My Fortune-Blessed Leading Lady
Chapter 294: Start Fishing

Chapter 294: Chapter 294: Start Fishing

Lan Yi was a veteran artist and a born Best Actress; her stance and acting were beyond reproach, she could even effortlessly find the exact spot to call for a cut. However, Qu Dongdong and Gu Jinshen worried her.

Especially Qu Dongdong.

Gu Jinshen, she didn’t know, still asked questions, pondered, and thought, but Qu Dongdong simply made her want to tell her to get lost.

The week Yuran and the others were away, she had been pondering script revisions. After all, she was the director, and she held the copyright to the script.

Moreover, overall, the original author had mentioned that the most popular female character in the entire novel was Xie Qingcheng.

The female lead, although integral to the main storyline, could indeed be altered.

Classic series often revolved around unrequited love and historical regrets.

The more she thought in this direction, the harder it was for Director Lin to put on the brakes.

She wanted to cut the female lead’s script until she was satisfied.

But she knew that for a good movie, it wouldn’t work; the female lead’s part also needed to be substantial, the character well-rounded, and the story coherent. Even if she didn’t like Qu Dongdong, she wouldn’t deliberately alter too much of the female lead’s script.

But considering changing the leading actress, she truly entertained the thought.

After discussing the play with Yuran, she couldn’t help but complain, "Speaking of which, the scene from ’Emperor Shun of Tang’ that I most enjoyed filming was the confrontation scene between you, the male lead, and the queen."

Yuran, not knowing why, asked, "Why?"

"The malleability is strong, and I don’t need to use much effort when I shout. I don’t really need to shout at all. Just listen to my voice, I’m not young anymore, is it easy? Besides Lan Yi, they are all a bunch of pigs. I am just short of buying some pig feed."

Gu Jinshen, who was about to come over to ask about the secrets of acting, was unwittingly struck to the heart, laughing and crying, "Director Lin, there’s no need for pig feed, really, no one likes to eat that."

Yuran, trying not to laugh, nodded towards Gu Jinshen, "Then you and Professor Gu have a good chat, I’m going to follow up on the plot."

Director Lin wanted to chat more with her, but the situation did not allow it, so he had to give up and started discussing the plot and Gu Jinshen’s shortcomings with him.

Yuran went around to the makeup room and found Lu Xiao, who was sprawled on the table, scribbling away with the script by his side, seemingly lost in thought. When she approached him, he didn’t react.

Tapping the script on his desk, Lu Xiao jumped up from his seat, startled, three feet in the air, "Director Lin, I-I-I-I, I’m seriously reviewing the script." But then he saw Yuran and was unable to stop laughing and crying.

"You walk without making a sound."

Yuran pulled up a chair beside him, amused, "You guys seem to have been really put through the wringer by Director Lin recently, with this setup. I really can’t understand, what are you doing?"

"Hmm... writing music. My contract is about to expire, and the company is planning to renew it. Recently, they’ve been offering some pie-in-the-sky terms, but I’m not pleased," Lu Xiao said, seemingly unhappy as he talked about his company and the band.

Yuran took the musical score he offered, looking through it seriously, and casually asked, "Do you have any plans?"

"No."

While Yuran appeared calm as she reviewed the musical score, her thoughts began to stir, "How about considering my studio?"

Lu Xiao thought he had misheard and looked incredulously at Yuran beside him, "Did you just invite me to join your team?"

"Yes, I’m inviting you to join my team. If you join, for now, it would just be you and me as the artists, the manager is called Qi Younian, and our agent is Annan."

Lu Xiao had never thought about who he would sign with after leaving his current company. The short few years since his debut had soured him greatly.

Internal conflicts within the team were blatantly obvious, yet at events, they still had to pretend to be affectionate. The top management clearly set their prices outright but disguised it under pretenses of looking out for them, trying to make them do some...

Well, better left unsaid.

Lu Xiao was still puzzled, "Why would you think of signing me?"

"My studio is just starting. It’s not impossible to sign newcomers, but currently, I wouldn’t. I’d first try to attract two popular figures to build the studio’s reputation.

Moreover, I mainly focus on film and television, so naturally, I need someone who specializes in music. You’re the best fit I’ve encountered. It’s just that our temple might be too small to interest a big Buddha like you, but I still want to try."

Looking at Lu Xiao’s skill in lyric writing and composing, his malleability was still very strong.

With impressive talent and an impeccable appearance, she felt he was worth trying for.

Lu Xiao seriously began to consider, "Being an artist in your studio, will there be networking involvements? Will there be many conditions?"

Yuran responded, "These issues, all that you’re worried about, can be discussed with the company head, Qi Younian. I’ll give you a business card in a bit. Don’t worry, we don’t run any shady business; we only want to build our own studio’s brand impact.

After all, we’re looking to progress further, and you can look a bit further ahead too. You can also state your demands, which we will agree to within a reasonable scope.

The characteristic of our studio is that the earnings you make and the company share a sixty-forty split, you sixty, company forty."

Lu Xiao’s eyes widened; his current company, though neither small nor large, was notoriously vampiric. The income they received from performances was only a fifth of the original, and what made it scarier was that this fifth had to be shared among eight of them.

So even after so many years since his debut, he practically had no money.

Popularity was high, but money was indeed not there.

Lu Xiao then asked, "Does the company provide accommodation?"

"We can provide a rented apartment, not necessarily the best, but the best within our capacity."

When she and Qi Younian were preparing to make a big move earlier, Yuran had this idea of signing artists to her studio for collaborations, and she was sure Qi Younian could handle it.

So when Lu Xiao decided to consider it, she quickly made a call to Qi Younian.

She described the situation here without avoiding Lu Xiao and even asked for Lu Xiao’s phone number on the spot, telling it to Qi Younian, and hung up still feeling somewhat unreal to Lu Xiao.

Previously, he was thinking about how to pull himself out of his current pit; now, he finally felt a sense of seeing the light.

It was probably just an instinct, this inexplicable willingness to trust the terms Yuran offered, even though he had not yet seen her studio.

Yuran took the pen from his hand, made a few adjustments on his musical score, and handed it back to him, "Although this song seems a bit heavy, here’s a suggestion: after you part ways with your current company, then release this EP.

If you’re fortunate enough to sign with us, our studio will handle everything, including the MV. Would Bai Leyao be okay to star in it for you?"