49: The power of capital

Xiaoli, did you offend someone recently? The producer seems very angry; you might be out of a job tomorrow!

The Assistant Director also seemed a little anxious; he had known Yan Xiaoli for several years and knew she was a good actress.

“No! Oh no, what exactly happened? Assistant Director, where are you? I’ll come find you.” Yan Xiaoli was very anxious when she heard she was going to be replaced.

“Don’t come yet, that’s all the information I have, and I’ve told you everything.”

“Okay, okay, thank you, Assistant Director.”

The other party hung up, and Yan Xiaoli stood in the wind, a face full of questions.

“What happened?” Pan Han saw that something was wrong.

“I’m going to be replaced. They’ll notify me tomorrow. The Assistant Director just gave me a heads-up.”

Yan Xiaoli was a bit flustered, throwing away her first cigarette and lighting another.

“You were filming so well, why would they replace you?”

“I don’t know, they just said it was a notice from the producer.”

“Have you encountered something like this before?”

“No, but this kind of thing is not uncommon in the industry.”

“Did you offend someone?”

“I don’t think so. It’s possible the producer wants to promote a new person or a relative and is temporarily changing the role.” Yan Xiaoli took a deep drag and blew out a smoke ring forcefully.

“But you’ve already signed the contract, how can they be so childish about it?”

“Sigh, you don’t understand. For small roles like ours and small productions like this, no one cares. At most, they’ll just pay some compensation.”

“So what are you going to do now?”

“This is my first time encountering this, and I don’t know what to do. I’ll wait for the director’s notification, then ask him for the specific situation.” Yan Xiaoli said helplessly, a glimmer of tears sparkling in her eyes.

Pan Han also didn’t know how to solve it, so he could only embrace Yan Xiaoli, gently patting her back.

Yan Xiaoli held back, not crying, but she hugged Pan Han tightly.

Just like that, neither of them spoke, embracing for a few minutes.

Suddenly, Yan Xiaoli pushed Pan Han away, wiped her tears, and forced a smile: “I’m fine now. Once we get the notice tomorrow, let’s just go back.”

“Don’t worry, later we’ll partner up and open a film and television company. I’ll put up the money, and you’ll be in charge of operations. You’ll be the female lead in every show.”

“Thank you, Pan Han. But I’m already fine, don’t worry.”

“I’m serious.” Pan Han really wanted to start a company. The gold and silver treasures he brought back from the apocalypse couldn’t just be exchanged for money; he also needed to find places to spend it, to make the money flow and create more value.

“This industry is hard to navigate, it’s a dog-eat-dog world. If you invest this much money, it might just go down the drain.”

“Then we’ll keep throwing stones into the water!”

Pan Han’s eyes gleamed as he firmly held Yan Xiaoli’s shoulders and spoke.

Yan Xiaoli gazed at Pan Han with burning eyes, speechless for a long time. It was as if a fiery passion was burning fiercely within her.

“Let’s go, never mind this mess for now. Anything that money can solve isn’t a problem. Let’s go to the arcade and play until we drop.” Pan Han wanted to find a place for Yan Xiaoli to relax and forget her troubles.

“Let’s play games first, then go for a massage tonight. If we’re going to relax, we might as well relax completely.” Yan Xiaoli puffed out her chest and lifted her head, looking full of spirit.

“That’s the spirit! Let’s go.”

Not far away was a large shopping mall with a chain arcade inside. Today wasn't the weekend, so there weren't many people, only about ten customers.

Pan Han walked to the counter, pulled out 1000 yuan, and exchanged it for 1500 tokens.

Each of them held a basket of tokens and walked arrogantly to the coin pusher machine with an air of not caring about anyone.

Pan Han had always wondered what kind of people in arcades would casually buy thousands of tokens.

Now he knew, they were all bound by the system!

When it comes to satisfying human happiness, film and television are still far inferior to games.

Especially these gambling-tinged games, with their instant feedback and gratification, make people unable to stop.

Yan Xiaoli was no exception; she quickly became immersed in the coin pusher, intently staring at the coins inside, constantly taking out and inserting tokens, never tiring of it.

Whenever a large batch of tokens was pushed down, Yan Xiaoli would pound on the game table and shriek, venting her dissatisfaction and frustration.

Pan Han was happy when Yan Xiaoli was happy.

The two of them played from noon until after six in the evening, until all their tokens were gone.

“Damn it!” After the last token was inserted, Yan Xiaoli cursed and hit the game machine.

“Had enough fun?”

“Yes, I’ve wanted to play like this for a long time, but conditions didn’t allow it.”

“That’s good then, the kick I took wasn’t in vain.” Pan Han said, while relaxing her shoulders.

“I’ll return it all to you tonight.”

“Hehe.”

The two of them left the arcade, ate a big meal, then got a massage before returning to the hotel.

“I’ll take a shower first, you can take one later.” Yan Xiaoli began to undress in front of Pan Han.

“Let’s shower together.”

“Next time, I want to take a bath and calm down.”

“Understood! Go ahead.”

Pan Han knew he had to give her some space to calm herself down.

While she was showering, Pan Han was a bit bored and prepared to play a couple of ranked games.

But just as he queued up, an unfamiliar call came in.

“Damn it, who is it!” Pan Han cursed as he answered the phone.

“Hello? Who is this?”

“Pan Han!” A young woman’s voice came through.

“Yes, that’s me, and you are?”

“How’s your female roommate doing?”

“Who are you?” Pan Han suddenly sat up.

“You son of a bitch, you forgot so quickly?” The young woman said viciously.

“Dou Dou Jie?” Pan Han immediately reacted.

“Go to hell. You’re not worthy of calling me Dou Dou Jie?”

“Oh, then I’ll call you Dou Dou Bitch. Didn’t your lackeys relay my message to you?”

“You motherfucker, still trying to act tough with me.”

“You’re a girl, why is your mouth so filthy? Are your family members all dead? Did no one teach you?”

“It’s none of your goddamn business! You stinking idiot! I’m telling you, that cheap roommate of yours has already been arranged to be removed. Just wait to be kicked out tomorrow. Haha!” Wang Doudou said, feeling very relieved.

“You have quite a lot of power!”

“Dealing with you is just a flick of the finger. One call from me, and your investor will obediently change people. The director begging won’t work either; if he dares to make a fuss, he’ll be out too.”

“This is the third time you’ve targeted me. What exactly do you want?” Pan Han was very puzzled. Wasn’t it just because he didn’t let her have that car? Was it necessary to make such a big fuss?

“Oh, scared? Weren’t you so awesome?”

“Not scared, I just want to know what exactly you want to do.”

“You come back tomorrow, kneel down and lick my toes, then let me deal with you for a bit, and then I’ll consider whether to let you go.”

“Are you so perverted, do your family members know?”

“Still talking tough, huh? Fine, then let’s keep playing. I want to see how many rounds you can last.”

“You let Yan Xiaoli go, and I’ll play with you!”

“Kid, my useless subordinates told me you’re pretty good at fighting. The other day, weren’t you trending? You look quite decent too. I’m quite interested in you. I’ll give you a chance, you come back to the capital and find me, let me have my fill of fun, and I’ll let Yan Xiaoli go.” Wang Doudou said with a grin.

“Deal! I’ll go back tomorrow. Now call the producer and revoke the decision to replace her.”

“Oh, so straightforward. You’re a man who dares to act, I’m getting more and more interested in you.”

“Stop with the nonsense, quickly tell the producer to revoke the decision to replace her.”

“Kid, let me show you the power of capital. It’s just a phone call! And a reminder, don’t even think about running away, because if you do, next time will be even worse. You know I can find you anytime.” With that, Wang Doudou hung up the phone.

“Damn it!” Pan Han angrily threw his phone onto the bed.