Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 121 The mere mention of the pond owner caused him to lose control.

August 23, Songjiang University Town.

The crew of "Love O2O" held its opening ceremony here today, following the conclusion of the script reading session.

As a native of Hong Kong, director Lin Yufen, following tradition, also chose an auspicious time to start filming.

Several hours before the ceremony, the main actors began preparing their costumes and makeup.

As the male lead, Chen Xiu's appearance was also placed at the very front.

It was called a styling session, but it was really just that the stylist used hair oil to give him a haircut and then dressed him in an outfit based on the description of Xiao Nai in the novel.

The process was so simple that Chen Xiu only stayed in the mobile dressing room for less than 10 minutes before leaving.

After changing into a white shirt, black trousers, and leather shoes, Chen Xiu, with her hair styled in a side-parted updo, went straight to the temporary tent set up by the film crew. While waiting for the opening ceremony, she observed her appearance in a full-length mirror.

To be honest, he was a little dissatisfied.

The white shirt and black trousers were both from Taobao; the fit was terrible, and they were a bit tight on my body.

Then, this hairstyle might be because the stylist used too much hair oil, making him look a bit greasy in the mirror.

Frowning slightly, Chen Xiu considered taking matters into her own hands and doing the styling herself, given that the stylist's aesthetic differed from her own.

For his costumes on set, he wanted to use his own—the shirts and trousers in his wardrobe that were hand-measured by tailors, definitely better than these Taobao knockoffs…

Just as Chen Xiu was considering how to make her request to the director, another person walked into the tent.

"Brother Xiu! Look at my hair."

With her spiky short hair and wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, Meng Ziyi pouted as she approached Chen Xiu, expressing her dissatisfaction with her look.

"Ah."

Chen Xiu couldn't help but burst out laughing.

When he saw Meng Ziyi frown coquettishly, he said again, "This is the first time I've seen you with short hair, it's quite cute!"

"Really?"

The silly beauty's furrowed brows suddenly relaxed, and the corners of her mouth, which had been turned down, curled up again.

Chen Xiu nodded at her: "Good-looking people will look good whether they have long hair or short hair."

"Hehe, if you put it that way, this look isn't bad at all!"

Sister Meng nodded in satisfaction at herself in the mirror. Those glaring flaws from before didn't seem so unacceptable now.

After looking at her own look, she turned to Chen Xiu and said, "Brother Xiu, Zheng Shuang was just getting her makeup done next to me, but I finished faster than her, so I came over first."

"You seem to care about her quite a bit."

Chen Xiu looked up at Meng Ziyi, puzzled as to why she kept mentioning Zheng Shuang these past two days.

"She's our senior! She's from the 07 class of the Performance Department at Beijing Film Academy. It's only natural that I'd be concerned about her!"

Meng Ziyi explained for a moment, then continued, "On the 20th, the day of our script reading, Zheng Shuang and Hu Yanbin officially announced their relationship on Weibo! However, I feel that she still likes Zhang Han. But Zhang Han has someone he likes now, so I hope she can get over it soon..."

As he said this, Meng Ziyi glanced at Chen Xiu with a meaningful look.
As a result, Chen Xiu's mind was not on these gossip tidbits at all; instead, she deliberately coughed twice.

"Cough cough."

The silly beauty didn't realize what was happening at first, until Zheng Shuang, with a dark expression, walked into the tent, and she realized that her quick tongue had caused trouble again.

Seeing Zheng Shuang's persistently dark expression, Meng Ziyi bit her lip and tentatively asked, "Senior, I just..."

"Zhang Han and I have already broken up. If you're interested in our story, you can contact me directly next time!"

Zheng Shuang directly interrupted Meng Ziyi's apology process, speaking in a very cold and hard tone, which was completely different from the pure and innocent senior she had been showing these past few days.

Chen Xiu watched all this silently, without saying a word to support Meng Ziyi.

This whole thing was Meng Jie's fault, and Zheng Shuang's statement wasn't inappropriate either.

In this situation, even if he wanted to help, he couldn't.

Moreover, there was actually no need to help, because the incredibly perceptive and silly beauty didn't realize that Zheng Shuang was angry at all. Instead, after hearing her words, she nodded seriously.

"I understand, but I'm not really interested in Zhang Han, so I probably won't talk to you about him."

"Then why did you mention him just now?"

Zheng Shuang frowned and questioned, as if the mere mention of Zhang Tangzhu had instantly ignited a fierce aura within her.

Seeing the bewildered and dazed beauty, Chen Xiu took the initiative to step between the two: "I'm sorry, senior, I was the one who mentioned this person first. I was just echoing what I said, and I didn't mean to offend you."

"Ha, I never expected a billionaire to apologize to me!"

Zheng Shuang made a sarcastic remark about Chen Xiu.

She looks somewhat like the person Chen Xiu remembers.

Seeing her boyfriend stand up for her only to be mocked, Meng Ziyi, her temper flaring, pursed her lips and wanted to go up and challenge Zheng Shuang.

However, the next second, a greeting came from outside the tent, which was quite unfortunate.

"The opening ceremony will begin immediately; the actors can come out now!"

"Senior, why don't we go out and complete the opening ceremony first?"

Chen Xiu's attitude remained unchanged; she was still as gentle and kind as ever.

He never felt that others needed to fawn over him. Chen Xiu knew that those who fawned over him mostly wanted to get something from him, and the value of that thing far exceeded a few flattering words. He never liked to do unprofitable business, so it was better for everyone to interact as equals.

Zheng Shuang's sarcastic remark wasn't even considered an insult to Chen Xiu, so there was no reason for her to get angry.

However, his calm demeanor actually frightened Zheng Shuang, who had vented his anger and was starting to calm down.

"Um, I was in a bad mood just now, and I said some harsh things. Please don't mind!"

"It's nothing. I feel you were in good shape just now. Just keep it up. No need to adjust."

"I really didn't mean it, I just couldn't control myself, you know what I mean..."

Zheng Shuang's language logic began to become chaotic, and his attitude was in stark contrast to his previous carefree demeanor.

Chen Xiu glanced at her thoughtfully, but said nothing.

Meng Ziyi stared at Zheng Shuang with resentment, still angry about her sarcastic remarks about Chen Xiu.

The silly beauty actually knows that gossiping about others behind their backs is inappropriate. Her thinking is: I'll take responsibility for my own actions! What's wrong with messing with my man? If you're so capable, mess with me!
Each of the three had their own thoughts, but they all remained silent.

Finally, the director's assistant, who still couldn't find the male and female leads, rushed in to break the deadlock and led the three of them to the opening ceremony.

……

"Love O2O, may the filming of this movie be auspicious!!"

Holding a red envelope, Chen Xiu stood in front of the camera with a group of supporting actors and Zheng Shuang, the female lead who had just had a dark expression, to offer her blessings for the start of filming of the TV series.

Meng Ziyi stood to the side and behind Zheng Shuang, her smile looking very sweet and happy.

The unpleasantness in the tent earlier did not leave a trace on the faces of the three of them.

Everyone here is a professional actor, so their professionalism is definitely there.

When the opening ceremony moved on to individual interviews with the actors and director, Chen Xiu undoubtedly became the object of the reporters' attention.

However, their problems are still the same as before.

The questions are nothing more than "Why did you choose to act in this drama, Mr. Chen?", "What attracted you to this drama, Mr. Chen?", and "What are your plans after finishing this drama?"...

Chen Xiu had heard these questions so many times that she could recite them by heart.

Just as he drew away most of the reporters' attention, most of the other actors were also free.

With nothing to do, Meng Ziyi was about to turn around and find a place to stay when he saw Zheng Shuang behind him.

"Senior, you were looking for me?"

Meng Ziyi's tone was not good; he was clearly still angry about what had just happened.

Zheng Shuang didn't seem to care about her attitude: "I want to ask you something."

"Just because you ask me, does that mean I have to tell you?"

"You just said that in the tent, you said 'Zhang Han has someone he likes now.' Is this person also someone in the entertainment industry?"

Zheng Shuang stared stubbornly at Meng Ziyi, adopting a "I won't give up until you tell me" attitude.

Tsk, confirmed to be love-struck!

Considering what had just happened, Meng Ziyi originally didn't want to pay any attention to Zheng Shuang, but seeing her love-struck appearance, Sister Meng couldn't help but soften her heart and still said a few words.

"When I was filming 'God of War Zhao Yun,' I saw Zhang Han visit one of the actresses on set, and I overheard them chatting for a bit. Based on my years of experience dating, Zhang Han probably wanted to pursue that actress, but he couldn't..."

"Is he now pursuing someone?"

Zheng Shuang shouted in a completely broken state, the volume of his voice almost attracting the attention of reporters not far away.

Meng Ziyi quickly pulled her hand, signaling that someone was paying attention, and then sped up her speech, telling Zheng Shuang everything she knew.

“I overheard their conversation. It’s true that Zhang Han is pursuing that actress, but she doesn’t like him.”

"Phew~. Who is that actress?"

"I can't say... Didn't you already officially announce your relationship with Hu Yanbin? Why are you still thinking about Zhang Han?"

"I was just asking casually."

Hearing Zheng Shuang's perfunctory answer, Meng Ziyi felt that she was being deceived by Zheng Shuang, and that she had just empathized with her.

Meng Ziyi secretly pursed her lips, not wanting to say anything more to Zheng Shuang: "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

"Oh, okay, thank you."

Zheng Shuang nodded, his mind no longer on Meng Ziyi.

Rolling his eyes in frustration, Meng Ziyi went straight back to his tent to rest.

When Chen Xiu finished her interview and came to find her, the silly beauty told her everything that had just happened.

"...She said she was just asking casually, but how could she be just asking casually? I feel that she still likes Zhang Han!"

"If you like her, then so be it! In the future, when you're not filming on set, try to stay away from Zheng Shuang. I feel like she's a bit..."

Chen Xiu pointed to her head and drew several circles, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Meng Ziyi nodded in agreement; she now understood what Chen Xiu meant by "abstract female lead."

(End of this chapter)