Chapter 0481: Invitation and Refusal

Zhao Fusheng wasn't the least bit worried about how Wang Jinghua would handle this matter.

If she couldn't even handle a problem like this, Wang Jinghua wouldn't be able to survive in the entire Beijing entertainment circle.

The only thing that intrigued Zhao Fusheng now was whether this incident was the beginning of something, or if the company Wang Jinghua currently worked for had already run into trouble.

As he recalled, Wang Jinghua should have jumped ship to Huayi Brothers around the turn of the millennium, taking a slew of top-tier artists under her banner and becoming one of Huayi's major figures.

And five years later, she would leave again.

But during that period, Huayi gradually became the largest film and television agency in the country.

As for the later upheavals, Zhao Fusheng didn't remember them clearly; he wasn't part of that circle himself, and most of what he knew came from hearsay.

So Zhao Fusheng rarely gave advice to others, because he himself wasn't sure whether his suggestions were right or wrong.

Soon, Wang Jinghua returned to Zhao Fusheng, but her expression was grim.

“I'm sorry, Fusheng. I'm truly sorry about this,” Wang Jinghua said sincerely to Zhao Fusheng. “I didn't expect my subordinates to be so careless, arranging such a low-quality audition crew for Baobao.”

She had just made a few phone calls to find out everything, and now she understood why Zhao Fusheng had shown up here today.

If it were her, she would have called and blown up long ago. The fact that Zhao Fusheng had waited until now to come was already quite commendable. In fact, Wang Jinghua was even grateful to him, because if he hadn't reminded her, she might not have known that recently, all the artists under her banner had been subjected to varying degrees of harassment.

Except for big names like Chen Dao, newcomers like Fan Baobao and many second- and third-tier actors had all encountered artificially set obstacles in their respective jobs. Some had even worked for two consecutive days and nights without a single word of support from the company staff who served as their assistant agents.

As for why this was happening, Wang Jinghua knew very well—it probably had to do with her recent close association with Wang Zhonglei.

Of course, she wouldn't tell Zhao Fusheng about that, so she could only apologize to him sincerely.

Although Zhao Fusheng didn't know exactly what was going on, since Wang Jinghua had apologized, he didn't say much more. He gave a faint smile and said, “It's okay. I've privately found a few crews for Baobao and the others to work as extras.”

Wang Jinghua was taken aback, then gave Zhao Fusheng a meaningful look.

She had always felt that Zhao Fusheng had no interest in breaking into the entertainment industry, so she had been somewhat casual in handling Fan Baobao's issues.

But now it seemed that Zhao Fusheng's thinking might have changed.

Wang Jinghua didn't know that Zhao Fusheng's relationship with Jiang Wen was better than she thought, so she also didn't know that Zhao Fusheng was taking the route through Jiang Wen.

This was inevitable; information asymmetry inevitably leads to errors in people's perceptions.

With that in mind, Wang Jinghua smiled at Zhao Fusheng and said, “Fusheng, would you be interested in signing your future screenwriting contracts under my name?”

“Huh?”

Zhao Fusheng was startled, then laughed. He hadn't expected Wang Jinghua to be so ambitious as to want him as a contracted screenwriter under her.

“What, are you not satisfied with the compensation?” Wang Jinghua looked at Zhao Fusheng seriously. “I know your main focus isn't on this. What I mean is, let me handle the operation of every future work of yours. I guarantee I'll maximize your profits.”

Her thinking was clear: although Zhao Fusheng wasn't a prolific screenwriter, he was talented. With a large number of stars under her, if she could rope in a good screenwriter like Zhao Fusheng, they could complement each other perfectly.

After hearing Wang Jinghua's words, Zhao Fusheng's face remained impassive, but his estimation of this woman increased a notch.

He had to admit that her success in her previous life was no accident. The principle of “content is king” wouldn't be truly recognized until more than a decade later, yet Wang Jinghua was already considering this aspect now.

In the film and television industry, despite its current growth, after the waves of elimination, business models that rely on so-called star power to drive irrational fan spending will inevitably be phased out by the market.

Take the film industry, for example. There are plenty of film companies that thought they could rake in huge box office during prime slots by relying on a bunch of traffic stars, only to be mercilessly mocked by reality.

At the end of the day, what attracts people to a movie is still the content.

Of course, many people don't understand this truth yet. Only a few in the circle do, which is why there are people like Xiao Gangpao fawning over Wang Shuo, and Ma Dajun chasing after Qiao Zhenhai.

In short, they were all after each other's work.

But unfortunately, the lover's passion is unrequited.

From start to finish, Zhao Fusheng never intended to become a top screenwriter. He knew his own limits well. Occasionally dabbling was fine, but if he really went into this line of work, sooner or later he'd be labeled as having exhausted his talent.

With that thought, Zhao Fusheng smiled at Wang Jinghua and shook his head. “Sister Hua, I think you've misunderstood.”

“Hmm?” Wang Jinghua was taken aback as Zhao Fusheng continued, “I've never planned to develop in the film and television industry. Even the adaptation of my earlier ad idea into a movie script was beyond my expectations. As for the crew I found for Baobao, I used connections from my company. So I'm sorry, but I appreciate your kindness.”

Rather than letting her guess wildly, it was better to be straightforward. That would be good for everyone.

Sure enough, after hearing Zhao Fusheng's words, Wang Jinghua was momentarily stunned, then broke into a smile. “Alright, since you don't have that intention, I won't force you. But I'll say this: whenever you want to develop in screenwriting, you must let me know, okay?”

“Sure, I will.” Zhao Fusheng nodded with a chuckle. No matter what, since she showed him respect, he had to respond in kind.

The principle of “respect me a foot, I respect you ten feet” has always held true throughout history.

“I still have things to deal with at the company. Let's catch up another day,” Wang Jinghua said directly to Zhao Fusheng without further ado.

Zhao Fusheng nodded. “Okay, you go ahead. We'll meet again later.”

He knew very well that Wang Jinghua probably didn't have just a little to handle, but a lot. He believed the Beijing entertainment scene would be quite lively in the days to come.