“Something terrible has happened!” Qi Dai’s assistant, Xiao Hong, rushed over clutching a newspaper, panic written all over her face as though the sky were about to fall. Dou Hong scolded her for being so flustered.
Xiao Hong said cautiously, “But something really has happened. Sister Qi is in the headlines again. It’s about what happened yesterday afternoon.”
At the mention of yesterday afternoon, a possibility flashed through Dou Hong’s mind. He promptly took the newspaper, and its contents were exactly what he had expected. “Qi Dai, aren’t you filming a movie lately and getting ready to break into the film industry? I’ve just thought of an excellent publicity stunt. Talk about a pillow arriving just when you’re sleepy.”
Qi Dai read the paper. She had not expected a reporter to photograph her greeting Yazhi’s chairman yesterday. With their fertile imaginations, the reporters had concocted an entire story from that one scene. If they knew the supposed minor celebrity was actually Yazhi’s chairman, what would they think?
“You want to use this to generate publicity?”
“The media are very interested in Yazhi’s new chairman right now, especially given his family background. If we can stir up a romance rumor between you two, it’ll be far more effective than selling a younger-man romance between you and your movie’s male lead. We won’t get another opportunity like this,” Dou Hong calculated.
Qi Dai hesitated.
Dou Hong saw what was worrying her immediately. “Are you afraid he’ll take offense? Really, it was a coincidence. Those reporters were there for him in the first place. Strictly speaking, you merely ‘happened’ to walk into their shots and they misunderstood what they saw. Let’s wait and see how public opinion develops. You can step forward and clarify things afterward.”
What Dou Hong had not anticipated was that Pan Zhihai would use the resulting attention to raise the profiles of the agency’s own artists.
The gossip about the two of them did not last long. Soon someone pointed out that the man in sunglasses in the photographs was no celebrity, but Yazhi’s newly appointed chairman.
It was obvious from the photos that Qi Dai had approached him, not the other way around. If he were merely a small-time artist, why would someone of Qi Dai’s standing go up and greet him? Now that his identity was known, everything made sense. Chairman of Yazhi alone might not carry much weight, but heir to Zhou Group certainly did. No wonder Qi Dai had hurried over to ingratiate herself with him. What a pity he had not given her the time of day.
That was how an online war began.
Qi Dai’s fans and antis battled fiercely online. Meanwhile, people kept posting all sorts of information about Yazhi, including photographs secretly taken of particularly good-looking agency artists. Yazhi was apparently planning to promote them. It was not long, however, before others brought up the company’s scandals.
Yazhi had been embroiled in scandal after scandal since the previous year, involving both its internal operations and its artists. Cen Xi was the most ‘outstanding’ example.
Others argued that all those problems were the fault of Yazhi’s previous chairman, and it was unfair to pin them on the new one. The two were different people. In short, both sides clung to their own arguments and fought endlessly.
Neither Qi Dai nor Dou Hong had expected the situation to grow so heated. It was completely outside their plans. Still, the bigger the story became, the better it was for Qi Dai. That afternoon, she posted a message on Weibo. First, she clarified the misunderstanding in the newspaper. Then she said Wang Cheng was the most handsome man she had ever seen and had captivated her from their very first meeting. If he ever intended to enter show business, she would definitely become his number-one fan. She had merely wanted to greet him that day and had never expected to cause so much misunderstanding. Her words were full of flattery and attempts to please him. The clarification might have come a little late, but her ‘thoughtfulness’ was obvious enough to make others envy her good fortune.
The film Qi Dai was currently shooting was her first step into movies. She was very popular and Jinlan Culture’s leading actress, so she had landed the lead female role in her very first film. Rumor had it she had displaced the actress originally chosen, reducing that woman to the second female lead. At the time, a fierce argument had erupted online.
After filming began, the argument gradually died down. Still, some people were waiting for Qi Dai’s transition to fail. Acting in television dramas and acting in movies were not the same. Instead, while she was still filming, Qi Dai found herself making headlines again and indirectly promoting the movie as well. But what was Wang Cheng, the other person at the center of all this, doing?
Pan Zhihai had brought him the newspaper as soon as he arrived at the company, and had even asked whether he wanted to issue a public clarification. Wang Cheng said there was no need. Their main priority was still figuring out how to make their artists better known.
As for Meng Chaofan and Huang Yaqin, there were currently two ways to bring them back into the public eye. One was to compete in another singing contest. That, however, would take considerable time and effort. There were no particularly notable large-scale competitions coming up, either; even if one were planned, it would still be months away. They could only take the second route.
“Young Master Zhou, have a look at these. They’re all fairly well-known variety shows. We could arrange for Meng Chaofan and Huang Yaqin to appear on them.” Pan Zhihai laid the material Assistant Fei had prepared before him.
Wang Cheng’s gaze settled on several shows listed toward the back. “What exactly is a reality show?”
“Reality television includes variety programs and talent contests. It’s been especially popular these past two years. There’s another kind that focuses on competitions. Those are still relatively rare, but last year a competitive reality program called Extreme Challenge appeared and drew excellent ratings. It’s one of the most popular reality shows around. Its first season just finished last year. If our people could participate in season two, it would really put them on the map.”
“Can you arrange that?”
“It won’t be easy. None of our artists are well-known. Unless we can pull some strings.”
“Do we know who sponsors it?”
“Hongyun Beverage Company. But I hear all the places have already been privately allocated. Filming starts in a week, so if we want to call in favors, we’d have to do it in the next few days.”
Wang Cheng nodded. “I’ll handle that.”
“Have you decided whom to send, Young Master Zhou? Meng Chaofan and Huang Yaqin can’t both go. He Zihuan has an excellent look for television, though. He’d have a good chance of becoming famous overnight if we chose him.”
Wang Cheng shook his head. “He Zihuan won’t do. I have separate plans for him, which I’ll tell you about when the time comes. Choose one of Meng Chaofan and Huang Yaqin, and pick another artist as well.”
Pan Zhihai was curious about what Wang Cheng had in mind for He Zihuan, but he did not ask. Once outside, he returned to work. Yazhi already had some industry foundations, but they now had to rebuild almost everything. There was a mountain of work to arrange. Some of the better scripts taken away from Cen Xi needed suitable artists to audition for them, and those artists needed managers. Yazhi had never had many managers to begin with. Cen Xi was still kicking up a fuss, but Pan Zhihai had stopped paying him any attention.
Having the best resources distributed elsewhere meant fewer chances for Cen Xi to appear in public. Cen Xi had not become famous because his acting skills were exceptionally strong. He had simply appeared so often that, over time, he had accumulated a degree of name recognition.
Cen Xi did not dare complain directly to Wang Cheng, so he went to Pan Zhihai instead. Every time, Pan Zhihai answered with the same line: ‘The chairman arranged it. If you have a problem, you can take it up with him.’
After several attempts, Cen Xi stopped coming to Pan Zhihai. His advertising work and scripts were still being cut back accordingly. Pan Zhihai thought he had finally accepted it, until word spread from somewhere that Cen Xi had been in contact with people from another management company these past few days. Pan Zhihai knew he must be looking to jump ship. He told Wang Cheng, who said to leave him alone.
One day, Wang Cheng received a call from Chu Yifeng.
Chu Yifeng had managed to secure Doctor James’s services. His current research had just reached a stopping point, leaving him with some free time. He could fly over tomorrow and would bring two assistants.
Wang Cheng had already told Wang Ning’an the good news. Now that they had managed to hire this leading authority on brain medicine, they would accommodate whatever time he could spare.
Before leaving work, Wang Cheng called Butler Zhou to say he would not be coming home for dinner and that the kitchen need not prepare a portion for him. After work, he headed straight for his elder brother’s apartment.
On reaching the building, Wang Cheng parked in a temporary space nearby. Through the windshield, he saw his elder brother and Eldest Aunt walking out of the entrance. Eldest Aunt was carrying an insulated food container with dinner for his eldest cousin at the hospital. Just as Wang Cheng was about to get out and greet them, he caught sight of a furtive figure out of the corner of his eye.
A van was parked a little over thirty meters away, directly opposite him. Because it faced him, he could see through its windshield that someone inside was aiming a camera at his elder brother and Eldest Aunt, taking photograph after photograph. His elder brother was no celebrity. The person could not be a reporter or paparazzo.
Without giving anything away, Wang Cheng memorized the van’s license plate number, got out, and went over to greet them.
Guan Meifang’s face brightened at the sight of him. She already knew he had found them a doctor even more skilled than Old Doctor Liu, and she was deeply grateful. No simple words of thanks could repay such kindness. Regardless of whether her son recovered, she would remember for the rest of her life what her second sister’s family had done for them.
After saying goodbye to the two of them, Guan Meifang headed to the hospital.