Chinese entertainment: Top stars have no holidays

"I should play along and pretend I didn't see it~"

"Forcing the person who loves you most to perform an impromptu act~"

Jiang Bai listened to this year's phenomenal hit pop songs while jogging slowly on the treadmill.

It was already the end of May 2016.

Nearly three months have passed since he officially signed with the Cute Studio.

For the past three months, his life has been very fulfilling every day.

In the morning, I followed a teacher from the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Academy to learn how to act.

In the afternoon, they followed a deportment coach to learn how to manage an artist's image.

In the evenings, you will need to follow the fitness coach for fitness training.

Jiang Bai wasn't fat at all; at least, he wasn't fat at all during his youth.

However, in order to look better on camera, he still needs to lose fat and gain muscle.

After three months of body management, my weight didn't change much, I only lost 1 kilogram.

But in reality, he lost a full 5 kilograms of fat and gained 4 kilograms of muscle, completely transforming his physique!

He now has broad shoulders, a narrow waist, a muscular physique, V-line, a V-shaped waist, and a well-defined chest and abdomen—his body is absolutely amazing!

Even her face, which was originally a little round, has become "carved and sculpted," with her features becoming more pronounced and deep-set.

She has completed the entire transformation from an ordinary person to a potential celebrity.

The only price he paid was that he turned down the internship offer he had already secured, bidding farewell to the finance industry.

But it's not a big problem.

Although he hadn't worked for the past three months, the company still paid Jiang Baifa a basic salary.

Not much, five thousand yuan a month.

However, the company rented him a two-bedroom apartment, and he ate all three meals a day in the company cafeteria or arranged by the fitness coach, so he didn't have to spend any money.

Even in a top-tier city like Shanghai, 5,000 yuan a month is enough to cover expenses.

Jiang Bai could even save three thousand yuan every month and invest it all in the A-share market.

Jiang Bai, who has ten years of experience in the securities and fund industry, may not be able to say that he remembers all the ups and downs of stocks, but he still remembers some speculative stocks and a few stocks with stable growth very clearly.

Putting everything else aside, just look at Moutai stock. On January 1, 2016, its opening price was only 195.51 yuan.

By December 31, 2025, the closing price had reached 1377.18 yuan, an increase of nearly 7 times, with an annualized return of 21.5%, which was simply insane.

In addition, gold, Wuliangye, Gree, and Luzhou Laojiao also saw very high price increases.

By continuously making money and buying these stocks, Jiang Bai could easily achieve financial freedom, not to mention that he had also prepared other financial operations.

However, the prerequisite is that you have money to invest.

Unlike his composure three months ago, Jiang Bai is now a little anxious, eager to make money.

While Jiang Bai was lost in thought, he was jogging and exercising.

The gym door opened, and Xu Xu walked in with a document in his hand, then reached out and pressed the pause button on Jiang Bai's treadmill.

"Your job has arrived."

Xu Xu waved the documents in his hand triumphantly and said with a smile, "The artist team I've prepared for you is almost complete."

"Driver, assistant, makeup artist, and stylist have all been hired. I'll introduce them to you tomorrow."

"You'll be working with them for the next few years, so be kind to them."

"Especially the assistants."

Xu Xu pulled Jiang Bai off the treadmill and walked towards the rest area, while anxiously reminding him, "Don't underestimate your personal assistant."

"Although they are only responsible for some trivial matters in the artists' lives and take care of their lives, they are similar to nannies."

"But in reality, they have access to the most authentic side of celebrities."

"Many so-called insider revelations, or even scandals involving celebrities, are actually leaked by their assistants."

"The reason is that the artists treat their assistants very badly. When the assistants are unhappy at work and are mistreated, they can't help but sell the information to the paparazzi."

"Many celebrities in the industry have fallen victim to this."

Despite the fact that many agents often have conflicts with their artists, sometimes even going to court and ultimately breaking off their relationship.

However, even after these agents and artists break up, they rarely actually expose each other.

At most, they might buy negative articles about the artist later, or fabricate rumors within the industry to smear them.

Yes, instead of revealing the real story, they just fabricate some ambiguous smear articles to disgust the other party and that's it.

The reason for this is that agents and artists are actually in the same boat. If any serious scandals are exposed, they will all be implicated.

Moreover, if this is done, no one will dare to work with this agent again.

Everyone still needs to make a living in this industry; there's no need to ruin your future.

On the contrary, the unassuming personal assistants are the main force providing so-called "insider gossip".

After all, if you're unhappy with your job as an assistant, you can just quit. With a monthly salary of five thousand yuan, what's the point of talking about loyalty?

The sunk cost is very low.

Therefore, many celebrities now hire relatives as personal assistants, most commonly cousins.

Unfortunately, Jiang Bai can't do that.

His parents are both university teachers. While they don't necessarily discriminate against the entertainment industry, they are not very happy for their son to pursue a career in it and would prefer him to have a stable job.

His parents didn't know he had signed with a brokerage firm; they thought he was interning at a securities company, let alone his other relatives.

Xu Xu had no choice but to hire an assistant who looked honest and obedient.

"Don't worry, I know these things." Jiang Bai raised an eyebrow and said seriously, "I'm not the kind of person who plays dirty tricks."

"I will definitely treat all team members well."

"Hmm." Xu Xu didn't dwell on the topic. After pulling Jiang Bai to sit down on the sofa in the rest area, he handed him the documents in his hand.

"Hey, this is a role that President Dai arranged for you, and it can be considered your debut."

"It was co-produced by Syndicate Pictures, a subsidiary of the parent company Cewa Croton, and Hunan TV."

"The syndicate is the primary producer, controller, and copyright holder, responsible for full investment, and is also the sole production company."

"The company's total investment is nearly 3 million, making it the largest production this year."

"President Dai pulled some strings and got you in. You'll play a high school classmate of the female lead. It's not a lot of screen time, but it'll be enough to get some screen time."

"This drama has cast Chu Yuxun as the female lead. She is a top actress born in the 90s and is very capable of driving the ratings."

Having already prepared himself, Jiang Bai opened the document and immediately noticed the title.

as predicted.

Summer Solstice

The original timeline is Hu Yitian's debut TV series.

The character's name is Ou Jun. He doesn't have many scenes; he only appears during the male and female leads' high school years.

But they're really generous with the pay; they gave 30 yuan for just a minor supporting role.

Sure enough, 2016 was a golden age for the film and television industry, and actors really made a lot of money.

Jiang Bai regretted it and had looked up the details of "Rush to the Dead Summer". He found out that the male lead's salary was as high as 4200 million!

Chen Xuedong, the male lead, isn't even a top star, yet he gets so much pay!

As for Chu Yuxun, the female lead, as a top female star, she can also receive a salary of 3000 million yuan.

Compared to them, Jiang Bai's salary as a minor character seems insignificant.

"However..." Xu Xu then added, "Although this drama is fully funded and produced by Croton Media, you were already slated for this role."

"But we still have to go through the motions."

"After all, the original author is Guo Jingming, and he values ​​his work very much, so he has to personally audition for each role."

"So..." Jiang Bai said with some anticipation, "Should I go for an audition too?"

My first ever audition!

"Hmm." Xu Xu nodded. "It's just a formality."