Ch42 - Film emperor and drama king

One month later, Ling Xi entrusted a lawyer with filing an indictment in court and applying for the contract with his talent company Yangtian Media to be voided. Ling Xi produced many pieces of evidence in the indictment to prove that the company bungled multiple marketing events during the contract period, causing his popularity to suffer. When the contract was renewed, the company purposefully reduced the amount, allowing his appearance fee to fall again and again. The general manager of the company made threats and promises in a five-minute audio recording that he filed at the same time, pushing him to become the gunman of the company’s new pop group and threatening him with a snow burial.

Based on this substantial evidence, Ling Xi’s lawyer not only requested that the contract be terminated, but also that the company compensate Ling Xi two million yuan for mental distress. 

Yangtian Media reacted fast. They also petitioned the court to demonstrate that the company’s publicity route for Ling Xi was free of problems and that Ling Xi agreed to extend the contract at a lower price. Concerning Ling Xi’s recording evidence, the company’s lawyer argued that because Ling Xi’s popularity had declined for many years since his debut and his sales volume had dropped significantly, the company had proposed a solution for him, guaranteeing him full copyright income, which stemmed entirely from the concept of consideration for the artist. It was not a threat. Furthermore, Ling Xi had previously been a gunman for other artists, and he had a close relationship with the new agent of the girls’ pop group, so he had a voluntary motive.

Yangtian Media’s lawyer stated that if Ling Xi insisted on canceling the contract, he would be obliged to pay substantial liquidated damages as well as shoulder the expense of the general manager’s reputation damage.

Ling Xi had never seen such a shameless man before.

The lawsuit got to the stage where both parties were submitting evidence back and forth. The talent agency blocked all of Ling Xi’s social media accounts and dispatched employees to his residence to “invite him for a chat,” but when they came, the place was already abandoned. It was spotless, as if no one had ever stayed there. 

“Yesterday…no, the evening before yesterday, it seemed that a crane drove downstairs and lifted a piano from the house… ,” other artists staying above Ling Xi’s flat recalled.

After hearing it, the general manager hurled his cell phone.

Overall, it was a small artist and a modest agency. The contract cancellation dispute involving Ling Xi did not make much of a stir. Except for a few tabloids that covered his contract termination litigation, most people were unaware of his case. Because the company had taken control of his Weibo account, it hadn’t been updated in a long time. Die-hard fans who were worried about him came to inquire, but no one answered.

Things were moving quickly and covertly. Ling Xi hadn’t released a new song in a long time, “Jian Jue Tianxia” was now in post-production, and he wasn’t a frequent variety show performer… He vanished from the public eye without a trace. Except for those close to him, few people noticed his withdrawal.

Ling Xi was glad to be so low-key. Many artists create a lot of buzz when they terminate their contracts because they plan to switch to a more well-known label later. Furthermore, they frequently release albums, film movies, and have viral sex scandals within a few months of dissolving the contract. For many artists, canceling the contract was a stepping stone to greater popularity, but Ling Xi simply wanted to quit the circle quietly and accept the compensation to become the happy little boss of a milk tea store.

An Ruifeng spent a lot of money to help him find an experienced lawyer in order to increase his bargaining chips. According to reports, when the then-movie emperor Andrew purchased a stake in Upstart Entertainment after terminating his contract with his previous employer, he hired this lawyer to assist him in filing a lawsuit.

Ling Xi was both pleased and suspicious when he heard this: “You can even afford to engage such a well-known lawyer? What is the price?”

An Ruifeng said, “Money is not a problem. I am concerned about the smooth termination of the contract. Don’t worry. That lawyer is well-known to my brother and is quite friendly. You may speak with him about anything.” 

When he said this, Ling Xi’s doubts became even more serious. He was still a trainee in the company throughout the time Andrew was in the limelight. With his Pizza Country ancestry, he had become virtually the entire national female audience’s dream lover. The little girls in the class were completely smitten by this actor, who possessed both acting abilities and good looks. They not only arranged groups to watch the films in which he starred, but they also dragged the boys in the class to assist them in boosting their idol’s box office. Andrew, who had just won the title of movie emperor, vanished from the scene a few years later. Eight years later, a slew of outstanding artists had appeared in the entertainment industry, and this name had faded into obscurity.

Someone spotted a graduate who was suspected to be him at the graduation ceremony of Bald Eagle Country‘s film institute more than a month ago. This incident made headlines in the entertainment news as well. Andrew’s name had recently been mentioned several times, and his fans had rummaged through his earlier works in an attempt to revive him.

As a result of this revival, some meddlesome people compared Andrew and An Ruifeng. They were both of mixed race, with good looks and acting abilities. Despite the fact that their eyes were different colors, one had dark gray eyes and the other had dark blue eyes, the arrangement of their brows, eyes, and nose was similar. Therefore, some fans privately referred to An Ruifeng as “Little Andrew.” Any ambitious and powerful actor would find such a moniker insufferable.

Ling Xi, however, was An Ruifeng’s boyfriend, and he knew more than others — An Ruifeng had a “gege” that he occasionally mentioned. 

“I’ve heard you talk about your gege before. Does Wu-ge know him?” Ling Xi made a bold guess: “No way! That movie emperor Andrew is the gege you mention, right?”

Without waiting for An Ruifeng to respond, Ling Xi came to his own conclusion and responded: “He most certainly is! After all, your surname is An, and his surname is An as well!”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

An Ruifeng who had received a de-strength attack: “…… I’m hearing such a unique way of climbing relatives for the first time.”

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The Golden Panda Award was Panda Country‘s sole national level television art comprehensive award. To determine the winner, it used audience voting and opinions from the judging panel. TV dramas, variety shows, documentaries, and other cinema and television works were among those accepted for selection. Among them, the “Most Popular Male/Female Lead” award was the one that everyone scrambled for in order to be crowned Drama King/Queen. This was An Ruifeng’s second nomination in the three years since his debut.

Apart from the nominated actors and their management teams, the other actors in the circle who may receive the invitation letter were all well-known artists. It was impossible for a 12th tier small singer like Ling Xi to attend, but An Ruifeng’s sway was strong this time. It was a piece of cake for him to help Ling Xi get an invitation by relying on his face.

However, Ling Xi considered for a while and still refused: “My talent agency is currently monitoring me closely, looking for flaws in order to make me lose the lawsuit. I’d better not be hanging around under their noses so obviously.” 

“But I want you to go with me.” An Ruifeng feigned disappointment on purpose: “I want you to see me on stage holding the Drama King trophy…”

“Will you be able to win the Drama King trophy this time? Is the information accurate?” Ling Xi sat up from the sofa, his eyes gleaming blingbling with adoration, when he learned that An Ruifeng was expected to win the prize: “Did the judges tell you?”

An Ruifeng shook his head: “Golden Panda’s judges are very tight-lipped. They won’t leak out this kind of news…” He was full of self-assurance: “However, of the five actors nominated this time, the one in which I starred has the highest ratings and I have the most audience votes. It’s a black operation if I don’t win the award!”

Other actors would be mocked if they talked like this, but An Ruifeng had the capital for such arrogance. He’d been in the industry for more than three years. He had a high yield and quality, his popularity was continuously rising, and his acting skills were rapidly improving. He could be considered as the most dynamic idol actor in the entertainment industry. 

This time, he was nominated for a work that had aired the previous year. He played a young college student who had recently graduated. Before graduation, his character was the school grass. He worked in sales after graduation, dabbled in the Internet, and eventually succeeded in creating his own business. It could be described as an inspirational idol drama. This drama’s time dimension spanned fifteen years. The role put the male lead’s acting skills to the test, from showing the ignorance of the young and inexperienced schoolboy to his mature sophistication after becoming an entrepreneur.

From the moment it was broadcast, the drama drew a lot of attention. The screening rights were sold one by one to other television stations. The white shirt liked best by the play’s male protagonist consumed engineering campuses for a while, altering the science and engineering men’s clothing custom of only wearing plaid shirts and hooded sweatshirts.

Ling Xi had lately finished viewing this drama. He specifically registered eight accounts to vote for An Ruifeng when the Golden Panda Award was in the audience voting stage, and he contacted everyone he knew to vote for An Ruifeng. He was even more excited than An Ruifeng when he learned that his sweetheart was extremely likely to win the title of Drama King with this TV series.

It was merely that accompanying An Ruifeng into the venue with great fanfare was extremely inconvenient for him. He was struck by a brainwave and said: “How about we do it this way, I’ll pretend to be your assistant and enter the venue with your team!” 

An Ruifeng asked him: “Act as my assistant? What kind of assistant do you want to be?”

Ling Xi replied bashfully, “I will be your physiology assistant~~”

An Ruifeng specifically tested Ling Xi’s professional level in order to make him worthy of his title. It took a long time to complete the examination. After three hours of rigorous testing, Ling Xi barely passed.

He was tired and sweaty, curled up naked on the messy bed, a mysterious milky white liquid all over his chest and the corners of his lips. Not to mention the hidden spot between his legs, which had turned bright red from the excessive friction. 

An Ruifeng kissed his sweaty forehead and congratulated him on passing the exam.

Three days later, at 8 p.m., the Golden Panda Award ceremony began as planned. Ling Xi was visiting the location in person for the first time, rather than viewing the replay on the Internet as he had done previously. He couldn’t contain his excitement and sneakily took out his phone to take some shots. His hand was held down by Xu Zhiqiang, who sat next to him.

“Xu-ge…”

Xu Zhiqiang was completely unbiased and incorruptible: “Be good. You’re now sitting in An Ruifeng’s assistant team position. It will be incredibly humiliating for An Ruifeng if people notice his assistant has no ken and jumps up and down when he sees a few celebrities!” 

Ling Xi could only sit down honestly and watch the other stars joking in front of him with yearning eyes. An Ruifeng, who was surrounded by everyone, was always the brightest star among them all. He was really thrilled for his boyfriend, who he imagined may be the next Drama King.

Ling Xi remarked that it was impossible not to be envious of his lover getting an award. He had never wished before that he could make some contribution to music as much as he did now, so that An Ruifeng could also be happy for him.

An Ruifeng and the team of the TV drama for which he was nominated sat on the front row. Ling Xi was unable to accompany him and was forced to sit in the location for the second echelon with Xu Zhiqiang. However, it was not far from the stage. Ling Xi’s sharp vision allowed him to spot the large peony embroidered on the hostess’s attire on stage.

The first few awards were all small and superficial awards, followed by professional awards for directors, photography, screenplay, etc. Ling Xi turned over the flowchart and discovered that the most important award, the Drama King award, would be given last, and the previous awards would take around an hour and a half. 

He endured and endured and endured, and finally endured until the Drama King award.

Every year the presenter of the Drama King award was the previous year’s Drama King. There was no need to be concerned about the presenter and prize recipient being the same person because the Drama King award had a tradition of not being reelected. The former Drama King was an old timer of dramas. He was past fifty yet his bearing was still as confident and easygoing as before. He had not only won the Drama King honor three times, but also the more prestigious Film Emperor award this year. Due to such a great senior presenting the honor, the trophy in his hand had all the more significance.

As is customary, the presenters uttered a few words of idle chatter before the award. A ten-second TV drama clip was shown on the big screen as the camera swept across the nominated male artists on the scene. Ling Xi couldn’t breathe because he was so nervous. Xu Zhiqiang, who sat behind him, was calmer than him and teased him: “It’s not like you were nominated. What are you so nervous about?”

Ling Xi said, “I wouldn’t be nervous if I were nominated. I know that with An Ruifeng’s acting skills, this award is in the bag, but I’m still concerned by the one-tenth deviation possibility. I don’t want him to be disappointed, not even a little bit.” 

The honored guest on stage opened the envelope in his hand, smiled, and paused for ten seconds, enough to whet everyone’s curiosity, before saying: “…I saw this Drama King’s name last year as well. We entered the nomination round together at the time, but I was able to jump ahead by a step and earn this title. When he first debuted, several film critics claimed that, while his eyes are incredibly appealing, they also brought him certain restrictions, limiting him to only a few scripts. But today, relying on his acting abilities, he has persuaded several screenwriters and directors to change the script’s specifics merely to include his gray eyes in the play. Yes, that’s right. I believe you all guessed the name. Welcome our new Drama King — An Ruifeng!”

When the presenter mentioned “eyes,” everyone knew who the Drama King laurel had fallen on this time. Ling Xi was giddy with joy. He clapped so vigorously that his palms turned bright red. Hey, his boyfriend was the Drama King. He’d reward him with red braised pork belly when they returned today!

Xu Zhiqiang, who was sitting next to him, heaved a long sigh of relief. An Ruifeng was an artist he had cultivated with all his might. His artist had been recognized, and he, as the agent, also had light on his face. He worked with Upstart Entertainment for fifteen years. He’d managed one movie emperor and two little huā dàn. According to the management’s leaked remarks, he would be promoted to VP of the Artist Management Department if An Ruifeng became another film emperor handled by him. An Ruifeng now held the Drama King trophy in his hands and had begun to appear in movies, completing the transition from the idol clique to the strength clique. He believed that the film emperor laurel would be worn on An Ruifeng’s head in the near future.

An Ruifeng rose up gracefully in front of the camera, hugged the surrounding TV series production team, and shook hands with the other nominated male actors. He strode onto the stage, taking the brilliant Golden Panda trophy from the former Drama King’s hand and lifting it above his head. 

He’d already drafted the victory speech.

“Thank you to all of the judges, thank you to all of the fans who support me, thank you for your recognition of my acting abilities and my looks,” he said, causing the audience to laugh. “Don’t laugh. Actually, looking handsome isn’t as good as everyone thinks. As senior stated, my mixed-race appearance brought me a lot of convenience in the early days of my career, but this convenience gradually turned into resistance and prevented me from stepping into a wider world. I’d like to thank my agent, Xu-ge, for helping me during that trying time. He encouraged me to challenge myself and attempt new things. I’d also like to thank my mother and gege for supporting me to take this step.”

He looked forward and softly murmured, “Of course, I’d also like to thank someone. You rallied everyone you know to vote for me in order to boost my popularity. You did a happy somersault when you found out I’d made it to the nomination stage. You tossed and turned restlessly the night before I won this award, praying I’d be able to hold it — the person I want to thank is you.” With that, he pressed his fingers to his lips and then released them, blowing an affectionate kiss.

Because the camera crane was not far in front of him, the audience in front of the television sets took this loving action for granted as a gesture of gratitude to the fans who supported him. After all, there were several examples of celebrities thanking their fans for their support after receiving an award. Only An Ruifeng expressed his gratitude as if it were a confession. The traffic on his personal fan site skyrocketed in a matter of minutes, and the server nearly crashed. 

Fans had no way of knowing that the person he truly confessed to was sitting offstage in front of him.

Obviously, this confession did not specify anyone by name or surname, but Ling Xi was well aware that An Ruifeng’s kiss was intended for himself. After noticing that the camera was not aimed at the audience, he extended out his hand and grabbed it in the empty air, as if capturing the kiss in the palm of his hand. Then he spread his five fingers and placed his hand on his mouth.

When An Ruifeng saw this scene, he burst out laughing on stage. He raised the trophy once more, bowed deeply to the jurors, and left the stage that had added to his glory.

A celebratory banquet followed the awards presentation. An Ruifeng was not in the mood to socialize with other people on this occasion since he knew he had a celebration banquet waiting for him at home. He briefly spoke with the judges and other artists in the venue while holding a glass of wine, and then nonchalantly found an excuse to leave. 

When the reporters who had been waiting outside the venue for a long time saw the freshly baked Drama King appear, they crowded around him like a swarm of bees, itching to put the microphone to his mouth. Ling Xi joined hands with the other assistants to create a human wall next to An Ruifeng, protecting An Ruifeng and moving slowly in the direction of the nanny car, led by Xu-ge. It was merely that the number of entertainment reporters there greatly outnumbered the number of security guards. Ling Xi was pressed so tightly that the large face-blocking glasses on his nose broke a temple. He cut a sorry figure.

The media surrounded this handsome mixed-race Drama King and bombarded him with questions one by one.

“Excuse me, An Ruifeng, how do you feel about winning the Drama King award?” this one inquired.

“I’m in a good mood and feeling excited. I’m eager to share my happiness with my friends.” 

“Please comment on the other nominated actors!” that one said.

“They are all extremely talented. I’m honored to be able to compete for this award alongside so many great performers this year.”

Someone inquired, “Your agent revealed that you will gradually reduce your work on TV series in the future and focus on filming movies. Is this true?”

“Yes, I believe it’s time to step onto a larger stage. I hope everyone will continue to support me as they have in the past. The Drama King trophy I’m holding is only the beginning.” 

Among the midst of this frenzy, an abrupt voice could be heard in the crowd.

— “Excuse me, Drama King An, but some fans recently compared you to Andrew, the film emperor eight years ago, and dubbed you ‘little Andrew.’ I’m curious if you take offense.”

This was a really presumptuous question to ask. During this euphoria, someone actually inquired of An Ruifeng about this appellation, deliberately emphasizing the pronunciation of “Drama King” and “Film Emperor.” They clearly thought An Ruifeng was inferior to Andrew in every way.

But in their hearts, all the reporters present wanted to know the answer to this question — how would this actor, who had just won the title of Drama King, deal with the comparison between himself and the film emperor? 

Everyone was holding their breath, yet the microphone in their hands was closer to An Ruifeng.

“Of course, I take no offense.” An Ruifeng put his hands in his pockets and spoke softly: “How can I be upset? Andrew is, after all, my own gege. When I was a kid and went to play basketball with my gege, his classmates called me that.”

For a brief while, the world appeared to be silent… Just a moment ago, the reporters who were outdoing one another in moving forward by pushing others aside simultaneously lost their voices, and the constant shutter sounds vanished.

An Ruifeng was in a good mood when he saw that all of the reporters had bad expressions, and he purposefully asked, “Is it so difficult to guess my and his relationship? Look, my surname is An, and his surname is also An!” 

Ling Xi: …… (╯‵□′)╯︵┴─┴You said before that this way of climbing relatives is quite unique!