139: Shen Teng and Ma Li!

That evening, they sat together quietly for a long time.

The strange silence was only broken when hotel room service staff knocked on the door.

Chen Le got up to answer the door and brought the dinner inside.

"Naza, come eat," Chen Le said with a smile, handing her the dinner.

Seeing this, a smile also appeared on Naza's face.

The originally somewhat sad and heavy atmosphere instantly lightened.

As they ate, they occasionally shared food from each other's plates.

After finishing the meal, Chen Le threw the trash into a garbage bag, then placed it in the bin outside the door to be collected in the morning.

Afterwards, the two of them sat on the sofa watching TV.

Naza looked at Chen Le and quickly came to a realization: worrying more wouldn't help; it was better to enjoy the present first, as the future was still uncertain.

Time passed in the blink of an eye.

Chen Le stayed with the Film Crew for five or six days. Apart from guiding Gang Zi on how to shoot each day, he spent his time wandering around the set.

Other than that, he was with Naza.

Having resolved her inner conflict, Naza decided to enjoy the present and stopped dwelling on things.

On the day he left, Naza did not go to see him off.

Chen Le boarded a plane and returned to Yanjing.

He hadn't expected Naza, usually so quiet and gentle, to be so lively and active these past few days, dragging him around to play everywhere.

After a few days, his old back was practically worn out from all the activity.

If he didn't run away, he'd have to stay there for good.

After returning to Yanjing, Chen Le rested for a few days to recover his energy.

Then he went to the company to start preparing the shooting plan for the new movie.

For the new movie, he planned to film "Goodbye Mr. Loser."

So, he needed to find actors first.

And the two most important actors were Shen Teng and Ma Li.

Chen Le searched online and discovered that in this world, there was no Happy Mahua comedy troupe.

This weighed heavily on his mind. Without that troupe, finding the people he wanted wouldn't be easy.

But even if it wasn't easy, he still had to look; otherwise, he couldn't make the movie.

Chen Le called Zhang Li and gave her the task of finding the people.

Upon hearing Chen Le's assignment, Zhang Li immediately nodded.

Thus, a few more days passed, and Zhang Li brought good news.

"Boss, the two people you mentioned have been found. They're currently performing in a Drama Troupe," Zhang Li said over the phone.

Hearing this news, Chen Le smiled and nodded: "Excellent, Sister Li! You've done well!"

Zhang Li then continued to report their situation to Chen Le.

Although this world had no Happy Mahua Troupe, Shen Teng and Ma Li were still a performing duo.

"Good, Sister Li. Go contact them and invite them to act for our company. The sooner, the better," Chen Le said with a smile.

The main reason for the urgency was to avoid scheduling conflicts.

If he didn't contact them ahead of time, and Shen Teng and the others took on other work, it would be troublesome.

Of course, the movie couldn't start filming immediately either. With only a few months left before the New Year, shooting would definitely have to wait until after the holiday.

By securing the actors now, they could start filming directly after the New Year.

At that moment, in Qinbei City, Qin Province, a Drama Troupe was performing at a city theater.

After one performance ended, a man and a woman backstage took off their costumes and sat together chatting.

"Old Shen! When do you think this life of ours will ever get better? Running around east and west like this every day is exhausting!" The woman spoke, her words thick with a rustic northeastern accent.

This woman was Ma Li, and beside her was Shen Teng.

Shen Teng was currently too tired to speak, but Ma Li kept going: "Who knows when we'll get to be like those movie stars, making hundreds of thousands or even millions from just one film?"

The money they earned from all this running around was hard-earned.

Hearing Ma Li's words, Shen Teng let out a light laugh: "Oh, come on! Don't even think about it. With looks like ours, what movie director would take a fancy to us? Let's just stick to performing our stage plays honestly."

As he spoke, Shen Teng shook his head.

Hearing this, Ma Li immediately bristled: "Hey, Old Shen, why do your words sound so irritating? You're ugly, that's your problem. Why drag me into it?"

"Besides, look at Wang Baoqiang—with that face, he became a big star. Why can't I? I'm not ugly, am I?" Ma Li continued to chatter.

Shen Teng's face darkened: "Wang Baoqiang has a unique look. With a face like yours, you'd blend right into a crowd without anyone recognizing you."

"Oh, you! So that's what you really think of me, huh?" Ma Li said, giving Shen Teng a smack.

As the two were bickering, Shen Teng's phone suddenly rang.

Shen Teng quickly waved his hands, "Stop, stop, stop. Let me answer this call first."

Seeing this, Ma Li stopped her assault.

Shen Teng answered the call, "Hello, who is this?"

"Ah! Yes, I'm Shen Teng. And you are?"

"What? Chenxing Film and Television?"

"Huh? Are you serious? You're not fooling me, are you?"

"Okay, I have time. I can buy a ticket right away and fly to Yanjing tomorrow!"

Holding the phone, Shen Teng's facial expression shifted from initial impatience to surprise, excitement, and exhilaration.

Ma Li watched from the side, feeling extremely anxious.

Shen Teng didn't put the call on speaker, so she couldn't hear a thing from the other end.

Seeing Shen Teng in this state now, Ma Li was puzzled. What on earth had happened to get him so worked up?

After Shen Teng hung up, Ma Li immediately leaned in and asked, "Old Shen? Who was that call from? Is it good news? You're grinning from ear to ear."

Shen Teng was still beaming happily and didn't answer Ma Li's question.

It wasn't until Ma Li patted his shoulder that he snapped back to reality.

"Ahem, it was the manager from Chenxing Film and Television," Shen Teng said, his face lit up with an excited smile.

"Chenxing Film and Television? The one Wang Baoqiang is with?" Ma Li remembered Wang Baoqiang vividly because he had risen from being an Extra to where he was now.

"Yes. She said Director Chen invited us to act in his new movie and wants us to go to Yanjing to meet her," Shen Teng continued.

"Really?" Ma Li exclaimed in surprise.

Shen Teng was startled by her outburst.

"Keep it down! You scared me!" Shen Teng patted his chest.

At that moment, people from the Drama Troupe nearby glanced over, saw it was Shen Teng and Ma Li, and looked away.

"Nonsense, we can just search this number to find out. But I don't think it's fake," Shen Teng said, taking out his phone to search for the work number of Chenxing Film and Television's manager.

When they confirmed it was an exact match, both were extremely excited.

"Old Shen! Do you think we've hit the jackpot? To actually be noticed by Director Chen. I heard Wang Baoqiang was originally picked up by Director Chen from a food stall. We're all the way in Qin Province, and Director Chen still found us. Does that mean we're about to make it big too?" Ma Li spoke with great excitement and enthusiasm.

Shen Teng rolled his eyes and said, "Alright, alright, we haven't even acted yet. It's still up in the air; don't get ahead of yourself!"