Chinese entertainment industry has been booming since 2008.

Hengdian, the filming location of "Chinese Paladin 3".

Yang Mi had just finished filming a scene when she saw Tang Yan and Liu Shishi huddled together reading an entertainment magazine.

Tang Yan handed the magazine to Yang Mi and said enviously, "The ratings for 'My Love from the Star' have already broken 5. I'm so envious. When will I be able to play a role like Zhang Wangshu?"

Yang Mi glanced at the magazine cover and saw Fan Bingbing looking radiant and exuding a captivating aura. She took a sip of water without making a sound and said, "Yes, I'm so envious. I wish I had that kind of luck."

Are you still having bad luck?

Tang Yan rolled her eyes at Yang Mi in her mind, then feigned a sigh and said, "The role of Zhang Wangshu is simply tailor-made for Fan Bingbing. If only I could come across a script like that..."

Liu Shishi raised her head and said softly, "Everyone has their own opportunities. If we make a good film of 'Chinese Paladin 3,' maybe it will be a hit too?"

Yang Mi smiled but didn't reply.

After finishing work, Yang Mi stayed alone in the dressing room. Looking at herself in the mirror, she said to herself, "Yang Mi, you can do it. You will definitely become a big star that countless people envy."

.....

On October 2nd, the viewership rating of "My Love from the Star" broke 7, while "Ugly Betty" dropped to 2.1. This made Jiangsu TV extremely happy, and various companies wanted to invest in GG in droves. Hunan TV also started to take action.

...

In an office building in Beijing, the lights were on in the editorial office of XX Weekly. Editor-in-Chief Li Mingyuan pointed to the cover of the latest issue, his brows furrowed, and said, "Change the headline to 'My Love from the Star' completely outshines 'Ugly Betty'! Taiwanese director crushes Hong Kong counterpart?' That will generate more discussion."

The layout editor whispered a reminder: "Editor-in-chief, isn't this a bit too deliberate?"

"That's exactly the effect I wanted!"

As he spoke, Li Mingyuan picked up a red pen and circled on the template: "Make a data comparison table in the second edition, and use a line graph to show the ratings of 'Ugly Betty' and 'My Love from the Star' side by side. In the fifth edition, open an expert review column and find three 'well-known drama critics' whose opinions must be consistent—highlighting the Taiwanese director's keeping up with the times and the Hong Kong director's stagnation."

Meanwhile, an emergency meeting was being held in the editorial department of a well-known entertainment website. The website's editor-in-chief, Li Nan, stood in front of the projector, pointing a laser pointer at the special feature article titled "From Jiang Jiajun to Liu Junjie: Has the Era of Hong Kong Directors Ended?"

Li Nan spoke quickly: "We're going to make this a series of reports. The first part will review the performance of Hong Kong directors' works in mainland China over the past five years, highlighting the Waterloo of Hong Kong TV drama ratings. The second part will focus on the rise of Taiwanese directors, selecting successful cases for in-depth analysis. The third part will make market predictions, implying that Taiwanese directors are the mainstay of the mainland entertainment industry."

So, when October 3rd arrived, a large number of news articles appeared online criticizing Hong Kong directors while subtly praising Taiwanese directors. Anyone with eyes could see that someone was trying to stir up trouble. However, this was a top-notch open conspiracy; even if you knew it was a pit of fire, you would still jump in.

...

Smoke swirls inside a private dining room in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.

At the dinner table, several film industry heavyweights looked solemn.

Mr. Yang, the owner of Yinghuang Entertainment, held up his wine glass, his fingers trembling slightly: "The internet is full of mockery of us now. They're trying to destroy us. At the beginning of the year, we already had six projects stalled, and now this..."

Boss Xiang put down his chopsticks and sighed, "I spoke with Mr. Wang from Huayi today, and I could clearly sense that his attitude towards me has changed. He implied that he wanted to see how we would handle this situation."

Big Brother Long also said with great concern: "There is a gap in the new generation of actors in Hong Kong. Now, no matter who stirs up trouble, our competitors will definitely seize this opportunity to suppress us. As long as they succeed this time, we will always be ranked second, and our pay will be lower than others."

Big Brother Long's idea was not wrong. At this time, the entertainment industry in Taiwan Province was also holding a meeting. They decided to take this opportunity to thoroughly curb the arrogance of their rivals.

The entertainment industry is only so big, and there are only so many resources. Everyone wants to get a bigger share, which inevitably leads to conflicts.

Now that someone has started this trend, regardless of their motives, the bigwigs in Taiwan's entertainment industry will certainly not let this opportunity pass. As long as they can use the "My Love from the Star" and "Ugly Betty" incidents to kick their rivals while they're down, then in the future, both the capital in Taiwan's entertainment industry and the big stars in Taiwan will reap huge benefits.

After some discussion, the capital players in Taiwan's entertainment industry began to stir up trouble online, with Mu Xiaoguang playing a key role.

For example, Hsin-Lang Entertainment, which has close ties with the Taiwanese entertainment industry, published a special report: Data shows that the production costs of Taiwanese directors are on average 20% lower than those of Hong Kong directors, but their cooperation is much higher. More importantly, Taiwanese teams are better at grasping the aesthetic tastes of young audiences in the mainland entertainment industry.

Influenced by this topic, an unnamed film and television company boss in the Chinese entertainment industry frankly stated: "Now, when we hire Hong Kong directors, they also need to bring their own photography and art teams, which is too costly. Taiwanese teams are more flexible and willing to cooperate with Chinese entertainment teams."

Just as this trend began, the vice president of the China Television Drama Production Industry Association published a signed article in the CCTV Daily:

"We must be wary of the regional antagonism deliberately created by certain media outlets. The commercial film experience of Hong Kong directors and the art film tradition of Taiwan directors are both valuable assets of the Chinese film and television industry. We should learn from each other's strengths and make up for each other's weaknesses, rather than favoring one over the other."

Renowned film critic Zhou Liming wrote in his column: "The success of 'My Love from the Star' lies in its precise genre-based narrative and innovative audiovisual language, which has nothing to do with where the director is from. We should focus on the creation itself, rather than these meaningless regional labels."

And just like that, the whole thing ended before it even began, leaving the executives at Hunan TV and Wang Xiaoer from Huayi Brothers feeling quite frustrated, while the executives at Jiangsu TV breathed a long sigh of relief.

.....

"Ding, the Trainee Star System data is loading."

"Ding, data loaded successfully."

"Ding, system binding successful."

Zhang Yang's body suddenly stiffened. Tong Xiaoya immediately noticed that Zhang Yang was distracted and said coquettishly, "Little brother Zhang Yang, what are you thinking about at a time like this? Am I that unattractive?"

Looking at Tong Xiaoya's pretty face, Zhang Yang dismounted, picked up a cigarette, and leaned against the headboard to smoke.

It's a system, it's actually a system.

Just as Zhang Yang was overjoyed, the cold, metallic voice of the system echoed in his mind once again.

"Ding, database data is garbled."

"Ding, system defense mechanism activated."

Zhang Yang felt as if a lot of knowledge had suddenly filled his mind, and he felt like he was floating on air.

"Ding, system crash, data leaked."

Looking at Zhang Yang, Tong Xiaoya bit him in annoyance.

"what!"

Zhang Yang let out a piercing scream, which startled Tong Xiaoya. She swore she really hadn't used any force.