China Entertainment 1997

Beijing, Starry Artists Dormitory

Anze got up in the morning, made himself some breakfast, and then hurried downstairs with his bag.

Downstairs is a second-hand Jetta that he bought himself. As a newcomer, he has not yet started taking roles. He has no assistant, let alone a driver, and can only support himself.

After driving for half an hour, Anze arrived at a martial arts training institution, greeted the coach and students, and started to warm up.

After these newcomers joined Fanxing, due to their insufficient foundation, the company did not let them start acting directly, but began a half-year recharging period.

For example, Dili Rouba, because she is a student at Shanghai Theater Academy, returned to Shanghai Theater Academy to take classes, and the company also arranged private etiquette and acting classes.

Needless to say, acting skills, etiquette and manners are also essential training for every starry newcomer to sign a contract.

In particular, most of them are amateurs and group performers, especially the latter, who unconsciously develop some loose habits and sometimes tend to be submissive in their posture, which is very undesirable for artists.

Therefore, we must cultivate their confidence in appearance and get rid of those bad habits. In addition, it can be regarded as an entry test for further screening.

If you perform well, the company will increase training, and if you are in compliance, you will be given resources. If you are left to die, if you do not perform well, there is no need to waste too many resources.

The same is true for others. In addition to etiquette and acting skills, there are also miscellaneous courses.

Anze himself has a tough look, and the tough guy style is still very popular in the entertainment industry nowadays. For example, Huang Xiaoming actually takes this route, and Cao Xuan is also half of it.

Therefore, the company arranged martial arts and fitness tutorials for him, and later also considered finding two works with fighting scenes for him to test the waters.

After the warm-up was completed, Anze started training steadily with the coach.

Unlike several other newcomers, there are two or three newcomers who have some complaints about the half-year-long training. After all, they thought that by joining Fanxing they would be able to take on roles and become famous along the way.

As a result, I was now directly thrown into major training courses and stayed there for half a year, and there was a big gap in my mind.

But Anze believes that Fanxing is not in a hurry to monetize the newcomers, but spends money to recharge them in various ways, which is a sign of seriousness.

Sharpen your knife and never miss the woodcutter!

An Ze was well aware of the abilities of the newcomers. Except for one Sun Yanyan, who was considered to be a good actor, the others were half-assed, even comparable to those freshly graduated students from China National Theater and Nortel.

If such abilities are not honed, they will not be able to seize the opportunities given to them.

Therefore, Anze is one of the few newcomers who does not have any objections to the company's arrangements. Instead, he works hard to enrich himself.

The skills are not overwhelming, not to mention that the company pays for the training. Anze likes the advantage of free prostitution.

As for income, Fanxing provides accommodation and a certain minimum salary every month. No matter how good the life is, there is basically no need to worry about life.

Besides, it's not like they have no work at all, and they can still receive small announcements from time to time.

Especially for Sun Yanyan and Dili Rouba, who are already somewhat famous, some advertising fees are quite considerable, and they can even have access to some good variety show resources.

Anze and Sun Yanyan have a good relationship. I heard from each other that he participated in a variety show interview on Penguin Star and received 50,000 yuan in advertising fees.

Of course, the new employee's contract is open at 82%, and the company takes 80%, but he still gets 10,000 yuan.

For Sun Yanyan, who had to borrow money to take a taxi, this was not a huge sum of money, but it was still considerable.

In fact, the company has been suppressing Sun Yanyan, otherwise with her reputation as "Undersea Girl" and millions of fans on Weibo, she could make hundreds of thousands of dollars in various miscellaneous jobs.

The main reason is that she has a good image and good temperament. Like Sister Feng, there are not so many jobs she can take.

Such suppression will definitely reduce the income, but it will maintain its reputation and image well.

Being an Internet celebrity is not a good thing for an actor these days. Sun Yanyan is famous again and attracts attention. As long as Fanxing's resources are there, she will have enough confidence to work steadily.

No matter what, that conversation made Anze very excited.

He comes from a small town in Shanxi Province and has a better rural household registration than Cao Xuan, but the benefits are limited.

My father works as a construction worker at a construction site, and my mother works as an assembly line in a shoe factory. There is a younger brother in the family who is also not good at school, and is not even as good as him. He at least went to a private college. He dropped out of junior high school and now works as a hairdresser for a month. Hundreds of dollars spent messing around.

Anze really wants to change the situation of his family. In the past, he could only rely on fantasy. Now that he has the opportunity to change his destiny, he naturally has to seize it and never let go.

Thinking of this, Anze, who was tired and sweating profusely, picked up the spear in his hand again and started practicing the routine.

His agent has already told him that because he has performed well among several newcomers, the company is quite satisfied and intends to train him.

After the Spring Festival, his agent will help him pay attention to the script. If there is a suitable role, he may be able to join the cast in advance.

Anze knows the route arranged by the company for him, and he dare not relax in martial arts and fitness. These two are likely to become the foundation of his career in the short term.

A spear was dancing lively, and the trainees training with him suddenly shouted.

"Anze, Anze, the phone is ringing."

Anze stopped, wiped his sweat and went into the locker room next to him. Sure enough, there was a cell phone ringing in the cabinet.

Opening the cabinet, he found inside the Nokia C5-03 he had just bought. It was a new model that had just been released, and the price was over a thousand. It could take photos, surf the Internet, and most importantly, log on to WeChat.

In January 2011, Penguin officially launched WeChat and began to compete with China Mobile's Fetion.

And Cao Xuan is the spokesperson of WeChat.

This is also Cao Xuan’s first endorsement since his official announcement in 2008 to become the spokesperson of Rolex Asia.

Compared with previous years, Cao Xuan's current endorsements are really pitiful.

The Samsung endorsement had expired at the end of 2008. Samsung was prepared to offer a sky-high price to renew the contract, but Cao Xuan refused.

It wasn't because of a certain eldest princess, but because Cao Xuan had already consciously given up on endorsements at that time.

Not only Samsung, but also Cao Xuan did not renew the M-Zone contracts of BMW and China Mobile after they expired.

At that time, Cao Xuan became famous all over the world and approached many international endorsements. However, in the end, Cao Xuan only accepted one Rolex that offered a sky-high price.

Strictly speaking, the only endorsements Cao Xuan currently has are Pepsi-Cola, Septwolves and Rolex.

Among them, the Seven Wolves can be regarded as shareholders + bosses + lifelong spokespersons, which cannot be completely regarded as commercial endorsements.

In fact, Cao Xuan of Pepsi-Cola mentioned that it would not renew the company when it expired, but Pepsi was afraid that Cao Xuan would be taken over by Coke and refused to let go. In addition, the cooperation between the two companies was good, and Cao Xuan did not want to do anything too bad.

So we worked out a 1+1 contract, that is, signed once a year, and both parties agreed to formally terminate the contract when Cao Xuan quits the music scene.

Rolex is similar. They signed a five-year contract that ends in 2013 and will most likely not be renewed in the future.

The reason why Cao Xuan chose to give up the endorsement is not complicated.

The first is that he is starting to withdraw from the music scene. If he carries too many endorsements, there will be a lot of interference.

Second, he is not short of money now. He is frightened by the changes in his assets every year and has little interest in endorsement income.

Third, in the past, Cao Xuan chose big brands to endorse. In fact, in addition to money, he looked more at the promotion capabilities of those brands, which could help him gain his reputation. Now that he is well-known around the world, there is not much demand for this aspect.

Since Cao Xuan doesn't care much about the benefits of endorsement, he is worried about his personal image being affected by the company or its products.

The risks outweigh the benefits, so Cao Xuan's choice is not difficult to understand.

The endorsement of WeChat this time is not actually a commercial endorsement. To be more precise, it should be said that it is a promotional ambassador.

Cao Xuan received a symbolic fee of 100 million yuan from Penguin to help Penguin promote WeChat domestically and internationally. When the momentum gained, he retired.

It is worth mentioning that the photo of the earth used when WeChat is started is Cao Xuan’s cartoon back.

Cao Xuan also shot an advertisement for this, in which he stood on the moon and looked at the earth, using WeChat to communicate with himself around the world, and finally evolved into the classic photo of WeChat being turned on, with the slogan "Micro World, Faith Reaching the World".

Driven by the popularity of Cao Xuan and the terror of Penguin, WeChat is rising at an alarming rate.

Under the influence of Cao Xuan, a large number of Fanxing employees started using WeChat, and so did Anze.

It doesn't work. Cao Xuan has created a WeChat group for artists. All the artists in the company are there, and he still pops in from time to time.

Anze didn't dare to be a thorn in the side at this time, so he spent money to buy a smartphone.

In addition to being able to use WeChat, he can also log on to Weibo, read novels, and listen to music. It is much easier to use than his previous push-button phone. Although it costs money, it is still worth it in general.

When I answered the phone, I heard my younger brother An Yuan shouting: "Brother, you are on the hot search, you are popular."

"???"

Anze was confused. If he got angry, it would not be his brother's turn to inform him. Fanxing's agency department was much more sensitive than outside.

"Don't be anxious, speak slowly."

Anze calmed down and let his brother speak slowly, then he understood what was going on.

Cao Xuan's new album was released on January 1st, and the MVs of several new songs were also released one after another, including "You Were a Boy" starring An Ze.

This is not a big deal within Fanxing, and Cao Xuan's data is the priority.

But for An Yuan, putting aside new songs and so on, seeing his brother in the MV will definitely make him excited.

"I told my wife that you were my brother, but she still didn't believe it. You can videotape me tonight and I'll let her watch it too."

An Yuan was particularly shy and had already thought about showing off to all his friends. He even wished that An Ze could come back during the Chinese New Year so that he could show off with more weight.

"No, since when did you date your girlfriend?"

An Ze keenly grasped the key point, and An Yuan said nonchalantly: "It's just a chat online, just the WeChat account you told me about, shake it, we've only been together for a few days."

An Yuan is just seventeen this year and is not busy at work. After work every day, he is either hanging out in the Internet cafe or chatting with netizens. He has had two girlfriends in a year.

"be safe."

Anze thought that he was still a bachelor at the age of 25, and felt a little embarrassed. He didn't know how to persuade him, so he could only ask his brother to pay attention.

But in his heart, he planned to go back and sneak out, and quickly get his brother to the capital to find a serious job. If he continues to play in such a hazy way, he might become useless.

After hanging up the phone, Anze thought of the hot search his brother mentioned, and felt a little itchy in his heart. He asked his coach to take a lunch break an hour early, drove to an Internet cafe, swiped his card and turned on the computer.

When I opened Weibo, I was dazzled by the overwhelming notifications in the background before I even reached the trending search topic.

As company artists, they have all opened accounts, some are newly opened, and some are using old accounts.

However, the latter has been reviewed by the company. Any inappropriate comments on the previous Weibo will be deleted and a warning will be given depending on the situation. The company will take measures next time.

Their accounts are not very sensitive. At most, they can make small complaints, complain about a certain celebrity artist or director, or express their opinions on certain current events.

There is definitely something inappropriate, but it doesn't cross the line. In the current Weibo environment, you can actually delete it or not.

However, Fanxing still deleted it to prevent people from going back and looking for old scores. After all, many people have fallen into trouble because of this matter.

They were lucky. It was said that a singer who had previously signed a contract made extremely inappropriate remarks because of something, which directly touched the company's bottom line. After reporting it to the superiors, he was fired by Cao Xuan.

All star artists will repeatedly hear warnings and guidance from their managers and staff before engaging with social media.

That is to share more about daily life and less to mix it with other things, especially those related to politics. Don't act blindly because you feel like you have two ounces of oil in your stomach.

Anze's account is an old one. He didn't post much on Weibo before, mainly because he was miserable and embarrassed to post.

After being reviewed by Fanxing, it was officially certified by Penguin Weibo, but it didn't have many fans. Anze vaguely remembered that he had about 121 fans, and more than 90% of them were advertising or friendship.

However, when he looked again today, he found that there were already 67,000 Weibo fans, as well as a large number of private messages and comments, which dazzled him.

Without even thinking about it, Anze understood what was going on. It must be Cao Xuan's MV that diverted traffic.

Click on the hot search to see that it is indeed the case. The MV "You Were a Boy" starring him ranked eleventh on the hot search list.

Anze clicked on the video. Although he was the leading actor, the script he received was very fragmented. He could only roughly understand the story, but he didn't know the finished product. He had never heard the song "You Were a Boy".

"Sometimes you miss the old days

But when Tianzhen left, you didn’t say a word

You just wave your hand, like throwing away waste paper

It’s said to be something that must happen in life

…”

The beginning of the MV is a clip of Cao Xuan recording a song in the recording studio. After the first intro, it was Anze's turn to appear.

What follows is a flashback, very fast. He is studying in the classroom wearing a school uniform, preparing for the college entrance examination, entering college, studying for four years, and finally graduating.

Anze, wearing a bachelor's uniform, hugged his classmates and laughed heartily at the school gate, threw his student hat high, and then left the school gate in high spirits.

In the next shot, he walks into the company confidently in a suit and tie, and is then unceremoniously handed a stack of documents and ordered to run errands everywhere.

What followed was a series of hard working life.

On a sunny day, I was running business under the scorching sun. I stuffed myself with a bite of bread at noon, and then made a phone call on the road in a hurry.

At the company meeting, the department manager pointed his nose at me and scolded me. I almost crushed the pen in my hand, but I didn't dare to say a word.

In the hotel room, with a smiling face, he kept pouring wine into his stomach under the heckles of customers. He drank until he lay on the toilet and vomited. After vomiting, he continued to drink with a smiling face.

"I drank seventy percent but still felt lost.

It's like seeing the end of life in the mirror

Maybe in a few years you will also have a hypocritical face

Is this why we came to this world?

I don’t have time to think about this problem

Every day and a year is always in a hurry

…”

After working day after day, men gradually mature. Under the scorching sun, they can at least take a taxi.

He is also remarkable in front of the leaders, and even becomes the person who reprimands others in front of everyone.

Although socializing is unavoidable, at least you won't be at a loss when talking to customers, and your face will turn red, but you won't drink so much that you vomit.

But was this what he had wanted?

At night, Anze in the MV is walking on the bridge, looking at the busy traffic below and the bustling high-rise buildings in the distance, his eyes confused.

"You and I come from small towns and villages in southern Hunan, Sichuan, northern Guangdong, western Hebei, eastern Yunnan, central Gansu, and Gansu.

I once vowed to be a great person

But one night in Shencheng, the magic city of Guangzhou, I suddenly woke up and stood on a lonely balcony.

I just want to escape from this boundless loneliness

…”

Looking at "himself" in the camera, Anze couldn't help but be infected.

At the age of 21, he graduated from junior college and went north to become a Beijing drifter. He wanted to learn from his idol Cao Xuan and determined to become the next superstar in group performances. However, several years of group performance career had flattened all his ambitions and spirit.

Even now, when his career has turned around, what he wants is not to become popular and famous.

Instead, he is thinking about making more money, buying a house in the capital, opening a small supermarket for his parents to avoid fatigue, finding a job for his younger brother, getting married and having children, and living a peaceful life.

It is said that a man will remain a boy until he dies, but many times, this is just a beautiful statement.

99% of people will be forced to choose to mature at some point in their adulthood, transforming from a boy into a man, becoming the person they don't want to be, and at that moment, their dreams will be shattered.

"Many years ago, I was a simple boy

If you fall in love with someone, don’t be afraid to sacrifice your life

Believe that love will last forever, believe in every stranger

When I first met the world, when I was a boy

…”

After singing the song, Anze couldn't help but raise his head and gently wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes.

He had listened to "Someone Like Me" and was deeply moved. This song gave him the same feeling, even more emotionally than "Someone Like Me".

The theme of "Someone Like Me" is cognition, cruelly allowing you to admit and understand that you are an ordinary person.

And "You Were a Boy" is more like nostalgia, missing the original self, and bidding farewell to the original self.

After several years of acting as a group, An Ze has long understood his own inadequacies. On the contrary, the lyrics of "You Were a Boy", where the past high spirits and the reality of helplessness made him sigh.

After taking a look at Weibo, which showed Aite's own Weibo name, he realized why he had so many fans.

After thinking about it for a while, Anze reposted this Weibo post with accompanying text.

[This is the first time I heard this song. I am very touched and honored to be the star of the MV. We were teenagers. I hope I can still be the person I want to be most @Cao Xuan]

Half an hour later, Cao Xuan personally replied on his Weibo.

[Come on, young man! 】

Sorry, I forgot to turn on the timer