As expected, because he'd taken an afternoon off, then took a lot of time out of his busy schedule the next day to accompany Hao Ritian, Li Bufan soon had to throw himself into filming and other jobs after returning to work.
As his first assistant, Hao Ritian naturally couldn't take it easy while Li Bufan was swamped with work. In regards to this, he had a slight headache. The headache wasn't due to how hectic it was but because of Li Bufan's current circumstances.
Although Li Bufan believed the company treated him well, Hao Ritian was of another opinion. He didn't know what the situation was with other stars, but Li Bufan was evidently being put to work like an ox.
First and foremost, though Li Bufan's agent had become more attentive towards him owing to his rising popularity, it wasn't enough for Hao Ritian. In any case, since he'd crossed over, not once had he seen the agent check up on Li Bufan or provide him with any assistance.
Even if Li Bufan was young, his body couldn't be overworked like this. If this continued, his body's foundation would be worn down; it wasn't worth it. He had to change this situation.
As he and Li Bufan worked, he didn't forget to take his medicine. During this period, Xia Xin would call him countless times. At first, he would decline the call, but later on he became fed up, so he blacklisted her. Hao Ritian currently didn't have time to exchange blows with this moron.
With Li Bufan's unintentional – or perhaps, intentional – care, in addition to the change in Hao Ritian's character, his relationship with the crew improved and no one could bully him just because they wanted to anymore. Take that Lin Li for example—a week ago, she'd still dared to make Hao Ritian run errands for her, but now, she was practically hiding from him.
Considering that he planned to assist Li Bufan with his career from now on, it was only natural that Hao Ritian had to understand the survival rules of the entertainment circle. He wanted to be Li Bufan's agent after all.
Fortunately, their effort had borne fruit. This idol drama, in which Li Bufan was the star, finally wrapped up. Following this, they would start promoting the drama, but it was much less hectic than filming.
At long last, Hao Ritian could find time to sit down and have a chat with Li Bufan.
The drama had finished filming as of today and the pair had returned from dinner with the crew. Since they'd gone a little overboard with drinking, Hao Ritian helped Li Bufan pour a cup of strong tea to sober him up. As he passed him the tea, he asked, "Bufan, when will your contract with the company expire?"
Li Bufan was stunned for a moment. "Hm, there's still around three months. I signed a five-year contract with the company. I'm guessing that the company will renew and upgrade my contract once it expires."
With that said, he sipped the strong tea and immediately grimaced from the bitterness. His slight tipsiness completely disappeared; the tea was that strong.
Hao Ritian asked again, "What grade was your contract initially?"
Five years was still good. If Li Bufan had signed on for eight or ten years then he would have a headache.
Assistants wouldn't usually ask such questions to their employers as it went beyond the line of propriety. If it had been someone else, Li Bufan might've ignored them, but since it was Xia Luo, he had no qualms. Seeing as Hao Ritian had suddenly taken an interest in it, he began to talk about his contract in detail.
"I signed a grade C contract at the beginning. Above that, there's still a grade B, a grade A, and even a grade S contract. However, those who can sign a grade S contract are superstars and our company doesn't have such an A-list artist yet. The highest is just grade A. Qingfeng Entertainment, though, must have signed S-grade artists. The Film Emperor, Mo Cheng, and the Film Empress, Du Siyan, are definitely at this level."
Mo Cheng had held the title of Film Emperor for three consecutive years and was undoubtedly an extremely popular and well-known celebrity. Du Siyang was even more amazing than Mo Cheng. She'd acted in a Hollywood film as a supporting character, becoming the envy of many by achieving something others could only dream of.
Hao Ritian seized onto the words 'Qingfeng Entertainment'. Wasn't this the entertainment company that was preparing to film a large-scale Xianxia drama?
Li Bufan naturally envied those popular artists but he wasn't greedy or dissatisfied with his current status quo. He believed that, as long as he worked hard, success would eventually come his way.
"This time, if the company renews my contract, it'll probably be upgraded to B, or maybe A? Hahahaha!" Li Bufan felt giddy just thinking about it. In any case, joking about it wasn't against the law.
Hao Ritian knew at once that Li Bufan didn't expect to get an A-level contract. His tone of voice suddenly changed. "Listen to me, you're going to make it big after this drama airs and the company might use an A-level contract to keep you, however I don't recommend that you continue with this company."
Li Bufan was stumped. Of course he hoped that he would become popular, but fame wouldn't come to him that quickly. He laughed once he came to his senses. "Xia Luo, thank you. I'll definitely make it big in the future."
He didn't hear the last sentence at all.
Hao Ritian helplessly held his head. This stubborn kid didn't believe him one bit. But that didn't matter. The way to persuade him was very easy.
"How about this—let's make a bet. I bet you that after this drama airs, you're going to rise to fame. And the stake is that if I win, you have to refuse if the company uses an A-level contract to keep you. When that happens, I'll help you pull some strings and we'll switch to another company, with me being your agent. How's that?"
One shouldn't say he didn't cherish old affections with his company. The company signed artists to generate profit, and though the company had provided a platform for Li Bufan, Li Bufan had earned them a lot of money in return these past few years. Aspiring to rise higher in society was perfectly normal.
Moreover, he had his eye on Qingfeng Entertainment. He knew that the upcoming Xianxia drama would blow up even more than this idol drama Li Bufan starred in. Be it the cast or the later stage of the plot, this drama was exceptional. If Li Bufan could perform as a major character in it, his standing would fly leaps and bounds ahead as if taking off on a rocket and he could sit comfortably as a first-line star.
Unfortunately, besides the two roles that would be selected via public audition, Qingfeng Entertainment would obviously save the other major roles for their own artists. If not, would they use their own self-produced drama to help the artists of other companies become popular? No fool would take on such a thankless job. This had long since been a default rule in the entertainment circle.
If Li Bufan couldn't sign to Qingfeng Entertainment, he would basically be uninvolved with this Xianxia drama. Hao Ritian couldn't allow Li Bufan to miss this golden opportunity, so it was imperative for Li Bufan to sign up with Qingfeng Entertainment.
Seeing Hao Ritian's serious mien, Li Bufan finally sobered up. He stared at Hao Ritian for a long time, unable to comprehend how such a formerly soft person became so strong all of a sudden. Perhaps it was the incident with Xia Xin that had caused such a big change. This was a good thing for Xia Luo, and he could see that Xia Luo was planning the future for him wholeheartedly.
With that in mind, he closed his eyes, eyelids trembling. When he opened them again, a light was shining in them. "Okay, I agree."
He didn't ask which company Hao Ritian wanted him to switch to, nor did he ask what his plan was, purely because he trusted that Hao Ritian wouldn't cause him harm. Moreover, he still had doubts on whether this drama would blow up, so agreeing was just agreeing.
Despite being a hundred percent confident he could persuade Li Bufan, Hao Ritian was still delighted to hear him agree with his own ears. "That's good. This idol drama will be aired soon after it's been promoted. The company will no doubt want to settle the contract with you as soon as possible. Delay it and wait for me to handle everything first."
Li Bufan, "…"
Hao Ritian still sounded as if he was sure he would become popular. He, he wouldn't admit that he was a little happy!
After settling Li Bufan, Hao Ritian was ready to devise a way to settle Qingfeng Entertainment. It was times like these when he felt the advantages of having power and status. He'd never imagined that it would be so difficult to enter an entertainment company.
Hao Ritian predicted that other brokerage companies would come to poach Li Bufan once he rose in popularity, but the jury was still out with Qingfeng Entertainment. Who told them to be a big-name business? The company had no shortage of first-line stars and cultivating their own talents was more practical than poaching new ones. Therefore, it was very likely that Qingfeng Entertainment wouldn't offer Li Bufan an olive branch. It was especially so with them planning to shoot the Xianxia drama soon. The competition for the roles was so fierce, where would they have the spare time to sign another person on?
Just as he was getting a little annoyed, his 'big thigh' called.
"So it's Director Mu. What can I do for you?" Hao Ritian had been too busy of late, to the point that he'd forgotten about the man who was quite possibly his old gong. Now that the other party had taken the initiative to call him out of the blue, he was very happy.
"My grandma wants you to visit. She often talks about it, so I had no choice but to bother you and ask if you have time. I won't force the issue if you aren't free."
"Well, I have time on Sunday. If it's alright with you, I'll intrude on you then."
"Thank you. Then I'll pick you up on Sunday."
"There's no need to bother you, Director Mu. Tell me the address and I'll go by myself."
After chatting casually for a while, it was still ultimately decided that Mu Shaohua would pick him up. Only once they'd arranged a time did they end the call.
Hao Ritian's face brightened up. If this was his old gong, then he wouldn't feel ashamed to hug this big thigh. From his research, Fenghua Investments was practically a mythical legend in its industry. And as the chairman of Fenghua Investments, Mu Shaohua was almost worshipped at the altar.
Regardless of whatever direction Mu Shaohua invested in, it involved many industries. Whatever was money-making, he was sure to have a hand in it, and one had to admit that every object he was interested in and invested in would, without exception, turn out extremely successful in the end.
As such, Hao Ritian was certain that Mu Shaohua must've dipped a hand in the entertainment industry. This industry could be said to be very profitable; anyone with insight, money, and the opportunity would want a slice of the cake. Though whether one could make money depended on their own ability.
Ultimately, while investing in films, television dramas, and the like could reap a lot of profit, it could lose a lot too. This was a 'game' only the wealthy would play and wasn't for those without a certain amount of capital.
When he'd first received Mu Shaohua's business card, Hao Ritian hadn't intended to ask for help. After all, he didn't have anything he needed Mu Shaohua's assistance with. Yet, in a flash, he ended up slapping his own face. Nevertheless, his face was thick so it didn't matter.
If he had Mu Shaohua pull the strings, signing Li Bufan to Qingfeng Entertainment would be as easy as pie. He didn't consider it a big deal. Li Bufan would be popular later on and Qingfeng Entertainment would be happy to sign Li Bufan on when that happened.
On Saturday morning, Li Bufan attended a variety show programme with the crew to promote the television drama. This time, Li Bufan's agent finally appeared. At the end of the day, this variety show programme was incredibly popular, and the agent naturally had to give Li Bufan a few pointers at this critical juncture.
Li Bufan's agent was a woman in her 30s. Her looks were average and she couldn't be said to be particularly capable. To say she was incapable wasn't quite right either though as she was in charge of many artists, some of which were quite well known. At the moment, Li Bufan belonged to the upper-middle level among her artists.
No matter the situation, in Hao Ritian's eyes, this agent's ability wasn't enough to take Li Bufan to a higher level.
After advising Li Bufan and watching him follow the crew members onstage, the agent approached Hao Ritian to ask a few questions concerning Li Bufan. Then, she proceeded to nag him: if something happened to Li Bufan, he must inform her right away, and so on and so forth. By her tone, she wanted him to take good care of Li Bufan.
If he hadn't set his mind on jumping jobs with Li Bufan, Hao Ritian would've had endless squabbles with her down the road based on the way this agent got things done. Now, he simply went through the motions, not wanting to make trouble.
At the same time, once noticing that she'd been blacklisted after repeatedly calling Hao Ritian, then returning to the rented apartment to confirm whether it had really been returned, Xia Xin felt completely under the weather. Usually, she only needed to attend classes properly, eat, drink, and be merry. But now, she didn't have the confidence to be capricious and squander money. The uneasiness and terror in her heart had fermented into resentment after a week's time.
Early this Saturday morning, Xia Xin refused her classmates' invitation to go out and have fun. She stayed holed up in the dormitory alone, clicking away in front of her computer with a savage and unfriendly expression that appeared even more horrifying by the light of the screen.
Using around half an hour's time, she wrote a long blog post, then released it on her Weibo. Not only that, but she also found several marketing accounts to forward her post. After completing these sets of actions, she then duplicated the content of her text and posted it on the forum with the highest human traffic.
Following all that, she began to wait for the results.
While her maneuver couldn't be any more simple, the effect was quite good. In no time at all, the number of people who read her blog post increased and the post she'd forwarded also rose among the high floors. Xia Xin was content with this development. She was certain that Li Bufan must've had a hand in her older brother's unexpected change, and while she both resented her brother yet hoped he would change his mind, she utterly hated Li Bufan.
Her slight admiration for and idolisation of him in the past had long since scattered into nothing.
However, upon taking a look at the responses to her Weibo and posts after a while, her expression quickly turned somber and her eyes were full of disbelief. Why? Why are all the comments scolding her? Those who spoke up for her were few and far between and would, without exception, always be sprayed. How come?
Her expression changed several times before she finally figured it out. The water army! Yes, Li Bufan must've bought a water army for the sake of his image! Her face twisted and she clenched her teeth so hard they creaked. She won't give up this easily! Her hands clicked away on her computer, creating crackling sounds that, for some reason, made one feel perturbed.
At that point in time, Li Bufan was still recording the programme as Hao Ritian waited backstage, completely unaware of Xia Xin's misconception. Meanwhile, the post and Weibo Xia Xin had released had spread like a wildfire after its fermentation, and a big Weibo V account had specifically created a reply to Xia Xin's post which quickly became popular and was supported to the top.
#The longer you live, the more things you see. Taking you inside the inner world of a piece-of-work, brain-damaged person#
DINK V: After living for so long, I've finally realised the danger posed by people with extreme brain damage. I don't usually talk so viciously but I coincidentally saw a post and after reading its content, my first reaction was wtf. Where did this exotic flower come from? She actually had the face to post this matter on the Internet. I give up. //@Summer's Little Heart: My gege who I mutually depend on…
DINK was that big Weibo V blogger with fans numbering in the thousands, and Summer's Little Heart was Xia Xin's Weibo handle.
DINK had a substantial amount of fans. Together with the strange tone behind their forwarded blog post, many people clicked the post straight away to see its content. After reading, each person shared the same feeling as DINK: they'd fucked a dog1.
The content of the post was roughly as follows: the poster's parents had died in an accident while she was in high school, leaving only her older brother who was attending university at the time for her to mutually depend on. Although their parents had died, her gege treated her very well and provided for her studies, taking care of her in every way. She sang her virtuous gege's praises. At this point, the content was still quite warm.
Then the poster's subject took a turn, suddenly changing the content of the post.
Last week, she'd wanted her gege to buy her a Pear 6 but ended up falling out with him. She felt very wronged, however her gege wasn't an unreasonable person and she was sure that someone had egged him on. Her brother was the assistant of an artist who had disliked her for a long time and whom she was certain had been the one to encourage her brother to become estranged with her. Here, she proceeded to scold him as if she was raining curses on him, using every malicious word in existence and causing the vast network of netizens to learn how crazy a woman could get when she wanted to scold someone.
By this point, the netizens' faces were full of 'wtf's.
But it turned out there was more.
The poster indicated that her brother must have been momentarily possessed—otherwise, how could he have disregarded his sister who he went through thick and thin with? However, from the content, the netizens knew that the poster's older brother had been bearing with his and his sister's living, tuition, and other expenses since their parents' death. Now, he simply didn't want to continue taking responsibility for these and wanted his sister to become self-reliant. Yet in the sister's eyes, this behaviour was wrong and letting her down.
What's more, the whole story was described by the poster in the style of a little white lotus. She recounted her grievances and several complaints, even saying that she trusted her brother would soon realise the errors of his ways and seek her out again. Then they would be mutually dependent on each other again like in the past.
The vast network of netizens: …
"Fuck, where did this exotic flower come from? I want to ask how that gege tolerated her for so long. If it were me, I would've given her a big slap on the face, yet he raised her for so long?"
"Oh my god, I sympathise with the gege +1. He raised a white-eyed wolf. She doesn't appreciate his blood, sweat, and tears? Alright, fine. But to think she even blamed him! When did the creatures known as 'meimeis' become so terrible?"
"Clearly she's gotten used to freeloading off her gege and is disgruntled that no one is providing for her now. Her gege's request is very normal. He could take responsibility for two people while he was in university and even support his meimei until now. It's just wanting her to be self-reliant, but she put the matter on the Internet. It's kinda scary thinking about it."
"I'm just curious about something—what is running through her head? Her Weibo content is so detailed, she obviously thinks she's in the right and wants those on the Internet to seek justice for her. How on earth does she think she's just a victim?"
"If you take a brain-damaged person seriously, you lose."
"The brain damaged are called brain damaged because their brains have a problem and their brain circuits run differently from normal people. Bother with these kinds of questions and you lose."
"I looked at her previous posts and discovered that she seems to be a student from a film school in the capital. The tuition fees for this school aren't cheap. Gege is way too generous. Simply sending his meimei to school must've been extremely hard. Spending so much money on this moron for all these years is water gone down the drain."
"Damn, she really is a film school student! No wonder she's learning to perform—it's in the nature of this mentally-handicapped little white lotus to make a performance!"
"A perfectly good film school will be affected because of this moron."
"I have to say, am I the only one sympathising with the older brother and that star who touched porcelain?"
"You're not alone."
"You're not alone +1."
"You're not alone +10086."
"…"2
Once this topic was pushed up, leagues of netizens followed the thread of the story to Li Bufan's Weibo. Although Xia Xin had cursed Li Bufan out in her Weibo, she didn't name him, meaning Li Bufan's fans didn't have the grounds to attack her using this even if they wanted to.
Even so, anyone with a brain could connect the information she'd revealed to Li Bufan as long as they thought for a bit. Moreover, the majority of netizens were all Sherlock Holmes, so many details couldn't escape their eyes. Despite racking her brains out to come up with a plan that wouldn't bring trouble on her head, her Weibo was still hacked in the end. Who told her brain capacity to be so small?
The forwarded post, besides being starred and upvoted in no time at all, had countless people flocking over to it to comment on how remarkable it was.
No matter the case, Li Bufan also had a large fan base. It would be strange of them to stand by while their idol was being attacked, not to mention that the person who released the Weibo was a moron, leading them to believe her words were as moronic as she was.
More and more netizens began paying attention to the event, giving Li Bufan the opportunity to make the headlines. No one else but Xia Xin could achieve such a thing.
Seeing the situation develop in a totally different direction from the one she'd imagined, Xia Xin felt both confused and flustered. Her first reaction was to call her brother, but after dialing, she returned to her senses and recalled that she'd been blacklisted. She became so angry that she flung her phone.
Li Bufan's programme recording was coming to an end when his agent suddenly received a call from the company. Her expression after hanging up was grim. She immediately searched her phone while saying to Hao Ritian, "Take a look at Li Bufan's Weibo."
Three years after Li Bufan had joined the company, his Weibo account was his own to manage. By then, he already knew what should or shouldn't be posted, thus his agent could only take a look at the situation on Li Bufan's Weibo home page.
Hao Ritian didn't know what had happened, but he complied and entered Weibo to check Li Bufan's page. The number of fan messages under his page had increased substantially. Unexpectedly, he felt a sense of familiarity when he clicked on a few comments.
Following the clues, he soon pieced together the ins and outs of the story and discovered the origin of that Weibo post. He also learned the news that, because of this opportunity, Li Bufan had made it to the headlines.
Hao Ritian, "…"
He'd underestimated Xia Xin, really.