Amélie, despite her small frame, has an amazing capacity for alcohol. Because of the nature of her work, she often has to negotiate and entertain at dinner parties, and she has no problem handling all kinds of alcoholic drinks. As a result, she has taken several rounds of drinks on behalf of Yuan Ge, who has been made drunk by the group.
"Amy, you're not being fair! Old Dude and I are your partners too, how come we only see you help Yuan Ge out with his drinks?"
Chow Mingrun is in a good mood tonight and is also drinking to his heart's content. However, he, who has always been a superb drinker, is no match to Amélie when it comes to a drinking contest.
"Yuan Ge can't drink at all. Now that he's been cast as the male lead in King Guan's blockbuster, he probably won't be a director for a long time and is going to be a movie star. If the film is a big hit, he could be a superstar. Don't you think we should give him a PA?"
Amélie says as she downs another glass of wine for Yuan Ge, still looking as sober as ever, leaving Chestnut and the other young actors completely in awe.
"Nononono! You want to be Yuan Ge's personal assistant, huh? Then who's going to be in charge of marketing and finance? Don't even think about it! Our little company can't do without you!"
There is no way Chow Mingrun is going to let go of his right-hand woman.
"That's right! If Yuan Ge is going to work with King Guan's group, he'll need to work on his drinking ability. Amy, you can't keep spoiling him and helping him out all the time."
Du Jinghai is not a bad drinker either, and he manages to keep a clear head at the moment, discussing with the three of them, "Say, Fat Chow, you said that King Guan budgeted one billion for the pre-production of this film alone, and everything was to be top-notch, how much did Polar Bear and Magic Lamp put in respectively, or did they provide other resources but not money? We are the second producer, how many people will we provide and how much money will we put in? You have to get your numbers right. Let's not get trapped in a bad deal and sign some kind of agreement with lots of damaging clauses. If you get one thing wrong, not only will we lose Dragon Dreams, but you could lose your congee bar too! Why don't Amy and I go with you tomorrow to sign the contract?"
"Why do we have to put in money? We've provided four important actors! At worst, we will forgo the remuneration and call it an investment, right? You and Amy have already booked your tickets, there's no need to change them. I can handle it... why... are you worried about my business skills? Relax, mate, go back home for the New Year and we'll be in a different league when you get back. In fact, providing four actors is already too much, just selling Yuan Ge alone is enough, isn't it?"
Chow Mingrun is already dizzy from drinking, and the way he smiles at Yuan Ge is becoming weird. He pulls Chestnut to the side, "Chestnut, go, read aloud again for Brother Chow, who are the producers of 'A Journey in Brocade'?"
Chestnut is just about to stand up when Yuan Ge pulls her back down again.
"Don't listen to him, Boss Chow has turned into Brother Chow … if he has a few more drinks, he'll probably have no problem being a Grandson Chow!"
He pats the drunk Chow Mingrun on the back, "Fat Chow, you are not hiding any information from me, are you? I know that on the day of the audition, King Guan used one of their nine biggest stars, the hottest actor Wang Jinyu, to help with the scene. How come once the result was announced, the male lead was changed to the CEO himself?"
"Sure, Wang Jinyu is popular, but can he be more appealing than his boss? You've met Arthur, he actually looks a lot like Wang Jinyu, 6ft tall, well built, and he is super rich! Maybe he is starring in his own film just for fun, so that he can win both titles of 'China's Most Handsome Rich Man' and 'China's Richest Handsome Man'. As for what his acting skills will be like, that's not our concern. Anyway, if they want to make a splash with a billion dollars, feel free, as long as they can make enough waves to set us sailing." Chow Mingrun smiles breezily.
"It won't be that bad. It was Arthur Guan himself who played opposite me on the day of the audition. He's quite talented and his acting skills are definitely solid." Yuan Ge recalls the day of the audition and says not without emotion.
"What?! How can you hide such an important detail from me? Quickly, quickly, tell me all about it! How exactly did he audition you that day?"
Seeing that Du Jinghai, Amélie and the others all have their ears pricked up to listen, Yuan Ge has to recap the details of his audition with Arthur Guan that day.
Du Jinghai listens carefully to Yuan Ge's description and examines the concept poster a few more times before speaking, "I think Fat Chow may have thought the whole thing too simply. Take a closer look at this poster, guys." As a veteran photographer, Du Jinghai can always find many details in a picture.
The crowd followed his description and took another close look at the poster.
The poster shows a northern landscape of forest and snow; Heaven Lake[1] is surrounded by fresh snow like a white porcelain bowl filled with blue water; a rare glow appears in the sky as if it were the Northern Lights reflected on the mirror-like surface of the lake. At the outlet of the lake, a tall, bare-chested young man stands majestically at the water's edge, undaunted by the cold wind, with a white-feathered, jade-clawed Haidongqing[2] resting on his left arm; beside him is a handsome Brocade-Clad Guard, followed by a ferocious snow leopard. These two men are but small figures in the vast expanse of the sky and mountain, but you can still see them standing side by side, talking happily.
"Look at the Jurchen man on this poster, tall and dominant, looks exactly like Arthur Guan himself; while Chu Jiliang, beside him, looks just like Yuan Ge. These two standing there, apart from having a sense of history, have replaced the usual promotion of male/female romance on posters, emphasizing instead a sense of brotherhood … I just looked it up online and found out that this film is based on the popular book, 'Me and the Emperor Compete for a Guard' ,by a famous overseas Webnovel writer Meatball. The original book is said to be quite explicit in content; more crucially, the novel is a danmei[3] work!"
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[1] Heaven Lake is a crater lake on the border between China and North Korea. It lies within a caldera atop the volcanic Paektu Mountain, a part of the Baekdudaegan mountain range and the Changbai mountain range. It is located partly in Ryanggang Province, North Korea, at 42.006°N 128.057°E, and partly in Jilin Province, north-eastern China. Heaven Lake has been recognized as the highest volcanic lake in the world by the Shanghai Office of the Guinness Book of Records.
[2] Haidongqing, also known as spear falcon, is a species of gyrfalcon that is found in the Arctic and over a wide area of North America and Asia, and is native to Heilongjiang and Jilin in China. It is a small but robust bird that flies extremely high and is an important helper in hunting, attacking swans and fighting chickens and rabbits. There are many types of Haidongqing, with the pure white jade-clawed type being the most prized.
[3] Danmei is a genre of literature and other fictional media originating from China which features romantic relationships between male characters. The term danmei is borrowed from the Japanese word tanbi ("the pursuit of beauty"), and Chinese fans often use danmei and BL (Boy's Love) interchangeably.