010
"This script was handed in by Chai Ziqiu. It’s only the first draft and still needs revision." An Ling said. Chai Ziqiu was one of the more famous screenwriters in the industry; a hermit who didn’t socialize very well, but was very talented.
"Has the director been selected?" Qin Yinong looked down leisurely. She just noticed that the cover of the script was blank, and the title hadn’t even been set. Most of the script had barely taken shape.
An Ling coughed. "No."
"Investors? Producers?"
"Haven’t been confirmed yet."
Qin Yinong pressed a finger on the page of the script and whispered softly: "Yet you still gave this to me?"
Actresses of Qin Yinong’s level no longer need to run for auditions or look for filming opportunities. As long as she wanted to, naturally, there would be countless scripts delivered to her, all of China’s first-class screenwriters and directors would try to get in direct contact with her. However, for her to take up a project, she would only take one that’s near completion.
Typically speaking, for the production of a movie, there must first be a script, and then a producer who is involved in making the script. The producer hires the director and others, before jointly selecting actors, dispatching supervisors, and managing funds to start shooting. Of course, there are also non-conventional productions, but rarely.
If there are ten steps to this process, then this was only the first step. There is no shortage of good scripts in this industry; what is lacking is the opportunity. There are so many people that can shoot a movie, so many good scripts left to dust at the bottom of the box, that nobody cares about. Qin Yinong had played in dozens of movies, starring as both the protagonist and supporting roles for so many years, but even she had yet to reach the end of the list of scripts.
An Ling was silent. "Didn't you ask for the type that you haven’t filmed? I just remembered this one," she said.
She was just trying to divert Qin Yinong's attention. Now that her goal had been achieved, An Ling stretched out her hand, about to take back the script. "I will give you another one. Same-sex movies can’t be released in mainland China anyway, so don't take it."
Qin Yinong raised her hand to indicate that there was no need. "Since it’s already here, it’s no problem if I take a look." She suddenly smiled at An Ling. "If it can’t be released then so be it. It would be nice to give other actresses a chance to win awards."
An Ling also smiled.
Aside from other aspects, she liked the confidence that oozed from Qin Yinong whenever she talked about acting.
"Sure sure, don't toot your horn too hard. It sounds as if you’re guaranteed to win the awards." As an agent, she still had to occasionally remind her artist to be humble, even if she too was smiling widely and didn’t mean what she said.
Qin Yinong sat upright, fluttering her long eyelashes. Her bright black pupils were glimmering as if immersed in the autumn water, misty and affectionate. She pretended to ask seriously: "So, Manager An, who in this country do you think can beat me now?"
An Ling pondered for a while, before replying in a mischievous tone. "Your Yaoyao?"
Qin Yinong couldn't help but laugh. She covered her face with one hand and let out a long sigh, completely speechless.
If Tang Ruoyao really could beat her, she would probably faint with joy.
After a while, she recovered herself, and said with a smile: "Yaoyao, she-"
An Ling suddenly shouted. "Shut up!"
This shout shocked Qin Yinong into closing her mouth, and she swallowed in fear.
Guan Han, watching this scene from the side, snickered.
Qin Yinong tilted her head to give her a glance, and Guan Han quickly pretended to look around at the scenery.
After successfully preventing Qin Yinong from spiraling into a frenzy starting with that awfully affectionate "Yaoyao", An Ling was in a wonderful mood, and smiled. "There are other scripts. I have printed out the ones that look good for you. I will give them to Guan Han and let her send them to your home. Are you going home soon?"
"Yes."
An Ling raised her chin slightly, pointing to her desk, and motioned to Guan Han: "They’re in the second drawer on the left. Take them all out."
Guan Han: "Yes."
She agreed, but turned her head to ask Qin Yinong with her gaze. After Qin Yinong nodded, she stepped forward with eyes focused, acting swiftly. She found the scripts mentioned by An Ling and held them with both hands, before temporarily setting them on one of the sofa armrests.
Qin Yinong casually put the untitled same-sex script in her hand on top of the pile of scripts.
An Ling took another look at Guan Han.
Although this assistant was recruited by the studio, it didn't take long for Qin Yinong to pick her away. An Ling didn't know her very well. She had an icy face all day, a sharp contrast to Qin Yinong. Looking at the current situation, she must have developed into Qin Yinong's confidant.
It's good for Qin Yinong to have her own confidant, Manager An was just feeling a little bit complicated. Regarding who was closer to Qin Yinong, since she was here first, she should be at the top of the list. How could this kid take her place?
An Ling secretly bit back her jealousy.
Guan Han looked down in concentration, and played her own role of being invisible well.
Qin Yinong had already stayed in the office for a while, and after having talked about business matters, she propped herself up on the sofa with both hands, straightening up. She made a goodbye gesture, and said with a smile: "Then I will go first..."
An Ling hesitated then called her: "There’s something I’m not sure whether to tell you."
"Just say it."
"It's about Yaoyao." An Ling’s head wasn’t fully in it, and she used the nickname.
Qin Yinong pretended to be inadvertent and corrected: "Tang Ruoyao."
"..." An Ling said, "Tang Ruoyao."
Qin Yinong sat back down with a solemn expression: "What about her?"
An Ling pursed her lips and said: "Nothing too urgent. She showed a bad attitude at the awards ceremony two days ago, so she’s being dragged on the Internet."
For Qin Yinong, being dragged was the norm, and it wasn’t much of a problem to An Ling. Furthermore, Qin Yinong had instructed not to clarify for her; it would be a waste of human and financial resources that could be used for more meaningful things. The public relations department, which normally needs to be on high alert, unusually became the most relaxed department, virtually useless. Later, only when the studio began to sign other artists was there gradually a functioning public relations department.
Qin Yinong stretched out her hand, and Guan Han quickly passed over the phone that had been switched to the Weibo interface.
Qin Yinong swiped down the trending page, scanned the front row of comments, and threw the phone back to Guan Han. She said coldly: "The nerve of these people, projecting their spite onto Yaoyao again. Since they can’t beat her fair and square, they turn to underhanded tactics instead."
The average IQ of netizens is only seven years old, which makes them the best group of people to manipulate in today's information-rich society. As long as you invite the navy to lead a rhythm, netizens will blindly follow, believing that they are upholding justice. This kind of title, she could tell from a glance that it was bought by someone to drag Tang Ruoyao. Including the overwhelming hype over "Little Qin Yinong" from before, it was the same work done by these people.
An Ling was no stranger to her three-foot-thick filter, and said fairly: "I can't say that, but she’s really in a bad situation. Since the faults are already presented in front of people, it’d actually be weirder if they didn't slander her. There’s always a lot of gossip about famous people."
"Who bought this black hot search?" Qin Yinong asked.
An Ling had already found out the instigators from the marketing company, and reported a few young actresses’ names.
Qin Yinong didn't really know any of them, she just listened, and then completely forgot about them afterward. These people were not qualified enough for her to remember.
"Help her solve it." Qin Yinong didn't beat around the bush, and raised her hand to glance at her watch. "Now it’s 10:30. Before 12 noon, I want this hot search gone completely. Forums, gossip groups, everything. Turn the public opinion over with more positivity. And..."
Qin Yinong contemplated, and narrowed her eyes dangerously: "Her few incompetent opponents, you take care of them. If they still dare to make small moves behind her back again, I’ll make them suffer."
An Ling nodded: "I got it."
There was no need to wait until 12 o'clock; An Ling could immediately take the hot search down. Who told her to be so proficient at handling this kind of thing? Otherwise, with how Tang Ruoyao had debuted for so long and having such a rapid rise to popularity, being an obstacle in so many people’s ways, if she hadn’t helped deflect so many enemies, enough of them to fill a basket, could there really not be a single piece of bad rumor about her? They could all drown Tang Ruoyao with a single spit! It was thanks to Qin Yinong instructing her to clean up the mess from behind, nipping everything in the bud.
The chill in Qin Yinong's eyes faded, her face relaxed again and she said, "You don't need to ask me about this next time. Just deal with it directly."
An Ling: "I thought you have been neglecting her lately?" She thought Qin Yinong didn't plan to protect her anymore.
A complicated look came across Qin Yinong’s eyes. She turned her face to look at a pot of house plant in the corner, pensively saying: "Neglecting her is my problem. I didn’t ask you to ignore her, just treat her as you treat me."
An Ling thought inwardly, at this rate I’m even more concerned with her than with you.
An Ling sighed: "What about you?"
Qin Yinong turned to look at her, wearing an easy smile: "What about me?"
"What about the dirty rumors that others have poured on you? If you want to..." An Ling paused. She didn’t want to use the word whitewash, because Qin Yinong had never been dirty. The ones who were dirty were those people. She stared into Qin Yinong’s eyes seriously, “If you want to clarify rumors, I can help you resolve them one by one, starting from when you were eighteen. It won’t take up any more time or effort than usual. No matter how difficult it is, I can do it. Trust me."
She had been in the entertainment industry for so long. It’s normal here to falsify matters, or reverse views on issues, but she had never seen the kind of malice imposed on Qin Yinong. Qin Yinong was only eighteen years old back then, and was already twenty-three when she met her. How did she survive those five years?
There was a light wave of water in Qin Yinong's eyes.
She laughed, but fell silent again. After a long time, under An Ling's pleading gaze, she finally said, "Forget it."
An Ling said, "But-- "
Qin Yinong waved her hand and interrupted her gently, "Thank you for your kindness. But this will just give those groups of disgustingly cruel dogs another reason for celebration. I don’t want to make it easy for them."
"Gossip is momentary, it’s the movies that will stay. A hundred years from now, I will make it to the textbooks, what about them?" Qin Yinong put it lightly in return.
"You have already been written in the textbooks; specialized books used by the Performing Arts Academy." An Ling felt a sour pain in her heart, and forced herself to raise the corner of her mouth.
"Really? I'm very honored." Qin Yinong laughed, turning her head and calling, "Guan Han."
Guan Han answered knowingly, "I'll find the books."
Qin Yinong smiled and said softly, "Manager An, if there’s nothing else, I want to go home."
An Ling said: "That’s all, I'll see you off."
Guan Han picked up the scripts.
When they reached the door, Qin Yinong raised her hand: "Stop, I know the way, go busy yourself with work."
An Ling watched her back, her pupils reflected the flaming red dot fluttering away into the distance, getting smaller and smaller, her fingers were clutching the door frame so hard that the knuckles turned white.
Qin Yinong was almost forced to death by that group of people back then. Now she rarely faced entertainment media, or any camera other than for filming. Was it because she was disdainful, or because she dared not?
Guan Han stood in the elevator carrying the large stack of scripts, and glanced at Qin Yinong beside her from the corner of her eye.
Qin Yinong lowered her eyelashes, her emotions unclear, and was unusually quiet.
The phone in her trouser pocket vibrated. Guan Han freed a hand to take it, but the scripts were heavy so it was a bit difficult. Upon seeing this, Qin Yinong naturally took the scripts in her hand and said indifferently: "Check the phone first."
Guan Han hummed in acknowledgement and slid open the screen.
One glance caused her expression to turn strange, and she looked at Qin Yinong again.
Qin Yinong: "What's the matter?"
Guan Han said, "It's Miss Yao." Against her better judgement, Guan Han asked, "Do you want to have a call with her?" Maybe it would improve her mood a bit.
Qin Yinong's eyes wavered, and she pursed her lips.
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Guess, will my sister make this call?
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translated by ness and edited by noba