Chapter 177: The order is too good, it's not about the relationship...
"Really, no." Li Sishi emphasized again very seriously.
Shang Hanyou's expression shifted for a moment, and finally he could only nod to show that he respected the other party's idea: "Or you have your own plans, but there is one thing I hope you remember: if anything changes, I can still make time to come over in those few days."
After all, apart from himself, the other guests on the guest list in front of him were only "temporarily drafted".
If the recipient is unavailable when Li Sishi sends the invitation, then the list of guests will still be subject to change.
"Do you believe that if I repeat what you said, someone will come and teach you a lesson?" Li Sishi said with a half-smile.
“I would say the same thing even in front of her, unless it’s in public.” Shang Hanyou shrugged nonchalantly.
Aside from the Miss Hong Kong finals stage that left him with PTSD from being a "soulful singer," he and Huang Qianyan had collaborated on many films in the past. His usual approach is to be tactful and diplomatic in front of strangers, but he becomes particularly talkative in front of acquaintances. Not only has he criticized Huang Qianyan, the "soulful singer," but he has also argued with his god-sister, Cen Xilian, a powerful singer.
"That's true, who doesn't know how 'domineering' you are?" Li Sishi had personally witnessed how Cen Xilian wanted to cover Shang Hanyou's song on the anniversary stage, but he "disliked" her and only managed to get her to do it after some fuss. Therefore, she was very familiar with the karaoke king's personality.
"I just like to sing..." Although he is a well-known karaoke king in the industry, Shang Hanyou still lacks self-awareness and insists on refusing to admit his true nature.
"Alright, alright, let's end this topic here. I'm too lazy to argue with you." Li Sishi glanced at him, both amused and annoyed, and then continued to outline the list of guests.
Since it wasn't a trade secret, Shang Hanyou continued to peek around curiously.
The guest for the fifth night is Le Yun... Well, he's the mentor who's been guiding Li Sishi through the music scene. As Li Sishi's first solo concert, she definitely has to reserve a guest spot for her mentor, Le Yun.
Pei Yansang on the sixth night—well, she's another of Li Sishi's good friends. Plus, it's obvious that there was a male artist and a female artist separated by a door, so it's not surprising that this name appeared.
However, which male celebrity should be on the last night?
If Le Yun hadn't been scheduled for the fifth night, Shang Hanyou would definitely have guessed without hesitation that Jia would be on the last night.
The guest is Le Yun; but now Le Yun has been tentatively scheduled for the fifth night, so who will be the person on the last night, and who else could it be?
He and Lingchen are both currently top-tier celebrities, while Leyun is a senior master with an extraordinary status. As the grand finale of the last night, this guest must be someone who can truly carry on the star power of everyone before them...
Watching curiously as the pen danced in Li Sishi's hand, and the ink slowly meandered into a familiar name, Shang Hanyou's eyes widened even more intriguedly: "Rong Juezhang?!"
Have the two of them ever had any contact?
Shang Hanyou scratched his head and racked his brains, but in the end, he could only recall that the only connection between Li Sishi and Rong Juezhang was the music lecture at the Miss Hong Kong pageant and their adjacent seats at this year's Golden Film Awards ceremony.
Although Rong Juezhang likes to mentor younger artists, he only returned to the music scene a few months ago and is probably still busy recording albums and filming. How could a newcomer like Li Sishi, whom he has only met two or three times, have the power to invite him over?
So this is a favor done by Zhuang Menghua?
To ensure that Li Sishi, a favorite of the group, would be the star of the 1980s who had just returned to the music scene and was currently very popular, they specially invited her as the guest performer for the last night.
"There aren't that many twists and turns, he's just my distant cousin!"
Hearing Shang Hanyou's wildly imaginative guess, Li Sishi explained with a wry smile, "He lost to me at mahjong before, so I have at least two slots in my hands..."
"Is it really that frivolous?" Upon hearing this reason, Shang Hanyou couldn't help but laugh.
As for the news that Li Sishi and Rong Juezhang were distant cousins, he wasn't too surprised: Hong Kong is not a small city, and it's not uncommon for the younger generation to discover that they are relatives after knowing each other for a long time. Moreover, both Li Sishi and Rong Juezhang's families were from wealthy families in the old days, so it was common for their elders to be related by marriage.
Most importantly, if the two are confirmed to be distant cousins, he, the suitor who has not yet been able to win over, can rest assured: although Rong Juezhang is a senior and there is quite a gap in age between him and Li Sishi... but he just can't help it that he looks young and handsome!
Even if it were Ling Chen, who is currently recognized as handsome, were to face off against Rong Juezhang, a mature man who is like fine wine, at the peak of his charm and mellowness—he would probably lose more often than he wins.
Not to mention that Rong Juezhang can be considered Ling Chen's mentor in the entertainment industry. Ever since Ling Chen released his album, Rong Juezhang has always admired and supported him.
The award ceremony even had someone fly back from abroad to present him with the award.
If an idol becomes a love rival, that's far more exciting than having your friend, who's practically a godfather and therefore a godbrother, suddenly become your love rival...
Thankfully, they are relatives—although having a brother-in-law like Rong Juezhang, who is quite adept at having fun, is not necessarily a good thing, at least he is not on the opposite side of a "love rival," which is reassuring.
After all, Rong Juezhang is a senior master who can both sing and act. Not only did Ling Chen regard him as an idol, but he also personally witnessed Rong Juezhang's shining star back then.
Unaware of the complex emotions Shang Hanyou was experiencing, Li Sishi, having just finished drafting the guest list, held her pen and sighed from the bottom of her heart: "Speaking of which, that's how Sister Pei's schedule came about."
"Oh, I'm so grateful they insisted on fighting even though they didn't know how, which allowed me to get a lot of advantage." Li Sishi couldn't help but smile, her eyes crinkling at the same time.
"If I had known that playing mahjong could change their schedule, I would have gone and played a few rounds myself," Shang Hanyou said with a laugh.
"Forget about it. Sister Jia Ting said your mahjong skills aren't very good, and if you lose money to her, you'll definitely go back and drag Yang Shaowei to play mahjong to settle the score..." Li Sishi gave him a disdainful look.
"How dare she say that about me? She was the one who cheated to win against me!" Upon hearing this false information, Shang Hanyou angrily pulled Li Sishi aside and began to explain, "During breaks from filming, we all gathered together to play mahjong. She won against everyone by cheating, and because I won a lot of money from Tony Leung, she specifically targeted me when we played mahjong later, making me lose as badly as the beggar gang leader in the movie I played!"
Li Sishi suppressed a laugh and listened with great difficulty to his increasingly aggrieved explanation before nodding with difficulty: "Well, if that's the reason, then you've really had a hard time."
"I knew it! No wonder Jia Ting came to this show; it turns out you won it all back at the mahjong table..."
After thinking it over, Shang Hanyou seemed to be able to connect the recent events.
He initially thought that You Jiating accepted the second female lead role in this movie because of him—but it turns out that his influence is less important than a set of mahjong tiles…
"It's not about the face of the mahjong tiles, it's about my face," Li Sishi corrected.
In this small circle of card games, she and You Jiating could almost be considered the Southern Mahjong God and the Northern Mahjong Saint, respectively, so it was inevitable that they would have a mutual respect as "strong players".
Of course, this is different from the fact that most of the other card players are bad at the game but addicted to it.
There is some connection...
After having dinner with the crew, Li Sishi returned to her apartment exhausted, quickly washed up, and another day began.
There were no early morning shoots the next day, but Li Sishi still arrived at the TV station early and handed over the preliminary list of guest candidates she had drafted.
Lu Yiting looked at it carefully and nodded: "I will arrange it for you. You should also call them yourself to show your sincerity."
“No problem.” Li Sishi nodded, and taking advantage of the relatively free time, she started making a phone call on the office landline while reading the script.
Since Shang Hanyou had made the appointment in person, Li Sishi started calling Wen Huihui, who was the guest on the second night, and continued calling her all the way through.
Wen Huihui was still concerned about how her fans had almost caused Li Sishi's troubles. Upon hearing Li Sishi's invitation, she immediately said on the phone that it was no problem and that she would definitely coordinate her schedule to try to have more time to go and rehearse.
The second call was to Lingchen. He was pleasantly surprised when he answered: "Hey, May? You want to invite me to be a guest at your concert? No problem!"
"Have you checked your recent schedule?" He agreed without even thinking, and Li Sishi felt she needed to remind him.
"Now that I have a new agent, I can make my own decisions," Ling Chen laughed on the other end of the phone. "Besides, you were my 'guest' before, so I definitely have to repay that favor."
That surprised and happy tone suddenly turned somber when she heard that she was scheduled for the third night instead of the first or last night.
Then, in the early hours of the morning, she couldn't help but ask in a low voice, with a hint of grievance, "Who were they the first two nights? And who's the last night?"
The tone was so aggrieved that Li Sishi could practically picture a crying cat emoji in her mind...
Hearing the silence on the other end of the phone, Ling Chen hurriedly added, "I don't mind the sorting issue, I just... I just wanted to know..."
“It’s Hanyou and A-V. Hanyou is on the first night because he was right next to me when I was writing the list, and he’s going to start his next tour soon, so I put him on the first night to make it easier for him to arrange his schedule later.” Li Sishi thought for a moment and briefly explained her reasoning, “You’ve been in Hong Kong recently, so I put you on the last night.”
"Okay... Ling Chen accepted Li Sishi's arrangement with some dissatisfaction. After feeling annoyed that Shang Hanyou had secretly schemed by taking advantage of his proximity, he continued to ask, "A-V is ranked second because you need a door between you, and you also need to show everyone your friendship."
"That's right, you're really smart!"
Li Sishi quickly soothed the aggrieved cat with compliments and continued, "The last night was with Lester, and I finally managed to get him..."
After hearing the news that Rong Juezhang and Li Sishi were distant cousins, Ling Chen's brows instantly relaxed: "Okay, I'll try to make as much time as possible to rehearse!"
Great, not a love rival, but "my uncle..."
Compared to Cheng Erjian, a fake maternal uncle who embezzled public funds but was actually a senior brother, Rong Juezhang, a cousin with familial ties, was the real "maternal uncle"!
Moreover, he has a very good relationship with the senior Rong Juezhang... So, all things considered, this is a great opportunity for things to turn around!
After experiencing two extreme emotional swings in one phone call, I couldn't help but clutch my chest and let out a long sigh of relief after hanging up in the early hours of the morning.
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