Chapter 169: The New Play Negotiated, the More "The Play is Fake, the Feelings are Real"...
The final outcome of this competitive mini-game was that Zou Huayan and Li Dewen followed Huo Gucheng's "hint" and attempted to build a human pyramid, but both of them lost their footing and fell off the nine-square grid box.
"Yeah! We won!" Li Sishi quickly jumped down from Shang Hanyou's hands, beaming as she ran over to take the prize gift box and vouchers handed to her by the host, and called her teammates over to share the prizes.
After playing this incredibly addictive game, the relationship between Shang Hanyou, Lingchen, and Cheng Erjian seemed to have improved considerably. They all came to the table in front of Li Sishi to collect their respective prizes. Of course, even if they still harbored some resentment towards the others, they had to maintain a harmonious and friendly facade while recording a TV show.
It's not so much hypocrisy as it is a general rule in this industry: try not to bring personal emotions into your work.
Let's not even talk about competitive situations like this, where everyone is just a suitor for a pretty girl. Even if the media really exposes that they're fighting over a girl, resources, and status, they still have to control their likes and dislikes in public. After the show, whether they don't interact with each other in private or they argue when they meet is their own business.
But when you're on stage, you have to suppress all your emotions, stick to doing your job, and not let the production team down.
In this "dedicated" atmosphere, after recording this quarterly audition, everyone returned backstage with their assistants and a few staff members who were temporarily borrowed to help carry the bouquets, and accepted interviews from reporters.
Unexpectedly, Li Sishi received the most bouquets tonight. Reporters who were betting on which of the Four Heavenly Kings would receive the most flowers all swarmed around Li Sishi, the newcomer, and enthusiastically conducted their first round of interviews with her.
"I was also very surprised. I am really grateful for their support and love, which allowed me to receive so many beautiful flowers..." Although she was secretly pleased that she could still achieve the number one flower receipt even when surrounded by her seniors, as a newcomer and junior, Li Sishi certainly could not show this proud expression to the public.
Therefore, when facing interviews, Li Sishi always used a very standard humble tone, never responding to the reporter's attempts to lead her to compare herself to others. She only praised and thanked her fans, and at most mentioned the usual platitudes about how talented the others were and how they took good care of her, a junior.
Unable to gain favor with Li Sishi, the reporters gradually dispersed to gamble on the Four Heavenly Kings, their questions once again employing the familiar tactic of leading questions—a method Li Sishi had previously heard Rong Juezhang explain at the mahjong table.
They say they deliberately sow discord, making it easy to seize upon a celebrity's momentary slip of the tongue and then use it as a basis to make a big fuss.
If the celebrities have a good relationship, they will speak up for each other and cover for each other, so other people won't be able to get any juicy gossip from them.
Although she knew this method was a way to extract information and information, as an artist who always had to be wary of such tactics, Li Sishi couldn't help but feel a little dislike for it.
Fortunately, compared to her, a young junior, the others present were all seasoned veterans of reporters' tricks and their answers were impeccably tactful and smooth.
Even the somewhat socially awkward Cheng Erjian could talk nonsense with a straight face. After only a few sentences, he steered the conversation to the latest games and animations, talking at length with the reporter about his gaming experiences, further solidifying his reputation as a "Hong Kong gaming expert"...
Everything and everyone around her is gradually growing, just like her. She gradually shuts out her truest self in front of others, leaving her most generous and dignified side as a celebrity in time and memory.
Only by "archaeologically" studying various early programs can we discover that these celebrities, who are known for their handsome, beautiful, generous, and proper demeanor, were once just like ordinary people, with a silly and adorable side that suited their age.
After the season ended, Li Sishi specially found a craftsman who makes dried flowers and paid out of her own pocket to make these bouquets full of fans' love into dried flower bookmarks. She will redistribute them to her fans when she has the chance, so that this love, which could only be brilliant for a moment, can be reborn in another way and return to the hands of those who hold the same love.
Lu Yiting, Li Sishi's agent, knew about Li Sishi's behavior and praised her for being exceptionally romantic, saying that she truly deserved the title of "beautiful," not only for her unparalleled beauty but also for her wonderful and touching thoughts.
Flowers are not like gifts that can be preserved for a long time, but it is definitely not acceptable not to give or receive flowers at every live performance. The love entrusted to a bouquet is beautiful and dazzling but fleeting. Many celebrities will take special care to preserve the gifts given by fans, but for bouquets, they will mostly just hold them for a while, put them in a vase for a few days, and then regretfully ask others to dispose of the withered flowers.
However, Li Sishi found a completely new path that didn't cost a lot of money, but was particularly moving for her fans.
Such a clever and thoughtful idea is truly ingenious. In the future, when I suggest organizing fan clubs, movie fan clubs, or other gatherings for her, it will be something that will move and excite her fans.
The point is: Look, your favorite idols have always valued you, and the love you gave will one day return to you in a different form.
Imagine such a scene, where the gift is light but the sentiment is heavy; how could anyone not be moved?
Although this practice later caused Li Sishi's fans to become increasingly obsessed with sending flowers and to "compete" with each other, at that moment, everyone who heard about Li Sishi's actions praised her highly, commending her for her cleverness and care for her fans. Even some haters became casual fans because of it...
Of course, that's all in the future.
Li Sishi is currently continuing her work closely, finishing up the last bit of promotion for "Mermaid Romance" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" in Hong Kong, while also discussing various details of the new film with the director surnamed Liu.
Director Lau started his career in the drama department of Hong Kong Radio. Since his debut, he has mainly made dramas of various unique themes and is a frequent nominee for the Best Director Award at the Hong Kong Golden Film Awards. Unfortunately, just like Shang Hanyou, he always seems to fall short of winning the award.
Two years ago, Director Liu tried to combine commercial techniques in filmmaking. His film "The Legend of the Five Hundred Million Dollar Detective," based on a true story, caused a huge stir in Hong Kong and became one of the representative works of the "heroic legend" genre in Hong Kong's film industry. If it hadn't coincided with the award-winning masterpiece "Crippled Hero" that year, it would have been uncertain who would have won the Golden Film Award for Best Film.
As for the script that Director Liu presented this time, although it is not a legendary story adapted from a real person, the method of consciously reorganizing and reconstructing reality is the same as his previous work. It uses the life stories of ordinary people to reflect social reality, and still retains a trace of warmth in the coldness, and hides all kinds of helplessness in the laughter.
"The Voice of Dreams"...
As Shang Hanyou looked at the script in his hand, the more he read, the more he felt that part of the male protagonist's life experience was really based on his own back then. The only difference was that he woke up in time from the fall caused by pride, while the male protagonist in the script never recovered and fell from a promising singer into a cynical and cowardly man.
"The script did indeed reference you to some extent in terms of character design, which is why I especially wanted to invite you to play the male lead in this movie. This kind of allegorical creative technique has a long history, and Director Liu wasn't afraid of his strong opinions about it, so he simply and proactively revealed the truth."
After all, most of his works are based on real-life material and then reinterpreted.
Instead of hiding and pretending, it's better to be open and honest with the person in question—after all, it's not like he's being falsely accused. If Shang Hanyou is bothered by it, others will just think he's petty.
Of course, Shang Hanyou, after reading the script, didn't think there was anything wrong with it. In fact, he felt that what Li Sishi had told him before was indeed true. The male lead of this movie was practically "tailor-made" for him. If he missed it, it might be a regret for a lifetime.
And most importantly, the female lead, who also has a significant role, is played by Li Sishi. Whether he's aiming to make another run for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, or simply looking forward to a rare opportunity to work with a girl he likes, this movie is perfect for him...
As for his salary—he's not short of money like he was when he first started out. If he comes across a good script, he can negotiate it properly.
11
Just like the undercover film "The New Two-Faced Man" that he made last year to compete for awards, it was also a small-budget, niche film. But because the script was well-written and had great potential for awards, he decisively squeezed out time from his busy work to cooperate with the filming.
He has just finished one round of concerts, and the next tour won't start for another two months. If things are arranged properly, it's not impossible for him to squeeze in a movie slot...
Seeing that Shang Hanyou was already interested, Li Sishi gave Director Liu a wink.
Director Liu understood and immediately said that they would try their best to accommodate Shang Hanyou's schedule so that he wouldn't have to worry too much about the availability of his time.
"The only problem right now is that a large part of this film is planned to be shot in the walled villages of Yuen Long. In order to avoid the time wasted traveling back and forth, I plan to have the crew rent houses in the walled villages there temporarily. So if you have other work to arrange, you have to report in advance before coming back to the city..." Director Liu added.
“No problem. I used to go there often when I was filming. As long as you talk to the people there, it’s fine.” Shang Hanyou had no objections to this.
Filming in Yuen Long Wai Village was a long and remote trip, and many things were inconvenient, but that was secondary. The most important thing was to deal with those local bullies who liked to collect protection money.
“That’s no problem. My cousin’s team’s training ground is in the walled village where the filming took place. The sponsor of the Qizhi team is a local from that walled village and has a lot of prestige there. If we go through his connections to get into the village, the villagers shouldn’t give us any trouble,” Li Sishi chimed in.
"In that case, I'm relieved." Shang Hanyou nodded, then turned to Li Sishi and smiled, "If we have time, we can visit our cousin. He's training alone over there, and it must be quite tough for him."
Seeing this guy's tone and manner, as if he were someone else's brother-in-law even though he wasn't actually her brother-in-law yet, Director Liu finally understood the real reason why Lu Yiting had consulted him about the female lead earlier: No wonder Lu Yiting was so confident in telling him that as long as Li Sishi was chosen as the female lead, Shang Hanyou, whom he wanted to invite but couldn't, would definitely make time to take the role—it turned out that the rumors between the two of them were indeed not unfounded!
I don't know if my movie will have a chance to bring this couple together. If it does, it will be a great marketing point in the future!
Moreover... the more genuine the emotion, the more touching it becomes, and this one has a good chance of winning an award!
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