CH 24.1

The client Ji Fanyin was meeting today was different from usual. It wasn’t her usual clients from her stand-in job but from the connections she had recently made from the film industry. 

This new world she had transmigrated into had a different cinematic culture from the world she had come from, but she was still able to bridge the gap through her deep knowledge of films. 

When her previous review went viral, she received a call from Zhang Ning, who remarked in astonishment that she didn’t think that their collaboration would actually produce such amazing synergy, and that this was beyond her expectations. 

That very day, Zhang Ning asked her out for a meeting and tried to persuade her to sign a long-term contract with them, but Ji Fanyin rejected the offer after some thought.

She thought that it would be hard for her to balance two jobs, and she valued the greater freedom from being a freelancer too. She would be able to watch any movie and write any review she wanted. 

As long as she chose her content wisely, she would be able to obtain a decent amount of Emotion Points through this regardless of whether she went professional or not.

Signing a contract with Zhang Ning would grant her access to greater resources, such as invitations to movie premieres, but she thought that those were just nice-to-haves. Ultimately, it all boiled down to the quality of the review. 

She knew of reviewers who specifically chose to tackle lousy films but were still able to get their audience clutching their stomachs in laughter through their glib tongue. It was the typical example of ‘the review being more interesting than the movie’, and such reviews had the potential to go viral too.

Alternatively, there were also reviewers who accepted bribes to fling mud on certain films so as to sully their reputation. She could earn negative Emotion Points through that too. 

If she were to sign a contract with Zhang Ning, her freedom would be greatly affected, especially when it came to films related to He Shen’s studio.

It was with these considerations in mind that she rejected Zhang Ning’s invitation, though she expressed interest in having more of such collaborations in the future.

“I’m fond of He Shen’s movie,” said Ji Fanyin, “and I’m not just saying this out of politeness. I earnestly hope that his studio will be able to maintain this high standard in selecting new scripts.”

Zhang Ning laughed in response, saying, “No problem, I’ll relay your words to them. Speaking of which, a junior in the industry has been asking me for your contact number. Should I give it to him?”

Ji Fanyin had a good idea who this ‘junior’ was, but she still asked anyway just to be sure. 

As expected, Zhang Ning replied, “Cen Xiangyang.”

It went without saying that Ji Fanyin accepted the offer.

Cen Xiangyang appeared to be the kind who was fond of playing mind games. It was only several hours after she dropped him a message that he finally sent her a friend request, saying that he had been busy earlier.

Ji Fanyin laughed upon seeing his message. She decided to leave him hanging for a few hours and focus on her work.

Cen Xiangyang’s situation was different from Bai Zhou’s. 

Bai Zhou had bumped into Ji Fanyin and Song Shiyu in the middle of their ‘date’, so Song Shiyu was compelled to help her convert Bai Zhou into one of her clients so as to drag him down. However, it would be hard to employ the same script on Cen Xiangyang.

Song Shiyu was not a fool. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. 

Interestingly, in the future Ji Fanyin had gotten a glimpse of when she first transmigrated over, she remembered that Song Shiyu was the one who introduced Cen Xiangyang to her. 

After Ji Xinxin flew off to Paris, Song Shiyu’s obsession and demands began to grow out of hand. He viewed ‘Ji Fanyin’ as an ornament that he could go around boasting about. Due to the attitude he had taken, it didn’t take long before ‘Ji Fanyin’ became known in their little fishery. 

Naturally, the twisted Cen Xiangyang joined the circle too. 

That being said, there was already a divergence from the present and the ‘future’ Ji Fanyin had seen even though she was still in the stand-in business, and the most notable one was likely the barrier to entry. 

In the ‘future’, Song Shiyu had no requirements as to who he allowed to join his little circle. He was just about willing to lend ‘Ji Fanyin’ out to anyone as long as he was in a good mood. 

Due to ‘Ji Fanyin’s’ feelings for Song Shiyu and her weak temperament, she always ended up obeying his orders no matter how reluctant she was. 

But things were different now.

One, Song Shiyu didn’t have the power to control her. Two, Ji Fanyin was the one deciding on the barrier to entry now. 

For one, her charge of 100,000 dollars per hour was already more than enough to filter out those who weren’t ultra-wealthy. The average man wouldn’t be able to afford her service.

It would appear that Cen Xiangyang and Song Shiyu are already acquainted with one another based on their interactions at the movie premiere. As long as I slowly reel him in and let out some ‘unintentional’ clues about Fish No. 1, the latter would probably take the initiative to pull him in, right?

Ji Fanyin thought that it was feasible to give it a try.