That evening, Xiao He and Liu Rulan went together to meet with President Song from Jiaxing Entertainment, along with several other investors who had come with President Song.
Among them was the long-unseen producer Ma Qianyou.
Right from the start, Ma Qianyou behaved extremely enthusiastically, shaking Xiao He's hand repeatedly with shining eyes: "Xiao Xiao, it's been so long since we last met!"
Xiao He hadn't expected Ma Qianyou to be this enthusiastic and tried to withdraw his hand, but surprisingly couldn't pull it free.
Xiao He: "...Hehe, Producer Ma, it has been a while!"
It was Liu Rulan who came to the rescue, proactively extending her hand: "Producer Ma, it's been so long! How has your health been recently?"
Ma Qianyou had no choice but to release Xiao He's hand and instead shook Liu Rulan's briefly before immediately letting go, then actively invited Xiao He to sit next to him.
Xiao He: ? Why is this guy so enthusiastic.
But after sitting down, Xiao He understood why Ma Qianyou was so excited.
"Xiao Xiao, I had my fortune told again recently, and guess what? That person said I would encounter a noble person this year who would change my financial fortune for life!"
Ma Qianyou looked at Xiao He, his face full of excitement.
Xiao He: "...Ahaha, so that's what happened? Congratulations to Producer Ma then."
Uh, hadn't this guy been scammed several times before? He still believes in this? What could he even say about that?
Metaphysical superstition isn't advisable, wealth should be gathered through hard work?
Remembering Ma Qianyou's unlucky past experiences, Xiao He swallowed his words.
After all, what happened with "Starry Radiance" repeatedly changing male supporting actors did seem somewhat metaphysical.
He'd better keep quiet.
However, Ma Qianyou clearly wasn't planning to let Xiao He off: "So I thought, that noble person must be you!"
Xiao He: "Ah? Me?"
Wait, since when did he become a noble person?
"That's right!" Ma Qianyou excitedly slapped Xiao He's shoulder repeatedly, "I also invested in Starry Radiance! But I was so unlucky back then, I was considering just cutting my losses and running away, then you appeared! Not only did you perform the role of Meng Zetian excellently, but you also helped us gain massive popularity, hehe, and there's still more profit to come, just thinking about it makes me happy!"
Xiao He: "Haha, it's not that dramatic, this was the result of everyone's collective efforts."
So this guy was already planning to bail back then? Does Director Wen know about this?
Uh, probably not.
If Director Wen knew, he'd probably be crying himself unconscious in a corner.
Ma Qianyou was almost crying too—from emotion.
"Think about me, Old Ma, following the trend to invest in the domestic entertainment industry, everyone else's investments showed results, only I was the unlucky one, every project I invested in failed, every project I invested in failed, most of my fortune went down the drain, but I, Old Ma, refuse to admit defeat! I was determined to persist and achieve one successful investment to show everyone! And now, I've finally done it! Xiao Xiao, you are my noble person!"
This time, both the corners of Xiao He's mouth and eyes twitched: "...Haha."
No wonder he managed to pick up such a major production project—it was this guy's metaphysical effect at work.
If other investors knew their major project was almost ruined because of this small-time producer Ma Qianyou, they'd probably kick him out of the entertainment industry permanently and blacklist him forever.
Fortunately, Ma Qianyou said this very quietly, so no one else heard, and Liu Rulan was already using her eloquence to chat very animatedly with the other investors.
Ma Qianyou glanced at the bosses over there, cleared his throat softly, and continued asking Xiao He quietly: "Xiao Xiao, do you have any arrangements for your next drama yet?"
Let him see if he could get in on another investment—if he couldn't be a producer, he'd go straight to being a boss.
Xiao He replied: "It's a drama invested in by Director Zhuang."
If he mentioned anything else, Ma Qianyou might not know, but bringing up Director Zhuang Hongyi would definitely make him understand.
Sure enough, Ma Qianyou fell silent.
Zhuang Hongyi belonged to the Beijing circle, with deep family resources and substantial wealth that allowed him to be both a director and a capitalist. What was even more enviable was that the money he earned as a director alone was enough for him to become an independent capitalist separate from his family background.
Someone like Ma Qianyou, a small investor, definitely couldn't get access to such people.
Let alone enter their projects as an investor.
So as soon as Xiao He said this, Ma Qianyou instantly chose to give up.
But he hadn't completely lost hope, continuing: "Maybe there's no opportunity this year, but the master I consulted said my financial fortune will be even stronger next year. If you have any plans, please let me know."
Xiao He truly admired Ma Qianyou's persistence, but he didn't refuse, instead smiling and nodding: "Okay."
The rest of the dinner didn't have anything particularly noteworthy. The only feeling it gave Xiao He was: being capital is truly enjoyable.
They could promote whoever they wanted and blacklist whoever they wanted. No matter what others thought internally, they had to put on smiling faces and flatter them on the surface.
Song Yuanqi was forty years old this year. As the CEO of an entertainment company, he maintained his figure quite well—no signs of going out of shape or balding. He just seemed like someone who had spent many years immersed in business dinners, with banquet culture ingrained in his bones. His drinking and toasting skills were systematic and polished, making it impossible for you to refuse.
Although Liu Rulan had privately reminded Xiao He that she would handle the drinking, Xiao He couldn't just watch her drink cup after cup, so he could only brace himself and drink several glasses along with them.
By the time the dinner ended, Xiao He, as a newcomer to banquet culture, was feeling absolutely miserable.
In contrast, Liu Rulan, who had been drinking from start to finish, was completely fine. She called Xiao Chen to drive, helped Xiao He into the back seat to lie down, then took the passenger seat herself.
Actually, Xiao He's drinking etiquette was quite good.
He just tended to get sleepy when he drank too much.
Even though his mind was still excited, his eyelids were barely staying open, only half-drooping, allowing him to barely see the car ceiling above.
Fortunately, both Xiao Chen and Liu Rulan were quite reliable, so Xiao He didn't worry much. After struggling to keep his eyes open for a while, he simply closed them and forced himself to temporarily fall asleep.
In the front seat, Xiao Chen drove while handing the water bottle by his door to Liu Rulan: "Sister Liu, some water. You worked hard today."
"Thank you."
Liu Rulan opened the water and took a sip, simultaneously letting out a relieved sigh.
She turned her head to glance at Xiao He, who had instantly fallen asleep in the back seat, and rubbed her forehead somewhat helplessly: "This brat, I told him not to worry about me."
Xiao Chen chuckled: "That's just how Brother Xiao is."
If Xiao He had just sat back and watched a group of grown men forcing drinks on Liu Rulan at the dinner table, then he wouldn't be Xiao He.
Liu Rulan snorted with a smile: "True enough."
Then she rolled down the window, gazing thoughtfully outside, her tone calm: "And this time, we really owe a lot to Xiao He."
Although this incident seemed on the surface like they were just lucky, with good things happening one after another, and they had resolved the situation almost effortlessly, if you looked closely, it was actually because of Xiao He that everything went so smoothly.
Xiao He's personal charisma attracted this group of highly capable fans. Under their leadership, public opinion that had been somewhat dangerous instantly reversed, even sparking collective condemnation from other fans within the industry.
Then it was Xiao He's talent and personal development value that made Song Yuanqi voluntarily step back, choosing to abandon Su Shengxi's remaining value and maintain good relations with them, paving the way for future cooperation.
And the official media's statement—wasn't that also because Xiao He was morally upright and had repeatedly done good deeds, creating a certain bias in official favor? Otherwise, why speak out at this particular moment instead of earlier or later?
Over the years, Liu Rulan had often heard people in the industry secretly envying her, sarcastically saying she was lucky, that she could randomly pick someone and hit the jackpot.
When Liu Rulan heard these comments, she usually just smiled.
—Because she also felt that her luck was pretty good.