Chapter 227: A Deliberate Move – Watching her smile, I...
Having also witnessed this hilarious "comedy theater" of misunderstandings upon misunderstandings, yet ultimately leading to a happy ending, Li Sishi couldn't help but chuckle as she looked at Ling Chen, who had been forced to sit next to her: "You two really know how to cause trouble."
"I'm innocent! I didn't do anything!" Although this might sound like he was being hypocritical after getting the benefit, Ling Chen was in a good mood, so he shamelessly joked around.
The restaurant was brightly lit tonight, which made his pale skin, which looked like it hadn't seen the sun for a while, appear exceptionally cool. In addition, his outfit tonight suited him particularly well. He wore a black suit jacket over a silk shirt and had the top two buttons undone in a particularly "clever" way. If there were a best-dressed award like the Jade Solid Gold Awards or the Golden Film Awards, his look would definitely have a place in the male artist category.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ling Chen felt a little uncomfortable feeling Li Sishi's scrutinizing gaze.
"You look great tonight, who helped you with the outfit?" Li Sishi asked with a smile.
"Oh, you mean this outfit? An old man helped me put together it." Ling Chen tugged at his clothes and began to explain to Li Sishi, "Recently, I've been collaborating with the charity organization on a drive-up event for seniors to eat vegetarian food in the mountains. After I finished driving practice, Quan offered to find a stylist for my awards ceremony look, and one of the old men in the car, who used to be a designer, overheard us..."
Li Sishi listened quietly to his story of "good deeds being rewarded," and couldn't help but smile slightly: "No wonder, very few people wear this style of silk shirt nowadays."
Nowadays, most clothing fabrics are matte, and shirts with a light silky sheen can easily look greasy if not styled properly.
Fortunately, this retired tycoon is truly capable. His style is both classic and fashionable. The clever trick of unbuttoning two buttons to create a deep V-neck, combined with his calm demeanor after surviving the ordeal in the early morning, makes him look "clean and fresh" even though he is dressed in a formal suit.
Knowing that Li Sishi's close cousin is currently studying design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, I subconsciously assumed she was admiring my new look in the early morning. However, I didn't expect that her well-rested and refreshed appearance would give me a pleasant surprise, like a long-awaited reunion. After all, like many handsome men in Hong Kong's entertainment circle who are clearly good-looking but consider themselves "just average," they don't really care much about their appearance...
So he continued somewhat awkwardly, "That old man did this hairstyle for me on a whim, and now I have to..."
If we try to contact him, he might not be willing to "come out of retirement" again...
"What are you thinking? Although I admire this look, I have plenty of stylists around me, and sometimes I can even temporarily fill in myself!" Li Sishi waved her hand, both amused and exasperated.
She possesses the golden finger of rebirth, a vision decades ahead of the present, and the talent she received from her cousin Zhou Huichang in her early years. Combined with a face with extremely high fashion sense and a star figure, all these factors combine to create the image of a fashion expert who never makes a mistake whenever she appears in public.
Especially nowadays, many artists like to challenge themselves and follow Western trends, regardless of whether they are suitable or not, which results in one car crash scene after another. In contrast, Li Sishi, who always looks beautiful, is not only praised in the local entertainment industry, but is also quite famous in the fashion industry.
"Oh, I thought so..." Ling Chen scratched his head a little embarrassedly, realizing he had misunderstood.
“However, although I don’t lack stylists, my cousin Changchang is really lacking a mentor. If you have the chance, could you give me that old man’s contact information?” Li Sishi thought for a moment and then said.
Although my cousin Zhou Huichang has been recognized for her talent by a professor at the university of science and technology, she is still only a freshman. No matter how much the professor wants to help, he won't have time to give her much extra tutoring. Besides, that professor already has a junior student who is about to graduate.
Compared to a "personally trained disciple" like Huang Jiaze, a newbie like Zhou Huichang who just wanted to make a quick buck is probably only good for doing odd jobs and gaining experience.
Among the people Li Sishi knows who are involved in this industry, Rong Juezhang was also pleasantly surprised by Zhou Huichang's talent. Unfortunately, he had just returned to the music scene and was also busy with film work, so he certainly didn't have much free time to mentor newcomers.
"Oh, I see. I'll try to ask for you next time I have the chance."
After thinking it over carefully in the early morning, and remembering that there should be another event like this every now and then, he said this very enthusiastically.
Putting aside the fact that Zhou Huichang is Li Sishi's cousin, he should pay more attention to her just because she has always been a fan of his.
Moreover, strictly speaking, it was precisely because Zhou Huichang had been his fan for a long time that he and Li Sishi were able to have such a dramatic first encounter.
"Changchang would be so happy to know this." Li Sishi thought of Zhou Huichang's tendency to get excited...
His exaggerated and funny manner made me smile.
Seeing Li Sishi's lowered eyes and gentle smile, Ling Chen, who had originally wanted to continue explaining his charity event of driving the elderly, also smiled and fell silent.
The noise of clinking glasses and merriment around me seemed to fade away at that moment. In the hazy distance, only the beautiful figure of the person in front of me was clear. Just watching her smile, I couldn't help but smile along with her.
I don't know why she's laughing, nor do I need to know why. Just quietly watching her smile makes me feel incredibly at ease.
There were an unusually large number of media outlets at the awards ceremony tonight, and even TBL sent their own interview team. Before the awards ceremony even started, he was surrounded backstage by TBL reporters who preemptively asked him for his opinion on his former agent Lei Jun's move to another company and his betrayal of him in order to solidify his position.
After all, if Lei Jun hadn't caused trouble this year, his album sales would have been even higher, and he wouldn't have had to make last-minute changes to his work plan due to the leak, which ultimately led to him being used as cannon fodder by Bao Yiyin, putting him in a rather passive position at tonight's awards ceremony.
Although I've come to terms with the incident, if other media outlets were to interview me, I probably wouldn't bother to give a serious response to such provocative questions in the early hours of the morning.
However, considering that the reporter interviewing him was from TBL, not to mention giving the organizer face, he had to take this interview as seriously as possible, given that Zhuang Menghua had previously allowed Li Sishi to appear at his concert to support him.
So when faced with this interview in the early hours of the morning, he showed a rare gentle and lively side. After explaining that he had let go of the backstabbing incident, he responded to the reporter and shared some of his thoughts and experiences from the incident.
The gist of it is: take things easy, and you'll be able to gradually adapt to whatever changes the environment brings.
Having received such a serious and detailed response in the early hours of the morning, the TBL reporter readily shook hands with him and said goodbye. With the awards ceremony about to begin, other reporters who wanted to come over had to give up their plans to ask questions and instead focused on taking pictures of him at that moment.
As if on cue, a sudden flash of light startled the two who were smiling at each other. Li Sishi quickly turned her head to look in the direction of the flash, only to find that the reporter taking the picture and his logo were completely unfamiliar to her.
"He's a reporter from South Korea, no need to worry." After recognizing the reporter's badge in the early morning, I felt much more at ease.
Tonight
Besides the local reporters, a reporter from a South Korean television station was also coming—a movie he filmed recently did well in South Korea, and since the end of last year, South Korea had been trying to invite him to do events and shoot commercials. If it weren't for that shocking backstabbing incident involving an agent that stunned the entire Hong Kong entertainment industry, he would have flown to South Korea to discuss cooperation long ago.
However, it was precisely because of the temporary change of his agent that he now has a greater degree of autonomy and freedom in his work, which is why he had time to accept the invitation to the charity car team event from the public welfare organization some time ago.
The new agent didn't have much objection to his emphasis on charity and public welfare activities, so he postponed the invitation from South Korea. Unexpectedly, the South Korean side was anxious; since his people couldn't fly over, they sent people over themselves.
"Isn't this a good thing? It's about opening up another market." Hearing that it was a reporter from South Korea, Li Sishi felt relieved.
Although she doesn't have a particularly good impression of South Korea, there's really no reason to criticize the photography skills of South Korean media. Even in this day and age, the photography skills of South Korean media professionals are still superior to those of Hong Kong media.
The difference is more than just one or two levels—of course, the difference between the two is not really about "technology" or "equipment," but rather their respective original intentions and habits when filming people.
To put it simply, Hong Kong media mostly like to go to great lengths to capture unflattering photos of celebrities from all angles, they just can't stand it if they don't make perfectly fine people look bizarre; while South Korean media try their best to take beautiful photos of celebrities from all angles, and if they feel they haven't captured them perfectly, they'll even secretly edit the photos and videos in post-production, basically doing whatever makes them look good...
In Li Sishi's memory, this look from early morning tonight later became the subject of a very popular short video, which was actually taken by a South Korean reporter who came to film him.
“That’s what I think too.” Ling Chen nodded, briefly explaining that he had been too busy with work to go to South Korea recently, and then whispered to Li Sishi, “The film industry in Hong Kong is getting worse and worse, and there are some dark forces infiltrating behind it. If you’re making a movie now, you have to be as careful as possible in everything you do…”
He knew that Li Sishi had taken on a niche film about a triad at the last minute, and he even tried to find time to read the original comic.
After reading a few books, I couldn't help but feel a little worried about Li Sishi's movie.
Not only is the subject matter extremely niche, but it's also an adaptation of a local comic. Furthermore, the filming time and budget were almost like a fast-food production. If it weren't for the incredibly attractive profit-sharing terms for Li...
He even considered advising Li Sishi against taking on this particular film, as it would be advantageous for her to accept the role in the future.
"You can rest assured about that. I have a retired gangster boss on my film crew."
(3)
"We arranged for a lot of underlings to work as temporary security guards on set. Apart from having to rush the work and shooting outdoor scenes that looked like a 'ghost crew,' it was even safer than a regular film crew..." Li Sishi also lowered her voice and told Ling Chen about how the retired big boss was bringing his former underlings to work as free extras and security guards. Ling Chen's eyes almost widened when he heard this.
Seeing his bewildered expression, as if he had never seen anything like it before, Li Sishi couldn't help but smile again. She then added, "In short, although this subject matter is a bit niche, it fits the current social situation very well. If we're lucky, it might not only become a minor hit but also receive a lot of 'preferential treatment'."
It's always been easier to mess with the big boss than the underlings. On a larger scale, with Zhuang Menghua and TBL as her backers, the gang wouldn't deliberately target Li Sishi. So, the only people she needs to worry about in this line of work are those low-level gangsters who are easily provoked and act recklessly without regard for the consequences.
The comic "People in the Jianghu," which originated from the theme of local gangs, is currently the only source of spiritual nourishment for this group.
Elsewhere, this subject matter is niche and unconventional, almost to the point of repeatedly testing certain boundaries; but in Hong Kong, where triad influence is currently rampant, this film series is a rather special "talisman" that can protect her safety for the next few years to the greatest extent possible.
Of course, Li Sishi wouldn't reveal these things before the film officially shows its unique advantages of timing, location, and popular support—although she was already very confident about the consequences, it was always safest to be cautious and prudent before the outcome was revealed.
Seeing Li Sishi's confident demeanor, even though he was a little drowsy from listening, he nodded in awe.
Since Li Sishi already has her own ideas, he shouldn't interfere too much so as not to ruin her plans—trust and respect are also very important aspects of getting along.
On one side, watching the cool and handsome guy who had recently become incredibly popular in his own country sitting obediently next to another stunningly beautiful woman, the South Korean reporter, while amazed, couldn't help but ask the translator, "Who is that lady next to Leo? She's absolutely gorgeous!"
This translator was the one who had seen Li Sishi live at the time.
Upon hearing this, one of the fans who had become "Chen Shi" (Leo's girlfriend) after temporarily stepping in to sing at the concert immediately began enthusiastically recommending her: "That's Leo's girlfriend! Let me tell you, their love is absolutely touching..."
Every CP (couple) fan has their own set of classic love stories passed down within the fandom.
From the accidental removal of the railings during the city government's opening parade to the recent mystery guest incident at the concert, they've been incredibly excited.
"Although they haven't collaborated much yet, their music video 'Summer Promise,' the TV series 'Mr. Morning,' and those blockbuster commercials from Lo Kee Telecom all suit each other perfectly. I have the complete collection here; you can check it out. And they're going to be collaborating on a movie soon..." Even in her spare time, she can recommend her beloved on-screen couple to foreign friends.
The CP fans got more and more excited as they translated.
The South Korean reporter, who was also a huge fan of good looks, became more and more excited as he listened: He never imagined that this beautiful woman, who could be their new plastic surgery template, was not only a beauty pageant winner but also a rising star in Hong Kong's entertainment industry, and that she had such a perfect love story with handsome Leo—he would have to report back to his boss that they needed to hire another one for the commercial shoot!
Holding a DVD of the complete drama series "Mr. Morning" lent to him by a CP fan translator, the Korean reporter glanced once more at the two people on the cover whose looks were particularly well-matched, and secretly made up his mind.
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