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

I looked it up; the actor's name is Chen Xingzhou, from the Beijing Film Academy. I'd never heard of him before.

[With his looks, and being a newcomer, it's truly remarkable that he doesn't take on roles that only require good looks, but instead relies on his acting skills.]

[By the way, I also found out that he recently played Yan Xun in "Princess Agents," I'm really looking forward to it.]

Bai Mengyan leaned closer to look at him, her head nestled between his arms.

She swiped her finger across the screen, scrolling quickly down the comments, and providing real-time updates as she went.

"This person said you made Guo Jing a hit. Hmm, you have good taste."

"This says that your chemistry with Li Yitong is the strongest in recent martial arts dramas, and your aesthetic sense is pretty good."

"However, it's just that the chemistry between the main characters in martial arts dramas is the strongest. Once 'A Love So Beautiful' airs, it will be the drama with the strongest chemistry between the main characters."

"This... oh, this is an insult directed at you, saying you're too stupid. I've reported it for you."

As she finished speaking, she tapped the report button, selecting "personal attack" as the reason, then closed the page and continued scrolling down.

Chen Xingzhou couldn't help but chuckle as he watched her execute the task flawlessly.

Bai Mengyan looked up at him, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What are you laughing at?"

"How many reports have you submitted?"

"About a dozen or so."

"From the day the show started, I've been reporting it every night before bed."

She took her phone back, exited Douban, and skillfully switched to Weibo's trending topics list.

The 4th trending topic: #The Condor Heroes rating surpasses 8#.

#7 on the trending topics list: #Guo Jing's action scenes mashup#.

#11 trending topic: #JingRongCP#.

Then she clicked on the action scene mashup.

This video was edited by a Bilibili content creator and paired with a catchy Chinese-style electronic music track.

The scene begins with Guo Jing riding a horse on the grassland, then cuts to him practicing martial arts on Peach Blossom Island, and finally to the martial arts competition at Mount Hua.

Every turn, every strike, every leap was perfectly timed to the beat of the music.

The barrage of comments almost completely covered the screen.

[Warning: High-energy content ahead!]

I watched that turn ten times.

[We recommend watching at 0.5x speed.]

[The pinnacle of action scenes in wuxia dramas.]

Bai Mengyan turned her phone volume up to the maximum and excitedly shook it against his leg.

"See that?! You're trending on the homepage!"

Her lips curled up even higher than when she was reading the Douban comment, and then she replayed the video.

She read aloud every single comment praising Chen Xingzhou.

When she read out "This Guo Jing is so handsome," she shoved her phone in front of him and said, "I posted this comment."

Chen Xingzhou looked down at her helplessly. Bai Mengyan raised an eyebrow and said:

"What's wrong? Can't girlfriends post comments? I didn't say I was your girlfriend."

"I just said 'So handsome,' and there were so many comments, who knew it was me?"

After she finished speaking, she laughed first, then locked her phone and placed it on the bedside table.

Chen Xingzhou pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead: "Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for? It's not like I helped you boost your score."

Bai Mengyan nuzzled against his chest, "You acted well, that's why you got a 7.6, and the score will keep going up."

"When you were an extra, no one praised you. Now you do, and every single one of your performances counts."

Chen Xingzhou smiled, pinned her down, stared into her eyes, and reached for the bedside table.

"Then I should treat my girlfriend to a nice meal."

Bai Mengyan blushed, but her hand grabbed his collar: "Today is safe... we don't need to... make you more comfortable..."

"Are you comfortable?" Chen Xingzhou withdrew his hand and lowered his head to nibble on her earlobe.

"You...! So comfortable..."

Bai Mengyan's eyes were glazed over as she murmured something, her body trembling slightly, and she began to help Chen Xingzhou undress.

……

The following day, Chen Xingzhou and Bai Jingting arrived at the headquarters of iQiyi Video Company early in the morning.

He was originally planning to go to Penguin, but then he remembered that Penguin didn't have a revenue-sharing model at that time.

That would not be in his best interest.

Therefore, he chose iQiyi, which already had a revenue-sharing model.

If his show becomes a hit, Tencent will definitely follow suit immediately, and then he can find several companies to collaborate with on his shows.

In the elevator, Bai Jingting stood next to him.

"Old Zhou, I don't care what you say later. I'll just sit there and drink water. If you need me to nod, kick me."

"How much was your salary again?"

"30 plus that thing." Bai Jingting was speechless.

"Then when they ask you, just say one million."

Bai Jingting raised an eyebrow, then smiled, "You're pretty cunning, aren't you? OK."

In the conference room.

Several bottles of mineral water were placed on the long table, and the projector was on.

The person from Aiqiyilai was surnamed Sun, the general manager, in his early thirties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with shrewd eyes.

A young woman in charge of the assessment sat next to him, with a notebook spread out on the table.

"Director Chen, we've seen the trailers and the first few episodes. It's a youth campus drama, and the production quality is pretty good."

"Tian Zhuangzhuang's appointment as artistic consultant and Bai Jingting's participation in the film are both pluses."

Manager Sun pushed up his glasses. "But for projects by completely new directors, the platform can't give them a very high rating. The maximum I can negotiate is a buyout."

He turned a page of the document and looked at Chen Xingzhou, "Twelve million."

Bai Jingting paused for a moment while drinking water.

Buying out a film for 12 million at a cost of less than 3 million is already the ceiling for a new director.

He turned to look at Chen Xingzhou.

Chen Xingzhou's eyes were calm, and he even naturally picked up a bottle of mineral water and took a sip.

"Mr. Sun, I'm not selling."

Manager Sun frowned.

Chen Xingzhou explained, "Manager Sun, the TV series 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes' in which I starred is currently airing on Dragon TV. You can check the total number of views across the internet."

"After this drama airs, you know better than I how much traffic I, the actor who plays Guo Jing, will generate."

Manager Sun didn't speak, just listened quietly. The evaluator next to him tapped his fingers twice on the keyboard, probably checking data.

Chen Xingzhou paused for a moment, then continued, "Of course, being the male lead in a Jin Yong drama doesn't really help much with a youth idol drama."

"But 'Princess Agents' has already finished filming and will be broadcast in a few months. I play the second male lead, Yan Xun."

"Moreover, this is adapted from a female-oriented novel, and its audience largely overlaps with that of youth idol dramas."

"You should know this better than I do. After it airs, how much viewership do you think it will bring to 'A Love So Beautiful'?"

Manager Sun tapped his fingers on the table, his brow furrowed.

He had thought about these things at first, but he felt that Chen Xingzhou was a newcomer, and even a college student, so what level could he possibly have?

But now it seems that Chen Xingzhou does have some tricks up his sleeve.

They weren't foolish enough to agree to a buyout offer that was several times higher than the asking price; instead, they brought in everyone they could.

The assessment staff member in charge leaned close to his ear and whispered a few words of report.