I entered Huayu Entertainment in 2016.

Chapter 63: Insufficient funds, undecided actors, no script yet.

"Hey! Prince An, you've come to pick me up!"

Zhang Ruonan raised her hand from afar, a sweet smile blooming on her face.

Her slender, fair arm swayed in the grayish-white daylight of the airport arrival hall, a light-colored hair tie hanging from her wrist, which flicked gently as she waved.

She walked a beat faster, the wheels of her small silver-gray carry-on suitcase clattering on the smooth floor.

"Sister Nan, you've worked so hard!"

Wang Zian took a few steps forward and reached out to take the suitcase from her hand.

Zhang Ruonan casually handed him the suitcase, the handle sliding from her palm to his hand in a clean and efficient handover without even a pause.

Zhou Ye stood there, watching the two men's movements, inexplicably motionless.

She didn't move, and Zhang Ruonan acted as if she hadn't seen Zhou Ye at all.

She walked naturally beside Wang Zian, her pace slow, her tone carrying a half-joking, half-serious expectation.

"Wang Zian, are you serious? Starting a company!"

Zhou Ye's ears immediately perked up.

"Of course it's true." Wang Zian turned his head to look at her, a faint smile on his lips, his tone steady. "I asked you to come here to help. I'm preparing to hand over the management to you."

"Wow! Such a high-ranking position!" Zhang Ruonan covered her chest with her hand, her almond-shaped eyes widening as she feigned surprise and delight. "I'm still a student! I haven't even graduated from university yet, and you're making me a manager?"

"Some tea is served!" Wang Zian looked at Zhang Ruonan speechlessly, wondering what was wrong with her today.

"Is that your line?"

"Tch!" Zhang Ruonan scoffed without any politeness.

"It's okay, there are only the two of us in the company right now~!" Wang Zian pointed back and forth between himself and Zhang Ruonan with his finger, his expression serious.

"It's just an empty shell company!" Zhang Ruonan pouted in dissatisfaction.

Wang Zian and Zhang Ruonan chatted for a while, but they didn't forget Zhou Ye, who had come with them; they kept an eye on her out of the corner of their eyes.

"Sister Nan, let me introduce you!"

Wang Zian looked at Zhou Ye, and Zhang Ruonan's smile slowly faded as she looked at the woman who had been standing to the side.

"This is Zhou Ye, my friend!"

"Zhou Ye, this is Zhang Ruonan, also my friend!"

Wang Zian introduced himself to the two of them.

Zhou Ye and Zhang Ruonan's eyes met briefly in the air.

Zhou Ye saw a pair of round almond-shaped eyes and a smooth, full forehead, while Zhang Ruonan saw a pair of slightly upturned almond-shaped eyes and a compact, delicate oval face.

Zhou Ye turned his gaze from Zhang Ruonan's face to Wang Zi'an, "Why do you call her Sister Nan? Is she your sister?"

A faint sense of anticipation lingered in her heart.

"No, Zhang Ruonan is two years older than me, so I call her Sister Nan!"

"What did you say?!" Zhang Ruonan glared at Wang Zi'an with a smile; "How can you just casually say a girl's age?!"

Zhang Ruonan looked at Zhou Ye with a polite smile on her face and slowly extended her hand.

"Hello, Zhang Ruonan~!"

"Hello, Zhou Ye~!"

Zhou Ye also extended his hand, and the two shook hands, both wearing polite and courteous smiles.

Wang Zian stood to the side, feeling a tension in the air that he couldn't name, flowing silently.

The two women clearly didn't know each other, their handshake was normal, and the curve of their lips was within the standard range, so why were they both so cold?

"Alright, alright, let's go eat first, it's already afternoon!"

He switched Zhang Ruonan's suitcase to his other hand and turned to walk towards the parking lot.

Hopefully, a meal can dissipate some of the awkwardness between these two people.

In his plan, the two of them would definitely have more contact in the future. One of them is in charge of operations, and the other can act. If they can get along well, many things will be much easier.

···

The meal went very smoothly.

That's how it appears to Prince An at least.

To make sure neither of them felt neglected, he deliberately chose a southern restaurant, flipping through the menu for a long time before ordering Wenzhou fish cakes from Zhang Ruonan's hometown and shrimp dumplings, which were Zhou Ye's favorite.

One dish after another was served, with wisps of white steam rising from the plates, swirling above the four-person table with the aroma of minced garlic and soy sauce.

"Sister Nan, I didn't expect you to be from the South too! You've already earned your own money to buy a car while still in college!" Zhou Ye's chopsticks were suspended in mid-air, her almond-shaped eyes wide open.

To break the ice between the two, Wang Zian directly brought up Zhang Ruonan's part-time job as a fashion model and her car purchase.

As expected, Zhou Ye was instantly drawn to Zhang Ruonan's story of independence and self-reliance; he didn't even pick up any food with his chopsticks, his eyes filled with sincere admiration.

And what about Zhou Ye?

If someone never smiles and always has a cold expression, you might subconsciously think that they are difficult to get along with.

Once you get to know her and become friends, you'll find that she's not aloof at all; on the contrary, she has an overly enthusiastic, dog-like personality.

"You can do it too!" Zhang Ruonan smiled sweetly.

When she's being sarcastic, she can be as sharp-tongued as a tiger from Northeast China, but when faced with genuine praise from a girl two years younger than her, those sharp edges automatically soften.

She's a college student, not some impolite person.

The moment Zhou Ye's dog, Smiling, appeared and uttered a few words of admiration, the two instantly became closer.

"Shu Ye~!"

"Just call me Coconut, I love coconut juice!"

Zhou Ye's lips curved into a smile, revealing a shallow dimple at the corner of his mouth. The aloofness that usually made him seem unapproachable when he was cold was completely washed away by this smile.

"Then you can call me Sister Nan, just like Wang Zi'an!" Zhang Ruonan picked up her lemonade, took a sip, and looked at Zhou Ye over the rim of the glass.

"You're a student at the Beijing Film Academy. Do you know how many people want to get in but can't? You'll definitely be seen on the big screen someday, and you'll earn many times more money than me."

When money was mentioned, Wang Zian could clearly see that Zhang Ruonan's eyes lit up; it was a Wenzhou girl's natural sensitivity to numbers.

What a money-grubber!

If he's just greedy, that's easy to deal with!

"It's really hard to become famous!" Zhou Ye put his chopsticks on the rim of his bowl, his brows furrowed slightly. "Taking the Beijing Film Academy entrance exam was just a momentary impulse. Really, I only studied for the entrance exam for three or four months. I never thought I would actually get in."

"After getting accepted, I'm actually a little unsure of what to do next?"

As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously drifted toward Prince An.

Although she no longer disliked Zhang Ruonan, she was still curious about what kind of company he was talking about.

Zhou Ye is very straightforward, especially among acquaintances.

She couldn't hold back her thoughts, so she put her chopsticks down on the table and blurted out, "Wang Zian, is that the company you mentioned the one that talked to me about making short videos last night?"

Wang Zian was working on a piece of sweet and sour fish, pulling the fish bones out of his mouth and placing them on the side of the plate before looking up to answer.

"Pretty much. I'm planning to shoot more than just short videos; I want to shoot other kinds too."

"Movie~~!" Zhou Ye's voice suddenly rose half an octave, and his almond-shaped eyes lit up.

Wang Zian looked at Zhou Ye speechlessly; "Do you think I can make a movie now?"

"Of course, those who just call 'cut' and get a bunch of assistant directors to help don't count."

Zhou Ye thought for a moment, then pursed his lips. "You can't film it."

"So you want to shoot short videos first, and then do other things after they become popular."

Zhang Ruonan suddenly took over the conversation. Her voice was not loud and her speech was not fast, but every word she spoke hit the nail on the head.

She had been quietly drinking her lemonade, but her eyes kept darting between the two of them.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ye nodded and looked at him expectantly.

"You guys are so smart, that's exactly what I was thinking!" Wang Zian picked up his teacup, which had gone mostly cold, and took a sip. "Let's practice first, then we'll talk about it later."

Upon hearing Wang Zian's admission, Zhou Ye instantly perked up.

She pulled her chair forward half an inch, braced her hands on the edge of the table, and her voice was filled with excitement, like the cap of a sparkling water bottle being unscrewed.

"How do you plan to film it? Do you have a script?"

"Not enough money, no actors yet, no script!" Wang Zian joked as he looked at Zhou Ye.

Zhou Ye curled his lip, loosened his grip on the edge of the table, and leaned back. "So you're just all enthusiasm, huh?"

"Very unreliable!" Zhang Ruonan added insult to injury from the side.

Zhou Ye paused for two seconds, then suddenly said, "But we can give it a try together. I've never written a script before."

Her almond-shaped eyes sparkled as she said those words.

She wasn't unaware of how unreliable the whole thing was, but she still had high hopes for Wang Zi'an.

Zhang Ruonan looked at Zhou Ye, her eyes filled with helplessness towards the girl.

"Girl! You don't actually like him, do you? You actually agreed to something so absurd!"

Then she looked at Wang Zian, her gaze falling on his profile as he drank herbal tea.

Is this person really that attractive?

"Trust me, writing a script is easy!" Wang Zian put down his teacup, his gaze settling between the two men. "We'll meet tomorrow."

"Is there anything I can do?" Compared to the calm Zhang Ruonan, Zhou Ye was clearly much more excited.

"You don't need to do anything, just dress up nicely tomorrow!"

"Then I'm fine with it!" Zhou Ye nodded vigorously, his ponytail swaying behind his head.

Wang Zian looked at Zhang Ruonan, who reluctantly nodded and then held up three fingers.

"I'll only accompany you this once, and only for three days. You've just finished your college entrance exams and have plenty of time, but I still have final exams to take. If it weren't exam week, I wouldn't be coming!"

"No problem!" Wang Zian laughed. "You can try it out tomorrow!"

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