Reborn in the Hong Kong entertainment industry in the 1980s

But he believes that everything is temporary and the future will be better.

Zheng Pingxin felt a little guilty and secretly glanced at Hu Xiaoxiao.

Hu Xiaoxiao nodded knowingly: "I understand. Get in the car, I'll take you to the film studio."

Seeing that Hu Xiaoxiao didn't look down on him or show any disappointment, Zheng Pingxin quietly breathed a sigh of relief, opened the car door, and got into the passenger seat.

Hu Xiaoxiao drove to the film studio's parking lot with practiced ease, parked the car, and got out.

"Follow me." Zheng Pingxin walked at the front.

His new movie was almost ready, and he had already rented a studio. He brought Hu Xiaoxiao to the studio, where several staff members were already setting up the backdrop.

Upon seeing Zheng Pingxin, they all greeted him, and when they saw Hu Xiaoxiao behind him, their eyes lit up.

The assistant nudged Zheng Pingxin with his elbow, "You're amazing, you managed to trick Hu Xiaoxiao into coming here. I remember she's never acted in a movie, right? You poached her directly from the TV station?"

Zheng Pingxin shushed him and glared at him, signaling him to stop talking nonsense.

After leading Hu Xiaoxiao to a workroom next to the photography studio, Zheng Pingxin asked her to sit down and then asked, "Miss Hu, do you know what this film is about?"

Hu Xiaoxiao shared what she knew: "I know some of the general outline, but as for the specifics, I think I'll wait until I've seen the script. Director Zheng already has the outline, so I assume the script is finished too?"

“Yes, the script was written last year.” Zheng Pingxin took out the script and handed it to Hu Xiaoxiao.

The script is quite thick, and in addition to the storyline, it also includes descriptions of the characters' backgrounds, personalities, and even their costumes.

This is a very detailed script, written in great detail. Hu Xiaoxiao opened it and looked at it carefully for a few moments.

Seeing that Zheng Pingxin was busy and that the script wouldn't be finished in a short time, Hu Xiaoxiao greeted Zheng Pingxin, took the script, went out, found a chair in a corner of the studio, sat down, and started reading the script.

The script is titled "The Great Celestial Master," and it tells the story of the celestial master Wei Yangzi exorcising demons and monsters. This theme has a considerable audience in Hong Kong. However, this film doesn't focus on romance; it explores human nature.

When Hu Xiaoxiao first saw the story of exorcising demons, she found it amusing and wondered if anyone still knew how to do it. She then noticed the story was borrowed from *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio*, telling the tale of a poor scholar who, after receiving help from a fox spirit and passing the imperial examinations, not only failed to repay the kindness but also turned on the scholar, intending to skin the fox spirit and present the skin to the emperor for a higher official rank. The fox spirit, resentful of the scholar's ingratitude, unleashed its magic, plunging the capital into chaos and bloodshed. The Grand Celestial Master Wei Yangzi came to capture the demon, but after several battles with the fox spirit, he was repeatedly defeated and nearly died at its hands.

The synopsis described the fox demon as incredibly powerful, with Wei Yangzi barely managing to defeat it after nearly dying. The scholar's shamelessness remained unwavering; not only did he fail to repent, he also betrayed Wei Yangzi. Hu Xiaoxiao found this part of the plot quite interesting when she read it.

Hu Xiaoxiao has now received the complete script and is beginning to carefully examine the fox demon section of the plot to see if it's as interesting as the synopsis suggests.

In the studio, the staff seemed much more energetic after Hu Xiaoxiao arrived, and they were quietly discussing whether she would join the film.

While they were discussing, a fair-skinned, thin man in his thirties walked up. When the staff saw him, they all called him Brother You.

When Ma Chengyou entered, he overheard them talking about a beautiful woman and asked who they were talking about. The staff member immediately pointed to Hu Xiaoxiao, who was reading a script in the corner, and said, "Director Zheng just brought her here. See her? Hu Xiaoxiao! She might be joining 'The Great Celestial Master'."

Following the direction the staff pointed, Ma Chengyou saw Hu Xiaoxiao sitting quietly in the corner reading her script. Although her seat was dimly lit and only her profile was visible, her beautiful profile was as picturesque as a painting, indescribably beautiful.

"Hello, Ms. Hu Xiaoxiao." Ma Chengyou walked over and greeted Hu Xiaoxiao with a warm smile.

Hu Xiaoxiao looked up at the man in front of her. He was fair-skinned, but his eyes seemed somewhat shifty when he looked at people. She stood up politely and asked, "Hello, may I ask who you are?"

"My name is Ma Chengyou, and I'm also an actor in 'The Great Celestial Master,' playing the second male lead. I'm also one of the investors in this film. Ms. Hu, you can just call me Brother You," Ma Chengyou introduced himself.

Hu Xiaoxiao thought for a moment, "The second male lead, isn't that the guy who played the scholar in 'The Great Celestial Master'? Looking at it this way, Ma Chengyou's image fits the scholar quite well." "Hello, Brother You."

Ma Chengyou smiled broadly and said, "It's a pleasure to meet Ms. Hu. I had already decided on the role of the fox demon, but since Ms. Hu is interested, I will talk to the director and try my best to reserve the role for her."

"Thank you, but I'm still reading the script and haven't decided whether I want to act in it yet," Hu Xiaoxiao said.

"Miss Hu, please keep an eye on things for a bit. I'll be busy for a while and then I'll treat you to lunch." Ma Chengyou leered at Hu Xiaoxiao a few times before heading to the workroom and finding Zheng Pingxin.

Zheng Pingxin had just finished something when he saw Ma Chengyou and said, "You're here. There's something I need to tell you. I don't think it's suitable for you to suggest that Jin Aili play the fox demon."

Ma Chengyou crossed his legs and put them on the table, leaning his back against the chair. He took out a cigarette, lit it with a lighter, and said, "Why not? I think it suits me perfectly."

"Her acting is bad, and her appearance is also not good," Zheng Pingxin said, shaking his head.

Ma Chengyou took a drag of his cigarette and said in a sleazy tone, "So what if the acting isn't good? They're willing to take their clothes off, and it's cheap. It saves me a lot of money."

“This is a proper film.” Zheng Pingxin said, his anger barely concealed. “I tolerated your insistence on adding a love scene before, but now you want Kim Aili to take her clothes off in the film? Do you want me to turn this film into a pornographic one?”

If it weren't for the fact that the other party had invested a lot of money in this movie, Zheng Pingxin would have kicked him out.

Ma Chengyou scoffed dismissively, "Director Zheng, I'm calling you Director Zheng with respect, do you even understand the market? These days, if a movie doesn't have a few passionate scenes, who's going to watch it? Do you want it to keep flopping? You've already flopped two movies, do you want a third one to flop? If this one flops too, you'll be sleeping on the streets."

"I'd rather sleep on the streets than make those kinds of films." Zheng Pingxin's face was dark. The movies he used to make all featured chivalrous heroes, righteous and upright, and audiences always saw him as a model of honorable chivalry. How could he possibly stoop so low as to make those kinds of films? If he wanted to, would he be so poor now?

Zheng Pingxin believes that there are some bottom lines that cannot be crossed.

Seeing Zheng Pingxin's anger, Ma Chengyou finally relented, "Alright, alright, I'll listen to you, my righteous hero. Do you want Hu Xiaoxiao to play the fox demon?"

Ma Chengyou thought of Hu Xiaoxiao's pretty face, which was much prettier than Jin Aili's. He remembered that in the script, he had an intimate scene with the fox demon. Wouldn't he have hit the jackpot?