You’re the paparazzi that’s been following me?
“What kind of name is that? That’s all you could find?” Song Nanchuan asked Xiao Zhang with a frown.
Xiao Zhang quickly explained, “Calling Out for Meat at the Heart of the World is the original title on Pu Jiang, but the published version was renamed Just in Time for Love / Season of Love!”
“Mm,” Song Nanchuan responded plainly.
Xiao Zhang continued his recommendation, “During the series’ original posting, it was consistently at the top of the charts. The published novel has also sold very well, and it has gotten several reprints. Moreover, Boiled Lemon previously had a series adapted into a TV drama. KaiHuang’s Zhang Chengyi was the lead then, and Boiled Lemon would also like him to come on as the lead actor in this adaptation as well.”
Song Nanchuan wasn’t very familiar with celebrities in the entertainment industry, so he told Xiao Zhang, “Get me the files on Zhang Chengyi. Also, what is this novel about?”
“The story is about a girl who loves to eat meat and a chef who’s amazing at cooking meat! Modern, cheery, youth drama. It’s very innocent and there’s not even a kiss scene!”
“Mm.” Didn’t sound too bad.
Hearing the boss’ tone, Xiao Zhang felt rather pleased. He finally let out a sigh of relief and said, “I’ve thought it over. Ms Pei’s popularity isn’t that high right now, so filming a TV series will help her gain more popularity than filming a movie.”
Song Nanchuan chuckled. “Are you planning on becoming a celebrity manager from now on?”
“My wish is to serve CEO Song for the rest of my life,” Xiao Zhang responded with utmost earnesty.
“Alright, enough with that. Inform Pei Ying’s manager about it.”
Xiao Zhang was taken aback. “You don’t want me to tell Ms Pei directly? That way, she’ll know you helped her find the role.”
Song Nanchuan pressed his temples and sighed. “She’s annoyed with me right now. If she knew that I helped find this role, she might reject it outright. Tell Chen Sheng not to mention my name.”
“Okay…”
“Alright then.” Just as Song Nanchuan was about to hang up, Xiao Zhang stopped him once more. Song Nanchuan paused before asking him, “Anything else?”
“It’s like this. When I was looking for a script, I came across some other news. Universe Pictures is interested in buying the rights for the movie adaptation of Xing Xin’s Performer.”
Song Nanchuan’s brows twitched slightly. “Xing Xin? The famous and highly recommended author?”
“CEO Song, you know him too! I’m one of his super fans!” Xiao Zhang’s voice couldn’t hide his excitement. “Not only do his novels sell well at home, they’re also very popular abroad. Performer is the first novel in his Enron Detective Series. Universe already had their eyes on the story for awhile, but they couldn’t come to an agreement even after several discussions. If they come to an agreement, that would be a major IP piece!”
Song Nanchuan contemplated briefly. “And so?”
“If Ms Pei were able to take the role of the heroine in Performer, her popularity would skyrocket, and she’d even become well known abroad!”
“Mm.” Song Nanchuan nodded. “But that role would probably be very hard to win.” Even if he was a major shareholder in Universe, he couldn’t call all the shots on his own.
“That’s certainly true.” Xiao Zhang let out a sigh. “Moreover, Teacher Xing Xin has continued to refuse to sell the rights for the novel because he doesn’t feel that there’s anyone suitable to portray the characters. Although the main character in the series is male, the heroine in Performer, Zhao Yue, is a key piece to the story. Teacher Xing Xin will naturally be very picky about it.” (Note: Teacher is used here as a term of respect, not pointing to a literal student-teacher relationship)
“The rights haven’t even been bought for the novel yet. It’s too early to talk about any of that. Keep an eye on it though.”
“Okay. I’ll report to you right away if I get any more news about it.”
“Mm.” Song Nanchuan finally hung up the phone for real this time. He stood in place for awhile before returning to his desk and turning on his computer.
On the screen was the article about Pei Ying and Yu Kaize. Song Nanchuan looked at it with slightly narrowed eyes.
Although the photographer tried their best to include only Pei Ying and Yu Kaize in the shot, a woman’s wallet was also caught in the bottom left corner.
Only one corner of the wallet was exposed, but Song Nanchuan was positive that Pei Ying didn’t have a wallet in that style.
He’d had quite a few years of training in the business world, so these types of tricks that the paparazzi played couldn’t get past him. He felt that there were at least three people at the scene, and the paparazzi simply photographed just Pei Ying and Yu Kaize. For obvious reasons.
After speaking with Xiao Zhang on the phone, he’d already calmed down a lot, but an unpleasant feeling started to creep up on him. He wanted to see how Pei Ying would settle this matter.
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Pei Ying had just entered Ren Shanshan’s studio when she heard her friend chatter, “Pei Ying, your series with Song Nanchuan put out an extra story!”
Pei Ying, “…What?”
“Your affair with the young master Yu.”
Pei Ying walked over to the computer and looked at the screen. And indeed, a photo of her with Yu Kaize was sitting right smack in the middle of the page.
“Oh…” she responded lightly. Ren Shanshan’s brows jumped. She looked to Pei Ying and asked, “Why aren’t you at all surprised?”
“Because I knew there were paparazzi following the whole time,” Pei Ying responded. “The day that I left Song Nanchuan’s house, didn’t we go out for drinks at night? That’s when I started to feel that there were paparazzi following us.” She even suspected that the paparazzi had heard their conversation, which is how the news of her breakup with Song Nanchuan came out.
Ren Shanshan was at a loss for words at this turn. After a moment, she came back to her senses. “Then why did you go out with Yu Kaize?”
“We didn’t go out by ourselves. I invited Tao Tao as well.” Pei Ying clicked around on Ren Shanshan’s computer. “Yu Kaize helped me out before so I owed him.”
“Oh… But they only photographed the two of you. Aren’t you afraid that CEO Song will misunderstand?” And then she seemed to realize something. “Or are you suggesting that you did it on purpose to anger him? Pei Ying, you’re learning bad things!”
Pei Ying pursed her lips. “Of course I didn’t do it on purpose…” She paused. “At most, I just also happened to anger him.”
“…Enough from you. I don’t believe it. If you didn’t do it on purpose, would you have gone out knowing that paparazzi were following you?”
“It was so that I could repay Yu Kaize faster.”
“Yu Kaize?” Ren Shanshan’s gossip face quickly appeared. “He is the prince of Universe Pictures. Want good looks? He’s got ’em. Want money? He’s got it. Why are you talking like you want to avoid a great flood and fierce beasts?”
“His relationship with Song Nanchuan isn’t very good.” Pei Ying recalled the first time Song Nanchuan went to the filming location for LSSR. Yu Kaize wouldn’t acknowledge Song Nanchuan at all. “Yu Kaize ah. After getting to know him a bit, I don’t think he’s as bad as articles make him out to be, but how should I put it…”
She organized her thoughts a bit. “At first, I thought he might be interested in me, but after news went out about me dating Song Nanchuan, he didn’t contact me again. He only contacted me once more to tell me about the audition, and aside from that, he didn’t mention anything else. Then, when news broke about my breakup, he started inviting me out again and he even badmouthed Song Nanchuan in front of me. I’m not entirely sure what he’s playing at. And since he’s the Universe prince, I don’t want there to be any problems down the road…”
“It’s like that, huh…” Ren Shanshan nodded knowingly. “You want to make your relationship clear from the start, but the paparazzi have already twisted the truth. So what are you going to do now?”
When she mentioned that, Pei Ying turned to look at her and blinked her eyes. “Actually, I took some photos last night as well. I’ll show them to you.” She pulled out her phone and opened up her photo album. “When we were eating, and later at the bar, I had Tao Tao and Yu Kaize take photos with me.”
Ren Shanshan looked at the photos and nudged her. “Not bad. You left yourself another hand”
Pei Ying’s brows twitched slightly. She said, “I’ll make a Weibo post.”
She logged into her account with her phone and uploaded her pictures. Then she started to write her message. “Last night, I had dinner with Tao Tao and Yu Kaize, but the paparazzi posted some photos today that left out Tao Tao. I wonder why Tao Tao is our female lead after all Oh, and a photo outside my apartment. Since I don’t have a van or assistant, Mr Yu was kind enough to give me a ride home. Mr Yu is ever the gentleman, and he left right after dropping me off. Don’t ask for evidence; if he really came up with me, would the paparazzi really hide those photos? They’re always posting photos outside my house after all. I’m sure those with a discerning eye can see what the paparazzi are up to, so I won’t say any more. Thank you to all the fans who always believe in me. With love.”
After she posted this, she garnered the attention of many different fans.
Yu Kaize’s fans said that of course their Ze Ze was a perfect gentleman. He wouldn’t fall in love with every star he met! All the people who are always trying to slander his name were just jealous of his good looks!
Tao Tao’s fans complained about Tao Tao being cut out. Their Tao Tao and Yu Kaize were obviously better suited! What were the paparazzi thinking?!
Pei Ying’s fans comforted her and then also brought up another matter. They complained about how she didn’t have a van or assistant. Why was she always the one to get bullied?! If GM Chen didn’t want to give them to her, they would crowd-fund it!
Passersby expressed the mysteries of being in the entertainment circle. Let’s just eat our melon and stay on the sidelines.
Ren Shanshan watched the changing flow on Weibo and silently gave Pei Ying a thumbs up.
But before she could finish posting her pictures, the situation on Weibo changed once more.
Tao Tao and Li Sisi were climbing up the trending chart.
The reason was a screenshot—
[Tao Tao] Li Sisi has acting talent? She’s been counting on her face to get to this point.
When the post was made, Li Sisi’s fans exploded. Things escalated to a point of no return when Li Sisi reblogged the post with the following comment:
You don’t have any either. (smile)
The state of Weibo turned to chaos and darkness, and Pei Ying and Yu Kaize’s scandal was completely forgotten.
When Pei Ying finished uploading her photos, she turned to see Ren Shanshan watching her computer screen with utmost pleasure. She couldn’t help asking, “What is it?”
Ren Shanshan responded, “You won’t believe it even if I tell you. Tao Tao and Li Sisi have been torn apart! It’s a huge show.”
Pei Ying was startled. She walked over to see with her own eyes and then let out a quiet, “Oh.”
Ren Shanshan’s brow jumped. “Why aren’t you at all surprised? Did you already know about this too?”
Pei Ying answered, “There was one time when Tao Tao was badmouthing me on a private chat and Xie Han sent me a screenshot. I didn’t care though. But I knew that there would be a day when Tao Tao would run into someone unyielding. And look. Li Sisi has tens of millions of fans. She wouldn’t just suffer the humiliation in silence.”
Ren Shanshan took a moment to digest this news. Then she looked at Pei Ying and said, “Pei Pei, I feel like you’ve changed after entering the entertainment circle. You used to be so innocent, but after being cut open, you’re all darkness inside.”
She’d just dragged Tao Tao out last night for a meal, to act as a human shield. Then she left something like this buried until the day she could watch Tao Tao’s show.
This business was really too deep; she’d just sit on the sidelines and eat melons as well.
Pei Ying didn’t mind though. “Tao Tao must have been upset that Li Sisi got the part for DIBS. She kept complaining about it to me last night at dinner. I guess she couldn’t help telling her friends about it as well.”
“…You didn’t give her any reminders? You’re still in the same company after all.”
“Who told her to badmouth me before? People like that won’t learn if they don’t get taught a lesson. I’m helping her here, you know?”
…If you say so.
After the two of them spoke a bit, Chen Sheng gave Pei Ying a call. Pei Ying answered it quickly. “GM Chen, hello.”
“Mm, Xiao Pei ah.” Chen Sheng sounded rather beaten up, likely because he’d just taken care of a lot of business. “I just got notice of a lead role for a TV series called Season of Love. It’ll be produced by Universe Pictures, and they’re interested in having you. Are you interested?”
Pei Ying was taken aback. She asked, “Why would they invite me for the role?”
“You auditioned for DIBS, right? Although you weren’t picked in the end, the people at Universe enjoyed your performance and wanted to invite you to act in this series. Consider it a silver lining. You don’t have any work right now either, so you should be able to accept it, right?”
“Of course, of course. Thank you, GM Chen.”
“Mm, no problem. This is a big production as well, and it’ll follow LSRR. Come over to the office in the afternoon and I’ll give you the details.”
“Okay, I’ll head over now.” After Pei Ying hung up the phone, she smiled at Ren Shanshan. “I’ve got a new job. I’m headed to the office.”
“Mm, great.” After Pei Ying left, Ren Shanshan started scrolling through Weibo some more.
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After Pei Ying arrived to the office, she headed straight in to see Chen Sheng. When she’d spoken to him on the phone, she felt he was rather exhausted, but seeing him now, the exhaustion was even more obvious on his face.
Pei Ying asked with concern, “GM Chen, are you alright? You seem really tired.”
Chen Sheng replied, “Isn’t it because of you girls?” Chen Sheng glanced at her. “I got here in the morning to see you and Yu Kaize making the headlines. It nearly gave me a heart attack. Thankfully, you’re clever and were able to clear things up on your own. Then, before I could even take a breath, Tao Tao had to start a fight with Li Sisi.”
“Oh…” Pei Ying didn’t know what to say.
So, Chen Sheng continued, “I’m not just a little angry about this either. Tao Tao isn’t a newbie, so why does she act so thoughtlessly? Li Sisi has tens of millions of fans. How could she start a fight with her? She normally doesn’t think before she speaks either, and just says everything that’s on her mind…” Chen Sheng waved his hand. “Forget it. I’ll take care of it on my own. Let’s talk about you first.”
He handed the script for Season of Love to Pei Ying. “The author is Boiled Lemon. Modern, youth drama. The male lead is Zhang Chengyi. His popularity and acting skill are both decent. It’ll be good for you to act opposite him.”
“Mm.” Pei Ying nodded and looked over the papers. “You mentioned that this will take over the slot for LSRR? Is it also a weekly series then?” (Note: I think this means the series starts airing while still filming and only airs once or twice a week, instead of the typical one or two episodes a day for C-dramas)
“Yes, so the filming schedule will be a bit tighter. Are you okay with that?”
“No problem.”
“Good. Filming starts next week. I’ll email you the details about the time and location, and you can take a look yourself.” When Chen Sheng got to this point, he paused. “Oh right, for your convenience when you film, I’ll get you an assistant. Let her drive you to the filming location.”
Pei Ying lifted her head to look at him. “GM Chen, did you see my Weibo? I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Chen Sheng laughed. “If I don’t get you an assistant, should I wait for your fans to crowd-fund one? If you’re filming every day without a car to pick you up, that will really be too inconvenient. It would be negligence on my part.”
Pei Ying’s eyes stirred. “Then, thank you, GM Chen.”
“If you really want to thank me, then make sure to do well on your show.”
Pei Ying nodded. “I will. I’ll head home now and look over the script.”
After she left the office, just as before, she first went to buy a copy of the original novel. In the materials that Chen Sheng gave her, it said that the original author would be participating in the scriptwriting, so she decided there was no harm in reading through the original novel. Sharpening your blade won’t delay your cutting wood.
She finished the novel in one sitting and made some notes in her notebook about her preliminary understanding of her character. Then she started looking at the script.
Before she was able to read past a few pages, Ren Shanshan gave her a call. There were a few issues with some of the clothes from the morning, so they’d have to retake the photos. Pei Ying helplessly headed over to retake the photos, and then she also had a meal with Ren Shanshan in the studio.
Her mind was still hung up on the script, so she didn’t linger around. After she finished eating, she headed directly home. The sky had already started growing dark by the time she got out of the taxi. She headed inside her apartment compound.
There weren’t many people around, but Pei Ying had a strange feeling that someone was following her. She frowned and glanced behind her.
A strange man was following her. He wasn’t tall, and he wore a black coat with white sneakers.
The pervert under the tree!
Pei Ying ran straight for her apartment, but the person behind her also hastened his pace. He grabbed onto Pei Ying’s hand.
“What are you doing? Let go of me!” Pei Ying cried out loudly, trying to attract some passersby. The man had a death grip on her. He didn’t say anything, but just laughed. Pei Ying raised her foot and stepped onto his shoe with her heel. The man was obviously in pain as he loosened his hold on her. Pei Ying quickly tried to pull away.
When he saw Pei Ying try to run, he ignored the pain in his foot and quickly caught her once more. Pei Ying had already pulled out an alarm (a device that makes a loud sound) and wanted to hit him with it when another man charged out and shouted, “What are you doing?! Let go!”
This man was lean and had a pair of glasses on his face. When he charged over, he raised the camera in his hands to hit the black-clothed man. He’d hit him pretty hard on the head, so the black-clothed man bent over with his head in his hands. The man with the camera quickly grabbed onto him and pressed him to the ground.
Pei Ying suddenly felt her legs go weak. She stood at the side, taking deep breaths. She looked over to the man with the camera and said, “You’re the paparazzi that’s been following me?”
The man was a bit taken aback before saying, “Ah, no, I’m just a bystander that was passing by.”
Pei Ying responded, “Then let me have a look at the memory card inside your camera.”
The paparazzi realized he’d blown his cover and quickly admitted as much. “I’m a paparazzi and I’m proud of it! You knew I was following you the whole time?”
“Mm.” Pei Ying looked at the pervert he was holding down. “To be honest, this man’s been following me for awhile now. I’m always worried heading home, but when I remember that you guys are following me, I feel a little bit better.”
Paparazzi guy, “….”
“So you took us for bodyguards??” The paparazzi staggered.
Pei Ying responded, “Pretty much. But bodyguards need to be paid and you guys are free.”
Paparazzi, “….”
“But I didn’t really think you would help me. I thought that if you saw him attack me, you’d take pictures, and then I’d have evidence,” she said. She pulled out a bunch of different things from her purse. “When I go out nowadays, I always carry an alarm and pepper spray.”
Paparazzi, “….”
“Although you guys are always writing gossip about me, I’m very grateful that you came to my rescue today.” Pei Ying smiled at him. “Thank you.”
The paparazzi’s heart thumped. He suddenly felt like he’d turned pink, just like the peach blossoms on the trees.
The man on the ground was still struggling as Pei Ying took another deep breath. She said to the paparazzi, “Can you help me take him to the police station? It’s just down the road.”
“No problem!” Mr Paparazzi responded loudly.