Chapter One: Unfulfilled Ambition

  For a future big shot like Huang Bo, Lin Xiao used to only have the qualifications to stand under his feet and look up at him.

  When he called over, the voice that came from the other end was the same relaxed and humorous one often heard on TV later: "Hello."

  "Excuse me, is this Teacher Huang Bo?"

  "Yes, may I ask who you are?"

  After briefly introducing himself, Lin Xiao suggested having lunch together and the other party agreed after some consideration.

  At noon, several people met up. He Lanyun hadn't been seen for a while and was still the same as before. Li Hao had just seen him in the morning. After waiting for a bit, Huang Bo also arrived.

  At this time, Huang Bo was still in Beijing teaching vocal music and dance, with a bobbed haircut, looking quite spirited.

  "Teacher Huang." Lin Xiao shouted sincerely.

  "Hey, don't call me teacher, I'm just part-time." Huang Bo rubbed his hands and said "Are you a friend of Sun Lei's?"

  "Yes, he specifically asked me to come over and greet the teacher."

  "Xiao Ge, let's go in first and talk later, I'm starving."

  Four people found a place to sit down, ordered food and started chatting.

  "It's better to hear about someone than to meet them in person." Huang Bo smiled and stretched out one hand, Li Hao and He Lanyun were both stunned. Who mocks people as soon as they start eating? Although it was a classic joke from Zhou Xingchi, this was too familiar!

  Seeing Lin Xiao laughing and shaking hands with his opponent, Li Hao and He Lan Yun reluctantly "made do" for a moment.

  "Huh?!" He Lan Yun's eyes suddenly lit up, and she said mysteriously, "Lin Ge, you're in love?"

  "Hehe, it's not decided yet." Lin Xiao also didn't think of denying it, looked at the bracelet on his hand and smiled.

  A strong smell of dog blood suddenly hit this table.

  What left Lin Xiao speechless was that Huang Bo was also staring at him with a shining gaze.

  "Don't say anything yet!" He Lan Yun suddenly stopped everyone "Let me guess, it must be a rich woman!"

  Lin Xiao's face turned green.

  He Lan Yun looked at his face and stuck out her tongue "Maybe he's also a rich second generation!"

  Lin Xiao's face slightly improved "That's not it."

  He Lan Yun's face broke out into two charming dimples, she originally had a baby face, and when she smiled, it made her look even more innocent and lovely. "Isn't that right? You said you weren't sure, but others dared to give Swarovski necklaces?"

  "Is this Swarovski's bracelet?" This time Lin Xiao was stunned "Didn't you see it clearly?"

  "You can question my identity, but you can't question my eyesight!" He Lan Yun suddenly became furious "Our family has always been in the jewelry business, how could we be wrong! I have a chain just like this one, and you're doubting me!"

  Lin Xiao didn't say a word, suspiciously looking at the bracelet, muttering to himself "It doesn't seem right? She usually dresses very plainly, even her agent doesn't have one, how could she be from a wealthy family?"

  The atmosphere was a bit awkward, and Huang Bo suddenly laughed "At least I got some information, your little lover is an insider."

  "Huang Laoshi! Listen carefully! We're discussing his quasi-girlfriend status right now!" He Lan Yun slapped the table, she absolutely wouldn't allow anyone to question her taste in jewelry.

  "Never mind, let's not talk about this. The dishes are here, let's eat first." Lin Xiao didn't want to continue discussing along this topic and changed the subject.

  After three rounds of wine and five flavors of dishes, everyone's tongue loosened up.

  "So, Sun Lei and Cai Dekuan are doing alright over there?" Huang Bo poured himself a drink with a hint of melancholy "Well, compared to them, I'm just a mediocre actor who can't even get a decent role."

  "Teacher Huang's success is due to his long-term accumulation." Although Lin Xiao spoke the truth, it sounded like consolation to Huang Bo, who could only smile wryly and shake his head.

  Lin Xiao thought for a moment, Huang Bo's current situation is indeed not very good, it seems that until 2001, he had only taken on one film "Black Hole" and was just an extra.

  He hesitated for a moment and said, "Teacher Huang, have you ever thought of acting in comedies?"

  Huang Bo was taken aback and replied honestly, "I haven't thought about it. I think the comedy style may not be suitable for me."

  "How would you know if you don't try?" Lin Xiao laughed and said "It just so happens that my next play is a comedy, does Teacher Huang have any interest in giving it a shot?"

  "Xiao Ge, do you have a new play?"

  "Why didn't you tell us?"

  "This isn't coming too soon. And I've signed a confidentiality agreement, so I can't even mention the name, let alone whose it is. In short, the director is very famous."

  "Unbelievable!" Li Hao took a sip of his wine. "It's so unfair! My idol drama is about to wrap up, and I'll probably have to go host something next. You've already got a new show."

  "Don't worry, there will be opportunities. This is a comedy, I think you might not like it, and I'm also new, so I didn't tell the director." Lin Xiao comforted.

  "Can you reveal a little bit?" Huang Bo suddenly asked.

  "I'm afraid not. But if Teacher Huang can go, he will definitely not regret it." Lin Xiao Ke knew that Zhou Xing Chi and Huang Bo, together with Wen Zhang, had collaborated on a film in the future called "The Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven's Palace", which would gross over 1.25 billion yuan (over $200 million USD) at the box office and become one of the top 500 films globally.

  It may not seem like a big deal to outsiders, but in this segment are classics like Batman and Robin, Deep Blue Sea, District 9, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Juno. It's also the best performance of Chinese films in global film charts since its history.

  Since cooperation is inevitable, why not do this matchmaker early and fulfill their marriage? Thinking of this, Lin Xiao's half-joking words earlier really touched this nerve.

  "How about it? Is Teacher Huang interested?"

  Huang Bo has fallen into contemplation. Now he is the one looking for scripts to shoot, rather than others seeking him out to shoot their scripts. However, once he entered the comedy circle, he was also a bit unsure of himself.

  "After thinking for several minutes, he said 'Like this, can I give you an answer in a few days?'"

  "Of course." Lin Xiao replied with a smile.

  The next dinner gathering was very enjoyable, Li Hao and He Lanyun originally didn't like Huang Bo's forwardness, but it turned out that what was supposed to be a private gathering had somehow been infiltrated by Huang Bo, and in the end, everyone ended up chatting very happily.

  "Alright, you guys have things to do this afternoon, I won't bother you anymore." After finishing lunch, Huang Bo left tactfully. The others lingered for a while longer on the road.

  "Li Hao, how are you now?" Lin Xiao asked.

  "It's okay, at least it's better than that half-dead place Tian Guang. At least after this play is over, I'll have some fame."

  Lin Xiao hesitated for a moment, "Earlier I introduced the play to Huang Bo, but I didn't know if I could say anything about it myself. I also asked someone else for help. But believe me, I'm not refusing to introduce you, it's just that I really think that play isn't suitable for you."

  "Xiao Ge, you really believed it? I was just joking, I know if there's someone suitable for me, CAMI would be the first to tell me. Your drama, CAMI must have known about it, but she didn't tell me, that's obviously not a good sign." Li Hao said nonchalantly.

  "Hey! You two are only thinking of yourselves! What about me?" He Lan Yun pouted and said, "Not taking care of little sister at all."

  After chatting for a while, Li Hao and He Lanyun both had to go to the filming location in the afternoon, so the three of them parted ways. Lin Xiao returned to Huaxia and began thinking about his meeting with Cao Xiaojun that afternoon.

  Logically speaking, he doesn't need to say much, everything can be solved by CAMI. However, he cannot give the other party the impression of being ignorant and arrogant.

  With this in mind, he closed his eyes and began to rest.

  At 3:00 pm sharp, CAMI's phone rang. He picked it up and took a look before turning around and heading to the conference room.

  There were not many Chinese people, but the conference room was quite large, with a wooden table that was about five or six meters long, and a row of comfortable armchairs. At this moment, three people were already seated beside the conference table.

  One was CAMI, who had brought her glasses especially for today and exuded an aura of elegance. The other two were a slender young man carrying a file bag and another ordinary-looking man who also gave off an air of refinement.

  Upon seeing Lin Xiao enter, the ordinary-looking man's eyes lit up behind his glasses as he smiled and said, "So this is Lin Xiao? I often heard Director Chen mention you during the filming of Kangxi."

  "I've asked Mr. Lin to come over and listen in, is that okay?" the man said to CAMI, without any questioning tone, simply stating a fact.

  "It doesn't matter." CAMI replied calmly, unaffected by the disdain of a large company towards a small one.

  She took a glance at Lin Xiao without leaving any trace. If the backstage of Huaxia wasn't Yongle, she would have been eaten up long ago, not even leaving any residue.

  But as long as she can hold on, after passing this hurdle, she has confidence to bring all these artists back on track! Then recruit more artists, Huaxia will have a rapid outbreak period!

  "This is the manager of Zhongyuan's personnel department, Liang Ren, who is under Minister Cao Xiaojun. He is in charge of artist scheduling and program arrangement." CAMI introduced briefly.

  "Manager Liang." Lin Xiao greeted politely and secretly sized up Liang Ren, who was also sizing him up at the same time.

  Is that Lin Xiao? Liang Ren's face didn't show any ripples, when Chen Jialin's belt was sent over earlier, Cao Xiaojun took it away. Chen Jialin is a top-notch director in the Chinese entertainment industry, so his recommended person must be taken seriously.

  Cao Xiaojun entered the projection room, and as a result of this entry, it was a whole hour!

  Even Liang Ren, who was working outside, found it strange. Isn't it just a new employee's recommendation? The ones sent over should be the best representatives of the other party, worth the department head taking so long to look at? How great can a newcomer be?

  One and a half hours have passed, but Cao Xiaojun still hasn't come out.

  It's not just Liang Ren, everyone feels strange, what kind of bell needs to be watched for so long? Is it the Midnight Bell?

  Finally, Liang Ren had a contract that needed Cao Xiaojun's signature. Unexpectedly, after he went in, even he himself was shocked.

  The footage in the tape had been cut into segments by the staff inside, Cao Xiao-jun was staring at several screens with slightly red eyes, all of which were close-ups of Lin Xiao.

  He remembered that he had called out for the fourth time before Cao Xiaojun reacted, and his reaction was huge, turning back to ask him what he wanted with great dissatisfaction.