How can you become a star without money?

Chapter 29: No need to pour wine anymore?
When Wang Yao returned to the private room, he found that there were only 4 people left inside.

Even the young girls that Chen Yun had brought earlier were gone, which meant that the next topic of conversation in the private room would be the main event of the night.

Chen Yun, Chi Xin, and another new woman sat on the far left of the booth.

On the far right sat a girl wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a mask, covering herself up completely like an iron barrel; the two seemed to be separated by a galaxy.

Upon seeing Wang Yao return, Chi Xin pointed to the far right of the booth, indicating that he should go and wait there for a moment.

Wang Yao nodded in acknowledgment and sat down opposite the girl with the metal bucket, maintaining a polite and safe distance.

The girl slightly raised her head, seemingly glancing at Wang Yao, before continuing to play on her phone.

A typical reclusive homebody, with an aura that keeps strangers at bay.

Since the other person was dressed like that, they were probably not presentable, so Wang Yao naturally wouldn't presume to strike up a conversation. He also took out his phone to reply to a few text messages.

'Boom dong dong'

The dull, crisp sound of three fingers tapping on the marble tabletop rang out.

Wang Yao looked up and saw the other person's long, slender, white fingers with black manicured nails pointing to the empty wine glass and the decanter containing red wine on the table.

?

Do you think I'm some kind of young master?

Wang Yao frowned slightly, but still poured her a drink.

The girl nodded in acknowledgment, then inserted the straw directly into her mask and sipped the red wine.

Wang Yao took a closer look and noticed that there was a small opening on the other person's mask, which seemed to be specifically for inserting a straw.

Extreme social anxiety?
In such a private place, they don't even take off their masks.

The discussion on Chi Xin's side seemed quite intense, and some arguments could be faintly heard.

Wang Yao was multitasking, replying to messages while trying to listen in.

'Boom dong dong'

The sound of fingers tapping on the table rang out again.

Tsk, is this never going to end?

Wang Yao was getting impatient, so he pushed the decanter over and told her to pour it herself.

The girl paused for a moment, then tapped on the table again.

“Miss, I’m not a waiter,” Wang Yao explained.

"Doesn't the male escort need to pour drinks?" The girl's voice was a little nasal, sounding somewhat coquettish.

"Who told you I'm a male escort?" Wang Yao chuckled. "I came here with President Chi."

"Oh, you brought it yourself? Sorry, I thought my mom ordered it," the girl said apologetically.

He was very polite, but the things he said weren't very pleasant.

What does "built-in" mean?
Wang Yao's mouth moved, but he was too lazy to explain.

A mother and daughter hiring a male escort, they're quite the ladies' man.

Then both sides fell silent again, with only the sound of people playing on their phones.

After a while, Chi Xin seemed to have finished her discussion, and the three of them got up and walked towards Wang Yao.

The girl and Wang Yao both politely stood up at the same time.

"This must be President Wang. It's a pleasure to meet you. President Chi's company is indeed full of talented and promising young people," the girl's mother praised Wang Yao.

Wang Yao felt that the other person looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.

A beautiful young woman of this caliber should leave a deep impression, right?

"Ah Yao, you can call this Sister Li. You already know this one, right?" Chi Xin said with a smile.

Wang Yao glanced at the girl and could sense the embarrassment in her eyes even through her sunglasses.

"Sisi, take that stuff off your face," the beautiful young woman said softly.

The girl lowered her head slightly, took off her sunglasses and mask, revealing a delicate and pretty face.

Wang Yao raised an eyebrow slightly.

Oh, I actually recognize her! Isn't this Liu Yifei?
I finally encountered a popular character that I had focused on writing about before.

Looking at the beautiful young woman again, he realized why she looked familiar—it was Liu's mother.

"Let's get to know each other. I'm a big fan of Ms. Liu; I grew up watching her TV dramas," Wang Yao said with a light laugh.

Liu Yifei tilted her head slightly, indicating her confusion.

Liu's mother and Chen Yun were also taken aback for a moment, then chuckled and teased, "It seems our Xixi is really a veteran actress, with such a big fan base."

"Hehehe." Liu Yifei rubbed the brim of her hat and gave a fake smile.

“Ah Yao is a few years younger than Qianqian. Qianqian debuted earlier, which shows that Qianqian’s audience is indeed very large.” Chi Xin subtly defended Wang Yao.

“A large audience is useless if you don’t have enough influence to translate into box office numbers. The domestic film market is too unfriendly to female actors,” Liu Xiaoli sighed.

He casually slapped Liu Yifei's hand as she reached for the wine glass.

"The domestic film market is still in its development stage. Male actors may not be able to carry the box office, let alone female actors."

Chen Yun smiled and looked at Wang Yao, "I heard that President Wang has created a career-driven female persona for Qu Shou. Could you give our Qianqian some similar suggestions to attract more female fans?"

"Does Miss Liu still need a persona?" Wang Yao asked, somewhat surprised.

Liu Yifei can now be considered a near-top-tier actress in China in all aspects, and her personas as Zhao Ling'er and Fairy Sister have long been established.

"It's because the previous persona can no longer provide better development, so we're thinking of finding a new one," Liu Xiaoli said with a gentle smile.

Actually, she wasn't interested in whether Wang Yao offered suggestions or not; she brought Liu Yifei here today mainly to discuss cooperation in the Korean market.

If Chi Xin hadn't mentioned it, she would have already taken Liu Yifei away. "Excuse me, is Ms. Liu currently signed with General Manager Chen's company?" Wang Yao asked, somewhat puzzled.

Shouldn't Liu Yifei's company be Red Star Company, which her godfather Chen Jinfei specifically set up for her?

“We were already in charge of Sissi’s international activities two years ago; we were responsible for international operations,” Chen Yun explained.

"Oh, the export-to-domestic sales model, right?" Wang Yao nodded thoughtfully.

"That's quite a clever description," Chen Yun said with a smile, her eyes narrowed.

This kid's words are quite insightful.

“Miss Liu is already a top-tier celebrity in China. I’m just a newcomer in the industry, so I wouldn’t dare to presume to teach Mr. Chen such a thing,” Wang Yao said modestly.

"Sisi wants to pursue an international career, but foreigners don't buy into the 'innocent and naive' image of domestic girls, making it very difficult for her to establish herself internationally."
But we can't abandon our existing fanbase in China, so do you think there's a way to cleverly integrate these elements?

Chi Xin explained the situation, hoping that Wang Yao would give her some face.

Wanting both—a classic case of biting off more than you can chew.

Wang Yao glanced at Liu Yifei, who was sitting upright but actually spacing out and acting listlessly.

I feel sorry for this little figurine. It's clearly a lazy bum, but it's being forced to strive for something better.

"It's normal for different cultures to have conflicting preferences. As far as I know, especially in places where Western culture is the mainstream, the ideal female character tends to be the 'bad girl' type."
For example, the female lead in the popular "Twilight" series in recent years—her on-screen persona of a naive, innocent girl versus a rebellious woman off-screen—was quite successful. But that doesn't work in China. The Chinese don't like contrasts; they prefer consistency between appearance and reality.

Wang Yao pondered for a moment, then analyzed the situation carefully.

Since Liu Yifei's role in "The Forbidden Kingdom" in 08, she has been trying to cultivate an international image of an independent woman, but she has consistently failed. The main reason is that it is difficult to break the deep-rooted stereotypes held by most of her fans.

Then they didn't dare to let Liu Yifei run wild, fearing that their base would collapse. So they just stagnated and suffered from internal strife without making much progress. Even ten years later, they were just relying on their past popularity and didn't forge their own new path like other top female stars.

Too much success leads to path dependence, which incurs huge sunk costs. Without the courage to burn one's bridges, one is basically just going in circles.

Chen Yun and Liu Xiaoli were somewhat surprised to hear this. They hadn't expected that Wang Yao could actually come up with something. The example he gave was indeed the persona they had been researching recently, which they wanted Liu Yifei to follow overseas.

But I am indeed worried that being inconsistent with one's words and actions will cause one's public image to collapse in China, since China is still too traditional.

"As a fan, if Xixi makes some romance movies, would you be willing to go to the cinema to support her?" Liu Xiaoli asked with some curiosity.

"Are you saying that we male fans spend money to watch Miss Liu date someone else?" Wang Yao blinked.

Liu Xiaoli paused for a moment, then chuckled softly.

This young man is quite interesting to talk to.

"Crunch crunch crunch." Liu Yifei suddenly started chewing on potato chips.

With wide, darting eyes, he seemed to be an outsider, not the center of the discussion.

Liu Xiaoli's face turned cold. She knew perfectly well that this was her daughter's silent protest.

"Do you have any suggestions on how to attract female fans?" Chen Yun asked.

"Actually, most female fans don't like female celebrities either, and the competition among female celebrities is even more intense in China." Wang Yao touched his nose.

"Competition among women?" Chen Yun frowned.

"It's like the instinctive competition for sexual resources among people of the same sex in biology. For example, most women, when they see someone of the same sex who is more beautiful or has higher sexual value than themselves, are easily attracted to them due to physiological reactions."

"It creates a competitive mentality, which in turn creates a resistant mentality. So if you want to attract female fans, you have to make the persona more masculine, so that female fans see Ms. Liu as, um... a mating fantasy object?" Wang Yao carefully considered his words.

The three older women had different expressions.

"Crunch, crunch, crunch!" Liu Yifei's chewing of potato chips grew louder and louder as her gaze focused on Wang Yao's face.

“For example, Lady Gaga and Shakira from abroad, and Yao Chen from China, all their behaviors are basically based on the logic of ‘anti-feminine characteristics’ plus ‘doing things like men,’ which will stimulate women’s hormones and admiration for strength,” Wang Yao explained.

"Yao Chen?" Chen Yun asked thoughtfully.

“Yes, Yao Chen’s recent persona on Weibo is that of a typical masculine woman, always giving orders and pontificating. This kind of thing that women want to do but dare not do will stimulate women’s admiration for strength.” Wang Yao nodded.

"So, you mean we have to do things from a male perspective?" Liu Xiaoli's gaze fell on her daughter.

"Is racing okay? I want to race." Liu Yifei understood.

“Speeding is illegal,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

"What about extreme sports?" Liu Yifei thought about it seriously.

“Sure, posting more content about bungee jumping, skydiving, skiing, and diving on social media should be quite effective,” Wang Yao nodded.

Liu Yifei's previously unfocused eyes suddenly began to focus.

"Thank you for your valuable suggestions, Mr. Wang. It's too late today. Let's arrange a time to have a proper chat another day. Qianqian, let's go home now," Liu Xiaoli interrupted.

She made sure Liu Yifei had sunglasses and a mask on, worried that if they continued talking, her daughter might actually take it to heart and secretly do these extremely dangerous things. If that happened, she wouldn't even know where to turn to for help.

"Sister Liu is too strict with her daughter," Chi Xin said after watching the Liu mother and daughter leave the private room.

"Having such a precious daughter, of course I'll protect her like the apple of my eye," Chen Yun said with a nonchalant smile.

Wang Yao smiled but remained silent.

A daughter carrying the weight of her mother's life.

It's still pretty bad.

"What did Mr. Wang study? He seems to have a wide range of knowledge," Chen Yun asked curiously.

I originally thought Wang Yao was just a gigolo brought up by Chi Xin, but after listening to his analysis just now, he seems to be a young man with substance, and not just a gigolo.

"I studied foreign trade economics, but I usually like to chat online, so please excuse my rudeness, Mr. Chen," Wang Yao said with a shy smile.

"Mr. Wang is too modest. My boss, Mr. Chi, told me about Qu Shou's matter. Mr. Wang's plan is very reasonable. If it really succeeds, it could be a very profitable business," Chen Yun said with a smile.

“It’s a pity that Qu Shou’s foundation is too weak. Such a large investment is extremely risky. I brought you out today because I couldn’t bear to see your talent buried and the dangers you will face.” Chi Xin looked at Wang Yao with burning eyes.

His voice was filled with sympathy and worry as he spoke slowly.

"He Ming wants to make you a scapegoat."

　Thanks to dong乱世狂刀 and 叔本滑 for their monthly and recommendation votes!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)