LWDC Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Going for a Risky Gambit

Chapter 20: Going for a Risky Gambit

Chapter 20: Going for a Risky Gambit

Gu Hechen later heard about Su Cenxi’s ranking and was rendered speechless.

After all, almost the entire Gu Corporation was leaning towards Su Cenxi under his command, and he had always thought this would count for a lot of economic value. But in reality, while the endorsements from Gu Corporation did indeed give Su Cenxi a boost, he had very few other endorsements, and his total score still couldn’t match other supermodels. Which top-ranked supermodel didn’t have a long list of endorsements? But Su Cenxi had been labeled with Gu Corporation and even Gu Hechen’s personal stamp, which actually made other brands less likely to consider him.

Of course, objectively speaking, with so many models worldwide, it was still impressive that Su Cenxi could reach the top 50. This was mainly due to Gu Corporation’s commercial value; it could be said that success and failure were both due to it.

Faced with these mediocre results, Gu Hechen finally patiently sat down for a serious conversation when Ning Fei came to talk to him.

Ning Fei mainly wanted to review how the B Brand endorsement had fallen through. He had Su Cenxi relay messages, but the information that came back didn’t include the key points Ning Fei wanted to hear, so it was better to talk directly with Gu Hechen.

“So, you were chatting with the CEO of B Brand, and he casually mentioned that the current spokesperson’s contract was about to expire.” Ning Fei understood the whole story after hearing Gu Hechen’s description. “It’s not strange that these bosses know about replacing spokespeople, but they are busy with a million things and won’t pay special attention to spokesperson matters, so they might not be the first to know. ST probably found out about it a long time ago and contacted them for interviews ahead of time. It just so happens that B Brand wanted a tall, long-legged international supermodel, and ST has plenty of those, so they just had to promote a few who didn’t have car endorsements yet.”

Gu Hechen said, “I can’t possibly ask every CEO I meet, ‘Do you want to replace your spokesperson?'”

“I know that finding endorsements is our own job. Why are you in such a hurry to shut me down, CEO Gu?” Ning Fei smiled. “I’ll have people find out about the expiration dates of spokespersons for various target brands and make a list. CEO Gu can take a look to see if any of your friends are on it. If so, you can bring Su Cenxi along to a gathering someday.”

Gu Hechen raised an eyebrow. “Another repeat of the Baron’s house trick?”

“It’s effective, so who cares if it’s a trick?” Ning Fei paused and added, “By the way, CEO Gu, you should also have industries in A Country, right? Something that allows you to appear in A Country legitimately?”

Gu Hechen didn’t answer but asked, “Why are you asking this?”

Ning Fei didn’t hide anything. “I want to push Su Cenxi to be a guest star on K Family’s reality show. We’ll inevitably use your relationship as a topic at that time, and you may have to make a cameo appearance as well. It would be best if it was in your ‘home’ in A Country, so it looks more natural.”

Gu Hechen: “Aren’t you against him going on reality shows, saying it would lower his value?”

Su Cenxi: “K Family’s reality show?! It’s too dramatic, I can’t handle it!”

The two voices collided directly, making them both quiet for two seconds before Gu Hechen looked at Su Cenxi. “What exactly is this reality show?”

“CEO Gu doesn’t know about ‘K Family’s Reality Show’? It’s arguably the most famous family reality show program in the world right now.” Ning Fei answered directly. “Although the show just films the daily lives of the K family, their family members are all celebrities, and their lives are very chaotic, which the audience loves to watch. The popularity brought by this show has made their whole family rich.”

Gu Hechen frowned. “Is this show very exaggerated?”

“Reality shows are all scripted, but the K family’s is naturally more lively; the audience loves to watch it.” Ning Fei said, “The K Family’s reality show is completely different from the ones in the country. The K family has two models, who both rose to fame from this reality show. Regardless of their current reputation, their commercial value has skyrocketed. I didn’t get the MDC for female models back, otherwise, you would definitely see K Family’s models on the cash-grabbing list. Su Cenxi is going there to get some commercial value.”

When Gu Hechen heard “regardless of reputation,” he understood what Su Cenxi meant by “very dramatic.”

“Cenxi isn’t suitable for this kind of reality show.” CEO Gu naturally wanted to protect his boyfriend. “He doesn’t have a strong personality and can’t understand foreign languages very well. Wouldn’t he just be bullied if he went?”

“We can find a translator as a temporary assistant.” Ning Fei replied calmly. “As for being bullied, it’s better to be bullied than ignored. If there aren’t any twists and turns in this reality show, it would be a waste of time.”

After a pause, Ning Fei asked, “Does CEO Gu want a wish-fulfillment scene? For example, Su Cenxi is bullied in the beginning, and you end up picking him up with a helicopter or something?”

Even Gu Hechen couldn’t stand this kind of setting. “What nonsense is that!”

Su Cenxi also said, “Does Achen have to appear?”

“Be realistic. If there’s no topic about CEO Gu, what else can people talk about with you?” Ning Fei unceremoniously complained. “I’ve already shown mercy by not throwing you into ‘B City’s Beloved Wife.’ Stop trying to create a self-reliant and strong persona.”

Su Cenxi was speechless.

“So, CEO Gu has no objections, right? Anyway, you just have to show off your love in front of the camera, which you’re best at. You don’t have to worry about anything else; I’ll be watching whether Su Cenxi gets into fights or not.” Ning Fei didn’t plan to ask Su Cenxi’s opinion at all, only looking at Gu Hechen. “It’s like going there as a background prop, similar to a straight man in a wedding photo. Yes or no?”

Gu Hechen said, “You’re not asking, you’re just informing me. Even if I say no, you’ll still insist on pushing Cenxi there, right?”

“Very good, you deeply understand my style.” Ning Fei wasn’t embarrassed by being exposed and smiled candidly. “Although I would do it even if you didn’t agree, if you agree, I can flaunt your support to make things easier.”

Gu Hechen was silent for a few seconds. “…I want to see the script in advance.”

Ning Fei said faintly, “Do you have time to read it? Letting you see it doesn’t mean letting you change it, and don’t suddenly change your mind and refuse to cooperate after reading the script.”

Gu Hechen glanced at him. “Don’t talk nonsense. Once I agree, I won’t change my mind.”

*

Not long after, the day came for Su Cenxi to be a guest star.

Before that, this year’s MDC rankings were officially released. The male model list didn’t change much from what Duan Yunhong had given before. In the female model list, one of the K family’s girls was indeed on the list, and she had almost climbed to the top of the highest-paid models. Ning Fei specifically showed Gu Hechen this K Family female model’s achievements, and Gu Hechen was finally speechless.

Before going to A Country, Ning Fei also sent a message to Duan Yunhong. He didn’t chat about anything else, just said that he was busy recently and didn’t have time to meet, so he asked him not to look for him for the time being.

He also took leave before going abroad. Ning Fei was rarely such a qualified “fun friend,” mainly because Director Duan’s skills were indeed worth praising.

Duan Yunhong’s reply was not just “approving the leave,” but also talking about business: “Are you really going to K Family’s reality show?”

Ning Fei: “Director Duan’s news is so well-informed? I’m flattered that you’re paying attention to me to this extent.”

Duan Yunhong didn’t take his joke: “Isn’t Su Cenxi supposed to be taking a serious model route? Why suddenly take a different approach and follow the K Sister’s route?”

Ning Fei: “Director Duan, you’re crossing the line.”

Duan Yunhong: “You’re being impatient for quick success.”

“Ha.” Ning Fei sneered when he saw Duan Yunhong’s message and didn’t bother to reply.

He didn’t know what identity or perspective Duan Yunhong was using to comment. Su Cenxi wasn’t an ST model, and Ning Fei wasn’t one of Duan Yunhong’s subordinates. Why was this director pointing fingers at other people’s routes? Didn’t Ning Fei know that he was being impatient for quick success? Of course, he knew. But his goal was to boost Su Cenxi’s popularity in the short term so that fashion events and endorsements would be more likely to think of Su Cenxi. As long as Su Cenxi could break into the TOP 10 once, the original owner’s “last wish” would be fulfilled, and Ning Fei could retire successfully.

As for Su Cenxi’s future, whether too much controversy would cause subsequent trouble, whether his modeling career would become difficult, who cared? Gu Hechen was so rich; would he really let Su Cenxi go out and starve? He should just cause as much trouble as he could.

ST, which aimed for long-term stable operation, naturally didn’t like the K Sister’s model of “popularity driving commercial value.” It was a case of “one man’s meat is another man’s poison.” Ning Fei understood that ST didn’t like this route, but if ST didn’t like it, why was Duan Yunhong telling Ning Fei?

——Was it for Su Cenxi’s long-term consideration?

Impossible. He had previously led ST to squeeze Su Cenxi to the point where he had to feign fainting to escape the scene, but now he was planning Su Cenxi’s future? Ning Fei would never believe he was so kind.

——Was it for Ning Fei’s sake?

But why? Ning Fei and he, after all, it came down to the same thing: work was work, and fun was fun. If Duan Yunhong had really fallen in love with Ning Fei and wanted to be good to him… Ning Fei felt chills just thinking about this assumption. If he told Duan Yunhong this guess, Duan Yunhong would probably sharply criticize him for “daydreaming.”

——Was it still with the intention of “recruiting talent”?

Ning Fei thought this idea was a bit too flattering to himself, but after thinking it over, it was actually the most reasonable. If Duan Yunhong did appreciate his work ability and admired him, then even before the person had joined his company, Director Duan couldn’t help but offer a few words of guidance. That was also normal… right?

Thinking this way, Duan Yunhong was actually a pretty good person.

But good was good, Ning Fei didn’t buy it. He wasn’t aiming to bring Su Cenxi to a long-term goal. It was normal to take a risky gamble, even to use excessive means, to achieve the goal as soon as possible.

Only one thing made Ning Fei regretful.

——If he left this world, would he be lucky enough to meet someone with such good skills next time…? What a pity.

*

The day after Su Cenxi landed in A Country, the reality show crew went to scout Gu Hechen’s local property—a villa with a garden in a wealthy area. The staff also installed fixed cameras, roughly determined the routes, and reviewed the script with Su Cenxi. And that was it.

On the third day, the reality show officially began filming, and the K family made a grand appearance.

Of course, not all K family members could come. The one who came was the K Sister who had just been announced to be stably on the MDC’s highest-paid list, along with her boyfriend and two other friends. The reality show was already in the middle of the current season, and K Sister was thinking of new ideas for her fashion brand. Her sister thought her ideas weren’t very good, and the two had a big fight. K Sister decided to make samples for people to try on and hold a small appreciation event in her circle of friends to prove her fashion sense.

K Sister herself, her boyfriend, two friends, and Su Cenxi were the models and audience for this small appreciation event. Oh, right, one of these so-called friends was also a guest star. She and K Sister could only be said to have “met before.” They were considered friends even though they hadn’t said a few words. The same went for Su Cenxi; he was also classified as a “friend.”

The appreciation event was to be held in Gu Hechen’s villa because it had to bring out some plot points. According to the script, another guest star was to “accidentally” break something in the villa, and then, after learning that the price was very expensive, would say that the thing was simply “ugly and expensive.” These words would be somewhat racially charged to bring up topics and facilitate subsequent interactions. Of course, K Sister would come forward to mediate this matter, and by the way, clear the guest star’s name, saying that she didn’t mean it and just spoke very directly, without any racial discrimination at all. And Su Cenxi was to establish a contrasting persona of “usually looking quiet and easy to talk to, but very persistent at certain times.”

Loud fights and quick turns, it was worthy of the K family’s reality show script, full of explosive points at first glance.

Ning Fei was very satisfied, and the first day of filming went smoothly.

——Or, when I have nothing to do at night, should I look for some local entertainment?