1928: The rise of giant merchants

November 3, the seventeenth year of the Republic of China (1928).

No. 33, Xiafei Road.

On the balcony, Ruan Lingyu and Hu Die, who were taking a rare nap, held the script of "The Goddess" written by Ye Luo and read it fascinatedly.

The original movie "The Goddess" tells the tragic story of a prostitute who got unexpectedly pregnant, but was taken over by bullies and turned into a money-making tool.

The heroine sold herself to earn money to support her son's education, but was rejected by the school board and other parents, and the child was eventually expelled from school.

In order for her son to continue studying, the heroine planned to take her savings and flee elsewhere, but found that the money she had worked so hard to accumulate had long been used by bullies to gamble and lose it all.

She was so angry that she picked up a wine bottle and beat the bully to death. She was also imprisoned for manslaughter, and her son was adopted by the old principal.

From the perspective of modern people, the plot of the movie "The Goddess" is straightforward and lacks highlights, making it difficult to arouse the audience's interest. Therefore, Ye Luo wrote it using magical realism to highlight the poverty and poverty of today's lower class society. The current situation of poverty satirizes the current bureaucratic social system.

The heroine has no name and is replaced by "she" throughout the story, which makes people empathize with her and make her cry.

"This" Ruan Lingyu read the entire text and couldn't let it go for a long time.

She vaguely saw her own shadow in the script of "The Goddess". Once upon a time, she was also such a helpless woman who was bullied by bullies. Although she is a famous actress, in the eyes of many people, she is no different from a prostitute. ?

In the script, the heroine puts up a fight in the end. Although she has done nothing wrong, she still has to go to jail to pay for her life. If she had not met the second young master in front of her in her life, would it most likely be like this?

Ruan Lingyu raised her head and looked at Hu Die, with exactly the same emotion in their eyes.

She let out a long sigh, losing her usual liveliness and agility and becoming duller.

Ye Luo couldn't help but ask: "Why, if you don't like this script, I will change it to another one."

"No, no, no, don't want it." Ruan Lingyu held the manuscript in her chest and shook her head quickly, "I like it very much. But after reading it, I felt a little uncomfortable."

"Second Young Master, your writing is so good that we can't help but feel the same." Hu Die also sighed, "When this movie is made, it will definitely surpass "Blood and Tears of Yellow Flowers" in all aspects. Congratulations, Ah Ruan."

After saying this, she suddenly fell silent and secretly glanced at Ye Luo. She was relieved when she saw that he was not displeased.

He and the second young master are actually married. Only the two of them know about this. When the words just heard from the second young master, he may feel that he is jealous of Ah Ruan, implying that the second young master will allocate resources to himself, so that he can Hu Die was worried.

Fortunately, Ye Luo didn't think in that direction at all. Seeing that they all agreed with the script, he felt relieved.

"Then Ah Ruan, you guys take the script to Ye's Film Company and tell Zhang Shichuan and others that this is the script I prepared specially for Ah Ruan. I hope it can be released before the end of December." Ye Luo nodded and said, "That's right. , how are you preparing for the talkies?"

"The equipment has been debugged, but the technicians still need to learn for a few more months." Ruan Lingyu said with a flat mouth, "I guess we won't be able to do it this year."

"Haha, don't worry, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to enjoy yourself next year!" Ye Luo reached out and gently rubbed Ruan Lingyu's head.

Ruan Lingyu did not dodge such an intimate gesture, which was very helpful. She blinked her big eyes and looked at Ye Luo, with a hint of lust in her eyes.

Hu Die was next to him, and Ye Luoke didn't dare to flirt with this little girl anymore, and quickly changed the subject: "One more thing, I hope you can help me find some good singing girls in the Mingyue Song and Dance Troupe when you are free, regardless of age. I want to expand the reserve resources for future singers."

"We will pay attention." Hu Die nodded. She often hangs out at the Mingyue Song and Dance Troupe and is very familiar with the people there.

"Second Young Master, do you want to eat here? I'll go buy some food~" Ruan Lingyu glanced at Ye Luo and Hu Die and smiled slyly.

Ye Luo hesitated for a moment, but thinking that there was nothing to do at noon, he nodded slightly.

Ruan Lingyu stood up with a smile and ran away quickly. After hearing the door closing downstairs, Ye Luo moved to Hu Die's side.

The two of them were speechless. After a while, Hu Die lowered her head and said softly with a red face: "I recently learned a new song. Second Young Master, would you like to hear it?"

"Well, let me listen." Ye Luo stretched out his hand to pull Hu Die, let her sit on his lap, and hugged her warm and soft body into his arms.

Hu Die leaned against him and sang softly, her voice was melodious and moving, and she sang the song "Tuberose" written by Ye Luo.

"Tuberose, I sing for you; Tuberose, I think for you."

After falling in love with Ye Luo, Hu Die knew that her destiny in this life could not escape the path of being an outside lover. Even so, she still jumped resolutely.

Because she felt that being Ye Luo's lover was better than marrying a warlord or a rich man as his concubine.

She truly loved this man.

Feeling the surging love from her arms, Ye Luo kissed Hu Die's neck intimately. At this moment, the phone in the room rang.

The two of them slowly separated. They didn't want to worry about the call, but the other party seemed determined to get someone to answer it, and it just kept ringing.

Hu Die had no choice but to stand up, simply pack her clothes and pants, and quickly ran towards the back room.

She picked up the phone and heard Ruan Lingyu's voice. She was so angry that she was about to teach this little girl a lesson. When she heard the following content, she immediately stopped smiling and kept saying "Yeah, yeah," and then said, "Then I will Hang up first, come back quickly." Then he walked towards the balcony.

"Who is it?" Ye Luo asked curiously.

Judging from Hu Die's completely different tone after answering the phone, it should be something serious.

"Ah Ruan." Hu Die sat down and added a cup of tea for Ye Luo. "She called from next door. She said that someone from Jinling had an urgent call. I hope you will call back right away. It's the third national smoking ban. It’s about the meeting.”

Ye Luo raised his eyebrows and stood up quickly. Before he left, Hu Die reminded him: "Second Young Master, I have written down your phone number on the note paper next to you."

"Okay." Ye Luo immediately walked into the back room, picked up the note next to the phone, made a transfer call first, and then dialed the phone number.

After a while, the other party answered the phone.

"Who?" Opposite was a young man with a magnetic voice and a very calm voice.

"I'm Ye Luo, who are you?" Ye Luo didn't recognize the voice.

"Ah, hello, Second Young Master, I am Tang Fulu, secretary of Minister Song Ziwen. You should have heard my little sister talk about me."

"It turns out to be Secretary Tang. Hello, hello. I heard that this is the third national anti-smoking conference. What exactly do you want me to cooperate with?" Ye Luo asked with a smile. The other party is also a friend, so there is no need to be particularly restrained.

"Haha, that's it. The principal is going to host the meeting in person on November 6th. He hopes to invite celebrities from all walks of life to attend the meeting. Shanghai is one of the places where smoking is prohibited. Minister Song recommended you to attend the meeting as a representative of the Shanghai Bund General Chamber of Commerce. I don't know. What’s your intention?”

"Banning smoking is the top priority in the country. If I can help in a small way, I will be obliged." Ye Luo chuckled, "Then I will set off to Jinling today."

"That's very good. I will tell Minister Song that we will meet again as brothers when you arrive in Jinling."

"Okay, thank you Secretary Tang!"

"It's a small matter. I hope you will take more care of my little sister in Shanghai, Second Young Master."

"Secretary Tang, don't worry, I will definitely take good care of your sister."