CSGM - Chapter 55
Chapter 55: Boot Camp
Knowing that Chu Xi's variety show wouldn't be on for much longer, Yu Yixue understood that for a minor celebrity, moving seamlessly into a new project was crucial for a rising career. Thus, she had been busy screening scripts, sending the better ones to Chu Xi.
Today, Yu Yixue said: 【This IP is good, it has a built-in following. The second female lead apparently has a large fanbase in the original work. See if you're interested?】
The next day she would ask: 【Did you read the script I sent you yesterday? What did you think?】
The day after, she sent another new script, saying: 【The director said you can play the lead in this one. Want it?】
Amidst Yu Yixue's motherly nagging, Chu Xi spent her days on the live broadcast and her nights using what little rest time she had to read the scripts.
What a pile of terrible scripts.
They looked bland and uninteresting.
As for the drama where the director was willing to let her play the female lead, the plot was clichéd, tacky, and melodramatic. It looked like a guaranteed flop that would fail the moment it aired.
However, among the pile of trash, there were indeed a few with well-crafted plots...
For Chu Xi, bad dramas were an insult to her intelligence and she couldn't film them, while for good dramas, it didn't really matter which one she filmed.
After all, acting wasn't her main profession.
Within half a month, she marked four scripts she was willing to do and sent her feedback to Yu Yixue.
Chu Xi: 【You decide. I'm fine with any of these.】
Chu Xi's approach was simply to go with the flow, as long as the options were within her range of acceptance.
The 45-day run of Our Restaurant seemed to speed up day by day, like the years of a person's life. In a daze, she looked back and realized so much time had already passed.
As the show neared its end, Chu Xi's popularity had climbed to second among the members, second only to Ren Zhi, who had securely claimed the top spot.
The production team had specially created an edited compilation of her "high-IQ moments" from the show, placing it in her individual highlights reel.
The Director knew how to grab attention; you have to understand what the audience wants to see and loves to see!
The view count for this compilation went viral, even surpassing the total views of the compilations for Ren Zhi and the other members combined.
Netizens joked: 【The show's replays are a freebie, Chu Xi's personal show time is the main feature!】
Our Restaurant live broadcast, Day 46, the final day of the show.
The 150,000 yuan earned from the restaurant's operations was used to book a banquet hall. Led by the five cast members, they worked alongside the hall's staff to host a thank-you banquet for the first responders who had participated in the relief efforts during the severe floods in X City last year.
The five members, Ren Zhi, Chu Xi, Li Xiling, Luo Yangtian, and Xiao Han, took a final group photo with everyone under the lights of the banquet.
The end of this final, meaningful dinner also marked the end of their journey.
In the live broadcast room, the audience was quite emotional.
【Wuwuwu, is this the last time I'll be in this stream this year? TvT】
【I've gotten used to watching the stream at nine in the morning and closing the app at nine at night. Suddenly it's gone, wuwu, I can't bear it...】
【There's no show to watch while I slack off at work tomorrow QVQ】
【Sigh...】
【Goodbye, Zhizhi! Goodbye, Top Xi! Goodbye, Tianbao! Goodbye, Ling! Goodbye, Oily Dragon Horse!】
The Director bid farewell to everyone in a cheerful tone.
"Congratulations on the successful conclusion of Our Restaurant Season One! We look forward to seeing you all again next year!"
A neat row of comments scrolled across the screen—
【See you again!】
【See you again!】
【See you again!!!】
The live stream ended.
The show Our Restaurant was over.
At the same time, Yu Yixue's opinion of Chu Xi had changed.
From previously doubting, "Why does everyone say Chu Xi has potential for development? Where is all this great potential?", to now, firmly believing, "The new artist I signed is the absolute best! She has so much potential!"
After all, to go from an 18th-tier minor celebrity to a somewhat famous 3rd-tier one after just one variety show with average resources—not everyone had that kind of ability or fate.
Question the leader, understand the leader, worship the leader!
And the leadership at their Qingyou Agency really had a good eye, telling her to quickly poach Chu Xi back then!
Now, she was just waiting to accompany Chu Xi to an audition for a new production tomorrow.
The audition was in the Capital. At this very moment, Chu Xi was on a plane heading there.
With her eyes closed to rest, she recalled her achievements from her time on Our Restaurant.
In the current System Mall, because she had previously purchased the 《Intermediate Advancement Card》, she had now unlocked the 《Advanced Advancement Card》 item—
Item Name: 《Advanced Advancement Card》
Redemption Cost: 35 IQ.
Item Description: Use this item to upgrade a designated "Advanced" talent to "Expert".
It costs 35 IQ points to redeem. So expensive...
And below, in the "Host IQ Pool Balance," the number of points she had accumulated was now "15."
4 points were from Luo Yangtian; after all, he had a good foundation, so his progress was slow. 8 points were from Li Xiling; a poor student makes more progress, though Li Xiling's IQ level could no longer be considered that of a poor student. She had been grabbing these two to teach every day until the end of the show.
The remaining 3 points were plucked from the two flying guests who came later. You could only say that even a mosquito's leg counts as meat.
The System reminded Chu Xi: "Host, your balance can be used to redeem the 《Primary Advancement Card》 and the 《Advanced Advancement Card》."
Chu Xi had never liked having someone speak freely inside her head, so most of the time, she didn't call on the System, hoping it would be a quiet mute.
"Don't I know that? Do I need you to tell me?"
System: "Ying QVQ..."
"You don't need to give me suggestions. I have my own plans. I'll call you when I want to redeem something. Go offline."
The System went offline with a "beep."
The plane landed smoothly, and Chu Xi took a taxi back to the apartment she had rented online.
A single-person apartment with one bedroom, one living room, and a kitchen. It was fifty square meters, not cramped, with good lighting and convenient transportation in a good location. The monthly rent was eight thousand yuan.
As expected, the cost of living in the capital was exorbitant.
【I've arrived in the Capital.】
Chu Xi sent a message like this to Ren Zhi.
But Ren Zhi had no time to reply now. She knew that as soon as the Our Restaurant live broadcast ended last night, Ren Zhi had taken a red-eye flight to join her production. She heard that she had makeup in the morning and started filming at noon. Truly a hard worker.
That drama was something Ren Zhi had gotten through a resource exchange for participating in Our Restaurant. It had a high chance of winning awards; otherwise, why would a top-tier star like her be willing to go on such a lukewarm variety show?
It was just a demand from the investors.
Chu Xi had originally planned to find some food on the street, but soon, a casual glance at an advertisement on the LED screen of a bus stop caught her attention.
Chu Xi watched it from beginning to end, almost without blinking.
Hmm...
Hmm...
Nationwide auditions in progress...
Application deadline...
Tomorrow?!
To be more specific, 24:00 tomorrow.
Great, Chu Xi thought instantly. Good thing I spotted it in time.
One second, Yu Yixue was at her desk cracking pistachios, hopefully wondering if Chu Xi would become even more famous after finishing a leading role.
The next second, she received a call from Chu Xi.
Three minutes later, she let out a furious roar: "Are you crazy?!!"
Chu Xi had a perfectly good female lead script in her hands and she wasn't going to do it. She wanted to give it up to participate in an open audition... for a movie with an uncertain future?!
That wasn't even the main point.
The main point was that when Yu Yixue heard the movie had a six-month, closed-off training camp before filming began, her ears started ringing with anger.
She knew the movie Chu Xi was talking about—
A remake of the Three Kingdoms IP, with the full title Three Kingdoms Prequel: Yellow Turban Rebellion.
This... let's not even talk about whether this IP is still popular, but in the film industry, 95% of the movies that tried to revive this IP under the banner of a "major production" turned out to be terrible.
Audiences don't like watching these kinds of terrible movies anymore!
The fact that the Three Kingdoms directing team was holding nationwide open auditions for actors was actually quite a hot topic in the industry. Basically, everyone had heard a thing or two about it.
But—
The pay wasn't much. They were planning to find cheap new actors, or 18th-tier celebrities who had been in the industry for years but were still obscure. The path they decided on was to train them first, then put them to work.
This was, admittedly, an opportunity for new actors.
But Chu Xi already had some heat now!
"Why are you going to fight for scraps from their big pot? That movie doesn't even have a female lead. Are you going to play a background supporting character?"
Yu Yixue didn't understand, didn't support it, and questioned her.
Standing in front of the bus stop, Chu Xi said faintly in a tone that could infuriate someone to death:
"It doesn't matter."
"Listen to me, Chu Xi, calm down. In six months, you could finish filming two dramas. Once those two dramas are released, your fame will rise. But if you go to a training camp for six months, you won't be able to film any projects. That time cost is for new actors to use for trial and error. They don't have any roles to film anyway, but you're different!"
Yu Yixue even went so far as to say it bluntly: Chu Xi was different from new actors and obscure 18th-tier celebrities now.
"You have so many other scripts to choose from out there. You can even be the female lead. These are resources the company found for you."
Chu Xi placated her, "This movie provides six months of training time before filming. That's very dedicated. Something this serious can't possibly be a bad film. It'll be a hit, no problem."
Of course, she was just saying all this off the top of her head.
How could she prophesize whether it would be a hit or not?
She hadn't seen the script, so she didn't know if it was a bad film, but she didn't care anymore.
What she wanted to go to was that six-month, closed-off training camp.
So many celebrities, doing nothing else, all locked up to focus on training. Wasn't that...
IQ points falling from the sky!
This was far more efficient than joining other productions and grabbing a few scattered cast members to teach every day.
Yu Yixue: "For six months, you can't accept any commercial engagements, you can't film any shows. You're wasting your youth on a gamble! And you've finally gained some fame, you should strike while the iron is hot. If you don't have a new project released by next year, you'll quickly be forgotten by the audience again!"
It was entirely possible that Chu Xi's popularity would fade and she'd go back to being 18th-tier.
This is too risky! Yu Yixue thought.
This is so much IQ! Chu Xi thought, staring at the words "training camp." I absolutely cannot miss this.
She stopped dawdling and informed Yu Yixue, "Please help me turn down tomorrow's audition. I'm going to the Three Kingdoms production for an interview tomorrow morning. Their open auditions are also in the Capital, how convenient..."
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