Chapter 266: Signing! Future Best Actress!

Cheng Wen, Vice President of Penguin Video.

Looking at the final annual data rankings, Cheng Wen had not slept well for two days.

"This year, apart from making breakthroughs in the field of variety shows, other areas remain like dead water," Cheng Wen thought to himself.

That the variety show data could be number one was largely thanks to a few top-tier variety shows holding things up at the front.

Aside from Creating Idols, King of Love Songs, and Classic China, Penguin Video's variety shows had a clear gap, with most of the others being lukewarm.

In recent years, Penguin Video had actually focused its energy mainly on film and television dramas, paying special attention to IP.

Penguin not only bought up online novel platforms but also prepared a large number of IP dramas, yet most of them flopped in both viewership and reputation.

On the contrary, the variety show sector had not required much effort, yet because of Luo Mo, it had been advancing triumphantly.

It felt quite like the saying: "One may plant flowers with intent, but they fail to bloom; one may plant a willow by chance, and it grows into a shade."

As for who the one planting flowers was, and who the one planting the willow was, it went without saying.

Precisely because Luo Mo, this willow-planting expert, had achieved such results, Cheng Wen had always had a good impression of him.

But to say how much expectation he had for Drama, honestly, Cheng Wen really didn't have any.

In the entire creative team, only Guan Fei, the Producer, looked reliable; everyone else gave people the feeling of just playing around.

The reason Penguin Video signed a long-term cooperation Contract was only to sign Luo Mo as a person, not for the Drama itself.

Cheng Wen's main focus recently was concentrated on a newly purchased online novel.

This novel was a chart-topper, and he intended to have Luo Mo play the male lead.

He didn't feel his path was wrong, but judging from the current situation, he really needed a hit work to prove that his strategy was not problematic.

At this moment, Cheng Wen's phone rang.

He picked up the phone and chatted for twenty minutes in one breath.

The staff below reported that Luo Mo Studio had coordinated and communicated with them, saying that the overall progress of the Drama was very smooth and they wanted it to be the platform's first broadcast drama at the beginning of the next year.

This matter made Cheng Wen frown.

For a first broadcast drama at the beginning of the year, everyone wanted to make a splash.

If it explodes at the beginning of the year, one always feels that the whole year will go more smoothly, creating a snowball effect.

But judging from the foundation and the current situation, the other three major platforms had more confidence; Penguin was planning to use the "Tianji horse racing" strategy, using a lower-tier horse to run at the beginning of the year and pushing the top-tier horses to the back.

Although the entire cast and crew of the Drama looked quite worrying, due to various other factors, Cheng Wen didn't treat it as a lower-tier horse either.

How could my great Luo Mo be a lower-tier horse!?

Therefore, regarding the thoughts from Luo Mo Studio, he was left stunned.

But since the creative team had strong opinions, after struggling with it for a moment, he respected their decision.

As for the final outcome of the battle, Cheng Wen expressed that he had no expectations.

He would still devote his energy to IP dramas.

"It won't be that every time a willow planted by chance grows into a shade, right?" he thought.

If it's always like this, the willow would be planted numb!

……..

……..

On the other side, Guan Fei began to marvel at Luo Mo's abundant energy.

Acting during the day, acting at night, and still being able to do some post-production work late at night—is this person not a heartless work machine?

He knew there were many "Time Management Masters" in the circle, who could still engage in activities late at night after a busy day.

But Luo Mo still refreshed his perception; he didn't understand how someone could do this without their brainpower being drained dry.

However, the benefits of this were reflected.

Much of the post-production could be followed up synchronously, and the special effects team was already working overtime.

These days, doing post-production is very time-consuming.

Especially for the dramas of many young actresses, they would even require post-production to adjust their faces frame by frame.

How powerful post-production is now can exceed your imagination!

Swapping faces or heads is just child's play.

One can only say that this money, where it should be spent it isn't, and the special effects are all made terribly. As for appearance, they control it strictly.

The Drama crew didn't have this trouble; they were all handsome men and beautiful women, so it wasn't a big problem.

Most importantly, Luo Mo didn't like to play this game. If an actor dared to make such a Requirement to him, he would let the actor get out immediately.

This afternoon, the last scene was to be filmed: a stubbly, much more weathered Luo Mo, holding a child, asked the Sword Saint: "Do you understand?"

The "Dao" of the Sword Saint and the "Dao" of Li Xiaoyao were completely different.

The whole process was filmed very smoothly, without any problems.

After Luo Mo felt this take was good, he said loudly: "I officially announce, the Drama—is wrapped!"

Once these words were spoken, cheers erupted throughout the venue.

According to the rules, next, everyone would be given a small red envelope, then everyone would take a group photo, cut a cake, and so on.

Shen Yinuo's scenes had actually ended long ago; the Drama plot for Lin Yueru in the Lock Demon Tower part had already ended in death.

But she was also on set today because some of her earlier parts were not acted well enough, and she had done some reshoots in the morning.

If one were to ask who was the most excited about the wrap, it would be Shen Yinuo.

These past few months had been too painful for her.

"Torturing me! Luo Mo only knows how to torture me!" Miss Shen's mentality had collapsed.

Towards the end, if she wasn't lectured by Luo Mo on any given day, she would suddenly feel a bit unaccustomed to it.

Fortunately, she was still in the stage of "being used to being disciplined" and had not yet evolved to "enjoying being disciplined."

Once it evolves, that will be troublesome.

At that point, there's no telling if she might start making mistakes on purpose, and then get scolded.

In the entire production crew, the one least happy about the wrap was Ding Xiaoyu.

Luo Mo actually noticed her low spirits.

Because the little girl was wearing a baseball cap again today, and she had pulled the brim down very low.

She herself is an Actor who leans toward the "Experience School," and she had completely immersed herself in the character of Zhao Ling'er.

Zhao Ling'er dying in the end, leaving Li Xiaoyao alone to bear everything and To Live in pain, left a very bitter taste in her heart.

She hadn't seen her child grow up yet, and hadn't grown old together with Brother Xiaoyao yet.

She hadn't fully detached from everything in the drama yet, and now that the filming had wrapped, she had to part ways with her master.

Ding Xiaoyu actually doesn't like the Lunar New Year; she prefers working outside.

Life at home makes her feel stifled; even when she stays with her mother, she only talks about career planning.

When visiting relatives during the New Year, the way those relatives kept calling her a "big star" also made her feel awkward, and they would often ask her gossip and questions she couldn't answer at all.

Most importantly, things at home have actually been a mess lately.

Her mother, Chen Ru, is currently arguing with her current agent and behind-the-scenes team about a Contract renewal.

Her Contract is set to expire in a little over a month, and both sides are bickering.

Chen Ru thinks the whole team is incompetent, that her daughter's development over the past few years hasn't shown any improvement, and that many resources that were clearly within reach were snatched away by other actresses with deep backgrounds.

The agent and the team, on the other hand, think Chen Ru meddles in too many damn things, forbidding this and not allowing that; they think it's clearly the star-mother who is holding the young star back and affecting her development.

If the daughter is just a money-making job in your eyes, then just let go and let her work, but you won't allow this and you won't allow that, so how the hell is she supposed to develop?

The most fatal thing is, don't forget, Ding Xiaoyu's mother, Chen Ru, was a frustrated lawyer in her early years.

So when it comes to renewing the Contract, she is particularly difficult to deal with.

It's as if everything she learned in her life has finally come in handy.

During this time, it's not that Chen Ru hasn't reached out to other teams, but the teams offered and the resources promised have not satisfied her.

Because her personality is very aggressive, whenever she is unhappy at work, she scolds her husband at home, arguing with him all day long, accusing him of being a man who can't help with anything, like a piece of trash.

This makes Ding Xiaoyu want to go home even less.

At the wrap banquet, Luo Mo saw that Ding Xiaoyu was a bit wilted, her hat almost covering half her face.

He sat down next to his apprentice and lifted her hat brim up slightly.

Ding Xiaoyu immediately pressed it back down, because it had been worn so tightly before that her hair had been flattened, and it didn't look good.

At her age, she already pays attention to her image in front of people she cares about.

"What's wrong? Still dwelling on Zhao Ling'er's death?" Luo Mo said with a smile.

Ding Xiaoyu shook her head, keeping her head slightly lowered, and didn't speak.

She is not the type of person who will say everything on her mind.

When she was young and naive, she once told another young actor some of her inner thoughts, but it spread within a few days, even made the news, and then her mother flew into a huge, huge Anger.

It's not that she isn't willing to tell her master her inner thoughts; she actually really wants to find someone to confide in, but a person's personality is already set, and sometimes it's hard to say it out loud.

She is already used to suppressing things.

Luo Mo looked at her and said, "Don't want to rest? Isn't the New Year holiday great?"

Ding Xiaoyu shook her head very slightly.

"Hmm? So you don't want to come to Master's house for the New Year visit?" Luo Mo stared at her and said in feigned Anger, "Wicked disciple! Your master is truly 'filially' moved by you."

"Ah, can I come to Master's house for the New Year visit?" Ding Xiaoyu said.

"Of course! My parents have mentioned it several times, asking why you never find the time to come over for a meal," Luo Mo said as a matter of course.

Ding Xiaoyu was happy at first, but quickly wilted again.

As soon as she thought of her mother's personality, she would definitely drag her master into talking about some very realistic things, saying things like "Take care of Yu more," "Thank you for thinking of her in everything," or "I'll leave Yu's development to you."

She felt the festive atmosphere would be diluted.

"Then... can I come by myself?" Ding Xiaoyu said in a very, very soft voice.

"Sure, I'll just come to your house to pick you up, and we'll just say we're going to my place to hang out," Luo Mo said with a smile.

Only then did Ding Xiaoyu gradually become happy.

He looked at his apprentice and suddenly said, "Yu, I've also heard about your team's Contract situation."

Ding Xiaoyu looked at her master in surprise, not expecting him to know about it too.

Luo Mo looked at her and said, "Your mother has been in contact with many teams and companies, so the matter has spread a bit."

Ding Xiaoyu said "oh" and nodded.

She always let Chen Ru handle these things herself, and she never asked about them.

To her, signing with any team is about the same.

There is always endless work, not much private life, and not many friends.

Luo Mo looked at her and said, "When you go back, you can tell your mother that my studio is also planning to sign a batch of Actors."

Ding Xiaoyu nodded out of habit first, and only after nodding did she look up at Luo Mo in shock.

Luo Mo Studio currently only signs Singers, and it has only recruited a batch of Newcomers who are currently in training and haven't officially signed yet.

But...

"Work with Master's team?" Ding Xiaoyu suddenly became a little excited.

Luo Mo looked at her and said, "It's fine, just tell your mother first and tell her she can consider it. Besides, after the New Year, *Sword Fairy* will be broadcast as the first drama of the year on Penguin Video, so you can also let your mother wait and see our team's capabilities."

He has swept across the music scene, but in terms of film and television, he hasn't made a name for himself yet.

"Mm!" Ding Xiaoyu nodded vigorously and slightly lifted the brim of her baseball cap.

(PS: Second update, requesting monthly votes!)

(End of chapter)