Chapter 08: Official Entry

The next day, Zhou Yanqing got up early, took the subway and then changed to the bus to reach the Twin Towers. In the bus, he had been looking at the rental information on the Internet, but unfortunately he and Jiang Cheng were too far apart to share the rental.

He arrived at the office half an hour early and Monica was already there, brushing her eyelashes with a small mirror. Zhou Yanqing waited for her to finish brushing her eyelashes before walking up and handing her a small handful of delicately wrapped purple daisies that he had bought from the florist downstairs. 

This time, he entered Song Yu's company with an ‘ulterior motives’. If he wanted to grasp the company's internal information in a short time, then he must have a good relationship with the company's ‘know-it-all’. The receptionist was certainly such a role, and Monica was indeed a personable girl.

It was actually very simple to please people. Just a handful of daisies would be enough and this right gesture would not burden the other party.

In the previous life in the idol drama crew, Zhou Yanqing was often scolded by the director, saying that he was too dumb and would not be able to flatter the female lead. Zhou Yanqing was always smiling on the surface but was sneering in his heart; he just didn't want to flatter her.

Monica happily took the flowers and looked around for a vase. Her mouth was not idle: "Xiao Zhou, since you came here, the company has come to life. It's usually so boring that you can't even hear a fart."

Zhou Yanqing smoothly asked, "Are there very few people in our studio?"

Monica found a cream-colored shallow vase, and fiddled with the little daisies. She sighed helplessly: "Teacher Song does not appear on any show except acting, and there is no hype and no scandal. We don't even need public relations. Aside from Manager Meng, there are only a few people in the finance department and a copywriter."

Zhou Yanqing nodded his head and secretly took note of it in his heart.

At this time, Monica came up and said in a very low voice: "But our company may be transformed in the direction of an agency and it is guessed that we will recruit a large number of people. Let me tell you, two months ago, Meng ge and Teacher Song also had a fight because of this. I listened to a few sentences from afar, it seems that Meng ge wanted to convince Teacher Song to sign two artists to expand the size of the company, but Teacher Song did not agree, and then the two had a fight."

"To be honest it's the first time I've seen Teacher Song lose his temper. Although he usually doesn't like to talk, he has always had a gentle and calm appearance. I don't know if it's the effect of that quarrel, but Tacher Song seems a bit gloomy lately."

Zhou Yanqing listened to Monica's ramblings and focused on the matter of signing artists. In his previous life, he had looked up information about Song Yu's studio on the Internet. Two years later, Song Yu's studio had several artists besides himself, three of whom were the most famous.

One was Han Jin, 24 years old, came from a talent show, and became popular after appearing in an urban idol drama. After signing with Song Yu Studio, he made two well-received dramas and started to develop into a powerful actor.

One was Gao Tong, 45 years old, a powerful actor, who was the lead actor in Song Yu's first drama. Song Yu also mentioned in one program that Gao Tong was half of his teacher.

There was another one called Su Ting Rui, 25 years old, actress, one of the four little flower girls in the film industry.

Han Jin was the first artist to sign into the studio. He signed into the studio after working with Song Yu on the movie ‘The Road Goes On’, about a year after the current one, and since then other actors had been joining the studio one after another.

Last night, Zhou Yanqing checked the information of these people again.

They were all still developing in their respective companies. Han Jin's idol drama was on the air, and he had not yet filmed the movie ‘The Road Goes On’ with Song Yu. Gao Tong's career fell to pieces a year ago when his wife reported of his cheating and domestic violence. Although it was later clarified that these were rumors fabricated by the woman, his career did not pick up again. Now he was participating in a drama tour. And Su Tingrui, who just graduated from the Film and Television Academy, was still still on the 18th line as a supporting role.

Zhou Yanqing was shocked. In the past two days, he had been in a state of extreme excitement because he had interviewed for the position of Song Yu's assistant, so much so that he had overlooked one very important thing——he had become Song Yu's assistant, but what about the assistant who should have been there?

Zhou Yanqing pressed down the panic in his heart. Holding on to a hint of luck, he asked Monica without moving "The company only has Mr. Song as an artist, so I will be Teacher Song's assistant in the future?"

Monica looked puzzled: "Didn't Meng ge tell you? Teacher Song's original assistant was dismissed because he made a mistake. This position has been vacant for several months, but he has not found a satisfactory person. Fortunately, Teacher Song has not been working recently."

Zhou Yanqing's face changed. In his previous life, Song Yu's assistant was called Gao Lei, who had been following Song Yu for two years. According to the time calculation, Gao Lei joined the company at this time. Gao Lei and Song Yu's death have a close relationship, and even if it was not, he was at least one of the people who knew the inside story.

If he didn't show up, then the position of Song Yu's assistant would have been Gao Lei's. Now that he had taken over Gao Lei's role, what about Gao Lei? Where would he go? Would he reappear in this life?

Zhou Yanqing's palms were sweaty. He had a reason to see Gao Lei.

Monica saw Zhou Yanqing look bad and thought he was nervous about being Teacher Song's assistant, so she reassured him, "Don't be nervous, Teacher Song is a very nice person, just a little reluctant to talk."

Zhou Yanqing tried to maintain the calmness on his face as he pretended to be at a loss for words, "I was just a little surprised, when I was interviewed, Meng ge only said it was an artist's assistant. I didn't think it would be Teacher Song's assistant, I’m afraid I can’t do well."

Monica's eyebrows arched as she laughed at Zhou Yanqing's silly look: "There's a reserve assistant coming in a few days. He has been working as an assistant for a first-line actor before, he is very experienced. If you don't know anything, you can ask him or ask me."

"Reserve assistant?" Zhou Yanqing's chest tightened.

"Yes ah. Meng ge said we should recruit them first as reserve staff. That's why I told you just now that our company might transform in the direction of an agency. Otherwise why would we recruit reserve staff."

Monica knew everything.

Zhou Yanqing asked tentatively, "What is the name of the new assistant?"

Monica took out a resume from the drawer and confirmed it with a glance before answering, "He’s called Gao Lei. He won't be able to resign from the original company in a few days, so it will take a few days before he joins."

Zhou Yanqing's hand clenched into a fist then loosened. Fortunately Gao Lei was still there.

He had a guess in his heart that in the previous life, without his presence, Gao Lei passed the interview and entered the company to become Song Yu's assistant. In this life, his appearance caused Gao Lei's role to change, and he became Song Yu's assistant. So would some important people, events and things related to Gao Lei in the last life be passed on to him? If so, then he was closer to the truth of Song Yu's suicide.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yanqing's tense nerves suddenly relaxed.

Monica carefully handled the induction procedure for Zhou Yanqing and showed him around the internal area of ​​the company.

A few days ago, when he had a quick glance during the interview, Zhou Yanqing only felt that the area was large and was a bit overkill to be an artist studio. Today, after a detailed tour, he found that it was not only large but also very lavish.

The 400-square-meter flat floor had less than ten employees. In addition to the office area, there was a gym, a lounge, styling rooms, and an exquisite small coffee shop.

The walls as a whole were light grey-blue, with milky white furniture such as solid wood tables, chairs, cabinets, and other furniture. Low-key but no loss of luxury.

After walking around, Monica took Zhou Yanqing to an office in the far corner, and pushed open the door: "Xiao Zhou, this is your office from now on, and the inside is Teacher Song's office. Yesterday I asked the cleaning lady to clean it again. If you still need anything else, you can tell me, I will help you purchase, but the frequency of using this is not high."

Zhou Yanqing nodded his head. Actors usually stay in the film base for months at a time, so this office was not used very often. He sincerely thanked Monica for her advice on Song Yu's habits before she returned to her workplace.

When Monica left, Zhou Yanqing turned around and glanced at his unobstructed office; a walnut desk with a laptop computer on it, behind the desk was a matching bookcase. There were also symbolically put foreign famous works for basic decoration and a pot of green plants. Aside from that, there was nothing else.

The potted greenery was just purchased by Monica yesterday. Zhou Yanqing just saw the purchase list on the receptionist's desk.

The office desk was facing the cream-colored solid wood door of Song Yu's office. Zhou Yanqing approached and lifted his hand, his five long fingers hanging over the handle. After a moment he put his hand back to his side and walked to his desk. He took out his notebook from his backpack, found Gao Lei's name, and made a line of remarks with a red signature pen next to it: "Joined two years ago in October".

Zhou Yanqing swept through the blinds of the public office area outside; except for the cold desk, there was no one.

Song Yu's studio was established two years ago, just after he won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the Huagui Film Festival in China for his film ‘The Doppelgänger’ at the age of twenty-eight.

‘The Doppelgänger’ was Song Yu's film debut. Before that, he had been working in the drama industry, winning two ‘Best Actor’ awards. He had already made a great achievement in the drama industry. After winning the award for ‘The Doppelgänger’, Song Yu made a name for himself in the movie industry. In the following two years, he entered the movie industry instead of continuing to make dramas, making two movies that were well received and did well at the box office, but did not win any awards.

What really made Song Yu firmly rooted in the film industry was the movie ‘The Road Goes On’ which would win two major awards at the end of next year, the Best Actor for Huagui Award and the Golden Deer Award. Zhou Yanqing couldn't remember the exact start time of the film. He calculated the time a little, and it should start shooting next month.

It was obviously unwise to sign artists in the rising stage of their careers and use the resources of the studio to support them.Moreover, Song Yu had been active in the film and television industry since the establishment of the studio, and later became the youngest Grand Slam Movie Emperor. It was obvious that he did not have the idea of going behind the scenes to run the company, at least not in the early days of the establishment of the studio.

From what Monica just said, it could be seen that Song Yu was not very interested in the company's transformation at present, and even had an argument with his manager Meng Shiping. So Song Yu's original intention of setting up a studio must be to serve himself, but was it really necessary for a star studio to rent such a large office building? Why did he change his mind about signing artists after that? Was it because he was convinced by Meng Shiping?

Zhou Yanqing poked the notebook with the tip of his pen and temporarily recorded his doubts.

Monica had just finished entering Zhou Yanqing's admission information when she looked up and saw two sturdy figures pushing open the door with a steady pace.

"Teacher Song good morning! Meng ge good morning!" Monica got up and greeted.

Song Yu nodded his head in greeting, while Meng Shiping gave a slight smile in response.

Monica let out a sigh of relief when the two disappeared around the corner. Teacher Song felt like a different person when he returned to the company after having a fever and rested at home for two days two months ago; always with a layer of indefinable melancholy between his eyebrows and eyes, and he had become more reticent to talk. She didn’t dare to say hello to Teacher Song in the last two months.

Song Yu stopped across the corridor, glanced at the empty public office area, and said softly, "It's empty."

The person in front suddenly stopped and Meng Shiping almost bumped head-on. He was stunned for a moment before realizing the meaning of Song Yu's words and replied with a smile, "Then let's fill it up as soon as possible."

The corner of Song Yu's mouth twitched into an unintelligible smile.

Meng Shiping and he were in the same class in college, and they had a good relationship. Meng Shiping spent two years in the acting world without making any splash, only playing minor supporting roles. At that time, Song Yu was already famous, so he asked him if he would be willing to work behind the scenes to be his manager, and Meng Shiping gladly accepted.

Under the introduction of Song Yu, Meng Shiping also joined his company and started to make a name for himself in the industry. In addition to Song Yu, he also brought out a famous actress.

Two years ago, Song Yu's contract with his agency expired, and he had the idea of creating his own independent studio. Meng Shiping decided to terminate his contract with the company and follow Song Yu.

In order to thank Meng Shiping, Song Yu gave him 20% of the company's shares without Meng Shiping's capital contribution, allowing him to participate in the business. The two were not only friends and colleagues, but also partners. At the beginning of the studio, Meng Shiping took care of all the big and small affairs, including the location of the office.

When Song Yu first entered the Twin Towers, he also questioned the need for such a large office space for a personal studio. Song Yu couldn't remember how Meng Shiping answered at that time. However, the rental fee was not a burden for them, so he did not ask or object to it at that time. He only assumed that Meng Shiping wanted a better working environment.

After his rebirth, Song Yu understood that the reason why Meng Shiping rented such a large office space was because he had planned from the beginning to have the studio sign other artists to transform into an agency. He had ambitions from the beginning.

In the previous life, Song Yu's life was focused on acting. He had several arguments with Meng Shiping but did not compromise. In the end, it was only because of Han Jin's appearance that he relented and agreed to Meng Shiping's idea of signing artists. Hence, the company signed several actors one after another.

Now, only when Song Yu stood in the perspective of God did he realize that perhaps Meng Shiping had changed since the time when the two had a disagreement. So was Han Jin arranged by Meng Shiping very early on in order to satisfy his ambitions for expansion?

If in this life, Meng Shipping's ambitions were fulfilled ahead of schedule, what would happen to everything?

T/N: Due to my hectic schedule, this story will be on hiatus for a month or so, will be back around early May.