Huayu: This top star doesn't play by the rules.

January 29th, the second day of the Lunar New Year, a hotel in Shanghai.

Chen Chao, who was fast asleep, was awakened by the frantic vibrations and incessant ringing of his phone. With his sleepy eyes wide open, he picked up the phone and saw that it was his manager, Ji Ran, so he answered the call.

"Chao! It's a hit! It's a hit!" The call had barely connected when Ji Ran's excited voice rang out, before Chen Chao could even speak, "The opening day box office for 'Duckweed' is in! Eighty-three million!"

Upon hearing Ji Ran's words, Chen Chao, who had been somewhat dazed, suddenly snapped out of his daze. "Eighty-three million? That much?"

According to Chen Chao's memories from his previous life, the movie's opening day box office was around six thousand. Moreover, according to his original estimate, the opening day box office might decrease after replacing Peng Yuyan with himself, but unexpectedly it increased instead.

"Not only that!" Ji Ran's voice was still very excited. "The ratings on Maoyan and Taopiaopiao are both above 9 points, and it opened with a 7.2 on Douban. The word-of-mouth is excellent, and the screening rate has already increased from 18% yesterday to 25%. Industry insiders predict that the final box office will break 15 billion!"

"Great!" Chen Chao clenched his fist and felt his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, suddenly relax.

This achievement not only signifies the great success of "Duckweed," but also means that his big-screen debut as the important second male lead in the film was perfect.

After hanging up Ji Ran's call, Chen Chao's WeChat exploded with messages. Lin Gengxin, Li Yitong, Chen Xingxu, and others sent congratulatory messages, and Meng Ziyi even sent him a red envelope with the note "Congratulations to the great star Chen for the box office success".

After replying to all the messages, Chen Chao had just put down his phone and was about to go wash up when there was a knock on the hotel room door. When he opened the door, he found Deng Chao and Han Han standing there, both with smiles on their faces.

"Chao, let's go! Let's eat! I've got this!" Deng Chao grabbed Chen Chao's shoulder and laughed, "Eighty-three million! We've got this in the bag!"

"Don't get too excited yet, there's still a tough battle ahead." Although he said that, Han Han couldn't hide the smile on his face. "The roadshow schedule has been set. Starting today, we're going to visit eighteen cities across the country and try to push the box office up even further."

"No problem, I'm ready anytime!" Chen Chao, who didn't have any schedule at the moment, nodded with a smile without hesitation.

Over the next two weeks, Chen Chao and the creative team embarked on a non-stop roadshow, with Sister Zhao managing to squeeze in a few appearances during the process.

From Shanghai to Guangzhou, from Shenzhen to Chengdu, I traveled to a different city almost every day, catching the earliest flight and attending the latest post-screening Q&A sessions, only getting three or four hours of sleep each day.

Despite the hectic schedule, Chen Chao thoroughly enjoyed it, maintaining high spirits at every roadshow, earnestly answering every question from the audience, and patiently signing autographs and taking photos with fans.

His dedication has earned him a large number of new fans.

Just as "Duckweed" was enjoying a meteoric rise at the box office, the crew of "Guardian" in Shanghai was facing an unprecedented crisis.

In a hotel conference room in Shanghai, director Zhou Yuanzhou slammed the script he was holding onto the table, his face ashen. "Another one rejected!"

Sitting next to Zhou Yuanzhou, the producer also looked worried. "The original actor had to withdraw due to scheduling conflicts. We've been looking for actors for almost a month now. We've asked all the slightly famous new generation actors, but they either don't have the time or they don't dare to take the role."

"It's really too difficult for one person to play three roles. The three characters have completely different temperaments, and you can't handle them without acting skills." The screenwriter sighed helplessly.

"I really don't believe it. In such a huge entertainment industry, we can't find a suitable actor."

Just then, Zhou Yuanzhou's assistant suddenly ran in with a tablet computer, excitedly saying, "Director Zhou! Take a look at this!"

Reaching out to take the tablet, the screen was playing behind-the-scenes footage released by the "Princess Agents" production team, showing the scene of Yan Xun, played by Chen Chao, turning to the dark side.

In the scene, Chen Chao is wearing a blood-stained prison uniform, his hair is disheveled, and his eyes are filled with overwhelming hatred and anger. The sinister aura that comes from his very bones is chilling to the bone.

Immediately afterwards, the assistant clicked on another video, which was a clip from "Sisters Who Make Waves" where Xu Zhengtai smiled at Xiao Hua on the rooftop. The sunlight shone on his face, and his smile was clean and gentle, completely different from Yan Xun just now.

The two people have completely different temperaments, yet they are both perfectly embodied in the same person.

The more Zhou Yuanzhou looked, the brighter his eyes became. Finally, he slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, "It's him! The Shen Wei I've been looking for is him!"

"This actor is Chen Chao. He's very popular right now. He's the second male lead in the movie 'Duckweed.' He has excellent acting skills and can handle a variety of styles. In addition, he's also a singer-songwriter."

"According to you, Chen Chao is so popular now, wouldn't his studio look down on our kind of web series?" After hearing the assistant's explanation, the producer couldn't help but ask with some concern.

"No matter what, we have to give it a try first!" Standing up, Zhou Yuanzhou paced back and forth in the conference room. "By the way, I remember the female lead of 'Princess Agents' is Zhao Liying, and the female lead of 'Duckweed' is also Zhao Liying, right? They've worked together twice. She should have a good relationship with Chen Chao."

"I previously worked with Zhao Liying on 'The Legend of Chusen,' so I'll try asking her to help me make connections. If I go directly to her studio, the invitation probably won't even reach Chen Chao!"

Meanwhile, at the recording site of Hunan TV in Changsha.

Holding a microphone, He Jiong smiled and looked at Li Yitong sitting in the guest seat, "Yitong, we all know that you have acted in many dramas and worked with many excellent actors."

"So, among all the actors you've worked with, which male actor did you have the best chemistry with and the closest relationship with?"

Without even thinking, Li Yitong blurted out, "Chen Chao!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the scene fell silent for a few seconds before erupting into a commotion.

At this moment, Li Yitong realized what she had just said, her cheeks instantly turning bright red. She quickly waved her hands and explained, "No, no, what I meant was that Chen Chao is a very nice person and takes good care of me. We often rehearsed together on set, so we got along quite well..."

But the more she explained, the more obvious it seemed, and He Jiong's gossip-loving nature ignited. He pressed on, "Oh? Besides Chen Chao, does Yi Tong have any other actors she's close to?"