Starting as the President of a Billionaire Group Chapter 1497 - 1471: The Veteran Artist

The Two People drove to the set.

Have to say, Tong Xiaoya really shelled out big money this time; she clearly put a lot of thought into the layout of the set.

It was enough to prove how important this movie was in Tong Xiaoya’s heart.

Led by Tong Xiaoya, Ye Chen walked inside.

He spotted a familiar figure—this person was none other than the famous director Zhang Mou.

And the cast, men and women alike, were all top trending stars, plus a few veteran actors.

Everyone became very polite the moment they saw Ye Chen.

"Teacher Ye, you’re here." Zhang Mou stepped up to greet him.

Previously, because of Tong Xiaoya, he’d worked with Ye Chen, and he was very impressed by Ye Chen’s acting.

He hadn’t expected that once again, thanks to Tong Xiaoya, the Two People would get to meet and work together as performance coaches.

"Hello, Director Zhang." Ye Chen gave a slight nod.

"Teacher Ye, as our acting coach, you absolutely have to give the actors in our crew some proper guidance." Zhang Mou said with a smile.

By chance, the Two People had shot a drama called Kite together.

It was only after Ye Chen suggested he revise the script that the protagonist’s personality gained more tension, making the story far more exciting.

At the same time, Ye Chen’s portrayal of Zheng Yaoshan’s sly, shrewd, and ruthless nature was brought out to the fullest.

That was one of the key reasons the drama became a massive hit.

Zhang Mou had directed many dramas and films, but that one collaboration made him feel like he’d discovered a treasure.

He’d wanted to really cultivate Ye Chen, but Ye Chen tactfully turned him down.

After all, Zhang Mou was a famous director—not someone just anyone could hire.

But when Tong Xiaoya told him Ye Chen would be serving as acting coach, he agreed on the spot.

The people on set were all a bit surprised by how Zhang Mou treated Ye Chen.

"Who exactly is this handsome guy? How come even a famous director is being so polite to him?"

"Look at Sister Xiaoya—her relationship with him doesn’t seem ordinary either."

"Yeah, it’s really weird."

"But this little brother is seriously good-looking. If I could act opposite him, that’d be amazing."

A few popular young actresses were downright starry-eyed as they stared at Ye Chen, imagining how great it would be to partner with him on screen.

Everyone cast Ye Chen looks full of envy and jealousy.

Just as everyone was gossiping about Ye Chen, a very jarring voice suddenly rang out.

It clashed completely with the atmosphere on set.

"Everyone, pick up the pace. My time is very precious."

"Do you have any idea what a big favor I’m doing you by agreeing to come here?"

"I just can’t stand this batch of young actors nowadays—they’re way too unprofessional."

Seeing no one respond, he kept going.

"Some people just don’t know their place. They think that because their family has a bit of money, the set belongs to them."

"In our eyes, these people have lousy acting skills, but they’re great at throwing their weight around."

The grating voice echoed at a very wrong moment.

Footsteps headed toward Ye Chen, who was being treated like the center of the universe.

Ye Chen glanced at the man walking over and froze for a second.

Because he knew this person.

In Ye Chen’s memory, he’d seen plenty of TV shows and movies starring this man.

The man speaking had an overwhelming presence, an Emperor’s Aura; he usually played the Emperor, and you could definitely call him an old-school artist.

His name was Tang Qiang, in his fifties.

He was absolutely a pure acting type, and every project he took part in received great reviews.

People in the industry respected him a lot.

But he had one flaw: because he carried the protagonist halo around with him, he often looked down on other actors.

He always felt only he acted well; everyone else was no good.

And he had a bad impression of young actors, believing they couldn’t endure hardship, couldn’t take suffering, and were always asking for stunt doubles at the drop of a hat.

In fact, his thinking was a bit one-sided—not all young actors are useless. Many of them are also working hard, constantly improving their craft, insisting on doing dangerous scenes themselves.

Seeing Ye Chen being surrounded by everyone, Tang Qiang got a little angry.

He felt that he was the real boss on set, the representative of serious acting—how could he let Ye Chen steal his spotlight?

Actually, Tang Qiang had arrived at the set quite early. People around him had just nodded and greeted him, and then he’d been waiting there the whole time.

He’d thought he could start filming as soon as he arrived, but instead they left him hanging.

Then he watched Ye Chen walk in and immediately get swarmed and fussed over—how was he supposed not to be pissed?

This time, Tang Qiang was here to play the Emperor again, and he was also the male lead of the film—the Number One Male.

The movie Tong Xiaoya was shooting revolved around Emperor Qin, with both middle-aged and young versions.

Given Tang Qiang’s aura, playing the middle-aged Emperor Qin was a perfect fit.

But after he arrived and saw how little attention he was getting, he was a bit depressed.

No one handed him a bottle of water, and no one came over to chat.

He’d originally wanted to meet Tong Xiaoya, but heard she wasn’t here yet and was probably still on the way.

When he saw Tong Xiaoya and Ye Chen get out of the car together, he felt even more sour inside.

He, the seasoned veteran, had waited here so long, and Tong Xiaoya showed up together with this young actor instead.

When Tang Qiang arrived, Zhang Mou was there too, but he barely paid him any mind.

Yet as soon as Ye Chen showed up, Zhang Mou became all enthusiastic and even walked over to greet him personally.

That made Tang Qiang feel like the difference in treatment was way too big.

He assumed Ye Chen was just some pretty boy who’d "brought money into the group."

This was the first time Tang Qiang had run into something like this; he looked down on these kinds of young actors with one eye half closed, relying on rich parents, ignoring seniority, and acting like the older artists didn’t exist.

He strode right up to Ye Chen and sneered, "Young actors nowadays really don’t know their limits. Not a shred of professionalism."

Then Tang Qiang continued, "Kid, I’m guessing you know who I am. I was already acting before you were even born."

"You really think this set belongs to your family? You made everyone wait for you this long. Aren’t you embarrassed?"

Standing in front of Ye Chen, Tang Qiang just laid into him, not even thinking about giving Ye Chen the slightest bit of face.

Looking at the man in front of him, ranting like a madman, Ye Chen felt speechless.

He wondered if Tang Qiang had simply forgotten to take his meds this morning, which was why he kept yapping nonstop.

There was no way Ye Chen was going to bother with a guy whose brain was clearly off; he didn’t even bother to look Tang Qiang straight in the eye.