Volume Two: Shadows of the Past Chapter 47: If We’re Going to Do This, Let’s Go Big!

Seeing that Chen Jing had been forced into silence by Xu Ce’s intimidation, Zhang Qun quickly stepped in to smooth things over again. “Young Master Chen, don’t be angry. Xu Ce is merely a little too blunt. He didn’t mean anything by it.”

Blunt, not reckless. Those words made Tomorrow Entertainment’s attitude toward Chen Jing perfectly clear: if he refused to leave Jingrun and join them, then he would become their enemy.

Chen Jing, however, did not care in the slightest. He had no desire to play along with them any longer. Rising directly to his feet, he said to the two men, “Then there’s nothing more to discuss. I’ll take my leave first. Thank you for the hospitality.” With that, he turned and walked away.

When Xu Ce and Zhang Qun saw him leave, neither tried to stop him. Xu Ce merely called after him, “Don’t be too arrogant. Being able to write a couple of songs means nothing in the entertainment industry.”

Chen Jing stopped and turned to look at Xu Ce.

Seeing him halt, Zhang Qun said with a smile, “Young Master Chen, you can go back and think it over carefully. There’s no need to make a decision right away. Contact me after you’ve made up your mind.”

Chen Jing did not respond to Zhang Qun. Instead, he stared motionlessly at Xu Ce. After a while, he smiled and said, “Fortunately, Sister Xi has a discerning eye and saw through you long ago. Otherwise, getting involved with someone like you would truly be a tragedy.”

The moment those words were spoken, Xu Ce’s expression darkened. Gritting his teeth, he shouted, “Do you really think Lin Xi values you as a person? No! She merely treats you as a tool. People in their position see nothing but profit. Sooner or later, you’ll end up just like me, abandoned by them.”

“Don’t make yourself sound like some devoted man who was cast aside. You’re nothing but an unfaithful scumbag. Stop pretending to be pure and devoted,” Chen Jing retorted disdainfully. Before they could say anything else, he turned and walked out of the private room.

“You…” Xu Ce wanted to chase after him and say more, but Zhang Qun stopped him.

Zhang Qun cast him a cold glance and said flatly, “What good will arguing accomplish? Let him go.” Looking in the direction Chen Jing had disappeared, he frowned. “Since Chen Jing refuses to recognize a good opportunity and won’t join us, proceed according to the plan. If we can’t have him, then we would rather destroy him than leave him to Jingrun.”

“Understood.” A vicious glint flashed through Xu Ce’s eyes at Zhang Qun’s words. Heh. Just wait, Chen Jing. Your time to cry will come.

When it came to people whose musical talent far surpassed his own, Xu Ce wished he could destroy every last one of them.

Meanwhile, Chen Jing had already left the restaurant. He could not care less about how Tomorrow Entertainment intended to deal with him. As far as he was concerned, he would simply meet whatever came his way.

In fact, everyone in the entertainment industry knew perfectly well that poaching talent was one of Tomorrow Entertainment’s favorite tactics. Since the company could not cultivate stars capable of becoming nationwide sensations on its own, it could only target artists from other companies. It was a routine maneuver for them.

After doing this for so long, they had established an unwritten rule that everyone understood: when Tomorrow Entertainment signed or poached an artist, it never cared whether that artist had the potential to become famous. What mattered was whether the artist was already famous.

As long as you became popular, they would come to negotiate a contract with you. Conversely, if one day you lost your popularity and ceased to have any value, they would abandon you without hesitation.

That was Tomorrow Entertainment’s corporate culture.

Although such behavior was common throughout the entertainment industry, Chen Jing disliked it. Even if he someday ceased to be an artist under Jingrun, he would never consider joining Tomorrow Entertainment.

Actually, if someone else had come to negotiate with Chen Jing that day, he would not have been so discourteous as to leave without even eating. It was simply that Tomorrow Entertainment had made an inexplicable mistake by sending Xu Ce to speak with him. Wasn’t that practically asking for the negotiations to fail?

As for why Chen Jing disliked Xu Ce so much, aside from Xu Ce’s earlier attack on Huang Wenhao, which had already angered him, the most important reason was that Xu Ce had once been Lin Xi’s boyfriend.

One day, after Chen Jing had finished speaking with Lin Xi, Lin Zitan had quietly told him, “Actually, Xu Ce and Sister Xi were dating back then. After Xu Ce became famous, Sister Xi realized that he couldn’t control himself. He was flirting with women everywhere, so she broke up with him.”

Chen Jing had been shocked when he first heard this. Afterward, all that remained was contempt for Xu Ce.

Needless to say, the kind of two-timing scumbag Xu Ce represented was precisely the sort of man Chen Jing hated most. Thus, when he learned that Xu Ce had called to invite him out, Chen Jing had assumed Xu Ce wanted to pick a fight.

He never expected that Tomorrow Entertainment had merely sent Xu Ce to persuade him to change companies. All he could say was that Tomorrow Entertainment’s investigation into him had been far from thorough.

Since he had not eaten, Chen Jing made the rare decision to return to the apartment and have dinner with Zhang Jingzhi and Molly.

That evening, after taking a shower, Chen Jing sat at his desk and thought for a while before calling Wang Shumin.

“Old Chen, what good fortune are you bringing my way?” Wang Shumin’s familiar voice came through the phone.

Chen Jing shrugged. “Of course I have something. The question is whether you dare take it on.”

“Oh? Listen to you. Is there anything I, Wang Shumin, wouldn’t dare accept? Come on, what kind of job is it? Another music video?” Wang Shumin spoke with absolute confidence.

Chen Jing smiled. “No, it’s not a music video. I want to make a film. Do you want to come help me?”

“What? What did you say? You want to make what?” Wang Shumin thought she had misheard him.

Chen Jing enunciated every word. “I said I want to make a film. Are you coming?”

Wang Shumin fell silent.

The next morning, Wang Shumin arrived at Chen Jing’s office bright and early, dark circles beneath her eyes. She had tossed and turned all night—or rather, she had barely slept at all.

There was no helping it. Chen Jing’s phone call the night before had left her far too excited.

Chen Jing and the three women from Lin Xi’s group soon arrived at the office as well. Once everyone was present, Wang Shumin eagerly asked Chen Jing for confirmation again. “You’re really planning to make a film?”

Chen Jing was helpless. She had already asked him to confirm it countless times the previous night.

He could only repeat, “Of course. Why would I lie to you?”

Wang Shumin immediately followed up with a string of questions. “That’s wonderful! Who’s the director? You haven’t found one yet, have you? Actually, you don’t need to look. I could direct it myself, couldn’t I? And what kind of film are you planning to make? Where’s the script? Who wrote it?”

Faced with Wang Shumin’s barrage of questions, Lin Xi and Lin Zitan exchanged a silent glance before turning to Chen Jing.

“Didn’t you explain the situation to her last night?”

Chen Jing looked embarrassed. “No. I only told Sister Shumin the news last night. I planned to have her come to the office this morning before discussing the details.”

Lin Xi and Lin Zitan were instantly speechless.

Watching the three of them speak in riddles, Wang Shumin asked suspiciously, “What’s going on? Is there something I don’t know?”

Lin Xi shook her head and pointed at Chen Jing. “There. The director of this film is the person standing right in front of you.”

Wang Shumin blinked at Chen Jing. With an incredulous laugh, she said, “Stop joking around. Chen Jing is a singer. He doesn’t know anything about filmmaking. How could he be a director? That’s hilarious. Ha-ha… ha…”

When she saw that all three of them were silently staring at her, Wang Shumin could no longer laugh.

After a moment of silence, she asked once more, unwilling to give up. “The director of this film is really Chen Jing?”

Chen Jing had no choice but to answer himself. “I’m not joking. I’m the director of this film.”

Wang Shumin covered her forehead, unwilling even to look at him.

Lin Zitan added with a mischievous smile, “That’s not all. Ah Jing wrote the script too.”

Wang Shumin immediately stood up and made as if to leave. “Well, I just remembered that I have some work to take care of. I’ll be going.”

Chen Jing rolled his eyes and said helplessly, “Didn’t you say you’ve always wanted to make a film? This is such a great opportunity. Don’t you want to give it a try?”

Wang Shumin had only been putting on an act. Naturally, she had no intention of actually leaving. She walked over to the sofa on the other side of the room and sat down, saying irritably, “Great opportunity, my foot. What’s so great about it?”

With a worried expression, she continued, “Do you really think making a film is child’s play? You can’t just decide to make one and expect it to be simple. Do you have a cinematographer you always work with? Do you have a familiar production crew? Do you have any experience making films? Do you? You have nothing—not even a single hair…”

She became so agitated that she nearly let a swear word slip out.

Wang Shumin was always this uninhibited around people she knew well, and Chen Jing had long since grown used to it.

Smiling at her, Chen Jing said, “I don’t have any of those things. That’s why I came to you.”

As he spoke, he looked straight at Wang Shumin with an utterly sincere expression.

“I…” Wang Shumin was completely stumped and did not know how to respond.

After a long while, she waved her hand irritably. “Fine, fine. I’ll see if I can help you sort everything out.”

Then, with an air of self-satisfaction, she added, “Luckily, I prepared all those things long ago so I could accept film projects whenever I wanted. This time, you really did come to the right person.”

“Heh, I told you Sister Shumin would have a way, didn’t I?” Chen Jing said, taking the opportunity to praise Wang Shumin in front of Lin Xi.

Lin Xi rolled her eyes and could not be bothered with this pair of kindred eccentrics. She would simply let them do as they pleased when the time came.

Chen Jing’s praise was indeed pleasing to Wang Shumin. She nodded in satisfaction.

Then she suddenly remembered something and hurriedly asked Chen Jing, “Right, I almost forgot to ask. How much are you planning to invest in this film?”

Chen Jing thought for a moment before answering slowly, “Around one hundred and fifty million.”

“One hundred and fifty million?”

When they heard the figure Chen Jing had mentioned, not only Wang Shumin, but even Lin Xi and Lin Zitan could not help crying out in surprise.

End of chapter.