Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 158 The Struggle for Fame and Fortune
In May, spring has faded and summer is in full swing in Beiping. Sunlight shines through the thin clouds, bringing a touch of heat to the earth.

Although the breeze still carried a slight chill, it could not conceal the faint heat emanating from the air.

The filming location for "Hello, Old Times" is the same as the previous two installments, a high school in Beiping. Due to the popularity of the first two installments of the Zhenhua series, this high school is now renowned.

On the busy and vibrant filming set, many student extras were running around happily on the playground, enthusiastically cooperating with the crew to perform this group scene.

Liu Shishi was wearing a classic high school uniform, the blue and white color scheme looking particularly fresh and elegant in the sunlight.

She had just finished filming a scene on the school playground and was on her way to rest in the temporary rest shed set up on the track.

Upon arriving at the rest area, Jiang Yuanyuan, already skilled in her work, thoughtfully presented Ms. Liu with a thermos. Boss Song had specifically instructed her that Ms. Liu was on her period and should not drink cold water.

Liu Shishi wiped the sweat from her forehead, her face still flushed slightly—a natural, healthy glow after exercise. She took the thermos handed to her by her assistant and drank a few sips of the warm water.

Looking up at the fiery red sun hanging in the sky, she asked, "Yuanyuan, what time is it now?"

"It's almost noon. I guess we'll have lunch after this scene is finished."

Liu Shishi nodded slightly. Even if the actors could endure it, the students also needed to eat. Director Ma Xin wouldn't drag this scene out for too long, so she quietly sat on the small recliner to rest and wait for the crew to have dinner.

Sure enough, in no time, the staff on the playground began to pack up their equipment and gather at the rest area on the track, while the field staff began to distribute boxed lunches.

Jiang Yuanyuan brought over the lunchbox for her mistress, and the two sat down together to eat lunch.

The food on the Tengda Culture film crew is always pretty good. The lunch boxes have two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, and the whole crew is treated equally. If you want something better, you have to cook for yourself, because the crew doesn't provide it.

Before she could even finish her meal, Yang Yi, who was also filming on set, came over with a boxed lunch and a slightly chubby, smiling woman.

Thanks to Liu Shishi's connections, Yang Yi landed a supporting role in the drama "Hello, Old Times," playing the classmate of the female lead, Yu Zhouzhou.

Upon seeing her best friend, Liu Shishi immediately invited her to sit next to her.

"Shishi, this is my friend, Jia Lin. He's a big star on set," Yang Yi introduced enthusiastically, going out of her way to introduce the chubby girl next to her to her best friend.

Jia Lin was a friend she met while attending an acting training class. The two later lived together in a rented apartment and became very close over time.

Jia Lin has an excellent personality. Upon meeting you, she bursts into a warm and cheerful laugh: "Hello, senior sister, I'm your fan!" Her words are humorous, making her instantly likable.

Liu Shishi stood up with a smile, without a trace of arrogance, and shook hands with Jia Lin in a friendly manner, inviting her and Yang Yi to have lunch together.

Feeling the friendliness of the female lead, Jia Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just now, when her good friend Yang Yi wanted to take her to see Liu Shishi, she was still a little hesitant and didn't want to come.

Who knows what kind of personality the female lead has? If she's tactless and offends her, she could lose her job with just one sentence.

Having finally landed a major role in the film crew, earning several hundred yuan a day, Jia Lin cherished the opportunity and didn't want to make any mistakes.

Fortunately, Liu Shishi's story was exactly the same as Yang Yi's; she was very kind and gentle, unlike some of the sharp-tongued and mean-spirited protagonists encountered on other film sets.

Although he had seen Liu Shishi while filming earlier, she was too far away on the playground to see clearly. Now that she was so close, Jia Lin couldn't help but take a few glances at the female lead.

I couldn't help but feel envious. If I had that face, I could also take the idol route and wouldn't have to go through such a bumpy and difficult time in the entertainment industry.

The school uniform, full of youthful energy, was well-tailored and made Liu Shishi look even more upright, exuding youthful vigor and vitality.

Her long hair was tied up high, forming a vibrant high ponytail, with a few wisps of hair gently falling beside her ears, adding a touch of unintentional softness and playfulness.

As they ate and chatted, watching Liu Shishi's delicate mouth slightly open and her graceful eating movements, Jia Lin couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself and slowed down his eating pace.

She couldn't help but exclaim, "Senior Sister, your posture is so good! You truly deserve to play the school beauty!"

Yang Yi covered her mouth and chuckled: "Linzi, Shishi was originally the most beautiful girl at Beijing Dance Academy. She ranked seventh in the first National Campus Beauty Contest. She's just playing herself now. A little campus beauty is a piece of cake for her."

As the four of them ate, the conversation inadvertently turned to the online feud between several top actresses that had caused a stir a few days earlier.

Yang Yi spoke first: "Did you guys see it? The scene was even more exciting than the plot of a TV series."

Liu Shishi nodded, recalling the online back-and-forth between various female celebrities a few days ago, which was truly eye-opening, and at the same time, a trace of anger flashed in her eyes.

Those online trolls actually said that she acted like a blind person in "Young Warriors of the Yang Clan" and "Moonlight and Lotus," which is simply absurd.

Yang Yi leaned closer, her gossip-loving heart burning brightly, and whispered, "Shishi, do you have any inside information? What exactly happened? Tell me about it."

Meanwhile, Jia Lin, while munching on a chicken leg, shook his head and said:
"Oh, Yang Yi, don't worry about those big stars' affairs. We little actors should just focus on eating our lunches and doing our jobs well!"

Although his words carried a hint of self-deprecation, they also revealed a rare open-mindedness and optimism.

"I'm just curious, Shishi, you must know some inside information, right? Please tell me!"

Yang Yi shook Liu Shishi's arm and said coquettishly, knowing that her best friend must know some information. After all, Liu Shishi herself was being slandered, so it was impossible for her not to find out the truth.

Unable to resist Yang Yi's persistent nagging, Liu Shishi reluctantly gave in: "Stop shaking Yi Yi, I'll tell you everything I know."

"Big star, please begin your performance." Yang Yi sat down with a smile, looking obedient, cute, and attentive.

"There's really nothing I can do about you!"

Liu Shishi put down her chopsticks, gathered her thoughts, and began to recount the whole story.

On the surface, Jia Lin appeared calm and collected, but in reality, he was listening intently. Who wouldn't be curious about the gossip surrounding several A-list celebrities in the entertainment industry?

"Originally, Gao Yuanyuan was nominated for Best Actress at the College Student Film Festival for her role in 'So Young.' Although she didn't win, she was still very happy. As the leading lady of a film with a box office of over 100 million yuan, her career could take another step forward."

"And then?" Yang Yi urged, resting her chin on her hand. "Then that very night, a flood of news appeared online about her being a mistress who rose to power, starting with Director Teng, then Zhang Yadong, and then the male celebrity Xia Yu—it was everywhere!"

Recalling that day, Liu Shishi still felt lingering fear. How could so much negative information suddenly surface? Even passersby would have a very bad impression of this person.

After a slight pause, he continued, "Then Gao Yuanyuan's team naturally tried to clear her name, but it was to no avail."

Even after Gao Yuanyuan herself explained on her blog that she was unaware the man had a girlfriend and that she was simply deceived, many netizens still left comments criticizing her.

Yang Yi pouted, looking down on the tall star: "Poor Gao Yuanyuan, but it's understandable that it happened once."

"Having encountered scumbags three times in a row, she definitely has problems herself. Her taste in men is terrible; she's a million miles behind Shishi."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shishi glanced at Jia Lin, who was busy eating with her head down, and gently slapped her best friend: "What are you saying, Yi Yi! Don't interrupt, who's talking, you or me?"

But secretly, he was incredibly pleased with himself. How could those scumbags compare to his Mr. Song? They were in a completely different league.

"You say it, you say it!"

"Seeing that explanations were useless, Gao Yuanyuan's team came up with a bad idea: to pay the media to publish negative information about other female celebrities in an attempt to muddy the waters. Since I couldn't clear my name in a short time, I decided to drag others down with me to deflect the netizens' criticism."

"You can do that?" Yang Yi exclaimed in surprise, feeling like she had learned something new, and then it dawned on her:
"No wonder later, some people brought up the matter of Xing Girl Huang Shengyi and Yang Zi and criticized her, saying that Huang Shengyi was originally a friend of Yang Zi's ex-wife Tao Hong, and the relationship between the three was very complicated. So that's the reason."

"More and more actresses were dragged into it. As a tabloid published a half-true, half-false report about Fan Bingbing's past in Hong Kong, several big actresses were implicated and fell into the fray one after another. Suddenly, the entire Shanxi-Northwest region was in chaos."

"Sigh!" Liu Shishi sighed and continued, "Then things went completely into chaos, and I was caught in the crossfire."

Originally, the company only contacted a few media outlets to publish materials about me walking the red carpet.

As a result, I was inexplicably targeted and falsely accused of being a "resourced" actor, having poor acting skills, and playing every role like a blind person. It's outrageous and goes too far.

"Hehe, it's only mediocre if you're not envied. Shishi, you must be the target of envy. I've read some of your reports."

The article on Toutiao Entertainment described someone even the wind favors, and those photos were just too beautiful. I think none of the other actresses at the film festival could compare to you.

Liu Shishi was all smiles after being showered with compliments by Yang Yi, but she still humbly said, "It's not as exaggerated as you say. Everyone is beautiful, and each has their own unique charm."

"By the way, Shishi, do you know who's smearing you? And who's behind all those things Gao Yuanyuan did?"

Speaking of this, Liu Shishi got angry. Cai Yinong investigated for a long time and found that it was actually Tengda Culture that was buying articles to smear him. They were trying to rebel, daring to smear the boss's wife!
I already have a pretty good idea of ​​who it is. Within Tengda Culture, there are only a handful of people with the motive and ability to do something like this, and I can roughly guess who they are.

She didn't tell Mr. Song about this; she wanted to handle it herself, otherwise people in the industry would think she, Tangren's top female star, was easy to bully.

"I will find a way to deal with the person who slanders me. As for those who target Gao Yuanyuan, it may start with one company, and then several companies will follow suit."

From what I understand, Pantene shampoo was planning to hire Gao Yuanyuan as their spokesperson, and several actresses vying for the endorsement started vying for it. It's just a few companies, and I bet Gao Yuanyuan knows this perfectly well.

When the final mystery was revealed, Jia Lin was speechless: "So all this commotion was for an endorsement deal!"

Liu Shishi nodded: "Yes, it all comes down to profit. A celebrity's commercial value is reflected in brand endorsements."

Good endorsements are always in high demand and short supply, so naturally, everyone's scrambling to get one. Gao Yuanyuan has really suffered a huge loss this time; after this incident, Pantene clearly has no intention of hiring her.

"I never imagined that the whole story would turn out like this."

Liu Shishi picked up her chopsticks again: "Alright, alright, other people's business is none of our concern. Just mind your own business. The food is getting cold. Let's eat in peace."

Yang Yi and Jia Lin exchanged a smile. The gossip they had just heard was just something to talk about over tea; eating was the priority.

After lunch, they quickly rested and adjusted their condition, as they had to continue filming in the afternoon. They couldn't compare to the female lead, who had to do many takes and make the whole crew wait for her.

If they have problems while filming, or if they encounter a director with a bad temper, they will be fired from the crew immediately.

Lunchtime was a rare moment of relaxation for the entire crew. As the girls chatted and laughed, the male lead, Jia Nailiang, carrying an exquisite lunchbox and wearing a somewhat ingratiating smile, walked towards Liu Shishi.

"Shishi, try this!" After saying that, he gently placed the lunchbox on the table in front of Liu Shishi.

Upon opening the lid, a delicious homemade meal awaits, its color, aroma, and flavor irresistible. The steaming hot dish releases an enticing fragrance, making one's mouth water.

Liu Shishi looked up at Jia Nailiang, a hint of helplessness flashing in her eyes. Ever since she joined the crew, the male lead had been showering her with attention, which was quite bothersome.

Upon seeing that it was the male lead, Yang Yi and Jia Lin immediately stood up. Liu Shishi could remain seated, but they didn't have the right to. "Hello, Teacher Jia!"

Jia Nailiang was very gentlemanly and polite, saying generously, "Sit down, sit down, it won't delay your meal. Come and try my dishes."

His family was extremely well-off, and his assistant would prepare special meals for him every day. Today, he specially prepared an extra lunch, hoping to please Liu Shishi.

Since he was a guest, and they would be working together in the same production for a long time, and Jia Nailiang had always maintained a gentlemanly demeanor, Liu Shishi couldn't very well treat him coldly.

"Sit down and talk, Teacher Jia. Yuanyuan, quickly bring a chair over."

Jiang Yuanyuan did as she was told, bringing over a chair and watching Jia Nailiang warily. This guy had designs on the young mistress and had been shamelessly persistent, so she had to keep an eye on him.

Seeing that Liu Shishi showed no sign of touching her chopsticks, Jia Nailiang knew that his good intentions had been wasted again.

When he first met Liu Shishi, he was captivated by her gentle and beautiful face and began to pursue her.

Unfortunately, the other party remained unmoved by his attempts to please her, maintaining a distant and unapproachable demeanor.

After Jia Nailiang sat down, Liu Shishi, not wanting him to bother her anymore, frankly said, "Teacher Jia, I have a boyfriend."

(End of this chapter)