Director Cao Can is also a producer. He hails from Taiwan, China, and enjoys a certain level of popularity.
Joyno was overjoyed at the chance to meet Director Cao Can.
Not only did Joyno follow Director Cao Can's *Watching the Clouds Rise* because of her admiration for Luo Yize, but she had also watched the works he had produced, directed, and written during her student days. In particular, the two dramas *Taipei Love Story* and *The Mermaid's Tears* were said to have a score of 8.5 on Douban.
"Are you good at writing comedies?" Cao Can asked Joyno.
"Sort of!" Actually, Joyno preferred heart - wrenching love stories. *Taipei Love Story*, for example, was extremely poignant. With the complex love triangle and the obstacle of the male and female leads being half - siblings, they didn't end up together, and the female lead died in a plane crash.
Joyno happened to like such stories. But she also knew that Cao Can, who had always focused on inspirational love, fantasy love, and tragic stories, was about to change his style and start trying out the light - hearted comedy genre.
"Actually, for the style I want now, you can refer to *Love O2O* and *Boss, Please Marry Me*. It doesn't have to be a pure comedy. It just needs to be lighter and more cheerful. Of course, it's best to have both laughter and tears, and the ending must be happy."
Joyno understood. Director Cao Can wanted a domineering CEO - style film or TV work.
In this kind of plot, the male lead is usually either cold - hearted or scheming, and he is either a rich second - generation or a senior executive in a high - end company. The female lead is often set as cute and naive, with a tragic background, like being an orphan, betrayed by her boyfriend, or from the bottom of society. Of course, there are also cases where she is a rich young lady, or both the male and female leads are senior executives in a company. In short, the settings can be as absurd as possible.
As for the story, it can be as cheesy as possible, and it can even include a cute kid. Speaking of which, wasn't this the kind of plot Joyno was best at before?
Joyno politely raised a question: "Can I try a new style?"
On the other end of the phone, Director Cao Can laughed. At first, he said casually: "Sure. The suggestions I made are just for reference."
Then he started to ramble on, which was his usual style: "Whether it's my suggestions for screenwriters or for actors, I don't force you to adopt them. But every word I say will only help you improve, not hold you back."
Joyno nodded continuously while listening to his rambling.
This director was much more talkative than her former leaders at the newspaper and even her parents.
What could be expressed in one sentence or a short paragraph, Director Cao would turn into a whole article. As she had heard from Luo Yize, many actors had the same impression of him.
After what seemed like ages, Joyno finally finished listening to his rambling. She hung up the phone and hailed a taxi.
Joyno found it both funny and annoying, but she knew in her heart that Director Cao Can's works were top - notch. Without his long - windedness, it would be hard to produce such high - quality works.
Therefore, people in the industry not only had a deep impression of his talkativeness but also commented that the reason his works were so good was because of his endless nagging.
Although Director Cao Can talked a lot, he would never just talk without taking action. After every long speech, he would put every word he said into practice.
At the dinner in the evening, in this sky - high restaurant, even the tables and chairs were suspended hundreds of meters above the ground. The corridors on both sides in the middle were like glass walkways, but with handrails.
This wasn't Joyno's first time in such a sky - high restaurant. She had been to similar ones when traveling abroad with her family. What mattered most was the floating atmosphere at such a high altitude. This restaurant mainly served Western teppanyaki, and in the distance, one could see the colorful high - rise buildings.
Fortunately, Joyno wasn't afraid of heights. She was always very brave. She had once jumped and skipped on a glass walkway with her college classmates, feeling quite at ease. People who knew her well knew that Joyno liked to seek excitement, and the more exciting things were, the more they could inspire her writing.
That evening, besides Joyno, there were Mr. Zhao, Director Cao, Hou Lei, and Luo Yize, plus Deng Hao and Ye Xuan. Since Ye Xuan had taken over Joyno's role as the female lead, she had to rush back to the crew after dinner. Deng Hao's band was going to perform at the Midi Music Festival that night. Fortunately, they were the closing act, but he also had to leave quickly after dinner.
Actually, everyone's attention was on Joyno and Luo Yize. Everyone knew that Luo Yize had publicly announced his new girlfriend, and that new girlfriend was none other than Joyno.
Luo Yize tightly put his arm around Joyno's shoulder. Holding a glass full of red wine with one hand, he said to everyone: "I'd like to officially announce to everyone today that Yino and I are officially dating!"
"Bro, you're so unkind. You didn't tell us such good news earlier."
"Yino, are we still childhood friends? You didn't tell me such good news in advance. You have to wait until it's made public. That's so unkind."
Deng Hao and Hou Lei both laughed and scolded Joyno and Luo Yize.
Only Ye Xuan remained silent. She lowered her head and ate, looking rather anxious. Presumably for this scene...
Then, Mr. Zhao added: "Do you need to tell others about a secret relationship? Besides, for the sake of his girlfriend, Yize even gave up such a great role. It's nothing to announce this to everyone..."
Everyone burst into laughter.
Joyno remained calm. She was just a screenwriter. Even if she was a successful one, she wasn't as arrogant as a first - tier star, nor did she have the aura of a popular star.
She sipped her juice while waiting for her fried spaghetti to be served.
The teppanyaki chef in the middle asked: "Do you have any dietary restrictions?"
Joyno said casually: "Can you put less black pepper?"
"Sure, but the flavor might not be as strong."
"That's okay."
Ye Xuan raised her head at this time: "Master, I'd like mushroom sauce for my steak."
"Got it, sir. It'll be ready soon!" The teppanyaki chef replied in a strong Beijing accent.
While they were eating, the topics on the dinner table seemed to revolve around Joyno and Luo Yize, with some trivial family matters mixed in. Joyno seemed a bit uncomfortable with such a grand occasion, but seeing Luo Yize constantly giving her looks, she cooperated and said yes and okay.