Chapter 112: The Fake Son-in-Law Arrives (2)
The look in someone's eyes when they want to kill them cannot be hidden.
Fortunately, Li Jinhao's years of legal studies hadn't been for nothing. Even though the chill in his eyes was almost tangible, he managed to suppress the turmoil in his heart, forced a kind smile, and waved to Li Sishi.
Li Sishi waved in response and stood up, casually patting Shang Hanyou, who was still frozen in place, on the shoulder. Then, despite Li Jinhao's increasingly cold but still forcedly smiling expression, she quickly walked across the street and began to whine, "Daddy, Mommy, I missed you so much! You finally decided to come back—"
People are strange. When they're teenagers, they think they're already adults, and they're lucky if they don't argue with their parents, let alone act spoiled. But a few years later, even if they've grown taller and stronger than their parents, they still want to be a chubby bird clinging to them...
Who isn't a baby at heart?
While she's still in her prime at twenty-something, Li Sishi can't help but want to continue being her parents' darling for a while longer—after all, even if her parents don't mind, she herself will feel embarrassed after a while.
In Hong Kong's entertainment industry, where Westernization is rampant and the aesthetic preference is for mature styles, "Baby" has a narrower range of roles than even "Bombshell".
This is better than the era that followed, where people in their thirties had to stick to a teenage persona to avoid affecting their careers. At least they wouldn't be picked and chosen because of their age, and instead, they could encounter the most demanding roles at the prime of their lives.
While officially announcing a relationship or marriage will present similar challenges now and in the future, at least now, casual dating and rumors are generally accepted by the public if handled well. People understand these are normal physiological and psychological needs, and won't pretend not to understand and treat their idol as a pure, desireless deity—only to have their idol's relationship status confirmed in an official announcement before any arguments with other fan groups even end up with longtime loyal fans turning against them, preferring them to have passed away in an accident and become a cherished memory rather than witnessing this widespread breakdown in their fanbase…
Therefore, in this era of Hong Kong entertainment industry, female artists who are "pure and innocent" still have a great advantage. They have a wide range of roles, good audience appeal, and as long as there is no solid evidence and they don't cause trouble, no one can do anything about them.
Furthermore, if one truly has no intention of engaging in a relationship with marriage in mind outside of work, then those ambiguous rumors—creating on-screen couples in TV dramas and movies, and if things go well, even a "golden couple" pairing—will be a national obsession, directly...
A period of youth has become a poignant love story in the memories of a generation...
Zhuang Menghua's willingness to let her work with popular male artists in movies, television, and various variety shows is not only to pave the way for her fame, but also for these three reasons: first, to prevent her from being "naive" and going down the wrong path like Huang Qianyan; second, to let her gain life experience and improve her acting skills through relationships; and third, to create another "golden couple" that is most attractive to the citizens of Hong Kong.
Thinking about it this way, it seems that these seemingly real and seemingly fake rumored partners are actually just "fake sons-in-law" in reality.
As Li Sishi was thinking this, Li Jinhao finally managed to adjust his mindset and said with difficulty, "In this day and age, meeting boys is normal socializing. Of course, Daddy won't interfere with you..."
"Still pretending here? If so, why don't you get out of the car and say hello to that young man over there?" Zhou Jiaxian, sitting in the passenger seat, couldn't help but laugh.
After laughing, Zhou Jiaxian gestured towards Li Sishi's back and asked, "Is that young man over there, Sishi, the one who's been singing really well these past few years?"
When the mother and daughter returned to Hong Kong, the Four Heavenly Kings were making a big splash with their marketing campaign. Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run, so you have a general impression of the four of them.
When Chow Chia-Hsien was studying in Hong Kong, it was during the early days of Cantonese songs. She was part of a generation that witnessed many early pioneers and fierce competition among the best. Therefore, when looking at newcomers, she was not so easily swayed by their good looks. Instead, she was very old-fashioned and first looked at their singing ability before their appearance.
“Yes, that’s Hanyou, whose English name is Jessy. We’ve been filming in the same group recently,” Li Sishi introduced briefly. “He takes good care of me, like an older brother.”
Hearing Li Sishi's words, Zhou Jiaxian smiled and nodded: "Really? Then I'll have to treat him to a meal sometime to thank him..."
Before he could finish speaking, Li Jinhao coughed somewhat deliberately: "Let's talk about Ah Xian's problem later. We shouldn't interfere with Si Shi's filming. Look, everything is almost ready over there."
“Then you should go to work. We’ll wait for you here. Your grandma said it’s rare for you to come home tonight, so she had someone prepare bird’s nest soup for you early this morning,” Zhou Jiaxian said hurriedly.
Yes
"Madam!" Li Sishi raised her hand and gave a particularly mischievous salute before quickly running back to the other side.
Watching Li Sishi's departing figure, Zhou Jiaxian nudged her husband lightly with her elbow, feeling both amused and annoyed: "What are you doing? I've never seen you like this before."
“
"My daughter is only eighteen years old and already surrounded by a bunch of suitors, how can I not be angry?" Li Jinhao sighed helplessly.
He's not blind. He'd seen that young man's mannerisms when he leaned in—it was the kind of pretentious flirting he'd seen all before.
I never expected that I would be so angry when my adorable daughter, whom I had just become a father, was about to be snatched away by my brat.
Most importantly, although I knew the young man's words were probably lines from a play, the timing was just too "perfect."
Hearing this only made things worse for the already upset father.
“Hey, I think I met you when I was eighteen.” Zhou Jiaxian was even more amused and exasperated by this explanation.
Looking at Li Jinhao from afar, who still seemed sullen despite the attempts of those around him to persuade him, Shang Hanyou scratched his head nervously and cautiously asked Li Sishi, who had just returned, "Uncle... is he alright?"
Li Sishi glanced at him with some surprise: This guy really is very familiar with the elders, calling them "Uncle" right off the bat...
Fortunately, he spoke softly this time so that Li Jinhao over there couldn't hear him—otherwise, his already critically ill father would probably have given him another death stare.
"It's nothing, it just so happens that we ran into each other. Who told you to be so unlucky?" Considering that her parents were still nearby, Li Sishi, who usually let loose and joked around with Shang Hanyou, had toned down her behavior considerably. She didn't even touch him or slap him a couple of times while talking to him.
"Sigh...who could have imagined such a coincidence?" Shang Hanyou also let out a long sigh.
Although arranged marriages are no longer common, relationships approved by parents and elders are always smoother and longer-lasting than those without. He lost the first step and doesn't know how much effort it will take to catch up...
However, there wasn't much time for him to wallow in self-pity. The chubby director was already waving to them from the other side, signaling them to get ready to start filming.
The two did a few warm-up exercises to stretch their muscles, and after one last rehearsal of their lines without turning on the camera, the chubby director, who was very economical with film, nodded to signal the camera to prepare.
"A!"
The two immediately got into character and began a conversation.
"Are you kidding me? How much do you think you'd pay me to pretend to be your boyfriend?" Shang Hanyou said impatiently, playing the role of a gangster.
“One thousand one days!” Li Sishi quickly replied.
"This isn't enough for me to go to the bamboo pavilion and play two rounds of mahjong. Get out of here and don't bother me!" Shang Hanyou's tone became even more impatient.
"Brother E-mosquito, I beg you, among all the people I know, only you can help me. At most, if you commit a crime and have to go to jail in the future, I will plead with the judge to let you serve a few fewer years..." Li Sishi spoke in a completely innocent tone, as if she had never seen the dangers of the human world.
"Sit down, sit down... It's very auspicious for you! You'll be going to jail!" Shang Hanyou even waved him away in a bad mood.
The two ran while talking, because they had already rehearsed their lines and were familiar with each other.
The back-and-forth little gestures, combined with the contrasting yet humorous lines, made filming this scene go very smoothly.
As Li Sishi ran towards the finish line marked with a red line, she sped up and crossed the line ahead of Shang Hanyou, who had slowed down in coordination.
"Cut! Good take!" the fat director shouted, then gestured to the two of them to indicate that the scene was done.
The advantage of filming fashion dramas is that makeup removal is quick and easy. Sometimes, if there are no plot requirements, the actors don't even need to change into their own clothes. After filming, they can simply remove their makeup, tidy themselves up, and leave.
However, since the scene this afternoon involved running and filming, she was bound to sweat a bit, and the costumes were arranged by the production crew. So, Li Sishi went back to the nearby house that the production crew had borrowed to change and remove her makeup, intending to make herself feel refreshed before heading home.
While removing her makeup, Li Sishi took out her mobile phone again and dialed Ling Chen's number: this time she had a legitimate reason.
Because she had just received a notification from Zhou Shengyi that "Hero in My Heart" was scheduled for release during the upcoming Christmas season.
That way, she could ask Ling Chen to be her date at the movie premiere and then take the opportunity to talk to him about his agent...
"Really? But Leo is currently working on a charity event he took on earlier and really can't get away. I'm sorry." Unfortunately, it was his manager, Lei Jun, who answered the phone in the early hours of the morning.
"Oh, okay, sorry to bother you. Thank you for letting me know." Li Sishi politely hung up the phone.
Lei Jun stared at his cell phone, his expression rather gloomy: although he had previously planned to mold Ling Chen and Li Sishi into a perfect couple, as Lu Yiting had suggested…
But now he has other ideas. If he lets Lingchen ride with such a good friend who has powerful backers... then it might affect what he's going to do next.
This is somewhat disadvantageous.
"Brother Jun, have you heard from me lately?" Returning backstage in the early hours after her performance, she wearily waited for her makeup and hair to be removed before tentatively asking, "It seems like the movie I had a cameo in, 'Hero in My Heart,' is scheduled for release around the end of the year..."
As if afraid that Lei Jun would think he had acted on his own initiative, he hurriedly added in the early morning, "That's Zhou Shengyi's movie. There should be quite a few people attending the premiere. If I go, I can meet more people and maybe get more job opportunities..."
“You’ve been busy with commercial performances lately and you must be tired. Don’t push yourself so hard; young people need to take care of their health.” Lei Jun forced a smile. “I haven’t received any notification about that yet…”
"But didn't you previously hold a benefit performance to raise funds for the children's sugar pill fund?"
“Yes…” Recalling that the two of them had argued about this issue several times, Ling Chen answered somewhat embarrassedly, “Brother Jun, I know this will indeed have some impact on work, but raising more funds will help more children prevent diseases, which is equivalent to saving a family…”
He was born in the capital, and although he came to Hong Kong when he was very young, the mainland is still his home.
With today's technology, such a small sugar pill can prevent the terrible polio. Moreover, it was developed by our own country. Shouldn't he do his best to raise funds for this so that all children can have a free, sweet "vaccine sugar pill"?
“I know your intention is to do good.” Lei Jun looked at him gently. “I was too strict with you before. Actually, with your current popularity, it would be better to reduce your commercial performances. I plan to let you follow your own ideas and take the route of fewer but better performances. This way, you will have more time to do charity performances to raise funds.”
“I have approved your participation in those charity performances you mentioned to me before.”
Upon hearing this in the early hours of the morning, she was overjoyed: "Really? Thank you, Brother Jun!"
"Alright, alright, hurry up and change your clothes. Get through the next few shows quickly, then you can go to the events you want to attend." Lei Jun nudged him. "After those charity performances, you can't afford to be distracted by the concerts and album releases after the New Year."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
