CHAPTER 203: CHAPTER 203: SCHEMES

Who wouldn’t be happy to make a little more money? Now you don’t need tickets to buy anything, and prices keep rising every day. Who doesn’t want to earn more?

But the factory also has to be able to pay.

It’s already quite good that the production factory where Chang Wan currently works can still pay wages.

Seeing his daughter unhappy, Chang Ziliang tried to comfort her, "How about I transfer you to the Ministry of Culture?"

He would be facing retirement in a few months, the last chance. If the daughter wants to take this route later, she’ll still have to find connections.

Chang Wan: "Dad, I don’t like sitting in an office."

Chang Wan just loves acting.

Chang Ziliang thought for a while, "Why don’t I try to transfer you to the Second Factory?"

The Second Factory is where Tian Xiang’s production studio is.

The Second Factory was struggling before, almost unable to pay salaries. Now they have a financial backer and have gained confidence overnight.

Chang Ziliang had no idea that his daughter had deep conflicts with Tian Xiang in private, thinking they were just on average terms.

When Chang Wan saw that her father wanted to send her to make a living under an enemy, she started throwing a tantrum, "I will never go, not even if I die."

After speaking, Chang Wan returned to her room and slammed the door shut with a "bang."

Chang Ziliang was still somewhat perplexed; now many people want to enter the Second Factory, and there’s such an opportunity at home, yet she despises it.

Qin Rui advised from the side, "You know what Xiao Wan’s temper is like." She was born to be strong.

Chang Ziliang put down the magazine in his hands, thought for a moment, and said to Qin Rui, "She’s almost twenty-six, persuade her well, it’s better to start a family first, or else she might end up with nothing."

Qin Rui looked at her husband inexplicably, "What do you mean?"

Chang Ziliang: "While I’m still in this position, arrange for her and Xiao Lu. Xiao Lu is already thirty, and he hasn’t mentioned marriage even once in the past two years. Do you think he and his family aren’t anxious?"

At this age, not being married, how can they not be anxious?

However, Qin Rui had seen firsthand how well Lu Feng treated her daughter, thinking that he valued her and was willing to wait for her.

Chang Ziliang: "No matter how much he values, there’s a limit. Beyond that, it’s just pretending."

Having been in a leadership position for so many years, Chang Ziliang could naturally discern the subtleties over time.

It was highly likely that Lu Feng eyed the Chang Family’s background.

While family background is one of the conditions and confidence in the marriage market, presenting it openly is different from secretly eyeing it. The former is mutual selection, the latter is scheming.

Hearing her husband say this, Qin Rui became alert, "You mean we’ve all been deceived?"

Chang Ziliang shook his head, "Not deceived, just not as good as imagined."

Lu Feng’s performance in the past two years had been quite good, earning the praise of many.

But...

"It’s Xiao Wan who is unwilling to marry."

Chang Ziliang thought for a moment, "I’ll handle this matter."

The next day, it was rare for Chang Ziliang to take the initiative to call Lu Feng and invite him to lunch.

Lu Feng went, and as they talked, the topic of marriage was soon brought up.

Chang Ziliang meant to settle this while he was still in the position, otherwise, when he stepped down, the number of wedding guests would be halved.

Xiao Wan doesn’t understand, but he does. Get married first, and temporarily don’t have children, so it doesn’t delay work.

Chang Ziliang had settled on Lu Feng as his son-in-law choice, first because he had been the one to support him all along and didn’t want his efforts to go to waste.

On the other hand, he still felt that Lu Feng was controllable, that he could suppress him, making him not dare to mistreat his daughter or let her have a bad life.

His daughter’s bad temper was something Chang Ziliang knew better than anyone; finding someone else would not be suitable, it had to be someone like Lu Feng, with no family background but some ability.

Lu Feng was prepared mentally and hinted a little about his intention to switch to the magazine industry, hoping for Chang Ziliang’s help.

Chang Ziliang paused from picking up his food, then nodded, "Alright, I’ll see what I can do for you."

Lu Feng: "Thank you, Uncle. Rest assured, I’ll treat Xiao Wan well for life."

By the end of the month, when Tian Xiang’s production studio completed casting and prepared to start filming, Lu Feng and Chang Wan’s invitation card arrived at the Meng Family.

Lu Feng was indeed capable; when he wanted to get married, he could coax Chang Wan to obediently obtain the marriage certificate with him.

Their wedding was scheduled for mid-November, over a month away.

Meng Cheng’an also confided to Tian Xiang that Lu Feng had started a magazine company, and they would be competitors in the future.

Tian Xiang: "Did the Chang Family help?"

Meng Cheng’an nodded.

Tian Xiang sneered, "That Chang Ziliang, always scheming, isn’t he afraid of overturning in the ditch?"

Meng Cheng’an: "This problem can be big or small."

Chang Ziliang only made the introduction, while the rest was handled by Lu Feng.

However, without Chang Ziliang’s introduction, Lu Feng couldn’t have started the magazine company so smoothly.

Tian Xiang: "Alright, enough about those people."

Although she and Lu Feng were now going their separate ways, not even greeting each other when they met, whenever he was mentioned, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of discomfort inside.

If his wife didn’t want to talk about it, Meng Cheng’an didn’t either, changing the baby’s diaper and holding the little one to coax him to sleep.

The little one was four months old and finally didn’t need to wake up so many times at night, and Meng Cheng’an’s dark circles had faded significantly recently.

Taking care of a child, one must endure.

The next day, Tian Xiang took her son directly to the shooting site.

Today was a fitting session; once decided, shooting could start.

This was Tian Xiang’s first work returning to the screen, and also the first move by the Second Production Factory to counter external impact.

Initially, Meng Cheng’an invested money in the production factory, intending to invite outside actors to perform with Tian Xiang, with the aim of letting his wife regain her popularity and cheer her up.

Now that Tian Xiang has taken over, she didn’t invite outside actors, but a lot of money was spent nonetheless. Just the script alone took a lot of time to polish, with a nationwide casting and employing a large number of staff, they even applied for on-site shooting locations and built some real sets.

According to the shooting schedule, the crew would still visit grasslands, gardens, and several famous scenic spots, having to venture out of province at times.

Although the show had a male lead, it was the female lead who was the main storyline, and Tian Xiang’s character was eventually to become the Empress.

The crew’s art director designed over twenty sets of outfits for Tian Xiang, carefully selecting the materials, some even handmade, costing a lot of money but the results were impressive.

Tian Xiang tried on costumes from morning till afternoon, and each set was photographed as a keepsake.

Meng Cheng’an came to pick up his wife and son, coincidentally seeing Tian Xiang ascend the steps adorned in grand robes.

Meng Cheng’an stood beside with his son, somewhat entranced; he just loved seeing his wife looking radiant.

One moment, Tian Xiang was the imposing empress, the next she playfully winked at Meng Cheng’an when she saw him.

Meng Cheng’an smiled.

The try-on sessions for the crew lasted about a week, with subsequent adjustments to any unsatisfactory aspects.

A week later, filming finally began; a lengthy drama of over sixty episodes; the initial shooting and post-production were expected to take about a year.

A year’s time, things could change drastically; by then, no one knew what the market would be like.

No one could predict these things, it just had to be left to time to witness.