HuaYu: Starting with Photography to Navigate the Entertainment Industry

Hearing footsteps getting closer behind her, the girl subconsciously turned her head to look.

Xu Lang then recognized the person as Shu Chang.

17-year-old Shu Chang is slender and 163 cm tall, and looks to weigh just over 80 pounds.

Although she is not tall, she has a low body fat percentage and is slim, which makes her legs appear long.

Her body curves seemed underdeveloped, not particularly prominent.

On the other hand, her facial features are very typical of a "demure and pretty girl," delicate and pleasing to the eye.

Her face is round, her skin is fair and radiant, and her nose is high and straight with a small tip, making it very photogenic. Her chin is pointed but not exaggerated, with smooth and natural contours.

Her most distinctive feature is her eyes; they are round and large, with bright black pupils that exude intelligence.

Her face still retains a lot of natural baby fat, making people want to pinch it.

However, now Shu Chang's almond-shaped eyes are watery, and there are still tear stains on her chubby face.

Upon seeing Xu Lang, she quickly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, stood up, bowed slightly, and said:

"Ms. Xu... Ms. Xu, what brings you here?"

As Xu Lang looked at the aggrieved Shu Chang, he was also recalling Shu Chang's experiences in her previous life.

Shu Chang debuted as a child star, starting to act at the age of 4.

In 2006, after the release of "Lotus Lantern", 18-year-old Shu Chang's popularity reached its peak.

Their popularity is no less than that of Liu Yifei.

But the downside is that Shu Chang doesn't have a management company. Like Liu Yifei, her single mother is the one who manages everything for her.

Without a company, there's no systematic packaging and promotion.

This resulted in Shu Chang having high popularity among the public, but her career not developing well.

Especially after the "Three Drops of Blood" incident, Shu Chang was effectively blacklisted for more than ten years.

In the end, she had no choice but to start live-streaming sales and acting in short dramas.

(This isn't meant to discriminate against live-streaming e-commerce and short dramas; they can be quite lucrative. However, in the beginning, actresses in the film and television industry looked down on live-streaming e-commerce and short dramas.)

"That's a bit of a shame!"

Xu Lang sighed inwardly, thinking that, in retrospect, Shu Chang was the female star who was truly chosen by the people themselves.

Without any support or hype, his fame came entirely from his own popularity.

But the thought that Shu Chang didn't have a management company gave Xu Lang a sudden thought.

"Why not just take her in?"

With proper training, they have a very promising future!

Xu Lang thought to himself, then reached out and wiped away Shu Chang's tears, whispering:

"What's wrong? Why are you crying? What's wrong?"

"No...no!"

Shu Chang shook her head.

"Are you alright? That's good. I was just thinking that if you need anything, you could tell me, and maybe I could help you out."

"Since everything's alright, I'll be going then!"

With that, Xu Lang turned to leave.

Watching Xu Lang's retreating figure, Shu Chang hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she still spoke up:

"Teacher Xu, are you really willing to help me?"

Xu Lang turned around, smiling as he opened the box and began to sing.

"You need to tell me what it is first!"

Shu Chang stared at Xu Lang, pondered for a moment, then made up her mind and asked:

"Teacher Xu, are you planning to replace me?"

"Oh?"

Hearing her say this, Xu Lang was taken aback, and thought to himself:

"Could it be that she overheard your conversation with Li Gongda?"

But even if he were to hear about it, Xu Lang couldn't admit it.

"That's not true. Who told you that?"

"I..."

Shu Chang hesitated for a moment. Just now, when she went to Li Gongda's office and was about to go in, she heard Xu Lang and Li Gongda talking inside.

Upon hearing that she was going to be replaced, and thinking about Liu Tao, Tang Yan, Yang Ying, and Pu Shiyan, Shu Chang's confidence was immediately shaken.

Compared to ordinary people, she is now extremely beautiful.

But compared to the other four, it really can't compare!

Having been in the entertainment industry since childhood, she has seen a lot of things happening in it.

She was used to the idea of ​​changing female leads.

Even so, she felt very wronged, so she found a secluded place and cried by herself.

After all, she doesn't even have an agent, so she has to shoulder this responsibility herself.

And she was just a 17-year-old child.

"I just overheard what you and Producer Lee were saying."

After hesitating for a moment, Shu Chang finally spoke up.

But then, she looked at Xu Lang with pleading eyes.

"Teacher Xu, please talk to Producer Li. I'm sure I can play Xiaoyu well and won't be outshone by others."

Upon hearing this, Xu Lang lost all restraint.

"Shu Chang, you've acted in quite a few dramas, so you should know that becoming a lead actor in the entertainment industry isn't something you can just do well on your own. Your management company has to manage the relationships involved."

At this point, Xu Lang asked curiously:

"Why didn't you join a talent agency?"

"Well..."

Shu Chang paused, then hesitated before saying:

"My mom... my mom said that talent agencies are a rip-off, you can't make any money, and you're likely to be subjected to unspoken rules. If you offend someone, you might even be blacklisted."

"ha!"

Now Xu Lang understood why Shu Chang had struggled to maintain her stardom after becoming famous.

Take the "Three Drops of Blood" incident as an example. It should be in 2006, when Shu Chang, who had become very popular, was invited to play the lead role in "Three Drops of Blood".

This film, *Three Drops of Blood*, was invested in by a coal mine owner from Shanxi. The reason he specifically chose Shu Chang for the female lead was for one purpose:

I've got my eye on her!

This kind of thing is very common in the entertainment industry.

For example, the popular actress Che Xiao was in the same situation and was married to a coal mine owner.

However, Shu Chang's personality is also unconventional. During the filming process, when a coal mine owner tried to sexually harass her, she didn't communicate at all and ran away in fear.

I'm not acting anymore!

He even went to other film crews to act in other plays.

Subsequently, the production team of "Three Drops of Blood" sued Shu Chang for maliciously delaying the filming of the TV series.

As a result, Shu Chang lost the lawsuit.

In this way, Shuchang becomes like mud falling into his pants—even if it's not poop, it's still poop.

Alone, she had no chance against the coal mine owner's film crew, and the allegations of her deliberately interfering in other projects and delaying filming were confirmed.

This kind of thing is extremely egregious in the entire film and television industry.

From then on, Shu Chang's career in the entertainment industry was doomed.

This wouldn't be a big deal if it happened to other celebrities.

"Ugh!"

Xu Lang was helpless in this situation.

However, Shu Chang, who doesn't accept the unspoken rules of capital and fights so fiercely, is quite an outlier.

It's understandable that she couldn't make it in the entertainment industry.

But since Xu Lang had already decided to take her in, he didn't want to see this happen.

After thinking for a moment, he said directly:

"Since you heard it, I won't hide it from you. We were afraid you wouldn't be able to hold your own and would be overshadowed by the other actresses."

But this is not unsolvable; in fact, it's quite simple to solve.

However, it depends on whether you're willing or not.

"Um?"

Xu Lang's words startled Shu Chang. Like a frightened fawn, she clutched her chest with both hands and instinctively took two steps back.

"Teacher Xu, what...what do you mean?!"