96 Let's Send Him to the Emperor's Bed

"What a rubbish title for a book! It's for teenager girls, right? What are you trying to say with all this analysis? What's danmei?" Amélie doesn't understand what Du Jinghai meant at all.

"Amy, haven't you ever heard of danmei? You must be a pure straight girl! Danmei is a subculture that is very popular nowadays; it is dedicated to male male romance, or boy's love, and the audience is called 'rotten girls', or fujoshi. It is a niche culture and a niche group, but the hits and web traffic today are driven by them. It is said that the one who wins the 'rotten girls' wins the world, and the film industry has to pander to them to create rating miracles."

"Well well well, our Old Dude really lives up to his reputation as a seasoned Quarroer! So analytical and well versed in pop culture, you even know about danmei, that's very good!" Chow Mingrun praises Du Jinghai enthusiastically, clinks glasses with him and then turns to Yuan Ge and Amélie, "So what Old Dude is saying is that the female lead in this film is not important, and most likely King Guan is trying to create a double male lead drama. That's why he went out of his way, even holding a 3,000 people audition, just to pick a suitable male lead! Danmei has been quietly popular for many years, but due to regulatory policies, it is difficult to bring it to the big screen. I guess King Guan Entertainment, with its position as an industry leader, is brave enough to try something new and unique. It is quite an ambitious move! If we go by this line of thinking, this film will certainly be a big hit. We must seize this opportunity and become their important new partner. I'll have a good talk tomorrow to figure out how much we are worth in their eyes."

Seeing that Chow Mingrun is positively glowing with pride, Yuan Ge rolls his eyes inwardly and says, "Fat Chow, you must be overthinking it! So you're going to sell Dragon Dreams? If Arthur Guan really wants to make a danmei film, I'm not even sure I can play it well!"

"Yuan Ge, you're the one who's overthinking it! Let me tell you, you are now the girl chosen by the emperor to be his concubine, and all we have to do is to feed you well, dress you up, then strip you naked. Little Waylon and little Stephen will take a quilt and wrap you up, and put you in the emperor's bed. Voilà! We, the Dragon Dreamers, will have all set for our future."

Chow Mingrun finds this analogy very apt. Seeing Chestnut's puzzled face, he adds, "Little Chestnut, don't just watch, you have a part to play too. You're responsible for carrying the lantern …"

"Get lost! If that's the case, then you must be the Chief Eunuch Chow, who doesn't do anything good but pimp!"

The crowd laughs their heads off as they listen to the conversation between the two, and naturally another round of hearty drinking ensued.

Remembering Yin Fenghua this headache, Yuan Ge plans to ride on the buzz to test the waters with Chow Mingrun. But before he could say anything, Chow Mingrun brings up the topic first, "Don't worry about 'Qingqing'. We shut down the shooting tomorrow, and when we all come back after the New Year holidays, it's for sure that we have to get into the shooting of 'A Journey in Brocade', so 'Qingqing' will probably have to be postponed. But don't worry, after we finish filming King Guan's film, our resources will be totally different from before. We will have no more funding worries. By the way, Yin Fenghua specifically called me today to ask when we would resume filming. He said that as soon as the shooting of 'Qingqing' is resumed, he will put off his other commitments and prioritise us. And he also promised to go to the National Theatre to seriously learn Beijing Opera for the next six months …"

"Ha! So he's gotten wind of our collaboration with King Guan, has he? Hmmm… is he not going to act as a diva or sue us anymore?"

Although Yuan Ge has always had reservations about today's unexpected news, he still feels a sense of pleasure from Yin Fenghua's retribution when he has learned of his sudden change of attitude. However, he feels a little depressed again when he thinks of his goal of becoming a great director, and because of Arthur Guan's proposal, he has now strayed onto the path of an actor again.

Chow Mingrun, however, does not understand this feeling, pats him on the shoulder and laughs, "Yuan Ge, I told you, why be a director when you have such a handsome face! How can working behind the scenes be as satisfying as being on stage? You're destined to be a star, that's what I call 'man's plan is not as good as God's plan'. I don't think you should resist anymore. When this film becomes a hit, you will have more resources than you can handle. We send you to the emperor's bed, and you just serve him well and try to get promoted to imperial consort or something, so we can all rise to the top with you! Hahaha!"

"Shut up! Is there no end to this analogy!" Yuan Ge gags Chow Mingrun with a glass of wine, leaving the crowd laughing hysterically.