Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 447 Glory, domineering, and invincible!
2011 was an extraordinary year for the Chinese entertainment industry.

Many entertainment media outlets used the adjective "magnificent and turbulent" to describe the mainland entertainment industry in their year-end summaries. In the "2011 Year-End Report and 2012 Outlook of Huanxin Film & Television" that Chen Nuo saw, Li Jing also used phrases such as "change and breakthrough," "another turning point since the 06 Super Girl competition," and "perhaps we will look back on this year in the future" to express her feelings about the passing year of 2011.

Setting aside Li Jing's emotional language, the PowerPoint presentation projected on the wall also listed a large amount of hard data and objective phenomena to support her judgment:

"In 2011, the total output of Chinese TV dramas exceeded 1.5 episodes, and the total output value of the national TV drama market exceeded 500 billion yuan."

"Hunan TV dominated the prime-time ratings charts throughout the year with dramas such as 'Palace' and 'Scarlet Heart,' becoming the highest-rated provincial satellite TV station in the past five years."

"Sina Weibo's user base exceeded 2.5 million by the end of 2011, with an average of 8600 million Weibo posts per day."

"Many entertainment stars are using Weibo to engage in unprecedentedly close interactions with their fans. The number of fans of top male and female celebrities is exploding, and their every move frequently trends on social media, becoming the focus of public opinion. This may indicate that an entertainment industry centered on idols is taking shape."

"In this wave of change, I regret to see that the most representative figure is not from Huanxin Company. As the company's general manager, I bear an unshirkable responsibility for this."

"We at Huanxin are a company specializing in film and television production. Now, the new fan-oriented order presents a challenge for us. Looking ahead to 2012, I believe..."

Before Chen Nuo could hear Li Jing finish speaking, the phone rang.

"Hey, I'm downstairs at your company. Where are you?"

"I'm in my office. Wait a moment, I'll have someone come down to get you."

"Okay, tell them to hurry up, there are too many people here, I'm scared..."

"Okay, right away."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Nuo said, "OK, that's enough for now. Nazha, go downstairs and pick someone up for me."

……

There was one person who appeared in Li Jing's year-end report. She regarded him as a representative figure of 2011, the "first year of traffic," and even made him admit his failure and take the initiative to reflect on himself.

The TV series starring this person broke Hunan TV's five-year record this year with an astonishing 3.08% viewership rating, and remained number one in its time slot nationwide for 16 consecutive days. When it aired in Taiwan, the show's ratings soared to the top of the three major channels, and he was hailed by Taiwanese media as "the strongest newcomer from mainland China."

Her portrayal of "Qingchuan" was undoubtedly a phenomenal role in 2011.

The theme song she sang in the drama became a hit everywhere, and her personal search volume surpassed international superstars such as Steve Jobs and Jay Chou on Google's global list, ranking second among the "hottest people" in mainland China.

Her starring film, "Mysterious Island," with a budget of 800 million yuan, stubbornly garnered 9000 million yuan at the box office despite being overshadowed by "No Man's Land," becoming a benchmark for low-to-medium budget horror films.

According to statistics, she has endorsed as many as 14 products this year, covering multiple industries such as Maybelline (cosmetics), Yili (fast-moving consumer goods), and Lenovo (digital products).

His endorsement fee soared from 100 million yuan at the beginning of the year to 300 million yuan at the end of the year, the price of a single episode of a TV series exceeded 120 million yuan, and the film salary rose to 800 million yuan per film. His annual commercial income exceeded 3000 million yuan.

As of December 2011, his Weibo followers had exceeded 8 million, with an average daily interaction volume of over 330,000. Not long ago, he even surpassed a record held by someone else, setting a new high for celebrity social media data.

Her target audience spans from teenagers to middle-aged women; students imitate her style, while working women admire her "independent and resilient" persona. The items she wears have repeatedly sparked buying frenzies on Taobao, and the mobile phone model she endorses sold over a million units in its first month on the market.

At the recently concluded 2011 China TV Drama Awards, she beat out Sun Li, Jiang Wenli and others to win the "Most Popular Actress" award and was named the top of the "Four Little Actresses" by Southern Metropolis Entertainment Weekly!
In the last few days of December, she has a solo album to be released and a new movie to be shown—this is her third movie to be released this year!
How glorious, how domineering, how arrogant!
If we exclude a certain person, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that "2011 was her year"!
Who is she?
Who is she?
The answer is, of course, —

"Singer Chen, it's so rare to see you! You almost ran away again, didn't you?" Gulnazar pushed open the door, and Yang Mi walked in with an air of grandeur. Seeing that only Chen Nuo was in the office, he turned around and said, "Wait outside for a while."

The people following behind her stopped at the door upon hearing this and did not go any further inside.

Chen Nuo gave Gulnazar a look, and the woman understood and left, closing the door behind her.

A man and a woman alone in a room together is not a big problem, because Chen Nuo's chairman's office has two floor-to-ceiling glass windows and no curtains are drawn.

He glanced at Yang Mi and said, "Yes, almost. I'm leaving tomorrow. Yang Song, don't stand there, sit down. I'll pour you a cup of tea."

After saying that, he stood up, walked to the water dispenser next to him, filled a cup with black tea, walked to the sofa, sat down, and handed it to the person in charge: "I rarely come to this office, and there's not much good tea here, so this will have to do."

Throughout the entire process, Yang Mi remained silent, simply watching him quietly. When he returned and handed her the tea, she didn't utter a sound, taking it with both hands, lowering her head slightly, burying her face behind the rim of the cup so her expression was obscured, and taking a sip directly.

"Damn, it's so hot!"

She immediately cried out, sticking out her tongue and fanning herself frantically with her hand, glaring at Chen Nuo, and said indistinctly, "Chen Nuo, are you trying to burn me?"

"Hahahaha." Chen Nuo laughed when he saw Yang Mi's somewhat comical expression and said, "Sorry, how's it going? Is your tongue ready yet?"

Yang Mi shut her mouth, rolled her eyes at him, and said irritably, "It's cooked, want some?" After saying that, she paused for a moment, her face slightly reddening, and then quickly added, "You... By the way, what time is your flight tomorrow?"

"It's past 9 a.m., what's up? Are you giving me a ride?"

Yang Mi calmed down and said disdainfully, "Give it to you? You've been back for almost a month now, and you haven't even called or sent me a WeChat message. Why should I give it to you?"

Chen Nuo laughed and said, "Because you have a better conscience than I do."

"Alright, I'm magnanimous, I won't hold it against you." After saying that, Yang Mi put down her teacup, looked at Chen Nuo and sighed slightly, "Long time no see, you've lost weight."

Chen Nuo hummed in agreement, looked at the girl's pointed chin, and said, "You too."

……

……

Yang Mi ended up staying in his office for about an hour.

In the hour or so he saw Yang Mi answer no fewer than five phone calls and reply to WeChat messages several times.

Without exception, every phone call began with "Mr./Ms. X" and almost always ended with a sentence like "Let me ask my agent to see if there are any availability."

Chen Nuo glanced at the WeChat message rather rudely and saw that it was about album promotion. Yang Mi wasn't angry when he looked at it; instead, she chatted with him about the album for a while with a smile.

The girl talked on and on, saying that the album, titled "Close to Me," would only be released on December 15th. The title track, "It's Okay," with lyrics by Lin Xi and produced by Faye Wong's team, had already sold tens of thousands of copies even before its official release. Seeing that the title of "God of Songs" was about to become truly deserved, she even asked him if he was nervous as one of the duo.

In short, the two people, who hadn't seen each other for a long time, chatted about everything under the sun. Occasionally they'd be interrupted, but it didn't dampen their enthusiasm. They both seemed very interested.

But Chen Nuo could sense that Yang Mi had something on her mind that she wanted to say. When she left, she hesitated for a long time, but it seemed that she gave up in the end and did not ask.

Chen Nuo felt that this person had grown up.

After Yang Mi left, Li Jing, Qi Yuntian, and Tang Qing came back in.

As soon as Li Jing entered the room, she said with mixed emotions, "More than a dozen people following along, this is too much of a show. I feel sad just thinking about Li Ying. How about we add two more people for Li Ying, President Chen? They are all four little actresses, there's no reason for such a big difference, is there?"

Chen Nuo was taken aback. "More than a dozen? I only saw six or seven."

"There are also four bodyguards guarding the company entrance," Qi Yuntian added, pausing before saying with a half-smile, "The changes are really significant."

Chen Nuo glared at him, then looked at Li Jing and said, "If you think it's okay to add it, then add it."

Li Jing said, "President Chen, I was just joking. Li Ying's popularity is still a bit behind hers right now, so there's no need for that yet. We'll talk about it when Li Ying can earn 3000 million a year. I believe that time is not far off."

Chen Nuo smiled and said, "Okay. Continue what you were saying."

"Well, we currently have two good scripts that are suitable for Liying. One is Yu Zheng's 'Legend of Lu Zhen,' and the other is 'Phoenix Seeking Phoenix.' Yu Zheng said that 'Legend of Lu Zhen' was tailor-made for Liying. As for 'Phoenix Seeking Phoenix,' it's an original work by a new screenwriter, and it's currently receiving good reviews in the industry. The former is expected to have an investment of 60 million, and Yu Zheng wants us to invest 30 million, but I said I would consider it. The latter is a bit less, about 40 million in total investment, and we'll invest 20 million."

"Which one do you think is suitable?"

"I think... 'Lu Zhen'. Yu Zheng is talented and knows how to create hype. He's launched several new talents in the past two years. It would be safer to collaborate with him."

Chen Nuo nodded, then looked at Tang Qing: "And you?"

Tang Qing honestly replied, "I share the same idea as President Li." Chen Nuo smiled and said, "Since you agree, let's go with 'Legend of Lu Zhen'. But if you're going to invest, invest more. Tell Yu Zheng how much he wants to invest, and we'll cover the rest."

“Okay, Mr. Chen.” Knowing that the company was quite wealthy recently, Li Jing agreed without hesitation.

Chen Nuo then asked, "Tang Qing, how are your new recruits doing lately? Any issues?"

"No, they're all very well-behaved."

Chen Nuo nodded, "Dilraba, Xiao Zhan, and Yang Zi will all be juniors next fall. Besides Fan Binbing and Liu Yifei, we'll start another production next year. It doesn't need to be a big production. We'll let these newcomers get some experience, including Zhang Yuheng from the Shanghai Theatre Academy. After studying for a few years, let's see how good they are. We'll give them a real-world test and let the best of the best emerge."

Li Jing nodded: "Okay, I understand."

After listening to Li Jing's long speech, Chen Nuo felt a sense of urgency and decided to speed things up. Besides, they had a morning meeting where they secured the role of "Legend of Lu Zhen" for Zhao Liying, a role that seemed destined for her, which was a success in itself.

At noon, he didn't leave; he planned to stay at the company for lunch.

After visiting Facebook, he learned about employee benefits from Zack Snyder. Since they weren't using the entire floor, he had Qi Yuntian designate an area and hired several chefs specializing in different regional cuisines to provide a variety of buffet meals every day at noon, charging 3 yuan per meal. After two months of this, when he returned, he noticed several familiar old employees had gained weight. Hearing that the chefs they hired were skilled and the food was delicious, he wanted to take the opportunity to try it himself.

During the meal, he was planning to discuss the housing fund with Qi Yuntian, and he had a new idea.

However, as soon as he announced the end of the meeting and stood up, his phone received another WeChat message.

It was none other than Yang Mi, who had clearly left earlier.

"Are you free? Let's have lunch together. (smiley face)"

Chen Nuo replied, "Where should we eat?"

Does your company provide meals?

"Have."

“Then I’ll come up.”

This time, Yang Mi didn't make such a big fuss; he only brought two people. Before Chen Nuo could ask, he took the initiative and said, "I've gone to call them to eat. Where should we eat?"

"My office will do."

"Row."

Qi Yuntian ordered three dishes and a soup for the two of them, plus two bowls of white rice.

However, Chen Nuo only picked up two pieces of food with his chopsticks, without touching his rice, and Yang Mi did almost the same. The two looked at each other and immediately laughed.

Chen Nuo laughed and said, "Luckily you didn't say you'd treat me to barbecue, otherwise I would have lost a lot of money."

"Barbecue... I can't afford it right now." Yang Mi smiled. "I'll treat you to it when I've made some money."

"Hahaha." Chen Nuo laughed so hard that tears almost came out, as if he had heard a huge joke.

As he laughed, Yang Mi's expression gradually turned serious.

Chen Nuo acted as if she hadn't seen anything, laughed until she was done, wiped away her tears, and said, "Never mind, I'm still a little hungry, I'll eat some more."

"Stop pretending, Chen Ge Shen," Yang Mi said, enunciating each word clearly. "I know what you're thinking."

Chen Nuo chuckled twice, "What am I thinking?"

You're thinking I'm not good enough to be your friend.

Chen Nuo gave a ridiculous look and laughed, "Here we go again? I was wondering why you pull this on me every day. What are you talking about?"

Yang Mi acted as if she hadn't heard him, and abruptly asked, "Do you know when I made that decision?"

Chen Nuo opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say anything.

“I saw Fan Binbing at Bazaar this year,” Yang Mi continued to say to herself. “At that moment, I was really envious. The next day, I told my agent that I had made up my mind and asked him to contact a doctor for me.”

"A few days later, I was lying on the operating table."

“At that moment, I suddenly remembered something you said to me a long time ago. You asked me if I preferred being a celebrity to being an actor. I said no at the time. But now I can’t lie to myself anymore. Ever since I had my tooth pulled in 06, I’ve actually known that.”

"I've gone completely mad. In the past few years, I've had double eyelid surgery, facial fillers, jawbone surgery... I just can't stop."

At this point, Yang Mi stopped and stared blankly at the food in front of him for a while.

After a long pause, she continued, "I'm not not eating, not because I'm dieting, and it's not that I can't eat. A month after the surgery, the doctor said I could resume a normal diet. The chin surgery I had done is going well, healing very well. It's just that I always feel it's not good enough, so I'm afraid to eat. Actually... I know it's my own problem. A psychological problem."

"Mingming has made up her mind: she just wants to look pretty from now on and not think so much. Being an actress is all about making money, so what's wrong with that? Tell me, isn't Liu Yifei prettier than me now, right?!"

Chen Nuo nodded.

"Is that so? So even if Professor Li asked me to do facial expression training now, I probably wouldn't even get 20 points, but this is the path I chose. Now all of China knows my name, I'm completely famous, and I don't have to worry about not being as beautiful as others when I stand next to them. My choice was not wrong. I had no choice, I had to do it this way. I'm not like you, I'm not like Fan Binbing, and I'm not like you. This is the price I have to pay."

“So…” Yang Mi looked at Chen Nuo, pursed her lips tightly, and gave a very hard smile, “If you want to look down on me, then look down on me; if you want to laugh, then laugh; if you want to say something, then say it. I’m fine with it, really.”

Chen Nuo looked at Yang Mi.

Indeed, the girl has changed a lot since we first met.

Perhaps viewers and fans can't be sure just by looking at the screen.

But since we've known each other for so long and are so close, there are many things that we simply can't pretend we don't see.

She did indeed transform from a country bumpkin into someone with a "rich, beautiful, and fair-skinned" vibe.

He thought for a moment, then his expression turned serious. "If you want me to say it, then I'll say it?"

"Okay, go ahead and say it." Yang Mi maintained her smile well, though it was slightly stiff.

"When are you going to treat me to barbecue?" Chen Nuo asked, "You're not going to renege on your promise, are you?"

Yang Mi paused for a moment, then showed an expression that was both amused and annoyed, and said, "Don't worry, you'll get your share. Once I make money, I'll rent out the entire barbecue restaurant for you to eat at."

Chen Nuo laughed, "You said it yourself."

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"Alright, I've finished speaking."

"you……."

"It's really gone." Chen Nuo looked intently into Yang Mi's eyes. They were now bigger, brighter, and more beautiful than before. Yang Mi was absolutely right.

"Because you've already said everything I wanted to say."

He spread his hands.

What else do you want me to say?

"By the way, could you send me a copy of your album in advance? I'd like to listen to it on the plane. I really like the song 'The Power of Love'."

(End of this chapter)