CH 42

Talent

Hearing this, Su Shen looked up and smiled slightly, “Thank you.”

He Hua finally noticed that this girl was not as impetuous as other ordinary young folks. She had an indescribable indifference about her, just like her acting, similar to a small but steady stream.

“Since you’re with Xie Yan now, why don’t you come over to our agency? Although Liu Min has some connections in the fashion industry, she’s still at the bottom of the barrel in the big and small screen industry. But I have a lot of resources in my hands which are being wasted and not used. Let’s not mention anything else, but the drama “Immortal Road” that Yang Zhi and Wang Cheng are currently filming, if you had come to our agency, I would’ve definitely gotten the role for you!” He Hua said with certainty. 

Su Shen had no doubts about his ability. After many artists in the industry were together, the PR* teams would merge into one and could save a lot of money. If she belonged to the same agency as Xie Yan, she would definitely have a lot of freedom in many aspects. Moreover, the pay cut  with the company would not be so heavy handed too. 

However, her contract with Starlight Entertainment had not matured yet. If she terminated her contract early, she would have to pay 20 million RMB. Moreover, the company treated her quite well and had given all the resources that should be given to her. The marketing and PR teams also exerted pretty good effort. Although Liu jie prioritized her interest, they were partners in the first place. The link between them was the layer of interest before. Not to mention anything else, Liu jie had contributed a lot to her success and how far she had gotten.

“Are you worried about compensating for damages? Don’t worry, I’m familiar with the vice president of your company. They probably wouldn’t ask you to pay that much money, and our agency will also help you.” He Hua really did want to pull Su Shen over. As a businessman, he naturally saw the infinite potential in Su Shen.

Moreover, 20 million RMB was really not much. As long as Su Shen became famous, which A-lister actress did not make tens of millions from a drama?

“Thank you for your kind intentions. My career just started and changing teams is not suitable. Let’s talk about it in the future.” Su Shen said politely.

She didn’t want to be that thankless wretch who would burn the bridge after crossing it.

Although He Hua felt it was a pity when he heard that, he didn’t say anything else. He just stepped on the gas and continued to drive forward.

He also found that although Su Shen appeared to be quiet, she was actually very opinionated. She knew the circumstances she was in, and she knew what she wanted. This girl was indeed suitable for this industry, at least more than Xie Yan that blockhead.  

When she returned to set, Su Shen was in a hurry to get her makeup done as there were still night scenes to film tonight. She saw He Hua entering Xie Yan’s dressing room, but didn’t know what he said. 

As she was going to enter the set for that crime drama soon, her scenes were centralized together to be filmed. It was not until she finished filming at midnight that she changed her clothes and returned to the hotel.

Xie Yan had finished work early, but he did not go back first and waited for her there all this while. Su Shen had her chauffeur go back first and took Xie Yan’s car.

As soon as she got in the car, she leaned against the seat and rested wearily that she didn’t know what Xie Yan had said. She didn’t open her eyes until a touch of warmth appeared on her lips.

“I’ve been wondering why you have been sneakily seeking Uncle Liu recently, and here I thought I couldn’t even compare to him. It turns out that you’re bold enough to go learn how to smoke.” Xie Yan said with a sullen face, seemingly angry.

Under the dim light, there was no hint of anger in his eyes, but a trace of concern. Su Shen gathered her courage to wrap her hands around his neck and rubbed his neck, muttering, “It was just for the audition. Before entering the set for that film, I won’t smoke again.”

She didn’t like smoking either.

There was a softness on his neck and a touch of warmth from her breath. Toward her sudden intimacy, Xie Yan’s eyes dimmed. He pressed her against the seat, leaned over, and looked into her eyes, “Is it worth it?”

It was just a supporting female lead, she could’ve chosen the female lead instead.

When their eyes met, Su Shen smiled, “You know better than me whether it’s worth it or not.”

She believed that Xie Yan was even more stringent with his roles than she was.

The face in front of him was fair and tender, with a pair of clear eyes staring at him. After staring at her for a while, Xie Yan ultimately kissed her on the forehead. Gradually, the kiss shifted from her cheek to those rosy soft lips.  

The atmosphere in the car was instantly full of ambiguity. Xie Yan’s kiss was very gentle, unlike the aggressive kisses from before, it was more like probing. Su Shen still felt embarrassed about this kind of intimacy, but she knew that she had to learn to change, so she clumsily responded to him. 

Feeling her subtle responses, Xie Yan’s offense immediately became more fierce. He quickly pried her teeth open and gently bit her soft lower lip. The atmosphere full of ambiguity immediately spread to their surroundings.

Su Shen was a little out of breath and could only pat him on the shoulder to let go of her. When he let go of her, a certain someone couldn’t help but leaned in and tenderly kissed her as he stared at her rosy red lips.

For a while, there was only her uneven breathing in the car, full of ambiguity and indistinct.

“How are you so good at all this? Did you have many girlfriends before?” Su Shen blinked, breathing steadily.

Xie Yan: “……”

He coughed slightly and immediately sat back in his seat to drive, “My parents forced one on me before, but we broke up in just a week.”

“Ah? Why?” Su Shen seemed rather curious about this.

The car sped through the road. The expression on the driver’s face seemed to be a little peculiar. After a pause, he said insipidly, “I needed to film; she was too bothersome.”

Hearing this, Su Shen seemed to have understood something. It was true that couples broke up easily in the entertainment industry, but it was because they seldom got together most of the time. Take herself as an example, Tong Le had asked her out for dinner several times, but she didn’t have time, not even time to sleep nor time to date.

“I never even touched her hand.” Xie Yan turned his head slightly and emphasized.

Hearing this, Su Shen just smiled. After a pause, she asked, “Did you like her?”

If he didn’t like her, he still wouldn’t accept it even if his parents forced it on him, right?

Noticing that she liked to ask these kinds of questions, Xie Yan couldn’t help but chuckled, “Are you jealous?”

He didn’t turn around. Taking a glance at his side profile, Su Shen continued to lean against the seat and closed her eyes, “You can choose not to say it.”

Who said that only men could be possessive, why couldn’t women be too?

Seeing that she was silent, Xie Yan coughed helplessly and said, “She was the daughter of one of my dad’s friends. At the start, she was very well behaved. There was no like or dislike, but if I continued not to have a girlfriend, my family would send me to the hospital and get checked, so I agreed.”

Hearing this, Su Shen suddenly opened her eyes and turned around to look at him seriously, “Do you feel that you’re at the age where you should get married and felt that I was quite pleasing to the eye, so you forced yourself to be with me?”

As her words fell, a hint of helplessness flashed through the driver’s eyes. He had no choice but to turn around slightly to look at her, “Should I show you whether I forced myself or not right now?”

His aggressive yet passionate glance made Su Shen blushed. She quickly closed her eyes and leaned against her seat without saying anything more.

When they returned to the hotel, Su Shen got out of the car first. She was afraid of the paparazzi, so she entered the hotel first. After Xie Yan parked the car, he would go up from the elevator in the parking lot.

When she went back to her room, Su Shen didn’t even go through her phone and went straight to take a shower to go to bed. She was so exhausted that she could fall asleep in less than a minute.

When the alarm rang the next day, she still felt sleepy and had no choice but to get up and wash up.

It was very cold today. Apparently, it was snowing heavily in the north. It was still fine in the south, but when the cold wind blew against one’s face, it was as painful as a cut. The most important thing was that it was still summer in the script, so even if Su Shen wore winter clothing, she still had to wear summer clothes when filming.

She was afraid of the cold, very much at that. Every time she had to say a line, she had to hold her breath to say it, else she would be too frozen to utter a word. As soon as the Director called “cut,” she immediately squeezed into her cotton padded coat, and Xiao Zhou would give her a glass of hot water to help warm up her body.

Just after the end of a scene, Liu jie came over. Seeing her bundled up in a cotton padded coat shivering, Liu jie couldn’t help smiling and walked over. She looked around, but didn’t see Xie Yan.

“Liu jie.” Xiao Zhou greeted her as soon as she saw her.

Su Shen turned around and saw Liu jie walking over in a gray coat while carrying her purse. But, she was so cold that she couldn’t even muster a smile.

“Where’s Xie Yan?” She walked over and asked.

After drinking a large mouthful of hot water and feeling a little bit warmer, Su Shen then said, “He seemed to have something to do, a dinner apparently.” 

Xie Yan asked for leave today, but he seldom did so. It seemed that he had something important to do.

The cold wind blew throughout the set, with staff members busying themselves away. Li Xue, over there, was also bundled up in a cotton padded coat while reading her script, as if she placed great importance on this drama and so were the others. They insisted on waiting outside in the cold wind for filming to start.

Pulling out a stool, Liu jie sat beside her. Seeing that there was no one around, she leaned over and whispered, “When he comes back, go and ask what he did.”

Su Shen glanced at her from the corner of her eye and knew that there was another meaning to Liu jie’s words.

“I heard that the director of that Hollywood blockbuster has come to China. Inviting Xie Yan to dinner, I’m sure that the matter’s halfway to success.”

Hearing this, Su Shen was also taken aback, but not surprised. This kind of opportunity was no longer achieved through ordinary connections, but a combination of various factors. However, most domestic artists were unable to even get close to this kind of opportunity, so the few domestic artists that were able to enter the international scene could be counted on one’s fingers. 

“The reality TV show from Hunan TV will start next week. Have all the other members been determined?”

Speaking of this, Liu jie replied conscientiously, “Yeah. Although they’re all more popular than you, they’re not busybodies and are easy to get along with.”

After saying that, she looked at Su Shen meaningfully, “Since you can’t hype CPs any more, you need to have some other topics to attract people’s attention. I find that you know a lot of things, what else can you do besides playing the bamboo flute and the guzheng?”