Song Shuixian suddenly turned around, grabbed a glass of orange juice from the table, and splashed it hard on Ni Dan's face.
"Ni Dan, you bastard, can't you speak human language?" she shouted.
Instantly, many people turned to look.
Ni Dan was utterly disheveled; his carefully styled hair was completely ruined, his face was a mess, and his collar was soaked. He stood up abruptly and roared, "You slut, you dare splash me? I'll beat you to death!"
Then, he raised his hand and slapped Song Shuixian hard.
Then, a piercing scream suddenly rang out!
It was a terrible scream, like a pig being slaughtered; of course, it couldn't have been Song Shuixian.
It was Ni Dan who screamed! This shout drew everyone's attention, even the main actors on stage who were enthusiastically introducing themselves turned to look in astonishment.
Just as his slap was about to land on Song Shuixian's face, half a beer bottle suddenly came flying at him. The bottom of the bottle was broken off, the broken pieces resembling the fangs of a wild beast.
These countless "fangs" pierced Ni Dan's palm, some even piercing through his hand and protruding from the back of his hand.
The one who swung the beer bottle was Lu Chen.
He gave Ni Dan a wicked smile, released his grip, and greeted him casually, "Hi, Mr. Ni, we meet again. You're so happy to see me, you don't need to shout so loudly, do you? It's truly an honor."
Ni Dan looked as if he had seen a ghost. He looked at Lu Chen, then at the beer bottle firmly embedded in his palm, blood dripping from his hand. He screamed in terror, "Help!"
Song Shuixian, however, looked at Lu Chen with a mixture of shock and delight. Then, she grabbed his hand and turned to run, shouting, "Run! You hurt him; these people won't let you off easily!"
Sure enough, several bodyguards rushed over.
Ni Dan screamed hysterically, "Grab him! Fuck you, grab him! My god…it hurts so much! I'm going to stab that beer bottle in his palm too, and in his head! This…this guy is inhuman!"
No wonder Song Shuixian was pulling Lu Chen to run.
Lu Chen, however, pulled her back, saying casually, "Why run? This guy deserves it; it's not our fault. Besides, there's something very important we haven't done yet!"
"Huh? What important thing?" Song Shuixian asked, startled.
At this moment, the bodyguards pounced, ready to seize Lu Chen under Ni Dan's orders. Suddenly, a sharp shout rang out from the stage: "Stop!"
Everyone turned to see a imposing middle-aged man standing on the stage.
Ni Dan froze, quickly suppressing his pain, and forced a smile as he approached, "Director Bao, when did you arrive? This...this is embarrassing."
Director Bao was none other than Bao Deli, one of Zhuang Sicong's trusted lieutenants and the operations director. He was also the person responsible for overseeing the film's development for the investors.
Bao Deli glanced at him indifferently, a hint of disdain in his eyes. Then he said, "Mr. Ni, you should call a doctor first, get your wound bandaged, and let me hear what I have to say before you go to the hospital."
"What is it?" Ni Dan suddenly had a bad feeling.
Bao Deli ignored him and addressed the entire audience: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very sorry, but we received a last-minute instruction from our General Manager Zhuang. Originally, we investors wouldn't interfere with the cast of this film, but because Director Ni has some issues that our General Manager Zhuang isn't entirely satisfied with, he's decided to intervene!"
Ni Dan felt increasingly overwhelmed. What did this mean?
Bao Deli continued, "Our General Manager Zhuang has decided that Ms. Song Shuixian will play the lead role in this film. Furthermore, we'll need Ms. Song to serve as the producer, overseeing and controlling the overall quality of the film to ensure its success!"
Ni Dan's mouth dropped open in disbelief: "This... what's going on?"
The lead actress on stage, who had just been mocking Song Shuixian, was also stunned: "Impossible! How could Song Shuixian be the lead? Wasn't it supposed to be mine? No way... how can this be!"
This film, with an investment of fifty million, wasn't much on a national scale, but regionally it was a very large investment. The actors involved were all regional actors, and they all knew that being able to appear in this film was a great opportunity for them.
But now, the lead actress was gone, just like that.
Bao Deli turned his head, gave the original lead actress a cold look, and said, "This is just a press conference for the start of filming. I remember we haven't signed contracts with everyone yet, so it's fine."
Song Shuixian was also stunned and confused. Just now, even the fourth lead actress was gone, leaving only the seventh and eighth leads. How did she suddenly become the lead actress?
Then, she understood, and suddenly hugged Lu Chen's neck, excitedly shouting, "Chen, it's you! It's you, isn't it? No wonder Yunyun said so resolutely that you could help me, it turns out... you really can!"
Lu Chen felt embarrassed, suddenly feeling two sharp gazes piercing him from behind. He quickly pushed Song Shuixian away, scratching his head, and said, "Okay, it was me. Well… actually, it wasn't entirely my fault. It was mainly Brother Cong who did the work. He has some family ties with the Zhuang family, and he put in a lot of effort to get it done."
"But you only need to thank me, no need to thank him! It's what he should do."
About two hours later, in the middle of the night, a girl's clear and beautiful singing voice filled the night sky.
Three people walked along the street still flashing neon lights: two men and a woman. The woman stood in the middle, one arm linked with a man's, walking excitedly forward.
The woman was naturally Song Shuixian, and the men were Zhuang Sicong and Lu Chen.
Zhuang Sicong had already arranged everything for tonight, pushing Song Shuixian into the leading role without his presence.
Just making Song Shuixian the female lead was too easy for Zhuang Sicong.
Song Shuixian walked unsteadily, her head sometimes resting on Zhuang Sicong's shoulder, sometimes on Lu Chen's. However, Lu Chen always seemed a little uncomfortable and embarrassed, his shoulder slightly darting away.
Finally, although Song Shuixian was still holding onto Lu Chen's arm, her head rested solely on Zhuang Sicong's shoulder.
The streetlights constantly lengthened and shortened, darkened and lightened the shadows of the three people.
…
Thanks to Lu Chen's generous compensation and the hard work of the decorators, the Moon's Tooth Pastry Shop was completed several days ahead of schedule. Originally, Moon's Tooth was only one story; now, it had three whole stories!
Even from the outside, it had a special charm. The building, from the first to the third floor, was shaped like a slightly raised birthday cake, and the doors and windows were like bulging, fragrant desserts.
With the excellent paint and the craftsmen's meticulous application, it was practically a work of art, making one's mouth water at first glance. Passing by the street, he glanced at the shop, thinking it looked like a place to buy some snacks.
However, although the renovations were complete, they couldn't be opened immediately. The smell of the renovations was still quite strong, so Lu Chen had someone buy a lot of tea stalks and plants to absorb the odor. At most, it would be open in about half a month.
To Lu Chen's disappointment, Liu Li's return was repeatedly postponed. Her mother's condition was not optimistic; it seemed quite serious. Furthermore, Lu Chen sensed something unusual in his phone conversations with Liu Li.
It seemed there were other problems?
However, Liu Li didn't say, and Lu Chen didn't feel comfortable asking. But he was determined that if Liu Li didn't return, he would finish his work and rush over to see her and find out what was going on.
That day, Lu Chen was busy at the temporary workshop, like consecrating Buddhist beads, using his mysterious culinary abilities to imbue the pastries made by the pastry chefs with the Lu family's essence.
Guo Fuyun was also with Lu Chen. Now, she's become his little follower. Wearing a chef's hat and uniform, she's intently making cakes.
Lu Chen discovered this girl has a talent; mainly because she's focused, the pastries she makes are quite good. She also enjoys making these things and is improving rapidly under Lu Chen's guidance.
Lu Chen told Guo Xifeng about this. Fengjie was also worried; her daughter's autism was gradually improving, but what to do next? Send her back to school? Learning more is always a good thing, at least it can elevate one's mindset.
But Guo Fuyun's current state isn't really suitable.
Perfect, she likes making pastries, so why not learn from Lu Chen?
We'll see how it goes later.
Now, Guo Xifeng doesn't dare to have too high expectations for her daughter. First, she hopes her autism will completely heal; second, she hopes she can have her own development, not necessarily a huge success, but at least she won't feel empty inside.
Lu Chen was quite welcoming; Moon's Tooth Pastry Shop wasn't short of pastry chefs, which was perfect! With Guo Fuyun by his side, he felt quite secure.
The two became master and apprentice, learning pastry making and practicing martial arts, enjoying each other's company immensely.
While Lu Chen was instructing Guo Fuyun on making pastries, his phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, every cell in his body trembled with excitement.
It was Du Haoqi calling!
Thinking of that incredibly hot and sexy body, Lu Chen didn't know why, but he felt extremely excited, even a little infatuated. He answered the phone: "Hey, beautiful lady, calling me to invite me to dinner?"
Du Haoqi didn't respond to Lu Chen's question, but instead cried out anxiously: "Director Lu, something happened to my sister… She seems to have injured someone at school, but I don't know the specifics. I'm conducting a very important experiment at the company, could you go see her? Please!"
Lingling injured someone? How could that be? Although she also has autism, she doesn't have bipolar disorder like Guo Fuyun, who can be aggressive. How could she have hurt someone?
Lu Chen immediately said in a deep voice, "Okay, I'll be right there!"