Chapter 846: Chapter 252: About to Begin Filming
“Yes, I am a member of the Burbank High School cheerleaders,” Blake Lively quickly adjusted her mood, maintaining a natural smile, “Our cheerleader team once achieved fifth place in the National High School Championships, ranking among the top in California.”
“Can you give me a detailed introduction?” Adrian asked leisurely with a light chuckle in his eyes, “You know, every man who has been through high school years will reminisce about the experience of pursuing cheerleader girls, even though there are cheerleaders in college, it doesn’t have the same stunning and wonderful feeling as high school.”
“You really know how to speak, Ed, like a poet.” Blake complimented, “I’ve also read some good poetry, but compared to most people who like Shakespeare, I prefer John Keats.”
Clearly, she wanted to change the topic. If she had to introduce the cheerleaders to Adrian, she would inevitably mention the current captain, Leighton Meester, and Blake undoubtedly didn’t want to mention that name or talk about her. Most importantly, from her previous pause, Blake had realized a problem: Leighton was Adrian’s woman, so she might have said something to him about school and cheerleaders, or even badmouthed her.
If that’s the case, how should she face Adrian? What if, during the introduction, what she said didn’t match what Leighton had told Adrian, would Adrian preconceive that she was lying, thereby wasting her entire afternoon’s efforts? So Blake really didn’t want to talk about this.
However, all of this was carefully planned by Adrian, so how could he possibly let her escape?
“Thank you.” He then said softly, lifting his glass to sip some red wine, never taking his eyes off her.
Faced with such a situation, Blake had no choice but to take a deep breath, lift her glass and sip lightly, dragging on for a few minutes before starting to speak while organizing her words. Blake had some self-control; even if she was unwilling, her introduction remained fairly impartial, with both praise and criticism when talking about Leighton, giving a very objective impression — if you didn’t notice the disgust flashing in her eyes every time she mentioned Leighton’s name.
Very good, just like that, able to control herself yet not exceeding a young girl’s level, and at odds with Leighton. Occasionally interjecting and subtly guiding the topic, Adrian was satisfied with the analysis of Blake’s inner thoughts. So far, everything she displayed was within the range of results from his commissioned investigation. Although Leighton also said a lot about Blake, many things carried obvious subjective tones, so a proper investigation was necessary, of course, some of the information provided by Leighton was useful as well, and once this matter was over, Adrian would reward her generously.
“I suppose you received a lot of attention,” Adrian said with a tone of admiration after Blake’s introduction, “When I was in high school, I pursued several cheerleader girls.”
Then he showed an intrigued expression: “I believe there must be many boys pursuing you, Blake.”
“A few, but I’ve always been very measured, so…” Blake picked up her glass and took a small sip, her lips slightly curling, her mature-looking face suddenly exuding an indescribable charm — after performing in front of him like that, there’s no need for restraint.
“I’m still a virgin.” She declared softly.
Being able to state so boldly is very good; if she had scored 7.8 before, now she could score 8.7. Adrian thought with some satisfaction, his efforts weren’t in vain.
As early as when Leighton offered herself, he had a vague idea and had people investigate Burbank High School. After confirming, he arranged for Leighton to attend school there. Subsequently, it was inevitable for Leighton and Blake to have conflicts, and Adrian was very happy about this; it was exactly what he wanted to see — a real-life version of… Gossip Girl!
In the past life, if you were to talk about Leighton and Blake’s most famous work, it would definitely be this TV series. Despite its unimpressive actual ratings, due to its unique promotion method, it successfully created a buzz and made several actresses famous. Adrian had been thinking about how to perfect the layout of TV production, because after Leighton remembered this TV series, she immediately contacted Cecily von Ziegesar, who was still creative at that time, and it was published by the affiliated publishing company. In 2002, it topped the New York Times bestseller list, naturally leaving the adaptation rights in his hands.
But Adrian didn’t think of putting it on television immediately — firstly, cable TV was still steadily developing, now wasn’t the best time, and just based on viewership alone, Gossip Girl wasn’t high; secondly, although Leighton Meester was in his hands, she couldn’t be the protagonist at that time, and good things come in pairs, don’t they?
Since one was already his, why couldn’t the other be as well? That’s why Adrian investigated before arranging for Leighton to go to Burbank High School and why he was happy to see a real-life Gossip Girl. Imagine them scheming against each other in reality, competing in the TV series, and under Adrian in bed — how fascinating, perhaps they might even win an Emmy Award for their authentic performances.
Therefore, when Leighton cried and complained to Adrian, he took the opportunity to stimulate Blake several times, finally enticing her to this point. Of course, if she had become good friends with Leighton at first, it would be another matter now, Adrian wouldn’t deliberately disrupt their relationship, right?
However, that possibility was quite small. From the gathered information about Blake Lively, she wasn’t the kind of compliant girl, proud and somewhat conceited, habitually self-centered, born into a middle-class family — even if she became friends with someone like Leighton, it wouldn’t last long.
So is it time to reap the rewards now? Of course not, as mentioned before, this is a proud and self-centered girl; her submission in front of him was not only due to her desire for fame but also her wish to prove she can surpass Leighton, her currently biggest rival. To make her obedient, you have to completely strip off her pride and dignity and trample them on the ground.
So, after dinner, accompanying her on a stroll for a chat, Adrian promptly suggested, “Let’s find a lively place to have a good chat; I happen to have some thoughts about you.”
“No problem.” Blake’s eyes noticeably lit up and she readily agreed.
“Do you remember what I told you at the studio this afternoon?” Sitting in the nightclub’s private room, dismissing the waiter, Adrian asked, “There aren’t many roles suitable for your age.”
“Yes, I know.” Blake sat properly across from him.
“It’s an awkward period, so what you need is to accumulate your fame, and of course, I’ll expedite this process.” As he said this, Adrian suddenly frowned before motioning her over.
Blake appeared hesitant, not because she wanted to back out; if it were elsewhere, she’d surely sit in his arms immediately, but here… one side of the room was a giant floor-to-ceiling glass panel, clearly displaying the men and women in the party dancing to the rhythm outside. Of course, it’s a one-way glass; they couldn’t see inside, but even knowing this, facing it was hard to accept.
He began to anticipate what kind of performance they would put on in front of him once Gossip Girl aired.
Of course, that would be next year; everything should go according to plan, so after devouring Blake and arranging other matters, Adrian finally set off for Montana, where the Brokeback Mountain crew and several main actors were already waiting. As soon as he arrived, filming could begin, and there was still much to do this year. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to come to Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)