美滋滋

Ch25 - Like a Teenager

This type of Weibo seemed to help increase Li Zhao’s sense of existence but in fact, it was easy for passersby to feel that Li Zhao obtained everything too easily and this was bad for his long-term development.

Li Zhao’s team noticed this. They spent all night to find all the movie and television resources Li Zhao had participated in and edited a video overnight.

“Brother Zhang, Zhao Zhao also participated in Heroic Ruler? This show had a good reception and is probably the number one TV series this year.” The team’s staff looked at Li Zhao’s performance materials and couldn’t help sucking in a breath at the sight of Li Zhao’s workload. Even Zhang Xiaoyuan’s eyes were different. 

There might be many Zhou the exploiter type agents in the industry but they weren’t so ruthless. Zhao Zhao was only 19 years old last year but he did dangerous actions as a substitute in order to make money.

“Outsiders all say that Zhao Junnan’s role in Heroic Ruler is very complete. I didn’t expect that several scenes I liked were done by Zhao Zhao.” There was a young man in the team who really liked Heroic Ruler. He even planned to recommend Zhao Junnan to take part in a big movie planned by the company.

“Didn’t Zhao Junnan claim that many of the difficult actions in Heroic Ruler were done by him and that he didn’t like to use a stand-in?” Another staff member sneered. “An artist’s mouth is a liar.”

“Don’t put out the news that Zhao Zhao is Zhao Junnan’s stand-in.” Zhang Xiaoyuan ordered. “Zhao Zhao’s popularity is currently based on his Internet drama. Zhao Junnan is a first-tier actor. This time, the success of Heroic Ruler meant he received many passersby fans. If this news comes out, people will only think that Zhao Zhao is attaching himself to Zhao Junnan’s heat and will be disgusted with him.” 

“Brother Zhang is right.” The editor nodded. “However, we can cut the side shot for around a second in the video. The fans won’t notice it now but once Zhao Zhao rises…”

The world admired the strong but also sympathized with the suffering and grievances that the strong had suffered.

The current Zhao Junnan dared to face the media and place all the credit on his body. If it backfired on him later then he shouldn’t regret it.

Zhang Xiaoyuan had been upset after seeing Zhao Junnan’s interview. It was normal that artists didn’t want to let fans know they used a stand-in. However, it was clear that many wire and fighting scenes weren’t done by himself yet he liked to publicize about how dedicated he was and how he didn’t like to use doubles. It was a bit disgusting. 

In the beginning, in the Heroic Ruler crew, Zhao Junnan used to say how much he appreciated Zhao Zhao a lot and there were suitable roles for Zhao Zhao. He would recommend Zhao Zhao for an audition. Later, he learned there was small role available in Heroic Ruler. The director saw that Zhao Zhao’s fight scenes were good and planned to give this role to Zhao Zhao. Then once Zhao Junnan heard about it, he went to the director and said that Zhao Zhao wasn’t suitable for the role and the matter was dropped.

If it wasn’t for a staff member’s unpleasant relationship with Zhao Junnan’s team, this matter wouldn’t have been known.

Chen Mingming was a fan of Li Zhao. Her baby might still be new but she would go and check his data every day. She hoped that her baby would have a place in the hot list.

That night, she searched through Li Zhao’s posts online and saw a video. 

[No success is easy. Some people might look like light wind on the surface but behind them is a professional cannon fodder actor.]

She clicked on the video and saw the names of crews that were both famous and unknown.

In these dramas, Zhao Zhao played an eunuch, a passerby classmate, the rascal who flirted with the female protagonist and was kicked away by the male protagonist. He also jumped into amid pit again and again. Looking at Zhao Zhao wearing a costume and climbing out of the mud pit, shivering with cold, Chen Mingming was so distressed that she wanted to enter the video and put a thick coat around her baby.

Then she soon discovered that this wasn’t her baby’s worst experience. 

He was dragged by a horse across the ground, breaking his knee. He hit the eaves when hanging from a wire and almost fainted when hit by a weapon on the ground. Every scene was the suffering of a stuntman.

Her baby, who she treated as a treasure, was so miserable. Chen Mingming couldn’t bear to watch the full video but she couldn’t help opening it again and again. The thing that poked at Chen Mingming’s heart the most was at the end, Zhao Zhao wore a white shirt and smiled at the camera, stating, “What’s wrong with you?”

The most touching thing was to go through thousands of experience but still be a teenager.

This smile firmly occupied Chen Mingming’s whole heart. In this instant, she understood what it meant to have the right heart. 

__________

The author has something to say:

Zhang Xiaoyuan: Sell it!

Baby Zhao: What to sell?

Zhang Xiaoyuan: Misery