Chapter 444

2011 was not an ordinary year for the Chinese entertainment industry.

In the year-end summaries of many entertainment media, they used adjectives like "magnificent" to describe the mainland entertainment industry this year. And in the "Huanxin Film & Television 2011 Year-End Report and 2012 Outlook" that Chen Nuo saw, Li Jing also used sentences like "reform and breakthrough," "another turning point since the 2006 Super Girl," and "perhaps we will look back on this year in the future" to express her feelings about the passing year of 2011.

Setting aside Li Jing's emotional language, the PPT report projected on the wall also listed a large amount of hard data and objective phenomena to support her judgment:

"In 2011, the annual production of Chinese TV series exceeded 15,000 episodes, and the total output value of the national TV series market exceeded 50 billion yuan."

"Hunan Satellite TV, relying on multiple dramas such as *Palace* and *Scarlet Heart*, dominated the prime-time ratings for the whole year, becoming the provincial satellite TV station with the highest ratings in the past five years."

"The number of Sina Weibo users exceeded 250 million by the end of 2011, and the daily average number of Weibo posts reached 86 million."

"Numerous entertainment stars used Weibo to engage in unprecedentedly intimate interactions with fans, the number of fans of top male and female artists grew explosively, and their every move frequently made it to the trending topics, becoming the focus of national public opinion. This perhaps marks that an entertainment industry with idols as the core carrier is taking shape."

"In this wave of reform, I regret to see that the most representative one among them did not come from Huanxin Company. As the company's general manager, I have an inescapable responsibility for this."

"We at Huanxin are a company good at film and television production; now, the new order oriented by fans is a challenge for us. Looking forward to 2012, I think..."

Before Chen Nuo could finish listening to Li Jing, the phone rang.

"Hey, I'm downstairs at your company. Where are you?"

"I'm in the office. Wait a moment, I'll call someone to go down and pick you up."

"Okay, tell them to hurry, there are a lot of people here, I'm afraid..."

"Okay, right away."

The call ended, Chen Nuo said: "Okay, let's stop here for now. Nazha, you go downstairs and help me pick someone up."

There was one person who appeared in Li Jing's year-end report, whom she regarded as the representative figure of this "Year One of Traffic" in 2011, even making her admit failure and take the initiative to reflect.

The TV series starring this person refreshed Hunan Satellite TV's record of the past five years with a staggering rating of 3.08% this year, and remained firmly in first place in the same time slot nationwide for 16 consecutive days. When broadcast in Taiwan, the show's ratings soared to the top of the three major stations, and she was hailed by Taiwanese media as the "strongest newcomer in the mainland."

The character "Qingchuan" she played was a well-deserved phenomenal character of 2011.

The theme song she sang in the drama was widely sung in the streets and alleys, and her personal search volume surpassed international superstars like Steve Jobs and Jay Chou on the Google global list, ranking second among the "hottest figures" in mainland China.

The movie *Mysterious Island* she starred in, with a cost of 8 million yuan, tenaciously won 90 million yuan at the box office amidst the strangulation of *No Man's Land*, becoming a benchmark work for small and medium-budget horror films.

According to statistics, the number of her endorsements for the whole year reached as many as 14, covering multiple industries such as beauty brand Maybelline, fast-moving consumer goods Yili, and digital brand Lenovo.

Her single endorsement fee soared from 1 million yuan at the beginning of the year to 3 million yuan at the end of the year, the price per episode of her TV series exceeded 1.2 million yuan, her film salary rose to 8 million yuan per film, and her annual commercial income exceeded 30 million yuan.

As of December 2011, her Weibo followers exceeded 8 million, with an average daily interaction volume of over 330,000, and not long ago, she even surpassed the record held by someone else, setting a new height for celebrity social data.

Her audience base spanned from teenagers to middle-aged women; students imitated her dressing style, while workplace women admired her "independent and resilient" persona. The items she wore triggered a shopping spree on Taobao many times, and the mobile phone model she endorsed sold over a million units in the first month of its release.

At the recently concluded 2011 National Drama Festival, she even defeated Sun Li, Jiang Wenli, and others, winning the "Most Popular Actress" award, and was named the head of the "Four Little Dan Actresses" by *Southern Metropolis Entertainment Weekly*!

And just in the last few days of December, she also had a personal album about to be released, and a new movie about to be released—this was already the third movie of hers released this year!

How glorious, how domineering, how arrogant!

If you exclude someone, saying "2011 was her year" would not be an exaggeration at all!

Who is she?

Who is she?

The answer is, of course—

"Chen Chen Geshen, you are truly hard to see, you were just about to run away again, weren't you?" Guli Nazha pushed the door open in front, Yang Mi walked in with high spirits, and seeing only Chen Nuo in the office, she immediately turned back and said: "You guys wait outside for a while."

The people following behind her stopped at the door upon hearing this, not walking inside anymore.

Chen Nuo signaled Guli Nazha with his eyes, and the woman understood and retreated, closing the door on her way out.

A man and a woman alone in a room, but it wasn't a big problem, because Chen Nuo's chairman office had floor-to-ceiling glass windows on two sides, and the curtains weren't drawn.

He looked at Yang Mi twice and said: "Yeah, just about, I'm leaving tomorrow. God of Song Yang, don't stand, sit down, I'll pour you a cup of tea."

After saying this, he stood up, walked to the water dispenser nearby to pour a cup of black tea, walked to the sofa, sat down, and handed it over: "I rarely come to this office, and there's no good tea, just this, make do with it."

During this process, Yang Mi didn't speak the whole time, just quietly watching him. When he walked back and handed her the tea, she didn't make a sound either, took it with both hands, lowered her head slightly, buried her face behind the rim of the cup, couldn't see her expression, and took a sip directly.

"Damn, so hot!"

Immediately she cried out, sticking out her tongue, fanning herself with her hand, glaring at Chen Nuo, and said indistinctly: "Chen He-sen, are you trying to scald me to death?"

"Hahahahaha." Chen Nuo found Yang Mi's appearance a bit funny and immediately laughed, saying: "Sorry, how is it, is your tongue cooked?"

Yang Mi closed her mouth, rolled her eyes at him, and said unhappily: "Cooked, want to eat it?" After saying this, she paused, her face slightly red, and immediately said quickly: "You... by the way, what time is your flight tomorrow?"

"After 9 AM, why, you want to see me off?"

Yang Mi's expression calmed down, and she said disdainfully: "See you off? You've been back for almost a month, you didn't even call me or send me a WeChat, why should I see you off?"

Chen Nuo laughed: "Because you have a better conscience than me."

"Forget it, I'm a big person with a big heart, I won't lower myself to your level." After saying this, Yang Mi put down the teacup, looked at Chen Nuo and sighed slightly, "Long time no see, you've lost weight."

Chen Nuo said "Hmm," looked at the girl's pointed chin, and said: "You too."

Yang Mi ended up staying in his office for over an hour.

During this hour, he saw Yang Mi take no fewer than five calls and reply to WeChat messages several times.

Without exception, the calls all started with "President X" and almost all ended with sentences like "I'll ask my agent to see if there's any availability."

As for WeChat, Chen Nuo didn't hesitate to poke his head over and take a peek, seeing that they were talking about album promotion. Seeing him look, Yang Mi wasn't angry, but instead chatted happily with him about the album for a long time.

The girl talked endlessly, saying that this album titled *Close to Me* would only be released on December 15th, the title track "Good Enough" was written by Lin Xi and created by Wang Fei's personal team, and although it hadn't started selling yet, tens of thousands had already been pre-sold. Seeing that the title of "God of Song" was about to become well-deserved, she even asked him if he was panicked as one of the duo.

In short, the two people who hadn't seen each other for a long time just talked about everything under the sun. Occasionally interrupting, but it didn't dampen their conversation. Both of them looked full of interest.

But Chen Nuo could actually feel that Yang Mi had been holding back a sentence she wanted to say in her heart, and when she finally left, she hesitated for a long time, but it seemed she gave up in the end and didn't ask.

Chen Nuo felt from this that this person had grown up.

After Yang Mi left, Li Jing, Qi Yuntian, and Tang Qing walked back in.

As soon as Li Jing entered the room, she said with complex emotions: "With a dozen people following, this pomp is too big. I feel sad when I think of Liying, how about adding two more people for Liying, what do you think, Chen Zong? They are both 'Four Little Dan Actresses,' it doesn't make sense for there to be such a big difference, right?"

Chen Nuo was stunned, "A dozen? I only saw six or seven."

"There are also four bodyguards guarding the company entrance." Qi Yuntian added, paused, and said with a half-smile, "The change is really big enough."

Chen Nuo glared at him, then looked at Li Jing and said: "If you think you should add them, then add them."

Li Jing said: "Chen Zong, I'm joking. Liying's popularity is still a bit behind hers, it's not necessary yet. Wait until Liying can earn 30 million a year, then we'll talk about it. I believe that time is not far off."

Chen Nuo smiled and said: "Okay. Continue what you were saying."

"Um, currently we have two good scripts suitable for Liying, one is Yu Zheng's *Legend of Lu Zhen*. The other is *Phoenix Seeks Phoenix*. For 'Lu Zhen,' Yu Zheng said it was tailor-made for Liying. As for 'Phoenix Seeks Phoenix,' it's an original by an up-and-coming screenwriter, and its reputation in the industry is quite good. The former is expected to have an investment of 60 million, and Yu Zheng wants us to invest 30 million, I said I'd consider it. The latter is a bit less, about 40 million in total investment, and we invest 20 million."

"Which one do you think is suitable?"

"I think... *Lu Zhen*. Yu Zheng is talented and knows how to hype things up, he's promoted several newcomers in the past two years. It will be safer to cooperate."

Chen Nuo nodded and looked at Tang Qing: "What about you?"

Tang Qing said honestly: "I have the same idea as President Li." Chen Nuo smiled and said: "Since you agree, then let's go with *Legend of Lu Zhen*. But if we're going to invest, let's invest a bit more. Tell Yu Zheng to report how much he wants to invest himself, and we'll cover the rest."

"Okay, Chen Zong." Li Jing knew that the company had been quite wealthy recently, so she agreed without a word.

Chen Nuo asked again: "Tang Qing, how are the newcomers under you doing recently? Any issues?"

"No, they're all quite well-behaved."

Chen Nuo nodded, "Dilraba, Xiao Zhan, and Yang Zi will all be juniors in the second half of next year. Besides Fan Fan Binbing, Liu Yifei, and the others, let's start another drama next year, it doesn't need to be a big production, let these newcomers go in and train, including that Zhang Yuheng from the Shanghai Theatre Academy. They've studied for a few years, let's see what their level really is, let's have a practical drill, survival of the fittest."

Li Jing nodded: "Okay, understood."

Having listened to Li Jing for a long time just now, Chen Nuo felt a sense of urgency in his heart, so he prepared to speed things up. Besides that, having held a meeting all morning and decided on *Legend of Lu Zhen* as the chosen drama for Zhao Liying, it could be considered a gain.

By noon, he didn't leave, preparing to stay at the company for a working lunch.

After he went to FB, he learned about employee benefits from Zuckerberg. Anyway, they hadn't used up this floor yet, so he had Qi Yuntian map out an area and invited several master chefs of local cuisines to provide various buffets every noon, charging 3 yuan per meal. After doing this for two months, coming back this time, he saw that several familiar old employees had all gained weight, and hearing that the chefs they found had good skills and the taste was great, he also wanted to take the opportunity to taste it.

While eating, he also prepared to chat with Qi Yuntian about the housing fund, as he had some new ideas.

But just as he announced the end of the meeting and stood up, his phone received another WeChat message.

It wasn't anyone else, but Yang Mi, who had clearly already left.

"Are you free? Let's have lunch together. (Smiley face)."

Chen Nuo replied: "Where to eat?"

"Does your company have food?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm coming up."

Yang Mi didn't make such a big fuss coming up this time, she only brought two people, and without waiting for Chen Nuo to ask, she took the initiative to say: "I told them to go eat. Where are we eating?"

"Let's just eat in my office."

"Okay."

Qi Yuntian ordered three dishes and one soup for the two of them, plus two bowls of white rice.

However, Chen Nuo only picked up two chopsticks of food, and didn't even touch the rice, and Yang Mi was about the same. The two looked at each other and immediately laughed.

Chen Nuo laughed: "Fortunately you didn't say you were treating me to barbecue, otherwise I would definitely lose a fortune."

"Barbecue... I can't afford to treat you yet." Yang Mi smiled, "I'll treat you when I make money."

"Hahaha." Chen Nuo laughed as if he had heard a very big joke, laughing until tears almost came out.

As he laughed, Yang Mi's expression slowly became serious.

Chen Nuo acted as if he didn't see it, laughed enough, wiped his tears, and said: "Forget it, still a bit hungry, I'll eat some more."

"Stop pretending, Chen Chen Geshen." Yang Mi said word by word, "I know what you're thinking."

Chen Nuo chuckled, "What am I thinking?"

"You're thinking that I'm not worthy of being your friend."

Chen Nuo showed an absurd expression and laughed: "Here we go again? I said, why do you do this to me every day. What are you talking about."

Yang Mi acted as if she didn't hear his words and said abruptly: "Do you know when I made the decision?"

Chen Nuo opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't make a sound.

"At Bazaar this year, I saw Fan Fan Binbing." Yang Mi continued on her own, "At that moment, I was truly envious. The next day I told my agent, I've decided, help me contact a doctor."

"A few days later, I was lying on the operating table."

"At that time, I suddenly remembered a sentence you said to me a long time ago, you asked me if I liked being a star more than being an actor. I said no at the time. But I... can't lie to myself now. Since pulling my teeth in '06, I actually knew."

"I've gone crazy. In the past few years, I've had double eyelid surgery, facial fillers, jawbone... I can't stop."

Speaking of this, Yang Mi still stopped and stared at the food in front of her for a while.

After a long while, she said again: "I don't eat, it's not for weight loss, and it's not actually that I can't eat. A month after the surgery, the doctor said I could resume a normal diet. The chin I did this time is not bad, it healed very well. It's me, I just always feel it's not good enough, I don't dare to eat. Actually... actually I know, this is my own problem. Psychological problem."

"I clearly decided, just be pretty in the future, don't think so much. Isn't being an actor just for making money, what's wrong with that? Tell me, isn't Liu Yifei not as pretty as me now, right!?"

Chen Nuo nodded.

"See, so even if Professor Li lets me go up and do expression training now, I might not even get 20 points, but this is the path I chose. Now all of China knows my name, I'm thoroughly popular, I don't worry about not being as beautiful as others no matter who I stand with. My choice wasn't wrong. I have no choice, I have to be like this, I'm not like you guys, I'm not like Fan Fan Binbing, and I'm not like you, this is the price I have to pay."

"So..." Yang Mi looked at Chen Nuo, pursed her lips hard, and smiled very stiffly, "If you want to look down on me, then look down on me, if you want to laugh, then laugh, if you want to say something, then say it, I don't mind, really."

Chen Nuo looked at Yang Mi.

Indeed, from the first time they met until now, the girl's changes were quite big.

Perhaps the audience and fans couldn't be sure across the screen.

But for someone like him who had known her for a long time and was close at hand, many things really couldn't be pretended not to be seen.

The person had indeed changed from a country bumpkin to someone with the feeling of a rich and beautiful woman.

He thought for a while, his face became serious, "You want me to say it, then I'll say it?"

"Um, go ahead." Yang Mi's smile was well maintained, just a little bit stiff.

"When are you planning to treat me to barbecue?" Chen Nuo opened his mouth and said, "You won't renege on your debt, right?"

Yang Mi was stunned, then showed an expression that was both angry and amused, and said: "Don't worry, I won't short you. When I make money, I'll rent out the barbecue restaurant for you to eat."

Chen Nuo laughed, "That's what you said."

"Um, that's what I said."

"Then okay, I'm done talking."

"You..."

"Really done." Chen Nuo looked seriously into Yang Mi's eyes, which were now bigger, brighter, and better-looking than before; Yang Mi wasn't wrong at all.

"Because what I wanted to say, you've already said it all."

He spread his hands.

"What else do you want me to say?"

"By the way, can you send me a copy of your album in advance? I'll listen to it when I'm on the plane. I quite like it, that song 'Love's Offering'."

(End of chapter)