you know how awkward that was?" Though Zhou Lan spoke in a complaining tone, she wasn’t really seeking an explanation. "You didn’t know either? Really? I don’t believe that!" After a while, Zhou Lan laughed, "Alright then, since you’ve put it that way, what can I say? If this movie isn’t meant to be, that’s fine. But I heard you mentioned last time that you’re preparing a comedy film, are you free for dinner tonight? I’d like to treat you to a meal." ...

Chapter 200 - 168: Ascent Phase: 04

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