Astra Yao's career was flourishing, and Suibian Film & Media was also making huge profits along the way. Arden felt that the time had come to enter the film and television industry.
That day, after a variety show recording wrapped up, Arden went to the dressing room, intending to talk with Astra Yao about her next stage of career development.
"A new cake shop just opened on the street. Want to go check it out later?"
"Sure! I also want milk tea and ice cream!"
Standing outside the door, Arden could already hear the conversation between Astra Yao and Evelyn Chevalier.
Ever since Evelyn became Astra Yao's bodyguard, their relationship had grown closer and closer—so much so that even Sweety's role as manager had gradually been taken over by Evelyn.
It wasn't that Sweety lacked ability. After all, she still had Yum Cha Sin to manage, and her energy was limited.
Moreover, Astra Yao and Evelyn were no longer confined to a simple working relationship; they were gradually developing toward something more like best friends.
"All of those are high-calorie foods. Is your figure management really okay?"
Evelyn's tone carried a hint of concern.
"It's fine!"
Astra Yao sounded completely unconcerned. "Daoist Arden specifically refined a batch of body-shaping pills for me. They reduce absorption—no matter how much I eat, I won't gain weight."
"There's something that good? Then I also—"
There wasn't a woman who didn't care about her figure, and Evelyn was no exception.
"I don't have much either. I'll share some with you for now. Later, I'll ask Daoist Arden to refine more."
"So, this is the body-shaping pill?"
Astra Yao poured out a few grayish-white pills from a gourd. Evelyn took them and examined them carefully. Then, a thought she couldn't suppress popped into her mind. "If it reduces absorption, will food end up like enoki mushrooms—eat it today, and it comes out exactly the same tomorrow?"
"Uh… what are you even saying? That's disgusting!"
Astra Yao shot Evelyn an annoyed glare. Unable to stop herself from imagining the scene Evelyn described, her good mood about going to eat cake instantly dropped by more than half.
"Ahem!"
Outside the door, even Arden couldn't quite take it anymore and coughed lightly.
"Who's there!?"
Evelyn immediately went on alert.
"It's me! Is it convenient for me to come in now?"
"P-please come in!"
Upon hearing Arden's voice, Evelyn relaxed—but at the same time, an odd expression surfaced on her face.
That 'see you tomorrow' stuff… he didn't hear it, did he?
Creak~!
So, when Evelyn unlocked the door and pulled it open, letting Arden step into the dressing room, he immediately felt that something was off about the two of them.
"You two… are you alright?"
"Uh… we're fine!"
Astra Yao clearly didn't want to bring up the earlier topic. "Daoist Arden, what brings you here?"
"What brings me here?"
Hearing that, Arden inwardly shook his head. "Can't I come see you if there's nothing in particular?"
He always felt that ever since Astra Yao had Evelyn, she had gradually grown more distant from him.
The new replaces the old, huh.
"Uh… of course you can."
In fact, Astra Yao also felt that she had been spending less time with Arden lately. Maybe it was because Evelyn was always with her now, and there was no need for Arden to act as her bodyguard anymore.
"Then… how about we go eat cake together?"
Astra Yao extended an invitation.
"Sure! But let me finish what I came to say first."
Didn't you just say there was nothing?
Astra Yao complained inwardly.
"What is it?" Evelyn asked on Astra Yao's behalf.
"Of course, I was thinking of trying some casting-couch rules."
Sensing that the atmosphere had grown stiff, Arden tossed out the line jokingly.
"??"
Astra Yao froze on the spot, two question marks practically popping up over her head.
Whoosh~!
Evelyn immediately stepped in front of Astra Yao defensively. If Arden really tried something, even if he was the boss, she would still fulfill her duty as a bodyguard.
"I'm just joking! Don't take it seriously!"
Arden hurriedly explained.
He had wanted to lighten the mood—only to make things even more awkward.
...
After that brief interlude, Arden finally got to the main topic.
"The company plans to prepare a TV drama, and we want you, Astra Yao, to play the female lead. So, I came to ask for your opinion."
"A TV drama… female lead… me?"
Although she had long been prepared to enter the film and television industry, this came too suddenly—and starting off as the female lead no less. Astra Yao found it hard to believe, and also felt a bit uneasy.
"Is that okay? What if I mess it up?"
When it came to singing, Astra Yao was full of confidence, but acting in a TV drama… this would be her first time.
"You need to have confidence in yourself."
Arden encouraged her, then began explaining the project in more detail. "The drama we're preparing is called [Divine Tiger Companions]."
That's right—the 'Tiger' version of The Return of the Condor Heroes.
Because he had absolute confidence in the script, they were going straight for a big production.
Using a novel exchanged from the system store as the foundation, Arden spent a large sum hiring professional screenwriters to adapt it into a TV script. He then planned to invite popular A-list stars to support Astra Yao as the female lead, along with numerous sponsors—some of which even belonged to companies under the TOPS Alliance.
TOPS wasn't a monolithic entity anyway. Different industries had different interests. They didn't care whether Suibian Film & Media was a rival to Odeum HAE or Fugue—if there was money to be made, that was all that mattered.
As an aside, for the male lead, Arden planned to invite the popular actress "Monica" to cross-dress for the role. Many of the supporting characters would also be played by disciples of Yunkui Summit.
For example, Yixuan Shifu would be perfect as the antagonist. Yiji would play as the spirited independent. And as for Ju Fufu… the "Divine Tiger" in Divine Tiger Companions referred to her!
As for Arden himself… he didn't particularly enjoy acting, so he planned to casually make a guest appearance as the tragic villain.
He was very much looking forward to the Villain × Heroine scene.
In truth, Arden choosing an adaptation of The Return of the Condor Heroes as Divine Tiger Companions also carried a personal motive. He wanted Yixuan Shifu, after watching the drama, to understand that the master-disciple relationship wouldn't be an obstacle—as long as feelings were in place, there was no need to care about worldly judgment.
Of course, given Yixuan's personality, she wouldn't care about others' opinions anyway. Whether she and Arden could truly end up together ultimately came down to those three words: feelings in place.
More importantly, Arden wanted to make one thing clear—his original intention for joining Yunkui Summit had never changed, and that was to marry Yixuan Shifu!
As another aside, Arden would also play Lu Zhanyuan.
"Daoist Arden, it'd be such a waste if you weren't a novelist."
"Yeah, yeah!"
After Arden took out a simplified version of the script, both Astra Yao and Evelyn exclaimed that it was incredibly exciting after reading it.
"Hehe, it's not that much of a waste."
Feeling a little guilty, Arden scratched his head. He knew very well that this so-called "novelist" title was merely him borrowing the wisdom of predecessors.
"Oh, right!"
Arden brought up another matter. "Divine Tiger Companions is still in the preparation stage, but the theme song and insert song are already written. Take a look and give me some feedback—see if anything needs adjusting.
"The opening song is 'Mythical Love Talk', and the ending song is 'Return'. According to the plan, these two songs will be released before the TV drama airs, to attract attention to Divine Tiger Companions and build up hype."
===BREAK===
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