Tiandu Culture's bold maneuver sparked some memories of Chu An's past life.
Looking at Lu Mingze, sitting alone in front of the monitor, Chu An pondered for a moment. He then suddenly turned to Tong Meng and Sister Lan and said, "Sister, I need to talk to Director Lu about something. I'll be back soon."
Tong Meng was startled and cautioned, "Director Lu is in a bad mood. Don't walk straight into the line of fire!"
Chu An smiled, "It's fine, I'm not going to provoke him."
As he spoke, he grabbed his lunch box, gave a goofy smile, and casually sat down next to Lu Mingze.
Lu Mingze was taken aback, frowning as he looked at Chu An. "What are you doing?"
Chu An kept the silly smile on his face. "Director Lu, I had a dream last night!"
Lu Mingze: "I'm not the God of Dreams, go away!"
Chu An didn't leave. "Please hear me out! This dream was really bizarre, and I think it could help inspire your work!"
He quickly added, "Not for our film, though, it's just… well…"
He pretended to think for a moment. "How do I say this?"
Lu Mingze: "Dramatic?"
Chu An: "Yes! Haha, very dramatic."
That piqued Lu Mingze's interest. If Chu An really had a good idea from a dream, it could be an inspiration.
"Alright, tell me about it!"
Half-joking, half-seriously, he added, "If you waste my time, though…"
Before he could finish, Chu An quickly interrupted, "Deduct ten bucks!"
Lu Mingze laughed. "Hurry up and tell me!"
On the other side, Ma Lan and Tong Meng saw Chu An approaching and sitting down next to Lu Mingze. They were curious about what he had to say.
The two gossiping women exchanged a glance and quietly moved their small stools closer to listen.
Chu An's dream was indeed quite dramatic.
"I dreamed that I quit school and went to Beijing to work. The first entertainment-related job I got was as a lighting assistant at a concert."
There was no need for Chu An to explain. Being a lighting assistant sounded nice, but it was really just manual labor, and he had been hired temporarily from the labor market.
"During the concert, the main light bracket broke, and I had to squat on a gantry more than ten meters high, holding a laser light for four hours. When I came down, the inside of my arms was burned by low-temperature burns."
Director Lu snorted coldly. As an insider, he knew how ridiculous it was.
"You really dare to dream! A several-kilowatt laser light weighing over 100 pounds for four hours? You'd be exhausted before you even got burned to death!"
Chu An's eyes seemed filled with reminiscence. He subconsciously rubbed the inside of his arm and continued, "Anyway, that's how I dreamed."
"Because of that rescue mission, I went from a temporary worker to a formal employee of the behind-the-scenes team, and that's how I entered the entertainment industry."
"Afterward, I worked in all positions behind the scenes, except for camera and makeup. I cherished every day and didn't let any opportunity to enrich myself and climb up slip by."
Lu Mingze listened quietly, and this time, he didn't contradict him.
He keenly noticed that this was indeed a more interesting idea, a story about growth.
"What happened next?"
Chu An: "Then I switched to the artist team and started from scratch again. From assistant to artist coordinator, from artist planner to agent, and eventually, I set up my own agency."
At this point, Chu An's eyes were filled with pride, as if the "Meng An" in his dream made him immensely proud.
"I have many top artists under my command. They've won countless awards both at home and abroad—my office could be filled with them!"
Lu Mingze laughed, clearly amused. "You're very professional in your dreams. You even know about artist coordination and planning?"
Most people only understand an artist management team in terms of assistants and agents. Knowing about coordination and planning positions meant that Chu An knew a thing or two.
Chu An continued to grin, glancing around intentionally. Seeing that the production team wasn't around, he felt a bit more at ease.
Suddenly, his expression became exaggerated, and he even gestured with his hands. "In my dream, it was a true myth of grassroots success!!"
"It was so gratifying, I felt like I could do anything!!"
"To all the gossipers in the industry—'Chu is uneducated, just a nouveau riche!'"
"'He's just a big suck-up who plays nanny to artists!'"
"For all those voices, I swear seven of them wouldn't dare to speak out and eight of them would be furious!"
This time, not only Director Lu, but also Sister Lan and Tong Meng were affected by his enthusiasm.
At that moment, Chu An had the arrogance and confidence of a teenager, along with the madness and exaggeration of dreams.
They could almost see a middle-aged Chu An, who had fought his way up from the grassroots, standing at the peak of his career—full of ambition, vigor, and power!
At this moment, Lu Mingze grew serious. He truly realized that this was a good idea—a very good story!
"Ma Lan." He called out to Sister Lan. "Bring me my notebook."
He had to write this down. It might be useful in the future.
As he opened the small notebook he always carried, he anxiously asked, "And then?!"
"Then…" Chu An suddenly stopped. He slouched back in his seat, absentmindedly playing with his leftover food. After a while, he said, "In the dream, fate played a joke on me. A few drinking parties, a giant in the industry I could only look up to, and a very tempting big production. In the dream, I went from being an agent to an investor!"
Lu Mingze's eyes lit up as he became fully immersed. "Good! Good! This plot development is amazing!"
He was fully engrossed in the wild inspiration.
"Don't tell me the rest yet, wait. Let me think."
Lu Mingze stood up hysterically and started pacing around the set.
Then he suddenly shouted, "It can't be too smooth!! You must fail in the investment! In the dream, you can only fail in the investment! That's where the dramatic conflict lies!"
He looked up at Chu An eagerly, almost pleading with his eyes. "Your dream can't be smooth sailing, right? There must be setbacks, right?!"
Chu An looked at him. Lu Mingze was as pure as a child, with only creativity in his eyes.
With a bitter smile, Chu An nodded slowly. "The 'me' in the dream is even more ridiculous than you can imagine!"
Lu Mingze: "What happened?! Tell me!"
Chu An had now switched from referring to "me" in the dream to the second person, a double meaning.
"Don't you understand? The big company only puts in a little money to play with you, but you have to risk everything to even be eligible to get into the capital trap!!"
"Trap?" Lu Mingze muttered subconsciously, his head buzzing, "Trap…"
"Yes!" Chu An said, each word deliberate. "It's a trap! A capital trap!"
"They have their eyes on my company, want to sleep with my female artists, and by the way, make me work for them for the rest of my life!"
Lu Mingze: "!!!"
He stood there dumbfounded, staring at Chu An.
It was as if he saw another life in those eyes—ups and downs.
He saw the hardship and pain of the Chu An in the dream, and it was unforgettable.
Chu An didn't avoid Lu Mingze's gaze. He looked at him calmly.
That wasn't a dream—it was the truth of Chu An's life.
Indeed, the giant Tiandu Culture wasn't something Chu An could afford to offend now. He didn't want to be directly involved in the battle of capital.
But, Chu An couldn't turn a blind eye either.
He wanted to use this method to remind Lu Mingze not to repeat his old path. It wasn't too late to wake up now.
Not for anything else—just because Director Lu had given him the nickname "Chu Ten Bucks."
Just because Sister Lan had helped his family immensely.
Just because there was a good sister like Tong Meng in the crew, who treated everyone with sincerity.
In any case, Chu An had helped in every way he could. If Lu Mingze still didn't understand and couldn't learn from experience, then maybe Director Lu shouldn't stay in this circle. It might be better to be eliminated sooner, for the sake of relief.
At this moment, Lu Mingze stared at Chu An for a long time, his expression changing from confusion to horror, then to shock.
Just when Chu An breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Lu Mingze had finally realized the issue, Director Lu suddenly slapped his thigh and shouted, "Awesome!!!"
"This is freaking brilliant! This twist is a fucking genius!"
He pointed at Chu An, shouting all around as if sharing his excitement. "This is a fucking genius!! A screenwriting genius!"
"Chu Ten Bucks!!" He swore. "I swear, I'll definitely turn your dream into a film!"
"This twist is so beautiful!"
Chu An: "."
I have no desire to live!
I thought, what's the point of destroying it now?
It's come to this point, and you still don't understand?
Is Director Lu's IQ even what a normal human should have?
He slumped back into his chair, not wanting to say another word.
Lu Mingze was still lost in his own world, pacing back and forth before suddenly jumping back to the monitor. He shooed everyone, including "Original" Chu An, away for at least five meters.
He created an absolute silence to record it down.
He swore, this was the best script idea he had heard in years.
Chu An gave up completely, retreating to the back.
Tong Meng, who had been quietly listening to the story, suddenly spoke up, "Chu, did the version of you in the dream bow to the big company?"
Chu An didn't answer, just giving Tong Meng a faint smile