Chapter 723: Star Personality (5,300 words)

Although assistants have always been a large and inconspicuous group in the entertainment industry, Li Zhibai feels that he has been influenced by Lu Yan He, always feeling that, first, don't look down on people, and second, although assistants are inconspicuous, they really affect many things.

Therefore, every time Li Zhibai joins a crew, he not only pays attention to the opposing actors but also pays attention to their assistants.

At least, when talking about sensitive topics, he can notice that so-and-so's assistant is nearby and needs to be restrained.

Li Zhibai's impression of Xiao Mo is not deep.

Because this is a girl who is usually relatively silent. On the set, she often lowers her head, timid, and is not the kind of person who will joke and get along with people around her.

Li Zhibai doesn't know if she is a bit inferior.

Anyway, every time he greets her, she rarely responds to his gaze.

Therefore, Li Zhibai's impression of her has always stayed on a label of being relatively "quiet and trouble-free".

Until he saw that recording interface on her phone.

"There are indeed assistants who secretly take some materials of artists to sell for money, but recording is relatively rare." Yan Liang said. "This is already..."

Li Zhibai hesitated and said: "Do you think I should go and tell Liu Bige about this?"

Yan Liang: "How is your relationship with Liu Bige?"

"Just so-so. He always deliberately wants to get familiar with me, sometimes making me very embarrassed."

"If your relationship with him is average, you rashly go to remind him of such things, he may not believe it." Lu Yan He said. "That is his assistant."

"The most critical thing is that Yan Sui told me that he is very bad to his assistant, so bad that his assistant wants to mess with him. I even think he deserves it."

"Then what are you hesitating about? In this situation, of course, pretend you didn't see it." Yan Liang said directly.

"But I'm afraid of causing some big trouble." Li Zhibai said. "What if Liu Bige has some problems and affects the movie *Those Years*?"

"Hiss—" Yan Liang took a cold breath. "That is true."

Lu Yan He said: "Why don't you talk to her? Or why don't you let Yan Sui talk to her?"

Li Zhibai: "What should I talk to her about? Ask her if she secretly recorded when Liu Bige was talking? She definitely won't admit it."

"Regardless of whether she admits it or not, you went to ask her, and you saw it. You can choose to tell Liu Bige, but you go directly to her first and talk to her about this." Lu Yan He said. "Actually, it's telling her that you don't intend to tell Liu Bige about this."

Li Zhibai: "Then I won't make such a promise. What if she wants to expose something in the end and really ruins the movie *Those Years*?"

Lu Yan He: "Don't say anything first, test it out. People don't necessarily want to do something immediately. If she really recorded some handle of Liu Bige, you don't need to come forward. At that time, the crew will negotiate with her to see how to coordinate and handle this matter. To be honest, she might be more nervous than you now."

Lu Yan He was absolutely right.

Xiao Mo is indeed nervous, uneasy, and even a little scared now.

Because she is worried that Li Zhibai will tell Liu Bige about this.

She carefully followed Liu Bige, very afraid that he would suddenly break out.

Such a thing hung over her head, and she didn't know when it would fall. She couldn't sleep well, and her heart felt like it was on stilts.

When she was eating, Yan Sui came to find her.

Xiao Mo looked at him in surprise.

Yan Sui said: "Brother Bai asked me to tell you that he will pretend he didn't see it, as long as you don't affect the production and release of this movie."

Xiao Mo pursed her lips, shook her head, and said: "I don't have this idea."

Yan Sui: "What exactly happened?"

Xiao Mo was stunned.

"Brother Bai just asked me to tell you this, and didn't tell me what happened." Yan Sui looked at Xiao Mo suspiciously. "What did you do?"

Xiao Mo shook her head and hesitated. "Please tell him that I won't do anything that will affect this movie."

Yan Sui looked at her hesitantly, his expression even more confused.

"I suggest you still take *Fake Death Won't Do 2*." On the phone, Lin Suyang said to Li Zhibai. "The audience reputation of this movie is indeed quite good, and your performance in the movie is also well received. Long Yan wants to make a sequel, but this sequel is also a very good project for you. After all, with the first one in front, the box office of the sequel shouldn't be bad."

Li Zhibai said: "I feel that I still have a long way to go if I want to get rid of the romantic comedy track."

"Why must you get rid of it completely?" Lin Suyang said. "Since you have so many well-received plays on this track, it means this is your comfort zone. You want to step out of your comfort zone and challenge more character types. This is of course correct, but you don't have to abandon your comfort zone completely, right?"

Li Zhibai: "Because if I don't abandon it completely, the first choice for others to find me will always be romantic comedy."

Lin Suyang: "But look, in order for you to act in romantic comedy, people will also use projects like *Orange* as a trading condition. If your appeal in romantic comedy wasn't big enough, Long Yan wouldn't easily make such a replacement with an actor, right?"

This is true.

"The most important thing is that you haven't reached the top level on this track yet, and you are busy changing tracks. Be careful that you can only run in the top eight on any track in the end."

Lin Suyang's words made Li Zhibai fall into deep thought.

"Anyway, I suggest taking *Fake Death Won't Do 2*." Lin Suyang said, and then changed the subject. "How did you let Yan Sui communicate about Liu Bige's assistant?"

"It's okay. Liu Bige's assistant said she wouldn't do anything that would affect this play."

"It seems that she either wants to keep something in her hands for self-protection, or..." Lin Suyang chuckled. "Maybe she intends to blackmail Liu Bige."

Li Zhibai: "Blackmail?"

"Didn't Yan Sui say before? She seems to be very short of money, enduring humiliation by Liu Bige's side for a monthly salary of 3,000 yuan."

Li Zhibai: "It seems so."

"Very good. People like Liu Bige should be well treated." Lin Suyang said as if he had been offended by Liu Bige before.

"Liu Bige seems to have quite a background, right?" Li Zhibai asked.

"Just so-so. It's just an actor that the company Sanhua is trying to promote." Lin Suyang said. "His agent has been jumping around recently, looking for projects and roles everywhere. The outside world says he is a young actor waiting to explode, saying that the director of *Those Years* has a very high evaluation of Liu Bige, creating a feeling that after *Those Years* is released, Liu Bige will definitely become famous overnight."

Li Zhibai: "Ah? Is there anyone who can market better than Li Yuefeng?"

"Li Yuefeng's marketing is usually in the drama promotion stage, and there is relatively little tossing in the filming stage." Lin Suyang said. "Liu Bige didn't buy hot searches or anything, he just used *Those Years* to create an image of a young actor waiting to explode, in order to strive for some resources."

Li Zhibai: "*Those Years* is really easy to use."

"Don't say that, there are really several crews that have thrown olive branches to him." Lin Suyang said. "Although it is not a big project, compared to the roles he could contact before, it is indeed much heavier."

Li Zhibai: "It still verifies that sentence, when you go out, face is given by yourself."

"Truth." Lin Suyang nodded. "Is Liu Bige still bothering you recently?"

"Seeing that I don't pay much attention to him, he has calmed down a little." Li Zhibai said.

"He wants to climb up your big tree." Lin Suyang laughed. "His agent also came to ask me if you would go to act in Shijin's movie *Ten Miles of Fragrance*."

Li Zhibai: "Act what act, I don't want to act in romantic comedy, and I don't want to act in Xianxia romance even more."

"Many of your fans hope to see you act in Xianxia subjects again."

After acting for the first time and receiving attention for playing a rich second generation as a supporting role, Li Zhibai's first truly big hit play was *White Jade Ballad* starring with Zhang Wei. That drama made Li Zhibai completely embark on the path of an actor from an idol star.

After that, Li Zhibai actually didn't act in mainstream Xianxia romance dramas in the market.

He only filmed one *Chinese Paladin*.

Li Zhibai said: "I definitely don't want to film something like *Ten Miles of Fragrance*. It's boring."

"Shijin said, as long as you are willing to act, they will give you a salary of 20 million." Lin Suyang said. Although he emphasized this number, his tone didn't seem to care much. "People have offered a salary for a domestic super first-tier movie."

Li Zhibai: "I don't understand. Why are they making such a big fuss about knocking on male actors for a Xianxia romance movie from a female perspective? I haven't seen them looking for female actors with such great fanfare."

"Because for this kind of subject to be popular, the premise is that the male lead must be popular." Lin Suyang said with a smile. "I have never seen any Xianxia romance drama where the male lead is not popular but the drama is popular. There are cases where the female lead is not popular but the drama is popular. This kind of subject, to put it bluntly, is to create dreams for female audiences. How can the male lead not meet the dream-making standards? The female lead is a bit ordinary, which makes the audience substitute."

Li Zhibai: "Let others create dreams. It's boring for me to act. Can I make other people's dreams interesting?"

Lin Suyang: "I guessed you would say that."

Li Zhibai: "Shijin's approach is also sick. He didn't just contact you; he's also been in touch with Yan Liang. Besides him, there's also Li Yuefeng. Does he think that by throwing us all together to raise a 'gu' poison, he can just give the prize to whoever wins the fight in the end?"

Lin Suyang: "They are using this movie to build momentum for themselves. The first movie is to pick people from so many top first-tier actors, which is the same logic as Liu Bige's routine. Anyway, we refused, and they won't say we refused. In the industry, the details are true and false, virtual and real, but a movie has contacted so many first-tier actors, which is real. Then their status in the industry is not really raised?"

Li Zhibai: "Heh."

Lin Suyang laughed. "However, actors of your level are always scarce."

Li Zhibai: "What scarce or not scarce, no matter how scarce an actor is, if they act in a bad play, they will also stink the street. At that time, after *Nineteen Years* was broadcast, how many people stared at me and scolded me? If the acting is not good, fans blowing it to flowers won't change the fact."

"You are becoming more and more sober."

"Can I not be sober? Damn, if you have those two friends of mine, you are even more sober than me." Li Zhibai said. "One is a genius, can't catch up even if you chase, one is a ground talent, rising from the ground. I am still proud, really feel that I am very awesome, just relying on a face, a so-called drag brother personality, can sweep the entertainment industry, right?"

"You are you, this is quite good. You roll them, they roll you, and finally everyone else is rolled to death by the three of you." Lin Suyang laughed.

In the entertainment industry, there are many male actors in the first echelon. Except for Lu Yan He who has exceeded the five elements, others, including Yan Liang who won the award, have their own long boards and short boards. For a while, it is not clear who can take the lead in the future.

Li Zhibai is not a serious drama actor, and the award seems far away from him, but his star style is destined to make his "flowering period" last for a long time, and his acting skills are not bad, which is recognized.

Yan Liang won the award, his image cannot take Li Zhibai's "beautiful man" route, and because of the relationship between several representative works, his popularity and commercial value are lacking. However, *Friends* laid a good foundation for his national popularity, and the stage of idol artists makes him have fans and popularity far exceeding "strength actors".

Other male actors, Li Yuefeng, acting skills are slightly inferior, marketing is unparalleled in the world, the key is to be able to bluff inside and outside the industry. Besides complaining "really good at marketing", you really can't step on him. People's representative roles and works have never been broken.

Liu Zefan, Huang Kai, Zeng Qiao... these male actors who have more or less relationship with Lu Yan He and are not far apart in age, each have their own way, and each have the foundation to take the lead and become a mountain head in the circle, just look at the future development trend.

However, if you really compare, Yan Liang and Li Zhibai started their acting career many years later than these people, but they have already overtaken on the curve.

Especially the inventory in their hands, no one knows which play they will take to the sky next.

Of course, Lu Yan He has said it directly.

For Li Zhibai, it must be *Chinese Paladin*. Once this drama is broadcast, plus Li Zhibai's previous foundation, in terms of popularity and traffic, it is solid, and there will definitely be no one else.

For Yan Liang, Lu Yan He said, just look at which of his action movies comes out first.

"Li Zhibai's innate advantage is that his own personality is very distinct, and he is very integrated with every role and every stage he plays. Over the years, he has formed a recognition that belongs to him. This is also Yan Liang's disadvantage. His own personality is not strong, so although there are many plays he is popular, the character personality is not as well integrated with Yan Liang's personality, and it has not formed an actor's personality, and the power is not concentrated."

This is also what Chen Ziyan said when chatting with Lu Qingzhen in private.

"Lu Yan He and Li Zhibai can occupy an ecological niche, actually because they have completely integrated their personality and the artist's personality." Chen Ziyan said. "Yan Liang... the impression he gives everyone is still too vague. Yes, he works very hard, yes, he has several plays that are broadcast well, but what kind of actor is he? What kind of personality is he himself? Is he hard-working? This seems a bit too mediocre."

"All efforts are to achieve something, not just stop at the effort itself." Lu Qingzhen summarized.

The two nodded.

"So, if you want to be a star, unless you say, okay, that's it, you don't want to be too popular, you just want to treat it as a job, otherwise, you must have a star personality with recognition."

Lu Qingzhen wrote it down.

"When we hold a meeting for agents at Shihu later, we should talk about this well." She said with a smile.

"This kind of thing, it's useless to talk about it, it depends on the eye." Chen Ziyan laughed.

"But having said that, the entertainment industry is really not friendly to good people." Lu Qingzhen said. "Sometimes, the more rebellious people are, the more they can form this so-called recognition, personal style."

"Two things, rebellious doesn't mean bad character." Chen Ziyan said. "But the entertainment industry has one good thing, no matter how popular you are, you are a public figure, you are pretending, you have to pretend to have a skin that follows public order and good customs. Compared to many circles, they are too lazy to pretend, directly attributing everything to human nature, and then rationalizing breaking rules, survival of the fittest, unfair competition, and even bullying the weak, the so-called jungle law. Which star dares to expose a little bit of such things, no one can bow in front of public opinion."

"I want 500,000."

Her gaze was firm, powerful, without a trace of retreat.

Her voice was also clear, calm and composed.

Liu Bige looked at the timid Xiao Mo in the past in disbelief, and didn't react for a while.

"Otherwise, these things will be spread on the internet in various ways after *Those Years* is released, and your acting path will come to an end."

Liu Bige: "Are you crazy? This is a crime!"

"You also committed a crime." Xiao Mo restrained her nervousness and smiled. Maybe she wanted to laugh out the effect in the movie, but she controlled it very badly, and instead laughed very ferociously.

"Do you know that blackmail is also going to jail!"

"Then I will drag you to jail with me. Threatening me is useless. Now I am threatening you." Xiao Mo stared at Liu Bige and suddenly raised her voice.

Liu Bige looked at Xiao Mo in astonishment.

"So, 500,000, before noon tomorrow, you transfer it to this account." Xiao Mo took out a folded piece of paper, put it in front of Liu Bige, and said bluntly. "No bargaining, and don't think about finding the company and agent to solve this matter. The things are in my hands. As long as the money is not in the account, you just wait for *Those Years* to be released."

Xiao Mo stood up and turned to leave.

"Wait a minute!" Liu Bige grabbed her angrily. "Do you think you can leave like this? I'll call the police now! I want to see—"

"Then you call, you call the police over!" Xiao Mo said the lines she had rehearsed countless times in her heart. "What are you telling the police? The things you just heard are only in my hands. Only you have heard them, and they will be destroyed after listening. They are backed up in a place none of you know, and you have no evidence to prove I have them."

Liu Bige was stunned.

"I have already submitted my resignation to the company. From now on, I am no longer your assistant." Xiao Mo said. "You are also not qualified to ask me to stay here."

Liu Bige was furious.

"As long as you dare to send it, you can find out it's you."

Xiao Mo nodded. "Then come and check. I don't know if you can find me, but your career is definitely ruined."

She stared stubbornly.

"You'd better think clearly, I advise you to pay directly, 500,000, not a penny less."

Xiao Mo broke free from Liu Bige's hand and turned to rush out. ===== CHAPTER 724 =====