The Scarf Gambit
Luo Lan’s phone rang. It was Secretary Wu. Maybe he’d heard that the flight had been canceled.
Luo Lan picked up. “Boss Luo, I’ve got the details. The role of Wu Ling was originally set for Xiao Long, whose agent is the famous Jin Yanxiu. She’s the one who’s been tripping you up this time.”
So that was it.
Xiao Long had originally been cast as Wu Ling. Luo Lan had pulled strings to get Zhang Chi to change his mind. He’d heard of Jin Yanxiu, a demon lady with formidable professional skills. And now it seemed she really did have quite a few tricks up her sleeve. She’d even gone to Luo Yuntang to put in a bad word about him.
Annoyed and unsettled, Luo Lan hung up and wondered what his chances were of persuading Luo Yuntang over the phone.
Not good. Luo Yuntang was difficult to deal with. This had to be settled face-to-face. Over the phone, he’d definitely say he was busy and had no time, then tell Luo Lan to wait until he got home. Having once worked in sales, Luo Lan knew people like that all too well.
What else could he do?
Luo Lan was at a loss.
Just then, his phone rang again. It was the special ringtone the original owner had set just for Jin Fengqi. He answered, and Jin Fengqi’s voice came through. “Secretary Wu said you’re at the airport. Come pick me up. I’m waiting by the exit.”
Why was Jin Fengqi at the airport?
When Luo Lan hurried to the airport exit, he found Jin Fengqi standing there with his hands in his pockets, idly waiting. He was dressed casually and wore glasses, looking like a fresh-faced college student.
Luo Lan walked over. “Did you just get off a plane? Where have you been?”
Jin Fengqi smiled, but the mockery in his eyes was plain to see. “Cleaning up your mess.”
“What mess?”
Jin Fengqi said no more. He strode off. “Let’s go back. I’ve been on a plane all afternoon. I’m exhausted.”
“I’m not going back. I’ll wait a little longer. Maybe the fog will clear and the planes will be able to fly. I need to find my dad. We haven’t finished talking.”
Jin Fengqi’s gaze shifted as he gave Luo Lan a cool once-over, then raised an eyebrow. “No need to go looking.”
“What do you mean? You don’t want the role of Wu Ling anymore?”
“Of course I do. I’m the only one who can play Wu Ling.” Jin Fengqi was already striding away.
Luo Lan hurried after him. “My dad has to call Zhang Chi. Otherwise, Zhang Chi will replace you tomorrow…”
“He won’t.” Jin Fengqi sounded completely certain. “If you don’t believe me, wait and see tomorrow.”
Luo Lan drove Jin Fengqi back to the apartment the original owner had in the city center.
The place was 160 square meters, far too spacious, and felt cold and empty. The original owner had used the studio’s lack of dorm rooms as an excuse to have Jin Fengqi stay here, hoping that proximity would give him the first shot at Jin Fengqi’s heart. But judging from how distant the two of them were, living together clearly hadn’t managed to cultivate any feelings.
Luo Lan was a little puzzled, though. He remembered that Jin Fengqi’s parents were both in business. Surely Jin Fengqi wasn’t so strapped for cash that he couldn’t afford to rent a place in this city?
Back home, Luo Lan took a quick shower and went straight to his bedroom. At least the original owner’s place was a new apartment with fresh decor, so he didn’t have to worry about this “appliance killer” causing any major damage.
The bedroom was full of Jin Fengqi memorabilia and personal items. Luo Lan could only sigh. It was an eyesore. He stuffed the life-size body pillow from the bed and the personal items into an overhead cabinet. He had no idea how the original owner had gotten hold of all this stuff. Why would a perfectly good, wealthy young master make himself look like a stalker?
After tidying up the room, he lay down on the bed.
He’d been running around all day and was completely worn out. Tomorrow’s problems could wait until tomorrow.
Early the next morning, Secretary Wu came to pick them up, bringing breakfast as well.
Secretary Wu drove while Luo Lan sat in the back, flipping through the work documents he’d been given. Jin Fengqi had made his debut on a talent competition show and had filmed several short movies while in college. The production team behind Clever Miss had already had preliminary talks with a video platform. Though it was only a web series, they were aiming for an S-grade rating. And with Wu Ling being such a standout character, the show was bound to rake in a wave of traffic.
As for the variety show, Luo Lan had skipped his appointment with Chen Kai, the director at Durian Satellite TV, the other day, and now that he was trying to contact him again, Chen Kai wouldn’t even reply.
That man sure had an attitude.
Luo Lan told Secretary Wu, “I’ve arranged a cover shoot with an editor from Venus. Over the next couple of days, look into the magazine’s senior staff, their likes and dislikes, their personalities. Know yourself and your enemy, and you’ll win every battle.”
“All right.” Secretary Wu glanced at Luo Lan in the rearview mirror, looking hesitant, as if he wanted to say something.
Luo Lan knew what Secretary Wu wanted to ask. It was probably about how Luo Lan had managed to get his dad on board, even though he hadn’t gone to the neighboring province yesterday after all.
Luo Lan couldn’t answer that, either.
Jin Fengqi had been so calm, telling him to wait and see, but Luo Lan had already prepared a backup plan.
When they arrived at the set, Zhang Chi sent an assistant out to bring them in.
Jin Fengqi was taken off to change and get his makeup done. Luo Lan went to find Zhang Chi. Zhang Chi saw him and beckoned. “I’ll send you the call sheets for the next few days. Take a look. We need to make up Little Jin’s missed scenes as soon as possible.”
Luo Lan glanced over the call sheet and looked around, but didn’t see Xiao Long. Jin Yanxiu was there, though. She was also the agent for Shi Yang, the leading man.
Jin Yanxiu met Luo Lan’s eye and smiled at him from across the room, as if Luo Lan stealing the role of Wu Ling from her again was no blow at all.
With that kind of composure, it was no wonder she’d become a top agent.
Luo Lan nodded back at her, then asked Zhang Chi, “Did my dad call you last night?”
Zhang Chi chuckled. “If your dad hadn’t called, I couldn’t very well have let you come back. Xiao Luo, try to understand your uncle’s predicament.”
That was strange.
What on earth had Jin Fengqi done yesterday to settle this?
“Thanks for all your help these past couple of days, Uncle Zhang. Let me take you out to dinner tonight.”
Zhang Chi patted him on the shoulder. “No need to be so formal with your uncle.”
Luo Lan sent Secretary Wu a message to book a restaurant so he could treat Zhang Chi to dinner that evening.
After the morning’s scenes wrapped, Chen Song picked up a boxed lunch for Jin Fengqi and escorted him to the artist van. Luo Lan could hardly wait and hurried after them.
Jin Fengqi took off his glasses, which had plain lenses, and tucked them into a storage pouch. Then, with a smile on his lips, he leaned back in his seat and stretched out his legs.
“Fengqi, how did you do it?” Luo Lan asked.
Jin Fengqi raised an eyebrow, a smile on his face and his voice clear and pleasant, though the words he spoke were razor-sharp. “As my agent, you should’ve handled this yourself, but instead I had to step in. Luo Lan, if you’ve decided to work in this business, take it seriously and improve your skills, all right?”
Luo Lan: “…”
Luo Lan stared blankly, then silently looked away.
Heh. Bro, I sympathize with how hard it must have been to deal with the original owner chasing after you and harassing you. Could you try to understand how hard it is for me to play the stalker all the time? You treat me worse than your assistant. Do you really have to be so cutting?
He could complain all he wanted, but he was still dying to know how Jin Fengqi had pulled it off.
Chen Song was curious too, and kept pressing him. “Come on, Brother Jin, tell us!”
“Yesterday at noon, I took the two o’clock flight to the neighboring province.” Jin Fengqi pulled out his plane tickets. “Here are the round-trip tickets. Please reimburse me.”
Luo Lan took them and glanced at the details. No wonder Jin Fengqi had asked Luo Lan to meet him at the airport on the return trip yesterday. He’d flown to the neighboring province at two in the afternoon, and the moment he landed, he’d flown straight back to Rongcheng.
So what had Jin Fengqi done on the plane to change Luo Yuntang’s mind?
After calling Luo Lan the previous afternoon, Jin Fengqi had gotten a pretty good sense of Luo Yuntang’s personality. He went to the airport early, and before long, Luo Yuntang and his party arrived as well.
Two young female assistants were traveling with Luo Yuntang. Jin Fengqi was young and handsome, and striking up a conversation with young women rarely got him turned down. He had no trouble finding out which seats Luo Yuntang and the others had, then, once he boarded, immediately switched seats with a passenger sitting next to Luo Yuntang.
Unlike the two female assistants, this passenger wasn’t so easygoing. Jin Fengqi had to offer him some money to persuade him.
Luo Yuntang boarded not long afterward. He noticed Jin Fengqi sitting alone, holding a half-finished scarf. The young man was exceptionally handsome, and Luo Yuntang couldn’t help taking a second look. That was when he noticed the three letters embroidered on the scarf: LYT.
Were they someone’s initials? L for Luo? Li? Liu?
What a coincidence that the initials matched his own.
Luo Yuntang sat down and began handling work. Jin Fengqi closed his eyes to rest.
After an hour in the air, Luo Yuntang finished his work and asked a flight attendant for a glass of water. Jin Fengqi opened his eyes at just the right moment.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” Luo Yuntang asked.
Jin Fengqi smiled. “It’s fine. We’ll be landing soon anyway.”
The plane would be landing in about ten minutes, so Luo Yuntang struck up a conversation. He asked what had brought Jin Fengqi to the neighboring province. Jin Fengqi lifted the scarf in his hands. “A friend of mine was knitting this for his dad, but coffee got spilled on it and it wouldn’t wash clean. I came to help him buy cashmere yarn.”
The neighboring province was well known for its wool production, though surely you could buy any kind of yarn online these days. Luo Yuntang couldn’t help voicing his doubt.
“My friend says ordinary wool can be scratchy against the neck. He went around to a few cashmere mills before he found this yarn. It’s incredibly soft, and that factory’s the only one with any left in stock.”
“Your friend is very thoughtful.”
Jin Fengqi chuckled. “He said he’s busy with work most of the time. I happened to have a couple of free days, so I offered to make the trip for him.”
Luo Yuntang couldn’t help feeling a rush of emotions. “Girls really are more considerate. My son is so careless he doesn’t even know I have high blood pressure…”
Jin Fengqi hurried to explain, “My friend’s a man, too.”
“A young man?”
“Yes. You don’t think it’s a bit girly for a man to knit a scarf, do you?”
“Of course not. It’s a heartfelt gesture of filial devotion to his father. Not many young people are willing to make a gift with their own hands these days.” Luo Yuntang was curious. “What’s your friend’s name?”
Jin Fengqi put on a reluctant look. “I can’t tell you that. But I can show you a picture of him.”
He took out his phone and found a photo of the studio staff at a group dinner. Enlarging it, he showed it to Luo Yuntang. “There he is. That’s my buddy.”
The plane landed soon after. Jin Fengqi said goodbye to Luo Yuntang and walked away with easy confidence.
As for Luo Yuntang, he’d already guessed that Jin Fengqi was the young artist Luo Lan had signed. He suspected Jin Fengqi had come to plead Luo Lan’s case, but Jin Fengqi hadn’t once struck up a conversation with him on his own. Luo Yuntang had been the one to bring up every topic, so it seemed this really had been a coincidence.
Unlike Luo Lan, who’d worn himself out for nothing, Jin Fengqi had simply gone to a tailor’s shop and used a sewing machine to embroider “LYT” on the scarf, then gone to the airport and taken a flight. That was all it took to get everything settled. After hearing the story, Luo Lan couldn’t help admiring him. No wonder he was the protagonist. He really was clever. It was just a shame he couldn’t be a little less cold and cutting toward him.
“Oh, and I paid 500 yuan to switch seats on the plane. Make sure you reimburse me for that, too,” Jin Fengqi added.
Luo Lan gave him a skeptical look. His parents were well-off businesspeople. Did he really have to be so stingy?
At any rate, the problem had been solved, and Luo Lan could finally breathe a little easier. He put away the plane tickets, planning to ask Secretary Wu for reimbursement when he saw him.
Luo Lan forwarded Zhang Chi’s call sheet to Jin Fengqi. Quite a few of Jin Fengqi’s scenes were scheduled for the afternoon and evening.
“You have a lot of night scenes. Can your body handle it?” Luo Lan asked.
Luo Lan knew Jin Fengqi was prone to nervous exhaustion: if he stayed up late, he’d have a headache the next day. Still, if Luo Lan put in a word, Zhang Chi would grant him that favor.
Luo Lan was good-looking, and the docile way he looked at Jin Fengqi seemed genuinely caring. In truth, he was wickedly waiting for Jin Fengqi to beg him for help.
Now that Jin Fengqi had resolved the problem with Luo Yuntang, Luo Lan couldn’t let Jin Fengqi think he was useless.
Jin Fengqi read the call sheet, then glanced at Luo Lan as though he could see right through him. Instead of asking for help, he said, “I can handle it.”