"Jennie, this time you can hold your head high!"
Jennie's fans gave a sigh of relief after watching her second pre-screening. Jennie did not disappoint and gave those that supported her a reason to be proud.
Although her role was essentially a supporting character and didn't have that many scenes in comparison to the other characters, she left a lasting impression and stunned everyone.
As discussions about Jennie's acting was reignited and there were plenty of positive film reviews to go with it, the negative post from early on ended up being mentioned again. The so-called 'insider' was exposed as a common trick used by rivals that everyone in the industry knew about.
Following on from the second pre-screening, although ticket sales did not exceed $10 million, the attendance numbers doubled from the first event and exceeded the attendance numbers of 'Devil Shooter'.
As predicted, their rival did not dare to hold a second pre-screening since the first event had already highlighted an obvious contrast between the two films. Compared to the standout performance of 'Stupid', the few hundred million dollar investment paired with special effects typical of a huge production, could only attract pre-existing fans. It no longer had anything worthy of attracting others to watch it.
Lisa always advanced at a stable rate. After the two pre-screenings, 'Stupid' was already showing signs of a reversal and was giving out face slaps to those that doubted it in the industry.
Of course, this progress wasn't enough!
After all, 'Stupid' was not a mainstream film. So even up to this point, it still wasn't clear who would ultimately walk away with victory. They still had to wait and see the box office results for the official release.
But, with Lisa's tactics, no one in Manoban Entertainment felt worried at all about 'Stupid's' results.
Because Lisa was a legend.
This was also the reason why Lisa could spend a lifetime with Jennie; their instinctive nature was too similar.
No matter how anxious the outside world was, they would always remain calm and make the right decision quickly, surprising everyone with a shocking outcome.
As expected, after the second pre-screening, Jennie received an influx of messages from directors
With her background and her acting, one would be stupid not to go looking for her!
However, their ultimate move was yet to come: 'W.H.' had not been announced to the public yet...
Lisa was confident that the announcement of 'W.H.' would stir up the public even more!
Rosé, Jisoo and Minho found some spare time to check out Jennie's film. Although they already expected Jennie's acting to be good, they didn't know it would be good to this extent.
Rosé was especially surprised. Although she had observed Jennie when she was filming, seeing the completed film, still gave her quite a shock.
After finishing the film, the trio walked out of the theatre speechless. After quite some time, Minho finally turned and asked Rosé, "Did Jennie secretly study acting?"
"No f*cking way, how could she possibly have time to study? However, I know she's always enjoyed practicing until she masters something. Haven't you guys noticed? Every single film and commercial she's been in, she completely loses herself in her role. This is what you call a gift from God!" Rosé scoffed at Minho.
"Well, it's my first time witnessing God's miracle!" Minho was completely convinced by Jennie.
"She's put in a lot of effort. She can even recite every single line in the script! Has Suzy seen the film yet?"
"When she returns tomorrow I will take her to watch it, don't worry." Minho then turned to Jisoo, "Hurry and take your wife home, she talks too much."
"Are you trying to start a fight?" Jisoo immediately stuck up for his wife.
"You guys are bullying me because my wife isn't here!" Minho laughed in defeat. "Anyhow, I finally know why the President had such confidence towards 'Stupid'. To be honest, back when they had the test screening, I couldn't be bothered to go because I didn't have much interest in it even though I trusted in the President's judgment. Now that I think about it, this film is really not bad."
"Our Jennie can finally give everyone a slap in the face. Come on...let's go home and celebrate."
Minho couldn't stand Rosé's noisy chatter. Even though, in reality, Suzy wasn't any better...
...
Meanwhile, in the back row of a small theatre across town, Ryujin was hiding himself under a cap as he watched a screening of 'Stupid' with Yuna.
Of course, he was dragged here to accompany her.
Although he didn't have much interest in this genre of film, he couldn't deny that Lin Sheng and Jennie's acting was quite impressive.
As an actor, he sincerely recognized those that were serious about acting. So he felt, Jennie and Lin Sheng were in the same category as him.
This was the reason why he was willing to accept Jennie from the start.
He could tell she was serious about playing a character and wasn't aiming for fame and fortune.
People like her were hard to come by in the film and television industry.
It didn't take long before the two-hour film finished. Yuna was in a crying mess as she blew her nose, "As expected, Jennie unnie is amazing and the film was great. The person I like is finally on the big screen."
"What are you crying about?" Ryujin asked in an irritated tone, "You'll see more of this in the future."
"That's true," Yuna dried her tears and looked at Ryujin, "This makes me look forward to 'W.H.' even more. Jennie unnie is the female lead and the scenes she plays in are bigger and more exciting."
Ryujin glared at her.
Every word from her mouth involved Jennie...
In Yuna's eyes, was there only Jennie?
"Now that the film is finished, let's go home."
"Ryujin...Why don't you cooperate with Jennie again? That way I can see her all day long..."
"I won't work with her again for the rest of my life," Ryujin grumbled.
"Huh?"
"I've already rejected all offers for the next half of the year. I need some rest." Ryujin waited until everyone left the theatre before he stood up from his seat and headed for the exit. Yuna quickly followed behind.
"You're not filming anything? And not attending any events? Are you just going to sit at home and eat away at your bank account?"
Little did she know, he didn't even get paid for 'W.H.'!
If he depended on acting to survive, he wouldn't be able to keep himself alive. He didn't produce many films and it always depended on his mood.
"Most importantly, if you don't do anything, what would I do? You can't expect me to play around with you all day, right?"
"You're right," Ryujin crossed his arms and looked at Yuna, "The weather's getting hot. I want to go to the north pole for a holiday. I'll take you with me!"
Yuna: "I like to work hard, I don't want to muck around with you all day. If you continue to be this lazy, then I don't want to be your assistant anymore. I hate lazy men..."
Ryujin: "..."
The heated discussion between the two quickly attracted the attention of passersby. To prevent himself from being discovered, Ryujin quickly hooked his arm around Yuna's neck and dragged her out of the theatre, "I'll work, I'll work, I'll work...as soon as we get home I'll start looking through scripts."
Although Yuna was being hurried out of the theatre, she still managed to sneak in a smile.
"You should film one more film and one television series," Yuna tested her limits.
"You must be feeling brave. How dare you help me decide?"
...
Under the suppression of 'Stupid', the crew of 'Devil Shooter' began to fight back. All the main actors from the film stopped all their current projects to participate in nationwide promotions and every event was packed to the brim with fans.
One of the actors even tried to coerce his fans into supporting his film by venting about the suffering he experienced from being categorized as a zero acting ability actor.
As a result, fans began to dislike and boycott 'Stupid'.
In order to support their idol, some fans even visited professional film review websites to rate 'Stupid' with negative points and gave it appalling reviews.
But Lisa did not react to any of this.
Faced with one attack after another, he remained calm from start to finish.
He had simply become accustomed to it. This was how the film industry was like. If someone blocked another's path to fortune, they would become an enemy and deserve to be annihilated!
"President, there are two newcomers in the 'Devil Shooter' cast who claim that the madam's acting isn't as good as the actors in their cast," Jisoo had reprogrammed his brain to report all news he saw about Jennie to Lisa. Other news, Lisa did not care about at all.
In the ever-changing entertainment industry, only Lisa remained steady in his position.
As for Lin Sheng, he was already classed as one of the top actors, so their rival did not dare to make comparisons with him.
"Don't worry President, V has already refuted against them and got his fans to destroy them," Jisoo laughed.
Who would have thought, there would actually be a day when Taehyung could protect Jennie.
"I guess Jennie didn't dote on him for nothing," Lisa replied calmly.
"But President, we need to be cautious of the real estate tycoon. He's a sneaky character; I'm sure he has other tricks up his sleeves."
"I have it all under control. Tell Minho to keep an eye on his artists," Lisa instructed as he held onto the thick script in his hands. He had selected a script that he thought was best for Jennie, but...he was worried Jennie might get injured.
Jennie entered the study room with a glass of milk. Seeing the hesitant look on Lisa's face, she raised an eyebrow and sat down beside him, "What's the matter?"
Lisa was still focused on the script in his hands.
Jennie followed his gaze and saw that the script was titled, 'The Lost Relative'.
Genre: crime/action.
This meant the film would involve a large amount of fight scenes, chase scenes and shooting scenes. When filming films like this, it was often for the actors to suffer injuries, big and small.
"You want me to act in this film?"
Jennie flipped through the script and saw the general synopsis. It was about a police wife who's husband went missing for many years. While working on her daily cases, she continued to search for her husband on the side. In the end, she stumbled across a huge crime committed by her husband. It turned out her husband was a wanted criminal before they got married.
Jennie's character this time liked to fight.
She didn't like solving matters verbally and always resorted to violence.
"This...is quite a challenge," Jennie suddenly laughed, "But it should be quite thrilling and exciting. I like it."
When assessing a script, the first thing Lisa looked at was a strong storyline. Apart from that, he accepted all kinds of genres for Jennie. This was because he knew Jennie would be able to handle it. She wasn't like other actors, she did not need to repeat the same genres over and over again. As for the reason why he did not accept any television series roles, it was because films did not take as long to complete in comparison. Films were a quicker way for Jennie to gain experience.
"But, you will most likely get hurt..." Lisa said as he closed up the script, "Let me look at the others first..."
"What else are you looking for? Since you've chosen it, it must be the best. There's nothing else to consider, I'll do it!" Jennie exclaimed. "I know it's difficult, but I like it. This will be my last project before I prepare for a child, I want to give my fans a surprise."
Lisa wrapped his arms around Jennie. From his body language, it was clear to see that he couldn't bear to let her do it.
Car racing, guns, fighting and escape scenes; all of them made him anxious.
"I'm your manager, I'll decide. Plus, 'Stupid' hasn't been officially released yet, once it's officially released, you will receive even more offers."
Jennie understood that Lisa was worried, so she did not insist. She simply smiled and handed him his glass of milk, "Drink this first. You're almost 33, you need to take note of your calcium levels."
Lisa turned his head and saw Jennie's smile. He suddenly closed up his laptop and carried her in his arms, "Let me show you my hip strength!"
...
Late at night, inside a quiet manor, a 40-something-year-old man was playing a game of Chinese chess with his friend when his assistant suddenly appeared in front of him and said, "Chairman Zhou, she's arrived..."
A girl in her early 20's followed closely behind the assistant. She looked in a panic and was slightly trembling.
"Miss Xia Jingyi, please have a seat," Chairman Zhou said as he remained focused on his game of chess.
"I...I came out without my manager knowing. I...I don't have much time," the young girl explained.
"So hasty?" Chairman Zhou lifted his head and adjusted his glasses, "But you are currently the most promising new female singer at Manoban Entertainment and I am quite interested in you..."
"We have no grudges against each other. Why did you touch my brother?" Xia Jingyi asked.
"Yes, we indeed have no grudges against you, but...we have a grudge against your President. It wasn't easy for me to invest in a film. But, not only did he compete against us, he even suppressed us by controlling the minds of the public and the industry. So, don't you think we should hold a grudge against him?" After speaking, he placed down a chess piece. "I actually don't need you to do much. It's quite simple. Everyone knows how much Lisa cares about Jennie. I simply want to know the latest news about Jennie."
"I...I don't have the ability to get close to people of that caliber," Xia Jingyi waved her hands.
"Yes you do!" Chairman Zhou laughed. "None of you know this, but Manoban Entertainment's V is actually called Taehyung, he is Jennie's brother. Since you co-operate with him often, don't you think he would know everything about Jennie?"
"How did you find out about this?" Xia Jingyi asked in shock.
"This is a business matter, you don't need to question it. I want to know what Jennie's doing. If Lisa dares to stand in my way again...I'll make a move on his precious Jennie. He better not think that I can't see through his schemes..." Chairman Zhou scoffed. "Hadn't he heard before? An old ginger is spicy."
The competition between 'Stupid' and 'Devil Shooter' was originally something unspoken...
Of course, it was still unpoken, but one couldn't avoid another person's underhanded schemes.