Chapter 704: Chapter 704

He Jinxia’s eyes glinted with a moment of contemplation. Yu Yanyu’s suggestion was not half bad, quite the opposite, it was actually pretty good.

"Also, if you truly think that reality show is worth investing in, then why not bring us along? Honestly, my schedule is pretty scattered right now, I can totally make time."

Her eyes twinkled slyly as she glanced at him, "That last bit is your real point, isn’t it?"

Yu Yanyu, unabashed, replied, "You’re currently on the rise, enjoying a surge of popularity. The resources you can get your hands on are all top-notch. If I don’t ride your coattails now, then when? By the time you become an A-lister, even if you wanted to share your resources with me, I wouldn’t even qualify to compete for them!

But at your current status, just at the cusp of second-tier stardom, it’s just perfect for letting us, too, share in the blessings. Little brother here is just waiting to be taken under your wing, lying low and soaring to the peak of life!"

He Jinxia let out a light huff, taking note of this in her mind, but she made no immediate commitment, saying only, "We’ll see when the time comes."

Yu Yanyu pleaded earnestly for a few more sentences, trying to earn some brownie points in front of He Jinxia, and even nudged Ren Xiao, who was munching away happily, looking like a squirrel.

Ren Xiao chimed in with a sound of agreement, then bowed his head and continued "pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat" with his eating.

What use is a little brother !

After finally dealing with Yu Yanyu, it was Qiu Zhenze’s turn to raise a question, " ’High School Musical’ has been showing for almost a month now; it’s going to be taken down soon, isn’t it? Why do you need to start promoting it again?"

He vividly remembered how He Jinxia managed the release of ’High School Musical’ in Huaxia last month between juggling other commitments, looking absolutely exhausted.

Unfortunately, the film’s performance in Huaxia wasn’t great—it had only made 2.6 billion at the box office, falling 400 million short of the 3 billion that would label it a masterpiece.

Although He Jinxia was the face of ’High School Musical’s advertising campaign, strictly speaking, she was just a supporting actress in the film. Even if her role was well-received, she was ultimately just a supporting character.

Due to the misleading posters from ’Crash Through the World,’ audiences had grown wary; many decided to go see the film only after reading a number of online reviews, thinning out the potential audience base.

Another segment of the audience, the picky Huaxia viewers, found the film to be just average and unremarkable, failing to pique their interest.

He Jinxia picked up a piece of sushi and started to eat, speaking vaguely, "The movie is about to leave theaters here, but isn’t there online video? Director Wilson wants to do a sequential switch. I’m promoting for the online video release."

Qiu Zhenze suddenly understood and nodded in full agreement, "That’s a good approach, leveraging the heat from the movie before it completely dies down to attract some traffic online. It’s just, can you really handle all this?"

In these past few months, the group of four had been feasting on Yu Yanyu’s culinary delights, maintaining their weight amidst the heavy pressure and bustle of acting.

Only He Jinxia, because of shuttling between multiple commitments, had lost three or four pounds. Her already just-right figure now seemed even more lithe.

Before she started this TV show, she had a hint of commonness about her, but after, she became more strikingly elegant, like a celestial being descended from heaven.

He Jinxia took a deep breath, shook her head, and uttered a statement that was true, yet so annoying one might want to punch her—

"Can’t help it, I’m great, after all. I’ll work hard. After all, ’To whom the universe tasks, first exhausts their will, vexes their bones, starves their skin...’"

Ding-dong! Your excellent little helper #Great He# has come online~

Even flogging her fifty times wouldn’t soothe the indignation!

The wrap party broke up, and everyone wished each other well, hoping to press on bravely and vigorously. Then they all went home to get some well-deserved rest before diving back into their busy careers.

After finishing a movie, He Jinxia finally took a deep breath and enjoyed a few days of leisure.

Her popularity was indeed soaring, but aside from filming, she wasn’t as busy as everyone imagined.

Once her popularity had spiked, it was essential to find ways to elevate her elegance. Nowadays, only the top-rated variety and talk shows were presented to her for consideration.

However, once she started accepting appearances, things seemed to swarm her like bees to honey, and she spun around like a top, never stopping once she started.

The cast of "High School Musical" was coming over for promotion, which was scheduled for the following week to coincide with the movie’s final days in theaters and to generate buzz for its upcoming online video release.

Based on current box office estimates, unless something unexpected happened, "High School Musical" was not going to hit 7 billion worldwide but rather around 6.6 billion.

While this film had broken Director Wilson’s personal box office record, the failure to win the bet was somewhat regrettable, and it was unclear how much less money Wilson would make.

Regarding reality shows, negotiations were still underway. Luo You planned to arrange a few good ones for her, not as a regular guest but for special appearances, which could be filmed in three or four days, so they wouldn’t take up too much of her time.

As for film and television, that was even more unpredictable than the other appearances. The company’s top brass, including Luo You, unanimously determined that whether He Jinxia could become an A-lister hinged on her next film projects!

The selection of her next film had to be extra cautious—a single misstep could dissipate all the momentum she had worked so hard to build up.

He Jinxia sat at home in a cool T-shirt, scrolling through Sheng Yan’s new drama updates and the latest trending current affairs on the couch. With nothing better to do, she even checked out the Weibo pages of Ren Xiao, Yu Yanyu, and Qiu Zhenze.

Ren Xiao and Qiu Zhenze weren’t ones to update their Weibo often. Two days had passed since the wrap-up party, and their latest Weibo posts were still the group photo from "Xiao Xiangyu’s Many Sorrows."

The cast first took a photo all together, and then Yu Yanyu specifically asked for a shot of the four of them, insisting that when posting the photo, the group shot had to be included.

Under Yu Yanyu’s daunting presence, Ren Xiao obediently did as instructed, and so did Qiu Zhenze, the aging relic who rarely posted; as for her, she followed the crowd.

As He Jinxia was scrolling through the news, her phone suddenly rang—it was a call from Luo You.

Seeing this call, He Jinxia composed herself, knowing her beautiful holiday was over.

"Congratulations, the film you starred in ’Crash Through the World’ has been shortlisted for Venice’s Best Screenplay Award this year!"

He Jinxia paused, her mind going blank, unable to process the information.

After a long moment, she murmured, "Are you sure this news is true? It’s not April Fool’s Day, is it? You’re not here to tell me about an appearance, are you?"

Luo You’s eyes twinkled, his words laced with teasing, "I lied to you, just for fun. You guessed right, come to the company when you have time. I’ve got some reality shows and scripts I can’t make up my mind about, I need you to take a look."

He Jinxia’s heart lightened, and she felt much better. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe it, but that she dared not believe it—"Best Screenplay of the Year," that was an award as prestigious as being crowned Movie King or Movie Queen! Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs nοvelfire.net

With "Crash Through the World’s" performance, how could it possibly win this award?

Though she knew it impossible, a weird feeling still lingered in her heart.

When "Crash Through the World" was released, she had discussed with Luo You the chances of the film being selected for film festivals.

However, due to the film’s lackluster performance, they didn’t dare to speculate on major awards but instead guessed at smaller ones like costumes, props, or lighting. They didn’t take it seriously.

Now that she was idle at home, and Luo You was choosing projects for her, it was normal for him to call and talk about appearances. But why would he bring up "Crash Through the World" out of the blue?