HuaYu: Starting with Photography to Navigate the Entertainment Industry

You know Super Girl, right?

Zhou Man's voice carried a questioning tone.

"Of course, I know about such a popular show."

"That's good!"

Zhou Man's voice carried a hint of pride, "I heard from President Chen that your photography skills are excellent. One of our singers is interested in having you take some promotional photos for them."

I'll give you an email address. Send me your previous work, and we'll review it. If it's acceptable, we'll contact you to come to Chengdu for a test shoot.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Do we still have to wait for your approval? Do we still need to go to Chengdu for test shooting?

Upon hearing this, Xu Lang felt annoyed.

"No time, I'm in military training!"

After saying that, Xu Lang hung up the phone.

You're the ones who came to me, not the other way around. Get that straight!

It's not that Xu Lang is arrogant, but that he hates this kind of model.

Simply put, this kind of pitching is a way for talent agencies to bully smaller photographers by taking advantage of their position as the client.

The manuscript is reviewed, test-shot in another location, and then it's rejected 80% of the time.

Often it's not that the photographer took bad photos, but rather that the agency plagiarized your ideas and concepts during test shoots.

Aspiring photographers not only get nothing out of the shoot, but they also have to invest time, energy, and travel expenses.

In his previous life, Xu Lang had suffered this kind of loss many times.

"I've already been reborn, for me to still do something so lowly is simply a disgrace to the army of reborn people!"

Xu Lang didn't even ask who he was filming. To be honest, none of the 2004 Super Girl contestants, whether it was the champion An Youqi, the runner-up Wang Ti, or the third-place winner Zhang Hanyun, really caught his eye.

It's not about whether they're famous or not, but Xu Lang—he's indifferent!

While he was on the phone, a crowd had already gathered in front of the bulletin board, mostly older boys, pointing and commenting on the photos.

"The girls from the class of 04, their manners are impressive!"

"This girl named Li Jingyang is nice; she looks like she's of mixed race."

"If you ask me, Re Yizha is still the best looking. No wonder she is a contracted model of Rayli magazine."

Criticizing freshmen is a common hobby among upperclassmen, and it's the same in universities across the country.

As for thoughts?

It's very simple. Take advantage of the fact that these young girls have just arrived, and strike first if you can. Seizing the initiative is the most important thing.

However, the direction of the discussion soon changed.

"Have you noticed how high the quality of these photos is?"

"Yes, I'm a photography major. A photographer's grasp of light and shadow is clearly not that of a novice."

"Even veterans might not be able to compare. I've seen many photography exhibitions, and to be honest, their level is not as good as this."

As they discussed this, system notifications kept ringing in Xu Lang's mind:

[Congratulations, host, on receiving the "Pleasing to the Eye" rating.]

[Congratulations, host, for achieving an "Empathy Touch Level" rating.]

[Congratulations, host, on receiving the "Pleasing to the Eye" rating.]

Xu Lang glanced at the system panel; less than half an hour had passed.

[Visually Appealing Rating: 121/1000]

[Empathy Level Rating: 89/1000]

"Not bad, it's growing pretty fast!"

Xu Lang was very satisfied. After all, a school like Beijing Film Academy doesn't have many students, and it was quite good to achieve this result in just half an hour.

After having lunch, Xu Lang went back to his dormitory for a nap, then carried his camera to the playground to continue taking pictures.

With the groundwork laid in the morning, Xu Lang was able to relax this time.

Whether it's your chest or your butt, if Xu Lang finds it pleasing to the eye, he'll just pat you on the back.

However, he wasn't stupid; he left before the military training ended.

By evening, Mao Jian and his two companions were exhausted, panting heavily as they returned home.

"Holy crap, this is exhausting!"

"No, give me water, buddy, I'm going to get heatstroke."

"I sweated more in one day than I did in six months."

Seeing Xu Lang lying in bed with the air conditioning on, the three of them once again experienced what it means to feel no harm without comparison.

"Hey third brother, for the sake of our mental health, can you please not lie so comfortably?"

"He's just deliberately trying to disgust us."

"Third brother, I really feel wronged."

Xu Lang completely resolved the three people's complaints with just one action.

He raised his camera and said, "Here you go, a treat!"

In an instant, the complaints from the three men turned into flattery.

"Lang, you're like my own brother!"

The three of them huddled around the camera, drooling and staring at it with red eyes.

"Holy crap, Lang, you have great taste!"

"Wow, look at this! I love it!"

"This is good, this is really good."

After class, more people went online, and the "Women Are Just as Good as Men" column on the school's BBS was constantly being updated with new posts.

Before it even got dark, the post had already accumulated over 200 replies.

At the same time, the system notifications in Xu Lang's mind were also refreshing rapidly, and the "pleasing to the eye" rating quickly broke through 500.

Xu Lang knew that the main limiting factor was that there were too few people at the Beijing Film Academy.

"It seems we still need to find a way to expand the platform."

While Xu Lang was lost in thought, Re Yizha was struggling with a dilemma in a room at the school's guesthouse.

Having already gained some fame, she did not live in a four-person dormitory.

The first thing she did upon returning was to check the photos sent to her by the photographer from Rayli magazine in her email.

Each one is elaborately dressed and exquisitely made, clearly a high-quality production.

But after looking at it for a while, Reyizha still wasn't satisfied.

This is yet another victim who suffers no harm without comparison.

She couldn't help but recall the photo of Xu Lang she had seen that morning.

Although it was the ugliest training uniform, and although he was covered in sweat, the feeling the photo gave was just hopeless.

It should touch your heart when you see it, rather than these seemingly beautiful but actually meaningless "sweet soup" videos.

She was feeling down when the magazine editor called to urge her to submit her manuscript.

"You need to order this hot item quickly, it'll be published in a few days."

"I see!"

Reyza hung up the phone, feeling even more upset.

Appearing on the cover of Rayli magazine was an opportunity that Cui's mother helped a lot to secure.

Especially what Cui's mother had told her before:

"This is your first public appearance, it's crucial. It's no exaggeration to say it will determine your future style and direction. Besides, all the major production teams are keeping an eye on each cover shoot. If you do well, you'll have a chance to audition, so you absolutely must take it seriously!"

Thinking back on all this, Xu Lang's hateful smile reappeared in Re Yizha's mind. Did he really have to apologize to him?

Zhou Man, who lives far away in Chengdu, shares the same dilemma.

Ever since Xu Lang hung up on her at noon, she had been holding her breath all afternoon.

"Damn, a freshman photographer dared to hang up on me? Has the world gone mad?"

No, I'm going to teach this kid a lesson for offending me.

After finishing my work, I was just about to send a message in the group chat of all the agents to ask everyone to boycott Xu Lang.

Just then, the phone rang. It was Li Xiaolin, the general manager of Tianzhong Culture.

"Zhou Man, how did your talks with Xu Lang go?"

"Mr. Li, that kid is too arrogant; he hung up on me right away."

"Huh? What's going on?"

Zhou Man embellished her phone conversation with Xu Lang.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a roar came from the other end of the phone:

"Zhou Man, didn't I tell you? She was recommended by President Chen. You're going to hold a bidding process and travel all the way to Chengdu according to the standards of a junior photographer. Have you lost your mind?"

"what?"

Zhou Man had worked at Tianzhong Culture for two years, and this was the first time she had heard Li Xiaolin so angry. She was a little worried, "It's over, looks like we've kicked a hornet's nest."

Sure enough, Li Xiaolin's voice rang out next:

"I've seen the photos Xu Lang took with President Chen. They're much better than the ones you found. You'd better get things settled with him right now, or you can get out of here."