Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 419 The Princess of the Capital Circle is No Match for the Performers of the Tang Dynasty

"Do you smoke?"

Just after they finished rehearsing their lines, Tian Xinwei suddenly uttered this seemingly random remark.

However, Li Gengxi, who had always been very well-behaved, showed a flash of panic in her eyes after hearing these words.

She gave an awkward laugh and said, "I don't smoke much."

"How is that possible? The smell of cigarettes on you couldn't be this strong without several years of accumulation, and besides..."

Tian Xinwei lowered her gaze and stared at Li Gengxi's right hand.

Li Gengxi quickly hid her hands behind her back, and when she looked at Tian Xinwei again, her eyes were filled with hostility and defensiveness.

Tian Xinwei chuckled: "I'm not really interested in whether you smoke or not, but you're clearly not the kind of well-behaved girl I'm talking to, so why are you pretending?"

Li Gengxi: "..."

"Don't be so nervous. I really don't have any problem with you smoking. I used to smoke a couple of cigarettes occasionally, until I met my current boyfriend. Although he didn't say it outright, he didn't really like me smoking, so I quit."

"Boy friend?"

Li Gengxi looked at Tian Xinwei with a strange expression, thinking: We were gossiping about our scenes during rehearsals, but I just wanted to learn about Datang Film Industry and Chen Xiu through you. Who's interested in your boyfriend?
"Yes! Our company's boss doesn't restrict employees from dating."

Tian Xinwei smiled meaningfully.

When she mentioned Chen Xiu, it was more of a rebuttal to Li Gengxi's earlier misunderstanding that Chen Xiu and Zhou Ye were dating.

Even if only she knows the truth about this counterattack, she still has to say it!

Li Gengxi pursed her lips and casually asked, "Is your boyfriend also in the entertainment industry?"

"Yes, he hasn't acted much. He's been in the industry for several years, but he only has five works to date."

"Oh, that's not much."

Seeing Li Gengxi's undisguised contempt, Tian Xinwei pursed her lips, secretly laughing to herself.

Before she could continue teasing the younger girl, director Li Zhi, who had finished watching Zhou Ye and another actress rehearse, suddenly called the two of them over.

"Tian Xinwei, Li Gengxi, it's your turn to rehearse."

"Okay, director." *2
The two spoke in unison, looked at each other, and had different expressions.

……

"Xiaoguo, my mom didn't break up with him, oh my god!"

Li Gengxi's crying scenes were incredibly moving...

It was supposed to be a very sad scene, but even though her facial features were all over the place, she just couldn't cry.

As someone who couldn't get into Beijing Film Academy or Central Academy of Drama through the entrance exams for art school, and whose debut work was chosen by Xu Cainu rather than by her own ability, it's not surprising that Li Gengxi's acting is exaggerated. After all, she hasn't won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress yet.

However, this exaggerated style of performance almost made Tian Xinwei, who was acting opposite her, unable to keep up with the scene due to excessive embarrassment.

Fortunately, having debuted for over two years and already acted in several productions, Xiao Tian, ​​who is currently studying at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, has a very solid foundation in acting.

When comforting Li Gengxi, her facial expressions were not overly exaggerated, and her body language was just right.

The difference in quality between the two actors during their performance is immediately apparent.

When commenting on Tian Xinwei's acting, director Li Zhi gave his own assessment, which was fairly objective.

When commenting on Li Gengxi, he hesitated for a long time before glancing at Xu Cainu beside him and saying, "Li Gengxi, your acting skills are still very immature, but there is a lot of room for improvement. You should communicate more with Tian Xinwei in the future."

"Okay, thank you, director."

Even in front of so many people, Li Gengxi still habitually plays the role of a well-behaved girl.

Sitting in her seat, Xu Cainu, who had also watched Li Gengxi's rehearsal, looked rather unpleasant.

When the rehearsal ended and Li Zhi announced the dismissal, and the actors returned to their rooms to rest, Xu Cainu, who had been silent all along, finally got up and walked towards him.

"Director Li, may I bother you for a moment?"

"Uh, okay."

After saying that, Li Zhi curled his lips, clearly having guessed Xu Cai Nu's intentions and feeling embarrassed.

After closing the door to the room that was temporarily serving as a meeting room, Xu Cainu revealed her purpose without any preamble.

"Director Li, what do you think of the suggestion I made to you before rehearsals?"

"Director Xu (Xu Cainu has been a director and likes to be called that), you saw Li Gengxi's performance just now. Even if you wanted to add scenes, you couldn't add them to her!"

"Acting skills are cultivated; a director's achievement lies in carving a rough gem into a beautiful one."

"Hehe, I don't really need this achievement. Besides, if you want to increase an actor's screen time, you inevitably have to cut another actor's screen time. The fourth female lead, Duan Jiabao, doesn't have many scenes to begin with, and if you cut any more, she'll become a background character. You wouldn't want me to cut Tian Xinwei and Zhou Ye's scenes, would you?"

Li Zhi first refused Xu Cainu's request to "add more scenes," and then blamed Tian Xinwei and Zhou Ye for not being able to add scenes.

He had calculated that the other party wouldn't dare to touch the artists of Datang Film Industry.

However, Xu Cainu was both afraid and dared not.

"Ahem, Zhou Ye's scenes definitely can't be changed..."

Xu Cainu was the first to single out Zhou Ye, and a clear look of concern appeared on her face.

As Li Gengxi just said, at the box office celebration party for "The Long Way Home", Chen Xiu had already spread the word in the industry about Zhou Ye's support. She was not sure about the relationship between Chen Xiu and Zhou Ye, and did not dare to test it.

However, not daring to touch Zhou Ye doesn't mean she doesn't dare to touch others.

As for Tian Xinwei.

Xu Cainu smiled and helped Li Zhi make arrangements: "Director Li, I saw on your work schedule that Tian Xinwei has the most scenes among the four female leads. Shouldn't we balance things out?" "In the original work, Jiang Xiaoguo has the most scenes."

Li Zhi smiled and politely declined Xu Cainu's arrangement.

The TV series he directed this time, "Twenty Your Life On", was produced by iQiyi Pictures, Datang Pictures, and Lemon Pictures.

Then, Tian Xinwei is the most famous person in the crew (she played the female lead in "Better Days"). Unless he's out of his mind, he wouldn't cut Tian Xinwei's scenes and add more scenes for Li Gengxi.

Upon hearing that her request had been rejected, Xu Cai Nu's face slowly fell.

"Director Li, if I ask you to slightly alter Li Gengxi's scenes, would you consider it?"

As a representative figure in Beijing's elite circles, Xu Cainu has made her stance clear enough by speaking so frankly.

If Li Zhi agrees to help, Xu Cai Nu and the Beijing elite circle behind her will remember this favor; if she still refuses, then Li Zhi will also remember it.

Faced with this dilemma, Li Zhi frowned, thought for a moment, and then a sly smile suddenly appeared on his lips.

"The producer arranged by Datang Pictures is currently on set, so I really can't make the decision on this matter! How about I call him and we sit down and discuss the situation?"

If you're so capable, go talk to the producer at Datang Pictures yourself! Why are you coming to me?

Li Zhi mentally criticized Xu Cai Nu's actions, betting that she wouldn't dare to discuss it with Datang Pictures.

As it turns out, Xu Cainu was well aware of her own limitations.

"In that case, let's leave it at that. Xiao Xi has only been in the industry for a short time. A smaller role will allow her to hone her skills more. We won't trouble Director Li."

Based on the information from Da Wang and Xiao Wang, she knew very well that Datang Pictures would not give face to the Beijing film circle, and she did not want to make a fool of herself.

Having failed to achieve her goal, Xu Cainu exchanged a few polite words and then took her leave.

Watching her dejected figure leave, Li Zhi's lips curled into a smile, thinking: That's all there is to Beijing's entertainment circle; now we'll have to look to the internet circle...

……

Upstairs in the hotel, in Tian Xinwei's room.

Zhou Ye, who had come over to have dinner with us, glanced around, wanting to ask Tian Xinwei something, but his expression showed hesitation.

After some deliberation, she decided to take a roundabout approach and ask about something else to lower her best friend's guard.

"Xiaotian, you and Li Gengxi were whispering to each other for so long during rehearsal just now, what were you talking about?"

"Huh? She said you're dating the boss..."

"Really? How come I didn't know that?"

Zhou Ye's face was full of surprise, but after noticing Tian Xinwei's sweeping gaze, she reluctantly started eating again.

Tian Xinwei glared at her best friend and complained, "What's so great about that scumbag that you're so hung up on? Didn't you used to say that guys like him only play around with female celebrities? How come you've gotten yourself involved now?"

"I was young and naive back then."

"You said all these things back in April. It's only been a little over six months, and you've suddenly matured?"

"Uh-huh."

Zhou Ye nodded, making no attempt to hide his covetousness for Chen Xiu.

Tian Xinwei clenched her back teeth, not wanting her to get involved at all.

"Coconut, the water in here is too deep. You can't handle it. I'll take care of it."

"Pah! I'm already your best friend and Mengmeng's best friend. If I can't even handle this, do you expect me to become best friends with Reba as well?"

Zhou Ye's sudden remark made both her and Tian Xinwei fall into deep thought.

"It seems like it might not be a bad idea..."

"Stop thinking about it. There are so many good men in the world, why are you fixated on this scumbag?"

"Hmm~, since he's a jerk, then go find another good man! I'll take your place."

"..."

Tian Xinwei silently put down her chopsticks, got up and went behind Zhou Ye, reaching out with both hands to instantly lock her head in place.

"Hey! Xiaotian, what are you doing?"

"Do you still want to take my position?"

Zhou Ye tried to pry Tian Xinwei apart with both hands and feet, but he was too weak and could only beg for mercy.

"I'm not pushing anymore, I'm not pushing anymore, please let go."

"Humph!"

Tian Xinwei released her hands and said disdainfully, "How come you've forgotten the pain once the wound has healed? We were just talking about this a few days ago, and now you're bringing it up again to suffer."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ye rubbed his neck and looked at Tian Xinwei with ill intent.

"Then I'd like to ask you a question too."

"Hmm, how is it?"

"You already know about the boss's situation, so why don't you distance yourself from him instead of throwing yourself at him?"

"I like him, and that's the reason!"

Tian Xinwei said matter-of-factly, "If it weren't for liking him, SB would not have continued this relationship."

Zhou Ye raised his eyebrows twice, smiled slightly, and said nothing more.

(End of this chapter)