The Common Man's Return in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 88 Differential Treatment at the Launch Event

After a week of training together, the two were almost on the verge of becoming friends, but a newspaper article a couple of days ago shattered that friendship.

News and photos of Ji Qingxu visiting the set of "The Legend of Bao Qingtian" with coffee and bread for Fan Xiaopang appeared in the newspaper.

Besides these, the newspapers also hyped up the news that Fan Xiaopang and Golden Horse Award-winning actress Li Milu were "competing" for Ji Qingxu at the same time, and the crew knew about this.

From then on, Gao Yuanyuan's attitude changed, and she became very polite, maintaining an appropriate distance from Ji Qingxu at all times except during training.

Glancing at the group of reporters outside, Ji Qingxu couldn't help but chuckle at the information Zhang Zhong had gathered earlier that many reporters had come specifically for him. Indeed, gossip was the most popular news in the entertainment industry.

Not hearing any noise behind her, Gao Yuanyuan thought bitterly to herself with a blank expression, "What a pretentious act! She's so 'unromantic' during training, but I never expected her to be such a womanizer."

First, he went drinking and checked into a hotel with Li Milu, then immediately went to visit Fan Xiaopang on set. Ha, he's never free for a moment. I really misjudged him. I thought he was a sunny, cheerful, and innocent young man. Sure enough, all men are the same. Humph!

"Let's go outside."

At Wang Sanri's signal, all the main members of the production team walked outside.

Ji Qingxu glanced at the positions of the people in front of him and found it very interesting. Director Deng Yancheng was actually behind Wang Sanri and Cheng Xiaodong. Seeing that Deng Yancheng did not show any abnormality, Ji Qingxu guessed that the Hong Kong circle had become accustomed to this style of having the producer as the highest authority and ranking people according to seniority.

Good morning, fellow journalists. Welcome to the press conference for the launch of "The World's Number One".

After a formal introduction, the press conference moved into the Q&A session with reporters.

"Director Wang, I heard that Li Yapeng was the previous male lead, so why was Ji Qingxu chosen instead for today's filming start?"

Fatty Wang chuckled and said, "My friend, first of all, let me correct you on one mistake. This is 'The World's Number One'..."

I'm just the producer; the director is Deng Yancheng. Don't get it wrong.

After a pause, Wang Sanri continued, "Because Li Yapeng broke his leg during training and needs to rest for several months, the crew has already completed preparations and is about to start filming. With such high daily expenses, I can't wait several months before starting filming."

At this point, Wang Sanri looked at Ji Qingxu and gestured, "You all should know Ji Qingxu, right? He's Wu Bin's last disciple, and the junior brother of Li Lianjie and Zhen Zidan. He's handsome and has great kung fu. Do you think this choice is wrong?"

Upon hearing Wang Sanri's introduction, Ji Qingxu glanced at him lightly. He was not Li Lianjie's or Zhen Zidan's junior brother. Zhen Zidan had only studied in the martial arts team for a short period of time and had not formally become a disciple. Of course, Zhen Zidan's relationship with the martial arts team was a little better than Li Lianjie's.

As for Li Lianjie, ever since he tried every means to leave the martial arts team in order to become a big star and make a lot of money in Hong Kong, he has basically had nothing to do with the Beijing martial arts team. Of course, outsiders don't know this, but Li Lianjie has never returned to the Beijing martial arts team since he went to Hong Kong, and Wu Bin has never mentioned his name outside. The internal relationship is obvious. These are all secrets that Zhan Wen secretly told Ji Qingxu.

However, on the surface, there was nothing sordid about them. Ji Qingxu also followed this principle, never taking the initiative to mention Li Lianjie or Zhen Zidan in public. He would just smile at other people's comments, neither refuting nor admitting them, nor using the topic to create hype, thus maintaining a superficial dignity.

"But Mr. Ji Qingxu is completely unknown. Does Director Wang think highly of him by hiring him?"

Upon hearing the question from the reporter with a slight Cantonese accent, Ji Qingxu glanced at him and then looked at Wang Sanri.

Wang Sanri exclaimed in surprise, "No fame? Are you kidding me? You didn't know Ji Qingxu was on the Spring Festival Gala? That's a show watched by over a billion people. You haven't seen 'Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties'? Isn't the cold-faced, cold-spear-wielding Luo Cheng sharp? And there's the currently airing 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' where Mr. Liang Yusheng praised Ji Qingxu's portrayal of Zhang Danfeng as a perfect recreation of the character. If he's not famous even with all that, then I can't help you."

Listening to Wang Sanri's "praise," Ji Qingxu carefully examined the reporter who had just asked the question and Wang Sanri. Were these two putting on a show? Ji Qingxu didn't remember saving Wang Pangzi's life, so why was he being so nice to her?

"Mr. Ji Qingxu, do you think you could perform the role better than Mr. Li Yapeng if you replaced him?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Qingxu glanced at Wang Sanri, smiled, and raised the microphone. "Mr. Li Yapeng is my senior. I don't have as much experience as him in acting, but I believe I am no worse than him in martial arts."

Damn, this guy is really cunning. Everyone knows you're Wu Bin's disciple. How many people in the industry dare to say they're better at action scenes than you?

"Mr. Ji Qingxu, could you tell me about your relationship with actresses Li Milu and Fan Xiaopang?"

"Um, today is the press conference for the start of filming of 'The World's Number One'. Please pay attention to our TV series. We can talk about topics unrelated to the TV series next time."

"Mr. Ji Qingxu, Fan Xiaopang said she's your girlfriend. Is that true?"

Upon hearing this question, everyone on stage and the reporters below turned their attention to Ji Qingxu. Seeing the expressions of those watching the drama unfold, Ji Qingxu smiled and said, "My friend from the reporter, don't talk nonsense. You can't just smear a girl's reputation like that. Be careful, or she might sue you for defamation."

"Then how do you explain your visit to the set, where you treated the entire crew to coffee and bread?"

Ji Qingxu said with a smile, "Last year, I worked with Sister Bing on a TV series called 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' which is currently airing on TV. We've become very good friends. Is it alright if I go visit my friend on set?"

"So, you went to bars and hotels with Li Milu together also to take care of a friend?"

"Hmm, this reporter is really sharp; he hit the nail on the head right away."

"9

Seeing Ji Qingxu's serious expression, everyone on and off the stage burst into laughter.

Standing next to Ji Qingxu, Gao Yuanyuan gave him a strange look. This guy was really spouting nonsense and had a thick skin. He could lie in front of everyone without batting an eye. Humph, he really was a womanizer. Judging from his practiced manner, he must have fooled countless women.

"Alright, alright, everyone, stop asking questions of Ji Qingxu alone. We have so many other excellent actors in our crew. Come on, let's ask Liu Songren, Guo Jingan, Ye Xuan..."

'

With Wang Sanri's witty banter, the reporters quickly shifted their attention to the other actors in the crew. In the subsequent interviews, the reporters mainly focused on the Hong Kong and Taiwan actors, while Gao Yuanyuan, Deng Chao, Li Jianyi, and others from the mainland were only asked a few simple questions before the interview ended.

Ji Qingxu glanced at Gao Yuanyuan beside him, and then at the Hong Kong and Taiwan actors who were answering questions from reporters. He realized that the difference in treatment between mainland and Hong Kong and Taiwan actors was really big. In addition to their living conditions, they also had the same media resources.

The Hong Kong and Taiwanese actors were being bombarded with questions from reporters one after another, while the mainland actors were receiving little attention, even Gao Yuanyuan, who gained considerable fame for her role in "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber."

Ji Qingxu glanced casually at Fatty Wang, who was standing to the side grinning, and a strange light flashed in his eyes. After this TV series was finished, Fatty Wang was going to start filming "The Little Fish and the Flower Without Flaws" in June. If there were no unexpected events, that incident might still happen. The first "showdown" between the Hong Kong and Taiwan entertainment circles and the mainland entertainment circle was not far away.

Two hours later, the launch event officially ended.

The actors quickly went into the makeup room to touch up their makeup in preparation for filming. They had all appeared in front of the media in their costumes from the play at the opening ceremony, so a simple touch-up was all they needed now.

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