Huayu: This producer has no bottom line.

Chapter 34 Helping You Get an Offer

Jinling, Communication University of China, Nanjing Campus.

Thanks to the school's favor towards "distinguished alumnus" Bai Ke, coupled with his passable resume, he was able to succeed.

Ren Pingsheng successfully rented a multimedia classroom at the school and publicly recruited guest actors for "Report to the Boss".

Media studies schools are used to this kind of thing; if a student can appear on camera, it's considered a success for the school.

But Ren Pingsheng's goal was not to hold open auditions.

He needed a suitable way to approach Ni Ni, otherwise, given her personality, she would most likely refuse.

The interview went very quickly.

There were quite a few people, both men and women, mostly from the broadcasting and performing arts departments, including a few with exceptionally outstanding qualifications.

For example, there's Yu Sheng, who just won a beauty pageant, and Wu Qianqian, who has a gentle and graceful demeanor.

Ren Pingsheng briefly had them try out two lines of dialogue, and then ticked them off in his notebook for future reference.

But it's only a backup plan.

Ren Pingsheng did not see his true target until the last student finished auditioning in the corridor.

"Director Wang, are all the students here?" Ren Pingsheng closed the roster and looked at the department leader accompanying him.

"We've notified all the counselors we could, and almost everyone on campus has come," Director Wang smiled. "What, didn't Director Ren find a suitable one?"

Ren Pingsheng didn't answer, but nudged Bai Ke next to him with his elbow and gave him a look.

Bai Ke understood immediately and quickly stepped forward: "Director Wang, I remember there's a junior in our department named Ni Ni, she's quite attractive, why haven't I seen her today?"

"Ni Ni?" Director Wang suddenly realized. "That girl is good at English. She went to Shanghai for an internship at Procter & Gamble during a recent campus recruitment drive for a foreign company. She's not at school anymore."

"In Shanghai?"

Bai Ke and Ren Pingsheng exchanged a glance.

……

Two hours later, on the train bound for Shanghai.

Bai Ke had been holding it in the whole way, but finally couldn't resist.

"Brother Pingsheng, there's something I really can't figure out."

"Speak," Ren Pingsheng said, looking at the scenery rushing past the window.

"I'm from Nanjing University of the Arts. I'm only vaguely familiar with that junior. How do you know her, since you've been living in Beijing all year round? You even came all the way from Beijing to Nanjing, and now you're going to Shanghai to find her."

Ren Pingsheng turned around, his expression calm: "I happened to see a promotional video for a middle school before. There was a host in it who was very photogenic. I asked around and found out that I got into your school."

"Just one glance?"

"Yes, just one glance," Ren Pingsheng said in a serious tone, "Hongming, as a director, you have to trust your intuition."

Bai Ke nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.

Of course, he would never know the real reason why Ren Pingsheng went to such great lengths to find an ordinary female student.

That's the next "Zhang Yimou Girl" personally endorsed by the Imperial Advisor not long after!

Once this news is made public, it will be the best "GG" for "Report to the Boss".

Moreover, it's just a guest appearance in one episode, which will at most take up two days of the weekend. It won't affect her participation in the audition at all. It's a sure-fire deal. What's a trip to Shanghai compared to that?

……

The next day at noon, in a coffee shop downstairs from the Taiping Financial Building in Lujiazui, Shanghai.

Ren Pingsheng and Bai Ke sat by the window.

At 12:15, the glass door was pushed open.

A well-dressed but slightly inexperienced young woman in a business suit hurriedly walked in, carrying a thick stack of documents.

She wore no heavy makeup, and her hair was neatly tied back, yet she couldn't hide her cool and alluring charm.

Seeing Bai Ke wave, the girl quickly walked over, a hint of doubt in her eyes.

"Hello, Senior Luo. Sorry to keep you waiting."

The girl's voice was clear and crisp. She gave a slight bow and said, "I only have a forty-minute lunch break, and I have a department meeting this afternoon, so I'll have to keep it brief."

There was no small talk or idle chatter; he was extremely rational and focused on efficiency.

Ren Pingsheng sized up Ni Ni in front of him and nodded to himself. Although she had not yet undergone the three years of training for "The Flowers of War", her temperament was indeed superb.

Just as Bai Ke was about to start introducing, Ni Ni's phone, which was on the table, suddenly vibrated.

She glanced at the caller ID, immediately made an apologetic gesture, answered the phone, and switched to fluent English.

"Yes, manager..."

She spoke very quickly, her brows furrowed slightly, and she was jotting down key points on the edge of a folder with a pen in her hand, mostly about Head & Shoulders and the World Expo.

Ren Pingsheng, sitting opposite him, paused slightly in the hand holding his coffee cup.

He glanced discreetly at the cover of the document beside Ni Ni.

Evaluation Report on IPCN's Introduction of Talent Show and Procter & Gamble's Exclusive Title Sponsorship in Greater China

In an instant, Ren Pingsheng pieced together the complete historical context in his mind.

On the eve of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

At this time, Yang Yuancao, the "godmother" of Chinese variety shows, was trying to persuade Shanghai's Dragon TV and Procter & Gamble to cooperate on the rights to the British show "Got Talent".

However, as a top multinational company, Procter & Gamble felt that grassroots programs were too low-class and did not match the high-end image of Procter & Gamble as a sponsor of the World Expo.

This unprecedented and extremely long and arduous tug-of-war over the pricing of domestic variety show ratings has been repeatedly studied as a classic case study in marketing.

Unexpectedly, this intern from Nanjing University of the Arts was right at the center of this storm.

The phone hangs up.

Ni Ni let out a long sigh, tucked her loose hair behind her ear, and looked at the two people opposite her.

"I'm sorry, Director Ren, senior, Director Wang already told me about this on the phone."

She picked up the water on the table and took a sip, her tone polite yet revealing an undeniable firmness.

"Senior, Professor Ren, thank you so much for coming all this way to see me."

"But my ideal job is to be a white-collar worker in a good foreign company. Being a celebrity or acting is too far removed from my life, and I'm not interested in it."

She patted the thick stack of documents beside her. "The most important thing right now is to seize this rare internship opportunity and try my best to get a full-time offer from P&G."

After speaking, Ni Ni stood up and bowed very politely.

"Excuse me, I have to go now. I need to prepare materials for an important meeting this afternoon, and I can't be late."

Clean, efficient, and without any unnecessary delays.

Ni Ni turned around and walked towards the coffee shop's door.

Bai Ke opened his mouth, unsure how to persuade Ren Pingsheng to stay, and turned to look at him.

Ren Pingsheng didn't rush to get up. He picked up his coffee, took the last sip, and watched the girl's back as she was about to push open the glass door. He then spoke slowly and deliberately.

"What if I could help you get an offer from Procter & Gamble?"

The sound wasn't loud, but it just penetrated the background noise of the coffee shop.

Ni Ni's hand, which was pushing the door open, froze.

She turned her head and looked at the web series director, who was only a few years older than her and hadn't said much, with some disbelief.

Would you be willing to make a cameo appearance if you had some free time?

Ren Pingsheng leaned back in his chair with a smile on his face. "It'll just be two days this weekend in Beijing. I guarantee it won't affect your normal work in Shanghai."