Wei Sama, Let’s Stuff Them with Dog Food

72. President Sheng

Translator: Sissy That Walk

The premiere of the Better Days consisted of five parts, introduction, guest talk, film screening, director’s statement, and acknowledgement session to the crew members.

Wei Chang Feng and Ya Ting would do the guest talk session as the male and female lead. Qi Le An only needed to go to the stage in the last session.

Qi Le An was determined to watch and learn how Wei Chang Feng and Ya Ting command the whole venue in the talk session, he appreciated the opportunity to learn from the best in the industry sitting in the front row.

Wei Chang Feng, who needed to do the guest talk later, headed to the backstage waiting area directly. He was surprised to see Qi Le An there, “Why don’t you talk to the other guests in the venue, An?”

Qi Le An smiled and said, “I don’t know anyone there, they are all big shots.”

This was the truth. Qi Le An was never interested in social events, he wasn’t good at fawning upon on the big shots or socializing for more work opportunities. Plus he had offended the management of Glory already, he had no idea which guest sitting in the audience was Glory’s interested party. He figured he better stay away from politics thus to make himself safe.

In social events like this, you needed someone who was very socially active to introduce you to the big bosses. But Chen Shan wasn’t here with Qi Le An, so he decided to lay low.

 

Wei Chang Feng understood it immediately, so he changed the subject, “How was the cupcakes?”

Qi Le An’s eyes brightened when he heard that. The cupcakes he had that morning was different from the ones he had before. It was so soft and moist, the sweetness wasn’t aggressive, the aroma and the taste complemented each other…

“Yummy!” Qi Le An was about to drool.

Wei Chang Feng smiled and said, “They are new products, we haven’t launched them yet. I’m glad to hear you like them.”

Ya Ting walked in when the two were laughing and talking about cupcakes.

Better Days was Ya Ting’s first movie of the year, she and her company had attached great importance to it, she had spent a lot of effort in promoting it.

“Chang Feng, Good afternoon,” Ya Ting smiled and greeted Wei Chang Feng, “Hi, An, how have you been?”

“Hello, Ya Ting Jiejie, I’ve been well, how are you, it’s been months since we last met,” Qi Le An said.

Ya Ting looked even more gorgeous this day with her glamourous red carpet make up and black see-through gown.

Qi Le An noticed that Ya Ting seemed to have something to say to Wei Chang Feng, so he thought he better excuse himself and give them some privacy.

“Ya Ting Jie, can you excuse me for a second? I’ll be back soon.” Wei Chang Feng asked, “I want to take An to meet President Sheng.”

Ya Ting nodded in astonishment.

Meeting Sheng Chang’an was a huge deal for anyone in the business, it was even more huge when Wei Chang Feng recommended you to him.

Everyone in the industry knew Wei Chang Feng and Sheng Chang’an were close, but no one knew they were in-laws. Qi Le An used to get jealous when he found out they lived together, but now he just wanted to laugh at himself.

People in show business were the most calculating bunch, they would treat Qi Le An differently once they saw Sheng Chang’an talking to him.

This was another kind offer from Wei Chang Feng. He was protecting Qi Le An.

Sheng Chang’an was relaxing in the VIP lounge, he didn’t like to be surrounded by people either.

Wei Chang Feng knocked on the door and there came Sheng Chang’an’s calm voice, “Come in, Chang Feng.” With that Wei Chang Feng walked in with Qi Le An.

“Yin Yan didn’t come. Please take care of the boy for me,” Wei Chang Feng pretended he didn’t see Sheng Chang’an’s raised eyebrows.

Sheng Chang’an cast a glimpse at Qi Le An and Qi Le An felt a shiver running down his spine. He quickly forced a smile and said, “Hello, Sheng Ge.”

Sheng Chang’an nodded, Wei Chang Feng patted Qi Le An’s shoulder and rushed out.

The lounge was not big. Qi Le An, who was alone with Sheng Chang’an, felt that every cell was full of nervousness. For some reason, he even wished he were in the venue now, he didn’t know how to talk to this Sheng Chang’an, President Sheng always looked so unapproachable.

After about five or six minutes, Sheng Chang’an finally stood up and said to Qi Le An, “Let’s go.”

President Sheng had already stridden towards the door before Qi Le An even stood up. ‘President Sheng, please have mercy, I don’t have long legs like you and Wei Sama!’ Qi Le An cried bitterness in his heart.

Qi Le An quickly followed.

It was less than twenty minutes before the premiere officially started, and almost all the guests had already arrived. As soon as President Sheng entered the venue, he immediately attracted a large number of head turns. Qi Le An, who was following Sheng Chang’an, had shared the attention as well.

It looked like being a big shot in the industry was even harder than being a celebrity! Most of the celebrities attracted people’s attention was because people loved watch movies and drama, but as for why the big shots would attract so many head turns… …

As the president of China Entertainment, Sheng Chang’an was definitely the most prestigious guest. Regular guests dared not even approach him or talk to him, Wang from Glory had met Sheng Chang’an a few times before, so he braced up and greeted Sheng Chang’an cautiously, “Hi, President Sheng, long time no see, how have you been?”

Sheng Chang’an looked at him for a long time to recall who he was and then he gave him a slight nod.

Mr. Wang, “…”

Blue veins stood out on Wang’s temples, he permitted a dry smile then he looked at Qi Le An, “Qi, how have you been?”

Wang tried so hard to leave the impression that he and Qi Le An were on great terms with each other, it looked so fake.

“Not bad, thank you for asking, Inspector Wang.” Qi Le An looked at Mr. Wang with a smile and glanced at Chu Cheng Yuan who was sitting beside him, he knew what Wang was up to.

As Qi Le An expected, Wang started to introduce Chu Cheng Yuan to Sheng Chang’an , “An, this is Little Chu. I heard you guys have met already, right? How about President Sheng then?”

Qi Le An nodded and said, “Yeah, we met at a dinner with Director Yang.”

Perhaps it was too noisy, Sheng Chang’an glanced at the Wang and Wang’s lips twitched again.

‘What shall I do now? The task is to introduce Chu Cheng Yuan to Sheng Chang’an! The official introduction hadn’t even started yet, but President Sheng already looked so impatient! What should I do?’ Wang’s heart was in a turmoil.

President Sheng ignored them and walked to the front, he stopped by an elder man with silver hair, “Uncle Feng, I’m so glad to see you here! How have you been!”

Qi Le An also stopped, thinking what kind of person could make Sheng Chang’an bow to him and call him uncle.

The elder man beamed with smile on seeing Sheng Chang’an, “Little Sheng, I’ve been well, thank you for asking, are you here to see Chang Feng?”

Sheng Chang’an nodded and said, “Yes, I’m here with Chang Feng. I’ve watched the movie already, I’m sure and Uncle Feng won’t be disappointed.”

The old man smiled and nodded.

“This is Qi Le An, he played Chang Feng’s cousin in the movie,” Sheng Chang’an introduced Qi Le An to the elder man, “An, come meet Director Feng, he is Director Chen’s mentor.”

Qi Le An was transfixed on hearing ‘Director Chen’s mentor’.

A living textbook of Chinese movie history!

Qi Le An quickly bowed respectfully and said, “Hello, Director Feng, my name is Qi Le An, it’s an honor to meet you.”

Director Feng grinned, “Nice to meet you too.”

After a simple greeting, Sheng Chang’an walked to his seat. Qi Le An’s heart thumped. He knew that many people could kill for that opportunity to talk to Director Feng!

Guests and crew members sat in different sections, Qi Le An went to his seat in a daze. He frowned on seeing who was sitting right next to him, it was Sang Jia Yi.

Sang Jia Yi seemed to have gained some weight within the past few months.

Qi Le An looked at Sang Jia Yi with a funny look. Sang Jia Yi couldn’t help but recall that nightmare she had, she shot a warning look at Qi Le An and said, “What are you doing! Why are you staring at me?”

“Nice to meet you here, Jia Yi Jie, it looks like you’ve been doing well!” Qi Le An said in a funny tone, he knew Sang Jia Yi would get the undertone.

Sang Jia Yi replied expressionlessly, “Oh.”

Qi Le An smiled and sat down. After a while, Sang Jia Yi suddenly waved mysteriously to Qi Le An. Qi Le An was younger than Sang Jia Yi. Even if he was not interested in hearing Sang Jia Yi’s whisper, he still leaned over.

Sang Jia Yi nervously whispered, “Do I really look fat now?”

Qi Le An pretended to nod reluctantly and added one more blow with a smile. “But your round face looks so cute!”

Sang Jia Yi: “…”

‘Oh my God! I swear I will not eat a single thing before I lose that few pounds!’ Sang Jia Yi screamed in her heart.

At two o’clock, everything was set, all reporters had taken their seats. The lights in the venue turned dim, and the two hosts walked to the stage.

The premiere of Better Days officially began.

Even though Tong was a new face, she commanded the stage like a pro. She did a marvelous job with her partner, they had introduced the Male Lead and the Female Lead to the stage when the atmosphere had reached the climax.

The audience burst into thunderous applause on seeing them.

Wei Chang Feng was in the limelight and Ya Ting had always been a fan favorite since her debut. One was the strongest candidate for ‘Best Actor’ in the industry, while the other one had dominated Hong Kong films for years. Better Days was their first cooperation, and on top of that it was directed by Director Chen. Better Days was greatly awaited by countless people.

The headlines for tomorrow’s entertainment section would definitely be the premiere.

Qi Le An kept staring at Wei Chang Feng like a groupie. The host made a joke about Wei Chang Feng’s new look and then he gave the stage to them.

“Chang Feng is definitely the most dedicated actor I have ever seen,” Ya Ting said that in Mandarin, “There was a time when we had already worked 17 hours and everyone was hoping to just call it a day, but Director Chen wanted us to give it one more shot because the lighting was just perfect. Everyone was about to collapse on hearing that except our Male Lead. Chang Feng just gulped down a bottle of water and said he was good to go.”

Qi Le An remembered that time, the weather was particularly naughty that day, they had waited all day for the perfect lighting, the entire crew was flat out after working for about 20 hours.

“But that is nothing,” Wei Chang Feng said with a smile, “The most important is we got the shot, and I do think we need to give a round of applause to our crew members, they have worked harder.”

Tears started to well up in the members’ eyes, they were so touched that Wei Chang Feng remembered them and acknowledged them!

Wei Chang Feng recalled a few more memorable scenes, and then it was time to watch the movie.

The big screen turned dark and everyone started to hold their breaths.

Qi Le An was so thrilled to watch his first movie as well, his heart was pounding even though he knew the whole plot and all the lines. But it was different to translate the lines into acting.

The screen started to light up. It was a seagull flying over from afar. As the seagulls faded in, a wide beach appeared in front of everyone.

A young man in a white shirt stood by the beach with his sleeves rolled up high, he was looking nervously at the baits he had placed by the beach.

A fat crab was crawling towards the bait the young man had just put.

The young man showed a cunning smile and with a swoop he had grabbed the crab!