Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 475: The Baiming Awards — Voting for “No Bait” Opens~

The next day, Liu Rulan flew to Beijing for a business trip, while Xiao He stayed in Shanghai to participate in various upcoming activities.

Time flew by and soon it was the end of May. The box office growth for *No Bait* had already stabilized, but its related topic discussions and popularity still occupied a spot in the top ten of the entertainment charts. Xiao Heʼs name had also successfully broken out of its original niche and spread further.

If before, Xiao He had mainly relied on the goodwill of casual observers and the roles he showed his face in were villains, then the explosive popularity of *No Bait* undoubtedly allowed him to successfully break into the ranks of top-tier male stars. On the star power rankings of various major platforms, he directly placed in the top three.

Although these charts reflect real-time popularity and no one can forever occupy a particular position—names on the list are bound to change with the emergence of new works—based on these rankings, one could tell that Xiao Heʼs current fanbase and traffic had already reached a new peak and were still continuously climbing.

What Xiao He lacked now was just an official title.

But considering the quality of *No Bait* and Xiao Heʼs acting skills, would such a title really be long in coming?

At the end of the month, the preliminary list of nominees for the Bai Ming Award was announced, and the audience online voting was simultaneously opened.

The name *No Bait* was prominently on the list!

[Itʼs here, itʼs here, we finally waited for it!]

[You cast a vote, I cast a vote, Little Heʼs path to stardom shines even brighter.]
[Let me introduce: the Bai Ming Award, one of Chinaʼs three major film awards, is a very prestigious award.]

[I know about this award! But was this award chosen by voting?]

[Huh? Is there really someone who doesnʼt know about this voting mechanism?]

[I didnʼt know. I never followed celebrities before. This is the first time Iʼm following Brother Xiao, and as a result, my idol is just too amazing. There hasnʼt really been a chance for us to do much.]

[My understanding of this award is limited to hearing about who won it each time. I donʼt know how itʼs chosen, what the mechanism and process are. Can someone teach me? I want to vote for Brother Xiao too.]

[The Bai Ming Award voting has two core stages. The first is the online voting that just opened, which everyone can participate in. The second is the final on-site voting by 101 audience judges. Thatʼs why it also has the nickname ”The Peopleʼs Award.” It emphasizes ”letting a hundred schools of thought contend” and reflects current mainstream aesthetic preferences. Itʼs the award among the big three that relies the most on traffic and audience votes.]

[Thanks for the explanation. So what do we do now? Where do we vote?]

[You can check the official website [link].]

Linghui Entertainment.

Xiao He also soon received a call from Beijing.

Seeing the caller ID, Xiao He chuckled lightly, leaned back in his chair, and answered the phone lazily. ”Hey, Sister Liu, how have you been recently?”

”You brat, Iʼm over here running around with my feet barely touching the ground, and youʼre slacking off in the office lately.”

Just hearing the spacious echo in his voice, Liu Rulan knew exactly where Xiao He was right now and couldnʼt help but roast him.

Xiao He sat up a bit straighter, making his voice sound less flippant. ”Sister Liu, with this rare free time, of course I need to rest properly.”

”Your idea of rest is posting a twenty-game winning streak on your Moments?”

Liu Rulanʼs tone was pointed.

”Oops.”

Xiao He was startled and glanced at his own social media feed.

Alright, he had been having too much fun lately and forgot to block Sister Liu from seeing it.

It did look a bit like he was slacking off.

”Ahem, itʼs graduation season recently. Teacher An got rehired back to be a workhorse. Itʼs really not that I wanted to be lazy,” Xiao He immediately tried to justify himself. ”Then, regarding the vocal coach, they said theyʼve done their best. The fact that I can sing without going off-key is already the greatest success. Wanting to improve further would be a bit difficult. So, after thinking it over, rather than making things difficult for them, I might as well give up on myself. Anyway, Iʼm not cut out to be a singer, so itʼs whatever.”

Liu Rulan: ”...Fine, fine, you always have your reasons.”

”Hehe, has everything been going smoothly for you in Beijing lately, Sister Liu? How are things? If thereʼs anything you need from me, Iʼm definitely on call.”

”Hmph.”

Liu Rulan snorted coldly but didnʼt go into detail about what she had been busy with recently. Instead, she said, ”This time in Beijing, I ran into He Jinnian again. You havenʼt forgotten our agreement with him, right?”

”I remember, I remember. Iʼve already cleared my schedule for it,” Xiao He even sighed. ”For this, Iʼve already turned down several collaboration offers. I even declined Director Tannis. I just hope Teacher He doesnʼt really lead us into a pit.”

He naturally remembered this project that had consumed most of Linghui Entertainmentʼs funds vividly.

He Jinnian, a famous, accomplished award-winning actor, now wanted to transition behind the scenes to become a director and film a ”sci-fi movie,” which is practically a money-guzzling beast in the film industry.

And back then, in order to poach He Wenming and other talented people from He Jinnianʼs studio, and also for long-term future plans, they became He Jinnianʼs first... well, letʼs say generous backers.

Back then, they spoke with great ambition, saying that to keep Shu Han and He Wenming, investing money just to hear a bit of news was worth it.

But now, looking back at the continuous stream of funds pouring out, Xiao He still couldnʼt help but feel a pang of regret.

Where on earth did he get the nerve to say that Linghui Entertainment could handle such a ”sci-fi film”?

You donʼt realize until you see it, but it really is a freaking money pit!

Fortunately, He Jinnianʼs connections within the industry over the years still provided some guarantee. The speed of assembling the production team was indeed quite fast, and they managed to raise more funds.

Perhaps afraid that Xiao Heʼs side would ”back out” if they waited too long, He Jinnian formally discussed other matters regarding the production team with Linghui Entertainment around the Spring Festival this year and began looking for actors.

And to save costs, and also to fulfill the agreement with He Jinnian, Xiao He and Shu Han were definitely not getting out of it.

It really was something he never expected—that his first collaboration with Shu Han would happen this way.

Xiao He rubbed his temples. ”Well, it works out. I donʼt have much going on recently. When is he sending me the script?”

”Which role do you want to play?” Liu Rulan asked while casually flipping through the tablet in front of her. ”Actually, the script came over in early May, but you were very busy, so we let Shu Han pick first. After reading it, he felt any role was fine and replied to Director He. But then Director He couldnʼt make a decision either, so he passed the buck to me.”

Xiao He: ”...Whatʼs so hard to decide about this?”

”Theyʼre mainly worried that no matter how they arrange it, you and Shu Han might have opinions.”

Xiao He and Shu Hanʼs acting skills naturally went without saying—they could play any role well.

If it were before, Xiao He would definitely play a supporting role to Shu Han. That wouldnʼt be a problem. Given their senior-junior relationship and their respective statuses, it wouldnʼt be an issue.

But now, with the success of *No Bait*, Xiao Heʼs name recognition had skyrocketed. Plus, considering that *No Bait* was originally Shu Hanʼs project, and in the situation where both of them competed for the same role, Shu Han withdrew defeated while Xiao He took off because of it... now that the junior was no longer an ordinary figure confined to a small pond, the seniorʼs status became slightly awkward.

This was also the reason why the production team hadnʼt made a direct decision for so long.

Who should take the lead role was a question worth discussing.

Of course, the most important thing was to see what the two parties involved thought.

Having the senior colleague play a supporting role was definitely not okay. Shu Han would lose face, and there would be controversy on Xiao Heʼs side as well.

Having Xiao He play a supporting role didnʼt seem very appropriate either. Xiao He had slightly outperformed him back then, and now that he had finally turned things around to become a male lead, what if his ambitions had grown and he wasnʼt willing to be subordinate? In that case, Shu Han would also feel embarrassed to take the lead. Moreover, Xiao He was technically the boss, a major shareholder of Linghui Entertainment, and the biggest investor in this project.

So, after going around in circles, this problem ultimately landed on Xiao Heʼs plate.

Xiao He understood and felt slightly speechless. ”Oh, is that all? Why are they so conflicted? Itʼs not like I bite.”

”Just give me the villain role, preferably one thatʼs downright evil.”

”Alright.”

Liu Rulan wasnʼt surprised, as if she had already guessed Xiao Heʼs decision. ”Check your email for the script yourself. Iʼm hanging up now.”

”Okay.”