CH 46

October 24, 2021kaychandra

Chapter 46: Red Carpet

As the most prestigious film awards program in the country, the live broadcast of each edition of the Thousand Flowers Awards attracted the attention of many people. TV and online media would cover the whole event. At the same time, it was also a venue for artists to compete with each other. Especially in the highly competitive circle of female artists. Not only did they want to avoid clashing with other artists, but they also wanted to get more exposure. They pushed their breasts up, corseted their waists, and dieted. In order to make themselves more photogenic on the red carpet, they exhausted every method.

In particular, some of the female artists who had gone out of fashion would sometimes, for the sake of visibility, even deliberately stage their own bad press, exposing their nipples by falling and stepping on the corners of their skirts. In order to get the camera on them, they tried every means.

In this circle, to be indifferent to fame and fortune was simply a fool’s dream. The female artists tried their best to compete for the best dresses and jewelry, and the male artists actually weren’t far behind.

Compared to the female artists who could spend on dresses and handbags, male artists’ clothing styles seemed a lot more boring. However, they could spend on ties, pins, watches, shoes, and hairstyle. If their faces weren’t good enough, and their bodies weren’t good enough, they could dress up ugly. Regardless of how the audience evaluated them after the live broadcast, at least the camera stayed on them for a few more seconds and they could get a few more people to comment.

Sometimes the saddest thing for an artist wasn’t having black material exposed, but the fact that even though they had black material, nobody bothered to report it.

Senhe was able to walk the red carpet at the Thousand Flowers Awards this time with several artists. The company headquarters held a special internal meeting for this red carpet walk.

In the face of these colleagues who joined the circle earlier than himself and still requested to make friends with their Brother Qiao, Gongxi Qiao also did not put up a spectacle and politely called the other brother or sister in return. With this kind of good attitude, the atmosphere of the whole meeting room was very cordial before the meeting officially started.

However, in the middle of the meeting, two artists’ respective managers sneered at each other because one of them was stealing the other’s resources. But due to the presence of the boss, both sides were restrained and didn’t shed their pretences of cordiality.

This was the way of the industry. There was competition between different companies, as well as within the same company. Whoever was hot was eligible for the best scripts or variety shows. The company’s internal investment projects first considered the top actor and actress, and only later the rest of the people below them.

As the highly sought-after second-generation nouveau riche future top actor of Senhe, Gongxi Qiao had no such worries at all, because he was the least short of resources. So, he was the most hated kind of person in the circle. Others may not get a role with all their efforts or even selling their bodies and souls, while he needed to pick and choose from scripts. Soon after his debut, he starred in a blockbuster movie. With money, good looks, education and status, this kind of winner in life was simply a living embodiment of luck.

“Xu Chao, you’ve been doing very well lately, so the company has decided to assign you a professional PR team.” Xiang Hong was a businessman, and seeing that Xu Chao had climbed up by capitalizing on Gongxi Qiao’s popularity, he didn’t mind providing some extra support.

“Thanks a lot, boss.” Xu Chao turned his head and saw Gongxi Qiao giving him a thumbs up under the table. He scratched his head and smiled.

The next few artists were a bit uncomfortable. Xu Chao was also lucky. He had been lukewarm for the first two years, but he caught fire with the film ‘Lord Brother-in-Law’. The whole company knew that the role was given to him by Qiao Shao. If Gongxi Qiao hadn’t recommended him, what would he be now?

Senhe was considered a lower-tier company in the industry. They had popular artists in their hands, but they weren’t well established and had no famous masterpieces. Therefore, Gongxi Qiao, who appeared in ‘National Industry’ and received high praise, and was promoted by the company, was the rightful top actor of the company.

Now the top actor, Gongxi Qiao, and the top actress, Mi Yue, were both on good terms with Xu Chao, so Xu Chao was destined to flourish as long as he didn’t die.

Not that other managers didn’t think of asking their artists to ingratiate themselves with Gongxi Qiao, but unfortunately, Chen Ke’s tactics were too strong. Those ingratiating tactics were stopped before they could be used. With Chen Ke’s attitude, they didn’t dare to be too blatant, as this was also the company’s top gold medal agent.

“Is there anything else that Xiao Qiao needs?” After praising Xu Chao, Xiang Hong faced Gongxi Qiao with a more gentle tone. “I forgot to tell you some happy news. Just now the company received an invitation from the publicity department of the national station, hoping that you can shoot a public service announcement.”

Xiang Hong deliberately saved this news for this occasion, just to let the other artists understand that Gongxi Qiao deserved to be promoted by the company, and why all the company executives spent so much effort to cultivate him. If others were uncomfortable in their hearts, they should honestly keep it to themselves.

The faces of the artists in the audience changed. They finally changed their expressions to joy, smiling and applauding to congratulate Gongxi Qiao.

The public service announcements prepared by the Ministry of Publicity of the National Channel were always the kind of opportunity only available to powerhouses with positive images. Idol artists like them were rarely able to get on this list.

Thinking about the good deeds done by Gongxi Qiao before, most of the people here were a little bit uncomfortable. Some people were really destined to become winners in life. The pie in the sky just seemed to be waiting for him to appear before falling down. They couldn’t even be jealous.

After the artists who congratulated him thanked him, Gongxi Qiao saw that the artists present looked at him more carefully. He nodded in satisfaction. Absolute strength was the perfect tool to ward off envy.

In June, the capital wasn’t cool even at night. Gongxi Qiao was nominated for two films. According to his role, he was supposed to walk the red carpet with the artists of the ‘Lord Brother-in-Law’ crew. However due to his great performance in ‘National Industry’, he was arranged to walk the red carpet with Dai Ni.

Dai Ni was one of the most popular actresses in the country. The fact that he was able to walk with Dai Ni on the red carpet was purely due to the praise of the ‘National Industry’ crew and Dai Ni.

The ‘National Industry’ side promoted him, of course, because he played a brilliant role in the story, but this alone wasn’t enough for the crew to go to the trouble for him. No matter where you were, strength and favors were inseparable. With his personal relationship with Director Wang, who was one of the main directors of ‘National Industry’, he knew that there must have been help from Director Wang.

However, Dai Ni’s willingness to condescend to go with him was a bit surprising to Gongxi Qiao. He didn’t yet have the strength to walk the red carpet alone with a partner at the Thousand Flowers Awards. He was more likely to go up with the main cast and crew, which was certainly not as eye-catching as walking the carpet alone.

In the long limousine, Dai Ni was wearing a gorgeous trained evening gown, with her hair elegantly arranged around her temples. “I heard that Director Wang’s film is finished. When it premieres, don’t forget to send me a few friendly tickets.”

“If Sister Dai can come, not to mention a few tickets, a dozen tickets would be fine,” Gongxi Qiao looked at the brightly lit entrance in front of him and smiled, “Thanks a lot this time, Sister Dai.”

Dai Ni hooked her lips into a smile and accepted the thanks. With her status as an actress in the circle, even on the occasion of the Thousand Flowers Award, she would have walked the red carpet alone. However, this time she intended to promote Gongxi Qiao, which was also her initiative to send goodwill to him.

After taking out the make-up mirror and looking at her face to make sure there wasn’t a single flaw in her make-up, Dai Ni closed the mirror and said with a light smile, “Since you called me sister, you don’t need to thank me in the future. When you become famous all over the world in the future, I will be waiting to hold your thigh.”

“If I can really be popular all over the world in the future, I will tell people every day that the film queen who is both beautiful and elegant is my sister in the circle.” Gongxi Qiao smiled and said, “Let those people envy me to death.”

“What’s there to be envious of?”

“Jealous that I have such a beautiful sister, ah.” Gongxi Qiao began with a serious face, and then somehow deflated, “but the person to envy the most is definitely Brother Yi, not me. Who asked him to have such a good girlfriend as you?”

There was no woman who didn’t like to be complimented on her beauty and get affirmation of her relationship. Dai Ni covered the corners of her mouth and said, “Oh, so sweet. When I get married to Yi, I will definitely send you an extra packet of wedding candy.”

Didn’t this sound like the wedding date was set?

The smile on Gongxi Qiao’s face became more obvious. “One more packet of wedding candy isn’t enough. How about ten packets?”

Chen Ke, who was sitting at the back, heard Gongxi Qiao coaxing Dai Ni into happiness. He turned his head to look at Dai Ni’s manager and saw that the other party also seemed to be happy to see it, so he rubbed his chin and pondered.

Dai Ni’s good intentions were obvious, but with Dai Ni’s status in the circle, why did she have to give Gongxi Qiao so much face? Was it just because of their friendship in the ‘National Industry’ crew? Even he didn’t believe that.

When Gongxi Qiao got out of the car, he smiled just right in the midst of a bunch of cameras. The slightly upturned corners of his eyes tickled the female viewers in front of the TV.

Turning around to open the door, he put one hand behind his back and helped Dai Ni out with his other hand. Then, he bent his arm and appeared arm in arm with Dai Ni in front of the crowd.

Dai Ni was known as the queen of the red carpet. Wherever she appeared, the camera was focused on her. Many male artists walking beside her would be overwhelmed by her full body aura, making them seem non-existent.

But in recent years she rarely walked the red carpet with others, so when Gongxi Qiao appeared hand in hand with her, the media froze for a moment.

No wonder Gongxi Qiao appeared so far ahead in the order of appearance, it turned out that there was Dai Ni’s support.

Originally, they thought Gongxi Qiao was just riding on Dai Ni’s coattails to take advantage of the opportunity to raise his status. However, when they saw the harmony between the two, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, the journalists at the scene came to realize that these two had a good personal relationship.

Although Gongxi Qiao was young, when walking in front of Dai Ni, surprisingly, Dai Ni did not steal a bit of the limelight. If the aura of both of them was five, when they walked together, it became a critical strike value of fifteen.

The viewers in front of the TV looked at the handsome Gongxi Qiao and the beautiful Dai Ni walking together and were inexplicably reminded of a queen and a prince.

But wasn’t the queen paired with the emperor? Why were these two so conspicuous walking together with their different levels of popularity?

Since the two appeared, the screams at the scene did not stop. Dai Ni elegantly waved to the media and fans at the scene. Gongxi Qiao was responsible for acting as a good male companion, lending a dazzling style and charming many female fans.

After taking pictures with the media, Gongxi Qiao walked with Dai Ni to the autograph board and took the autograph pen from the emcee. He opened the lid naturally and handed it to Dai Ni with the tip of the pen towards his palm.

Dai Ni took it with a smile and signed her name.

Gongxi Qiao signed his name ten seconds after her, and then was called by the host for an interview.

The viewers in front of the TV watched the two’s actions and somehow felt that these two had an immediate impression of a big sister and little brother.

On the Cape Forum, there was a live posting about the Thousand Flowers Awards. One poster said with a chuckle, “Queen Dai really has a great aura, but Prince Qiao is no slouch either. The only downside is that these two have no couple aura at all, instead they have a sister and brother aura.”

“Above is right, I also feel that the two people’s aura is extraordinarily harmonious, but there’s no male-female ambiguity at all. Is it because the Queen is with Chen Yi and the first impression is the strongest.”

“Several of the people above don’t know that Queen Dai and Qiao Shao had a good relationship in the ‘National Industry’ crew. Have you read the interview with Qiao Shao in the ‘He Rui’ magazine? He has publicly supported the romance between Queen Dai and Chen Yi.”

“Yes, I remember, at that time the male god also very boldly said, since there was no such thing as big brother-little sister love, there shouldn’t be the term big sister-little brother love. Thinking about it, I think that the male god must be a good man who respects women very much.”

The internet debate was unknown to the artists on the scene. The host of the Thousand Flowers Awards was interviewing Dai Ni with a big smile on his face at this moment.

“Ni-Ni is really radiant today. When you and Xiao Qiao showed up, I was worried that the roof would be knocked off by the screams of the enthusiastic audience.” The host asked, “You’re nominated for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress today, are you confident that you can win the awards?”

“The other actors are all very strong and I was fortunate enough to be nominated with them, so it doesn’t matter so much if I win or not,” Dai Ni replied with poise, “not to mention that I did my best in my role. That is enough.”

Dai Ni answered beautifully, praising others and not degrading herself. She was really worthy of being a big sister of the circle. Gonxi Qiao gave her a “like” internally.[1]

“Okay, good luck tonight.” After the host’s interview, he let the two go in. As for Gongxi Qiao, he acted as a perfect background male companion. He wasn’t yet worth delaying the host for a special interview.

Once inside, Dai Ni smiled at Gongxi Qiao and reached out to pat his arm.

Faced with this silent comfort from Dai Ni, Gongxi Qiao returned a smile. He was well aware of his position and what kind of people were treated in what way. It was actually quite fair.

“Boss!” Special Assistant Gou knocked on the door of the hotel room where Xi Qing and the documents were staying. He waited for a good half minute before Xi Qing opened the door for him.

Hearing some ear-piercing screams coming from the TV, Special Assistant Gou squinted at the TV. Was this the live broadcast of the Thousand Flowers Awards?

Surprisingly, the boss would actually watch such a noisy program?!

Seeing that Gongxi Qiao’s footage had already ended, Xi Qing was no longer interested in who was appearing on TV. He took the folder Special Assistant Gou held and read it, then signed his name.

Special Assistant Gou took the signed document and muttered in his heart, just now the boss rushed back to the hotel from the branch office, and even put off the dinner arranged for him, just to watch the Thousand Flowers Award live, right?

In this moment, he felt as if he heard something collapse, perhaps …… his worldview?

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