12 She was eager to cut off all ties with me
Lately, Zhang Yi has had a feeling that Jin Lang is preoccupied. Although his work life continues normally, and he's able to quickly adjust his composure when facing the camera, his vacant gaze has become noticeably more frequent. While he's unsure of the specifics, they're both partners and friends, and he feels he needs to find a chance to talk it over. Regardless, a promising future shouldn't be ceded to those "younger generation" who have long coveted it. The entertainment industry is a place where there's no shortage of replacements. For investors, creating stars is like an assembly line. Some entertainment companies churn out a large number of trainees annually. With the investment and effort, hiring professional styling teams to create the idols' images, hiring renowned vocal and dance instructors for training, and then promoting them through various social media platforms, attracting fans is easy. However, becoming an A-list star requires the right timing, location, and people; all are essential. Some actresses, deeply tied to renowned directors, often flop even when they're offered lead roles. Some male singers, despite their singing prowess, are also highly sought after for their acting skills, fueled by financial support. Despite their average looks, they're forced to star in period fantasy dramas, resulting in awkward acting and a shattered reputation. People like Jin Lang, who possess both physical beauty and, while not professional, are no slouch in both singing and acting, are now a rare sight in the entertainment industry. However, Jin Lang's path to fame wasn't entirely smooth. The hardships he endured to reach his current position are not only recounted by his fans, but also well known to his agent, Zhang Yi. Initially, Jin Lang was performing in a bar when he was recommended for a singing competition. After gradually gaining familiarity with the process, he entered a major online talent show. Although he ultimately finished sixth and made his debut as a group, in an era dominated by Korean entertainment, few would have remembered such a fringe online boy band. A year later, the group quietly disbanded. This experience taught Jin Lang that nothing comes easy in this world. Fortunately, the experience of being in a group gave him a foot in the door. With his youthful, handsome features and upright physique, he began playing a variety of supporting roles in various online dramas. From a non-speaking background character to a guard with a few lines, to the third and second male lead, he finally landed the leading role in a Republican-era spy drama. In it, he portrayed a young talent who constantly strives for his ideals and ultimately sacrifices his life heroically. After the show aired, ratings soared, and Jin Lang, with his outstanding acting and handsome image, attracted a large number of fans. Early collaborations with Jin Lang...
Recently, Zhang Yi always felt that Jin Lang was worried. Although his work was normal and he could quickly adjust his state when facing the camera, the frequency with which he looked blankly increased significantly.
Although he wasn't sure of the specific reason, the two were both partners and friends, and he felt he needed to find an opportunity to talk to Jin Lang. Regardless, he couldn't let his promising future be handed over to those long-coveted "newcomers." After all, the entertainment industry was a place with no shortage of replacements.
For investors, creating stars is like an assembly line. Some entertainment companies release a large number of trainees every year. As long as they're willing to invest the money and effort, hire professional styling teams to create the idols' images, find renowned vocal and dance teachers for training, and then promote and package them through various social media platforms, attracting fans is easy.
But if you want to become a top star, you have to have the right time, place and people, none of which can be missing.
Some actresses are deeply tied to famous directors, yet even when they're cast in lead roles, they still flop. Other male singers, despite their singing prowess, are heavily favored by investors, yet despite their average looks, they're forced to star in ancient fantasy dramas, resulting in awkward acting and a shattered reputation.
People like Jin Lang who have good looks and whose singing and acting skills are not as good as those of professionals but are definitely not lagging behind are very rare in today's entertainment industry.
However, Jin Lang's road to fame was not smooth. To reach his current position, he had to endure so much hardship. This was not only talked about by his fans, but his agent Zhang Yi also knew it very well.
Jin Lang was originally a resident singer in a bar when he was recommended to participate in a singing competition. After gradually becoming familiar with the process, he participated in a large-scale online talent show, and although he finally ranked sixth, he successfully debuted as a group.
However, in that era when Korean entertainment dominated traffic, no one would remember such a marginal online boy group. So a year later, the group quietly disbanded.
This experience also made Jin Lang realize that nothing comes easy in this world. Fortunately, his experience as a member of a group gave him a foot in the industry. With his youthful, handsome face and upright physique, he began to play various supporting roles in various online dramas.
From a background character with no lines, to a guard with only a few words, to the third and second male lead, he finally became the male lead in a Republican spy drama.
In the drama, he plays a young talent who constantly struggles for his ideals and pursuits and ultimately sacrifices his life heroically. After the show was broadcast, the ratings continued to rise, and Jin Lang also attracted a large number of fans with his outstanding acting skills and handsome image.
In the early days of working with Jin Lang, Zhang Yi had clearly told him that as a talent show star, romance was like dichlorvos. Jin Lang assured him that he just wanted to work hard to make money.
Over the years, Jin Lang has filmed many TV series and movies. As dedicated as he is, he always actively cooperates with various promotions and is just the right amount of sweetness for CP fans without being stingy.
But once the promotional period was over, Jin Lang and his co-actress immediately became distant colleagues, with almost no interaction in private.
Zhang Yi even suspected at one point that he didn't like women, after all, that wasn't uncommon in the industry. Compared to those agents who spent their days cleaning up after their romantic relationships, he had never put any effort into it.
But as the old saying goes, sooner or later you will have to pay for what you have done.
…
In a small building in northern Beijing, Jin Lang and Zhang Yi sat in a conference room. The air conditioner was blowing warm air, but the atmosphere was cold.
"Tell me yourself what happened yesterday." Zhang Yi said to the man in front of him unhappily. Ever since Jin Lang received that strange phone call yesterday, he had a bad feeling that something was definitely going to happen.
Unexpectedly, after a good night’s sleep, #晋朗戀情 became the hot search headline on Weibo, followed by a purple-red explosion.
"My friend drank too much, I'll go take care of him." Jin Lang replied calmly.
"What kind of friend comes right up and calls you a heartless person! Girlfriend?" He raised his eyebrows and asked a soul-searching question.
"Don't you know whether I have a girlfriend or not?" Jin Lang said in a cold tone.
"Who is that person in the photo? What's your relationship? Tell me clearly so I can know how to proceed."
Zhang Yi slammed the table vigorously. "How can you be so calm? It's really true that the emperor is not anxious, but the eunuch is!"
"We're really just friends, she's already married." He replied in a low voice with a calm tone.
I don't know what this sentence touched Zhang Yi's nerve, he jumped up from his chair, "Married? Then why did he look for you when he was drunk? Why can't he forget you?"
"You knew she was taken, yet you still tried to get close to her? You're just being unfair!"
"Jin Lang, what are you thinking about? You think we've been having too good a time lately, right?!"
Jin Lang also knew that he was not careful enough this time and caused trouble for everyone.
But when he woke up in the morning and saw the trending searches, his first thought was not how to solve the problem. Instead, he thought it would be better to let it ferment like this, maybe some things could have a new turn of events.
Seeing Zhang Yi picking on him, his mind gradually cleared up. He knew that he was in the wrong first, and his colleagues in the company were busy with this matter. All he could do was to cooperate with Zhang Yi to solve the current problem first.
"The best way to deal with rumors like this is to just ignore them and let time pass, and the hype will die down. That's how we've handled it before."
"Ignore it? How dare you say that? It was all just publicity before. Following the drama's trending searches, netizens can tell whether it's true or not at a glance."
"Will it be the same this time? Do you know how many calls I received this morning?"
Jin Lang tapped his fingers casually on the table three times, "So what do you say we should do?"
Hearing him relax, Zhang Yi's angry face softened.
"Just as you said, I'll have the studio post a Weibo post explaining to the public that I was asked to take care of a friend."
"Also, there's a new celebrity dating variety show on Tudou TV early next year. I'll get someone to spread the word that you and Lin Yuwei are participating, and I'll talk to her about it. While it's not the best plan, it's sure to generate some buzz and suppress the trending searches."
"By the way, is your friend reliable? Don't try to get attention from him again. You have to be on guard against others these days." Zhang Yi frowned again and looked at him with a questioning look.
Jin Lang recalled their conversation on WeChat and snorted coldly, "She must be eager to cut off ties with me."
"Let's do it as you say, but..." Zhang Yi looked annoyed by Jin Lang's hesitant look.
"If you have something to say, say it quickly. If you have to fart, fart now."
"You know I don't accept variety shows where I'm the resident MC, but this time is an exception."
…
In the afternoon, Liu Yuwei opened Weibo again. The hot searches should have been removed by the public relations, but some netizens were still continuing to discuss it. Her mood, which had been slowly calming down, was angered again by the comments she came across.
[Family, what on earth are Jin Lang and his studio up to? Why haven't they come out to refute the rumors? This can't be true, right? I'd really appreciate it!]
[Stop trying to stir up trouble here, this has to be fake! If it were real, how could they be exposed so carelessly?]
[But look at Picture 6. Jin Lang has his arms around the woman. Isn't that ambiguous enough? How can ordinary friends do this?]
[The person above, I can tell you've never taken care of a drunk person before. You can't even hold someone up with just one hand, understand?]
I heard Jin Lang and Lin Yuwei are going to be on a dating show together. The "Yu Ni Kao Jin" CP fan's dream might be coming true. And the way I look at it, the girl in this photo looks a bit like Lin Yuwei. Hey everyone, who understands how I feel right now?!
[Come on, this photo is so blurry I can't even recognize her. How did you find the resemblance so remarkable? The woman is dressed in ordinary clothes and has an average figure. How could she possibly be Lin Yuwei?]
"My brother has worked with so many beautiful women in the entertainment industry, how could he fall for someone so ordinary? Maybe this woman deliberately hired someone to secretly take photos of him and use them as a hype. How despicable!"
Liu Yuwei put down her glass and replied to the last comment: [You're the one with the average look. Your whole family is average! Your brother has been in the entertainment industry for so long, and he's so blind he fell for someone so average. He has such poor taste. Hurry and stop being a fan!]
Anyway, when surfing the Internet, you don't need to use your real name, so you can just do whatever you want and send it out. Liu Yuwei didn't feel relieved, but couldn't help but laugh at himself.
How could a lawyer be so childish as to quarrel with netizens? It must be because what happened in the past two days was too dramatic and his CPU can't keep up.
…
"What are you looking at? I told you twice and you didn't hear me. Drink glass, drink glass!"
Lin Yuwei saw from the mirror on the dressing table that the assistant was constantly browsing her phone.
"Oh, okay, Sister Yuwei." After handing her the straw thermos, the assistant asked with a smile, "Sister Yuwei, aren't you quite familiar with Jin Lang? Is the person on the trending search yesterday really his girlfriend?"
"Don't ask about things you shouldn't know." Lin Yuwei rolled her eyes.
Lin Yuwei and Jin Lang collaborated on a spy war drama in their early years. At that time, they were both unknown figures in the entertainment industry.
Although it was not a big production and did not have any top stars, it had a solid script and the actors' acting skills, though immature, were consistent with the characters in the play, so it attracted a large number of audiences at the time.
Because the male protagonist played by Jin Lang in the film died heroically in the end, their love story also ended in tragedy.
At that time, fans of the drama complained that they wanted to send knives to the screenwriter, and some even projected the emotions in the drama onto the two actors and strongly supported the "Yu Ni Kao Jin" CP.
The entertainment industry is no different from other industries. If women want to stand out and be seen by the public, they often need to meet more stringent standards.
If a male star has a good character design, a good production background, and good looks and decent acting skills, he or she can become a hit, no matter what role they play in the drama. If they are even luckier, they can directly become an S+ male lead in their next work.
After their collaboration, Jin Lang's acting career has been on the rise. In contrast, Lin Yuwei has always remained in the third tier of female celebrities.
Big-name actresses born after 1985 have either transitioned to acting prowess or have a large, established fan base. Younger, younger actresses born after 2000 are emerging in droves, one after the other, surpassing the older generation. In contrast, her image and persona lackluster, coupled with her lackluster acting skills, have kept her relatively lukewarm.
It wasn't until she saw the online voting for "Summer Like You" that she felt the opportunity she had been waiting for had finally come.
This film has been attracting much attention since its preparation stage, with Jin Lang cast early on as the male lead. To attract more attention, investors created a gimmick by having netizens vote for the female lead.
She has been in the circle for so long and knows that directly hiring water armies to vote is a bad idea. Once it is exposed, her reputation will collapse.
After discussing it with the company, they immediately agreed to take a roundabout way to save the country. They found a number of personal media influencers with huge fan bases and carefully edited a tragic clip of her and Jin Lang's first collaboration in a film or TV series.
The video went viral on major social media platforms. The scene of the two people gazing at each other affectionately, the separation of life and death, coupled with the sad background music, successfully evoked memories and emotions in the audience.
As expected, after some manipulation, the "Yu Ni Kao Jin" CP topped the voting. Fans initially thought it was a gimmick, but the "Summer Like You" crew actually listened and facilitated a second pairing of Jin Lang and Lin Yuwei, fulfilling everyone's dream of a happy ending.
During the time when she and Jin Lang were promoting the business, Lin Yuwei was very busy every day, but she deeply understood what it meant to be nourished by fame.
In the past, media interviews with her at events were routine, with only a few words to go by. But now, cameras are trained on her, and fans scream incessantly. Her airport outfits are hotly debated online, with every little detail becoming a talking point.
Lin Yuwei knew that she was one step closer to becoming her dream top actress, and all this seemed to be thanks to this wonderful collaboration and the previous careful planning.
Thinking of this, she became a little angry again. Last night, she had asked someone to find a paparazzi to take pictures of her and Jin Lang coming out of the hotel. She had even thought of an excuse to leave Jin Lang behind after dinner.
As a result, the woman named "Xiao Yu" did this, which messed up the original plan and made Jin Lang's love affair a hot topic.
But God is taking care of her. Her agent just told her that Jin Lang has agreed to participate in next year's dating variety show. It's not a loss in this way. Once the show is aired, she can easily hype herself up.
Thinking of this, Lin Yuwei's mood seemed to improve. She said to the assistant, "Go order some milk tea for the staff and tell them it's my treat."
…
That night, Jin Lang's studio issued a Weibo post to refute the rumors, saying that Jin Lang was entrusted by a friend to pick up and drop off people, and asked everyone not to continue to occupy public resources because of this matter.
Later, the official Weibo account of "Fake Drama, True Heart" posted two black and white silhouettes of a man and a woman, indicating that the first group of guests had arrived. The production team, fearing that netizens would not recognize them as Jin Lang and Lin Yuwei, directly cut out the character posters of "Summer Like You".
As Zhang Yi wished, the trending searches for #语你靠晋cp continued to rise; coupled with his use of connections, the gossip about Jin Lang's relationship gradually faded from the topic list.
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