[Wu Zhao: “A Gathering of Shows” contacted me. They want to have you guys on an episode. Will be aired before the film’s run is over.]
Wu Zhao sent this message in “The King’s Plan” group to ask for their opinion.
“A Gathering of Shows” was an interesting variety show that stood between entertainment and art.
They would invite the crew of airing dramas and films over for every episode. The theme would be the works of the team that was up there.
If they were to go, the theme for that episode would be “The King’s Plan.” The team would face the audience with the image of their character.
The show would talk about the details of the film and the events that happened during filming. They would also answer the audience’s questions.
It was artistic because the crew they invited might not be the one that made the hottest show, but the one that made the show they thought had meaning.
Some shows that had mediocre ratings could become popular after going on their show. Some films saw their box office boosted thanks to them. They did help some shows, but mostly they added to what was already great.
In any case, Yun Xiangxiang adored this variety show.
[Yun Xiangxiang: When do they want us?]
[Wu Zhao: ASAP.]
Everyone understood that he wanted publicity. Sure enough, Wu Zhao wanted his film to ramp up those numbers and break the records.
[Sun Qiluo: Resting up for the whole week here. I can go anytime.]
[He Xingzhou: Got no orders to resume work here. You can hit me up anytime.]
[Hou Cang: I can apply for leave. One or two days shouldn’t hurt.]
[Lu Jin: You might have to make that three days later.]
Yun Xiangxiang glanced at the chat before turning around to ask Du Changrong, “Uncle Du, can I have a day off three days later?”
“Where are you going off to? For how long?” Now that Du Changrong was familiar with Yun Xiangxiang, he talked like he would in any conversation.
“Two days. It’s for an episode of “The Gathering of Shows.” This episode is going to be about “The King’s Plan,” Yun Xiangxiang replied honestly.
It was actually an awkward moment when an actor applied for leave to promote another director’s film.
“Sure, go ahead. We are ahead of schedule,” Du Changrong was being generous.
This was an inevitable event anyway. He could empathize since they were in the same industry. He would let her off if he didn’t urgently need her.
Yun Xiangxiang’s promotion for her previous film was still an acceptable reason. Du Changrong had seen many actors playing in multiple shows at the same time. Because of that, they had to ask for lookalikes for most scenes.
Not like they could do anything about it. The actors had great commercial value and had the investors as backers. They couldn’t even be criticized.
The fighting behind the scenes was ruining modern TV and films.
Many blamed the case on fans who set the bar too low for their idols. It might be one reason, but it was not the be-all and end-all.
There were also the capitalists who tried to control everything because of profits and their own benefits.
There were times where multiple investors were fighting with each other behind the scenes. Thanks to that, “investors” become a sort of trigger word for the directors that evoked anxiety.
Du Changrong wouldn’t work with any investors who had bad reviews. It would just be a thankless job. That was why he was almost eliminated from the industry.
Yun Xiangxiang immediately replied after getting Du Changrong’s permission.
[Yun Xiangxiang: I’ll have some time in three days.]
[Wu Zhao: Then it’s settled. We’ll go there in three days. I’ll tell you guys the exact time after talking with them.]
Appearing in variety shows was different from going to roadshows. As she would receive payment, Yun Xiangxiang naturally had to notify He Wei.
He Wei simply replied, “Go ahead. I’ll handle the contracts.”
Yun Xiangxiang was about to pick up a book after ending the call with He Wei when Song Meng sent her a link.
Before she even saw the title, Yun Xiangxiang noticed a line that read, “She’s a nobody, but she sure has many appearances.”
She thought the article was talking about herself, since that was what Song Meng usually shared with her. Yun Xiangxiang was puzzled. She might not be world famous, but she was not a nobody either.
When she clicked on the link, she saw that it was talking about Wei Shanshan. It was normal for Song Meng to send her this, considering Yun Xiangxiang’s friendship with Wei Shanshan.
The article accused Wei Shanshan of being unreasonable and wanted everyone else to follow her orders.
They chose a great picture to go with their accusations, giving them ground to slam Wei Shanshan as they liked.
There were pictures where she threw the script at other actors with a serious look on her face. There were ones where she rolled her eyes at the director. There were even ones where she looked angry at the crew.
Anyone who didn’t know Wei Shanshan personally would think lowly of her based on these pictures.
But Yun Xiangxiang was experienced. She knew this was just a smear campaign against Wei Shanshan. She must have offended someone.
Wei Shanshan was in different attire in each picture. She must have been stalked for a long time before this story came out. Since it was a conspiracy, they must still have a fatal attack lying in wait. Yun Xiangxiang had to call Wei Shanshan.
“Aiyaya, this is surprising, Xiangxiang, you actually called me,” Wei Shanshan giggled. “What are the odds? I was just going to tell you that someone was selling a three hundred year-old wild ginseng. I called him earlier.”
“There must be a lot of people dying for that,” a three hundred year-old wild ginseng was a rare item now.
“Well, a lot of people want to buy, but none of them made any offers yet.” Wei Shanshan explained. “His son used their house’s deed as collateral because of his gambling debts. His wife was furious. Now she’s in the hospital because of that. That’s why the asking price is slightly higher than market price.”
No wonder she could still get the news. Yun Xiangxiang asked, “How much is it?”
“Ten million yuan.”
Yun Xiangxiang choked. She might look rich, but it was impossible for her to fork out ten million yuan easily.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t too high of a price for wild ginsengs of this age. If someone urgently needed it, it might not be a stock even if they were willing to buy it for a hundred million.
“Hold on to that thought,” Yun Xiangxiang was planning to ask Song Mian. He would surely be interested in this.
“The highest offer is six million, for now,” Wei Shanshan hinted Yun Xiangxiang.
“Thanks. But I called you about the news I saw online,” Yun Xiangxiang went back to business.
“You didn’t know about your own news for a few days, but you caught wind of my minor ones. And so quickly too,” Wei Shanshan was amused.
Yun Xiangxiang was uninterested in gossip. Nor did she have time to read them. Any news she knew about was thanks to Song Meng.
Song Meng was getting good at this. She wouldn’t send every little bit of news to her. Even the good ones had to be interesting before she would send them to her. She would just ignore the haters as long as they remained irrelevant.
Thanks to that, Yun Xiangxiang remained oblivious to most of the news revolving around her.
Wei Shanshan’s story was also a minor one. Every actor would come across one or two articles smearing them.