The days that followed flew by, and the agent kept Liang Shi busy at all.
He appears in low-profile magazines, auditions for different film and television productions, and is a guest on some lukewarm variety shows.
It wasn't until the day "Happy Return Line" aired.
To everyone's surprise, the production team used Liang Shi's red outfit and fan dance as a gimmick.
In particular, they used a 20-second video to edit out a solo cut of Liang Shi, and even bought a trending topic with the hashtag #TheSisterWhoStunnedNetizensInRedIsBack#
An extremely long entry.
Netizens unanimously commented below: 【Yang Shuyan?】
Yang Shuyan's red dress look in that movie was indeed very popular, and the famous "red dress killer" look is also attributed to her.
It wasn't even the fans who promoted it; it was the votes from casual observers.
Clicking into the entry revealed that it was Liang Shi.
The square immediately erupted in chaos.
[Wow, I thought it was Yang Shuyan. Is this obscure celebrity trying to ride the coattails of someone else's popularity?]
[The person upstairs is wrong. I checked, and she only has one minor role in an upcoming drama. Calling her an 18th-tier actress is an understatement.]
Is this picture really that nice? Why can't I get it?
Honestly, I didn't think it looked good. Her previous red outfit was just so-so too. She's only about 800 times less attractive than Yang Shuyan than Zhao Ying.
[To the person upstairs: Just say what you want to say, why the need for comparisons?]
[...]
Almost everyone only looked at the pictures released by the program team.
It wasn't particularly stunning, and it wasn't even as good as the photos taken by passersby on Weibo.
The filter drastically reduced her appearance, and the clothes were also unremarkable, making her unappealing to watch.
Liang Shi, however, was unaffected. She only posted a promotional message at her agent's request and then ignored it. As a result, she found Zhao Xuning watching TV that night, and it happened to be the variety show featuring her.
Liang Shi: "?"
"Let's not look anymore," Liang Shi said.
Zhao Xuning asked in confusion, "Why?"
“It doesn’t look good,” Liang Shi said.
He did not want to die in front of Zhao Xuning.
Moreover, she was really afraid that unconventional academic geniuses like Zhao Xuning would see her dancing the fan dance and feel compelled to buy a fan and learn as well.
“I think it’s pretty good,” Zhao Xuning said. “I watch it every week.”
Liang Shi: "..."
“You really don’t look like someone who likes watching these kinds of variety shows.” Liang Shi opened the refrigerator, took out two cans of ice-cold beer, and tossed one to her.
Zhao Xuning took it, pulled it open with a bang, and then shrugged lightly, "Shen Hui used to like watching it."
So she watched along with them.
Most of the time, Shen Hui watches variety shows, and she watches Shen Hui. When she's bored, she plays with her hair or holds her in her arms and feeds her.
Back then, Shen Hui always complained, "This is how you fattened me up!"
She pinched Shen Hui's waist and said, "I like it."
He also greedily buried his face in her neck and kissed the fragrance of her hair like he was petting a cat.
Shen Hui watched many episodes of this program nestled in her arms, and she developed the habit of watching it as well.
When two people spend a lot of time together, they do tend to become similar in some ways.
Just like before, Zhao Xuning didn't like spicy food, but after following Shen Hui, he could eat spicy food.
Zhao Xuning doesn't like sports either, but Shen Hui does. She does running, swimming, crunches, Pilates, and yoga, so Zhao Xuning has also tried them.
Even more outrageous, Zhao Xuning, who is completely uncoordinated, even followed Shen Hui and danced street dance.
Back then, she often said that Shen Hui's dancing was beautiful, but her dancing was like a little devil taking lives.
Even after they separated, Zhao Xuning would watch this variety show whenever he had time each week.
Even when she's very tired, she'll still keep this variety show playing in the background.
Before Liang Shi spoke, she really hadn't expected him to be on the show.
Liang Shi simply gave up and sat next to her to watch with her.
The show opened with a senior actor from their company singing a love song with the host.
The pitch isn't great, but the tone is nice.
It wasn't until Liang Shi's dance came out that Zhao Xuning took a sip of beer and, unusually, praised, "Not bad."
However, her dance video became a trending topic on Weibo, and the public opinion shifted dramatically.
Before the show aired, the photos and individual promotional images released by the production team were criticized for being ugly, but now the public is full of praise for them.
[Is this something I can watch for free?]
Did you guys watch closely? There's an arm-raising motion at 22 seconds; you can see his abs!
[I saw it, I took a screenshot! Image.jpg]
[It's mainly her eyes, I instantly understood her beauty!]
[I just want to ask, are you guys trying to protect yourselves from backlash?!]
[Yes, yes, yes! After watching the video and then seeing the pictures, I felt like killing the entire production team.]
[...]
Liang Shi's Weibo followers grew extremely fast, gaining 100,000 followers in less than an hour.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Xu Qingzhu returned home and was curled up on the sofa, lost in thought.
My phone, which was lying to the side, vibrated. It was a message from Sally.
Sally: [...Your Liang Shi is so beautiful!]
Sally: [Are there any solo fancams? A friend of mine wants to see one.]
Xu Qingzhu: [?]
She had no idea what Sally was talking about, so Sally forwarded her a Weibo post.
After Liang Shi left, Xu Qingzhu rarely opened Weibo.
Especially my own alternate account.
I'm afraid that seeing her messages will make me want to contact her, but I'm even more afraid that seeing her updates will make me afraid to contact her.
So I simply ran away.
When I opened it, I saw a video of Liang Shi dancing in a red dress. She was different on stage than when she was acting. Every movement was perfect. Even though there weren't many shots of her, whenever the camera focused on her, she seemed to radiate light.
After watching it, Xu Qingzhu watched it twice more, and then clicked back to read the comments.
Almost everyone was praising Liang Shicai.
Xu Qingzhu skated for a long time, but couldn't reach the bottom; there was too much of it.
It seems that Liang Shi became famous overnight.
There is a lot of discussion about her.
Xu Qingzhu looked through her Weibo and saw that she responded to comments with gentle words.
However, her verified identity has been changed; she was originally identified as actor Liang Shi.
The actor has now been replaced by Liang Shi, a contracted actor with Huayi Film & Television.
Huayi Film & Television...
Xu Qingzhu flipped through the contracts on her computer; the one she and Lu Jiayi had acquired... was this company.
Furthermore, I'm going to have a meeting with Huayi's senior management tomorrow, and I'll also be meeting with Huayi's main artists.
Of course, this does not include newcomers like Liang Shi.
Xu Qingzhu scrolled through Weibo for a long time before finally letting out a sigh of relief.
The familiar nausea returned, and she ran to the bathroom. After vomiting, she was pale and, leaning on the sink, finally made up her mind—she had to let her know.
Even without love, her sense of morality and responsibility could keep her here.
Xu Qingzhu is not happy at all without Liang Shi.
Even if it's obtained through hard work or stolen, there will still be a brief period of happiness.
Xu Qingzhu texted a senior executive at Huayi Brothers: "I think Liang Shi, the artist on today's show, is quite good. Have her come to my office tomorrow morning at 10 AM. I have a good drama I could submit for her, but she'll need to audition."
That sounds like he's trying to sexually harass her.
Huayi's senior management was also bewildered. Was the new president really that... blunt?
The executive looked at the text message, made a final polish, and sent it to Liang Shi's agent: "[Liang Shi is in luck! A big shot has taken a liking to her and wants her to play the lead role in the next film. Have her meet the investor tomorrow; it absolutely has to work out.]"
After reading it, the agent asked about the time and place, and then sent it to Liang Shi in a simple and clear manner.
"Meet me downstairs at 9:50 tomorrow morning. I'll take you to meet the investor."
Liang Shi asked in confusion: "Isn't he the director?"
Agent: [Investor, we can let you bring your own investment to the project.]
Liang Shi stared at his phone with a serious expression. Zhao Xuning asked, "What's wrong?"
Liang Shi frowned and sighed, "It seems like someone is trying to sexually harass me."
Zhao Xuning: "?"