Chapter 187: Various Thoughts, Maybe...
After the seven-day "Beautiful Bloom" themed concert series concluded, Li Sishi was officially recorded in history: in October 1995, at the age of 19 and a half, she became the youngest female artist to hold a solo concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum.
Prior to this, only Chan Chi-wing, who had entered the Hong Kong Coliseum as a "space whirlwind" back then, had held four solo concerts at the age of 18 and a half. However, the number of shows, the results, and the response were all significantly different from those of Lee Sze-sze's generation...
So with such dazzling achievements, all the previous praises finally became the truth, and most of the doubts also disappeared. The people of the whole city began to understand that they would eventually witness the birth of another superstar in the music scene.
No, perhaps he's not just a rising star in the music scene, but a rising star in Hong Kong's entertainment industry.
As is well known, Li Sishi is a former beauty pageant contestant with outstanding results. Therefore, in addition to her exceptional looks, she has also served as a promotional ambassador for Hong Kong, traveling to many places around the world to promote Hong Kong and engage in friendly interactions and exchanges with the local communities.
If it weren't for the nearly two years of intermittent beauty pageant activities that slowed down Li Sishi's development, she might have even broken the record for the youngest male artist to hold a solo concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum in one go—after all, this round of amazing themed solo concerts was only a little over a year after Li Sishi actually started acting and singing.
However, she was already able to hold a high-quality solo concert tour of seven shows in her debut performance, and this was all while balancing her acting career and university studies.
A young person who is beautiful, academically excellent, and has a good personality is an irresistible charm for any normal person of any age.
She is the "perfect child" in the eyes of elders, the "I love you so much, Sishi BB" in the eyes of her peers, and the "pretty May sister" that her whole family agrees they can and should like...
Of course, amidst this overwhelming storm of news, the protagonist of the storm remained completely unaffected.
It wasn't because she was calm and unfazed by praise or criticism, but because she was frantically attending classes and tutoring classes all over the place: even with a father like Li Jinhao, a famous figure in the legal field, helping her with extra tutoring and keeping her academic performance at the top of her class, she still had to squeeze in a little bit of "water" from her busy career during the day to attend classes whenever possible, according to her schedule.
Normally, it's about accumulating small amounts over time, but now, with movies finished and concerts over, but before all the major year-end events that I have to attend have started, I'm taking advantage of this great opportunity to free up all my daytime class time to finish this semester's coursework ahead of schedule...
As for other tasks such as selecting and practicing songs and striving to release the second album as soon as possible, they were all left to be done in the evening. Zhuang Menghua was not the kind of short-sighted boss who did not need Li Sishi to suggest reducing the workload and increasing the study time accordingly. She had already arranged these things in advance.
If it were someone else, they would definitely take advantage of this popularity to quickly arrange various commercial performances for their artists in other cities, and make a good harvest of popularity and profits, regardless of whether the artists' careers will also become "harvested" like before. They only care about the present and not the future.
The truth is that the average level of education among the general public is not high these days, and most of the artists in this industry come from humble backgrounds. They enter the industry early for fame and money, and their knowledge and vision are not very good.
If these kinds of artists can find a good company and boss after entering the industry, and are also willing to listen to advice, then that's a good thing; but unfortunately, the most common situation is that they are forced into a situation where they are paired with a particularly troublesome company and boss, or a normal company and boss encountering a particularly troublesome artist...
In the music industry, there are those who disregard their career prospects and only care about the "money" of commercial performances. In the film industry, there are also those who can abandon morality and principles for the sake of "money." The reference table of film remuneration prices for various male and female artists circulating in the Hong Kong film circle often has a special note such as "the remuneration for artists who accept Category III films is calculated separately." This is because some artists will accept Category III films for a much higher figure than their current market value, either out of necessity or voluntarily.
Zhuang Menghua certainly wouldn't let her hard-won second promising talent go to waste.
Moreover, a higher education is a key factor in gaining public favor. It's not that Li Sishi has to reduce her work to balance her university studies and continue her education; she can totally accept that. At worst, she'll just have to put more effort into arranging Li Sishi's work and study schedule.
With such strong support, Li Sishi naturally knew how to reciprocate. Every night, she would return to work on time until late at night before hurriedly leaving to go back to her apartment to rest. Her daily routine was so precise that paparazzi could often catch her every time they tried to stake her out.
Unfortunately, Li Sishi didn't have any big news to startle the whole city at this point; her daily routine was so monotonous that they...
I'm too lazy to deal with the fact that even when Li Sishi wants to do some interviews with the TV station to show her recent situation, she has to specially arrange to meet with a reporter she knows...
The inability to follow the crowd and chase rising prices is a reality of our times, although Li Sishi certainly cannot be considered "outdated" now.
But as soon as she is no longer one of the most sought-after stars, she will be temporarily forgotten behind the screen and in print.
Those who remember her are actually people with a bit more "leisure" or "refined taste," such as the legendary, long-unseen Li family.
The current head of the family, Old Master Li, is still vigorous despite his advanced age, but his unworthy descendants always manage to set off a major scandal from time to time. As a result, even his great-granddaughter Li Sishi, who "neglects her proper duties" and runs off to the entertainment industry, is considered "okay" to him.
Even the scandals that would occasionally surface after Li Sishi went into the entertainment industry were calmly accepted by Old Master Li – after all, before that, Old Madam Li of the previous branch of the family had intentionally let her nephew from her maternal family be adopted and then inherit the family property, which would undoubtedly benefit outsiders.
Now, Li Sishi has become the only heir of the Fang family, and according to rumors and eyewitness evidence, it is an open secret in the wealthy circles that the Fang family's enormous fortune will be inherited by Li Sishi, their adopted great-granddaughter.
This leads to an unspoken fact that everyone knows – in the laws of the port city, cousins can register for marriage.
Although Li Sishi of this generation cannot marry back into the Li family, her children can marry into the new generation of Li family members.
Therefore, while secretly having people suppress and control the family of Madam Li's nephew and Li Sishi's suitors from wealthy families, Old Master Li was also somewhat pleased about Li Sishi's rumored affair with a male celebrity.
Male celebrities are great! Even Shang Hanyou, who is known for his acting skills, is a handsome young man with regular features and a tall and straight figure. Moreover, all the male celebrities who have been rumored to be dating Li Sishi are known for their healthy image and have not picked up any bad habits of wealthy families.
The man, who has withstood the scrutiny of camera lenses, television screens, and movie screens, combined with Li Sishi's good looks inherited from her parents, will undoubtedly produce extremely beautiful children in the future.
When they marry back the Li family members, the assets that have been divided up and have grown significantly over the years will naturally return to the main branch.
Even if the new generation of the Li family is really too incompetent, Li Sishi can still...
A safety net option, whether for her or her descendants—the Li family has been able to stand strong through the ups and downs of the past century because each generation of the head of the family has done its best to maintain the bloodline while also accepting some "unusual heads of the family" during difficult times.
For example, a talented and capable daughter, or a sufficiently outstanding member of a collateral branch, or even a widowed daughter-in-law or a son-in-law who has married into the family, can temporarily take power.
Anyone who can keep the Li family from collapsing is qualified to inherit the family business.
“I heard that Sishi has been getting quite close to that kid from the Rong family lately. He was even invited as a guest at the concert, and reporters have occasionally photographed Sishi visiting Rong Juezhang’s house…” Xiao Lisu Bao, who prided herself on being the granddaughter who knew her grandfather best, immediately stepped forward to add a sentence when she saw the change in her grandfather’s expression.
"Oh, that child is indeed quite good." Old Master Li thought carefully for a moment and nodded slightly.
A distant cousin like Rong Juezhang, whose family background isn't too far off, who is the youngest son and doesn't need to worry about inheriting the family business, and who is also quite good-looking, is definitely much better than Wu Weisheng's so-called maternal grand-nephew—especially considering the prerequisite that the Li family wants to get closer to Li Jinhao's branch of the family again.
"Let's wait and see, there's no rush now." Old Master Li said softly, looking at the autumn colors that were beginning to change.
His old bones can hold on for a while longer. No one can predict the future. Making preparations for both possibilities to prevent unforeseen circumstances is his current decision as the head of the family regarding the future path of the Li family.
Unaware of the undercurrents lurking beneath her seemingly peaceful life, Li Sishi, having finally finished some of her crucial work, rang Rong Juezhang's doorbell one evening—this night's card game was both a relaxation and a social activity.
"You're here..." Rong Juezhang, who had heard his card-playing friend Tang Jingwen, whose skill level was comparable to his own, mention several times that he wanted to invite Li Sishi to play cards. Tonight, he was finally able to invite his busy cousin, who was immersed in her studies and career, out. As soon as he opened the door, his smile vanished instantly, and he almost shouted through gritted teeth, "Hey, hey, hey, May, little May, how old are you? Do you need to bring your parents when you come out to play?"
Although Li Jinhao, standing next to Li Sishi, was quite dissatisfied with Rong Juezhang's reaction, he maintained a polite smile on the surface—though his tone, while gentle and polite, also carried a hint of gritted teeth: "Excuse me."
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