Chinese Entertainment Intelligence King

Chapter 231 The Popularity of "Investiture of the Gods," An Unconventional King Zhou, and Dong Xuan's Enjoyment
"Okay, thank you Bingbing, Teacher Dekai, Wang Ou, Jia Ni... for being our guests on 'Happy Camp'. See you next week at the same time."

Xingcheng, Hunan TV Variety Show Recording Hall
The cast and crew of "Investiture of the Gods" have finished recording for Hunan Province's hit show "Happy Camp".

Although the recording had ended, none of the guests left. Hunan TV prefers to invite local fans of the guests to join them. They are very cooperative, create a lively atmosphere, and it's free.

The guests also like this kind of audience, as it makes them feel popular. Of course, the price is that they sometimes have to give autographs and take photos after the recording.

Without a doubt, Fan Xiaopang is the most popular member of the cast of "Investiture of the Gods" and has the most fans.

During the autograph session, almost everyone in the audience went to her, even those who weren't fans were happy to ask for her autograph.

Fan Xiaopang is very patient with his fans, focusing on signing autographs without getting impatient even when there are many people.

When faced with this situation, some celebrities just go through the motions, sign a few contracts, and then "have something to do" and leave, or even simply give a brief notice and leave.

"Bingbing, could you sign a copy of Yan Li's? I'm a fan of both of you. I came all the way from Hengshi this time, hoping to see you two, but Yan Li didn't come."

"I'm sorry, he's too busy with work."

Fan Xiaopang naturally apologized to the fans on Yan Li's behalf, and then directly signed Yan Li's name next to his own, even subconsciously imitating Yan Li's handwriting.

The handwriting of celebrities like her is specially designed artistic signature, with the aim of anti-counterfeiting, personalization, efficiency, and fan appeal, among other factors.

Yan Li didn't design any artistic signature; his signature was simply a cursive signature.

However, to distinguish it from a normal signature, the character "颜" is written larger, while the character "礼" is written smaller, which can be considered a unique artistic signature.

Although Fan Xiaopang's handwriting wasn't a perfect imitation, he captured the essence of the character, much to the delight of fans who wanted his autograph.

Yan Li is more of a businessman than an artist, so he doesn't participate in many activities like celebrities do. He doesn't care much about his fan club or his schedule, so the number of autographs that have been circulated is pitifully small compared to his fame.

This kind of "aloofness" would probably have drawn criticism from fans for other celebrities, or at the very least, their teams would have to take the blame.

However, because of Yan Li's status and wealth, his fans felt that his behavior was reasonable. Can a billionaire entrepreneur be compared with an ordinary celebrity?

The more "aloof" Yan Li is, the more his fans feel that he fits the high-class image. It doesn't matter if he has few autographs; the fewer the autographs, the rarer they are.

Those who don't have it rack their brains to want it; those who do have it feel even more superior when they show it off.

Yan Li's autographs are already few, and Fan Xiaopang's autographs are even fewer. He can show them not only to Yan Li's fans, but also to Fan Xiaopang's fans.

As a result, many fans and viewers followed suit, and Fan Xiaopang satisfied them all.

Many other popular female celebrities avoid topics like relationships and marriage, and dare not admit to them. Even those who have made their relationships public rarely talk about their partners.

Among the several popular actresses before, only Zhou Xun was willing to openly and even repeatedly express her love for her boyfriend.

Whether it's her ex-boyfriend Li Yapeng or her current boyfriend Li Daqi, Zhou Xun has never been stingy with praise and compliments.

Now Fan Xiaopang is showing the same style.

Although she never publicly acknowledged being with Yan Li, she never denied the relationship and even liked to flaunt their affection in a subtle and ambiguous way.

Just now on the show, he was chatting with the hosts about Yan Li, who plays King Zhou, and their conversation was full of sweetness and tacit understanding. Now he is happily signing "couple's signatures", making no attempt to hide his relationship with Yan Li.

Wang Ou, standing to the side, secretly scoffed at Fan Xiaopang's appearance.

What are you so smug about? Even if you signed ten thousand of Yan Li's signatures, you wouldn't be Mrs. Yan.

By this time, Fan Xiaopang had almost finished signing autographs. After all, there weren't many audience members, only about a hundred. Signing autographs and chatting for a few minutes wouldn't take long.

After signing the papers, Fan Xiaopang was about to return to the dressing room when he glanced at Wang Ou, who was still standing there in a daze, and called out to him.

"Wang Ou, let's go back."

Wang Ou snapped out of his daze and quickly replied, "Yes."

As Wang Ou approached, the two walked together toward the dressing room, and Fan Xiaopang glanced at Wang Ou.

"What were you thinking just now? You weren't cursing at me, were you?"

"No, I'm just envious of your popularity, Sister Bingbing. I wish I could be that famous someday."

Fan Xiaopang glanced at Wang Ou and said, "Then you can be envious all you want."

Wang Ou: "..."

I really want to punch that vixen to death...

Despite saying that, Wang Ou still shamelessly followed along and continued to flatter Fan Xiaopang.

Although this sly fox has a sharp tongue and a bad temper, she has plenty of resources at her disposal.

The two are now far apart in fame. Some of the resources that Fan Xiaopang has secured are not enough for her to use alone. She picks and chooses, and the rest is enough for Wang Ou to live a life of luxury.

In particular, Wang Ou benefited greatly from the compensation for the last scandal, following in Fan Xiaopang's footsteps.

Although Wang Ouming knew this wasn't Fan Xiaopang's true intention, and that the company and Yan Li had contributed to it, she couldn't refuse the favor.

It's not that Wang Ou is particular about her character, but if she were to stand and beg, Fan Xiaopang would think she was too rebellious and might even urge the company to sign a new female artist to replace her.

In this respect, Wang Ou and Fan Xiaopang have implicitly reached a "cooperation".

Wang Ou's submissive attitude towards Fan Xiaopang made Fan Xiaopang feel no threat, and Fan Xiaopang was willing to share some resources with her.

The two joined forces to absorb as much of the company's resources related to female artists as possible, keeping the profits within the company while guarding against new female artists signed by the company who might seduce Yan Li and pose a threat to them.

When necessary, Wang Ou would step in as her "henchman," while Fan Xiaopang would act as her "backer." Together, they would dominate Yi'an, one openly and the other covertly.

Of course, that's the truth, but the two have their own ulterior motives in their cooperation. It remains to be seen whether the backer will betray the henchman or whether the henchman will defect to the enemy.

In fact, both of them were considering replacing their henchmen with someone else or having someone else become their backer.

However, so far, the two have maintained a certain level of understanding.

During the promotion of "Investiture of the Gods", Wang Ou adopted a very humble attitude, calling Wu Jiani "Sister Bingbing" repeatedly. Wu Jiani couldn't stand it anymore and, after learning from Yang Rong, also criticized Wang Ou for being "servile and obsequious" and "eating other people's leftovers".

Wang Ou remained unmoved, retorting that even if they wanted to be subservient, they couldn't.

There's leftover rice; leftover rice tastes the best!
It's worth noting that this year, just from picking up Fan Xiaopang's leftovers and receiving some compensation, along with miscellaneous income from advertising, endorsements, film fees, and business deals, she is expected to earn approximately 150 to 200 million yuan.

This is real income, net profit after deducting company share and taxes.

Furthermore, this does not include the resources and benefits allocated to her by the company itself, nor the occasional "pocket money" that Yan Li gives her.

If all factors are taken into account, it's hard to say whether Wang Ou's annual income is 500 million, but 300 to 400 million is not a problem.

Based on 350 million yuan, she could buy two 180-square-meter villas in Chaoyang District of Beijing, and four or five 120-square-meter apartments in Haidian and Fengtai Districts.

Let alone asking me to flatter you, even asking me to do something for you is something we can discuss.

After listening to Wang Ou's explanation, Yang Rong and Wu Jiani stopped nagging about it.

No matter how much you complain, Wang Ou can buy several houses in Beijing outright with cash. Continuing to complain will only humiliate you and might even lead to murderous thoughts.

...

In the dressing room, after removing their makeup and changing clothes, He Jiong, the host of "Happy Camp," invited Fan Xiaopang and his group to dinner.

This is just part of the routine for Fan Xiaopang when he comes to participate in "Happy Camp". He has experienced it several times himself.

However, back then, the hosts of "Happy Camp" were He Jiong and Li Xiang, but now they have become the newly formed Happy Family.

That's right. This year, "Happy Camp" underwent a revamp, adding two winners and runners-up from Hunan TV's host talent show to the original hosts He, Xie, and Li.

At present, the Happy Family has only been formed for a short time and is still in the process of getting to know each other.

During the recording of the show just now, it was basically just He, Xie, and Li. The two newcomers were either punching bags or invisible. Now, when they get together in private, they don't talk much and just serve as background figures.

"It's such a pity that President Yan didn't come this time."

During the meal, when Yan Li was mentioned, Teacher He expressed slight regret.

When promoting "Happy Seven Fairies" before, Yan Li also participated in a similar game variety show.

However, as Yan Li's fame and wealth increased, coupled with the fact that he didn't have many leading roles in dramas, he didn't participate in variety shows much. Even when he did, they were mainly talk shows.

However, the more this is the case, the more curious the outside world becomes about Yan Li.

The more he participates in game variety shows like "Happy Camp," the higher the buzz and viewership will be.

Previously, the entire cast and crew of "Happy Camp" had high expectations for this episode of "Investiture of the Gods," but Yan Li didn't show up, leaving only Fan Xiaopang. Although he is quite popular, the effect was definitely not as good as when he teamed up with Yan Li.

Xie Na also said, "Yes, I also want to meet President Yan and see how the big boss is different from us ordinary people."

Fan Xiaopang frowned slightly, but when he saw Xie's bright smile, his frown relaxed.

Well, it's not being sarcastic, it's just that I speak without thinking.

“There will definitely be opportunities in the future. He usually loves watching your shows. If he weren’t so busy this time, he would definitely come to participate.”

Fan Xiaopang exchanged a few polite words, Xie Na was pleasantly surprised, and even asked Yan Lixi if she liked watching her host. In the end, it was Teacher He who stepped in to smooth things over.

"Na Na usually admires President Yan. She thinks it's amazing that such a young man can do business so well. Now that she heard that President Yan likes to watch our program, she can't stop being happy. Not to mention her, I am also a little flattered."

Fan Xiaopang then realized that Xie Na was actually a half-fan of Yan Li.

Fan Xiaopang glanced at Xie Na with slight wariness, then relaxed again. Xie Na's appearance... wasn't Yan Li's type.

Moreover, his personality is somewhat hard to describe. Yan Li likes obedient, sweet, gentle, delicate, and arrogant people. He might even like cunning, frivolous, or stupid people, but he definitely doesn't like crazy people.

...

After the party ended, Fan Xiaopang and the others returned to the hotel. As soon as they got back to their rooms, Wang Ou took out his phone to call Yan Li.

Wu Jiani came to visit her and was puzzled by her behavior, so Wang Ou explained.

"I'll secure the line first, so that slut won't be able to make a call."

"Also, I've already told you about today's recording. If you're surnamed Fan, just repeat it again. He'll definitely find it boring."

Wu Jiani: "..."

What a simple and unpretentious palace intrigue!
However, despite Wang Ou's well-thought-out plan, the call didn't go through, and he hung up somewhat dejectedly. "Hmph, I wonder who he's messing around with."

Wang Ou usually had a lot of contact with Yan Li, so he knew that if Yan Li didn't answer the phone at night, there was a 50% chance he was out socializing and a 50% chance he was at someone's house.

Sometimes I'll accept social engagements or send a text message to let you know. If I don't accept the message or send a text, it's probably not a social engagement.

Of course, this is not guaranteed. For example, when Yan Li is with her, he sometimes answers calls from other women. There is no need to hide it, and Wang Ou will not make a fuss about it.

But it's different with other women, especially Dong, Qin, and Fan. Yan Li will avoid accepting their advances if possible.

Fan Xiaopang is in Xingcheng, so it won't be quick to make a phone call. Wang Ou guesses that Yan Li is most likely with Dong Xuan or Qin Lan.

Beijing Film Studio Community

Yan Li glanced at his silent phone and calmly continued eating his fruit.

With so much business and so many people to contact, having to turn several phones on and off is causing some inconvenience.

Now that these women knew some things, Yan Li stopped pretending and stopped hiding with his phones. At most, he would just be more careful and mute or encrypt them as needed.

It has to be said that technology makes people progress; a mobile phone password lock has saved Yan Li a lot of trouble.

Dong Xuan, wearing a face mask, came out of the bedroom and glanced at the TV: "Why hasn't it started yet?"

Yan Li was speechless. He didn't know what was wrong with this woman. She had been watching "Investiture of the Gods" for the past two days, even more enthusiastically than he, the lead actor, was.

Seeing that Yan Li remained silent, Dong Xuan asked, "How are the results of this drama?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I'm curious, of course. After all, it's our own show; how could I not care about its success or failure?"

Shaking his head, Yan Li recalled briefly: "The premiere ratings were 2.12, and the market share was either 4% or 6%, ranking first among its contemporaries."

"Your grades are pretty good."

Dong Xuan was slightly surprised. This achievement was not quite a huge success, but it was still quite respectable.

"Hunan TV has a clear platform advantage, and it's an exclusive broadcast. The plot hasn't been fully developed yet, but with a lot of publicity and promotion, breaking 3 shouldn't be a problem. Breaking 4 is another story."

Without the hype surrounding the battle between the phoenixes and eagles, "Investiture of the Gods" wouldn't have become an instant hit just by relying on the rumors surrounding Yan Li and Fan Xiaopang.

The performances of all parties were significantly inferior to those of the previous "The Return of the Condor Heroes" and "The Legend of Lu Xiaofeng".

But that's normal; there aren't that many hit dramas that are popular all over the country.

A series like "Investiture of the Gods," which consistently ranks first in its time slot, boasts impressive viewership ratings, and generates considerable discussion and buzz, is something many TV dramas can only dream of.

The initial broadcast on satellite TV was successful, and subsequent rebroadcasts on satellite and local channels further expanded its influence, which was enough to bring considerable benefits to Fan Xiaopang and the other leading actors.

As we were talking, the theme song of "Investiture of the Gods" suddenly came on the TV.

"...

Let Heaven bestow this Investiture of the Gods upon me.
May God grant me the strength to persevere.
365 days and nights
Three hundred and sixty-five cycles
Please take me back to where love first began.
......"

The lyrics are a bit weak, but they still sound good and have a grand and majestic feel to them.

It is said that, following the popularity of the TV series, it also topped several music charts.

Today's episodes are episodes five and six. The previous episodes mainly revolved around Daji's bewitching of the emperor and palace intrigue, while Jiang Ziya had just descended the mountain.

This inevitably affected the viewership ratings to some extent, since most viewers of "Investiture of the Gods" were there for the battles between the gods.

If it weren't for Fan Xiaopang's beautiful portrayal of Daji and Yan Li's heroic and domineering performance as King Zhou, the results might have been even worse.

As Yan Li mentioned earlier, once the later episodes of "Investiture of the Gods" unfold, with various familiar mythological figures and storylines appearing, it will definitely boost the TV series' ratings, and there might even be a small surge in viewership.

The fifth episode begins with a palace intrigue plot, where Fan Xiaopang's character, Daji, snuggles intimately into Yan Li's character, King Zhou's, arms and slanders him.

"..."

Yan Li subconsciously looked at Dong Xuan. He knew this woman was watching "Investiture of the Gods," but he hadn't watched it with her before.

Isn't this scene a bit too much for Dong Xuan's nerves?

Dong Xuan rolled her eyes at Yan Li: "Why are you looking at me? I'm an actress too. I don't care about this kind of thing at all."

Then what are you doing with the knife?!

Seeing Yan Li starting to shift his position to the side, Dong Xuan picked up an apple, gently peeled it with a fruit knife, and asked.

"Do you want one? I'll peel one for you too."

"I'm not eating it, you eat it yourself."

Yan Li shifted his position to the side, feeling unsafe, and then grabbed the cushion, just in case something happened, it could be used as a shield.

Dong Xuan peeled the apple half-heartedly, ignoring Fan Xiaopang, and began commenting on Yan Li's performance in the drama.

"Your portrayal of King Zhou is quite good, unlike previous depictions of the character. I've seen many people praising it online."

Many previous versions of the Investiture of the Gods portrayed King Zhou as a foolish, incompetent, cruel, and lustful ruler, and cast middle-aged actors to highlight Daji's beauty.

Yan Li's version of "Investiture of the Gods" retains the historical King Zhou's advantages such as "being knowledgeable, quick-witted, tall, and strong".

The entire storyline is more like a wise ruler falling into a tyrannical one. His personality is majestic and domineering, coupled with his infatuation and tenderness towards Daji, making his character even more complex.

More importantly, Yan Li himself has a very good image, which complements Fan Xiaopang's Daji perfectly.

The combination of a domineering tyrant and a beautiful, seductive concubine may not be widely accepted by mainstream opinion in this era, but many people still find it appealing in private.

Therefore, he received many positive reviews online, and his novel character design, coupled with his good looks, even garnered him a considerable number of fans.

Of course, there were also some controversies.

The mere fact that it is "anti-traditional" has drawn criticism from many. In addition, the improved character of King Zhou and the romantic subplot with Daji have also been criticized by some as whitewashing the tyrant and adding unnecessary scenes.

These things were also within Yan Li's expectations, and it's hard to defend his anti-traditional stance.

Everyone has their own preferences. Some people believe that King Zhou should be portrayed in a certain way, and if you don't act according to that style, they won't be satisfied.

As for whitewashing and adding scenes, Yan Li did not deny it.

Since King Zhou was portrayed as a wise ruler in the early stages, and also had a romantic subplot, he certainly couldn't be depicted as utterly wicked; he would still have some human brilliance.

However, this was limited to preserving the emperor's dignity and being kind to Daji; later on, he remained cruel as always.

As for adding scenes, it wasn't for Yan Li's own sake, but because Fan Xiaopang's Daji has too much screen time. Promoting her and pointing her to the publicity certainly wouldn't allow her to be a supporting female lead, so adding scenes was inevitable.

Daji had many scenes, and King Zhou, who had the most scenes with her, inevitably also had more scenes.

Actually, the original script had more scenes, including some scenes involving King Zhou personally, such as the conflict between man and heaven between him and Nuwa, etc., but Yan Li cut most of them out later.

Aside from scenes involving Daji and the court, King Zhou's individual scenes are reduced to a few highlights.

Currently, the main reason is that the plot revolves around the harem, so King Zhou and Daji seem to have a very high presence, and it's almost turning into "The Tyrant and the Demon Queen".

However, as Jiang Ziya descends the mountain and the plot unfolds, the screen time for King Zhou and Daji will gradually decrease.

Yan Li didn't dwell on the controversy; as long as people didn't criticize his acting, they couldn't break his defenses.

The two chatted idly until the plot reached the point where Daji successfully framed Empress Jiang.

Dong Xuan immediately perked up, watching with great interest as Qin Lan, who played Empress Jiang, was deposed, her eyes gouged out, and she ultimately met a tragic end.

Especially the scene where Qin Lan gouges out her eyes, with her shrill screams, made Dong Xuan, who was happily eating an apple, almost burst out laughing.

Yan Li: "..."

I was wondering why this woman was so enthusiastic about watching dramas; she was actually having fun with them.

However, to be honest, he thought Dong Xuan would empathize with Qin Lan after seeing this, feeling a sense of shared sorrow, but he didn't expect her to watch it with such a cheerful attitude.

Seemingly sensing Yan Li's confusion, Dong Xuan explained, "They're just fighting like dogs, I'll be happy no matter who loses."

Uh...that makes sense.

Even empathy has to be timed. The two had just had a fight not long ago, and Dong Xuan was currently annoyed with Qin Lan the most. Seeing her suffer made her feel better.

"Hey, tell me the truth, did these two fight when they filmed this scene?"

Dong Xuan usually doesn't like to pry into Yan Li's affairs with other women, but given the situation today, she couldn't help but start gossiping.

Although I was just having fun watching Qin Lan, putting myself in her shoes, if she were playing Empress Jiang, I would probably want to tear Daji, played by Fan Xiaopang, to pieces.

Yan Li shook his head: "No."

They did argue, but they didn't actually fight!
"I do not believe."

Dong Xuan thought about Qin Lan and Fan Xiaopang's performance just now. Their eyes and emotions, such as hostility, hatred and smugness, were vividly portrayed. Yan Li's struggle and hesitation in the middle did not seem like acting.

She strongly suspects that the three of them brought a lot of real emotions into the filming of this scene.

It wasn't just this scene; the previous scenes they acted together were also exceptionally well.

Qin Lan, in particular, perhaps too perfectly embodied the character, shining throughout and delivering an award-winning performance. Despite having limited screen time, she was exceptionally captivating.

"You should arrange a drama for me and them too. I'll play the first wife, and I'll definitely do a better job than the one surnamed Qin."

Dong Xuan is extremely confident in herself. She believes that if more scenes involving scolding, kneeling as punishment, or slapping were added to her role, she would perform even better.

"..."

Yan Li was speechless. They would fight even if they met once. If they were to film this kind of scene, they would probably have to draw blood on camera.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: 10,000 words tomorrow (0/6000)

(End of this chapter)