Overnight Hit: Vicious Stepmother and Genius Son
Chapter 164 Experience

Chapter 164: Chapter 164 Experience

Ye Zhenzhen’s contract signing went very smoothly, and the remuneration offered was quite generous.

Compared to "Ren Pingsheng," this was simply a dramatic turnaround for Ye Zhenzhen—a dismal situation brightening unexpectedly.

Liu Rui had originally thought it would take quite an effort to go argue with Lemon Channel, but she didn’t expect the film script to be signed so quickly.

From the moment Ye Zhenzhen finished signing, the smile on Liu Rui’s face simply couldn’t be held back.

She nearly laughed out loud.

"Zhenzhen, now that the contract is signed, do you want to post on Weibo?"

Ye Zhenzhen smiled and shook her head lightly, "Think about it carefully, do I need to post on Weibo?"

Liu Rui was stunned, as if realizing something, "Oh, my fault, I got too excited, I didn’t think as much as you."

Ye Zhenzhen said with a smile, "So, whether you encounter something happy or not so good, you must stay calm. I shouldn’t post this on Weibo, and from now on, I won’t look at my Weibo at all."

"Right, what you’re thinking is correct. One day, when we become household names in the industry by our own strength, we won’t be bullied by them so carelessly anymore."

The "them" Liu Rui referred to was naturally drama crews like "Ren Pingsheng."

"In this circle, when you’re not famous, you’re surrounded by malice; once you’re famous, everyone around you is nice."

Ye Zhenzhen had already experienced this in her previous life.

The reason she’s not posting on Weibo now is simple. Although the official Weibo for "Ren Pingsheng" was very offensive, they had the backing of Lemon Channel, and she was just a small actress starting to get some heat.

They naturally wouldn’t care about her feelings.

If she posted on Weibo after signing the contract, announcing that she had been cast as the female lead for "Selflessness," it would be pure bragging, and offending the drama would be offending Lemon Channel.

This would be all harm and no benefit for her, especially since her current popularity was still thanks to Lemon Channel’s variety show.

She wasn’t like Xiao Yi and Director Yang, who had already posted on Weibo to help her. The best thing for her now was to say nothing at all.

That way, she would make a good impression on both drama crews.

The "Ren Pingsheng" crew would feel guilty towards her, and the "Selflessness" side would be even happier—nobody wants to sign a female lead who stirs up trouble.

...

On the other side, after making several inquiries, Tang Ying learned that Ye Zhenzhen was indeed in talks for the female lead of "Selflessness."

And she had signed a contract with Baisheng Media.

Han Jiangxue’s face turned ashen when she heard this news.

"How is this possible? Tang Ying, didn’t you say that Xia Zhi’s script was still being polished? How could they have already decided on the female lead?"

And it was Ye Zhenzhen.

For a moment, Han Jiangxue’s heart was interwoven with rage and regret. She didn’t believe she was any worse than Ye Zhenzhen but resented that she just wasn’t as lucky as Ye Zhenzhen lately.

Han Jiangxue even started to think, perhaps from the very beginning, Ye Zhenzhen had been setting a trap for her.

From the day of the audition for "Ren Pingsheng," when Ye Zhenzhen went from a minor role to successfully auditioning for the second female lead, to today, where she had so smoothly signed "Selflessness" as the female lead.

Thinking this way, she suddenly felt that maybe Ye Zhenzhen had been targeting "Selflessness" from the start, using "Ren Pingsheng" as a smokescreen all along, luring her into the trap.

"I blame myself for being too careless, for underestimating the enemy," Han Jiangxue couldn’t help saying.

It was certain that Ye Zhenzhen getting involved with Xiao Yi during the variety show recording wasn’t going to be simple. It turned out that she had already started laying out her plans before going on the show.

Tang Ying, watching Han Jiangxue mutter to herself, explained, "Xiao Xue, I really didn’t know Xia Zhi would start casting so soon. I truly didn’t have any news about it.

But don’t lose heart, we can think of a way. Even if Ye Zhenzhen signed a contract, so what? There are plenty of actors who get replaced after joining a production."

In this circle, talking about a change per day is an understatement—multiple changes in a single day are entirely possible.

Han Jiangxue’s face remained stern, "Things are already like this; talking about it is useless. We should think of ways to strive for another chance."

She didn’t want to miss out on either TV dramas or movies.

She refused to believe that she was inferior to Ye Zhenzhen. With Ye Zhenzhen’s level of acting, even if Xiao Yi backed her, if her performance wasn’t up to par, she would still be kicked out of the production.

Yang Honghui was much more demanding about acting than Yang Ping. She would just wait for Ye Zhenzhen to be kicked out...

Tang Ying: "Shall I go and negotiate for you again?"

"Fine. I’m taking Shen Yibo to record a show in a couple of days. You must find a way in Jiangcheng."

"Okay, I will try my best."

...

That evening, when Shen Zhaonan returned home, his expression was somewhat unpleasant.

Han Jiangxue stepped forward, took the overcoat from Shen Zhaonan’s hands, and smiled, "Husband, what’s wrong?"

Originally, she had intended to praise him as soon as Shen Zhaonan got home and to also bring up the visit to Jincheng to meet Su Xi.

Because the day she met Su Xi, and once she mentioned it to Shen Zhaonan, he agreed to let her invest in "Ren Pingsheng."

So she thought, if she could help Shen Zhaonan secure a partnership with Su Xi, then convincing him to invest in the movie "Selflessness" would be a piece of cake.

By then, regardless of how good or bad Ye Zhenzhen’s acting was, she would be able to kick her out of the game again.

Shen Zhaonan sat down on the sofa, his brooding face growing darker, "There’s been a problem with the loan we secured with the bank."

Bohai Bank had already agreed, and they were supposed to sign the loan contract with Shen’s company this afternoon. Somehow, they abruptly changed their minds.

They didn’t provide any specific explanation, just said that the bank currently had a cash crunch and likely couldn’t disburse such a large amount of loan in a short period.

Shen Zhaonan had thought about switching to another bank, but after approaching several, all said they were experiencing a cash shortage, posing a dilemma for him.

Han Jiangxue asked, "Is it serious?"

"Serious." Shen Zhaonan looked at Han Jiangxue with a heavy gaze as he uttered these two words. "The company’s accessible funds are limited right now. If we can’t secure a loan, even if we receive customers’ orders, we won’t be able to start work."

What was most critical was that they were hoping to partner with Huanya Group. If Cheng Zheng knew that their cash flow had issues, there was no way he would place orders with Shen’s company.

Han Jiangxue was taken aback; she hadn’t expected Shen Zhaonan to suddenly face a cash shortfall.

"Ah Nan, if we successfully sign with Huanya Group, could that alleviate our cash flow concerns?"

Shen Zhaonan: "If we can partner with Huanya Group, not to mention our situation, those banks would probably be eager to throw money at us, begging us to take out loans. Right now, the key issue is that we still haven’t caught the big fish."

This was what vexed Shen Zhaonan the most.

Considering, Shen Zhaonan asked Han Jiangxue, "The Sixty Million I transferred to you the other day, have you invested it yet?"