Chapter 28: Chronicles of The Seven Kingdoms

The fans from both sides not only instantly reconciled but also started promoting each other’s favorites, following one another in a wave of mutual support.

Liu Yixin arranged for Meng Xiao to host a live stream in the evening, where she connected with Zheng Yashi for a chat, serving as a warm-up for their new drama.

Meng Xiao, with her naturally cheerful personality, had a lot to say during the live stream. Zheng Yashi, however, seemed a bit reserved, carefully weighing her words as she spoke. As the epitome of a gentle goddess, she was cautious about every move, fearing affecting her public image.

Meng Xiao, on the other hand, had no such persona to maintain. She spoke freely and as she pleased, turning into quite the chatterbox.

The scene turned into Meng Xiao speaking ten sentences for every two from Zheng Yashi. Feeling the awkwardness, Meng Xiao started reading comments from the audience.

“Didn’t manage to get tickets today? Of course not, my sister Ran is busy, performing only once a week. If she doesn’t have tickets, none of us do… Strange, where did all the tickets go?”

“Intentional awkward acting? Not at all, that’s just how she acts, I can’t even keep a straight face. Our agent wanted us to shoot a few short videos, but with her acting, I’d rather film with a dog!”

“About Ran’s education… Is she a top student? Definitely not! She said she didn’t get into university after high school, just like me, hehe… But my sister Tongtong graduated from Qingdao University, really impressive. By the way, Xin Ge is also from Qingdao University… Who is he? Well… how to put it? He’s also my boss.”

“The split with the company… It’s 90-10, isn’t that standard? No no, not 90 for the company, 90 for me, 10 for the company. Don’t believe me? Let me find the contract… See, here’s the contract, and I forgot to mention, there’s also a year-end bonus.”

At this point, Zheng Yashi, who had been silent for a while, finally couldn’t hold back, “How much?”

Realizing her loss of composure, she covered her mouth, “Oh… sorry, that was unprofessional.”

Meng Xiao also covered her mouth, “Oops, did I say something wrong?”

She tilted her head in confusion, “Isn’t a 90-10 split… normal?”

The netizens in both live streams were in stitches.

【Do you realize you just hit her where it hurts?】

【An artist getting 90%! Does the company not need to make money?】

【Lin Ran must really love you to make you think getting 90% is normal!】

【And there’s a year-end bonus too, who are you trying to make jealous?】

【Just to let you know, Yashi gets 60%… and that’s after a lawsuit.】

【I’ve seen artists get 20%, really.】

【Don’t rub it in, my idol is the one getting 20%, it’s so unfair… Is your company hiring?】

But some netizens raised doubts.

【A newly established company, even with a good split, has poor resources! It can’t compare to big companies.】

They were quickly ridiculed.

【You call the female lead role in ‘Chronicles of the Seven Kingdoms’ poor resources?】

【Do you know how many people are eyeing ‘Chronicles of the Seven Kingdoms’? Her first role with the company is the female lead in ‘Chronicles of the Seven Kingdoms’, does your idol have that kind of treatment?】

【Do you know how many stars want to play Ah Liang? Do you think this kind of resource is easy to get?】

【Everyone, although Ah Liang is the female lead, her character is super well-written, this resource is no worse than the male lead! If played well, this role can really make someone famous!】

【Don’t compare, the male lead is also great, let’s keep it harmonious, no fighting over roles, don’t make it hard for the director.】

……

In the apartment of Ranyue Cultural Company.

Lin Ran was lying on the sofa watching Meng Xiao’s live stream, liking a few comments, which sent fans into a frenzy.

Zhang Yuetong, however, had a stern face and finally couldn’t hold back her complaints, “So you traded your spot on that trashy show ‘Lie You Ji’ for Ah Liang’s role for Xiao, right? She doesn’t know, does she? If she knew, she would never agree!”

“Don’t talk nonsense, be careful Liu Yixin sues you for slander!”

Lin Ran glanced at the adjacent live stream, “Keep it down, we’re live!”

Zhang Yuetong still looked full of resentment, “That terrible show requires continuous live-streaming for three days! One wrong move and your career is over, hardly anyone dares to take it on, and you secretly accepted it! Don’t tell me it’s not for Meng Xiao’s role! I heard that the investors of ‘Chronicles of the Seven Kingdoms’ wanted to push their own people, the female lead was already decided, it couldn’t have gone to Meng Xiao! Later, Liu Yixin would rather fall out with the investors to use Meng Xiao, the investors only compromised… She didn’t have to go that far for Meng Xiao! Unless it was for her husband Lu Zhengkai’s variety show ‘Lie You Ji’!”

Lin Ran explained, “Although part of it was for Xiao, it wasn’t entirely for her. ‘Lie You Ji’ is something I wanted to do myself, it was just incidentally proposing a resource exchange, also considered killing two birds with one stone.”

Zhang Yuetong didn’t believe it, “No one in their right mind would want to go on ‘Lie You Ji’! Lu Zhengkai must be crazy to think of filming such a variety show, live-streaming for three days! One wrong word, and you’re hated by the entire internet! No editing can save you! Only a few small-time internet celebrities willing to take a chance would go, no big names with traffic would risk their careers like that! If it weren’t for the lack of willing participants, Liu Yixin wouldn’t have been forced to fall out with the investors, to have you help attract traffic.”

Lin Ran just smiled lightly, “I met with Lu Zhengkai, he’s an ambitious man. Don’t worry, I bet this show will be a hit once it airs, my value will rise again, and the company will make more money, right?”

“There are plenty of other ways to gain traffic, many variety shows to choose from, no need to go on ‘Lie You Ji’!” Zhang Yuetong still frowned, “This show is clearly designed to sacrifice guests for traffic, if you collapse, what happens to the company?”

“Trust me, at worst, I won’t say a word.” Lin Ran comforted, “I’ll be very careful, each episode is only three days… If it’s really bad, I’ll just eliminate myself in the first episode, okay?”

“Yeah right… I don’t believe you!” Zhang Yuetong was indignant, but there was nothing she could do.

She glanced unhappily at the happily live-streaming Meng Xiao on the screen, “Too bad she has no idea, indeed idiots are the happiest.”

Lin Ran laughed, “We can’t let her know, she’s such a chatterbox she might accidentally spill it all, and Director Liu would be so angry she’d spit blood on the spot, you believe it?”

She patted Zhang Yuetong’s shoulder, “This role is so perfect for Meng Xiao, once she becomes famous, the film contracts and endorsements will come rolling in, won’t she make a lot of money for the company?”

“Yeah, you only take 10%, how much can that be?”

“Look at you, as long as the denominator is big enough, 10% can still be a lot of money!”

A few days later, director Lu Zhengkai announced part of the casting for ‘Lie You Ji’ and manually @Lin Ran.

The show didn’t have much attention initially, but seeing Lin Ran participating, many went to take a look.

The reaction was all shock.

【Entire… live-streaming? Are you kidding?】

【Live streaming isn’t strange, but for a variety show! And it’s an elimination format… Which director is this, the guts are too big!】

【If a few guests don’t collapse, it would be a disservice to such a fierce competition system!】

【Lin Ran should just stick to her magic shows… Her argumentative temper… Who knows what will happen on this show.】

【Please don’t go! This show is definitely a trap!】

【Besides Lin Ran, I haven’t heard of any of the others, all small-time internet celebrities taking a chance. If they win, they become famous, if they collapse, no one cares. But Lin Ran is different, if she collapses, it’s a disaster!】

【I say, Boss Lin, since you can get A Liang’s role for Meng Xiao, can’t you treat yourself better? What kind of broken variety show are you accepting?】

But soon, another guest was announced: Wu Lele.

He’s a comedy actor with over ten million fans, a veteran comedian with a good reputation.

Wu Lele straightforwardly posted a video, sadly telling fans: Cherish the me who hasn’t collapsed yet!

With Lin Ran and Wu Lele joining, many were willing to watch the first episode for them. Whether they would continue watching would depend on the quality of the first episode.

The show’s guests weren’t fully selected yet, and it was announced that filming would start in half a month. The show has no post-production or time difference, filming will be live streamed on the same day, continuous live streaming for three days, all live streaming except for sleeping time.

Before filming, Lu Zhengkai asked Lin Ran to randomly choose a theme for a few days of daily live streaming, to achieve the effect of promoting the show.

Lin Ran didn’t say much, went to a scenic spot to live stream on the same day, also taking Meng Xiao along, the two of them played while chatting with netizens, live streaming for several hours before ending.

Before ending the live stream, Lin Ran also specifically solicited netizens’ opinions, letting them leave comments to decide the location of the next live stream.

As a result, when she saw the location with the highest likes the next day, Lin Ran was a little troubled.

That location was: Qingdao University!

“Our former student council president, can you apply for live streaming permission?” Lin Ran had to ask Zhang Yuetong for help.

Although Zhang Yuetong opposed Lin Ran going on ‘Lie You Ji’, now that it had come to this, she would still try to cooperate, but she set a condition: “Then I want to have a big meal… no, two big meals!”

“Deal!”

Zhang Yuetong also put in some effort to get the school’s permission, and they could only live stream in specific areas, with the school notifying students of the live streaming arrangements in advance, to avoid unnecessary disturbances to their studies.

Qingdao University is every student’s dream, and the live stream attracted many people from the start. Zhang Yuetong asked a student council member to help with the introduction, explaining each area in detail.

“This is our Qingdao University cafeteria, cheap and delicious, everyone should come to Qingdao University!” The student council member didn’t forget to promote the school at the end.

Netizens all expressed: You think we don’t apply to Qingdao University because we don’t like it? Isn’t it because we can’t get in?

After the live stream ended, Lin Ran and the student council member said goodbye. She put away her phone and was about to leave with Zhang Yuetong when Zhang Yuetong suddenly stumbled.

Lin Ran quickly supported her, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Zhang Yuetong rubbed her temples, “I suddenly felt dizzy… Help me rest for a bit.”