Huayu: Starting with Hijacking from "The Story of a Noble Family"

Chapter 68 "The Chosen Ones," Too Naive

Another day passed, and at 9:45 pm on November 28th, the 3rd "Top Ten Chinese Television Arts Awards Ceremony" and the grand gala celebrating the 10th anniversary of Yueqing's establishment as a city were broadcast on Zhejiang Satellite TV.

Xu Heng watched the gala again with his classmates and juniors through the dormitory's shared TV.

His classmates and juniors were naturally extremely envious of his being named one of the top ten actors.

Some teachers at the school were also very envious or even jealous, such as Teacher Huang Lei.

If his drama "Like Water Flowing Years" hadn't had such poor ratings, he might have been named one of this year's top ten actors!

He might even be able to be named one of the top ten actors and one of the top ten directors, just like Uncle Benshan. At least that's what he thinks!

Seeing Xu Heng go on stage to accept the award and sing "Confession Balloon" live, the surrounding classmates and junior students were filled with envy once again.

They were once again amazed by Xu Heng's calm and composed performance on stage, as well as his singing skills!

Meanwhile, as the gala aired, Tianya quickly became lively again!

"Xu Heng's live singing is amazing!"

"Xu Heng can write songs, including 'A Little Happiness' and 'Confession Balloon,' so it's only natural that he's a good singer!"

"Xu Heng's stage performance was very stable; it didn't seem like he was participating in such a large-scale event for the first time, and he looked much more pleasing to the eye than other celebrities!"

"Xu Heng has always had a great image and temperament. He usually dresses very cleanly and neatly, and he also looks very avant-garde and fashionable!"

"When he was interviewed back then, Xu Heng said that he and Liu Yifei were born stars, and now it seems that he wasn't exaggerating."

"Xu Heng's rise to fame with just one drama seems to be more than just luck."

"How could it be luck? Even if he hadn't acted in 'The Story of a Noble Family,' with Xu's talent and good looks, he would definitely have become famous in the future. The only difference is when!"

,,,「」

The following Saturday, the online popularity of "Confession Balloon" increased significantly.

In the evening, the weekend edition of "China Film Report" broadcast another interview with the cast and crew of "Our Times". The footage recorded last time was originally intended to be made into two episodes.

This episode also featured a new movie trailer, or you could say, the music video for "Confession Balloon".

The Tianya Film and Television Review section quickly became a hot topic again.

"Did you watch this episode of 'Chinese Film Report'? It's another interview with 'Our Times'!"

"It's true that Xu Heng created 'Confession Balloon' for this movie; he even seems to have portrayed himself as a big star in the film!"

"Xu Heng's music video is very well made. If he weren't a film director, he'd probably be quite good at directing music videos!"

"I'm actually starting to look forward to this movie!"

"This movie is getting a lot of buzz lately, is it really that good?"

"The movie hasn't been released yet, so who knows if it'll be good or not? But the promotional costs must be quite high!"

"Which movie doesn't promote itself before its release? But it seems this movie really spent a lot of money on promotion—"

"Where did Xu Heng get so much money? Does he really have a sugar daddy backing him?"

"Who knows? We'll know whether the movie is good or not after it's released. We'll also find out if Xu Heng really has directing talent or just has too much money to spend!"

'

,

1

A few days later, on December 7th, Xu returned to Zhejiang Province to prepare for the national premiere press conference and audience meet-and-greet for "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" to be held in Hangzhou the following day.

Zhang Dahuzi arrived the day before yesterday, and Liu Yifei arrived yesterday.

Generally, there's no need for this, so Xu Heng won't travel with Liu Yifei.

During dinner, the crew gathered at the hotel restaurant. Besides Xu Heng, Liu Yifei, Liu Xiaoli, and Zhang Dahuzi, there were also Hu Jun, Liu Tao, and Xiu Qing.

Director Zhou Xiaowen did not come to Hangzhou this time, which has led to some media speculation that he may not be the director of Zhang Dahuzi's next drama, "The Return of the Condor Heroes".

Seeing Xu, Hu Jun and Xiu Qing were naturally very envious.

When this "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" was filmed, Xu Heng was still a relatively unknown newcomer, and the most famous actor in the crew was obviously Hu Jun.

Xiu Qing has acted in many TV series, and has gained some fame for his role as Hua Rong in the CCTV version of "Water Margin".

But now Xu is the most famous and popular actor in their drama, and has just been named one of the top ten actors.

This title may not be as prestigious as other awards, but it is definitely worth the effort!

As for Liu Tao, she also envied Xu Heng, but she envied Liu Yifei even more!

She debuted as the second female lead in a major TV series, then became Wang Yuyan, the most eye-catching female character in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", and then became the female lead in a movie.

And she became famous after her first drama aired, and also sang a hit movie theme song.

Most importantly, Liu Yifei was able to meet Xu at such a young age!

A party inevitably involves drinking, but I can't drink too much because I have an event tomorrow, so I'll be using small glasses.

As for Liu Yifei, she will definitely only be able to drink beverages, while Liu Xiaoli will only be able to drink plain water.

Liu Tao poured herself some baijiu (Chinese liquor). She didn't have the same treatment as Liu Yifei, but she had already attended some drinking parties before.

"Producer Zhang, I'd like to raise a glass to you to thank you for giving me the opportunity to play Qiao Feng!"

Hu Jun was the first to stand up and toast Zhang Da Hu Zi, which speaks volumes about the high level of attention and fierce competition surrounding the role of Qiao Feng.

"I said there would be an opportunity to cooperate, and I certainly can't go back on my word!"

-

Zhang the Bearded Man laughed loudly, but did not stand up.

Seeing Hu Jun drink it all in one gulp, he only picked up his glass and took a small sip.

When he was filming "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer", Hu Jun wanted to play Linghu Chong, but he felt it was not suitable. However, he greatly admired Hu Jun and promised that there would definitely be opportunities to work together in the future.

When filming "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils", he felt that Hu Jun's image was very suitable for playing Qiao Feng, so he directly gave the role to Hu Jun.

Of course, that's the official explanation; what actually happened is unknown.

"Xu Heng, before I came here, Sister Hua specifically asked me to congratulate you in person on her behalf."

After sitting down, Hu Jun filled his glass.

Looking at Xu, who seemed to have no intention of offering a toast, she thought for a moment and said something in a low voice.

Sister Hua is naturally Wang Jinghua, who is also his agent.

"Then I would also appreciate it if you could convey my gratitude to Sister Hua in person when you return, Brother Hu."

Xu Heng also whispered.

Wang Jinghua had already congratulated him over the phone, as had Cai Yinong.

"Um.

""

Hu Jun nodded and raised his glass.

Xu Heng also raised his glass, and the two drank it down together.

Although it was a small cup with a capacity of 2 qian (approximately 60 grams), Hu Jun immediately knew from Xu's unchanging expression that Xu's alcohol tolerance was definitely not small!

"Producer Zhang, I'd also like to raise a glass to you, wishing our show great success!"

Seeing that Xu, who had just finished a drink with Hu Jun, still showed no intention of toasting Zhang Dahuzi, Xiu Qing stood up.

Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have been able to go first before Xu, the main character, offered the toast.

He didn't care what Xu thought, but he certainly didn't want Zhang Dahuzi to think he was unruly.

"Um."

Zhang Da Huzi smiled and nodded, then picked up his wine glass again and took a small sip, his attitude quite different from how he treated Hu Jun.

However, Hu Jun's fame and popularity are definitely not comparable to Xiu Qing's.

"Producer Zhang, I'd like to offer you a toast with tea instead of wine. I hope you don't mind!"

After Xiu Qing sat down, Liu Yifei looked around, then stood up with her teacup in both hands, and smiled generously.

"If you offer me a drink, I wouldn't dare drink it!"

Zhang Da Huzi chuckled and joked, seemingly treating Liu Yifei with more affection than Hu Jun, but he only took a symbolic sip from his wine glass.

"Producer Zhang, I'd also like to raise a glass to you, thank you for letting me play the role of A'Zhu!"

Liu Yifei sat down, and Liu Tao stood up.

And before Zhang Da Huzi could say anything, he had already drunk the wine in his glass in one gulp.

Zhang Da Huzi nodded again, and symbolically took a small sip as well.

In this way, all the actors in the crew present, except for Xu, had already offered a toast.

Xu Heng still didn't offer a toast, and Zhang Da Huzi didn't say anything either.

But just then, Xiu Qing thought for a moment, then suddenly stood up again, holding his wine glass.

"Xu, if I have offended you in any way before, please forgive me. Consider this drink my apology!"

As he spoke, he tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp, appearing very sincere.

Is it really necessary to make such a big deal out of such a small glass of wine?

"Brother Xiu, you haven't offended me before."

Xu Heng smiled faintly, showing no concern for Xiu Qing's "coup" or why Xiu Qing did it, and made no attempt to raise his glass.

"But you seemed to have a lot of issues with me when we were on set?"

Xiu Qing continued.

He could tell that there was some kind of conflict between Xu Heng and Zhang Da Hu Zi, but given Xu Heng's current popularity, Zhang Da Hu Zi didn't seem to want to offend Xu Heng, so he stood up and deliberately targeted Xu Heng.

If this gets out, Xu Heng will at least be branded as arrogant and disrespectful because of his popularity, especially since what he said is true.

If possible, he would definitely want to get close to Zhang the Bearded!

"It's probably because I'm a rather introverted person and not good at interacting with people. When we were filming 'The Story of a Noble Family,' my relationship with the female lead wasn't very good either. Many media outlets have reported on this, so Brother Xiu probably knows about it too, right?"

Xu Heng smiled faintly again.

They have a problem with you? So what!

To think that you can ruin his reputation like this is just naive and shows how much you think you're taking yourself too seriously!

However, given the level of these celebrities, and the fact that Xiu Qing even called himself a "chosen one" in his previous life, it is indeed normal for him to be so naive!