Chapter 93 - The Explosive News
Seeing that the crowd still looked baffled, Chow Mingrun lifted his glass and said, "Everyone, please raise your glasses, I have some great news to tell you today!"
Yuan Ge saw a big smile on Chow Mingrun's face, and he wondered what news was so good that it could make him so happy. But since he was in such a good mood, perhaps later after a few rounds of drinks, he could mention to him about replacing Yin Fenghua, and maybe he would just agree.
Amélie didn't bother beating around the bush. She raised her glass and said playfully, "Boss, stop making us guess and just tell us. Is it because your wife's Chow's Pickles are selling so well that she has decided to invest more in us?"
"How can that be! She's such a conservative person! With me whispering in her ear every night, after all these years she still hasn't shown the slightest trust in the entertainment industry. Not to mention investing more, even if she has made a lot more money, she is not willing to invest anything in film productions or increase my pocket money."
The crowd laughed at his words. Chow Mingrun, the son-in-law of Chow's Pickles from Xiaoshan, was never ashamed of marrying into his wife's family and often made self-deprecating jokes about it. Everyone thought he was rather cute in this completely unabashed way.
"Hey, let's not talk about irrelevant things. I'm inviting you all to dinner today because I have a huge big announcement to make!" Chow Mingrun said excitedly, looking a little delirious, "I was called over to King Guan Entertainment today and guess what? We've really made it this time! - The audition last time, that audition of three frigging thousand people, and we at Dragon Dreams Pictures have scored the biggest win of all!!!"
"Fat Chow, what are you talking about here? What do you mean we've scored the biggest win? Are you drunk already - who are you fooling?" Seeing him waving his hands around deliriously, Du Jinghai felt that he could not trust his words.
It was Amélie who was thinking fast, "You mean Yuan Ge got the assistant director job for King Guan's new film?"
These words reminded several people in the room. The thrilling scene of Yuan Ge spraying Arthur Guan in the face, getting him wet all over, and then being dragged inside by eight beefy guys for a forced audition was still fresh in everyone's mind.
"No-no-no, I said a big win, how can it be that simple!" Chow Mingrun smiled mysteriously before pulling out a large poster from behind his back, "Waylon, come over here and give me a hand, let's 'open the light'[1] for this poster!"
The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, used clear tape to stick the poster on the wall. When the spotlights shone on the poster, the crowd couldn't believe their eyes -
It was the concept poster for the new film "A Journey in Brocade", just announced today by King Guan Entertainment. The grandiose design style suggested that this would be the industry giant's big blockbuster of the year. The most crucial thing was that in the section of leading actors, the name of Arthur Guan was written in the first position! And the second male lead was actually Yuan Ge!
The whole room was in an uproar - how was this possible?! Wasn't it the assistant director's position that Yuan Ge went to audition for? There were 3,000 people auditioning, including a handful of award-winning movie stars, but Arthur Guan had chosen Yuan Ge for the lead role? And the big boss was going to star in the film himself? That was simply unheard of! How come King Guan suddenly decided to star in it himself, and in the lead role too? This … was all too beyond people's comprehension; it was absolutely unbelievable!
Chow Mingrun gestured for everyone to be quiet, pointed triumphantly at the poster and said with a big smile, "Don't just read the headline, there is other important information. Waylon, read it."
"Wow, the special guest stars are all big names! And in the main cast, there's Chestnut! Oh my God, Chestnut, you should be so proud of yourself! Your name even ranks ahead of a few big movie stars!"
Waylon almost dropped his jaw as he looked at the cast announced on the poster.
Stephen rushed over to him, "Look! Look! Even Waylon and I are in supporting roles! Waylon, this is King Guan's biggest film of the year, a film with an investment scale at the top of the industry, and we're both actually in it!"
"Come here, Chestnut, they're not reading the poster carefully enough, you read it. Here, in the producer's section, read it three times!"
Apparently not satisfied with the level of surprise of the crowd, Chow Mingrun called over the usually simple and honest girl, Chestnut, who was now stunned almost speechless, and asked her to read it aloud.
"The producers are King Guan Entertainment and Dragon … Dragon … Dragon Dreams Pictures!" Chestnut stammered, her eyes opening wide.
"Chestnut, I told you to read it three times, not to stammer three times. Look carefully, everyone - Dragon Dreams Pictures, the number two producer!"
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[1] Open the light, or kaiguang, is the Chinese term for consecration of a statue of a deity. A Kaiguang ritual varies amongst Chinese religious traditions, but it is essentially the act of formal consecration for proper usage by dotting the eyes of a statue of the Deity using a calligraphy brush coated with cinnabar.. It is believed that if a statue or lion costume has not been 'kaiguang', it cannot be worshiped or used for performance, as the eyes are still "closed".