Zhang Guangzhen went home in tears.
He was the sort of person with particularly sensitive tear ducts, leaving the security guard Xiao Ma utterly bewildered.
Zhang Guangzhen said he was moved to tears, and Xiao Ma was so frightened he dared not move, personally escorting Zhang Guangzhen to the taxi and standing there to see off the teary-eyed man. Sigh, Teacher Zhang was a cultured person, and matters of cultured people were not for the likes of him to pry into!
That said, Teacher Zhang’s script was truly excellent.
Xiao Ma was a straightforward fellow, and straightforward people never resorted to flattery.
From Xie Qian’s retired grandmother at the top, to industry elites like Director Fan and Yuan Fenghui in the middle, down to Wen Ying, Wang Shuang, and even the nanny Xiao Tian and security guard Xiao Ma at the grassroots level, everyone praised Alleyway Folks as wonderful. This showed the drama was genuinely good.
A fine serious drama should be just like this, lacking the explosive fanfare of an idol drama’s initial splash, but more like a well-aged wine, growing richer with every sip.
Of course, the feedback from these people carried some bias to varying degrees. To strip away the bias and give a fair evaluation of Alleyway Folks, nothing was more reliable than the viewership ratings data!
The next day, as soon as Wen Ying arrived in the classroom, Li Mengjiao sidled over.
Did you watch the drama last night?
Wen Ying nodded, Of course I did, what is it?
Li Mengjiao hemmed and hawed.
Wen Ying pressed her, and only then did Li Mengjiao whisper, I watched it too, but I did not see Xu Mei… Is her role a bit light on screen time?
Li Mengjiao had known early on that Xu Mei was not the female lead in Alleyway Folks. After bingeing the first two episodes last night without seeing Xu Mei’s character appear, it was clear her role did not have heavy screen time.
Li Mengjiao had no real friendship with Xu Mei; strictly speaking, there had been friction between them since the talent show days.
But that was all in the past.
Li Mengjiao was a thick-skinned one, with no real grudges held. Thinking that she, Zhang Yangning, and Xu Mei had all debuted from the same talent show batch, and seeing Xu Mei faring so poorly, it left Li Mengjiao feeling a bit unsettled.
It should not be like this.
Back then, that unlucky Xu Mei had been under Manager Guan’s thumb, but now she had jumped ship to Xie Qian’s company. Xie Qian was different from Manager Guan; Xie Qian was not some ruthless capitalist.
Li Mengjiao wanted to ask Xie Qian but did not dare, so she hemmed and hawed her way to asking Wen Ying instead.
Oh dear, this stubborn fool was actually worrying about Xu Mei now.
Wen Ying teased inwardly, but her gaze towards Li Mengjiao softened considerably, Her screen time is not the most, but it is not negligible either. Alleyway Folks feels more like an ensemble cast drama. I read Teacher Zhang’s script, and Xu Mei’s character is fleshed out very fully. So what if she appears late? As long as Xu Mei performs well, she will definitely leave a deep impression on the audience.
She might be a bit daft, but that was one of Li Mengjiao’s most endearing traits. To still hold onto such childlike innocence after two years in the entertainment industry was no small feat!
To prove she was not just saying it to placate her, Wen Ying added more weight, Xu Mei’s character appears late, but she sang the opening and ending themes. Ji Xin truly values her!
That is right, the opening and ending themes were sung by Xu Mei.
Zhang Yangning had blown up thanks to the opening and ending songs for Starry Night with You.
Li Mengjiao had a sudden realisation and whispered a reminder to Wen Ying, …It was my misunderstanding, do not snitch to Xie God, alright?
Misunderstanding what?
Misunderstanding Xie Qian as a ruthless capitalist, thinking Ji Xin had signed Xu Mei but did not value her.
Wen Ying replied righteously, I can keep quiet, but you have to pay hush money.
You are that kind of Wen Ying!
Li Mengjiao pouted and signed an unequal treaty that was tantamount to surrendering her rights: owing Wen Ying three meals of fried skewers now, to be redeemed by the end of the month.
…
Fools like Li Mengjiao were genuinely worrying about Xu Mei.
Those who bore grudges against Xu Mei, on the other hand, were all too happy to watch her stumble.
On the promotional poster for Alleyway Folks, Xu Mei had not even held the centre spot to begin with. After the first two episodes aired, her character had not appeared at all, and Manager Guan gloated, mocking her right in front of Cao Bo, That ungrateful turncoat, serves her right!
Cao Bo nodded in agreement, She really is foolish. Listening to Yuan Fenghui’s honeyed words and causing a huge fuss to jump ship, only for Ji Xin to treat her no better.
Manager Guan’s heart felt much relieved, and he even joked with Cao Bo about introducing her to a new girlfriend.
Cao Bo laughed it off evasively, Where do I have the time now? All my energy is on the Crown of Thorns project. For a man, with money and power in hand, are there not women throwing themselves at him?
That was the honest truth.
Money was a man’s courage; without it in his pocket, even his words lacked conviction.
Power was important too. As the boss of an entertainment company, Manager Guan often faced various temptations. He held back only because he minded his wife Liang Dan and dared not cause trouble under her nose. If it were a man who did not fear his wife, how could he resist such temptations!
After fobbing off Manager Guan, Cao Bo secretly went online to search for reviews of Alleyway Folks.
The drama had only aired yesterday, yet there was already feedback online today.
It was not as explosive as Starry Night with You, but the viewers who had seen it gave it high marks.
It was a good drama.
Even Cao Bo, aligned with Manager Guan’s camp, could not deny that in good conscience.
The viewership ratings for Alleyway Folks were not out yet, but Cao Bo reckoned they would not be low.
When Xu Mei was under Manager Guan, she had been fiercely competitive, eager to dominate every news slot. Why, upon joining Ji Xin, had she not fought for a meaty role?
After finally landing a good drama, why not go all out for an important part? Was she going to let the chance for stardom slip to someone else? That did not seem quite right either; at least Xu Mei had sung the opening and ending themes for Alleyway Folks, so she was not entirely foolish.
Cao Bo browsed webpages for half a day, running through all sorts of analyses, when suddenly it dawned on him that he was actually feeling indignant on Xu Mei’s behalf.
He was worrying about Xu Mei?
Cao Bo slammed his laptop shut with force, so angry he wanted to slap himself.
Manager Guan was right; it must be that he had been single too long, his brain was not working properly, which was why he was fretting over Xu Mei.
Xu Mei was cunning enough; she had played him once before. There was no reason she would come off worse at Ji Xin.
Just wait and see. For Manager Guan to gloat so soon was premature.
…
Cao Bo had nearly slapped himself.
Director Fan, who had already mentally slapped himself, had tried to hoodwink the young girl, failed, and then caught the earliest flight to Chengdu.
The young girl was not easy to fool, and a career woman was even trickier.
Director Fan had rushed all the way, had not rested well the night before, and during the negotiations, his mind was foggy from start to finish, led entirely by the nose by Yuan Fenghui.
After grinding through a day of talks, Director Fan had not even managed a lunch break, wrapping up at half past five in the afternoon before signing.
After signing and stamping the contract, Director Fan somewhat came to his senses.
Were the terms not a bit too generous?
As Director Fan was reflecting, Yuan Fenghui gave him no time to dwell, shifting from her stern demeanour during negotiations to warm enthusiasm, Ah, it is just dinnertime now. I have already sent the driver to pick up Wen Ying from school. Let us have dinner together tonight.
Director Fan now only wanted to return to the hotel for a proper sleep.
How could Yuan Fenghui let him refuse? She half-dragged, half-pulled him into the car, insisting on playing the gracious host.
Upon arriving at the private room in the restaurant, Wen Ying, who had arrived just ahead of him, looked up with a sweet smile at Director Fan. Director Fan’s molars began to ache!
