Chapter 153: Another new ability, targeted by paparazzi, the pressure of guarding the national gate (6K, seeking monthly votes)

After paying respects at the Mazu Temple, Jin Li was in good spirits and had no desire to return to Physics Village.

She returned to the hotel she had chosen during her previous livestream and extravagantly booked a presidential suite.

This was because the space in this room was much larger.

In the spacious living room, Jin Li followed her heart and began performing various high-difficulty movements.

Many of these movements require long-term practice of basic skills to be mastered.

Jin Li's physical condition had been poor; she only ran and stretched daily, investing little time in dance.

Not to mention that since moving to Physics Village to experience life, she had even skipped her stretching routine.

Yet this time, her body seemed to have undergone a transformation; her muscles and bones had become much more supple, and many movements came to her naturally.

Jin Li started with a split.

*Slap! * Her legs collided with the floor, emitting a crisp sound.

Jin Li gasped—not from pain, but from shock.

She felt absolutely nothing; she had gone down with total ease.

She pondered for a moment, then leaned her body backward into a backbend.

With her palms pressed against the floor, she achieved it effortlessly.

Continuing to exert force from her waist, Jin Li slowly pulled her legs up, unexpectedly performing a mid-air handstand.

*Slap! * Once again, Jin Li's legs touched the floor, her body fully reset, and she stood there steadily.

Having completed this entire set of movements, Jin Li wanted to shout "666" for herself.

What to do? She really wanted Fang Jie to arrange a stage so she could stun the audience with her skills!

Jin Li thought happily, guessing this must be the effect of paying respects to Mazu, though she also sensed that this effect was only temporary.

If she didn't train her body well as time went on, she feared she wouldn't even be able to manage a backbend.

Let alone aerial backflips, front flips, one-handed flips, or even no-handed flips, which required significant core strength.

Jin Li thought for a moment and used her phone to search for a high-difficulty stretching video.

This video was specifically for dancers to stretch, covering many high-difficulty poses, even harder than Pilates.

Jin Li followed along, and with her current physical fitness, she could still keep up with ease.

She felt she couldn't waste this opportunity; from now on, she would do a set of these stretches every morning after her run.

After exercising, Jin Li started her livestream.

When she left this time, it was only to see off Qiu Qiwen, so she hadn't brought her "5-3" study guide.

Now, not wanting to go back to get it, she decided to watch online videos and asked the front desk for some paper and pens to take notes.

【The Jin Li you follow has started a livestream~】

Maozhua now viewed Jin Li as a strategic partner; whenever she started a livestream, it would inevitably send a push notification to the entire site.

Even though other celebrities had joined Maozhua later, none received this treatment; only Jin Li had this unique privilege.

【666, Jin Li isn't affected by the controversy at all, continuing to study.】

【Not doing practice problems today, switching to watching videos instead?】

【The background looks so familiar, is it the same hotel?】

The news of Jin Li starting her livestream spread rapidly across the internet, and many netizens flooded into the room to watch, including paparazzi.

A few paparazzi had specifically rented a room in the hotel directly opposite and set up several high-definition cameras.

Seeing Jin Li start her livestream, the paparazzi immediately adjusted their cameras, aiming them at the top floor.

"How is it? Can you capture anything?"

"Damn it! Can't capture anything. Why did she go and book a presidential suite today? Didn't she used to be stingy and only book regular rooms?"

Another paparazzo said regretfully, "Yeah, if Jin Li had booked a regular room, our cameras would have been able to capture it."

Other paparazzi also chimed in, "I even specifically installed surveillance cameras in Jin Li's previous room, hoping to try my luck."

"If Jin Li had booked a regular room and was arranged in the same room as before, we would have gotten a huge scoop!"

"What a pity!"

These paparazzi had not colluded with the hotel.

Many hotels cherish their reputation and would never cooperate with paparazzi; even the most ordinary hotels fear trouble.

But the paparazzi had long since figured out the hotel's check-in patterns.

In such remote places, some hotels would set aside rooms for long-term rentals, just like rental apartments.

They would open other rooms specifically for people on business trips or visiting relatives, and the available rooms were always just those few.

And the cleaners only needed to clean those few rooms to handle the hotel's guest flow.

Therefore, if Jin Li continued to book regular rooms, it was very likely she would be guided to the same room as last time.

Unless Jin Li specifically requested a room change.

Jin Li livestreamed her studies for five hours, and by evening, she ended the stream, intending to check out.

Before ending the stream, she saw many netizens encouraging her, telling her not to be disturbed by online public opinion and to study well.

Jin Li felt quite moved.

She thought for a moment and decided not to say anything else, but to try to lengthen her study livestreams in the future.

Lead by example!

After checking out, she called a car to head to Physics Village and received a call from Gu Cheng.

Gu Cheng's tone was somewhat serious, "Did you just finish your study livestream?"

Jin Li said, "Yes, what about you?"

Gu Cheng, "I just finished my schedule and opened your livestream as soon as I picked up my phone, but you had already ended it. I saw netizens saying your background was the same as last time. Were you guided to the same room?"

Jin Li shook her head, "No, this time I booked a presidential suite; last time I booked a regular room."

Gu Cheng breathed a slight sigh of relief, "That's good."

Jin Li asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Gu Cheng thought for a moment and used himself as an example, "Do you know how Sanyuetian arranges hotels when we go out for schedules?"

Jin Li said honestly, "I don't know."

She hadn't specifically paid attention to Sanyuetian's schedules, let alone their travel arrangements.

Gu Cheng, "We never stay in the same hotel consecutively. For example, when we had a schedule last month, we stayed at Hotel A."

"Next month, when we have a schedule in the same place, we will stay at Hotel B. We absolutely never stay at Hotel A. Do you know why?"

Jin Li guessed, "Is Hotel A's service bad?"

"No, Hotel A's service is very good; it's a five-star hotel, but Hotel B is only a four-star hotel."

Gu Cheng didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "The reason we don't stay in the same one is that we are afraid paparazzi will discover our patterns, consciously stake out the place in advance, and install cameras in the rooms."

Jin Li was dumbfounded, "No way, is it necessary for them to go to such lengths?"

"Of course they can go to such lengths. Don't you know that scoops on A-list celebrities are very valuable? If they can dig up a big scoop, they can earn enough for half a lifetime," Gu Cheng said indifferently.

The entertainment industry is a very realistic place.

If an eighteenth-tier star eats, drinks, or visits prostitutes, no one says a word, but if an A-list star is slightly intimate with an assistant, they will be exposed for cheating.

This is a place with a pyramid structure, where all resources are concentrated at the top.

Gu Cheng couldn't help but say a few more words, "Sister Jin Li, A-list celebrities are only revealed during the year-end evaluations, but your popularity has already reached that level. You must be more vigilant; don't think of yourself as a small star."

"Also, when staying in hotels, don't be too predictable, or the paparazzi will guess it. Never test how low a person's bottom line can be; don't give them a chance."

"Also, I see you don't have bodyguards or assistants around you. Hasn't your company arranged them for you yet? Chenxi Entertainment is too trusting of you!"

Although Gu Cheng didn't tell Jin Li to jump ship to Tianding Entertainment, his dissatisfaction with Chenxi Entertainment was certain.

Jin Li didn't know what was going on; recently, many people had been nagging in her ear that her management company was quite incompetent.

Jin Li hadn't felt anything was wrong, but under Gu Cheng's repeated warnings, she also felt she needed to give feedback to the company.

Thinking of this, Jin Li couldn't help but turn her head to glance behind her, seeing a strange white sedan.

She had also seen this car when she got into her ride near the hotel earlier.

Now that they had been driving for over ten minutes, the car was still there.

Jin Li couldn't help but feel a flicker of doubt.

She pondered for a while and called Fang Jie.

"Fang Jie, I think I'm being followed by paparazzi. I'll send you the license plate number; can you help me check it?"

Inside Chenxi Entertainment.

Sui Lingfang was busy handling advertising endorsements for Xi Sister Meng Ze and Jin Li.

Xi Sister Meng Ze could follow the fast-moving consumer goods brand route and take on a few more.

As for Jin Li, she could also take on some endorsements, but they had to be chosen carefully.

Even negative fame is fame for a celebrity!

The argument between Jin Li's fans and Li Xunfang's fans had made advertisers discover Jin Li's potential. Moreover, Jin Li had few schedules, but every one was high-quality and had a high tone.

Advertisers all believed that Jin Li's fans were a group capable of supporting high consumption, so light luxury brands had come knocking to discuss cooperation.

For the past few days, Sui Lingfang's work has been entirely tied up with endorsements.

Receiving this call from Jin Li, she was a bit slow to react, then her expression turned solemn, "I'll help you check immediately!"

There were only a few well-known paparazzi teams in the industry, and their cars for following celebrities were fixed; no one changed cars often.

If the one following Jin Li wasn't a new paparazzo, but a veteran, she would be able to find out.

Before long, Sui Lingfang found out, and a chill ran down her spine; cold sweat broke out on her forehead, and she felt a lingering fear.

It was actually the well-known industry paparazzo Zhuo Qiang!

How strong was Zhuo Qiang's team?

In his career, he had exposed five celebrity cheating scandals, caught 10 celebrities' mistresses, and publicly exposed three scandals that shocked the industry—

For example, an A-list celebrity using yin-yang contracts on set to attempt tax evasion—all were exposed by Zhuo Qiang's team.

She had seen it before and thought: With this kind of perseverance, any industry would be successful; why choose to be a paparazzo!

Although she knew Jin Li didn't have any dirt, she still called her worriedly, starting with, "Jin Li, are you okay!"

Jin Li shook her head, "I'm fine, I've just arrived at Physics Village."

Sui Lingfang, "Is that car still following you?"

Jin Li turned to look; she hadn't been inside the gate for long and didn't see the white sedan drive over.

"It shouldn't be following me anymore."

Sui Lingfang breathed a huge sigh of relief, "I checked, that's Zhuo Qiang's paparazzi team. This team is very persistent when it comes to celebrity scoops. You must be careful when you go out next time."

She thought for a moment, still not at ease, "How about this, I'll find you another assistant. In the future, if you have anything to do, don't show your face yourself; let the assistant do it for you."

Jin Li hesitated and reminded her, "Fang Jie, several celebrities have reminded me about travel safety."

Sui Lingfang couldn't help but pat her head, "It's my fault, I forgot. God, I actually forgot!"

She quickly adjusted her state and said decisively, "I'll build a team for you!"

Jin Li, "Is my money enough?"

With Jin Li's split with the company, her travel expenses were basically self-funded; if she built a team, she would also be paying their salaries herself.

Sui Lingfang said firmly, "Enough. You haven't checked your bank card balance, have you? You can check it when you have time."

"Next, I plan to get you one or two light luxury endorsements. With your current popularity, they will pay enough in advertising fees."

Sui Lingfang flipped through her memo while speaking.

One line was circled heavily by her.

"There's one more thing. Duomi Cosmetics has already produced your Koi Thumb Powder Puff, and they originally planned to launch it for sale soon."

"But because of the polarization of public opinion regarding you recently, Duomi Cosmetics plans to wait for the heat to die down and launch it in half a month. By then, you can cooperate with some promotion."

"I'll send a batch of Koi Thumb Powder Puff samples to you first. For promotion, you don't need to go out; just post a few blog entries and take a few photos of yourself using them."

"Duomi Cosmetics said that if you can post a trial report and your thoughts, that would be even better."

Jin Li agreed immediately.

After Sui Lingfang hung up the phone, her heart was still pounding.

It was from the shock!

Zhuo Qiang's team had started following Jin Li, which made her completely realize how popular Jin Li was.

She was no longer an obscure second-tier star, but a red-hot, popular A-lister!

Jin Li had become famous too quickly over the past few months; not only had she not reacted, but the company actually couldn't keep up with her pace either.

She used a pen to write down the team talent she needed and how to detach herself from the heavy schedule business to focus more on managing artists.

Originally, her assistant was Xiao Cheng, who was later transferred to be Jin Li's full-time driver.

This resulted in her having to manage many trivial things, and having to interface with every advertiser, leaving her exhausted and unable to attend to everything.

More importantly, she didn't just have one red-hot artist under her; she also had Xi Sister Meng Ze!

She needed to find an assistant, and these two popular artists also had to have teams built for them.

Based on the principle of solving it herself if she could, and finding the boss if she couldn't, Sui Lingfang took a deep breath and called President Xiao.

"Build a team? Then build one."

The secretary handed the phone to President Xiao, who was playing golf, and President Xiao said lightly.

Sui Lingfang said worriedly, "President Xiao, I can't find anyone here, and I also need to urgently recruit an assistant."

President Xiao pondered for a while and said, "How about this, I'll send a specialist to understand your difficulties. You communicate with her, and she will help you solve them."

"As for talent, with Jin Li's current income, you can go find a headhunter to ask."

Sui Lingfang was a bit stunned and asked hesitantly, "President Xiao, is it necessary to find a headhunter? Would that be a bit of overkill?"

Xiao Ziquan said indifferently, "The more people know, the more they will fear. I'm not afraid of finding elites; I'm afraid of finding greenhorns who never know what price they will pay for making the next wrong decision."

Sui Lingfang pondered for a while and finally understood President Xiao's meaning, thinking that President Xiao still had the vision.

After returning to Physics Village.

Jin Li returned to her previous rhythm, waking up in the morning to run, then observing the surrounding physicists.

If there was any difference, it was that her exercise time had become longer, after all, she had added high-difficulty stretching.

The crew was completely unaffected by Qiu Qiwen being fired, and two days later, they found a star to replace her.

"Hello, my name is Xu Wenwen."

Xu Wenwen revealed a set of shiny white teeth and said cheerfully. She reached out her hand and shook Jin Li's.

Jin Li greeted her politely, "Hello, I'm Jin Li."

Xu Wenwen smiled and said, "I know you, Jin Li, the Koi. My team has always told me you possess very strong Koi luck."

Jin Li shook her head, "No, my luck is actually average; it's all hype, don't believe it."

Xu Wenwen was a bit surprised, not expecting Jin Li to say it so bluntly.

She said, "That's also because your team does a good job. My team has always wanted to hype a persona for me, but it wouldn't take off. Later, I just let it go and stopped labeling myself."

Jin Li said seriously, "I think not labeling oneself is the right way. Once a persona is hyped, it's very easy to crash."

Xu Wenwen looked at Jin Li a few more times.

For a moment, she didn't know if Jin Li had heard her soft-but-hard sarcasm or not.

The impression Jin Li gave Xu Wenwen was that she was beautiful and sweet.

Especially in the sweltering summer, Jin Li was like a sweet and sour grape, her voice soft and glutinous, giving people a very cute feeling.

As for her looks, that went without saying.

Most importantly, Jin Li's temperament was very good.

Some people look very sweet, but it's a generic, tacky sweetness.

But Jin Li was different.

Her sweetness was instead like a watermelon that could cool people down in the summer, with the temperament of a girl next door, but mixed with a wisp of literary air.

It was this wisp of literary air that immediately distinguished Jin Li from other girl group members.

And Jin Li's impression of Xu Wenwen was also very different.

Both were of the cheerful and generous type, but Qiu Qiwen's personality was more straightforward, more black and white.

Qiu liked what she liked and didn't like what she didn't.

Xu Wenwen was cheerful on the surface, but actually had many thoughts and looked like she would scheme.

She wasn't unable to hear the subtext in Xu Wenwen's words, but she didn't care.

The art of communication is to praise others first, which leaves them with nothing to say.

After the two sides greeted each other, they went about their own business.

They played different roles, and communicating their understanding of the script during lunch and dinner was enough.

After returning to the dormitory at night, Jin Li searched for news about Xu Wenwen.

In her impression, this was an actor who debuted as a non-professional, stood out in a major director's open audition, played a supporting role, and became famous overnight.

Since then, she had had a constant stream of film offers.

Although she was a second-tier star, she had more experience in film and television than Qiu Qiwen.

Jin Li found that starting last year, Xu Wenwen's film offers had decreased somewhat, and she had consciously taken on some high-quality films.

Although she only performed two roles last year, the public's reputation for her acting was quite good.

She was a formidable rival!

Jin Li mentioned this in the Pink Girls group, and Ji Qinglian suddenly popped up, having an impression of Xu Wenwen.

【I know this actor. Her first play was directed by Director Mo Xiaosheng. Before Director Mo came to talk to me about the play, I heard his assistant gossiping.】

Koi: 【? Gossip?】

Qinglian: 【His assistant complained that my acting was poor. I heard them whispering in private. He said if he had known, he would have let Xu Wenwen play this role, and it wouldn't have been so much trouble. If it weren't for the fact that Xu Wenwen doesn't film TV dramas, I wouldn't have gotten this pie.】

Koi: 【…Is the assistant that powerful?】

Pearl: 【Small ghosts are hard to deal with. Director Mo didn't say anything, so what right does a small assistant have to complain?】

Qinglian: 【That's just a life assistant, not valued by Director Mo, so I didn't pay attention to it. If that assistant were close to Director Mo, I would definitely have complained.】

【But then again, this Xu Wenwen's acting is very powerful. She is not from an academic background; she is an experiential actor, and she feels a bit like you.】

Koi: 【Then I have to ask her for advice.】

NANA: 【Can you put down your pride to do that?】

Jin Li replied uncomprehendingly: 【I'm just a newcomer in the entertainment industry, what pride do I have?】

Qinglian: 【Such a good mentality. Little sister, you have a bright future, I'm optimistic about you!】

Tongtong: 【Little Koi who doesn't know she's famous.】

NANA: 【Little Koi who keeps a low profile.】

Pearl: 【Little Koi who is a newbie boss.】

Koi: 【-_-\| That's enough from you all!】

Just as they were chatting, Xi Sister Meng Ze suddenly created a new group chat, pulling in both the Pink Girls group and Sanyuetian.

Then, she immediately initiated a video call.

Jin Li answered it, her face appearing on the screen. Before long, the other Pink Girls also appeared.

Yu Lina and Ji Qinglian were still wearing costumes, one wearing a concubine's headpiece, the other covered in bead strings.

The others were dressed casually, and Jin Li was the same, wearing pink loungewear.

Yu Lina started with: "Was your account hacked?"

Ji Qinglian: "If you need to borrow money, I'll block you."

Gong Zitong: "Blink twice, and I'll call the police for you."

Qi Guan Mingzhu: "Don't tell me you want to do team building?"

Xi Sister Meng Ze was speechless; what kind of ghosts were these!

She said with a distressed face: "No, I pulled you all over because I want you to give me advice. What should I sing for my next new song?"

Jin Li was surprised: "It's been two days, and you haven't decided on your performance track yet?"

Xi Sister Meng Ze said: "It's only Monday. It's fine to decide by Wednesday; the program team won't announce it until Thursday."

Ji Qinglian said speechlessly: "If you wait until Wednesday to decide on the track, it will be too late. Doesn't adaptation take time? Doesn't grinding with the band take time?"

Xi Sister Meng Ze said with a grin: "So isn't that why I'm asking for your help?"

As they were chatting, people joined the group video call one after another.

First was Chen Lin, then Gu Cheng, Luo Yi, and finally Yan Xingdong.

They had just finished their schedules and were sitting in the car, exhausted, not even wanting to blink. They didn't know what was going on with this video.

So everyone chose to wait and see.

Zhang Guang originally wanted to chat with them, but suddenly heard Xi Sister Meng Ze's voice, immediately stopped, and signaled Yan Xingdong to turn up the volume; he wanted to listen too.

After listening for a while, they understood; it turned out to be about choosing a song.

Xi Sister Meng Ze frowned and said: "Fang Jie asked me to choose another love song, but I don't want to sing love songs anymore. I'm afraid that if I perform too well, netizens will bet on me, and the pressure of public opinion will be too great."

In the end, it was all caused by that "guarding the national gate"! ===== CHAPTER 154 =====