After The Vicious Cannon Fodder Was Reborn

“You are amazing!”

During lunch break, Qiao Miaowei, the female number 2 who was forcefully added into the crew by the investor, approached Tao Mu cautiously holding a box of lunch: “You don’t look to be very old, so how come you have such good acting skills?”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )

Probably because her backer was exposed too early and she herself was just a salesperson who sold LV bags before, as well as having no talent or acting skills at all, Qiao Miaowei’s position in the crew was very awkward. Those actresses who graduated from traditional film schools looked down on Qiao Miaowei’s background and her use of the casting couch to gain her role so they didn’t like to talk to her. The actors and actresses like Ning Yuan who cherished their public reputation also they didn’t like to talk to her either as well as fearing any misunderstanding from the investor behind her. Coupled with director Zhao Xin’s obvious dislike of her, the workers in the crew also communicated as little as possible with Qiao Miaowei. As a result, despite being the second female lead in the drama with a lot of scenes, she was left out in the cold by the entire film crew.

Qiao Miaowei herself also knew of the stigma attached to her origins. Except for the first few attempts made, she rarely approached the rest of the cast members so as not to embarrass herself. This time approaching Tao Mu was because firstly, Tao Mu had just joined the crew and his position in the entertainment industry was yet too small so he probably wouldn’t snub her; and secondly, Tao Mu’s acting skills were indeed truly amazing. Qiao Miaowei hoped to get some advice from Tao Mu, so that she could at least make it through the filming of her scenes in the drama.

When Qiao Miaowei walked in the direction of Tao Mu holding her box lunch it had already attracted the attention of many people from the crew. Upon hearing Qiao Miaowei’s question, the group of people’s ears also twitched at attention.

It was not like Tao Mu could tell the truth about his previous life where he was used to being suppressed by his actor colleagues, the accumulation of which eventually led him to gain valuable experience. Since the polishing of those ten years had yet to happen in this life, Tao Mu could only cheekily admit: “Probably because I am naturally talented.”

Qiao Miaowei: “……”

Behind them, a sneer sounded. Shang Xuanyue, who played the heroine in the drama, sneered mercilessly: “Someone should go back and look in the mirror.”

“You——” Qiao Miaowei looked at Shang Xuanyue angrily.

As a relevant star being backed by Summer Star Entertainment, Shang Xuanyue had been very successful in the past two years. The two dramas she acted in last year were ranked in the top three of the annual ratings. And at the beginning of this year, relying on the heroine role of one of the TV series, she had also won the Golden Lily Award. At this time her career was smooth sailing and her popularity was as high as the sky.

When Qiao Miaowei first joined the crew, her bankroller had instructed in every possible way that she could not offend Shang Xianyue. Therefore, even if Qiao Miaowei was humiliated by Shang Xianyue, she did not dare to respond. That forbearing appearance of not daring to be angry looked very pitiful.

It was currently their lunch break so all the other actors and staff in the crew sitting in twos and threes around the set directly witnessed this scene. However, everyone turned a blind eye or continued to watch the show with their arms folded. No one was willing to stand up for Qiao Miaowei.

Tao Mu sighed and said, “Ms. Shang is right.”

“What did you say?” Qiao Miaowei turned her head fiercely, and looked at Tao Mu in disbelief, both angry and fierce. She didn’t expect Tao Mu to add more insult to the injury.

Shang Xuanyue looked over with a smile.

Tao Mu continued: “Ms. Qiao’s problem is that you can’t make natural expressions and movements in front of the camera. This is also normal after all, Ms. Qiao has not studied at a film school and has not been trained in the system. When ordinary people face the camera, they would feel uncomfortable more or less. So what you have to do now is to go back and look in the mirror more. Rehearse the expressions and lines in the mirror. You can also ask your assistant to help you with the scenes. Whenever you finally feel less awkward is when you’ve got it.”

After a pause, Tao Mu added a few more words: “Of course, considering the problem of positioning, you’d better set up a few more cameras and watch yourself while practicing, then analyze your movements repeatedly. You can also find a few TV dramas and choose a few characters you like to imitate.”

When Tao Mu said this, he glanced at Shang Xuanyue again, and said with a smile: “Ms. Shang won the Golden Lily Award for “The Pattering Rain Comes To An End”, in which the heroine’s character is somewhat similar to Qing Ling in “The Legend of Heroes”. If Miss Qiao is interested, you may wish to analyze it a bit. If you are lucky enough to get a few words of advice from Ms. Shang, then at least for this drama it will be more than enough.”

Qing Ling was the second female lead played by Qiao Miaowei in the drama. The reason Tao Mu said this was not really to have Qiao Miaowei go ask Shang Xianyue for advice on acting. It was just to help Qiao Miaowei out of embarrassment, as well as praise Shang Xianyue lest Shang Xuanyue took any anger out on him because of this.

Qiao Miaowei could naturally see such smoothness and slickness in dealing with social relations. Instantly her anger turned into joy, smiling as she took the ladder offered: “It turns out that this is the case. No wonder Miss Shang asked me to look in the mirror. It shouldn’t be too late so I will go back to rehearse first. You guys talk slowly.”

Qiao Miaowei awkwardly excused herself and immediately dragged her assistant away in a hurry. Shang Xuanyue folded her arms and looked at Qiao Miaowei’s slightly embarrassed figure with cold eyes. Raising an eyebrow, she smiled: “You are a softhearted person.”

Tao Mu’s eyebrows curved into a smile: “I’m telling the truth. Ms. Shang has superb acting skills, and your expressions and movements are very beautiful when filming, full of emotions. You must be classical actor, right?”

Shang Xianyue smiled. She found that Tao Mu was particularly good at resolving the hidden jeers in other people’s words. The skill of flattering was also level 10 and the ability to strike up a conversation was at least level 10.5.

“You don’t have to call me Ms. Shang. Everyone is filming in the same crew, so you can just call me sister Yue.” Shang Xianyue said as she simply sat down next to Tao Mu. Smiling she asked: “I heard that you were admitted to Beijing Film. Why didn’t you go to Yan Film?”

Generally speaking, Beijing Film made actors and Yan Film made stars. Shang Xuanyue could tell by just looking at Tao Mu’s face, if he went to Yan Film and then acted in a few idol dramas he would be incredibly popular. If he was lucky, maybe there would be a “Tao Mu’s Year”, just like her “Shang Xianyue’s Year” last year.

But it might be a different story with Beijing Film. As everyone knew, the actors who came out of Beijing Film generally followed the orthodox route, and most of the films and TV series they took were mainstream films based on realistic and sometimes serious subject matters. Basically, that kind of drama didn’t think too much about an actor’s appearance. Actors like Tao Mu who were too handsome and his aura too sharp would actually make the director and the producer suspicious——worried that Tao Mu’s looks would overwhelm and suppress the plot. Unless Tao Mu’s acting skills could be superb enough that it had people ignoring his looks.

Thinking of this, Shang Xianyue suddenly recalled the small disturbance that Tao Mu had made when he took the film still in the morning, and suddenly said, “It seems that you have confidence in yourself.”

If Tao Mu could suppress his overly handsome and attention grabbing looks with his acting skills, then choosing Beijing Film would undoubtedly contribute to his acting career. After all, with Beijing Film’s authority and influence in the Chinese entertainment industry, so long as Tao Mu could be branded with Beijing Film and become a key student of Beijing Film, then his accumulated contacts in Beijing Film would undoubtedly become his stepping stones for a soaring career.

Shang Xuanyue also thought of the gossip being spread outside that several big agents wanted to sign Tao Mu, but were declined by Tao Mu on the grounds of abiding by the school rules. She suddenly realized Tao Mu’s ambition.

While she called it ambition, it was in truth a big gamble. After all, not all people had such confidence that they dared to take three years of obscurity in exchange for a chance to become a possible future bigshot. Especially since during that three-year period, he must continue to refuse the temptation of becoming famous overnight. Shang Xuanyue didn’t know how long Tao Mu could last, but she firmly believed that if Tao Mu could really persist and successfully gain Beijing Film’s favor, Tao Mu would surely have a place in the Chinese entertainment industry in the future.

On the side Shang Xuanyue was secretly shocked by Tao Mu’s ambition. But she didn’t know that Tao Mu’s goal was more than to make a place in the entertainment circle——what he wanted in return for all his sacrifices must be half of the Chinese entertainment circle!

But these words were too early to say. As Tao Mu was still living in the present he had to play along with everyone around him.

The next scene was a scene between the assassin Wuming and the heroine. This was a mix of an action as well as speaking scene. Tao Mu had five lines and including punctuation there was only 10 words in total.

During the filming, because Shang Xuanyue intended to make friends, the atmosphere between the two was pleasant. Ning Yuan, who played the leading actor, watched on indifferently. He found that no matter how the camera lighting was adjusted, Tao Mu always had a way to find the most accurate and suitable position and angle. Even if the shots were not the most handsome, they were all undeniably memorable and had feeling.

The little tricks and schemes that had succeeded on those idol actors before seem to be useless on Tao Mu. And as Tao Mu continued to show off his sharp edges and brilliance, the attitudes of the lighting and camera crew who had subtly made it difficult for him began to change——this could be seen from Tao Mu’s more and more beautiful lighting and shooting angles from the cameras.

It could not be left ignored like this.

Ning Yuan knew very well that his instigating the crew members to make things difficult for Tao Mu could, from a certain perspective, also be seen as Ning Yuan showing off his speaking power in the crew.

During the entire shooting period, the director, as the undisputed ruler of the crew, must have his own speaking power; investors and producers, as the bankrollers and financial backers, must have their own speaking power; actors and actresses, as the important elements of a drama or film, must also have their own speaking power.

This was also the reason why despite Ning Yuan repeatedly instigating the lighting, camera and make-up crew to make things difficult for Tao Mu, Zhao Xin and the others did not stop it despite being fully aware.

But now, if Tao Mu could stand firm under the numerous difficulties presented by Ning Yuan, although it demonstrated Tao Mu’s own potential, it was also an invisible slap to Ning Yuan’s face. By then, Ning Yuan’s influence on the crew would be much less than before. More seriously, it would even affect Ning Yuan’s position in Summer Star Entertainment.

Ning Yuan was a prideful person and of course he could not accept this situation. On the same note, the agent behind Ning Yuan didn’t want to see Zhao Keping actually sign Tao Mu either as it would lead to his rival agent gaining more resources and more say in the company.

In other words, Tao Mu’s momentum in the crew of “The Legend of Heroes” must be curbed.

………

Because Wuming’s weapon was a pliable jian and the most important reason for Zhao Xin to value Tao Mu was also his action scenes, in order to better shape the role, Tao Mu had to spare more time in private to rehearse the pliable jian moves. Sleeping at 2am every day, and then getting up at 5am had now become the norm. In addition to practicing swordsmanship, he also did not forget to pay close attention to the changes in the M country’s stock market on the other side of the ocean as well as the international oil futures market.

Time was becoming less and less, but fortunately, his scenes in “Purple Cloud” was almost done. On the third day after Tao Mu entered the crew of “The Legend of Heroes”, his body double role in “Purple Cloud” was completely finished.

Although Tao Mu was only a body double, because Chen Yiqian was very optimistic about Tao Mu, he gave Tao Mu a small goodbye party. Though it was called a goodbye party, in truth it was actually just an extra meat dish added to the box lunch that day. During the period, Shen Yu also ran over and pulled Tao Mu’s hand to say goodbye. He also kept telling Tao Mu to take his phone number from the blacklist, otherwise he would go to the crew of “The Legend of Heroes” every day. It annoyed Tao Mu to no end.

On the other side, after leaving the “Purple Cloud” crew, Tao Mu also had more time to ponder the role of Wuming. Especially in the fighting parts. In order to practice the green python pliable jian’s moves more beautifully, Tao Mu also specially asked a teacher to teach him the flowing sleeves dance——mainly because there were too few teachers who taught how to use the whip. Moreover, Tao Mu felt that in the original description of Wuming’s moves it was not only vicious but also smooth and flowing, just like the movements of the flowing sleeves dance. As for overall aura and feeling, Tao Mu felt that he could adapt it to fit the role.

Regardless of how much criticism he had received from the people in his previous life, one thing about Tao Mu that they could not deny was that Tao Mu was a very hard-working person. Especially if it was for his “purpose and interests”, Tao Mu could be both cruel to others as well as to himself. So every night he shot night scenes until one or two o’clock into the middle of the night, and then get up to continue to practice martial arts movements at 4 o’clock the next morning. At the price of bruises appearing all over his body, in just seven days he had managed to completely grasp all the movements to such an extent that he was as familiar with them as he was of his own arm or finger.

The people in the crew all witnessed how Tao Mu was able to turn the originally already very beautiful martial arts moves to an even more stunning performance. Everyone sighed in their hearts even if they didn’t say anything out loud. Especially the martial arts stunt actors, including the stunt coordinators, were even more convinced by Tao Mu. Just when everyone felt that Tao Mu would be able to become popular overnight with the role of Wuming, a bad news came——

It was director Zhao who personally told him that he was no longer needed for the role of Wuming. He was replaced by the son of a major shareholder of Summer Star Entertainment, a rich fuerdai who wanted to show off and therefore entered the entertainment circle to play around.

………

When Zhao Xin talked to Tao Mu, Tao Mu was currently practicing with the body double for the main male lead. There was a big scene to be shot in the evening, the chase scene where the hero and Wuming met for the first time. They had to hang on wires to shoot the grand scene of the two people fighting around Jinling City in the studio. During this scene, extras were also required to play the palace guards and city guards holding torches and cooperating with the hero in the streets and alleys to capture Wuming——that’s right this was also a night scene. All of these varying factors added up to make the scene very difficult to film, so the crew had to put off filming it until now. It was also in order to let Tao Mu integrate into the crew as soon as possible which would help with filming this scene.

The facts all proved that Tao Mu’s performance had not disappointed anyone at all. In just over ten days, Tao Mu had entered his role, whether it was speaking scenes or fighting scenes, his performance was both stunning and amazing.

He was indeed a good potential star. Unfortunately, he was not very lucky.

Zhao Xin looked at Tao Mu in front of him and sighed slightly. The hard heart that had been trained over the many years in the industry felt a rare ripple of guilt: “……You also know that Summer Star Entertainment is the largest investor and producer of this drama. The person who will replace you is the nephew of Summer Star Entertainment’s major shareholder……”

Zhao Xin stopped talking and looked at Zhao Keping——in order to smoothly dismiss Tao Mu, Zhao Xin even called his old friend over. The main reason was that he was really embarrassed to have to persuade Tao Mu to leave. After all, after Tao Mu entered the crew, everyone had saw the hard work he had put in to play the role of Wuming.

It was a pity that no matter how sincere and hardworking one’s personal efforts were, it wouldn’t be able to stand up against a word from those with capital.

Zhao Keping also felt very guilty: “When the boss told me about this, I also strongly opposed it. But someone in the company informed them that you are not a contracted artist of Summer Star Entertainment and that I privately found someone to play the role of Wuming. They labeled it as selfishness, as disregarding the company’s interests. Some people also said that I deliberately targeted Ning Yuan.”

Ning Yuan was the male protagonist of The Legend of Heroes. He was also a very popular C-list actor who had squeezed into the B-list rank in the past two years. Because he had filmed several popular idol dramas and costume dramas, he was currently very popular and was in his rising period of his career. Tao Mu knew that Ning Yuan had been very hostile and wary of him since the day he joined the crew. He was probably afraid that Tao Mu would buy ads to step on him after the TV series was broadcasted——after all, Tao Mu’s performance in the crew was obvious to all, and Zhao Keping had always liked to engage in this kind of marketing tactics.

“Ning Yuan’s agent directly aired the matter in front of the big boss, leaving me no room for any maneuverings. In addition, you are not a contracted artist of Summar Star Entertainment, and the company wanted to make the big shareholders happy……” Zhao Keping emphasized to Tao Mu once again that he was not signed with Summer Star Entertainment, his expression guilty and regretful.

But Zhao Keping’s reasons were also very reasonable. This drama was originally invested by Summer Star Entertainment. Now Summer Star Entertainment’s young master wanted to come and play and happened to be attracted to Tao Mu’s role. And Tao Mu was also not an artist of the company. No matter from which point of view, Summer Star Entertainment had no need to help Tao Mu instead of themselves.

Zhao Xin actually felt more guilt than Zhao Keping. He originally insisted on using Tao Mu because Tao Mu’s performance really met his aesthetic and shooting requirements. However, Summer Star Entertainment’s major shareholder was wealthy and directly expressed his intention to invest in Zhao Xin’s original film. Zhao Xin had been preparing for this original film for more than two years, but he had not been able to find a reliable investor or film distributor. It had already become a sore point for a long time. Now someone voluntarily jumped out to offer the opportunity so Zhao Xin couldn’t not accept this olive branch.

When all was said and done, the relationship between Zhao Xin and Tao Mu did not reach the point where he would wrong himself to help Tao Mu.

Both Zhao Xin and Zhao Keping thought that Tao Mu would definitely make trouble when he heard the news, and even prepared themselves to be cursed at.

But they didn’t expect Tao Mu to not react at all but instead ask directly: “Then do I leave the crew today?”

Both Zhao Xin and Zhao Keping were stunned.

Zhao Xin looked at Tao Mu strangely: “Don’t you have complaints about us?”

“There is nothing to complain about.” Tao Mu’s expression was calm. Zhao Keping and Zhao Xin were worried that due to Tao Mu’s young age he would not be able to bear this kind of grievance. But they didn’t know that Tao Mu was not really 18 years old. But even as an 18 year old orphan in his previous life, Tao Mu’s life had never been smooth. It was not only once or twice when a good opportunity that he had would be stolen by someone else.

Since Zhao Xin and Zhao Keping specially found him to tell him about this decision, it proved that there was no way to redeem this matter, therefore it was not something he could change by making a big scene or begging. So instead of wasting energy and crying and complaining, Tao Mu made a decisive withdrawal.

Of course, there were some problems that must be solved before getting out.

“Although I don’t know what happened in the middle, but I don’t think the crew will dismiss an actor who has signed into the crew and performed very well for no reason.” Tao Mu said, smiling at the two of them. He even consoled Zhao Xin: “I think you must have worked hard to change matters and then weighed the costs and gains. The final decision must be more conducive to the filming of the crew.”

“It would be false to say that I’m not disappointed or sad. But I can’t cause trouble for everyone because of my own emotions. Besides, the crew will also pay money for breach of contract, so legally speaking, no one owes me anything. Although I am just a new college student and have not yet entered society, but I still possess the basic spirit of contract.”

How could everything in the world go as one wished? Since the situation could not be changed, Tao Mu could only win the hearts of the people. Because sometimes, being able to win the hearts of the people meant maximizing the benefits.

Sure enough, Zhao Xin was moved immediately after hearing Tao Mu’s remarks. He almost even confided his dealings with Summer Star Entertainment. Fortunately, at the critical moment, reason defeated emotion. Even so, Zhao Xin couldn’t hide his excitement and admiration of Tao Mu and patted Tao Mu on the shoulder: “Xiao Mu, you are such a good child……”

Zhao Keping did not expect Tao Mu’s reaction to be so open-minded and beautiful. To be honest, it really didn’t look like the actions of an eighteen-year-old boy. But when he thought of Tao Mu’s life experience, Zhao Keping could understand it. The children of the poor must work for their livelihoods early. Although Tao Mu’s reaction was not in line with Zhao Keping’s expectations, Tao Mu’s series of responses after learning about this incident were enough for Zhao Keping to see that the child had a high EQ. At least he was not a person who would be influenced by emotions.

He had good looks, had good acting skills, and knew how to work hard. In addition his emotional intelligence was enough to be visible to the naked eye. If such a person could not be signed to their company, it would be a big loss for Summer Star Entertainment and him, Zhao Keping.

Thinking about this, Zhao Keping showed an even more sorrowful expression, and said sincerely: “Xiao Mu, thank you for understanding us like this. This time, it was brother Zhao’s mistake. Don’t worry, brother Zhao will introduce you to other audition opportunities.”

Tao Mu smiled. Compared with this, Tao Mu was more concerned about another thing: “Seriously, what does director Zhao feel about my fight scenes?”

Zhao Xin wss still feeling very touched by Tao Mu. Hearing this, he blurted out the words from the bottom of his heart without thinking: “Very good. It can be called the first-class level in China.”

Tao Mu raised his eyebrows: “Much better than the one who replaced me, right?”

“It can’t be compared at all——” at this Zhao Xin stopped immediately. Looking at Tao Mu, he questioned: “What do you……what do you want to say?”

“Director Zhao, don’t worry, I won’t make it difficult for you. I just want to make a deal.” Tao Mu smiled at Zhao Xin.

After coming out of the director’s lounge, Tao Mu first went to the finance department to receive the money owed for the breach of contract. Finance had been notified, and the money was given easily enough. They also expressed a regretful attitude: “You act really well. Even if you don’t have this opportunity, you will definitely be popular in the future. Don’t be discouraged.”

Some people also said in an experienced tone: “This society is like this. It’s never lacking of people who take back doors wherever you go. You just remember that gold will shine sooner or later. When you become famous, this kind of thing will disappear.”

Finally, in order to make the child happy, a group of old aunts and young ladies from the finance department took the initiative to take out their smartphones to take a group photo with Tao Mu in the name of auctioning it online when Tao Mu became famoud.

“At least it can prove that we had good eyesight, discovering the superstar when he was still young.”

“Sign it with your autograph and maybe a photo can sell for more than 10,000 yuan.”

How could someone spend 10,000 yuan to buy a group photo?

Tao Mu smiled, but he was very grateful for everyone’s careful consideration of his emotions. He took a group photo with everyone very seriously and signed it.

When Tao Mu came out of the finance department, basically the whole crew was already aware of the gossip about Tao Mu being kicked out. Unlike the financial ladies who had neutral interests, the cast members reacted in various ways. There were people who really felt sorry for Tao Mu, mostly actresses, and there were some who didn’t care about it at all. There were also those who slid in front of Tao Mu and expressed their hypocritical regrets. Their reactions were all very diverse.

Tao Mu dealt with it one by one and there was neither of the bitter tears nor resentment as everyone imagined. When he returned to the dressing room in a low-key manner, bathed in the regretful eyes of the people that were either sincere or hypocritical, he found a young man with a decent appearance but dressed from head to toe in famous brands and had an arrogant temperament sitting in his place.

“You are the original actor of the assassin Wuming?” The young man playing with his mobile phone impolitely looked Tao Mu up and down and raised his eyebrows, saying aggressively: “I heard that you are a martial arts stunt actor and your fight scenes are very good. How about you being my body double? Money is not a problem.”

Oh, it turned out that this young master was the legendary “nephew of the major shareholder of Summer Star Entertainment.”

Tao Mu glanced at this “big nephew” and calmly refused: “I can’t be your body double.”

“Why, you looking down on me? Or are you angry with me?” Big nephew sneered and threw the phone on the dressing table. He leaned his back on the dressing chair and propped his legs up on the table like some bigshot: “To tell you the truth, I actually don’t care what role I can play. Entering the entetainment industry is just a whim and everything is arranged by the people below. So even if you want to be angry with me, you can’t. After all, this drama is still invested by my uncle. Am I right?”

Tao Mu didn’t say a word.

“Big nephew” continued: “You came out to work, isn’t it just for the money. There is really no need to fight with me. I have money and you have the ability. I want to ask you to be a body double. The price is up to you. “

“It’s not about money.” Tao Mu stood in the dressing room, looking at the young man sitting in the chair: “You look to not even be 175cm tall, right?”

Big nephew: “???”

Tao Mu continued: “I am 182cm. Standing in front of the camera I will only appear higher than this number. So I can’t be your body double. In your case, the director will probably arrange for you a short body double. But don’t worry. Everyone in the martial arts team under director Zhao has good skills.”

Big nephew: “……”

…………

He took off his costume and makeup. Tao Mu left the furious “big nephew” behind him, and calmly exited the crew——but he was stopped by an RV at the entrance of the Studio City.

The door of the car was opened, revealing Ning Yuan’s handsome face: “Get in the car?”

Tao Mu did not move: “Is it necessary?”

Ning Yuan chuckled. Even sitting in the RV, the gaze he looked at Tao Mu with was still somewhat condescending: “You don’t need to be so hostile to me. I admit, I really don’t want you to stay on the crew, of course my agent and I have also made some arrangements for this. I will not deny this. What I want to tell you is that Zhao Keping knew about my agent going to the big boss from the beginning. With his status in the company, if he really wanted to protect you, even the big boss will give him this face. After all, Summer Star invests in a lot of TV dramas, and even if they want to please the major shareholders, they didn’t have to take your role. What is strange is that Zhao Keping said nothing from beginning to end.”

Speaking of this, Ning Yuan looked at Tao Mu curiously. He wanted to find some clues in Tao Mu’s expression. But Tao Mu was expressionless.

Ning Yuan snorted: “Do you know how Zhao Keping dealt with those female artists who just joined the company but didn’t obey the arrangements?”

Tao Mu continued to have a dead fish face.

Ning Yuan said: “I am not instigating discord. I just don’t want to be used as a tool for nothing. A person like me, even if I do bad things, I must do it plainly and clearly. Zhao Keping is not suitable for you. With your personality, if you sign with him, there will be conflict sooner or later. You don’t want people like Zhao Keping to have a hold on your weaknesses, do you?”

“What are you doing if you are not instigating discord?” Zhao Keping only said a few words to Zhao Xin, and immediately hurried out to find Tao Mu. But he didn’t expect to encounter this scene where Ning Yuan was trying to provoke discord in front of Tao Mu.

“I’m telling the truth!” Ning Yuan sneered: “What kind of person is Zhao Keping, others might not know, but could the artists of Summer Star Entertainment not know? You want to use the previous slap and then give a sweet method on Tao Mu, huh? It’s a pity that I don’t think Tao Mu is someone you can control.”

After Ning Yuan finished speaking, he closed the car door without waiting for other people’s reaction and signaled the driver to leave.

Zhao Keping, who was about to come forward to argue, was sprayed with car exhaust. He wiped his face angrily amd turned his head to explain to Tao Mu: “Don’t listen to this kind of vile character instigating discord. I didn’t manage the matter well this time. Don’t worry, I will definitely compensate you with a better audition opportunity. What a villain like Ning Yuan says must not be taken to heart. He is just worried that after I sign you, I will persuade the company to support you and the resources will all be allocated to you. You will definitely be more popular than him——”

“No need.” Tao Mu chuckled: “I said that before my junior year, I would not sign any talent agency. We two have known each other these days, and I thought we had reached a consensus on this matter. “

Zhao Keping was taken aback when he heard these words.

Tao Mu continued: “Ning Yuan is right. The two of us are really not suitable.”

Zhao Keping frowned and opened his mouth to explain. Tao Mu waved his hand and interrupted: “It’s not that I have doubts about brother Zhao’s methods. The agent and the artist cooperate with each other and engage in a power struggle with each other. I understand this. I just simply feel that with my personality, maybe I don’t need an agent who is too tough.” Especially an agent who after knowing his wishes, still ignored his request and engaged in small maneuverings behind his back.

Tao Mu’s thinking became clearer and clearer. He looked at Zhao Keping: “We are actually the same kind of people. Unfortunately, like-minded people may not be harmonious.” Compared with superb skills, Tao Mu was more inclined to an agent who would obey and act accordingly to his will. Otherwise, he would have agreed to Wen Shijin’s offer. After all, the old fox Wen, who was always smiling, was much better than Zhao Keping in the way of managing people. At least Wen Shijin would not be caught in using underhanded means by so many people.

Of course, it might also be that Zhao Keping didn’t take him seriously from beginning to end. Thinking that by drawing a few enticing offers and then using power to suppress, he would be able to train an artist to his liking. It was a pity that Tao Mu was not really eighteen years old, and he was not in a rush to get ahead and be the hero in a feel good faceslapping story.

He was obsessive and stubborn. Once he set a goal, there was absolutely no turning back. It would not change course just because of Zhao Keping’s tricks. And Zhao Keping would never allow his artists to make their own decisions. So in the final analysis, this was the fundamental reason why he and Zhao Keping couldn’t work together.

After bidding farewell to Zhao Keping, Tao Mu returned to the rental house in silence all the way. Since Tao Mu finished “Purple Cloud”, Da Mao and Xiao Pang had also withdrawn from the “Purple Cloud” crew. However, the two did not find a new crew, mainly because H Town was too hot at the end of July. The two melon-eaters felt that there was no need to make it difficult for themselves, so as a result they ended up playing games in the Internet cafe downstairs every day. Occasionally, they would post bragging posts on the H Studios forums and receive young girls who came from outside regions with dreams of becoming celebrities. They would help them solve problems such as renting a place and then exchange contact information with each other on the way.

In the evening, they would be at sister Ping’s small restaurant. While enjoying the air-conditioning and listening to the old group of extras chatting among themselves, they collected some entertainment gossip that could be used for entertainment after a meal as well as enrich their melon eater big V account. Because the two updated the news from the entertainment circle that netizens were most interested about, in just half a month, the fans of the two have exceeded 50,000. The two really enjoyed the “Internet celebrity” treatment.

When Tao Mu returned to the rental house, the room was quiet and the dirty clothes were thrown all over the floor. It could be seen that the two melon eater big V did not clean up the room before going out.

Tao Mu picked up a rattan basket in his hand, threw all the clothes inside, and placed it in the corner of the bathroom.

As it was the hot summer season, the room was stuffy and there was no wind. It caused Tao Mu to be very sweaty so he also took a shower in the bathroom. The bruises all over his body tingled in pain under the stimulation of the hot water.

Tao Mu put the ointment on his bruises himself, but while the other parts were fine the ones on his back was a little out of reach. And because of the need to hang on wires during filming, the back and inner thighs were often the hardest hit areas with bruises. For awhile Tao Mu struggled with his back turned to the mirror. Suddenly an unspeakable angry flame bursted in his heart, and he threw the medicinal liquor and cotton balls dipped in Chinese traditional medicine on the ground.

The glass bottle filled with medicine shattered, and the brown liquid medicine splashed everywhere with the broken glass shards. The soft cotton ball rolled silently on the concrete floor into the corner. Fine dust particles floated in the air under the sunlight.

Tao Mu sat on the bedside expressionlessly, staring at the corner with empty eyes. He found that the more sunlight there was the more dust particles that were usually invisible or not noticed became more visible to the naked eye.

Being small and insignificant was not a sin. Incompetence was. And being angry was just an expression of rage at his own incompetence.

Tao Mu breathed silently and deeply reflected on the reason for his anger. Then he silently sat down at the desk, turned on the computer, and continued to observe the stock market.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )

With the expansion of the economic crisis, starting from the second half of the year, foreign capital had been madly withdrawing from China. The market had dropped from more than 6,000 points to less than 2,000 points, and the entire stock market was looking very bleak. However, even if the overall market was not good, there would still be a few stocks going upstream. Tao Mu, who had memories of his previous life, was very familiar with these stocks. What he needed to do was to put all his money into these stocks, and then withdraw in time before the stocks fell.

TN: This was a monster chapter, was almost tempted to split it into parts

Anyway, bonus chapters coming up!

“You are amazing!”

During lunch break, Qiao Miaowei, the female number 2 who was forcefully added into the crew by the investor, approached Tao Mu cautiously holding a box of lunch: “You don’t look to be very old, so how come you have such good acting skills?”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )

Probably because her backer was exposed too early and she herself was just a salesperson who sold LV bags before, as well as having no talent or acting skills at all, Qiao Miaowei’s position in the crew was very awkward. Those actresses who graduated from traditional film schools looked down on Qiao Miaowei’s background and her use of the casting couch to gain her role so they didn’t like to talk to her. The actors and actresses like Ning Yuan who cherished their public reputation also they didn’t like to talk to her either as well as fearing any misunderstanding from the investor behind her. Coupled with director Zhao Xin’s obvious dislike of her, the workers in the crew also communicated as little as possible with Qiao Miaowei. As a result, despite being the second female lead in the drama with a lot of scenes, she was left out in the cold by the entire film crew.

Qiao Miaowei herself also knew of the stigma attached to her origins. Except for the first few attempts made, she rarely approached the rest of the cast members so as not to embarrass herself. This time approaching Tao Mu was because firstly, Tao Mu had just joined the crew and his position in the entertainment industry was yet too small so he probably wouldn’t snub her; and secondly, Tao Mu’s acting skills were indeed truly amazing. Qiao Miaowei hoped to get some advice from Tao Mu, so that she could at least make it through the filming of her scenes in the drama.

When Qiao Miaowei walked in the direction of Tao Mu holding her box lunch it had already attracted the attention of many people from the crew. Upon hearing Qiao Miaowei’s question, the group of people’s ears also twitched at attention.

It was not like Tao Mu could tell the truth about his previous life where he was used to being suppressed by his actor colleagues, the accumulation of which eventually led him to gain valuable experience. Since the polishing of those ten years had yet to happen in this life, Tao Mu could only cheekily admit: “Probably because I am naturally talented.”

Qiao Miaowei: “……”

Behind them, a sneer sounded. Shang Xuanyue, who played the heroine in the drama, sneered mercilessly: “Someone should go back and look in the mirror.”

“You——” Qiao Miaowei looked at Shang Xuanyue angrily.

As a relevant star being backed by Summer Star Entertainment, Shang Xuanyue had been very successful in the past two years. The two dramas she acted in last year were ranked in the top three of the annual ratings. And at the beginning of this year, relying on the heroine role of one of the TV series, she had also won the Golden Lily Award. At this time her career was smooth sailing and her popularity was as high as the sky.

When Qiao Miaowei first joined the crew, her bankroller had instructed in every possible way that she could not offend Shang Xianyue. Therefore, even if Qiao Miaowei was humiliated by Shang Xianyue, she did not dare to respond. That forbearing appearance of not daring to be angry looked very pitiful.

It was currently their lunch break so all the other actors and staff in the crew sitting in twos and threes around the set directly witnessed this scene. However, everyone turned a blind eye or continued to watch the show with their arms folded. No one was willing to stand up for Qiao Miaowei.

Tao Mu sighed and said, “Ms. Shang is right.”

“What did you say?” Qiao Miaowei turned her head fiercely, and looked at Tao Mu in disbelief, both angry and fierce. She didn’t expect Tao Mu to add more insult to the injury.

Shang Xuanyue looked over with a smile.

Tao Mu continued: “Ms. Qiao’s problem is that you can’t make natural expressions and movements in front of the camera. This is also normal after all, Ms. Qiao has not studied at a film school and has not been trained in the system. When ordinary people face the camera, they would feel uncomfortable more or less. So what you have to do now is to go back and look in the mirror more. Rehearse the expressions and lines in the mirror. You can also ask your assistant to help you with the scenes. Whenever you finally feel less awkward is when you’ve got it.”

After a pause, Tao Mu added a few more words: “Of course, considering the problem of positioning, you’d better set up a few more cameras and watch yourself while practicing, then analyze your movements repeatedly. You can also find a few TV dramas and choose a few characters you like to imitate.”

When Tao Mu said this, he glanced at Shang Xuanyue again, and said with a smile: “Ms. Shang won the Golden Lily Award for “The Pattering Rain Comes To An End”, in which the heroine’s character is somewhat similar to Qing Ling in “The Legend of Heroes”. If Miss Qiao is interested, you may wish to analyze it a bit. If you are lucky enough to get a few words of advice from Ms. Shang, then at least for this drama it will be more than enough.”

Qing Ling was the second female lead played by Qiao Miaowei in the drama. The reason Tao Mu said this was not really to have Qiao Miaowei go ask Shang Xianyue for advice on acting. It was just to help Qiao Miaowei out of embarrassment, as well as praise Shang Xianyue lest Shang Xuanyue took any anger out on him because of this.

Qiao Miaowei could naturally see such smoothness and slickness in dealing with social relations. Instantly her anger turned into joy, smiling as she took the ladder offered: “It turns out that this is the case. No wonder Miss Shang asked me to look in the mirror. It shouldn’t be too late so I will go back to rehearse first. You guys talk slowly.”

Qiao Miaowei awkwardly excused herself and immediately dragged her assistant away in a hurry. Shang Xuanyue folded her arms and looked at Qiao Miaowei’s slightly embarrassed figure with cold eyes. Raising an eyebrow, she smiled: “You are a softhearted person.”

Tao Mu’s eyebrows curved into a smile: “I’m telling the truth. Ms. Shang has superb acting skills, and your expressions and movements are very beautiful when filming, full of emotions. You must be classical actor, right?”

Shang Xianyue smiled. She found that Tao Mu was particularly good at resolving the hidden jeers in other people’s words. The skill of flattering was also level 10 and the ability to strike up a conversation was at least level 10.5.

“You don’t have to call me Ms. Shang. Everyone is filming in the same crew, so you can just call me sister Yue.” Shang Xianyue said as she simply sat down next to Tao Mu. Smiling she asked: “I heard that you were admitted to Beijing Film. Why didn’t you go to Yan Film?”

Generally speaking, Beijing Film made actors and Yan Film made stars. Shang Xuanyue could tell by just looking at Tao Mu’s face, if he went to Yan Film and then acted in a few idol dramas he would be incredibly popular. If he was lucky, maybe there would be a “Tao Mu’s Year”, just like her “Shang Xianyue’s Year” last year.

But it might be a different story with Beijing Film. As everyone knew, the actors who came out of Beijing Film generally followed the orthodox route, and most of the films and TV series they took were mainstream films based on realistic and sometimes serious subject matters. Basically, that kind of drama didn’t think too much about an actor’s appearance. Actors like Tao Mu who were too handsome and his aura too sharp would actually make the director and the producer suspicious——worried that Tao Mu’s looks would overwhelm and suppress the plot. Unless Tao Mu’s acting skills could be superb enough that it had people ignoring his looks.

Thinking of this, Shang Xianyue suddenly recalled the small disturbance that Tao Mu had made when he took the film still in the morning, and suddenly said, “It seems that you have confidence in yourself.”

If Tao Mu could suppress his overly handsome and attention grabbing looks with his acting skills, then choosing Beijing Film would undoubtedly contribute to his acting career. After all, with Beijing Film’s authority and influence in the Chinese entertainment industry, so long as Tao Mu could be branded with Beijing Film and become a key student of Beijing Film, then his accumulated contacts in Beijing Film would undoubtedly become his stepping stones for a soaring career.

Shang Xuanyue also thought of the gossip being spread outside that several big agents wanted to sign Tao Mu, but were declined by Tao Mu on the grounds of abiding by the school rules. She suddenly realized Tao Mu’s ambition.

While she called it ambition, it was in truth a big gamble. After all, not all people had such confidence that they dared to take three years of obscurity in exchange for a chance to become a possible future bigshot. Especially since during that three-year period, he must continue to refuse the temptation of becoming famous overnight. Shang Xuanyue didn’t know how long Tao Mu could last, but she firmly believed that if Tao Mu could really persist and successfully gain Beijing Film’s favor, Tao Mu would surely have a place in the Chinese entertainment industry in the future.

On the side Shang Xuanyue was secretly shocked by Tao Mu’s ambition. But she didn’t know that Tao Mu’s goal was more than to make a place in the entertainment circle——what he wanted in return for all his sacrifices must be half of the Chinese entertainment circle!

But these words were too early to say. As Tao Mu was still living in the present he had to play along with everyone around him.

The next scene was a scene between the assassin Wuming and the heroine. This was a mix of an action as well as speaking scene. Tao Mu had five lines and including punctuation there was only 10 words in total.

During the filming, because Shang Xuanyue intended to make friends, the atmosphere between the two was pleasant. Ning Yuan, who played the leading actor, watched on indifferently. He found that no matter how the camera lighting was adjusted, Tao Mu always had a way to find the most accurate and suitable position and angle. Even if the shots were not the most handsome, they were all undeniably memorable and had feeling.

The little tricks and schemes that had succeeded on those idol actors before seem to be useless on Tao Mu. And as Tao Mu continued to show off his sharp edges and brilliance, the attitudes of the lighting and camera crew who had subtly made it difficult for him began to change——this could be seen from Tao Mu’s more and more beautiful lighting and shooting angles from the cameras.

It could not be left ignored like this.

Ning Yuan knew very well that his instigating the crew members to make things difficult for Tao Mu could, from a certain perspective, also be seen as Ning Yuan showing off his speaking power in the crew.

During the entire shooting period, the director, as the undisputed ruler of the crew, must have his own speaking power; investors and producers, as the bankrollers and financial backers, must have their own speaking power; actors and actresses, as the important elements of a drama or film, must also have their own speaking power.

This was also the reason why despite Ning Yuan repeatedly instigating the lighting, camera and make-up crew to make things difficult for Tao Mu, Zhao Xin and the others did not stop it despite being fully aware.

But now, if Tao Mu could stand firm under the numerous difficulties presented by Ning Yuan, although it demonstrated Tao Mu’s own potential, it was also an invisible slap to Ning Yuan’s face. By then, Ning Yuan’s influence on the crew would be much less than before. More seriously, it would even affect Ning Yuan’s position in Summer Star Entertainment.

Ning Yuan was a prideful person and of course he could not accept this situation. On the same note, the agent behind Ning Yuan didn’t want to see Zhao Keping actually sign Tao Mu either as it would lead to his rival agent gaining more resources and more say in the company.

In other words, Tao Mu’s momentum in the crew of “The Legend of Heroes” must be curbed.

………

Because Wuming’s weapon was a pliable jian and the most important reason for Zhao Xin to value Tao Mu was also his action scenes, in order to better shape the role, Tao Mu had to spare more time in private to rehearse the pliable jian moves. Sleeping at 2am every day, and then getting up at 5am had now become the norm. In addition to practicing swordsmanship, he also did not forget to pay close attention to the changes in the M country’s stock market on the other side of the ocean as well as the international oil futures market.

Time was becoming less and less, but fortunately, his scenes in “Purple Cloud” was almost done. On the third day after Tao Mu entered the crew of “The Legend of Heroes”, his body double role in “Purple Cloud” was completely finished.

Although Tao Mu was only a body double, because Chen Yiqian was very optimistic about Tao Mu, he gave Tao Mu a small goodbye party. Though it was called a goodbye party, in truth it was actually just an extra meat dish added to the box lunch that day. During the period, Shen Yu also ran over and pulled Tao Mu’s hand to say goodbye. He also kept telling Tao Mu to take his phone number from the blacklist, otherwise he would go to the crew of “The Legend of Heroes” every day. It annoyed Tao Mu to no end.

On the other side, after leaving the “Purple Cloud” crew, Tao Mu also had more time to ponder the role of Wuming. Especially in the fighting parts. In order to practice the green python pliable jian’s moves more beautifully, Tao Mu also specially asked a teacher to teach him the flowing sleeves dance——mainly because there were too few teachers who taught how to use the whip. Moreover, Tao Mu felt that in the original description of Wuming’s moves it was not only vicious but also smooth and flowing, just like the movements of the flowing sleeves dance. As for overall aura and feeling, Tao Mu felt that he could adapt it to fit the role.

Regardless of how much criticism he had received from the people in his previous life, one thing about Tao Mu that they could not deny was that Tao Mu was a very hard-working person. Especially if it was for his “purpose and interests”, Tao Mu could be both cruel to others as well as to himself. So every night he shot night scenes until one or two o’clock into the middle of the night, and then get up to continue to practice martial arts movements at 4 o’clock the next morning. At the price of bruises appearing all over his body, in just seven days he had managed to completely grasp all the movements to such an extent that he was as familiar with them as he was of his own arm or finger.

The people in the crew all witnessed how Tao Mu was able to turn the originally already very beautiful martial arts moves to an even more stunning performance. Everyone sighed in their hearts even if they didn’t say anything out loud. Especially the martial arts stunt actors, including the stunt coordinators, were even more convinced by Tao Mu. Just when everyone felt that Tao Mu would be able to become popular overnight with the role of Wuming, a bad news came——

It was director Zhao who personally told him that he was no longer needed for the role of Wuming. He was replaced by the son of a major shareholder of Summer Star Entertainment, a rich fuerdai who wanted to show off and therefore entered the entertainment circle to play around.

………

When Zhao Xin talked to Tao Mu, Tao Mu was currently practicing with the body double for the main male lead. There was a big scene to be shot in the evening, the chase scene where the hero and Wuming met for the first time. They had to hang on wires to shoot the grand scene of the two people fighting around Jinling City in the studio. During this scene, extras were also required to play the palace guards and city guards holding torches and cooperating with the hero in the streets and alleys to capture Wuming——that’s right this was also a night scene. All of these varying factors added up to make the scene very difficult to film, so the crew had to put off filming it until now. It was also in order to let Tao Mu integrate into the crew as soon as possible which would help with filming this scene.

The facts all proved that Tao Mu’s performance had not disappointed anyone at all. In just over ten days, Tao Mu had entered his role, whether it was speaking scenes or fighting scenes, his performance was both stunning and amazing.

He was indeed a good potential star. Unfortunately, he was not very lucky.

Zhao Xin looked at Tao Mu in front of him and sighed slightly. The hard heart that had been trained over the many years in the industry felt a rare ripple of guilt: “……You also know that Summer Star Entertainment is the largest investor and producer of this drama. The person who will replace you is the nephew of Summer Star Entertainment’s major shareholder……”

Zhao Xin stopped talking and looked at Zhao Keping——in order to smoothly dismiss Tao Mu, Zhao Xin even called his old friend over. The main reason was that he was really embarrassed to have to persuade Tao Mu to leave. After all, after Tao Mu entered the crew, everyone had saw the hard work he had put in to play the role of Wuming.

It was a pity that no matter how sincere and hardworking one’s personal efforts were, it wouldn’t be able to stand up against a word from those with capital.

Zhao Keping also felt very guilty: “When the boss told me about this, I also strongly opposed it. But someone in the company informed them that you are not a contracted artist of Summer Star Entertainment and that I privately found someone to play the role of Wuming. They labeled it as selfishness, as disregarding the company’s interests. Some people also said that I deliberately targeted Ning Yuan.”

Ning Yuan was the male protagonist of The Legend of Heroes. He was also a very popular C-list actor who had squeezed into the B-list rank in the past two years. Because he had filmed several popular idol dramas and costume dramas, he was currently very popular and was in his rising period of his career. Tao Mu knew that Ning Yuan had been very hostile and wary of him since the day he joined the crew. He was probably afraid that Tao Mu would buy ads to step on him after the TV series was broadcasted——after all, Tao Mu’s performance in the crew was obvious to all, and Zhao Keping had always liked to engage in this kind of marketing tactics.

“Ning Yuan’s agent directly aired the matter in front of the big boss, leaving me no room for any maneuverings. In addition, you are not a contracted artist of Summar Star Entertainment, and the company wanted to make the big shareholders happy……” Zhao Keping emphasized to Tao Mu once again that he was not signed with Summer Star Entertainment, his expression guilty and regretful.

But Zhao Keping’s reasons were also very reasonable. This drama was originally invested by Summer Star Entertainment. Now Summer Star Entertainment’s young master wanted to come and play and happened to be attracted to Tao Mu’s role. And Tao Mu was also not an artist of the company. No matter from which point of view, Summer Star Entertainment had no need to help Tao Mu instead of themselves.

Zhao Xin actually felt more guilt than Zhao Keping. He originally insisted on using Tao Mu because Tao Mu’s performance really met his aesthetic and shooting requirements. However, Summer Star Entertainment’s major shareholder was wealthy and directly expressed his intention to invest in Zhao Xin’s original film. Zhao Xin had been preparing for this original film for more than two years, but he had not been able to find a reliable investor or film distributor. It had already become a sore point for a long time. Now someone voluntarily jumped out to offer the opportunity so Zhao Xin couldn’t not accept this olive branch.

When all was said and done, the relationship between Zhao Xin and Tao Mu did not reach the point where he would wrong himself to help Tao Mu.

Both Zhao Xin and Zhao Keping thought that Tao Mu would definitely make trouble when he heard the news, and even prepared themselves to be cursed at.

But they didn’t expect Tao Mu to not react at all but instead ask directly: “Then do I leave the crew today?”

Both Zhao Xin and Zhao Keping were stunned.

Zhao Xin looked at Tao Mu strangely: “Don’t you have complaints about us?”

“There is nothing to complain about.” Tao Mu’s expression was calm. Zhao Keping and Zhao Xin were worried that due to Tao Mu’s young age he would not be able to bear this kind of grievance. But they didn’t know that Tao Mu was not really 18 years old. But even as an 18 year old orphan in his previous life, Tao Mu’s life had never been smooth. It was not only once or twice when a good opportunity that he had would be stolen by someone else.

Since Zhao Xin and Zhao Keping specially found him to tell him about this decision, it proved that there was no way to redeem this matter, therefore it was not something he could change by making a big scene or begging. So instead of wasting energy and crying and complaining, Tao Mu made a decisive withdrawal.

Of course, there were some problems that must be solved before getting out.

“Although I don’t know what happened in the middle, but I don’t think the crew will dismiss an actor who has signed into the crew and performed very well for no reason.” Tao Mu said, smiling at the two of them. He even consoled Zhao Xin: “I think you must have worked hard to change matters and then weighed the costs and gains. The final decision must be more conducive to the filming of the crew.”

“It would be false to say that I’m not disappointed or sad. But I can’t cause trouble for everyone because of my own emotions. Besides, the crew will also pay money for breach of contract, so legally speaking, no one owes me anything. Although I am just a new college student and have not yet entered society, but I still possess the basic spirit of contract.”

How could everything in the world go as one wished? Since the situation could not be changed, Tao Mu could only win the hearts of the people. Because sometimes, being able to win the hearts of the people meant maximizing the benefits.

Sure enough, Zhao Xin was moved immediately after hearing Tao Mu’s remarks. He almost even confided his dealings with Summer Star Entertainment. Fortunately, at the critical moment, reason defeated emotion. Even so, Zhao Xin couldn’t hide his excitement and admiration of Tao Mu and patted Tao Mu on the shoulder: “Xiao Mu, you are such a good child……”

Zhao Keping did not expect Tao Mu’s reaction to be so open-minded and beautiful. To be honest, it really didn’t look like the actions of an eighteen-year-old boy. But when he thought of Tao Mu’s life experience, Zhao Keping could understand it. The children of the poor must work for their livelihoods early. Although Tao Mu’s reaction was not in line with Zhao Keping’s expectations, Tao Mu’s series of responses after learning about this incident were enough for Zhao Keping to see that the child had a high EQ. At least he was not a person who would be influenced by emotions.

He had good looks, had good acting skills, and knew how to work hard. In addition his emotional intelligence was enough to be visible to the naked eye. If such a person could not be signed to their company, it would be a big loss for Summer Star Entertainment and him, Zhao Keping.

Thinking about this, Zhao Keping showed an even more sorrowful expression, and said sincerely: “Xiao Mu, thank you for understanding us like this. This time, it was brother Zhao’s mistake. Don’t worry, brother Zhao will introduce you to other audition opportunities.”

Tao Mu smiled. Compared with this, Tao Mu was more concerned about another thing: “Seriously, what does director Zhao feel about my fight scenes?”

Zhao Xin wss still feeling very touched by Tao Mu. Hearing this, he blurted out the words from the bottom of his heart without thinking: “Very good. It can be called the first-class level in China.”

Tao Mu raised his eyebrows: “Much better than the one who replaced me, right?”

“It can’t be compared at all——” at this Zhao Xin stopped immediately. Looking at Tao Mu, he questioned: “What do you……what do you want to say?”

“Director Zhao, don’t worry, I won’t make it difficult for you. I just want to make a deal.” Tao Mu smiled at Zhao Xin.

After coming out of the director’s lounge, Tao Mu first went to the finance department to receive the money owed for the breach of contract. Finance had been notified, and the money was given easily enough. They also expressed a regretful attitude: “You act really well. Even if you don’t have this opportunity, you will definitely be popular in the future. Don’t be discouraged.”

Some people also said in an experienced tone: “This society is like this. It’s never lacking of people who take back doors wherever you go. You just remember that gold will shine sooner or later. When you become famous, this kind of thing will disappear.”

Finally, in order to make the child happy, a group of old aunts and young ladies from the finance department took the initiative to take out their smartphones to take a group photo with Tao Mu in the name of auctioning it online when Tao Mu became famoud.

“At least it can prove that we had good eyesight, discovering the superstar when he was still young.”

“Sign it with your autograph and maybe a photo can sell for more than 10,000 yuan.”

How could someone spend 10,000 yuan to buy a group photo?

Tao Mu smiled, but he was very grateful for everyone’s careful consideration of his emotions. He took a group photo with everyone very seriously and signed it.

When Tao Mu came out of the finance department, basically the whole crew was already aware of the gossip about Tao Mu being kicked out. Unlike the financial ladies who had neutral interests, the cast members reacted in various ways. There were people who really felt sorry for Tao Mu, mostly actresses, and there were some who didn’t care about it at all. There were also those who slid in front of Tao Mu and expressed their hypocritical regrets. Their reactions were all very diverse.

Tao Mu dealt with it one by one and there was neither of the bitter tears nor resentment as everyone imagined. When he returned to the dressing room in a low-key manner, bathed in the regretful eyes of the people that were either sincere or hypocritical, he found a young man with a decent appearance but dressed from head to toe in famous brands and had an arrogant temperament sitting in his place.

“You are the original actor of the assassin Wuming?” The young man playing with his mobile phone impolitely looked Tao Mu up and down and raised his eyebrows, saying aggressively: “I heard that you are a martial arts stunt actor and your fight scenes are very good. How about you being my body double? Money is not a problem.”

Oh, it turned out that this young master was the legendary “nephew of the major shareholder of Summer Star Entertainment.”

Tao Mu glanced at this “big nephew” and calmly refused: “I can’t be your body double.”

“Why, you looking down on me? Or are you angry with me?” Big nephew sneered and threw the phone on the dressing table. He leaned his back on the dressing chair and propped his legs up on the table like some bigshot: “To tell you the truth, I actually don’t care what role I can play. Entering the entetainment industry is just a whim and everything is arranged by the people below. So even if you want to be angry with me, you can’t. After all, this drama is still invested by my uncle. Am I right?”

Tao Mu didn’t say a word.

“Big nephew” continued: “You came out to work, isn’t it just for the money. There is really no need to fight with me. I have money and you have the ability. I want to ask you to be a body double. The price is up to you. “

“It’s not about money.” Tao Mu stood in the dressing room, looking at the young man sitting in the chair: “You look to not even be 175cm tall, right?”

Big nephew: “???”

Tao Mu continued: “I am 182cm. Standing in front of the camera I will only appear higher than this number. So I can’t be your body double. In your case, the director will probably arrange for you a short body double. But don’t worry. Everyone in the martial arts team under director Zhao has good skills.”

Big nephew: “……”

…………

He took off his costume and makeup. Tao Mu left the furious “big nephew” behind him, and calmly exited the crew——but he was stopped by an RV at the entrance of the Studio City.

The door of the car was opened, revealing Ning Yuan’s handsome face: “Get in the car?”

Tao Mu did not move: “Is it necessary?”

Ning Yuan chuckled. Even sitting in the RV, the gaze he looked at Tao Mu with was still somewhat condescending: “You don’t need to be so hostile to me. I admit, I really don’t want you to stay on the crew, of course my agent and I have also made some arrangements for this. I will not deny this. What I want to tell you is that Zhao Keping knew about my agent going to the big boss from the beginning. With his status in the company, if he really wanted to protect you, even the big boss will give him this face. After all, Summer Star invests in a lot of TV dramas, and even if they want to please the major shareholders, they didn’t have to take your role. What is strange is that Zhao Keping said nothing from beginning to end.”

Speaking of this, Ning Yuan looked at Tao Mu curiously. He wanted to find some clues in Tao Mu’s expression. But Tao Mu was expressionless.

Ning Yuan snorted: “Do you know how Zhao Keping dealt with those female artists who just joined the company but didn’t obey the arrangements?”

Tao Mu continued to have a dead fish face.

Ning Yuan said: “I am not instigating discord. I just don’t want to be used as a tool for nothing. A person like me, even if I do bad things, I must do it plainly and clearly. Zhao Keping is not suitable for you. With your personality, if you sign with him, there will be conflict sooner or later. You don’t want people like Zhao Keping to have a hold on your weaknesses, do you?”

“What are you doing if you are not instigating discord?” Zhao Keping only said a few words to Zhao Xin, and immediately hurried out to find Tao Mu. But he didn’t expect to encounter this scene where Ning Yuan was trying to provoke discord in front of Tao Mu.

“I’m telling the truth!” Ning Yuan sneered: “What kind of person is Zhao Keping, others might not know, but could the artists of Summer Star Entertainment not know? You want to use the previous slap and then give a sweet method on Tao Mu, huh? It’s a pity that I don’t think Tao Mu is someone you can control.”

After Ning Yuan finished speaking, he closed the car door without waiting for other people’s reaction and signaled the driver to leave.

Zhao Keping, who was about to come forward to argue, was sprayed with car exhaust. He wiped his face angrily amd turned his head to explain to Tao Mu: “Don’t listen to this kind of vile character instigating discord. I didn’t manage the matter well this time. Don’t worry, I will definitely compensate you with a better audition opportunity. What a villain like Ning Yuan says must not be taken to heart. He is just worried that after I sign you, I will persuade the company to support you and the resources will all be allocated to you. You will definitely be more popular than him——”

“No need.” Tao Mu chuckled: “I said that before my junior year, I would not sign any talent agency. We two have known each other these days, and I thought we had reached a consensus on this matter. “

Zhao Keping was taken aback when he heard these words.

Tao Mu continued: “Ning Yuan is right. The two of us are really not suitable.”

Zhao Keping frowned and opened his mouth to explain. Tao Mu waved his hand and interrupted: “It’s not that I have doubts about brother Zhao’s methods. The agent and the artist cooperate with each other and engage in a power struggle with each other. I understand this. I just simply feel that with my personality, maybe I don’t need an agent who is too tough.” Especially an agent who after knowing his wishes, still ignored his request and engaged in small maneuverings behind his back.

Tao Mu’s thinking became clearer and clearer. He looked at Zhao Keping: “We are actually the same kind of people. Unfortunately, like-minded people may not be harmonious.” Compared with superb skills, Tao Mu was more inclined to an agent who would obey and act accordingly to his will. Otherwise, he would have agreed to Wen Shijin’s offer. After all, the old fox Wen, who was always smiling, was much better than Zhao Keping in the way of managing people. At least Wen Shijin would not be caught in using underhanded means by so many people.

Of course, it might also be that Zhao Keping didn’t take him seriously from beginning to end. Thinking that by drawing a few enticing offers and then using power to suppress, he would be able to train an artist to his liking. It was a pity that Tao Mu was not really eighteen years old, and he was not in a rush to get ahead and be the hero in a feel good faceslapping story.

He was obsessive and stubborn. Once he set a goal, there was absolutely no turning back. It would not change course just because of Zhao Keping’s tricks. And Zhao Keping would never allow his artists to make their own decisions. So in the final analysis, this was the fundamental reason why he and Zhao Keping couldn’t work together.

After bidding farewell to Zhao Keping, Tao Mu returned to the rental house in silence all the way. Since Tao Mu finished “Purple Cloud”, Da Mao and Xiao Pang had also withdrawn from the “Purple Cloud” crew. However, the two did not find a new crew, mainly because H Town was too hot at the end of July. The two melon-eaters felt that there was no need to make it difficult for themselves, so as a result they ended up playing games in the Internet cafe downstairs every day. Occasionally, they would post bragging posts on the H Studios forums and receive young girls who came from outside regions with dreams of becoming celebrities. They would help them solve problems such as renting a place and then exchange contact information with each other on the way.

In the evening, they would be at sister Ping’s small restaurant. While enjoying the air-conditioning and listening to the old group of extras chatting among themselves, they collected some entertainment gossip that could be used for entertainment after a meal as well as enrich their melon eater big V account. Because the two updated the news from the entertainment circle that netizens were most interested about, in just half a month, the fans of the two have exceeded 50,000. The two really enjoyed the “Internet celebrity” treatment.

When Tao Mu returned to the rental house, the room was quiet and the dirty clothes were thrown all over the floor. It could be seen that the two melon eater big V did not clean up the room before going out.

Tao Mu picked up a rattan basket in his hand, threw all the clothes inside, and placed it in the corner of the bathroom.

As it was the hot summer season, the room was stuffy and there was no wind. It caused Tao Mu to be very sweaty so he also took a shower in the bathroom. The bruises all over his body tingled in pain under the stimulation of the hot water.

Tao Mu put the ointment on his bruises himself, but while the other parts were fine the ones on his back was a little out of reach. And because of the need to hang on wires during filming, the back and inner thighs were often the hardest hit areas with bruises. For awhile Tao Mu struggled with his back turned to the mirror. Suddenly an unspeakable angry flame bursted in his heart, and he threw the medicinal liquor and cotton balls dipped in Chinese traditional medicine on the ground.

The glass bottle filled with medicine shattered, and the brown liquid medicine splashed everywhere with the broken glass shards. The soft cotton ball rolled silently on the concrete floor into the corner. Fine dust particles floated in the air under the sunlight.

Tao Mu sat on the bedside expressionlessly, staring at the corner with empty eyes. He found that the more sunlight there was the more dust particles that were usually invisible or not noticed became more visible to the naked eye.

Being small and insignificant was not a sin. Incompetence was. And being angry was just an expression of rage at his own incompetence.

Tao Mu breathed silently and deeply reflected on the reason for his anger. Then he silently sat down at the desk, turned on the computer, and continued to observe the stock market.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )

With the expansion of the economic crisis, starting from the second half of the year, foreign capital had been madly withdrawing from China. The market had dropped from more than 6,000 points to less than 2,000 points, and the entire stock market was looking very bleak. However, even if the overall market was not good, there would still be a few stocks going upstream. Tao Mu, who had memories of his previous life, was very familiar with these stocks. What he needed to do was to put all his money into these stocks, and then withdraw in time before the stocks fell.

TN: This was a monster chapter, was almost tempted to split it into parts

Anyway, bonus chapters coming up!