Dreaming With My Dragon Lover - Chapter 147

Remembering the huge contrast between Liu Sang’s usual high and mighty demeanour and his extreme caution in front of Arthur Guan, Yuan Ge cannot help but laugh, “That man is indeed snobbish to a rather exaggerated degree. But this film is an ancient costume drama, and it would be quite tricky to make a product placement for your smart home device in a seamless way.”

Nomi grabs Yuan Ge’s hand with great expectation, “My dear old mate, you really have to help me out with this! My product has been unable to open up the market, but all there is missing is just an opportunity, a turning point, to make the public aware of its existence. A few days ago we did a prospect modelling based on big data and this film by King Guan is by far the most anticipated by the audience. it will definitely be a huge hit! If I can place an ad for Nomi Box in it, my market share could soar to 42%!”

Before the excited Nomi has finished his pitching, they all hear a commotion in the hall. A group of waiters, in a dramatic change from their usual cool demeanour, are bowing to another group of people and greeting them humbly. The group is led by a tall, imposing man who is striding proudly ahead.

With one look at the bespoke suit he is wearing, Yuan Ge immediately recalls the man who has treated him like a football on the day of the audition – Arthur Guan, the second young master of King Guan Entertainment, has actually come to this club!

After a quick exchange of glances with Rong Qiuchen and a look at the pleading eyes of Nomi in front of him, Yuan Ge immediately realises that tonight’s get-together is actually a set-up. However, before he can figure out if his old classmate has trapped him, Arthur Guan is already looking this way.

As he passes Yuan Ge’s table, he pauses briefly and frowns, “Why are you here too?”

Nomi on the side stands up and is just about to answer when Liu Sang appears from nowhere behind Arthur Guan, “Second Master, I think it must be the CEO of this Nomi Technology who brought him here.”

“Come to see me in half an hour!” Arthur Guan completely ignores Nomi and Rong Qiuchen at the table, drops these words to Yuan Ge and leads his entourage straight into a large private room.

“Hm …” Yuan Ge hasn’t expected to have a chance encounter with Arthur Guan here. He doesn’t know if this man has gotten over the “water spray” incident, but the tone in which he was talking to him was simply too off-putting. His eyes sweep over the group, noticing that among them are either King Guan’s ace directors and scriptwriters, or the popular actors in showbiz, as well as a few leading real estate developers and well-known venture capitalists in China. Presumably, these people are here to do business deals for the new production.

“Please, old buddy!” Nomi pleads like a trained puppy standing up to pay respects with his paws, “It cost me a lot of money to get this inside info that Arthur Guan was coming here tonight. That’s why I joined this club. You have no idea how hard it is to get into the Guan family’s own club. It’s said to be ten thousand times more exclusive than this place. Even if I sold myself, it would be impossible for me to get in. It’s so rare to see the King come out of his palace today, and it’s really not easy to catch him here.” Nomi folds his hands and begs Yuan Ge, “We were such good friends back then. I even made a special crawler to help you go over the wall to download a lot of unusual…”

“That’s for research, research!” Seeing Rong Qiuchen next to him with a “so that’s how it is” expression, Yuan Ge hurriedly stops Nomi from continuing.

“Yuan Ge, if you can help me arrange an ad placement in this film, I will sponsor any future films you make!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll do my best.” Thinking that he will have to go over to see Arthur Guan in a minute, Yuan Ge can’t help but feel reluctant and awkward.

***

Walking into Arthur Guan’s private room, Yuan Ge immediately sees a petite young girl standing on top of a large table in the middle of the room. She looks very shy and confused, seemingly unsure what to do. Yuan Ge recognises the girl as Daisy, the lead dancer of a popular girl group.

Arthur Guan is sitting in the centre of the leather sofas arranged in a circle around the room, laughing and chatting with the CEO of Magic Lamp Pictures on the side. They have obviously had their dinner earlier and are currently just drinking and chatting together in the private room.

The expression on Arthur Kwan’s face today is much softer compared to the seriousness and indifference he displayed at the last audition. He seems to be in a good mood and quite relaxed, perhaps because the business talks over the New Year period went well.

But not all the bigwigs in the room are as preoccupied with the conversation as he is. A few are clearly thinking about something other than business deals and leering at the young girl on the table. Mr Jia, the boss of An’s Estate, says with a drunken grin, “Little girl, why don’t you liven things up a bit with a K-pop dance? Aren’t you the best singer and dancer in the group? Take off your shoes if you don’t feel comfortable! There are so many investors and producers here today, why miss this opportunity to show off your talent?”

Having lived overseas for many years, Yuan Ge places great importance on equality and respect between people. Although he has heard of such things happening in the entertainment industry, it is still hard to accept when he sees such blatant bullying of an artiste happening in front of him. He tries to defend the girl by saying, “She didn’t look like she wanted to dance. I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to force her to take off her shoes and dance on a table”.

At these words, Arthur Guan immediately looks over this way.. He seems to be slightly surprised, but makes no move.