Ye Zhou stared at the phone for a few seconds, instinctively asking, “Who is this?”
The person on the other end had originally wanted to say something, but upon hearing Ye Zhou’s question, the words got stuck in their throat and they couldn’t spit them out, nor could they swallow them back. After a long silence, they finally spoke, “It’s Cheng Ran.”
Perhaps it had been too long since Ye Zhou had heard that name, and it caught him off guard. He almost couldn’t remember who Cheng Ran was.
After enjoying a comfortable life for so long, staying busy every day, and getting dizzy, Ye Zhou couldn’t even remember how long it had been since he last heard the name Cheng Ran. The last time he had heard news about him was when “A Farce” was released.
Back then, Cheng Ran’s film with the protagonist gong Jiang Yu had also been released during the National Day golden week, but in the end, “A Farce” became a big hit, while their film didn’t seem to make much of a splash.
At the time, Ye Zhou had been puzzled, thinking, “Isn’t the protagonist halo supposed to be effective? How come it didn’t work this time? Could it be because Jiang Yu put a lot of money into filming ‘Battle City 2′ and changed the original plot, causing the storyline to become chaotic, so the protagonist halo couldn’t take effect?”
However, Ye Zhou didn’t delve into it too deeply, after all, even if the protagonist was down on their luck, they were still the protagonist. It wasn’t Ye Zhou’s place as a minor cannon fodder to worry about it, so he just casually thought about it for a moment, couldn’t figure it out, and then busied himself with other things, not caring about them anymore.
But who would have thought that while Ye Zhou didn’t go looking for the protagonist couple, the protagonist shou Cheng Ran came to the door on his own.
Ye Zhou thought about it for a moment and didn’t rush to hang up the phone, speaking calmly, “Do we know each other?”
According to the original plot, by this time, the original owner should have already had some interaction with the protagonist couple, and they might even be secretly scheming against Jiang Tingyuan.
But ever since Ye Zhou transmigrated, apart from seeing them once at the auction, he had no contact with them whatsoever, avoiding them like they were some kind of disease, let alone actively approaching them like in the plot.
Even at that auction, apart from the bidding, they didn’t have any other interaction, so Ye Zhou could play dumb, and Cheng Ran couldn’t really say anything.
Hearing Ye Zhou’s indifferent tone, Cheng Ran’s expression suddenly became unpleasant.
“Is there something you want? If not, I’ll hang up,” Ye Zhou said unhurriedly, seeing that he had remained silent for a long time.
For some reason, Ye Zhou was really unwilling to have any contact with them.
After saying this, Ye Zhou didn’t give him a chance to speak again and directly hung up the phone. To prevent him from calling again, he even turned off his phone.
After turning off his phone, Ye Zhou apologetically smiled at Ren Zi’an across from him, and they resumed the conversation they hadn’t finished earlier.
Ren Zi’an’s latest work, “Thriller Circus,” continued his previous style of horror and bloodiness. The main story was about a group of tourists who fell unconscious while watching a circus performance due to a mysterious fog. When they woke up, they found themselves trapped in cages, with the only task being to escape the circus alive.
Ye Zhou read the plot summary and couldn’t help but ask, “How many people survived in the end?”
Ren Zi’an saw that Ye Zhou was interested in his story, and the previous anxiety on his face was replaced by excitement. He gave Ye Zhou a mysterious smile and slowly shook his head, “If I tell you, it won’t be as interesting. If you’re interested, I can send you the complete script. This story is more interesting if you read it from the beginning.”
He withheld the details, and Ye Zhou didn’t insist on prying further to get the full answer. He just smiled and shook his head, “Alright, if you have time, you can send me the script.”
Even without the answer, based on his understanding of this screenwriter’s previous works, Ye Zhou had a pretty good idea.
Hearing that Ye Zhou agreed to read his script, Ren Zi’an was overjoyed. His excited expression barely suppressed, he repeatedly responded, “Of course, of course, if you’re interested, I’ll always have time!”
“I’m just taking a look. Don’t get your hopes up too high. I’ve never filmed this type of movie before, and I can only give you a response after I have a preliminary understanding of the script.”
Ye Zhou wasn’t lying here. In his previous life, in the world he lived in, horror films couldn’t have real ghosts and couldn’t be too bloody and violent, so thriller-themed movies were hard to make money on.
As a result, the domestic market in this genre had long been in a state of shortage, and the few good films that could be considered masterpieces were mostly old films from the era before the ban was issued.
It wasn’t that there were no directors willing to shoot them, but Ye Zhou in his previous life was quite money-oriented. A movie that couldn’t make money, with all kinds of restrictions and limitations, and might even be held up for years before release, he didn’t even want to touch it.
Although Ye Zhou didn’t immediately agree, the fact that he was willing to read the script was already a pleasant surprise for Ren Zi’an.
To be honest, before finding Ye Zhou, Ren Zi’an had tried to approach other directors, and he had even talked to some familiar investors, but because the rating system had just started to be implemented, the overall environment was still in a very cautious state.
It hadn’t even been a year since the rating system was announced, and R-rated films were few and far between. The few that were rated R were relatively conservative, and no films that were too unconventional had emerged so far.
No one dared to be the first to take the risk. The manpower, material resources, and funds required to make a film were not small, and if the film couldn’t pass the review after being completed, all the previous investment would be wasted.
For the director, to have dozens of months or even years of painstaking effort go up in flames, it would be better to spend that time making something else rather than taking such a big risk for Ren Zi’an.
For the investors, the loss would be even greater. Large companies could afford the losses, but for small companies, it could directly cut off their funding chain, which was not an uncommon occurrence.
Ren Zi’an had previously approached several directors he had worked with before, and those with more distant relationships politely declined. Those with closer relationships mostly advised him to wait, to wait until the situation stabilized before considering making this film.
Wait, wait, it wasn’t that Ren Zi’an didn’t listen to the advice, and it wasn’t that he didn’t understand his old friends’ goodwill, but…
How long would this waiting take? He was no longer young, no longer the inexperienced young man he once was. Waiting was easy to say, but how much time did a person have in their life to waste waiting?
He didn’t want to wait, he wasn’t willing to wait, and he couldn’t wait anymore.
During this period, Ren Zi’an almost didn’t sleep well, carrying the script and running around everywhere every day. His requirements weren’t high; he just wanted an opportunity.
When Ren Zi’an solemnly handed the thick script, the edges of which were slightly curled from being flipped through too many times, to Ye Zhou, the stone that had been hanging in his heart finally fell.
This was an inexplicable feeling. Even though Ye Zhou hadn’t given him a definite answer yet, Ren Zi’an’s instinct told him that Ye Zhou would agree, that he would definitely agree.
After parting ways with Ren Zi’an, Ye Zhou initially wanted to go to Zhaixing, but remembering the call from the protagonist shou, he immediately changed his mind, deciding to stay home and avoid any further complications.
You could never guess what a protagonist of a dogblood novel was thinking or what they might do. Could you provoke them and still manage to escape unscathed?
However, reality proved that the protagonist’s halo was indeed real. As long as the protagonist willed it, there was no escaping.
Ye Zhou saw the figure loitering at his doorstep from a distance, forcibly suppressing the urge to run, and pulled his hat down, trying to slip by unnoticed while the other wasn’t paying attention.
But Ye Zhou soon found that this tactic wouldn’t work.
He waved his arms frantically, shouting, “What do you want? Who are you? Let go of me! I’m calling the security, I’m calling them, I really am!”
Cheng Ran: “…”
Cheng Ran didn’t expect Ye Zhou to have such a strong reaction. He was already quite thin, and to make himself look even more frail, he had been barely eating enough to meet his basic needs. But Ye Zhou was different.
Not only was Ye Zhou’s physique excellent and his appetite great, but after living with Boss Jiang for so long, he had not only corrected his habit of speaking loudly but also the difficult-to-break late-night working habit from his previous life. His daily routine was very regular, his three meals a day were always on time, and even the food he ate daily had been adjusted by a professional nutritionist.
Plus, he was frequently forced by Boss Jiang to take various calcium supplements and tonics to supplement his nutrients and vitamins. Ye Zhou’s weight had skyrocketed. If he didn’t exercise every day, he might even have a little belly.
In summary, under Ye Zhou’s violent struggle, Cheng Ran, who was tugging at his sleeve, was almost unable to stand steadily. If he hadn’t let go in time, he might have been shaken to the ground.
Seeing Cheng Ran’s frail appearance, Ye Zhou fell silent. So thin, this complexion and condition – it was seriously malnourished, as if he had been living on grass.
After a preliminary assessment of the protagonist, Ye Zhou determined that he was truly a weakling. He gradually stopped swaying his body, though his arm still swung a bit from the earlier violent shaking.
Ye Zhou bluntly asked, “Who are you?”
Cheng Ran had just barely stabilized himself when he heard the familiar question, and he almost fainted from sheer frustration.
His pale face flushed bright red with anger as he gritted his teeth, “I’m Cheng Ran.”
Ye Zhou: “Do we know each other?”
Cheng Ran’s chest heaved violently as he stared at Ye Zhou for a long time without speaking, his teeth chattering. He took a few deep breaths to barely calm himself down, his eyes reddening even before he opened his mouth.
“I was wrong. Let me introduce myself briefly. My name is Cheng Ran, and I’m Jiang Yu’s boyfriend…”
But before he could finish speaking, he was met with another soul-crushing blow from Ye Zhou.
Ye Zhou: “And who is Jiang Yu?”
Cheng Ran’s chest heaved violently again as he looked around at the few security guards who were gradually approaching due to the previous commotion. Suppressing the fire in his heart, he pointed to the doorway and forced a smile, “It would be more convenient to discuss this indoors. How about we go inside?”
Ye Zhou looked at him with a puzzled expression and decisively shook his head in refusal, “No, what’s wrong with you? We don’t even know each other, and you just want to come into my home?”
As they were talking, a few security guards had already rushed over. They recognized Ye Zhou, and seeing the tense atmosphere between the two, two of them inconspicuously stood in front of Ye Zhou.
The remaining security guard captain asked Ye Zhou, “Mr. Ye, are you alright?”
“It’s okay, I’m fine,” Ye Zhou waved his hands quickly, but his gaze at Cheng Ran was somewhat meaningful. He beckoned to the security guard captain, and when the latter leaned in, Ye Zhou whispered a few words to him.
The security guard captain nodded solemnly and immediately dialed 120 for an ambulance.
“Sir, please hang in there a bit longer. I’ve already called for an ambulance; it’ll be here soon,” the security guard captain said. After a moment of hesitation, considering Cheng Ran’s deathly pale complexion, he instructed his colleagues, “This gentleman seems unwell. You two carry him to the entrance.”
“Yes, sir!” Hearing the leader’s order, one of the security guards bent down.
With the help of the other security guard, Cheng Ran was forced to lie on the security guard’s back, drenched in sweat and struggling constantly, but his small build was no match for the strong and trained security guard.
And so, Ye Zhou watched contentedly as Cheng Ran was carried away by the security guards.
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