Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 361 Fierce Competition

On the morning of September 10th, the sun shone brightly.

In the girls' dormitory of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Tsinghua University, Liu Yuqing, who had just become a freshman at this top university, sat upright at her desk.

I was intently watching the TV series "Ming Dynasty 1566" playing on my laptop.

"Clouds in the blue sky, water in the bottle—some of you are clouds, some are water... all are loyal ministers, none are treacherous!"

On the screen, meticulously designed scenes unfold slowly, and philosophical lines of dialogue are uttered one after another.

Liu Yuqing frowned slightly. This TV series, which her brother Song Ci praised as "the pinnacle of domestic historical dramas," was indeed superb, and the actors' performances were textbook-worthy.

However, the complex power struggles depicted in the plot, as well as the exquisite but obscure dialogue, made it quite difficult for her to watch.

My roommate Liu Jiajia was doing her makeup in front of the mirror when she glanced at the computer screen and said, "Yuqing, are you still watching 'Ming Dynasty'? I really can't get into it."

Some bloggers online have analyzed that the essence of this drama lies in its profound analysis of power, which explains why men like Song Ci would like it, and it's not suitable for us to watch.

Since Liu Shishi revealed at the Feitian Awards ceremony that Song Ci's favorite TV series is "Da Ming Dynasty", this topic has become a trending topic on Weibo that night, arousing the curiosity of countless people to watch it.

Many heavyweight veterans in the film and television industry, such as Zhang Guoli, Chen Daoming, and Tang Guoqiang, also praised the show after watching the rebroadcast.

Furthermore, a high-ranking official in the propaganda system also highly praised "Ming Dynasty," stating in public that viewers of the show need to possess historical interest, political insight, and aesthetic patience.

This series of celebrity endorsements has made this originally niche storyline a huge hit.

However, "Ming Dynasty" has a very high viewing threshold and lacks the currently popular entertainment elements. Those who like it will be engrossed in it, while those who don't can't even watch a single episode.

"I watched up to episode 18 yesterday, it's mind-bending!" Another roommate, Zhang Zetian, was carefully selecting costumes to wear to the party later.

He interjected, "Jiajia, I think you should watch this show more patiently. As a student in the humanities experimental class, you should appreciate more of these top-level works of art."

Liu Jiajia pouted: "I'll do it when I have time. I've discovered a fantastic TV series these past few days, it's 'Empresses in the Palace' that's currently airing on Beijing TV, it's super interesting."

Liu Yuqing waved her hand: "I know, it's a palace drama produced by Tengda Culture, it's boring."

At this moment, Yu Ying, the last member of the dormitory, came out of the bathroom and saw Zhang Zetian carefully selecting clothes. She couldn't help but tease him: "Tiantian, are you going on a date with that talented Tao?"

Zhang Zetian blushed slightly: "Don't talk nonsense! Tao Duping and I are just classmates. We've been in military training, and today we finally had a day off, so I arranged to have a small get-together with some of my high school classmates in Beijing."

Liu Jiajia closed the makeup box and smiled meaningfully, "Tao was so attentive to you, it's obvious she wants to pursue you!"
"Tian Tian, ​​you and Yu Qing are two of Tsinghua's most beautiful girls, both ranked in the top three in the 2011 Headline Star Campus Beauty Contest. You can't let them be snatched away by boys from other schools right after the start of the semester."

"What nonsense are you talking about!" Zhang Zetian spat lightly, her face full of shyness.

Liu Jiajia took out her phone, opened the Toutiao app, and prepared to vote for her two roommates.

The Headline Star University Beauty Contest, organized by Tengda Group, has been held for four years since its inception in 2004, except for one year in 08 when it was canceled due to the Olympics.

This selection attracted enthusiastic participation from university students across the country, with countless people voting for their dream girl.

Liu Jiajia skillfully cast her vote for Zhang Zetian and Liu Yuqing. Looking at the ever-updating school beauty rankings, she snorted unconvinced, "Chen Duling from Beihang University is still firmly in first place! Yuqing and Tiantian are in second and third place respectively."

"Dudu is really beautiful, with a cool and scholarly air about her. I vote for her every day!"

After watching an episode of a TV series, Liu Yuqing closed TT Video, completely unconcerned about being outshone by her friend Chen Duling.

Liu Jiajia carefully examined Chen Duling's bare-faced ID photo for the competition and had to admit that this campus belle from Beihang University was indeed a stunning beauty. She couldn't help but sigh, "With such good looks, she must have no worries."

Yu Ying shook her head: "Career, love, marriage—how can one live without troubles?"

Liu Yu rested her chin on one hand and scrolled through the mouse with the other: "Liu Shishi has all of these. I don't know what will happen to her in the future, but Shishi is indeed living a very happy life now."

Zhang Zetian, with his keen eye, noticed that his roommate affectionately called Chen Duling "Dudu" and asked curiously, "Yuqing, do you know Chen Duling?"

"Yes, I know her. We're good friends."

Several roommates immediately became interested: "Aren't you a local from Beiping? Online information says Chen Duling is from Xiamen, how do you know her?"

"It's quite a coincidence, that day..." Liu Yuqing recounted her experience of traveling to Hengdian with Chen Duling to her three roommates.

Liu Jiajia exclaimed excitedly, "Wow, such an amazing thing! Yuqing, introduce Chen, the school beauty, to us another day! If you, Tiantian, and Chen Duling, the three school beauties, were to take a photo together, it would definitely be trending on social media."

Liu Yuqing readily replied, "No problem."

After hesitating for a long time, Zhang Zetian finally chose a snow-white dress. Just as he was about to change, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of Liu Yuqing browsing financial news out of the corner of his eye.

Curious, he walked up behind her and watched. "Yuqing, what kind of vote is this?"

Liu Yuqing turned around upon hearing the voice and discovered Zhang Zetian standing behind her: "I'm voting for the 2011 CCTV China Economic Person of the Year."

After speaking, he clicked the mouse to cast his vote for one of the candidates, Liu Xiangdong, Chairman of JD.com.

Zhang Zetian found it very novel; it was the first time she had ever seen a girl her age pay attention to an economics-related poll: "Yuqing, why did you only vote for Liu Xiangdong?"

Liu Yuqing did it on a whim. She saw her brother Song Ci sharing the event on her WeChat Moments and knew that Liu Xiangdong was her brother's friend, so she casually cast her vote for Liu Xiangdong out of boredom.

"He's pleasing to the eye."

Zhang Zetian looked at the photo of him in a suit on the screen and nodded: "Although he's not particularly handsome, he looks very dignified and imposing."

Yu Ying also leaned over to take a look at Liu Xiangdong's photo: "He's alright, this big shot is considered good-looking among those rich people. After all, someone like Song Ci is one in a hundred years of Peking University."

Looking at the character introduction, Zhang Zetian agreed, "At only 37 years old, he is indeed a young talent in the business world."

Liu Jiajia's eyes widened: "Tian Tian, ​​37 is still young?"

Zhang Zetian glared at his roommate: "What do you know? Successful men at this age are at their most charming. Do you know anyone more handsome than Song Ci?" The three girls looked at each other, racking their brains but unable to think of any man more handsome than Song Ci, who was universally acknowledged as the pinnacle of good looks.

Zhang Zetian chuckled lightly: "Ten years from now, more mature Song Dynasty poetry will definitely be more charming than it is now."

Liu Yuqing nodded in agreement, feeling that her brother Song Ci had indeed become more handsome in the past two years.

I remember the photo my sister-in-law posted of Brother Zhang wearing glasses last time. His mature, ascetic aura captivated all the female netizens online.

Liu Jiajia asked in surprise, "Tiantian, so you like older women?"

"I'm easygoing about relationships!" Zhang Zetian shook his head with a smile. "I won't say any more to you guys, I need to change my clothes for the party. I've been in military training for the past two weeks, I need to relax today."

After Zhang Zetian left, the remaining three girls were bored and didn't know what to do.

"Yuqing, Tiantian's gone on a date, what are we going to do?"

After thinking for a moment, Liu Yuqing suggested, "Beihang University is closed today, so how about I take you to meet Chen Duling?"

"Agreed!" "I want to go!"

With a slight smile, Liu, the campus belle, said cheerfully, "Let's go then. I'll take you two to meet the beautiful number one campus belle."

Liu Yuqing and her two roommates set off for Beihang University. Meanwhile, in the girls' dormitory of Beijing Film Academy, several girls were discussing their plans for the day.

"Class monitor, DouDou, YouYou, please spare me. After a week of military training, my bones feel like they're about to fall apart. I don't want to go anywhere today, I just want to lie in bed."

Gulnazar, a freshman, lay in bed, pleading and begging her three roommates.

Peng Doudou patiently coaxed, "Naza, it's such a beautiful time, it would be a shame not to go out and explore. Come back at noon and rest."

Yang Caiyu, the class monitor of the performance class, and another roommate, Wu You, also quietly echoed and tried their best to persuade her.

Among all the freshmen of Beijing Film Academy in 2011, Zhou Dongyu was undoubtedly the most famous.

As a "Zhang Yimou Girl", her debut work was a film directed by Zhang Yimou, and she won the Best New Actress Award at the 14th Huabiao Awards.

Secondly, there is Gulnazar, a contracted artist of Tangren Media and the junior sister of Liu Shishi, the top actress. She has already participated in "Xuan-Yuan Sword" starring Liu Shishi, Hu Ge and other top stars, and her starting point is already far ahead of her classmates.

In the small dormitory at Beijing Film Academy, the three roommates all accommodated Gulnazar, unintentionally reflecting the reality in the entertainment industry that whoever is popular has the right to speak.

After much coaxing and pleading from everyone, Gulnazar reluctantly got up to put on makeup.

While getting ready, Yang Caiyu took out her phone to check the latest rankings of the school beauty pageant.

"Still outside the top 20, there's no hope for the top 10!" Yang Caiyu couldn't hide her disappointment as she glanced at her name on the leaderboard.

Recently, news has surfaced online that with Yang Mi, Wang Luodan, and Lü Yi becoming top-tier stars, Tengda Culture intends to sign new talents this year to replenish its fresh blood. The girls in the top ten of the campus beauty list are most likely to be favored by Tengda Culture.

Students at the Beijing Film Academy all know that signing with Tengda Culture is like a meteoric rise to success, guaranteeing them access to abundant resources.

After Yang Zi, a student from the class of 2010, signed with Tengda, she immediately got to appear on variety shows with celebrities like Liu Shishi and Huang Xiaoming, gaining huge traffic and popularity. It is said that she will be making a movie soon, which makes the students of Beijing Film Academy extremely envious.

Peng Doudou knew what the class monitor was thinking, but she couldn't force the issue, so she comforted him, "The rankings are basically set, and there won't be much change. The top ten have already far ahead in votes, leaving the rest far behind."

While busy applying makeup, Gulnazar casually asked, "Am I still in fourth place?"

Yang Caiyu nodded: "Yes, the top three remain unchanged. It's a bit of a pity about you, Nazha. Your appearance is too aggressive, and you're not as popular with girls as the top three."

The "Top Star Campus Beauty Contest" allows both boys and girls to vote. Gulnazar's striking and beautiful appearance has a strong, almost aggressive quality, which many girls dislike, and naturally, they won't vote for her.

However, with her stunning beauty and the support of many boys, Gulnazar still firmly holds the fourth place on the list of school beauties.

Wu You also took out her phone to complete today's voting and couldn't help but exclaim, "The top three are really amazing. Not only are they good-looking, but they also got into top universities like Beihang University and Tsinghua University. They are definitely academic superstars. They have both beauty and intelligence. They are too strong."

Gulnazar, applying eyeliner, said casually, "Whether I make it into the top three or not doesn't matter to me; this ranking is meaningless."

Peng Doudou quietly inquired, "Naza, is it true that the top ten school beauties can sign with Tengda Culture?"

"Maybe! But I heard from Sister K that Tengda Culture is preparing to launch the movie 'Left Ear' project, and will select one of the top-ranked girls on this year's campus beauty list to play the female lead."

Yang Caiyu and her two roommates exchanged glances, all seeing shock in each other's eyes. Then, she subtly probed, "Nazha, congratulations! You're going to star in a movie."

Gulnazar was taken aback, looking completely bewildered: "The movie 'The Left Ear' has nothing to do with me, why are you congratulating me?"

Yang Caiyu was overjoyed, but she didn't show it on her face. She pretended to be puzzled and said, "The top three on the school beauty list are all students from top universities. They shouldn't be going into the entertainment industry."

Aside from those three, aren't you ranked highest? Plus, you have a relevant major and a built-in fanbase, so landing the lead role in "The Left Ear" would be a piece of cake.

Gulnazar looked dejected and sighed, "Oh, don't even mention it. 'Left Ear' is President Song's first book, it's of great significance, and even the lead actors in the movie had to get his approval."

My senior sister asked Mr. Song for me, and he felt that my image did not match Li Er in the book, so I was eliminated in the first round. Therefore, I have no chance of becoming the female lead in the movie.

K-sister guesses Mr. Song prefers girls with a pure, natural look, like Shi-shi-jie.

Yang Caiyu was burning with excitement. She was currently ranked 22nd on the school beauty list. Apart from those who were not majoring in performing arts, there were also several other beautiful school beauties like Gulnazar and Dilraba. There weren't many competitors left, so she did have a chance.

"The richest man's first novel was adapted into a movie, and he had to make the final decision on the lead actor. If he gets chosen, he'll definitely sign with Tengda Culture, and his debut work will be a big-budget film—his career will take off immediately! It feels even more impressive than Zhou Dongyu, the 'Zhang Yimou Girl'!"

When Zhou Dongyu, who is more famous than her, was mentioned, Gulinaza looked disdainful and thought to herself, "With that kind of looks and figure, she still wants to make it in the entertainment industry!"

"She's just a 'Zhang Yimou Girl,' what's so great about her? Director Zhang Yimou promotes a 'Zhang Yimou Girl' with every movie he makes. I think Ni Ni is definitely more popular than her recently."

(End of this chapter)