Amidst the diverse thoughts and waiting of the crowd, Teacher Gao Zhenxia was the first to arrive.
"Sorry to keep everyone waiting."
Gao Zhenxia has a forthright personality; her voice could be heard even before she arrived.
Xiao He looked in the direction of the sound and saw an elderly woman in a light gray suit walking steadily into the lobby.
The old lady was dressed quite fashionably, wearing a pair of red half-rimmed glasses, with her short hair permed into curls, and even had a trendy little doll hanging from the cloth bag she carried on her arm. Overall, she looked like the kind of trendy old lady who had a lot in common with young people.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. The school made a last-minute adjustment to the assessment today, and I was delayed by dealing with students."
While explaining earnestly, Gao Zhenxia looked at director Yan Shaohan and apologized again in a sincere tone: "Director Yan, I'm very sorry for taking up everyone's time."
Yan Shaohan quickly waved his hand, then smiled and scratched his head: "It's okay, it's okay, you weren't that late, just a few minutes."
He then directed his staff to pull up a chair for Gao Zhenxia so she could sit down and rest.
It can only be said that Gao Zhenxia, as a veteran of the Chinese entertainment industry, is experienced in dealing with such matters. She did not shirk responsibility at the outset, and when she apologized, she focused on Yan Shaohan as the main target, which shows that she approves of Yan Shaohan as a director and took the initiative to express her position.
This move not only defused Zhuang Hongyi's anger but also successfully excused his lateness, demonstrating remarkable emotional intelligence.
As expected, although Zhuang Hongyi did not speak, he only glanced at Gao Zhenxia who was sitting down, which can be regarded as tacit acceptance of her goodwill and did not pursue her question any further.
After Gao Zhenxia sat down, everyone waited for about five minutes, but the other two still hadn't appeared. Zhuang Hongyi then said, "Let's not wait for them. Let's start."
Yan Shaohan nodded, "Then let's get started."
He looked at Guo Xinya: "Sister Xinya, shall we start with you?"
Guo Xinya nodded: "Okay."
And so the script reading officially began—
About twenty minutes later, Yuan Sitong and her agent arrived at the scene.
As soon as they entered the lobby, the agent rushed to Zhuang Hongyi's side and apologized to him with a look of remorse: "I'm so sorry, Director Zhuang, Sitong really did have a scheduling conflict. It's a bit of a clash, and I'm very sorry for delaying everyone's and your work."
Zhuang Hongyi remained silent, still looking down at the script in his hands, not giving the agent any reaction whatsoever.
The previously noisy scene quieted down again.
Many people's eyes were glancing in that direction, intentionally or unintentionally.
Yuan Sitong was dressed casually, without makeup, and her hat and mask were neatly worn. However, the half of her hair peeking out from under the brim of her hat looked messy and unkempt. This outfit didn't look like someone who had just come from another event.
They seem more like people who have just gotten out of bed and are rushing to work.
Zhuang Hongyi's silence left the agent's face filled with embarrassment.
In this awkward situation, it was the actual director of the "Yu Ye" crew who looked up, glanced at his phone, and exclaimed with admiration, "You were only twenty-nine minutes late! Amazing! You made it right on time, that's wonderful! Quickly find a seat, it's okay, just continue participating in the reading."
However, Yan Shaohan's words had no effect. Or rather, to the agent and Yuan Sitong, they sounded more like he was deliberately mocking them, and their expressions became even more complicated.
The agent ignored Yan Shaohan's words and kept staring nervously at Zhuang Hongyi to see how he would react.
Zhuang Hongyi didn't react, still looking at the script in his hand, his hand resting on ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ the table, occasionally tapping the table lightly.
Even Xiao He could see what Zhuang Hongyi meant at this moment, and shook his head helplessly in his heart.
These people haven't figured out their own place yet.
Even though the staff had set up chairs, Yuan Sitong didn't dare to sit down.
She looked to her agent for help.
Facing so many eyes in the room, agent Tang Wenjuan forced a smile and continued to speak to Zhuang Hongyi with a fawning expression: "Director Zhuang, we really didn't go over time. We canceled our schedule as soon as we received the call. What do you think—"
"Um?"
Zhuang Hongyi finally spoke, but this time when he looked up at his agent and Yuan Sitong, his eyes were full of doubt: "Are you talking to me?"
Tang Wenjuan: "...Haha, Director Zhuang, you're really joking! We were definitely talking to you!"
"Smack—"
Before she could finish speaking, Zhuang Hongyi abruptly slammed the script shut, his expression suddenly darkening.
"First of all, I am not the director of this film crew."
His gaze swept over the crowd, a warning look on his face.
"In this place, your director is Yan Shaohan, who can directly decide the direction of all plots and stories, and can coordinate all matters of the crew."
"In short, all matters concerning the production crew should be handled by Director Yan, not me, understand?"
Hearing Zhuang Hongyi's words, Tang Wenjuan's heart trembled. Only then did she realize how foolish she had done!
She was so focused on pleasing Director Zhuang that she completely ignored what the real director had just said...
"We're sorry, Director Yan. This was our mistake. We promise it won't happen again. Please forgive us."
This time, Yuan Sitong reacted quickly and immediately apologized to Yan Shaohan.
"It's alright, it's alright—" Yan Shaohan waved his hand, pointing to the seats that had already been arranged, "So, are you still going to sit?"
"Please have a seat. Thank you, Director Yan."
Tang Wenjuan quickly gestured for Yuan Sitong to sit down, and also thanked Yan Shaohan repeatedly.
"It's alright, it's alright."
Although Yan Shaohan didn't particularly like the two of them, he didn't criticize them harshly. Furthermore, Zhuang Hongyi had previously established a countdown rule that those who arrived within the timeframe would not be held accountable, so he didn't make things difficult for them and simply asked them to sit down.
After Yuan Sitong sat down nervously, Zhuang Hongyi glanced at the time and beckoned the coordinator to ask, "Have we already exceeded the time limit?"
The coordinator nodded somewhat awkwardly: "We've already contacted Lu Yuxi's team, but they're still on their way."
"Are they on their way? That's fine. Once they arrive, we can sign the termination agreement directly."
Zhuang Hongyi said in a firm tone.
"Huh?" The coordinator didn't expect Zhuang Hongyi to be so resolute. Lu Yuxi was no small fry from a small company; he couldn't just back out like that!
"What? You have a problem with that?"
Zhuang Hongyi glanced sideways at the coordinator.
The coordinator quickly shook his head: "I, I didn't."
Zhuang Hongyi then looked at Yan Shaohan: "Director Yan, what do you think?"
Yan Shaohan nodded and bluntly complained, "It's fine to change him. Actually, I don't really like his looks. His face looks a bit fake and it lowers our average appearance."
Everyone: "..."
Wow, is this something I can say?
Director Yan, you really dare to speak so directly? Awesome!
Liu Rulan wiped away her cold sweat, leaned close to Xiao He's ear, and whispered a reminder: "Don't offend Director Yan in the future. That guy dares to say anything!"
The kind that has absolutely no emotional intelligence!
That's terrifying!
Xiao He: "..."
Actually, you don't need to say it, Sister Liu.
Everyone can see that!
