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

Chapter 477: Yu Xuezhen: Are We Shipping a CP?

Time flew by, and June arrived in the blink of an eye.

The box office growth for ”No Bait” had already slowed down, but with a successful key extension, it continued to rake in revenue. The overseas box office, however, gave everyone a huge surprise. The overall box office trend was still rising, and after conversion, it was even slightly higher than the domestic box office.

In such a situation, Xiao He flew to several countries to participate in promotional events for ”No Bait,” engaging in friendly interactions with fans from other nations. He even brought back an award from another region.

By the time he returned to China, ”Cangyue Calamity” had officially announced its broadcast date for June 12th. Xiao He had to follow the rest of the production team to participate in the recent promotional activities.

It was the familiar recording set of the ”Daily Happiness” variety show, with the familiar host, Qiu Hua.

It was just that when everyone saw each other again this time, their mindsets were clearly different.

Yu Xuezheng, who played the female lead, wore a faint smile when she saw Xiao He, nodding in his direction. Her attitude hadnʼt changed much, but she proactively invited Xiao He to a meal together next time.

As for Le Yuanbai, who played the male lead, his attitude towards Xiao He was even more cordial. He actively brought up the gossip about Xiao He playing ball with friends before and mentioned that he also liked playing basketball, inviting Xiao He to hang out together next time.

Jiang Chifei, on the other hand, acted even more ingratiatingly, with ”Brother Xiao” this and ”Brother Xiao” that. The casualness he once had when speaking was gone.

Xiao He noticed that this was just the change in attitude from others within the production team towards him.
More significant were the shifts between the actors themselves, brought about by their company affiliations.

For example, Yu Xuezheng and Le Yuanbai. Originally, as the male and female leads, their relationship was quite warm. For the upcoming drama promotion, they were bound to engage in some CP marketing. However, because Yu Xuezheng had pulled a fast one on Jiaxing Entertainment, her relationship with the company rapidly deteriorated. Le Yuanbaiʼs studio, on the other hand, was currently affiliated with Jiaxing Entertainment, relying on them for business. Consequently, the relationship between the two had become extremely awkward due to their companies. Before the CP marketing could even begin, they already had to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

Then there was Jiang Chifei. Jiang Chifei was also an artist under Jiaxing Entertainment. He had probably been warned by the company as well, as his attitude towards Yu Xuezheng was quite cold. He no longer stuck close to Yu Xuezheng, calling her ”big sister” this and ”big sister” that, as his character in ”Cangyue Calamity” would have.

Back when ”Cangyue Calamity” had just wrapped, everyoneʼs relationships were quite good. They could joke around casually and chat together. But when they met again, they could never return to that harmonious atmosphere.

They each had their own companies, their own webs of interests.

And once these were involved, they could only act against their will.

Only Xiao He, standing outside this conflict of interests, was sandwiched between the two camps, acting as a very awkward mediator.

Itʼs just that Xiao He was never the type to be good at mediating or lightening the mood in such situations.

After welcoming Xiao He, the few of them each sat back down on the sofas in the lounge, then lowered their heads to play with their phones.

It was as if you could still fit a river between where these people were sitting.

Especially the male and female leads. One sat on this side of the river, the other on that side, both buried in their phones without speaking, as if talking in this relatively private environment would still violate some taboo.

Xiao He looked left, then right, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Hey, hey, hey! They were going to have to work together promoting this drama until it finished airing!

You guys wonʼt be like this when you go on stage later... right?

Seriously, are the conflicts between big companies really this undignified?

If they themselves wonʼt ”play” with the other side, they wonʼt allow their other subordinates to ”play” with them either, not even permitting a few extra words in private.

Xiao He found it quite ridiculous, but he also knew that Le Yuanbai and Jiang Chifei were employees. They didnʼt have the power to refuse; they could only follow the arrangements from those above. So, Xiao He didnʼt blame these two. He just felt that Song Yuanqi, that old geezer, was truly petty.

Whatever. Since none of these people wanted to maintain good interpersonal relationships, what did it have to do with him?

Xiao He shrugged.

Soon, Teacher Qiu Hua came as usual to brief everyone on the recording and promotional work for later.

The moment he stepped through the door and saw the vast, mountain-and-sea-spanning distance between the male and female leads, his steps faltered.

But fortunately, having weathered many storms, Qiu Hua quickly averted his gaze as if nothing was wrong.

He had witnessed plenty of situations where couples broke up before a drama aired but were forced to reunite for promotional marketing. Compared to that, the current situation, where artists had to avoid impropriety due to friction between their companies, at least felt controllable to Qiu Hua.

”Come on, our two leads, sit in the middle. Let me go over tonightʼs recording arrangements with you—”

Qiu Hua tentatively directed. Le Yuanbai hesitated for a moment, but Yu Xuezheng promptly stood up and sat down beside Le Yuanbai, her smile still in place. ”Teacher Qiu, please go ahead.”

Good. At least on the surface, it showed everyone could still maintain decorum and follow the program teamʼs arrangements.

Qiu Hua subtly let out a sigh of relief.

That was acceptable.

”Good. Now, let me go over some of the detailed procedures on stage...”

After Teacher Qiu Hua left, Le Yuanbaiʼs and Jiang Chifeiʼs respective agents immediately came over and called them away.

Fortunately, before they left, things didnʼt become too stiff. They said goodbye to Xiao He and also quietly bid farewell to Yu Xuezheng before hurriedly departing.

The awkward atmosphere in the lounge abruptly dissipated.

Xiao He sighed.

”Why do I feel like youʼre more worried than I am?”

Yu Xuezheng, sitting to the side, saw Xiao He like this and couldnʼt help but find it amusing.

Xiao He spread his hands, speaking very frankly. ”Cangyue Calamity is the result of everyoneʼs blood, sweat, and tears, the fruit of our collective hard work. Naturally, I donʼt want everyone to ruin such an excellent work as ʼCangyue Calamityʼ over some conflicts.”

Looking at this sisterʼs calm, unshakable demeanor now, Xiao He felt a bit of the tragic sentiment of ”the emperor isnʼt anxious, but the eunuch is.”

”Haha, so thatʼs it.”

Yu Xuezhengʼs voice was calm, her tone giving no hint that she was the one who had just been isolated. ”Relax. No matter how much people squabble, they still have basic professional integrity. They wonʼt casually express discord or dissatisfaction in public.”

Moreover, it was Le Yuanbaiʼs and Jiang Chifeiʼs companies that had issues with Yu Xuezheng, not the individuals themselves. So, Yu Xuezheng didnʼt really care.

”Cangyue Calamity” still had to air. There was a lot of work ahead. Everyone could just treat each other as normal colleagues, cooperate well, and part on good terms when it was over.

”However—”

Yu Xuezheng propped her chin on her hand, thoughtfully looking Xiao He up and down with a deep, meaningful gaze. ”Le Yuanbaiʼs side most likely wonʼt cooperate with me on CP marketing anymore. He might even deliberately avoid any appearance of impropriety. That has a significant impact on our drama.”

Originally, the plot was a strong female lead with multiple CPs. Besides the official pairing and a white moonlight figure, there was also the image of a little junior brother who harbored a secret crush—that was Jiang Chifei. This was the planned fan-attraction strategy for Jiang Chifei: using the image of deep, unrequited, silently pining love to harvest a batch of fans, achieving the effect of making fans suffer and then solidifying their loyalty.

However, these plans were shattered along with the rupture in relations between Jiaxing and Yu Xuezheng.

Yu Xuezheng was actually quite happy about it. She didnʼt have to be stuck with Jiang Chifei trying to leech off her popularity.

But with the planned official pairing gone and the secret admirer gone too, it seemed all that was left was... the white moonlight?

Yu Xuezheng looked at Xiao He and proactively asked, ”Are you interested in marketing a CP?”

Xiao He: ?