As a result, Sheng Er and others became enemies with Shen Huai.
Over the past six months, Shen Huai has defused numerous open and covert attacks, and the shadows of Sheng Er and his associates can be seen behind them all. To Shen Huai, these are nothing more than the tricks of clowns, and he doesn't take them to heart. However, the implication revealed in Guo Wenyuan's words is worth pondering.
Guo Wenyuan scoffed, "If he really wanted to make good movies and cultivate new talent, I wouldn't say anything. But you know how eager he and Hou Zhang are to achieve quick success. I don't believe he has that kind of heart at all. This morning, Hou Zhang's insider told me that the reason Sheng Er got involved in this plan was actually to resolve the film and television city project in Tancheng a few years ago."
As soon as he said that, Shen Huai understood.
Film investment has always been a matter of luck. Big-budget films with big casts and high expectations may fail miserably, while many projects that were not initially favored may break through with word of mouth and become dark horses.
This unstable nature has led to many film and television companies experiencing a decline in their stock prices even after producing a blockbuster film.
Even established film companies like Guanrui cannot escape this fate. In recent years, Guanrui has indeed invested in several blockbuster films, but at the same time, the performance of several of its main investment films has not met expectations. With the end of the year approaching, Guanrui has failed to deliver a satisfactory report card, and even its plans for next year, apart from blockbusters like Red Ling, are quite bleak.
This is a bottleneck that many established film and television companies encounter, and many companies choose to seek breakthroughs in other areas, such as building film and television cities.
Unfortunately, building a film and television city is not a simple matter. It involves many aspects and requires huge investments. One wrong move and you can get yourself into trouble. For example, Guanrui suffered a great loss on the film and television city project in Tancheng.
Guanrui is in a difficult position regarding this money-guzzling black hole.
Several years ago, Chairman Sheng told his friends that if either of his two sons could solve the Tancheng Film and Television City project, he would hand over Guanrui to him.
However, compared to Sheng Qi's steady and methodical approach, Sheng Zhen was noticeably more impatient.
They initially set their sights on Yixing's copyright library, hoping to capitalize on a wave of nostalgia and use it to promote the Tancheng Film City project. Unfortunately, this plan was thwarted by Yi Mian and Shen Huai, forcing them to settle for second best and try to get involved in this talent development program.
Shen Huai's expression immediately turned serious.
Guo Wenyuan sighed. "They've won over most of the company's shareholders, and Chairman Sheng has also been persuaded. Sheng Qi has no say in this matter, so I had no choice but to come to you. I don't want to see the future of Chinese cinema ruined by a villain like Sheng Zhen."
Shen Huai understood Guo Wenyuan's concerns and nodded, "I understand."
Guo Wenyuan trusted Shen Huai a lot. He knew that if Shen Huai said that, he would definitely not sit idly by. He breathed a sigh of relief and felt much more relaxed.
After finishing their business, Guo Wenyuan naturally steered the conversation toward Xia Shiyu.
As the goddess's number one fan, Guo Wenyuan still diligently voted for her every day despite the busy filming schedule. Now that filming has wrapped up, he is going all out to help his goddess debut in the center position.
Shen Huai chatted with him for a while and found that he actually understood the fan culture better than he, the manager.
Guo Wenyuan was quite pleased with himself, after all, there were very few things that could stump Shen Huai. However, in this matter, Guo was not really that capable; his assistant Jia Mingming deserved the most credit.
Seeing Shen Huai's slightly troubled expression, Guo Wenyuan secretly decided that he would not fire the assistant for the time being.
At that moment, Jia Mingming, who was burning the midnight oil voting for Xia Shiyu in his apartment, suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his nose, mumbled a couple of times, and his QQ buzzed wildly. He immediately forgot about the incident and threw himself back into the voting.
Shen Huai and Guo Wenyuan chatted for a short while before Shen Huai had to return to the company. Old Guo immediately and attentively saw him off.
This teahouse is designed in the style of an ancient garden, with leisurely paths hidden among artificial hills and flowers and trees, which is very charming. However, if you turn around one of the artificial hills and see someone you don't want to see, then it won't be very interesting.
If you could look down from above, you would see Guo Wenyuan and his group encountering someone halfway down the path, with Sheng Zhen and Hou Zhang leading the way.
Sheng Zhen came to the teahouse specifically to entertain his friends, but unexpectedly bumped into Guo Wenyuan, and not only Guo Wenyuan, but also Shen Huai.
Sheng Zhen stared at Guo Wenyuan and Shen Huai with a gloomy face. Guo Wenyuan was not to be outdone, and neither side was willing to back down.
The once tranquil path was suddenly filled with the smell of gunpowder. The teahouse manager who had led Sheng Zhen and his entourage in almost slapped himself. Why had he chosen this path so carefully, only to have these two run into each other?
Neither side spoke, but Hou Zhang, who was originally behind Sheng Zhen, couldn't help but say, "I thought it was someone else, but it turns out to be our CEO Guo. He gave up being a good boss and went to be an actor instead, making the whole industry laugh his head off."
Guo Wenyuan smiled enigmatically, “There’s nothing I can do about it. My parents gave me this good looks, unlike some people who, even if they have such thoughts, Director Xie wouldn’t want them.”
Hou Zhang's face immediately turned pale. "You..."
Sheng Zhen, who had remained silent until now, couldn't hold back any longer and said coldly, "Uncle."
Although Hou Zhang was Sheng Zhen's maternal uncle, the Hou family depended on the Sheng family for their livelihood, so he had no status in front of his nephew. Therefore, even though he was furious with Guo Wenyuan, he could only shut his mouth in a huff.
Guo Wenyuan seemed to only then notice Sheng Zhen. "Oh, isn't this Sheng Lao Er? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, President Hou, you're so big, I didn't even notice you for a moment."
Sheng Zhen hated being called "Second Brother" the most. Hearing Guo Wenyuan's words, his face turned even uglier. He said in a sinister tone, "Guo Wenyuan, don't be so smug. One day I'll make you know who will be in charge of the Sheng family in the future."
Guo Wenyuan sneered, "Anyone can talk tough. I'm waiting."
Sheng Zhen's expression turned even uglier, and he turned to Shen Huai, "President Shen, I didn't expect to see you here."
Shen Huai nodded slightly. "Manager Sheng."
Sheng Zhen's expression did not improve at all because of his address; he remained cold. "Regarding the matter with Yi Xing before, we became acquainted through a fight. I admire President Shen, so let's consider the past forgotten and hope to have the opportunity to cooperate in the future."
Shen Huai found it amusing, wondering where Sheng Zhen's inexplicable confidence came from, but he didn't want to argue back like Guo Wenyuan did. So he just smiled and said, "Okay, I also hope to have a collaboration with Guanrui in the future."
Sheng Zhen was met with a blunt rebuff, which made him even angrier, but he couldn't vent his anger. He cursed Shen Huai in his heart, but on the surface he pretended to be friendly and said, "For Mr. Shen's sake, we will give way and consider it making friends."
Shen Huai smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Manager Sheng."
Sheng Zhen forced a smile, then coldly turned to the teahouse manager and said, "Take another route."
The teahouse manager was surprised that Sheng Zhen would back down. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Alright, alright, this way please."
This large group of people changed routes, and Guo Wenyuan waved triumphantly, "Take care, everyone!"
However, Shen Huai watched their retreating figures and slowly frowned.
Chapter 166
Shen Huai had never met Sheng Zhen before, but he had vaguely heard rumors about this second young master of the Sheng family. Apart from that, he only heard complaints from Guo Wenyuan.
Rumor has it that Sheng Zhen is impatient and easily angered, which can be seen from his behavior when they met today. However, he suppressed his anger time and time again and pretended to be magnanimous, which made Shen Huai think too much.
Moreover, when Sheng Zhen and the others turned around, Shen Huai actually saw Fu Cheng standing at the very back. Since his debut, he had probably never dressed so drably, and he was also wearing a hat. He looked very haggard. If Shen Huai hadn't specifically looked at him, he probably wouldn't have noticed him at all.
When Shen Huai told Guo Wenyuan about this, he was completely bewildered, "Fu Cheng is here too."
No wonder he didn't notice; after all, Actor Fu hasn't been having a good time lately.
Hongling replaced the male lead at the last minute before filming began. Although the official explanation was that Fu Cheng had new work and couldn't make the schedule, anyone with even a little knowledge of the entertainment industry could see the real story. Later, it was rumored that Chairman Sheng had personally removed Fu Cheng from the male lead role, which fueled the rumors and greatly affected Fu Cheng's reputation.
Moreover, since then, Fu Cheng seems to have been plagued by bad luck, with several scandals breaking out one after another. First, the products he endorsed had problems, and then he wore a counterfeit brand when he went to fashion week, which made him the target of ridicule online.
Fu Cheng's team could only keep him low-key. Even at the recent press conference for the start of filming of his new drama, he only stayed for a short while before leaving. The reporters didn't even have time to take many photos. It caused a small ripple on the internet, but it quickly faded into silence.
At a time like this, instead of thinking about how to salvage his reputation and save his career, he's following Sheng Zhen to attend this private gathering, which is indeed a bit strange.
Guo Wenyuan was also puzzled, "What exactly is he trying to do?"
However, whatever Fu Cheng wanted to do was none of their business. Even if Shen Huai had some suspicions, he had no evidence at the moment, so he could only suppress his doubts for the time being.
For the two of them, this was just a minor incident.
Upon learning that Shen Huai was in a hurry to return to the meeting because of Xia Shiyu's competition, Guo Wenyuan immediately became much more attentive. He not only personally escorted him to the garage but also opened the car door for him. Several times he seemed about to say something but hesitated, until Shen Huai got into the car before finally asking hesitantly, "What do you think Wan Jun's chances of winning are?"
Shen Huai had already guessed what Lao Guo wanted to ask. Seeing how nervous he was, he felt a bit empathetic. Knowing that Lao Guo was not an outsider, he told him the truth: "Based on the current data, debuting is a sure thing. There might be some twists and turns in getting the center position, but it should be fine."
Old Guo was immediately relieved. "That's good, that's good."
Shen Huai smiled and said, "You all worked hard voting, especially your assistant, who is very capable. Our Director Ming even wants to poach her from our company."
Old Guo was quite surprised, clearly not expecting Jia Mingming to have such abilities.
After Shen Huai finished speaking, he drove away.
Old Guo had been thinking about firing Jia Mingming every day, but now, after some thought, he suddenly felt a sense of crisis. So he immediately called Jia Mingming and said, "Little Jia, you've been doing a great job lately. I'll have the finance department give you a raise. Keep up the good work!"
Jia Mingming, who stayed up all night voting, answered the phone in a daze, reflexively said "Thank you, boss," and then fell back asleep.
Half an hour later, he suddenly sat up in bed.
"I even dreamt that my boss gave me a raise, it felt so real!"
He grumbled as he got up, grabbing his phone as he went to wash up. To his surprise, when he opened the screen, he found it was a call log from his boss.
He froze, rubbed his eyes, looked again, and even pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He was completely speechless.
Has my boss gone mad today?
After months of fierce competition, the national idols finally entered the final stage of the show, the grand finale of their debut.
Once they cross this hurdle, they will no longer be trainees, but will have truly entered this dazzling industry.
Besides the contestants, the fans who voted for them were even more excited.
They were like fans of a TV series, finally reaching the final episode, putting in a thousand times the effort to vote for their favorite contestants, bringing this grand event of nurturing talent to a perfect close.
For Morningstar Company, this time the Star group still has two remaining members: Xia Shiyu and Yao Xuetong.
Xia Shiyu's votes far surpassed those of Wang Can, who came in second, making her the undisputed center. But that's precisely why we can't afford to be complacent.
Although Yingyuan Company, where Wang Can works, is not as powerful as Chenxing, it started out making idol groups and is very familiar with the ins and outs of the industry. It is also far more proficient in managing idols than other companies in the industry.
Therefore, although Xia Shiyu currently has a very high number of votes, Shen Huai and the others are not at ease at all, as no one knows what other tricks Yingyuan Company has up its sleeve.
But after waiting for several days, Xia Shiyu remained at the top of the list, while Wang Can, who was in second place, seemed to be struggling to catch up.
During this period, Yao Xuetong, who had been steadily holding onto tenth place, was overtaken by the contestants behind her, putting her debut in jeopardy.
Mingwei couldn't sit still any longer. "President Shen, it seems that Xiaxia's votes are already secured. Why don't we allocate more company resources to Xuetong? Otherwise, if things continue like this, Xuetong's situation will be very dangerous."
Shen Huai's gaze fell on the voting interface for the national idol.
The voting interface for "National Idol" refreshes every hour. Aside from the top three, the votes from fourth to fifteenth place are extremely close, sometimes resulting in dramatic changes in the rankings after each refresh. This has further fueled fans' enthusiasm for voting, pushing the total number of votes for "National Idol" to an astonishing height in just a few days.
Yao Xuetong initially performed well, but her momentum waned, and she fell to the brink of elimination. Now, she has even dropped out of the debut lineup.
However, the person ahead of Yao Xuetong in the queue was also a contestant from Yingyuan Company.
Yingyuan Company had a total of seven contestants participating in the competition. Apart from the two eliminated earlier, there were now five contestants who had entered the final. However, with the most eye-catching Wang Can at the top, no one noticed that there were now four members of Yingyuan Company in the top ten, including the one who had just squeezed out Yao Xuetong. This almost accounted for half of the top ten.
Shen Huai vaguely sensed a problem and couldn't help but frown.
Mingwei assumed Shen Huai was worried about affecting Xia Shiyu, so she quickly explained, "President Shen, I don't mean to wrong Xia Xia. It's just that Xia Xia's momentum is currently very strong, and if Yingyuan Company wanted to step up its efforts, it should have done so already. At this point, it's pointless not to reveal their trump cards; Wang Can definitely won't be able to catch up with Xia Xia. Rather than adding to her already stellar success, it's better to provide timely assistance. If Xue Tong gets a little more help, she can secure a debut spot. This is also for the sake of the entire team, don't you think?"
Mingwei looked at Shen Huai with hope, only to see him shake his head.
Mingwei was stunned. "President Shen, do you think what I said is wrong?"
Shen Huai said in a deep voice, "You say that Yingyuan Company has not made any effort, but I have the opposite opinion. Yingyuan Company has already made its efforts, but no one has noticed."
Shen Huai turned the screen towards Ming Wei and pointed to several players in the middle of the rankings. "Just as you said, Yingyuan Company has always been for the benefit of the entire team from the very beginning."
Mingwei stared at the four words "Yingyuan Company" written in unison behind the four members, and was struck dumb, speechless.
Most people only pay attention to the front and back rows, since these are the most suspenseful and competitive parts of the competition. The middle row is not so eye-catching. Yingyuan Company took advantage of this mentality and quietly sent several members of the team into the debut positions.
It took Mingwei a while to come to her senses. She opened her phone and checked the recent trending topics about popular idols, and sure enough, she found a clue.