Superstar's Development Diary
Chapter 207 - 208: Strive to Grow

Chapter 207: Chapter 208: Strive to Grow

After He Jinxia and her group had disembarked from the plane, the online criticism had not stopped.

To wear the crown, one must bear its weight—no matter how great the praise, one must withstand the baptism of a storm.

Clearly, "Chen Xiaohui, Go Forward!" was struggling to withstand this controversy. As more and more people watched the movie, the reviews and ratings online became increasingly truthful.

In just one afternoon, numerous netizens on platforms like W blog and W chat claimed the movie’s plot was terrible. Even the "8.0" high score on Pineapple Network, which hadn’t been up for four hours, plummeted to "6.0", marking the fastest drop in rating for any film in history.

Of course, the rapid decline in the rating was related to the fact that Dong Qin had not ordered anyone to artificially boost the ratings that afternoon, a detail Luo You conveyed to He Jinxia over the phone.

After checking into the hotel in Ming City, Director Dong announced that everyone was free for the rest of the day, with no promotional duties. Everyone was advised to rest up and prepare for tomorrow’s shoot.

Ming City had many ancient buildings, even more than Huadu, and was a specialized "ancient culture" tourism city, filled with historical sites.

The others were eager to go out and explore, as it was only the afternoon, and it was entirely possible to visit the nearby historical landmarks, including Cheng Xiaohua.

He Jinxia was not interested in these; she had seen too much of it in the past and found nothing extraordinary about it in modern times, so she went straight to her room after the group disbanded.

She told Sister Xiao Hua to bring back some unique local food or items when she went out, then quickly urged Sister Xiao Hua to go out and enjoy herself.

No sooner had Cheng Xiaohua left than Luo You called her.

He explained in detail about the team’s analysis of Dong Qin’s marketing hype. He Jinxia asked whenever she didn’t understand something, and Luo You answered patiently.

"...That’s about it, you understand everything now, right?" Luo You asked.

He Jinxia sat in a chair, her finger lightly tapping on the table, she began thoughtfully, "Yes, I think I understand it all."

Luo You said, "Being in this circle, you need to comprehend these marketing hypes. In case of any emergencies, you’ll know how to respond. I’d rather you be an artist who can independently handle and oversee everything, unlike those who are clueless."

Luo You paused, then added softly, "Jinxia, have you thought about your future?"

He Jinxia was startled, not expecting Luo You to suddenly bring up this topic. The change in topic was too abrupt.

On the phone, Luo You continued to speak, "Right now, you are just a second-tier star, so regarding your marketing hype and appearances, the team can help maintain and choose for you. But once you become a top-tier star, everything will change.

Our team lacks experience in managing top-tier stars; of course, the team will continue to learn and progress, and you must also continuously improve. If possible, I hope you can be ahead of the team.

What I mean by ’ahead’ isn’t just understanding the rules of industry marketing; I mean your vision. The team needs a leader with foresight. I can’t be that person, nor can anyone else in the team, because even though we serve the stars, ultimately, we are not stars."

Luo You spoke earnestly, word by word, "We can lay the groundwork for your future, but we can’t always pave the path for you."

He Jinxia’s expression froze, a heavy pressure mixed with a rush of bold excitement rising slowly from her chest and spreading to every corner of her body.

It was hard to describe what this feeling was, but He Jinxia felt that it was probably a very good feeling.

"Hello, Jinxia? Are you still there?" Luo You’s voice came through the phone.

He Jinxia snapped back to reality, her eyes briefly flickering with a gleam of eager ambition, and she replied with firm confidence, "Brother Luo, I will strive hard."

Luo You "Hmm’ed" a response, "Brother Luo has explained everything clearly to you because you might really be close to becoming a top-tier celebrity. This time, Dong Qiin’s marketing was fairly successful; although Chen Xiaohui’s reputation has taken a severe hit, most people complained about the plot."

It seems Dong Qiin also recognized the film’s flaws and didn’t bother whitewashing them, but she didn’t let netizens continuously diss it either, shifting the audience’s focus to your performance instead."

"You saw the news, right? While many criticized the plot, they mentioned you, saying you performed very well. Wu Daxi was neither great nor terrible, and Li Li received heavy criticism. Jinxia, it looks like Dong Qiin really gave your publicity a boost!"

Luo You advised carefully, "You should be nice to Director Dong from now on. Although she used the Water Army to publish good comments about you as part of the movie’s marketing, she might not have thought much about it, but you indeed benefited greatly from this. Don’t forget this favor."

He Jinxia’s eyes twinkled slightly as she nodded lightly, "Brother Luo, I understand."

After chatting for a while longer, Luo You hung up the phone.

He Jinxia looked down at her phone which had already gone dark, her brows slightly furrowed and her eyes somewhat vacant.

Before hanging up, Luo You had estimated the box office sales for "Chen Xiaohui, Go Forward!"—3 billion!

billion, is that a lot or a little?

He Jinxia turned on her screen and subconsciously opened WeChat to find Sheng Yan’s name, sending him a message to ask.

Suddenly, thinking of something, she paused, realizing she hadn’t chatted in the group for a long time, and sent the message there instead.

It took five minutes before someone responded; it was Mrs. He.

Mrs. He: "3 billion huh, feels pretty average, we Huaxia people have billions, a movie ticket costs thirty, 3 billion is how many people watched? A hundred million?"

Soon, Aunt Rui also sent a message, "Right, this performance is quite ordinary, aren’t excellent films starting at 5 billion these days?

And not everyone chooses the cheapest ticket; there are many who buy tickets costing hundreds to thousands, and not everyone who buys a ticket goes to see the movie, so it’s definitely less than a hundred million viewers."

He Jinxia searched online about this kind of question and saw many responses, getting a rough idea, then she changed the subject to chat about household things with the two mothers.

Time swiftly passed, and evening came.

Sheng Yan left the film set and checked his phone, noticing that today’s group chat was unusually lively.

He first sent a message to Jinxia, then opened the group chat to see they were discussing dinner.

At that moment, He Jinxia had just posted a photo, showcasing her nutritious dinner.

Three dishes, one soup, and a stack of fruit salad, it looked pretty decent.

Sheng Yan’s eyes darkened, without overthinking, he typed a few words and sent them.

Sheng Yan: "Eat more meat, you are too thin. Do you like scallions? I don’t."

This message immediately caught the curious attention of Mrs. Sheng.

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