Lin Jiang drove them to Crab Mansion and led them to the private room he had booked in advance.
He ordered a few of the restaurant’s signature dishes and a bottle of red wine, and with that, the dinner began.
Tang Wan took the initiative to pour wine for them.
"I won’t be drinking. I’ll have tea instead," Fang Jie said. "You can have a drink with President Lin."
"Okay."
Fang Jie, using tea in place of wine, had her own agenda.
’If President Lin drinks, he won’t be able to drive tonight. I can drive his car back for him.’
’That would give me an opportunity to spend the evening with him.’
"President Lin, President Fang, I’d like to propose a toast to you. Thank you for giving me this opportunity."
Tang Wan lowered her glass, a sign of respect, as she rose to clink glasses with Lin Jiang and Fang Jie.
"And we’ll toast to the future Best Actress," Lin Jiang said with a smile.
"You’re too kind, President Lin."
The three of them clinked their glasses. Lin Jiang and Tang Wan drained their wine in a single gulp.
BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ—
BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ—
After finishing her drink, Tang Wan sat down and took out her phone. She glanced at the screen and saw it was a call from Zhang Weidong, but she didn’t answer, simply rejecting it.
"Xiaowan, I asked you to come here today because there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about."
Fang Jie was being deliberately mysterious. "You can try and guess why I asked you here."
"Well..."
Tang Wan hesitated, her mind racing with speculation.
When she first got the call, Fang Jie had mentioned that the person who wanted to have dinner with her was President Lin.
’Her first thought was that President Lin must have... that kind of interest in her. Why else would she have been cast as the female lead? In this day and age, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and this was an open secret in the industry.’
’If you didn’t keep your sponsor happy, you could forget about getting any resources.’
’But then again, President Lin already had President Fang by his side. She was perfect in every way, so it seemed unlikely he would have that kind of interest in her.’
’With that in mind, it had to be about something else.’
"Is it about coordinating promotional work?"
"The promotional work is pretty much all done. The reason I asked you here today..."
Fang Jie paused, deciding not to drag out the suspense any longer.
"President Lin has a song that would be a perfect fit for the movie. Since he thinks very highly of you and wants to give you a boost, he’s planning to have you sing it."
Tang Wan was stunned.
She had considered many possibilities, but this was not one of them.
’He wanted *me* to sing!!!’
"Don’t just stand there in a daze. Aren’t you going to thank President Lin?" Fang Jie said with a grin.
Grabbing her glass, Tang Wan immediately stood up and poured it more than half full with red wine.
"Thank you for this opportunity, President Lin. I’ll drink to you."
With that, Tang Wan drained her glass. She winced, struggling to get it all down, but she finished every last drop.
When she sat back down, Tang Wan’s cheeks were flushed, but she still seemed to be in good shape.
"Have you had any formal training for this?" Fang Jie asked.
"Not really, no. The songs I post online are just me singing along for fun."
"It seems you’ll need some proper lessons, then. We can’t let President Lin down," Fang Jie said.
"Thank you, President Lin. I’ll be sure to work hard."
Fang Jie was very satisfied with Tang Wan’s attitude. She said:
"I’ve just sent you the music and lyrics. Take a look."
Tang Wan picked up her phone. Like Fang Jie, she silently read the lyrics, her eyes filled with joy.
"These lyrics are so well-written. They’re simple, yet so sincere."
"That’s why you should be thanking President Lin. If he hadn’t given you this opportunity, making a name for yourself in this industry would be incredibly difficult."
"Thank you, President Lin. I’m not very good with words, so let me toast you again."
Tang Wan once again filled her glass, rose to toast Lin Jiang, and then tilted her head back, downing it in one go.
Watching Tang Wan drink, Lin Jiang realized that Fang Jie was very good at creating opportunities.
’If this kept up, she was bound to get drunk tonight. And everyone knew what could happen once she was drunk.’
’The only thing was, he had no such intentions.’
Tang Wan had a very clear understanding of her position. She was a nobody, and her career lived or died by a single word from him.
To keep her sponsor happy, all she could do was keep drinking.
Otherwise, an opportunity like this would never have come her way.
"Alright, slow down," Lin Jiang said.
"My plan is to release this song in a month to generate another wave of buzz for the movie, so you still have some time to prepare."
"I understand, President Lin. I won’t disappoint you."
"Good."
BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ—
Tang Wan’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it and, just as she’d suspected, it was a call from Zhang Weidong.
She rejected the call and saw more than a dozen messages from him. A wave of irritation washed over her; he just didn’t understand.
"You should take that. It’s been ringing for a while," Fang Jie said.
Tang Wan stood up. "President Lin, President Fang, I need to take this call."
"Go ahead."
Tang Wan left the room with her phone. Before she could even call him back, Zhang Weidong was calling again.
"What are you doing? Why do you keep rejecting my calls!"
"I’m out having dinner with my boss. Why do you keep calling?"
"Isn’t your boss a woman? Then why did I see you get into a man’s car? Who was he?!"
"He’s the investor for the movie! He’s the one who made the final decision to cast me! We’re just having a meal together. It’s completely normal!"
"You went out to eat with another man and you didn’t tell me beforehand? Do you have any respect for me as your boyfriend?!"
Zhang Weidong’s voice grew louder and louder. Tang Wan, fueled by the wine she’d had, found it impossible to control her own temper.
"Why are you yelling at me? I already told you what I was doing."
"You didn’t say a man would be there!"
"Can you stop letting your imagination run wild? President Fang is with us too! Look, I’m busy. I’m hanging up."

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