Chapter 558 Anger Into Hunger
When Nan Chen noticed Ning Ran’s sincerity, he took the glass from her. Realizing that everyone was going to toast each other, Erbao quickly filled her glass with juice, wanting to join in.
“Congratulations, Mommy! Mommy’s the best! Cheers!” After clinking their glasses with each other, they all took a sip of their drink.
“Now it’s time for us to cut the cake. I ordered it to celebrate Mommy’s win,” Erbao exclaimed.
When they opened the box, four miniature wax figures appeared in front of them—two adults and two children.
“Do you see this, Blondie? These are Daddy and Mommy, and these are Dabao and me. You’re not here, so how can you not be the third wheel?” Erbao asked.
At that very moment, Zheng Lunlun wondered when he had crossed the cheeky girl to make her attack him continuously.
“All right, all right. I’m the third wheel. Still, I was in that show too. I was good at acting, and that’s why the show was popular. That’s also why your mommy got her award, got it?”
Although Zheng Lunlun was already one of the best in the industry, he still had a trace of childishness in him—he was actually starting to argue with Erbao.
“Mommy got her award because she was good at acting,” Erbao retorted.
“Of course,” Dabao chimed in, backing his sister up.
“Fine, fine. I’m an adult, so I will not fight with a kid. It’s whatever you say it is.”
Zheng Lunlun knew he could not win the argument, so he quickly gave up.
Ning Ran did not dare to take even a slice of the cake. Food as high calorie as the cake was something she dared not consume at a time like this.
On the other hand, Zheng Lunlun did not care about that at all. He quickly took a slice and dug right in.
Perhaps it was because he was converting his anger into hunger after failing to win an argument with the two children. Another possibility was that he was trying to win against them in terms of the amount of food consumed.
Right then, Nan Chen’s phone vibrated. He went to the side and picked up the call.
Suspicion bloomed in Ning Ran’s heart as she thought, Could it be from Ouyang Qing again?
After he hung up, Nan Chen, to her surprise, honestly told her, “It’s from Ouyang Qing.”
Ning Ran did not reply to that.
“Ouyang Qing’s inviting you out again? Uncle, it’s already so late. It doesn’t seem right for you to go out now, right?” Zheng Lunlun said to him.
“Did I say I was going to head out?”
Zheng Lunlun instantly clamped his mouth shut.
“The investors had a virtual meeting in a group chat today. They were discussing getting a nameless actress to play the character, Fangfang, in I Am You. They’ve found someone, and they were asking whether I agree with their decision. They’ll be paying that actress ten million,” Nan Chen said.
“That much? Isn’t that the pay for a top-tier actor? Moreover, the screen time for the girl shouldn’t be that much. They’re paying her much more than the top-tier entertainers in the industry. Is there really a child actress that expensive to hire?”
“Yes. She’s priceless. They’ve all concluded that having Erbao in the movie would be better. That way, the scene between the mother and the daughter would be much more realistic. Furthermore, it will be the first movie starring a real mother and daughter together. It would be a good selling point. However, I haven’t agreed to it yet because I haven’t decided,” Nan Chen replied.
“Daddy, are they asking me to be in the show? Really?” Erbao was already thrilled.
She had always wanted to be in a movie like the other child stars, for that was something that fascinated her.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Nan Chen repeated to her.
“Why don’t you agree with it? I’d like to go! I like to act. It’s amazing that I can act beside Mommy! I want to win an award too!”
“I think this sounds like a good idea. Erbao’s cute and pretty, and she’s smart too. She should try it out,” Zheng Lunlun agreed.
Nan Chen then looked at Ning Ran since her opinion was the most important part of the decision.
“I’ll think about it.”
Initially, Ning Ran would have been fine with having Erbao film a show, but since Ouyang Qing was the one who called Nan Chen, she hesitated.
“All right,” Nan Chen replied.
“Why not? It’ll be an interesting experience for a kid to be in a movie. Moreover, she’ll be getting such a high amount of pay for it. Although our family doesn’t have a shortage of money, we can save it for her personal funds. In the future, she’ll be able to use the money for her overseas studies or for the things she likes. She’d feel proud of herself spending the money she had earned through her own hard work,” Zheng Lunlun went on, listing the benefits of Erbao accepting the role.
Moreover, it was not like he was spouting nonsense.
If they were an ordinary family, they would have gone mad with joy to get an opportunity like this.
However, money was not the reason for Ning Ran to hesitate about the offer.
A look of disappointment appeared on Erbao’s face as she mumbled, “What’s there to think about? I’m having a holiday now, so I don’t need to go to school. I’m free anyway, so why don’t you let me take on the role? Mommy’s going to become a star, but I can’t?”
“Let’s think about it first,” Nan Chen insisted.
There was nothing the girl could do to change her parents’ minds after both of them said that they were going to think about it.
Nevertheless, Erbao was certain that her father would have the final say, and she planned to find a chance to convince him.
Furthermore, she had to get her brother to help her out as well.
Ouyang Qing and Tang Jing were sitting opposite each other in a lounge in Flower City.
As Ouyang Duo did not allow his daughter to invite guests to Orchid Club, she had no choice but to change the location.
Of course, like the others, she had seen the live broadcast of the Golden Flower Awards, so she had seen how Ning Ran had been in the spotlight.
When she watched the scene, she nearly exploded in rage, but a sense of helplessness doused the anger.
She had been trying hard to stop Ning Ran from rising to fame, but her efforts were to no avail. With Nan Chen’s support, Ning Ran rose to great heights at an unbelievable speed.
If she could not stop her in time, Ning Ran would really end up becoming one of the top stars in the industry.
That was why Ouyang Qing was panicking. Even if she were to pick Nan Xing instead, she was still not going to let Ning Ran get more and more successful.
I have to crush her. I have to make sure she’ll never get the chance to rise to fame ever again.
Hence, she summoned Tang Jing again. Tang Jing had not been able to land any successful blows on Ning Ran, so Ouyang Qing was disappointed by her.
“Have you seen Ning Ran’s entrance today? She had Zheng Lunlun by her side and Ye Meng lifted her skirt for her. Wasn’t it a grand sight to behold?”
Tang Jing knew that Ouyang Qing was upset, so she remained quiet.
Yet, the silence only made the latter angrier.
“Are you deaf, or are you mute? Have you not heard what I said?”
“I did. She was indeed a sight to behold. Sir Chen must have been the one to make arrangements for her entrance.”
Ouyang Qing could easily understand Tang Jing was telling her was that Ning Ran had Nan Chen’s support. There was nothing Tang Jing could do about how fancy her grand entrance was at the awards show.
“So, are you planning to just watch from the side as she continues to steal the limelight?” Ouyang Qing snapped.
Tang Jing went silent again.
There was nothing she could say when Ouyang Qing was angry.
After all, she still needed the woman to stir up the mess more so that she could get more involved in the conflict between the Nan family and the Ouyang family.
It was only then she could make her move.
Tang Jing knew she was no one remarkable. Despite her wanting to stir up a huge commotion, she knew her actions might not have much effect on anyone.
Everything she had been doing was so that the situation would become more chaotic. She was putting her hopes of creating a major conflict between the Ouyang family and the Nan family on the butterfly effect. If everything went well, she could then grab the opportunity to climb up the social ladder.
Tang Jing was confident that she was much more capable than the daughter of the Ouyang family in front of her.
