NOTE: Because the chapter is quite long, it will be divided into two parts~
DISCLAIMER: We don’t own any of the stories published. We don’t know any Chinese language and this is our first time MTL-ing a novel, expect inaccuracies in the translations.
❌ NO SPOILERS. WE ARE MTL-ING THIS AT THE SAME TIME WE’RE READING IT ❌
Translated by: Jie Jie
Editor: Qiaone
Chapter 26.1 – Milky voice, Milky An Xiao Mo1RAW: 奶声奶气安小莫。Not really sure if it was MTL-ed correctly (｡•́︿•̀｡)7
Xin Zimai looked at Zhou Jinchen, and after being signaled, he reached out and accepted the call. The call from there was just as Xin Zimai had expected and the purpose was to urge Zhou Jinchen to come out and cooperate with the marketing. This time, it was Li Xiuquing who personally called and the urgency was not hidden. Han Ming has recently been fired by gossip these days and this is the time when the onlookers are most curious. After this time, even if Zhou Jinchen comes out to cooperate, it is unlikely that there will be no way to achieve such a good effect.
Zhou Jinchen didn’t make a sound, Xin Zimai shunned it following their usual past practices. He knows communication skills and his manner of speaking is very sincere. Li Xiuqing was a little angry at first but by the time she hung up the phone, she was already satisfied with his tone.
It’s just that no matter how Xin Zimai responded, he himself understands that things can’t be dragged on anymore. Now, Li Xiuquing is concerned about Zhou Jinchen’s fans, worried that having Han Ming take the initiative to announce will trigger a fans’ dark fight, even if she really invite water armies, they may not be able to overpower Zhou Jinchen’s fans. But over time, if they make a desperate move to directly expose the scandal, it could be expected that Zhou Jinchen will also be affected.
Xin Zimai looked at Zhou Jinchen again. The man did not continue to respond. He looked at the desk in front of him with a straight face, and his entire person looked colder and colder. Not even his dazzling appearance could soften his imposing manner.
Xin Zimai asked: “Jinchen, Han Ming’s side…..”
“Other than making it public, do everything to hold them down.” Zhou Jinchen’s voice did not fluctuate, and the coldness in his eyes did not fade.
“The contract was signed to get rid of the shackles, not to put up a new rope.”
Xin Zimai sighed and replied, “Good.”
In addition to being Zhou Jinchen’s agent, he also took the role of being the other party’s assistant. This assistant wasn’t the kind of assistant who was responsible for taking care of his food, clothing, and daily life in the entertainment industry, but rather Zhou Jinchen’s own business economic advisor. Therefore, coupled with the news in the circle, Xin Zimai also understood and even participated in a lot of the Zhou family’s matters.
The two have been friends for many years, and Xin Zimai was also the one who handled the matter this time. Han Ming’s aunt, in addition to working in Jin Dian, also has inextricably linked funds to the Zhou family. She was looking for Zhou Jinchen last week not only to find Han Ming a bundle of marketing opportunities but also to develop further cooperation with the Zhou family.
After the time when He Wenbin jumped off the building was ascertained, many clues that were originally buried under muddy waters gradually emerged. In addition to compensating An Xumo who has been misunderstood for many years, Zhou Jinchen also did not give up on finding out the truth about his serious illness.
The Zhou family is a large family, coupled with its internal family ties which involve more than the word “a thousand threads”.2very complicated or chaotic. Even if Zhou Jinchen is pursuing it, various realistic factors continue to hinder his progress.
The biggest headache for Zhou Jinchen is that he used too many of the Zhou family’s resources in the past. By the time when he wanted to jump out of it and return to track it down, he found that he no longer had the power to control it.
It wasn’t that the Zhou family had full control over everything Zhou Jinchen did, it was just that when it came to this kind of investigation that involved the truth about what happened back then, Zhou Jinchen could no longer find a way to guarantee absolute safety. Those forces that he had originally cultivated to use for his own development had also mixed with the Zhou family’s resources and in the end, most of them were infiltrated.
In the past, Zhou Jinchen could refuse all private exposure and scandalous speculation because the Zhou family was behind him. Even if the family used his identity to carry out various financial manipulations, Zhou Jinchen never really had any resistance. In order to make more reasonable use of Zhou Jinchen’s identity, the Zhou family has also created an investment company in his name. Not to mention the large chunk that the Zhou family took away was the portion of the equity that Zhou Jinchen himself received, the gain was also quite impressive.
But now, Zhou Jinchen no longer intends to continue to be this glamorous puppet.
He needs a pair of scissors to cut the strings on his body. Li Xiuqing who signed the contract in the first place was the scissors that Zhou Jinchen had first envisioned.
Li Xiuqing’s initial meeting with Zhou Jinchen was not a position at Jin Dian, but a partner in the Zhou family. Because she has a nephew who is also an entertainer in the entertainment industry, she made several attempts to contact Zhou Jinchen hoping to deepen her ties with the Zhou family. At first, Zhou Jinchen ignored her, but it was only after Father Zhou’s birthday banquet that he changed his mind.
Zhou Jinchen’s profession makes it a good thing for the Zhou family that he remains single, as it is easier for them to manipulate – since Zhou Jinchen has been paying attention, he has found clues by himself. The Zhou family did their best to help him get rid of the scandal, but there were many times when some signs that hadn’t reached Zhou Jinchen’s presence had already been eliminated by the Zhou family in advance.
If it had been the Zhou Jinchen before, he probably would’ve thought that this was the family’s consistent favoritism towards him. However, looking at it in the new light, the current Zhou Jinchen felt that this was the Zhou family deliberately manipulating his love affair.
There was no doubt that Zhou Jinchen did not have the freedom to choose a partner. The most likely thing he could do was to accept the family’s arrangement to marry a second-generation from the same status as their high-end family.
If it were before, Zhou Jinchen still had some feelings for the Zhou family, but now that he already knew that the person who harmed him back then was still at home, how could Zhou Jinchen turn a blind eye to it?
Speculation of CP was a kind of bundled marketing where both parties could profit from it. Now, Zhou Jinchen’s investment in Jin Dian was extremely huge, and all of his actions could be restrained. In order to avoid the influence, he would have to start looking for forces he could use.
Under these circumstances, Han Ming, who has a cooperative relationship with the Zhou family, became an excellent choice. Zhou Jinchen could use this to take advantage of Li Xiuqing’s influence in Jin Dian while also avoiding the Zhou family’s restrictions on the person of his gossip – Li Xiuqing and the Zhou family were the business partners, and if the person was Han Ming, the Zhou family could still consider it.
That was why Xin Zimai had signed that cooperation and promotion treaty with Li Xiuqing in the first place.
“In addition to interfering with the post-editing on the Green City TV’s side, Han Ming’s side also revealed the image of discrediting Xiao An.” Xin Zimai said, “After the airing of 《Sunny Weekend》, Xiao An’s popularity will definitely be able to rise again, but it seems like the other side is treating him as a competitor. I heard the producer of 《Sunny Weekend》 even went there specifically to suggest that they don’t give Xiao An too many brilliant shots.”
Zhou Jinchen laughed furiously as he sneered coldly, “Then it would be better to have him be crushed by An Xumo’s things.” Xin Zimai was stunned, “You mean…..”
“Mm.” Zhou Jinchen responded and cut off the conversation at this point. He tapped his fingertips on the table, “Wait for the results of the Wutong Awards first.” The value of a Film Emperor is more than just a simple title. Zhou Jinchen had been named the “Most Commercially Valuable Male Artist”3Raw: 最具有商业价值男艺人 not sure if I MTL-ed it right. by the media for two years in a row, but regarding his status within the circle, he still lacked a substantial award that can stand up to the crowd. This is precisely why Zhou Jinchen had to use the Zhou family’s influence again and again to gain resources for himself after the 《Snow Road in the Forest》 failed to win the award.
The importance of this Film Emperor to him was self-evident. If he could win the Best Actor this time, Zhou Jinchen’s status in the circle would take a qualitative leap, and he would become the first person in the younger generation who truly combines popularity and strength. If they didn’t — then they would have to use another means to deal with the dual pressure of Li Xiuqing and the Zhou family.
Zhou Jinchen had been working for over thirty hours in a row before, and the things he handled were not just entertainment related matters. Xin Zimai duly noted down Zhou Jinchen’s words, and after putting his things away, he began to urge him: “Jinchen, you should go and rest for a while. You still have to catch the plane to B City in the evening, and you should be styled for the Wutong Awards ceremony”
Zhou Jinchen answered in a low voice and looked out of the window.
The sunlight outside the house fell in through the gaps in the window, and the starry spots of light covered the man’s body, but it did not give him the slightest bit of warmth.
–
The Wutong Awards ceremony was an annual event in the industry, which has always attracted the attention of the people of the whole country as usual under the social background of national security and entertainment.4国泰民安: the country prospers, the people at peace (idiom); peace and prosperity
Before five o’clock in the evening, the live broadcast of the Wutong Awards red carpet was ready to begin. An Xumo was originally only asked for a night off, but Tang Tang said she wanted him to familiarize himself with his fans, so he took him out of the dance studio in advance.
The movie audition that Zhang Zhiwei had mentioned will take a while, An Xumo had asked again and it would probably be close to the broadcast time of 《Sunny Weekend》.
An Xumo thanked Zhang Zhiwei again and again, but after hanging up, he still had no confidence. He had talent in dancing and was willing to put an effort to get these achievements today. However, acting is a field that he has never touched before. The only thing he has been involved in is watching movies – he has watched all of Zhou Jinchen’s movies countless times, but acting is not something that can be learned just by looking at it.
Tang Tang arranged acting classes for him in the company. In addition to daily dance and music practice, An Xumo had an additional training course, and time has become even more urgent. If Tang Tang hadn’t carried him out, he would’ve been stuck until the point where Zhou Jinchen walked the red carpet before leaving the rehearsal room.
Tang Tang showed not only his Weibo this time but also the popularity index of major films and television platforms. As a fan who was starstruck, An Xumo was introduced to the whole thing and realized how ignorant he was in the past.
But now that the focus was on himself, Tang Tang didn’t dwell on it and only taught him how to view these data and popularity indexes that were closely related to his idol.
An Xumo had thought that the huge number of blessings and confessions on Weibo were already very considerable, but he didn’t expect that there were even more spectacular scenes in the various forums where fans gathered. Tang Tang casually clicked on a few forums to show him, which were full of screenshots of him in 《Dance to the Top Show》 and words of enthusiastic confessions.
“My Mo’s physique is super nice! The waist is thin, the legs are long and the neck is beautiful. It is simply a deer in human form!”
“Ahhh Momo’s dance is so handsome! It feels completely different from his looks. I feel like I turned out to love the mindset of my underage brother. As a result, when he danced, he was held up by the power!”
“For me, when wuliMo5Wuli is written in English. Additional info which I forgot to add apologies: ‘wuli’ is the transliteration of the Korean ‘my’/’our’/’uri’, originally used by K-pop fans to express the nickname for their idol or slang used before the name of someone you admire or like. stood still, I wanted to buy him candy. After he danced, I just wanted to have a discussion with him on how to dance, ahem.”
“Watch your steps upstairs! Younger brother An hasn’t come of age yet. He should be spoiled. What bicycle do you want?”6What kind of bicycle is a popular term on the Internet, which means to discourage others from being dissatisfied and not thinking too much.
An Xumo was dazzled and clouded, there were a lot of words he clearly knew, but couldn’t understand the specific meaning.
Fortunately, in addition to texts, he could also look at pictures. There were a lot of screenshots in these several forums. An Xumo swiped down from the top for a while, but he didn’t even see a single duplicate picture.
His debut time is still short and only the show 《Dance to the Top Show》 did he really appeared on camera. After becoming famous, the newly changed team made a long-term plan for his development. He did not pick up those on the rush to hand over messy cooperation, but carefully selected a few suitable platform interviews, and a cross-page color inserts on a medium-size magazine. In this way, the excessive footage on An Xumo was reduced while taking the maximum advantage possible.
Correspondingly, however, fans have much fewer opportunities to dig into the footage, but that apparently didn’t make it difficult for the full-fledged fanbase. An Xumo didn’t expect to find so many on-cam contents when he thought he didn’t have much to show but it turned out he had a lot.
“Is this…… dissecting the entire show’s footage?” An Xumo was a little dumbfounded.
Tang Tang didn’t take it seriously: “You’ve only seen this much. I saw a Weibo account before, they took screenshots and added color corrections to produce more than nine hundred finished products. There are screenshots and photos in it, and each picture is only you the protagonist; the other background subtitles, and so on have been removed or covered. The key is that it didn’t appear obtrusive at all.
“This isn’t the marketing we came out with. This is done by the fans themselves, and the level looks very professional. I don’t know how long it took to get it out.”
Tang Tang clicked on An Xumo’s topic to show him: “Here, it’s at the top of these elite Weibo.”
An Xumo looked down at one glance and immediately saw the gif that was placed in the very middle of the grid, “This…..this isn’t a scene of me in 《Dance to the Top Show》, is it?”
Tang Tang leaned over and the gif showed An Xumo looking at the camera with a face that didn’t know what was going on. He was reporting that his lips were looking in another direction away from the camera with a particularly obedient look.
She thought to herself, “Oh, this is a tidbit from 《Dance to the Top Show》. In the preliminary contest, didn’t there was a time when the choreographer and the vocal music teacher got into a fight? When you were sitting next to them, you were photographed by the camera.”
An Xumo thought about it for a long time before he vaguely recalled a bit of his impression.
“That tidbit was one of the most reposted short videos in the beginning, and it is comparable to the video you made during the show’s finale. Not only did the fans like it, half of the reposts were contributed by the people who weren’t starstruck.” Tang Tang laughed, “There’s also someone who gave you a pair of cat ears and said it was a good little white cat that was scared.”
“……” An Xumo really couldn’t connect himself with the words “good little white cat”.
“You haven’t appeared in public much since the end of 《Dance to the Top Show》, have you?” Tang Tang hit her palmed with her fist and lamented, “You’ve been in the rehearsal room all day, and you haven’t even been scheduled for street photography yet.”
An Xumo said, “I have to take acting and dancing lessons.”
“Fine, fine.” Tang Tang looked at him helplessly, “You definitely won’t be able to miss the camera afterwards anyway. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to interact with fans. Didn’t we make a bet before because of Mao Yuntian and Prince Zichao fighting each other? How does it feel now that you’ve got so many followers?”
An Xumo stretched out his hands to press off the phone full of information and paused after hearing the question.
“…..It seems that it doesn’t feel real yet.”
“At first, it’s all like this.” Tang Tang said in a very old-fashioned tone, “After experiencing having your name called out in unison by thousands of fans, you’ll slowly find this passionate sense of reality heat up.”
An Xumo smiled and didn’t say anything more.
He looked up at the LCD TV not far away. It showed the most glamorous figures in the industry dressed in suits and leather shoes; long guns, and short cannon flashing non-stop. The bright red carpet was spread out from the feet of a figure to the distance, and the cameras are scrambling to focus on the big stars.
They are famous, they are admired by thousands of people, everyone’s eyes are on them and their hearts are moved by their words and smiles.
A slender, handsome figure appeared in the center of the screen. Before the man had stepped on the red carpet, the camera is already following him. Along with him is a well-known actress who has successfully played the role of a high-powered and luxurious queen, but now she’s holding a man’s arm and showing a young girl-like delicate smile.
An Xumo’s sight fell on the man who was still very prominent among the gorgeous crowd and subconsciously bit the tip of his tongue.
What Tang Tang said was very heartwarming, which is why countless of people dreamed of this entertainment industry. The feeling of the limelight is even more wonderful than the most powerful psychedelic drug and you can’t forget it once you tried it.
But for An Xumo, this was the only person who could give him a sense of reality.
An Xumo slowly put aside his phone that was constantly beeping with new information and looked at the figure that was being filmed on the TV. On the side, Tang Tang still wanted to say something to him, but seeing An Xumo so focused, she withdrew the thought.
Tang Tang thought helplessly, although Brother Zhou’s charm is unmatched, his own artist’s method of stargazing seems to be a bit too enthusiastic.
Let’s wait and see if we’ll be able to work together again in the future.
After watching the live red carpet broadcast, An Xumo went back to continue his classes. The live broadcast of the award ceremony would last for three to four hours. Key awards like Best Actor would be issued separately. The Best Actor and Best Film would have to wait until the end of the awards ceremony. Tang Tang promised to call him back when it was almost time.
On one side is the much anticipated award ceremony. The experienced hosts were on the stage making the audience laugh. Mr. Bo smiled and Zhou Jinchen, dressed in a dark gray high-end custom haute couture, whispered to the director on his side, giving a smile from time to time.
At the same time, in an empty dance room, the boy stretching his muscles is lowering backwards on the smooth wooden floor. His palms touched the floor with his body bent back forming a perfect circle together.
They’re thousands of miles apart, but they’re working together towards a goal.
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