CH 32

April 5, 2021kaychandra

Chapter 32: New Production Starts

Translated & edited by KChandra

The internet was always a pandemonium, but this kind of one-sided situation was rare. Even the major marketing accounts seemed to be blind and didn’t express any opinion on the matter.

Zheng Lei’s agency originally wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to give Zheng Lei hype, but who knew that Senhe Entertainment didn’t do anything at all. It was as if they didn’t take them seriously.

What annoyed them even more was that the more famous marketing accounts and water army teams didn’t take their business at all. The water armies that could be hired were all useless, and in less than half a day the netizens found out that Zheng Lei had hired water armies on his side.

Originally, using a water army was a normal method when it came to controlling public opinion on the Internet. But the bad thing was that Zheng Lei used to send out microblogs when he was in the cast, all with the tone that he was Gongxi Qiao’s good brother. As a result, people now found out that the so-called “good brother” was asking water armies to step on Gongxi Qiao behind his back, so there was a subtle feeling about it.

“I knew that the entertainment circle was complicated, but I didn’t think someone would do something so ugly.”

“Heartache, Gongxi Qiao was being dragged into the hype for so long. For the sake of brotherhood he didn’t say much, even his fan groups are very sensible. I’m a passerby on the sidelines about to turn into a fan.”

“I used to think that Zheng Lei person was quite down-to-earth. Now it seems that the so-called being down-to-earth was an illusion from before he got popular, and now that he’s popular, he’s changed his face. His so-called inspirational life is stepping on other people’s hype to get to the top?”

The marketing accounts on Weibo and the major water army groups all had inside information. Although they could discard their morals in order to make money, it didn’t mean they would discard their intelligence. The strength of Gongxi Qiao’s family and his friendship with Xi Qing were enough to scare them.

They were all involved in this circle. Naturally, they could tell which people they could touch, and which ones they couldn’t touch. Without IQ, they wouldn’t be able to get to this point.

Anyone with a brain could see that Xi Qing and Gongxi Qiao were close friends. What good could come from offending them?

Zheng Lei looked at the comments on the Internet. He was so angry that he threw the mouse in his hand. His agent behind him saw him like this and said in a comforting way, “Don’t pay too much attention to this. The things on the internet will be forgotten after a while. Now, focus on filming, don’t worry about this matter.”

“Is there any news about the immortal cultivation movie that Xi invested in?” What Zheng Lei was best at was patience. So, even though he lost the public opinion war this time, it didn’t mean he didn’t have a chance to turn around in the future.

“They are very tight lipped over there. The Xi family is big and there are no other small investors involved in this matter, so there’s very little news coming out. But rumor has it that Mi Yue got the role of the third female. I don’t know if it’s true or not.” The agent knew what Zheng Lei wanted and hesitated for a moment. “It’s not easy to grab a role in this movie. And you’re in such a mess with Gongxi Qiao, and Master Xi has a good relationship with Gongxi Qiao ……”

“The Xi family is very big. How would he have time to care what actors to use for a movie?” Zheng Lei said with a sullen face. “The Xi executive you mentioned to me last time, if you have time, find a chance to introduce me to him.”

The agent was silent for a moment and nodded with a complicated expression.

At the headquarters of the Xi Group, Xi Qing read the report submitted by Ya De in silence and looked up at the general manager of Ya De Apparel. “The spokesperson this time is very well chosen.”

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The general manager nodded and smiled. “The success this time has exceeded our prediction. When the general brand spokesperson contract expires, we have decided to invite Gongxi Qiao to be the next general brand spokesperson. What do you think?”

Xi Qing looked up at the general manager and put the report together, “Do as you see fit.”

The report was put aside and Xi Qing’s tone had a momentary pause. “Have someone deliver a copy of all the publicity photos that were taken.”

“All the publicity photos of our spokesmen?” The general manager froze.

Xi Qing frowned slightly. “The previous ones aren’t necessary, just bring Gongxi Qiao’s.”

“Okay, I’ll have someone go to Mr. Wu’s place to get them.” The general manager agreed, but inside his heart he muttered, the big boss is so busy, yet he still has time to look at publicity photos?

When Xi Qing got the thick pile of printed photos, it was already three o’clock in the afternoon. The closed office door blocked out all the sound. As he flipped through the photos, he suddenly felt that the office was too quiet, so quiet that he could only hear his own heartbeat.

Turning to one of them, he suddenly stopped.

The young man in the photo was dressed in black, sitting under a dead tree with his eyes closed and his head hanging to smell the wine, like a gentleman living in another time and space, beautiful and distant.

It was a very nice picture, but he particularly disliked this one.

“Knock, knock.”

“Come in.” He put the photo into the drawer and looked at Special Assistant Gou who walked in. “Give me a copy of the pre-selected list of the main actors for the upcoming immortal cultivation production as soon as the investment is finalized.”

The assistant was surprised, but he nodded with a quick response, “Several entertainment companies have recommended their artists, but there are no particularly suitable candidates for the lead role yet.” After that, he handed over a document. “These are some of the more sincere companies in our development project. If you don’t have any comments, the construction branch will select two from them to discuss cooperation.”

“Does Senhe Entertainment have a recommendation list?” Xi Qing flipped through the list and looked up to ask Special Assistant Gou.

Special assistant Gou didn’t care about the list of recommendations for a movie, but Xi Qing asked, so he couldn’t help but answer, “The list isn’t available yet, I will report to you as soon as it is.”

Xi Qing nodded and paused on a company’s name for two seconds before pulling a pen from the pen holder and drawing a check mark after the company’s name, “This is a good company. Tell them to choose one that has integrity from among the rest.”

Special assistant Gou took a look at the list and found that the lucky one chosen by Xi Qing was called “Grand Fortune Construction Company”. He smiled in his heart. This name was really festive and meaningful among a bunch of construction companies called “Feng He” or “Ding Zhi”.

Thinking of this, he glanced at the big boss in confusion. Did the boss have a habit of judging a company by its appearance?

Noticing the assistant’s gaze, Xi Qing lifted his head to meet his gaze. “Any questions?”

“No,” Special Assistant Gou shook his head. After exiting the president’s office, he slowly breathed a sigh of relief. After following the boss for three or four years, he still couldn’t be calm when he looked directly at the boss, which was really a failure in life, ah.

The last two days Gongxi Qiao was in a good mood. There was no speculation that he was lost because of his “good brother’s backstabbing”.

The box office of ‘Lord Brother-in-Law’ and the income from the internet rights had finally entered his bank account through various procedures. Even Chen Ke and others got a bonus for this, which was called “universal celebration” by Xiao Yao.

However, Gongxi Qiao didn’t have the opportunity to spend the money when he got it, because Director Wang’s finale movie ‘The Greatest Warrior’ was about to start shooting, and the opening ceremony was scheduled for tomorrow morning at eight o’clock.

As the lead actor of this movie, Gongxi Qiao had already tried on several costumes and wigs, and the effect of the trial makeup made Director Wang praise it again and again. If not for the fact that Director Wang had been preparing for this movie for years, even Director Wang himself would almost think that this role was tailor-made for Gongxi Qiao.

The film had philosophical thoughts about jianghu[1], the people and the court, and under the surface of cold humor, it also revealed the darkness and helplessness in the world of jianghu.

Gongxi Qiao played the male protagonist, a certain son of the royal family who was determined to venture into the jianghu, but didn’t know martial arts. However, he found that the jianghu wasn’t as heroic as he thought, and the so-called ‘debt of gratitude and duty of vengeance’ was just a scam from novels and books.

Even more ludicrously, by chance and with money, he inexplicably became master of the martial arts alliance and had to lead everyone to attack the demon sect.

After all the ludicrous incidents, the noble son who had dreamt of being a warrior went back to the royal family and finally became a virtuous prince who loved the people.

“Chivalry is not confined to the imperial court or the jianghu. Those who have righteousness in their hearts and love the people like they love themselves are chivalrous.” This was Director Wang’s main theme for this film.

There was no female lead in the film, only male and female characters. The main female character was the master of the Demon Sect, who was rumored to enjoy sucking human blood, but had actually never killed so much as a chicken. Her favorite thing to do was to hide inside the sect to write books, but she didn’t know why it was said that she liked to hide in the sect and suck on the blood of virgins all day.

Finally, after Gongxi Qiao’s recommendation and Director Wang’s examination, this role was played by Mi Yue.

Xu Chao, because of his own colorful character, got the role of a warrior who was highly skilled in martial arts, but because of the large amount of food he ate, he couldn’t get enough of it every day and ended up working for the main character as an errand boy.

On the day of the opening ceremony, everyone changed into costumes. Among a bunch of people dressed up in jianghu style, Gongxi Qiao, who was dressed in brocade and a jade crown, looked particularly conspicuous. He simply stood out from the crowd.

The onlookers were a bit confused. Didn’t they say Gongxi Qiao was the male lead? How come this outfit looked like the villain in a martial arts drama?

In general, in martial arts dramas, the heroes all wore new or old chivalric costumes, and the noblemen in fancy clothes were the villains who opposed the warriors. However, when it came to Director Wang, didn’t it seem like there was something wrong with the picture?

In the interview session afterwards, reporters kept asking this question. Unfortunately, Director Wang, a veteran, couldn’t reveal the content of his filming. Therefore, the reporters bombarded him repeatedly but didn’t get the answers they wanted.

“Director Wang, did you choose Qiao Shao as the lead actor of your finale because you appreciate his acting skills?” A reporter asked.

“Xiao Qiao is a very good and dedicated actor,” said Director Wang, reaching out to pat Gongxi Qiao, who was sitting next to him. “I was impressed by his acting skills when I was in the crew of ‘National Industry’. After we talked about the production together, I realized that he was the perfect choice for the main character, and I believe he can play the role well.”

One of the reporters from Imperial TV asked, “‘National Industry’ will be aired in two months as a gift for the one hundredth National Day. Do you think this is a film that will satisfy everyone?”

Director Wang faced the camera and said seriously, “I can’t say that everyone will be satisfied, but we all tried our best.”

After asking a few more questions, the reporter turned to Gongxi Qiao. “Qiao Shao, this is your first time playing a male lead in a movie, do you feel nervous?”

“I’m okay.” Gongxi Qiao, dressed in an ancient costume, smiled at the camera and then looked at Director Wang, “Maybe Director Wang will give me some face for the sake of being the male lead? “

“Then you might be in trouble. I’ve always been extra strict with male leads.” Director Wang joked, “If you don’t perform well, your future boxed lunches will only have vegetables, no meat.”

A burst of laughter came from the scene, and suddenly a reporter said, “Qiao Shao, what is your position regarding the events on Weibo in the last few days?”

Gongxi Qiao looked at this reporter’s badge. It seemed to be a certain online broadcasting entertainment platform. Although the other party’s question was a bit sharp, he didn’t particularly care. Instead, he smiled and said, “Usually when I regard Weibo, my position is lying in bed or sitting in a chair.”

Everyone first froze for a moment, then reacted to the fact that Gongxi Qiao was telling a sarcastic joke. After this entertainment reporter opened his mouth, he actually felt that it was a bit inappropriate for him to bring up this issue on this occasion. Luckily, Gongxi Qiao didn’t ignore him or make things difficult for him, but only teased him a bit without embarrassing him too much. So he silently breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and also had a few good feelings towards Gongxi Qiao because of his good manners.

After the official interview, Director Wang was escorted away by security guards while the artists were still being surrounded by entertainment reporters asking questions.

“Da Chao, I heard that you were able to act in this movie this time because of Qiao Shao’s recommendation, is that true?”

Manager Wu Hai was gnashing his teeth in his heart. This reporter had bad intentions!

“Yes, if it wasn’t for my junior brother’s recommendation, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to audition, so I have to thank my junior brother more this time.”

The reporter who asked the question looked at Xu Chao’s sincere and smug smile and suddenly felt a bit speechless. What was there to be proud of when a senior got a role because of a junior’s encouragement? Shouldn’t normal people hide it?

“In other words, without Qiao Shao, you wouldn’t have had the chance to participate in this movie at all?” But being an entertainment reporter, and an entertainment reporter who had been paid, he was strong at heart.

Life never stopped, provocation never stopped!

“Right,” Xu Chao nodded rightfully, “I wouldn’t have had the chance to be appreciated by Director Wang without my junior brother.” Then, he started to praise Gongxi Qiao incessantly, and his attitude was just like that of a brain dead fan.

Entertainment reporter: Damn it! I quit! What kind of entertainer is this? Such an odd brain circuit!

Wu Hai silently looked at the face full of excitement of Xu Chao and the numb face of the entertainment reporter, laughing in his heart. In front of Qiao Shao, Xu Chao was not a senior brother, he was simply a little brother.

“Qiao Shao, just now Zheng Lei said on Weibo that he and you are best buddies, and also in your friends circle on Weibo, do you have any opinion about this?”

The scene suddenly quieted down. A large number of microphones came together in front of Gongxi Qiao, waiting for a powerful answer.

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