Looking at the simple ‘Ning Xi’ on her microblogging account, she thought for a while and asked, “Brother Zhang, tell me, If I changed my name on the account to ‘Ning Xi Loves Eating Crystal Dumplings’, won’t I get more fans?”
“What do you mean, ‘loves to eat’? Are you such a foodie?” Zhang Qingyun began to doubt what he was seeing. Such a person who looked like a G.o.ddess from top to toe, how come she seemed so unreliable sometimes?
“I wasn’t serious, it was just a suggestion.” Seeing that he was not at all optimistic about her ideas, Ning Xi didn’t mind. She powered on her computer and let him control her Weibo account.
“According to unwritten rules of the company, newcomers in the company can’t post as they like.” Zhang Qingyun said. This was mainly because the intelligence level of newbies was always doubtful to the management: they were afraid these new artists would cause trouble online. He was concerned about Ning Xi’s posts affecting the seniors of the company and said, “I don’t want to say this, but when you post on Weibo, you must remember to be very cautious.”
Ning Xi nodded. She also knew about some troublesome actors who posted improper messages on Weibo or Facebook, so with this policy, she agreed with Zhang Qingyun.
One word to the wise was enough. Zhang Qingyun and Ning Xi had worked together for months now. Although she didn’t seem all that reliable in private, her EQ and IQ was very high, so he didn’t need to repeat the same thing again and again.
Zhang Qingyun had already spoken to a few senior actors in the company to pay attention to Ning Xi’s Weibo account. So most of them quickly followed her and became her fans.
Some fans on the platform found that their idol had just followed someone who they didn’t know, so they quickly went to search for her.
Who knew that other than a certified account and a name, there was nothing else posted. Some people paid a little attention, some directly went off the page. They weren’t the least bit interested in this stranger.
This was very normal. Zhang Qingyun didn’t plan to buy fans for Ning Xi. It was very strange for a newcomer to have thousands of fans at once. With just a few fans, it didn’t look fake or pretentious. Maybe, in the future, it would even earn her some sympathy points.
“Do you want to post a selfie as your first post?” Once everything was set up, he didn’t have any good ideas for her posts.
As an agent, he knew that different actors had to grow differently. This would showcase Ning Xi’s uniqueness and individuality as far as her talent, appearance and emotional intelligence were concerned. He was very optimistic about her future, so there were some things he didn’t want to do beforehand.
Ning Xi thought for a second and took out her cell phone to post.
Ning Xi (V)1: Eating till I’m full, sleeping well, and not working – today I have achieved only the first one.
“Your post is… annoyingly simple.” Zhang Qingyun couldn’t find any mistakes in what she had written. Now that Ning Xi was relying on her microblogging circles for her fans, she needed to think twice before sending out any post.
There were some big names in the circle who didn’t have a social networking account, didn’t partic.i.p.ate in reality shows, but their innate talent and strength were more than enough to get a huge fan base. On the contrary, there were also some big names on Weibo who, even if they posted a comma or a period, would have a lot of fans to repost and like. This was a sign of their popularity in the entertainment circle.
However, how many entertainers could really climb up to that level?
Not long after Ning Xi sent out a post, Zhou Zhengchuan forwarded it.
Zhou Zhengchuan [V]: Little junior sister must be really happy. I didn’t even do a single one. [tired]
//Ning Xi [V]: Eating till I’m full, sleeping well, and not working – today I’ve achieved only the first one.
Seeing this post, Zhang Qingyun teased her, “Zhengchuan usually doesn’t like posting on Weibo. It seems he cares quite a lot for his junior sister.”
Ning Xi put down her phone and smiled, glancing at him. “Who told me to be so popular.”
Zhang Qingyun gave her a disdainful expression. He then proceeded to tell Ning Xi about how the domestic entertainment circle worked, and ways to deal with different emergencies.
Ning Xi listened to him very seriously, because this was what her seniors had experienced with all their blood and sweat to teach the youngsters and warn them of potholes in their journey.
Looking at her seriously listening, Zhang Qingyun intuitively felt that giving Liu Kun the second-line artist he was managing and choosing Ning Xi was the right decision to make.
On the day of Teacher Yao’s birthday, the sun was shining brightly. Ning Xi looked for good clothes to wear, wore beautiful makeup and jewellery, and carried her bag out of the door.
She went in the elevator and pressed the b.u.t.ton for the bas.e.m.e.nt. When she got out, Zhang Qingyun was waiting for her in the car.
Opening the door and sitting in the back seat, she put on her seatbelt and smiled at him, “Brother Zhang, I will have to trouble you to be my driver for today.”
Zhang Qingyun was dazed for a second, then he turned back saying in a stunned voice, “There is a saying that a man must certainly not offend a beautiful woman wearing makeup.”
“Why?” Ning Xi took out her brown sungla.s.ses, laughing at him.
“Because such a woman will mesmerise a man so much that he will do anything for her.” Zhang Qingyun, shrugged, agreeing to drive her about. “Well, Your Majesty, where are we going today?”
Ning Xi smiled, putting on the sungla.s.ses, “We’re going to battle.”
In a luxury private hall in the hotel, graduates of eleven years ago surrounded Teacher Yao, wishing her a happy birthday and saying auspicious words. Everyone knew each other and were catching up after a long time, so the scene was very lively.
A lot of people surrounded Chen Yijun and Wei Siqi in particular, wanting to please them. Everyone worked very hard. They all understood the importance of money and power in society, so they were all willing to bend their backs and please others.
Dealing with them for some time, Chen Yijun found an excuse to go out of the hall. He stood on the balcony, feeling the night breeze, listening to sounds from inside the hall. He was feeling a little anxious, so he lit a cigarette and held it in his fingers, which let him calm down slowly.
“Why, disappointed?” Wei Siqi followed him outside. Folding her hands across her chest, she sneered at him, “She didn’t come on Teacher Yao’s 55th birthday…”
“What are you trying to say?” Chen Yijun looked at her expressionlessly, his eyes showing fatigue and impatience.
“Weren’t you looking around for someone all this time? Do you think I didn’t notice?” Wei Siqi lowered her voice. She didn’t want others to overhear their quarrel. “These people don’t know where Ning Xi is, so you came here to ask Teacher Yao.”
Saying so, the sneer on her face became more p.r.o.nounced. When Teacher Yao retired eleven years after they graduated, Chen Yijun deliberately proposed that they celebrate her birthday. But in fact, he just wanted to ask her about Ning Xi.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chen Yijun said, “If you think so, I can’t change your mind.”
Wei Siqi’s face sank and she took a deep breath. “You are my fiancé, do you understand?”
“When did I disagree?” Chen Yijun stubbed out his cigarette. The two stared at each other for a while. Finally, he put an arm around her waist and drew her close. “You can’t think I’m really interested in Ning Xi?”
Now that he was coaxing her, Wei Siqi finally smiled. “I know you don’t have such ‘special’ tastes, liking more meat on women.”
“What, you want to give your fiancé to other women?” Chen Yijun’s laughed, “I just came out to take a cigarette break! Come, let’s go back, there are still many waiting for us.”
They were just walking to the hall when they heard the clicking sound of high-heeled shoes. Wei Siqi looked back curiously. She saw a woman dressed in a black one-piece dress carrying a bag, going in the same direction as them. Even though she was wearing sungla.s.ses and couldn’t see what she looked like, her woman’s intuition told her that the other woman was very beautiful, capable of attracting the sight of many men.
She glanced at Chen Yijun and, seeing that he wasn’t looking at the newcomer, she smiled, satisfied.
Click, click, click, click, click.
The black-haired beauty stopped in front of them. She took off her gla.s.ses and searched for the correct hall. Then, smiling politely at them, she walked into the hall.
When she took off her gla.s.ses, Wei Siqi felt an inexplicable panic. Seeing the other’s perfect, exquisite appearance, she looked back at her fiancé. He looked dazed as if he had lost his soul.
“Yijun?” She pulled his sleeve, trying to attract his attention.
“Let’s go in,” Chen Yijun suddenly snapped back, smiling at Wei Siqi. He took her hand and went into the hall.
“Sorry I’m late,” Ning Xi walked into the hall and apologised to her cla.s.smates. She then walked towards Teacher Yao and took out a delicate-looking gift box from her purse. “Teacher Yao, I wish you many happy returns of the day.”
“I thought you would be working today! Sit down, sit down quickly!” Teacher Yao pulled Ning Xi next to her and opened the gift. She shook her head and said, “You child! How can you buy such expensive things? I can’t accept them.”
“It’s not that expensive. Recently, the price of gold has dropped and you don’t lack anything. When I think about it, I can only pray to Buddha to bless you, hoping for a long life and good health for you. Who would I give it to, if you don’t accept?” Ning Xi was really speaking the truth. The pendant looked expensive, but in fact, the price was much less than a designer bag.
The people sitting near Teacher Yao saw the glittering Buddha pendant which wasn’t very light. They couldn’t help but think that this beauty was quite generous.
All the men were very curious – who was this beautiful lady? Did she belong to a different batch?
Although the party was hosted by their batch, Teacher Yao had taught for so many years. So it wasn’t unusual for people from other batches to come and wish her.
They just didn’t know if this beauty had a boyfriend, if not…
Hey, hey, hey.
Sitting in the corner, Sun Xiumei was surprised when she looked towards Teacher Yao. She quickly turned her head to see where Chen Yijun and Wei Siqi were.
Ning Xi?!
Verified account on Weibo