Chapter 264 - 264. The anticipated feature (1)

Chapter 264. The anticipated feature (1)

It's already been over two weeks since the online feud had died down. People have also stopped talking about Na Wen's apology.

Although many reporters still wanted to get to the bottom of the feud, as the public interest died down, they didn't have any reason to continue investigating it.

They have far more important things to work on.

As there was no interference, the shooting of «Slayers» was going smoothly.

There were no scoldings from Director Chen Pu and the atmosphere of the set was better than before. One can even say that it can't be better. 

As it was the month of January, the shooting of «Slayers» was stopped for some days because of the Spring Festival.

Everyone went back to their homes to celebrate the festival with their family. Ren also went back to his grandparent's house. 

He was going there after a year but everything was the same.

Although, his grandmother's health was a cause of concern. Apart from that, there was nothing wrong. 

Ren's status was vastly different than before. So, his cousins and especially, his nephews were asking him for autographs. 

The autographs were for their friends and as it was a request from his family members, Ren was not able to refuse.

Because of that, Ren signed more than 100 autographs in his break.

He felt like he was still working because of that, but his overall vacation was still good. He got the necessary break he wanted.

After the Spring Festival ended, Ren didn't stay with his family for long.

They insisted him to stay for more, but there was work to do. He just can't leave all his incomplete work like this.

Although there was work to do, Ren didn't go to Hongdian for shooting, but he stayed in Beijing for some more days.

He had already talked to Director Chen Pu about it. So, there was no problem. They can just shoot his remaining scenes later.

As «Slayers» was not a weekly drama, there was no need to rush the shooting and it was not like Ren didn't have any reasons to stay in Beijing.

The reason he was staying in Beijing was also because of work. More specifically, it was because of a promise.

The promise he had with Lily.

It was finally the time to record the anticipated feature!!

* * *

"So, you are saying that you wanted to feature in a song. A song made by an unknown band called Starlights or something. Is that correct?"

Director Zhao raised his eyebrow as he asked that. He was tapping the glass table with his finger and a 'clink' sound would come out of it.

"Yeah, that's basically the gist of it."

Ren answered simply but Director Zhao couldn't help but facepalm. He was making an expression like he was hearing new nonsense.

It was more absurd than nonsense to him.

"I know that the schedule for «Slayers» is really tight and it seems like you have taken a mental attack due to the feud. Looks like the Spring Festival break was not enough for you. I would talk to Director Chen Pu and give you a longer break."

Director Zhao was basically saying that he would give him a longer break. So, he should just go rest and stop talking about these absurd things. 

He already has too much on his plate. Director Zhao doesn't have any time to deal with more troubles. 

"I'm not joking."

"Ahh….why do you have a knack of bringing out absurd things?"

Director Zhao said he was fed up. He thought that Ren would not do something like that again.

He hadn't brought out anything absurd, since he was busy shooting.

Although he had a lot of work, there was at least some peacefulness in his office, but he didn't know that the peacefulness was short lived. 

"I always made them a success though."

Ren said in a counter but he also can't help but be unsure of the success this time.

In his previous life, he didn't even know of a band called Starlights, so it was obvious that they were relatively unknown. 

Maybe, they had even disbanded.

"Yeah, I know that."

'Maybe, he would agree.'

Ren thought but Director Zhao's next words made him frown.

"You have brought some random screenplays till now and made them a big hit. I have complete faith in your eye for choosing projects but.…" 

"But?"

"Movies and music are two different things. I know that the album of «A born star» was a big hit, but that was because the composers were all famous and renowned. You can't compare them with an unknown rock band."

Director Zhao was clearly refusing and Ren had already prepared to face refusal before coming here.

It would be more strange if Director Zhao agreed without any refusal but Ren has also prepared a counterattack.

"Take a look at this."

Ren brought out his phone. On the screen, there was an audio clip.

"What's this?"

"The guide version of the song."

"You are just wasting your time. I won't agree, no matter what."

Agreeing means that he would be diving into a huge risk. The chances of success were close to none and failure was certain.

Taking the risk also means living in pressure and Director Zhao was already feeling like he was getting shorter because of the pressure.

"At least, take a listen."

Ren still insisted on it and Director Zhao can't refuse a first tier actor like Ren. In the end, he plugged in the earphones and started to listen to the song.

As the guided version flowed out, Director Zhao closed his eyes and closely listened.

Although it was just a waste of time from his viewpoint, he still has a lot of faith in Ren's choices.

One can't help but have some belief in him after seeing his record so far. There was not one failure in his career yet.

His career was still young but it was still impressive!

'Will he like it?'

Ren had earlier listened to the guided version. Not just once, but he had given a listen to it several times.

Honestly, the melody was quite good to listen to. As he read musical theory these days, his understanding in music was much more than before.

He can now differentiate between a good and a bad song easily.

Lily's song was definitely in the category of good songs.

"Who is the singer in the guided version?"

Director Gap listened to the guided version and asked. Ren quickly replied.

"It's the leader of the band, Lily."

"So, this band called Starshines is not a mainstream band yet?"

"It's Starlights and they are still considered an indie rock band. Their popularity is high in many bars and clubs."

Director Zhao smiled awkwardly when he heard that and replied.

"We can't gain profits by selling in bars."

'Is he in favour or not?'

Ren thought in his mind but there was a high chance that he would agree because Director Zhao was not someone who would ask these questions if he was not interested.

"Well, I can at least meet the band."

"So, you agree?"

"No, I'm not agreeing but I'm not refusing it either. I want to meet the band first."

Ren smiled when he heard that and his reply was surprising for Director Zhao. 

"Actually, they are already here."