Chapter 50: You

Because Qi Hao was going to attend the Student Film Festival, Tang Ren arranged the media visit well in advance.

As soon as they heard that “Immortal Sword 3” had opened for media visits, the press immediately sprang into action.

The system says stars and the media love and hate each other — that’s not wrong.

Just because they were relentlessly chasing Qi Hao not long ago, acting like they wouldn’t stop until they destroyed him.

But after the incident passed, Qi Hao became their favorite again.

Their media visits were primarily focused on Qi Hao.

Among the others, Hu Ge was probably the most newsworthy.

The so-called “Three Beauties of Immortal Sword 3” were decent-looking, but utterly failed to meet the media’s demand for news material.

Yang Mi’s popularity stemmed mostly from her rumored romance with Guo Xiang and Qi Hao.

As for Li Shaohong’s newly launched “New Dream of the Red Chamber,” she played one of the four senior maids serving Jia Baoyu — Qingwen — ranked outside the top ten credits.

Whether it will become popular after airing remains uncertain.

Liu Shishi and Tang Yan were practically unknown; most of the public had no idea what they did.

Liu Shishi’s recent surge in popularity — others might not know, but surely the media knew how it happened?

They were the ones who got paid to write those articles.

Qi Hao was different.

The current ranking of the Four Leading Men is Qi Hao, Huang Xiaoming, Tong Dawei, Nie Yuan.

Qi Hao has both popularity and awards, leaving the other three far behind in a cliff-like gap.

Plus, he’s always been the media’s favorite — any minor news from him could keep them buzzing for days.

Actually, when they joined forces to attack Qi Hao, some media outlets had held back.

They’d felt a bit reluctant.

They could tell the difference between a full meal and constant feasting.

But the other side paid too much, and they couldn’t take the money without doing anything, so they betrayed Qi Hao with a stab to the back.

Yet now, during this on-set visit, they showed not a trace of guilt.

Their first stop was watching the crew film.

On-set filming was the content the media found most interesting.

They could observe the shooting locations, props, costumes and makeup, and even pick up on plot pairings.

For example, today’s scheduled scene was extremely popular.

Qi Hao and Tang Yan’s… kissing scene!

With past experience, Tang Yan finally didn’t keep messing up.

Well, she only messed up four times — proving in action what total humiliation looked like.

As long as she tried hard, nothing was beyond her ability to ruin.

Is this really what a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama looks like?

The media were all itching to criticize Tang Yan’s acting.

But they’d come to the set for travel expenses and hush money — they couldn’t have zero professional ethics.

Besides, even though Tang Yan kept messing up, each kiss, each different angle — it still gave them plenty of material.

We’re not the director — why should we complain?

After filming the scene, the media were all satisfied, feeling this visit was well worth it.

They’d post high-resolution photos right away.

“Boss, are you okay? I didn’t expect they’d schedule a kissing scene. If I’d known, I’d have restricted today’s shooting content — my experience is too limited; the crew took advantage of me.”

Zhang Nan handed him a wet wipe.

“It’s nothing — kissing won’t get you pregnant.”

Qi Hao carefully wiped his face in the mirror — only someone of his status could afford to do this; a regular actor would have to do whatever they were told.

Like the “Lust, Caution” crew — if Li An agreed to media visits.

They could easily film Liang Chaowei and Tang Wei rolling in bed.

Real action.

Live observation.

Tang Wei wouldn’t dare even fart.

“Boss, why are you laughing?” Zhang Nan sighed in relief, then noticed Qi Hao had suddenly smiled.

“I laughed at Liu Shishi the other day — trying to make a deal with a tiger, letting Yang Mi slip in and turn it into a joke.”

Anyone with eyes could see Yang Mi and Liu Shishi must have reached some agreement.

Maybe Tang Yan was involved too, but she did nothing, so it was hard to tell.

In the end, Yang Mi successfully turned their pairing into a hot topic.

But Liu Shishi’s follow-up attempt flopped — her posts and photos sank without a trace.

So Qi Hao couldn’t help but mock her like Cao Cao.

“What about today?” Zhang Nan chuckled too.

He realized his boss didn’t care about these rumors surrounding him.

These rumors are unavoidable, but if you can maintain a more optimistic attitude, it’s much easier.

In other words — if you can’t fight it, just close your eyes and enjoy.

“Today I’m laughing at Yang Mi — her strategy is too crude, not nearly as sharp as Cai Yinong’s,” Qi Hao, the Chancellor, smiled: “This schedule clearly targets Yang Mi — they picked a day when Yang Mi was filming ‘New Dream of the Red Chamber’ for the media visit, then paired me with Tang Yan for a kissing scene, crushing any hope she had of continuing to stir up rumors.”

Tang Ren’s stance now: if we can’t have him, neither can you, Yang Mi.

As for pulling Yang Mi into Tang Ren’s fold.

Cai Yinong probably realized Yang Mi was too hard to control and had given up all hope.

“But your rumor with Tang Yan is going to blow up.”

Zhang Nan sighed — he wasn’t handsome enough, too low-key, couldn’t understand Qi Hao’s troubles.

“It’s not a coffin lid — why bother covering it up?” Qi Hao didn’t care.

“Each of them looks so innocent, but their scheming is top-notch — ninety jin in weight, at least eighty jin worth of cunning.”

Zhang Nan glanced up at Liu Shishi and Tang Yan — Yang Mi, just manipulated, wasn’t present.

Pressure breeds motivation.

He’d chosen the entertainment industry — he’d made the right call.

“Those three? They won’t be able to maintain sisterly affection.”

Qi Hao didn’t feel for a moment that he was the one disrupting their sisterly bond.

When interests are involved, you can hype sisterly affection — or discard it.

And he, as the rumored partner, was just a tool.

The three of them were having fun playing their games, and someone nearby, mischievous, tossed them a single meat bun.

And only one — the scene was definitely thrilling.

Now Qi Hao was that meat bun.

“Tang Ren is pretty stingy — from the production’s standpoint, they should maximize the use of rumors.”

Zhang Nan commented on Tang Ren.

If the Chancellor wanted three laughs, the third could be dedicated to Tang Ren.

“You really should be careful with Tang Ren — remind Zhan Qi Laideng later…”

Whether because of arrogance or sheer tyranny, Tang Ren really didn’t care about harmonious relations with artists.

If they didn’t like you, they’d stab you in the ribs; if you contradicted them, they’d cut you down.

It’s only because Qi Hao’s status is high now — if he were a minor star like Tang Yan or Yang Mi, even if he offended them, they wouldn’t care about consequences — he’d be crushed the same way.

Qi Hao’s unmanageable qualities aren’t just his status — he’s also drunk with many big shots.

The recent smear about him turning gay featured many big names — effectively giving Cai Yinong a refresher course.

“Who’s Zhan Qi Laideng?” Zhang Nan didn’t get it.

“An Yu — the PR guy, An Yu,” Qi Hao suddenly grinned.

“He even gave himself an English name — pretty trendy,” Zhang Nan didn’t immediately grasp what the name meant.

Who in their right mind would derive “Zhan Qi Laideng” from the character “Yu”?

Only Qi Hao and Lao Tian — those two idiots.

After a short break, the crew arranged for the leads to wear their costumes for photo sessions.

Mainly to tell potential viewers: our costumes, makeup, and props are top-notch.

Our actors are good-looking enough.

Just wait and lock onto our channel.

Tang Yan and Qi Hao standing together really did look well-matched.

Their chemistry wasn’t worse than Yang Mi’s.

The reporters snapped away furiously, wishing the two would keep kissing even when not filming.

But Qi Hao’s face still wore that distant, detached expression — the standard professional demeanor — dousing everyone’s enthusiasm.

Fake again.

Over the years, Qi Hao’s rumored girlfriends have come and gone, and so have the media — but everyone knows these rumored girlfriends are mostly fake.

Fake dating partners must promote themselves, and journalists must promote themselves too.

Regardless of truth, it must be stirred up.

The final segment was the interview Wu Hao needed for his task.

Tang Ren first arranged behind-the-scenes footage of the crew, then Hu Ge, Liu Shishi, Tang Yan, Wu Hao…

If Wu Hao were placed first, the media would obtain enough material and might not interview the others as thoroughly.

Wu Hao waited patiently.

To avoid wasting time, he chose to read a book.

Some journalists secretly took a few photos; some even found the right angle and spotted what book Wu Hao was reading.

Pfft, The Complete Tang Poetry… and Volume Three!

Brother, you’re overdoing it!

We understand you care more about what you lack—middle schoolers want to appear scholarly, but you must know your place.

If you held The Three Hundred Nursery Rhymes, we could still praise your diligence.

At the very least, you could hold The Three Hundred Tang Poems.

You pull out The Complete Tang Poetry—aren’t you making this hard for us?