Fishing?

"I don't want his traffic," Xie Yibai said.

"Then I'll turn him down and cancel tonight." Zou Yan rested a hand on his shoulder blade. "Let's go to the meeting first, all right? Everyone's here. We can't leave them all waiting, can we?"

He linked his arm with Zou Yan's, straightened up and turned to look at him. "Brother Yan, do you like me?"

Zou Yan said, "What do you think?"

"I want to hear you say it."

"I do."

Xie Yibai lifted his chin. "Then you have to like what I like and hate what I hate."

Zou Yan had met all sorts of people. Some fawned over him, some went out of their way to flatter him, and others put on airs to raise their own value, too proud to bow their heads. Only Xie Yibai was so candid, and dared to order him around so self-righteously.

Coming from anyone else, Zou Yan would have thought they were pushing their luck. But Xie Yibai was so matter-of-fact that he made you feel you would be letting him down if you didn't indulge him.

That was really a child's privilege. When someone grew up spoiled, they were bound to be a little willful and overbearing.

Zou Yan crouched down, changing his angle to look up at that delicately pointed face. Even Xie Yibai's fingers were tapered, like tender bamboo shoots, slender and cool to the touch. In his hand, they felt like a piece of jade worth admiring and playing with. He asked, "If I listen to you, how will you reward me?"

Xie Yibai thought for a moment, then placed the five fingers of his other hand in Zou Yan's palm as well. With a demure expression and a hint of mischief, he said, "I'll reward you by letting you kiss the back of my hand."

Zou Yan couldn't help laughing. So he isn't quite that innocent after all.

And his cunning was only that of a little fox, nothing to fear, yet it drew people in.

Zou Yan looked at him reverently, lifted his fingers and kissed them.

Chapter 22: Fishing?

When Xie Yibai thought back on this scene afterward, he couldn't help admiring how his skill had given him such nerve.

How did I dare do that?!

Fortunately, Zou Yan fell for it... Apparently, even someone who had spent a long time at the top liked something different now and then.

He had prepared himself to kick up a fuss if Zou Yan disagreed. Who would have thought Zou Yan would be even easier to talk to than he had imagined-or rather, even more indulgent of him than he had expected?

He had always been the one persuaded before. Hao Jun had persuaded him to attend drinking parties he disliked, and his former manager had persuaded him to take scripts he didn't want to act in. As the saying went, you had to lose something to gain something, and he had gradually grown used to putting up with things and settling. Now that he had regained his freedom, what he said went. He was so happy that, like a bird released from its cage, he wanted to spread his arms and flap about. He hugged Zou Yan as if he were a toy bear freshly dried in the sun and filled with its scent, and said affectionately, "Brother Yan, you're the second-nicest person to me in the whole world!"

Emotions were contagious. Bathed in his happiness, Zou Yan smiled and asked, "Then who's the nicest to you?"

"My mom," Xie Yibai said. "But as she's gotten older, she hasn't been as nice to me. All she thinks about is playing cards and buying bags."

Suddenly, Zou Yan's eyelid twitched. Holding his breath, he said, "Xiaobai, you're pressing on my hand."

"Oh, sorry!" Xie Yibai let go and stepped back, then lifted Zou Yan's left arm to examine it. The cast from his wrist to the web between his thumb and forefinger had been removed and replaced with a splint. Though lighter, it was still wrapped in several layers of gauze. He touched it carefully and asked, "Does it still hurt?"

"No," Zou Yan said breezily. "We fought all the time as kids. Dislocations and bruises were common."

"Who did you fight? Director Ke?" Xie Yibai perked up. "Which of you won more often?"

"Who'd fight him? Someone like him..." Mindful of the time, Zou Yan glanced at his phone and hurriedly pushed him toward the door. "All right, meeting first. I'll tell you all about it another day when I'm free."

"I'm not sitting at the same table as Qi Lan." Emboldened by Zou Yan's indulgence, Xie Yibai pushed his luck.

Zou Yan was hosting today. With the meeting at his home, it would be improper for him not to show up, and that wasn't his way of doing things either. Giving in yet again, he said, "You don't have to sit at the same table as him. I'll arrange for you to sit on the sofa. Will that do?"

"All right!" Xie Yibai had already gotten what he wanted and didn't want to put him in a difficult position. He followed him to the tea room where the guests were being received.

Those present today were the drama's core creative team: two writers from the screenwriting studio, the producer Zou Yan, the co-producer and manager Yin Ran, Xie Yibai and Qi Lan, and several assistants. The director was the last to arrive, a young man in a hoodie, jeans and a baseball cap, who struck Xie Yibai as oddly familiar.

From the lineup alone, it was clear that this script meeting was meant to discuss how to shape the male lead he would be playing.

A long-running television drama was a vehicle for storytelling centered on character building. Everything about the lead-his character profile, personality traits, growth, arc, iconic scenes and so on-had to be scrutinized and revised through countless meetings, large and small, before it reached the screen.

Some scripts were used to select actors for roles, while others had roles written to suit their actors. Xie Yibai's was the latter: without him, there would be no drama, so his views were crucial.

But he didn't need to have an opinion, either. He was a traffic artist whom investors had spent heavily to package and promote. The goal was for his character profile to fit his image and attract fans and money. The say over the IP that was Xie Yibai actually rested with his manager. Yin Ran was responsible for planning the future scope of his career, from major decisions like which dramas he took and which roles he played, down to what clothes he wore and what he said on shows.

What kind of male lead he should play and how to make the character convincing were also for Yin Ran to decide.

As for how to add artistic merit or aesthetic appeal to the drama as a work of art, while ensuring its commercial value, that fell within Zou Yan's remit.

Xie Yibai hadn't needed to attend at all. Zou Yan's reasoning was that the two writers had never met him, and since the role was being tailored to him, meeting him in person would surely help them write it.

"You could have them watch my old dramas," he said.

Zou Yan frowned. "If I wanted to reproduce those old dramas of yours, would I need to go to all this trouble?"

Xie Yibai obediently sat on a sofa away from the long table. Like an outsider, he ignored Qi Lan's repeated attempts to talk to him and be friendly, keeping his head down and playing on his phone.

The director who had arrived late was seated beside Zou Yan. Before sitting down, he greeted Xie Yibai. "Hello, Teacher Xie."

Xie Yibai remembered who he was: the casting director who had received him when he first went to audition for 404. His name was Shu Lin.

"Hello, Director Shu. We meet again." He smiled.

A drama dozens of episodes long required an enormous amount of written material, so this meeting focused only on the main storyline related to the male lead. For the first half hour, Xie Yibai listened to their discussion and followed the outline written on the whiteboard. After that, he was busy playing on his phone.

It wasn't that he didn't care about his role, but that he still couldn't make his own decisions for the time being. Now that he had another decisive, no-nonsense lead manager, it was best to stay quiet and obedient, a flower vase who seemed easy to control.

The male lead he played in Beacon Fires West of the City was named Jinshu. Born into a prominent northern family, he had studied abroad in England before a letter from home summoned him back with news of his father's grave illness. Yet he returned only in time for the grandest, most solemn funeral the city had seen.

With his father dead, Jinshu was forced to shoulder the family business. But the vast family home was only an empty shell, its century-old foundations already riddled with holes. Even a young man full of ambition could not save a family at the end of its rope.

After the entire family moved south to Shanghai, Jinshu met Yu Zhen, an orphan who made qipaos for wealthy young ladies and officials' wives at a tailor shop. Together, they wrote a sweeping, stirring first half of their lives.

The debate at the meeting revolved around the male lead's romantic storyline: whether to let him and Yu Zhen fall in love at all; and if they did write a romance, whether she should be older or

younger,

whether it should be a passionate romance full of sweetness and heartbreak, or mutual pining with neither confessing.

The question depended more on the tone and style of the drama as a whole: whether it would be profound and weighty, or lighthearted and satisfying.

Zou Yan already had someone in mind for the female lead. Xie Yibai's acting was still green, so they needed a skilled actress to support him. He advocated playing down the romance, or changing Yu Zhen from an orphan to a widow, increasing the moral conflict and social constraints surrounding the relationship and leaving more room to interpret the characters.

Yin Ran disagreed. Audiences had already accepted Xie Yibai's current image as a romantic drama lead. To highlight his onscreen appeal, they needed the element of a golden couple's romance. A pairing between an orphan girl and a young master fallen on hard times would better suit mainstream audiences' tastes.

Xie Yibai listened as they argued without reaching an agreement, and in the end they still came to no conclusion. He had played on his phone enough and was getting sleepy, but propriety kept him from yawning and stretching in front of everyone. He put down his phone and stared into space for a while. Just as he was about to resume playing, he received a new WeChat message.

Qi Lan: Why are you ignoring me? I called you so many times.

Xie Yibai scrolled up. His last chat with Qi Lan had been two years ago, a New Year's greeting Qi Lan had sent to everyone. He hadn't replied, and Qi Lan hadn't messaged him again in the two years since.

They weren't even the sort of acquaintances who liked each other's posts, so why should they pay each other any attention?

But Xie Yibai was bored out of his mind. Sitting there was like being in class, and he couldn't go anywhere, so his fingers tapped rapidly on the screen.

: Oh, it's you. I didn't recognize you.

Qi Lan: Are you serious?

: Of course not. You're a top star, after all. Fame has made you so radiant I hardly dared recognize you.

After sending it, Xie Yibai laughed at his own sharp-tongued, sour remark.

Qi Lan: I'm flattered, but I'm not as famous as you, Teacher Xie. Such a top producer is making a drama especially for you. You must have a lot of clout. /thumbs-up

He dares mock me!

Xie Yibai typed again: Yeah, it's a drama made for me. What are you doing here? Begging for scraps?

Qi Lan: Don't put it so harshly. Sister Yin Ran is your manager, but she's also my boss. It's perfectly normal for her to cast me in a drama she's investing in. How is that begging for scraps?

Xie Yibai stopped replying. He wasn't going to bicker with Qi Lan over this and that.

Qi Lan: Are you still holding a grudge over what happened back then? I've told you many times, that wasn't what I intended. The company did it, and I only found out afterward.

: But you benefited from it too.

Qi Lan: I've always felt the two of us could be friends. Give me a chance to make it up to you?

: What's wrong with you? Who asked you to make it up to me?

Qi Lan: Hey, did you know you've gotten really famous lately?