Chapter 235: Pliers Finally Subdued
“He really said that verbatim?!”
Yue Na Headquarters.
Still the familiar office building, the familiar overtime night.
It seemed no different from when Chi Ye first came to negotiate with Ge Shuang.
But Young President Liu knew that some things had quietly changed.
Inside the office.
He frowned while sitting in the chair, listening to the representative who went to Chi Ye Studio “disguised” to buy a few scripts from Chi Ye: “It’s really fucking different now, huh.”
He knew in his heart that if Chi Ye guessed the representative was backed by Yue Na, this would definitely be the response—but the problem was he didn’t understand how Chi Ye knew?
Could he really have clairvoyance?
The representative shook his head: “I’ve seen people from several platforms go over, all wanting to buy TV series scripts from Chi Ye.”
“Buy?”
Young President Liu sneered upon hearing this: “I won’t bother mentioning them, what buying scripts, they just want the exclusive broadcast copyright for 《Ghost》.”
The representative was stunned.
He had recently heard about the 《Ghost》 project because on the night Chi Ye won the Golden Rooster Award, this one TV series work—the only one formally approved among his currently pending works—immediately drew a lot of attention.
—The first TV series work after 《Xing Ni》.
The genre is still modern idol drama, and from the synopsis, it also requires a lot of special effects, even the team is the same team.
Penguin, Kiwifruit, Ku Ying, even Mango and various TV stations, how could they not go crazy?
Even though they knew 《Xing Ni》 was a miracle, and miracles can’t be replicated.
But as long as it has the gimmick of being the first modern idol drama from the 《Xing Ni》 team, it’s worth them spending big money to contact Chi Ye and buy the copyright.
Yes, other dramas get hyped before airing, but 《Ghost》 is hyped before filming.
Yue Na is also very covetous of this project.
“…Penguin Video is putting a lot of pressure on us.”
Young President Liu frowned: “It was fine before, but now if Chi Ye shoots another modern idol drama, and because of us, he doesn’t contact Penguin… it might really cause some trouble.”
The representative listened without speaking.
He had previously heard that Chi Ye didn’t cooperate with QQ Music because of Yue Na, but since video and music belong to two different departments, Chi Ye still reached a cooperation with QQ Music for his first official album 《Jiangnan》—the cost being that Yue Na artists and Hua Yichen’s works all disappeared from QQ Music.
Yue Na lost a lot of face to one artist, but music is ultimately a “minor path” in the current internal entertainment circle.
So the incident back then didn’t hurt Yue Na much, but was extremely insulting.
But this time, a modern idol drama, one shot by the team that already has the 《Xing Ni》 performance…
If not handled well, Penguin Video, this partner that has always had a good cooperative relationship with Yue Na, might follow QQ Music’s footsteps and go with Chi Ye.
Young President Liu had a headache!
He never imagined Goujian would come true; if this continued, would he “ascend the throne”?
How had he not noticed before that Chi Ye was this perverted?
“If this project were ours… let Xiao Zhan be the male lead, promote a little flower… sigh, it should all be mine, it should all be ours!”
Young President Liu felt his usual heart-wrenching pain, then instructed: “Keep a close eye on this project’s developments… see if there’s a chance to shell a company, push a few artists in.”
“…Okay.”
The representative thought to himself, isn’t this pure daydreaming?
However… 《Ghost》’s current casting has indeed attracted the attention of many top little flowers in the industry.
……
Dramas promote people, films elevate status.
This is a common knowledge in the industry.
The meaning is easy to understand: web dramas and TV series can truly make an artist famous. So-called top streamers all come from dramas; no one’s ever heard of a movie turning an actor into a hot top streamer.
Movies are a channel for the drama circle to develop upward, but definitely not the only one—for example, there are now many major supporting actresses and TV empresses in the drama circle who have no intention of entering the movie circle. At any event, their filming fees and star power really aren’t lower than movie stars.
You could say they have no ambition or drive, but on this turf, they remain first-tier, even super first-tier in status, very comfortably.
So, after the Golden Rooster Awards ended and the 《Ghost》 project officially started casting, even the movie circle that had always “looked down” on Chi Ye rarely took the initiative to come down and inquire tentatively.
“Hello? Chi Ye, it’s Mom Wen… hey, aren’t you starting a new play soon? Someone asked me to check if you know that girl Li Qian? Oh oh, okay, I get it, sis is just asking, so I can brag to them later, okay okay… alright! I’ll tell them that, thanks!”
“Chi Ye, it’s Xiao Ming, haha… um… I heard your new play’s female lead isn’t set yet… yeah, a friend asked me to check if Ling Han can audition… you know her, right? She’s pretty hot lately, just collaborated with Xiao Zhan.”
“Oh… already set? Okay, no problem, everyone knows we’re on good terms… my company’s female artists? Okay okay, got it, I’ll send them to you later, take a good look!”
“Xiao Chi, it’s Teacher Huang… hey, not Huang Yaoshi…”
In one week, a full week, Chi Ye received no fewer than a hundred phone calls—from the three major platforms, the movie circle, and “friends” from past programs.
Even Teacher Huang called Chi Ye.
Of course, besides verbally supporting Teacher Huang, Chi Ye couldn’t support him anywhere else, which infuriated Teacher Huang that night as he cursed to his good friends Huang Bo and Sun Lei: “That kid Chi Ye is an ungrateful wolf, no conscience. I praised him so much back then, now I just want to slot in a supporting actor, and he still sarcasms me!”
Seeing Teacher Huang like this, the two knew he was pissed off and could only comfort him: “It’s just an idol drama, why get mad? If we want in, we can do it ourselves.”
……
Whether Teacher Huang wanted to make his own idol drama was unclear, but after this incident, the “drawbacks” of Chi Ye Studio going solo were already evident.
Because it’s not a real big company, and mixes in the circle, it’s fine without performance, but once there’s performance, someone like Chi Ye becomes a piece of “fat meat” that everyone wants to slot people into to share.
And if it were a big company, this situation would only be more serious, with “big gift packages” and “insiders” stuffed in even more.
Chi Ye isn’t some moral saint; he has selfish motives too, but he knows even better that works are the foundation that lets him stand firm.
So, besides roles truly suitable for the characters, and a few unavoidable favors like a few artists from Aunt’s company, he didn’t agree to these people’s “requests.”
Doing this would undoubtedly offend more people, but… so be it.
This day, at some event live performance.
Shi Jinwei walked the show in a bright, fashionable, and sexy dress, returned backstage, and saw her agent walking over with a full face of worry.
“What’s wrong?”
The agent didn’t speak.
Sister Qianzi rolled her eyes: “Tell them to drop dead, old perverts, I’ll get revenge sooner or later!”
The agent smacked her lips, then asked about the topic she cared about most recently: “What did Chi Ye say? Did he reply to you?”
Sister Qianzi paused: “Not… yet.”
The agent eyed her suspiciously: “Is it not yet, or did you not even ask?”
“I asked!”
Sister Qianzi was displeased: “He just didn’t reply to me.”
The agent didn’t believe it: “How did you ask?”
“I…” Sister Qianzi paused, then said guiltily: “Anyway, I did ask.”
“Sis, Sister Shi made me like Chi Ge’s Moments every day… then ask in acrostic poetry: Can you give me a reply?”
The assistant ruthlessly exposed her nearby, collapsing as she said: “I advised her, I said Professor Chi isn’t Sherlock Holmes, he doesn’t check her… check mine, his Moments likes are always 100+, who can see mine?”
The agent was dumbfounded, looking at Sister Qianzi: “That’s how you asked?!”
Shi Jinwei’s face flushed red: “It wasn’t me, it was her!”
She pointed at the assistant.
“Sister Shi, you’re really not giving me triple pay, it’s unreasonable. How many pots have I taken for you… no outsiders here, you… don’t have to be so tough.”
Shi Jinwei didn’t reply, silent for a while, then said: “He promised me… he promised.”
“Promised what? You believe that casual remark? So many people are fighting for this pie now… others want female two or three… you want female one.”
The agent was anxious: “If it really doesn’t work, I’ll go ask him. Since we have this opportunity, we have to fight for it…”
Ding ling ling.
Before the words finished, Shi Jinwei’s phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and was stunned.
“Who’s?”
“…Chi Ye.”
The agent was delighted: “Then pick up!”
Shi Jinwei thought for a moment, then huffed: “Can’t be too eager… makes me seem too desperate… ten seconds later…”
The words still didn’t finish; the phone ring suddenly stopped.
The agent and assistant opened their mouths.
Shi Jinwei also looked down and saw Chi Ye had sent her a WeChat: 【Even eating shit can’t catch up to the hot ones, bye-bye.】
“??!”
“Hung up?”
“What did he say?”
The two voices sounded at the same time.
Shi Jinwei’s chest heaved violently, her button nearly popping, she suddenly clutched her chest, a burst of pain: “Chi Ye… you… you… I…”
“What exactly did he send you?”
Seeing Sister Qianzi like this, the agent knew Chi Ye hadn’t sent good words. She took the phone and instantly got angry too—but not at Chi Ye, at Sister Qianzi.
“Look at you, I told you to pick up quick, but you insisted on waiting. Chi Ye wasn’t wrong, you really are too slow… can’t even catch up to the hot ones!”
“Sister Shi, this time you’re really in the wrong. So many people want that female lead, and you still drag it out…”
Shi Jinwei’s eyes reddened at the words, but she stubbornly raised her chin, suddenly resolute: “I’m not doing it.”
“Huh?”
The two nearby were dumbfounded again.
“I said I’m not doing it.”
Shi Jinwei was extremely firm: “Even if he asks me to act, I won’t. I don’t need his one play, I…”
Di ling ling.
The phone rang again; Shi Jinwei instinctively tapped to answer super fast.
Mm…
She realized it was wrong, looked up, and sure enough met the agent’s and assistant’s weird gazes.
“…”
Sister Qianzi paused, silent for a while, explained: “Hand slipped.”
“I get it, you have lube on your hand.”
The agent urgently gestured: “Talk quick!”
Shi Jinwei: “…”
She picked up the phone, tone “aloof”: “Hello? What’s up?”
“Is this Teacher Shi?”
But a female voice came from the other end: “I’m Keke. When do you have time? Chi Ge wants you to come audition.”
Hearing it was Keke’s voice, Shi Jinwei was slightly disappointed but quickly adjusted: “I… probably… um… I need to check my announcements… hey, sis, what are you doing?!”
It was the agent seeing her about to mess up again, snatching the phone and saying to Keke: “We have time, any time this week works. We can match President Chi and the film crew’s schedule, all can be coordinated.”
Keke: “…”
……
On the other end of the phone, Keke wasn’t quite used to Sister Shi who was always “extremely tough” suddenly having someone so “soft” answer.
But she still said: “Um… Chi Ge said if you have time, best to come tomorrow… because Sister Shi’s role is female one, he wants to personally rehearse lines with her…”
Female one, personally rehearse?
The agent’s eyes lit up, hesitated a moment, then asked: “Um… can President Chi decide alone? I mean, who else is auditioning for female one this time? Can you reveal ahead?”
Keke paused, then smiled: “Sister Shi should know, Chi Ge said he already chatted with her about this project. This audition is just her alone.”
Female one, just her auditioning?!
The agent instantly beamed.
Still need to audition?
As for Weiwei’s acting skills not being good… don’t joke, Weiwei’s acting is way better than that lazy dog Shang Youshu; if Shang Youshu works, how wouldn’t Weiwei?
The agent politely chatted with Keke a bit more. This one was now a big agent in the industry, no worse than her, even stronger… because she really held real power at Chi Ye Studio.
Five minutes later, the two hung up.
Then, the agent and assistant both looked at Shi Jinwei.
Shi Jinwei was expressionless now, but her mouth corners slightly upturned—since hearing Keke’s words, they hadn’t gone down. She pretended composure: “I told you, he promised me.”
“…Yeah, Chi Ye really keeps his promises.”
The agent sighed: “Who says Chi Ye is bad? Chi Ye is awesome!”
The assistant pouted: “Before you weren’t saying that…”
……
Not just the female lead, the other actors for 《Ghost》 were basically set in this period too.
Half a month later, the 《Ghost》 official account formally announced the start of filming and lead actors. The highly anticipated female lead was prominently Shi Jinwei’s name.
《Lonely Yet Brilliant God: Ghost》
Lead Actors: Chi Ye, Shi Jinwei （Ranking not in order of precedence）.
Once announced, everything settled.
Another big pie after 《Xing Ni》 ultimately went to Shi Jinwei, whom many hadn’t expected. The industry buzzed, and outside the industry, Sister Qianzi’s fans were ecstatic.
And that day, Shi Jinwei turned off WeChat and her mobile phone entirely, hid alone in the hotel muttering nonstop: Ranking not in order of precedence, ranking not in order of precedence!
