Chapter 1502
Turning Clouds and Rain
After a while, his work on "Painted Skin 2" officially ended after he finished filming the outdoor scenes in XZ.
Although after filming wrapped up again, he hugged the two female leads in front of the camera recording behind-the-scenes footage, and they even had dinner and drinks together that night.
If someone is taking pictures, of course you have to act all respectable and pretend you have a very good relationship with them.
But I've already made up my mind: I won't take any more roles that involve them!
Let whoever wants to take the picture take it!
I can't handle that kind of old woman.
After having dinner that evening, I took a plane back to the capital.
The next day, at the large courtyard house.
Bai Bing had already left.
This woman was quite sensible; she didn't try to stay.
I just frequently send him messages, asking if he has time to meet.
Even when she said she was busy, she didn't show any emotion.
This made him even more embarrassed, so he decided to find an opportunity to squeeze in some time to talk to her again.
However, he still has a lot to do lately.
In the evening, a commercial vehicle with company license plates drove into the underground garage of the courtyard.
Besides the driver, three women got out of the car.
The three of them, somewhat curious yet cautious, took the elevator to the courtyard on the first floor.
"There's an elevator in the building..." the shortest girl said softly after glancing at the two girls to her left and right.
The two of them shook their heads, saying they had never seen him before.
Upon entering the courtyard, we were led by an auntie to the living room.
Someone came out of the guest restroom, shaking the water off their hands.
Looking up at the three people, especially at the girl with smoky makeup, he flung her hand away and let out a scream.
"My God, it's a ghost!"
The eagle actually let out a cry.
"What the hell?!" Someone immediately poked their head out from the side.
"That scared me to death!" The eagle patted its chest and cursed loudly in the Beijing dialect.
That's pretty vulgar.
It made that girl very embarrassed.
Zhang Yuan stepped forward and turned on the lights in the courtyard.
“Look carefully, they clearly… right?” Zhang Yuan also glanced at it.
I wanted to say that she was clearly quite pretty, but I didn't say it out loud.
That's so unfair.
He blinked hard. The three women in front of him could be described in the simplest terms as dark-skinned, ugly, and strange.
They are Jike Junyi, Yuan Yawei, and Wu Mochou.
All three of them are now "Beijing drifters," performing in bars in the capital city.
Wu Mochou wore smoky eye makeup, making her face quite white. The lighting had been dim, and when the eagle suddenly looked at her, it nearly gave her a heart attack.
That eagle was hot-tempered to begin with, and he almost went up to beat this guy up, but Zhang Yuan stopped him.
"It's not like it's the first time I've seen this, why are you panicking?"
"Come, sit down and let's talk."
"By the way, hello everyone, I'm Zhang Yuan, this is my home," he introduced himself to the three women.
Of course I know them all, but I usually only see them on screen. Today I met them in person.
The eagle wouldn't let it go. Back in the living room, it kept telling Yang Kun about how terrified it had been, completely disregarding Wu Mochou's feelings.
Zhang Yuan sneered inwardly.
Don't be fooled by that eagle's fierce demeanor and its impolite manner towards everyone.
The results of it?
She only has affairs outside; she doesn't have any at home. Her husband has had countless affairs, and she knows it all, but she never says a word.
"Alright, enough talk, let's get down to business." Zhang Yuan leaned back on the sofa, looking displeased.
The woman immediately shut her mouth.
Three young women entered the room and saw many people.
"This is..." The dark-skinned girl from Sichuan reacted the fastest, quickly greeting everyone.
The remaining two were a bit shy and reserved.
After the three of them greeted each other, they were all taken aback.
Because these people are not only veterans in the music industry.
Na Ying and Yang Kun were both present; they were the main team leaders and judges for "The Voice of China".
Beside them were Huang Xiaomao and his wife Li Jing, a well-known host, who were with Zhang Yuan. Of course, they recognized the three of them.
There was also a tall, thin middle-aged man named Jin Lei.
This is the chief director of "The Voice of China".
It's like half of the main members of the show were sitting next to Zhang Yuan, drinking and chatting.
Even the biggest shows are ultimately decided by just a few people.
"You all should know each other, this is Director Jin." Zhang Yuan smiled and gestured to Jin Lei.
"Speaking of which, Brother Lei and I have known each other for a long time."
"Right?"
“That’s right.” The other person raised their glass and clinked it against his.
This guy used to work at SMG. He was the director of "Go! Good Boys" and "China's Got Talent"!
I just switched jobs to Zhejiang TV last year and took over this program.
We've collaborated three times already; we're definitely old acquaintances.
He wouldn't feel at ease without such an "insider" at Zhejiang TV.
"Harlin has returned to Taiwan."
"Brother Liu Huan is recording an album in France."
“Otherwise, we would have had more people today,” Zhang Yuan added after saying that.
If I wanted, all the judges could attend.
"I had originally reserved a few bottles of good wine for Teacher Liu Huan, intending to drink them together," he said to the eagle.
"That's a pity, he can't drink it now."
Liu Huan is also a well-known heavy drinker in the Chinese music scene, drinking at least 3 jin (1.5 catties) of alcohol in one sitting.
And he has a unique characteristic that everyone who has drunk with him knows.
He started drinking and speaking Chinese.
They were enjoying their drinks and started speaking English.
He was drunk and spoke French.
His state can be determined by the language he uses.
In 09, he was diagnosed with avascular necrosis of the femoral head.
One-third of patients with this disease are long-term alcoholics.
Teacher Liu went to the best hospital in North America for treatment and quit drinking to save her life.
You know, Liu Huan used to have a neck when he was young, and Zhang Yuan suspects that he lost his neck from drinking too much alcohol.
The three women looked at these men, and these men looked at them in return.
After reading it, these people all had only one thought.
Has Zhang Yuan changed his taste?
I'm tired of the pretty ones, now I want to find some "weird" ones to play with.
He felt that these people couldn't be called ugly, after all, they had people like Huang Bo around them.
But it's not exactly beautiful either.
These three are now just small fry, so he spoke frankly.
"Please sit down. I specially invited you here today and disturbed your resident singing work because there is something important to discuss."
"You've all been on that show, so you should know it was really popular."
"Of course, the content recorded by two of you hasn't been broadcast yet."
"But I believe you will become famous immediately after the broadcast."
"Therefore, I would like to discuss with you today my future plans for my acting career."
Unlike the others, he had no interest in these women's bodies whatsoever; he was purely greedy for money.
There's a saying: "Don't let the good stuff go to outsiders."
If I go toe-to-toe with Zhejiang TV, I'll definitely be at a disadvantage, so I'll have to make up for it elsewhere.
For example, celebrities!
Starting with "The Voice of China", music talent shows in mainland China officially entered the 2.0 era.
In the 1.0 era, Hunan TV and its subsidiary Tianyu Media basically monopolized the process of promoting and making popular talent show contestants.
The 2.0 era saw an even greater flourishing of diverse offerings, with all the major TV stations participating in the competition.
And the value of these artists who came from talent shows has also skyrocketed!
During their most popular years, these individuals earned tens of millions of yuan.
Among them, Wu Mochou is said to have received hundreds of millions in endorsement fees.
Of course, it's just a claim, a publicity stunt.
Regardless, it's better for me to make this money than for someone else to do it.
Agents' commissions are quite substantial.
"Becoming famous and a star is not an easy thing." Zhang Yuan poured wine for the three of them.
He didn't even ask if he could drink; if a bar singer can't drink, what's the point of singing?
"It requires operation, management, coordination of various programs, endorsements, album releases, chart rankings, and even overseas promotion."
“These things involve massive amounts of money and connections, as well as systematic planning.”
"This is a completely different concept from how much money you get paid for singing a song now."
"I just want to say one thing: do you guys want to hold your own concert someday?" Zhang Yuan asked.
The three women nodded in unison!
Anyone who goes down this path wants to hold a concert.
"Alright, I won't go into the complicated concert arrangements."
"Have you thought about how to get on stage?" "You've all heard Nicholas Tse's story, right? In his early days, before he became famous, he relied entirely on his seniors to get him on stage."
"Although I was booed and had water bottles thrown at me at first, I managed to become a familiar face, which gave me the opportunity to become famous quickly later on."
"If he had relied on slowly and painstakingly persevering, would he be the Nicholas Tse he is today?"
Old Xie is a good guy, hardworking, and good-looking too.
But without the care of his father, Yang Shouchen, and so many senior figures in Hong Kong, would he be where he is today?
That would really turn into that drama between him and Daniel Wu.
"You can call me Crown Prince, I can accept it."
"So it was just a nobody!"
"Often, the hardest part of any endeavor is not mastering the skills, but getting started."
"The door opened, and we had to climb up the mountain, one building at a time."
"But there are thousands of steps just outside the main gate!"
“What I can do,” Zhang Yuan said, glancing at the three of them, “is to save you the trouble of climbing those thousands of steps and let you directly enter the sect.”
"Of course, I'm not doing it all by myself."
"Instead, everyone helps each other and does it together." He gestured towards the eagle and the others.
"The prerequisite is that you have to sign with my company and become one of my artists."
Zhang Yuan smiled and looked around, and everyone laughed along with him.
Let's make money together.
"Here are three contracts, prepared for you, one for each of you."
"You can go back and take a look."
"But it's only for a week."
"As you should know, there are dozens of contestants participating in this program, and I have dozens of choices."
"But you don't have dozens of 'me's' to choose from."
Zhang Yuan stood up, his previously amiable expression turning slightly serious.
"This will be a week that will determine your fate."
"Sometimes, whether one advances or retreats in life depends on a single thought."
Zhang Yuan personally handed the contracts to the three men one by one.
"Next, Brother Huang Xiaomao will talk to you about the details. You can ask him anything you want to know."
Seeing the somewhat confused expressions on the three people's faces, Zhang Yuan nodded slightly.
The three were summoned at the last minute.
When the driver and bodyguard went to pick them up, they said that Mr. Zhang Yuan wanted to see them.
Their first reaction was...
Who?
After finding out which movie star it was, I was even more confused.
Looking for me?
Want to listen to a song?
I was somewhat apprehensive.
Now things are even more uncertain.
Zhang Yuan understood that although he said he wanted to sign them, his image was still limited to that of actresses.
We need to give it time.
We still need to give it a "little bit" of encouragement.
Now, he no longer has the skills, nor does he want to proceed slowly like he does with others.
He turned to look at director Jin Lei.
"Brother Lei, there's something I want to tell you."
"I watched the show. There was a bald guy in the first episode who sang quite well, and a lot of people online like him, right?"
"You mean Li Daimo, right?" Director Jin immediately realized.
Yes, it's him.
“I know, he’s under Huan Ge’s command,” Eagle interjected.
"Pretty good, your voice is magnetic, deep, and pleasant to listen to," Yang Kun chimed in.
"Yes, he's very popular after the first episode aired." Director Jin added, "I think he has great potential; he might even make it to the finals."
"Yes."
"good."
Everyone present said the same thing.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Yuan spoke coldly at this moment.
"I don't like him."
"Huh?" Director Jin was taken aback.
We were just praising him, trying to elevate him, and then you said this.
"What's wrong?" the man asked.
"It's nothing, I just don't like the look of him, maybe it's because I don't like bald heads," Zhang Yuan said casually.
Of course, it's not because he's bald. Teacher Xu Jingjiang is bald, and he likes it.
The main reason is... I'm the anti-drug ambassador for the Sanlitun Police Station!
What a jerk! There are already plenty of addicts in the music industry, and now one shows up right in front of me. I should deal with him as soon as possible to avoid polluting the environment.
A secondary reason is that this guy has made the song about that woman, whose mother is in China while she herself is abroad giving money and sex to foreigners, popular again.
To him, this person was doubly disgusting.
"How about I think about it again and make up a reason for you?"
"Haha, no need." Director Jin waved his hand with a laugh.
“I think we can give more opportunities to these women.” He nodded to the three women.
Jin Lei knew what was going on.
As for the fact that Liu Huan has now chosen this bald guy... that's no big deal.
It's not that Brother Liu Huan really likes him; it was arranged by the show.
Liu Huan didn't care at all.
"I've disliked this bald guy for a long time; his glare is blinding." The eagle changed its attitude and started spewing insults.
"He's not good-looking, but he tries to sound profound with his deep voice, like a donkey braying." Yang Kun, who himself often makes donkey-like noises, chimed in.
Did he upset you?
Only Sister Li Jing asked a question in a low voice.
“I don’t know him,” Zhang Yuan shrugged.
Li Jing glanced at the three newcomers, then at Jin Lei, the director, and understood the situation.
To turn clouds into rain!
It wasn't about making love in bed; it was about Zhang Yuan manipulating events at will!
Everything was fine just now; even the director said I had potential.
As a result, after he said he didn't like this person, public opinion immediately took a 180-degree turn.
Will this bald guy ever make a comeback in the next episode?
Difficult!
With just a few words, Zhang Yuan decided the fate of this stranger.
No reason or conflict is needed.
Just like many young actors when they go to audition for film sets.
There aren't that many professionals. Casting directors just take a stack of photos, look at them casually, and throw them around. If they don't like the look of someone, they just toss them on the ground.
The same applies to college students seeking employment. When large companies throw out buckets of resumes, do they really observe each and every job seeker carefully?
It's two different things for Party B to ask Party A and for Party A to ask Party B.
The current situation is that we are both newcomers, and we are both participating in the same program.
Although these three girls met Zhang Yuan on their first day, they understood one thing.
Who becomes popular on this show is up to them.
It's never about skill level, but about connections.
The judges and the director changed their attitudes toward a popular contestant because of one sentence he said.
These women aren't naive college students; they're all women who have already made their way in the world. How could they not understand such basic social skills?
The question is, are you willing to choose me as your backer?
If I'm not willing, the next person I "dislike" might be you.
These three, in particular, are so striking that some of them, even when they're wearing makeup, could easily be startled by a dog walking down an alley.
The eagle was so frightened that it barked like a dog.
If she were good-looking and naturally beautiful, she would have become an actress long ago!
Why bother going to bars to sing when you're already struggling?
A contract worth 37 points—don't ask why it's only 30%, it's already a lot.
No matter how many people want to kneel down, they can't get this opportunity.
Most newcomers start at 19%.
Many of them even receive a fixed salary, and how much the company earns has nothing to do with them.
Of these three, Tia Ray and Wu Mochou come from ordinary families and are just average.
On the contrary, Jike Junyi, who "pretended to be poor," came from the family with the best financial conditions.
Using her ethnic minority identity and the impoverished Liangshan region to feign a poor background is just her persona.
Even the dark skin is created with spray; it's all about image manipulation.
But a persona needs a platform to be showcased in order to be effective.
So they can choose which path to take.
Under such intense pressure, the three new female guests were all trembling with fear, even their breathing became cautious.
“One week.” Zhang Yuan pointed to his watch on his wrist, reiterating the time he had given the other party.
Tick, tick, tick...
What's rushing forward isn't the hands of a watch, but rather their dwindling opportunities. (End of Chapter)