Chapter 17 - Exaggerate
“How can this be called superst.i.tion? There is a scientific theory about a mysterious magnetic field between people. Once people with the same magnetic field meet, their magnetic field will change dramatically and will affect the people around them. People who hate the person will gradually like him while people who appreciate him will become more appreciative.” Li Zhao solemnly pa.s.sed on the pseudo-science to Yan Ting. “Don’t you think I’ve had good luck since meeting you?”
“Really?” Yan Ting opened the door and descended with long legs. He motioned with his eyes for the bodyguard to not follow him.
“Of course.” Li Zhao yawned. “The new company has arranged a guest role in a move for me. I have to travel for a few days and will bring a souvenir back for you.”
“How long will you be gone?”
“There aren’t many scenes so it should be around a week.” Li Zhao casually looked through the script Cao Jia gave him. “I will leave tomorrow and will invite you to dinner when I come back.”
“Okay.” Yan Ting crossed the garden of the luxury village and pa.s.sed the fountain. There was the sound of water falling in the fountain and the water sparkled, reflecting the fragments of the cold moon. “Pay attention to your safety when you go out.”
The door to the main building opened silently. The housekeeper and maids bowed their heads. They were quiet and perfect like they were ornaments of this luxurious house.
“Welcome…”
Yan Ting slightly raised his hand and the housekeeper fell silent.
“Is there someone else on your side?” Li Zhao seemed to hear another person’s voice through the phone.
“A person helping me with housework.” It was warm inside. Yan Ting stood at the door and didn’t cross it.
He listened to the child ramble on for nearly 20 minutes until the other side said, “Have a good sleep, we’ll chat next time.” Then Li Zhao hung up the phone.
Yan Ting stepped through the door and could hear every step echo. The housekeeper helped him take off his thick coat and retreated silently again. The house finally fell into true silence.
After chatting with Yan Ting, Li Zhao had a good night’s sleep. The next morning, he boarded the plane to another place. It was the first time he was flying first-cla.s.s and his mood was a bit excited. He secretly took out his phone and took a photo.
“Teacher Li.” The a.s.sistant that Strawberry Entertainment arranged was sitting next to him. He saw Li Zhao playing with his phone and asked carefully, “Before going out, the company sent me the crew’s information. Do you need me to introduce it to you?”
He saw Li Zhao stare at him with big eyes and suddenly became more nervous. “I-If it isn’t convenient for you, shall we talk later?”
He had been personally arranged by President Sun’s a.s.sistant, Cao Jia. a.s.sistant Cao had specifically told him that he must take good care of Li Zhao and couldn’t let him be wronged. If something bad happened, let Cao Jia know directly so he could deal with it.
This was the first time the a.s.sistant saw an artist being treated so seriously by the president’s a.s.sistant and couldn’t help feeling nervous. There were thousands of strange artists in the circle who were hard to serve. He was afraid that Li Zhao would be out of the ordinary.
Li Zhao looked at the a.s.sistant who was already feeling nervous.
“Everything else is convenient butk2026;” Li Zhao paused for a moment. “I don’t think being called Teacher Li is very good. Can we change the name?”
“Older Brother Li?”
“I’m younger than you.”
“Zhao, Zhao Zhao?”
“Okay, that’s a good name.” Li Zhao nodded. “Come, Da Ke now we can discuss work matters.”
The a.s.sistant, “…”
He wasn’t Da Ke, he was Ke Da.
“The name Da Ke, it is nice.” A good a.s.sistant should thoughtfully consider the employer. The name was catchy, good to hear and easy to remember.
Sure enough, once he uttered these words, the actor whose background was unknown but who was highly valued by the company’s executives showed a friendly and innocent smile. Seeing the other person’s innocent smile, he couldn’t help worrying. This child looked too simple. This type of personality was easy to suffer losses in the circle. He had to work a lot or how could he keep the company’s high salary?
Once the plane took off, Li Zhao switched his phone to flight mode. He didn’t know that after the broadcast of the problem, it was found that Yao Shasha not only lip-synched during the talent show but also rolled her eyes in the rest area when Li Zhao played the paixiao.
During the guest performances, the camera would occasionally turn to the rest of the guest. It was unknown if the program did it intentionally or if they deliberately wanted to create a hot topic but the scene where Yao Shasha rolled her eyes was left in.
“Did you find that when Zhao Zhao chatted about his friend, Yao Shasha clearly looked down on Zhao Zhao.”
“A woman who failed to hold a thigh is looking down on Zhao Zhao. Who doesn’t want to know a relocated household with two buildings? What green onion is Yao Shasha that she can feel contempt?”
“A person who claimed to know a local tyrant, Yao Shasha has a few connections and is naturally different from our poor Zhao Zhao.”
Originally, the CP fans of the male and female leads saw this and couldn’t accept it. They ran to the random clip from Xiangguo Station and accused them of deliberately provoking a conflict.
Unfortunately, Xiangguo buried their heads in the sand. They had received more than 10,000 comments cursing them from fans of popular artists and had never come out to explain. They wouldn’t do it for fans of a hot online drama.
This matter blew up and the most anxious one was Yao Shasha. Unfortunately, her agent failed to persuade the staff of Xiangguo or to contact Li Zhao’s agent.
“What to do?” Yao Shasha glanced at her agent with panic. The agent was silent. Soon after, he received a message from a friend working at Strawberry Entertainment.
After reading the content of the message, he sighed and looked at Yao Shasha, speaking in a dull manner. “Don’t be in a hurry. Before Overbearing Female President finishes airing, you won’t experience much trouble.”
Even if Li Zhao’s side didn’t want to help Yao Shasha, at least they wouldn’t rub salt into the wounds.
“What about after the broadcast?” Yao Shasha sensed something wrong with the agent’s words.
“Recently, you have been very tired from the publicity work of Overbearing Female President. This time, have a good rest at home.” The agent got up and put away his laptop. “The company will arrange work for you later.”
“How long after?” Yao Shasha shouted. “I have a bit of popularity. How long will you let me wait?”
The agent ignored her clamouring and went to the door. He looked back at the lost Yao Shashao. “During this period, your public account will be taken over by the company. I hope you have a good rest. If something happens, only the liquidated damages can sober you up.”
“Does the company want to hide me?” Yao Shasha didn’t dare believe it. “Why?”
“Shasha, when you first entered the circle, I told you that you shouldn’t show your ugly side, even if you can’t be good with others.” The agent was silent. “For the sake of our work relationship for many years, I would like to ask you, do you regret bullying these small rookies?”
“This circle is about survival of the fittest. There is nothing to regret.”
“in that case, don’t regret it from now on.”
The door opened and closed. The agent wasn’t only closing the door but also Yao Shasha’s future stardom.
Li Zhao joined as a guest actor and received a warm welcome from the entire crew. The director had even arranged a dressing room for him.
During the makeup test, the makeup artist kept boasting about how good Li Zhao looked. He said that if he had previously met such a perfect face, he would be willing to lose money to work on it. Li Zhao’s lips twitched and he didn’t tell the makeup artist that eight months ago, he acted as the eighth male lead in a martial arts drama. This person was the leader of the makeup team but didn’t even look at Li Zhao.
Alas, it wasn’t easy for everyone to eat. There was no shortage of this exaggerated praise.
The makeup was done and a few publicity photos were taken. The director kindly and gently told Li Zhao about the scenes and patiently explained to Li Zhao, “This role is a somewhat narcissistic beauty. I hadn’t been able to find the right actor so I almost deleted this role. Fortunately, you came to save it.”
“Don’t be too nervous when shooting. You are good-looking and will look good when filming. It will be somewhat hard when hanging from the wire but you don’t have to worry about that. We have a body double here.” The director called for the double. “Look at your double. If you aren’t satisfied then we’ll rearrange it for you.”
“No, I’ll do it myself.” Li Zhao was a bit uncomfortable with the director’s consideration. He quickly took the script and read over the lines.
“Zhao Zhao, you don’t have to be so nervous.” The a.s.sistant Da Ke came over and whispered in his ears. “Our company is the main investor is this drama. No matter what needs you have, they don’t dare to refuse.”
Li Zhao, “……”
He somewhat regretted signing with Strawberry Entertainment because he suspected the company had a bad atmosphere. They didn’t advise actors to practice acting and even actively persuaded their own artists to bully people.
No wonder why the makeup artist and crew were so exaggerated in front of him. They originally succ.u.mbed to the power of money.
“It is simple to say a few lines. There aren’t many scenes and it isn’t difficult to shoot.” Li Zhao rejected the a.s.sistant’s suggestion. “How can the effect of a double compare to my own?”
“However, it’s too cold here and your costume is too thin. I’m afraid you can’t stand it.” Da Ke worked hard to persuade this person. “Why don’t I let the director move your scenes indoors and the green screen can be used.”
“I’m fine.” Li Zhao patted Da Ke’s shoulder and spoke earnestly. “Your way of thinking isn’t very good. I have accepted the payment of this movie and have to work.”
Da Ke, “……”
As an actor who was valued by the president, was it right for him to engage in this simple behaviour?”
“Mr Li, it is your scene.”
Half an hour later, Da Ke held Li Zhao’s jacket and watched as Li Zhao fought with the male lead while holding a fan. Each action could cause girls to scream and Da Ke seriously doubted life.
Did the company’s senior management really fancy Li Zhao’s face value and energy?
Li Zhao moved the fan in a big circle and gently waved the paper fan. “Outsiders praise that Lin gongzi’s appearance and skills are outstanding but that is all.” (Gongzi= n.o.ble son)
“I knew it.” He put away the paper fan and the coat moved slightly. “How can there be a man better looking than me?”
The moment the scene was over and before the audience could react, the n.o.ble young man grabbed the jacket held out by his a.s.sistant and wrapped himself in it tightly so that only half his face was shown.
“Yes, that is the feeling.” The director clapped from behind the monitor. “Teacher Li is young but your acting is superb. However, I would like to think about taking a long-range shot. Look at this…”
“No problem.” Li Zhao accepted the ginger tea that was handed over. “I will do my best to cooperate with the work of the crew.”
The director heard this and kept praising him.
“Zhao Zhao, see?” Da Ke whispered in Li Zhao’s ears. “This is the power of money.”
“Da Ke, why do I feel like you are now a bad court eunuch reporting false charges to an incapable ruler?”
Da Ke, “……”
As an a.s.sistant who desperately wanted to praise the company in front of the artist, shouldn’t it be easier?