The King of Soft Rice in Chinese Entertainment

Chapter 407 The popularity is rising again.
As December 2003 arrived, "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," "produced" by Zhang Dahuzi, finally aired, and it was still on the 11th.

And then... there's not much to say. Even when the novels "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" received mixed reviews, with more criticism than praise, "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" still garnered considerable attention, let alone now.

Undoubtedly, Xu Jiuyang's fans immediately started promoting Geigei online, after all, his appearance in the show was really handsome, and it was a different kind of handsomeness from Yang Kang's.

Although both were pampered princes, Yang Kang was somewhat arrogant and conceited, like a spoiled child, while Duan Yu was bookish and foolish, even a bit pedantic.

Although someone's acting skills are only above average, they are still capable of distinguishing between these two characteristics when they are prepared.

If we were to change things 20 years from now, the public relations or marketing departments of film and television companies would be involved in guiding public opinion and starting to build a fan base around a particular person.

However, the internet is still developing, and many things are still being explored. Fans are discussing things entirely spontaneously, so while there is some buzz, it's not that great.

Regardless, Xu Jiuyang is more popular than Hu Jun and Wu Jing—at least online—the former follows a handsome man image, which doesn't quite overlap with his own, while the latter's baby face is a huge drawback, making it difficult for him to even be an idol.

As for the actresses, Liu Qianqian wasn't initially far ahead of the competition; she was on par with Yan Danchen and Chen Hao. After all, "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" is an ensemble drama, and for her popularity to truly reach national recognition, she would need the combined influence of her roles as Zhao Ling'er and Xiaolongnu.

However, when netizens dug up the cast list and discovered that the actress playing Madam Wang also had the surname Liu, the situation changed. With such a similar face, if it weren't for something else, everyone would have gouged out her eyes.

At this point, the production team also released the news. Yes, just as you guessed, a mother and daughter played mother and daughter, and the popularity exploded.

Interestingly, while she is very popular, she is still slightly less popular than her mother.

"I really love this still. The way she looks down on everyone is just so beautiful." Xu Jiuyang looked at the TV series poster unfolded in front of her and clicked her tongue. Then she teased her daughter in her arms, "Yangyang, isn't Mommy pretty?"

"Beautiful!" the little guy replied in his childish voice.

Indeed, this still shows Madam Wang walking towards us, followed by Wang Yuyan. Xiaoli's upright posture and confident demeanor do exude a certain majesty and a sense of superiority.

Her portrayal of Lady Wang was indeed quite good. On set, she would probably score around 70 points, but on television, with all the comparisons and contrasts, she would score around 80 points.

"Alright, that's enough about teaching her these things." Sister Xiaoli, who had signed the documents and handed them to her assistant, came over.

"Did I teach you that?" Xu Jiuyang asked back, then asked his sweet daughter in his arms, "Yangyang, did Daddy teach you this?"

“No, Mom is already very beautiful!” Yangyang said loudly, giving a great assist.

"What a pity, it would have been great if my sister had continued to play Lin Qing'er," Xu Jiuyang teased again.

In her previous life, she only made occasional appearances in the media and gained a lot of fans simply by being known to the public as Liu Qianqian. In this life, she personally took on the role of Madam Wang, so it's normal for her popularity to temporarily surpass that of Liu Qianqian.

"No way! She's already playing Madam Wang because of Xixi. If she plays something else, who knows how much trouble that will cause?" Sister Xiaoli shook her head repeatedly.

Since it was just a casual remark, Xu Jiuyang didn't elaborate and changed the subject, asking, "That girl looked unfamiliar. Was she a newly recruited assistant?"

“Yes, she’s from Taiwan. She went to university in Canada. Her English name is Annie, and her Chinese name is Liu Fanping,” Xiaoli introduced. “When she came to Hong Kong to look for a job, Fiona happened to be hiring an assistant. After the interview, I thought she was alright. She didn’t come from a diploma mill, so I took her with me.”

“An assistant’s assistant,” Xu Jiuyang couldn’t help but chuckle. “So, you’re planning to send Fiona out on a foreign assignment?” “I do have that plan. The toy company needs someone to keep an eye on things,” Xiaoli nodded. “But we’ll have to keep her in charge for at least another year or two.”

"Should we have Fiona take her?" Xu Jiuyang asked instinctively.

"Fiona? Why?" Xiaoli asked, puzzled.

"I mean, let Fiona take care of her first, then my sister. That might be faster, if she's really capable," Xu Jiuyang said, trying to cover up his mistake.

"Of course," Xiaoli replied without a doubt.

Xu Jiuyang breathed a sigh of relief, just as Yangyang in his arms started clamoring to play with building blocks, thus putting an end to the matter.

I said before that they looked unfamiliar, but actually they looked familiar; I just couldn't remember where I had seen them before in a past life.

Then, when Sister Xiaoli mentioned Fiona, who was recruited by Xue Kaiqi, he immediately remembered Liu Fanping, who was Liu Xinyou. In his past life, she had a lesbian scandal with Xue Kaiqi, which was known throughout the mainland, making her seem like some kind of big shot in the lesbian community.

What, did you not have enough in your past life, so you want to continue in this one?
Especially considering that Xue Kaiqi went back to Hong Kong to recruit people, and just happened to run into Liu Fanping who came from Taiwan looking for work, it was really a coincidence... just kidding!
Xu Jiuyang has become quite shrewd now. Whenever he encounters something like this, he first abandons the idea that it's a coincidence, and then analyzes it.

As for its use... it's not really useful, it's just interesting. If we assume that these are not coincidences, then we can deduce some really fun things.

Of course, he wouldn't bring it up, much less tell them, since these were just speculations without any evidence.

Even Fan and Angela, who always try to get something out of him, are impeccable in their treatment of him, so let's not bother them with unfounded rumors.

However, if I have enough inspiration, I might be able to write it into a novel, for example, the male protagonist could use a system or something.

Putting that aside, Xu Jiuyang played with his daughter for a while longer. Once the little one had had her fill of fun, Xiaoli pulled him aside to talk about serious matters.

"There are so many professional musicians, why does my sister insist on having me work on the soundtrack for the TV series?" Xu Jiuyang wanted to smile wryly at Xiaoli's request.

“The capable should do more,” Sister Xiaoli blinked. “The albums you produced for those two singers at Six Degrees Music sold very well.”

Okay, that's true. Both Lan Feilin and Fu Ying's debut albums were released in September, right when teenagers were starting school. They spread very quickly and basically became instant hits.

The songs playing everywhere these days are either "Circles and circles," "The youthful songs of chasing are so bright," or "I just can't let go yet, I'm too dependent on you," and "With you, the world is infatuated." They're pretty much all the rage these days.

Therefore, it's normal for Sister Xiaoli to ask someone to write songs for "Chinese Paladin", especially since he also wrote several nice-sounding background music pieces for the TV series.

However, Xu Jiuyang knows his own situation. He can copy songs and sing them without any problem, but he definitely can't create original works.

Although there's a Tangren version that you can copy, their version is completely different from the Tangren version as it gets to the end. "June Rain" and "Xiaoyao Sigh" are barely related, but "Sha Po Lang" and "Always Quiet" are a bit... Maybe we should consider the soundtrack of "Encounter Xiaoyao Again"?
Oh, they just covered the Tangren version? Then it's fine.

(End of this chapter)