Chapter 606: Merchants, the Ran Family

If you were to ask who was the happiest person present, it certainly wasn't Nolan.

Nor was it Hong Zhentao.

Zheng Qian's mouth was practically crooked from grinning; he was tirelessly translating for the two of them. He liked Hong Zhentao more and more the longer he looked at him. He truly hadn't expected that this guy was actually such a talent—and a genius among men, at that.

Hong Zhentao also gradually adapted to the pressure brought by his idol, slowly speaking with ease and appearing increasingly composed.

He began unconsciously lecturing Nolan, ranging from the Big Bang to the origin of humanity, from refuting Darwin's theory of evolution to acknowledging the existence of silicon-based life forms, and so on. It could be said that the two of them truly began to have a common language.

Nolan couldn't help but be shocked by Hong Zhentao's knowledge reserves.

Because Hong Zhentao often stayed by Zheng Qian's side, he had also grown accustomed to smoking hard-box yebei.

Nolan had also placed his cigar in the ashtray early on, and after it automatically extinguished, his assistant, Jerry, properly stored it away. Perhaps influenced by Hong Zhentao, Nolan also began to light up a hard-box yebei, praising its flavor repeatedly.

Zheng Qian liked Nolan even more; he was a man of taste.

"Alright, then it's settled! Hong, I would like to invite you to serve as co-director, how about it? You absolutely must not decline; in fact, strictly speaking, I drew inspiration for this movie from your ideas!"

"No problem!"

While Zheng Qian was translating for Hong Zhentao, he had already agreed on his behalf.

Because of this episode, Nolan very naturally agreed to the proposal Zheng Qian had put forward.

That is, the film's female lead would be played by Yin Yanyan, who would also sing the promotional song for the Kyushu region. If the results were good, it wouldn't be impossible to use it as the global promotional song. In short, today's conversation was very pleasant.

"Zheng, if you had told me earlier that Hong would be here today, how could I have accepted payment?"

Nolan looked at Zheng Qian with a reproachful expression.

Hmm... though he certainly had no intention of refunding the money, he had truly grasped the essence of Kyushu culture.

"What about the resistance from the United States Film Association? Do you need help?" Zheng Qian asked thoughtfully.

"Hehe, Zheng, don't underestimate me. I agreed to that Shang Rongyan because I was giving her family face. If I didn't agree, could they really blacklist me? They might be able to deal with small directors, but against me, they're still lacking. Let's just say this: the forces in this circle are very complex, it's not a one-man show, and I have ways to resolve it."

"It's mainly because of Hong's participation that I've seen the possibility of creating a masterpiece!"

"Good heavens, when I first saw 'Superstring,' I wanted to find the director who filmed it. Unfortunately, the film was from too long ago, and a lot of information, such as names, was missing, so I was never able to find out who the director was. As it turns out, heaven never closes all doors."

After today's conversation, Nolan was spouting classical Kyushu idioms left and right.

It was also thanks to Zheng Qian's translation skills, which had been trained by the system, that he was still able to convey them very accurately.

A morning full of joy passed just like that.

Zheng Qian sent people to take them to the airport; today could truly be called a harvest.

"Director Hong, fortunately, before filming, I had Manager Nie Kai sign an employment contract with you to work exclusively for The Group. Otherwise, if Nolan had found you first, I'm afraid your market value wouldn't be what it is now, and I wouldn't be able to afford you." Zheng Qian directly tossed two cartons of hard-box yebei over, joking.

Hong Zhentao smiled and took them, then straightened his face and looked at Zheng Qian seriously, "President Zheng, there's no point in saying things like that. Before filming 'neon,' I was nothing, and I didn't even have my own representative work. If I were a big director, Nolan should have been able to find me easily. It's shameful to say, but that 'Superstring' was even criticized by my teacher, who said I was too whimsical."

Things like this really all depend on fate.

In front of someone who understands you, you are their god. In front of someone who doesn't understand you, you are just a pile of trash.

Hong Zhentao could be considered to have started turning the gears of fate, first by meeting Zheng Qian, and then by seeing Nolan today. Unsurprisingly, when the movie they co-directed is released, it will once again ignite topics of discussion.

Hong Zhentao and Yin Yanyan will both truly be recognized and sought after by the industry.

"But then again... President Zheng, what about our premiere? How are we going to handle it?"

Whenever this matter was mentioned, Hong Zhentao couldn't help but look troubled. No matter what, this was his debut work. If it were to have such a lackluster opening, it would truly make his heart ache slightly and leave him with lifelong regrets.

"Isn't there still a few days left? Don't worry."

"I still have to go to one more place, so I won't talk to you more for now. We'll talk when the time comes."

After dropping Hong Zhentao off at the company, the driver hurriedly drove the car to the next destination.

On the way, Zheng Qian was bored, so he opened the documents on his phone. His gaze lingered especially on a few photos of Shang Rongyan; it had to be said, her appearance was indeed quite good—no wonder she wanted to dabble in the entertainment industry.

Even someone like Zheng Qian, who was accustomed to seeing all kinds of beauties, had to admit that Shang Rongyan was indeed very pretty.

Long legs, wasp waist.

The Shang Family's genes were all quite good. However, although Shang Yanxiong's father, Shang Yizhou, had married three wives, his offspring were not very numerous. Besides the first wife's children, Shang Yanxiong, Shang Yanxi, General Manager Shang Xinlan, and Shang Rongyan, there were only the second wife's children, Shang Jianyu and Shang Mo.

The third wife's name was Liu Rushi, who had been a minor celebrity in her early years.

It could be said that she had married into a wealthy family and successfully ascended.

She was also quite capable, having given birth to a big, chubby baby boy for the still-vigorous Shang Yizhou this year, named Shang Jianchi.

Liu Rushi's age was even younger than Shang Yanxiong; he wondered if he would be able to bring himself to call her 'Little Mom.' Hmm... thinking of this, Zheng Qian couldn't help but develop a certain mischievous streak. If Shang Yanxiong were to cuckold his father, his old man probably wouldn't even know.

It was just that the first wife had died early, and now, whenever he went out, he was accompanied by the second wife, Wen Yan, who served as a facade.

By comparison, the Ran Family's genealogy looked much more spectacular.

Seeing these densely packed names, Zheng Qian couldn't help but feel a headache. The Ran Family's first line was truly too thin.

The previous head of the Ran Family had been dead for a long time, and the first wife, Ran Anning—who was also Jin Lu's maternal grandmother—had also passed away long ago.

She had only given birth to Jin Lu's mother, Ran Changxi.

After giving birth to Jin Lu and Ran Xiang, Ran Changxi had also passed away a few years later.

It could be said that apart from the ancestor, Matriarch Ran Meilian—who was Jin Lu's great-grandmother—who was still alive, the only direct descendants of the first line were Jin Lu and Ran Xiang. No wonder Matriarch Ran Meilian was so anxious to have Jin Lu brought back when she saw that Ran Xiang was critically ill.

It was quite miraculous; although the previous head of the family died early, in the few years he was alive, he actually married four wives.

The second, third, and fourth wives were all from collateral branches, but their descendants had now all grown up.

Especially the outstanding member of the younger generation, the third wife's descendant, Ran Ruqiu.

The person Zheng Qian was going to meet today was President Ran Ruhuan, also from the third branch.

He glanced at the photo.

She actually looked somewhat similar to Jin Lu.