Chapter 261: Popularity

“Over here! I’m here!” Yi Ling got out of her car and waved furiously at Luo Lin to catch her attention.

Luo Lin turned to look in the direction of Yi Ling’s voice, and finally saw her.

She quickly walked over to the sports car, wondering where Yi Ling had gotten it. It looked brand new.

“Get in.” Yi Ling put on her sunglasses and motioned at her car with a quick flick of her chin. At that moment, she looked and behaved exactly like a rich superstar.

Luo Lin immediately slid into the passenger’s seat and buckled up.

After a few minutes on the road, Luo Lin finally asked: “Whose car is this? You’re a good driver, by the way.”

“It’s mine.” Yi Ling smiled cheerfully. It was true that she was a good driver; she had earned her driver’s license a long time ago, but did not have the opportunity to drive her own car. It had taken her only a few minutes on the road to get used to the sports car.

“Yours?” Luo Lin could not believe her ears. “This car costs at least a million yuan. Where’d you get the money?”

“I don’t have money,” Yi Ling answered honestly, “but Huanhuan does.”

Luo Lin sighed inwardly: she was sure that Yi Ling was pulling her leg. There was no way that Yan Huan would be rolling in money with the handful of acting roles under her belt. How could she afford to buy Yi Ling a sports car that cost at least a million yuan? Divorced had raked in 600 million at the box office, but Luo Lin automatically assumed that Yan Huan would not be taking a share of the box office earnings.

Yi Ling merely smiled. She decided not to explain what had happened.

Luo Lin was a part of the team now, but Yi Ling felt that it was better to keep the fact that Yan Huan had pocketed almost 200 million yuan from Divorced a secret.

They arrived at the private kitchen, and saw a black Hummer parked outside. Yi Ling knew the car: it was Lu Yi’s. She had seen him driving it a few times, and it was easy enough to recognize the car’s special license plate number; those unique numbers were given only to the special department Lu Yi worked in.

Luo Lin opened the door to the restaurant, and saw that Yan Huan was already there. There were also two other men seated at the table with her. The icy-looking man dressed in a black trench coat sat properly in his chair without slouching; next to him, a large, bear-like man took up most of his chair.

The man in the black trench coat seemed vaguely familiar to Luo Lin, but she could not recall where she had seen him. She wondered if he was also an actor; something told her he was not part of the entertainment industry, but she could not place his familiar face.

“There you are,” said Yan Huan in greeting when she saw Luo Lin enter. She stood up to let Luo Lin sit beside her. “We have the whole place to ourselves. Let me introduce you: this is Lu Yi, and Lei Qingyi.”.

Lei Qingyi had become a close friend after the incident with Yi Ling and Lei Qingyi’s briefcase. He usually followed Lu Yi over to Yan Huan’s apartment to score a free meal. But the food was always secondary for him; he asked Yan Huan for her autograph every time he saw her, because his mother, Madam Lei, was Yan Huan’s hardcore fan.

Not many people had Yan Huan’s autograph. She had only just become famous, after all, and was not yet at the point where she would be mobbed by people on the streets asking for autographs. Every single day, Madam Lei reminded her son to help her get Yan Huan’s autograph, because she was also asking on behalf of her group of middle-aged housewife friends. After so many autograph runs, Lei Qingyi had become good friends with Yan Huan. It was therefore only natural for him to be invited to this dinner, too.

“Nice to meet you.” Lei Qingyi smiled cheerfully as he offered his hand to Luo Lin.

Lu Yi, on the other hand, merely acknowledged Luo Lin with a slight nod. He did not seem as enthusiastic or as friendly as Lei Qingyi, but that was just the way he was. He was not the type to be overly generous with his smiles.

In fact, given his reputation, it was better for him to remain stoic and expressionless at all times.

A smile from him would be so uncharacteristic of him it would probably cause its recipient to weep with fright.

Luo Lin still had not recognized Lu Yi. Suddenly, it dawned on her.

Lu Yi? Lu Yi...

She remembered that the youngest prosecutor in Sea City was also called Lu Yi. She stole a few glances at Lu Yi, and finally understood why he seemed so familiar to her.

The man was not part of showbiz, but his face was familiar to her because he frequently appeared on TV.

historical

Luo Lin’s eyes lit up. She was smart enough not to say anything, however.

She knew now that she had underestimated Yan Huan.

Yan Huan was not a no-name newcomer without anyone watching her back. On the contrary, the person backing her was incredibly powerful.

She had assumed that Xiao Rongrong had been struck by bad luck, but it was apparent now that the man behind Xiao Rongrong had fallen from grace not because of karma, but because someone had forcefully pulled him off his horse. Only a handful of people could do that to Zuo Fanrui.

One of them was Lu Yi.

Lu Yi’s name struck fear into the hearts of everyone, no matter which industry they worked in. He was known to be an impartial man who always sided with justice. He had stepped on many toes, but no one dared to avenge themselves because they knew Lu Yi would not pull any punches if they tried. The fact that he was a member of the powerful Lu family did not help, either.

Zuo Fanrui was proof of Lu Yi’s power. He had met the prosecutor, and had immediately collapsed like a house of cards.

Yan Huan. Luo Lin mentally repeated the name of the actress she was managing.

She knew she had chosen the right actress to work with. She had a feeling that the young 21-year-old actress who had just started her journey to stardom would eventually become a priceless treasure in showbiz.

No, not a priceless treasure. A bright, dazzling star.

Yan Huan had ordered many dishes. Yi Ling and Lei Qingyi devoured most of the food, exchanging loud, friendly banter between bites. Lu Yi and Yan Huan, on the other hand, did not talk much while they ate.

But Luo Lin could tell that the comparative silence between Lu Yi and Yan Huan was not borne out of awkward, polite reservation. In fact, she could tell that they had merely chose not to say anything because they understood each other very well.

After the success of Divorced, Yan Huan’s popularity had ballooned into terrifying proportions. She had been flooded with movie offers, but Yan Huan still had to shoot Please Close Your Eyes, which meant that she would only be able to start her next project a few months from now. To make up for her inability to commit to long-term projects, she accepted offers for magazine photo shoots in her free time. All the photographers who worked with her praised her for her easy confidence, and also for her photogenic appearance. There were no “bad angles” with her; the photographers could take a photo at any angle and it would turn out perfect.

Yan Huan was used to such praise; she had received similar praise in her previous life, after all. It was hard to tell just by looking at her, but her photogenic quality quickly became apparent as soon as she stood next to another woman.

She was not tall, but her body proportions were perfect. She had a small face and long legs.

All the other actresses were reluctant to stand beside Yan Huan, because her perfect proportions made them look ugly in comparison. Her tiny face was smaller than an open hand; even the most beautiful actresses looked like a bobblehead doll next to her.

Yuelun Entertainment had decided to gamble big on Yan Huan; they offered their best, most promising projects to her, knowing that she would do well on all of them because she has proven herself to be a versatile actress with her roles so far.

She could play a pure, innocent woman, a cute, adorable girl, a warm, passionate woman, or an icy, haughty woman. No role was too difficult for her. She had only been in a handful of projects, but everyone could already tell that she was a truly remarkable actress who could play whatever role she had been given. No, that did not sound right: she was not “playing a role”—that was an insult to what she did with her characters. She brought all of her characters to life.