“Brother, did a beautiful woman call you? You seem so happy!” After the call ended, seeing Brother Long’s excited expression, Zeng Wei, who was eating with him, couldn’t help but ask curiously.
“It wasn’t a beauty!” Brother Long glanced at Zeng Wei, assuming everyone was like him.
“Then who was it?” Zeng Wei pressed. Brother Long, thinking about it, felt he couldn’t hide it, and the matter was too exciting to keep to himself, so he frankly replied, “Boss Huang just called me and asked me to participate in filming a variety show!”
“Boss Huang? Which Boss Huang? There’s no one surnamed Huang among the top ten richest people in Hong Kong!” Zeng Wei was stunned for a moment and couldn’t help but ask. Someone who could make Brother Long his boss and make him so excited with just one phone call was likely a figure of the top ten richest level.
But the problem was, as he just asked, there was no one surnamed Huang among the top ten richest.
“It’s Boss Huang from the Jiangnan Group in the mainland!” Brother Long said calmly.
“It’s him!” Zeng Wei was greatly surprised, and an envious expression immediately appeared on his face. After all, this Boss Huang was now famous throughout the industry.
This wasn’t just because Boss Huang himself was wealthy; there were plenty of rich people in the world. However, in the industry, only one Boss Huang mattered most, because this Boss Huang was willing to pour money into the film and television industry.
His own Tangren Film and Television was not to mention; it produced several television dramas every year, and each one was a hit. Have you ever seen a situation where the top 3 highest-rated TV dramas in a year all came from a single production company?
Tangren Film and Television had achieved this.
Therefore, many young artists were now scrambling to get into Tangren Film and Television dramas, even if it meant working without pay just to get noticed.
People like Brother Long and Zeng Wei had companies behind them, and their companies had recruited many newcomers. The companies were counting on these newcomers to grow and help their businesses make money continuously. If they could even get a small role in a Tangren Film and Television drama, it would be a great thing.
Of course, television dramas were only a small part; major moves in film had also repeatedly shocked the industry.
The Phantom Journey, with a production cost of several hundred million US dollars, although reportedly still in production, had already generated widespread rumors, with various media outlets trying their best to dig up information related to The Phantom Journey.
After all, this novel had been hailed as a masterpiece, with reportedly over ten million readers online, and had the potential to become the next Jin Yong martial arts world… You couldn’t say this was bragging, as Jin Yong’s novels were also only circulated within a small scope back then.
It wasn’t until the novels were adapted into television dramas that they achieved explosive dissemination.
And now that The Phantom Journey had the publicity of a movie, who knows if it would become as explosively popular as Jin Yong’s martial arts world in the future?
Not to mention that Boss Huang also had Marvel Studios behind him, and they were already filming in Hollywood.
If big stars like Brother Long were indifferent to television, then Hollywood was something they could never refuse, as Hollywood was currently the ultimate goal for all actors, especially Hollywood’s top productions.
Another point was the advertising fees behind Jiangnan Group. Jiangnan Group’s annual advertising expenses for product promotion exceeded 2 billion yuan. As these yuan trickled down into the film and television industry, hiring a spokesperson or something similar would amount to a huge sum of money.
Finally, there was Boss Huang’s wrath. Boss Huang was the kind of person who could, with a single word, get the entire industry to blacklist someone.
And he wouldn’t even need to issue a ban; a single command using his influence would suffice.
Especially for artists with constant scandals, like Zeng Wei in front of him, if he were to post what he did to that spider spirit back then on Facebook, and it became a trending topic on the homepage, Zeng Wei would probably never appear on screen again in his life.
In short, Boss Huang controlled a vast amount of resources, all of them the best in the industry, and he also controlled the best smear machine. Anyone who disobeyed could instantly have their reputation ruined, and the entire nation would instantly know their dark history. With this, who would dare to ignore our Boss Huang?
Ahem, getting back to the point, upon learning that Brother Long had been personally invited by Boss Huang to participate in a variety show, Zeng Wei instantly felt jealous.
At this moment, Li Ming, who was also drinking tea nearby, remaining silent the entire time as if he didn’t exist, also heard his phone ring.
Li Ming looked at the number on his phone with some surprise, as it was an unfamiliar number. He didn’t remember giving his personal phone number to any stranger, but he still answered the call.
A few seconds later, Li Ming was stunned.
“Yes, I will definitely go.”
“No, Mr. Huang, you flatter me. Okay, the money will be handled as you said. I will cooperate fully, and there are no issues with my schedule!” After talking for about 10 minutes, Li Ming reluctantly hung up the phone.
“Li Ming, didn’t your movie start shooting next month? Where did you get the schedule from?” Zeng Wei asked sourly from the side. Hearing the name Boss Huang, he vaguely guessed something.
“It’s fine, I’ll talk to the director, and he’ll understand,” Li Ming said softly, appearing particularly delicate, which made Zeng Wei even more annoyed.
“Is Boss Huang also looking for you to participate in a show?” Brother Long asked curiously.
“Yes,” Li Ming nodded.
“Wow, this Boss Huang is so generous, directly inviting you two to be the anchors. In fact, either one of you would be enough to hold the entire show together!” Zeng Wei exclaimed loudly.
Indeed, whether it was Brother Long or Li Ming, if only one of them appeared, it would be enough to carry the entire variety show. However, both Brother Long and Li Ming disliked participating in variety shows, and it was difficult to invite them. Only Boss Huang had such prestige.
“Li Ming, we’ll have to cooperate closely then!” Brother Long said proactively.
“Absolutely! I’ll listen to you,” Li Ming quickly replied.
Just then, Zeng Wei’s phone also rang. Zeng Wei excitedly said, “Boss Huang must be looking for me too!”
The next second, he looked at the number on his phone and was immediately disappointed, saying, “Oh, it’s Li Jie. Isn’t he in the US? Why is he looking for me?”
Although he said that with his mouth, Zeng Wei still answered the phone very enthusiastically. After a few words, Zeng Wei exclaimed again, “No way, Brother Jie, you’re returning to China in a few days. Why are you only telling your brothers about this now? I must host a banquet to welcome you!”
“But why are you returning to China so suddenly? I don’t remember you having any movies to shoot in the US?”
“What? You’re also coming to participate in a variety show!” Zeng Wei said after hanging up the phone, then said with a wry smile, “Even Li Jie is flying back to participate in Boss Huang’s show.”
“Boss Huang has such big ambitions, inviting all three of you. What kind of show is this?”
“Don’t know?” Brother Long and Li Ming both shook their heads. They were so eager to agree that they forgot what kind of show Boss Huang wanted them to participate in.
After this morning tea, Brother Long and the others didn’t understand what kind of theme required the three of them, big stars, to be the finale. However, Brother Long’s people soon realized they were wrong, because it wasn’t just the three of them coming to be the finale, but over thirty people.
Because according to the news circulating in the industry a few days later, not only the three top stars but also more than 30 celebrities in Hong Kong had received calls from Boss Huang. All four heavenly kings were invited, without exception.
However, Jacky Cheung refused; he genuinely disliked participating in variety shows. Otherwise, Boss Huang could have achieved the feat of gathering the four heavenly kings.
In addition, about 10 male stars from Hong Kong, including Jacky Cheung, Louis Koo, Daniel Wu, and Andy Lau, received invitations. This also included Stephen Chow, but he also refused Boss Huang without hesitation, as his bad temper was well-known.
However, compared to male celebrities, he could invite more female celebrities. Most of the most famous and beautiful female stars mentioned earlier had basically been invited.
For example, Cherrie Ying, Michelle Kwan, Zhang Yu, Vivian Chow, Shirley Kwan, Christy Chung, Athena Chu, and Sandra Ng, all famous beauties in Hong Kong, were invited. Even Maggie Cheung received an invitation, but she refused, being focused on family life.
However, only Maggie Cheung refused; none of the other female celebrities dared to.
So, after the celebrities in Hong Kong contacted each other and took stock, they were greatly surprised to find that basically half of Hong Kong’s top stars were on this invitation list, all becoming guests for this variety show.
Such a lavish gesture shocked all the celebrities, and at the same time, they were all curious what kind of variety show it was that required so many celebrities to appear.
But undoubtedly, this variety show would become the most star-studded variety show in China’s history. Because some well-informed people heard that not only in Hong Kong but also in the mainland, twenty to thirty celebrities received invitations, making the total number of celebrities from both sides likely to exceed 60. This was an incredibly terrifying number, basically sweeping through the entire entertainment industry.
So, with so many celebrities being invited, would these celebrities feel unvalued?
Of course not. On the contrary, as more and more celebrities were invited, many of them felt even more honored, because the celebrities who were not invited were people Boss Huang didn’t fancy!
You don’t even have the qualification to be threatened by Boss Huang, which means you are not on the same level as them!
Well, this was truly an honor!