Actresses

Chapter 29 Mutual Deception

"Actually, I think that sometimes you seem to be even more—" Shi Jiahe was saying when she suddenly stopped.

That was a compliment to He Yuran, but she didn't say it aloud.

She's afraid that she might suddenly raise her expectations of another person unreasonably high, and then be even more disappointed when those expectations are dashed. She already felt that way yesterday, and Shi Jiahe doesn't want to go through that again.

Fortunately, He Yuran didn't take it seriously and still walked quickly towards the coffee shop.

The café has a large outdoor area, which is very spacious. Parasols are placed on the neat lawn, and camping-style tables and chairs are set up underneath.

People in the film and television industry used to frequently meet here; bumping into colleagues was commonplace. However, that was during prosperous years for the industry. Upon entering the courtyard, Shi Jiahe was taken aback; it was only past noon, yet there wasn't a single empty table. Shouldn't many industry professionals be just waking up at this hour…?

Shi Jiahe thought for a moment, then turned around and said, "Sister Ran, there are no tables outside. If we go inside, the downside is that it's inconvenient to talk, and we might be overheard."

He Yuran looked up at the blue sky, clearly in a good mood, and said with a smile, "No problem. I feel that sitting outside to talk business is too pretentious, it just looks like bragging. Finding a corner inside gives the feeling of plotting something big."

As he spoke, he walked towards the main entrance of the coffee shop.

Shi Jiahe followed behind, thinking, "Sister's condition is really good after waking up today." But why did she vaguely remember saying yesterday that she had given up? Today she was supposed to start reading the script that was given to her. Now it was as if nothing had happened. But that's good, she thought with a sense of relief. She should completely forget yesterday's frustration.

Wei Ning arrived at the agreed time. He had just sat down and greeted Shi Jiahe when he saw He Yuran next to him and was stunned. He immediately stood up again.

"Ran-jie? Oh my god! Jiahe, this is wrong of you! You didn't even tell me Ran-jie was coming in person!"

Shi Jiahe frowned and said, "Don't pretend."

Wei Ning said seriously, "Really not! I never expected this!" Then she sat down again, took He Yuran's hand, and said, "Sister Ran, I really, really like you. I've been your fan for many years."

Shi Jiahe knew that there was some truth to what he said, but Wei Ning's expression and tone were too exaggerated, drawing curious glances from the other tables.

He Yuran didn't feel uncomfortable at all. She was used to this kind of half-serious, half-joking opening line. She smiled and said, "Oh dear, I haven't had any works in recent years. I'm a little disappointed that you like me."

Wei Ning shook her head vigorously: "Who said that! The standard of judgment is in people's hearts. Every movie you've acted in is great!"

"What do you want to drink? Tell me," Shi Jiahe asked impatiently from the side.

Wei Ning ignored her and continued playing the fan, fidgeting nervously as if her bottom was on fire. "Sis! I... oh dear, if I'd known you were free today, I should have been more formal! I should have gone to visit you!"

Shi Jiahe, unable to bear it any longer, pinned her down. "Stop pretending, you deal with A-list celebrities every day."

He Yuran laughed, "Jiahe told me that you have a good script. Then I have to do it myself."

"A dirty one, thanks." Wei Ning quickly turned to Shi Jiahe and said, then switched back to an excited smile and continued looking at He Yuran: "Wow! No wonder she's a movie queen, not only does she have the courage to change careers, but she also personally oversees projects. This is the attitude and sincerity of an artist transitioning to production."

"Isn't this the normal procedure—" He Yuran was saying when she suddenly looked up, her smile fading.

The artist's intuition was indeed one step ahead; a person from the next table walked over and politely asked, "Excuse me, are you He Yuran?"

Seeing that it was a young girl, He Yuran smiled and said, "That's me."

"Can I take a picture with you?" a passerby asked.

Shi Jiahe saw it too, grabbed the receipt and ran back, but hesitated for a moment before not stopping them. This kind of stranger approaching people on the streets of Beijing is common and not dangerous; they've always cooperated before.

He Yuran got up and took a few pictures with the girl. A passerby then asked, "Can I post these?"

Since Ran Jie came out almost without makeup today, Shi Jiahe asked from the side, "Did you use a filter?"

A passerby said, "Yes, yes, take a look."

He Yuran waved his hand and said, "No need to look, post it if you want."

Then the passerby walked away happily.

Wei Ning gave an exaggerated thumbs-up: "Superstar! No wonder he's a superstar! He's so approachable."

Shi Jiahe sat down awkwardly, feeling so uncomfortable she could practically dig a two-bedroom apartment out of her feet. He Yuran shook his head, his expression turning serious. "Hey, I don't think of myself as a star anymore. Besides, this is Beijing, there are stars everywhere. Passersby are just polite. Let's talk about the script."

Before they could exchange more than a few words, a group of people came over.

The girl from the street brought four more people back, also wanting to take a group photo. This time, Shi Jiahe looked a little hesitant, thinking that if she took photos with all of them, half an hour would be gone. And being constantly interrupted like this made it impossible to have a proper conversation.

As a result, He Yuran not only didn't get angry at all, but was even happier than usual, cooperating with everyone and filming however they wanted. She didn't even look at the final product, saying she could post it however she wanted.

After the five people left, Shi Jiahe said helplessly, "Isn't this going to be like a breeding ground for insects, with a whole bunch of them coming soon? Sister, should we go somewhere else?"

"It's okay, this is fine. It's rare for young people to like me, so what's wrong with taking a photo? They can even post it on Xiaohongshu, and I'll save on advertising costs."

"Oh my, now I know why that news headline was written like that! It's because Sister Ran is so down-to-earth," Wei Ning remarked from the side.

Shi Jiahe thought to herself, "Oh no, He Yuran probably hasn't checked Weibo yet." Then, the next second, Wei Ning showed He Yuran his phone. Shi Jiahe glanced at it; the screen displayed a screenshot of Zhuang Pan's Weibo post, which was completely overshadowed by Wei Ning's.

Shi Jiahe quickly racked her brains for a solution.

Just how blind would Wei Ning be to show such pictures to an artist? But in an instant, Shi Jiahe suddenly understood what was going on.

This is a test! Because if Sister Ran gets anxious now, it means that Zhuang Pan's agreement to act in the film is far from certain. Since Sister Ran is here, it's more reliable to ask her directly than to ask others. It's like killing two birds with one stone.

Shi Jiahe suddenly realized.

Wei Ning is such a cunning guy.

What also annoyed her was that Wei Ning never went through her agent to do or say anything, communicating directly with the artist. No wonder the traffic team disliked her. Shi Jiahe knew very well that what artist teams hated most was that producers always bypassed the agent and communicated directly with the artist. This would make a very simple thing extremely complicated, and the back-and-forth communication between everyone would lead to infinitely low efficiency.

To everyone's surprise, He Yuran beamed with joy. "This picture doesn't even capture the essence. You have no idea how many fans were waiting for Panpan that day. She's really popular among young people!"

Ran Jie's reaction surprised not only Shi Jiahe, but also Wei Ning.

Shi Jiahe clearly saw a hint of hesitation flash across Wei Ning's face, which was then immediately replaced by a very official smile.

But Shi Jiahe was still confused. She went over to take a look and realized that it was Stone Sister who had put in the effort.

The top-ranking marketing accounts on the trending topics list have all re-edited their posts, no wonder Sister Ran didn't react angrily. Of course, it's also fortunate that I drank too much yesterday and didn't check my phone immediately. Although some busybodies will definitely send screenshots to the celebrity—there are always plenty of such people—at least for now, I'll let it slide. I'll settle things when we're alone, back home, behind closed doors.

Wei Ning laughed and said, "Oh dear, the reason this news was released is because you and Zhuang Pan are both in the spotlight."

Shi Jiahe thought to herself, "You've been beating around the bush all this time, and you still don't seem to want to get down to business. Why were you in such a hurry before coming here?" So she took the initiative to steer the conversation away from the topic: "Ningning, that script you mentioned—"

Wei Ning completely ignored her, and instead pulled He Yuran into a long, drawn-out conversation.

"Sister Ran, how did you come up with the idea of ​​making a TV series? It's so rare to see a movie star have the determination to try something like this."

"I heard from Jiahe that you're quite supportive of me, which makes me very happy, but I'm also curious. You've always worked with S+ level stars, promoting real top-tier celebrities. I'm nowhere near that level in terms of age or fan base. So, I should feel honored that you're willing to collaborate with us, but shouldn't I be past my prime by your standards?"

Shi Jiahe was taken aback, thinking to herself, "Why is my sister belittling herself today? And there's no need for that at all! Our priority right now is to ask about the script, not to be polite here."

"Oh, Ran-jie, what you're saying... When we do projects, we don't just blindly chase after traffic; we definitely need to try different things. Audiences also want to see new things. In addition, the platform has had new requirements for the direction of project exploration in the past two years. I may have had some achievements before, and Zhou Chun told me that I could do some of the types of projects that I want to do."

Zhou Chun is the senior vice president of the long-form video platform where Wei Ning works, and is in charge of all self-produced drama business.

He Yuran nodded. "Well, I can actually recommend a script to you—of course, it's not suitable for me, but it offers a lot of potential for young producers and actors like you. I also have some writer friends who have novels they want adapted into films or TV series; you can talk to them about it. It'll definitely be a different genre from what your platform has been producing in the last two years."

"Okay, sister! Indeed, we're building up our reserves right now. Although starting a project is more difficult than before, it's even more important to innovate and adapt, and we definitely need to reach out to different IP authors."

Shi Jiahe, standing to the side, was increasingly confused. What were they even talking about?

She couldn't help but interject, "Hey Wei Ning, what's the story of your script about?"

He Yuran smiled and held Shi Jiahe's hand. "We shouldn't always put ourselves first; we should consider the producer. Besides, listening to current policies and typhoon forecasts will only help us."

"good……"

"So, Mr. Wei, what kind of film are you planning to make next year—I'm not talking about myself, I know there's definitely none that's suitable for me, I'm just curious—what new changes will S+ have next year? Actually, the film directors I know have the same problem, which is what kind of subject matter audiences will like to watch." He Yuran said in a serious tone.

"Well... in general, there will be a structural adjustment in period dramas. There will be a significant reduction in fantasy and historical romance dramas, with a focus on realistic themes. This year, there will be more suspense dramas, as well as period detective dramas, and the number of licensed dramas will be reduced. There will be an increase in historical dramas and adaptations of serious literature. Realistic themes will be explored in greater depth because they need to resonate with the times. Suspense, detective, and spy dramas will be upgraded, becoming more vertical, with stronger logic and positive values. Genre fusion will also be the norm. In short, we will be betting on top-tier works with longer production cycles and larger casts to counter the impact of short dramas."

"As expected, the platform's teachers are the best! This is so much clearer than the superficial industry information I read online!" He Yuran said.

"Sister Ran, then you and Zhuang Pan—" Wei Ning asked.

"We're just making a small production. Hey, I need to take this call," He Yuran interrupted her, picking up her phone and walking out with a smile.

As Shi Jiahe looked outside, she chatted casually with Wei Ning. Just then, her phone rang, and she quickly picked it up after seeing the words on the screen.

He Yuran sent a WeChat message.

"It's about time we left; she has nothing."