Chapter 8: Support

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The person’s shout caught everyone’s attention. Jiang Se wiped the water droplets on her chin away and caught her breath. Then, she heard the person, who had pulled her out of the water, talk to her, “Angel, he’s calling you.”

When Jiang Se heard this, she was slightly stunned. When she looked up, she saw the script supervisor waving at her with the megaphone in his hand.

“Yes, you. Come over here.”

She was dripping wet. “Rescue Mission” was a huge production indeed. Even the costumes were high-quality ones, and the one she wore became extremely heavy after absorbing water. She wrung the water from the hem of her clothes. Her shoes were filled with water while the clothes stuck to her body. She left wet footprints behind her as she trudged heavily.

While the script supervisor was still looking at her, the person beside her gave her an envious nudge. “He’s calling for you. Go. Maybe Director Zhang has taken a liking to you.”

As Jiang Se quickly jogged over, the script supervisor appraised her. She had just fallen into the river and was not looking her best. However, she was still pretty and exuded an air that represented the invincibility of youth.

The script supervisor seemed surprised. When he took a closer look at Jiang Se, the impatience on his face somewhat toned down. “Come with me. Watch your mouth later. Just do whatever the director tells you to.”

Jiang Se understood what he meant. As expected, it was Zhang Jingan who had called her over.

Although the sun hung high in the sky, Zhang Jingan and the others were sitting comfortably under the cool shades created by the beach parasols.

When Jiang Se followed the script supervisor, the people sitting there shifted their gazes to her. Even Liu Ye, who held the bottle of mineral water in his hand and had shades over his eyes, turned to look. The moment he saw her, he straightened up, lowered his shades, and gave her a cursory glance.

“She’s here, Director Zhang.”

From behind the camera, Zhang Jingan leaned his head sideways and looked at her. Lu Baobao had described this famous director as someone with international prestige. However, she thought that Zhang Jingan merely had average looks.

He was about 40 years old and he wore an ordinary dark blue short-sleeved shirt. His hair was parted at the side. His eyes were not sharp, but they exuded a pressure nonetheless.

With two influential individuals from the entertainment industry seated in the hot seat, had it been the real 17-year-old Jiang Se, she would have been beside herself with anxiety.

However, Jiang Se was standing straight. Zhang Jingan was slightly surprised to find that this young girl showed no signs of being intimidated in front of him. She was calm and stood upright. Her wet hair clung to her face while water droplets were still sliding down her cheeks. However, these did nothing to obscure her appeal.

She was standing in a small puddle of water now, but she did not seem servile or overbearing. There was no sign of her feeling ill at ease or awkward.

Her posture and expression told everyone that she came from a respectable family. While a person’s experience and guts could be cultivated over time, bearing and charm could only be the product of a good upbringing.

After having noticed Jiang Se’s fleeting figure from the camera, he caught a glimpse of her graceful figure from the screen. He did not expect to find her not just acceptable in terms of looks, but she was also beautiful upon closer inspection.

Zhang Jingan pointed at Jiang Se. He turned and directed the question to Liu Ye, “Liu Ye, what do you think?”

Liu Ye nodded with his lips curled upward in the faintest of smiles. “You really do have an eye for talent, Director Zhang.”

In the entertainment industry where there was no shortage of beautiful ladies, Jiang Se’s beauty surprised Liu Ye.

There was no triteness about her beauty. Her facial features seemed to be meticulously crafted from the finest jade. Even though Liu Ye knew that he would be working with Lu Bingbing and other famous actresses, when he saw Jiang Se, he felt as satisfied as eating a mouthful of ice cream in the midsummer heat.

However, beauty was by no means a guarantee of talent. After all, the entertainment industry had no shortage of beautiful faces. Looks were only an entrance pass into the industry. The success of an actor’s career would depend on the opportunities they got.

Therefore, Liu Ye quickly regained his composure after the initial awe.

The executive director at the side was slightly surprised as well. He turned and asked the script supervisor in an undertone, “Who picked her?”

“Must’ve been Zhang Fan,” the script supervisor replied in the same hushed tone.

“Director Zhang truly lives up to his name. We’ve been shooting for half a day and we didn’t even notice a single person with such good potential.”

The executive director made a mental note about this. Then, he turned around and tried to flatter Zhang Jingan, “As expected of you to notice her with a single glance.”

“We’ll have to see if she really has potential,” Zhang Jingan replied indifferently.

Liu Ye straightened up as he gave Jiang Se an appraising look. “I remember that a beautiful actress is needed for the scene in Daqing Village. Have you found a candidate, Director Zhang?”

When Zhang Jingan heard this, he frowned.

Everyone’s jaws dropped in shock when they heard Liu Ye’s words.

They clearly knew that the Best Actor wanted to help this newcomer out. The gazes the others shot Jiang Se immediately changed. They felt that this young girl was simply very lucky.

Since she had earned the recommendation of the award-winning Best Actor Liu Ye, Zhang Jingan would most likely agree with it.

Jiang Se did not know about the film in Daqing Village that Liu Ye mentioned. However, the others were aware of it. There were not many characters involved in that film, but every character had significant parts. It was a far cry from the extras who died the moment they appeared.

Moreover, Zhang Jingan was highly experienced in directing movies. Although he did not produce many films, every single one of his products was internationally acclaimed. If Jiang Se could play a character in one of his films, she would be starting on a high in the entertainment industry. Her possibilities would be endless.

Liu Ye found no fault with his suggestion. Despite Zhang Jingan being a famous director of international prestige, he was not making an outrageous request. It was highly possible for Zhang Jingan to give his assent.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Zhang Jingan frowned, muttered to himself for a while, and said, “We’ll see.”

He neither rejected nor agreed to this.

Liu Ye’s shades concealed his look. However, he lived up to his title as the best actor. He was still wearing a faint smile as if nothing had happened.

“You’re right.”

“The Jianghua Group intends to invest another $100 million.”

This was clearly not news in the entertainment industry. At least, when Jiang Se heard this, the people around her did not look surprised.

Zhang Jingan waved his hand. He was gesturing for the script supervisor to give Jiang Se a change of costume and come back.

When Jiang Se turned to leave, the award-winning Best Actor sitting in the chair swept his gaze up and down her body. He shifted his gaze away silently and said with a smile, “It looks like the Jianghua Group is determined to win with ‘Rescue Mission’ this time.” His words were clearly layered.

When Jiang Se heard the name “Jianghua Group”, she seemed vaguely distracted. Then, in the next moment, Zhang Jingan asked, “Do you know about Zhongnan Industries?”

The script supervisor was already leading Jiang Se away from the beach parasol, so they were now several meters away from Zhang Jingan and the others. However, when Zhang Jingan asked this question, she stopped in her tracks and her body tensed.

“Do you mean the Feng family’s Zhongnan Industries from Hong Kong?” Liu Ye asked.

Zhang Jingan replied softly, “Mm-hmm.”