Chapter 8
Even though Meng Zhen was not quite used to the current online media, she had still heard of Luo Yang’s great name.
Luo Yang’s songs were so popular that every time he released an album, it would dominate the Golden Songs chart and the number of copies sold would be the highest in China, beating the second place tenfold.
Last year, Luo Yang’s “Scenery” had been dominating the charts for a long time and was suddenly overtaken one day. Many passers-by were unsure and clicked curiously only to find that the new song was also written, composed, and sung by Luo Yang personally.
Netizens jokingly said that the only person who could beat Luo Yang was himself alone.
This showed how high his status in the pop music industry was.
With all this information floating in her mind, Meng Zhen froze for a while before asking, “Why is Mr. Luo looking for me?”
Just now, Luo Yang had spent half an hour convincing Ma Chao to let Meng Zhen take the lead role in ‘Narcissus’, and now hearing the soft and clear voice of the woman, he was even more satisfied in his heart and said, “Is Miss Meng interested in making a short-film? It won’t take more than a few days and the pay is half a million.”
He knew that the young girl had grown up in an orphanage and that Yunlai Entertainment was a notorious scammer in the industry.
She should be very short of money.
As expected, when Meng Zhen heard about such a generous remuneration, she was indeed moved. She was now buried under by the company and had to pay off five million before she could leave. The price Luo Yang offered was generous, and she simply had no reason to refuse.
”Then, thank you, Mr. Luo, for the job offer.”
She then logged on to the music app, found all of Luo Yang’s songs, and spent the whole day listening to all of them. At this point, she had to admit that Luo Yang was indeed talented and could handle any style.
Many of the popular old-fashioned songs nowadays had a somewhat sickly feel to them, and there were even mistakes in the lyrics. But, the songs written by Luo Yang were completely different. Each song was a complete little world, some were about rivers and lakes, some were about dynasties, some were about the forever sunset at the frontier fortress, some about gardens with a small bridge with a flowing stream, the list went on and on. That kind of straightforward and refreshing temperament was very comfortable to people.
Meng Zhen was meeting with Luo Yang on Sunday afternoon. That day, she first took Lei Yin back to school before taking a taxi to a teahouse in the middle of town.
The teahouse was called Wang Chun Shen, a property invested by Luo Yang, and its location was well-hidden. Normally, only acquaintances could find it so most of the customers here were people from the show business.
Meng Zhen followed the address sent by Luo Yang to the entrance of Wang Chun Shen. She had just taken off her mask when a young man in a robe greeted her, “Miss Meng, Mr. Luo is waiting for you in the private room.”
She followed the waiter and walked inside the antique private room.
The handsome young man was sitting on a wooden chair. He wore gold-rimmed glasses, his long slender fingers stroking the teacup. As soon as he saw her, Luo Yang’s eyes instantly lit up with obvious appreciation.
”If I remember correctly, Miss Meng is from Suzhou, so do you know how to sing in the Suzhou dialect?”
For the first time, Meng Zhen and Luo Yang met, yet he already made such a request. She felt strange in her heart but didn’t intend to refuse. After all, he was the one who was going to pay, she couldn’t offend this financial backer.
She took a sip of tea to moisten her throat before singing ‘Rain in the Mist in the South of the River’1Anna: To those who are interested in what she was singing>>https://youtu.be/QkWZVFNsrLw.
♪Rain in the Mist in the South of the River
Dancing lightly with the wind
Shaking the rain off the apricot petals…♪
In her previous life, Meng Zhen had been a singer at the Moon Palace for several years. Her voice was in good condition, and this body was similar to her original. When she sang the soft words of the Wu Longs, she was able to make people’s hearts swell.
Luo Yang closed his eyes and listened. Suddenly, the door of the private room was pushed open from the outside and a tall, thin man with deep features and a slightly European look, walked in. That was none other than Luo Yang’s manager, Ma Chao.
Glancing at his artist’s discontented expression, Ma Chao smiled and said without a hint of apology, “Sorry for interrupting your artistic exchange, but I have good news for you. The set in Qianzhou has been built. If you have finished discussing the cooperation, let’s hurry to Qianzhou to finish filming, then hurriedly edit and release the short film.”
The company executives did not dare to rush Luo Yang, so they went after Ma Chao, practically driving him crazy with that chain of life-threatening calls, hoping that God Luo would be considerate and sympathetic to his poor agent. He chose Meng Zhen himself. Even if the quality of the microfilm was not as good as expected, he could not delay it any longer.
Luo Yang reached out and pushed the contract on the table in front of her and said in a gentle tone, “Miss Meng, take a look at the contract. If It’s okay, let’s hurry up and sign it before my agent is forced to jump off a building.”
Ma Chao was so angry that he even rolled his eyes.
He had asked the company’s legal department to draft the contract. Due to someone’s tyranny, the terms and conditions were all very biased in favor of Meng Zhen. After all, this little girl was a bit pitiful. She had been vilified by the entire internet and was buried under debts by her company. Ma Chao didn’t have the heart to continue to squeeze her dry.
Meng Zhen opened the contract and read it word by word. She had taught herself a bit of civil and commercial law when she was a movie queen before, and now, although decades had passed, the basic connotations of the law had not changed too much. She looked it over and seeing there was nothing wrong with it, she signed her name.
“I will ask Director Qian Xu Bing to take the film. Director Qian is the best at shooting beauties, and this short-film will surely amaze everyone and make everyone remember you.”
Luo Yang spoke with such certainty. From the first moment he saw Meng Zhen, he knew he had made the right bet. The young girl in front of him was livelier and more beautiful than the person in the video. She looked like the god’s most perfect creation, like a fairy raised in Heaven, even in the most ordinary clothes, she could not hide her brilliance.
No one would be better suited to the role of Narcissus than her.
She had no one at all to take care of her now, not to mention an agent, not even a single assistant, and she didn’t need to report to anyone. Ma Chao booked a flight and hotel for her directly and then, she left for Qianzhou with Luo Yang’s team.
Luo Yang had set up his own studio, which was listed under the name of An Mei Entertainment.
Unlike Yunlai, An Mei had a good reputation in the industry. Many veteran artists of virtue and skill had come out of An Mei, and whenever they were mentioned, everyone gave them a thumbs up.
With these national treasures as exemplary artists, people in the circle said that the atmosphere would turn positive as soon as they mention An Mei. Even though Yunlai Entertainment had been much more popular than An Mei in the past two years because of their big talent shows, the two companies had completely different statuses in the hearts of the artists.
At that moment, Meng Zhen and the others were about to change their boarding passes when a group of young people suddenly poured in through the gate, probably a few hundred of them pushing their way through the security checkpoint while calling out the names of their loved ones.
When she heard the words “Le Yuanzhao”, a hint of disgust crossed her eyes and her brows furrowed.
The first person she liked was Le Yuanzhao, but unfortunately, this person was no good at all.
When the original body suffered from cyberbullying, Le Yuanzhao publicly denigrated her on Weibo in order to rub on the heat, saying that he was most disgusted by actors who put on airs.
The reason why the original body liked him was for the fact that he bought her a cup of milk tea when she was on her period, suffering from severe menstrual cramps while having to film a rainy scene when she had just joined the set. For her who lacked care, he was the best thing that happened to her.
Who knew that underneath that gentle, handsome appearance was such an unpleasant truth.
Le Yuanzhao used to develop in Korea and only returned to China two years ago. However, his group in Korea was not really popular, and his popularity had remained lukewarm even after his return to China. He sometimes did web dramas, and sometimes appeared on variety shows. He could only be considered a third-tier star in China, but fortunately, his fans were loyal enough to maintain his current popularity.
Now that it was summer vacation, the airport was several times more crowded than usual, and the fans who came to meet their idol did not obey the security guards, so it did not take long for chaos to break out.
There was a little girl of three or four years old standing behind a trolley. The fans, who had been robbed of the ability to think by their idol, didn’t notice her at all. When they heard that Le Yuanzhao had gotten off the plane, they rushed forward with all their might.
Seeing this, Meng Zhen’s eyes widened and she rushed over to take the child in her arms. Even though she was quick to react, she was still knocked to the ground by the taller male fan.
The little girl in her arms was probably frightened, crying at the top of her lungs. Her arms tightly wrapped around Meng Zhen’s neck, tears and snot smearing all over her face.
Meng Zhen was at a loss for words and patted the little girl on the back to comfort her, her small shoulders shaking from all the crying, her mouth sobbing with indescribable sadness.
The man who had just hit the girl looked back and ran away without even saying sorry.
After about two minutes, the little girl’s mother came out of the bathroom. The woman was shocked to see her daughter crying her eyes out, and it was only when Luo Yang spoke up and explained the situation that she understood what had happened.
Meng Zhen then handed the child to her mother, didn’t dare to stay much longer, and hurriedly went to change her boarding pass.
Only after she had boarded the plane did she come back to her senses. An Mei Entertainment was generous to both staff and artists, buying a first-class ticket for her this time. She put on her eye cover as soon as she was seated, only to be woken up by Ma Chao when the plane was almost on the ground.
”Meng Zhen, Director Qian Xu Bing has arrived in Qianzhou. Our schedule is tight, and we can’t delay any further. Do you have any problem with filming starting tomorrow?”
Ma Chao had just been scolded by Luo Yang so he felt grieved in his heart. His winking looked really strange.
Meng Zhen nodded. She hadn’t filmed for a long time since that accident. Although this was just a short film, Qian Xu Bing was one of the best directors in China, and she was looking forward to working with him. She wanted to feel the difference between 21st-century filming techniques and those of the 20th century.
It was probably due to the daily use of the Qi Bai cream, her skin was considerably fairer than before, not the rigid white, but a glistening, flawless jade white as if the hazy moonlight had been crumbled and sprinkled on her skin.
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