Entertainment: 1990

Chapter 131 Arrogant at first and respectful at the end

The day after the first round of the semifinals of "I Am a Singer" ended, many singers coincidentally came to the Casablanca bar.

"This is no exaggeration. She really only appeared on TV twice, and that girl became famous all over the country."

"At first I thought they were just talking nonsense, but who knew... sigh, a big shot is a big shot."

"I even suggested to Boss Zhang that the girl bind her chest—looking back now, I was such an idiot!"

These people were basically all those who had participated in the assessment back then.

At the time, most people thought Zhang Yan was deliberately making things difficult for people, while a small number thought there was a solution to the problem. They never expected that Yuanmeng could make Wang Luyao famous all over the country just by appearing on camera twice.

Even if you brought in Yang Yuying, the original singer, based on yesterday's performance, she probably wouldn't have a third of the appeal of Wang Luyao.

This effect is almost on par with the Spring Festival Gala!

"You said..."

Some speculated, "Could this be the idea that Lao Liu came up with?"

"You mean Liu Weidong? Impossible!"

The acupuncturist who was familiar with Liu Weidong immediately dismissed the possibility: "Sixth Brother may be a little clever, but he definitely doesn't have the ability to manipulate things so easily!"

Another person said, "Mr. Zhang started his business with ideas. Not to mention 'Tianjin Wei,' I heard that the 'one-stop service center' that Beijing recently set up was also his idea for Tianjin. Now all the major cities in the country are learning from it."

"No wonder he could write 'The Idea Company,' if he actually opened an idea company, it would definitely be a hit!"

"Do you think they're stupid? They use their own ideas to start a company, and they make even more money!"

Everyone was talking about it, but no one mentioned Wang Jinghua.

There are indeed some famous female prostitutes in the industry, such as Liu Xiaoqing, nicknamed "Big Cat"—the name "Big Cat" actually refers to the King of Spades in poker, which shows Liu Xiaoqing's status among prostitutes.

But to say that an unknown little girl could stir up such a storm in the world...

People are more inclined to believe that this was Zhang Yan's idea, after all, he was already a big shot, and this is just a step further.

"I heard that someone offered 100,000 yuan to have that girl sing a song, on the condition that she wears a bikini."

"That was the price before yesterday. Now, 100,000 would only get you a tank top at most!"

How much can you normally earn by doing gigs?

"I don't know, but I estimate it won't be lower than Wei Wei or A Mao."

"That means it's heading for 6 or 7000—this one night is enough to keep ordinary people busy for two years!"

"Sigh, Lao Liu has really climbed the social ladder this time!"

After hearing these words...

Someone silently got up from the corner, paid the bill, and then took a taxi to the backyard of a nearby guesthouse.

"Anwen~Anwen~"

"What's wrong, Lao Su?"

After calling out twice, a young woman poked her head out from upstairs.

Old Su ignored him and stood downstairs with a sullen face.

A short while later, the young woman came running downstairs, slightly out of breath, and asked, "Old Su, what's wrong?"

"I shouldn't have acted impulsively back then."

Old Su sighed and said, "If you hadn't fallen out with Wang Jinghua, we might have been able to ride the coattails of 'I Am a Singer'."

It turned out that the young woman was Wang Jinghua's classmate, Zhang Jinglin, who had played Qingwen, but she had recently changed her name to An Wen.

Hearing her husband say this, An Wen felt somewhat wronged. It was clearly her husband who lost his temper, which led to her having a big argument with Wang Jinghua.

Now again...

But she had always been obedient to Su Yue, so naturally she wouldn't go against his wishes this time. Instead, she cautiously probed, "So what do we do now? Should we try to repair our relationship with Wang Jinghua?"

"Why don't you take some gifts and visit her later?"

Su Yue nodded and said, "With 'I'm Crazy for Singing' being so popular, it might be held again next year. We'll try to get Gao Feng to get a good ranking then."

To An Wen, her husband's words were like a royal decree. Even though she felt it was a loss of face, she still boarded the train to Tianjin three days later.

Because the passengers were all heading to Tianjin, discussions about "I'm Crazy for Singing" could be heard everywhere on the train.

The semifinals have just concluded, and the four finalists are Tian Zhen, Han Lei, Han Hong, and Lao Lang.

Originally, Man Wenjun and Li Chunbo were more popular than Lao Lang.

However, Lao Lang unleashed "My Deskmate" in the third round of the semifinals, directly defeating Li Chunbo's signature song "Xiao Fang," while Man Wenjun's cover also lost due to audience ratings. Unlike the insiders who mainly discussed Zhang Yan, the passengers weren't interested in the behind-the-scenes manipulators and focused primarily on the contestants.

Some people were talking about Wang Luyao and 'RU Fu', some were discussing whether Na Ying and Tian Zhen were rivals in love, some were curious about who would win the championship between Tian Zhen and Han Lei, and of course, there were also many sympathizers for Han Hong, hoping that she could make a name for herself again.

The sudden rise of Lao Lang has also attracted considerable attention, especially among young people, with "My Deskmate" being the most popular topic.

Even Li Chunfang and Man Wenjun, who have already lost, are still mentioned from time to time, which shows the influence of "I Am a Singer".

I heard that TV stations across the country are catching up by rebroadcasting one episode a day, and when the semi-finals are broadcast, there will be another joint broadcast of 21 provinces - recently four more provinces have been added, and Shanghai is also preparing to join.

Although An Wen had always harbored resentment over his old classmate's betrayal, he had to admit in his heart that Wang Jinghua's choice was right in the face of such widespread attention.

If it were her own husband running Puan Company, Wang Jinghua would never have had such an opportunity to soar to great heights.

…………

We arrived in Tianjin.

An Wen inquired his way to the TV station, only to find forty or fifty people gathered at its entrance, men, women, and children, creating a lively scene that made An Wen think they were demanding back pay.

It was only later that we discovered these people were there to follow celebrities.

After handing his business card to the security guards who formed a human wall, An Wen waited for about ten minutes before Wang Jinghua hurriedly came out to greet him.

This made An Wen feel a little relieved.

She was genuinely afraid that Wang Jinghua would avoid her, which would not only make her lose face, but also lead to her husband scolding her when she got home.

After they met, although they were no longer as close as before, they tacitly avoided mentioning the argument.

Following Wang Jinghua into the TV station, An Wen glanced back at the fans outside and wondered, "It's one thing to have people from the South, but why are there old ladies chasing after celebrities?"

She could understand it when people from the south came to Tianjin to chase after celebrities, but she had never heard of an old lady doing the same.

Wang Jinghua also glanced back and explained, "Those are villagers from Beizhangbao in the western suburbs. Their entire village supports Han Hong."

As they spoke, Wang Jinghua couldn't help but feel admiration for Zhang Yan.

Although she considered herself to be a person with ideas, she was still far inferior to President Zhang. She didn't know how President Zhang's brain was structured, with all sorts of tricks coming up one after another.

As if on cue, An Wen also subconsciously asked Zhang Yan, "Is your General Manager Zhang here?"

"You're looking for our General Manager Zhang?"

"No, no, no, I was just asking casually."

"Oh~"

Wang Jinghua said, "The famous Hong Kong agent Chen Jiantian has arrived. Mr. Zhang should be receiving him in his office right now."

What are the agents from Hong Kong Island doing here?

An Wen asked in surprise, "Could it be that you're trying to snatch food from the jaws of Dream Records?"

With such a grand operation, Dream Records has made several singers famous overnight. Even if they are famous Hong Kong agents, they wouldn't be able to pull away Dream Records' artists at this time, right?
“During the preliminary rounds, he signed a singer that we had our eye on beforehand. He came here specifically to apologize.”

That's why they say circumstances are always stronger than people.

When Zheng Jun withdrew from the competition, Chen Jiantian simply made a phone call to apologize. Now that "I Am a Singer" is at its peak, Chen Jiantian feels that the previous phone call was a bit hasty, so he dragged Dou Wei to Tianjin.

Hearing this, An Wen felt even more awe towards Yuan Meng and Zhang Yan.

Su Yue has always treated the people of the Hong Kong Island parent company with utmost respect, which, in contrast, makes Yuan Meng's extraordinary nature all the more apparent.

"Sister Jinghua!"

Just then, a little girl ran over and said, "Han Hong heard that Dou Wei is here and hopes to have another chat with him—even last-minute preparations can be effective."

Wang Jinghua laughed and said, "Let your sister-in-law make the arrangements. The boss's wife is here today too."

"Oh, then I'll go find my sister-in-law."

As the little girl spoke, she ran off like a gust of wind.

"This is?"

"Fangfang, the younger sister of our General Manager Zhang."

"Is it the Xiao Fang from Li Chunbo's song...?"

"Don't talk nonsense, it's not the same thing!"

Hearing Wang Jinghua say this, An Wen felt that the rumor might be true, otherwise why would Wang Jinghua be in such a hurry to deny it?

No wonder such a corny song could make it into the top eight, and even almost into the top four; it turns out there was some kind of nepotism involved.

(End of this chapter)