Chapter 221: Meeting

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After that awkward misunderstanding with Zeng Da Mei, both of them felt embarrassed.

Yet the ambiguous atmosphere in the air kept intensifying.

"Um… do you want something to drink?"

Zeng Da Mei said, looking flustered.

When Cheng Chen saw Zeng Da Mei come out, a look of helplessness crossed his face.

Big sister, you don't need to wrap yourself up so tightly…

Originally, after returning to her bedroom, Zeng Da Mei changed into loose clothing and wrapped her entire body under her coat.

Cheng Chen held up his cup and said:

"Didn't you just brew tea for me?"

"Oh, oh… right."

Zeng Da Mei sat on the sofa, eight zhang away from Cheng Chen—clearly, she was deliberately keeping her distance.

Cheng Chen moved toward Zeng Da Mei's direction; Zeng Da Mei shifted further back.

Cheng Chen, as if teasing her, kept moving closer to her side.

Zeng Da Mei shifted back again.

Cheng Chen refused to give up and pressed on…

"Ah!"

Ceng Li let out a startled cry as she suddenly sat at the very end of the sofa and slipped off.

Her entire body immediately tumbled toward the floor.

At that moment, Cheng Chen lunged to her side and used his own body to cushion her fall…

"Ow."

Cheng Chen cried out in pain—Zeng Da Mei had landed directly on his lower abdomen.

Although Zeng Li was slim, she still weighed nearly a hundred jin.

With that weight pressing down, Cheng Chen could only be grateful he hadn't eaten much for lunch.

Otherwise, he would've thrown up everything he'd eaten.

Cheng Chen instinctively reached out to support the weight on his lower abdomen.

But he realized the spot his fingers touched was remarkably elastic, especially plump…

"Ah!"

Zeng Da Mei sprang up like a spring.

"You…"

Zeng Da Mei, both ashamed and furious, pointed at Cheng Chen on the floor.

Seeing Zeng Da Mei angry, Cheng Chen clutched his lower abdomen and groaned:

"I feel like my intestines are about to be crushed—ohhh, it hurts so much…"

Hearing this, Zeng Da Mei hesitated, her flushed face now filled with concern.

"Are you… are you okay?"

Zeng Da Mei asked cautiously.

"Try having a hundred jin sitting on you—it's excruciating."

Cheng Chen groaned, clutching his lower abdomen.

"I didn't mean to! Why did you suddenly crawl under me, and then… and then touch me…"

Seeing how much pain Cheng Chen was in, she left the rest unsaid.

"Oww~"

Cheng Chen ignored her, rolling on the floor and moaning.

"Are you… are you okay?"

Zeng Da Mei asked anxiously.

"Big sister, please—this area is extremely sensitive. It's just above the most vital part of a man's body.

If I can't have kids after this, I'm blaming you!"

Cheng Chen lay sprawled on the ground and said.

"Then what should I do? Should I call 120?"

Hearing how serious Cheng Chen sounded, Zeng Da Mei panicked.

"By the time 120 arrives, I'll be dead from pain—and if outsiders find us alone together in a room, we'll be front-page news tomorrow!"

"Then what should we do?"

Zeng Li panicked.

Seeing the moment was right, Cheng Chen groaned as he said:

"I know a massage technique to relieve pain, but I can't massage myself right now—could you help me?"

"You know massage? Why can't you massage yourself?"

Hearing this, Zeng Li asked curiously.

"Big sister, I'm a historical drama actor—I used to get bruised and bumped constantly on set, so of course I know massage.

Why can't I massage myself? Haven't you heard 'doctors don't treat themselves'? Oww~ it hurts so much!"

Seeing Zeng Li still wanted to speak, Cheng Chen groaned again in pain.

"Fine, fine, I'll help you—don't move, tell me how to massage."

Zeng Li crouched beside Cheng Chen, at a loss as she spoke.

"First lift up my clothes, press your palm against the side of my navel,

and knead gently."

Cheng Chen said slowly.

"Oh, oh, alright, like this?"

When Zeng Li's hand, carrying a slight chill, but with slender fingers soft as boneless, gently pushed against his belly.

Cheng Chen felt his scalp tingle on its own, a wave of comfort shooting straight to the crown of his head.

"Push a little slower, yes, slower, put in a bit more strength."

Cheng Chen commanded.

However, as the pushing went on, Cheng Chen felt Zeng Da Mei's strength waning.

He stole a glance at Zeng Da Mei and found her staring at him with an unhappy expression.

If he kept up the act any longer, things would probably turn bad.

Seeing Zeng Da Mei's expression change, Cheng Chen hurriedly stood up and said cheerfully to Zeng Li:

"Hey, it doesn't hurt anymore, that's really amazing, Sister Li, your skill is something, very impressive!"

"Glib-tongued."

Zeng Da Mei glanced at him; clearly, she had already seen through Cheng Chen's trick.

"Um, you know, Sister Li, you go ahead and be busy, I'll be off then, come find me if you need anything."

Cheng Chen quit while he was ahead — there would be plenty of time ahead, after all.

Seeing Zeng Da Mei nod, Cheng Chen scurried away in a flash.

Watching Cheng Chen's fleeing back, Zeng Li suddenly let out a "pfft" and burst out laughing.

"Coward."

Zeng Li snorted as she spoke.

……

Although the Asia tour concert hadn't ended yet, this time Cheng Chen had nearly half a month of rest.

The next concert was in Thailand.

Hmm, how should one put it about this country.

Compared to the domestic entertainment circle, many people would feel Thailand's entertainment culture is roughly equivalent to our entertainment culture back in the eighties.

After all, because exposure isn't deep, most fan circles there belong to niche groups.

Add to that the fact that Thai stars are quite down-to-earth, it gives the impression of flat development, without much splash.

In fact, at present, the overall development level of Thailand's entertainment circle is already at a very high level.

Some artists enjoy high international fame, and Thai TV dramas and films have already stepped out of the Thai domestic market and moved toward the international stage.

And the rivalry among the various TV stations, film and television companies, and entertainment companies is in no way inferior to the domestic level.

Compared to domestic TV channels, aside from hosts, they generally don't sign their own artists.

Mango TV had once signed many of its own artists, but due to the production-broadcast separation policy, they have now all been spun off.

Domestic TV companies now mostly cooperate with production parties, platform parties, and artist management companies.

Rolling out artist-related works, cooperating with relevant artists to film TV station variety shows, and so on.

The advantage of this is that it isn't directly tied to the artists, production-broadcast separation, suiting the national conditions.

Whereas Thai TV stations possess considerable autonomy, so most TV stations sign their own artists.

Artists are packaged to the TV station, becoming part of the TV station.

During the process of recording shows and film-and-TV dramas, they can both exchange resources and save costs.

At the same time, they mobilize their other artists to promote the work, greatly boosting their hype-building ability.

But the flaw exposed by this model is that the scramble for artist resources among Thai TV stations or entertainment companies is quite fierce.

The signing system after artists are packaged to a TV station also hinders artists from taking on scripts from other companies.

Top companies usually command the broadest resources, leaving the remaining channels to grab only scraps.

This is why one often sees some artists leaving one station to sign with another, or with another company, or simply going independent as solo artists.

Thai TV stations usually pair artists into on-screen couples (CPs).

This point is somewhat like the tricks commonly used in our later-era fan circles.

For particularly popular couple CPs, more than one or two dramas will be produced, letting the CP fans stay fired up long-term.

The most famous should be Channel 3's Nad and Ya.

From their first appearance as a rookie CP in the TV drama "Dream Manor: Heart of Fire," which was a hit, the two won multiple newcomer awards.

Afterwards, the two collaborated on "Love and Punishment," "Love Over Land," "Princess Romance," and many other dramas, becoming well known to the Thai public.

Next, Thai TV, film, and variety programs, just like domestically, strike while the iron is hot — right after launching a hit drama, they immediately have the cast appear on related variety shows to build heat.

But generally speaking, whichever station an artist is signed to, they will take part in that station's related activities, and bigger-name artists will also bring along newcomers.

During the promotional period, interactions between artists are also frequent and close, often mistaken by fans as real-life romance spilling over from the screen.

Compared to domestically, Thai stars are much more open in their promotional interactions, going all-out in games and activities, and the results are usually very good.

Moreover, Thai artists develop very comprehensively — TV stations and entertainment companies all run acting classes, vocal classes, etc., to train their artists, so artist development is well-rounded.

Many artists are multi-talented, developing in singing, dancing, acting, and hosting, and many TV drama theme songs are sung by the leads themselves.

Speaking of Thai TV dramas, this is also one of their major characteristics.

Some say that watching too many Korean dramas makes you want to fall in love, watching too many domestic dramas makes you want to get divorced, and watching too many Thai dramas makes you want to seek revenge.

Because Thai dramas are romance dramas, after seizing the terrain advantage, the Screenwriter's wild ideas are also extraordinarily outlandish.

Any plot a human can imagine might appear.

So sometimes it inevitably gets melodramatic.

For example, the father is murdered, and the female lead seeks revenge for the inheritance…

Like the second female lead buries the female lead alive so the male lead will love her.

Or the female lead is imprisoned and tortured on a small island by the male lead, who is also the island's owner, and so on.

Thai dramas, besides occasionally being melodramatic, mostly have happy endings.

No matter what happens in the end, the female lead always forgives the male lead—even if she dies, a simple excuse is given, and she comes back to life.

Thai dramas usually weave their stories around families, so the plot typically revolves around one or several households, with the content mostly revolving around revenge.

Of course, for certain reasons, Thai dramas have very strict standards for on-screen intimacy.

For example, most kisses are fake, achieved through positioning; real kisses are rare.

So Cheng Chen was quite looking forward to this trip to Thailand.

After spending the afternoon researching Thailand's entertainment industry in his office, Cheng Chen suddenly received a call from Kong Sheng.

"Manager Cheng, are you in Jingcheng right now?"

"Ah, Director Kong, I'm in Jingcheng."

"The casting for 'Nirvana in Fire' is nearly finished—would you come over to oversee it?"

"Some of them are already here with me."

Kong Sheng said on the other end of the line.

Cheng Chen had already entrusted Kong Sheng with full authority over the casting for 'Nirvana in Fire'.

"Alright, I'll head over right away. Thanks for your hard work, Director Kong."

In truth, Cheng Chen held 'Nirvana in Fire' in high regard.

Otherwise he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to bring Kong Sheng all the way from Yunnan Province.

Upon arriving, Cheng Chen knocked on the door, and Kong Sheng's voice came from inside.

"Come in."

When Cheng Chen entered the room, he realized: wow, these were all people he knew.

The room, excluding Kong Sheng, had three others: Ren Quan, Shi Xiao Long, and Huang Xiaoming.

"I won't introduce them at length—you all know each other. The entertainment industry is small; you see each other constantly, hehe."

"But I still need to state their roles: this is Cheng Chen, our investor for 'Nirvana in Fire'—and also the male lead."

That "eh" from Kong Sheng was perfectly timed; everyone present chuckled, except the underage Shi Xiao Long, who looked utterly confused.

"Ren Quan, playing Xiao Jing Yan."

Kong Sheng introduced Ren Quan first.

In fact, Cheng Chen and Ren Quan first met during an advertising shoot.

Ren Quan's career has developed quite well since then.

He and Li Bingbing were college classmates, one ranked first in their class, the other last.

Somehow, they became close friends.

Li Bingbing started acting with Ren Quan during college.

And he never got taken advantage of—Ren Quan was excellent at negotiating with directors.

In fact, Ren Quan proved to have real business acumen, running restaurants, brands, and investments.

He rode a smooth path, eventually choosing to retire from acting and focus on business.

He once ranked among the top 30 investors in the country, earning a "big brother" title from Li Bingbing.

In terms of acting, his role as Leng Xue in 'The Brave Detective of Northern Pass' should have matched his name.

But Ren Quan's warm smile made the character more emotional than emotionless.

Audiences most vividly remember Ren Quan as Gong Sun Ce in the 'Young Justice Bao' series—intelligent, refined, magnanimous, and meticulous.

Whether as a sword-wielding hero or a literary master,

Ren Quan's radiant smile etched an image of gentleness into people's hearts.

It was precisely this irreplaceable, unchangeable truth that made Ren Quan the embodiment of the gentle hero.

He naturally radiated a clear, understated, and intriguing aura.

So Cheng Chen enjoyed spending time with people like him, unlike some stars who put on airs and made others feel sick.

He had always admired Ren Quan.

"Brother Quan, nice to see you again."

Cheng Chen smiled.

"Manager Cheng, I'll be counting on you from now on."

Ren Quan chuckled.

He was fair-skinned, smiled brightly, and naturally exuded aristocratic charm—perfect for playing Xiao Jing Yan.

Kong Sheng's casting eye remained as sharp as ever.

Standing beside Ren Quan was Shi Xiao Long.

They were also familiar with each other; Shi Xiao Long had played young Zhang Wuji in 'Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre'.

This child star was sent by his father to Shaolin Temple to meditate and worship Buddha as soon as he learned to walk.

The film that made him truly famous was the well-known 'The Laughing Forest Kids'.

In that film, Shi Xiao Long portrayed a young monk;

His cuteness and fluid martial arts movements drew high attention.

In '99, he collaborated with Zhou Jie and Ren Quan on "Young Justice Bao," where he played the young hero Zhan Zhao.

It was the role of Zhan Zhao that made Shi Xiao Long a child star with real influence.

……