Artists under the Rebirth of the Coal Boss

Chapter 192 triggers an epic storyline!

Li Bingbing worked her way up from minor supporting roles, debuting in 94. She was a late bloomer, only reaching her peak two years ago. She is considered an actor who became famous after she was already older.

Female celebrities' prime years are inherently short.

The shows she starred in with Dicky Cheung were quite good, including "Clever Little Monk"! Her portrayal of Qin Sirong in "Young Zhang Sanfeng" was stunning when I watched it as a child! And the classic first season of "Young Justice Bao"!!

However, these are just TV dramas, which belong to the middle tier of the entertainment industry's ecosystem.

Youth fades quickly, and beauty withers easily.

time does not wait……

For Li Bingbing to solidify her position as a film star, this film, "The Message," which is participating in the Golden Horse Awards, is crucial!

…………

This pressure peaked two weeks ago!
Song Zude wrote a blog post on Blogcn.com, passionately criticizing Li Bingbing for "having neither acting skills nor singing ability." The post also included the following:
Li Bingbing is a very amazing actor.

What's amazing is that I know she's more low-key than the other Bingbing, has better acting skills, and has a better reputation than the other Bingbing.

But apart from "A World Without Thieves", I can't think of any other works she has done.

However, I don't find it strange that she is a top Chinese actress, and I'm not at all surprised that she is on par with Zhou Xun and Qin Hailu.

Whether it's Zhou Xun, Zhang Ziyi, or Qin Hailu, I can recall a whole host of their works, including many classic films and television dramas.

Isn’t God miraculous?

…………

Song Zude's blog post was forwarded over 50,000 times, received over 10,000 likes, and garnered tens of millions of views in a single day.

This made Li Bingbing, who was already under pressure to win awards, even more anxious and restless, which led to the incident where she went to the RV to confide in Lin Xingzhuo because her acting performance was subpar.

…………

After leaving Lin Xingzhuo's RV, Li Bingbing was absent-minded for the entire afternoon.

Back in the hotel's executive suite, I turned on my HiVi M3A speaker and played my go-to song for when I'm feeling tired, "Traveling Light."

Li Bingbing opened the book "Love Letter" by Shunji Iwai on the bedside table. The label on the book read:

People only fall in love with three types of people.

People who are completely different from oneself, people one is curious about and wants to become, and people who are strong and like oneself.

The best part is that all three can be found in the same person.

…………

Li Xue had also inquired about Lin Xingzhuo's family background, and it turned out to be completely different from her own.
Lin Xingzhuo's unique top position within Tiger Capital is exactly what Li Bingbing desperately sought to achieve at Huayi Brothers.

The first post on Weibo, with its strong written test skills and clear logical expression, is very similar to my own experience of taking exams in a small town in Northeast China.
…………

I'll wait one minute.
Perhaps in the next minute
Seeing your evasive eyes

I won't let sad tears fill your face.

…………

Li Bingbing lay on the bed with a pillow between her legs, tossing and turning, when her phone rang with the song "Wait a Minute".

Li Bingbing glanced at the caller ID and answered the phone.

This is a call from my younger sister, Li Xue. The publicity and planning director of the company's artist management department is coming to Yongkang City...

........................

The next day, after Lin Xingzhu finished filming his terrible dialogue scenes in the morning, he had lunch in the RV and then played World of Warcraft with Wan Xi.

The two chatted about music and life as they rode the Love Rocket obtained from the Crown Potion Company dungeon on the floating island of Nagrand, overlooking the panoramic view from the top of the island.

…………

In the years since graduating from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Wan Xi has debuted as a singer, but her career has been very unsuccessful.

Their debut album, "Universal Gravitation," sold only 2 copies, far below the company's expectations, resulting in significant losses for the album, which cost millions. This year, they released their second album, "A Thousand Words," with the company investing heavily in promotion and distribution.

Materials were distributed to 52 radio stations, including Shanghai Taxi Radio, Chizhou Traffic and Tourism Radio, Harbin Traffic Radio, City Voice, Pengcheng Night Sky Is Not Lonely, Heilongjiang Ye Wen Has Something to Say, and Eden Mailbox.

After all this, it can't be said that the results were bad.

It's completely useless...

Wanxi's second album, "A Thousand Words," ultimately only sold 5000 copies.

From then on, Starlight Coast Music Company labeled Wanxi as an "unsuccessful singer," and her career fell into a slump.

…………

Lin Xingzhuo comforted him during the live stream, saying, "Actually, your voice is quite distinctive..."

On the other end of the headset, Wan Xi's voice was low as she said, "Stop mocking me. All my work has stopped. The company is planning to sell my contract to Huashi Entertainment Media to recoup some money..."

"A successful musician like you would never understand the pain of a failed singer like me."

Lin Xingzhuo said, "I'm serious. I remember that the song 'Brave Love' from your album 'Universal Gravitation' once topped the Music Pioneer Chart."

"By the way, didn't you win the Best Newcomer Award at the North-South Music Festival? I've never won an award!"

After Lin Xingzhuo finished speaking, Wan Xi fell silent, accompanied by soft sobs.

Lin Xingzhuo waited patiently for a while before Wan Xi's voice, choked with sobs, finally came through the earpiece:
"Thank you, Xingzhuo... I thought nobody knew me... nobody knew I was a singer... Thank you..."

"I've already made up my mind. If I have to sell these items like old stock, I'm quitting and going back to my hometown to work as a sales receptionist or something."

"Guo Jingfei invited me to a class reunion last week, but I was too embarrassed to attend..."

"The company also wants me to cover the losses from album production... Sometimes, standing by the river, I really think about ending it all..."

As Lin Xingzhuo listened to Wan Xi's story, he gently operated the keyboard, silently pressed the space bar, tilted the mouse up, and the rocket climbed vertically, producing a dense stream of heart-shaped jets.

In his previous life, Lin Xingzhuo had read an interview on Phoenix.com called "The Wild Goose Lake," in which Wan Xi mentioned his early, unsuccessful experience as a singer.

…………

Actually, the album's dismal sales can't be entirely blamed on Wanxi, this newly debuted singer.

In the late 2000s, the physical record industry was in a period of rapid decline, while digital music was on the rise.

Physical record sales plummeted, pirated music flooded the market, platforms like Baidu MP3 failed to pay copyright fees, and record companies' revenues drastically decreased...

Ultimately, this triggered an epic storyline known as the "Ragnarok" for the Chinese music scene!

At the same time, with the rise of digital music downloads and streaming services such as QQ Music and Kugou, users have turned to listening to music online for free.

Jay Chou, Lin Junjie, Wang Lihong, Tao Zhe, Nayoung, Wang Wen, and other legends of the old era have fallen into a period of decline during their career transitions...

The era of QQ Music's three giants has arrived!!!
As for traditional distribution models like Starlight Coast Music, they are already declining and unsustainable.

Wanxi's music career and her two albums were nothing short of a burial of the old era...

…………

Wan Xi brought up the idea of ​​returning to her hometown of Yiyang City in Jingnan Province to work and retiring from the entertainment industry again.

Lin Xingzhuo offered, "Why don't you come work for our company? I'll have the legal department negotiate with your former employer, Starlight Coast Music Company."

"Since selling to Huashi Entertainment is the same as selling to China Vision Entertainment... let's just sell it to our company. Our company will definitely be more generous with the money than Huashi Entertainment..."

Wanxi was a little stunned by the unexpected windfall. After recovering, he became excited again and stammered:

"What?! God of War! I'm your brother, and you want me to sleep with you? Drink with you?! I can't do that!! No way!"

Lin Xingzhuo was almost choked by the bold choice of words made by this artsy girl, and quickly interrupted her, saying:
"Huh? What the heck?! We'll do those two things another day!"

"Tiger Shadow Star is a legitimate company, and our company has a very positive atmosphere! Don't overthink it. Of course, we sign artists based on their potential for development!"

Wanxi, traumatized by the major setbacks in her career over the past few years, asked uncertainly into the microphone, "What is my potential for growth?"

(End of this chapter)