Arriving in Shanghai, it was already past 11 PM, and the preview screening for "Law of the Jungle" was just three days away.
Xiao He and Liu Rulan discussed and decided to cancel other engagements over the next few days to get some proper rest.
After working nonstop during this period, Xiao He was practically exhausted, and although Liu Rulan wasn't as tired as Xiao He, she had been following him around like a frequent flyer, so her words carried some weariness too.
After deciding on their upcoming plans, Xiao He returned to the villa and slept straight through until morning.
But his damned biological clock still made Xiao He wake up bright and early.
When he opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling, Xiao He wiped away his bitter tears.
He had now become a proper workhorse...
Before he could go back to sleep for a while longer, Liu Rulan arrived with Shu Han.
Xiao He immediately shook off his sleepiness and went out to greet them.
Seeing Shu Han again this time, Xiao He noticed he seemed to have gotten even more tanned.
Shu Han still wore his hearty smile, and upon seeing Xiao He, immediately lifted the large bag in his hand: "These are local specialties I brought back from my hometown, nothing expensive, just a small token of appreciation. I hope you can take them back to try! And I also wish your 'Law of the Jungle' great box office success!"
"Wow, thank you, Brother Shu!"
Xiao He took the local specialties from Shu Han while leading them to the living room, simultaneously asking curiously: "Brother Shu, how did you get so much darker this time?"
Shu Han looked down at his arm: "Is it that obvious? Why does everyone say that after seeing me?"
"Him? He went back to his hometown to farm." Liu Rulan directly solved the mystery for Xiao He, "His family still contracts a mountain tea plantation, and since he hadn't been back to see it for a long time, he stayed a bit longer this time."
"Tea plantation?"
Xiao He was still wondering why Shu Han went back to farm, but the next second he was shocked by Shu Han's tea plantation.
"Hehe, back then the policies were good, and I got lucky, so I happened to contract a tea plantation." Shu Han smiled somewhat sheepishly, then gestured to the large bag in Xiao He's hand, "There's some freshly roasted Maojian tea in the bag, very fresh. If any elders in your family are interested, you can give it to them."
"Okay, thank you, Brother Shu."
Coincidentally, Father Xiao loved drinking tea, so Xiao He planned to send some back for the old man to try.
"No problem, I'm just glad you like it. If any elders are interested, just let me know anytime, and I'll have some sent over." Shu Han said casually.
Actually, Shu Han's background wasn't particularly good—he came from a rural family with limited education. If he hadn't gotten somewhat lucky later and learned martial arts, Shu Han would probably still be farming in his hometown.
After he became famous and earned good money, he never forgot to give back to his hometown. While helping develop his hometown, he also contracted an entire tea plantation for his family, both providing jobs for villagers and fulfilling his elders' wish to not leave their rural roots.
Even when he traveled far from home, Shu Han always remembered his hometown.
So this time when he went back, Shu Han again helped take care of his family elders and worked in the fields, completely without the airs of a big celebrity.
Thus, after returning from his vacation, Shu Han had tanned several shades darker.
After learning about Shu Han's contributions to his hometown, Xiao He couldn't help but give him a thumbs up: "Brother Shu is a real man."
The saying "the newly rich easily forget their roots" might be too absolute, but there are plenty of real-life examples.
Shu Han's character was truly quite commendable.
If they could become business partners, Xiao He felt he would be quite at ease.
The group walked to the living room sofa and sat down, with Shu Han proactively bringing up the investment partnership matter: "Sister Liu has already told me about this, and actually I have no problems with it—"
"But if I'm joining Linghui Studio, I do have additional conditions."
Shu Han clasped his hands together, placing them on his knees, his expression switching from relaxed and casual to serious work mode.
Xiao He glanced at Liu Rulan, knowing that in this situation, it wouldn't be appropriate for Liu Rulan to negotiate terms with Shu Han, so he consciously took on the responsibility as Linghui Studio's boss, nodding slightly toward Shu Han: "Please go ahead."
"Actually, after returning to China, I originally planned to have Sister Liu continue as my agent." Shu Han looked at Liu Rulan, who returned a helpless smile, then Shu Han shrugged quite frankly, "But unfortunately, I failed."
"Hmm."
Xiao He didn't mention that he already knew about this, just nodded to indicate Shu Han should continue with his requirements.
"So my requirement is simple—I need an agent, one not inferior to Sister Liu."
"If Brother Shu is willing to join us, we'll definitely arrange this properly for you."
So that was the requirement.
Xiao He breathed a sigh of relief.
Actually, given Liu Rulan and Shu Han's relationship, even if Shu Han didn't join their studio, Liu Rulan would likely help connect him with a suitable agent anyway.
So this wasn't a particularly difficult request.
"About that Agent He that Sister Liu mentioned before, I wonder if Brother Shu would be interested."
Xiao He recalled the agent named He Wenming that Liu Rulan had mentioned last time.
Since Sister Liu brought it up, then the probability of prying him loose—ahem, inviting him over should be quite high.
"Regarding that Agent He that Sister Liu mentioned before, I've already made contact through connections and found that he currently doesn't seem interested in separating from He Jinnian." Shu Han paused, then smiled wryly, "But my network connections aren't strong enough—I never actually had a face-to-face conversation with him, so I'm not really sure about his thoughts."
Actually, Shu Han was quite confident—after all, he had won some domestic awards back in the day and received many honors. Although he didn't win any special awards after going abroad, he was still a familiar face frequently appearing in overseas movies. Shu Han felt that if he wanted to return to China to develop his career, many entertainment companies and agents would be willing to sign him.
However, reality was harsh—Shu Han hit a wall with Liu Rulan, then hit another wall with He Wenming, feeling rather bruised and battered. Now he was genuinely losing some confidence—though this was partly because Shu Han's own standards were quite high.
But given his situation, what was wrong with having high standards? He also wanted to come back and give it his all, at least to prove he was still the same Shu Han from back then!
So Shu Han felt this kind of trouble should be left for others to help solve—
Xiao He wasn't too sure about this matter either, so he could only look to Liu Rulan.
For something like this, they needed someone like Liu Rulan, who was well-connected in the industry, to analyze the situation.
Liu Rulan: "He Jinnian actually hasn't taken any commercial engagements since the beginning of this year. The public reason is that he wants to take a break, and they're currently staying in Shanghai to handle some remaining work here."
This meant He Jinnian's side was clearing out their "inventory."
If you just looked at this point, it at least suggested that what Liu Rulan mentioned earlier—that He Jinnian wanted to move behind the scenes—was probably true.
They just didn't know He Jinnian and He Wenming's detailed plans yet.
Xiao He clenched his fist.
There are no walls that can't be dug up, only hoes that can't be swung.
As long as there was this hint of possibility, he believed that with some effort, they could still potentially poach this He Wenming.
When the studio had two gold-medal agents, wouldn't they just take off directly?