After Tang Yuan finished talking with Rong Guang, she finally had a clearer picture of the situation.
She then asked, “What about after? If you decide to terminate the contract, what do you plan to do? Move to Universe Entertainment?”
“I can’t go to Universe Entertainment.” Rong Guang frowned, pursing her lips. “Although Universe is a big company, newcomers have no chance to stand out. They focus on film and television, and my past resume has no highlights in that area, so it won’t help my future development much. Their company is full of artists with tens of millions of fans. Even those with good acting skills have to wait in line. I wouldn’t even get a number. My development would be severely limited.”
Tang Yuan clutched her head, feeling a headache coming on.
The two of them fell silent for a moment.
After a while, Rong Guang thought for a moment and said, “Don’t you worry either. Let’s just take it one step at a time.”
Tang Yuan nodded.
Her gaze shifted downward, and Rong Guang noticed the dense stack of documents on Tang Yuan’s desk. She paused, thought for a long time, and finally asked, “Yuanyuan, are you planning to… leave with me?”
Tang Yuan froze, her face flushing. “Was I that obvious?”
Rong Guang smiled.
“It’s not that you were obvious, it’s because Star Cluster can’t retain people in the first place.” Rong Guang shook her head and said, “In a normal company, if an employee stays for more than three years without leaving, any enterprise would start grooming them for management. But not Star Cluster. They just love to exploit their labor layer by layer, and they prefer to make empty promises to their employees without any substantial rewards… As a result, the morale of the grassroots employees is scattered. There’s a new batch every three months. You rarely see anyone there who has worked for more than a year. You’ve been there for quite some time now… It’s very normal to have such thoughts.”
Tang Yuan was stunned.
She stared at Rong Guang’s face on the screen for a long while, then couldn’t help but glance at her own reflection. With a sigh, she said, “I’m really starting to suspect I’ve wasted all my years… My judgment of things is nowhere near as sharp as yours.”
Rong Guang’s eyes curved into a smile. It wasn’t that Tang Yuan couldn’t keep up with her, but rather that in her past life, she had managed to make a name for herself. Although she wasn’t a direct shareholder, she knew a thing or two about the rules for personnel changes and development for high-level staff in the company she later joined.
When you stay somewhere long enough, you naturally learn some of the patterns.
Rong Guang thought for a moment and said, “If you’re planning to resign from Star Cluster, you could actually consider going to Big Dipper.”
Tang Yuan was startled. “Big Dipper? Me?!”
“Yes.” Rong Guang nodded. “Big Dipper has a very good atmosphere. When they sign artists, they place more importance on the artist’s character. That includes all their staff. They have zero tolerance for any negligence. So, that place is very suitable for healthy, competitive development. It’s practically… an Eden in the hearts of many artists.”
Not long ago, a popular young actress, willing to bear a bad reputation, resolutely left her old company and jumped to Big Dipper.
She didn’t even care about losing her position as the top actress, which is enough to show how much weight Big Dipper holds in the hearts of all artists.
Tang Yuan thought for a long time. It was clear she wasn’t unmoved by the idea.
After hanging up with Tang Yuan, Rong Guang rubbed the bridge of her nose and couldn’t help but sigh.
Chacha sidled up to Rong Guang and comforted her in a small voice, her eyes moist. “What’s wrong, Sister Guangguang?”
“Your sister is a little worried.” Rong Guang propped her chin on her hand and said, “I’m thinking about which company would be best for me to go to after I terminate my contract.”
After all, with the knowledge of nearly eight extra years, Rong Guang knew the future development of many companies.
——After NO.1 completely fell apart, announced its disbandment, and its members went their separate ways, Star Cluster didn’t last long either. It declared bankruptcy two years later.
In her past life, Universe Entertainment had always been stable, but they constantly had news about contract disputes with their artists trending online. Furthermore, Universe’s management was rather complicated. It was said to be a family-run company, and many things were handled ambiguously. Unless one planned to become a shareholder and retire there, it was completely unsuitable for a newcomer like her to jump to for development.
In her past life, she eventually established her own studio. She couldn’t even quite remember what she did after terminating her contract.
She only remembered that at that time, a small, unknown company had suddenly extended an olive branch to her. The terms they offered were extremely generous, and it was a rare contract signed in black and white. Almost as soon as she joined, Rong Guang received the treatment of a top star.
After her rebirth, she had specifically looked up that company, but she found nothing. It was a complete blank, as if it had never existed.
It probably hadn’t been founded yet, or perhaps some accident had occurred. So, for now, that path was a dead end.
She had to think of another plan.
Rong Guang stroked her chin.
Chacha blinked her eyes and said, “Can I help?”
“It seems you can’t.” Rong Guang was a bit dejected. “This is something your sister can only solve by herself. No one can help me.”
Chacha wasn’t upset, just nodded. “If there’s anything I can do, just call me, okay?”
“Okay.” Rong Guang’s eyes curved into a smile.
The set was very noisy, not a place to discuss serious matters.
Rong Guang looked around, then pulled Chacha to her feet, planning to go back and shoot the scene that wasn’t finished yet.
Before she had gone far, Rong Guang saw Chu Feiliang sitting on a lounge chair to the side, holding a highlighter and sporadically marking something.
Rong Guang remembered something, nudged Chacha, and said, “Sweetie, give the tickets to your sister.”
Chacha paused for a second, then slapped her forehead in realization. “Oh, I completely forgot.”
She held five brand-new tickets, specially placed inside a Doraemon envelope. They were perfectly preserved, without the slightest crease on the edges or corners.
Only then did Rong Guang walk over to Chu Feiliang.
Chu Feiliang looked up at Rong Guang and said, “Finished with your business?”
“Yes,” Rong Guang replied.
She had originally been rehearsing lines with Zhao Xiuqi, but because Chacha had come over unexpectedly, she had to leave first, letting Chu Feiliang fill in for her for a while.
“What’s that in your hand?” Chu Feiliang asked, propping her chin on her hand, her eyes curving.
Rong Guang handed over the item in her hand and said in a low voice, “It’s an invitation to the concert. I’ve checked, they’re special seats on the second level. From these seats… you can, you can see my position on stage quite clearly.”
Chu Feiliang slowly smiled.
She took the tickets and said, “Got it. When the time comes, I will definitely… watch carefully.”
Rong Guang couldn’t say why, but her face suddenly felt a little hot.
After putting all the tickets away, Rong Guang was about to go get her script when Chu Feiliang called out to her.
“Where are you going?” Chu Feiliang looked at her, her hands not stopping as she picked up a cup to drink some water.
For the past few days, Rong Guang had been deliberately avoiding Chu Feiliang, trying not to come face-to-face with her.
Startled by being called out so suddenly, Rong Guang froze. When she realized her gaze had once again erratically stuck to Chu Feiliang’s lips, she had to use all her strength to restrain her eyes. She picked up the script in her hand and said, “I… I’m going to find Teacher Zhao. Didn’t he ask for my help with his lines just now?”
“I already went over them with him for you. Teacher Zhao has gone to film his scene.” Chu Feiliang took another slow sip of water, crossed her legs, and half-lay on the lounge chair. She patted the empty space beside her and said, “Come, sit there.”
The spot she patted was right next to her.
Rong Guang had no doubt that if she sat there, she would be pressed against Chu Feiliang’s body, without enough space to even fit a finger between them.
She looked left and right, then moved a chair and placed it squarely in front of Chu Feiliang. She asked nervously, “Is something the matter? Why so… so formal?”
“Formal?” Chu Feiliang feigned surprise, sitting up a little. She said thoughtfully, “Let’s not worry about whether it’s formal or not… I do have something I need to talk to you about.”
“What is it?” Rong Guang glanced at her, feeling a little nervous.
——That incident from a few days ago… because they had both been busy, they hadn’t really seen each other. Rong Guang had thought it was over.
Could it be that Chu Feiliang wanted to bring up that day’s incident again?
How would she bring it up?
Ask me to teach her how to leave a lipstick mark?
But how could I teach her how to leave a lipstick mark… Mouth to mouth?
That’s… not very appropriate, is it?
Chu Feiliang watched Rong Guang’s expression shift from nervous, to teary-eyed, and finally to a flushed red. Having had her fill, she finally said, “It’s about the rumors that have been spreading around the set recently.”
“Director Zhang came to me a few days ago and said that a bunch of people on set are discussing how I, in broad daylight, under the clear sky, am openly engaging in workplace ‘unspoken rules,’ using my status to harass a fellow actress.” Chu Feiliang said this with a look of utmost sincerity. “It’s gotten to the point where rumors are flying around the set that you’ve been hiding from people these past few days and are unwilling to see me, all because I scared you.”
Without giving Rong Guang a chance to react, Chu Feiliang continued with a pained expression, “So, do you think you should go and help me explain? See if you can salvage a bit of my reputation?”
Rong Guang finally found her voice and said without hesitation, “Explain… okay, how do I explain?”
“By stating the facts, of course.” Chu Feiliang said with a look of perfect reason, a faint, mischievous smile playing on her lips. “This isn’t the unspoken rules. This is me, openly and frankly, using the convenience of the workplace to shamelessly flirt with you. Now that you’re not avoiding me anymore, it means you accept me flirting with you. And since you’ve accepted it, it can no longer be called shameless flirting. It has to be called proper courting. And if it’s courting, then there’s no need for people to point fingers and gossip… Don’t you agree?”
Rong Guang’s mouth opened and closed.
The voice she had just managed to find… was gone again.
…Why does it feel like… something isn’t quite right here?
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