How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 218 You're a full twelve years older than her, what are you comparing yourself to her for?
The premiere of "Running Man" achieved a viewership rating of 12.1%, which, although only ranking third in its time slot, was already a great success, as this variety show allowed SBS to compete with KBS and MBC.

Previously, this time slot was dominated by variety shows from two other TV stations. More importantly, this brand-new outdoor chase sports variety show format brought new excitement. Although it was not their own creation, it was borrowed from the 04 Japanese variety show "Run for Money".

When the show aired that day, "Running Man" trended on Twitter and MSN multiple times, with "Kim Ji-won Good Luck Sister" being the most popular.

Kim Ji-won's rambling "Everything that happens is for my benefit" and "I'm the luckiest person" segment on a variety show sparked laughter and heated discussion. Host Yoo Jae-suk conducted a special interview with her, and Kim Ji-won explained that this was the Law of Attraction she had learned, and said that after believing in it, her life suddenly became smoother.

Combined with Kim Ji-won's successful career, including her debut in an advertisement with BB, her subsequent rise to fame at the Shanghai World Expo, her millions of global fans, and her high endorsement fees, the authenticity of her nickname is directly established.

Then, the comments under this trending topic were filled with a series of metaphysical phrases like "receive good luck," "receive beauty," and "receive sudden wealth."

Goryeo is a particularly mysterious country, and metaphysics is deeply ingrained in its culture. After all, it is unique to have thousands of cult organizations across the country. This metaphysical concept has suddenly sparked heated discussions on South Korean websites.

Finally, Korean netizens traced the source back to the fact that the most popular science about the Law of Attraction was found on a new social platform called MLS (Mulan Street). The platform's streamlined and smooth waterfall-style page and high-quality visual presentation immediately caught the attention of many people.

In addition, the platform's content mostly consists of popular science articles on gender-related social issues such as astrology, tarot, and psychology, as well as content on fashion, beauty, and skincare, which attracted the attention of Korean female netizens, especially students, and quickly spread.

Many netizens also directly used the link below the post to place an order on Gmarket (Korea's largest e-commerce platform) to buy the same 'lucky crystal' worn by Kim Ji-won on the show.

Although Wang Yao did not purchase product placement in Running Man, it does not mean that there is no way to subtly integrate the product. The needs of users in different environments are different. As long as every exposure is used as a prelude, the effect of subtly integrating the product will often be beyond expectations.

Wang Yao's method for promoting Mulan Street in Korea was to embed and expose content related to constellations, crystals, and divination in various popular variety shows, using metaphysics to quickly identify the target audience and then enter the e-commerce platform.

The broadcast of "Running Man" was very well received, and Kim Tae-ri and Han So-hee, as newcomers to variety shows, also gained a lot of positive exposure.

Kim Tae-ri and Han So-hee are both typical naturally gifted actresses, and their styles are 'non-Korean'.

Kim Tae-ri has a Japanese aesthetic, but her youthful charm gives her a naturally contradictory and intriguing look, which is a great advantage in still photos and movies.

Han So-hee has a typical Korean look, but her temperament is a rare Western-style bitch. She was scouted by the Korean branch while working at a coffee shop. Because her looks suited the Chinese market, she quickly became popular in the online shopping industry and just signed a full-time agency contract a month ago.

Both of them come from ordinary families. Because of their outstanding looks and temperament, they started working as part-time models in high school. However, Kim Tae-ri has a more peaceful personality. Although she and Kim Ji-won were discovered by the company at the same time, she did not show any dissatisfaction when Kim Ji-won suddenly became popular.

However, Han So-hee appears ambitious. Although she has just turned 17, her family was wealthy when she was young, but her family's fortunes declined due to her mother's fraud during junior high school, which made her life extremely difficult and fueled her ambition.

Having joined the company for less than three months, she has already become the top salesperson with the most projects, even taking a break from school for it. After learning that Kim Ji-won got her current opportunity by taking a shortcut, she has long been curious about the man behind her.

I never expected to finally meet the mysterious chairman behind the company today.

Seeing the usually aloof and easily abusive Lee Eun-hye (the head of the artist department at Goryeo Company) bowing and scraping before that handsome young man, Han So-hee's amazement turned into fervent admiration.

"Mr. Wang, these are Tai Li and Su Xi." Li Enhui has been learning Chinese in Shanghai, and most of the ambitious and motivated employees in the company have started learning it as well.

Kim Tae-ri and Han So-hee quickly stood up and bowed respectfully, one with a curious expression and the other with gentle eyes.

Although both of them were filming projects for China, they had never been to China. There were many rumors about the company's chairman, and they never expected that he would be the same age as them and a handsome man. They immediately felt sympathy and envy for Kim Ji-won's good fortune.

Wang Yao greeted the two of them and said with a smile, "Today is to celebrate your successful debut on a variety show, so make yourself at home."

Today's event serves two purposes: first, to celebrate their success, and second, to invite some figures in the Korean entertainment industry with whom we will be collaborating in the future to get acquainted and avoid potential problems in our future interactions.

Goryeo is a typical place with many hidden troublemakers; even a small film crew might have a complex web of interests comparable to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.

"Isn't the president Chinese? How come he speaks Korean so well?" Han Suxi said, covering her mouth with surprise.

Kim Tae-ri raised an eyebrow slightly upon hearing this, looking puzzled. This accent sounds like it comes from the North or that of a foreigner. How could she tell it's good?
"That's an exaggeration. I'd say we can communicate, but that's more like we can communicate." Wang Yao smiled and looked Han Suxi up and down.

She was only seventeen years old, but she exuded a mature aura that set her apart from her peers. Even Kim Tae-ri, who was twenty-one years old, didn't seem as socially adept as her.

Lee Eun-hye watched as Han So-hee began to fawn over Wang Yao with a clear purpose, and a hint of admiration flashed in her eyes. Although she had only just signed with Wang Yao, Han So-hee's talent and awareness were far superior to Kim Ji-won's. If Han So-hee had followed Wang Yao back then, Lee Eun-hye estimated that her resources would have been even better.

Although the Goryeo branch is already one of the largest in the industry, models are just a basic foundation. To truly advance, one needs to enter the entertainment industry. However, in Goryeo, where the industry is highly segmented, achieving a breakthrough is extremely difficult.

Therefore, she urgently needed to gain Wang Yao's support to get the company to invest in some projects, but she no longer dared to give Kim Ji-won any instructions, fearing that it would cause unforeseen complications. She could only give Wang Yao hints through new stimuli.

Han So-hee's performance pleased her greatly, and she even felt that Wang Yao had deliberately not brought Kim Ji-won today.

In contrast, Kim Tae-ri seemed a bit stiff, sitting next to Wang Yao and just grinning foolishly. However, it was obvious that she had a crush on Wang Yao. But thinking about it, it makes sense. Facing such a young and talented man of the same age who was rich and had business resources, the temptation was indeed quite great.

After chatting for a while, the guests arrived one after another. First came national-level MCs Kang Ho-dong and Yoo Jae-suk, followed by Lee Yoo-jung and veteran female director Lim Soon-rye, as well as the company's newly signed new directors Hwang Dong and Jeon Go-woon, actor Gong Yoo, and others. These were the main creative teams of "Silenced", "Hope", and "Plaything".

These three highly anticipated films, which haven't even started filming yet, took the creative team a month to polish the scripts. The directors and actors all valued being able to participate in this type of project.

Especially for the female directors, in Korea's patriarchal society, female directors/screenwriters are basically ghostwriters for male directors and rarely have the opportunity to lead such top-tier productions, so they value this opportunity very much. Currently, female directors make up less than 15% of Korean directors, and less than 1% have the opportunity to direct commercial films.

Kang Ho-dong and Yoo Jae-suk also left their original company due to tax issues and are now affiliated with HIC (Korea Branch). With them around, the atmosphere at the dinner party was never dull.

Seeing the respectful attitude of the entertainment industry bigwigs who usually only appear in news and rumors towards Wang Yao, Han Suxi's eyes burned even brighter with the atmosphere, and she unconsciously moved closer to Wang Yao, almost touching him.

The closer she was to the center, the easier it was to have the illusion that she was also the center, a feeling that fascinated her.

Then, director Wang Ying of "The Snow Secret" arrived with Li Bingbing and Jun Ji-hyun, bringing the atmosphere to a climax.

Korea has a natural tendency to fawn over Hollywood. Although "The Snow Secret" was not a top-tier production and Wang Ying did not achieve much in the Hollywood commercial film industry, he was a pioneering figure for the entire East Asian film industry.

He is a pioneer and leader of Asian cinema, and almost all Asian directors have been influenced by him. He also served as a jury member at the Berlin Film Festival last year, making him very influential in the independent film field.

Korean directors have a distorted yearning for independent films, which is why Wang Young has a very high influence on the Korean film and television industry.

"Director Wang, it's a pleasure to meet you." Wang Yao stood up to greet him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wang, I was a little late because of traffic." Wang Yingnian is nearly 60 years old, but he looks as robust as a middle-aged man.

"I hope I didn't delay your filming," Wang Yao said in a friendly greeting.

They hadn't originally been invited, but because they had made plans with Deng Wendi, and heard that Wang Yao was organizing a gathering today to give those people from Goryeo a hard time, they insisted on bringing their crew to help out.

Wang Yao did not refuse. The Koreans fear power but not morality. They must be suppressed in every way and not treated well so that they can work obediently.

Wang Yinglai's endorsement means that Wang Yao has the ability to access Hollywood channels, which is very important for directors like those in Korea.

After Wang Ying appeared, the conversation at the dinner table quickly turned to the film industry, especially among new directors like Huang Donghe, who had a lot of curiosity about Hollywood. Wang Ying answered all their questions and took the opportunity to learn about the three films that were about to be produced, to see if there was a chance to participate in the three major awards next year.

After chatting for a while, Deng Wendi's arrival with Li Fuzhen and Lu Shuying once again demonstrated the Koreans' respect and subservience to the chaebols.

"You guys chat, I'll excuse myself for a moment." Wang Yao got up and went into another private room with Deng Wendi and the others.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the intimate gesture of Li Fuzhen casually punching Wang Yao.

No wonder this little-known company was able to handle three such sensitive topics; it turns out the chairman followed the path of the Three Star Princess!

Yoo Jae-suk and Kang Ho-dong were sweating bullets. This confirmed the connection between Wang Yao and the three stars. They were indeed planning to take them down. Luckily, they voted quickly beforehand.

"Mr. Wang, it's a pleasure to meet you." Lu Shuying is the daughter of the leader, the matriarch of SK, one of the five major conglomerates, a representative of noble ladies in Goryeo, and the eldest of the three. She has some masculine features, but her temperament is exceptionally gentle.

She's almost fifty, but she's very well-maintained and looks like she's in her early forties, about the same age as Deng Wendi.

In the future, the chaebol matriarchs portrayed in Goryeo dramas will basically be based on her real-life counterpart.

There are many interpretations of whether a woman has masculine features or a man has feminine features.

"Hello, Ms. Lu." Wang Yao greeted her with a smile: "I often hear Zheng Ziwen praise your NABI as the best art center in all of Asia."

"Sister, don't listen to his nonsense. She's just after our money," Li Fuzhen said with a smile, exposing him.

Wang Yao glanced at her and smiled, "Sister Fu Zhen, have you come up with some great projects recently? You look even more youthful and radiant."

Lee Boo-jung had deliberately chosen a bright-colored outfit today to look younger, and upon hearing this, she angrily punched Wang Yao: "You're calling me a child? I'm definitely not as good as your Kim Ji-won."

“You’re a full twelve years older than her, what are you comparing yourself to her for?” Wang Yao chuckled.

Lee Boo-jung pursed her lips. In reality, she was almost two cycles older than Kim Ji-won. Even though she knew Wang Yao was a smooth talker, she still enjoyed it.

Wang Yao collaborated with her on many Korean projects, especially the tourism promotion activities for the Shilla Hotel. She planned a lot of product promotion for her in China through Mulan Street/Ms, which received a good response. The sponsorship of "Superman" was also given to her by Wang Yao. The two often chat on KT and can be considered as close business partners and online friends.

Lee Boo-jung has already opened a plastic surgery clinic and the Shilla Hotel in Thames Town, which are currently under renovation.

“Fu-jeong is indeed not young anymore, and such brightly colored outfits are not suitable for her; they are not dignified enough,” Lu Shuying said with a smile, but she was subtly reminding Li Fu-jeong.

You're already a married man, don't be too intimate with this young, handsome guy.

(End of this chapter)