[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-starting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme":3,"chapter-starting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme-starting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme-chapter-4":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Starting from Hong Shixian: A Chinese Entertainment Rise",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2351283,4599,"Chapter 4: What Kind of Person is Hong Shixian?","starting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme-chapter-4",4,"\u003Cp>Seeing the producer nod, the smile on Ling Xiaosu’s face deepened a little, and the smile on the director’s face deepened a little as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Since that’s the case, let’s begin,\" the director said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cameraman to the side set up the camera, while the screenwriter handed out the scripts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’ll give you 15 minutes,\" the director said. \"We’ll officially start in 15 minutes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ling Xiaosu flipped through the script, a look of surprise appearing on his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This script had been changed quite a bit according to his suggestions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was already very different from the first version.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was clear that the production team was very sincere toward him, but unfortunately, he really didn’t have much interest in this show.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Serving as a platform for two women to act against—he had never received such treatment since he started his career.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Hui read the script earnestly, trying to understand the character while memorizing his lines as much as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*Huh? The character of Hong Shixian doesn’t seem quite right...* Qi Hui thought to himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at Hong Shixian from the perspective of the script, he was a bit different from the Hong Shixian in his memories of his past life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Zhang Ruoyun... he was somewhat absent-minded even while looking at the script.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was just here to make up the numbers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alright, time’s up,\" the director said, tapping the table. \"The three of you, introduce yourselves first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tell us about your specialties or your past works.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t know much about these three actors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Director, I don’t need an introduction, do I?\" Ling Xiaosu said with a cheeky grin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The director felt a bit helpless and looked toward Zhang Ruoyun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Zhang Ruoyun, student of the 2007 Performance Class at the Beijing Film Academy,\" Little Zhang stood up and said seriously:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No specialties, and no works.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The director frowned, nodded slowly, and said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Qi Hui, student of the 2005 Performance Class at the Beijing Film Academy,\" Qi Hui stood up, a slight smile on his face: \"I know Korean, and I have no works.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hm? Korean?\" The previously indifferent producer, screenwriter, and lead actress Choo Ja-hyun all looked up almost simultaneously, staring at Qi Hui in surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ling Xiaosu and Zhang Ruoyun beside him were equally surprised as they looked at Qi Hui.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You even know Korean?\" the director said, also somewhat shocked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone who knows Korean is a rare talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Korean Wave was incredibly rampant these days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Korean dramas like *Jewel in the Palace*, *Autumn in My Heart*, and *Miss Mermaid* were immensely popular.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People in 2024 would find it hard to imagine just how explosive the popularity of Korean dramas was back then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Put it this way: the classic *Drawing Sword*, which was popular all over the country, was only just qualified to compete with *Autumn in My Heart* at the time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Korean groups like TVXQ and Super Junior were red-hot, and their appearance fees for just a few minutes could reach several million.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Korean music, Korean stars, and the Korean Wave were all the rage on the mainland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It even reached a point later on where a certain host knelt in public for his Korean idol.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rampant Korean Wave forced Jay Chou to shout at an evening gala: [Don’t let the Korean Wave become more and more rampant; the Chinese Wave is the best.]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Hui smiled and nodded; he had just refreshed it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Choo Ja-hyun, off to the side, raised her hand and asked weakly: \"너정말한국말알아? (Do you really know Korean?)\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wasn’t a big star like TVXQ; on the contrary, she was just a minor actress who couldn’t come and go as she pleased like TVXQ.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She needed to follow the production team, act very earnestly, and endure her fair share of hardships.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, her Chinese wasn’t very good either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Working and struggling in a foreign land, she sometimes missed the sound of her native tongue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People working away from home all had this feeling; hearing their native tongue would always feel inexplicably intimate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t just Choo Ja-hyun; Wu Jing was the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he was struggling in Hong Kong, Wu Jing carried a cassette tape of Guo Degang’s crosstalk collection and a radio, just to listen to crosstalk and broadcasts from the north to soothe his homesickness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, this wasn’t the 2024 where mobile phones, the internet, and high-speed rail were incredibly developed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Hui smiled and said: \"그럼요, 한국어는어렵지않아요. (Of course, Korean isn’t hard to learn.)\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The incredibly fluent conversation, the cadence of the tone, and the syllables that others couldn’t understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone present understood that Qi Hui really knew Korean.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, even the producer, who hadn’t cared much, sat up straight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not bad, not bad.\" The look in the director’s eyes as he looked at Qi Hui held a bit more satisfaction:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Continue, tell us your understanding of the character Hong Shixian.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A philanderer who is a womanizer and can’t control himself,\" Zhang Ruoyun said. \"I think the role’s purpose is to be a vase and a platform, existing to act against the two female leads.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, the director and screenwriter frowned at the same time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The character of Hong Shixian wasn’t that simple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Teacher Ling, why don’t you give it a try?\" The director and screenwriter looked at Ling Xiaosu; he had been the first to come into contact with the script and had the deepest understanding of Hong Shixian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A cowardly and timid young master,\" Ling Xiaosu replied:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The character of Hong Shixian, although he wavers between two women and is a jerk—a scumbag.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"But in essence, he is a cowardly and timid person. He doesn’t dare to defy his father, he doesn’t dare to directly reject Ae-ri, and he has no courage to confess everything to Pinru, seek forgiveness, and let his life return to the right track.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, the director and screenwriter’s slightly furrowed brows relaxed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was some deviation, but it was still acceptable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they really chose him, it would be much easier to coach him after he joined the crew.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Qi Hui, how do you view the character of Hong Shixian?\" The director looked at Qi Hui and asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Hui pondered for a moment and said slowly: \"This is a person who has personality defects caused by his original family.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Oh?\" The director and screenwriter exchanged a glance, both somewhat surprised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qi Hui continued: \"First, his status is the son of a real estate company chairman. His father has a strong personality and a fiery temper; when he discovered his wife was gambling, he didn’t try to persuade her, but directly took a knife to chop off her hand.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Secondly, Hong Shixian is extremely terrified of his father. He constantly says his father will kill him, constantly says he is doomed, and what’s more, his father actually hits him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This, to a certain extent, caused Hong Shixian’s timidity and cowardice; he has no courage.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he spoke, Qi Hui flipped through the script, found a few lines of dialogue to show, and pointed out two scenes where he gets beaten.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In addition, he has a mother who dotes on him excessively,\" Qi Hui continued. \"This leads to Hong Shixian being self-centered, demanding excessively without knowing how to be grateful.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"His mother’s doting doesn’t make him psychologically sound; on the contrary, it makes him more twisted because his mother has no principles, gambles, and doesn’t have a high status at home. Such doting is inherently harmful to him.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hong Shixian grew up in a family that was materially extremely rich but mentally extremely twisted.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"His father brought him inferiority and cowardice; his mother made him arrogant and vain, not knowing how to be grateful.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hong Shixian, strictly speaking, suffers from psychological illness.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Ae-ri, who is staying at the Lin family, is just like Hong Shixian; she has psychological illness, and she and Hong Shixian are fellow patients.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And Lin Pinru, who has a healthy family and a healthy personality, is Hong Shixian’s salvation. Unfortunately, Hong Shixian lost his salvation.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having said this, Qi Hui paused and said seriously:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The theme of the script *Temptation of Going Home* is not temptation and desire, but family.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The director slapped his thigh and shouted: \"Well said!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What he wanted to film was not some cheating or extramarital affair at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What he wanted to film was family!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wonderful!\" The screenwriter also slapped his thigh, looking at Qi Hui with complete satisfaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside Qi Hui, Zhang Ruoyun scratched his head. Does this playboy have so many things to dig into?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How come I didn’t see it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"So that’s how it is...\" Ling Xiaosu suddenly realized.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had seen Hong Shixian’s timidity and cowardice, but he had just learned where that timidity and cowardice came from.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This junior brother really has something!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The producer, however, frowned and silently unscrewed his water bottle to take a tactical sip.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is looking a bit bad...\u003C\u002Fp>",1493,"2026-06-21T03:10:06.472Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","a2141b7613977e63555e157223c2a71eb9a65c34a4db18d617d1b743d3740262","starting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme-chapter-5","starting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme-chapter-3",202,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstarting-from-hong-shixian-a-chinese-entertainme-cover.jpg"]