Chapter 6, trending topics

The following day, Monday, was the day of Tianxu Group's weekly meeting.

Three years ago, Xu Shaoting took over Tianxu Group from his father Xu Bozheng. In just one year, he completed the transfer of power and simultaneously took on the roles of president and executive director, becoming the most powerful person in the group.

The Tianxu Group has a wide range of industries involved. In recent years, due to the positive development of electronic technology, its subsidiary Yunxi Technology has become Xu Shaoting's most frequent office location.

At nine o'clock in the morning, a message flashed in the employee group of Yunxi Technology's internal communication software.

Lin Youzhe: "@Everyone, there's a weekly meeting at 9:30 today. All department managers, deputy managers, project team leaders, and responsible persons, please be in the main conference room on time. P.S.: The boss is already here."

Those who were slacking off in the restroom, hurriedly stuffing their breakfast in the break room, or even those who had forgotten about the morning meeting, all sped up as if they were on ten times the speed after seeing the content after the Photoshop update. They rushed to their workstations, straightened their shirts, printed documents, and checked reports.

The corridor leading to the conference room was instantly filled with the sound of footsteps.

In the conference room, Xu Shaoting sat with his legs crossed, calmly taking a sip of black tea, looking at the group of people who suddenly swarmed in, and then glancing at the watch on his wrist.

The group arrived 20 minutes early?

Xu Shaoting narrowed his eyes, his gaze locking onto Lin Youzhe, who stood respectfully beside him: "Did you tip them off?"

It was a declarative sentence, not an interrogative one. Lin Youzhe knew he couldn't escape it, so he bowed slightly and spoke very cautiously.

"I'm doing this for the company's benefit."

Xu Shaoting glanced at him, casually waving his two long, slender fingers to indicate that the meeting could begin earlier.

In the spacious conference room, the holographic projector was turned on. Xu Shaoting fiddled with a pen in one hand and casually rested the other on his arm as he listened to the employees' reports.

...

The meeting lasted for nearly an hour before Xu Shaoting was the last to push open the meeting room door and return to the board's office, followed by Lin Youzhe.

The board office is located on the top floor of the Yunxi Building, surrounded by eight floor-to-ceiling windows. If you look out, you can take in the entire skyline of Linzhou at a glance.

Xu Shaoting was casually leaning against the window. He had taken off his suit jacket, rolled up his shirt sleeves, crossed his arms, and held a cup in one hand. He took a leisurely sip. The white bone china cup obscured most of his face, leaving only his deep eyes gazing out the window, lost in thought.

He was listening to Lin Youzhe report on the afternoon's schedule when, as soon as Lin Youzhe finished speaking, Xu Shaoting turned around and gestured with his chin towards him.

It means he can leave now.

Lin Youzhe understood, bowed slightly to Xu Shaoting, and was about to leave.

Before he had taken more than a few steps, he heard the man at the desk giving orders again.

"return."

Lin Youzhe stopped in his tracks, and, not understanding why, went back the way he came to his desk.

Xu Shaoting held a thin strip of paper between his two fingers and pushed it toward Lin Youzhe. The strong, vigorous handwriting on it was clearly freshly written, the sharp black pen tip slightly damp in the light.

Lin Youzhe took the note and glanced at the three words on it.

Zhou Jingcheng.

Confused, he looked up at his superior across from him.

"Go investigate," Xu Shaoting coldly ordered.

"Public or private?"

Lin Youzhe asked the question very carefully and tactfully.

Xu Shaoting raised his eyes: "What do you think?"

Lin Youzhe understood, nodded, bowed slightly to Xu Shaoting again, and left the office.

*

Wen Jia slept until 11 a.m., without any dreams. She had drunk some red wine before bed and deliberately fell asleep when she was most drowsy. When she opened her eyes, she felt refreshed.

Just then, a knock sounded at the bedroom door, and Yu Kaiqing's voice came through the door: "Are you awake?"

Wen Jia opened the door, and it was clear that she had already tidied up. She was wearing a white base layer and a black autumn trench coat from Vamontié, with dark washed jeans and pointed high-heeled boots on her lower body.

It just so happens that she's going to shoot an advertisement for Vamontié's jewelry line today.

The Chinese entertainment industry is becoming increasingly distorted as it develops. The era when acting skills and talent were paramount is long gone. Now, when ranking young actresses, the data used is based on who has the most top luxury brand endorsements, who has become a global ambassador for a luxury brand, who has been invited to fashion week shows or red carpet events, and who has graced the covers of the five major women's magazines.

No one cares how many awards they've won, or even those who haven't been nominated. They can compete with those who have won countless awards just by leveraging their fashion resources.

Having been out of the industry for nearly three years, Wen Jia's fashion resources have declined somewhat. The fashion world is constantly evolving, and signing people is based on first impressions; without influence...

If the sales performance is weak, replace the person; if the brand awareness declines, replace the person.

In the current hierarchy of the Chinese entertainment and fashion industry, Wen Jia is still some distance from reaching the top. She needs to work hard to reach the very top and return to her position from three years ago.

After all, the fashion resources she lost during those three years of retirement from the entertainment industry would be enough for other young actresses to fight tooth and nail for.

Fortunately, Wen Jia's celebrity effect is strong enough that no matter what she endorses or what the price is, fans will rush to buy it. Even if it's not a practical product, fans feel that it's worth it to make Wen Jia happy and happy for themselves.

So when Wen Jia finally made the final decision to cooperate with Vamontié, both sides felt they had struck gold and were afraid the other would back out.

For Wen Jia, an endorsement deal with a prestigious brand like Vamontié is something that female celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry and even around the world would fight tooth and nail for. Moreover, Wen Jia was approached by the brand itself. If she didn't accept the offer, she would probably regret it ten or twenty years from now.

For Vamontié, it needs someone with excellent fashion sense, brand recognition, celebrity influence, and sales ability to expand its market in the Asia-Pacific region.

They quickly reached an agreement and finalized the contract as soon as possible.

In fact, the brand had extended a photoshoot invitation to Wen Jia six months ago, but Wen Jia's agent regretfully informed the brand that the schedule clashed.

However, the brand responded with a smile, leaving a message saying, "Everything is subject to Ms. Wenjia's schedule," and indicating that they were happy to wait.

That's why it's been delayed until today.

The Alphard minivan was already parked in front of the villa's courtyard as planned. The two of them had finished their brunch before slowly walking out of the door and getting into the car one after the other.

When I arrived, heavy tripods had already been set up in the five-meter-high, pillarless main hall. Inside, each staff member had a staff badge with a blue ribbon and a transparent card holder around their neck. When they saw Wen Jia arrive, they all greeted her with "Hello, Teacher Wen".

The makeup artist and stylist are acquaintances of Wen Jia, having worked with her for nearly three years, assisting with events large and small.

"Teacher Wen is here." Makeup artist Dong Yiwen greeted Wen Jia as she placed her makeup case on the table.

If Wen Jia wasn't used to being called "teacher" when she first entered the industry, she now takes the title for granted.

She gestured with her chin to Dong Yiwen, then raised her voice to ask the staff around her, "Have you all eaten yet, everyone? I just bought you lattes on the way here, so thank you all for your hard work today."

As soon as she finished speaking, Yu Kaiqing and her driver, with great foresight, carried more than a dozen bags of coffee into the photography studio.

Wen Jia took the cups and personally distributed them to all the staff present.

There aren't many people in the industry who can do this much. Most artists, as long as they don't act like divas, will have their staff silently thanking them, let alone being able to get a drink.

After the lattes were served, Dong Yiwen took the opportunity to push Wen Jia to the dressing room.

"Put some ice on your face first, sis." Dong Yiwen pointed to a basin of water filled with ice on the table and handed Wen Jia a clean disposable face towel.

Actually, Wen Jia is not prone to water retention, but in order to present a better image or for psychological comfort, she always applies ice water to her face before doing makeup and styling.

Wen Jia rolled up her trench coat sleeves, gripped the edge of the basin, and immersed her entire face in the icy water. The biting cold radiated from her face throughout her body, and she couldn't help but shiver.

Seeing that she was shivering slightly from the cold, Dong Yiwen gathered her long hair up with both hands and said, "That's about enough."

Wen Jia raised her head, breathing slightly rapidly.

Dong Yiwen pressed her down to sit in front of the makeup mirror: "Your skin looks good today." As she spoke, she rubbed the toner in her palms to warm it up and pressed it onto Wen Jia's face.

Wen Jia was looking down at her phone with a faint smile on her lips. When she heard this, she looked up at herself in the mirror, hummed in agreement, and said nothing.

Dong Yiwen's hand suddenly stopped. Wen Jia sensed something was wrong and looked up at her, only to see that Dong Yiwen's eyes were suspicious and what she said almost scared Wen Jia half to death.

"Sis, you're not in a relationship, are you?"

Wen Jia almost dropped her phone: "What are you saying?" After saying that, she looked warily towards the door of the dressing room, afraid that someone would hear her and spread the word, and it would all be distorted.

Honestly, since her debut, apart from rumors circulating within the industry that Zhou Jingcheng was interested in her, which she never acknowledged, she has had no other scandals. But upon reflection, this makes sense, since Zhou Jingcheng was pursuing her. Even if others were interested in her, they would have to suppress any blatant feelings.

In that sense, Zhou Jingcheng did do a good deed by shielding Wen Jia from those baseless rumors.

During the time she retired from the entertainment industry, paparazzi staked out her apartment building for half a month, hoping to capture some solid evidence of her relationship with Zhou Jingcheng. However, they discovered that Zhou Jingcheng's car had only parked downstairs a few times, and only when he was picking her up for dinner parties and banquets. He had never stepped into the villa.

Her main activity every day was going out for a jog. The paparazzi got bored after staking out her house for half a month and never set foot in her villa complex again for the next three months.

But this couldn't silence the gossip. People love hearing rumors and gossip, especially the kind that's been kept secret. Even though Wen Jia had personally clarified countless times that there was nothing between her and Zhou Jingcheng, people didn't believe her. The more she tried to cover it up, the more people believed it. For example—

"Then what were you laughing at while staring at your phone?" Dong Yiwen asked suspiciously, somewhat disbelieving Wen Jia, "Was it President Zhou?"

“Of course not,” Wen Jia cleared her throat, put away her phone, and patted Dong Yiwen’s arm: “Hurry up, hurry up, stop gossiping, the photographer is waiting outside.” She then glanced at Dong Yiwen uncomfortably.

The outfits for this photoshoot were chosen two weeks ago, from the brand's haute couture line. Vamontié's jewelry continues the brand's consistent traditional style: bold, gorgeous, and brightly colored. To match the jewelry, the dresses were also designed to be slightly extravagant.

The off-shoulder design features a large number of white three-dimensional roses surrounding the chest. The upper part is tight and fitted, while the lower part of the skirt is loose and wide, creating a somewhat contradictory combination, but Wen Jia is able to pull it off very well.

Two hours later, the entire makeup and styling were completely finished. Yu Kaiqing was afraid that Wen Jia would trip and fall because of her skirt, so she held up her skirt from behind and helped her walk to the backdrop.

The huge LED lights were so bright they hurt your eyes. The stylist next to her gave her poses. The photos were of jewelry, so the poses weren't complicated. Wen Jia didn't just follow along rigidly. She had excellent expressiveness and occasionally adjusted her poses herself, which allowed her to blend herself, the dress, and the jewelry very well.

The photographer, holding a heavy medium format camera, could take dozens of shots per minute. After a set of shots was completed, Wen Jia walked to the monitor to watch the finished product.

Wen Jia pointed to one of the photos: "This one is alright," then flipped to the next one, "This one is so-so. It doesn't highlight the jewelry; instead, it looks like a magazine cover." She joked.

"I think you should shoot from this direction. The left side of my face looks better. If you're going to shoot a profile shot later, could you suggest a pose that highlights the left side of my face?"

Before Wen Jia could finish her sentence, Yu Kaiqing rushed out of the lounge, grabbed Wen Jia's wrist, and said to the staff, "Excuse me, I have something to discuss with Teacher Wen. Please take a break."

Yu Kaiqing is a reasonable person. Having been by Wen Jia's side for so many years, she has never interrupted Wen Jia's filming without permission. When Wen Jia saw that Yu Kaiqing's expression was not right, she dragged her skirt and followed her to a corner to avoid the staff.

"What's wrong?" Wen Jia asked, frowning.

Yu Kaiqing handed over her phone: "You and Chairman Xu are trending on social media, just now."

A note from the author:

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