Chapter 168

The filming of Cheng Chen's MV was low-key, but some entertainment reporters still sneaked photos.

"Lead actors of 'Immortal Sword' reunite? Is Cheng Chen's new drama in the works?"

"Cheng Chen tries modern drama? Standing beside Goddess Liu Yifei, they look perfect together!"

"Cheng Chen's new drama allegedly revealed: Bai Xiuzhu from 'The Golden Powder Family' joins strongly—this handsome and beautiful pairing is stunning."

News about Cheng Chen has never gone quiet, but most of it is baseless speculation.

This time, however, there are photos and proof, so credibility has risen significantly.

Fans are eagerly awaiting Cheng Chen's new drama.

At this moment, Cheng Chen posted a thread on his blog, roughly stating:

"Thank you all for your concern—the recent photos circulating online are not from a new drama."

"I'm shooting an MV for my new album; my new album 'Xinghuo' will launch in August."

"Highly recommended—please support it, thank you!"

According to Wang Tianxiao at Tianhai Records, the album should ideally launch in July.

But now it seems too tight; August is fine too, at least it's still during summer vacation.

On his blog, Cheng Chen also posted a photo of himself with Liu Tianxian.

In the picture, both smiled brightly, wearing school uniforms.

As the sun set, they stood together like a naturally beautiful painting.

"Aaaaaa! New album, finally a new album!"

"I said it couldn't be a new drama with zero leaks—turns out it's an MV."

"The youth vibe looks great—I'm looking forward to this new album!"

"These two look so perfect together! If I'd had a classmate like Liu Yifei in high school, I'd have dropped out before graduation—I'm heartbroken!"

"The album's called 'Xinghuo'—does it have special meaning? I remember the boss's entertainment company has the same name."

"Above, isn't the boss's company called Tianhai Records? Where did 'Xinghuo' come from?"

"For those who don't know the boss's Xinghuo, let me clarify: Tianhai Records is the boss's record label."

"All the songs we hear and albums we buy are released by Tianhai—the boss is one of Tianhai's shareholders."

"I heard recently that Tianhai had major personnel changes and equity agreement revisions—I'm guessing the boss's stake must've increased."

"Now about Xinghuo: Xinghuo Entertainment is the boss's other company."

"This company handles some of the boss's resources in the film and TV industry."

"Yan Danchen, who dated the boss and starred as the female lead in the last album's MV, is Xinghuo's first artist."

"Do you still remember when the boss appeared in Shancheng a while back?"

"That was to shoot 'Crazy Stone'—this drama is also Xinghuo's first film."

"Summary complete…"

Ps: Almost forgot—Wang Tianxiao, CEO of Tianhai Records; Su Qingya, manager of Xinghuo Entertainment.

These two are the absolute peak of looks among entertainment bosses—the kind of ridiculously good-looking people!

Let's be honest—the boss is pretty lucky… hehe, you know what I mean!"

In Cheng Chen's blog comment section, one comment was upvoted to the top.

They were likely a die-hard fan who knew Cheng Chen's news inside and out.

Cheng Chen skimmed it once, casually upvoted it, and didn't think much of it.

But immediately, the comment section exploded.

"Aaaaa! The boss upvoted your comment—everything you said must be true!"

"By the way, since the boss upvoted your comment, he must've seen the 'Ps' content, haha."

"Is this an indirect admission that you're right? Any genius post photos of Wang Tianxiao and Su Qingya!"

The blog comment section instantly erupted as netizens all tagged Cheng Chen.

When Cheng Chen got the alert, he realized the comment he'd upvoted had been collapsed and didn't show all its content—there was more below.

"Jian Lai"

Speechless…

Of course,

this kind of news meant nothing to Cheng Chen, whose tabloid rumors flew everywhere.

After all, when you're drowning in debt, one more burden doesn't matter.

After finishing the MV with Liu Tianxian, three more MVs remained: two needed Yan Danchen's cooperation, and one was Cheng Chen solo.

Since Yan Danchen was temporarily unavailable, Cheng Chen first filmed his solo MV.

Meanwhile, the one-week agreement with the 'The First Under Heaven' crew had expired.

Cheng Chen could only join the drama crew first; the remaining two MVs would be filmed when both he and Yan Danchen were free.

…

Jinkui Shi, 'The First Under Heaven' set.

When Cheng Chen arrived at the set, everyone was busy.

During his "leave" this past week, besides shooting the MV, Cheng Chen had studied Duan Tianya's character intensely.

Duan Tianya is the top-ranked secret agent of Hulong Villa, raised since childhood beside the Iron Gall God Marquis.

To further Duan Tianya's sword skills, the Iron Gall God Marquis sent him to Japan to learn Iga School martial arts.

To conceal his Han Chinese identity, Duan Tianya changed his name to Takizawa Ichiro.

Due to his outstanding performance, Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami, head of another major Japanese school, greatly admired him.

Have him come to my residence to spar with my disciples.

It was due to this encounter that Duan Tianya met the love of his life, Yagyu Yukihime.

Yagyu Yukihime (portrayed by Huang Shengyi) is the daughter of Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami; she has a younger sister, Liusheng Piaoxu (portrayed by Gao Yuanyuan).

Yes, this is a story of two sisters falling in love with the same man.

Because Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami and Duan Tianya became bitter enemies, he accidentally killed his daughter Yagyu Yukihime.

Liusheng Piaoxu, who had already secretly fallen for Duan Tianya, faced her father's threat of death.

Liusheng Piaoxu could only obey her father's command and use Duan Tianya…

Hmm, this part carries a tone similar to Miejue Shitai entrusting her orphan at Wanan Temple.

Gao Yuanyuan seems to have received the same script as Zhou Zhiruo again…

"Stephen Chow, what are you doing here? Isn't your scene tomorrow afternoon?"

Producer Wang Sanri, seeing Cheng Chen appear on set, asked in surprise.

"I need to see my own 'battlefield,' so I won't run around like a headless fly during filming and waste the crew's time."

Cheng Chen smiled and said.

Hearing Cheng Chen's words, Wang Sanri silently praised him.

This young man is still quite decent—he hasn't become arrogant or spoiled despite his fame.

Compared to a certain young star he'd worked with before, Cheng Chen's conduct greatly increased his goodwill.

"Alright, uh… Dengdeng, you don't have a scene later, right? Show Cheng Chen around the set."

Come to think of it, you two should know each other—you both starred in Stephen Chow's Kung Fu!"

You'll have many scenes together later, so get to know each other now, hehe."

Wang Sanri waved toward the center of the set and said with a smile.

Dengdeng was Huang Shengyi's nickname; hearing Wang Sanri's words, Huang Shengyi blushed and walked over.

This girl always got shy—she was the same way when they filmed Kung Fu.

"I've got something to take care of; you two go ahead."

Wang Sanri smiled and left.

Cheng Chen followed behind Huang Shengyi; the girl spoke little, appearing like a delicate white flower floating in the breeze, utterly pure.

It was hard to imagine that today's Huang Shengyi was the same woman who would later scream in livestreams: "Buy now!"

"Baby, place your orders! I've slashed the price of today's xxx! Hurry and buy!"

It seemed that since meeting the wealthy Yang Dalao, her whole vibe had changed.

Yang Boss was impressive—he was willing to spend a fortune to produce a drama called Fairy Couple just to court a woman.

He had no other demands: turn Huang Shengyi into the Seventh Fairy, and turn me into her husband, Dong Yong.

The tactic of becoming husband and wife on-screen first, then slowly cultivating feelings during filming—let's say, the boss really is a boss.

Fairy Couple aired in 2007—so it was just a couple of years ago.

"This is where we usually rehearse; further ahead is the makeup room…"

Huang Shengyi walked ahead, obediently showing Cheng Chen the way, explaining the set's layout as she went.

Seeing Huang Shengyi's current pure appearance, Cheng Chen suddenly recalled the later reports about her and Zhou Xingchi's Xinhui Company.

That incident caused a huge uproar at the time; the details were too complicated to elaborate.

In the end, the two parties went to court, Huang Shengyi won, and successfully terminated her contract.

But through that lawsuit, rumors kept spreading that Yang Boss spent six million to redeem Huang Shengyi's freedom.

Later, on a TV show, De Yun Lao Guo asked:

"They say you spent six million to redeem Huang Shengyi, and that's why you offended Zhou Xingchi, right?"

Yang Boss personally denied it:

"This is all media fabrication. During the lawsuit with Xinhui Company, the legal fees should have been paid by the losing party.

The court ruled in Huang Shengyi's favor; logically, the six million should have been paid by Xinhui Company.

But we believe Xinhui Company made Huang Shengyi famous—don't forget the well that gave you water. We're grateful for Zhou Xingchi's mentorship.

We don't need Xinhui Company to pay the six million in legal fees—just restore Huang Shengyi's freedom…"

Listen to that—Yang Boss said it perfectly…

How to put it? This couple's reputation in the entertainment industry wasn't great.

Of course, they didn't lack money, nor did they need to survive in entertainment—why care about reputation?

"Dengdeng, do you know Yang Zi?"

Hearing Cheng Chen's question, Huang Shengyi looked confused and asked:

"Yang Zi? Who's that? An actor?"

It seemed Huang Shengyi hadn't yet met Yang Dalao.

He nodded and said:

"Yeah, an actor."

He silently added in his mind:

…to chase you, he became an actor…

Huang Shengyi nodded, puzzled why Cheng Chen suddenly mentioned an actor she didn't know.

In truth, she was also deeply curious about Cheng Chen.

Last year in Modu, she was still a student and often listened to Cheng Chen's songs in class.

Her classmates and friends greatly admired this young man her own age.

But she never imagined she'd be chosen by Zhou Xingchi to star in a movie, let alone be on the same crew as Cheng Chen.

Although she gained some fame from appearing in Kung Fu, she still paled in comparison to Cheng Chen.

Leaving aside other things, just consider how she joined the crew—she came along with all the actors in a rush.

But Cheng Chen? The Producer personally welcomed him, then had the entire main creative team dine with him afterward.

She always needs multiple excuses just to take a day off; Cheng Chen merely greets the Producer and doesn't show up for a week.

No comparison at all!

The two walked around the set; after Cheng Chen became familiar with the surroundings, Gao Yuanyuan arrived at the set, still wearing her costume.

"What are you two talking about?"

Gao Yuanyuan smiled.

In this drama, Gao Yuanyuan portrays a princess in samurai armor.

What impressed Cheng Chen most about this drama back then was how stunning Liusheng Piaoxu looked upon her first appearance.

After she got bangs, she wasn't nearly as stunning as before.

Gao Yuanyuan perfectly inherited the contrast between the early and late phases of her character in Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, especially her eyes—perfect.

She effortlessly shifted between delicate vulnerability and resolute determination; this cold beauty, blending gentleness with lethal intent, was utterly irresistible.

Someone once remarked:

In terms of character design, Shangguan Haitang is like a white moonlight.

In terms of beauty, Huang Shengyi as Yagyu Yukihime is absolutely exquisite.

And Gao Yuanyuan's Liusheng Piaoxu combines the best of both Shangguan Haitang and Yagyu Yukihime.

"Nothing much. Shengyi was just showing me around."

Cheng Chen smiled.

"Yuanyuan-jie."

Huang Shengyi greeted her.

"Thanks, Shengyi. I was just on set for a scene and couldn't come over. I'll take him around from now on—you've done enough."

Gao Yuanyuan smiled.

It was kind of funny: in the drama, Huang Shengyi played Gao Yuanyuan's older sister, yet privately she called Gao Yuanyuan "jie."

Hearing this, Huang Shengyi glanced at Gao Yuanyuan, then subtly looked toward Cheng Chen.

Gao Yuanyuan spoke as if Cheng Chen were one of her own, making Huang Shengyi feel like an outsider.

It felt a bit like… a couple talking, with a light bulb shining between them?

Huang Shengyi didn't dwell on it—after all, both were major stars.

Even if there really was something between them, it wasn't her place to interfere.

Huang Shengyi nodded obediently.

After Huang Shengyi left, Gao Yuanyuan said:

"You two must've known each other already—you shot Kung Fu together, right? Isn't Shengyi beautiful?"

Hearing Gao Yuanyuan's leading question, Cheng Chen replied seriously:

"Hmm, average. Nothing compared to you."

"Brat."

Gao Yuanyuan rolled her eyes, but her heart swelled with sweetness.

Compliments between partners keep the other person happy—that's one secret to preserving love.

"I'm young?"

Cheng Chen glanced at her, saw no one around, and stepped forward a big step.

"Why get so close? Someone might see you—what are you even pressing against me…?"

As soon as she finished, Gao Yuanyuan's face flushed crimson.

Cheng Chen seized the moment and whispered in her ear:

"Jie, I still prefer this costume of yours…"

"Like it? Then like it."

Gao Yuanyuan's cheeks were flushed, feigning calm.

Cheng Chen leaned close to her ear and whispered:

"Say, what if you took this costume out of the set… and then we…?"

Hearing Cheng Chen's words, Gao Yuanyuan's lips parted slightly, her face filled with disbelief.

"Cheng Chen, you… pervert?"

"If you don't agree, I'm going to hug you right here."

Cheng Chen looked utterly unconcerned, arms wide, lunging toward her.

"You… be careful someone sees! Fine, I agree! How can someone so young think of nothing but this all day?!"

Gao Yuanyuan snapped.

"Hehe."

…