Chapter 275: A Party at Mar-a-Lago, an Eco-Friendly Hat

The office address of Huanxin Company was relocated in August 2008.

At that time, *The Message* had just made money, and *Twilight* was about to be released.

Chen Mouren was filming in South Korea with his sights set on Cannes, while Fan Fan Binbing was unrivaled in popularity after being crowned Best Actress at the Hundred Flowers Awards.

Ning Hao was delving into his new film, and Pang Ho-cheung had yet to polish his script.

Han Sanping had not gone back on his word, and Liu Yifei seemed to be making a smooth comeback.

At that time, everything was so beautiful.

With money in his pocket and a gun in his hand, Chen Zong felt that the small, less than 200-square-meter corner near the Film Academy was no longer enough to satisfy his grand vision for the future.

After consulting with Chen Nuo, they withdrew over 20 million from the company's ample cash reserves at the time and, at a price of 13,000 yuan per square meter, bought an entire floor of an office building on Chaowai Street in Chaoyang District, totaling over 1,500 square meters.

Half for their own use, half for rent.

This makes Qi Yuntian want to slap himself twice whenever he thinks about it now.

Although housing prices did indeed fall, even lower than the opening price, how good it would be to have that much money left now. It was arrogance, after all.

One can only say that the cunning Pan couple are truly among the best merchants in China at building houses and marketing them.

Chaowai SOHO, delivered at the end of 2007, was indeed exceptionally eye-catching in the Guomao area in 2009.

The flashy architectural style dazzled his and Chen Nuo's eyes.

Just like at this moment, it dazzled the two women who had come from afar.

10:00 AM, April 1, 2009.

When Zhao Liying and Zhang Xinyu arrived here, it was the moment the sun was rising in the east.

The 25-story Chaowai SOHO stood tall under the blue sky and white clouds. The irregular pentagonal facade, surrounded by the podium building, had gray and dark glass curtain walls reflecting the colorful sunlight.

It made the two who had come from Hengdian World Studios truly feel as if they had traveled to a future time and space.

They looked at each other and could see the hidden complexity and excitement in each other's eyes.

From Hengdian to Jingcheng, it only takes a little over two hours by plane.

However, the two of them had walked for a full two years.

This was two years!

When the two signed with Huanxin, *The Message* was still being filmed intensively in Hengdian.

And now, more than a full year had passed since it finished its run in the mainland, selling a staggering 361 million and setting the record for the highest-grossing film in mainland history.

In this year and more,

The two watched as artists from the same company appeared on entertainment headlines every few days, and in the mouths of countless passersby on the streets and alleys of Hengdian.

Fan Fan Binbing,

Won the Hundred Flowers in September and the Golden Horse in December; the newspapers had already hailed her as the number one actress in the country, second only to Zhang Ziyi, and even Zhou Xun had to bow to her by half a step.

Liu Yifei,

Although not as exaggerated as Fan Fan Binbing, it was heard in August that she had become popular all over Japan overnight after filming the Japanese version of *Meteor Garden*.

As a result, in December, this woman actually turned around and intervened, easily pocketing the lead role in *Under the Hawthorn Tree*, which was the focus of the whole country.

It can be said that in the second half of last year, the two of them were in the vortex of public opinion while in Hengdian.

Wherever they went, they couldn't avoid being asked, "Liu Yifei has been pushed by your company into Zhang Yimou's movie to act opposite Chen Nuo."

"What are you two still doing here?"

Actually, they often asked each other this question.

Although Zhang Xinyu had a small burst of popularity this year due to her cameo in *The Message*, she appeared in three TV dramas, two as the female lead and one as the second female lead.

They weren't big productions, but the male actors she worked with were quite famous.

Huang Xiaoming, Li Chen, and Yin Xiaotian, etc., could all be considered well-known young actors in the country.

It can be said that she had successfully transformed from a soccer babe who sold sex appeal into a moderately famous actress.

Although Zhao Liying couldn't show her face in *The Message*, she also appeared in two TV dramas last year.

One female lead, one second female lead.

Both were vases in men's dramas with very few scenes, but it was definitely a brand-new breakthrough for her career as an extra.

However, compared to Fan Fan Binbing and Liu Yifei, this really felt like children playing house.

Sometimes when the two were chatting in their spare time, they were also truly depressed.

Sharing the same agent.

Having joined the company for so long, they hadn't even been able to sit at the company headquarters.

The base salary of 1,000 had never increased,

Social security had always been at the lowest tier of over 2,000,

And the year-end bonus was still 10,000.

This all went to show that in Huanxin Company, the two of them were simply two scraps, little shrimps that no one valued.

Especially Zhao Liying.

She really wanted to ask someone in person, "Do you even remember me?"

However, she didn't know when she would have this opportunity.

Until today.

However, when she and Zhang Xinyu walked into that fashionable building under the leadership of Agent Zhou.

Sitting in the elevator to the 21st floor where the company was located, walking into the spacious and bright office area,

Seeing those people who looked like employees sitting on sofas in twos and threes, chatting, drinking tea, eating snacks, and occasionally tapping on laptop keyboards with orchid fingers,

For a moment, Zhao Liying also forgot her original intention.

She had also worked before and didn't understand what these people were doing.

Meetings didn't look like meetings, work didn't look like work, and openly slacking off during work hours? Wasn't this too arrogant?

Noticing the surprised expressions of the two beside her, Agent Zhou introduced from the side: "It looks relaxed, right? Actually, it's not as fun as you imagine. Qi Zong started implementing the KPI system this year. Sigh, everyone is under a lot of pressure."

Zhao Liying looked at the men and women in the sofa area drinking coffee, chatting, and smiling.

Just hearing Agent Zhou say again: "These are all newcomers recruited in the second half of last year. Don't look at them smiling happily now; they are actually very hard-working. They will get busy after finishing morning tea. They have to work overtime for a day or two every week, and they can't leave before 6 o'clock. The overtime pay isn't much either; it's very hard. It can't be compared to before at all."

Morning tea? 6 o'clock? Overtime pay?

Hard?

Zhao Liying had originally made up her mind to ask less and listen more, but at this moment, she couldn't help it: "Agent Zhou, what time did you get off work before?"

Agent Zhou said: "The earliest was working from 10 AM to 3 PM every day. Later, for a period of time, the company didn't care what time it was, but you couldn't not come."

"Until later... those idiots in the Public Opinion Department caused trouble, and everyone's days started to get hard. Before five o'clock, no one should even think about leaving!"

"However, at that time, there were few people in the company, only about ten people up and down, and Chen Zong and Qi Zong were also generous. Although the bonus issued for *The Return of the Condor Heroes* was only enough to buy a commuter car, that time for *The Dark Knight*, hehe..."

"Li Jing, who is now Liu Yifei's agent, had just come from Dalian not long before that time. She used that money and added a little more to make a down payment on a one-bedroom, one-living room apartment of over 60 square meters near the Film Academy."

"Now these newcomers, hehe, when they got a red envelope of ten times their monthly salary during the New Year this year, they were so happy they couldn't find north. They have never seen the world."

While Agent Zhou was talking, Zhao Liying saw several people greeting her and looking at them curiously. Honestly, she now felt that if she really couldn't continue as an actress and couldn't become popular, it would actually be nice if she could come to the company to work as a clerk or something.

Almost at the conference room inside, Agent Zhou changed the subject and talked about business: "Still the same sentence, all the artists and directors under the company have arrived today. Don't be stage-frightened when you two go in, and greet people normally. Everyone is an artist of the company, and no one is lower than anyone else."

"Think about Chen Zong, right? What's the difference between you? Tall or short, it's actually about the same. Just listen more and ask less. If there's anything you don't understand, I'll explain it to you later, you know?"

"Mm. I know."

"I know."

They promised well, saying they wouldn't be stage-frightened, but when they finally walked in, entered the conference room where many people had already arrived, and sat in the empty seat next to Fan Fan Binbing, sitting right next to that fragrant big star,

Zhao Liying was still so nervous that her toes curled up.

When *The Dark Knight* was released, she had actually seen the other party once, but...

When she was in Hengdian, no matter which crew she went to,

When chatting with those staff members or actors and directors, the questions she was asked the most were always two:

The first is, Little Zhao, have you seen Chen Nuo with your own eyes?

The second is, Little Zhao, is Fan Fan Binbing really that beautiful in person?

"Zhao Liying, right? This is our second time meeting, right? Last time at the cinema, it was pitch black and we didn't greet each other properly. Hello."

Although Zhao Liying would answer those people every time that Sister Bingbing is really beautiful.

But that was all nonsense; it was pitch black at the time, and she didn't see clearly at all.

But at this moment, when Fan Fan Binbing turned her head with a smile and spoke to her proactively and gently.

As a woman, looking at the other party's appearance, she couldn't help but hold her breath and feel a bit inferior.

She suddenly felt in her heart that her previous answers were too light. If it were now, she should increase the tone tenfold. Really, really, really... really too beautiful!

"Bingbing, I'm Zhao Liying, second time meeting, you, hello." Zhao Liying said with a blushing face.

If it were Zhang Xinyu, she would definitely find plenty of words to praise the other person and build a connection. She absolutely wouldn't be tongue-tied like her.

But after Zhao Liying said this sentence, she really didn't know what else to say.

She could only look at the other party and giggle.

However... Zhao Liying also didn't know if it was her illusion.

She felt that Fan Fan Binbing's big, heart-moving eyes had slight bloodshot streaks and were a bit red,

And the makeup around her eyes also looked like it had just been touched up, as if she had just cried not long ago.

Mm, it should be an illusion.

How is that possible? How could Fan Fan Binbing cry?

Ah, still think about what to say, so awkward.

When Zhao Liying was awkward, Zhang Xinyu was also a bit.

Even though this girl had encountered countless perverts since she debuted at 16, she didn't know how many.

But one so nakedly perverted, it was really rare.

She didn't know what the background of this little fatty wearing glasses in front of her was, to be able to sit in this conference room.

But this person actually scanned her body nakedly like a scanner in front of her without any cover, which was too shameless.

Damn, Zhang Xinyu hadn't encountered this kind of thing for a long time. She cursed in her heart, forced a smile, greeted, and said: "Hello, hello, I'm Zhang Xinyu. Who are you?"

The little fatty's eyes lit up, he chuckled, and said in Hong Kong-accented Mandarin: "Ha, beauty, my name is Pang Ho-cheung, you can call me Fatty Pang, or you can call me Handsome Pang. Beauty, I think your figure is great, are you interested in making a movie?"

Contrary to Zhang Xinyu's expectations, this perverted-looking fatty had a different feeling when he laughed than the kind of pervert she imagined. She hesitated for a moment and didn't refuse outright, saying: "Are you from Guangdong or Hong Kong? Are you a director?"

"Yes, yes, I'm a director from Hong Kong, I've made many movies. *You Shoot, I Shoot*, *AV*, *Princess D*, *Isabella*, have you seen any of them? Do you want to come and act in my movie?"

As soon as Zhang Xinyu heard AV, her heart, which was originally eager to move, suddenly calmed down. She smiled politely: "Sorry, I haven't seen any of them, no. Thank you, Handsome Pang."

Handsome Pang was still preparing to say something, when the conference room door opened.

The first person to come in was very handsome, everyone knew him, and he often interacted with everyone, and he also had great prestige among the group.

As for the second one, everyone knew him even better, but not everyone had interacted with him.

At least Handsome Pang next to Zhang Xinyu shouldn't have, otherwise, he wouldn't have been whistling carelessly next to her when Zhang Xinyu saw this person and was extremely nervous,

Calling out: "Nuo Zai, Boss, finally saw you!"

Chen Nuo smiled at him and nodded: "Hello, Director. First time meeting. Must have a good chat later."

Then he walked to the main seat and said good morning to everyone very naturally and easily.

And then turned his eyes to Zhang Xinyu and said: "Xinyu, this can be considered our first meeting, but I've seen your acting, it's great."

Zhang Xinyu was dizzy. She really wanted to say something, and she seemed to have said something. But she really didn't know what she said.

Chen Nuo continued to greet in order: "Hao Ge, haven't seen you for a while."

"Nuo Zi, my script is almost written, let's have a chat then."

"Okay, anytime. Mm, Yifei, hello."

Liu Yifei pursed her lips and smiled, gave a light "mm," and said: "Hello."

"Oh, Auntie Liu, you're here too."

Liu Xiaoli had already thought about it before coming, and she would definitely not give this guy a good look.

Instigating Xixi to steal money! What kind of evil wind is this? Stealing money this time, will it be feeding medicine next time?

But at this moment, when Chen Nuo nodded at her, Liu Xiaoli didn't know why, but she suddenly smiled very brightly and said politely: "Yes, am I disturbing you? I'll just listen in, I definitely won't speak."

Chen Nuo chuckled: "It's okay, not disturbing. Mm, A-Shan."

Wen Yongshan smiled very sweetly and said: "Chen Zong." This made Auntie Liu next to her cast a surprised look.

"Bingbing, just came back from Guangzhou? Hard work."

Fan Fan Binbing smiled beautifully and said: "It's okay, Boss, not hard work."

Chen Nuo looked at the round-faced girl next to her, "Liying, long time no see, heard you finally became the female lead, congratulations."

Zhao Liying looked at this person's plain expression and heard the four words "long time no see," and her throat felt like it was blocked by something, and she couldn't say a word.

Her eyes were a little red, and she nodded hard.

Chen Nuo looked at her deeply, and then said to the few assistants and agents sitting on the small stools against the wall of the conference room: "And Sister Li, Sister Zhou, Sister He, you too, running around all year round, it's been hard work."

"No, no." "Chen Zong, you've worked hard." "It should be, it should be."

Amidst the responses of several agents who were quite flattered, Chen Nuo smiled at them and continued: "Calling everyone together today, actually I just want to meet everyone and chat. I think every April 1st in the future, we will all sit together like this and have such a meeting..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 276 =====