Chapter 21: 第 21 章

His agent said, "Lie low for a while. The platform is probably going to cooperate with that President Sang."

Huang Yunwen knew the man was rich.

But he hadn't targeted anyone directly — he'd only bought smear posts against Xuan Lerong's group. Who could trace it back to anyone?

Fan wars and hater wars — who could ever sort those out?

What he didn't understand was: that Sang guy had trashed them so hard before, wasn't that a slap in the face to the platform that backed them? So why would the higher-ups send the other side over now?!

Jiang Yang, who had been asked to audition for the male lead of *Favoritism*, was, like Huang Yunwen, an artist signed under Hongming TV itself.

The two belonged to different subsidiaries under Hongming.

They were competitors.

A possibility suddenly struck Huang Yunwen, and he grabbed his agent. "Brother Zhang, is President Ma making Jiang Yang take the hate-fame route?"

"He's been so cold all this time — no amount of pushing could make him popular. So the company's taking a big swing, right?"

Jiang Yang had debuted earlier than Huang Yunwen. Later, Huang Yunwen got bundled into the marketing of the "Four Soon-to-Blow-Up Stars" and made a name for himself in the industry.

After that, Huang's drama blew up, and in the same breath he became the rival, eagerly cutting ties with Jiang Yang — and not forgetting to step on him a few times while he was at it.

The parent company had tacitly approved — no, had strongly supported it.

After all, Jiang Yang getting mocked a bit cost nothing; on the contrary, it generated buzz.

Back then, Huang Yunwen had come from behind to surpass Jiang Yang, and he'd been quite pleased with himself.

Agent Brother Zhang: "..."

He didn't see it.

Because besides Hongming TV, the other two of the three major streaming platforms in the domestic entertainment industry — Yuanxing TV and Aikanju TV — seemed to be making moves too.

Huang Yunwen froze.

?

Although the three platforms were competitors, a unified "tacit understanding" at certain times represented a general trend in the industry.

——*Favoritism* was a hot commodity.

Brother Zhang's brow furrowed.

It shouldn't be like this.

Chen Liqi's taxes really did have problems.

Originally it would have been possible to protect her with full force, but there was a mole in Chen Liqi's company who reported her, and the mole had quite a lot of material in hand.

No one knew what might be released. If the previously ambiguous attitude got hammered into certainty, it was over.

Chen Liqi now couldn't appear at mainstream events, and everything else of hers was restricted too.

As an unstable factor that could be struck down at any moment, the probability of no recovery was even greater.

What followed — frozen endorsements, variety shows taken down, removal from casts, becoming a blacklisted artist overnight — was a foreseeable future.

Although Chen Liqi was about to fall, she had deep roots from years in the industry, and everyone was watching, waiting to carve up the meat.

Besides endorsements, her roles could be divided up too. But *Favoritism* — besides short-term buzz, what other dividends did it have?

...

Forget it. No point paying more attention.

Huang Yunwen's new drama, *The Diary*, had him as the male lead of an idol romance — a role that could add to his mystique.

It was going to air soon, streaming online and on TV simultaneously.

That was Huang Yunwen's comeback battle.

As for *Favoritism*...

Unless it aired while filming, it wouldn't clash with his show.

And airing while filming had no benefits either — it couldn't get on satellite TV, only streaming.

·

The next day.

Sang Yu had just gotten out of bed.

His hair had been slept into an exploding rocket shape.

The strands on his forehead stuck up high, with a few drooping down onto Sang Yu's eyelids, poking him into constant blinking.

Gone was the usual world-weary, nose-in-the-air look of someone who'd been a lofty young master too long; in its place was a bit of dishevelment.

He stretched, his joints letting out a faint series of cracks, a layer of undispelled drowsiness still clouding his eyes.

He'd slept past eleven.

Outside the window was the city's finest river view, the water glittering.

Sang Yu fished out his phone to answer some messages — that woke him up fastest.

——President Sang, I'm playing at your xianxia scenic area too, let me invest a bit too?!

Sure.

——The new company, Linjiang Aurora Culture & Tourism Group Co., Ltd., is being prepared...

Got it.

——Marketing progress report for *Demolition Office*, including results summary...

Too many pages. Not reading.

Oh, almost forgot the "got it."

——The rights to *Favoritism* have been secured, and the new crew is being assembled...

Got it.

The public opinion storm around those three people was pretty big. But Sang Yu didn't care.

Since he'd chosen to spend money on *Favoritism*, as long as the money got spent, all was well.

——*Favoritism* has no special effects and a short production period. Should it be filmed completely before airing, or use a film-while-airing model?

Got— wait, no.

Film while airing.

Slotted in before *Demolition Office* to fill the gap — how satisfying. Sang Yu didn't know what was wrong with him either. OCD?

Maybe not.

——The props for *Favoritism*'s early preparation are extremely high in value, and the project's person in charge can't decide on the budget.

Props?

Sang Yu scrolled down. There was a PDF.

It listed all the "props" that needed to appear in the novel — luxury goods, manors, wineries, helicopters, out-of-print jewelry...

Sang Yu: that's it?

He had all of that.

Take the manors — domestic and overseas, different styles, different locations. He "collected" them. Rather than buying everything again, why not use what was on hand?

He had his grand steward who managed his "household" — chief assistant Cao Siyi — coordinate with them.

The overall head of *Favoritism*: "..."

He'd originally proposed signing a rental agreement — after all, those things weren't company property but President Sang's personal assets.

Other bosses they'd worked with before would also rent out their own or their friends' mansions for filming.

Quote the price a bit higher, and the company's money changed hands once and became private money.

Sang Yu never even thought in that direction. Signing a contract like that was basically moving money from his left hand to his right — except with extra taxes.

One day.

Sang Yu made a rare visit to the *Demolition Office* set.

Wasn't *Favoritism* about to start filming?

Sang Yu thought of the stock sitting in his garage that hadn't seen daylight in ages, and on a whim drove one out for a spin.

He had to admit, it was a bit of showing off, so he just cruised around once.

Sang Yu: heh.JPG

The crew was currently filming the "wealthy man's first wife's son dies mysteriously" storyline, so they'd rented a garden mansion out in the suburbs.

At that moment, the crew had just finished a scene and everyone was resting.

Yao Yingbo often wore a baseball cap, and liked to strap the back of it extra tight.

That made his forehead look small and his gourd-shaped head with its wide face even more pronounced.

Xuan Lerong wore a simple black tee and was getting his makeup touched up, hair pushed all the way up with no bangs — the focus entirely on his face.

Young male actors usually kept a bit more hair for that Korean comma-bangs style, which could hide hollow temples.

Xuan Lerong's was even shorter.

Delicate features, short hair, tight and well-fitting bone structure and skin, a perfectly full skull rounded like a comic sketch — the whole person gave off an impression of "fresh and clean."

Ouyang Changyi sat nearby, reviewing the monitor footage with the director.

She was neat and crisp from head to toe, ponytail sleek, hair flying when she tossed it.

She wore a uniform with fingerless gloves; her fingers were long, her skin lustrous — stunning in close-up.

The sound of a car engine drew closer from afar, and the people filming on the second floor instinctively walked to the windows and looked down.

A purple-black luxury car drove in through the gates, slowing down... a Rolls-Royce, no mistake — they saw the emblem.

It wasn't weirdly shaped and didn't match the stereotype of a luxury car, but it was so squared-off, and the quality was so good, that it made up for it.

One look said: expensive!

The window rolled down, and in the driver's seat sat a young man wearing gradient purple sunglasses.

Sang Yu.

Sang Yu scanned the surroundings. The mansion came with an underground garage.

But he'd be leaving soon anyway, and couldn't be bothered — also, his driving skills were mediocre. Fine, he'd park outside — the shameless Sang Yu.

A few crew members didn't recognize him and assumed some rich young master had wandered in by mistake; they were about to go clarify the situation.

From the second floor, Yao Yingbo let out the cry of "the head of the household is back":

"President Sang—!"

"President Sang!"

Producer Song Hai came running out of the building, panting. "Why are you here? You didn't tell us in advance, I could have prepared..."

"President Sang?!" a cameo actor who'd only joined the crew a few days ago asked quietly.

The person next to him lowered their voice. "Yeah, President Sang of Aurora. The crew's big moneybags."

"That car looks like a Rolls-Royce..."

"How much does it cost?"

"Custom model. Fifty million, easy."

"Holy crap?!"

The cameo actor's voice wasn't small, and several people around heard it.

Some stifled laughter; others silently pulled out their phones to image-search it, and after searching, their expressions also became "holy crap."

Sang Yu: "Prepare for what? I was out for a drive and stopped by."

He'd been idle the past couple of days.

Because *Favoritism* was a female-oriented story and he hadn't read it, he wasn't shadowing the author through the whole process like with *Demolition Office*.

Casting could be left to the author.

Yao Yingbo came running down too, laughing so hard his wrinkles showed while lamenting that he couldn't split himself in two — otherwise he could do *Favoritism* too!

Sang Yu: "Director Yao, really?"

Yao Yingbo: "Of course it's true!"

Since he was going all in on *Demolition Office* anyway, it definitely wouldn't line up with *Favoritism*. Saying a few pretty words was only human.

Sang Yu's mischief bubbled up: "What a coincidence then — for my next project I'm planning to shoot a xianxia film, and I'd like to ask you, Director Yao."

There was actually no film at all.

Sang Yu had just thought of that xianxia scenic area and decided to tease him a little.

Yao Yingbo froze. "N-no, wait, what? There's a next project already, President Sang..."

Three productions at once?!

Yao Yingbo's mind was in chaos; for a moment he couldn't find an excuse and stammered. He didn't dare refuse outright either.

Sang Yu smiled, patted Yao Yingbo's shoulder, and said vaguely: "Haha, *Demolition Office* can't do without you, Director Yao. Thanks for your hard work."

Yao Yingbo: "..."

What did that mean?

He instinctively started reading comprehension on it.

What was the underlying meaning of President Sang's words? Sincere or polite? A hint not to run off, or just a simple compliment?

Over there, Sang Yu turned and greeted the lead actors, who all looked visibly nervous and stiff.

According to plan, *Demolition Office* could wrap in a little over three months.

Sang Yu was looking forward to it.

He smiled and said, "Don't feel any pressure. No matter how the ratings turn out, I'll throw everyone a celebration banquet."

A super-luxurious one.

Ouyang Changyi and Xuan Lerong exchanged a look and confirmed each other's thoughts —

That's right. President Sang's business empire was just like Teacher Chen of Chihong's. Huge indeed.

*Demolition Office* was male-oriented, *Favoritism* female-oriented, two lines advancing in parallel.

In the industry, when a drama blew up it was the actors' achievement, but when it flopped it was also the actors' fault by default, so the pressure on leads was immense.

Let alone for people like them — no fame, starting almost from zero.

They'd acted for a few years but had no foundation; they were no different from rookie actors.

President Sang had come specially to say these things to ease their pressure.

He'd cleared away every outside influence for them so they could film with undivided focus.

He was also telling them — don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid of flopping, don't be afraid of failing to carry the show.

The celebration banquet was ready either way. No matter the result, someone would be celebrating for them.

Ouyang Changyi's eyes suddenly grew warm.

In Sang Yu's mind, *Demolition Office* was his spiritual sustenance to watch — of course they'd celebrate when it wrapped!

Yet somehow the atmosphere wasn't as relaxed as he'd imagined. If anything, it grew heavier.

Sang Yu: "?"

What's wrong?

What Sang Yu didn't know was that besides Yao Yingbo's reading comprehension, there were masters of reading comprehension among the leads too.

——Some insiders in the industry had long since begun to "demonize" him.

·

They speculated about his every move on their own, defined it on their own, and even performed in-depth analysis on their own.

·

Previously, most people in the industry had been watching and waiting, unable to figure out that President Sang's approach, assuming he was an outsider barging into entertainment to play around blindly.

But once *Demolition Office* successfully started filming, everyone suddenly came to their senses.

Something was off...

*Demolition Office*'s search volume crushed every upcoming drama of the quarter;

The leads' follower growth across all platforms exceeded that of actors with shows currently airing;

Filming had only just begun, yet candid shots had gone viral several times already — the male lead's physique, the female lead's fight scenes, the CP interactions;

Yao Yingbo's uncharacteristic urge to share — since starting *Demolition Office*, his Weibo posts had grown frequent, his enthusiasm high;

And the fan-made content that reflected real popularity — no need to pay for it — was erupting like a geyser.

This was plainly...

the childhood of a soon-to-be-hit drama!

This man Sang Yu was simply too good at "playing" the entertainment industry. He was clearly playing the pig to eat the tiger — no, playing the golden pig to eat the tiger.

A whole combo of moves, fierce and overwhelming, catching everyone off guard.

He'd forcibly smashed out a new path in the industry, practically "creating stars" in a short time. The whole industry had been played.

And why would the platforms that had been played still cozy up to him? Because —

A man like that was a thorny opponent, but as an ally, it was a different story.

It was precisely because they'd witnessed President Sang's methods that they acted cautiously.

That was why the platforms would send their heavily promoted actors — their soon-to-blow-up stars — to audition for *Favoritism*. It showed the platforms' sincerity well enough.