Chapter 66: Collective Wisdom and Effort, The Director Is My Uncle!

The stirring of the Red Phoenix Star is not frightening.

The trainees looked young, but each was already an adult, right at the age when one naturally admires and loves.

Whether female or male trainees, Jin Li considered it quite normal.

Yet for three members of the same team to have their Red Phoenix Stars stirred, with that crimson hue between their brows looking remarkably alike, made Jin Li suspect something deeper.

Furthermore, the gratitude declarations made by these three members were strange; other members thanked the production team for the opportunity, their mentors for their guidance, and their parents and fans for their support.

But these three added one more person to their thanks—

"Thank you to the staff members for their patient guidance."

Had Jin Li not specifically paid attention to these three individuals' speeches, she likely would have missed that sentence entirely.

Once the heartfelt words of this team's members were recorded, everyone officially disbanded and rushed to the cafeteria to eat.

Jin Li was the first to leave; as she stepped out of the room, she casually glanced at the staff members waiting nearby and suddenly paused.

Among those five staff members, a male employee wearing a black hat had a crimson hue between his brows so intense it nearly covered his entire face.

This was so much peach blossom luck that it was forming a Peach Blossom Curse!

Coincidentally, the last team member was near the exit, and they emerged first; Jin Li turned to look and discovered that the peach blossom threads of those three members were all connected to that male employee!

Jin Li: ...

What kind of scene was this, a master player fishing for multiple targets???

After leaving Building A, Jin Li went to eat with the accompanying planner and asked about the staff members.

"I noticed during recording that those staff members didn't come inside but waited outside; is this to avoid affecting the trainees?" Jin Li asked.

The female planner nodded. "Yes, some trainees feel very uncomfortable seeing staff members present. To achieve better recording results, we try to stay close to real-life scenarios, clearing out unrelated personnel so they don't struggle to get into character."

Jin Li understood.

She had felt the same way when filming commercials before.

Back then, when filming a commercial using eyeshadow to draw a mirror, the director wanted her to display the lazy, casual state shown in her previous videos.

She very much wanted to portray it, but at that time, entering the state was particularly slow.

When filming videos, there weren't so many people surrounding her, so the psychological pressure wasn't great; the director just snapped a few shots without considering the effect at all.

But during the official commercial shoot, dozens of eyes stared at you. With her back to them, she felt as though her back was about to be stared through with a hole.

Therefore, being a star requires thick skin.

People with thin skin who get nervous easily find it hard to complete filming tasks when surrounded by crowds.

Jin Li asked again, "When I left, I noticed five staff members waiting outside; does Building A really need that many hands? I recall Building A is the girls' dormitory, right?"

The female planner replied without hesitation, "Five is already considered few; Building A has at least a dozen staff members, with several assigned to each floor."

Now that there are fewer trainees, things are quieter. In the first few episodes, because there were so many people, many fresh incidents occurred every day; back then, we were actually worried about not having enough staff!"

Jin Li suddenly realized, "So those staff members are all there to serve the contestants?"

The female planner nodded. "You can think of it that way. For example, psychological counseling, hiring outside help to teach dancing, or handling various issues like broken faucets or shower doors that won't close—it's all left to them."

Jin Li understood; it seemed this was how the opportunities for romantic feelings were created.

She asked, "But I saw some male employees inside; isn't it inappropriate to have men in the girls' dormitory?"

The female planner looked left and right; seeing no one around, she lowered her voice. "Teacher Jin Li, let me tell you something, but don't spread it outside."

Jin Li perked up; was there more gossip to consume?

"Go ahead, go ahead, I absolutely won't spread it, don't worry!"

The female planner sighed. "Actually, at the beginning, we used only female employees; everyone thought using women was better, and we shared that idea, but..."

Here comes the twist!

The female planner glanced around again. "Within a week, several trainees confessed their love to our female employees."

Jin Li: !!!

"This... is a bit surprising." After a long pause, Jin Li replied with extreme composure.

The female planner nodded gravely. "So after that, we discussed it and decided not to use only female employees; we also assigned some male employees to go inside. Building A is covered with surveillance cameras; we even installed them in the restrooms, so no one dares to act recklessly."

The use of "act recklessly" was quite spirited.

For a moment, Jin Li didn't know whether to worry about the trainees, the staff members, the female employees, or the male employees.

After pondering for a while, by the time she arrived at the cafeteria, Jin Li finally figured it out.

Simply put, it came down to four words: True love is invincible!

However, if she hadn't seen it, she might have let it be, but since she had witnessed it, Jin Li couldn't truly allow that male employee to keep fishing for those three female trainees.

Moreover, given the severity of that male employee's Peach Blossom Curse, if he continued fishing, something would definitely go wrong.

Inside the cafeteria.

A pair of slender hands reached out in front of Jin Li and waved.

Jin Li came back to her senses.

Gu Cheng asked puzzledly, "I was afraid you'd be hungry, so I got you a bowl of soup noodles to let it cool down; don't you want to eat the soup noodles?"

Jin Li shook her head. "No, I want to eat them; besides, I ordered these soup noodles myself. Didn't you message me about it earlier?"

Gu Cheng looked at her current posture. "But you seem... quite hostile toward the soup noodles."

Jin Li followed his gaze and realized her chopsticks had been constantly poking the noodles, breaking the strands into scattered pieces.

She quickly lowered her head and slurped the noodles.

Seeing that Jin Li was fine, Ji Qinglian chatted with March Sky about the matter of acting in a television drama.

Chen Lin thought for a moment and rarely proposed a useful idea.

"If you want a major production, specifically one that requires filming for half a year, then modern dramas are definitely out of the question; you need to look for period dramas."

Yan Xingdong wore a thoughtful expression. "Period dramas, major production teams... I seem to recall Brother Guang mentioning that a large period drama production team is still casting and hasn't finalized anything yet."

Luo Yi suddenly understood: "Oh, you mean that one? I remember now too!

Yes, it's definitely a major production. The director wanted to invite us all to act in it, but Guangge felt the famous director was too strict, with excessively high demands, and we wouldn't be allowed to leave for other engagements during filming.

We are complete newcomers in the entertainment industry and impossible to cast in significant roles; weighing everything, the value of participation isn't high, so Guangge politely declined."

Ji Qinglian's eyes sparkled with excitement. "So which show is it? I haven't heard a single whisper about it!"

Gu Cheng said, "Great Sheng Dynasty, a work adapted from a novel telling the history of a fictional dynasty. The director has connections and seniority within the industry; this drama is being made to prove his Dao."

In the circle of directors, the fastest way to prove one's Dao is to compete for awards.

The higher the prestige of the awards targeted, the greater the director's fame becomes, but films aiming for awards almost exclusively crowd into the art-house genre.

The other path is box office revenue.

The higher the box office, ideally reaching the top 30 in national film history or the top 100 globally, the more blazingly famous one becomes.

But these criteria apply only to movies, whereas Great Sheng Dynasty is clearly a television drama.

Ji Qinglian hesitated slightly: "Can one really use a TV drama to prove their Dao and become a god? Does the director intend to produce movie-quality content for every single episode?"

Jin Li, however, felt the words Great Sheng Dynasty sounded quite familiar, though she couldn't recall them immediately.

Time moved into the afternoon.

In the common lounge, Jin Li was practicing exam questions while waiting for the make-up recording session when suddenly a flash of inspiration struck her mind, and she remembered Great Sheng Dynasty—

It was a phenomenon-level television work that achieved both critical acclaim and popular success, with every episode rivaling the quality of a feature film!

No wonder it sounded familiar; this production had appeared in the book, though only mentioned in passing.

Because by the time the book's plot began, Great Sheng Dynasty had long finished casting and entered the closed-door filming phase.

Calculating the timeline, Xi Mengze would change agencies in two months, which marked the starting point of the plot.

Therefore, if Ji Qinglian truly wanted to join this production team, she had to exert effort right now; otherwise, she would definitely miss the boat.

Jin Li lifted her head from the sea of books, paused her practice questions, and walked over to Ji Qinglian.

"Did you mention Great Sheng Dynasty to your agent?"

Ji Qinglian put down her phone, smiled at her, and patted the sofa beside her: "Sit!"

"I contacted Brother Qiang as soon as I got this news at noon. He hasn't been paying attention to film and television resources and hadn't heard of this drama either; he said he would ask around for me, but there's no result yet."

Jin Li said, "Although I haven't seen the script, I searched for the director; he used to make movies, won some awards, and his box office performance wasn't trash.

Now he's transitioning to television dramas, securing so much investment and creating such a massive buzz; I think you should strive for this opportunity."

Ji Qinglian replied, "That's my thought exactly. If the director dares to invite the boy band March Sky, he certainly doesn't lack money.

Nowadays, making a drama depends either on quality or on traffic. With so many traffic stars cast by the director, there's absolutely no shortage of popularity; using this drama as a launching work wouldn't be bad for my status level."

Jin Li smiled: "As long as you have a plan, that's good. I also have a good feeling about this one; it gives me a vibe that it will explode in popularity."

Ji Qinglian scoffed: "Give me a break. Earlier you said the company named [Dynasty] had bad symbolism; now they've just added the two words [Great Sheng], and suddenly you think it's great?"

Jin Li shook her head and said seriously: "One thing at a time. The Dynasty Company might be bad, but film and television works featuring 'Dynasty' seem capable of becoming hits."

Ji Qinglian said: "Let's not talk about that for now. Instead, what about you? You were distracted during lunch today; what were you doing? You look like someone with a guilty conscience."

Jin Li laughed: "Guilty conscience? You give me too much credit. I was just thinking about how to act so that no one gets hurt."

Ji Qinglian froze for a moment, then suddenly raised her voice: "What hurt or not hurt? Did someone confess their love to you?"

Before Jin Li could say anything, Chen Lin immediately chimed in: "What confession? Who confessed to Sister Jin Li?"

Yan Xingdong asked: "Someone from within the industry, or outside?"

Luo Yi added: "How do they look? What do they do?"

Jin Li looked at them speechlessly. "Aren't you all too gossipy? Look at Gu Cheng; see how calm he is? You should be calm too."

Chen Lin was about to say something when Gu Cheng swept a glance at him, causing him to immediately shut his mouth.

Just now, Gu Cheng had actually reacted the most strongly, even dropping the 'Five Years Gaokao, Three Years Simulation' book he was holding.

Jin Li pondered for a while, turning the matter over in her mind from every angle, and felt that she really couldn't handle it alone; she needed everyone to pool their wisdom.

So and so, thus and thus... she spoke for over ten minutes, letting everyone understand the general situation.

Chen Lin pulled out a pair of glasses from somewhere and put them on: "I feel like we're recording one of those emotional expert shows; let me analyze who this male employee's true love really is."

Luo Yi took off his glasses and complained: "You're so stupid. Three trainees falling in love with the same person—isn't there a possibility that the guy is fishing? How could a fisherman possibly have true love?"

Yan Xingdong took the glasses: "Didn't they say Building A is full of surveillance cameras? Let's find the surveillance footage; we'll definitely find evidence of the player fishing."

Ji Qinglian snatched the glasses and put them on: "That's exactly why I say you're unreliable. With no proof other than what we overheard in the restroom, and no recording made at the time, what excuse could we possibly give the production team to request the footage?"

Jin Li couldn't say that she had determined this by reading faces, so she fabricated a story about overhearing three trainees making phone calls in the restroom, all calling the same person their boyfriend.

Coincidentally, she recognized this person's name; he was a staff member of the production team.

"Lotus, you're wearing the glasses upside down," Jin Li reminded.

Ji Qinglian gave an embarrassed smile, quickly adjusted the glasses correctly, but soon felt dizzy and hurriedly took them off to set them aside.

She had thought they were plano glasses, not realizing they actually had prescription lenses.

Gu Cheng thought for a moment: "It's not appropriate for us to intervene directly, and it's awkward to approach the female trainees, but as an employee, flirting recklessly during the program recording is the staff member's fault; we can inform the production team."

Jin Li frowned: "But how should we say it? Will the production team believe what I say?

Verifying the claims would probably be very troublesome for them, and it's not good to call all the female trainees in for questioning, lest it affect their emotions."

Gu Cheng shook his head: "No need to make it so complicated. Just question those three girls; as long as they reveal the player's identity, we can start from there, and his interpersonal relationships will be easy to investigate."

Ji Qinglian was not optimistic about this method: "Can you order the production team to conduct interrogations? Surely a mentor's authority doesn't extend that far."

Yan Xingdong seemed to think of something, looking at Gu Cheng with a meaningful smile.

"Others might not be able to give orders, but Gu Cheng..."

Gu Cheng said calmly: "The director is my uncle; I'll just tell him."

He added: "My biological uncle."

This finally dispelled the various messy thoughts swirling in the minds of Ji Qinglian and Jin Li.

Jin Li felt somewhat relieved that she had spoken her thoughts aloud; the troubles weighing on her mind might not even count as matters of concern to others.

Night fell.

Ji Qinglian ran off to stay in the presidential suite near the Mazu Temple and called for Jin Li to come sleep in the same room with her.

Ji Qinglian brought up this matter deliberately, her expression somewhat complicated.

"I've realized that connections are quite important in the entertainment industry. Back when I learned about March Sky's profit-sharing ratio, I only felt their company treated them well while my own company was harsh toward me.

But today, learning that the director of Goose Platform's popular variety show is actually Gu Cheng's biological uncle, isn't there a possibility that Gu Cheng's identity made the company concede during contract negotiations?"

Jin Li patted her head. "That possibility does exist."

They had achieved fame relatively early; none of the four young ladies had any connections in the entertainment industry, knowing nothing at all, relying solely on struggling through on their own.

Along their journey, they had weathered storms and hardships.

Ji Qinglian had endured even the most difficult periods; Jin Li believed she would pull through this time as well.

(End of Chapter)