DP Chapter 37
by VolareOnly the computer in the study was on, the screen’s fluorescent light enveloping Xu Chuo’s silhouette. A red dot flickered in the void, and he rested his right hand on the edge of the desk, rotating his wrist and lightly tapping the cigarette, causing a few ashes to fall.
“Chuo-ge,” Xiang Yiye knocked on the door, “Can’t you sleep?”
Xu Chuo turned his chair and looked towards the door.
Xiang Yiye went in and saw a photo of the daytime basketball game on the computer screen. “Are you doing post-production? Just send it to me, Sister He will find someone to edit it.”
“Couldn’t sleep so I found something to do,” Xu Chuo said, “The person doesn’t need much editing, just adjust the colors and background. Come over and see if you’re satisfied.”
Xiang Yiye turned on the main light, walked behind him, put his arms around his side, and leaned on the table, looking at the screen.
“I like this one.” Xu Chuo swiped the preview bar and stopped on a half-length photo. It was the moment when Xiang Yiye raised his hand to shoot. He supported the basketball with his backhand, his arm was bent, his muscles were even and smooth, and sweat shimmered slightly in the sunlight.
“I’ve finished editing it for you. If you post it on Weibo tomorrow, it can push the popularity of the campus wall even higher,” Xu Chuo said.
Xiang Yiye also had this plan. In the evening, he logged on to Weibo and saw that he had gained many more fans.
After He Jingming found out about the campus wall incident, she first told him that he should tell her in advance about similar things in the future, and then quickly found someone to write a press release. It would be released on various content platforms in large quantities in the next few days, just in time to warm up the broadcast of “Ming Xia.”
He didn’t know what kind of persona they would create for him. Presumably, it would always revolve around appearance, talent, academic qualifications, experience, IQ, EQ, and cultivation.
In press releases, points that can be made about celebrities are infinitely amplified. Good looks are the result of Nuwa’s graduation project, and a good family background means having artistic pursuits.
If there’s nothing to emphasize, they can still praise hard. In life, you can always be associated with at least one of the twelve core socialist values.
If the basics are too poor and there’s really no way, they can also say that others are not good, which highlights one’s own strengths.
Combining his experiences from his previous life, Xiang Yiye thought that when his press release came out, he would definitely avoid it and never click on it to avoid embarrassment.
“I can’t figure it out, I just replied to a letter.” Xiang Yiye said. This made him feel that getting attention nowadays seemed to be something that didn’t require much of a threshold, but depended more on luck.
“What else do you want to do besides reply to the letter? You didn’t say you replied to the letter back then.” Xu Chuo scratched him playfully, with teasing and dissatisfaction: “I haven’t received a letter from you yet, you let the whole country inspect your writing first.”
The stationery didn’t come into play before, but now it’s waiting here. Xiang Yiye laughed, “What do you want? I’ll write it for you, copy ‘The Little Prince’ for you?”
“With that time, sleep an extra half an hour every day,” Xu Chuo said, “Look at your schedule for next month, are you getting enough sleep every day?”
Xiang Yiye bent down and put his chin on Xu Chuo’s shoulder: “If this goes on, I’m really going to become your assistant.” He remembered that Xu Chuo was supposed to meet with his tutor in the afternoon, but he postponed it for a day.
“There are advantages to being an assistant,” Xu Chuo said, continuing to flip through the photos.
Xiang Yiye was stunned as he looked: “Uh, I probably can’t post these few…”
Those few were all cropped and enlarged close-up photos. A small section of skin was exposed when he lifted his collar to cool down, and Xu Chuo also captured it, directly processing it into close-ups of single drops of sweat or single moles.
The guidance was a bit strong. If he posted it, the label on his Weibo homepage would probably immediately change from actor to edge ball blogger.
“I don’t want you to post them, I’ll collect these myself,” Xu Chuo smiled, tilting his head to sniff, sniff, sniff near his neck.
Xiang Yiye had goosebumps and a strange feeling, feeling like he was some kind of meaty bone, otherwise why would Xu Chuo always come over to smell, smell, smell? He didn’t use much perfume.
Years later, when he became the spokesperson for a foreign perfume brand, looking at the perfume bottles in the studio, he would always remember the moment when Xu Chuo’s cool nose brushed against his neck, but at this time he was still unconscious.
In June, the cicadas chirped louder and louder, and the publicity work for “Ming Xia” began. In addition to some fragmented interviews and release of materials, several leading actors had to fly to N City to record a variety show on Minghua TV.
Xiang Yiye prepared gifts according to the host’s preferences. In his previous life, he came for the first time without preparing anything. The hosts clearly interacted more with the other guests when recording, and in the end, he spent most of the time acting as a background board when the show was broadcast.
This time, the hosts took care of him a lot on stage, either calling him “Little Xiang” or “Younger Brother.” Xiang Yiye didn’t have time to fully understand some popular internet memes, so several hosts took turns throwing and catching them, and then used phrases like “mature for his age” and “focused on work” to set the stage for him.
Press down the gourd and the ladle floats up. After passing the host hurdle, problems began to arise with the guests.
Han Fangyan was not an artist of Xinghui. Half a year later, when he saw Xiang Yiye again, his nose was still not a nose, and his eyes were not eyes. He still looked resentful, and was quite vindictive.
During the recording, when the segment cued to interesting things about the crew, the host asked the three of them about their impressions of each other.
Han Fangyan had really improved. Before, he openly excluded people on the crew, but now he also knew what was called praise on the surface and criticism in reality.
He gave Xiang Yiye an all-round compliment, first saying that he was good at acting and often lectured him on acting, implying that as a newcomer, he often overstepped his authority and taught others what to do on set. He also said that the first time he saw Xiang Yiye, he thought he was very white, and he seemed to be even whiter after not seeing him for a few months, asking him if he had any secrets and might as well share them to benefit everyone.
Xiang Yiye directly: “I’ve had whitening injections.”
Lin Xiao immediately: “Ah? How come I don’t know? Isn’t your whiteness because of genetics?”
Words such as genetics and natural, even if they are facts, are best not said by the person themselves, especially for professions with high appearance requirements such as actors and stars. If you say it, others will easily think that you are hiding something and are not sincere. It is better to directly provide evidence, such as photos from childhood, photos of parents, or let others say it.
Host: “How does Xiao know that Little Xiang is white because of genetics?” Genetics depends on parents, doesn’t this mean that their relationship is extraordinary in private?
Lin Xiao responded with the characters’ relationship in the play: “He’s my brother~ Look at me and you’ll know, our whole family isn’t dark. If Little Han wants to enter our family, he should at least work harder on his skin tone~”
Han Fangyan: “…” He had been filming in the western plateau area for the past few months, and was tanned charcoal black. He was a little deflated at the moment.
Xiang Yiye took over the topic and said that he was joking just now. Leaving aside genetic factors, becoming white is nothing more than more sunscreen, more water, and more vitamin C supplements. Actors still have to serve the role, just like Han Fangyan. He took a step back and didn’t continue the confrontation.
You shouldn’t hit someone with a smiling face, so Han Fangyan restrained himself later.
After the recording, Lin Xiao kept complaining about Han Fangyan’s pettiness, saying that Xiang Yiye was too tolerant of him.
Xiang Yiye said that he was currently in a stable mood and in good condition. Some small troubles from others were insignificant, so he would just let them go.
He Jingming kept telling Lin Xiao to calm down while making and answering phone calls.
She had a strong sense of crisis. When they were recording the program, she wasn’t idle either, and had been contacting acquaintances who were involved in the post-production of the program. She wanted to ensure that there were no problems in the editing.
In the Internet era, changing the order of speaking can guide the situation in another direction. This kind of thing is common.
Lin Xiao was okay. Currently, Han Fangyan had far more fans than Xiang Yiye. If she didn’t intervene in advance, after the program was broadcast, someone might go to Xiang Yiye’s Weibo to attack him.
He Jingming’s phone calls never stopped, and her phone was overheating. She finally stopped to drink water. Xiang Yiye said, “Sister He, haven’t you taken a vacation in several years? After this busy period, you can rest with Sister Xiao for a few days.”
After promoting “Ming Xia”, Lin Xiao would have several months of downtime before her contract with Xinghui expired at the end of the year. She was not willing to just stay at home and do nothing, so she planned to take a vacation and travel around Europe.
“When is there ever a time to finish being busy? Lin Xiao is idle, but what about you? You’re going to join the crew again next month, I can’t rest.” He Jingming looked at Xiang Yiye for a long time, “I can give you an endorsement for sunscreen, it’s almost summer…”
Lin Xiao: “Thank you, Little Han, for opening up our Sister Mingming’s mind.”
Xiang Yiye smiled. When he was so busy that he was dizzy, he looked up and found that someone was moving forward with him, and he didn’t feel so tired.
After returning to City S, He Jingming dealt with the variety show and took Lin Xiao away separately.
Xiang Yiye knew what they would talk about, probably which new company Lin Xiao would sign with next. They usually quarreled, but their relationship was actually very good. After Lin Xiao terminated her contract with Xinghui, He Jingming would probably also resign from Xinghui and continue to lead her.
As for Xiang Yiye, Xinghui would definitely replace him with a new agent at that time. He felt a little regretful. He wouldn’t work with Lin Xiao and He Jingming for more than a year at most, and it was not easy to find compatible work partners.
But people can’t just rely on a sense of emotion to work and live. Xiang Yiye was also learning about other agents at Xinghui.
Xu Chuo listened to Xiang Yiye’s thoughts and said, “You only signed with Xinghui for two years. Are you planning to renew after that?”
“No,” Xiang Yiye couldn’t say that he knew Xinghui would collapse later, “Will you be unhappy if I say this? I think some of Xinghui’s internal mechanisms are not mature enough, and I will probably consider other more influential companies in the future.”
“Say whatever you want, Yunhua rarely really participates in the management of Xinghui,” Xu Chuo said, “And you’re not wrong, Xinghui really doesn’t treat its artists well enough, otherwise Lin Xiao wouldn’t want to run away. It’s a very wise move for you to set your sights outside of Xinghui.”
Xu Chuo gave some suggestions based on his own understanding of Xinghui. Halfway through, he looked to the side and Xiang Yiye had already fallen asleep on the table, still holding a pen in his hand.
There were two stacks of things on the table, professional books and exercises on the left, and scripts on the right. For several days in a row, his rest was switching from the left to the right, and then from the right back to the left.
In early July, as the temperature gradually rose, Xiang Yiye took the final exam in the classroom of D University on the day of the premiere of “Ming Xia.” After the exam, other students welcomed the summer vacation, and he packed his luggage and entered the crew.
Before the official shooting, the director, actors, screenwriters, etc. had to gather together to read the script, a bit like leading in a general direction before a project starts.
After all, different people will have different understandings of the spiritual core of the same story. If the entire crew doesn’t communicate in advance, and the female lead thinks the theme is to help the weak and the male lead thinks the theme is about romance, the performance will not be on the same channel, and the audience will not be fooled.
For a drama, the script reading is an important part of setting the main tone, but Tang Shuqin, who plays the female lead, is often late or simply absent.
Xiang Yiye vaguely realized that this cooperation would probably not be smooth.