46 The Hidden Dragon

Fortunately, the headquarters of King Guan Entertainment is only two kilometres away from the congee bar. It is located in the Guan family mansion, which used to be the residence of a prince of the Qing Dynasty. As the group are walking along, Chow Mingrun takes the opportunity to once again brag about the prime location of Dragon Dreams, but Yuan Ge knows  full well that his main purpose in taking the whole group on foot is to save on transport cost.

When they have walked to the end of South Luogu Lane, however, Yuan Ge realises that the decision to walk is not only a money-saving one, but also a trouble-saving one! A brilliant decision in fact!

All the streets in the old part of the city are chock-a-block; the car parks around Shichahai and all the underground car parks on Di'anmen Street are jam-packed; all the little hutongs where it's almost impossible to squeeze in a car are completely stuffed; even the streets where parking is strictly forbidden have cars parked there, risking heavy fines.

Walking across the Jinding Bridge, the beautiful manicured lawn in front of the Guan family mansion comes into full view. Reporters from entertainment radio stations and big anchors from various online platforms and vloggers can be seen working frantically on the street, trying to generate maximum traffic for their respective media platforms from this explosive topic of the day.

This is because today's 3,000-person audition is the first big-budget film production since Guan's Pictures was restructured and officially renamed as King Guan Entertainment by its current new CEO and chairman, Arthur Guan. If one can participate in the production of this film, even a small part of it, then there will be an unlimited increase in future popularity and access to resources. As a result, this audition for King Guan has attracted half of the big names in the entertainment industry.

The Guan family mansion is located in the capital's most prosperous area, Shichahai, next to the Imperial Palace and right on the doorstep of the former emperor's residence. No matter how big a star you are, you can only enter this area on foot, so it's a rare opportunity for showbiz journalists and anchors and fangirls to get up close and personal with their idols. If they can squeeze into the old town, they're sure to catch a few celebrities. As for the big stars, as soon as their teams appeared, the traditional media and various online media will chase them like a pack of hungry wolves.

As the guys and gals of Dragon Dreams walk down the street, they see many of the biggest stars surrounded by dozens of microphones, being photographed by media and fans at the picturesque Shichahai Lake, and giving confident speeches about being the chosen ones in the auditions.

While there are many media and fans who have noticed the striking appearance of the DDP crew and know that they are not passers-by, unfortunately no one wants to waste time interviewing them because they have no film productions that are well-known enough to the public. They prefer to go to the big film and television production companies and casting agencies who come to auditions today.

"Humph, can't they see the 'Dragon Dreams Pictures' on my T-shirt? They all turn a blind eye on me!" Chow Mingrun complains indignantly, yet whenever he sees any media cameras sweeping by, he will still immediately put on his trademark business smile and tries his best to get into the camera's lens.

"Hey Yuan Ge, can you focus a little more on self-promotion? Get your TweeChat and Quarro accounts out and do something. You can't leave everything to me. In this day and age, even the proudest artists have to get off their high horse and do some marketing. Look at you, an international award-winning director who has been in Hollywood for so long, who can write, direct and act, who is certainly a rare and brilliant talent in the entertainment industry here, it's not hard to get ahead, but you have to be open to self-promotion." Du Jinghai, as an experienced netizen and blogger, sees what is happening today and feels a little upset that Dragon Dreams is being ignored by all media, both traditional and new.

Chow Mingrun immediately chimes in, "Old Dude is right, Yuan Ge, you are the backbone of our company. Not only are you a director with real talent, but you can easily become a big star based on your looks alone! When I first hunted you down from America, you played opposite that hot actress Susan. She's now an A-list star in American TV circles! And look at you! You can't keep such a low profile all the time."

Waylon and Stephen never knew their director had such a glorious past and both rush to their boss's side, trying to dig out more juicy bits of the story. Yuan Ge always gets a headache whenever he hears people talking about his past. He sighs helplessly, "Guys, come on, I've been pretty cooperative today. This 3,000-people audition is obviously a hyped up marketing campaign and I wouldn't have come if it wasn't to humour you guys. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, and if we don't get picked, it will affect everyone's motivation as well. I can't see any point in coming."

"That's not true! Look at how wonderful and gifted our kids are! And you, Director Yuan, are a dragon just waiting for the right moment to take off and soar to the sky. Besides, we are the company that got invited by King Guan himself! Those media guys who don't see us are simply as blind as bats. I'm sure they will regret it one day."

"Well, it's good to be optimistic. Since we are already here, let's do our best!"

Yuan Ge sincerely appreciates Chow Mingrun's never-say-die entrepreneurial spirit. If the company doesn't have someone like him to boost people's morale at all times, it will be difficult to continue.