Chapter 8

Face Slapping the Film Emperor and Empress (Entertainment Circle)

There was a loud crash from Han Zikui’s side. Zhou Xu smiled and hung up the phone. Yes, he had strength. Why should he stand being accused of holding thighs? He and Han Zikui were always on the same level, and they each shined on their own. Why should his success be connected to someone else?

With a smile on his face, Zhou Xu found that he really was liking Han Zikui more and more.

On the second day of the Jinmei Award Ceremony, the major media were all about the film emperor and empress walking on the red carpet. However, each newspaper gave Zhou Xu a lot of pages, because he was so cute that all the people in the industry liked him very much. Huaxia Entertainment also put a lot of effort in promoting him.

At the same time, Zhou Xu’s Weibo fans increased like crazy and his reputation as “dishonest mouth, honest actions” was widely accepted, and Zhou Xu was even called Meng Shen.

Zhou Xu also predicted that one more point would arise, which would be from the award ceremony when Han Zikui whispered into his ear, causing him to blush and hide his face. And sure enough, when the shot was released, a hot topic on Weibo was: Can you guess what Han Dao said to make Meng Shen shy?

There were a lot of guesses on this topic.

Zhang Hanshu was almost forgotten by all the media. Occasionally, a few of them remembered, but that was only because he and Zhou Xu both won the Best Newcomer Award.

Looking at the reports about Zhou Xu, Zhang Hanshu’s eyes became dark. He did not understand why he lost to Zhou Xu every time. He obviously worked harder than Zhou Xu, and he had been more popular than him in the beginning.

“What’s wrong Zhang Hanshu?” Sun Yue was in a good mood after being named film empress again.

Zhang Hanshu turned around and held Sun Yue, whispering, “Am I really not as good as Zhou Xu?”

When Sun Yue heard that Zhang Hanshu felt uncomfortable, she also felt uncomfortable. So she thought about it and said, “Isn’t w.a.n.g Junwei particularly disgusted with Zhou Xu? We can make use of that.”

Zhang Hanshu loosened his arms and looked at Sun Yue with a little doubt. Sun Yue gave a light laugh and kissed Zhang Hanshu. She said, “w.a.n.g Junwei is a fool. All it will take is just a little provocation. All artists have black spots, which are difficult to erase.”

Seeing that Zhou Xu’s fans were almost the same amount as Zhang Hanshu’s fans, any news about Zhou Xu were quickly spread. That’s why heavy material about Zhou Xu suddenly surfaced on the Internet, declaring that Zhou Xu deceived his fans. He acted egotistical, gambled, drank excessively, was violent, visited prost.i.tutes, etc., practically everything. A pot of dark ink was poured onto Zhou Xu.

When Zhou Xu saw these stories, he was very calm. In the entertainment circle, there were many people with stains to their name, and they were still popular. Zhou Xu just calmly looked for the username of the informant, checked the id, and found out the true ident.i.ty of the informant. He then hacked his computer, copied his files, and even saved chat records.

These things were a piece of cake for someone like Zhou Xu, who had experienced a hundred worlds.

On the day when news about Zhou Xu broke, both Huaxia Entertainment and Zhou Guo were ready to help Zhou Xu, but they were stopped by Zhou Xu because he could take of the situation himself.

In his office, Han Zikui asked Zhou Xu what he needed to do to help Zhou Xu. Zhou Xu replied, “Tomorrow, at around 10 PM, call a policeman for me to file a report on someone, on w.a.n.g Junwei, because he himself gambles and has drugs in his possession. At the same time, help me find a lawyer to sue w.a.n.g Junwei for defamation and slander.”

“w.a.n.g Junwei?”

“That’s right.”

“Ok.”

In fact, w.a.n.g Junwei was present in his previous life. At that time, Zhang Hanshu sent w.a.n.g Junwei to Zhou Xu to lured Zhou Xu into taking drugs. The original owner eventually died because of drug addiction. The original Zhou Xu died so early, and it can be said that w.a.n.g Junwei contributed a lot to his death.

In this life, this man actually appeared and still aimed to harm Zhou Xu. With a sneer, Zhou Xu whispered, “Then you will die, and be d.a.m.ned without anyone caring.”

The next day, the police received a report and arrested five people on the spot. w.a.n.g Junwei was arrested for drug trafficking, along with his family. Although his family was small, the amount of drugs they possessed was a lot. Because of this, w.a.n.g Junwei was sentenced to prison for eight to ten years.

w.a.n.g Junwei’s arrest was quickly spread on the Internet, and then his libel of other artists was exposed. He slandered compet.i.tors, did a lot of personal attacks, and even hired navies to abuse actors he did not like, etc., all of which made w.a.n.g Junwei gain extreme notoriety and shattered his reputation.

Zhou Xu remained silent from beginning to end. Afterwards, he was discovered to be one of the artists slandered by w.a.n.g Junwei, and so criticism of w.a.n.g Junwei on the internet grew. At the same time, Zhou Xu’s loyal fans grew more and more.

It can be said that Zhou Xu actually benefited from this matter, but Han Zikui found a new clue, which was that w.a.n.g Junwei did not know Zhou Xu. So where did all these so-called explosive materials come from?

Then he found out that w.a.n.g Junwei had met with Zhang Hanshu and even received a sum of money from Zhang Hanshu, but Han Zikui had no evidence that Zhang Hanshu instigated it. After all, w.a.n.g Junwei probably didn’t know he was being used.

One month after w.a.n.g Junwei’s arrest, the police received two pieces of evidence on the same day. Apparently, w.a.n.g Junwei once fatally hit an old man with his car and then fled. The police never found the murderer. But now, two pieces of evidence arose, and so punishments for the crime were given. It was estimated that it was impossible for w.a.n.g Junwei to ever be free in this life.

One of the pieces of was sent to the police anonymously by Zhou Xu and the other was sent by Han Zikui. It was indeed a coincidence that they did not encounter each other when they were looking for evidence.

With a sneer, Zhou Xu knew that w.a.n.g Junwei’s life had been destroyed, but Zhou Xu’s own life was still going on, and he would continue to shine.

Zhou Xu couldn’t directly move Zhang Hanshu. After all, Zhang Hanshu was the protagonist of this world. If Zhou Xu killed him, the world would certainly collapse. But for other people, Zhou Xu wouldn’t show mercy.

In May, Han Zikui invited Zhou Xu to partic.i.p.ate in the new film “Soul of War”. Zhou Xu read the script and agreed.

In the last life, Zhang Hanshu had also partic.i.p.ated in “Soul of War”, and at that time, Zhou Xu had completely broken up with his family. The previous Zhou Xu acted in a TV show that didn’t particularly stand out.

Zhou Xu knew that although “Soul of War” did not win Zhang Hanshu an award, it allowed him be recognized in the circle. Because of that, he later played “Informer Chen Long”, which made him reach the top as film emperor. Zhou Xu laughed, as this time, it was he who became part of the “Soul of War” cast.

What about Zhang Hanshu?

Zhou Xu didn’t need to check, because he already knew. Zhang Hanshu was cast in “Flowers of Sophora after Wind and Rain”. It was a youthful movie which had been very popular in the previous life. Several of the male and female protagonists were on a variety of entertainment programs. But since it was a youth drama, the market was relatively small, and so the box office was only half of “Soul of War”.

Before filming began, Zhou Xu and Han Zikui went out to dinner. In a private room, Han Zikui teasingly said, “Last time, you got the best supporting actor and then I became your lover. This time, if you become the Film Emperor, how about you let me come to you?”

The red wine looked very shiny in the light. Zhou Xu swirled the liquid gently, leaving a dark red silhouette on the wall of the gla.s.s. Looking through the gla.s.s at the man with a high nose and thin lips, Zhou Xu answered, “Why don’t I come to you?”

“Because you haven’t missed me so far. That means you are the one below, right?”

“Hehe, yes.”

“What about the answer?”

“Fine.”

“Soul of War” started shooting on a stormy day. Han Zikui laughed that the film may bring a storm to the film industry, but Zhou Xu knew that Han Zikui was absolutely not joking.

Han Zikui had his own staff and production team, so this time Zhou Xu was attended to by the crew almost everyday. Sometimes he was too lazy to pretend, so he snuck into Han Zikui’s car to rest, because n.o.body dared to approach anything of Han Zikui, including Han Zikui.

Zhou Xu, who had been filming for two consecutive days, was really tired. He was too lazy to buy things for the crew. He got into Han Zikui’s car and fell asleep.

When Han Zikui saw this, he covered his mouth and smiled. He said to Yuan Wu, Zhou Xu’s agent, “Zhou Xu asked you to buy some supper for everyone because he has do another shoot. Everyone may be tired. You can rest after the purchase. He won’t shoot until tomorrow afternoon.”

Yuan Wu now only had Zhou Xu as his charge, and Zhou Xu had no a.s.sistant. Naturally, he was always there, and the company instructed him to prevent Zhou Xu from coming in contact with anything “messy”. He was actually much more relaxed, so to speak, than before.

But Yuan Wu didn’t know why it was easier, or why his salary was raised. He thought it was because the company was paying attention, so he was more diligent.

The staff ate cod burgers, drank refreshing coffee, all of which warmed their hearts. They finished eating and drinking then went to shoot a new scene.

When that scene was finished, it was already six o’clock in the morning. Han Zikui was tired and got into the car. Han Zikui saw Zhou Xu curled up and sleeping inside. His heart was at peace. He also got into the car, put Zhou Xu in his arms, and fell asleep.

A few months later, in the last scene, Zhou Xu, who lost a lot of weight, just like the character who was very skinny in the film, stood in the storm and wiped out the last enemy. Zhou Xu was tired and fell onto the pool of blood.

His face was withered and his eyes were deep. Everything around him was blurring. Only an old photograph slipped from his grip. A group of teenagers in military uniforms smiled energetically.

Now, all the teenagers in this picture were dead…

The theme of the war was always cruelty. When Zhou Xu closed his eyes, tears crossed his cheeks, and all the dust settled.

His thin figure standing in a mountain of swords and a sea of flames, so n.o.ble, so great…

“Very well, I declare that Soul of War has been killed.” Han Zikui’s voice came. Zhou Xu sat up straight. He had cramped a little in order to do the shape he had just made. He hadn’t even settled yet before the strong body of the a.s.sistant director jumped on him. Following the a.s.sistant director’s lead, the staff behind lights, makeup and photography came up one by one.

Zhou Xu was hugged so hard that he could not breathe. He was lifted into the air, and thrown up and down. Zhou Xu was so dizzy that after being put down, he opened his mouth and vomited all over the a.s.sistant director.

Zhou Xu glanced at the a.s.sistant director and then said with disgust, “Hey, go wash, dirty, go die.”

Others stepped back and away from the a.s.sistant director. Zhou Xu walked into Han Zikui’s car. The a.s.sistant director finally responded, “What the f.u.c.k, it’s obviously you vomited, but you still think I’m dirty. Zhou Xiaoxu, come here. If you don’t come out, I’ll go in!”

Han Zikui said in a cold voice, “You dare!”

The a.s.sistant director was terrified and immediately said, “No, no, haha, I’m going to go pack up my things, Han Dao, goodbye.”

The next day, the banquet of the “Soul of War” group happened to collide with the banquet of the “Flowers of Sophora after the Wind and Rain” group. Although the two sides were embarra.s.sed, they were very friendly. It was possible to include this as interesting tidbits when the films were playing. Zhou Xu met Zhang Hanshu again. Zhang Hanshu extended his hand and smiled and said, “Long time no see.”

Chapter Seven Part Two ~ Chapter Nine