Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 514 High-End Business Warfare: Boiling Water Kills the Money Tree!

Longhua, Hongshan Office Building.

The air conditioner in the office was blowing blasts. Huang Xiaoming, dressed in a suit and wearing glasses, sat on the sofa with a gloomy expression, his right hand still unconsciously clenched.

Several extras stood with their arms crossed in front of him, heads bowed, staring silently at the carpet.

"OK! Everyone, proceed with the final preparations."

Holding a walkie-talkie, Chen Xiu sat in the corner of the office and began issuing orders. Today, he, who had been directing and acting in his own films, finally sat behind the monitor and directed the filming work.

Tian Xinwei sat beside him, her hands supporting her chin, her almond-shaped eyes wide with curiosity as she stared at the monitor screen.

The photographer and lighting technician gave an OK sign. Huang Xiaoming sat there motionless. In his words, this was the method acting style. He could immediately enter acting mode as soon as Chen Xiu said "action"...

She's quite the connoisseur; I hope her acting skills are really that good.

As for the remaining extras, they have no lines, no close-up shots, and only need to serve as background figures.

Once everyone was ready, Chen Xiu picked up the walkie-talkie: "Scene 103, first take, now starting! 3, 2, 1, action!"

"boom!"

A dull, loud bang suddenly rang out.

Huang Xiaoming, who had just been sitting on the sofa pretending to be deep and serious, suddenly stood up.

He approached the extras with a furrowed brow and bulging veins on his forehead, staring at them without saying a word.

After a long pause, Huang Xiaoming gritted his teeth and said, "Why did the money tree in my office die?! Did any of you pour boiling water on it?"

"laugh!"

Chen Xiu glanced at Tian Xinwei and noticed that she was covering her mouth tightly with both hands, her bright eyes showing an innocent look, as if to say: Don't blame me, it's your fault for writing such funny lines...

Chen Xiu gave him a stern look, indicating that this should not be done again.

Tian Xinwei lowered her hand, stuck out her pink tongue, and nodded obediently.

This minor disturbance wasn't enough to affect filming, but the atmosphere on set became somewhat subdued after Huang Xiaoming began performing.

To be honest, Huang Xiaoming's acting skills are actually quite good as long as he doesn't go for the domineering CEO style.

For example, the way he's now staring at the extras pacing back and forth with a gloomy face is quite reminiscent of Emperor Wu of Han in the TV series "The Emperor of Han Dynasty".

However, this was not the effect Chen Xiu wanted... "Cut! Xiao Ming, come here for a second."

"Huh? Okay."

Huang Xiaoming, whose performance was stopped, paused for a moment before coming over.

In that short distance of just a few meters, he replayed the performance in his mind many times, but he still couldn't figure out where he went wrong.

Upon arriving at the monitor, Huang Xiaoming glanced at Tian Xinwei before quickly shifting his gaze to Chen Xiu.

Chen Xiu didn't try to be mysterious by saying something felt off, hoping to make Huang Xiaoming perform repeatedly and torment him. His time was precious, and he wanted to be efficient during filming.

"Xiaoming, your performance just now was a bit too subdued."

"Suppressed?"

"Yes! You give me the feeling that you're playing a villain."

"Mr. Chen, isn't my character supposed to be a villain?"

Huang Xiaoming asked a question out of curiosity.

He plays Huang Xiaojun, the second male lead, whose role in the movie is to compete with the male lead, using all sorts of methods.

The scene where the money tree is killed by boiling water is also the male lead's act of revenge. Huang Xiaoming spent so much time preparing before filming to create a furious and exasperated look, so that the moviegoers would feel more satisfied!
As a film and television star who has been in the industry for many years, he is very clear about what kind of storylines audiences like to watch.

However, what Chen Xiu wanted was a different kind of satisfying, face-slapping effect.

"Let me put it this way! I hope you can use a bit of a comedic style in this performance."

"comedy?"

Huang Xiaoming was stunned for a moment, wanting to say that he couldn't act in comedy, but...

"That's it! It's that wide-eyed, bewildered look that reveals a clear, silly, and adorable blankness."

Chen Xiu picked up her phone, turned on the front-facing camera, and showed Huang Xiaoming what she looked like.

Tian Xinwei sat in her seat, looked up at Huang Xiaoming's clear eyes, and immediately covered her mouth with her hand.

Staring at his reflection on the screen, Huang Xiaoming's lips twitched. He thought to himself, "This doesn't look handsome at all! I'm a superstar with over twenty years in the industry, how can I be doing comedy..."

Chen Xiudao asked, "I think you have no problem performing in this style?"

"no problem!"

When Huang Xiaoming realized what he had said, his lips trembled even more violently and frequently.

Despite Huang Xiaoming's enthusiastic agreement, Chen Xiu remained uneasy. To ensure the smooth progress of the filming, he decided to help Huang Xiaoming prepare for the shoot.

"Xiaoming, can you understand how a business owner feels when their money tree dies in eastern Guangdong?"

"Uh... he must be very angry, right?"

Huang Xiaoming gave his answer.

Chen Xiu frowned slightly, instantly understanding the problem.

"Okay, this answer isn't wrong, but the understanding is a bit superficial and one-sided. Let me give you an example. You're from Shandong, right?"

"Correct."

Huang Xiaoming pursed his lips, looking at Chen Xiu, but in his heart he didn't really believe that this big shot could explain the play clearly...

"Imagine your family has a writing brush that produced top scholars in the imperial examinations. After several generations, it has been passed down to you. When you are using it to study for the civil service exam, it is suddenly broken by someone. How would you feel?" Huang Xiaoming stared wide-eyed, his face filled with disbelief, and he even felt his fist harden.

It has to be said that Chen Xiutai is very good at giving examples; with just one sentence, he made Huang Xiaoming feel the same way.

No, the actual harm from the example should be many times greater, but since it never had the chance to happen, he only used it briefly.

“That’s the expression!”

Chen Xiu pointed at Huang Xiaoming and guided him, "Remember this emotion. When you perform later, I hope you will express it in an exaggerated but not too exaggerated way."

"I... will try my best."

Huang Xiaoming tried to put his current feelings into the scene he had just witnessed, and suddenly found that he was actually quite good at acting that way.

Surprisingly, this big shot actually has a talent for directing!
Chen Xiu then instructed: "Remember, you can't swear. The real person you're playing is just so angry that she jumps around in a fit of rage when faced with this kind of situation, which makes her seem a bit comical, but she doesn't swear."

"prototype?"

Huang Xiaoming's puzzled expression suddenly froze, and his gaze toward Chen Xiu became hesitant and uncertain.

"Mr. Chen, may I ask you a question?"

"You said."

"Is this the story of killing a money tree with boiling water? Did it really happen in real life? Is there a real-life person who was the inspiration for it?"

"Are you curious?"

Chen Xiu narrowed her eyes, her smile unchanged, but it made Huang Xiaoming's heart skip a beat, and he immediately suppressed his curiosity.

"I'm not curious, I'm just trying to find the feeling for the role..."

"It felt like that person was so angry they were jumping up and down, jumping several times in a row, and even twisting their ankle at the end. You can try to act out that scene later."

Upon hearing this, not only Huang Xiaoming, but even Tian Xinwei, who was happily listening to gossip and watching the drama, looked at Chen Xiu with astonishment.

The tactic of killing a money tree with boiling water is a bit unethical, but they can understand it. At most, they find it strange that business warfare can be so simple and unpretentious.

However, the actual reactions of the parties involved, as described by Chen Xiu, were truly unexpected.

It felt as if he had installed surveillance cameras in his opponent's office, giving him complete control over his opponent's every move.

With such tactics, how could they possibly lose a business war?
Seeing Huang Xiaoming's stunned expression, Chen Xiu raised an eyebrow with amusement: "How much longer do you need to prepare?"

"I'm ready, Mr. Chen, let's begin!"

Huang Xiaoming answered hastily.

"OK! Go in and get a feel for it. We'll start again in 3 minutes."

Chen Xiu waved his hand, dismissing Huang Xiaoming.

Just as he was about to check his phone to confirm the time, he suddenly felt a series of tugs on his clothes.

Chen Xiu turned his head to look and saw Tian Xinwei resting her chin on one hand and tugging at his clothes with the other.

"what happened?"

"Um, who was the real-life inspiration for the character you mentioned earlier?"

With a fawning smile on her face, Tian Xinwei leaned close to Chen Xiu, her head adorned with two braids, and began to inquire about the gossip surrounding the bigwigs.

Back when Didi and Kuaidi were locked in a fierce battle, Chen Xiu and Lü Chuanwei (the CEO of Kuaidi) used every trick in the book. Apart from overturning the chessboard, they used every other tactic they could think of, and the two were evenly matched.

Chen Xiu later used a mental attack method, which was to pour boiling water on the money tree to kill it. This completely disrupted Lü Chuanwei's rhythm, leaving him unable to keep up with the ensuing combo attacks.

This allowed Didi to maintain its leading position in the ride-hailing war, until the capital behind both sides reached a settlement ahead of schedule...

However, Lü Chuanwei still couldn't forget the trick of "pouring boiling water on a money tree" even after the two companies merged.

Thinking back on her actions back then, Chen Xiu couldn't help but smile.

Seeing Tian Xinwei's increasingly expectant and excited expression, he reached out and gently flicked her forehead.

Stop prying into other people's embarrassing stories!

"Hmph! You just said it yourself, why aren't you finished?"

Tian Xinwei pouted and rubbed her forehead, but it didn't hurt at all.

Chen Xiu looked at her affectionately, and wanted to reach out and pat her little head, but this place was clearly not suitable for doing too much. If she did it suddenly, no one would notice, but if she did it too much, it wouldn't be good.

With a regretful pout, Chen Xiu picked up her pager and said, "Everyone get ready. We're going to do that scene again."

Everyone returned to their seats one by one, and Huang Xiaoming also sat back down on the sofa.

“第103幕第2次拍摄现在开始，3、2、1，action！”

As soon as he finished speaking, Huang Xiaoming stopped patting the sofa and instead got up and rushed to the money tree with glowing leaves.

Why did my money tree in the office die?!

He shouted at the top of his lungs, his eyes showing a clear, innocent look, then he turned around and jumped, pointing at the extras and starting to perform.

"You, you, who poured boiling water on it?"

I'm getting it, I'm getting it, just a little bit more.

Huang Xiaoming's face was filled with despair and disbelief as he reached out to touch the money tree. "I've raised it for so many years, and it was almost going to succeed..."

A leaf fluttered down as he touched it.

Huang Xiaoming stared blankly at the leaf, his facial muscles suddenly twitching, as if he were crying or angry. He kicked the air with his foot, but then used too much force and twisted his ankle, falling to his side!
"Cut! OK, this one's passed."

Chen Xiu called a halt to filming, thinking to herself: "I was right, Huang Xiaoming really does have comedic talent."

(End of this chapter)