After Xiao He finished the formalities, he returned to the ward to call Liu Rulan and Shu Han back to the hotel to talk some more.
Before he could even knock, he heard Liu Rulan's voice—
“I know that what you really wanted this time was to invite me to continue being your agent.”
Xiao He was taken aback.
Oh no, someone's trying to poach Sister Liu?
However, considering Shu Han's current situation, Xiao He wasn't too surprised.
With the current economic downturn, many people have returned to the domestic entertainment industry, making it even easier for someone like Shu Han to come back. After all, he hasn't been completely unsuccessful abroad; he has had several notable films released in China over the years. Although he hasn't won any prestigious international awards, he enjoys a good reputation among audiences both domestically and internationally, and has a considerable fan base in both countries.
Moreover, this is something Shu Han achieved through his own hard work. He's not a fleeting, superficial celebrity; he's a genuinely talented actor who made his way in the industry, and one of the few actors among those who have gone abroad to retain their Chinese citizenship.
These events, one after another, combined, are destined to make his return to the Chinese entertainment industry in a very "powerful" manner.
If this gets out, it could shake up the entertainment industry.
His first step upon returning to China was naturally to find an agent to form a powerful partnership—no one was more suitable than Liu Rulan!
Liu Rulan is not only Shu Han's old partner and friend, and they know each other very well, but she is also a highly capable top agent in the industry. If Shu Han can bring Liu Rulan to his side, his return to the Chinese entertainment industry will only be smoother.
Therefore, without a doubt, he desperately needed Liu Rulan's help.
"Yes."
Shu Han didn't beat around the bush, but said very frankly, "I really need you right now, Sister Liu. You know, I've been away from the Chinese ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) entertainment industry for too long. Most of my connections and information channels came from you. In recent years, I've basically been out of touch with the capital environment here, and I don't have anyone I can trust. If you're willing to help me, I'm sure I'll do even better."
Liu Rulan was silent for a while, then said, "But as you can see, I'm already taking care of Xiao He now."
“I can join your studio,” Shu Han said sincerely. “I have accumulated some savings over the years, and if possible, I can invest in Linghui Studio.”
Actually, it's not uncommon for an agent to manage multiple artists. After all, the current situation in the industry is that there are more artists than agents. For example, Cheng Hongwen was the agent for both Xu Youyou and Ran Yunrui.
For newcomers wanting to break into the entertainment industry, there are almost no barriers; signing a contract is all it takes to become an artist. But to become a manager, without some resources at your disposal, you might not even qualify as a manager, and at best, you'd be a manager's assistant.
Even many slightly famous agents first have many agent assistants under their management, and then they have many artist management contracts.
Only an agent like Liu Rulan, who is confident in her own abilities and her artists, holds only the contract of Xiao He as her artist.
She didn't even train other agents to help sign contracts and share the burden with other artists. The entire studio really only dealt with Xiao He's resources, and all the resources she had were only allocated to Xiao He, which was already a very rare thing.
There's no way around it; after all, signing more contracts means earning more money!
For newcomers in large companies, they are usually handled and signed by an agent's assistant and are nominally affiliated with a higher-level agent. In reality, they are just being managed by the agent's assistant and picking up resources that the higher-level agent misses. Only when a newcomer becomes incredibly popular will they actually end up in the hands of the agent who was originally just nominally affiliated with the company, and then the agent will personally allocate and connect them with resources.
This is equivalent to a pyramid-shaped management structure. An agent may have hundreds of artists under their name, but they only personally manage and are responsible for a very few of them.
So perhaps in other people's eyes, Liu Rulan's behavior of only giving Xiao He resources is a waste of resources and very stupid. Once Xiao He runs away or is poached, then Liu Rulan will have really lost everything.
However, Liu Rulan has always been confident in herself, and even when she encountered a few unreliable and foolish artists, she never let herself suffer.
Faced with Shu Han's invitation, she simply shook her head rationally: "The studio is already at full capacity and doesn't need a second artist for the time being."
“I will only use the best resources I have. Your track overlaps too much with Xiao He's. If you two are both with me, it will inevitably lead to an uneven distribution of resources.”
Bringing Shu Han into Ling Hui Studio with a large sum of money is indeed a good thing, since having more of your own people is always better than having more competitors. However, this is unfair to both Shu Han and Xiao He.
Liu Rulan didn't have the energy to balance the relationship between the two sides.
"So, you chose Xiao He..."
Shu Han was somewhat disappointed.
Liu Rulan spread her hands helplessly: "There's nothing I can do. Even if you had come back a year earlier, I would most likely have chosen Xiao He. After all, the kid is still young, has great potential, and is very talented. I would definitely choose Xiao He."
Shu Han, who is almost forty years old: ...
It felt as if a sword had pierced his chest.
"Okay, actually I probably guessed it too."
Shu Han sighed helplessly.
The moment he saw Xiao He, he sensed danger—it was just a feeling he'd had after years as an actor. Shu Han felt that Xiao He would definitely become a very formidable opponent in the future.
Moreover, Shu Han hadn't heard Liu Rulan praise anyone with the phrase "highly talented" for a long time.
Sister Liu's judgment has never been bad.
Even when he was still a stunt double, Liu Rulan frankly told him that his acting skills might still need improvement, but hard work can make up for shortcomings, and his excellent martial arts skills could also be an advantage for him, giving him a greater edge over others.
And indeed, he made a name for himself in the Chinese entertainment industry with his skills, and under Liu Rulan's guidance, he landed a big Hollywood role, caught the eye of a top director, and successfully connected with an entertainment company there, thus going international.
Therefore, Shu Han believed Liu Rulan's words.
He was just a little unwilling to accept it...
Shu Han said with a hint of resentment, "Only you could have made this choice."
One is a newcomer who has only been in the industry for a year and has not yet achieved any success or fame; the other is a martial arts superstar who has returned home in glory and has many accolades.
Isn't it obvious who to choose?
Liu Rulan chuckled: "Alright, do you think I don't know you? You have plenty of people to choose from when you come back. You could easily start your own studio. The only reason you want me to continue being your manager is because you're worried that if I manage Xiao He alone, he might betray me and we'll have to start all over again."
Shu Han would never lack an agent. Given his current situation, hiring Liu Rulan would only be icing on the cake.
Therefore, Shu Han's invitation to Liu Rulan was most likely intended to help her out.
After all, having left Jiaxing Entertainment, Liu Rulan had to rely entirely on herself.
Shu Han looked at his old partner with mixed feelings, but in the end he didn't say anything more. He followed Liu Rulan's words and said, "Yes, since Sister Liu believes so much in Xiao He's character and future achievements, then I won't do anything like poaching someone else's talent. But if Sister Liu needs any help, please be sure to tell me."
"That's natural."
Liu Rulan's eyebrows curved into crescents, and her tone became much gentler.
"Oh right, I almost forgot to mention—"
"Welcome back, Shu Han."
