Wan Shanshan"s expression worsened when Han Xinming finally spoke. She could hardly believe his words and regretted not being better prepared for their encounter. 

It must be due to Li Yutao"s rising popularity and she was also somewhat losing her cool. 

Xinming"s dire appearance today made her careless and forgotten about his previous ferociousness.

At this point, the power was once again in Xinming"s hands. Her intentions were indeed to ask for Xinming"s a.s.sistance to solve the problem therefore as embarra.s.sing as this may be, she cannot leave and must make Xinming agree. 

Shen Chuchu was still in his management so it would not be possible to decide things without him. Moreover, even if she took the initiative to find Shen Chuchu, it would not work since Shen Chuchu, with her famous tough temperament, may not even acknowledge her. Therefore, it was only possible to exert pressure through Xinming.

This opportunity was too important for Li Yutao and she did not know when another one would arrive if they missed this chance. Finally, there was an Executive Chen who could open the gap to this opportunity so she really did not want to give up so easily.

She went over everything in her mind then sat upright and respectfully said, "Yes, I am here to beg Ming-ge." 

Xinming was very satisfied with Wan Shanshan"s correct att.i.tude. Nowadays the circle was very messy and no one knew how to respect their seniors. Any Tom, d.i.c.k or Harry* with some authority all wanted to step on him. If he did not exert his power then wouldn"t these people really think he was easy to bully?

*TL-note: The phrase "Tom, d.i.c.k and Harry" is a placeholder for multiple unspecified people.

"Since you"ve come to beg me then lay it down all clearly. If you don"t then how am I supposed to help you."

Wan Shanshan suppressed her anger and explained everything again to Xinming.

Xinming frowned and replied, "So you plan to lie to Shen Chuchu so she would attend but never even secured the resources for her? And you want me to do the task? Do you take this as the feudal society* where we use people as business transactions?! Shen Chuchu is under my management but I would never deceive her to sell for business. There are plenty of artists under my management who have done s.e.xual favours and I have even introduced a few but they have all been fully willing. I would never force such matters."

*TL-note: In a feudal system, a peasant or worker known as a va.s.sal received a piece of land in return for serving a lord or king, especially during times of war. Va.s.sals were expected to perform various duties in exchange for their own fiefs, or areas of land.

After he finished, Xinming adorned himself with a morally righteous appearance, "As people, we all need a bottom line."

Wan Shanshan"s face turned red then white by Xinming"s words. She replied with great difficulty, "Ming-ge, what are you saying. How could I do such a thing? I only want to introduce Shen Chuchu an opportunity and besides, we don"t even know if Executive Chen would even appreciate her." 

Upon seeing Xinming"s indifferent expression, Wan Shanshan could not help but whisper in a small voice, "Also Ming-ge, didn"t Shen Chuchu offend you? Isn"t the reason for your current predicament also because of Shen Chuchu? Don"t you want to punish her a little?" 

Xinming"s eyes changed when he heard these words.

He had been weighing the pros and cons all along. Wan Shanshan was right and Shen Chuchu did indeed offend him. Sure, his cold shoulder treatment was revenge enough but if this opportunity could make her learn from her own mistakes then it should not be…

As for Wan Shanshan, he knew her all too well. Although she mentioned Executive Chen might not attend but he believed that if he agreed then she would immediately call Executive Chen once she stepped out of the door to let him know that Shen Chuchu would attend.

As for what would happen after, Xinming really did not know.

"The female role for Taotao"s new MV will be given to a newbie underneath me but I can"t promise Shen Chuchu would definitely be there. After all, she rejected my suggestion last time."

Li Yutao"s vocals are stronger than his acting so Wan Shanshan wants to find a better actress for his new MV. If she just gave this to one of Xinming"s underlings then it would all be for nought.  

"If you can"t agree to the conditions then you can leave." Xinming did not give Wan Shanshan time to consider since this concerned her more. 

As expected, Wan Shanshan saw Xinming"s att.i.tude and quickly replied, "Okay, I agree. But please try your best to make sure Shen Chuchu attend. If not, then this female role in the MV…"

"It looks like you didn"t understand what I just said?"

Wan Shanshan watched Xinming"s expression sullenly but she could do nothing apart from accepting the terms. She restrained herself and said, "Okay. No matter if Shen Chuchu attends or not, I will give you the next female role of Taotao"s MV."

When Xinming heard this, he smiled satisfyingly. Once they finished finalising on the details, Xinming picked up his phone and dialled a number. 

On the other side, Shen Chuchu had just saved a client from an affair and was full of expectation as she looked at the marriage system. She had gained a total of 10 experience points! She was about to look at the chance value when her phone rang.

She looked at the caller who had not bothered to check up on her for a month and felt a subtle feeling in her heart. Is this… another new chance encounter? It was like this the last time. After she helped someone, Xinming also called.

The last encounter was the Han Group where she earned five hundred thousand yuan and gained several thousand followers. Although she suffered some grievances but in contrast to the benefits received, it was totally worth it.

After a moment of hesitation, Shen Chuchu finally answered.

"Chuchu, do you want to try out for an opportunity? A producer thinks a role in his movie is perfect for you."

Shen Chuchu listened then became slightly suspicious. After their argument last time, she felt there was nothing now between her and Xinming so he would never leave good opportunities for her. With doubt in her heart, Shen Chuchu asked outright.

"Ming-ge, why is it me?"

Xinming glanced at Wan Shanshan and replied, "The producer happened to see your advertis.e.m.e.nt with the Han Group and thought your image was a good match so he got the idea. It just happens that Li Yutao is also in the cast and his manager just also happened to say a few good words about you."

Shen Chuchu listened to the reason and did not speak for a while. If the producer did see her from the advertis.e.m.e.nt then she believed it a little. After all recently she had received several messages on Weibo about advertis.e.m.e.nt or movie productions. However, they were small companies with teams she"s never heard of or very small roles that she dared not accept herself.

But to say that Li Yutao"s manager recommended her…she actually doubted this somewhat. She clearly remembered the att.i.tude of Li Yutao"s manager that day where she deliberately disregarded her. So why the change of heart? Was it because they are from the same company?

Xinming saw that Shen Chuchu did not speak and continued, "Tonight at 7 pm there is a dinner party on the fifth floor in the lily-hall at Yuehua Hotel. If you are interested you can go and check it out. Li Yutao and his manager will also be there. If you have no interest then don"t go since it doesn"t concern me much anyway."

After he finished, Xinming hanged up.

It went without saying that Xinming was very proficient in his words. He had successfully achieved the concept of neither revealing the whole truth or lie. Additionally, he also put the whole idea on Wan Shanshan and the final decision on Shen Chuchu. So if anything happened, it would not concern him!

Wan Shanshan became unhappy at Xinming"s words and angrily looked at him, "Ming-ge how can you say it like that. What if Shen Chuchu doesn"t go? You shouldn"t have said those words at the end."

"I understand Shen Chuchu more than you." He finished and pointed at the door, "You can leave now. Remember to close the door and don"t forget our promise."

Wan Shanshan"s expression turned slightly better from his words. She thanked him and left.

As predicted by Xinming, if he had strongly suggested Shen Chuchu to go then she would definitely have suspected something. Therefore Xinming"s nonchalant att.i.tude made her feel there might be some authenticity to it. 

Besides, if there were other people from the company there then things might not be too bad.

Should she go and check it out? Although there was still an aspect she could not figure out but the prize from the system was not a lie.

Plus she had no plans tonight. If it was unsuitable then she would just leave. But if she did not attend, it would offend Li Yutao and her position in the company would become even more difficult.

At this thought, Shen Chuchu decided she would go tonight at seven to seek out the truth. If it was real, then she might be able to enter the film circle. Although her acting skill was only thirty-something but compared to before, this was way better.

Just after 6 pm, Shen Chuchu changed into appropriate attire and headed out. When she arrived at Yuehua Hotel, it was still ten minutes to seven.

Shen Chuchu walked to the entrance of lily-hall, knocked then entered.

Wan Shanshan was very relieved when she saw Shen Chuchu.

Shen Chuchu looked at the two familiar individuals then at the stranger beside them who looked quite proper and felt slightly more at ease. She looked at Li Yutao slightly longer because he was smiling at her. As a result, she noticed the heart above his head had changed. She curiously wanted to have a look but at this moment Wan Shanshan spoke, "w.a.n.g-ge, this is our company"s Shen Chuchu."

w.a.n.g-ge smiled and said, "Okay, her image is pretty good. All the newbies at your company are very good. It would indeed be a waste to be cast as a servant girl. I don"t know if the acting skill is good though. If it"s good then we can certainly add more scenes." 

Wan Shanshan quickly shot a glance at Shen Chuchu and replied, "Chuchu, you should offer a drink with w.a.n.g-ge now that he"s said that."

Shen Chuchu did not enjoy drinking but she knew some drinks must be drunk from the few parties she had attended with Xinming. She quickly stood up and drank with w.a.n.g-ge.

They continued to engage in conversation but suddenly another person entered from outside.

Shen Chuchu narrowed her eyes at the arrival and watched as Wan Shanshan eagerly went to greet him. She felt tonight was not as simple as she had imagined.