Chapter 159 – Choices

After Yang Yizhou finished speaking, Director Xie was stunned.

Yang Yizhou was one of the top screenwriters in China. He could fill several pages with dramas and movies that had won awards with his scripts. In recent years, he had written less and he wrote this script because Director Xie was the director that succeeded the previous director of “Red Actress”.

How could he recommend himself to Pei Ran?

Pei Ran’s reaction was relatively calm. Although he didn’t know Yang Yizhou, seeing Director Xie and Tang Sugar’s reaction, he guessed that the other side’s position in the circle was probably not low. Besides, Yang Yizhou was also the screenwriter of “Red Actress”. Pei Ran saw the script when he compared the actors and their acting. Naturally, he could see that Yang Yizhou had a deep foundation and was very powerful.

Pei Ran was not arrogant, but he didn’t think he was some little transparent newcomer either. Within such a short period of time, he could attract an industry tycoon like Yang Yizhou to recommend himself. There had to be some other reasons.

Pei Ran’s heart was clear, but he didn’t show it on his face. Instead, he thanked Yang Yizhou sincerely and was not too surprised. He took Yang Yizhou aside to settle the matter without appearing arrogant or uncomfortable.

Seeing his response, Yang Yizhou nodded secretly, said a few words and left with Director Xie.

Director Xie took him directly to the lounge. Yang Yizhou looked around and said to him, “Director Xie, you have a good layout in the lounge! That atmosphere!”

Director Xie gave him a look. “Don’t play games with me. Tell me, what on earth are you doing here?”

Yang Yizhou just said “Hi” and sat down on the sofa. “I won’t lie to you, didn’t the film association change its president a few days ago? This new studio invested in three projects and all of them are very prosperous. They say they just want to train new people. It’s just training. We old guys have to be brought out to talk, one by one. They say they want to do something old and bring up something new at the same time. I was hiding abroad, but I was caught. It’s not good not to give others some face, so I had no choice but to say yes.”

Director Xie had heard about this before, but he was filming “Red Actress” at that time, so he just asked some people to send gifts to congratulate him. Later, he also heard from some old friends that the new president was quite enterprising.

Director Xie inquired, “So, you are interested in Pei Ran?”

Yang Yizhou sighed. “It’s not like you haven’t been bragging to me all this time, that there is a particularly powerful kid in your crew, so I came here to have a look at him out of curiosity.”

Director Xie: “…”

He stared at Pei Ran angrily. “Is this my fault then?”

Yang Yizhou said with a smile, “No, when I heard him talking about acting I got some ideas. He actually wants to make martial arts movies in the style of last century’s Hong Kong movies. This theme has some meaning.”

With a single glance at Yang Yizhou’s expression Director Xie knew that he was really moved. It was just that this theme was not easy to shoot, and it was very difficult to restore the splendor of the Hong Kong movies from that time. Director Xie had seen it with his own eyes, but he didn’t dare to start using it at will. Besides, Pei Ran was still young. Even though he had talent, there were many things that talent couldn’t make up for.

Director Xie was worried about his friend and could not help saying, “Thanks. You can take it easy, we will definitely be late.”

Yang Yizhou: “….As a literary and art worker, can you not use such tiger and wolf words?”

Director Xie: “What kind of mess are you talking about?”

Yang Yizhou no longer played around and became serious. “In fact, I know what you are worried about, but in recent years, you have also seen that the domestic film and television circles are impetuous and worship money. They dare put anything on the screen and anyone dares to rush into the film and television circle. I won’t say anything about the actors, only about the scripts. Why are they all a pile of shit?! Even dogs don’t eat them, calling them shit is an insult to actual shit!”

Director Xie: “Keke, literary worker, pay attention to your words!”

Yang Yizhou was opposed by him, but was not very angry. Then he said, “Look at us, we are looking at the flowers outside, but both you and I know, the bright layer is the one above us, and the bottom of the pool is stagnant water. It’s really not good for movies and TV dramas. But how many people can see it? If we go on like this, this market will be over.”

Director Xie was silent.

The reason why “Red Actress” was called the most anticipated Chinese-language film was only because the Chinese movie market had been in a mess in recent years, and the audience was full of complaints. So he hoped to make a good movie and save the people’s eyes from getting hurt by all kinds of bad movies.

Director Xie had always been generous in training new people. In his opinion, only more and more people with strength and ideals in this circle could make it develop healthily.

And now he understood what Yang Yizhou meant.

Yang Yizhou didn’t have to worry about Pei Ran’s ability. After all, as the core of the drama crew, the director couldn’t just be good at shooting. In order to manage such a large drama crew, he needed experience. Besides, Pei Ran, at this age, really wanted to be part of the crew. He was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to convince the public, and some veterans in the cast were not so easy to deal with either.

Yang Yizhou must have considered all this, but he still did it. He was going to protect Pei Ran with the fame he had accumulated for so many years.

Director Xie and Yang Yizhou had known each other for so many years. He knew that he was easily bored and lazy and quite afraid of trouble. However, in his heart, there was still such a deep love for Chinese movies.

As soon as Yang Yizhou saw Director Xie’s expression, he immediately uttered an “ouch” and said, “I beg you, don’t look at me like that! I’m not so great!”

He touched his forehead. “In fact, I am also a little selfish. This child’s boss is Shen Huai. In terms of assets, money and connections he is one of the best in the industry. But I don’t think he will tell me what to do. They say he is planning to train new directors next. Isn’t that hitting the bullseye? In terms of connections, he may seem quiet, but he was introduced in the industry by Yi Mian. All big bosses in the circle appreciate him very much. When the trail is issued he will pass it as if it’s nothing!”

Director Xie was dumbfounded. “You just met him, and you have already thought so far?”

Yang Yizhou coughed. “Cough, it’s all for the sake of rice….. ”

Director Xie: “…”

Director Xie silently admired him and sighed. “Ehh, I think I need to get to know you once again.”

Yang Yizhou was also a little embarrassed. “Director Xie, we all know each other so well. It’s so embarrassing for you to praise me in person.”

“Do you still know how to say sorry?” Director Xie hummed coldly. “With your shamelessness and tick skin, you can even rob the job from your niece?”

Yang Yizhou: “Er…”

The embarrassed expression lingered on his face for a second, but soon after he didn’t care about it anymore and said, “This kind of thing, everything depends on their own ability, fair competition, fair competition!”

Director Xie sneered, “Yes, fair competition! He hasn’t chosen you yet!”

Yang Yizhou’s expression became stiff, and then he asked, “How could that be possible?! Can’t I compete with a little girl?”

Director Xie: “So what if the other person is just a little girl? As far as I’ve observed these days, Pei Ran is a gentle looking child, but he is actually very opinionated. He doesn’t necessarily want to find some Bodhisattva to hold their thigh. If you want to cooperate with others, isn’t it better to find some obedient little girl? Besides, she’s more comfortable to look at when discussing the script, which is much better than looking at some old cabbage helper like you.”

Yang Yizhou: “…”

Watching his smiling face gradually disappear, Director Xie couldn’t help laughing, but he pretended not to care and stretched. “Alright, I’ll go to resume shooting first. We can get together in the evening.”

After saying this, he stood up and went out.

Yang Yizhou hurriedly followed. “No, please put some good words for me, Director Xie…. Brother…. Uncle!”

–

After Yang Yizhou and Director Xie left, Pei Ran looked at Tang Sugar and said with a smile, “Let’s find a place to talk.”

Tang Sugar was still immersed in the shock of her martial uncle trying to rob her. She nodded foolishly, and followed Pei Ran to a cafe outside the set.

After ordering a drink, Pei Ran didn’t rush to speak.

Tang Sugar gradually calmed down. At the beginning she was a little picky about Pei Ran’s age and ability, but since the emergence of such a strong competitor, she didn’t want to think about it anymore, and instead worried that Pei Ran would choose Yang Yizhou.

Thinking this way, Tang Sugar was somewhat in a hurry. She took her former work out of her bag and put it on the table. “This is my previous work,” she said nervously. “You can take a look at it.”

Pei Ran was still thinking about slowly bringing up the topic. But unexpectedly, Tang Sugar sent him a straight ball. He took it with an unchanged face, opened it and started browsing.

Pei Ran read the script very quickly, and the voice of “flipping” made Tang Sugar very nervous.

She pursed her lips and added, “Although I used to write this kind of campus love birds drama, I’ve always been interested in last century’s Hong Kong. Oh, this is some information I collected before.”

As she spoke, she took out her iPad from the bag, hurriedly opened it and handed it to Pei Ran.

Pei Ran raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t think much about it. There was a lot of content on the iPad, which was obviously carefully prepared.

Pei Ran put down the scripts and the iPad, and chatted with Tang Sugar instead.

He spoke very skillfully and Tang Sugar unconsciously relaxed and told him everything without even realizing it. She even felt very accomplished in chatting with Pei Ran.

During the conversation Pei Ran probably also grasped Tang Sugar’s ability.

Just from reading the script, he could tell that Tang Sugar was far inferior to Yang Yizhou in terms of writing ability. Of course, Tang Sugar had her own advantages. She had a serious attitude and was very communicative at the same time.

For Pei Ran, the film he wanted to make was not so much a feature film but a memoir. In this case, Tang Sugar and Yang Yizhou were the same to him.

Another point was that Yang Yizhou was already the top in the industry, while Tang Sugar was just a newcomer. Pei Ran had formed the habit of promoting new people many years ago, and unconsciously had a little more preference for Tang Sugar.

Tang Sugar clasped her hands tightly and stared at Pei Ran in contemplation, her heart jumping nervously.

Pei Ran regained his senses and said with a smile, “I understand. Later, please give me more advice in the future.”

Tang Sugar froze. She didn’t expect that Pei Ran would give up Yang Yizhou and choose her instead.

She was ecstatic and her eyes became red. She stood up and made a deep bow to Pei Ran. “Thank you for believing in me! I will work hard!”

She simply forgot that she was a screenwriter who had already produced two popular dramas, while Pei Ran, who sat on the other side, was still a little transparent newcomer who had not even entered the door at this moment.