Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 81 Zhang Ruoyun Learns Skills

"Director Lu, nice to meet you again."

Liu Bei was the first to extend his hand and greeted him very politely.

Lu Kuan put aside his doubts and just responded to each move as it came.

He gently touched the middle-aged woman's finger in a gentlemanly manner and said, "Teacher Liu is here to visit us?"

Liu Bei was also a dashing Pekingese girl in her early years. She openly explained her purpose: "Guide, can I borrow a few minutes of your time?"

Lu Kuan gestured for her to continue, but Liu Bei unexpectedly said something shocking: "Director Lu, my husband asked me to come to you to see if this child can get a role with you."

That's not a very polite thing to say. The crew of Whiplash has been working on it for almost two weeks.

Even if you want to use your connections to get someone into the crew, no one would come so long after filming started, right?

Moreover, the interaction between these two people was not that abrupt. They just met once at the Mengzhou Club. Do you really have the nerve to come to my house and ask for this?
Lu Kuan has a donkey-like temper and changes his mind at any time.

Is Zhang Tianshuo awesome? Boss Lu said he has a disaster this year and can’t wait until next year!
Seeing Liu Bei being so unruly, his expression turned cold: "Teacher Liu, the filming schedule is tight, you can wait here first."

After saying that, he turned around and left without any mercy.

The fat assistant at the side looked at Lu Kuan in surprise. She had heard some anecdotes about this young director, but she didn't expect him to be so rude.

She had just been admitted to Communication University of China this year and was serving as the president of the student union of the School of Film and Television Arts. She volunteered to intern at the prestigious Wang Jinhua. (Note 1)

"Teacher Liu, this..."

The fat assistant had short hair and glasses so thick that they almost covered his eyes.

Liu Bei smiled and said, "Siwei, it's okay. Your boss is right. This guy is young, but he has a lot of ambition."

Zhang Ruoyun glanced at her stepmother, not quite understanding what she was saying, and said angrily, "You're so rude! How can you talk like that? I wouldn't be happy with that either."

Damn! He hadn't even spoken a word to his idol yet, and now his stepmother had offended him. What the hell was going on?
Liu Bei glanced at his stepson, who was already taller than him in his first year of high school, and said unhappily, "What do you know? I didn't even make this trip for you, you unlucky child."

"Teacher Liu, shall we go back?"

Yang Siwei was sent by her leader Wang Jinhua to help today. She is a freshman who just came for internship, but she is smart, perceptive, and knowledgeable.

This matter is not official business, so it is not appropriate for other people to follow, so someone was specially sent to follow Liu Bei and give him some advice.

Liu Bei laughed and said, "Go back? Why go back? Let's kowtow to him today."

After saying that, he took his son and assistant out of the building, sat down in the coffee shop of the Central Conservatory of Music, and waited patiently.

The filming went smoothly in the morning. Lu Kuan was in a good mood. He had a box lunch with Jielun and Feng Yuanzheng. After the filming, he was ready to take a nap. As soon as he walked out of the building, he saw the three people from the morning waiting for him at the corridor entrance.

Liu Beizhi ignored the morning's disagreement and continued with a kind smile, "Director Lu, I've been waiting for you for a long time. I've reserved a table at a nearby restaurant. Would you like to have something to eat together?"

Lu Kuan was somewhat impressed by her ability to swallow her pride. His own face was about to fall to the ground, so why was she still acting like a humble person and even blaming him?
Fan Xian, who had acne on his face, looked at him eagerly. The fat female assistant also seemed somewhat familiar. Lu Kuan knew that he could not hide today.

"Let's go!"

The place Liu Bei booked was the Borun Hotel, which was outsourced by the Central Conservatory of Music.

It's the kind of place that every university has, a little bit high-end but not that great, the type where you want to entertain people but don't want to go far and the only place you can go is here.

After they sat down in the private room, Liu Bei tactfully handed the menu to Lu Kuan: "Director Lu, please order. We can handle anything."

He was so polite and polite at first, he must have some ulterior motive. As the saying goes, one shouldn't hit someone who smiles at him. Lu Kuan's expression softened a bit, "Ms. Liu, you guys can order. I've already eaten on the set."

He placed the menu on the table and turned around, crossing his arms and saying bluntly, "Ms. Liu, just say what you want to say."

Liu Bei sighed inwardly. She didn't mean to look down on the young director. She just habitually made some tests with the support of Zhang Jian and the power of the Beijing circle so as not to reveal her own cards too early.

"Director Lu, I know your Wenjie Culture is looking for Yongyuele to buy the adaptation rights."

Liu Bei spoke the truth directly.

She learned from the front desk that the person who went to the club that day was Tian Zhuangzhuang's membership.

The first time he arrived at the venue, he met with Tian Zhuangzhuang and Zhang Jian, and his reaction that day did not seem like he was unaware of his relationship with Zhang Jian.

If her words could test Lu Kuan's true intentions, and make him understand the elegant meaning of the music, and actively move closer to her and the people in the Beijing circle behind him, then there would be no need to spend so much effort and even use Yongyue Le to make a deal.

These old hands who are used to hanging out in circles and using their power to bully and bluff others are really dirty-minded.

How could she know that Boss Lu's heart was much more evil than theirs, and he knew every trick you used to play on people.

Wang Jinhua must have had a sharp eye. Before coming, she warned Liu Bei that this young director was not easy to get along with.

Although Lu Kuan has not had much contact with people in the mainstream entertainment industry, rumors about him have already spread widely.

This is mainly due to Yinghuang's "favor" and Zhang Tianshuo's "self-sacrifice".

The phenomenal traffic of blogs made the exchange of public opinion information at this point in time in 2002 even faster.

Lu Kuan was shocked. He had instructed Sun Wenwen to inquire about the adaptation rights a few days ago, but he only received her report this morning and learned about the existence of Yongyule.

Is Liu Bei so well-informed? Or has he always been keeping an eye on me?

Liu Bei was a very experienced person. Since he had confirmed that Lu Kuan was not someone he was going to deal with, he was unwilling to create problems between the two of them.

"Director Lu, we're not investigating you. This is just a coincidence."

"The boss of this Yongyuele company is called Wang Yongle. He's a gambler. He previously borrowed money from our Mr. Zhang and has been constantly being harassed by the debtor."

"Originally, we were going to mortgage his villa in Changping and other company assets to Lao Zhang, but these past two days, he suddenly said we'd hold off."

Liu Bei smiled and said, "What a coincidence! I found out it was your Wenjie Culture after asking around."

"Director Lu, how about this? I'll make a decision on behalf of this kid's father. Don't worry about the adaptation rights for now. I'll have Lao Zhang get them at a low price. I'll give you the full amount, and we won't add a cent to the price difference."

Lu Kuan finally understood, and everything made sense now.

Later, Yong Yu Le bought the adaptation rights in 2000 but never took any action, which is why they later reached a cooperation with Tang Ren.
It turned out to be a clichéd story of a gambler who ruined his family.

He glanced at Zhang Ruoyun, who was sitting beside him, picked up his teacup and took a sip of water. He asked calmly, "Tell me about your conditions."

Liu Bei was a little surprised. In her opinion, directors usually don't speak like this.

The people she had met, such as Chen Kaige, were always talking about high-brow things. How could they talk about such vulgar things and even talk about transactions directly in front of each other?

Wouldn't a normal director just brush off his sleeves, push the door, and leave, saying at the end: "Talk to my assistant."

Liu Bei recalled Wang Jinhua's evaluation of Lu Kuan: He is young, but has great ambition. He doesn't have the background of a local tyrant, but he has the courage of a dragon crossing the river!
　Note 1: In 2002, she was a freshman at Communication University of China. The truth was that she volunteered to join Wang Jinhua's team in her junior year, but the change here makes it seem like she came out for internship in her freshman year.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)