Chapter Ninety-Five: The Big-Eyed Beauty

Declining the waiter’s offer to guide them, Wang Jing and the woman behind him walked straight to Yan Xu’s table. They pulled out their chairs and sat down, whereupon Wang Jing began the introductions.

“Zhizhi, this is Director Yan Xu, the Yan I told you about. You can call him Young Master Yan,” Wang Jing said to the beauty.

“Young Master Yan, this is the actress I wanted to introduce to you, Guan Zhiling. What do you think? Pretty good, right?” Wang Jing said, winking at Yan Xu.

“Hello, Young Master Yan!”

“Hello, Miss Guan.”

With a light handshake, Yan Xu was still lost in admiration of the beauty before him.

Guan Zhiling—she was actually Guan Zhiling. Yan Xu had never imagined that the person Wang Jing would introduce to him would be Aunt Thirteen. In Yan Xu’s eyes, if Hong Kong actresses were ranked by looks, she would certainly hold a place in the top five.

When he was young, Yan Xu had been obsessed with her for a time, watching almost every film she had made. Although she often appeared as little more than a decorative beauty and her acting was frequently criticized, Yan Xu loved seeing her in that role. She possessed not only the refined elegance of a young lady from a distinguished family, but also the mature charm of a woman seasoned by the world; even in those large eyes, one could often catch a playful, adorable glint.

Even after she retired from acting later on, the photographs of her that occasionally appeared in newspapers and magazines were still so captivating. They bore no trace of age, and instead carried an added maturity and sensuality.

Beyond her beauty, what Yan Xu remembered most vividly were the ping-pong ball incident and her talent for managing money.

As for the ping-pong ball incident, one had to mention Big Liu. In those days, Yan Xu had envied him greatly. Almost every famous beauty in the entertainment world had been involved with him, and no woman could withstand Big Liu’s real-estate method of courting women—giving away villas worth millions or even tens of millions. Whether he had actually tucked two ping-pong balls into Guan’s body was a matter of endless debate, difficult to separate from the countless false reports surrounding it. But the fact that the two of them had indeed been involved was true enough, and if a couple played a bit too wildly behind closed doors, that was understandable.

Guan Zhiling’s financial acumen, meanwhile, could be seen from the more than five hundred million in assets she had amassed. She also had a title that everyone in the circle recognized: a master speculator in real estate. Once, she made a hundred million in profit from a single development within three years. And such huge gains were by no means limited to just one or two cases.

“Zhizhi and I could be called family friends. Her father was the first international film emperor, and a veteran actor from Shaw Brothers, Guan Shan, while her mother was also a veteran Shaw Brothers actress, Zhang Bingqian. They emigrated to the United States a few years ago.”

“Zhizhi did some TV dramas at ATV in the early years, then later appeared in a number of films. Last year, she had a role in my Prince Charming, and she just finished her scenes in Bo Ho’s Summer Lucky Star.” Wang Jing introduced Guan Zhiling enthusiastically to Yan Xu, pushing her hard.

“I’ve seen your Prince Charming. Miss Guan played Yun Piaopiao in it, didn’t she?” At this point, Guan Zhiling did not yet have the fame she would later enjoy; she could only play supporting roles alongside the likes of Maggie Cheung and Hung Gwong.

“Young Master Yan can just call me Zhizhi. I didn’t expect you to have noticed me.” Guan Zhiling smiled faintly, and her large eyes seemed almost to spark electricity, leaving anyone who looked at her weak at the knees.

“For a beautiful girl like Zhizhi, it’s hard not to notice her. I even remember you seemed to have acted in a film about a bounty hunter a few years ago.” Although Guan Zhiling’s early films were not especially famous, Yan Xu remembered some of them because he had once been so fond of her. That film about a bounty hunter starred Guan Zhiling, and the male lead was Chow Yun-fat, who at the time still carried the label of a box-office jinx and had yet to transform into the celestial Fat Gor.

“Oh?” Yan Xu’s words made Guan Zhiling’s eyes brighten. She had not expected him to have actually watched her films. That bounty hunter film had not done particularly well at the box office, but it was one of her few leading roles and ranked among the better-performing films in her filmography. One could say it was her representative work at that stage.

“I know that film too. Zhizhi starred in it with Fat Chai, and it was quite good,” Wang Jing added. “The box office was average, but Zhizhi’s performance was fairly good.”

“I’m quite satisfied with Zhizhi’s acting,” Yan Xu said, glancing at Wang Jing; he naturally understood what Wang Jing meant. “And her image also suits the requirements for the female lead in my film.”

“So you’re using Zhizhi?” Wang Jing said with a broad smile, while Guan Zhiling also looked excited. Her acting career had stalled for years, reduced to minor supporting roles; she urgently needed significant work to raise her profile.

“As long as Zhizhi can agree to some of the requirements in the film, then I think the female lead in my new movie is yours.”

“What requirements?” Guan Zhiling asked eagerly.

“This is a horror film centered on women. The female lead is also the only main character, but there are some intimate scenes in it. I don’t know whether Zhizhi has any issue with that.” Yan Xu looked at Guan Zhiling and said. He knew very well that Guan Zhiling had always presented herself as the adorable, innocent daughter of a wealthy family, and this film of his was meant to break that image.

“Intimate scenes?” Guan Zhiling looked at Wang Jing in surprise, a trace of hesitation and disappointment in her eyes.

“And there’ll be nudity?” Wang Jing also looked at Yan Xu in some confusion. In this business, even a single exposed scene could earn an actress the label of a sex star, and many actresses only took that step when they truly had no choice.

“Of course not. You’ve misunderstood,” Yan Xu said quickly, knowing they had taken him the wrong way.

“What I mean by intimate scenes are just some kissing scenes. They may be performed a bit more intensely, that’s all. The female lead will not be nude in the film, not even her lingerie will be exposed.”

“In that case... I have no problem with it.” After Yan Xu’s explanation, Guan Zhiling visibly relaxed.

“Good. There’s one more thing I should mention up front, and that is Zhizhi’s fee. Our production budget isn’t high, and all the actors are making friendly cameo appearances, so the pay we can offer won’t be very high. How much are you hoping for?” For the old Yan Xu, a budget of one million would have been absolutely massive, but now that he was pursuing greater refinement in every aspect, even if he were frugal, a million would still be tight.

“Young Master Yan, my fee can be paid according to my market value. Of course, if the production team is having difficulties, it can be delayed a little,” Guan Zhiling said. Her life was not easy at the moment. Because her fees were low, the money she made from acting barely covered her living expenses, so she urgently needed work. Fortunately, when her father left, he left the house to her, otherwise she would have had even less to rely on.

“Exactly, Young Master Yan. Zhizhi’s market value isn’t high. Forty thousand will do. If your funds are tight, you can pay later, but please don’t make it any lower than that,” Wang Jing chimed in from the side. In fact, Guan Zhiling’s market value had been even a little lower than this figure; this was already the price he had arranged for her when she filmed Prince Charming.