Chinese entertainment: Top stars started being pursued by young actresses

Chapter 185, Section 184: Jingyi: Zhou Ye, you're just an ex (6K)

Before the summer vacation, Zhang Jingyi returned to the Beijing Film Academy campus.

There's something at school that needs her attention.

Zhang Jingyi first went to the Performing Arts Academy building to meet with her advisor and then submitted her thesis.

During her free time while filming "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", she would also complete the tasks assigned to her by her school teachers.

I never expected to run into Zhou Ye before leaving the school gate after submitting my paper.

Zhou Ye had just come out of the courier station.

There's no way to pretend you didn't see it now. You bumped into it right in front of you. It would be too deliberate to pretend you didn't see it.

Zhou Ye originally thought about leaving, but then he thought that he wasn't a mistress and had been dating Zhang Jingyi for much longer, so why should he be timid?

Thinking of this, she immediately straightened her back and continued walking forward.

Zhang Jingyi remained motionless, still standing in place watching Zhou Ye approach.

"It's been a long time, senior sister."

Just as they were about to pass each other, Zhang Jingyi spoke softly.

Zhou Ye turned around and said, "You even greeted me?"

"Since we've met, let's say hello."

"But I didn't intend to say hello to you."

Zhou Ye directly expressed his thoughts.

Zhang Jingyi's smile froze on her face.

"You're really strange. After what happened, you still want to say hello."

"..."

“I asked Lin Shaobai that day, and he said your reaction wasn’t strong.”

Zhou Ye turned to the side, his expression unusually cold: "I was thinking at the time, how could you not react much to something like this? What could possibly make you react so strongly?"

Zhang Jingyi didn't speak, and of course, she didn't look Zhou Ye in the eye.

This was a very difficult situation for Zhang Jingyi.

How could I not feel bad?
She also really likes Lin Shaobai; her feelings for him are no less than her feelings for Zhou Ye.

However, after getting this disease, she mostly chose to process her emotions on her own.

Perhaps her pillow and blankets know better than anyone how much pain she's in.

"Of course I'm upset, how could I not be upset? It's just that I made this decision after thinking about it for many nights."

Zhang Jingyi remained calm, without much emotional fluctuation.

"You've decided to stay by his side. Can you really tolerate other people?"

Even Zhou Ye found it hard to believe when he said it.

Listen to this, is this something a human being can do?

It seems there's only one conclusion left.

Zhang Jingyi is not human!

Zhou Ye couldn't help but laugh out loud at this thought.

Zhang Jingyi looked confused.

Why did you suddenly laugh when we were having a good chat?

"Anyway, you've seen my decision. Whatever you think is your business. I have to go now... Oh, right," Zhang Jingyi turned back after taking a few steps, a faint smile on her lips, "Finally, congratulations, senior sister, on the great success of 'A Little Reunion'."

"..."

Zhou Ye didn't know whether the man surnamed Zhang was genuinely congratulating him or not.

Theoretically speaking, they should be considered competitors.

Being of similar age and both being actors, they will inevitably be compared to each other in this industry after their dramas air.

It's just that the two of them aren't very famous yet...

"Although you've become my ex-girlfriend, at least the drama is doing well, which is some consolation."

Seeing that Zhou Ye remained motionless, Zhang Jingyi spoke again.

"what?!"

This statement had a remarkable effect; Zhou Ye's eyes immediately widened.

How can those words be so infuriating?!

Zhou Ye immediately clenched his fist.

She learned this from their last argument: whenever she's about to lose her temper, she should silently count to ten.

Impulsiveness is the devil; it can ruin many things, so it's essential to stay calm.

Zhou Ye clenched his fist and silently counted 1, 2, 3, 4... What a bunch of chicken feathers!

"What did you say?!" Zhou Ye grabbed Zhang Jingyi's arm and said in a cute but fierce tone, "Say it again if you dare!"

Her anger doesn't feel scary; it just sounds like her voice is twice as loud as usual.

Zhang Jingyi looked at her calmly, and after a few seconds said softly, "I don't think I said anything wrong just now. Since I wasn't lying, can I understand that you were upset, Senior Sister?"

"Breaking defense?"

Zhou Ye gritted his teeth and uttered those two words.

She found it hard to believe that Zhang Jingyi, who usually seemed so gentle and harmless, could say something so hurtful at this moment.

Could it be that he's always pretending?

It takes skill for her to keep up the act for so long.

Seeing that someone was approaching from a distance, Zhou Ye had no choice but to let go.

Now she's a somewhat famous actress, and people will remember her as Qiao Yingzi when they mention her.

One must be careful in one's words and actions.

If there's no company to supervise you, then you have to supervise yourself.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Zhang Jingyi took two steps back, looked at Zhou Ye's sullen expression, and then turned around and stepped forward, a faint smile of satisfaction on her lips.

Because of their personalities, Zhang Jingyi rarely had the opportunity to provoke Zhou Ye.

As Zhang Jingyi walked to the school gate and looked at the bustling street, she suddenly felt a little strange.

Why would someone feel this schadenfreude?
Now, I'm actually a little pleased because what I said back then made Zhou Ye lose face?
Zhang Jingyi felt that she had changed.

But it doesn't matter.

Ever since the last incident, she and Zhou Ye have been on opposite sides.

Since they are on opposing sides, it's understandable that they would say those things.

Zhang Jingyi took a few deep breaths and told herself not to put too much pressure on herself.

Meanwhile, Zhou Ye stomped his feet twice in anger.

He only broke down in tears when he got back to his dorm.

She was the last one to leave the dormitory; her three other roommates had already left with their suitcases.

Now the dormitory is empty except for her.

Zhou Ye was so angry he wanted to grind his teeth.

"Ex-girlfriend?"

"Does your current girlfriend think she's better than your ex-girlfriend?"

"He's just one of Lin Shaobai's many talents. What's so great about him?"

"I haven't even called her a homewrecker to her face yet. It was clearly me and Lin Shaobai who started dating first; she came later!"

"Damn it, this is what it means to get really angry when you don't do well in an argument!"

"Because I am magnanimous and have things I care about, I chose to leave."

"It's not like you're admitting defeat, so why are you acting like a victor?"

"No, Zhou Ye. Calm down. There's no point in getting bogged down in this. It's pointless..."

Upon realizing this, Zhou Ye's arrogance dissipated considerably.

Yes.

In the first place, I didn't want to get entangled in this relationship anymore, so I decided to break up with him.

If we're still entangled and fighting amongst ourselves, then everything we did before was meaningless.

He hasn't filmed anything since "A Little Reunion" aired.

Zhou Ye felt that her face had rested long enough, and that she had previously relied on Lin Shaobai to find her good scripts.

Now I have to go to the interviews myself.

Besides, with the character Qiao Yingzi now available, the interview shouldn't be too difficult.

……

……

Lin Shaobai returned to his company, Baichen Entertainment, over the weekend.

His personal assistant, Xiao Zhao, brought the talent scout the company had just hired into the office.

Lin Shaobai looked down at the contract on the table.

Assistant Xiao Zhao stepped back, and the talent scout took a step forward.

"President Lin, I have communicated with Jin Zihan as you instructed. She is currently outside."

"Oh?"

Each talent agency has a talent scout position.

Her main job was to walk around the streets looking for pretty people and asking them if they wanted to be stars.

Lin Shaobai knows who will become famous in the future, and after selecting a target, he will send a talent scout to communicate and discuss with them.

He's busy filming every day, he doesn't have time to deal with this kind of thing.

After the company found a talent scout, Lin Shaobai sent Jin Zihan her dance video.

We need to find this dancer on behalf of the company and ask her if she is interested in becoming an idol.

Jin Zihan enjoys posting her dance videos on short video platforms.

She's beautiful, with long legs and arms—a perfect girl group member.

"President Lin, Jin Zihan has arrived. Let me invite her in."

"Ah."

Jin Zihan was very reserved when he entered the room, and first bowed.

"Hello, Mr. Lin."

"Hello."

Lin Shaobai smiled.

Assistant Xiao Zhao and the talent scout left the office together, leaving only Lin Shaobai and Jin Zihan.

"I think the talent scout has already explained things to you, right?"

"Yes."

"Would you like to come to my company as a trainee? If you would, we'll send you to participate in iQiyi's talent show 'Youth With You Season 2' on behalf of the company."

"Of course I'd like to."

Although Jin Zihan has a mature and sophisticated appearance, she has a simple and honest personality, and with her fluffy brown hair, she looks like a big golden retriever.

Jin Zihan has loved dancing from the very beginning, and now that she has the opportunity to become a star, why not take it?

She had never heard of "Youth With You Season 2" before.

I wonder what it will be like for Kiwi to do its first girl group audition.

"Okay, then I'll take you to see your teammates first."

"teammate?"

Jin Zihan was stunned for a moment.

"Yes, I signed two trainees before you. The three of you will be participating in the audition together, so you'll be teammates."

"Oh……"

Jin Zihan followed behind Lin Shaobai the whole time.

I walked carefully, taking the opportunity to look around the company environment.

In her mind, Lin Shaobai was always an unattainable top domestic star.

I can't believe I actually signed with his company!
The two remained silent until they reached the practice room.

Jin Zihan was originally a quiet, introverted, and shy person.

Since Lin Shaobai didn't speak, she naturally wouldn't take the initiative to say anything either.

Kong Xueer and Liu Yuxin were still engrossed in dancing in the practice room, completely unaware of what was happening outside the door.

Lin Shaobai took a step back so that Jin Zihan could better observe the situation in the practice room.

Before she arrived, she thought she was a pretty good dancer, until she saw Kong Xueer and Liu Yuxin.

These two people were visibly much better dancers than her. Jin Zihan looked at them and felt a deep sense of defeat.

There are always people more capable than you, and there's always something beyond your understanding.

Before coming here, I thought my looks and abilities were at least first-rate.

It seems we still need to work harder.

As soon as the music inside stopped, Lin Shaobai pushed open the door and went in.

Kong Xueer and Liu Yuxin greeted each other in unison, "Hello, President Lin."

After shouting, he looked up and saw Jin Zihan standing behind Lin Shaobai.

The newcomer clearly surprised them both.

I hadn't heard anything before about the company having any plans to add new trainees.

Kong Xueer looked Jin Zihan up and down.

She thought to herself, "Wow, this person is so tall."

And she has a lot of hair and is good-looking.

"This is Jin Zihan, a newly signed trainee of our company. The three of you will be going on 'Youth With You Season 2' together."

"Shall we go together?" Liu Yuxin asked.

"Yes."

"I didn't hear it before..."

Liu Yuxin hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

Didn't we say before that she and Kong Xueer would perform together?
Why is there one more person?
This is too sudden.

"In short, these are your new teammates."

Lin Shaobai remembered that Jin Zihan had participated in this program in his previous life but failed to debut.

Previously, they were all ranked within the debut positions, but on the final night, they were squeezed out of the debut positions due to various factors.

Fans who genuinely followed the entire talent show from beginning to end would definitely cry because of this kind of elimination.

Fans of talent shows should know that there are always those who feel aggrieved by these kinds of competitions.

The stage is only so big, and there are only so many debut spots. There are bound to be many talented and good-looking contestants who didn't make it into the finals.

In domestic talent shows, there are examples such as Bi Wenjun from the earliest "Idol Producer", Jin Zihan from "Youth With You Season 2", Li Zixuan from "Produce 101", and Xu Yiyang from "Produce Camp 2020".

In most cases, those who debut in the entertainment industry do better than those who don't.

Only a very small number of those who didn't debut in the entertainment industry pursued acting careers, gradually gaining recognition and fame through television dramas.

"You guys get to know each other better. Oh, and think about the songs you'll be performing on your first stage. Besides your group dance, you also need to prepare individual talent performances."

"A personal talent show?"

Kong Xueer was a little confused.

Lin Shaobai continued, "Because there will be a segment where the mentors will specifically select you for a solo performance. You can choose to dance or sing, whatever you're best at."

“Oh. Then I’ll definitely be dancing.” Kong Xueer laughed.

"Let's discuss it properly."

After Lin Shaobai left the practice room, Liu Yuxin took the initiative to extend her hand to Jin Zihan: "Hello, my surname is Liu, and my name is Liu Yuxin. You can just call me Yuxin."

Kong Xueer: "Hello, my name is Kong Xueer, it's a very simple name."

"My name is Jin Zihan."

"You're so tall, how come you look so timid?" Kong Xueer took Jin Zihan's hand and led her to the mirror. "You're really tall. How tall are you?"

"172."

"Wow."

"Um, Mr. Lin, you just said you wanted us to choose some songs. Do you have any ideas?"

Jin Zihan lowered his head, his social anxiety evident.

Liu Yuxin: "Xueer and I had previously discussed choosing a song by Cai Yilin, as her songs are very suitable for a girl group. We just didn't know which song to choose."

“I also think choosing her song is a good choice.” Jin Zihan took a deep breath to calm his nerves: “A song that blows the crowd away might attract the mentors’ attention more.”

"A song to disrupt the event?" Kong Xueer misheard.

"Blow up the party, blow up the party!" Liu Yuxin said helplessly, pinching her shoulder.

"Oh, I was wondering why you had to cause trouble? Everything was fine for no reason."

After learning the truth, Kong Xueer covered her mouth and chuckled shyly.

This little incident helped Jin Zihan, who had been very nervous, relax.

The training atmosphere here seems to be better than she expected.

……

During Lin Shaobai's filming at the beach, the trainees' training was handled by specially hired vocal and dance teachers.

Over the years in the industry, Lin Shaobai has gotten to know some people and specifically invited these teachers to train the trainees of his company.

He repeatedly urged them to improve the vocal skills of these three trainees.

Idols have a very short blooming period.

Forming a group is only the first step; afterwards, they will have to overcome difficulties such as disbanding the group and getting older.

So how can one achieve sustained success?
Therefore, you must hone your special skills.

There's no need to worry if there are creations like those of Tian Xiaojuan.

But how many of the millions of idols can be like Jeon So-yeon?

Not only can they write songs, but they can also write hit songs; such talents are rare and hard to find.

However, Lin Shaobai didn't expect these three trainees to write hit songs like Tian Xiaojuan.

They should at least improve their vocals so that even if the group disbands, they can still participate in a music variety show to gain exposure.

After the second assessment, his company staff sent him the assessment forms for the three trainees.

"Liu Yuxin got A's in both dance and vocals this time, not bad."

Chatting with Liu Yuxin in private reveals that her mind is full of dreams, sweat, struggle, and hard work.

They hardly have any other entertainment ideas.

Despite being so young, she always acts like a fifty or sixty-year-old.

"Why is there still no progress in Kong Xueer's vocals? Her grade is a D. Not even a C. The others are all A... Didn't she promise me she'd practice her vocals properly? Does she just not have the talent for singing?"

"Jin Zihan failed the vocal music test. Oh well, she just started training anyway."

Zhang Jingyi was sitting next to Lin Shaobai, looking down at the script intently.

Upon noticing Lin Shaobai muttering to himself, he leaned over to take a look.

"what are you talking about?"

Zhang Jingyi asked.

"My company has signed three trainees, and I'm looking at their evaluation forms."

"Are you responsible for these trainees?"

"I only take a look at their grades; their regular teaching is handled by a teacher I specifically hired."

"I see. So your company only signs idols?"

"No, we are still planning to sign actors."

"actor……"

Zhang Jingyi remained silent for a long time.

His lips were half-open, as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed the words back.

Who should we sign?
Could it be that they're signing Zhou Ye?

"Shaobai, have you decided who to sign as an actor yet?"

"Yes, Tian Xiwei and Wang Churan."

"what?"

Zhang Jingyi was a little confused.

She wasn't very familiar with either of them.

Tian Xiwei had heard of a TV series she filmed with Lin Shaobai called "Qingqing's Daily Life".

But how did they meet Wang Churan?

I've never filmed a TV series with Lin Shaobai.

Zhang Jingyi felt a tightness in her chest.

jealous.

With Lin Shaobai being so outstanding, it's no wonder he's surrounded by beautiful women.

How could I not be jealous looking at them?

I'd like to ask how our relationship is?
I'm also afraid of causing some unnecessary misunderstandings.

"Shao Bai, you..."

"What's wrong?"

"fine……"

Zhang Jingyi lowered her head slightly and said.

Lin Shaobai continued looking at the evaluation forms of his trainees, preparing to hold a meeting!

Lin Shaobai returned to his company in Beijing on the weekend evening following the second assessment.

He called the three trainees he had signed into the meeting room.

Kong Xueer and Liu Yuxin are long-time employees, but Lin Shaobai has never called them to a meeting room for a private meeting.

Jin Zihan could only follow behind her two older sisters.

I didn't dare to speak the whole time, and I even had to breathe very softly.

After the three sat down, they all stood up straight, but none of them dared to look up at Lin Shaobai.

The current situation feels like when I was in school and the homeroom teacher was talking about the grades right after the exam.

"Have you all seen the test results?"

"Looked."

Liu Yuxin said very calmly.

She got all A's, so she was naturally very confident.

Kong Xueer's vocals are still the same, not to mention Jin Zihan's.

At least the other two have an A, but she doesn't have a single A.

"Liu Yuxin, you're fine, you did a great job. Kong Xueer and Jin Zihan, you two need to work even harder."

"Um……"

Lin Shaobai's tone remained calm throughout, yet it still sounded like a criticism.

Jin Zihan kept his hands on his thighs, gripping his pants tightly, extremely nervous.

She had been scolded to tears before and was afraid that the same thing would happen to her here.

However, Lin Shaobai changed the subject after he finished speaking.

Have you decided on the songs for your first stage performance?

Liu Yuxin: "We've discussed it and decided that we're thinking of 'The Great Artist'."

Since it's a girl group selection, the initial stage performance must be a song that involves singing and dancing.

To get an A on the first stage, you need to meet the requirements in terms of stage presence, vocals, and dance.

Did the three of you agree on this song, or was it just you alone?

"What does Mr. Lin think after the three of us discussed it?"

"Hmm. I think this song is good; it's well-known and will pique everyone's curiosity. As for how well you perform it, that's up to you. But this song isn't simple; you'll need to practice a lot."

Lin Shaobai said.

"Yes."

Liu Yuxin is now acting as the messenger among the three trainees, and she is responsible for communicating with Lin Shaobai throughout the process.

The remaining two, Kong Xueer and Jin Zihan, felt embarrassed to speak because their assessment results weren't very good.

Fortunately, Lin Shaobai had a good temper and didn't blame them too much.

After briefly discussing a few more things, the three trainees returned to their practice room.

They sat in a circle, seriously considering what had been discussed in the meeting.

Liu Yuxin coughed twice: "President Lin has agreed to let us sing 'The Great Artist'. Then let's start practicing for six months from now, and we must present the best performance to the mentors."

Jin Zihan and Kong Xueer lowered their heads and remained silent.

Seeing this, Liu Yuxin patted the ground and said, "Don't be discouraged just because of one bad performance. President Lin didn't blame you, so why are you so disappointed? What have we worked so hard for? Don't give up! Everyone has such high expectations of us! Xue'er, are you going to keep looking down? We're just leftovers."

The words "twice-cooked pork" provoked Kong Xueer.

She raised an eyebrow, stood up, and said, "Yes, we don't have many chances left. Since we're going to be second-hand, we have to be better than everyone else."

(End of this chapter)