Gu Qingtong tightly held the business card of Yan Chi in her hand, and a faint blush appeared on her fair face.
Yan Chi had already left with the butler. When she heard Gu Qingtong’s words, she wasn’t surprised. She simply nodded politely and said that she would explain the matter to the elders of both families when she returned home, and then she would contact Gu Qingtong.
Although Gu Qingtong knew that the butler had Yan Chi’s contact information, since she already had the person’s number in her hand, it was only reasonable to add each other on WeChat!
With this in mind, Gu Qingtong started searching for Yan Chi.
She saw that the name on the profile page was indeed “yc,” with a pure gray avatar, and there was nothing in the Moments section. It seemed that Yan Chi didn’t use WeChat often.
Gu Qingtong entered her own name as “Gu Qingtong” in the verification information but hesitated in the notes section.
She didn’t know what to put as a note for Yan Chi…
Yan Chi?
Miss Yan?
Teacher Yan?
In the end, unable to find an answer, she decided not to fill in anything and sent the request directly.
Although she knew that it would take some time for Yan Chi to approve the request, Gu Qingtong couldn’t help but hold her phone and stay on the WeChat interface, refreshing it from time to time.
She didn’t receive any approval message, but suddenly she received a group message where she was mentioned.
Gu Qingtong looked at it and found that the group was named “What Does Teacher Yan Eat?”
It was Yan Chi’s fan group, with just over a hundred members, but almost all of them were influential wives in the industry, sharing pictures and videos without missing a single one.
Gu Qingtong had never considered herself as Yan Chi’s fan, let alone being part of any fan group.
The reason she joined this group has a story behind it.
She had accidentally attended an event before and discovered that Yan Chi was there. Using the equipment her agent brought, she discreetly took a few outstanding photos.
After returning home, she looked at these photos, which were well-composed and brilliant. She was very satisfied and felt that appreciating them alone would be a waste of Yan Chi’s beauty and her own skills, so she posted them on her Weibo alternate account.
Unexpectedly, these photos were shared by several well-known fan accounts that reposted Yan Chi’s materials. Due to the close proximity to the stage and the excellent performance of the professional photography equipment, they were even more attractive than the official photos released by Yan Chi’s studio that day. They were hailed as masterpieces by fans and casual viewers alike, with thousands of reposts.
Even now, when marketing accounts and entertainment bloggers showcased Yan Chi’s beauty, they liked to use those few photos.
Everyone assumed she was Yan Chi’s senior fan sister, showering her with compliments while inviting her to join the group.
Gu Qingtong was flattered by the praise and felt hesitant to deny it, especially since she did admire and follow in Yan Chi’s footsteps.
After that, on several occasions, Gu Qingtong also posted photos on her alternate account from Yan Chi’s public events.
Until recently, Yan Chi’s studio unexpectedly sent a private message to her alternate account, asking if she was interested in joining Huayan Media and becoming part of Yan Chi’s photography and retouching team.
This startled Gu Qingtong, almost thinking that she was in trouble.
Since then, her alternate account hadn’t been updated for a whole three months.
At this thought, Gu Qingtong secretly wondered if the sudden mention of her was an indication that she would be removed from the group…
“@TT, will Rich Sister be attending this event?”
“Sob sob, it’s been so long since we’ve seen TT’s photos. Every time there was an event, we hoped to see TT’s amazing pictures. They were truly stunning!”
“The last time TT authorized her photos to be used for Teacher Yan’s 15th-anniversary support, so many people praised it. Sister, please come back soon. We can’t be without you!”
❖❖❖❖❖
Gu Qingtong’s alternate account was named TT, and she used this pseudonym in the group as well.
Although she didn’t talk much in the group, other fan sisters, as they could hardly get tickets for seats as close to the stage as she did, often referred to her as Rich Sister.
Seeing these comments from the group members warmed Gu Qingtong’s heart. She didn’t expect that people still remembered the photos she took.
“Recently, I’ve been busy with real-life matters, so I probably won’t be able to participate… Thank you all for your concern! I will definitely share more photos when I have the chance!!”
Gu Qingtong replied energetically, without mentioning anything about the studio, and attached a cute fox emoji making a heart gesture.
“It’s such a pity that TT can’t attend! The ceremony for the Young Actors Development Program just announced that Teacher Yan will participate. It’s the first appearance since Cannes, and it has us all so excited.”
Young Actors Development Program?
A familiar term caught Gu Qingtong’s attention.
She thought carefully and suddenly realized that this was mentioned in the weekly schedule her agent had sent her before the car accident.
Looking through the message records, Gu Qingtong finally recalled the details. This was an official event organized to support and cultivate young actors. It had been heavily promoted for a while, and they even filmed promotional videos with several famous film and drama schools.
It was evident that Gu Qingtong wouldn’t be listed as one of the young actors being cultivated. She was only invited to participate in the promotional video because she stood out due to her appearance and recent graduation from the alma mater.
The ceremony was scheduled for the upcoming weekend, but now she was involved in a car accident. Her agent had contacted Yan Yijia early in the morning when Gu Qingtong was unconscious, saying that they would cancel all her future schedules for the next few weeks based on her recovery.
Gu Qingtong knew that even in the past, she would be part of the crowd from the Central Academy of Drama, serving as atmosphere fillers without any lines. She would have to stand outside in the cold wind for hours, supporting the popular stars.
But Yan Yijia was invited as a special guest…
She remembered that dormant account she had abandoned for three months, and it sparked some curiosity.
After contemplating for a while, she decided to call her agent. “Sister Sun, it’s me, Gu Qingtong! I wanted to ask if the young actor’s schedule for this weekend has been canceled?”
At this moment, Sun Xiao was accompanying several actors from the company for a drama audition, sitting in the waiting room for the last candidate.
The audition results were progressively worse, as expected, and everyone was feeling low.
Hearing Gu Qingtong’s voice, Sun Xiao couldn’t help but feel a headache and blurted out in front of everyone, “Little troublemaker, what’s wrong now? Weren’t you in a car accident? Shouldn’t you rest instead of thinking about these things? You’re not thinking of attending, are you?”
“Ah, it’s just a bump on the head. It’s not a big deal! Even the doctor said I could go home after observing for three or four days. I just thought about it. How could I miss such an important official event? I believe it’s necessary to attend. Even just standing in the queue of Central Pictures, I feel honored.”
Gu Qingtong earnestly spouted nonsense, completely forgetting about her head hurting just a moment ago.
Sun Xiao could understand Gu Qingtong’s decision to attend the ceremony. After all, she had always been the most ambitious person in the entire company.
Although she came from a wealthy family, Gu Qingtong actively participated in both big and small events. She didn’t pick and choose scripts, which made her stand out among the entire Xianyu Company, including Asia Star Media.
The name “Asia Star Media” sounded grand, and people who didn’t know about it might think it was some international corporation. In reality, it was just a small media company invested by a wealthy second-generation Chinese immigrant from Singapore.
The boss, a second-generation wealthy individual, was obsessed with appearances and signed people based on their looks without considering their background or skills. In just a few months, the company recruited several attractive trainees who were mainly decorative.
Later on, the boss grew tired of the company and invested in other industries, completely forgetting about Asia Star Media. These trainees were left without resources and could only rely on their fixed salaries from the company, waiting for its eventual closure.
Even Sun Xiao herself was deceived into joining. As a talented and unrecognized graduate student in directing, she originally planned to join the company to make films. However, as soon as she arrived, senior colleagues handed her six or seven actor trainees and made her responsible for managing their scripts and business affairs.
For a long time, Sun Xiao relied on her personal connections with her mentors and classmates to secure work for the artists under her.
But unfortunately, these trainees were quite useless, and almost every audition ended in failure.
Gu Qingtong was later transferred to Sun Xiao’s team because no agent in the company was willing to accept an artist who was constantly being criticized by netizens.
Sun Xiao was ready to give up, but to her surprise, Gu Qingtong turned out to be very motivated. As a result, Sun Xiao gradually started focusing more of her resources on Gu Qingtong.
Upon hearing Sun Xiao’s words, the artists under her subtly exchanged knowing glances and had disdainful expressions on their faces.
They were all struggling themselves but couldn’t bear to see others succeed. Every time they witnessed Sun Xiao arranging work for Gu Qingtong, they would gather together and make snide remarks.
“It’s starting again. The resource brat is pretending to work hard. Her resources were all given by her dad. How shameless!”
“Did you not see how her dad used to forcefully promote her acting skills? It was terrifying. After watching, I felt like I needed to wash my eyes.”
“Did she get her degree from the Central Academy of Drama through connections? Otherwise, I can’t believe she made it with her acting skills.”
❖❖❖❖❖
Luo Tingting was a male internet celebrity who gained fame for his looks. He was personally invited by the company through private messages and had some fans, giving him a stronger voice among the group.
He nodded with a gloomy expression, which sharply contrasted with his clean and delicate teenage image. “All of us have been auditioning for roles and not getting selected. Why did she succeed on her first try? I don’t believe there’s no shady business going on behind the scenes.”
Everyone deeply felt the same way, and their frustration from being rejected during auditions was now vented towards Gu Qingtong.
“Could it be that she took our spots?! Our company doesn’t have many resources to begin with, and Sun Xiao always lets Gu Qingtong choose the best ones first. Can’t we get rid of this resource brat?”
The more they talked, the more absurd their claims became. They couldn’t admit that their acting skills were lacking or that their appearance didn’t meet the requirements. Instead, they looked for reasons in others.
Luo Tingting gritted his teeth and said, “Capital favors her. What can we do? But… we’re not the only ones who dislike her, right? Wasn’t Gu Qingtong heavily criticized for that incident a long time ago?”
As he said these words, Sun Xiao also addressed Gu Qingtong, “Don’t you know that person is going too? She’s a genuinely nurtured young actress. If she sees you supporting her, she’ll mock you to death!”
Of course, Gu Qingtong knew exactly who “she” referred to. It was her long-standing rival, Yun Mingxuan.
