After Defying the System, I Became a Genius Director

When she first heard these words, Shao Yichen’s temper flared instantly, and she was about to open her mouth to refuse.

Even if this wasn’t just half a month into their acquaintance in this life, even in her previous life, if Nan Rongyu had called her in this state and tried to boss her around, she would have flatly refused him.

Who did he think he was? Some overbearing CEO?!

The only similarity between him and an overbearing CEO was the overbearing part!

And perhaps the wealth.

But wasn’t Shao Yichen wealthy too—at least she had been before her rebirth!

However, after Shao Yichen calmed down slightly and thought carefully, she actually felt this idea might be feasible.

First, the premise of this proposal was that “The Last Wish” was about to end its run, and the film system would soon settle accounts and issue a new task—meaning Shao Yichen would definitely begin shooting a second film without delay.

On this basis, the task of finding actors for the next film was already on the agenda.

As for Nan Rongyu and Nan Rongzhou, these two fair-weather friends from her previous life, Shao Yichen knew them too well. They were more trouble than they were worth—not quite wastrels, but expecting them to do something productive was obviously absurd.

Not only that, but Shao Yichen understood these two people’s acting abilities much better than she understood Li Xingyu’s—how could these two possibly possess anything resembling acting skills!

Even when performing music at their small restaurant, they couldn’t manage their expressions properly. Their facial features would fly everywhere as they grimaced and mugged. Their originally handsome faces became absolutely unbearable to look at after such contortions, and any still photo taken could easily become a meme.

Letting them act, and as leads no less? With their complete lack of acting skills, they would undoubtedly make this film as eye-scorchingly bad as possible.

Wasn’t that a guarantee of losing money?

The more Shao Yichen thought about it, the more she felt this was a brilliant idea.

Why hadn’t her previous film lost money? The WeChat article claimed that the “script and actors” saved the film, but from Shao Yichen’s perspective, it had nothing to do with the quality of the script.

The previous film made money purely because many film critics, especially that initial “Cat Mint,” had their eyes blinded by Li Xingyu’s superb acting!

In other words, the culprit was the lead actor’s performance!

Realizing this, Shao Yichen became determined to eliminate this sole money-making possibility from the very beginning in this next film. That way, even if the film didn’t want to lose money, it would have no choice.

For this reason, letting these twin brothers play the leads was truly an excellent choice.

On one hand, after collaborating with these two, she wouldn’t need to worry about film distribution—South Polar Bear Group would naturally handle it well, providing much convenience for her lazy self.

On the other hand, their terrible acting was absolutely guaranteed, eliminating from the start the biggest factor that could make the film profitable. This way, she would surely succeed in losing money!

As for Nan Rongyu’s request to make the lead actor from the previous film the second male lead—although Shao Yichen really didn’t want to see that culprit who made the film profitable, according to Nan Rongyu’s designation, he wouldn’t be the male lead but the second male lead this time. (In fact, the drunk Nan Rongyu hadn’t realized that he and his brother were two people; with him and his brother as dual leads, what he called the “second male lead” would actually be the third male lead.) The character would presumably have much less screen time than before, greatly reducing the threat to the film’s ability to lose money.

Moreover, as the saying goes, “without comparison, there is no harm.” Having such an acting benchmark as the second male lead in the film would surely make the twins’ performances appear even more stilted by contrast.

With these thoughts, Shao Yichen had secretly made up her mind.

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Meanwhile, Nan Rongzhou finally managed to wrest the phone from his twin brother’s hand, feeling deeply regretful.

What a miscalculation! Had he known his brother would get drunk, he would never have mentioned Director Shao Yichen’s true identity to him!

But who could have anticipated that Nan Rongyu would accidentally mistake a cocktail for a soft drink? With his one-drink limit, he’d gotten drunk and started talking nonsense, even calling Director Shao Yichen without Nan Rongzhou noticing…

After grabbing the phone, he was fortunate to find that the other party hadn’t hung up, and he quickly apologized: “Director Shao Yichen, I’m so sorry! My brother is drunk and talking nonsense. Disturbing someone’s rest so late and offending you like this—I’m truly sorry! Please don’t take my brother’s ramblings to heart…”

This wasn’t the first time his brother had thrown a drunken tantrum, so Nan Rongzhou was extremely practiced at apologizing on his behalf. Usually, out of respect for their status, people on the other end of the line would give the South family heirs some face, at most making a few sarcastic remarks before hanging up. Nan Rongzhou expected Director Shao Yichen to react similarly, but to his surprise, she interrupted him halfway through.

“Why shouldn’t I take it to heart? I think Nan Rongyu’s suggestion is quite good,” the director said casually from the other end of the line.

Nan Rongzhou: …!

He suspected his hearing had malfunctioned.

“Sorry, Director, I don’t quite understand. Do you mean—”

“I think you two would be perfect as the male leads in my next film,” Shao Yichen said bluntly from the other end. “I accept your brother’s request!”

Nan Rongzhou nearly dropped the phone. Thinking Shao Yichen was speaking out of anger, he quickly apologized and declined: “I’m truly sorry. I know you must be angry right now, Director. Please just pretend you didn’t hear—”

To his surprise, Shao Yichen sighed languidly on the other end: “Xiao Zhou, ah no, Nan Rongzhou, it seems you don’t understand my determination! I genuinely think Nan Rongyu’s suggestion is excellent, and I’m not speaking out of anger!”

Nan Rongzhou was completely stunned.

From the other end of the line, Shao Yichen continued: “I think your brother is absolutely right. ‘The Last Wish’ completely failed to showcase your true talents! I see unlimited potential in you both. I’m certain you are exactly the male leads my next film has been waiting for!”

“It’s settled then. I’ll sign contracts with you as soon as possible! If anyone refuses me, I’ll be furious—I won’t play ranked matches with them anymore!”

Finally, Shao Yichen dropped this decisive statement and hung up the phone.

Leaving Nan Rongzhou standing alone in the chaotic bar, utterly confused.

He looked at his twin brother beside him, foaming at the mouth and talking nonsense, then at the glaring call record on his phone, feeling his worldview shaken.

Was becoming a film’s male lead… really this easy?

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The next morning.

Nan Rongyu woke from his hangover with a splitting headache and, for some reason, discomfort throughout his entire body.

Opening his eyes, he found himself lying on the floor.

No wonder he was sore all over—anyone would be stiff after sleeping on the floor all night.

…Couldn’t my brother Nan Rongzhou have dragged me back to bed?!

Rubbing his head, he sat up from the floor to find his twin brother sitting on the bed, staring at him intensely.

Nan Rongyu was about to complain about his brother’s cruelty in abandoning his drunk self on the bedroom floor, but when he met Nan Rongzhou’s judgmental, accusatory, and melancholy gaze, he felt an inexplicable chill and forgot what he was going to say.

“Why… why are you looking at me like that?” he asked nervously.

Nan Rongzhou continued to stare at him with that unsettling gaze for a long while, then let out a deep sigh.

“Brother, do you really not remember anything?” Nan Rongzhou’s tone sounded like he was accusing an unfaithful lover.

“What… did I forget?” Nan Rongyu was completely baffled.

He truly didn’t remember anything—this was his old problem. He would go crazy when drinking, inevitably forget everything, and wake up the next morning firmly believing he had done nothing and was perfectly innocent, leaving Nan Rongzhou to clean up the mess alone.

He was aware of this issue, which is why he usually stayed away from alcohol. Yesterday was an accident—he had mistaken a cocktail for a soft drink.

Nan Rongyu felt uneasy. Had he done something unforgivable last night? Had he abandoned his brother to pick up girls? Gone streaking through the streets with the face they both shared? Posted his brother’s embarrassing history as large-character posters on the bar walls?

Nan Rongyu’s imagination ran wild, but his guesses were not only absurd but completely off the mark. Seeing his twin brother’s expression, Nan Rongzhou knew he wouldn’t remember anything on his own. With another long sigh, he took out his phone, entered their shared birthday as the screen lock password, pulled up a recorded call, and handed it to Nan Rongyu, saying wearily: “Listen for yourself.”

Thankfully I was smart enough to record the call, Nan Rongzhou thought gratefully.

Nan Rongyu took the phone with a bewildered expression and put it to his ear to listen. After twenty seconds, his smile disappeared; after one minute, his expression grew grave; by the end of the recording, his face had turned pale.

“Do you understand now?” Nan Rongzhou crossed his arms and stared at him. “Congratulations, brother, on securing us roles as male leads in a film with just one phone call.”

“I… I was drunk! Really!” Nan Rongyu wore an expression of despair. “I was just venting! After all, it’s true that the director used us… I was just talking about being the male lead without meaning it!”

Who could have imagined that the director named Shao Yichen would actually agree?!

While feeling devastated, Nan Rongyu also felt somewhat wronged. Although born wealthy, he had always squandered money through his own efforts, never bullying others with his status, and never intending to gain fame through his position as one of the South family heirs. This incident was purely accidental; he had never intended to get this male lead role…

But listening to the recording, it sounded as if he was pressuring the director!

Nan Rongyu sat dumbfounded on the floor for a moment, then suddenly jumped up: “This wasn’t my intention at all! No, I need to find the director and clear things up!”

Author’s Note:

Let’s congratulate our two new male leads! (Nan Rongzhou & Nan Rongyu: No, please don’t!)

In the next chapter, this story’s male lead will finally make a brief appearance again, it’s been so difficult.

Li Xingyu: I’ve gotten used to being a background character (tired smile)

First VIP chapter update~

Thanks to the little angels who cast Emperor Votes or poured Nutrition Fluid for me during the period from 2020-08-21 20:59:12 to 2020-08-22 12:00:00~

Thanks to the little angels who poured Nutrition Fluid: Ou Zhou Hu 20 bottles; Cat from Cat Star 10 bottles; My Beloved Yue Rong 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!