Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 104 The Three Treasures Gather for the First Time
After more than a month of turmoil, it's already early December. 2005 is about to pass, and the year-end bells are quietly approaching.

Snowflakes have begun to fall in some northern cities, and the world covered in silver seems to be draped in a dreamlike veil, making people marvel at the wonders of nature.

In 2005, the internet was not as developed as it would be in the future, and the popularity of an event spread online would quickly fade.

In addition, Song Ci refused any interviews from traditional news media, and after more than a month, the attention drawn by the "Hurun Rich List" finally subsided.

Only Peking University students occasionally encounter Song Dynasty poems on campus and can't help but exclaim in amazement.

These days, Song Ci keeps a low profile, only occasionally going to the company to handle work. He spends most of his time at the school, acting more and more discreetly and cautiously dealing with the probing of various forces.

Liu Shishi received a notification from Tangren Media and reluctantly bid farewell to her lover. She then took her assistant Jiang Yuanyuan with her to Hengdian to prepare for her first role in the period drama "Young Warriors of the Yang Clan," arranged for her by Cai Yinong.

The small white building of Tangren Media in Hengdian World Studios has offices on the first floor and rest areas for Tangren Media's own artists and actors on set on the second floor.

As the company's top female employee, Liu Shishi has her own private dormitory here. At this moment, she is tidying up the room with her assistant. After all, she will be living here for four months, so it can be considered her second home. She needs to make it warm and comfortable.

A knocking sound came from the door. Liu Shishi, who was tidying up her luggage and hanging up clothes, quickly dropped the clothes hanger and ran to open the door.

"Old Hu, Old Yuan, it's you! Long time no see! Please come in and have a seat."

With a hint of joy in her voice, Liu Shishi, who was always generous and magnanimous in front of acquaintances, smiled broadly and invited the two senior brothers into the room.

Hu Ge, dressed in a long gray trench coat and sporting a stylish suit-style haircut, smiled slightly upon seeing his lively junior sister and glanced around the room.

"Old Yuan and I heard you came to the Little White Building, so we came to check on you. I saw you cleaning; do you need our help?"

Liu Shishi quickly waved her hand; how could she dare let a big star help clean the house? "No need, I'm almost done cleaning. Yuanyuan, could you pour some water for my senior brothers?"

Yuan Hong, dressed in a black jacket, looked capable and energetic, but unlike Hu Ge, who has recently gained popularity, she was slightly overshadowed in terms of temperament by Tangren's top star beside her.

Seeing the little assistant busy behind Liu Shishi, I was a little surprised. I didn't expect that my junior sister, who had always been left to her own devices, was so valued by the boss.

Even a nobody at the company who hasn't filmed a single drama is given an assistant? At present, only Hu Ge at Tangren Media has this kind of treatment.

Seeing that Liu Shishi, a newcomer, was valued by the boss more than herself, Yuan Hong became increasingly frustrated. Cai Yinong only had eyes for Hu Ge, and she never got to have the company's best resources.

The upcoming film "Young Warriors of the Yang Clan" is even more outrageous. Hu Ge, a good friend of the lead actor, was given a low-level villainous supporting role.

Their screen time is even less than that of actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan. They are all artists under the same company, yet they are being treated so unfairly. It's blatant bullying of honest people.

Although she felt a little jealous, Yuan Hong didn't show it on her face. After sitting down on the sofa with Hu Ge, she accepted the tea that Jiang Yuanyuan offered.

He teased, "Shishi, you seem to be in a good mood. Your face is glowing, and you can't hide the joy in your eyes. What's the good news? Tell me and Lao Hu about it!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Shishi cupped her face in her hands and asked her assistant coquettishly, "Am I that obviously happy?"

Jiang Yuanyuan stared at Liu Shishi and nodded vigorously. The young mistress had been grinning foolishly every now and then since boarding the plane. Anyone could see the joy on her face. No one knew what good thing had made her so happy.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on her, Liu Shishi, hiding her true feelings, replied perfunctorily, "Isn't it because I've been at home for more than half a year and am finally happy to be acting in a company drama?"

Of course, she couldn't tell the truth. She was happy because her boyfriend had promised to visit her on set on New Year's Day, so she could celebrate his birthday in Hengdian.

Hu Ge and Yuan Hong wouldn't believe Liu Shishi's nonsense. If she played the lead role in a movie, she might just keep laughing like an idiot.

In "Young Warriors of the Yang Clan", the female characters don't have many scenes, so there's nothing to be overly happy about. But ultimately, these are women's concerns, and the two grown men naturally can't pry into them.

Seeing the disbelieving expressions on their faces, Liu Shishi quickly changed the subject, as she wouldn't tell anyone at Tangren Media about her relationship with Song Ci.

"Old Hu, you look very tired. There are faint dark circles under your eyes."

Hu Ge rubbed her eyes and explained, "I've been too tired from filming lately and haven't had much rest. Don't worry, I'll be back to normal in a few days."

He spent the last two and a half months rushing to film "Fleet of Time," produced by Tengda. As soon as filming wrapped, he immediately returned to Tangren Media to prepare for martial arts training and film "Young Warriors of the Yang Clan." The continuous high-intensity work caused him to look somewhat listless.

"What have you been busy with lately, Shishi? I heard from Sister K that your movie has already finished filming."

Hu Ge is usually busy filming and doesn't pay much attention to news in the industry. It was only after participating in Tengda Culture's "Fleet of Time" that she learned from Cai Yinong that the young girl had quite a wide network of connections and had already stepped into the big screen ahead of them, playing the female lead in a movie.

For both public and private reasons, Hu Ge came to visit Liu Shishi as soon as she heard that Liu Shishi had come to Xiaobailou. To prevent gossip, she even brought Yuan Hong along.

Yuan Hong was secretly surprised when she heard this. She didn't even know that Liu Shishi had acted in movies until Hu Ge told her. She secretly thought that she should try to get closer to her junior sister in the future!

Liu Shishi stuck out her little tongue, "When I'm not filming, I stay home and read books, play games, and play World of Warcraft."

Hu Ge and Yuan Hong exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly. They used to go to internet cafes to play World of Warcraft together when they had free time. They never expected that Liu Shishi would also play online games. It seems that birds of a feather flock together.

They asked in unison, as if on cue: "Horde or Alliance?"

Liu Shishi was overjoyed and exclaimed in surprise, "You guys play Warcraft too?"

Song Ci never plays games, and none of her peers play World of Warcraft. Sometimes, Liu Shishi finds it boring to play games alone. But today she received an unexpected surprise: her two senior brothers actually play World of Warcraft. From now on, she won't lack people to team up with.

At this moment, Liu Shishi had already decided to equip her dormitory in the company's small white building with a computer. She had already envisioned herself dominating the game with Hu Ge and Yuan Hong, the two brilliant strategists.

As Liu Shishi was lost in thought, Cai Yinong happened to come over to check on her. Seeing that all three of the company's artists were in the room and getting along well, he nodded in satisfaction and said with a smile, "Oh, everyone's here. Having a meeting!"

"Sister K!" "Hello, President Cai."

The group quickly stood up from the sofa and greeted their boss. Jiang Yuanyuan, quick-witted, noticed the sofa was a bit crowded and moved a chair over for Cai Yinong to sit down.

Cai Yinong waved his hand and said to his three children with a kind smile, "Sit down, everyone. I just came to see Shishi. We were talking about something happy, and Shishi was just laughing like an idiot."

Liu Shishi was too embarrassed to tell her boss that she was planning to take Tangren's top male streamer to play online games, so she laughed it off and said, "It's nothing, just chatting."

Cai Yinong inquired a few questions about Liu Shishi's living conditions at the company, and then, taking advantage of the fact that all three of them were present, he got down to business.

"The other main actors will arrive one after another tomorrow. You can rest for a day tomorrow, and start martial arts training the day after tomorrow to master the basic spear techniques."

Although Tangren Media has always focused on period idol dramas and doesn't demand high acting skills from its actors, it still has basic requirements for cool-looking action scenes. The Yang family generals naturally wield spears, so the main actors need to practice diligently to be able to perform spear techniques smoothly in front of the camera.

Martial arts training is naturally tough. Seeing Liu Shishi looking at Hu Ge and Yuan Hong with a gloating gaze, Cai Yinong added irritably, "Shishi, you have to participate in the training too."

"Sister K, my character, Princess Chai, doesn't have any action scenes." Liu Shishi wanted to take a break and set up her computer in her spare time.

There was a slight discrepancy in the casting of "Young Warriors of the Yang Clan". Because Liu Shishi had signed a contract with Tangren Media in advance, she got the role of Princess Chai, which had more screen time.

Lin Chia-Yu plays the role of Ms. Luo. Although Tangren Media has always preferred to use Hong Kong and Taiwan artists, Cai Yi-Nong naturally had to give priority to his own leading lady.

Fearing the young girl might not take it seriously, Cai Yinong earnestly advised her: "You have no experience in martial arts scenes, so this is a good opportunity to train with Hu Ge and the others to improve your basics. We at Tangren have many period martial arts dramas, so you should train hard."

Knowing that she could only dodge the first day of the month but not the fifteenth, Liu Shishi hung her head and muttered reluctantly, "Okay, Sister K, I will train hard."

The next morning, before the first rays of sunlight had completely dispelled the chill of the night, Liu Shishi was pulled out of bed by her assistant.

Jiang Yuanyuan was visiting Hengdian for the first time. Yesterday she was busy tidying up the dormitory for her mistress, and today she had some free time, so she excitedly begged Miss Liu to accompany her to explore Hengdian.

Liu Shishi had just visited Hengdian with Song Ci during last year's National Day holiday and was originally reluctant to go out. However, she chatted with her boyfriend until late last night and planned to catch up on sleep before training tomorrow.

But unable to resist Jiang Yuanyuan's repeated requests, he could only reluctantly leave the warm and comfortable bed and accompany his best friend to stroll around Hengdian, a land full of dreams.

The two left the small white building, eating breakfast as they walked side by side through the bustling morning streets.

Liu Shishi sipped a cup of soy milk and introduced some basic information about Hengdian to Jiang Yuanyuan.

"This area mainly consists of several filming bases, which are both tourist attractions and filming locations for many production crews. You don't need to accompany me during my martial arts training tomorrow; you can go and explore the area."

Liu Shishi figured her assistant wouldn't have anything to do during training and would just have to wait around. She wasn't that delicate and didn't need to be waited on hand and foot, so she decided to give her assistant a few days off so she could relax and have some fun in Hengdian.

Jiang Yuanyuan wolfed down her jianbing guozi and hesitated, "Aren't you going, Shishi?"

Liu Shishi shook her head slightly, "I have training tomorrow, and the crew starts filming again next week, where would I find the time! Besides, I just came here last year, there's really not much to do."

"Oh, then I'll wait until you're on vacation to go. I need to accompany you when you're training or filming, in case of any emergencies."

Jiang Yuanyuan immediately lost interest in sightseeing. Now she is an employee of Tangren Media. "Young Warriors of the Yang Clan" is a self-produced drama by Tangren Media, and Cai Yinong, as the producer, can come to the set at any time.

She felt that she should behave herself under the boss's watchful eye, in case she caused trouble by leaving her post. Even if Shishi wanted to show favoritism, it would be embarrassing.

Suddenly, a group of people dressed in military costumes and carrying prop guns hurried past her. Jiang Yuanyuan wondered, "Are they extras?"

Liu Shishi nodded and looked around. Compared to her visit to Hengdian during the National Day holiday last year, there were fewer tourists on the streets in winter.

Only the extras, who are dedicated to their dreams day after day, are rushing around, heading to various film crews.

Some extras who haven't received any work yet brave the cold wind and gather early at the entrance of the filming base in order to earn a day's wages, ready to be recruited by the film crew and waiting for unknown roles and challenges.

"I wonder if they had it as tough on set as Yin Tianchou in the movie 'King of Comedy,' where they couldn't even get a boxed meal?"

Jiang Yuanyuan, an only child from Beijing, was still quite naive and spoke with a touch of innocence.

"The real underclass extras are even more exaggerated than those in the movies. I heard from Sister K that some of them are so badly off that they can't even afford to eat, and they even get skin diseases because of hygiene problems with their costumes. It's terrible."

Having acted in two or three films and traveled extensively, Liu Shishi had a broader perspective than the assistant. With Cai Yinong's careful guidance, she knew a bit about the living conditions of extras.

Jiang Yuanyuan exclaimed in disbelief. She had just worked on a film set called "Nightclub" and still found it hard to believe what Liu Shishi was saying about the miserable lives of extras.

However, looking at those weathered and numb people from afar, she seemed to have gained some understanding. As she gradually came into contact with the most authentic side of the film and television industry, her longing for the glamorous entertainment circle was fading little by little.

Thinking of those extras who wrote their own extraordinary chapters with their sweat and perseverance, Liu Shishi felt a sudden loss of interest.

Looking back on yesterday, I realized I was actually a bit lazy and wanted to skip training. Compared to these extras who are busy making a living and pursuing their dreams, I really don't know how lucky I am.

"Yuanyuan, there's not much to see in Hengdian. If you don't go to the filming areas, it's just a few streets and buildings, much like other cities."

Let's buy some things and head back. I heard from Lao Hu that a big star came to the company this morning; we'll go to Tangren Pavilion to see the celebrity later.

After throwing away her soy milk cup in a roadside trash can, Liu Shishi grabbed Jiang Yuanyuan's arm and dashed off to the supermarket to buy some snacks before Jiang Yuanyuan could react.

Tomorrow's training will definitely be tiring, so Liu Shishi wants to eat more snacks during this training period to replenish her nutrition.

Jiang Yuanyuan nearly stumbled and fell due to her mistress's hurried pace. She quickly called out, "Shishi, slow down, don't pull me. I just had a big breakfast and can't run."

(End of this chapter)