Chapter 56 Signing a contract is fine, I'm quite wealthy.
"So, your current situation is that you're forced into being paired up with someone for promotional purposes, but you can't unilaterally break free, right?"
Ye Jingyu nodded, a troubled look appearing on her beautiful, fair face: "The main problem is that when the show started to become popular, they proactively approached us to discuss cooperation. Now that the show hasn't finished airing, it's not good to end it prematurely. If we suddenly stop it now, it will definitely..."
“I know.” Shi Yao nodded. “Fans of the drama and casual fans are still shipping the couple in the drama. If you stop working now, you’ll definitely be criticized for being a scumbag and accused of being selfish. In that case, the fans will all be talking about the male lead.”
Ye Jingyu felt a little embarrassed by what was said, and lowered her eyes to touch the tip of her nose.
Actually, her original intention was not to win the battle of purification. She just wanted to extricate herself from this real-life CP that was completely out of her control. Of course, no one would complain about having too few fans. Zhou Qixue Studio violated the principles agreed upon when they discussed cooperation and stepped on her bottom line to create a CP, which disgusted her.
In order to establish the image of a "devoted and good boyfriend," the other party did not hesitate to fabricate a lot of unfounded things about her. Moreover, the cooperation period that was initially agreed upon was the promotion period of the drama's broadcast. The popular period was about to end, and Zhou Qixue also gained a lot of fans through this CP and got better resources.
Actually, if that were all, she wouldn't be in such a hurry. But Zhou Qixue's side has more than that. Going too far in promoting the CP will inevitably backfire. Zhou Qixue's studio also knows how much fake sweetness they have fabricated. In order to avoid being purged by the CP fans in the end, they have been secretly stirring up trouble for Ye Jingyu recently, leading people to say that she is not cooperating with the publicity work, so that the drama fans and CP fans will blame her.
In fact, Ye Jingyu's publicity work was completely in place. She did everything the production team asked her to do to promote the CP (couple pairing). However, Zhou Qixue did a bit too much, which made her seem less enthusiastic. At first, the drama fans and CP fans were quite satisfied with her attitude, but as Zhou Qixue's efforts became more and more intense, the CP fans' appetites grew, and naturally they became dissatisfied with Ye Jingyu's response.
If this trend continues, Zhou Qixue's studio will definitely end up portraying her as a "fraud who betrayed feelings," attracting a large number of drama fans and CP fans who are unaware of the truth, leaving Ye Jingyu with no benefit.
Ye Jingyu initially even considered simply using magic against magic. Since Zhou Qixue liked to fabricate things she hadn't done in interviews, she could also clarify things for herself in interviews. When the promotional period for the drama ended and Zhou Qixue no longer wanted to sell it, the CP fans would come to settle accounts and find that Ye Jingyu had already denied these things.
However, this idea was ultimately dissuaded by the agent. Although celebrities do follow fan circles, they are most afraid of being labeled as "fools who stalk fan circles." They can know some things and memes about themselves, but they cannot show that they know too quickly or too early. Being too fast on the internet can often be a double-edged sword when it comes to their image.
For example, Zhou Qixue made up a bunch of non-existent things and personas for Ye Jingyu during a visit, and then Ye Jingyu herself went on an interview to refute them all. It's fine if it happens once in a while, but if it happens every time, it will make it seem like Ye Jingyu cares a lot about Zhou Qixue, knows all his schedules, and can see every interview immediately, which will not serve the purpose of refuting the rumors.
Some unscrupulous CP fans even use this as a sweet moment to enjoy, saying things like "She loves it so much," "She pays so much attention to it," and "She cares about it so much."
In the end, the attempt to refute the rumors failed, and instead, it bound the two of them even closer together.
But it's really unbearable to just watch the other side act like a hooligan.
After listening to Ye Jingyu's complaints, Shi Yao immediately had an idea, but she didn't say it for the time being. Instead, she continued to find out more about the situation.
Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle. The name Zhou Qixue sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it in the story. Shi Yao asked the system to find it as soon as possible, but there are still no results.
"Teacher Shi, as you know, the consequence of being too tightly bound to a real-life couple is that it's hard to break free for life. Not to mention that he and I are not a real couple, and he can't continue to create a couple with me. But he has already secured a group of fans, while I don't. If we continue to be bound together, and I bring it up later, I'll be accused of trying to ride on their coattails. If I don't bring it up, I'll be criticized."
Ye Jingyu sighed, "And..."
"And it's also not good for you to take on dramas later." Shi Yao picked up where she left off. "Having a CP that's too tightly tied to you will really affect your chances of taking on other idol dramas. No matter who you act with, people who love to be insensitive will jump out and say that you're not a good match and that you and Zhou Qixue are a better match."
In idol dramas, the main couple's romantic storyline is very important, especially in sweet romance dramas. If the main couple has good chemistry and a good aura, it can attract more casual viewers who might just be passing by to watch. If the main couple has no chemistry at all, the drama usually doesn't do very well.
Ye Jingyu is currently on the rise. She has become popular because of this drama and has been noticed by many people. She must have a lot of film and television offers on her plate, which is definitely much better than before. But this is only the current situation.
This is the first period of opportunity. Investors see Ye Jingyu's potential during her rise and are willing to invest in her, so they are willing to give her resources. However, once she finishes receiving these resources and her new dramas start airing and facing the market, due to the historical issues surrounding this couple, there will be more people causing trouble, and each drama will flop. There will be no better results, and the investors who were originally optimistic about her and willing to invest will also withdraw.
The margin for error for actors is inherently low. They need both die-hard fans and a great deal of public appeal. There's a saying that goes, "It's not as easy for actors to rise to fame as it is for them to become top stars with just one drama. Even actors with high popularity and a good public image need a long time to accumulate experience and gradually establish themselves as top stars."
However, once the "flowers" (referring to the actresses) rise to fame, it's hard for them to fall back into the spotlight. Their fans are strict but loyal, and most of them are career-oriented. They love the actresses when they are focused on their careers, but when they start to focus on relationships or even family and raising children, it hurts the fanbase. But if they choose to return to the screen, their fans will still rush back to support them, no matter how much time has passed.
Ye Jingyu is just an artist from a small agency, unlike Zhou Qixue, who is clearly a resource-rich star whose career has been bought up by capital in advance. Ye Jingyu's path is much smoother than hers. Even if this drama doesn't become a hit now, it won't affect her future resources. But now that it has become a hit, it will definitely be more beneficial to her future career.
Every step the other party took was a meticulously planned path, while Ye Jingyu's side consisted of only a half-baked individual and a severely inexperienced and unreliable company.
The people in the company are all wholeheartedly trying to help her, but they lack ability. If things continue like this, she will only become a stepping stone and a bloodsucker for the other side.
While listening to Ye Jingyu briefly explain the situation, Shi Yao waited for the system to report the results of her investigation into the plot. After the waiter served all the dishes, the system finally responded.
"Host, we've found it." The system's mechanical voice sounded. "The relevant plot about Zhou Qixue is in Chapter 68, Paragraph 34 of the original text. He gained a lot of fans after his CP in the previous drama became a huge hit. The reason he did this was because he had a non-celebrity girlfriend. In order to prevent people from discovering that he was hiding his relationship, he decided to hype up the CP to an extreme degree, so that everyone would think that he was dating the female lead in the drama, which would also make it easier for him to attract dream girls."
"As for Ye Jingyu, she was criticized by fans for not cooperating enough in creating a CP (couple pairing) and did not benefit much. After that, every time her drama aired, it was disrupted by Zhou Qixue's fans and the CP fans of the two, and she eventually fell back to the third tier."
Shi Yao's eyes lit up. She felt that the name Zhou Qixue sounded familiar. So he was a scandal-prone person.
He was dating a girl outside the entertainment industry while simultaneously creating a CP (couple pairing) with a female actress from the same drama. As a result, his solo fans all went to criticize Ye Jingyu, while his real girlfriend was completely unaffected.
When Shi Yao heard that Zhou Qixue really had a girlfriend, she wasn't surprised at all. This guy was so good at marketing and sales; he probably got his inspiration from his daily life with his girlfriend.
The stories about frequently having heart-to-heart talks, sharing many hobbies, and sneaking out together to cheer up his girlfriend are probably real events extracted from everyday dating, then grafted onto Ye Jingyu, pieced together to create a new sweet moment.
What a scoundrel! He's so cunning.
Shi Yao mentally asked the system, "System, when did this man's character's life fall apart in the original story?"
The system's mechanical voice paused for a moment, then weakly said, "In the original story, there was no scandal. The fact that he had a girlfriend was only revealed three years after he became famous. By then, he had already won the Best Actor award and received many blessings from fans."
"What?!" Shi Yao almost shouted out loud. She sat up abruptly, which startled Ye Jingyu, who was sitting opposite her. Ye Jingyu looked at her in a daze.
Shi Yao waved her hand at her: "It's okay, it's okay, please continue."
"Oh..." Ye Jingyu nodded slowly, wondering where she had left off.
Shi Yao buried her head again and began to question the system: "So this man didn't suffer any backlash or punishment, and he achieved success in both his career and love life?"
The system weakly added: "Well... that's not entirely true. He did have both a successful career and a happy marriage. However, a fan later dug up his and his wife's dating timeline and found that it predates his time as a couple with Ye Jingyu. This sparked some discussion, but it was ultimately concluded that Ye Jingyu deliberately created the couple to gain fame. Zhou Qixue was affected, but not much."
Shi Yao: ? ? ?
"No, let me ask you this, wasn't this whole CP hype initiated by Zhou Qixue himself? It wasn't Ye Jingyu who was dragging him into it, and Ye Jingyu was even trying to avoid it. They were the ones who were chasing after him and trying to create hype, making up so much nonsense. How can you blame Ye Jingyu for this?" Shi Yao found it utterly unbelievable, and the system's words made her quite angry.
But the system remained calm and said, "Because Ye Jingyu isn't famous, while Zhou Qixue is much more famous than her. Although Zhou Qixue didn't become a top star in the end, his popularity is still quite high. He has always followed the route of high-quality works, which is why he was able to win the Best Actor award so quickly. He has much better public image than Ye Jingyu."
"In the entertainment industry, it's all about who's famous and who's right. If someone is famous enough, they can make the wrong seem right and the fake seem true. There are many people who need justice, but only those who are famous enough will be seen."
"Ye Jingyu was somewhat popular for a while after starring in that drama with Zhou Qixue, but the fact that she immediately stopped working after the drama ended caused a huge uproar. Many drama fans and CP fans criticized her for being ungrateful and only caring about her own beauty. Her public image plummeted. This incident seriously affected her subsequent resources and business opportunities. Although the dramas she had previously taken on were still available, their performances were mediocre after airing. Later, she was unable to play the female lead again and returned to being a third or fourth-tier actress."
Yao remained silent when the system spoke. Although she also felt that the words were too sarcastic, she had to admit that the system was right.
There are too many unfair things in the entertainment industry. Before someone becomes famous, they can only swallow their grievances and endure them silently. Only after they become famous do they have the opportunity to "inadvertently" bring it up to play the victim. Unless you have powerful connections and a strong background, you won't suffer such grievances. This creates a closed loop. There is a serious problem of favoring the powerful and belittling the weak in the industry. If you are not famous enough and do not have connections or a strong background, you can only endure being bullied.
It's impossible to hide a relationship from those around you, especially a relationship that's heading towards marriage, let alone for someone in the entertainment industry. People around Zhou Qixue must know about his situation, and even further back, his investors might know as well. However, he and his team keep it very secret to ensure it won't be exposed, giving investors a sense of security. In addition, his own background is strong enough, so no one will investigate or criticize him.
Based on this conclusion, Shi Yao realized that the real purpose behind Zhou Qixue and his studio's efforts to promote the CP and tie Ye Jingyu together was probably more complicated than she thought.
This guy is something else.
Shi Yao snapped out of her thoughts, looked up, and found Ye Jingyu staring at her. When she looked up, Ye Jingyu immediately looked away, embarrassed.
"I'm sorry, Teacher Shi, I didn't mean to stare at you. I was just thinking that since I've said so much, shouldn't I let you speak first?" Ye Jingyu said, her ears turning red as she pursed her lips.
Shi Yao nodded, but then asked, "Miss Ye, do you know Zhou Qixue's true relationship status?"
Ye Jingyu listened attentively, but was somewhat confused after hearing the question: "Huh?"
"I mean, do you know if he has a girlfriend, or if he's single?"
Ye Jingyu blinked, frowned and thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "I'm not sure, because I don't know him at all. We don't talk much in the crew, but I feel like he hasn't been in a relationship, at least not during the time we were filming. His personality is too... cold and hard, it feels like... he's never been in a relationship."
Shi Yao chuckled inwardly, marveling at Ye Jingyu's naiveté. Zhou Qixue seemed cold and hard, but that was because he was a really good actor. If this person had never been in a relationship, how could he be so adept at creating a CP (couple pairing) and know exactly what CP fans wanted to see and what they wanted?
After stating her conclusion, Ye Jingyu looked at Shi Yao's reaction and seemed a little uncertain, so she asked, "What's wrong, Teacher Shi? Did I say something wrong? Does he actually have a girlfriend?"
Shi Yao flipped through the documents in her hand, looked up and winked at her: "I guess so."
"Consider it?" Ye Jingyu was even more confused. If it exists, it exists; if it doesn't, it doesn't. What does "consider it" mean?
The reason Shi Yao didn't explain it clearly to Ye Jingyu directly was because she suddenly realized that the real situation might have changed. The plot content brought by the system was only from the perspective of the protagonist in the book, and it was hard to say whether the real situation was like that. However, based on her analysis just now, she felt that it was very likely that it was more than that, but she still had to go back and investigate carefully.
"Well, it's hard to say right now, but he had a girlfriend when he was filming with you. The reason you felt he was cold and aloof was because his girlfriend forbade him from having too much contact with other women." Shi Yao gave Ye Jingyu a conclusion that could be confirmed for the time being. This was something Zhou Qixue had said in an interview. To express how sweet their relationship was, he specifically mentioned that his wife would strictly supervise the filming and was easily jealous.
It has to be said that Zhou Qixue Studio is very clever. They converted their fans in advance, filtering out those who only wanted to ship him with other celebrities, and kicking out those who couldn't accept him dating and had the same high expectations they had of him as top stars. In the end, only fans who could accept him dating, even getting married and having children, remained.
For these fans, Zhou Qixue's happiness is all that matters; their emotions are irrelevant.
But no one remembers how unlucky Ye Jingyu was when she was paired with Zhou Qixue. After entering the industry, she worked diligently and conscientiously and never dated. She just unfortunately became Zhou Qixue's female lead and was forced to be paired with him for promotional purposes. She was abandoned by the drama's fans because she was not used to it and wanted to cut ties. In the end, Zhou Qixue blamed everything on her.
When Ye Jingyu heard that Zhou Qixue had a girlfriend during filming, her jaw dropped. It took her a while to come to her senses and ask, "He had a girlfriend back then, so what about now?"
Shi Yao shrugged: "It's hard to say."
It's hard to say not because we don't know if they're still talking, but because we don't know how far things have progressed between them. In fact, we can't even be completely sure what their relationship was like when they were filming together on set.
Ye Jingyu's values were severely shaken. Zhou Qixue actually had a girlfriend, yet he still used her to create a CP (couple pairing) and packaged him as someone who only loved Ye Jingyu, making fans completely obsessed.
How can someone with a girlfriend do this so easily? It shows disrespect to her, to his girlfriend, and to his fans.
Originally, she just thought Zhou Qixue was a bit too eager for quick success and fame. He would go to great lengths and use all sorts of means to achieve fame, even at the expense of others, just to get ahead. Ye Jingyu had a bad impression of him because of this. But she didn't expect that he was not only eager for quick success but also disgusting. He had actually deceived so many people. With acting skills like that, it would be a shame if he didn't win a Best Actor award.
Ye Jingyu suddenly found it hard to understand. Although she didn't like Zhou Qixue before, she could barely understand his actions. There were quite a few people in this industry who would do anything to become famous. But now she completely blocked Zhou Qixue. He simply didn't respect anyone.
She really wanted to ask Zhou Qixue what it felt like to lie about her so much without batting an eye during an interview—was it for fame or to better conceal his girlfriend?
The dishes were all served, but neither Shi Yao nor Ye Jingyu drank any of their coffee; neither of them had the appetite to pick up any food.
Ye Jingyu was shocked by Shi Yao's news for a long time, and a strange nausea welled up in her heart. She finally managed to suppress it before she belatedly realized what was going on.
She suddenly raised her head and stared straight at Shi Yao: "Teacher Shi, you said Zhou Qixue has a girlfriend, so... was this taken by paparazzi?"
Otherwise, how would Shi Yao have known?
But Shi Yao shook her head: "No, not a single paparazzi took a picture. There are actually quite a few people who have learned from Zhou Qi recently, but he is very good at hiding, and he has been hiding for so long that he is very experienced. The paparazzi did not find any clues."
The experienced paparazzi sensed something was amiss, which is why they kept following them. But if they still couldn't find anything, they'd probably leave sooner or later.
Ye Jingyu was bewildered again. Even the paparazzi didn't know how Shi Yao knew. Moreover, she even said that Zhou Qixue had a girlfriend when he was filming the drama, which was last year. Could it be that Shi Yao was Zhou Qixue's staff member before?
After all, none of Zhou Qixue's colleagues, who spent every day on the film set, knew that he had a girlfriend; only those close to him knew.
But Shi Yao used to be a small-time actress like her, and only recently switched careers. It's impossible for her to work as Zhou Qixue's staff. Besides, she looks so good that you really can't forget her if you've seen her before.
Ye Jingyu was stunned by Shi Yao's boldness in knowing such confidential information and telling her it so casually. This kind of information was like a trump card, and she hadn't even paid the deposit yet. Shi Yao just told her like that, wasn't she afraid that she wouldn't place an order after knowing?
Ye Jingyu felt inexplicably itchy. She rarely met someone like Shi Yao. It seemed that she was the client and Shi Yao was the service provider, but in reality, Shi Yao had something that she had no access to at all. Shi Yao was the key to this cooperation, but she could say it so confidently.
Ye Jingyu suddenly sat up straight and said to Shi Yao with a serious expression, "Teacher Shi, I want to sign a contract with you now. I've seen your business projects, and mine should be considered a turnaround in public opinion. I'd like to choose another business plan. I see that the price list is divided into long-term and short-term. How about we sign a long-term contract directly?"
Shi Yao was startled by her. What was wrong with this new customer? They had only met and known each other for a short time, but she had already picked up the habit of being too easygoing like the previous customer. She wanted to pay before they had even discussed anything. Could Fang Xuran learn from her?
"My long-term contracts aren't cheap, are you sure?" Shi Yao couldn't help but tease. In fact, every contract had to be evaluated by her before it was finalized. Although she charged high fees, she would never rip people off. But seeing Ye Jingyu's expression, she still wanted to tease her.
Ye Jingyu wasn't afraid and nodded firmly: "No problem, I'm quite wealthy now, Teacher Shi, let's sign a contract."
Shi Yao was genuinely amused this time. This girl was really interesting. "I'm quite rich," she said, a simple yet profound statement.
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