Actor

"Is there anything else to eat besides egg fried rice?" Liang Mengqi asked.

"Yes, the food will only get more and better in the future."

Zhang Han said in a calm tone. For his first customer, Zhang Han decided to give her some information.

"That's great! Will it all be as delicious as the egg fried rice?" Liang Mengqi's expression lit up with excitement.

"Of course," Zhang Han said, glancing at the foodie beauty and smiling faintly.

"I'm really looking forward to your food. I had a great time today. Here's the money, no need for change. I'll be back tomorrow morning at seven." Liang Mengqi placed several hundred-yuan bills on the table, smiled at Zhang Han, and then looked at Mengmeng, extending her hand. "See you tomorrow, Mengmeng."

"Goodbye!" Mengmeng waved her little palm.

Liang Mengqi waved again and left with a smile.

Zhang Han walked over and picked up the money. It totaled eight hundred yuan. Liang Mengqi had ordered two portions of egg fried rice and two cups of milk, which according to Zhang Han's prices should have been seven hundred and twenty yuan. Normally, Zhang Han would have just charged seven hundred as a symbolic gesture, but it seemed Liang Mengqi had truly enjoyed her meal.

He casually put the money into the drawer of the desk where his laptop was. There was over seventy thousand yuan in cash in the drawer. He also had over sixty thousand yuan in cash in his car. He had withdrawn one hundred and fifty thousand yuan last time to buy the free-range chicken, keeping it as a reserve.

After putting the money in the drawer, he intended to play with Mengmeng for a while. When he turned around, he found that the Little Princess had already run to the sofa and was playing with her toys.

Zhang Han smiled and shook his head. After a moment of thought, he decided to start writing down those songs.

So, Zhang Han first went online to search.

Xue Qian has a lot of negative news.

When Zhang Han opened the webpage, he saw news about Xue Qian on the trending list. With nothing else to do, Zhang Han clicked on it and took a look, realizing that Xue Qian was not in a good situation at the moment.

Fame brings trouble. Every popular star has a lot of gossip and negative news.

Recently, there has been a lot of negative news about Xue Qian, and the controversy is escalating. Variety shows, commercial performances, and other collaborations have all been canceled due to concerns about potential repercussions.

"On the fifteenth, Xue Qian will hold a concert in Linhai."

Zhang Han saw another piece of news. The editor who wrote it seemed to be a fan of Xue Qian. He wrote below: "Fans still love you."

He also included some pictures, with the accompanying text roughly meaning that his fans had not abandoned him. The concert tickets sold out within an hour of going on sale, and scalpers were now selling them for five times the original price!

This meant that a regular ticket cost around three thousand yuan, and VIP tickets in front of the stage had exceeded ten thousand.

This situation was clearly very rare and might be related to the concept of "extreme reactions." Xue Qian was incredibly popular, but now all the news about him was negative. This left his fans feeling frustrated. Since he was holding a concert on the fifteenth, many fans felt that while businesses had abandoned Xue Qian, they would not. Thus, the tickets sold out even faster than usual.

Zhang Han pondered for a moment.

"The song 'Actor' would be suitable."

Although Zhang Han had never been a fan of celebrities, he did have a few singers he liked to listen to, and Xue Qian was one of them. His songs had a certain charm, his voice was deep and pleasant, and it tugged at the heartstrings.

Speaking of the song 'Actor,' it was one of his most widely popular songs. It had once topped the global Chinese music charts.

The song continued a deep and melancholic love story with simple lyrics, following the route of a sad love song, interpreting the entanglement of love and hate in a love fable through music.

'This song it is,' Zhang Han thought.

Zhang Han took out a pen and paper from another drawer, sat on the chair in front of the piano, opened the lid, and closed his eyes to recall the accompaniment for 'Actor.'

The accompaniment was not complicated. The song's excellence was entirely reflected in Xue Qian's singing skills.

Soon, Zhang Han played through the piano accompaniment, recalling it. After confirming that it matched the song in his memory, he picked up his pen and wrote down the musical score.

"I still need to get the complete accompaniment done properly."

Zhang Han pondered for a moment and searched online for recording studios near New Moon Bay, intending to go and finish the music.

After finding a suitable location, Zhang Han picked up Mengmeng and left, heading to a recording studio in New Moon Bay.

Although Zhang Han didn't understand the equipment, music was in his heart. After three hours of hard work by the sound engineer, the background music for 'Actor' was produced. These three hours also cost Zhang Han twelve hundred yuan.

With that done, it was already ten o'clock in the evening. Returning to the restaurant, Zhang Han recorded the piano version of 'Actor' on his phone and began writing the lyrics on a document:

"Keep it simple, simplify the way you speak, omit the escalating emotions, you're not an actor, don't design those scenes, I have no objections, I just want to see how you'll get out of this, your sadness is too superficial, like an untalented actor, the audience can see it at a glance..."

The lyrics were quickly written. With everything done and precautions noted, Zhang Han compiled it into a file and sent it to the designated email address.

At this point, Mengmeng, who had been waiting nearby, was getting impatient and mumbled about when they would go to sleep.

Zhang Han quickly picked up Mengmeng and headed to the bedroom on the second floor, preparing to lull her to sleep.

Mengmeng wanted to hear a story, so Zhang Han began to tell her one.

Mengmeng had long since heard stories like Snow White, and even Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Frozen, multiple times. Ziyan knew many of these stories and had told Mengmeng even more.

Only Zhang Han didn't know them, and there was nothing Ziyan couldn't tell.

However, Zhang Han had his own methods. He began to tell Mengmeng a treasure-hunting story.

"Do you know how Immortal Lord Hanyang obtained the Sky-Reaching Tree? Dad will tell you, the story behind it is quite a twist..."

Meanwhile, in a high-rise apartment with a sea view in New Moon Bay, not far from Zhang Han.

"Aww..."

Agent Li Fan took off his high-fidelity headphones and yawned. He glanced at Xue Qian, who was playing the guitar nearby, trying to get into the mood. He muttered, "Sigh, what are these submitted songs? They're like a bunch of monsters! Some even say they don't want money, but then the songs they produce are like nursery rhymes. Everyone heard that Old Xue, you're preparing for a concert and releasing new songs, and they all want to try their luck."

"Not everyone can write a classic song, and not everyone can sing a classic song. It's okay if we don't get any new ones; I can sing old songs at this concert," Xue Qian replied with a slight smile.

"That's true. It's better to sing old songs than to have bad songs affect the quality. I was too impatient. A good song isn't that easy to find." Li Fan shook his head, a smile appearing on his face, and said, "Right, the news you leaked was very beneficial for you. Public opinion is already leaning towards us, and your fans aren't disappointed either. Tickets for this concert have been scalped to the extreme."

"Did the scalpers hoard the tickets?" Xue Qian frowned slightly and said, "Contact the ticket vendor. Tell them I don't want to see my fans having to pay a huge price to attend my concert. If there's any cooperation with scalpers, I won't cooperate with them again in the future."

"Got it. I'll contact them tomorrow." Li Fan opened a bottle of cocktail and took two sips, then continued, "People usually hope tickets sell for more, but you're the opposite."

"Without fans, there wouldn't be the me of today. We can't put the cart before the horse," Xue Qian said very seriously.

"I know. I'll ask properly tomorrow." Li Fan nodded solemnly.

Putting aside everything else, just the attitude towards fans alone made Li Fan admire Xue Qian from the bottom of his heart.

Many of the current celebrities act like divas, but they forget that their status comes from their fans.

Lin Hai City, as Huaguo's Oriental Pearl, is a first-tier city both domestically and internationally, naturally very developed.

Lin Hai's night view is very beautiful. On a cruise ship at the Bund.

Ziyan was filming the MV for a song. One scene being filmed was of her and a man gazing affectionately at each other.

The background was the glittering Oriental Pearl, and the man was none other than Li Cheng, Young Master Li, who had been 'invited' by the director.

This scene of gazing affectionately at Li Cheng made Ziyan very uncomfortable. They were already on their fifth take.

Although Ziyan was looking at Li Cheng, her mind was trying hard to imagine Mengmeng's figure. Only then could her gaze soften. However, as she was thinking, Zhang Han's figure drifted through Ziyan's mind, making her feel a bit bewildered.

"Okay, this shot is done. Move on to the next. Ziyan, you and Young Master Li stand by the ship's railing, same angle. Gaze affectionately for two seconds, then start kissing. Remember to kiss realistically," the director instructed the two.

"A kiss scene?"

Ziyan's brows furrowed.

"Didn't we agree not to have a kiss scene?" Zhou Fei, standing to the side, stared with wide eyes and said loudly to the director, "The MV script I read earlier didn't have a kiss scene either! Why add one at the last minute?"

"What script? What script? The song is called Light Kiss. Isn't it normal to film a kiss scene for an MV? Do you not have the basic professionalism of a celebrity?" Facing Zhou Fei's questioning, the director's expression also turned grim.

"Hey! I told you before that we wouldn't film kiss scenes. Was your agreement back then just empty words?" Zhou Fei was a little angry. She knew Ziyan's personality. Let alone before, she wouldn't have done kiss scenes. Now, with Mengmeng, and her unclear relationship with Zhang Han, she would be even less likely to accept a kiss scene. Thus, Zhou Fei's tone had become somewhat cold.

"Oh?" Hearing this, the director was furious. His eyes widened, and he said loudly, "Are you filming or not? Filming or not? Huh? You're getting angry with me? Did you hire me to film the MV, or did I hire you? I'll ask you one thing: are you filming or not! If not, we're done!"

"You!" Zhou Fei's eyebrows shot up.

Just as she was about to retort, Ziyan, wearing a white dress, spoke up from the front:

"We'll film, but without the kiss scene."

Ziyan's voice was as cold and clear as ever, and her face showed no expression, making it impossible to discern her emotions.

Beside her, Li Cheng had been watching coldly, but a meaningful smile played on his lips.