Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 227 Celebrities Probably Don't Read Much
Jingbei International Hotel is a renowned luxury hotel.

The adjacent Chang'an Grand Theatre is about to host the "Star Wave 08 Internet Gala", which has led to many celebrities checking in here since the morning.

This online gala invited more than 300 artists. Except for those who had accommodation in northern Beijing and those who brought their own food and were not provided with hotels, the rest, including their entourage, stayed here.

A fleet of nanny vans was parked at the entrance, and it seemed that the competition had already begun from there. Just because there was a Sina reporter at the hotel entrance, some people dressed up and put on full makeup to "check in" and wanted to leave a couple of nice photos.

Those who are less prominent will seize every opportunity.

We're just a few days away from 09, but it's still a special era where celebrities enjoy immense influence and a high degree of tolerance.

If you look at the number of fans who camp out everywhere, it's far less than it would be a decade or two later. But if you look at the artists' unrestrained boldness and the "arrogance" bestowed upon them by society, it's also incomparable to the cautiousness that artists show a decade or two later.

They dare to play, dare to film, and dare to criticize.

Zhai Da waited at the hotel entrance for a long time, but there was a long line of nanny vans. So he simply turned the steering wheel and headed to the underground parking lot.

Sure enough, there were hardly any people around. Zhai Da carried his suitcase alone and took the elevator to the lobby.

The lobby's tea break areas were filled with familiar faces of celebrities socializing, but Zhai Da didn't "know" anyone, so he went to the front desk to complete the formalities as usual.

While waiting to register among a group of assistants, a voice came from behind: "Is this Teacher Zhai?"

Zhai Da turned his head and saw a strange woman, about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, wearing a women's suit.

Although she has a pretty face, she doesn't have the demeanor of an artist, and Zhai Da has no recollection of her face.

The other person extended their hand: "We've finally met. I'm Li Tiantian."

Zhai Da shook hands with Li Tiantian and said politely, "Hello, you are more young and promising than I imagined."

This age is often when people are just starting out in their careers, but this person already has the aura of a mid-to-senior level manager in the event organizer.

Li Tiantian covered her mouth and chuckled: "How dare I call myself young and promising in front of you? The buffet has already started. I'll have someone send your luggage to your room first. Please come with me."

Then he turned to a colleague of similar age who did odd jobs and said, "Monica, help Teacher Zhai with his luggage."

The two climbed the steps to the banquet hall on the second floor.

Xinglang practically booked the entire hotel for the past three days; their staff were everywhere, creating a bustling and lively atmosphere.

The banquet hall doors were pushed open. A buffet is a non-mandatory social occasion; some people come and some don't, but there were already quite a few familiar faces inside.

To be precise, they were faces I frequently saw on the internet and television in my previous life.

There are many more names I can't recall, such as Liu Tao, Yao Cheng, Liu Yifei, Deng Chao, Huang Xiaoming, and Chen Kunkun.

These are all at an age where they look great, with faces full of collagen, and some even have a youthful innocence.

Of course, in 08, none of them were big names in the industry; at most, they were rising stars. The real big shots, such as directors, award-winning actors and actresses, and veterans, were all people they interacted with privately.

Seeing all these handsome men and beautiful women, Zhai Da found it quite interesting. Of course, he didn't want to go up and make friends with them, but he would spend a second or two looking at each person's face to get a better understanding.

Few people knew him, so his arrival went unnoticed.

Hmm. I guess celebrities don't read much.
Yes, no time, it must be because I don't have time.

Picking up some food with their plates, they chatted casually with Li Tiantian for a few minutes before finally choosing a secluded spot.

Li Tiantian had only two or three kinds of fruit and a glass of champagne on her plate. She smiled and said, "It's been more than half a year since I first called you. Thank you for gracing us with your presence."

Zhai Da nodded. The other party had maintained contact since his rebirth, making him arguably the longest-lasting online friend in his life.

This time, the other party had only arranged to meet seven or eight times.

After tasting the food, Zhai Da remarked that it was quite novel, at least from an observer's perspective.

“You’re not just a bystander. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the original plan was to have three literary awards: ‘Author of the Year,’ ‘Best Literary Work of the Year,’ and ‘Most Popular Literary Work of the Year.’ Later, they added ‘Adaptation of the Year,’ making a total of four awards. Except for the last one, you are a strong contender for the first three awards.”

Zhai Da picked up a piece of beef and calmly said, "Let me guess, the first three awards will be given to popular new authors with a large following, and the last award is specifically for veteran authors, right?"

After all, neither he, Guo Jinming, nor Han Han have any "adapted works" to date.

Star Wave doesn't need to be responsible for literary quality, so it just needs to attract "traffic." Otherwise, why would they self-fund this award ceremony? Is it just a way to give celebrities a helping hand?

Li Tiantian smiled awkwardly: "You see things very clearly, no wonder you are the top scorer in the college entrance examination."

Even without prior experience in this industry, the ability to guess demonstrates a certain intelligence. Zhai Da nodded, confident in his abilities, though he couldn't comment on other aspects.

If the "score system" were balanced, someone with half of his college entrance exam score would be considered a "top student" among celebrities.

After all, many people don't even have college entrance exam scores.

This year's Sina Awards followed the "original rules": netizens and experts. Don't ask who the experts were, and don't ask whether the netizens rigged the votes. Sina has the final say on the results.

Among the so-called "three young male writers of the new generation" on the internet, Han Han is currently the most famous and the earliest to achieve fame, but he has not had any works this year, or rather, he has entered a transitional period and will not have many new works in the future.

Guo Jinming has a mixed reputation; his fans praise him to the skies, while casual observers and professionals alike criticize him. Criticizing him has even become a kind of "correct" practice among his peers.

What? You look down on Guo Jinming too? Then we're good friends!
Zhai Da himself has the best reputation for his works, with both industry insiders and outsiders unanimously recognizing their literary merit. His sales are also much better than those of the recently released "Tiny Times" and Han Han, who has no works this year, but he is relatively inexperienced.

Let's make a bold guess: "Best Literature of the Year" will go to him, "Most Popular Literature of the Year" to Guo Jinming, and "Author of the Year" to the most famous Han Han.

Dividing the pie is that simple.

Because he had already guessed the outcome, Zhai Da didn't pay attention to the voting and award process, and didn't even know where the voting page was. Only Lu Siwen followed the usual approach and called on book fans to vote on his blog several times.

It doesn't matter if I come here and don't get a share of the prize. Do you understand the value of a top-scoring college entrance exam writer? I don't care about winning an award from Xinglang.

Just then, exaggerated exclamations came from the banquet hall entrance, and handsome men and beautiful women immediately crowded around, as if some important person had arrived.

Zhai Da glanced at him and recognized him as another "familiar" person. Wasn't this "King Arthur"? A veteran in the directing and Beijing film circles, known for his strict family rules, the one whose son had to kneel to eat.

Young, handsome men and beautiful women surrounded her with great enthusiasm, adorned with flowers.

Zhai Da glanced at it only once before turning his head and saying:

Tell me about your new platform.

Li Tiantian's tone was full of confidence and anticipation: "Originally, we planned to launch it on the same day as the 'Internet Festival,' but the product department encountered some problems that needed to be debugged. The current plan is to officially launch it on New Year's Day, January 1, 2009."

"That's only about ten days left."

"Actually, it was originally scheduled for spring 09, but recently everything has been progressing very well, and it has been brought forward many times. That's why we're only discussing this in detail today."

In reality, the so-called desire to cooperate with Zhai Da is nothing more than hoping that Zhai Da can immediately and publicly switch from blogs to Weibo.

The key point is "high-profile".

Then, a series of follow-up measures are implemented, such as guiding attention, continuous content output, and participation in online activities.

In short: I hope Zhai Da can take the lead when Weibo is still in its infancy.

Everyone has their own path. Zhai Da may not be as famous as these celebrities, but in the early days of the internet, he was a top blogger and one of the most influential figures.

For Sina, King Arthur is not as important as Zhai Da. Many "highly respected" big shots don't even know how to use a computer, so they are of little value to Sina. On the contrary, these are the people who need Sina's help.

Of course, if negative news breaks out, then chasing after it for traffic is a different story.

Zhai Da asked curiously, "To put it bluntly, what is your position at Weibo?"

The implication is, can you make the decision? This whole plan sounds quite complicated.

Li Tiantian puffed out her chest: "I am currently the Marketing Director in the Weibo business division."

However, he then added subtly, "Of course, this new division is considered an internal startup. It has been established for less than half a year and has only a few dozen people. Our division's leader is Boss Cao himself, and the head office attaches great importance to it."

Zhai Da nodded: "That's impressive, considering you're so young."

Given Weibo's future growth rate, as long as Li Tiantian isn't replaced in the next few years, she'll definitely become a big shot in the entertainment industry.

That's how realistic this industry is. It won't be long before, three years from now, the Weibo Marketing Director will be able to get many A-list and even A-list celebrities to sweetly call him "Zi Tsz," making him a truly powerful figure in the entertainment industry.

But now, Li Tiantian feels like she's begging Zhai Da to leave his already successful blog for a microblog with an uncertain future.

　Does anyone still remember "Monica"?

　　Also, the monthly pass rankings refreshed at the beginning of the month, and we've been pushed down to over 200. We're asking for more monthly passes.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)