Chapter One: Unfulfilled Ambition

  Cami lay sprawled across the bed, as if a colorful quilt had been spread out on top of her.

  "Ring." The phone rang, and in less than a second, it was grabbed by a hand. A pair of tired eyes opened, looked at the number, and said weakly.

  "He said, 'The consequences of disturbing my sleep are very serious.'"

  As soon as she heard the words, her exhausted face disappeared and she sprang up from bed like a spring, immediately letting out a painful cry "Ah yo!"

  "Cami sister, what's wrong?" Lin Xiao asked curiously from over there.

  "It's nothing, took two little guys out for a stroll all day and almost died. Why didn't you tell me earlier that Li Hao's hobby is strolling?! I thought only He Lan Yun was like this, but it turns out Li Hao has three times her energy for strolling!"

  ……

  Before Lin Xiao could respond, she immediately asked "What did you just say? Say it again!"

  "Zhou Dao has already given me the role. The contract is expected to arrive in a few days."

  Cami's fingers trembled slightly as she brushed open her hair, and after all these years, she understood the importance of a good opportunity for artists with real strength.

  "Are you serious?"

  "Sister Cami, how could I possibly be joking about something like this."

  "Ah!" CAMI let out a long sigh of relief, this feeling was just like when Gwyneth received her first Golden Globe nomination, everyone expected her to soar.

  "How long has it been since we last met? She thought to herself, took a few deep breaths, and calmed down. Unconsciously opening her mouth to say "I really didn't think you'd actually make it in... Being able to enter Zhou Xingchi's first film is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

  After listening to Lin Xiao's account of the interview, CAMI was stunned. It was that simple? A standard American-style job interview, of course Lin Xiao wouldn't tell her about the necklace.

  "After finishing Kangxi, don't rush to accept the notice." She thought for a moment and said "When the news of this film comes out, Hong Kong will definitely hold a press conference, and it should be close to the publicity period of the Kangxi Dynasty. I have a premonition that at that time, your worth will definitely increase!"

  After finishing speaking, she let out a sigh "Newcomers have the opportunity to increase their value in the first year, if those old people knew about it, they would be so envious of you that they'd die."

  "Hehe, thank you CAMI sister for your help." Lin Xiao also agreed with the other person's words. In his previous life, he didn't have such a big improvement opportunity until his third year.

  "I'm going to book a ticket now, you hurry back." After that, she hung up the phone.

  However, she didn't put down the phone but dialed another number instead.

  "Director Chu." She tried her best to lower her voice this time, but the excitement in her tone was still audible.

  "Hehe, Lingzi, what's going on? So excited?"

  "It's unbelievable, haha!" Finally, CAMI burst out laughing and after calming down, said "Do you know that Lin Xiao actually passed Zhou Xingchi's interview! Became the first member of his Trinity!"

  "What?! This time, the voice on the other end of the phone was surprised and asked a question that was exactly the same as CAMI's "Are you serious?"

  "Director Chu, I just asked him that a few minutes ago." CAMI smiled again "Of course it's true! I just got off the phone with him."

  There was silence on the other end of the phone for a good several dozen seconds before a relieved voice said "Great."

  "Since that's the case, we don't need to keep looking at Wen Jun's face anymore. His films are good, but his personal popularity can't compare to Zhou Xingchi. You also know, in this industry, those in front of the camera are always more famous than those behind it."

  "No." Chu Zong's voice immediately interrupted her. "Two hands prepared, I believe Lin Xiao himself does not want to miss Wen Jun's play. This time, it is triple insurance. If we pass this level, I can finally use my own funds to invest in Huaxia."

  "Chu General, I want to reward you."

  "Haha, let's talk about it after passing this hurdle. Goodbye, I'll treat you to a meal when I get back."

  "Bang", the phone hung up, and Chu Yiming's face in Beijing finally showed a long-lost smile.

  The secretary next to him looked dazed and confused, she only knew that now Chu was in a very good mood, the best he had been in months.

  Since Zhu Yongle's final ultimatum came down, Chu Zong hasn't smiled once, but today he finally did.

  "Li Jie." Chu Yiming took a sip of tea and finally spoke up, but the smile at the corner of his mouth didn't disappear, slightly curving upwards.

  "Director Chu, what's up?"

  "Tell the company that I'm treating today at noon. Also, apply for the use of my own funds on behalf of my old man."

  Li Jie's heart skipped a beat as she looked at Chu Yiming in disbelief "Chu Zong, but what about the parent company..."

  "No buts, just go and do it." Chu Yiming said unequivocally.

  Lin Xiao returned to the hotel, where no one saw him, and he needed time to calm down his excited cells.

  Fortunately, Zhou Xingchi had not yet met Chen Guokun at that time, or to say, when Zhao Wei recommended him, he had not yet met Chen Guokun. Under the interplay of yin and yang, he finally got this role.

  It's fortunate that Zhou Xingchi saw Chen Guokun first; if he had seen him later, perhaps nothing would have happened to him.

  He poured a cup of tea and added hot water, but didn't drink it. He sniffed the fragrance for a while before feeling that the heat in his heart had dissipated a bit.

  Looking at the high-rise buildings outside, he gazed in the direction of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and muttered to himself "The big screen is waiting for me."

  In the evening, everyone had dinner together in Taipei and talked about recent events.

  "This trip has really broadened my horizons." Li Hao said with a smile, "I didn't know the Golden Horse red carpet show was like this, I didn't know movie fans could be so crazy."

  "Hehe, let's wait until we can walk the red carpet ourselves, then we'll take a careful look from head to toe."

  "Definitely, I am the most suitable for Best Actress."

  In the midst of laughter, He Lan Yun left her phone number. When Li Hao knew that Lin Xiao was about to go to Ulan Bator to shoot the final scene, he asked "Didn't you say you wanted to take me to Beijing to meet a Beijinger? What's his name... Huang...?"

  "Huang Bo." Lin Xiao automatically completed "But CAMI sister doesn't let me go, it seems that only after I finish taking pictures can we talk about it."

  "It's not that you can't go." CAMI explained, "Now, each of you has a role to play, and connections are important, but handling these things is mainly up to your agent. Absorbing other people's strengths is what's most important for you now. Remember, once you're really famous, there will be many people who want to fawn over you."

  "There's more." She glanced at Lin Xiao. "After you go to Wulanbutong, an assistant broker will come with you, don't refuse. You can't even stir up a scandal by filming a big drama that can hit CCTV, do you still want to hype your popularity?"

  Seeing him wanting to speak but hesitating, she shouted "No room for discussion!"

  Hegemonism! Absolute hegemonism! Lin Xiao frowned and didn't refuse.

  At nine o'clock, the small gathering came to an end, and everyone rushed back to their hotels.

  He didn't realize there were several missed calls on his phone until he got to the room.

  It was all done by Sun Lei.

  He dialed back, and as soon as the call went through, he heard the other person's teasing voice "What? Are the girls on Treasure Island fun? Have you met Xishi? I didn't know you were back yet?"

  "It's okay." He just smiled and replied with a sentence, but felt something was wrong.

  "Who told you I'm in Taiwan?"

  "What do you think?"

  Lin Xiao thought for a moment and said without hesitation, "Li Ruijin?"

  "Isn't it him? He also just found out yesterday and immediately publicized it, now everyone knows you're going to Taiwan for the Golden Horse Awards."

  After some thought, Lin Xiao understood what was going on. Yesterday he met Song Qingming, and the other's personality would naturally "accidentally" reveal his whereabouts to the Kangxi drama crew.

  People with a mind will naturally make a big deal out of it, and Li Ruijin is precisely that kind of person.

  It's all right. Lin Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly, he had the last scene in Wulanbutong, and then he still had to go to Hengdian to shoot a few small shots. For this kind of petty person, he didn't have the mood to bother with him. If the other party didn't provoke himself, that would be fine, but if they really didn't open their eyes, it was just right to settle new and old accounts together.

  "Lin Ge, are you listening?" Sun Lei's voice was a bit urgent as he heard Lin Xiao not speaking for half a day. "Now the crew is talking about this everywhere, and most of the people who know you are newcomers, they can't say anything, but some qualified actors are discussing your background."

  "Huh? What did they say?" Lin Xiao asked incredulously, what kind of background could he possibly have? If saying that Huaxia was always on the verge of collapse counted as a background, then he really did have an "unprecedented" one.

  "They all say that having a background is great, even some veteran actors have some complaints. You know, for us newcomers, when we're filming and attend other ceremonies, it's easy to get into trouble. It's better for newbies to just focus on making money quietly."

  "Does everyone say so?"

  "Of course not! Which of the people you've guided doesn't know your character? Just because you've seen Qin Xin a few times, you dare to side with Qian Baozi, we also support you, but... three people can make a tiger. Li Ruijin hates you to the bone!"

  "Of course he hates me, it would be strange if he didn't. Alright, I get it."

  "Right, your little beauty has also arrived." Sun Lei added.

  "Qin Xin?" Lin Xiao laughed and said "What's mine? You just said we've only met a few times, it's nothing, hang up."

  "Hello?"

  Wulanbutong, Sun Lei looked at his hung-up phone with a sullen expression. Cai Dekuan asked beside him, "What's wrong, didn't finish talking?"

  "That's all he said." Sun Lei sighed "But he seems to have taken it lightly, I don't know if he's too confident or really thinks it's no big deal."

  "Alright, we've done our best." Cai Dechuan patted his shoulder. "His last performance won't be easy, and once we arrive at Hengdian, Li Ruijin won't be able to stretch out a helping hand either."

  "Hey, I was going to ask him if he had seen Teacher Huang too..."

  The next day, the plane took off from Taoyuan Airport, and Lin Xiao flew alone to Ulaanbaatar.