CH 7

February 20, 2021kaychandra

Chapter 7: TV Ratings

Translated and Edited by KChandra

After the recording of the show started, the first ones to enter were Director Zhang and the male and female leads. Gongxi Qiao sat in the background listening to the screams of the fans at the recording site and took a sip of water with a calm expression, then continued to play with his phone with his head down, not showing any trace of nervousness about going on stage for the first time.

After about twenty minutes, a staff member reminded him that he was about to go on stage. He handed his phone to He Peng next to him, said thanks to the staff member, got up and stood at the entrance of the backstage aisle, waiting to enter.

“Now we welcome the aristocratic and handsome Xu Ruiheng!”

A not particularly enthusiastic applause rang out, but when Gongxi Qiao appeared on stage, the applause eerily stopped for a moment, followed by a scream, and the applause was as enthusiastic as a tidal wave.

“So handsome ah,” the hostess cupped her smitten face, “Handsome, do you lack a girlfriend, the kind who can dine, can host, can read and write?”

Gongxi Qiao curled his lips at the hostess and smiled, “Sister Xue is so beautiful, I’m afraid that if I say no, I will be put in a sack and beaten when I go out, so just consider me to have a girlfriend.”

Although it was just flirtation, in Liu Xue’s opinion, Gongxi Qiao looked really outstanding. That waist, that leg, that ass… Ahem, she was almost blinded by one smile from the other party. Then she struck a Hercules pose: “It’s okay, I, Sister Xue, am strong. Don’t be afraid of being put in a sack, I’ll protect you!”

“What a shameful face. Let this little piece of fresh meat go, you old cow,” male host Luo Zheng made a gesture to push Liu Xue, and then went to Gongxi Qiao’s side to introduce him to the audience: “Handsome, ignore that female madman. You introduce yourself to the live audience and also those watching on TV.”

“Hello friends. My name is Gongxi Qiao, surnamed Gongxi, first name Qiao, playing the role of Xu Ruiheng. I hope you like it.” The not spectacular self-introduction with a shy smile almost made the female audience scream out again. This shy and tender little fresh meat looked very delicious, okay.

The director of the program team didn’t expect Gongxi Qiao’s appearance to have such a good effect, so he made a gesture towards Luo Zheng on stage, signaling that the upcoming recording should increase Gongxi Qiao’s participation.

Although Zhou Huaisheng’s face smiled as he watched the host flirting with Gongxi Qiao, his heart felt mixed, like he had spilled a pot of strong wine, and he wanted to spew out the fire in his heart.

The live audience at this taping were mostly his and Chen Wen’s fans, and now these fans were showing Gongxi Qiao this nymphomaniacal look, he really had the means to get fans.

The show was already in the middle and late stages of recording. Originally, according to the recording schedule, the male and female lead actors were supposed to perform a small clip together, but the director changed his mind in the middle of the recording and turned it into an episode where two men compete for one woman, allowing Gongxi Qiao, Chen Wen and Zhou Huaisheng to go on stage together.

Zhou Huaisheng originally intended to overpower Gongxi Qiao, but he didn’t know that Chen Wen wouldn’t cooperate at all, and even helped Gongxi Qiao twist the scene into a funny clip, which caused the audience to laugh and applaud.

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“First lady, quickly pour water for me, the king. Second lady, quickly drape the shoulders of the queen, me, or else be careful that this king will repudiate you.[1]” Chen Wen sat majestically and dominantly on the chair and hooked her hand towards Zhou Huaisheng and Gongxi Qiao.

“Yes, my Lord Queen, no problem my Lord Queen [2],” Gongxi Qiao immediately brought the role of a seductive male concubine to life, and the atmosphere of the scene cheered up.

Compared with Chen Wen and Gongxi Qiao, Zhou Huaisheng looked stiff and couldn’t relax, but the audience was mostly amused by Chen Wen and Gongxi Qiao and didn’t really notice that he was out of place.

After the recording was over and everyone left, Chen Wen’s manager said with some relief, “He’s just a second or third tier kid. He really thinks he’s a big name. He’s still a little young to compete with our company for endorsements.” He had three artists on his hands. One of them almost had his endorsement snatched by Zhou Huaisheng, so although he looked peaceful on the surface, he had a lot of anger in his heart.

Chen Wen half-squinted her eyes and leaned back in her chair. Recently, she had been busy with meetings almost every day and hadn’t slept well at all, so when she heard the agent’s complaints, she was a bit impatient: “If you fight for yourself, no one can snatch your endorsement away, but if you are not as good as others, you deserve it.”

The broker heard her tone wasn’t right, stopped chattering and complaining, and carefully looked at her: “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” realizing that her tone was a bit too much, Chen Wen opened her eyes and reluctantly sat up straight, “I’ve heard about Yikun’s case. You’ve made a lot of efforts to keep his endorsement this time, but if he continues to be like this, clubbing and drinking and beating people up, ten of you won’t be able to protect him.”

The agent smiled bitterly. He knew it was his bad luck to have an artist like Zhao Yikun, but he was the son of a major shareholder, so what could he say?

“Don’t worry about Yikun now, your career is now on the rise. Zhou Huaisheng is narrow-minded. We need to change our PR strategy, otherwise if something happens, you will be involved in a fishy situation.”

Chen Wen herself wasn’t very fond of Zhou Huaisheng, and she had no objection to her agent’s suggestion: “I think Gongxi Qiao has the potential to be a big hit, and it makes more sense to befriend him now than to wait for him to become famous.”

“You’re talking about the newcomer who replaced Liang Dong as the third male lead?” The agent’s impression of Gongxi Qiao still remained on the two points of being handsome and joining the cast with money. “He doesn’t seem to have been professionally trained. What’s so special about him that you think highly of him?”

“Good looks, good acting skills, and some background in his family. Such a person will soar to great heights as long as he finds a suitable opportunity,” Chen Wen looked at the huge building of Red Light TV Station through the car window, “and for someone like him, the only thing he lacks is an opportunity.”

The agent was silent for a moment, then said, “Just watch out for yourself on this matter and just be mindful of discretion.”

“I understand,” Chen Wen rubbed the side of her forehead. In this big world of show business, female artists had always had a harder time than male artists and even the audience demanded more from female artists, so she had a hard time climbing to this level today. She couldn’t take a wrong step and plunge herself into the abyss. 

Zhou Huaisheng watched Gongxi Qiao get into a luxury car under the TV station building. There seemed to be a middle-aged man with a fierce face inside the car. Zhou Huaisheng sneered and turned his head towards his assistant and said a few words.

On Friday night, the variety show in which Gongxi Qiao participated was officially broadcast, and the ratings, which were not much different from usual, suddenly rose, causing the staff of the program to jump.

“Go to Weibo and other major forums to see what’s going on.” The program director instructed the other staff members while scrolling through the very famous domestic Cape Forum.

Upon opening the gossip home page of the Cape Forum, she saw several posts discussing their show.

[Did you see the show on Red Light tonight? The one with the white shirt and the long legs is simply too handsome for my face!]

[The truth is: those who said that the photos of the fresh meat were excessively photoshopped come forward, is your face swollen?]

“Director, Weibo is going crazy,” a staff member handed his phone to the director, “this microblog was sent a few minutes after the show aired, and now the number of reposts has exceeded 5,000.”

The director took the phone. She found that the microblogger was an ordinary netizen, and the picture released was just a picture of the TV taken with a cell phone, but even so, it drew a lot of praise and retweets from netizens.

Don’t drop your hat: How come the world has this kind of 360-degree handsome man with no dead angle. About to die from his handsomeness, who will save me. [with picture]

“Director, the program ratings broke 5.” A staff member rushed into the office with a face full of excitement, “We crushed Variety One’s show!”

The staff in the room were all a bit confused. At one time, their show had also dominated, but with the rise of another station’s variety show, their station could not compete with that one no matter what variety show they had. Now they suddenly learned that their ratings had exploded, so how could anyone not be surprised?

The room was silent before one of the staff blinked and said, “This is a world where everyone loves to look at faces.”

The director stood up with a bang and slapped the table, “Tell someone to contact Gongxi Qiao immediately, we’ll give him an interview.”

The staff looked around the room, and one of them hesitantly said, “But… We don’t have his contact information.”

“Then contact his agency!”

“It seems that he hasn’t signed with anyone.”

“Then you guys go contact Director Zhang, right now!” The director’s eyes glowed as if seeing her future heading to the top of her life, becoming a rich white girl and marrying a rich high roller.

At this time in the Gongxi family, Mama Qiao stared at the TV without blinking, and didn’t forget to say, “Who is this man named Zhou, why do I think he isn’t looking at our son right?”

Gongxi Xiong nodded and nodded: “Wife, you are right. I also feel that there’s something wrong with this person. Did he have some conflict with Xiao Qiao in the cast?”

Gongxi Qiao listened to the conversation between the two parents, calmly lying back on the sofa drinking yogurt, resolutely not intervening with a word.

“My son is more handsome than him. Look at the audience, they’re all looking at our son,” Mama Qiao now turned into the most experienced psychologist who, from a single look, a single action, could see through the thoughts of others about their son. “That Director Zhang isn’t bad. The female lead actor is quite beautiful, son, don’t you think so?”

Gongxi Qiao nodded haphazardly, determined not to open his mouth, because he knew that if he opened his mouth, damn it, the chatter box wouldn’t be able to close again.

At that moment, his cell phone rang, and the name on the caller ID was Director Zhang.

Mama Qiao turned down the TV and made a “shhh” gesture to Gongxi Xiong.

“Director Zhang, you’re still awake this late?” Gongxi Qiao’s tone brought a hint of laughter, enough to make the director on the other side of the phone feel his friendliness.

Director Zhang proved to be very fond of this approach. As soon as he heard Gongxi Qiao’s voice, he unconsciously felt more favorable towards Gongxi Qiao, and then told him about Red Light TV inviting him to do a feature, and even helped him analyze the pros and cons.

“Okay, director, I’ll consider it carefully. Thanks for your trouble.” After Gongxi Qiao hung up the phone, he looked at the TV screen, in which Zhou Huaisheng was performing a set of sword techniques, causing a burst of applause from the audience.

Unfortunately, in Gongxi Qiao’s opinion, this set of swordplay was just flowery punches and kicks, which could not even compare to the young general who guarded his lord’s gate.

T/N

1. King/queen: this skit section confused me and I’m not certain it’s translated correctly. The first sentence she refers to herself as 王我 “King, Me” then next she refers to herself as 女王我 “Queen, Me” and then as 本王 “This King”. So, I think she’s playing both the king and queen for comedy.

2. Lord Queen: 女王大人 I’m also uncertain about this translation. 女王 is queen and 大人 dà ren, a term of address for superiors. I couldn’t figure out if dà ren was a gender neutral or masculine term. One suggested translation was Lord Queen so I went with that because she’s playing both parts, but it might mean “Lady Queen”.