With Chen Yimin’s call of “cut,” Cheng Youyou’s audition ended. Chen Yimin clapped excitedly, “You brought Zhou Yueru to life.”
Taking a few quick steps, Chen Yimin approached Cheng Youyou directly. “I’ve been pondering which aspect of this character to emphasize, and your audition today enlightened me.”
Cheng Youyou also expressed her understanding of the character: “The Zhou Yueru I understand should be like this. She’s a proud heiress. From the moment she was born, there was nothing she couldn’t have. So she would never admit defeat . Even if she couldn’t get the man she loved, she wouldn’t blame herself; she would only shift the blame onto others.”
Chen Yimin kept nodding his head: “Yes, after all, Zhou Yueru is a daughter from a wealthy family. Her status limits her from experiencing big ups and downs in her emotions when she is frustrated in love.”
Ding Yaxin: …
Ding Yaxin: I feel like this is a reflection of myself.
Chen Yimin gestured to the crew and said, “Bring the contract of the actress who plays Zhou Yueru.”
Ding Yaxin perked up.
Ignoring Ding Yaxin, Chen Yimin handed the contract to Cheng Youyou, “Let’s sign the contract right now.”
Ding Yaxin quickly stepped forward and said, “Director Chen, isn’t Zhou Yueru’s role already set for me?”
Chen Yimin looked at her with a confused expression, “Who told you that?”
Ding Yaxin’s agency only told her to prepare well for this role, but Ding Yaxin misunderstood. She thought her role was already secured.
Ding Yaxin is very embarrassed now.
Chen Yimin was afraid of missing out on such a good actress, so he handed the pen to Cheng Youyou, “Let’s sign the contract now.”
However, Cheng Youyou hesitated when she picked up the pen. In this competition for resources between her and Ding Yaxin, she had actually won over Ding Yaxin, something she couldn’t believe.
In her previous life, even the resources that Cheng Youyou had secured could be snatched away by Ding Yaxin. That’s why Cheng Youyou still found it hard to believe that she had landed this role.
Based on past experiences, whenever Cheng Youyou had a job opportunity and crossed paths with Ding Yaxin’s system, she would always end up in bad luck.
It would be a lie to say that Cheng Youyou is not worried about her own safety .
Chen Yimin asked, “Do you have any other questions?” Cheng Youyou looked at the contract and finally said, “No.”
She signed the contract without hesitation.
Cheng Youyou loved acting. As the old saying goes, acting means more to her than anything else. With only a year left to live, even knowing that she might encounter accidents, Cheng Youyou didn’t want to miss this opportunity.
Cheng Youyou said, “I have no problem, I can join the crew anytime.” Chen Yimin replied, “Okay, that’s great!”
Seeing that the matter was settled and Cheng Youyou had signed the contract, Ding Yaxin became really anxious. Ding Yaxin said, “Director Chen, Cheng Youyou won’t do. She’s not suitable for this role.”
Chen Yimin glanced at her sideways and asked, “What makes you say that?”
Ding Yaxin thought for a long time before squeezing out a sentence, “She doesn’t value this opportunity at all. She didn’t even turn off her phone during the audition!”
Chen Yimin was stunned, “You reminded me.”
Ding Yaxin, “Yeah, her phone kept ringing…”
Chen Yimin suddenly grabbed Cheng Youyou’s hand, “This part of the plot is so clever. Getting a call at this moment perfectly fits Zhou Yue’ru’s character. As a rich heiress, she would definitely use shopping to fill the void in her relationships.”
Ding Yaxin: …
The props she bought at great expense, were actually used to help Cheng Youyou shine?
Ding Yaxin couldn’t let Cheng Youyou get away with this, so after racking her brains for a long time, she blurted out, “Cheng Youyou was late.”
Even the assistant director couldn’t stand it anymore. “No, she was only a minute late,” he said.
Ding Yaxin retorted, “Then she doesn’t take this role seriously. She went shopping and bought a lot of things right before the audition!”
Chen Yimin was even more pleased. “I knew I made the right choice in selecting Cheng Youyou. She’s been in character from the start.”
Chen Yimin then asked Ding Yaxin, “So what about you? How do you understand the character of Zhou Yueru? You didn’t notice Cheng Youyou’s clever design?”
Ding Yaxin: …
She’s clumsy with words and can’t outsmart others.
The audition finally ended with Cheng Youyou successfully securing the role.
That night, as Cheng Youyou drove her luxury car loaded with clothes, bags, and other spoils, she received a bank transfer message.
Amount: 500,000. Note: First installment of the fee.
The fee for this role is 1 million, and Cheng Youyou can earn an additional 500,000 after filming.
Cheng Youyou was able to earn more money and act in a movie directed by a big-name director. For now, she chose not to think about the potential harm of the wealth-attracting system and simply enjoyed the happiness of the moment.
Ding Yaxin, on the other hand, was very unhappy.
She stormed back to the agency and berated her manager: “What’s going on? Didn’t you say the role of Zhou Yueru was mine? How come Cheng Youyou got it today?”
In the past, Ding Yaxin wouldn’t dare to be arrogant, and in front of her manager, she would be as meek as a quail.
But this time, she was very arrogant. She was becoming less and less trusting of her agency.
The manager had never seen Ding Yaxin react so strongly. She was taken aback at first, and then tried to understand Ding Yaxin’s perspective.
The manager said, “I know you’re upset. It’s okay, just let it out.”
Ding Yaxin glared at her manager.
The manager pretended not to see Ding Yaxin’s expression. She began to comfort Ding Yaxin, saying, “Our company signed a resource exchange contract with Director Chen. It wasn’t guaranteed to be you from the beginning.”
“Then was all my two weeks of intensive training for nothing?”
“Just think of it as improving your acting skills. It’s okay. As long as we have the ability, there will be more opportunities in the future.”
Ding Yaxin didn’t think so. “What did you say about a resource exchange contract? What’s going on? Did our company invest money in Chen Yimin?”
The manager didn’t hide it. “Yes, our company invested ten million in ‘Those Times’.”
Ding Yaxin exploded. “You gave him all that money, and he didn’t use me? Isn’t our company losing out big time?”
“You can’t say that. After all, it’s Chen Yimin’s movie. Even if we couldn’t secure the role, we could still make some money by being associated with Chen Yimin.”
Ding Yaxin asked, “So I’m just a pawn? The company doesn’t care about me anymore?”
The manager didn’t respond, implying agreement.
From the company’s perspective, if they could take this opportunity to promote someone from their own company, that would be great. But if they couldn’t, they wouldn’t force it.
After all, making money is the main goal.
Seeing her manager’s attitude, Ding Yaxin fell silent.
It seemed like she had really become a pawn.
No, Ding Yaxin had to cheer up. She couldn’t just let Cheng Youyou get the role so easily.
Ding Yaxin hesitated for a long time, then organized her thoughts. This time, she was much calmer than before.
Ding Yaxin said, “But Cheng Youyou is out of luck.”
“Hmm?” The manager didn’t understand what she meant.
Ding Yaxin said, “Chen Yimin does have box office appeal, but this movie is his attempt at a new genre. Who can guarantee that this one will be a big hit too?”
The manager didn’t respond.
Ding Yaxin continued, “Cheng Youyou is really unlucky.”
“No, she’s very popular lately. She’s getting endorsements left and right.”
Ding Yaxin said, “Yeah, she can only get endorsements. But with all the resources she’s been getting lately, has she gotten any film or television roles?”
“That’s true,” the manager nodded after thinking for a moment.
Ding Yaxin said, “Her fate just doesn’t align with acting. She’s so popular now, but she’s only been in one TV series, right? And that one wasn’t even a hit. Besides, she’s gotten acting roles before, but for various reasons, they’ve all ended up going to me.”
The manager recalled, “That’s right. Several times in a row, her film and television resources ended up disappearing.”
“Yeah, she’s so unlucky. The dramas she’s involved in either can’t be aired or get snatched up by others.”
Ding Yaxin continued, “Let me tell you, if Chen Yimin insists on using Cheng Youyou, there’s only one outcome: Cheng Youyou’s bad luck will rub off on Chen Yimin, and his movie will flop so badly that even his mother won’t recognize it.”
Finally, Ding Yaxin concluded, “So, we should withdraw our investment.”
“Huh?” The manager didn’t expect Ding Yaxin to come to such a conclusion after all that talk.
Ding Yaxin said, “I’m doing this for the company’s sake. If Chen Yimin uses Cheng Youyou, his movie will definitely flop, and our 10 million investment will go down the drain.”
“We can’t just let our 10 million investment go to waste. We should put some pressure on Chen Yimin to use me.”
The manager looked at Ding Yaxin with suspicion.
Ding Yaxin put on a righteous air and said, “I’m doing this for the company’s sake.”
The manager fell silent. Ding Yaxin’s words seemed absurd, but they also gave her something to think about.
After Ding Yaxin left, the high-level management of the agency held an emergency meeting.
They considered far more complex factors than what Ding Yaxin mentioned. They took into account the return on the 10 million investment, the failure cases of other renowned directors who had attempted genre shifts, and the backlash from original novel fans when IP adaptations went awry.
Ding Yaxin’s company withdrew their investment, all 10 million of it.
Upon hearing the news, Ding Yaxin was furious. She screamed and shouted, throwing things around the house. “You bunch of idiots! I told you to get me the role! Who told you to withdraw the investment?!1bruh”
Ding Yaxin’s company didn’t even try to get her the role. After a night-long meeting, they decided to withdraw their investment.
On the other hand, Chen Yimin was also dumbfounded by this outcome.
The movie he was making this time was different from his previous style. It was his attempt at a genre shift, a youth romance drama. It didn’t require a huge investment, but even so, many investors turned him down.
In the past, Chen Yimin wouldn’t have cared about a mere 10 million.
But this time, for a movie with a total investment of only 40 million, losing 10 million was like pulling the rug out from under it.
The remaining 30 million was all from Chen Yimin’s own savings.
He really loved the novel “Those Times” and had been preparing for this film for a long time, using his own savings.
Preparations for the film had already begun, and stopping now would only result in a loss of the 30 million he had already invested.
To ensure that the film could be completed smoothly, Chen Yimin came up with two solutions. First, he would cut some scenes, and second…
Chen Yimin personally visited Cheng Youyou’s studio and said with embarrassment, “Could you please lower your fee? Would 500,000 be enough?”
At the ends of the conference table sat Cheng Youyou and Liu Meng on one side, and Chen Yimin on the other.
Chen Yimin met with Cheng Youyou in person and said, “I know our contract states a 1 million yuan fee, but we’ve run into some problems, so… could you possibly lower your fee to 500,000 yuan?”
After Chen Yimin finished speaking, he watched Cheng Youyou’s facial expression closely.
Cheng Youyou’s reaction was completely different from what he had expected. She actually looked relieved.
Cheng Youyou had known that something would go wrong after snatching the role from Ding Yaxin. She had expected something serious, like getting injured on set, but she didn’t expect it to be as simple as lowering her pay. Instead, she felt relieved.
Cheng Youyou said, “Sure.”
Cheng Youyou’s overly eager agreement made Chen Yimin feel even more guilty.
Liu Meng noticed the change in Chen Yimin’s emotions. As her manager, she considered the matter more deeply.
Liu Meng asked, “Is it just Youyou who’s taking a pay cut? Are the other actors doing the same?”
Chen Yimin replied, “The other actors’ pay will also be reduced. I’ll be talking to Shen Nanrong, Qian Siying, and Teacher Zhang Kai personally later.”
“Everyone is taking a pay cut? But Youyou is the first?” Liu Meng blurted out.
Chen Yimin regretted his earlier confession, “That’s right.”
Liu Meng asked, “May I ask why everyone has to take a pay cut?”
Chen Yimin didn’t want to go into detail at first, but since Cheng Youyou was so agreeable, he decided not to hide it anymore.
“The investors suddenly pulled out, and we’ve already spent a significant portion of the budget on the initial set design. The only way I can think of to save money now is to reduce the actors’ fees.”
Liu Meng listened carefully and then asked, “What if the other actors don’t agree to a pay cut?”
How could Chen Yimin not have thought of that? He shook his head and said, “Then I might have to stop making the film.”
Cheng Youyou suddenly realized something. She guessed that this was a trick played by the system, similar to cutting off her resources before. In any case, it still meant she couldn’t act.
Cheng Youyou was unwilling to accept this. In the past, she could ignore it when the system took away other opportunities from her.
But this time was different. This time, the system was cutting off a film opportunity. She had never acted in a movie before, and as an actress, her ultimate dream was to one day appear on the big screen.
Cheng Youyou said, “Why not continue filming? If the other actors don’t agree to a pay cut, you can choose other actors who are willing to be paid less.”
Liu Meng also thought of this and said, “Yes, there are always actors who are willing to act for a lower fee.”
Chen Yimin sighed, “No, either I don’t make the film, or I use the current cast. The novel ‘Those Times’ is like a beacon in my heart. No matter how many novels I’ve read since, none have compared. I love every character in this book. After so many years, I finally bought the rights and can finally bring my favorite novel to the big screen.”
Chen Yimin smiled wryly, “You have no idea how much effort I put into casting these actors. In the end, I found you all, and you are the Yue Xiaobai, Song Ruisi, and Zhou Yueru in my heart.”
“I don’t want to change the cast and ruin my vision of the novel, nor do I want the investors to dictate my casting choices. If I don’t have the money, I’d rather not make the film than ruin my favorite novel.”
Chen Yimin became a little excited as he spoke passionately about it.
Cheng Youyou hadn’t read the book, but her emotions were ignited as well.
Chen Yimin was a renowned director in China. Since he approved of the characters and the script, the film would definitely be good. Cheng Youyou trusted Chen Yimin’s judgment.
At the same time, Cheng Youyou was also moved by Chen Yimin’s determination to either do it right or not at all.
Cheng Youyou asked, “Director Chen, how much money do you need?”
Chen Yimin said, “Ten million.”
Cheng Youyou immediately decided, “Okay, I’ll invest.”
Liu Meng exclaimed, “Huh?”
The decision was made so quickly that Liu Meng couldn’t keep up with her thoughts.
Liu Meng pulled Cheng Youyou out of the meeting room and said, “Calm down.”
The two of them had another discussion, and in the end, Liu Meng was persuaded by Cheng Youyou.
There were two main reasons Liu Meng was persuaded. First, this was Cheng Youyou’s studio, and Cheng Youyou had absolute authority. Also, there was indeed money in the studio’s account, specifically the ten million yuan that He Group had just invested.
Second, Cheng Youyou said to Liu Meng, “Sis, let me do it. No matter how much money I make, nothing beats acting. I’m an actress, and acting is more important than anything else. Being able to star in a movie has always been my dream.”
Liu Meng’s eyes welled up. “Okay, let’s go for our dreams!”
When Chen Yimin left Cheng Youyou’s studio, he felt as if the sky was vast and his mood had improved significantly.
He thought he was at the end of his rope, but unexpectedly, Cheng Youyou invested in him, a whole ten million yuan.
Chen Yimin had been in the entertainment industry for a long time, and he knew that ten million yuan was no small sum for a young actor. Perhaps Cheng Youyou had invested all her savings.
Chen Yimin couldn’t deny that he was moved. That day, he happened to have an interview, so he told the story through the journalist’s video.
The journalist worked efficiently, and that same day, a video appeared on multiple platforms like Douyin and Weibo.
【Chen Yimin: Cheng Youyou reached out to me when I was at my lowest. She was willing to use her life savings to support a filmmaker’s dream.】
Chen Yimin is a top-tier director in China. The fact that he would publicly thank a small-time actress caused a huge stir online.
【What did Cheng Youyou do?】
【Chen Yimin thanked her personally?】
【Life savings? A filmmaker’s dream? Just these two keywords make it sound like Cheng Youyou did something incredibly great.】
【What a treasure Cheng Youyou is!】
【So she was taking on all those endorsements for a filmmaker’s dream?】
【This is so inspiring, so touching!】
【No money, so she did variety shows and endorsements to support her dream!】
With the additional ten million, Chen Yimin could now proceed with all the film arrangements as originally planned.
A day later, the official Weibo account for “Those Times” released a post announcing the film’s cast and shared several clips of the actors’ auditions.
“Those Times” is a very classic romance novel. It has a huge fanbase among readers of the original work. As soon as this Weibo post went up, many people joined the discussion.
【Oh my god, it’s really going to be made into a movie?】
【Director Chen Yimin’s new work, wow, I’m so excited.】
【Amazing, Qian Siying is playing Yue Xiaobai! She’s perfect for the character!】
【I’m getting goosebumps. When I read the book, I always pictured Song Ruisi as Shen Nanrong!】
【Chen Yimin is so good at casting!】
【Is it true that Cheng Youyou is playing Zhou Yueru? Is it really true?】
【So when Chen Yimin said he was thanking Cheng Youyou for investing, was he talking about investing in this drama?】
【Investing money? In a TV series? Wow, that’s so Zhou Yueru!】
【That’s exactly how I imagined Zhou Yue’ru would spend her money, just saying she’ll invest in a movie and then doing it.】
【awsl2a Chinese internet slang acronym that stands for “A Whole Sweet Love.” , my dream has come true!】
Cheng Youyou has only acted in one period drama, and the audience of this book hasn’t seen her dramas before, so they don’t know how good her acting is.
But just because Cheng Youyou invested in the movie, everyone decided that Cheng Youyou was completely Zhou Yueru.
The fans of the original novel are incredibly excited about this drama.
This matter has become a hot search topic, and the hashtag “#ThoseTimesCastingSpotOn” is trending.
he drama became popular even before it aired. Even Chen Yimin didn’t expect his transformational work to be so well-received. He didn’t even expect the pre-release hype for this drama to be better than his other films.
While the people involved in “Those Times” were happy, Ding Yaxin was not.
Ding Yaxin looked at the trending search and said, “What did I tell you? Back then, I asked you to help me get this role, but not only did you not try, you even pulled out your investment. Look at how popular it is now!”
The manager rubbed their forehead and said, “Investments always have ups and downs. You don’t need to worry too much.”
Ding Yaxin was still mumbling, and then the manager remembered, “Didn’t you say Cheng Youyou was unlucky? Well, look, Cheng Youyou isn’t completely out of the picture for this movie, and it’s still a hit, isn’t it?”
Ding Yaxin: …
She was completely confused now. Not only did she fail to snatch away Cheng Youyou’s resources this time, but Cheng Youyou had also taken away what was originally hers.
She was feeling very irritated now. Not only was her agency not helping her to snatch away resources, but her system was also on the verge of failing.
Most of the useful items in the system’s store had turned gray and were unavailable. The few remaining usable items required payment, and they were quite expensive.
The problem was that Ding Yaxin had no money left.
She hadn’t worked in a long time, and the little savings she had left were all spent on the store and online trolls.
Ding Yaxin asked her manager, “Can you lend me some money?”
“No,” the manager replied decisively.
Ding Yaxin said, “I’ll use it well. If you lend me the money, I guarantee I can make a comeback this time. When I become famous, I’ll pay you back double.”
“I won’t lend it to you,” said the manager.
The manager guessed that Ding Yaxin was going to hire internet trolls again. Ding Yaxin had never hired any reliable internet trolls before, so her manager couldn’t just let her do it this time.
The manager said, “If you’re really short on money, I can help you take on a few jobs.”
“What kind of jobs? Jobs that I can snatch away from Cheng Youyou?”
The manager looked at her with a confused expression and asked, “What are you talking about?”
Ding Yaxin said, “Forget it, I’m not going to work. Working is too slow to make money.”
How can working be as fast as snatching resources from Cheng Youyou? Cheng Youyou is the lucky one.
Ding Yaxin asked her manager again, “So you won’t lend me the money, right?”
“No.”
“Fine, you just wait. Don’t regret it when I become successful.”
Then Ding Yaxin slammed the door and left. She was now going to borrow money to sabotage Cheng Youyou.
Cheng Youyou was also broke now. She had earned a lot in the past period, but she had also spent a lot. Coupled with the recent purchase of a luxury car and the 10 million investment in the movie, Cheng Youyou was back to square one.
She didn’t have much money left now.
Cheng Youyou didn’t have a big dinner. After reading the script, she curled up in the studio and ate a pancake. This time, she didn’t even add an egg.
Liu Meng felt sorry for her and said, “Shall I add another egg for you?”
“No, it’s not like I’ve never eaten a pancake without an egg.”
Liu Meng said, “How about you ask some money from me first?”
Cheng Youyou took a bite of her pancake and said, “You mean borrow money? Forget it, forget it.”
Cheng Youyou pondered that she needed to go find work. She was so used to spending money, and suddenly being broke was a little strange. She had to go earn some money so she could continue spending.
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