Rebirth of Chinese Entertainment, the Diary of a 95 Flower

The thermometer showed that the body temperature had finally returned to normal.

Liu Haochun took Jiang Yang's new singer's manuscript out from under his pillow.

It's close to my heart.

This lyric sheet became a substitute for a hug from Jiang Yang when he wasn't around.

I discovered that there were group messages in the [Pretty Girl Battle 4] group.

Take a look at the message content.

I don't know why Jiang Yang suddenly wanted to deduct ten yuan from Chao Yue's salary.
I know Mai Mai is up to something again.

They wanted to use their overwhelming numbers to force Jiang Yang to let Mai Mai join the company.

Childish thinking.

Whether or not Jiang Yang agrees to let Mai Mai join the company is entirely up to him. He also needs to discuss it with Mai Mai's parents and get their consent.

Liu Haochun replied: [“I agree.”]
I saw a message notification in the group: Tian Xiwei invited Zhang Ruonan to join the group chat.

Who is Zhang Ruonan?
I remember now, I talked to Chaoyue during the Chinese New Year. He was the second artist signed by Jiangyang Company.

He is a college student.

Like Chao Yue and Xi Wei, she was an extra in "Go Fighting!" and acted opposite Huang Bo. The show will air next month.

……

Linchuan University of Science and Technology, School of Continuing Education.

Zhang Ruonan carried books in her hands as she walked towards the dormitory building.

The bulletin board is covered with posters for the campus arts festival; take a second look at the layout as you pass by.

Students lined up at the courier point, holding their newly picked-up online shopping packages.

The playground was filled with the sounds of street dance music and roller skating laughter.

During the time I was separated from Jiang Yang in Shanghai last time, I followed his instructions very well.

Every day I practice dance, learn the basics of acting, and work hard to learn musical rhythms.

They even seek out high school textbooks to learn high school knowledge they're almost forgetting.

Although I don't know what the point of learning these things is, and I won't be taking the college entrance exam anyway, Jiang Yang is definitely right.

There is a QQ group called "[Moyu F4]", which includes Jiang Yang, Yang Chaoyue, and Tian Xiwei.

But no one spoke.

I have a feeling that after Jiang Yang signed me and accepted a role as an extra on the variety show "Go Fighting!", did he forget about me?
I chatted with Jiang Yang for a few minutes, but it was all just polite New Year's greetings.

I didn't dare mention accepting the job offer and just kept waiting.

The advance salary was deposited into my account on the first day of the month.

The money I earned as an extra on "Go Fighting!" has also arrived in my account.

Don't worry about not having money for food because your parents won't return your savings.

There's no need to worry about not being able to afford the tuition.

The problems of food and clothing, as well as education, were all solved the moment I became an employee of Jiangyang Company.

but.

What I really want is an announcement.

I have been keeping track of Yang Chaoyue and Jiang Yang's situation during this period.

The phone vibrates.

I received a message from Tian Xiwei inviting me to join the group.

"Pretty Girl Battle Group 4?"

I don't know which group it is.

First, open the group message to check.

It was discovered that not only Tian Xiwei, but also Yang Chaoyue and Jiang Yang were among them!
The group owner is Yang Chaoyue, and Jiang Yang is the administrator.

Not daring to join easily, she sent Jiang Yang a message: ["Boss, Xiwei invited me to join the 4th group of the Girl Battle competition, can I join?"]
I checked the wording to make sure there were no problems before sending the message.

No reply has been received from Jiang Yang.

Jiang Yang must be busy, right?
Open Yang Chaoyue's Weibo.

The number of followers has risen to 13,000.

Originally it was 10,000, but since Jiang Yang released his new song, some interested netizens have also followed Yang Chaoyue through Jiang Yang's first Weibo post.

In professional terms, it means that the company owner and employees form a partnership to attract traffic.

It was discovered that Yang Chaoyue posted a Weibo message early yesterday morning.

The content is a short video.

The background is an early spring evening in Wanggang Village, Yancheng, where the sky is just beginning to darken, and the distant rice paddies ripple with new green.

Yang Chaoyue was wearing an old sweatshirt stained with mud, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his hair casually tied into a small bun, with stray hairs stuck to his forehead by sweat.

He had clearly just finished farm work.

Squatting on the cement steps of his own yard, with a pile of fertilizer bags behind him in the corner.

A large yellow dog strolled into the frame, was scolded by Yang Chaoyue, and then hurriedly ran away.

You can hear the sputtering of a tractor in the distance.

Yang Chaoyue took a selfie with his phone, a half-empty bottle of mineral water beside him, and said to the camera:

"My boss wrote me a song about losing weight. Yang probably knew I gained weight over the New Year and was urging me to lose weight. The song is called 'Calories.' It's so hard to sing! I've been learning by following Yang's recorded audio, and I've only learned this one line so far. I'll sing it for you all..."

Suddenly, her father's loud voice came from inside the house: "Yueyue! Help me move the pickling jar over here!"

Yang Chaoyue turned to his father and said, "Wait a minute, Dad, we're recording a video!"

Yang Chaoyue turned around, paused, then closed his eyes, tilted his head back slightly, and roared at the top of his lungs, "Burn my calories!!!"

She shouted the last word off-key, then burst out laughing, and the camera shook violently: "Oh dear, the wind in my hometown is so strong, it made me sing off-key!"

Watch the entire video.

Zhang Ruonan noticed Yang Chaoyue's comment section and murmured, "Chaoyue's Weibo post already has so many comments..."

It was released in less than 24 hours.

The number of comments has already exceeded three hundred, almost equaling the number of comments on Yang Chaoyue's previous Weibo post.

The most upvoted comment is: [“Hahaha, help! This off-key voice is so real! The wind is so strong it's making you sing off-key, okay?”]
Then came: ["When Dad asked you to move the pickle jar, my DNA stirred! Who understands the daily life of a country kid!"]
The next one is related to Jiang Yang: [“Your brother Yang wrote ‘Calories’ for you to lose weight, not to burn your voice!”]
The comment that followed read: "[Sister, with your singing skills, I suggest you go straight into comedy!]"
Suddenly I understand why Yang Chaoyue's Weibo post received so many comments.

It's not just because the lyrics are a song that Jiang Yang wrote for Yang Chaoyue.

Also, because I saw Jiang Yang's comment: ["Is this the song I wrote meant for you to sing? Yang Chaozhong."]
I also saw a lot of negative comments.

The most upvoted comment was: "People from the countryside are so unsophisticated; even their singing is so low-class."
A Weibo user named 'Zhao Lushi's Weibo' retorted: ["What's wrong with being from the countryside? What makes you so superior, you idiot."]
Next came: ["Just riding on the boss's coattails, does she really think she's a celebrity?"]
A Weibo account named '白露my' retorted: '[What's wrong with Jiang Yang writing his own songs and having his own artists sing them?]'
I saw another negative comment: ["Posting it with a cracked voice, aren't you ashamed?"]
Someone else defended Yang Chaoyue in the comments. Zhang Ruonan recognized this person; it was Tian Xiwei. The comment read:

"Isn't it better to be authentic? Does it really have to be lip-synced?"
I read through the comments one by one.

When she sees positive reviews, Zhang Ruonan chuckles, especially the one about the daily life of a rural child, which she couldn't help but give a thumbs up.

She frowned slightly when she saw the negative comments, but quickly relaxed.

When Jiang Yang was filming in Shanghai, he told himself that's how the entertainment industry is; some people like it, and some people hate it.

When my episode of Go Fighting! airs, will it be as good as Yang Chaoyue's?
Will my Weibo account also see a similar increase in followers as Yang Chaoyue?
Will Jiang Yang help promote himself like he did with Yang Chaoyue?
I don't know, I have no experience, and I can't predict it.

I heard from Xiwei before that the day Yang Chaoyue's fans started to increase, she saw the first negative comments and cried in distress.

Because I was afraid of implicating my family.

Just imagining that scene made Zhang Ruonan feel uneasy.

I envy Yang Chaoyue's career starting to improve.

I envy Yang Chaoyue for receiving negative comments; someone will stand up for her and fight back.

If I receive negative comments in my comment section, will anyone help me?
It's highly unlikely that it will happen.

But there will definitely be people who criticize you, namely your own family members.

After all, during the Spring Festival, my parents found out that I wasn't going to be a model anymore and had signed with Jiang Yang's company. My mother was so angry that she slammed her fist on the table because my life plan hadn't followed my mother's wishes.

"What good end can you expect in the entertainment industry? Don't come crying back to us when you're so badly criticized you can't make it anymore!"

I have already prepared myself mentally.

I really want to be valued by Jiang Yang, just like Yang Chaoyue.

She dared not take the initiative to contact Jiang Yang, fearing that she might say the wrong thing and make things worse.

I received a WeChat voice call.

Immediately check the caller's profile picture and notes.

It turns out it wasn't Jiang Yang.

It was her mother.

She answered the phone and heard her mother's voice: "Nannan, have you received your salary? Transfer it to Mom, and Mom will save it for you."

He added, "Your brother needs to pay for tutoring next month, and things are tight at home lately, so you should take out five thousand first."

In the background, you can hear the younger brother's voice: "Mom? Why are you paying for tutoring? I haven't been attending any tutoring classes."

Then came the sound of Mom scolding her younger brother: "Watch your TV!"

Zhang Ruonan held her breath and listened silently.

When I went back home for Chinese New Year, I talked a lot with my younger brother.

I discovered that my mother had asked me for money many times in my brother's name, and my brother had no idea what was going on.

The preference for sons over daughters is real.

It's true that he genuinely wanted to take from her.

Ever since I won my first modeling prize in high school, my parents' love for me has changed.

"Mom, can you please stop asking me for money? My career is just starting out, and I'm under a lot of pressure."

This is what I want to say to my mom.

The words that were on the tip of my tongue were swallowed back down.

In the end, she couldn't bring herself to say it and changed her mind, saying, "Mom, I don't have any money." "Don't lie to me! Didn't you film that super popular variety show? And your sister just saw your boss retweet your Weibo post. You're practically a star now, how could you not have money?"

A sharp, accusatory voice came through the receiver: "I raised you all these years, and now you think you're all grown up? Your brother's grades are bad, how is he going to get into university without tutoring? Do you want him to end up like you, a good-for-nothing?!"

Zhang Ruonan was stunned.

I didn't hear a word of what came next.

The boss retweeted his own Weibo post?

She ignored her mother's phone call.

I've already reached the girls' dormitory, and standing against the wall, I open my Weibo account.

All of her previous Weibo posts have been hidden, except for the first Weibo post published before the Lunar New Year.

It was a short self-introduction video filmed at university.

This photo was taken in a university classroom.

In the video, the camera shakes slightly, and Zhang Ruonan is wearing an inexpensive but neatly ironed white shirt with her hair tied in a simple ponytail.

She sat at a desk in an empty classroom, with chalk writing still on the blackboard behind her.

Her first words were a little hoarse: "Hi everyone, I'm Zhang Ruonan. I'm a part-time undergraduate student and I do some modeling part-time work."

After saying that, he lowered his head and smiled, his fingers tracing the scratches on the corner of the table.

Suddenly, he picked up a crumpled report card from the table and waved it around.

Those were her college entrance exam scores, which she had hastily printed at a print shop for the purpose of filming the video.

“I bombed my college entrance exam. My mom said, ‘With your score, you might as well get married early and help support the family.’”

Zhang Ruonan crumpled the report card into a ball and threw it out of the camera's view, making a soft "thud".

Turning to look out the window, his tone was calm:
"Sometimes I feel that working hard to make money is not to prove anything, but just to make myself feel more confident. In 2016, I want to let those who look down on me know that even a useless person can make a name for themselves."

Before the video ends, the camera zooms in on the unerased chalk writing on the blackboard.

It was Zhang Ruonan who wrote it: Dreams that are not favored are the ones worth fighting for.

Originally, there were only eight comments under this Weibo post.

The three items belong to his two younger sisters and his younger brother.

Cheer yourself up.

The other four were from classmates, and they were all polite words of encouragement.

Suddenly, I noticed that I had received more than twenty private messages.

One of the messages was a notification, in which Jiang Yang forwarded his own Weibo post.

The caption is:
[This is Ruonan, Chaoyue's junior sister. She also worked as an extra on "Go Fighting!". She has a film/TV series in pre-production and a new song in production. Please take good care of her.]
Zhang Ruonan's heart raced as she read this.

TV series/movies? New songs?

Is this a new announcement?
Having received no reply from Jiang Yang, I dare not ask him.

On the other end of the line, her mother kept rambling on: "Ruonan, do you know that in our village in the past, girls had to get married when they came of age, otherwise a person was not complete?"

Zhang Ruonan found it irritating.

Suppressing emotions.

She didn't have time to talk to her mother about these things, so she tried to keep her tone gentle: "Mom, I'm hanging up now, I don't want to talk anymore."

“You hung up after I said a few words to you, and now I’m trying to reason with you! In the past, if a woman in the village couldn’t give birth to a boy, she was only considered half a person…”

"What do you mean?!"

Zhang Ruonan suddenly interrupted: "If you don't get married, you're not a complete person; if you can't give birth to a boy, you're only half a person? I don't plan to get married or have children, so am I still a person? Do I even exist anymore?"

"What kind of attitude is that! I'm your mother!" The mother was startled by Zhang Ruonan's raised tone.

Zhang Ruonan raised her voice: "Mom, do you know that we learned in high school that Schrödinger's cat both existed and didn't exist? It means that Schrödinger's cat was a female cat that didn't plan to get married or have children!"

I'll finish this quickly.

Zhang Ruonan hung up the phone.

His chest heaved as he breathed heavily, and he finally had some peace and quiet.

My heart was pounding faster.

This is because Jiang Yang retweeted his own Weibo post, which brought him traffic.

It was also because, for the first time in my life, I spoke very harshly to my mother.

I opened Yang Chaoyue's Weibo again to see the negative comments.

There are posts on Zhao Lushi's Weibo, posts on Bailumy's Weibo, and posts by Tian Xiwei helping Yang Chaoyue fight back.

No one can help her when facing her own mother.

You can only rely on yourself.

Gradually breaking free from the invisible shackles imposed by one's family of origin is an easy process to talk about but difficult to do; it requires slow and steady adaptation.

After hanging up her mother's call, Zhang Ruonan stared at the black screen of her phone, her knuckles turning white.

Even though I did nothing wrong, I felt like there was a stone pressing on my chest.

When I was a child, I had a fever of 39 degrees Celsius, and the village clinic closed down.

My mother carried me on her back, stumbling along the muddy path to the town hospital.

I lay on my mother's sweat-drenched back, listening to her scolding me with a sob in her voice:
"Ruonan, if anything happens to you, I'll break your legs!"

At the time, I thought it was a scolding, but now I realize that it was actually the most loving thing my mother had ever said to me.

Those hands are now only reaching out to ask for money.

I ranked third in my class at the end of elementary school, and my mother took me to the department store in the county town to buy me a red floral dress that I liked.

It costs 120 yuan, which is equivalent to half a month's worth of groceries for the family.

Mom took out a handful of change and counted it several times before finally handing the neatly folded banknotes to the cashier.

That dress is too small for me now, but my mother has never bought me any new clothes since.

Perhaps love has a limit, and I wonder if I've used up my allotted portion too early.

The love that was taken back is the hardest for me to let go of.

Arriving at the dormitory, I pushed open the door, adjusted my breathing, and calmed myself down.

My roommate on the lower bunk near the door was watching a Korean drama with headphones on, and there was a half-eaten takeout meal spread out on the table.

My roommate across the bed was working on a business order while putting on a face mask. She had taken on a logo design job and was typing away at lightning speed.

Freshly washed jeans are hanging to dry on the balcony.

Zhang Ruonan chatted briefly with her roommate, climbed into bed, and regained her composure.

When I opened Weibo again, I found two more notification messages.

One notification indicated that Yang Chaoyue had retweeted his own Weibo post, with the caption:
[This is my junior colleague, Zhang Ruonan. I took a liking to her at first sight during the interview. Good luck, sister! When you become famous, I'll treat you to hot pot.]
"Chaoyue also retweeted my Weibo post!"

Zhang Ruonan's eyelashes trembled.

It felt like I was being noticed.

Yang Chaoyue had already walked ahead of him, yet he was still willing to turn back and lend him a hand.

Another notification indicated that a girl with the Weibo ID "小洛儿酱" had reposted her own Weibo post with the caption:
[This is my senior sister, Zhang Ruonan. Please take good care of her.]
A very unfamiliar ID.

They should also be artists from Jiangyang Company.

I clicked on the other person's Weibo and saw the first video introducing themselves. I learned that the other person's name was Liu Haochun, that they were younger than me, and that they were still studying at the Affiliated High School of Beijing Dance Academy.

I only have a few dozen followers on Weibo, and reposting doesn't help me gain more followers.

There was a touching feeling of mutual support.

Immediately afterwards, she received a third notification, after which Tian Xiwei retweeted her own Weibo post.

The caption is:
[Ruonan, keep going! Come to Chongqing, I'll treat you to the spiciest hotpot. Even if you cry, you'll finish eating your dream!]
It was followed by a chili pepper and a heart emoji.

Zhang Ruonan's lower lip trembled slightly as she read this.

"It turns out that everyone was helping me quietly from places we couldn't see."

I saw that my Weibo account had gained over two hundred followers, all of whom were real people.

I discovered that my Weibo post introducing myself already had more than thirty comments.

The first comment was: [I came here through Chaoyue's video. It brought tears to my eyes. Dreams that aren't believed in are the ones worth fighting for. Keep going, sister!]
The second post reads: [Jiang Yang forwarded this, and Yang Chaoyue followed suit! What an amazing company! I'm so envious!]
The most liked post, with nine likes already: [Starting today, I'm eagerly awaiting Zhang Ruonan's comeback diary!]
The phone vibrates.

He sent Jiang Yang a WeChat message asking if he could join the group, and finally received a reply from Jiang Yang.

It's a voice message.

When you click on it, you can hear Jiang Yang's voice, and there are car horns in the background, so Jiang Yang must be on the street.
"Sure, go ahead and join. It's the company's internal group."

Zhang Ruonan immediately opened QQ and accepted Tian Xiwei's invitation to join the [Beautiful Girl Battle 4] group.

My first reaction was confusion.

The group is called "Pretty Girl Battle 4," and why does it include myself? There are six people in the group.

I have Yang Chaoyue, Tian Xiwei, and Jiang Yang's QQ numbers.

The other two IDs are "Cherry Maruko Calf" and "Little Luo'er Sauce".

I understand that Xiao Luo'er Jiang is Liu Haochun, another artist in the company.

So who is this Chibi Maruko-chan? It sounds like a Japanese ID from Northeast China.
-
PS
Thank you for being calm and collected, okay? You gave Zhang Jingyi this amulet.

Thank you Bo Mengxia Weiliang for feeding Zhou Ye a little chicken leg.

Thank you for the Oscar trophy and ninety-nine birthday cakes that Transcendence has been given to it by all the regrets of entering the world.

Thank you LeeMineMine for feeding Chaoyue a birthday cake and an Oscar trophy.

Thanks to Xuanyuan11 and Yeyutingfengchui for the birthday cake they provided for Chaoyue.

Yesterday was Chaoyue's birthday in real life. May she always be happy. As for Chaoyue in the book, Taibai will do his best to write it well.

Finally, I'd like to kneel down for everyone; it's the first day of August.

Chaoyue is desperately chasing his dreams in the book, while Taibai is frantically typing away in front of the computer. Monthly votes are like calories between Taibai and everyone else; burning them will allow the story to go further. I'm begging for monthly votes! (End of Chapter)