Entertainment: I just want to be the boss behind the scenes

Chapter 499 Balance exists among all things!
Looking at Li Qin and Jin Chen sitting together with smiles on their faces, Meng Bai felt a chill rising behind him.

Why are these two girls together?
More importantly, this seemingly peaceful scene always made him feel a little weird.

He couldn't help but take a few steps forward, then heaved a sigh of relief.

In front of the two girls, there was a female reporter holding a CCTV microphone and a photographer carrying equipment.

Obviously, this should be a backstage interview or something like that arranged by the Spring Festival Gala program team.

I said it, although Teacher Li is not a cold person, and Jin Chen is a typical social phobic, if the relationship between them is also good, then Boss Li, who has lost his best friend, will really cry on the bed.

"Tsk, why are they creating an atmosphere of panic day after day?" Meng Bai looked at Jia Jia who was standing beside him.

The young assistant blinked a little aggrievedly. To her, just seeing her boss with the opponent was terrifying.

What if the two of them don’t like each other and suddenly start fighting backstage at the Spring Festival Gala?
On the other side, Li Qin, who was being interviewed, also saw Meng Bai coming in.

She subconsciously wanted to shout, but then she remembered that she was still being interviewed, so she had to suppress her thoughts.

But then, she couldn't help but mutter in her heart, this bastard man is here, why is she so excited. I just wanted to see his face later, but I can't forget it.

"Teacher Li Qin?"

Just as she was thinking about how she must stay calm, Li Qin suddenly heard someone calling her.

She came back to her senses and saw the reporter in front of her handing her the microphone: "Jin Chen just said that this is your first cooperation, so you rehearsed many times beforehand to get used to each other. What do you think of this cooperation?"

After all, she is an artist who has debuted for many years. Li Qin quickly switched back to business mode and said with a peaceful smile on her face: "It feels good to work together. Although it is the first time we work together, we all cooperate very well. Especially with Jin Chen, she performed very well in our previous rehearsals."

No matter what their private relationship is like, she would never say anything negative or sarcastic in front of the camera, especially the Spring Festival Gala camera.

What's more, even if she really wanted to fight, she would only fight against Li Yitong. As for Jin Chen, a "front man", he was not qualified.

The same goes for Jin Chen. Although she had played several friendly matches with Meng Bai and was even forced to play a double game, it essentially had little to do with her.

If Li Yitong was here, she could help out and act as the atmosphere director, but now that I'm here, what's there to fight for?

"It was my first time to perform on the Spring Festival Gala, and it was Li Qin's second time. She was more experienced. So during the rehearsal, she told me a lot of things to pay attention to, which was very heartwarming."

After Jin Chen finished speaking, he turned around and looked at Li Qin and smiled. However, the other party had just finished looking and was looking back. Their movements were a little misaligned, and there was no sign of any tacit understanding between the two of them.

"Are you two nervous about the upcoming performance?"

"I am definitely a little nervous, but since our performance will be after the countdown to midnight, there is still a lot of time left, so I should be able to relax a little by then..."

Having had the experience of performing on the Spring Festival Gala last year, Li Qin is now very familiar with these interviews and can answer questions without much thought.

She even had the energy to answer reporters' questions while paying attention to the situation on Meng Bai's side.

However, as soon as she turned her gaze away, she couldn't help but roll her eyes in her heart.

This bastard is chatting with another girl again!
……

"Hello, Mr. Meng."

Meng Bai was thinking about how to deal with the situation after the interview was over, when he suddenly heard a voice behind him calling him.

He turned around and saw a girl of medium height and thin build standing behind him.

The girl was wearing a red suit and a short skirt of the same color, revealing her two slender legs. She had a fluffy high ponytail tied behind her head, and her big black and white eyes were looking at her brightly with a sweet smile on her face, looking quite like a little white flower.

But he didn't know if it was Meng Bai's illusion, he always felt that the smile was fake, just like that of a plastic doll.

"Hello, Mr. Meng, I'm Liu Haocun. I've met you on the set of 'Little Red Flower' before."

Meng Bai looked at the "fake-smiling girl" in front of him, searched his memory, and remembered.

This girl named Liu Haocun is the heroine chosen for the movie "Send You a Little Red Flower" mentioned by Chen Zhixi before, and she is also the new generation of "Mou Girl".

Although many parts of "One Second" directed by Zhang Yimou were cut when it was released in China two years ago, it still attracted a lot of audiences after its release.

Apart from the movie itself, the most popular person is naturally Liu Haocun, who plays the female lead.

At the age of only about 20, she can work with top directors to play the leading female role. It is no exaggeration to say that this treatment is "a step to heaven".

Afterwards, he was recommended to join the "2020 Starry Sea Young Actor Program" of the Central Propaganda Department, and then received an invitation to the 2021 Spring Festival Gala. At the same time, his second film "On the Cliff" co-produced with Zhang Yimou was also scheduled to be released during the Spring Festival.

She has only been in the industry for two years, but she has been offered a lot of top resources. Compared to other actresses in the industry, she has been given a lot of great opportunities.

However, because of this, she was also criticized by many netizens, who felt that her family had no idea what her relationship with Zhang Yimou was and put so much effort into supporting her.

You know, among all the "Mou Girls" in the past, except Gong Li, no one else has collaborated with Zhang Yimou twice after their debut, including the popular Zhang Ziyi, Ni Ni, and Zhou Dongyu.

But Liu Haocun happened to be able to do so, and not only that, he also provided her with many other resources - like Heng Teng's "Send You A Little Red Flower", which he also helped to contact through using his connections.

In this situation, it is normal for netizens to have doubts.

Meng Bai had seen her before on the set, but they didn't have much interaction. But from her appearance, she did fit the temperament of the female lead "Ma Xiaoyuan" in the movie. And her eyes and eyebrows did have some similar charm to the young Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi.

As we all know, many well-known literary and artistic workers have their own fixed preferences, such as Mr. Meng's "Qin style aesthetics" and Zhang Yimou's "copying Gong Li".

So from this perspective, it is not completely unreasonable that Liu Haocun is valued.

"Hello."

Meng Bai nodded and then moved aside to make it easier for her to pass.

"Uh, thank you, President Meng, but Sister Liqin and Sister Jinchen are doing an interview, so I have to go over later."

"Why, are you in the same group with them this time?" Meng Bai was curious.

Liu Haocun kept a smile on his face: "Yes, we are singing a song together."

The song they were going to sing was called "Let's Go, Spring". From the name you can tell that it was written specifically for the Spring Festival Gala.

There are five guest singers for this song. In addition to the three girl groups, there are also two young popular idols, Wang Junkai and Chen Linong.

Hearing her words, Meng Bai's mind moved: "You have had rehearsals before, right? Is the atmosphere of coordination okay?"

This question sounded a bit strange, so Liu Haocun blinked his big eyes and looked at him puzzledly.

Meng Bai's reasons came out immediately: "Teacher Li and I are friends. When we were chatting just now, she said that she felt that she didn't perform well during the rehearsal and was a little nervous, so I thought I would ask about it."

"Oh."

The little girl returned to her "fake smile girl" state and said in a crisp voice: "It was fine during the rehearsal, and everyone cooperated very well. There shouldn't be any problems."

"No problem..." Meng Bai nodded, then smiled back: "No problem, that's good."

He was about to ask something else when a familiar voice suddenly came from the side: "What are you talking about, Mr. Meng? Why are you so happy?"

Turning around, he saw Li Qin in a red dress standing on the side with a sweet smile on her face, but her eyes were staring at Meng Bai with a cold light.

"Have you finished the interview?"

"Yeah, it ended so suddenly. Didn't it disturb Mr. Meng's chat?"

"Uh……"

"Well, Sister Liqin, you misunderstood." Liu Haocun said, "Mr. Meng just said that you seemed a little nervous about the performance tonight, so he asked me how we were preparing during the rehearsal."

As she explained, her black and white eyes flashed, with an innocent expression on her face.

Li Qin was stunned when he heard this: "Yes, is that so?"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but look at Meng Bai, who spread his hands to indicate "As you can see." "Ah..."

Li Qin pursed her lips. This was a bit embarrassing.

She was originally feeling angry, and then she happened to see this bastard chatting with the young girl, so she couldn't help but go over to him, but she didn't expect it to turn out to be a misunderstanding.

More importantly, it made her look like she was jealous - although she was actually jealous.

There was a slightly awkward atmosphere in the air, but fortunately, Liu Haocun's agent came over and urged her to put on makeup. The "fake smile girl" greeted Meng Bai, smiled at Li Qin, and left with her agent.

Seeing the man leave, Li Qin finally breathed a sigh of relief. Turning her head to look at Meng Bai again, this bastard was looking into the distance with a serious expression on his face, but anyone could tell from his eyes and the corners of his mouth that he was trying not to laugh.

"It's fun to see me laugh, it's fun... it's fun, right?"

Li Qin seemed to be a little annoyed and angry, and every time she said "very funny", she would reach out and pinch the other person.

After dodging twice, Meng Bai grabbed her hand and said, "Stop it, there are so many cameras around."

"Why, Mr. Meng, are you afraid of being filmed? Who will see it after it's broadcast?"

"Haha, what am I afraid of?"

Meng Bai said this, then grabbed his girlfriend's hand and pulled her towards him, then reached out and embraced her.

Li Qin was stunned for a moment, and only reacted when she was pulled in front of him. She was embarrassed, happy, and anxious, and quickly broke free from his hand and moved away, not forgetting to look around worriedly.

Fortunately, everyone was busy with their own things at the moment and there were no cameras around, so she breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're going to die!" Li Qin glanced at him angrily, "This is on TV."

She doesn't mind showing affection, and she is even happier doing it in front of others. But she feels a little embarrassed to be so intimate in front of so many people, and in such a public place as the backstage of the Spring Festival Gala.

But after being interrupted for a moment, the momentum she had been building up for a long time also dissipated. If she wanted to cause trouble to this bastard again, it would seem like she was deliberately looking for trouble.

Of course, she couldn't let it go so easily. She puffed her lips, said nothing, and went back to her dressing table to sit down and rest.

Meng Bai naturally wouldn't do anything unnecessary at this time, so he simply ignored Jin Chen who was standing beside him with a look of watching the fun, dragged a chair over from somewhere, and sat next to Li Qin.

After he sat down, he paused for a moment, then said nonchalantly, "I remember there's a midnight screening of 'Assassination of Novelist' tonight. I wonder if the box office performance will be better than the pre-sale."

When talking about her own movie, Li Qin could no longer remain calm.

"Assassination of Novelist" is the only movie in this Spring Festival that has a midnight screening.

The reason for this is mainly because the previous pre-sale box office results were a bit poor. From the beginning of pre-sales to today, the total results are less than five million.

In comparison, Zhang Yimou's "On the Cliff" had a pre-sale box office of more than 19 million yuan, and Jia Ling's directorial debut "Hello, Li Huanying" also had more than 11 million yuan.

There are many reasons for the poor pre-sale performance, such as the fantasy theme itself is relatively niche, the cast and director are not very famous, all of which will make the audience lack trust in a movie.

Fortunately, the pre-sale performance of "Assassination of Novelist" is not the worst, with "The Order of the Samurai" and "Raging Fire" at the bottom.

However, the pre-sale results only represent the audience's expectations for the movie. The final actual box office will still depend on its performance after the release.

The producers added the midnight screenings mainly because they are confident in the quality of the film, and therefore hope to boost the box office after its official release through word-of-mouth.

As for the effect...that'll depend on the results after its official release tomorrow.

Li Qin still takes this movie very seriously. Although her previous work "Psychological Crime: City of Lights" performed well, it was actually mainly due to the fan base of the web drama version, and the focus was still on the male lead. Her female lead was just a supporting role.

Although "Assassination of Novelist" is not a story about a heroine, the role is much more important than "City Lights". Although Meng Bai will not blame her for the failure of the movie, she will be dissatisfied with herself.

Moreover, if there are too many flops, even if Meng Bai wants to give her resources, other producers will have objections. Then she may really have to go home to have children and then be a "rich wife".

So when she heard Meng Bai talking about movies, she ignored the little thoughts in her mind and started to understand the current situation of the movie.

It was not until nearly eight o'clock, when the party was about to begin, that the two of them came to an end.

"Are you going to the scene?" Li Qin asked.

"Yes, the leader specially invited us, so we have to show up and give him some face." Meng Bai smiled and said, "What about you? Are you going to the scene?"

"Forget it. We need to find a place to get familiar with each other and our positions while there are fewer people backstage, so as to avoid mistakes."

"Okay, then after your performance, I'll wait for you backstage and we'll go back together in the evening."

"Okay."

Meng Bai stood up and was about to leave when he turned back and said, "By the way, I wish you a happy new year in advance."

Li Qin smiled sweetly: "Happy New Year!"

After walking out of the large dressing room, Meng Bai did not rush to the scene directly, but stopped nearby.

Sure enough, within half a minute, Jin Chen followed him out of the house. He was stunned for a moment after seeing him, and then pretended to walk over naturally.

"Tsk tsk, Teacher Meng is waiting for me? I'm so flattered."

"Haha, I don't know who was giving me those long glances in there just now."

"How can that be called winking? It's clearly just being angry on behalf of a friend."

Jin Chen said with emotion: "Alas, poor Tongtong, she has to spend the New Year alone, while her husband is out there having a sweet time with another woman. It really makes me sad for her."

Meng Bai didn't respond when he heard this, but just smiled and said, "Student Daxi, I heard that the bathroom in the backstage of CCTV is very spacious. Do you want me to take you to experience it?"

Jin Chen was stunned, then looking at the threatening look in the man's eyes opposite him, he suddenly understood the meaning of the words and his cheeks turned red.

She looked around in panic and found that no one was paying attention to them, so she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, sorry, Mr. Meng, I was just joking. Don't worry, I will keep my mouth shut about what happened tonight and I will never tell Tongtong."

She said this very firmly, mainly because based on her previous experiences, she believed that the threat from the man in front of her was not just talk.

After scaring Jin Chen for a bit and waiting for her to leave in fear, Meng Bai withdrew his gaze.

After thinking about it, he took out his cell phone and called Li Yitong.

"Happy New Year, Mr. Meng!"

Li Yitong's voice came from the phone, and judging from the background noise from her end, it seemed that there was someone else there.

"Happy New Year, Boss Li." Meng Bai asked as he walked, "What are you doing?"

"Eat New Year's Eve dinner. I happen to be free today so I can go home." Li Yitong seemed to have found a quiet room. "We also need to watch the Spring Festival Gala later. By the way, did you know that Daxi has also received an invitation to the Spring Festival Gala this year?"

"Really? It seems like she's doing pretty well this year." Meng Bai said with a smile, "The Spring Festival Gala directors have no vision. Why didn't they invite you when they invited her?"

"I did, but my program was cancelled during the third round of rehearsals. They said it would be moved to the Lantern Festival Gala."

"Is that so? That's not bad either." Meng Bai said, "Then I'll pick you up on the Lantern Festival."

"Hehe, don't think I don't know that you want to..."

Li Yitong's voice gradually became lower, and only the two of them could hear the last few words.

"Then I'll wait for you then, you must come!"

"Don't worry, that's for sure."

(End of this chapter)