Chapter 85: Insider
Li Wei felt somewhat discouraged after she finished speaking. The competition among female artists was already very fierce, and she had already fallen into a disadvantage. If she continued like this, she might have to retire from the circle or slowly become obscure, playing various small roles.
Xu Qingye glanced at Li Wei, took out his phone and searched for her recent dramas and topics. There were many problems that the actors themselves might not be able to feel, but they were particularly clear in the eyes of the audience.
Some artists are used to being praised by people around them, so they are unwilling to face their true selves. Li Wei's sense of crisis proves that she is still sober.
As Li Wei herself said, her recent dramas are all ancient costume dramas with female protagonists. Although they have different character settings and stories, the inner workings are roughly the same. There are even several dramas with similar styling, and it is impossible to tell the difference between the characters when mixed together.
Xu Qingye took a look at the fans' comments on Li Wei. At the beginning, they were all amazed and praised her. But after filming more, they began to find all kinds of faults, such as repetitive styling, repetitive roles, poor quality of the series, poor co-actors, etc. Some fans even spoke up and told Li Wei not to indulge in the setting of such a stunning beauty.
Li Wei's acting is okay, but no matter how good her acting is, you'll get tired of it after watching it a few times. Li Wei is the type of person who is consumed by the subject matter. Her problems are very similar to Shen Qing's, but because of her high status, there are more things that restrict her.
"You actually know what to do, you just can't take that leap. If you want to change, all you have to do is improve your acting skills, try different roles, and break free from the constraints of your past roles. But all of these risks are too great for you. You're used to staying in your comfort zone, and even though you know it's no longer that comfortable, you still don't dare to step out."
Xu Qingye looked at Li Wei. Many actresses kept saying that they had no roles to play, but most of the time they were unwilling to do so. They were used to being the shining heroines and were even unwilling to play the role of a mother.
"I, I have thought about playing other types of roles, but no crew has come to me."
Li Wei was a little hesitant. She had thought about changing her career. She made a sad movie two years ago, but it was a flop and her rivals bought press releases to mock her. This made it even harder for her to change.
"If no crew is looking for you, then go and audition on your own. If you want to change, you always have to pay something. Just like Chen Qing, she even raised pigs for half a year."
Xu Qingye spread his hands. He couldn't give Li Wei any perfect advice. She needed to explore a path that suited her at the moment.
"Then what about me participating in some variety shows? Dating shows or something like that?"
Li Wei looked forward to watching Xu Qingye. Chen Qing could change the status quo through a variety show. Maybe she could copy it. She was also very popular when she shared her love experience and some love skills before. Maybe participating in some similar variety shows could also increase her popularity.
"What you need right now isn't more exposure or popularity, but time to settle down. You've become restless. If you don't calm down and think carefully about what you really want, you'll only exhaust yourself faster. Variety shows can bring in impressive short-term numbers, but they won't leave you with anything after the tide recedes. You might as well give yourself a break and think carefully about what you want."
Xu Qingye shook his head. Participating in variety shows is not a panacea. There are more artists who fail on variety shows.
The meal was a bit depressing, and Cao Muan felt a little embarrassed to eat it in the end. Fortunately, everyone was still polite on the surface.
After leaving the restaurant, Cao Muan, who had been holding it in for a long time, finally had the chance to speak.
"Boss, you spoke so deeply and professionally today. I've never seen you speak like that before. You're so handsome."
"Professional? It's just a bunch of nonsense. It can be applied to anyone. She knows everything I said very well."
Xu Qingye laughed at himself. What he said was nothing more than repetitive words. It sounded reasonable, but in fact it was of no help at all.
"Ah? Then what's the point of you saying all this today? It sounds quite profound to me."
Cao Muan was a little confused. Wasn't he here to give people advice? What was the point of saying a bunch of useless nonsense?
"Just chatting and making friends. I'm not a fortune teller who can predict everything clearly, like going north will bring wealth and going south will bring a smooth career. I just have my own opinions on this industry because I've seen a lot. My opinions are superficial, and I'm lucky to be able to apply them occasionally. But chatting and getting to know each other is a good thing. Maybe in the future, they'll even consider me for business. Maybe they'll even think of me as a marketing friend when they want to buy negative press releases from their rivals."
Xu Qingye looked at Cao Muan's bewildered expression and laughed even louder.
"I'm not full yet. Let me treat you to fried rice. There are some fried rice restaurants near the entrance of the film and television city that are especially delicious."
Xu Qingye patted Cao Mu'an. Cao Mu'an didn't feel anything at first, but after Xu Qingye said that, she really felt a little hungry. The atmosphere just now was not conducive to eating. She didn't eat many bites, and in the end she didn't know what the dishes tasted like.
Li Wei’s incident was just a small episode. The next day, the two of them continued to squat. The two rich second-generations from yesterday also came. When they saw Cao Muan, they came forward to greet her enthusiastically and gave her a lot of snacks.
"It's great that you guys actually came."
The star chasers all called out the names of their circles. One of them was called Little Curly Hair and the other was called Jiang Ge’s Strawberry Tower. Strawberry Tower was obviously a fan of Jiang Boqi. Little Curly Hair came with Strawberry Tower, and she mainly followed the cold circle.
Cao Muan’s character is a fan of Sun Yichen, even though she still can’t quite remember what Sun Yichen looks like. She gave herself a nickname called Xiaochen’ai, which she felt a little embarrassed to say out loud.
The atmosphere was quite good when the three women got together. Xu Qingye stayed alone to edit the photos. He had wasted a lot of time editing the photos yesterday because of meeting Shen Qing and the others. Cao Muan was taking pictures there, so he simply started editing the photos. Later he could also post some Reuters photos to attract attention.
To chase stars, Xu Qingye uses Xu Cuihua's account. Anyway, Xu Cuihua's personality is obsessed with looks, so it is the most suitable account for chasing stars. As for the main account, he plans to make a series of debut predictions later to add a bit of mystery.
Xu Qingye was very busy, and Strawberry Tower and Cao Muan also became familiar with each other. Generally speaking, Cao Muan had a good personality, and they could become friends after spending some time together.
"I joined a group. The group owner is a very powerful person. He said that he would send me some internal data when the time comes. I would like to ask if I can add you. However, not everyone can join. There will be an audit to see if you are really a fan."
Strawberry Tower suddenly took out her phone and opened a group to show Cao Muan. This was the "Crown of Glory" group she had just joined recently. She said it was for the convenience of unified voting and better data collection.
"Huh? Are all fans going to be brought together regardless of their attributes? Then won't they all be rivals then?"
Cao Muan was stunned for a moment. What kind of group is this? Will there really be no fighting later?
"I've already told you that this group is not reliable. No one chases stars like this, but you just don't believe it." Little Curly spoke immediately after hearing Cao Muan's words. She had already advised her friend, but she just didn't believe it.
"I feel it's real. The group owner has a work ID, so he must be an insider. He said he would share some exclusive footage with us." Strawberry Tower protested. The group owner has proven himself, so how could he be a liar?
"It's okay. Pull me over to have a look. I'm quite curious too. Maybe there will be other arrangements later."
Cao Muan became interested, she smelled the scent of melon.
As soon as she was pulled into the group, an administrator immediately sent a private message to Cao Muan, asking her to show some proof of her star-chasing and voting, that is, her star-chasing spending records. The other party said it more tactfully, meaning that they wanted to screen out some ordinary fans who did not spend money on star-chasing. In other words, those who could join the group were true fans who were willing to spend money on their idols.
Cao Muan may not have other proofs, but she has piles of proof of spending money. She just randomly cut out some of her previous consumption records for various front-line workers, and the auditor immediately welcomed her to the group with a smile.
As soon as he entered, the group rules popped up. Cao Muan was not interested in reading the densely written words. The general meaning was that this group existed for better voting. The group owner did not restrict everyone's preferences. You can find your friends who share the same concerns in the group. When you need to vote, there will be someone to organize it. The group owner is a staff member of the program team, so there will be some exclusive highlights and peripheral broadcasts in the group later. Everyone can purchase them on demand. There is no mandatory requirement.
Cao Muan read through the entire thing quickly, and she had a rough idea of what was happening. The so-called unified voting was similar to fan-leader fundraising, and there was a lot of water involved. Even a large sum of money could earn some interest if it was invested in financial products. Furthermore, it was difficult to be transparent.
As for the surrounding behind-the-scenes footage, it is another source of income. In short, once you join this group, you have to spend some money.
The group leader’s self-identification was just a coded work ID card, some photos of the interior of the dormitory, etc., which looked quite realistic.
"Don't you like Jiang Boqi? Then why are you voting? He's a mentor, and you don't have to pay any money to mentors."
After reading the group rules, Cao Muan suddenly remembered something important. Wasn’t Strawberry Tower here to pursue Jiang Boqi?
"The mentors may not compete openly, but they will definitely be compared secretly. So I hope that the students Jiang Boqi leads can debut. I have to support him."
"ah?"
Cao Muan was stunned. What kind of star-chasing method was this? Chasing the mentor on a talent show was fine, but spending money on the students for the mentor?
"Don't worry about her. She just has money to burn. And you never know, she might fall in love with someone she sees.
Little Curly knew his friend very well, and he chose him while watching the talent show.
"That's right, Teacher Strawberry is really capable."
Cao Muan praised her, and Strawberry Tower lowered its head a little embarrassedly.
The official Weibo account has updated the students' data, and even though no episode has aired yet, some people have already started ranking them online. Those students with a fan base are all at the top of the list, which is also a manifestation of unfairness.
Almost all the students have already entered the dormitory, and the official filming will begin in two days.
"The instructor shouldn't come so early, but I bought a ticket. Unfortunately, the audience is not allowed to film, so I can only go and watch."
There are no audience tickets for the first few episodes of the talent show. The audience venue will be opened one after another after the first stage and theme song are recorded. The price is not expensive, so it is particularly difficult to get tickets.
Cao Muan had no intention of reading it. After all, she was just a marketing account and a little bit of material would be enough. The details would depend on Xu Qingye's work arrangements.
"Have you bought the tickets? Should we go watch it together then?"
"I didn't get a ticket. Almost everyone else has arrived. I need to go back soon. I still have work to do. I heard they don't let people leave the dorms. I'm not going to get any results from just squatting there."
"That's a shame. Let's keep in touch so we can play together next time."
After exchanging contact information with Strawberry Tower, the four of them had dinner together in the evening. It was also fate. Xu Qingye seriously played the role of the bad-tempered brother and hardly spoke. When they parted, Strawberry Tower suddenly pulled Cao Muan aside.
"He's not actually your brother, he's your boyfriend, right? Even though he seemed reluctant, he still came with you. He really loves you, and he's so handsome, so you should cherish him."
Cao Muan was drinking milk tea and almost choked herself to death after hearing what Strawberry Tart said. What a horrible statement! She didn't want to die!
Cao Muan wanted to explain, but the two people had already left happily. Cao Muan was speechless and turned around to look at Xu Qingye viciously. It was another day when his reputation was ruined by his boss!
Xu Qingye didn't know what was going on. When he turned around, he saw his employees staring at him fiercely.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Don't ask me to work together next time. My heart can't take it."
Cao Muan shook her head and didn't want to explain. She was afraid that her bonus would be deducted if she opened her mouth.
Xu Qingye looked puzzled. Why did Cao Muan start to go crazy again?
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