Actresses

Chapter 44 Entanglement

"What's the progress on your end?"

Wei Ning was still persistently asking, but Shi Jiahe thought to herself, "What's the point of asking? Zero progress, no advancement whatsoever."

But there was no time to explain now. Shi Jiahe simply didn't reply, turning her phone face down on the table. Anyway, the room number had already been sent, so she was just waiting for Wei Ning to burst in and startle everyone.

Since sending that WeChat message, He Yuran hasn't said a word. Knowing her as Shi Jiahe does, she must be harboring resentment.

I'll explain this when I get back. Shi Jiahe thought to herself.

But every second she spent there felt like sitting on pins and needles; the atmosphere in the room was simply unbearable. She had anticipated this outcome, but she hadn't expected it to come so quickly.

Fortunately, Wei Ning was already waiting nearby and didn't take long to walk over. Just as Shi Jiahe was scratching her head, unable to come up with anything to say next, as if a savior had descended, the door to the private room was pushed open forcefully.

Shi Jiahe's gaze immediately fell upon it.

Sure enough, it was Wei Ning. He probably ran here; he was still slightly out of breath.

He Yuran didn't even look up; it was Zhuang Pan who called out first, "Hey, President Ning? Did you also have an appointment here?"

Stone Sister was clearly also very surprised. She stood up when she saw Wei Ning. She probably turned to look at Shi Jiahe's expression and realized that the two of them had conspired together.

She stood up, called the waiter to bring another set of cutlery, glanced at the nearly empty Juyondai bottle, and decisively ordered another. Then she pulled up a chair beside her. "Please sit down, please sit down!"

"Okay." Sister Stone nodded, her words carrying a hidden meaning. "Jiahe is really good at keeping her composure."

Shi Jiahe knew this was a sarcastic remark directed at her, so she made a face and mouthed to Sister Stone, "I'll explain later."

She quickly put on a smile and said to Zhuang Pan and Sister Shi in a casual tone, "It's like this! We actually have another very professional partner in this film, Wei Ning. President Ning and I have been friends for many years, and she is also an old acquaintance of yours. We're all on the same side, so I invited her to come and meet us. It's a good opportunity for us to have a deeper discussion about the specifics later on."

Wei Ning quickly raised his glass, saying, "I'll drink this one first as a sign of respect."

He then drank it all in one gulp.

As Shi Jiahe poured the wine, she said, "There's no need to drink so fast."

It has to be said that Wei Ning, who is used to being the head of the crew, once he really opened up his aura, was not inferior even to two big-name artists in front of him.

"There are no outsiders here today, but I'll still introduce myself. Jiahe and I are old comrades-in-arms who used to work long nights together on set, and I've been a fan of Ran Jie for many years. As for Panpan and Shitou, our friendship goes without saying. I know this might be quite sudden for you two, but the drama that Ran Jie and Jiahe are currently preparing is the most promising project I've handled this year. I've already spoken to General Manager Zhou Chun, and he's given it the green light. In the past, I would wait until the script was finished before discussing actors and investors, and whoever I talked to would get the role. This is the first time I've decided on who to cast from the very beginning, and I'm considering both the actors and the project. I'm also fully confident that we can achieve a win-win situation for all parties and satisfy everyone."

"No, I don't understand, President Ning. Are you going to participate in this project?" Sister Stone asked.

At this moment, He Yuran casually remarked from the side, "Is that even a question?"

Shi Jiahe understood. Good, now it's two to three. She and Wei Ning need to persuade the remaining three while simultaneously achieving two goals: helping Shi Tou convince Zhuang Pan to break up, and at the same time, getting Wei Ning to gain He Yu Ran's trust.

Shi Jiahe and Wei Ning exchanged a glance. In that instant when their eyes met, she seemed to rediscover the feeling she had when she was working on the film set back in the day.

Pure competitive spirit.

Regardless of the costs or consequences, I just want to do everything I can to accomplish this.

Wei Ning cleared his throat and said, "I still owe everyone some explanations. There's still a long time to go on set, and I'll explain things one by one gradually. Now, let me start with the most important thing. First of all, our positions are completely aligned. Regarding the drama I worked on with Panpan, I must admit I'm very grateful to Panpan and Shitou for agreeing to take it on. But we also have to face the fact that the show didn't do very well after it aired. Although this is the first time I'm saying this to Panpan, and it might be hard for her to accept, the more she says this, the more I hope we can work together again to do something that can change other people's preconceived notions. Because I'm not willing to give up. The sentence I've been saying most often to Zhou Chun lately is that we can no longer use the old mindset to do projects, at least I can't."

Zhuang Pan sighed impatiently, her voice heavy. "Thank me? Thank me for what? Was our collaboration pleasant? Ha, I know everything. Just now, Sister Shi was telling me that you all flattered me. So, President Ning, don't be so polite. What's so pleasant about it? I can face the consequences, aren't I facing them right now? So why should we force a second collaboration? There are plenty of actresses like me. You can find anyone else, just don't look for me. Besides, finding someone else is what it means to face the failure of my film, President Ning."

"Panpan, who said our cooperation wasn't pleasant? I never said anything like that." Wei Ning was taken aback.

"Dear President Ning, that's what you think." Zhuang Pan finished speaking and turned to stare at Sister Shi. "Tell her exactly what you just said. Since you're all here today, let's confront each other about what happened on the set back then. I also want to make things clear. Before, you wouldn't say anything to my face because of your pride. Today, don't hold back a single word."

With outsiders present, it was obvious that Stone Sister's stance was still on Zhuang Pan's side.

"Oh dear, how should I put it? I remember, Mr. Ning, you and I used to argue a lot back then, and it was such a hassle to ask you for a break every time. But how could the male lead just leave the set like that? I even asked you about it, and you told me not to listen to the nonsense from the crew. But I was on set at the time."

"We did have some disagreements at the time, but we resolved them all, didn't we? Including your opinions on the script, I tried my best to accommodate them."

"Is that what you call having a problem? That's our normal expectation of a female lead. We trusted you so much that we signed the contract without even reading the whole script. And what did we get in return? A male lead's sidekick? Do you have any respect for people?"

It's highly likely that Wei Ning is in the wrong, because Shi Jiahe noticed that Wei Ning's momentum had diminished.

"I admit... during the final stages of scriptwriting, some unforeseen circumstances arose..."

Upon hearing the term "force majeure," Shi Jiahe almost wanted to close her eyes. This was typical polite talk; Wei Ning, what's wrong with you again!

Sure enough, Stone was also affected.

"President Ning, stop explaining. Haven't we heard enough explanations already? They pulled our people into the production team early, making it impossible for us to break the contract, and then they just gave us whatever they could film every day. This has already happened once, do they want us to repeat the same mistake?" This time, Sister Stone completely blocked Zhuang Pan's path and even glanced at Shi Jiahe. "If I didn't know President Ning was involved, Jiahe, I would at least be willing to help you persuade Panpan to consider your scenes. But with President Ning involved, I'm sorry, I have to back down. The lesson we learned from the last collaboration was too profound. This kind of thing pleases neither side. Panpan doesn't need to say anything, I'll say it first: we won't do it again."

"I know how you all see me." At this moment, Zhuang Pan reached out and grabbed Sister Stone, meaning, "Leave the battlefield to me." "You think I just live off my fans? I get paid, comfortably film every scene on set, and that's it. Since that's your expectation of me, then that's how I'll perform. But now I really don't want to film those kinds of dramas anymore, and I don't want to live like a fake person in your eyes. It's not that I'm indifferent; I don't want to just have a face and a name. I want to be a character, but there aren't any roles for me. Everyone naturally assumes I'm a bad actor. I think, maybe this is my limit? I was naive. I really need my fans, even though I find them annoying, at least their praise and appreciation are genuine. What about you?"

As Zhuang Pan spoke, a smile that was both natural and terrifying appeared on her face.

This expression actually frightened Shi Jiahe.

She thought that if a camera had captured that smile just now, it would have been far more captivating than any of Zhuang Pan's previous drama clips.

"What you care about is the project, and your so-called 'revolving around me' isn't really for my sake. Sister Stone advised me to live a good life, but I honestly don't understand. I don't want to go out to buy groceries, take the bus, and rent a place all by myself. I finally escaped that kind of life, and now I just want to enjoy a few good days. Anyway, once I'm no longer famous, there are plenty of bad days waiting for me. Call me empty or hypocritical, but I haven't done anything wrong. I just want to be in a relationship. I don't care what kind of person he is, but love can make me feel pain. I'm not a very hardworking person, is that so wrong? Why does an actor have to be constantly striving for improvement? Can't I settle down and improve my acting skills in a couple of years?"

"Panpan, I don't understand any of your worries just now, because I'm not a celebrity, and in my eyes you are already very happy. But I want to try to understand you, because I also know that no one is truly 100% happy; everyone has their own tribulations. The difference lies only in how they are expressed and whether we can bear them." Wei Ning smiled bitterly. "But what I said earlier about thanking you on set was from the bottom of my heart. Although you complained about me earlier, from my perspective, you were giving feedback on the character. From that moment on, I knew you had your own ideas about acting. You are braver than me. Before filming started, I even wanted to turn a blind eye to the fact that the female lead's character was too one-dimensional, pretending that the problem didn't exist. Because I just wanted to film it as soon as possible. But there was no way around it; you brought it up, it was right in front of me, so I had to solve it. Although Shi Tou and I always argue, I remember you never really got angry with me on set. You filmed all the revised scenes, very cooperative. When I heard that Sister Ran was going to work with you, I immediately decided that I had to get this project. Because I hope that this time on set, we are truly adding to the character, not just fixing things."

"Thank you for the compliments, Mr. Ning, but let me first sort out my awful relationship. What you're talking about is too profound; I'm not up to the task and don't understand it."

Stone Sister's tone softened somewhat. "President Ning, if you had told me these things back on set, I might be more willing to continue this discussion today. But we have pressing issues to resolve right now, so let's not get entangled in the cause and effect."

"I'm going to the restroom," Zhuang Pan said.

"You're not going to run away, are you?" Shi Jiahe blurted out.

"Do I need to do this?" Zhuang Pan stared, opened the door, and left.

Stone Sister got up to accompany her.

Only three people remained in the private room. Shi Jiahe couldn't hold back any longer and yelled at Wei Ning, "You're so smart, how come you can't get to the point?"

"What do you mean?" Wei Ning asked, somewhat bewildered. "We did have some issues getting along on set, so it's understandable that they felt uncomfortable."

"Flying pages? Flying pages!"

Wei Ning kept staring, but a hint of wariness flashed in his eyes.

Shi Jiahe continued, "Your play had such big problems, firstly because the proportion of unfinished pages was too high, and secondly because you were the one leading the revisions. Even if there were unfinished pages, shouldn't it have been the director leading the revisions?"

"How did you find out I had the modified fly page?" Wei Ning asked coldly.