Yan Huan grabbed Luo Linâs hand. âOkay, enough. Letâs not wake him up. Heâs my younger son, the cranky one.â
âIn that case, this must be the older one,â said Luo Lin, who proceeded to harass the older one. Yan Huanâs triplets were somewhat famous at the moment, since she had so many fans. Everyone wanted to know what they looked like. However, the Lu Family had done a good job at protecting the identity of the children, and not many outsiders had the privilege of seeing them.
âWhereâs the little princess?â Little Xunxun was Luo Linâs favorite. The child had a delicate, pretty visage, just like her mother.
âOld Master Luâs keeping her to himself,â said Yan Huan helplessly. âYou might not be able to see her today. Her days have been fully booked by Old Master Lu, and her nights by Lu Yiâs parents.â
Luo Lin laughed drily, disappointed.
She then stared at Yan Huanâs face for a long time, as though there was a flower sprouting from it.
âWhatâs wrong?â Yan Huan felt her face. âIs there something on my face?â
âNo,â said Luo Lin. âIâm just glad that someone has inherited your incredible beauty.â
âCough...â Yan Huan thought that she was exaggerating.
Oh, right! She didnât ask Luo Lin here to listen to her praises. Her excessive praises nearly made her forget her initial intention! Thatâs why itâs better to stay humble.
âCome with me,â said Yan Huan, turning around.
âBut...â said Luo Lin hesitantly, pointing at the sleeping twins.
âDonât worry, the nannies will take care of them,â said Yan Huan, holding the door open for Luo Lin. The children usually slept till 5PM, though the older one sometimes woke even later. The older brother was lazy, and the second brother was energetic. The little girl slept quite a lot too, but that was mostly due to her poor health.
This was the time for the adults to catch a breather.
Luo Lin followed Yan Huan into Lu Yiâs study. They sat down. Luo Lin passed a script to Yan Huan. âThis is the movie we are currently working on. Our performance for the first half of the year has been great, and the movie we released raked in over 1.2 billion, which is a good result for this year.â
Yan Huan leafed through the script. As Luo Lin said, Lin Lang was doing well. Even without her foresights, Lin Lang was growing steadily. 1.2 billion wasnât a bad result at all. The first place in the box-office leaderboard was still held by Yan Huanâs movie. Itâs hard to say when that record might be surpassed, but one thing was for certain: Yan Huanâs name will be up there for a long time to come.
âThe company wants to use Sun Yuhan and Lu Qin for this drama, I heard?â asked Yan Huan, closing the script. She didnât really care about such things. Like she said, she wouldnât interfere with Lin Langâs internal affairs, but there was one thing she would never compromise: Lu Qin cannot appear in any of Lin Langâs productions. Working with a person like him will leave an inerasable taint on Lin Langâs reputation.
âYes,â admitted Luo Lin. âThey are quite popular at the moment, and Lu Qinâs acting skills have improved too. With the two of them, we wouldnât have to worry about the popularity of the show during the early phases.â
âWhatâs wrong? Are you against it?â asked Luo Lin, sensing that this was the reason why Yan Huan invited her over.
âYes,â said Yan Huan, picking up the script.
Luo Lin leaned back in a way that said âIâm all ears.â
Yan Huan shut the script again and pressed her hand against it. She looked up and stared at Luo Lin earnestly.
âI donât want Lu Qin in this drama. Like I said, I refuse to work with Lu Qin.â
There were two lifetimes worth of resentment between them, and she vowed to never let Lu Qin benefit from her popularity or her assets, including Lin Lang.
âBut...â Luo Lin frowned. âWe have already reached out to him. Is it really a good idea to go back on our words?â
âHave we signed an agreement with him?âasked Yan Huan perfunctorily. In truth, it didnât matter since Yan Huan had the final say, and she didnât mind paying him a breach-of-contract compensation.
âNo,â Luo Lin shook her head. âWe have only given them a heads up, though both sides are tacitly aware of the cooperation. Lu Qin hasnât been taking on any roles lately either. Heâs just waiting for the cast to be finalized.â
âTake him out,â said Yan Huan, pressing her hands against the script.
âTake him out?â Luo Lin reached out and felt Yan Huanâs forehead. âWhatâs wrong? Is there bad blood between you?â
âYes,â Yan Huan smiled coldly. âAnd it wouldnât end before one of us is dead. Do you understand now?â
âI understand,â nodded Luo Lin. âBut...â She shrugged. âIâll do as you say. You are the owner of Lin Lang after all. Iâm sure you have the money to waste, but I canât allow you to waste all the time and efforts we put into this.â
She stared at Yan Huan gravely. âIf you want me to cross out Lu Qin, youâll have to find a replacement for him, and it has to be a popular, influential actor with a huge following. Otherwise, I wonât answer to the directors of Lin Lang in your stead.â
Luo Lin had her own principles, and she wouldnât do anything that would harm the interest of the company.
Making a last minute change to the main cast wasnât a small decision; a large part of the film had been tailored for Lu Qin. And what about all the money they invested into marketing?
Yan Huan browsed through the script again, her fingers tapping rhythmically, elegantly.
âDoes the shooting begin in January?â she asked Luo Lin.
âYes,â nodded Luo Lin. âThereâs a lot of preparation work to be done, like scouting for the film location. Tentatively, the shooting should start at around that time.â
Yan Huan closed the script and shoved it towards Luo Lin.
âCross him out,â she said firmly as she pointed to her face. âand Iâll take his place. How about that?â
Luo Lin paused, then crossed out âLu Qinâ and scribbled in âYan Huanâ at the speed of lightning.
âOkay,â she made an OK-sign. âYou canât go back on your word, alright?â