TPH Chapter 25

The Protagonist’s Halo [Arc 1] Chapter 25: Entertainment Circle Vase (34)

Since Ji Yanhuai retired from the entertainment industry, his agent Zhou Zhuo’s life has not been so easy.

The status of agents and artists often complement each other.

In the past, Ji Yanhuai was the movie emperor and had the most resources in the company. Zhou Zhuo was not only domineering outside, but also offended many people inside the company and could easily ignore them. Now that Zhou Zhuo has lost his greatest support, those who he had offended in the past are also secretly ostracizing him, and putting some obstacles in his way is considered a light punishment.

Zhou Zhuo held his breath and vowed that if he could bring out a Ji Yanhuai, he could also create a second superstar.

Originally, after Ji Yanhuai left, he was going to bring in new people. Relying on his previous status and the friendship between Ji Yanhuai and the president of Tianhuang, Zhou Zhuo directly picked the newcomer with the best qualifications and performance, and completely looked down on the others.

The newcomer is called Gao Lun. He was very happy to know that Zhou Zhuo was Ji Yanhuai’s agent for many years. Although Ji Yanhuai has retired, he was a top actor and a three-time Golden Horse Award winner in his heyday. It is his blessing to be able to get the same treatment and starting point as Ji Yanhuai.

But Gao Lun soon stopped thinking so. He found that Zhou Zhuo had a bad temper. He was not only condescending to others, but also to him. It did not seem like he was trying to help and train him. Instead, he just gave him orders and told him what to do.

Gao Lun considered himself a newcomer with no fame or status, so he had to endure it.

Zhou Zhuo also felt unhappy. It was not as easy as when he first took over as Ji Yanhuai’s agent. At that time, he had just taken over as Ji Yanhuai’s agent, and the company arranged for him to be the male lead in a very popular IP drama. He became an instant hit. After that, he cooperated with first-line actresses and played the male lead in big productions directed by big directors. Everything went smoothly and he was at the peak of his career.

In reality, Zhou Zhuo had overestimated his own abilities. Of Ji Yanhuai’s past achievements, he only contributed to a third, and he was still helping with administrative duties and external work. Ji Yanhuai was about to enter the entertainment industry. He was exceptional in both appearance and acting, and with the overt and covert support of the Ji family and Tianhuang, it would have been surprising if he hadn’t become famous.

Zhou Zhuo, used to being a top star’s manager, had been so high and mighty for so long that he had no time to reflect on his own problems. Instead, he took out all his frustrations on the artists. He was always critical of Gao Lun, saying he couldn’t compare to Ji Yanhuai in this or that aspect.

Gao Lun didn’t dare to refute, but his resentment towards him accumulated in his heart bit by bit.

Although he was extremely picky and disdainful of new artists, Zhou Zhuo also understood that he had to rely on newly trained artists to make a comeback, so he put a lot of effort into promoting Gao Lun and used all his connections from the past decade or so.

Gao Lun became a huge hit thanks to his role as the male lead in a handsome ancient fantasy idol drama, and also successfully won the male lead in a commercial blockbuster, which consolidated his popularity. In the increasingly declining Tianhuang Company, he is also a new generation male artist who can be proud of and devote resources to training.

Seeing that his artist was about to become famous, Zhou Zhuo started to get cocky again. Not only did he boss around other people, but he also didn’t change his attitude towards Gao Lun, who was already famous. He continued to give orders, and interfered with Gao Lun’s work arrangements, private life and feelings, demanding that Gao Lun listen to him.

Gao Lun had a childhood sweetheart whom he had known for many years, and they were in a relationship that was just beginning to form. However, when Zhou Zhuo found out about this, he went straight to Gao Lun’s childhood sweetheart and warned her not to look for Gao Lun in the future, let alone to hype the relationship. The girl was so scared that she started crying.

Gao Lun had a big fight with Zhou Zhuo over this. Zhou Zhuo didn’t think there was anything wrong with what he did, and even said, “Without me, you are nothing.”

The matter was eventually left unresolved.

When the commercial blockbuster starring Gao Lun was released and performed well at the box office, he gained the attention of Tianhuang Company because of this achievement. After all, after Ji Yanhuai left, they had not yet found a male artist to take over.

Seeing Gao Lun being promoted by the company, Zhou Zhuo felt that he would rise with the tide and regain his former glory. However, the company suddenly informed him that they would change Gao Lun’s agent, and this request was made by Gao Lun.

Zhou Zhuo was furious that he was tricked by a small artist. He wanted to do something but was warned by the company.

Gao Lun was currently Tianhuang’s most popular artist. If Zhou Zhuo attempted to exploit Gao Lun’s private life to expose any issues, it would be tantamount to damaging the company’s interests. Tianhuang might not be as powerful as it once was, but a lean camel was still bigger than a horse. It would be easy to make Zhou Zhuo’s career as a manager untenable.

Zhou Zhuo had no choice but to give up, and the matter spread in the circle. Being bullied by the artist he had trained, Zhou Zhuo was embarrassed.

In the end, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t do anything. He was already deeply resentful of Gao Lun, the rising star of Tianhuang, for his past teachings and scoldings.

If the star development system were given another chance to choose, it would definitely not choose Pei Yiren as its host.

During the filming of the fantasy blockbuster invested by Luo Qiyi, Pei Yiren fought with the leading female role many times, and the scenes both on and off the stage were very exciting.

Because Pei Yiren was brought in as an investor, the director and crew treated her well, including a special car for transportation. The actress was a little resentful and set her sights on Luo Qiyi. Pei Yiren’s position with Luo Qiyi was still very stable, so she used some tricks to play a trick on her, causing her to make a lot of jokes.

But the actress who played the leading female role was not the type to endure and suffer in silence. In anger and humiliation, she went to the media to expose the fact that Pei Yiren was being kept by a wealthy sponsor.

Originally, she could have won a lot of fans with her good character of the seductive woman she played, with clear love and hate, and the willingness to sacrifice for love. In addition, the team arranged by Luo Qiyi helped her to whitewash herself. It had been so long, and netizens would not hold on to it. As a result, the heroine of the movie caused such a scene that she was on the headlines of gossip magazines for several days in a row, and she became famous again.

The leading actress was also furious. She didn’t want to see Pei Yiren stepping on her to get to the top, so she recklessly exposed the news. Now she hasn’t gotten any good out of it. She was even scolded by her agent for being brainless and offending Mr. Luo. The movie was about to be released, and it was messed up like this. Not only did the leading and second female characters quarrel, but they also revealed that the second female character relied on financial sponsors to bring in money, which would obviously affect the box office.

“I’ve already done it, why are you talking nonsense now?” She directly confronted her agent, and at least she felt relieved.

As soon as this news came out, there were many people online who were just waiting to watch the fun, and the comments were full of ridicule and mockery.

“I don’t think Pei Yiren is particularly pretty, but she’s had relationships with actor Ji and tycoon Luo Qiyi. She’s so accurate in flirting with them, so she must be quite skilled.”

“Absolutely. Ji Yanhuai broke up with Su Man because of her. One is a bitch, the other is blind. Neither is better than the other. But I wonder what Ji Yanhuai would think if he knew Pei Yiren and Luo Qiyi?”

“Let’s release the manual for flirting with men someday. It will definitely be very popular.”

“Don’t bring Ji Yanhuai into this. Ji Yanhuai and his company have never admitted to any scandals. It’s just some green tea bitch who directed and acted it out. Now she wants to whitewash herself by clinging to someone powerful. We strongly boycott ‘The Immortals.”

After the release of “The Immortals,” a film invested by Luo Qiyi, the box office was indeed severely affected. Many people clamored to boycott “The Immortals.” However, Pei Yiren had a large role in the film, and it was difficult to cut it. In the end, after only two weeks of release, it was pulled from theaters due to low attendance.

Pei Yiren’s fame, which had been slightly improved after more than half a year of hard work, fell into a trough again.

After two failures, her confidence had completely vanished. Not everyone could grit their teeth and pull themselves back from the infamous trough, slowly climbing back up. Even Pei Yiren, who had access to such a powerful golden finger as the Star Development System.

And unlike the first time when she was blackened by the entire network, she was still a newcomer and could still think of ways and had the ambition to become a big star.

For the past six months, she has been living a life of luxury here at Luo Qiyi’s, and she has completely lost the tenacity to hone her acting skills and work hard on filming.

Anyway, as long as Luo Qiyi was there, she would have no worries about not having roles to play. She would even be praised by every crew she joined. As soon as Pei Yiren had this thought, the system issued a serious warning to her, “This system is a star development system. Its goal is to help the host become a superstar. Please maintain a positive and enterprising attitude, work hard to improve your fame, and head towards the pinnacle of the entertainment industry.”

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t film.” Pei Yiren said perfunctorily.

In fact, ever since the system item store closed, Pei Yiren had been somewhat resentful of the system for not being able to help her more. It constantly urged her to complete tasks.

Did the system, as a system, know how difficult these tasks were? If it wanted to help her become a big star, why not open the system store and give her more free items? Wouldn’t that make completing tasks much easier?

Pei Yiren couldn’t help but sigh, if only her golden finger could be bigger, it would directly give her a life setting where she can win easily, and she wouldn’t have to work so hard.

But from that day on, the system was like an alarm clock reminding her every day to film and increase her fame. Unable to bear it any longer, Pei Yiren simply turned off the system sound and would turn it on again when she needed it.

One day, Pei Yiren thought she needed to use the system, but she called it in her mind for a long time without any response.

“System, system.”

Pei Yiren couldn’t help but feel panic in her heart. She kept calling the system anxiously, with some soft pleading and some angry threats, but a whole day passed and the star system did not appear in front of her again.

Pei Yiren finally realized that she had truly lost the star development system forever.

Isn’t it soul-bound? Why can it leave her?

Pei Yiren was enveloped in great panic. Ever since she came to this world, she had become accustomed to the existence of the Star System. Even though she complained that the system could not give her more help, it was because her dependence on the system had become very strong.

Pei Yiren was completely distraught after losing the system. What should she do without the system?

She still has Luo Qiyi. After a long time, Pei Yiren thought of Luo Qiyi as if she had grabbed a life-saving straw. She comforted herself that if she lost the star system, at most she would not be able to become a superstar.

Even if the star development system was still there, she would never be able to be like Su Man. Even though she still had countless jealousies towards Su Man, she was more helpless. She hadn’t been able to deal with Su Man before, and now she didn’t even have the chance to meet her.

But if I can’t be a superstar, being Mrs. Luo is fine too.

What Pei Yiren didn’t know was that the impact of losing the system was yet to come. Pei Yiren soon felt it. The first thing was that the system could help her see the favorability of the target. Without this function, Pei Yiren could not always guess what Luo Qiyi was thinking when he spoke, and she couldn’t help but shrink back and restrained.

As time went by, Pei Yiren was always worried about her favorability with Luo Qiyi, and she was careful in everything she said and did.

Little did she know that in Luo Qiyi’s eyes, she had lost the frankness, freedom, casualness and sincerity that he had admired before, and was no different from other women.

Luo Qiyi considered himself quite graceful and did not withdraw his care for Pei Yiren, whether it was the villa or the entertainment resources, just because he no longer liked her. Pei Yiren was also unable to detect Luo Qiyi’s affection for her and was slow to notice Luo Qiyi’s indifference in time.

It was not until she saw the photos of Mr. Luo and his new love in the entertainment gossip news that Pei Yiren realized that she was about to lose her only support, Luo Qiyi.

…

Not long ago, Xiao Han was on vacation at the beach abroad and was also looking for a job. While basking in the sun, she suddenly heard a slight exploding sound in her ear.

Then 9526’s terrified voice was heard, “There’s actually a system trying to snatch my system from me. I’m scared to death.”

“Fortunately, I reacted in time and eliminated it.” 9526 thanked it. As a peace-loving system, it and the host had a good vacation, not worrying about who had provoked it.
Since 9526 was fine, Xiao Han didn’t care much and just casually asked, “What system is it?”

9526 scanned and processed the wreckage and said blankly, “It seems to be Pei Yiren’s star training system.”

…

Ever since Xiao Han won several Grand Slams, the original body’s parents were no longer so resistant to their daughter entering the entertainment industry. After all, awards are still very convincing, and they no longer blindly believe that the entertainment industry is a big melting pot of all kinds of temptations.

Xiao Han took the time to go back and visit them twice. Although she couldn’t be as filial to her parents as a real daughter, she was able to make the original body gain the recognition and understanding of her parents. Her parents were also proud of the awards and honors she had received. Xiao Han thought that she should have done her best to repay the original body.

Su’s parents didn’t ask their daughter to do anything for them, like live in a villa or hire a nanny. Both had been teachers for years, taking their profession seriously and accustomed to such a simple life. They wouldn’t be comfortable with the idea of a life of luxury. They didn’t mention the fact that international superstar Su Man was their daughter, but occasionally they’d be delighted to hear passersby, or even their own students, consider her their idol.

What they didn’t know was that Su Man’s period in the entertainment industry was later called the new golden age.