FIMA Ch30: Studio

Xie Jinzhao was an obedient and good student. He hurriedly bowed: “I’m sorry, Teacher Gu, I was wrong, Teacher Gu.”

“Mn.” Gu Siyuan was also a generous and good teacher. After a faint response, he looked up at him and said, “Watch me.”

As his voice fell, his brows narrowed slightly, and his aura abruptly changed, as if he had transformed into that ruthless and merciless Jin Yi Wei Commander.

His sudden appearance was like a deity descending from the heavens. After kicking the fleeing suspect back to the scene with one foot, his cold, sharp, falcon-like gaze swept condescendingly over the people originally present.

Upon seeing the surprise and admiration in their eyes, he lazily lowered his eyelids, yet one could catch a bright gleam flashing across his pupils—an unparalleled confidence, combined with a disdain for these incompetent mediocrities.

From these few subtle expressions and movements, Xie Jinzhao could see that this calm, intelligent, powerful, and icy Jin Yi Wei actually also had his own faint, childishly cute emotions.

Just like a treasure.

This fleeting contrast made one unable to forget it.

Right now, Gu Siyuan was temporarily acting as the male lead, and clearly, he should be looking at his co-stars.

But as an outsider, Xie Jinzhao felt as if Gu Siyuan was also looking at him, shooting electricity at him. For a moment, his heart began to pound: “So handsome, I want to call him hubby…”

However, the moment the words left his mouth, Xie Jinzhao wished he could immediately drop dead on the spot.

Gu Siyuan also retracted his gaze, staring at him miraculously for a moment before saying flatly, “This is exactly the reaction you want from the audience. This is the meaning of a male lead in an idol drama.”

However, a trace of unconcealable amusement was mixed into his voice.

“Mn.” Xie Jinzhao responded numbly and stiffly, but inside, he only wanted to immediately transform into a pangolin, dig a hole, and bury himself.

Too humiliating.

He was a dignified seven-foot-tall man, a pure manly man. How could he, as if struck by heavenly lightning, say something so humiliating?

…

Gu Siyuan was undoubtedly a brilliant teacher.

Xie Jinzhao was also undoubtedly a good seedling.

In addition to testing and teaching him on the spot, Gu Siyuan had also expressionlessly watched several of Xie Jinzhao’s previously filmed dramas.

Although many of the plots weren’t great, Xie Jinzhao’s acting actually wasn’t awkward, nor did he have any criticizable “flying facial features” (overacting). Moreover, he used his own voice for all of them, and his vocal tone and line delivery were quite good.

Especially this most recent one—the one that made Xie Jinzhao decide to temporarily stop working and fade out of the audience’s sight—was actually his best performance.

But why was Xie Jinzhao currently stuck with the label of a “traffic star” that he couldn’t take off, leaving people with the impression that he was a piece of wood who couldn’t act?

It could be said that partly, it was because audiences had preconceived notions about traffic actors, but his own inability to showcase himself was also a problem.

Xie Jinzhao was unintentionally an internally brilliant person; he had his own understanding of interpreting characters, and he was very serious and willing to endure hardships.

During Gu Siyuan’s process of guiding him in character design, Xie Jinzhao would always raise questions to him: The character’s personality isn’t set up this way. Isn’t this kind of reaction a bit unreasonable? Will the character break down?

This kind of reasoning was naturally not wrong.

But he misunderstood the profession of an actor.

When acting, just immersing yourself in your own world is completely unfeasible. Besides facing the character itself, it’s more important to face the vast audience.

There are many complete people around us; there are also many complete characters and paper figures.

Why should the audience be attracted to you?

Therefore, when interpreting a character, occasionally having this kind of small unreasonableness will instead leave a deep impression on the audience. It makes them discover the character’s gap moe, thereby noticing you and falling in love with you.

Thus, when it’s time to interact with your co-stars, you absolutely must give each other the scene. When it’s time to act cool and show off your skills, you absolutely must actively strive for it, temporarily setting aside a bit of untimely logic.

Sometimes, right is also wrong, and wrong is also right.

Especially in idol dramas, the audience simply doesn’t care whether your character is rigidly complete from beginning to end.

What they care about is a living, breathing person—a person who can evoke resonance and make their hearts beat faster.

However, under Gu Siyuan’s forceful management and requirements, Xie Jinzhao’s acting performance still advanced by leaps and bounds.

At this time, he also received another call from his manager, Fang Wei.

Fang Wei habitually asked him a few questions regarding the contract renewal: “Recently, the big boss has been urging me constantly.”

Xie Jinzhao smiled: “Sister Wei, do you still not know what I’m thinking? The reason I didn’t say it directly before was also because I was afraid it would be hard for you to explain it to them.”

Fang Wei sighed: “Is there no other possibility? If you renew your contract this time, the big boss agreed to let you have company shares.”

Xie Jinzhao said: “To say I don’t care about money at all would be a lie, but if it were solely for money, why would I have considered it for so long? Sister Wei, you know I wholeheartedly want to continue acting, and I want to go further.”

“Mn, I understand.” Fang Wei’s tone lowered a bit.

Although she had anticipated it early on, this was still the first time she personally heard a direct negative answer from Xie Jinzhao’s own mouth.

Fang Wei couldn’t help feeling it was a bit of a pity. Xie Jinzhao was currently the most profitable artist in their company, and also the most trouble-free artist she had ever managed.

Terminating the contract now was no small loss for both herself and the company.

It was just that people walking different paths cannot make plans together.

Xie Jinzhao hadn’t left behind any leverage either, so even if the company wanted to threaten him, they had no means to do so.

Xie Jinzhao bit his crimson lips and said earnestly, “Sister Wei, thank you for these past few years. If there’s any need in the future, within a certain scope, we can all still continue to cooperate.”

Fang Wei’s expression improved a bit: “Mn, you’re also the most trouble-free one I’ve managed. Your contract only has half a month left now. Have you seen any suitable next company? Tell me, and I can also give you some reference.”

Xie Jinzhao shook his head: “Many have been handed to me, but I haven’t taken a liking to any yet.”

Although his reputation wasn’t great due to the broadcast of his last drama.

Because of his outstanding appearance and young age, those with higher traffic than him weren’t as young, and those younger than him didn’t have his outstanding appearance and high traffic.

Therefore, in the current youth market sector, his commercial value almost left everyone else in the dust; even Qi Ran was slightly inferior to him.

There were indeed quite a few companies that valued his commercial value and wanted to sign him. However, the conditions they offered were all within a certain range, with absolutely no guarantee regarding the quality of film and television works, and they even required him to carry newcomers.

He didn’t necessarily reject carrying newcomers—fresh blood in the entertainment circle was meant to be introduced gradually anyway. However, he himself didn’t even have any particularly presentable works right now. Wouldn’t carrying newcomers be killing the goose that lays the golden eggs…?

Hearing this, Fang Wei’s mood became even better, and her tone softened: “There’s no rush either. You’re still young, just take your time finding a suitable one. By the way, Jinzhao, regarding that suspense and adventure variety show on Mango TV we signed a month ago, the directing team just contacted me saying recording starts this weekend. It just so happens you don’t have any commercial events for the next few days, so prepare well for it.”

Hearing this, Xie Jinzhao’s eyes immediately brightened slightly: “Okay, thank you for your hard work, Sister Wei.”

Hearing his cheerful tone, Fang Wei chuckled somewhat bitterly: “What hard work, this can also be considered the last event I arrange for you.”

Xie Jinzhao blinked, fell silent, and didn’t speak.

Fang Wei continued: “Mn, let’s not talk about that, but I also don’t know what to say about you. With so many good variety shows, why did you have to choose this Who is the Adventure King?”

Xie Jinzhao’s expression was indifferent: “Since it’s for the purpose of maintaining buzz, then choose the one with the highest buzz.”

He had always been a loyal viewer of this variety show and had wanted to participate for a long time.

But this variety show was simply too explosive, and every star was very willing and active to join; the production team frequently finalized the candidates a year in advance.

Coupled with the fact that he had been staying with production crews for the past two years, his schedule was very tight, so they could never make it work until recently when he finally had the chance to appear on it.

Fang Wei sighed deeply: “Then you must pay attention when the time comes. Talk less and do more. Sigh, whatever you do, don’t force yourself into the spotlight.”

There was truly a reason why Fang Wei treated this variety show like facing a formidable enemy.

The variety show Who is the Adventure King was already in its fifth season so far. It was a rare variety show with both high viewership and high online ratings, and thus had accumulated a large group of core family fans.

Because it was a suspense and adventure show, it had average requirements for guests’ variety show talent, but posed a massive test to their intelligence and physical stamina.

The veteran fans of the variety show were all very full of superiority. Almost every episode’s guest stars had to be critically evaluated by them from head to toe, and countless ones had been scolded for dragging the team down.

However, the buzz was also genuinely high, so everyone still went one after another to participate.

There were a few actors who hadn’t been popular for years who managed to change their reputation overnight and boost their buzz through this variety show; but even more people ended up being made into memes because of it, hung on the front pages of major websites, their reputations plummeting.

For Xie Jinzhao’s first time on a competitive variety show, he just had to choose this highly difficult one.

Moreover, he was a traffic star with a poor reputation—this was simply the exact crowd those variety show fans most loved to assert their superiority over.

Xie Jinzhao’s own mindset was very relaxed, but he still expressed his gratitude verbally: “Got it, Sister Wei, thank you for the reminder. I will pay attention during the recording.”

Next, the two exchanged a few more polite words and hung up the phone.

Sitting on the sofa nearby, Gu Siyuan listened to their entire conversation from start to finish.

Now, he asked directly: “Why not consider opening your own studio?”

Xie Jinzhao looked at Gu Siyuan: “You mean after I don’t renew my contract?”

Gu Siyuan nodded affirmatively.

Xie Jinzhao paused: “I’ve only officially been acting for three or four years. I don’t have many connections in the entertainment circle, and…”

Speaking up to here, Xie Jinzhao puffed his cheeks, glared at Gu Siyuan, and hummed: “Didn’t you also say earlier that you haven’t even seen any of my works? That also means the coverage of my works is average, and my status is fundamentally unstable. Even if those film and television companies have good scripts, they fundamentally won’t consider me first unless I can become ‘one of their own’.”

Watching his huffy, unconvinced, yet forced-to-accept-fate appearance, Gu Siyuan couldn’t help but slightly curve the corners of his mouth.

However, he did not agree with Xie Jinzhao’s words just now.

He shook his head calmly: “No, it’s not just you. I’ve analyzed the film and television market. Even those thirty-year-old traffic stars who are older than you, and those traffic stars who have signed sub-contracts with platforms or film companies, have actually never been considered for good scripts.”

“Although you traffic stars look very prosperous, and capital is vigorously promoting you, the truth is that the truly good scripts capable of winning awards fundamentally won’t be delivered into your hands, except for those ‘resource stars’ who bring their own capital.”

Holding his hot water, Xie Jinzhao took a sip. The steam rose, forming a thin mist in front of his eyes, washing his gaze even clearer and brighter.

He looked at Gu Siyuan, waiting for him to continue.

Sitting on the sofa, his posture clear and upright, Gu Siyuan’s tone was calm to the point of being ruthless: “In other words, not just you, but all the traffic stars out there are actually abandoned pawns.”

“From beginning to end, the capital market is very clear and rational; their positioning of you is very distinct. Finding you to film is mostly for idol dramas, and even for movies, it’s basically only youthful, melodramatic romances. Or, if some unpopular director can’t drive the box office, they’ll find you for a cameo, letting your fans help generate beautiful pre-sales numbers so they can secure theater screenings.”

Xie Jinzhao had originally only wanted to calm his mind, but as he listened, his face became incredibly awkward, and he finally couldn’t help but cough a few times: “Are you always this direct when you speak?”

“It’s always better than deceiving yourself,” Gu Siyuan’s expression was calm.

Xie Jinzhao fell completely silent, because he knew Gu Siyuan was speaking the absolute truth.

In this world, everyone has a position that belongs to them. It’s the one you initially chose, and also the one set for you by others. Breaking through it is incredibly difficult.

Looking at him, Gu Siyuan continued: “After you sign with these so-called film and television companies, the scripts they give you will at most go from shoddily made idol dramas to heavily invested, slightly better-produced idol dramas. Fundamentally, there is no major difference.”

Saying this, he suddenly shook his head: “Mn, no, there might still be a difference—that is, you’ll need to carry newcomers. They will add scenes for them in the dramas you star in.”

Xie Jinzhao didn’t raise any doubts about his conclusion; instead, he asked back: “Then do you know why there are still so many people who want to sign with big companies?”

“Because it’s safe, because the risk is low. One is panning for gold in the great waves; the other is digging for gold in shit,” Gu Siyuan replied faintly. “If it were before, your choice couldn’t be considered foolish, just lacking in any novelty.”

“Before?” Xie Jinzhao blinked, resting his chin on his slender, white wrist, looking straight at him with clear eyes. “Then what about now? What’s the difference between now and before?”

Leaning against the sofa back, Gu Siyuan lightly tugged at his tie, slowly spitting out a few words: “Because of me. Now, you have me.”

Watching his lazy and sexy movements, Xie Jinzhao felt as if his heart was getting restless.

Resting his chin on his hand, he asked infatuatedly: “What… do you mean?”

“I can help you,” Gu Siyuan said. “Help you examine the pros and cons of every project, help you choose the optimal and safest marketing plans. My existence is more prominent than the advantages of any big company, and you won’t have to bear the disadvantages brought by a big company.”

Xie Jinzhao felt like he was about to take the bait right away.

Feeling awkward, he changed the subject and asked: “But aren’t you a teacher?”

Gu Siyuan smiled: “Please allow me to introduce myself to you once again. My surname is Gu. The Gu of Gu Hongxuan.”

Gu Hongxuan was the boss of the top production company in the current entertainment circle; naturally, Xie Jinzhao had heard this name.

He immediately realized: “You are CEO Gu’s son. Wait, no, doesn’t he only have four sons…”

“So, this is the reason why I sought you out for cooperation,” Gu Siyuan nodded. “I am his stepson.”

Xie Jinzhao thought for a moment, saying mysteriously: “So, your goal… is to poach the Gu family’s foundation?”

Gu Siyuan shook his head, saying word by word: “It is to build a new skyscraper directly covering that wall, making them live in my shadow from now on. And you are one of the bricks I have chosen.”

Of course, this was just him talking nonsense. The Gu family completely wasn’t in his eyes, and he had even less interest in a small place like the entertainment circle. It was simply to better complete the task and better help Xie Jinzhao, finding a seemingly reasonable excuse.

Yet Xie Jinzhao took it completely seriously. From their first meeting, Gu Siyuan possessed the ability to make him submit in hundred-percent trust.

He even couldn’t help but let his heart beat rapidly. He never expected someone could speak of such things so blatantly.

However, he admitted he was ruthlessly seduced. A man with ambition and destructive power was the most captivating.

“Then, happy cooperation.” Xie Jinzhao extended his palm, his smile radiant.

Gu Siyuan extended his large hand and lightly patted his palm: “That’ll do.”

Xie Jinzhao faced the fleeting sensation and the slowly reddening mark on his palm.

On the very first day the studio was established, I was subjected to violence by my own manager.

Is there still a need to continue this cooperation…

Once Gu Siyuan decided to do something, he moved quite fast.

In just two short days, the studio’s location and qualifications had already been handled.

Besides recruiting a few new assistants, video editors, photo retouchers, copywriters, and PR personnel, he also somehow found an executive manager for Xie Jinzhao.

This efficiency naturally went without saying.

But regarding the existence of the executive manager, Xie Jinzhao voiced a minor dissatisfaction.

However, Gu Siyuan immediately stated that he didn’t have the time to follow him around to film sets or commercial shoots; there had to be someone to share this workload.

Xie Jinzhao also stated that he had never seen a novice manager put on such massive airs.

This is clearly your first time entering the entertainment circle, the studio was only established three days ago, and you only have me as your single artist on hand. Yet you dare to be this perfunctory with me, a popular traffic star…

Gu Siyuan stated that he wasn’t here to be his manager; he was here to be his boss.

Xie Jinzhao stated that he had escaped the tiger’s den only to enter the wolf’s lair. Who else would go out of their way to find themselves an immediate superior boss like this?

Tsk…

And right at this time, the recording for the variety show Who is the Adventure King also began.

This time, the person accompanying Xie Jinzhao to the recording site was no longer Fang Wei, but was replaced by the newly recruited executive manager, Tu Ning.

Who is the Adventure King was a variety show that combined escape rooms and puzzle-solving reasoning.

Aside from a few outdoor episodes, most were recorded indoors. The episode Xie Jinzhao was participating in happened to be recorded at a well-known Universal Park in Beijing.

The recording day also happened to be a weekend.

Fans who caught wind of this online in advance arrived at the Universal Park early on, wanting to observe from a distance. Combined with tourists who already had travel plans, the park today was simply a sea of people.

Getting out of the nanny van, Xie Jinzhao feigned aloofness and calmness as he swept a glance over his fan groups, secretly feeling delighted inside.

Having not been active for almost two months, there are actually still so many people offline.

However, when his gaze swept over a small group of people next to his fan groups, he narrowed his eyes.

“Sister Ning, Qi Ran is also in this episode?”

Having seemingly been briefed by Gu Siyuan on the love-hate relationship concerning Qi Ran, Tu Ning heard this and said: “The original three guest stars were you, Xi Shuang, and Cheng Ruofeng. But Cheng Ruofeng has been having some conflicts with his management company recently, and many external activities were pushed away. Since Qi Ran has a drama airing soon, he probably took the opportunity to fill the spot and promote his new drama.”

“Oh…” Xie Jinzhao nodded and said nothing more.

The person who did wrong was Qi Ran; even if someone had to avoid the other, it should be Qi Ran avoiding him.

Thinking about it this way, he truly hadn’t seen Qi Ran in a long time, as well as his second brother, Qi Run, his boyfriend in name.

During this period, he had been busy taking private acting lessons and setting up his studio. Everything revolved around Gu Siyuan, making him forget there were still other related people in the world.

The official recording of the show wouldn’t begin until the afternoon. They came over early so all participating guests could have a meal together and get familiar with each other.

Naturally, everyone would abide by this unspoken rule.

Even the newly rising young actress Xi Shuang, always known for loving to stir up trouble, had rushed over early.

There was no need to mention the others.

And Qi Ran, with his “group-pet” halo flashing, had already completely mingled and chatted with everyone.

Seeing Xie Jinzhao come over, he even greeted him affectionately.

Aside from three to five guest stars per episode, Who is the Adventure King also had four regular cast members.

From the first season to the fifth, there had been minor changes to the regular cast, but Teacher Li had always been there. With his mature wisdom and unique comedic prowess, he was considered the backbone of this variety show, and an extremely authoritative senior figure in the domestic variety show circle.

Besides Teacher Li, the other three regular cast members were also currently popular A-listers in the entertainment circle. Wang Xue was a national goddess with extremely high public recognition and fashion sense; Ji Haoying was one of the new generation’s “Four Little Fresh Meats” with a very solid background; Lu Yanyan was a rare female traffic actor in the entertainment circle. The latter two had only newly joined in the fifth season.

Teacher Li greeted everyone enthusiastically: “Actually, everyone present is an acquaintance, so let’s not stand on ceremony. Come, come, everyone let’s have a drink first, then eat and drink as you please, don’t feel restrained.”

Naturally, everyone wouldn’t refuse to give him face, immediately raising their glasses in a lively celebration.

The entertainment circle could be said to be big, but also small. Of the seven people sitting here, apart from Xi Shuang, who was considered a rookie actress getting the chance to promote on this variety show because she happened to have a new drama airing on Mango TV, the other six were basically A-listers or approaching A-list status. They had plenty of occasions to interact with each other normally.

Even someone like Xie Jinzhao, who hadn’t appeared much on variety shows, had once gone to another one of Teacher Li’s programs to promote a new drama, let alone the others.

After eating, they would rest for another hour before the recording officially began.

And at this time, Mr. Gu Siyuan—the manager who was complained about by Xie Jinzhao for being irresponsible—was currently meeting with his partner at Yuanzhi Technology, Cheng Ou.

The driver drove them both to visit the company’s first major client.

“This Universal Park has already introduced our latest real-time dynamic holographic simulation technology. And look at those filming crew members up ahead. I heard they just happen to be recording a very popular escape room and puzzle-solving variety show here today. Tsk, once this technology is presented to the public, I believe it will definitely shock everyone…” Cheng Ou introduced, his face radiant with enthusiasm.

Looking at the park’s astonishing daily foot traffic and the crowd gathering in a circle up ahead, Gu Siyuan nodded in agreement.

This kind of offline promotional method, coupled with buying some online KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) later, was indeed a good idea.

“Ah, Xie Xie, Little Xie…”
“Zhao-zhao is so handsome!”
“Xie Jinzhao!”

Suddenly, the crowd over there erupted into a burst of screams.

Seeing his boss frown, Cheng Ou hurriedly flattered him to show his loyalty: “These people are really noisy, their quality is quite lacking!”

Gu Siyuan shot him a sidelong glance and said coldly, “Where are they lacking?”

“…” Cheng Ou.

Did I just slap the horse’s hoof instead of kissing its ass?

Support me on Ko-fi