With a touch of sadness for his own inadequacies, Mr Jin had the cheek to linger at Jiaxin for a company lunch.
Jiaxin’s work meals were acceptable, but they paled in comparison to the standards Mr Jin was used to for business entertaining. Gong Sheng suggested going to a restaurant, but Mr Jin glanced at Xie Qian and said he had no issue with a work meal.
After lunch, Xie Qian, accompanied by Gong Sheng and Xu Mei, saw Mr Jin all the way to the company entrance, and Mr Jin felt a bit excited again.
When facing Xie Qian alone, Mr Jin was unsure how to address him.
Call him President Xie?
That did not seem quite right.
Calling him Little President Xie was even worse.
Mr Jin simply chuckled it off. “As long as Jiaxin’s project starts, my funds will be available anytime.”
“Thank you for your trust.”
Mr Jin was willing to invest 15 to 20 million, so Xie Qian was naturally courteous to this god of wealth.
With no outsiders present, Xie Qian handed the script to Xu Mei. “Take a look yourself: see if there is a role suitable for you.”
Xu Mei was surprised. “You are letting me choose myself?”
“Normally, an agent would help you select scripts, but my advice is that relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself. What kind of role you can play, what kind of role you want to play, no one knows better than you.”
“…Any kind of role?”
Xu Mei’s heart pounded.
From her debut, she had always played supporting female roles.
Even in the new drama of the Taiwan romance queen, which was billed as having dual female leads, the “sister” role was still not the first female lead.
Was Xie Qian saying that if she wanted, she could take the female lead in the company’s production?
Gazed at by Xu Mei’s expectant eyes, Xie Qian’s train of thought was undisturbed. “I mean a role suitable for you. Whether the female lead suits you or a supporting role does, you need to judge that yourself.”
Xu Mei’s fervent heart was doused with a basin of cold water.
What exactly did Xie Qian mean? Was he agreeing or not to her playing the female lead?
If he did not express it clearly, was he testing her?
Xu Mei clutched the script, caught in a dilemma.
Ambitious as she was, she naturally wanted the female lead, yet she feared her ambition might displease the new boss.
Forget it, better to read the script first!
Xu Mei found a chair in the office and sat down, flipping through the script in her hands.
Zhang Guangzhen was from Taiwan. Could such a screenwriter really handle a story about Shanghai’s alleyways?
Xu Mei had doubts before reading, but after, she was quite surprised.
“Teacher Zhang really understands Shanghai’s alleyways.”
While Xu Mei read the script seriously, Xie Qian and Gong Sheng discussed business right in front of her. When Xu Mei finished, Xie Qian and Gong Sheng paused their conversation to wait for her choice.
“Teacher Zhang’s ancestral home is Shanghai. Before liberation, his elders went to Taiwan. He has long wanted to create something on this theme, and Jiaxin just happened to catch him in his creative phase.”
Xie Qian explained briefly, and Xu Mei suddenly understood. “No wonder! I was wondering why Teacher Zhang’s script is so good. It turns out it carries his feelings for his homeland. The stories of the families in the script give me a sense of familiarity, as if they happened right beside me. None of the characters are big figures, yet they all have blood and flesh.”
After saying this, Xu Mei herself was stunned.
She was from Shanghai.
Her family circumstances were average, and she grew up in an alleyway as a child. That was why Zhang Guangzhen’s script felt so intimate and familiar.
So when Xie Qian let her pick a role, it was not just assigning her this year’s work at Jiaxin, but truly thinking she was suitable?
Earlier Xu Mei had felt she could not read the new boss’s mind, but now she realised she might have overthought it. The new boss was not testing her; he was simply straightforward.
For a moment, Xu Mei almost wanted to cry.
Mr Jin was right: her luck was truly good. Running into a boss as genuine as Xie Qian was too fortunate!
If it had been Manager Guan, he would have hypocritically painted a rosy picture, swearing she could play the female lead, only to disappoint her time and again.
Having gone through those unpleasant experiences before, Xu Mei was fed up with bosses who only painted pies!
Xu Mei thought back carefully over the roles in the script. “I want to play ‘Si Lei’. Is that alright?”
“You have decided? I recall that ‘Si Lei’ is not the female lead in terms of screen time.”
Xie Qian confirmed with Xu Mei, and she nodded. “Decided. I like the ‘Si Lei’ role. I think I can play it well. Even if it is not the female lead, I accept that.”
Xie Qian had said the female lead was not necessarily suitable.
After reading the entire script, Xu Mei understood what he meant.
The female lead in Zhang Guangzhen’s story was a somewhat tragic and saintly character, always bullied yet magnanimously forgiving those who hurt her. She had plenty of scenes, but Xu Mei found it stifling to read.
Xu Mei now particularly hated bosses who painted pies, and she particularly hated this kind of role, as it reminded her of unpleasant memories.
Life was stifling enough; for acting, Xu Mei wanted to play a role that was utterly exhilarating!
“Very well, then you will play ‘Si Lei’.”
Xie Qian finalised the matter, and Xu Mei, with good awareness, stood up. “Then I will go back to my acting lessons. I will not disturb you two with your serious business~”
As soon as Xu Mei left, Gong Sheng smiled.
“What do you think? Has Xu Mei not undergone a complete transformation?”
During talks with Mr Jin, including with Xu Mei present, Gong Sheng had kept his presence low. Now, with only him and Xie Qian in the office, Gong Sheng spoke freely.
“We will need to see more.”
There was a trace of fatigue in Xie Qian’s brows and eyes. “If the company is to invest resources to promote her, we must first see if she is worth it.”
Xu Mei’s previous impression on Xie Qian had been too strong, and Xie Qian was still unsure if she had truly changed.
Artists who were petty clever were fooling themselves; only those with true wisdom could go far!
Gong Sheng asked when Xie Qian would return to Chengdu, and Xie Qian asked him to book a flight for three days later.
“Mr Jin is willing to invest 15 to 20 million, and Oriental Channel also wants to put in some money. Once we finalise this with Producer Xu, I will leave.”
Two months was not a long time, yet Xie Qian preferred to act as Gong Sheng’s little assistant to figure out the operations of a film and TV company himself, while also needing to participate in the logistics company matters. Only someone as quick-witted as Xie Qian could learn fast; anyone else handling two career lines at once would have split mentally long ago!
Perhaps because it was too fulfilling, Xie Qian found these two months particularly long.
Though he never ate the fried skewers from the stall at the gate of the provincial key high school in Chengdu, he now especially missed that skewer shop at the school gate.
Three more days, and he could go back.
Before leaving, besides finalising Jiaxin’s project with Oriental Channel, he also needed to arrange things for Detective Luo.
Detective Luo, who had failed repeatedly on the entrepreneurial path, decided to fully hitch his wagon to Xie Qian and Zou Weijun. He took on Zou Weijun’s commission to investigate ironclad proof of Xie Jinghu’s affair.
To investigate the mistress and illegitimate children living in the United States, Detective Luo had to go abroad.
Tourism or study abroad were not suitable for Detective Luo; he had to take the route of going abroad to work.
This gamble might just achieve financial freedom!
Detective Luo was full of optimism about his future.
