67 Under the Table

"Now that everyone is here, we can officially kick off the shooting at last!" Chow Mingrun says to the group with an excited look on his face, then he turns to Yin Fenghua, "Ah Hua, the male lead in our film is a dan actor in Beijing opera. He has to play a woman in many scenes, so he definitely needs to be good looking and have a good voice. Your singing talent is there for all to see. When the time comes, we'll find you a Beijing Opera master to teach you to sing opera, and you'll definitely be able to play the role to perfection. You really are the best choice for our male lead!"

"It seems that you haven't quite forgotten the good things about your old partner. The kind of friendship we have… when you need me, I'll drop everything to come, won't I? Our 'Run-Hua Combo' was a household name too once upon a time! If you hadn't gone to the Chow family to become their son-in-law, I wouldn't have had to fight alone in the pop music world all these years."

Yuan Ge takes a sip of his Martini and looks at Chow Mingrun and then at Yin Fenghua without saying a word.

Yin Fenghua sensed Yuan Ge's cold attitude. He lowers his eyes and continues in a low voice as if he was talking to himself, "Seriously, the budget for this film is ridiculously low. The male lead has to play himself, sing opera and pretend to be a woman at the same time. It's making things deliberately difficult for people. If not for Run's insistence, I really wouldn't have bothered to come."

Trying to play hard-to-get? What a pretentious brat! Amélie cursed in her mind, but the words that come out of her mouth are all polite, like an iron hand in a velvet glove, "We at Dragon Dreams have gone all out for this film. We can't compete with the top production companies in terms of funding, but the money and effort we've put into production and promotion are very sincere. There has been a lot of interest from the media, especially from those who know what they're talking about, who are keen to find out who will be chosen to work with Director Yuan on his new film. Working with an up-and-coming director who has returned to China with an international award, and is making his first new film in China - it's certainly a great opportunity to make a name for yourself in the film industry, and you, as a veteran singer, would be keen to pursue that opportunity as well, wouldn't you say?"

Yin Fenghua is rendered speechless by her words. A little embarrassed, he turns his gaze to Chow Mingrun. Chow Mingrun hurriedly tries to say something to smooth things over, "Ah Hua, our Miss Jiang is a business elite I poached from France. She is very smart and capable and is currently in charge of our finance, media liaison and marketing. We're now all in the same boat, so it's best to be straightforward and upfront in our communication. Let's worry not, I'm sure we'll have a great time working together this time!"

Yin Fenghua ordered a Screwdriver and raised his glass to Chow Mingrun and the other three, "Brother Run is right. Since we are all in the same boat, I won't treat you guys like the others, and will be direct. Please bear with me if I offend you in any way. Let's toast to a happy partnership for the future."

Everyone followed Yin Fenghua's toast and drained their glasses.

Yuan Ge did not like Yin Fenghua's style and remained silent almost the whole time. On the contrary, Du Jinghai, as a seasoned Quarroer who was used to dealing with his fans, appeared much calmer and more modest. He lavished his praises and kept expressing his admiration for Yin Fenghua's decade-long singing career in the pop music industry, which pleased him so much that he happily brag about the past fame of "Run-hua Combo".

"Yuan Ge, I've dropped my handbag by your feet. Could you pick it up for me please?"

Amélie bents down to look for her handbag that had fallen on the floor and asks Yuan Ge to help her. As Yuan Ge bents down to look for it, Amélie nudges him gently and points, "It's over there …"

Yuan Ge follows the direction she pointed to pick up the handbag, and sees Yin Fenghua's leg wrapped around Chow Mingrun's leg rubbing gently under the table.

"Thanks!" Amélie said as she smiled and winked at Yuan Ge. The two of them got up and sat down again. But above the table, Chow Mingrun and Yin Fenghua are just drinking and chatting normally as if nothing is happening.

After a few rounds of drinks, nothing substantial was discussed about the filming of Qingqing. Yuan Ge feels that his presence here tonight is purely to witness Chow Mingrun's reunion with his old partner, and he doesn't want to spend his time on matters unrelated to his film and script, so he is the first to stand up to say his goodbyes, "Fat Chow, since Mr. Yin's schedule has been settled, I need to make some adjustments to the script according to his features, and it may take me some time to get it done. I'll take my leave first. You guys have fun."

"Okay, I'll leave it all to our big director. The script, I will show it to Ah Hua later. You go back first, we old buddies have too much to catch up." Chow Mingrun smiled and patted Yuan Ge on the shoulder.

"It's a bit late, I have to go too." Amélie also stands up to say goodbye.

When Du Jinghai saw that neither Amélie nor Yuan Ge had any intention of staying, naturally he follows suit and takes his leave as well.

Chow Mingrun bids farewell to everyone, not forgetting to remind them, "The day after tomorrow, we will hold an official ceremony to kick off the shooting, so you guys all go back and prepare. Don't slack off on the pre-production publicity stuff, let's meet tomorrow to discuss the details."