Chapter 98: Poaching

Zhang Jian had been feeling quite depressed lately.

Divorced from Liu Bei, owed money by gamblers, and having finally hoped to scrape together a commission fee while sucking up to the little Yanei, he hadn't expected to have his home raided.

Recalling Liu Zeyu's vicious tone on the phone yesterday, he didn't know if he could believe that he really hadn't known beforehand.

Cai Yinong was equally depressed.

She had let the company's publicity department post a soft article about the project launch of *Chinese Paladin* on the blog, wanting to imitate the casting hype of the big-bearded man's *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils*, but hadn't expected the fake Li Kui to be slapped in the face by the real one.

She still couldn't believe that something endorsed by Huayi and a second-generation like Liu Zeyu could go wrong.

On the official blog of Wenjie Culture discovered by Tangren's publicity department, the contract document formally granting the company the adaptation rights to *Chinese Paladin* was clearly and accurately published, and an invitation for cooperation was issued to the vast number of *Chinese Paladin* players, asking fans to participate in the script creation.

This was, of course, also a hype-preheating method arranged by Lu Kuan. In less than half a day, this blog post exploded, with countless game fans leaving comments, and there was no shortage of offers from talent agencies recommending actors.

When Liu Bei heard the news, she was furious. She was surprised, and yet seemed accustomed to the shameless behavior of businessmen like her ex-husband, but it was her own reputation that was being ruined!

It was she who had sworn that the adaptation rights were part of the deal with Lu Kuan, never expecting to be stabbed in the back by her own people.

It had almost caused Lu Kuan to miss out on *Chinese Paladin*, and even if the goal was finally achieved, it had cost so much wasted money.

The Beiping girl was fierce; she took Zhang Ruoyun and kicked open the door to her ex-husband's office.

Her peripheral vision caught the half-hidden small bedroom, and she said sarcastically, "Zhang Zong, am I here at a good time? Do you want the person in your small bedroom to put their clothes on first?"

"Son, what are you saying? The child is still here!"

Zhang Jian stood up with a bitter face, pushed open the door to the small bedroom to prove his innocence, and then diligently asked his ex-wife to sit down.

He was now in a position where he was not liked by anyone, having offended the little Yanei and also incurring Liu Bei's resentment.

"Ruoyun, this matter is your credit, right?" Zhang Jian smoked a cigarette and looked at his son helplessly.

The high school student smiled foolishly and nodded. He had already treated this matter as a military medal and had received Lu Kuan's praise on the phone.

"Guard against everything, but it's hard to guard against a thief in the family!"

When Liu Bei heard this, she was furious. After all, she was someone who had undergone eye surgery without anesthesia.

"Bullshit! This is called those who lose the way have little help! Ruoyun isn't a thief in the family; I think you look like an old thief!"

Zhang Jian retorted, "Oh, that Lu Kuan is just a small director. Offending him is offending him. It's better not to provoke the little Yanei; that's someone with a very ruthless hand."

"A small director?" Liu Bei seemed to want to talk her ex-husband to death today.

"A small director can pull out 10 million to shoot a movie with a blink of an eye!"

"A small director can squeeze the likes of the powerful outsider Yinghuang and Xie Tingfeng into such a state!"

"A small director can get Mei Yanfang to advertise for him and Zhou Jielun to put out his fires with one word. Can you do that?"

Zhang Ruoyun looked at his father's bitter face, which seemed about to cry, and couldn't help but speak up to comfort him.

"Dad, don't be sad. Director Lu is a little immortal; it's normal that you can't compare to him."

Child, if you can talk, say more.

"Get lost! If you hadn't leaked the secret, could your dad be so unlucky!"

Zhang Jian didn't dare to lash out at Liu Bei, but didn't he dare to lash out at the little brat? His fan-like hand had just been raised, but seeing Liu Bei staring at him with wide eyes, he put it down dejectedly.

Zhang Jian was a qualified businessman and suddenly had a plan: "Son, listen to me. When Lu Kuan comes later, tell him that I deliberately leaked the news to you so that he could intercept it. Understand?"

"Yo! You, Director Zhang, are really something! Playing the reverse Jiang Gan stealing the book here? Do you think everyone else is a fool?"

She turned to Zhang Ruoyun and said, "Don't pay attention to your dad. You have a good impression with Lu Kuan now; he will definitely take care of you in the future."

The female secretary knocked and entered: "Zhang Zong, the guest has arrived."

Zhang Jian knew that a wise man submits to circumstances and immediately stood up to order: "Please come in!"

Lu Kuan walked into the door with a smile, greeted the few people, and sat down leisurely, not considering himself an outsider at all.

"Everyone, sit! Don't be polite!"

Zhang Jian had a dejected look in front of his ex-wife and son, but he couldn't lack the demeanor of a Beiping director right now.

"Congratulations, Director Lu. *Chinese Paladin* is indeed a good script, it's just a pity that it doesn't match our company's style. Nothing else to say, let's congratulate the TV series on selling well first!"

Liu Bei rolled her eyes; he was still trying to save face here.

She was quick-spoken: "Director Lu, I did this wrong. I didn't expect so many complications to arise. See if there's anything I can do, or I can compensate you for some expenses."

Lu Kuan looked at this Beiping girl with new eyes; she was refreshing.

He pondered for a while and suddenly said, "The two of you, I really do have an uninvited request. I'd like to ask you to mediate."

Without waiting for the two to ask, he immediately said, "That female assistant who accompanied Liu Laoshi and Ruoyun to talk to me about the deal last time, the one named Yang Siwei, Liu Laoshi still has an impression, right?"

Liu Bei hadn't expected him to bring up Yang Siwei; she was just a small intern assistant under Wang Jinhua, unknown to the public.

"Director Lu, speak your mind."

"Oh, it's like this. My company is preparing to set up an agency department. There's no one available right now, so I want to find her to come over and help."

Yang Siwei, of course, hadn't grown into the business elite who could stand on her own in later generations, but it wouldn't be a problem for her to grow up alongside the young Liu Yifei.

After the incident on the night of the wrap-up banquet, not only did the cannibalization of Cheng Jingfei's shares need to be accelerated, but the "de-Liu Xiaoli-ization" of Liu Yifei's star path was also imminent.

There were few who ended up well with family members as agents.

Liu Bei and Zhang Jian looked at each other and saw clear confusion in each other's eyes. Liu Bei said, "No problem, this is a small matter."

"It's just that the child is an intern and is still in college. Don't let it delay your business."

Lu Kuan waved his hand indifferently: "It's fine, the company was just established, and there isn't much to do."

He then smiled at Zhang Jian: "Director Zhang, I heard that your father is a famous surveying expert and designer. I have a matter here that I'd like to ask for your help with."

"Please speak."

"I want to buy a courtyard house in Beiping, but I don't know the industry. I'd like to ask Director Zhang to introduce someone who knows the roots, from buying and selling to renovation, running procedures, etc., to give some advice."

Zhang Jian had previously been in the real estate business and readily agreed.

Lu Kuan had been invited by Liu Bei early in the morning to "apologize," and now that the goal was achieved, he stood up leisurely and left.

Before leaving, he smiled at Zhang Ruoyun and encouraged him: "Study hard and get into Beidian, hone your acting skills more, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

"Yes, Director!" Zhang Ruoyun stood up excitedly to see him off.

Zhang Jian looked at the back of the young director walking away and asked with a dry laugh, "Son, you say he came here today just for this?"

"Can't understand it, it's really evil." Liu Bei also shook her head.

When Yang Siwei was a junior at the Communication University of China, she recommended herself to join Wang Jinhua's team and arranged a "birthday celebration" interlude during an event where Kong Wei and Fan Bingbing were on the same stage.

When the organizer didn't agree, she forcibly arranged for someone to bring up a three-layer cake, allowing the transparent Kong Wei to overwhelm Fan Bingbing in subsequent reports, becoming famous in one battle.

People in the circle joked about agents bringing stars, and this was what they were talking about when they said she brought herself to fame.

As for her later generations, such as creating the wealthy persona for Fan Ye, and handling the crisis public relations for Fan Bingbing and Wang Xueqi, etc., all reflected the professional quality of an agent and was a talent that could be cultivated.

One was her and one was Lu Yao; Lu Kuan was prepared to poach them to the company first to enrich the artist agency team.

Especially the young Yang Siwei, who was about the same age as Liu Yifei, and was very suitable to be gradually cultivated to replace the non-professional family-style agent.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 99 =====