Huayu 16: I Became the Dream-Fulfilling Master for Young Actresses

Chapter 116 [Xiaotian: How does Sister Yitong know so much?!] [You can call me Dudu]

Upon seeing this message, Tian Xiwei quickly moved her finger to the screen.

Not long ago, because of the cyberbullying incident, she was suddenly added on WeChat by Li Yitong, a person who was both a stranger and very familiar.

They were strangers because they had never met before.

She was familiar with this person because she hated her to the core.

After all, the first woman she ever saw kissing Chen Xingzhou was Li Yitong!

She was absolutely furious at that time.

So she added Li Yitong on WeChat as if she were a rival in love and chatted with her.

But as they talked, she realized that her hostility seemed unnecessary.

This woman is too gentle; it seems she's not here to compete with her for Chen Xingzhou at all, but rather to help her win him over.

Gradually, Tian Xiwei lowered her guard, and in less than a month, she and Li Yitong became best friends.

Putting her memories aside, Tian Xiwei typed a reply: 【Okay, Sister Yitong, filming starts the day after tomorrow morning. I'm going to Kyoto to see Brother Xingzhou tomorrow.】

Li Yitong: [That's good. By the way, I heard that Chen Duling is the second female lead in this drama?]

Tian Xiwei: [Yes, but I haven't met her yet, Sister Yitong. What's she like? She probably isn't interested in Brother Xingzhou, right? ————]

After sending the message, Tian Xiwei pursed her lips.

She didn't know why, but lately she had become particularly wary of women who got close to Chen Xingzhou.

She was relatively at ease with things at the studio, since there were three women there, and they would naturally start to fight each other.

However, she had no idea about Chen Duling, who had been parachuted in.

Li Yitong: [Don't worry, she won't try to take him from you. But you need to keep a close eye on your Xingzhou brother; don't let him go and harm others.]

Tian Xiwei: [Definitely! [Grinning face]! Keeping an eye on him is my specialty!]

Li Yitong: [That's good. By the way, about that question you asked me before, I'll teach you a trick—you do this—you do that—]

As she watched the tips and tricks popping up on the screen, Tian Xiwei's face turned bright red, and her lips trembled uncontrollably.

But her delicate fingers kept pressing the screenshot button, carefully memorizing these burning techniques.

"These—these—"

After taking the screenshot, Tian Xiwei covered her face, staring wide-eyed at the chat box with Li Yitong, her chubby little feet unconsciously rubbing together a few times.

"W-w-w-! How does Sister Yitong know so much?"

She muttered to herself for a moment, then put the idea out of her mind and began to study the precious manual that Li Yitong had taught her, word by word.

October 10, Jiangcheng.

"Brother Xingzhou, is that Sister Chen Duling?"

Tian Xiwei followed behind Chen Xingzhou, looking towards the film crew.

Chen Xingzhou followed her gaze and saw Chen Duling helping the staff move props.

Chen Xingzhou glanced at it twice, then suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower back.

He twitched his lips, turned to look at Tian Xiwei, and looked helpless.

"Is it pretty?" Tian Xiwei asked, puffing out her cheeks.

"Not as good-looking as you," Chen Xingzhou said without changing his expression.

It's hard to compare the looks of Tian Xiwei and Chen Duling, and they're not even in the same league.

However, Chen Duling's temperament did amaze him. It's just a pity that Chen Duling isn't exceptionally beautiful, which is why she has remained relatively unknown. Otherwise, she could have made a living based on her looks.

What annoyed him was that he should have saved Tian Xiwei for later; he had taken a bite too early and now she was turning on him.

Previously, Tian Xiwei might get jealous, but she wouldn't have interfered this much.

"That's more like it." Tian Xiwei's puffed-up cheeks finally deflated, and a smile returned to her face.

Chen Xingzhou raised his hand and led her over, saying, "Alright, let's go now."

As they approached, Chen Duling noticed the two of them. She quickly put down the props she was holding, wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand, and reached out her hand to Chen Xingzhou.

"Director Chen, hello, I'm Chen Duling, you can call me Dudu."

Hearing Chen Duling's words, Tian Xiwei narrowed her eyes and reached behind Chen Xingzhou.

"Hello, I'll still call you Duling, it'll be more formal on set."

Chen Xingzhou chuckled. He called out like that not because of Tian Xiwei's threat, but for other reasons.

He reached out and shook her hand, feeling the delicate, cool knuckles of her palm, which perfectly matched Chen Duling's temperament.

"Okay, Director Chen." Chen Duling glanced at Tian Xiwei behind him, a knowing look flashing in her eyes.

Then she reached out her hand to greet Tian Xiwei with a gentle smile.

[Ding! Female celebrity Chen Duling detected.]

[My current wish: I hope my acting skills on set will satisfy Director Chen and that I won't let him down.]

Chen Xingzhou looked at the two of them, then at the system panel, and nodded in satisfaction.

He knew a little about Chen Duling.

A student who scored 621 points, a top student at China Southern Airlines, had already started an internship at a research institute, but was exposed and became famous, and was eventually asked to leave the institute.

And her debut film, "Left Ear," was actually chosen by Rao Xueman herself, but it was through other means.

From then on, the resources she received became increasingly incredible, ranging from minor supporting roles to melodramatic web dramas.

However, this is also partly due to Chen Duling's poor acting skills.

Her acting skills were honed through years of hard work, playing countless supporting roles while being confined to Hengdian World Studios.

Chen Duling is very savvy in social interactions and has excellent character. At least Chen Xingzhou hasn't discovered any scandals involving her, making her one of the most well-behaved actresses born in the 90s.

This can also be seen from her wishes.

Moreover, he always felt that Chen Duling was wasting her talents in the entertainment industry, and shouldn't have gotten involved in this mess at all.

He also heard that Chen Duling is an introverted girl with some "loser" traits and likes cosplay, but he doesn't know if it's true.

If it's true, that would be quite interesting.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Chen Xingzhou held a launch ceremony and officially announced the start of filming for "So Cute Us".

The filming location is the same as that of the previous drama because Jiangcheng has preserved a large number of buildings from the 1980s and 1990s to the early 2000s.

Especially the old town area of ​​Wuchang and the surrounding streets of the old Wuda area, with plane trees lining the roads and old-style residential buildings and small shops along the street, is exactly the perfect filming location that Chen Xingzhou imagined.

After the opening ceremony, the media gathered around, but there were only six or seven outlets, including Sina Entertainment, Tencent Entertainment, iQiyi Entertainment, Film and Television DouDou, and one local media outlet.

Sina Entertainment asked Chen Xingzhou about the differences between this drama and his previous two, as well as how it was planned to be broadcast. Finally, they asked a tricky but reasonable question.

"Director Chen, why did you choose Tien Hsi-wei to play the female lead? Is it related to the fact that you and she are childhood sweethearts?"

Chen Xingzhou looked at the media: "Because her temperament best matches Huang Chengzi's. I had already decided who the female lead would be before this project was finalized. This has nothing to do with whether they are childhood sweethearts or not."

Seeing that Chen Xingzhou responded so readily, the reporter was a little disappointed and tentatively asked another question.

"Director Chen, does Bailu know that you chose Tian Xiwei as the female lead?"

Chen Xingzhou nodded calmly, "I know, she wishes Xiaotian a successful filming."

Tian Xiwei's side was surrounded by the most media, because although Chen Xingzhou was a big star with a high status, the media were most interested in gossip about casting.

"Tian Xiwei, this is your first time working with Director Chen, and as the female lead. What was it like?"

Tian Xiwei took the microphone and said firmly, "I will not let Director Chen down."

Before Chen Xingzhou even started filming, the media interviews had ended and filming had even begun, but the internet was already abuzz with excitement.

The hashtag #Tian Xiwei, the female lead in Yi Ye Zhi Zhou's new drama# quickly climbed the Weibo hot search list, jumping from over 40th place to the top ten in less than 20 minutes.

The comments section was almost entirely filled with skepticism and curiosity.

[Tian Xiwei just clarified the bullying rumors, and now she's been directly cast as the female lead in Chen Xingzhou's next drama. Her career advancement is incredibly fast!]

[Does Bai Lu know about this? Chen Xingzhou just praised her, and now he's turning around and praising Tian Xiwei.]

[An artist questioning her boss's decision? If Bai Lu hadn't been promoted by Chen Xingzhou, she'd be just an ordinary celebrity by now. Who Chen Xingzhou promotes—does she even need to know?]

[Exactly. I haven't found any mistakes in Director Chen's casting choices yet, and this time it will definitely be the same. Let's just wait and see.]

Half an hour later, a film and television blogger with over 300,000 followers posted a long analysis on Weibo.

From a business perspective, Chen Xingzhou's choice of Tian Xiwei as the female lead doesn't make sense.

At this point in time, he had just gained popularity by associating himself with Bai Mengyan in "Go Go Squid!", and it was the perfect time to capitalize on this momentum. Logically, his next drama should have continued to use Bai Mengyan to solidify the commercial value of this on-screen couple.

But instead of doing that, he chose a newcomer who had just experienced cyberbullying and had no representative works to play the female lead.

Either he has absolute confidence in the script and thinks anyone who plays the role will be a hit, or he genuinely brought in personal feelings.

The bond of childhood sweethearts is more important than any so-called business logic.

Of course, I watched the show, and it certainly doesn't live up to Bai Lu's current status, but Chen Xingzhou's actions were definitely inappropriate.

This analysis was forwarded tens of thousands of times, and the comment section was filled with heated arguments.

Fans who support Bai Mengyan believe that Chen Xingzhou's choice is unfair to Bai Mengyan. The newly established on-screen couple is being broken up so easily, making the previous promotional cooperation seem like a one-sided exploitation.

Many people are also asking in return:

[Chen Xingzhou is the director, what's wrong with him choosing the most suitable actor? Tian Xiwei hasn't even acted yet, so what makes you think she can't carry the role?]

Tian Xiwei's Weibo comment section was also flooded with a large number of unfamiliar faces.

The few kind comments were mostly from casual viewers and a few netizens who prefer heartwarming youth dramas, offering gentle encouragement:

Having just weathered the storm of bullying and rumors, and finally landed a leading role, I'll focus on acting and let my work speak for itself!

Director Chen has always had a good eye for talent; I believe in your potential and look forward to seeing Huang Chengzi!