The new drama by the Taiwan romance queen was something Wen Ying remembered well.
The drama was a remake of the queen’s earlier work, telling the story of two sisters in love with the same man. The man, after years with the older sister, couldn’t resist secretly seeing the younger sister. When he tried to break up with the older sister, a car accident left her losing a leg, shattering her dancing dreams in an emotionally tangled tale. The story was truly melodramatic, with the line “You only lost a leg, but Ziling lost her love” still being dragged out and mocked by netizens over a decade later. Yet, when it aired in 2007, the drama was a massive hit!
The new drama would air in 2007, and to find a suitable newcomer for the “younger sister,” a casting competition would be held with Hunan TV this year.
If Xu Mei were to star in this drama, Wen Ying’s first thought was that Xu Mei could play the betrayed “older sister,” a role with slightly less screen time than the “younger sister” but one that could shine brilliantly if performed well.
The “younger sister” didn’t require great acting, but the “older sister” absolutely did. Without skill, one couldn’t portray the despair and madness of the “older sister” when her dancing dreams were crushed and she discovered betrayal by her beloved and her sister!
In Wen Ying’s view, this new drama by the romance queen was a dual-female-lead story.
Xu Mei had been fooled by the “dual-female-lead” promise before. In the entire industry, true dual-female-lead dramas were rare. Writing two female roles equally compelling was a tough test for screenwriters, and investors didn’t care for dual leads. They only wanted high ratings and roles that could launch stars.
Speaking of “dual-female-lead” dramas in Wen Ying’s memory, the Taiwan romance queen excelled at them, like the 1998 hit *Princess Pearl*, which swept the Chinese-speaking world!
Eight years later, *Princess Pearl*’s ratings remained a peak the Chinese entertainment industry looked up to. The Taiwan romance queen, year after year, was a Midas touch, at least in 2006, her sharp eye still widely praised. Actresses in her adapted works always became stars, her dramas guaranteed high ratings and were particularly good at launching careers. Whoever played the female lead would soar, that was the romance queen’s power.
Though Wen Ying’s *Teen Idol* had sold over a million copies, its influence was still far behind the Taiwan romance queen. In a few years, the queen’s personal values in her works would be heavily criticized online, but her works were hugely popular across the Chinese-speaking world, truly shaping a generation’s view of love!
The romance queen’s status was unshakable, becoming her chosen female lead could make one an overnight sensation, and her selection process was, of course, extremely strict.
If Xu Mei had connected with her, unless it was fake news spread by Xu Mei herself, her career was about to take off!
Wen Ying snapped back to reality, marveling, “Indeed, a woman needs to be ruthless to secure her place. Xu Mei, no longer playing the pitiful role, is quite capable.”
Both Wen Ying and Xie Qian guessed that Pan Li’s pregnancy ploy was instigated by Xu Mei, yet neither blamed her.
From Xu Mei’s perspective, wanting revenge on Director Duan was understandable. That despicable man cheated behind his wife’s back, weathered the public storm himself, but left Xu Mei mired in scandal, nearly ruining her career!
When the scandal broke, Director Duan only cared about self-preservation. Station head Guan weighed Duan and Xu Mei’s value, choosing to help Duan while casting Xu Mei’s future aside.
Professor Fang, as Xu Mei’s agent, did nothing, and Pan Li, the real scandal heroine and Xu Mei’s assistant, joined the others in a tacit agreement to sacrifice Xu Mei to save themselves.
Could Xu Mei not hate them?
Putting herself in Xu Mei’s shoes, Wen Ying would despise Guan, Duan, Professor Fang, and Pan Li. Powerless to retaliate, she could only endure, but now that she had the means, why not settle the score?
So Xu Mei egged on Pan Li, not for Pan Li’s benefit, but because Pan Li was one of her targets.
Wen Ying almost wanted to applaud Xu Mei, she played it beautifully.
Xie Qian reminded Wen Ying, “Besides them, there’s Yu Tianlin.”
Right, Yu Tianlin was the direct instigator of the scandal’s exposure.
Wen Ying laughed, “Xu Mei might not have known Yu Tianlin was involved before, but I believe Teacher Yuan will do good deeds anonymously!”
Thinking of Yuan Fenghui’s style, Xie Qian fully agreed with Wen Ying’s guess.
In truth, what did Director Duan and the others, or Xu Mei, matter to Xie Qian?
As long as they didn’t go crazy and target Wen Ying as an imaginary enemy, Xie Qian wouldn’t spare them a glance!
Yu Tianlin, however, was worth watching. That man was cunning, and his drama would surely compete with *With You in the Galaxy* for airtime. *With You in the Galaxy* was Wen Ying’s first solo scriptwriting project, into which she invested 4 million and spent time in Shanghai refining the script before the year, pouring in immense effort and money. If it didn’t become a hit, it would betray her hard work.
With the two dramas clashing head-on, Xie Qian was confident.
The fear was Yu Tianlin resorting to dirty tricks if he couldn’t win fair.
With this in mind, though Tianjiao was growing strong, it was still a newcomer in the entertainment industry. Yuan Fenghui, managing popular stars like Li Mengjiao and Yun Chen, had limited energy to plan Wen Ying’s career.
Wen Ying needed more resources tilted her way.
He had to secure Jiaxin Film quickly.
With this thought, when Assistant Qi called on behalf of Xie Jinghu that evening to negotiate, Xie Qian’s tone softened.
Assistant Qi was nearly moved to tears.
“Young Master Xie, when are you free to come to the capital to talk with Mr. Xie?”
Xie Qian was nonchalant, “No need to go to the capital, just have the lawyers draft the agreement.”
A performance-based bet on Jiaxin’s results, if the targets were met, Jiaxin’s shares would fully transfer to Xie Qian. If not, not only would the shares return to Xie Jinghu, but additional terms would delay Xie Qian’s exercise of shareholder rights in Jinhu Group!
As for the performance targets and the delay period, Xie Qian and Xie Jinghu would need to agree.
Verbal promises meant nothing, recordings lacked legal weight, only a written contract offered true security!
After hanging up, Xie Qian noticed his mother, Zou Weijun, standing at the door.
Zou Weijun held a glass of milk, having listened at the door for who knows how long.
Xie Qian’s heart tightened.
The name “Xie Jinghu” was a trigger for Zou Weijun, someone she had kept out of her life for nearly two years. Hearing Xie Qian’s conversation with Assistant Qi, would it plunge her back into depression?
Mother and son locked eyes in silence, Xie Qian’s calm facade hiding a turbulent heart, until Zou Weijun broke the quiet:
“Xie Qian, do you want Jiaxin Film?”
Xie Qian couldn’t gauge Zou Weijun’s thoughts, but he couldn’t lie, and he wanted to test her state, so he followed his heart, “Yes, I want Jiaxin Film. Half of Jinhu Group’s assets belong to you, I won’t let them be given away.”
