Chapter 641: Chapter 469: Were You Aware?
At 7 p.m., at the restaurant.
"President He, I’m sorry for disturbing you this evening, asking you out for dinner," Zhou Yun sat across He Yong, smiling at him.
When He Yong received Zhou Yun’s invitation to have dinner together, to tell the truth, he was shocked for quite a while.
Zhou Yun had never taken the initiative to invite him to dinner before.
He Yong couldn’t help but review the recent events, to see if there was anything he promised Zhou Yun that he hadn’t done, or if there was something that made Zhou Yun angry that he hadn’t resolved yet.
After much thought, it seemed to be the matter with Xu Siyao.
He Yong said with a smile, "You inviting me to dinner, how can that be a disturbance? As long as you’re willing, I don’t mind accompanying you to dinner every day."
Zhou Yun shook her head with a smile, "How could I dare? President He, you have a lot on your plate, the whole company is counting on you."
Even though he knew it was just a polite remark, He Yong enjoyed it nonetheless.
His favorite words to hear were that the entire company relied on him.
He Yong had given his best years of struggle to Chengqian Entertainment.
"You are now the number one actress of the company, how can it be called relying on me?" He Yong said.
Zhou Yun: "I know President He has always wanted to make Chengqian Entertainment the best talent management company in the country."
"Indeed I have this idea, and I’ve always been striving for it, but one always aims high and after painstakingly nurturing an artist for a long time, they leave when their contract expires. There’s nothing I can do but continue to cultivate new talents," He Yong said and then smiled at Zhou Yun, "I don’t mean to complain, but I am indeed a bit heartbroken."
"Has President He ever considered that perhaps it’s because Chengqian’s management model is too uniform, just the traditional mode, yet it does not provide artists with more diverse options?" Zhou Yun said, "I think anyone, after reaching a certain level, does not just want to continue to fight to be just another cog in the machine. People have their own thoughts, their own convictions, and their own pursuits, which may not necessarily fit 100% with the company’s main direction of development. When contradictions and oppositions arise between these, a friendly parting might be the best outcome."
He Yong asked: "What kind of management model do you think would be acceptable, in your view?"
Zhou Yun pondered for a moment and said: "There are many kinds. To me, autonomy is more important than anything else. I make the decisions. That’s what I insist on most, but not everyone thinks the same way as I do."
He Yong: "Xiao Yun, do you want to start your own studio?"
"Starting a studio obviously has its drawbacks," Zhou Yun said. "Big companies have their advantages, and I’m aware of this. An individual studio will always have limited power."
"But signing with a big company, you’re naturally going to be somewhat restrained."
"Some level of restraint is a necessary sacrifice to gain more benefits. The question is, where the restraint lies, whether it’s something I can accept, or whether it goes against my principles."
"I know, you value autonomy in choosing your roles very much."
"Of course." Zhou Yun said. "To be honest, Mr. He, do you still think the decision to have me play in ’Eighth Heartbeat’ was the right one?"
He Yong shook his head and said, "If I had known two years ago you would win so many awards, I wouldn’t have let you act in ’Eighth Heartbeat’, but if you asked me to make the decision again without knowing what I know now, I would still make the same decision. Experiences like yours being called a legend decades later is no exaggeration. And the reason they are considered legends lies in their irreplicability. But the small breakout of ’Eighth Heartbeat’ can be replicated."
Zhou Yun knew she couldn’t convince He Yong.
And she also knew that, to some extent, He Yong’s words made sense.
Their main issue was a difference in philosophy.
He Yong continued: "Take Wang Jing for example, if I were to plan her career, I wouldn’t let her start with these niche suspense and serious genres. Yes, her fame is slowly building, but to be honest, she doesn’t have many loyal fans. In other words, her commercial value is not that high. If it weren’t for you and Zhou Lan constantly giving her new opportunities, perhaps she would have already been phased out."
Zhou Yun also knew that He Yong was right.
Young actresses with potential like Wang Jing were abundant in the industry.
Who succeeds and who gets eliminated often depends more on luck than talent.
Zhou Yun and Zhou Lan were Wang Jing’s luck.
Without them, Wang Jing couldn’t have acted in ’Dark Sky’ part two, let alone ’Behind the Scenes’.
Zhou Yun said: "The path each person takes is based on the resources they hold at the time, what choices they can make. If she hadn’t met me and Zhou Lan, taking the road of ’Eighth Heartbeat’ wouldn’t be bad either, but at that time, I was unwilling, not because I didn’t want to take that path, but because I had already promised someone else to take on different roles."
That role was in ’Heart Inquiry’.
He Yong said: "If you hadn’t acted in ’Eighth Heartbeat’ back then, you might not have been able to land the role in ’Life’, could you?"
Zhou Yun fell silent.
He Yong’s words were not wrong.
Taking the role in ’Life’ and gaining New Shield’s recognition largely owed to her proven ability as an actress through ’Eighth Heartbeat’.
Although the movie was widely criticized for being terrible, there were no negative comments about her acting skills.
He Yong: "But, all of this is hindsight. What has brought you to where you are today is mostly because of your own efforts; I won’t take credit for that."
"But I always thought our collaboration was based on mutual recognition," Zhou Yun said.
He Yong was startled.
"But what has happened now makes me doubt whether my decision to let bygones be bygones and work with you was a mistake."
Zhou Yun gave a faint smile and looked at He Yong calmly and said.
He Yong’s face slightly changed.
"Why would you say that?"
Zhou Yun said, "You want to preserve Xu Siyao, even though she has done one outrageous thing after another. You still hope not to destroy her, allowing her to continue making money for you in the entertainment industry. Even though I was furious, I still understood and accepted it, even to the extent before, I didn’t truly want to hinder her. But I really didn’t expect—"
"President He, you would actually collude with her, deliberately tarnishing my image for the sake of hers." Zhou Yun’s expression turned entirely cold as if being frozen by ice, she stared sternly at a puzzled He Yong, "She had contacted the ’What a Nice Weather’ production team, trying to edit the content to undermine me, to portray me as a Bad Woman who does not get along with her junior and always suppresses and ridicules her. For this matter, you must not tell me, you were unaware."