Chapter 3: CH 3

“You…” Lin Qiao choked up, his neck red with anger.

“You took the initiative to act so don’t be calculating here. What is this hardship for those who want to be actors?” Wang Zhang obviously didn’t take such trivial matters to heart.

Acting was pursuing the word ‘true.’ The occasional injuries that an actor suffered on set were a million times more serious than this.

Song Lan secretly gave Lin Qiao a warning look while saying on the surface, “If you feel uncomfortable then go to the infirmary later.”

Wang Zhang was a well-known director and Song Lan was the artist director. Both of them secretly and openly broke Lin Qiao’s complaint. They obviously didn’t intend to blame Ji Li who was ‘in the scene.’

Lin Qiao saw this and almost broke his teeth from sullenness. Obviously, he wanted to teach Ji Li a lesson. How could he suffer a loss in return?

“You are good for being able to achieve this level in a short time.” Wang Zhang approached and praised. The depression accumulated in him had disappeared.

He smiled at Ji Li. “If I get a role one day that suits you, I will be sure to have someone contact your company.”

“Thank you, Director.” Ji Li pursed his lips and smiled, showing the humility of a ‘newcomer.’

Meanwhile, Zhao Jinfeng sat in his position and felt faintly guilty in his heart. He originally thought this would be a farce based on Ji Li’s acting skills. He didn’t expect the other party to actually complete the performance in a brilliant way.

Ji Li had been paying attention to Zhao Jinfeng’s look and he changed the topic. “Speaking of which, I have to thank Coach Zhao for giving me this special opportunity.”

The word ‘special’ was emphasized.

Zhao Jinfeng saw everyone’s eyes fall on him and quickly got up to reply in a polite manner, “How can you say that? As your acting director, I can only give you a bit of theoretical help. You seized the opportunity yourself.”

As he spoke, he couldn’t help glancing at Lin Qiao. The other person was sullen and avoiding his gaze.

Wang Zhang had been a director for so many years and had developed a pair of discerning eyes. He had naturally seen Zhao Jinfeng’s guilty conscience.

Who was this person? His own ‘acting’ wasn’t good and he was thinking about being a teacher?

Wang Zhang looked at Song Lan with a smile. “Tell your President Meng for me that the level of your company’s training instructors needs to be improved. Don’t delay the training of the good seedlings.”

Zhao Jinfeng heard this and his heart immediately beat faster.

He had graduated from the Film and Television Academy but his appearance was average and he failed to take the road of strength. Over the years, he had played some supporting roles but the pay wasn’t high and his life wasn’t stable.

At the beginning of the year, he heard that Dream Media was recruiting teachers for their trainees and tried it. Unexpectedly, he was selected.

Over the past six months, countless trainees had respectfully called out ‘Coach Zhao’ to him and he became a bit lofty. Now that Wang Zhang said these words in front of everyone, Zhao Jinfeng only felt panic.

Song Lan nodded with understanding in her eyes.

“It is getting late. I’ll leave first.” Wang Zhang waved his hand and looked around at the large group of people in the training room. “There is no need to send me off. Say goodbye to President Meng for me.”

“Yes. Director, go slowly.”

It was only once he left that Song Lan opened her mouth. “Apart from Coach Zhao and Lin Qiao, everyone else can go back to rest. Wait for the company’s follow-up notice.”

Song Lan could sit in this position for a reason. Now she left these two people behind to deal with the ‘dirty business’ between them.

Ji Li understood this and left at the end of the group without a word. Soon, there were only three people left in the room.

“Coach Zhao, I will formally inform you on behalf of the personnel department that you have been dismissed. It just so happens that this training period has come to an end. You can leave straight away.”

Song Lan’s words completely smashed Zhao Jinfeng in place.  “…Director Song! What do you mean? What qualifications do you have to represent the personnel department?”

If he was fired, where could he find another job that was so good?”

“You should know my meaning the best.”

Song Lan didn’t beat around the bush and directly revealed the truth. “Didn’t you secretly tamper with today’s assessment clip? Ji Li is a trainee in our company. As an acting instructor, this is a dereliction of duty!”

“In the past six months, how many times have you taken advantage of your position and received bribes from trainees? It is already great that the company is just firing you instead of calling the police.”

Zhao Jinfeng saw that the secret in his heart had been pierced and his face immediately stiffened. His heart grew more and more unstable.

Song Lan paused, her sharp eyes piercing Lin Qiao. “As for you…”

“Sister Song Lan, it is none of my business!” Seeing that the situation was wrong, Lin Qiao immediately shirked his responsibility. “I did give Coach Zhao money but it was only so he would open a back door in the assessment to allow me to graduate smoothly.”

“As for him secretly changing the assessment question for Ji Li, I don’t know about it at all.”

Zhao Jinfeng stared in disbelief. He obviously hadn’t expected the other person to actually pick himself clean!

His face flushed with anger as he pointed at Lin Qiao. “It is clear that you are the one who gave money to me to deliberately embarrass Ji Li during the assessment. This way, he will fail the assessment three times and will be dismissed by the company!”

“Nonsense! I am the young master of Lin Pharmaceuticals. Why do I want to do such a trivial thing and make things difficult for Ji Li?” Lin Qiao stepped forward and deliberately reminded them of his identity.

Song Lan coldly watched them throw the blame to each other while secretly calculating it.

Lin Qiao had spent a lot of money to come in. According to President Meng’s meaning, he would receive the ‘recommendation’ for the next road no matter how bad. As for the results after debuting, it depended on his own good fortune.

It was time for Zhao Jinfeng to be fired. Meanwhile, she would report it and it was probably up to President Meng whether Lin Qiao would stay or leave.

“Zhao Jinfeng, immediately pack your things and leave.” Song Lan suppressed the disgust in her heart and warned Lin Qiao, “Don’t form cliques in the company and do such behavior. One more time and you can also leave directly!”

Lin Qiao snorted and didn’t take Song Lan’s advice to heart at all. He glanced at Zhao Jinfeng provocatively and swaggered out of the training room.

Zhao Jinfeng watched the ‘initiator’ leave and was so regretful that his intestines were green. 

He shouldn’t have believed this young man’s nonsense in the beginning, let alone be so obsessed with money as to embarrass Ji Li.

Now instead of getting any other benefits, he instead lost his job!

***

The moment Lin Qiao left the training room, he received a call from Mother Lin.

“Mom, who can be better than your son?”

“No one would dare to give me a hard time with my status. Even the artist director of the company has to somewhat yield to me.” Lin Qiao wandered through the corridor, looking so smug that he was going to float into the sky.

—Swish.

Suddenly, a large amount of dirty water poured out from the corner of the corridor. Lin Qiao was caught off guard and was thoroughly soaked from head to toe.

Ji Li hid in a shadow of the corner and went around the rear. He slammed the bucket over Lin Qiao’s head and then kicked this person.

You are reading story I Became Hugely Popular After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Star at novel35.com

“Ah!” Lin Qiao fell to the ground, his head still covered with the bucket. He couldn’t get up for a long time. “Who! Who… did it?”

Ji Li saw the other person’s embarrassing look and his lips slightly curved upwards.

He had long expected that Lin Qiao’s young master identity meant Song Lan couldn’t act against him. At best, Zhao Jinfeng would be dismissed as an ‘accomplice.’

Yet when he remembered the bullying that the original owner had suffered before, Ji Li couldn’t swallow this breath. He waited in the blind spot of the surveillance and grasped the right timing to make his move.

In any case, he had to let Lin Qiao taste some bitterness.

Just then, more footsteps rang out. Ji Li heard the movement and quickly hid in the stairwell.

Zhao Jinfeng walked over with a frustrated expression. Then he saw the movement on the ground and his steps noticeably stopped.

Coincidentally, Lin Qiao happened to remove the bucket and saw him instantly. The anger gathered in his chest exploded. Lin Qiao couldn’t think and decided the other person had done it. “Damn it! This surname Zhao, you dare to play dirty with me?!”

He got up and threw a punch at Zhao Jinfeng.

Zhao Jinfeng had lost his job due to this person throwing the blame on him and had also felt suffocated. At this moment, he was hit for no reason and he was immediately unhappy.

Zhao Jinfeng turned back and fought with Lin Qiao. The heavy, dull sound of punches and the spiteful curses rang through the corridor in an intense manner.

Through the crack in the door, Ji Li slightly raised his eyebrow as he saw the two men who had beaten each other to bruised noses and swollen faces.

As the saying went, the wicked would naturally have a more wicked person to make them suffer.

However, Ji Li wasn’t interested in this ‘dog biting another dog.’ He glanced at the sky outside the window and turned to go down the stairs.

***

Night enveloped the whole city.

In the luxuriously decorated RV, a man walked out of the shower, a bathrobe rightly covering his figure. Even so, a sense of mature superiority could be sensed from him.

A German shepherd lay on the carpet and waved his tail while staring eagerly at the man. The man approached, sat on the sofa and touched his head.

There was a slight electronic sound. The German shepherd sprang away from the sofa, looking alert as he crouched in front of the door.

Qi An got in the car, bent down and patted the guard’s head with a smile. “Major General, wait outside. I’ll take you for a walk later.”

“Woof.” Major General’s ears shook. He obviously understood the words and got out of the car.

“Qin Li.” Qi An called out and quickly walked to his friend’s side. “Did you just finish a scene?”

“Yes, the shooting went well during the day so I  asked Director Zheng to film the later scenes.” Qin Li rubbed his brow bone. It was hard for him to conceal his tone of exhaustion.

Qi An saw him like this and couldn’t help sighing. “Why are you so desperate?”

The other person had debuted at the age of 22. In 10 years, he won four movie emperor trophies and one visual emperor trophy. Looking at the entire Chinese entertainment circle, Qin Li could be called the first legendary person.

Qi An was his classmate and agent. The two of them complemented each other to the present and also co-founded a film and television company. They were gold partners unanimously recognized by everyone in the circle.

In Qi An’s eyes, there was no need for the other person to put up such a fight.

“It will be shot sooner or later.” Qin Li smiled before asking, “Is the shooting schedule of the international magazine arranged?”

“It is two days after tomorrow. Old Zhang easily granted the leave.” Qi An nodded.

Qin Li had always been dedicated to his work when filming and rarely took time off to go out. This time, it was rare for him to ask for leave. Since the filming was progressing well, the director agreed without thinking about it.

Qi An took a sip of the whiskey on the table before suddenly remembering something. “By the way, I will show you a video while you’re free. Wang Zhang sent it to me.”

“Is it the trailer of his new drama?”

“No.” Qi An handed the tablet over and said, “It is a newcomer’s assessment video.”

Qin Li frowned slightly. He didn’t know what medicine these two people were selling.

Qi An leaned against the sofa and explained, “He was asked to be a mentor and said he found a good seedling in a bunch of trainees. The person acted out your previous role.”

Qin Li didn’t take it seriously and casually clicked on the video.

Qi An had been busy in the afternoon and didn’t have time to watch the video. “I don’t know what Wang Zhang is thinking. How can a newcomer’s acting skills compare to you? He even has to show you…”

“You shut up first.” Qin Li dropped these four words in an unprecedented manner.

Qi An was taken aback for a moment. Then he watched as his friend stared at the video intently. Qin Li frowned before his eyes gradually filled with deep emotions Qi An couldn’t understand.

This review clip was less than two minutes and it played quickly. Qin Li stared at the screen in a momentary trance before slowly putting down the tablet.

Qi An saw the rare loss in his friend and was surprised. “No? You look so stupid? Is he really a good seedling? Should I inquire carefully and ask him to sign with our company?”

“I’m tired.” Qin Li glanced at him and changed the topic. “Take Major General for a walk. Don’t let him wait outside for a long time.”

Qi An saw this and sighed. “Okay.”

Once the other person left, Qin Li’s gaze returned to the tablet.

The Awakening was his first film and television work. Many people said that Qin Li’s performance in this scene had reached a high quality. He was the only knew who knew that there was a flaw when shaping this scene.

In fact, there were two completely different versions of this scene that year. One was where he released his feelings externally and was full of tension. In the other, he was introverted and hid it in his heart.

After careful consideration, the director and producer chose the former for the sake of the market audience and box office.

The protagonist Zheng Yi’s emotional catharsis was obvious and every punch had a layer of emotion overlapped. The audience would feel refreshed at the end.

However, it was just the audience’s demand for this scene. The audience was watching an act while the actor was playing the person. For actors who portrayed characters, real emotions often emanated from within.

There was no scene layout in the assessment video and no camera switching, but the newcomer used the most convergent acting method to complete the core of the character with only a few words and non-exaggerated body language.

It was almost the same as the performance version that Qin Li really wanted.

A good seedling?

Qin Li remembered Wang Zhang’s evaluation of the newcomer. His eyes flashed with approval and he couldn’t help pressing the replay button.

The author has something to say:

That night, the replay button was almost broken by Brother Li.

You can find story with these keywords: I Became Hugely Popular After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Star, Read I Became Hugely Popular After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Star, I Became Hugely Popular After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Star novel, I Became Hugely Popular After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Star book, I Became Hugely Popular After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Star story, I Became Hugely Popular After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Star full, I Became Hugely Popular After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Star Latest Chapter