Chapter 732: Jiaojiao 12
Chen Jiao was already in her hotel room. Seeing the light screen Tan You had sent, she couldn’t help but smile. "This doctor... he seems pretty incredible."
"Not ’seems.’ He *is* incredible," Tan You said with a smile. "They say the greatest masters hide in plain sight, and now I see it’s true. To describe the situation almost perfectly without even meeting them... What a talent."
Chen Jiao sounded a little wistful. "I’d really like to meet him if I get the chance."
Tan You said, "Someone like you? He’d have you figured out in less than three minutes."
Chen Jiao quickly dismissed the idea. "Never mind then. I thought Ye Rong and Yuan Sheng would have come looking for me by now. Do you think Zhang Ping will still show up to the set to film during the day?"
Tan You said, "With that body of his, completely hollowed out by booze and women? I’ll be shocked if he can even get out of bed today, let alone come to the set to film. Besides, isn’t Liu Fu the main director for your shoot? Liu Fu’s skills are decent enough."
Chen Jiao’s eyes lit up. "Teacher, have you taken a liking to Liu Fu?"
"It doesn’t matter if I like him. You don’t have any money right now. Even if you want to make a movie, how can you shoot it without money?" Tan You said objectively. "With a pairing like you and Liu Fu, a Z-list actress and director, what investor would be willing to fund you?"
"Even if someone did invest, you’d just be eaten alive, with not even the scraps left over. Anyone can recognize a good script. Why would they pave the way for you? They’d definitely want to cast their own hand-picked actors. In the end, it’s hard to say if you two would even have a part in it."
She raised an eyebrow as she spoke. "But then again, Ye Rong and Yuan Sheng have extorted quite a bit over the years. Still, like you said, that money is soaked in the blood and tears of others. Using it would weigh on your conscience."
Chen Jiao waved her hands dismissively. "Let’s not, then. I won’t take what isn’t mine. I’m just worried that if I make an exception now, I won’t be able to control myself in the future. It’s better to stick to how things are."
Tan You smiled. "Your values are quite upright. That’s good. We’ll just have to find another way. In that case, let’s demand a compensation fee from Ye Rong. That’s perfectly reasonable."
Chen Jiao pouted. "Their money is dirty."
The implication was that she didn’t want it. Tan You smiled. "You weren’t ultimately harmed, but they did try to hurt you. That’s a fact. Making them pay appropriate compensation is perfectly reasonable."
"If you just casually undo the little trick you played on them, they’ll think you’re a pushover."
Chen Jiao understood. She never intended to actually kill anyone, but if she went soft the moment they begged, it would give them the impression that she was a doormat.
So, just as Tan You said, she had to demand compensation, and it couldn’t be a small amount. After all, for Ye Rong and the others, this was the price to save their own skins.
"But this money..." Chen Jiao was still quite idealistic at this point and really didn’t want their money.
Tan You thought for a moment. "If you really don’t want it, then once you get it, you can donate it to charity. Better for it to be used for good deeds than for Ye Rong and his cronies to use it to harm people."
A slow smile spread across Chen Jiao’s face. "Looked at that way, it doesn’t seem so bad. Then, Teacher, how much should we ask for?"
Tan You held up one finger. "Ye Rong and Yuan Sheng, one million each. As for their underlings, we’ll see if Ye Rong is willing to spend the money on them."
"One million?" Chen Jiao’s eyes went wide. "My take-home pay for this entire movie won’t even be a hundred thousand. After the company takes its cut, I’ll probably only get forty thousand..."
Tan You said, "That’s a standard cut for agencies. At some companies, the artist only gets to keep ten percent, and they still have to find their own assistants and makeup artists, and pay for their own wardrobe."
"Relatively speaking, your company is decent. After all, you’ve been there without running into any ’casting couch’ situations, and your agent still fights for resources for you. The fact that your eyes are still so clear after more than two years in the industry shows that while you’ve faced some storms, you haven’t run into any of the major filth."
Chen Jiao thought about it and agreed. "You’re right, it’s actually not been too bad. The dirtiest thing I’ve encountered so far is Zhang Ping. Say, what if I approached the company about producing the script..."
"That’s impossible," Tan You said with a smile. "Right now, you’re like a child carrying a gold brick through a crowded market. Even if your company is decent, with a script this good, there’s no way they’d let you star in it."
"For one, your acting skills can’t carry it. You won’t be able to play the role without another year or two of honing your craft. Instead of thinking about getting this script made, you should spend the next couple of years focusing on self-improvement."
Chen Jiao’s heart, which had been floating on air, immediately came back down to earth. "Right, I need to be more grounded. You’re right, Teacher. I have no acting skills and no money. It’s too early to be thinking about this."
"I’m going to bed. I can have anything I want in my dreams."
Tan You chuckled. "Go to sleep. I’ll wake you up on time."
Because Chen Jiao had pulled all-nighters the past two days, Tan You didn’t press her to wake up early for dance practice, letting her sleep in until seven. By the time Chen Jiao washed up, ate, and got to the film set, it was already eight o’clock.
The moment she walked onto the set, she was met with a variety of looks. Everyone seemed to be wondering the same thing: she was clearly taken away by Zhang Ping yesterday, so how was she standing here today, perfectly fine?
Chen Jiao ignored their stares. As an actor, you had to have thick skin. ’So what if people are looking? It’s not like they’re saying anything to my face.’
In any case, whenever it was her turn to act, she focused on her performance. She was committed to one thing from start to finish: she would absolutely not be the one to tell anyone what happened to her yesterday.
’Let them wonder and guess all they want!’
"Teacher, you were right. Zhang Ping really didn’t show up today." During their lunch break, Chen Jiao gossiped with Tan You while munching on a meatball. "How’s he doing now?"
"Is he still with Ye Rong and Yuan Sheng?"
"Of course," Tan You said. With a flick of her finger, an image of Zhang Ping and the others appeared in front of Chen Jiao. Because of what Old Cai had said, Ye Rong hadn’t let Zhang Ping or his lackeys leave at all. They were still in the same room from yesterday.
Yesterday, they were only concerned with their own safety and hadn’t been in the right mind to notice the changes in the room. Now that some of their reason had returned, they saw the destroyed discs in the safe.
"This is too much!" Ye Rong ground his teeth in hatred. This was his trump card. As long as he sent these things to those starlets, which one of them didn’t become obedient?
But now, the master copies had all been destroyed! What would he use to threaten them into making money for him in the future?
Yuan Sheng sat in a corner of the sofa, as sinister as a viper. "She’s already done it. If it’s really like Old Cai said, then we’ll naturally have to go and beg for mercy. But if it’s not, we’ll just find a new batch of people. What’s the big deal?"
"There are plenty of pretty girls out there. We’re not short on people."
The vicious glint in Ye Rong’s eyes gradually faded. "You’re right. We’ll see what happens tonight."
It wasn’t just Ye Rong and his men waiting for the Hour of the Rat; Chen Jiao was waiting as well.